Recursividad y creatividad aplicadas a la creación de experiencias memorables y generación de nuevos conocimientos en un contexto rural dentro del programa Viva la Escuela del Ministerio de Educación Nacional

Abstract

This work consisted of participating in a volunteer program with the second cohort of the Viva la Escuela program from the Ministry of National Education, in collaboration with the Organization of Ibero-American States and Icetex. This volunteer program was carried out at the Ramón Alvarado Sánchez Educational Institution, Los Milagros campus, in the municipality of Garzón, Huila. The main objective of the Viva la Escuela program was to call on students from universities, faculties of education, and normal higher schools to mitigate the significant setback in the development of learning due to social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, through successful educational activities in rural educational communities nationwide. In addition to wanting to contribute to the program's objectives, my participation in this volunteer work was motivated by the need to immerse myself in the educational reality of rural areas in the country and contribute, from my professional field, to strengthening the quality and equity of rural education through focused and impactful activities. These activities were constantly based on dialogic learning, such as interactive groups, tutored libraries, literary gatherings, intensive classroom support, and personalized tutoring in mathematics. For this purpose, comprehensive and methodical guides were proposed and implemented for the design, preparation, development, implementation, and evaluation of these activities. During this internship, through the development and implementation of these activities both in and outside the classroom, the integration of the community into the school was encouraged through the participation of local volunteers. Additionally, the students were able to develop skills, enhance their socio-emotional and psychomotor development, and close learning gaps and setbacks caused by the social isolation from the pandemic. On a personal level, participating in this volunteer program brought a wide range of lived experiences, acquired knowledge, challenges overcome, and difficulties faced, which allowed me to gain a broader perspective on the educational conditions in rural areas, as well as projections for the future of rural education in Colombia.