Education in South America

Education in South America accomplishes the feat of providing rich an insightful account of education’s key issues in ten national cases of recognized diversity and complexity, whilst at the same time uncovering key commonalities in their grappling with the quality and equity agendas which shape their policies. From macro issues of governance and how weak democratic politics affect policies, to the ideological basis of much of debates and policy answers regarding curriculum and instruction, and the vastness of the capacity challenge which confronts the teaching corps of the region, editor Simon Schwartzman and his contributors have produced a comparative appraisal of unparalleled value. * Cristián Cox, Dean of the Faculty of Education, Catholic University of Chile, Chile *
This book offers a rich collection analyzing the development and performance of education systems in South America, and the key developments in education policies in recent decades. It is an invaluable resource offering a comparative perspective of the educational achievements and challenges facing the countries of this region. A must read for policy analysts and education leaders, for comparative educators and for anyone interested in understanding the people of Latin America, and how their knowledge, skills and mindsets are shaped by the educational culture, practices and policies brilliantly examined in this compendium. * Fernando M. Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of Practice in International Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, USA *
Education in South America offers an historical perspective on the state of education in ten South American countries…providing country-level analyses, written by local experts, of the current educational climate in this region. The individual chapters accomplish the editor’s goal of highlighting both the improvements that have been made and those that are yet to be realized through a combination of policy analysis and cross-national comparison. … Overall, the book provides a vision for social development in South America by calling for improved policy implementation and the allocation of resources to the priority area of providing high-quality education across the region. -- Janna Goebel * Forum for International Research in Education *