Rural teacher Patricio Vilches wins Global Teacher Prize Chile 2024

The prestigious international award is organized in its Chilean version by Elige Educar, an institution led by UC academic Verónica Cabezas. Dean Alejandro Carrasco and UC Education academics Ernesto Treviño and Felipe Porflitt were part of the judging team for the different award categories.

For his outstanding work as a single-teacher teacher, Patricio Vilches, a teacher of General Basic Education at Cabildo in the Valparaíso Region, was the winner of the ninth version of the Global Teacher Prize Chile, Comprehensive Education category, organized by at Elige EducarThe ceremony took place on November 11 at the Municipal Theater of Las Condes and was attended by prominent authorities such as the rector of the Catholic University, Ignacio Sánchez; the Minister of Education, Nicolás Cataldo; the Regional Director of UNESCO in Chile, Esther Kuisch Laroche; the Dean of the Faculty of Education, Alejandro Carrasco and the academic Veronica Cabezas, who heads Elige Educar, the institution in charge of organizing the Chilean version of this award known as the “Nobel Prize for Teaching.”

In addition to Patricio Vilches, Luciana Ortega, a teacher from San Carlos, Ñuble Region, was the winner in the Musical Education category; and Nayira Belmar in the Early Childhood Education category, a mention that has been included in this process since 2024 and which constitutes a milestone for early education. Nayira works in the educational program for the family at Ludoteca Peñalolén.

UC Education's participation in the Global Teacher Prize

The Faculty of Education actively participates in the selection process for the winners of this important award, together with other renowned figures in the field of education and communications. Dean Alejandro Carrasco is a member of the jury for the Comprehensive Education category, whose objective is to award teachers from all over the country who teach any subject in the National Curriculum and who have a high command of their discipline.

In the category of Musical Education, the academic Philip Porflitt be part of the jury to select outstanding teachers who promote music as an educational and cultural tool for their community.

Since 2024, a new category has been added to this award. It is about Early Childhood Education, with the purpose of highlighting teachers from nurseries, kindergartens and/or establishments of any dependency, who contribute to the generation of environments and opportunities for learning and comprehensive development of boys and girls. The professor and member of the Executive Secretariat of Early Childhood Education 2030, Ernesto Trevino is a member of the jury.

In the context of this award, on November 11, Elige Educar together with the Faculty, and the Ya and Oportunidad Foundations organized the discussion “Perspectives and Challenges on Early Childhood Education”, an event in which the finalists in this category talked about their experiences, the impact of their work in their learning communities and in the comprehensive development of early childhood, as well as the challenges faced by the new generations of early childhood educators. The activity was moderated by the Head of the program Preschool Education, Carolina Castro.

The challenge of single-teacher education in a rural context

According to figures from the Ministry of Education, rural schools represent approximately 30% of the total in the country. In addition, many of them correspond to single-teacher establishments, that is, where there is only one teacher in charge of both pedagogical and administrative tasks. “Patricio represents the work of a large number of single-teacher rural schools that transform their community every day. It is a work that is not very visible but that is changing the world through innovation and love. Patricio is a tribute to our culture and traditions,” said the Director of Elige Educar and academic of Education UC, Verónica Cabezas.

In this context, the winner stood out in front of the jury for making visible the work of single teachers in rural environments and for using creative and collaborative methodologies in challenging and diverse classrooms.

“This award is a tremendous opportunity to make visible the single-teacher communities that work in our country. A showcase to continue showing these schools that we continue to do our work with minimal resources, but always trying to lift up communities,” said Patricio Vilches.

Patricio faces the challenge of teaching a diverse group of students – from first to sixth grade – in a single classroom at the G-47 El Guayacán Elementary School in the Cabildo district. This multi-grade environment has been the opportunity to employ a unique approach where the diversity of the classroom fosters an environment of mentoring and collaboration. In his classroom, older students help younger ones, and students with special educational needs find a space of support and understanding.

Source and photographs: Elige Educar