Límites y posibilidades de la mejora escolar en el contexto patagónico chileno: el caso de las escuelas de la Comuna de Coyhaique, Región de Aysén, Chile

This article illustrates the limits and possibilities of change processes in municipal schools in the Coyhaique commune, in Chilean Patagonia. Using the theoretical constructs on school improvement and the experiences of teachers / managers of the Coyhaique commune, a qualitative analysis is carried out on the change processes that are developed in these educational institutions when implementing an educational improvement, in this specific case , the intervention of a teacher training program and managerial skills [2] (AECID Coyhaique Project). The objective of this work is to show the institutional and contextual conditions that the school, through managers and teachers, values ​​as important to achieve educational change. The data from interviews with directors / teachers of nine municipal schools in Coyhaique, executed from a socio-anthropological approach, describe the local characteristics when it comes to institutional improvement and the existing distance from the theories that explain educational change. The analysis concludes that there are factors which favor the processes of change in educational organizations, which are also common for schools located in the Patagonian context, such as: surveying the processes and results of teaching as the main focus, promoting spaces for shared reflection, thinking of the educational institution as a place for organizing and training teachers, and opening the school to the outside world. However, its effects vary as they interact with other contextual variables such as geographic location, sociocultural conditions, and the rigidity of Chilean regulations on education.