Chapter 25: Building Communities of Practice: Support and Challenge Through Mentoring Networks

This chapter documents the development of an innovative teacher collaboration initiative in the public schools sector of the Uruguayan National Educational System. Uruguay, a small country in Latin America (with approximately 3 million inhabitants), has a centralized educational system and a tradition of excellence in education. However, due to a protracted period of dictatorship (1973-1984) much of its rich cultural tradition was lost.

Since 2005, a new National Curriculum spanning Grades pre-K–12 has been in place, trying to bring back the notions of quality and inclusion to education. Teacher education—provided by the National Teacher Education College through a network of 33 campuses offering undergraduate and graduate courses in education—has become a key player in the reform through its initiative which target collaborative partnerships across the different levels of the educational system.