The Paradox of Indoctrination: Evidence from 19th-Century School Curricula

• In Event: Education and State Building

Abstract

Math and science skills are important for innovation, technological progress, and economic development, yet countries differ in the degree to which they promote their acquisition. To understand why, we examine the political factors that shaped the design of national primary school curricula in nineteenth-century Argentina and Chile. We begin by documenting that the Argentine curriculum placed a lot more emphasis on teaching math and science than the Chilean one, and that these initial differences persisted well into the twentieth century. Using transcripts from parliamentary debates and other primary sources, we show that the initial difference was not rooted in a stronger interest among Argentine political elites to promote economic development or social mobility. In both countries, indoctrination of the masses to promote social order was the central goal of public primary schooling. The stronger emphasis on math and science in Argentina was, paradoxically, a by-product of the particular beliefs that liberal elites--a majority in the Argentine but not the Chilean Congress--held about how best to indoctrinate the poor to promote national unity and deference to authority.

Authors

• Agustina S. Paglayan, UCSD

• Jennifer Guevara, Universidad de San andrés

• Camila Pérez-Navarro