GFFD AND FUNGLODE COORDINATED THE CONFERENCE "THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: TEACHER TRAINING AND CURRICULUM DESIGN"
June 2nd, 2005

This conference was delivered by Pedro Noguera, Director of the Metropolitan Center of Urban Education at New York University at FUNGLODE’s auditorium in the Dominican Republic. The objective of this conference was to present a number of guidelines to direct teachers and policy makers in how to design a curriculum that will promote the participation and involvement of students in the development of their own communities.

During the event, Dr. Noguera commented “the key is to apply a pedagogical methodology to teach the students that they are part of a community and that through their work they can contribute to its improvement”. Dr. Noguera aimed at encouraging the attendees to apply simple yet useful tools and techniques to make teaching more dynamic, interactive and more in tune with the reality of our communities.

Dr. Noguera’s visit to the Dominican Republic is part of an effort accomplished by the GFDD to support the professional development in the country and promote the level of discussion and dialogue in all sectors of society.

The entire audio of the conference is available in the following link (in English)

Pedro Antonio Noguera – Biography

Pedro Noguera is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University. An urban sociologist, Noguera's scholarship and research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions in the urban environment. Noguera has served as an advisor and engaged in collaborative research with several large urban school districts throughout the United States. He has also done research on issues related to education and economic and social development in the Caribbean, Latin America and several other countries throughout the world.

From 2000 - 2003 Noguera served as the Judith K. Dimon Professor of Communities and Schools at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. From 1990 - 2000 he was a Professor in Social and Cultural Studies at the Graduate School of Education and the Director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change at the University of California, Berkeley.