UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA
ESCUELA CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
SYLLABUS
551035 - COLOMBIAN EDUCATION
UNAD
2015
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
1. GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION
SCHOOL OR UNIT: Ciencias de la Educación
ACRONYM: ECEDU
LEVEL: Professional
EDUCATION FIELD: Elective
COURSE NAME: Colombian education
COURSE CODE: 551035
COURSE TYPE: Theoretical
N° OF CREDITS: Two (2) - 96 study hours
N° WEEKS: Sixteen (16)
PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE: The student enrolled in the course Colombian education needs to have studied different
topics related to education in Colombia, including education laws, curricular development, quality of education, etc.
The language requirement for the course is an Intermediate English level or certification of at least a B1 level according
to CEFR for language teaching. Having this previous language command will enable students to actively participate in
the activities set for the course. Students who take this course are also required to:
 Understand basic concepts of education, pedagogy, didactics and learning. This means students should be able to
differentiate or have a clear idea of the different aspects involved in teaching processes.
 Have a good command of the English language to communicate ideas, thoughts, opinions, etc. according to the
requirements of the different communicative activities.
 Be able to establish a clear definition of different educational theories that relate to learners’ abilities and
strategies used in their learning process.
COURSE DIRECTOR:
DATE: May 2015
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The academic course Colombian Education corresponds to the elective component of the B.A.
program of English as a Foreign Language, it means this is a noncompulsory course for undergraduate students
majoring in English language teaching at UNAD.
The course presents a set of different learning environments that provide the students with an opportunity to gain
knowledge about the development of language education in Colombia through a variety of materials, activities, online
forums, presentations and the use of the target language to develop interactive and communicative tasks. Accordingly,
we have placed great emphasis on the idea of learning by doing and so the students will be involved in a task-based
language environment that will enable them to become competent in completing a range of challenging activities that
promote interaction and reflection about the role of education in Colombia.
Students who participate in this course will participate in several didactical situations devised to promote interaction
and communication in relation with different discussion topics. Thus, students will have access to online contents that
allow them to familiarize with key concepts and norms related to laws and regulation of Colombian education, which
will help them to understand the context of education in our country. Finally, the course focuses on
developing communicative competence in English and at the same time promotes autonomous learning, selfassessment and critical thinking.
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
2. FORMATIVE INTENTIONS
PURPOSE:

The purpose of the Colombian Education course is that student can learn about the laws and regulations for
education in Colombia. This course aims at developing students’ abilities and competences as teachers in specific
environments to reflect and have a critical vision about teaching foreign languages nowadays in the Colombian
context.
GENERAL COURSE COMPETENCES:
General competences:







Competence in linguistic communication: This competence presupposes the use of language as a means for oral
and written communication and as a learning tool and for self-regulation of thinking, emotions and behavior. It
contributes in this way to the development of a positive self-image, and helps forge a constructive relationship
with others and with the environment.
Competence in knowledge of interaction with the physical world: This competence implies the acquisition of a
scientific-rational thought process enhancing autonomous interpretation of information, personal initiative in
decision-making, and the use of ethical values when taking personal and social decisions.
Competence in processing information and use of ICT: Acquisition of this competence involves the use of
technological resources to resolve problems efficiently, keeping a critical and reflective attitude when evaluating
the available information.
Competence in social skills and citizenship: It implies an understanding of the social situation we live in, and the
ability to respond to conflicts with ethical values, exercising with solidarity and responsibility the rights and
obligations we have as citizens.
Cultural and artistic competence: It involves an appreciation and enjoyment of art and other manifestations of
culture, keeping an open-minded attitude towards different types of art, preserving the common cultural heritage
and encouraging one’s own creative capacity.
Learning to learn: It implies being able to organize one’s own learning, and an efficient use of intellectual resources
and techniques.
Autonomy and personal initiative: The acquisition of this competence implies creativity, innovation, responsibility
and a critical approach in the development of individual or group projects.
Communicative competences: To be communicative competent students need skills within the following areas:

Interpretative: Grammatical competence
Use of language rules to understand and produce the language correctly.

Argumentative: Discourse competence
Understand and produce coherent texts (written and oral) within various genres and topics.

Purposeful: Pragmatic competence
Understand and produce utterances that are suitable for the context in which they are uttered.

Disciplinary competence
The student is able to identify basic characteristics concerning main tendencies, methods and trends in the process
of language teaching and learning in Colombia.
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
3. COURSE CONTENTS
COURSE MAP:
NAME OF UNIT
LEARNING CONTENTS
REQUIRED REFERENCES
Agudelo Valderrama, C. (2006). The growing gap between Colombian
education policy, official claims and classroom realities: Insights from
mathematics teachers’ conceptions of beginning algebra and its
teaching purpose. International Journal of Science and Mathematics
Education, 4, 513 - 544.
UNIT 1
DEVELOPMENT
OF COLOMBIAN
EDUCATION IN
THE 21ST
CENTURY
Chapter 1: Major reforms and
changes made in the education
system at the beginning of the 21st
century.
Appadurai, A. (1996). Disjuncture and Difference in the global cultural
economy. Reprinted in H. Lauder, P. Brown, J. Dillabough, J., & A.H.
Halsey (Eds.), Globalization, education and social change (pp. 179 188). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (2007). Informe anual: America
Latina y El Caribe. Retrieved May 08, 2008
from:http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=137
004 Bloom, D.E. (2004).
Globalization and education: An economic perspective. In M.M. Suarez
Orozco & D.B. Qin - Hilliard (Eds.), Globalization: Culture and education
in the new millennium (pp. 56 - 77). Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press.
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
Colombia. Ministerio de Educación Nacional (2006b). Decreto 3870.
Retrieved May 08, 2008 from: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co
Chapter 2: Main quantitative and
qualitative achievements of the
Colombian education system.
Colombia. Ministerio de Educación Nacional (2006c). Ley 1064.
Retrieved May 08, 2008 from: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co
Colombia. Ministerio de Educación Nacional (2007). Se inicia la
consolidación de la enseñanza del inglés. Press release. Retrieved May
08, 2008 from: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co/cvn
Colombia. Ministerio de Educación Nacional (2008).
Revolución educativa: Plan sectorial 2006 - 2010. Retrieved May 08,
2008 from: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co
Jaime Usma Íkala, revista de lenguaje y cultura. Vol. 14, N.º 22 (mayo agosto de 2009). Contreras, J.D. (1997). La autonomía del profesorado.
Madrid, España: Ediciones Morata.
Chapter 3:
education.
Quality
of
higher
Council of Europe (2001). Common European framework of reference
for language: learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press. Retrieved September 30, 2007 from
http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf
Drucker, P. (1969). The age of discontinuities. London, UK: Transaction
Publications. Fleming, D. (1998). Autonomy and agency in curriculum
decision - making: A study of instructors in a Canadian adult settlement
ESL program. TESL Canada Journal, 16(1), 19 - 35.
Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (2007). Informe anual: America
Latina y El Caribe. Bloom, D.E. (2004). Retrieved May 08, 2008 from:
http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=137004
Chapter 4: Bilingual
Colombia.
UNIT TWO
BILINGUALISM,
GLOBALIZATION
AND CONFLICT
IN THE
EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM
Globalization and education: An economic perspective. In M.M. Suarez
Orozco & D.B. Qin - Hilliard (Eds.), Globalization: Culture and education
in the new millennium (pp. 56 - 77). Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press.
Carter, D.S.G., & O’Neill, M.H. (Eds.) (1995). Case studies in educational
change: An international perspective. London: The Falmer Press.
Globalization and Language and Education Reform in Colombia: A
Chapter 5: Globalization, language Critical Outlook Íkala, revista de lenguaje y cultura Vo l. 14, Nº 22 (mayo
and education reform in Colombia: a - agosto de 2009) Coatsworth, J.H. (2004).
critical outlook.
Globalization, Growth, and Welfare in History. In M.M. Suarez Orozco &
D.B. Qin - Hilliard (Eds.), Globalization: Culture and education in the
new millennium (pp. 38 -55).
http://www.mineducacion.gov.co Colombia. Ministerio de Educación
Nacional (2006a). Visión 2019
Chapter 6: School based violence in
Colombia: links to state-level armed Educación: propuesta para discusión. Retrieved May, 08, 2008 from:
http://www.mineducacion.gov.co/cvn/1665/articles10603_archivo_pd.
conflict, educational effects and pdf
challenges
Colombia. Ministerio de Educación Nacional (2007). Se inicia la
consolidación de la enseñanza del inglés. Press release. Retrieved May
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
08, 2008 from: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co/cvn
Revolución educativa: Plan sectorial 2006 - 2010. Retrieved May 08,
2008 from: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co
Hargreaves, A., Lieberman, A., Fullan, M., & Hopkins, D.(1998).
Extending educational change: International handbook of educational
change. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Hargreaves, A. & Earl, L.
Moore, S. , & Manning, S. (2001). Learning to change: Teaching beyond
subjects and standards. San Francisco, CA: Jossey - Bass Inc.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste, trans. R. Nice. Cambridge, MA:
Cambridge University Press. 6
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J.G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the
sociology of education (pp.241 - 258). New York: Greenwood.
Suggested
References
Cárdenas, M.L. (2006). Bilingual Colombia. Are we ready for it? What is needed? Proceedings of the 19th
Annual English Australia education Conference, Perth, Australia. Retrieved May 08, 2008 from
http://www.englishaustralia.com.au/index.cgi?E=hcatfuncs&PT=sl&X=gedoc&Lev1=pub_c07_07&Lev2=c06_car
de
Frodden, C. & Picón, E. (2005). El desarrollo de la autonomía del professor: un estudio de caso. Boletín de
Investigación Educacional, 20(1), 285 - 300.
Guerrero, C. H. (2008) Bilingual Colombia: What does It Mean to Be Bilingual within the Framework of the
National Plan of Bilingualism? Profile, 10, 27- 45.
Usma, J., & Frodden, C. (2003). Promoting teacher autonomy through educational innovation. Íkala, Revista de
Lenguaje y Cultura, 8(14), 101 - 132.
Usma, J. (2009). Education and Language Policy in Colombia: Exploring Processes of Inclusion, Exclusion, and
Stratification in Times of Global Reform. Profile, 11, 123 - 41.
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
4. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Unit
Learning
Content
Competence
Performance
markers
Learning
Strategy
Students use
Pre-knowledge
Initial
Evaluation
the rules of the
Reading about
about the rules
Grammar
language to
the rules of
of Colombian
Reading
understand
Colombian
what they read
Education
Education
in the course
N. of
Weeks
To activate
Evaluation
Evaluation
Criteria
Each student
students’
must do a
previous
reflexive paper
knowledge
no greater
and provide
than 2 pages
information
to show their
about the
point of view
rules of
on educational
Colombian
quality in
Education
Colombia.
Purpose
Percentage
25 points
5%
Chapter 1:
Major reforms
and changes
made in the
education
Students read,
system at the
understand
beginning of
and analyze
the 21st
the
century.
argumentative
texts about
UNIT 1
DEVELOPMENT
OF
COLOMBIAN
EDUCATION IN
THE 21ST
CENTURY
Chapter 2:
Main
quantitative
Colombian
Reading
Comprehension
Understand
of Colombian
and produce
educational
texts
system.
appropriate to
their reality.
higher
education.
concepts about
Colombian
Education.
To
understand
the legal
Collaborative
achievements
Quality of
theoretical
education.
and qualitative
Chapter 3
Reading
work.
framework
of
Colombian
education
Analysis,
socialization
and new
production.
Understand
and analyze
the laws of
175 points
Colombian
education and
how they
affect
learners
35%
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
Chapter 4:
Bilingual
Colombia
Reading:
Approaching
Chapter 5:
the
Globalization,
UNIT 2
BILINGUALISM,
GLOBALIZATION,
AND CONFLICT
IN THE
EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM
language and
Students
education
understand
reform in
texts about
Colombia: a
Bilingual
critical outlook
Reading
Comprehension
theoretical
concepts about
Colombian
education.
To
understand
the Bilingual
Colombia,
Colombia,
globalization
globalization
and violence
Chapetr 6:
and violence
School-based
related to
violence in
education in
Colombia: links
Colombia.
to state-level
Collaborative
work.
related to
education in
Colombia
Understand
and analyze
the laws of
175 points
Colombian
education and
35%
how they
affect
learners
Analysis,
socialization
armed conflict,
and new
educational
production.
effects and
challenges
Through the
Unit 1
Final Evaluation
Unit 2
Individual
Develop
Essay
skills in
Grammar
students
students to
Discourse
demonstrate
Strategic
their high
Analysis
understanding
Colombian
of Colombian
education
education.
Reading texts
understand
the topic of
High
understanding
of texts (see
the Evaluation
Rubric )
125 points
25%
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA – UNAD
Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación - Licenciatura en Inglés Como Lengua Extranjera
Syllabus del curso: Colombian education
5. COURSE EVALUATION STRUCTURE
Formative assessment is an ongoing process of gathering information on the extent of learning, on
strengths and weaknesses for which tutors can give feedback into their course planning and the actual
feedback they give learners (CEFR).
Summative assessment sums up attainment at the end of the course with a grade. It is not necessarily
proficiency assessment. Indeed a lot of summative assessment is norm-referenced, fixed-point,
achievement assessment (CEFR).
Evaluation Type
Weighting
Self – evaluation
Peer – evaluation
Hetero-evaluation
Highest score
Formative
Formative
Initial Evaluation - Phase 1
5%
25
Collaborative forum Unit 1 - Phase 2
35%
175
Collaborative forum Unit 2 - Phase 3
25%
175
Final Evaluation - Phase 4
25%
125
100%
500
Total