Universitas Psychologica
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
lopezw@javeriana.edu.co
ISSN (Versión impresa): 1657-9267
COLOMBIA
2008
Adolfo Perinat Maceres / Fany Tarabay Yunes
EDUCACIÓN Y DESARROLLO HUMANO EN AMÉRICA LATINA: REFLEXIONES
DESDE LA PSICOLOGÍA CULTURAL
Universitas Psychologica, septiembre-diciembre, año/vol. 7, número 003
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Bogotá, Colombia
pp. 701-710
Red de Revistas Científicas de América Latina y el Caribe, España y Portugal
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
http://redalyc.uaemex.mx
UNIV. PSYCHOL. BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA V. 7 NO. 3 PP. 701-710 SEPT-DIC 2008 ISSN 1657-9267
701
Educación y desarrollo humano en América
Latina: reflexiones desde la Psicología Cultural*
Education and Human Development in Latin America:
Some Reflections from the Standpoint of Cultural Psychology
Recibido: noviembre 7 de 2007 Revisado: junio 27 de 2008 Aceptado: julio 4 de 2008
ADOLFO PERINAT-MACERES** Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, España
FANY TARABAY-YUNES*** Universidad Centro Occidental Lisandro Alvarado, Barquisimeto, Venezuela
A B S T R A C T
Economic programs aimed at improving education in Latin America have
failed to deliver the promised results. The assumption that improving pri-
mary and secondary education will contribute to the eradication of poverty
has discarded that the culture of marginalized social groups reduces the
effectiveness of such endeavor. We explore the psychological aspects of
culture –the beliefs, values, and meaning systems of any cultural group. We
highlight how families living in poverty perceive schooling and its supposed
benefits. These attitudes are transmitted to children in the socialization
process. Another prevalent problem is the high proportion of adolescents
who drop out of school. We look for an explanation in their internal repre-
sentations of schoolwork and their motivation for doing it. We conclude that
cultural beliefs should be taken into account in the p