2018 Rising Alumni: Angélica Montané Lores
Angélica Montané lives in Lima, Peru. After receiving her master’s in Comparative and International Development Education, Angélica returned to her home country to work toward major educational reforms. As Peru’s General Director of Basic Education, she leads a large and diverse team overseeing preschool, primary, secondary and sports and physical education in Peru. Angélica’s accomplishments include implementing curricula to meet the differing needs of rural and urban schools and piloting a new preschool curriculum. These initiatives have improved learning and addressed class, ethnic and gender-based equity issues. In addition to the everyday work of policy and program implementation in the Ministry, she has responded to various crises affecting Peruvian educational systems, including flooding and national strikes. Angélica says CIDE helped her make more sense of Peru´s education policies by contrasting it with others across the world.
Employer
General Director of Basic Education (until Feb 2018), Ministry of Education
CEHD Degree
MA Comparative and International Development Education, 2015
Please list any professional accomplishments you wish to mention.
Being General Director of Basic Education in the Peru Ministry of Education is the most important role that I have performed as a public servant, a key opportunity to serve my country and to use my previous experiences and knowledge in the best way. In this role I was the leader of the team of National Directors (Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education) and we worked with a shared and common vision with Strategic Goals. This team designed the National Curriculum implementation proposal with indicators starting in 2018 with 900 Preschools, 2000 Secondary schools and continuing with 11,000 Primary schools. With this team I also worked in the policy for Inclusive Education and implementing a service to develop soft skills through sports, arts and reading in high-risk districts through workshops organized during after school hours. 2017 was not a typical school year. During the first quarter 4 regions of Peru were seriously affected by the Fenómeno de El Niño Costero (Phenomenon of the Coastal El Niño, in English). The unusual heavy rains caused serious flooding and mudslides affecting towns, houses and 1,500 schools, leaving hundreds of families without a living place. The Minister of Education commissioned myself to lead the pedagogical and socio-emotional recovery for teachers and children, starting with the population living in tents. Basic Education Direction teams activated the Curriculum for Emergencies including activities, materials and manuals for children, parents and teachers. Later in this same year a regional strike in Cusco (a region in the Andes) escalated to a national strike causing the loss of classes, also risking the continuation to higher education by the students of upper secondary. My Basic Education team (by the Minister of Education´s request) led the pedagogical program for Class Recovery during a prolonged teachers strike. They created an online version program with videos and contents of math and language for all the grades of primary and secondary. My role was also to negotiate with the subnational authorities to overcome the political interests in order to work together in implementing this program for the benefit of students.
Please list any past or current volunteer activities.
2014-2015 - Graduate Students Program Mentor, University of Minnesota. 2010-2011 - Community Service in Rural Communities, Ancash, Peru, Antamina Mining Fund.
Please list any awards or honors from your collegiate, professional, or volunteer experiences.
2017 - Invited by the Dean of the Faculty of Education of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru to offer the opening words of the Academic Year. 2013 - Fulbright Scholarship for graduate studies. 2012 - Appointed by the Minister of Education as member of the Board of Directors of the Peruvian Institute for Evaluation, Accreditation and Certification of Quality of Basic Education. 2004 - Technical Achievement Award / AED - Academy for Educational Development / Recognition for extraordinary contribution to enhancing the effectiveness of the Academy´s programs.
What professor(s) or course(s) were most influential during your time in CEHD?
In the first semester of my MA studies I had two courses and teachers that really impressed me. They were challenging and gave me a broad view of education and development. Comparative Education with Dr. Frances Vavrus and Theories and Policies of Development with Dr. Greta Friedeman-Sánchez in the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. My advisor, Dr. Joan DeJaeghere helped me enormously with her questions and guidance during the period of writing my thesis. Analyzing two decades of national assessment policy and practice in Peru was a major exercise for me as a practitioner.
What was the impact and benefit of your educational experience in CEHD?
I have worked in education projects for many years. The experience in CEHD has enriched my reflection providing me with concepts and theories. Thinking about the relationship and interdependence of global and local education and education policies and development was exciting for me. My educational experience with CEHD helped me create a broad framework for explanation and interpretation of the educational systems. This allowed me to make more sense of my own country´s education policies by contrasting it with other experiences world wide.
What is your favorite memory from the University of Minnesota?
Walking around our beautiful campus, listening to music and thinking. Exchanging ideas with classmates about various issues out of the classrooms. Our meetings and discussions in cafes, walking in the streets or in the gardens of campus, these were priceless.
Who has inspired you the most during your career?
Children from impoverished areas eager to learn. These students sometimes have to walk for two or more hours in rural areas to arrive with enthusiasm to their schools. Their spirit, joy and smiles always move me. As well as their parents for their faith and expectations in education as a means for change and for offering better opportunities. They make many sacrifices in order to send their children to public schools. This is why I feel very committed to improving the quality of educational services.
What skills are important to succeed as an emerging professional today?
Critical thinking, creativity, team work, commitment and humility to learn from errors.
What are your hobbies?
I read the newspaper or weekly magazines. I am very interested in politics. I also cook, this is something that I really enjoy during the weekends.
How do others describe you?
As a leader with high standards, organized, also a team leader fostering work with explicit goals.
How do you describe yourself?
A committed public servant with high standards, organized and with strategic vision and having the capacity to make decisions by prioritizing key issues.
What's a good book you'd recommend to others?
A poetry book: El Río (The River) by Javier Heraud.
If you could have coffee with anyone from history, who would it be?
Mr. Fernando Belaúnde Terry, former president of Peru. I admire his trajectory as an independent professional who at some point founded a political party in order to serve the country. He traveled the whole country to have contact with diverse communities and to listen to their needs. He became president in 1965 and after four years a coup d´état overthrew him. Back into democracy he ran for presidency and won the elections having a second period as president from 1980 to 1985. Mr. Belaúnde was an honest and committed man with irreproachable moral principles and an enormous love for the country. I would like to have the opportunity to talk to him today and to reflect about our democratic history, corruption, sustainability of policies and social development.
What gets you excited about work?
The opportunity to have an impact at a national level. It gives me great satisfaction to serve the country contributing with decisions for improving quality and equity. To help with reflections from the field for a better investment of public resources in education. To work as part of a team and to learn from discussions with other professionals with different points of view.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a firefighter and in my adolescence I wanted to be a missionary serving poor people. Now I am an educator committed to contributing to people´s development through education.
Outside of your job, how do you grow professionally?
By attending Seminars and Congress. Participating in discussions, panels with other professionals. It is necessary to have a broad vision of social development in order to be focused in education policies and the sustainability of these policies. It is also important to me to follow other countries education development because in this global-local and local-global interconnection there are similar paths and experiences to learn about. I love to visit schools and to talk to teachers and, if possible, to attend to their classes.
What is a "fun fact" about you?
Every year I like to organize a beach picnic with a glass of champagne to celebrate summer.