(further information can be found, in Spanish, on CUBR's website: www.cubr.edu.co)

a. Creation of CUBR and the Bachelor of Education in Rural Education Program

The "University Center for Rural Well-Being" was conceived by FUNDAEC as another important component of the University for Integral Development. It began activities with the B.Ed. in Rural Education program, which was connected in a conceptual and practical manner with the SAT program for two reasons. First, to respond to the increasing demands for the System on the national level, with the requisite quality and quantity. As the SAT students advanced from one level of complexity to another, it became evident that tutors were needed with a better understanding of the program’s content, a solid grounding in theoretical and practical pedagogical knowledge, and the capacity to guide his or her students in the processes of science application and community organization. The second reason, was to provide the SAT graduates with an opportunity to enter a higher studies program containing the same philosophical and methodological context in which they had been already trained, and to facilitate their continued connection to their own cultural and social environment. The first graduates came from different parts of the country—the majority were SAT tutors sponsored by their respective institutions—and were committed to a modality that allowed them to alternate their studies at CUBR with their pedagogical practicum in their hometowns.

What has just been mentioned should not lead to the idea that the B.Ed. was oriented only towards the SAT. Soon after its introduction, the program was organized to meet the needs of the teachers in the Norte del Cauca region and in three other regions where it subsequently became established via extension (in Risaralda, Antioquia, and Córdoba). The teachers needed to better prepare themselves and adapt to the new educational legislation (Ley 114 of 1994) which made it obligatory for teachers to have a university degree in education, while the majority of them had only high school specialized diplomas or were graduates of other disciplines.

In sum, the mission of the B.Ed. is to “train persons who can respond with dedication and excellence to the integral educational needs of the rural populations. In this context, the rural educator is defined as a teacher, a friend, an innovator, an active member of the community, and a catalyst of many of the processes of rural life.”

The program opened its doors to students in September of 1990, after having received provisional approval from ICFES (the national institution that oversees institutions of higher education). It received definitive official recognition four years later, coinciding with its first graduation.

The original B.Ed. in Rural Education program was well received by the sector concerned with rural education. Although rural necessarily implies agriculture and animal production—and the original B.Ed. program engages in just this,—many organizations like the Comités de Cafeteros, the municipal Extension offices, and the same SAT institutions showed interest in the offering of an alternate program that would train a teacher oriented much more towards the promotion of micro-enterprise projects, which would respond to the urgent needs to transform the local economies. Thus a new program was created at CUBR which, just like the first one, received approval from the ICFES: B.Ed. in Rural Education with an Emphasis in Agriculture and Animal Sciences (Resolution No. 1067 of May 5, 2000).

d. General Content of the Two Programs

The content of both programs is the same throughout the basic training cycle. The major difference is found in the degree’s specialization cycle, where emphasis is given to education in the first, and in the second, the emphasis is in education for sustainable production. The following diagram illustrates the five study areas around which both programs are organized.

Study Areas for the Two B.Ed. Programs at CUBR

The courses in both programs are called Investigation-Action-Learning Units, UIAAs in Spanish. Both their distribution in the areas as well as the study sequence followed are registered in detail in the corresponding syllabi. In order to illustrate the programs’ theoretical-practical focus, it should be mentioned that the UIAA Educational Practicum begins during the fifth semester in both programs. During this semester, the students carry out a diagnostic of their village’s situation—an educational diagnostic for the B.Ed. in Rural Education, and a productive-organizational diagnostic for the B.Ed. with Emphasis in Agriculture and Animal Sciences. During the following five semesters, along with the study of the courses detailed in the syllabus, the students become engaged in investigation-action processes related to pedagogy or the setting in motion of sustainable development projects. These are the semesters of the Educational Practicum. The last semester is dedicated to the documentation of the Practicum in the student’s thesis.

e. Specialization Program in Education for Development

The Need

In the face of the pressing need for educational alternatives for professionals as witnessed throughout the country, and their own expressed interest in broadening their vision of development and acquiring the tools that would enable them to become real agents of change, CUBR decided to create this Specialization program. It was to be the space in which to share the learning generated in the University for Integral Development through more than 25 years of work in investigation and action, revolving around the search for possible and necessary ways to use education as a motor to promote the integral development of rural communities. Among other things, the Specialization student engages in an analysis of the SAT program and its intimate connection to both the productive and organizational processes set in motion by FUNDAEC through the framework of the UDI.

Important aspects of the profile of the new professional sought include the following:

• Capable of defining educational themes so as to implement innovative projects oriented by a framework of social development.
• Capable of designing and carrying out training programs, consonant to the community needs he or she identifies.
• Able to contribute to the development of pedagogical projects in the development areas he or she considers priorities.
• Able to make scientific analyses of theories and investigations in the area of human and social development.

Course of Study