“Study Plans” of the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Francisco

Transcription

257
Inclusion of the Topic of Risk
Management in the “Study
Plans” of the Universidad
Pedagogica Nacional Francisco
Morazan
Honduras
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Author:
Suyapa Padilla Sabillon, PhD
G EX
EDRM
IN
VESTIGATION
Professor of Marine Biology in the Universidad de Panama, professor at the Escuela Normal Juan Demostenes
Arosemena. Obtained a bachelor degree in Biology, specializing in Zoology from the Universidad de Panama,
and a teaching title specializing in Biology, post graduate studies in Natural Sciences Didactic at the Universidad de Panama, post graduate work in Superior Teaching at the Universidad Latina de Panama, post graduate
studies in Marine Ecology ate the Universidad de Panama, Masters degree in Coastal Ecology, oriented toward
managing coastal marine resources.
Has participated in various seminars as an attendee and presenter.
Training in Disaster Risk Management
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“Study Plans” of the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Francisco Morazan
EDUCATION AND RISK MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION
The aggravation of the environmental crisis in our countries makes it necessary to guarantee procedures
oriented toward creating a culture of prevention and management that is incorporated, from an early age,
in the common cultural of the current and future generations.
From this point of view, the role of teachers is fundamental for the promotion of awareness with regards
to the environment and to have an influence on the reduction of educational vulnerability, by elevating
the level of knowledge required to face the threats and minimize the risks. Taking on this challenge, the
Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Francisco Morazan of Honduras (UPNFM), has developed a process of
curricular redesign in which it has incorporated risk management in the training of future educators in the
entire Honduran education system.
Following a participative methodology which has incorporated educators and students, the UPNFM has
systematized efforts in to identify in the Study Plans of each one of its majors, the pertinent curricular
spaces, the specific competences depending on the area of specialty, the level of attention to the topic of
risk management in its different lines of work and the educational support resources that allow for the
attainment of the graduate profile according to the needs stated in risk management in the National Education System.
The experience has been developed over a four year period with a focus on investigation – action that has
been oriented toward the construction of capabilities of the inter-disciplinary team that acted as the promoter of the project’s vision and as facilitator of the technical procedures with a multiplying effect.
The achievements obtained include, aside from the expected goals, the lessons learned upon the challenge
of promoting a more committed educational community with the preservation of its environment and for a
truly sustainable social development.
I. SYSTEMATIZATION OF THE EXPERIENCE OF INCLUSION OF THE TOPIC OF
RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE STUDY PLANS OF THE UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGOGICA NACIONAL FRANCISCO MORAZAN
A. Justification:
The inclusion of risk management as a fundamental axis in the formation of teachers designed by the
UPNFM is a valuable experience that can facilitate similar processes in other contexts. For this, it is necessary to reconstruct and explain the process lived, emerging the different elements that were in play and
that are interpreted as lessons learned to improve future actions.
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B. Objectives of the systematization:
1.Record the process through which the topic of disaster risk management was incorporated into the
Study Plans of all majors of the Universidad Pedagogica de Honduras.
2.Identify the lessons learned from this process, from the point of view of the main participants.
3.Project future actions in the National Education on the topic of disaster risk reduction and management.
C. Methodology:
The following is a detailed explanation of the methodology steps taken to systematize the experience
of inclusion of the topic of risk management in the UPNFM’s Study Plans. The process has been based
on the critical reconstruction of the experience and rescues the most significant elements and the logical
sequence of the experience.
First attempt
Seccond attempt
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Third attempt
Fourth attempt
II. THE INCLUSION OF THE TOPIC OF RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE STUDY
PLANS OF THE UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGOGICA NACIONAL FRANCISCO
MORAZAN: DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXPERIENCE
A. Precedents
The Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Francisco Morazan, as a teacher training institution for the Honduran education System, was fully incorporated into the School Safety project, propelled in 1993 by the
Partners of the Americas Association with whom it establishes a line of work based on the Central Experiment (Primary Schools and Secondary Institutes) attached to the University. Pastor Umanzor is designated
as the direct liaison.
The components of this School Safety project are related to the identification of risks, the infrastructure
of schools located in Tegucigalpa’s neighborhoods and suburbs, the organization and training of teaching
staff to develop action plan upon emergencies and the preparation of the student body.
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In October 1998, when we became aware of the strong impacts derived from Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the highest political and governmental levels began to realize that the causes of the disaster were
primarily found in the high social and environmental vulnerability of the country. An inter-sector coordination mechanism was established and a “National Emergency Commission” was created at a Ministry
level which subsequently gave way to the “National Reconstruction Cabinet.”
Technical assistance oriented toward promoting organizations and individuals’ capabilities joined the
humanitarian aid actions of international agencies so that risk management would be sustainable in Honduras. “Health Net International” (1998), represented by Manuel Ramirez from Costa Rica, creates a link
with the Universidad Pedagogica whose University Board run by the rector Pedro Saavedra, organizes
and develops a “Institutional Action Plan for Risks and Disasters.”
Among the actions derived from this “Plan” are the following:
--Organization and operation of a “Temporary Shelter Center” in the UNPFM, in direct coordination with COPECO, for over 200 people displaced by the hurricane.
--Organization of a documentation center that includes the identification of the geo-environmental
impact from Mitch, for which students and professors from the Natural Sciences and Social Sciences majors, both of the in-house as well as the on-line systems, were put into action.
--Orientation toward the reconstruction and strengthening of risk management capabilities in the
“Social Educational University Work” (TESU) and of the Professional Practices of the different
majors offered at UPN.
--Development of a “Psycho-affective Recovery Program” in the communities that were severely
affected by the disaster, including Morolica in the south of the country. This program was developed with the support of UNICEF and the Partners of the Americas and was coordinated by the
Special Education major of the UPNFM. The first three “Psycho-affective Recovery Guides” were
created in this program.
The impacts left by Hurricane Mitch throughout the Central American region, set off a change in the way
that society, and particularly educational institutions, become involved in the topic of risk management.
Alas, in December 1999, the academic vice-rectors of 16 Central American universities approved a project set out to promote risk management in higher education, backed by “Health Net International.” The
UPNF participated in this agreement, represented by its then academic vice-rector, Lea Cruz.
Subsequently, the “Central American Universities Superior Board” (CSUCA), approved the incorporation
of reference indicators in the risk management training for future professionals in the “Quality Education Evaluation System” of the universities. Within this framework, in the year 2000, USAIF/OFD/LAC
established an agreement of technical support with the Department of Humanities, represented by its dean
Dr. Suyapa Padilla, to include the topic of risk management in the UPNFM curriculum. This project was
in place until 2007. 262
B. Context of the experience
The Central American region has been a frequent scenario of disasters that have left some pretty serious
after-effects in the six countries that form it: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
and Panama. According to some records, the precedents can take us back for up to three centuries during
which El Salvador has had to relocate its capital up to 14 times; the topography of the city of Managua has
transformed as has that of Guatemala and Antigua Guatemala. Hurricanes and storms of great magnitude
have affected every country, resulting in the subsequent human, economic, and social losses (“European
Humanitarian Aid Commission,” 2008), particularly in Honduras and Nicaragua, hit by Hurricane Mitch
and declared as a “regional disaster.”
According to the “United Nations Development Program,” Honduras’ vulnerability index is one of the
highest. The factors contributing to the country’s high vulnerability are its geographic position, due to the
many seismic waves, tropical storms and hurricanes, in combination with the increase in human settlements in high risk areas, the inadequate use and deterioration of the soil as a product of deforestation and
the inadequate use of the hydrographic basins, and the condition of poverty in the majority of the Honduran population. (UNDP, 2005).
In Honduras, as in the majority of the countries in the region, the first response strategies followed a reactive management model in the face of an emergency, based on the contingency plans primarily led by the
armed forces with very little participation on behalf of the civilian society and the ministries of education.
In the 1990s and within the framework of the “International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction” the
concepts are broadened and projects are developed in preparation for emergencies and vulnerability reduction, in which training for the educational sector is included and a key component.
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At this point, the national effort for risk reduction is incorporated in the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Francisco Morazan. The UPNFM is one of the two largest State universities in the country. It has two
central campuses, one in the capital city of Tegucigalpa and the other located in the industrial city of San
Pedro Sula, as well two venues in each one of the eighteen districts. In its in-house and on-line disciplines, the UPNFM enrolls more than 27 thousand students in two schools: Humanities and Science and
Technology, with a total of 17 undergraduate majors plus a broader graduate program, all of these falling
under Teacher Training.
C. Development of the experience
Description and critical reflection on the starting point
The inclusion of the topic of risk management in the teacher training curriculum at UPNFM is done in a
key moment for the Amendment of all the University’s study plans. The “Curricular Amendment Process”
represents a priority activity for the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Francisco Morazan since the year
2000 when the procedures for “Evaluation and Accreditation” of the CSUCA are incorporated.
The first phase of these procedures is the internal and external evaluation of the majors, followed by an
“Improvement Plan” which includes the redesign of the Study Plans in accordance with the recommendations established in the internal and external evaluations. This scenario is presented as an ideal juncture to
respond to the training needs in the education sector, detected through the analysis of lessons learned from
the history of disasters in Honduras.
Training for risk management is what sustains the need to carry out the process of redesigning the curriculum, it is what ensures that the future educator will incorporate it into his/her educational actions,
that they respond to a sustainable and integral risk management model in their work and that the focus on
disaster and emergency that has been considered in previous curriculums be overturned.
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The functionality of the curricular redesign in this topic is obtained with the technical assistance of the
OFDA and the responsibility of the School of Humanities, which, in conjunction with the School of Science and Technology, orients the process toward the achievement of the following objectives:
1. Guarantee the social relevance of the curriculum that includes the topic of risk management as a
fundamental axis in the different majors.
2. Adapt the curriculum to the interests, motivations and expectations of the communities, promoting an attitude of commitment and solidarity in the future graduates.
3. Sustain the curricular and learning development of risk management in investigation and field
work.
The fact that the schools directly coordinated the redesign of the study plans allowed for a more direct
relationship with the educators and students. This relationship helps us identify the following situations
which would otherwise not be detected:
--The topic of risk management, although present due to the events previously mentioned, was considered the exclusive responsibility of the Geography and Natural Sciences area. That is, there was
a very “physicalist” focus, oriented toward the description and explanation of the phenomena from
the point of view of its physical aspects.
--With regards to this vision, disperse knowledge had been found on the didactics of risk management, both on a basic education level and well as a higher one, which pointed to the necessity of a
methodology update.
--The knowledge of the threat and risk scenarios was clear for educators and students, there were
even studies conducted in some of the majors at both schools. However, a greater promotion and
dissemination of the knowledge acquired was necessary.
--The intra and extra-institutional coordination happened in situations directly related to disasters.
What was needed was a greater knowledge of information sources and technical support as well as
on how to systematize the organization for risk management.
The identification of these four contextual elements allowed us to generate a broad intervention framework, further than the mere inclusion of new content in the curriculum. This action framework was
oriented toward a “hands on” approach and created, along the way, an inter-discipline team with the new
paradigm of the topic at the same time as it developed the curricular redesign.
Description and critical reflection on the intervention process
The model that was followed for the development of the USAID/OFDA/LAC-UPNFM inclusion of risk
management project comes from the same intended objectives: to make the topic a fundamental axis,
strengthen the social commitment attitude within the future educators and train them in this new paradigm. In order to achieve these objectives, a participative and training model was developed, based on the
investigation-action principles, which allowed for the propulsion of a very effective and sustainable action
dynamic throughout the project.
265
The project included the following moments in its execution:
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Moment
Objective
Results
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Valuable work elaborated by the teams of educators and students was achieved in each step of the
project which was then incorporated in to technical and bibliographical heritage of the project.
All of this work supported the curricular inclusion of risk management as a fundamental axis and
facilitated the redesign of the study plans.
Some significant examples of the products obtained throughout the project follow:
Example 1: GENERAL PROFILE OF GRADUATES TRAINED IN RISK MANAGEMENT
Carried out in Santa Lucia, Francisco Morazan, 2005
Competencies /
Components
Conceptual
Procedural
Attitudinal
- Promote Community
Awareness Of Risk Situations And Threats.
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Competencies /
Components
Conceptual
Procedural
Attitudinal
EXAMPLE 2: PROPOSAL FOR CURRENT TEACHING AND UNIVERSITY SOCIAL
WORK INTERNSHIPS (T.E.S.U)
Within the Study Plan of the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional, the Teaching Internship represents the curricular area in which the student becomes a part of the teaching staff in an Education Center and takes on
all the functions of an educator. The training is complemented with the Social Education Work (TESU) in
which the students strengthen their social commitment, through different projects, and promote the development of the education centers in topics of community interest within the teaching scope of the students
of UPNFM.
269
The resulting proposals to be incorporated in the risk management axis within these curricular areas were
the following:
1- Organize and develop a training process for risk management, through workshops carried out
prior to the initiation of the Teaching Internship and the TESU.
2- The area of Risk Analysis and its components, scenario creation, priorities and solution proposals, are developed through the “Institutional Diagnosis” (Teaching Internship) and the “Situational
Community Diagnosis” (TESU).
3- The area “Risk Reduction” and its prevention and containment components will be treated
within:
-The Institutional Education project (Teaching Internship).
-The projects’ profile.
4- The areas of “Disaster Management” and “Recovery” are determined for the procedures and moments (stages) of execution in both courses which obviously depend on the nature of each project.
PROPOSAL FOR: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
1- The theoretical-methodological preparation is carried out through the following courses: Earth
Sciences, Environmental Education, and Honduran History, as they are the core pedagogical subjects for all majors.
2- The proposal that responds to the areas is the following:
-- Area # 1.- Risk analysis will be carried out in the Initial Professional Practice.
-- Area # 2.- Risk reduction - in the Intermediate Professional Practice.
-- Areas# 3 and 4.- Disaster Management and Recovery – in the Advanced Professional Practice.
EXAMPLE 3: EXAMPLES OF PROPOSALS FOR THE INCORPORATION OF RISK
MANAGEMENT AS A FUNDAMENTAL AXIS
Major in Social Sciences
270
Major in Food and Textile Technology
Areas
Components
Topics that may
respond to the
components.
Course
271
Major in Educational Administration (CAE-10)
272
Description and critical reflection on the current/final situation
As a corollary of the moments developed in the project, the risk management redesign proposals were
presented in the respective academic institutions in which the revision and final approval procedures were
followed in 2008. The main accomplishment was that competence in risk management was included as a
component of the UPNFM graduates’ profile in the following way:
“Ability to manage prevention and psychobiosocial and natural risks: Allows for a contribution
through education on preventing the population’s vulnerability of suffering any type of psychobiosocial
and natural risk, on a personal or collective level” (Redesigned Study Plans, 2008).
Risk management, as a thematic axis, appears explicitly in the curriculum of the “Fundamental Training” in all majors and in those relevant spaces that correspond to the “Specific Training” of majors such
as Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Special Education and Tourism and Hotel Management (See Attachments). The other majors include the topic of risk management within the methodology spaces such
as the “Investigation Seminar,” which is a part of the “Specific Training” which in turn complements the
advancements obtained in the “Fundamental Training.”
The Professional Practice in all majors also includes Risk Management as a thematic axis, which results in
the development of specific projects oriented toward this topic in all the internship centers attended by the
UPNFM students.
Precisely, the space for Professional Practice, TESU and the Special Didactics is where the training of
future educators on risk management has been most influential. This fact is reinforced by the regulations
derived from the Education Plan for all, that demands that activities of this nature be carried out in the
education centers as a part of their “Core Educational Project.”
In training terms, an integral vision of risk management has been consolidated in the team of educators
and students that have participated in the project. This team is of an inter-disciplinary and inter-generational nature which ensures that this paradigmatic vision will be translated into sustainable training actions
for the new generations of students at the UPNFM.
Creating an inter-disciplinary team may be a complex task because of the diversity of interests and
schedules. In this case, the procedures oriented toward the “Curricular Amendment,” having been set as
maximum priority, allowed us to find a common work space that integrated members of the Study Plans
Redesign Teams of each major into the “Risk Management Team.”
Stemming from the creation of the “National Risk Management System” in 2009 and the phenomenon that
occurred in Haiti, Chile and other geographical areas in the first half of 2010, the training element of risk
management takes on even more strength which offers a more favorable context for promoting the curricular proposals specified in this project.
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III. POSITIVE FACTORS THAT INTERVENED IN THE EXPERIENCE
--The political willingness of the university authorities to give the topic of “Risk Management in
Teacher Training” their full attention, was a key element for the development of this experience.
--The active involvement of educators and students allowed for the viability of redesigning the
Study Plans, both in its global vision as in the operative elements that were needed.
--The technical assistance obtained during the entire development of the project served as permanent motivation and as a guide for the conceptual paradigm of the experience.
--Negative factors could be the lack of sufficient exchanges with national and international organizations dedicated to this topic, due to the difficulty of finding common discussion, analysis and
planning spaces.
IV. LESSONS LEARNED
Many are the lessons learned from participating in the development of the inclusion of the risk management topic in the teacher training curriculum. We highlight the following:
--The change in paradigm in risk and disaster management is a complex task that requires time,
dedication, and, above all, conceptual clarity and political decision.
--We consider that any process of prevention, intervention and evaluation of vulnerability and risk
must be accompanied by training processes duly organized for the short, medium and long terms.
In the beginning, even though the need for change was clear, it wasn’t set due to a lack of conceptual tools that now sustain the new action paradigm. Once the team began acquiring the technical
competences, the proposals began to flow creatively.
--Incorporating educators and students jointly in this training process has been one of the most important and correct decisions as it allowed for a direct exchange of uncertainties and knowledge.
--Experience plays an important role in the conduction of training processes. Having had the
technical assistance and support of expert individuals with extensive experience in the topic, was a
determining factor in achieving the project’s goals.
--Intending to saturate the curriculum with objective and activities related to the topic of risk management is not effective. The best results were obtained through those proposals that were designed
on a “friendly” basis, meaning they incorporated the topic where it was most relevant.
--The training of educators is not an isolated activity. An inter and intra-sector coordination was
necessary to make the desired profile be effective in real-life scenarios. In this sense, the role of the
Special Didactics, the Professional Practice and all those spaces that required major contact with
the country’s educational reality, are the ones that have most contributed success possibilities in the
training on the integral competences in risk management.
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--The structural and organizational aspect, even though it has an operational nature, it also provides
training opportunities that must be taken full advantage of. We believe that even though we created
the “Committees” and established ties with sister organizations in the topic, it is an element that
must be reinforced in future actions.
V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The University, as an institution of knowledge and social advancement, must constantly explore new ways
of understanding nature, origin and consequences of vulnerability and risk in all its dimensions.
In this sense, we believe that some of the tasks it should undertake immediately or in the near future are as
follows:
--Continue to improve the curriculum on the topic of risk management, making the necessary curricular adjustments with respect to social needs and advances in science and technology, which may
or may not have been foreseen in this project.
--Continue training teachers and students in the emerging paradigm of integrated risk management,
with particular emphasis on the teaching of risk management and its psychosocial aspects, given
their importance in the learning process.
--Encourage research in all types of situations of vulnerability and risk; whether on a small or large
scale, as a way of predicting, preventing and properly managing risk.
--Extend this research to all elements of sustainable development associated with risk and disaster.
--Measure the impact of risk management skills on the overall learning process, through follow-up
investigations with UPNFM graduates.
--Maintain and strengthen direct ties with national risk management agencies and international organizations interested in the issue.
--Exchange and promote experiences and share knowledge with other higher education teacher
training institutions, in Central and Latin America.
VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to:
Pablo Cesar Diaz, professor of Social Sciences, for his contribution to the project through records and
photographs, and to all teachers and students of the UPNFM who participated in this experience.
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VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY
--CEPREDENAC. http:www.cepredenac.org. Honduras: Inventario de Desastres.
--Comité de Sistematización (2005). Informe Final Talleres de Gestión del Riesgo. UPNFM. Tegucigalpa.
--Comité Institucional de Gestión del Riesgo (2007). Memoria de Gestión del Riesgo 2000-2007.
UPNFM. Tegucigalpa
--Coordinación Educativa y Cultural Centro Americana (2009). Educación y Reducción de Riesgos
y Desastres en Centro América: Gestión del Riesgo. Colección Pedagógica de Formación Inicial de
Docentes. Vol. 50. San José.
--UNDP. Prevención y Recuperación de crisis. Informe Anual 2008. Tegucigalpa
--Ramírez Rojas, Manuel. Educación en gestión del riesgo de desastres en Centro América. Datos
Históricos de Referencia. ISDR Informa, 15. Las Américas.
--Vice Rectoría Académica (2009). Planes de Estudio Rediseñados. UPNFM. Tegucigalpa.

“Study Plans” of the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Francisco

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