Ernesto Treviño

Forms of Youth Political Participation and Educational System: The Role of the School for 8th Grade Students in Chile

This article analyses the role of school in different forms of expected political participation of 8th grade students in Chile. The massive students’ public demonstrations in Chile in the last ten years and the low rate of young voters’ turnout in elections have raised the question about young people’s preparation to participate as citizens in society. The results show that students’ civic and political background has the greatest influence in political participation, while the influence of school is mainly related to school governance and teacher practices. This discussion focused on the challenges that these results could mean for schools in Chile.

Influence of Teacher, Student and School Characteristics on Students’ Attitudes Toward Diversity

Schools are increasingly seen as a potential vehicle for promoting positive attitudes toward diversity and equality in different countries. However, the debate regarding the actual capacity of schools to fulfill this task, set against the role of families and individual preferences, is still open. To analyze how the characteristics of schools may shape student attitudes toward diversity in terms of gender, immigration and ethnic groups, a multilevel model that takes into consideration the characteristics of the school, such as the composition of diversity, school climate and teacher practices, and individual characteristics, such as socioeconomic background and civic interest, was used. Schools seem to have a limited leverage in promoting attitudes toward diversity, due to the fact that variance in attitudes occurs mainly within schools. The main findings are discussed in terms of research, policy and practice.

School Segregation of Immigrant Students

IEA’s International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) identifies first- and second-generation immigrants, and hence may reveal patterns of segregation of immigrant students. From a comparative perspective, these may be analyzed to provide the distribution, concentration and spread of immigrant students among schools and countries. Here three methods of analysis were employed: (1) descriptive analysis, (2) construction of segregation indices, and (3) multilevel analysis. In general, countries do not implement systematic policies to concentrate or segregate immigrant students, although there are important differences between countries; instead there is a need to appreciate strong relationships between levels of segregation and inequality or human development indexes, and consider geographical, cultural and economic factors. Schools appear to have a limited effect in transforming attitudes toward immigration.

Building Citizenship in the Schools of Chile, Colombia and Mexico

Latin America has faced several challenges to democracy in its recent history. Some countries lived under military dictatorships (Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile), some had to overcome long periods of civil war (El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua), and others, like Mexico, had to work against corruption, foster transparency and strengthen democratic institutions (O’Donnell, 1997; Rouquie & Schvarzer, 1985).