La educación técnica en Chile y Estados Unidos desde una perspectiva histórica y comparada

Abstract

“To decide where we are going, we must find out where we come from”. Under this well-known sentence, this article summarizes the historical events that have influenced the evolution of the vocational-technical education system in Chile and the United States since the early twentieth century. It compares both systems in their processes of convergence and divergence with the academic track, in light of different perspectives to vocational-technical education such as technical-functionalist, the integrationist approach of John Dewey and the theories about social reproduction. Vocational-technical education in Chile requires comprehensive and long-term policies not automatically focused on improving the existing system without first discussing the strengths and weaknesses of a different model.