Learning to Teach in Mexico: A Review of Policy and Research

• In Event: A Cross-National Examination of Knowledge, Policy, and Practice in Learning to Teach: Part II

Abstract

1.Objectives or purposes
This paper introduces historical and research trends in the education of teachers in Mexico since the time of the formation of the Normal School for Teachers back in the 1800s. The preparation of teachers in Mexico has been centrally controlled by the Ministry of Education in close alliance with the Teachers’ Union both imposing a rigid policy that has kept the system basically unchanged since its beginnings. Challenges and changes started in 1978 with the creation of the National Pedagogical University, and in 1984 with the decision to keep the Normal School structure to prepare basic education teachers yet introducing more years of study, and the award of a higher education credential. These reforms were followed by the introduction of a National Exam of Knowledge and Skills for Teaching (2010-2011) revealing that close-to 75% of graduating teachers were under-qualified. The results of this exam have resulted in a number of reforms including the introduction of a rigorous system of teacher evaluation, and other changes directed at altering the design of teacher preparation. A key purpose of the paper will be to examine the explicit and implicit theories behind these recent policy changes.

2.Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
The paper comprises a review of the recent policy literature on teacher education, and a review of empirical research on teacher education. First, the paper focuses on the historical evolution of policy in the country (Aranaut, 2004; Figueroa-Millán, 2000), the conceptions on preparing teachers with a particular focus, and on how these developments inform recent reviews of teacher education. Second, the paper reviews the empirical research on teacher education in Mexico and discusses implications for teachers’ knowledge.

3.Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
The paper combines both a discourse analysis of policy, employing Ball’s policy cycle (Ball, 1994) and utilizes the framework developed by this IRN which follows the standards for reviews of empirical research.

4.Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
The main data sources are the recent major teacher education guidelines/regulations policy documents in Mexico, and subsequent reviews, and research publications on the relationship between policy and its effects on teacher education and teacher knowledge.

5. Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
Preliminary work suggests that there are a number of common features: continued persistence of the Normal Schools for Teachers as the principal model of teacher education, significant move toward system rationalization in order to build stronger accountability systems for teaching and teacher education, and the role of major international reports in shaping the educational discourse within Mexico, and which has begun to open the dialogue on teacher education quality.

6.Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
The review of the empirical research evidence reviewed in this paper explores how research has served (or not) to inform policy and practice. A number of questions will be raised in terms of how policy supports or hinders what and how teachers learn and how they are expected to teach.

Author

• Maria Teresa Tatto, Michigan State University