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HQPBL Case Study: Liceo Pablo Neruda

By Tom Vander Ark — April 11, 2018 2 min read
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When asked where the most advanced approaches to K-12 instruction are taking place, educational experts often point north toward Scandinavia. Yet one of South America’s coastal countries is showing a forward-thinking stance that would rival the world’s leading educational systems.

High Quality Project Based Learning (HQPBL) has gained momentum toward becoming a national movement across Chile, and its impact is already showing promise in both rural and urban schools.

Preparing students for a future that cannot yet be mapped remains a challenge for educators internationally. And as the global world of work shifts toward and many roles center upon project-oriented engagements, HQPBL has become increasingly more relevant in K-12 education.

Our team caught up with Jeannette LaFors, advisor and consultant on several of Chile’s highest-profile PBL projects, to learn more about ongoing efforts within the country.

She described how one school recently showcased its students’ projects in an exhibition in a central square of the city, where students presented their work both onstage and at various stands. Some of these presentations involved live activities, such as solar-powered cars racing or a play that students performed based on a myth of the sun. Others explored photosynthesis or offered health information regarding sun exposure.

Some of the central questions surrounding the project were technical in nature, relating to energy use, how to power the things we need (lights, shower, etc.), as well as the humanity perspective: what is the sun’s role in our cultural identity?

If you’d like to discover more about the collaborations taking place with area schools and the consortium that’s supporting their work, check out our case study for insights and project examples.

Download the Case Study

This blog is a part of the HQPBL Campaign supported by the Buck Institute for Education and sponsored by Project Management Institute Educational Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. For more, visit hqpbl.org and follow @hqpbl #hqpbl on Twitter and Instagram.

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