Failing to Ensure Social Justice While Trying to Make Teaching a "High-Status" Profession in Chile

• In Event: Latin American Educational Foundations and Multicultural-Bilingual Education: The Necessary Connection

Abstract

Objectives & Theoretical Framework
Worldwide, the last two decades have seen an increase of teacher education accountability policies and programs selectivity under the promise of more transparency, equity, and professional status (Cochran-Smith, Piazza & Power, 2013; Cohen-Vogel, 2005; Early, 2000). Following these trends Chile approved a new educational policy (Teacher Career Law) in 2016. This policy includes four strategies for teacher education: 1) a mandatory accreditation for teacher education programs; 2) a renewal of the student teachers’ national standards; 3) two national test for student teachers; and 3) national requirements for program admissions. This paper examines the underlying discourses about social justice in policy documents and their consequences for teacher education curriculum and admission processes. The author’s (2018) framework was used as a guideline to examine the information. This framework distinguishing among policy foundations; construction of problem; and power relationships.

Methods & Data Sources
Using frame analysis methodology, this paper examines the underlying discourses about social justice in over 300 legislative, dissemination and media policy documents. In addition, 40 teacher education program chairs from diverse regions of Chile were interviewed regarding the policy conceptions and implications for justice. Interviews were analyzed using content analysis.

Results
The analysis indicates that policy documents promoted more accountability and higher selectivity in teacher education programs as a pathway to increase quality education, teacher professionalism, and status. The idea of a right to education in the educational system was used as a motivational frame to promote the policy, implying that regulations will allow every student to have access to a quality teacher. This discourse is like the notion of redistributive justice (Fraser & Honneth, 2003; Young, 1990) and promotes single-minded notions of good teaching, teacher education, and student teachers. This discourse was like the discourse of teacher education programs chairs interviewed in highly selective and low selective teacher education programs in private universities. However, half of teacher educators interviewed showed a tension between the new selection requirements and guidelines for teacher education curriculum promoted by the policy with the ideas of justice and inclusion embedded in their programs. These teacher education program chairs, at regional universities, considered that their curricular hallmarks—related to religious, democratic or public values—were threatened by the student teacher national tests and standards. Also, they criticized that the national program selection requirements would work against inclusion because students from low-income or indigenous backgrounds would be less likely to meet the national criteria due to structural inequities. They implied the policy would work against their notions of redistributive justice and justice of recognition (Fraser & Honneth, 2003; Young, 1990).

Scholarly Impact
These findings would contribute to understanding the tensions in the implementation of national teacher education policies that promote “high-quality” education—based on accountability, standardization, and selectivity of teacher education candidates--, and the local teacher educators’ discourses and curricular proposals based on more complex ideas of justice.

Author

• Maria Beatriz Fernandez Cofre, Universidad de Chile