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“Everything has a Beginning and an End and we are on our Way”: Transformative Agency in the Colombian Preparation for Social Action Program

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Educational Alternatives in Latin America

Abstract

This chapter explores the development of youth agency and its relationship to community transformation by focusing on the Preparation for Social Action (PSA) program, an educational program developed by a Colombian NGO, FUNDAEC. Correa and Murphy-Graham draw on qualitative data from a study conducted in 2014 to describe how students develop a sense of agency and how this becomes a catalyst for individual and community change. The authors focus their findings around two elements of the program: How students begin taking action in small and concrete steps through community service and the use of individual and collective reflection exercises that allow for greater self-awareness.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fundación para la Aplicación y Enseñanzas de las Ciencias, Cali, Colombia

    Bita Correa

  2. University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Erin Murphy-Graham

Authors
  1. Bita Correa
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  2. Erin Murphy-Graham
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Linköping, Linköping, Sweden

    Robert Aman

  2. Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil

    Timothy Ireland

Appendix: Units in the Curriculum and Their Reflections

Appendix: Units in the Curriculum and Their Reflections

Language

Properties

Reflections about the concept of change of state

Reflections about the concept of human will

Reflections about the concepts of cooperation, solidarity and unity

Systems and Processes

Reflections about positive and negative change

Reflections about possible changes in the state of a community

Reflections on the family as a system

Reflections about the interactions within a micro region

Reflections about the functioning of a system

Reflections about cooperation and competition within the context of search for excellence

Reflections about the concepts of structure and the functions of a system

Reflections about the interactions between subsystems

Reflections about the concept of cooperation

Reflections about interiorizing ideas

Reflections about the flow of information in a community

Mathematics

Classification

Reflections about sets and subsets: the human species

Reflections about the interactions among species: mutualism

Numerical Statements

Reflections about the concept of unity

Reflections about the concept of value

Technology

Planting Crops

Reflections about communities

Diversified High Efficiency Plots

Reflections about group work

Science

Heating and Cooling of Matter

Reflections about the concept of peer pressure

Reflections about the methods of science

Growth of a plant

Reflections about the life of the community

Reflections about the appropriate attitudes for the investigation of reality

Reflections about the concept of habits that are formed in our lives

Reflections about the concept of the structure of a system

Reflections about the concept of community

Reflections about the concept of interactions

Service

Environmental Issues

Reflections about the social dimension of transportation

Ecosystems

Reflections about group unity

Reflections about the interaction with a community

Reflections about the harmony between ecosystems

Reflections about taking decisions

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Correa, B., Murphy-Graham, E. (2019). “Everything has a Beginning and an End and we are on our Way”: Transformative Agency in the Colombian Preparation for Social Action Program. In: Aman, R., Ireland, T. (eds) Educational Alternatives in Latin America. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53450-3_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53450-3_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-53449-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-53450-3

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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