Interview with María Victoria Peralta, National Education Award of Chile. A video dedicated to the investigation of early childhood

Abstract

The media have highlighted after obtaining the Chilean National Prize for Educational Sciences in 2019 that María Victoria Peralta is the first Kindergarten Educator to achieve this award. In her professional career, she has worked as a Kindergarten Educator and Classroom Teacher in the Chilean National School System, as well as in vulnerable schools. In the area of training new generations of educators, she is recognized for her contribution to initial teacher training. Those who have been her students highlight and value her teaching methodology from a propositive, critical, and projective perspective. She has been the National Coordinator of Preschool Education in the Ministry of Education of Chile (2002-2006), where one of her most notable achievements was the creation of a national curriculum for preschool education (girls and boys from zero to six years of age). She has also been an advisor to the Chilean Government on early childhood issues in several Latin American countries. This in-depth interview reviews some of her contributions in relation to initial teacher training and addresses issues related to diversity, inclusion and the construction of citizenship in Latin America.