INITIAL TRAINING FOR TEACHERS IN TECHNICAL-VOCATIONAL SECONDARY EDUCATION IN CHILE: GREAT CHALLENGES NOT YET RESOLVED

In order to achieve the learning objectives aligned with Chilean students' employment expectations, establishments that offer technical-professional secondary education resort to specialists with relevant experience in specific economic sectors. The Ministry of Education provides a temporary license at the time that these specialists must have completed a university teaching degree issued by a university. However, almost a third of these appointed instructors persist over time without the required pedagogical training, putting the objectives of quality, inclusion, and pertinence at risk. The professional development regulations do not recognize the characteristics of these alternative teaching trajectories-which differ from the typical educator so it lacks adequate strategies for attracting, maintaining, and preparing technical-professional teachers. In addition, the higher education supply is highly limited at the regional level to respond to this demand. Finally, we present guidelines in order to address this problem from a public policy viewpoint.