Creating Classrooms: Supporting Front-Line Educators in Emergency Contexts in Latin America

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary innovations in education. In Latin America, the migration of millions of Venezuelans presented an emergency situation prompting organizations like Plan International, Save the Children, and UNICEF to consider the situation of frontline teachers affected by the crisis. What could be done to help teachers in the border areas of Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador to cope with the influx of new students (and all the challenges those students face) in their already crowded classrooms? This article discusses how Janaina Hirata, Regional Education in Emergencies specialist at Plan International, got Coschool--a prize-winning Colombian education startup focused on teacher training and social and emotional learning (SEL)--to be a partner in starting Creando Aula (Creating Classroom). The goal was to create a learning experience based in the real needs of Latin American teachers working in emergency situations.