Aguascalientes, Ags. August 15, 2023.- As part of the research projects in which Maria Teresa Hernandez Herrera, professor at the School of Pedagogy and Psychology of the Panamerican University of Education, has been working on, the following research projects have been carried out in Aguascalientes, Ags. Panamericana campus Aguascalientes and as part of the Thematic Research Network on Rural Education, the professor has recently participated in a workshop for mothers and fathers in the community of La Trocha in Canton Los Chiles in Costa Rica.
Teresa Hernández
The Thematic Research Network on Rural Education is in charge of organizing seminars that bring together different researchers interested in rural education from different fields, from those who are dedicated to school didactics, especially multigrade in rural classrooms in different Latin American countries and who approach the subject from didactics, as well as rural education from an educational policy perspective and even with a focus on educational inequality, such is the case of Ms. Teresa Hernandez.
Research focused on the right to education
"I am very interested in analyzing rural education from the point of view of educational inequality, access to education, the rights that are not fulfilled in many of the cases where education is offered in rural areas because they are often very marginalized areas, that is, areas with little access to basic services, in addition to the fact that they are isolated or dispersed from roads and communication. This aggravates the right to education. Since my doctorate I have been involved in these issues, and my research and classes have focused on this sector," she says.
Being part of this network focused on the study of basic rural education (preschool, primary and secondary) and higher secondary education aimed at the mestizo and indigenous population, as well as migrant farm workers, has given Ms. Teresa Hernández the opportunity to attend the seminar held at the National University of Costa Rica.
As part of the seminar activities, the researchers visited some schools in different rural communities where workshops were given to parents, children and teachers in training; they also had the opportunity to visit model schools that told them how they formed their own educational models, their history, the programs they have, mission, vision, facilities, etc.
"My experience attending the IX Seminar on Rural Education was marked by sharing with colleagues from Latin American countries successful experiences in rural education from the field of research but also from school practices that have had a positive impact on the community," says Teresa Hernandez.
In addition, Ms. Teresa Hernandez says that this experience was very enriching both professionally and personally, as she was able to put into context the topic of her doctoral thesis, to teach this workshop with which she learned deeply the context in which people live and with which she understood the reality in which they are day by day, as well as relate to other people.
In this workshop, which lasted two and a half hours, the participants reflected on the importance of inclusion and community coexistence as well as lifelong learning, with the intention of avoiding prejudices about the circumstances in which some families find themselves, in order to strengthen a healthy and positive coexistence on a daily basis. The school where the workshop was held serves Nicaraguan and Costa Rican populations alike.
