Mechanisms of educational influence in a Popular Pre-University of Santiago: control of learning and equity in higher education

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of a popular preparatory school to Universities’ admission exams in developing equity access to Chilean Higher Education from the instructional psychology and the social constructivism perspective. The transference of control and the responsibility of the learning process from the teacher to the student are described as an educational influence mechanism in two didactic sequences of evaluated themes in the ‘University Selection Exam’: Mathematics and Language. The sample was directed and constituted by a group of graduates from Technical High Schools that attended a popular preparatory school to Universities’ admission exams during 2011. The data was collected through observations and classes audio records, which were analyzed according to segments of interactivity and performances. Similarities and differences between teaching sequences studied were observed, as well as indicators of this mechanism, which are crucial for greater educational equity.