Closing Milestone of Docente Activo 2024: Spaces of Care and Well-being to Foster Resilience in Educational Ecosystems

Creating a space for care, reflection, and knowledge to integrate art and ecology into education motivated this new edition of the Docente Activo 2024 program. The program invited nine pairs of educators from Villarrica, Curarrehue, and Pucón, La Araucanía, to engage in a collective learning experience aimed at establishing socio-ecological, artistic, and experimental connections through the concept of resilience.

Educators from various educational contexts—rural schools; private, subsidized private schools; free and public schools—developed projects addressing socio-environmental issues affecting their educational spaces. They aimed to advance and manage these challenges through methodologies inspired by the program, with support from our team.

During the closing event, a series of mediated activities were carried out to reflect on the experiences throughout the program. These activities were collaboratively led by our learning and conservation teams, with artistic mediations guided by Strategic Learning Officer Amparo Irarrázaval and Mediation Coordinator María Jesús Olivos, along with support from Conservation Projects Officer Sebastián Carrasco and Learning Director Manuela Méndez.

The first part of the day included a meditation and connection exercise to promote relaxation and well-being, followed by a dialogue and reflection session where educators shared their motivations, challenges, achievements, and opportunities related to their project implementation. The conversation touched on themes such as the need to create strategies that promote institutional support and cultivate support and self-care networks within the educational community.

Next, an artistic space intervention exercise called “Gallery of the Watershed” took place, where each duo created a work using objects, sounds, images, and stories to highlight the main milestones and reflections from the learning process with their students and other members of their educational ecosystems. Themes such as strengthening students’ socio-emotional skills, connections with families and among educators, linking childhood with natural environments, ancestral medicine of the territory, and conflict resolution in the classroom were explored.

It is noteworthy that several of the projects developed by the educators have gained institutional support beyond the duration of the program. These include initiatives such as creating a space for care and well-being for teachers at the Ruka Ngen Curarrehue Educational Complex, the pedagogical revitalization of the garden at the Colegio Alemán de Villarrica, and initiatives where students design strategies to address local issues at the San Luis rural school in Curarrehue.

Regarding the learnings from this new edition of the program, Manuela Méndez, Learning Director, praised the different initiatives, highlighting that “it has been deeply inspiring to witness the transformation and learning process in each project. Their perseverance over time reflects an important exercise in resilience.” Meanwhile, the program coordinator and Strategic Learning Officer, Amparo Irarrázaval, emphasized the role of educators as agents of change in their educational communities. “Educators inspire us to keep co-creating and learning with and for them.”

Reflecting on the experience, Braulio Muñoz, a special education teacher at Escuela Particular N° 200 Panque, appreciated his participation in Docente Activo, stating that “it was a challenging year, and the need to nourish ourselves through mutual support and self-management becomes essential.” Karla Leiva, a science teacher at Colegio Santa Cruz of Villarrica, expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to be part of a context that allowed a deep connection around learning and introspection. “We are transforming without realizing it. It’s something we sometimes know, but we’re in such automatic mode that we don’t perceive it. These spaces change everything because they invite us to stop and be aware of that transformation,” she said.

Learn more about the projects developed in the 2024 Docente Activo Program here.

Watch part of the Docente Activo 2024 experience here (YouTube video).