October 23, 2015
Higher Education for All: Chilean Students Engagement with Social Justice and their Continual Fight for Access
Globally, being privileged enough to attend a college or university provides an individual with much more opportunities when it comes to entering into the general job market. Despite international borders, institutions abroad share the same mission and purpose as colleges and universities here within the United States: to provide a certain set of knowledge and skills to their students and adequately prepare them to enter the competitive job market. However, as stated prior, having access to higher education is a privilege and often comes with a hefty price tag. This summer, I had the opportunity to work within the English Pedagogy Department at Alberto Hurtado University in Santiago, Chile. While my initial role was to act as a teacher assistant within the English department, I found that my role shifted. I became a witness of country wide student led protests that called for a referendum within the education system. This panel seeks to explore the history of protest against the Chilean higher education system and also give my firsthand account on witnessing college aged students take on the larger issue of how to better the Chilean education system and make it accessible to everyone.
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