Desegregation reforms and democratic learning in contexts of academic excellence

• In Event: Education Policy, Democracy and Reform (I)

Proposal

This paper explores the implementation of desegregation school reforms in a key case of social inequality worldwide: Chile, currently the third most unequal country within the OECD.

Since the beginning of the 2000s and especially in 2011, Chile has witnessed a series of protests, first led by secondary students and then also by graduate students. The main critique of the so-called Student Revolution has focused on inequality and the introduction of market-driven policies in education. They demanded an education system understood as a social right. Acknowledging these student demands, one of the declared aims of the second government of socialist Michelle Bachelet (2014-2018) was to remove the market from education, thereby defining education as a social right and reducing segregation. As a result, a series of reforms were applied. A crucial one is the Educational Inclusion Law, enacted in 2015, and, with this, a new School Admission System (SAE, in Spanish) consisting of a lottery-based online system where families apply to schools under a free school choice policy. Consequently, all types of selection in the admission processes started to be forbidden in those schools receiving state funding (which concentrate approximately 90% of the national enrolments). The aim of the Inclusion Law and SAE is to eliminate arbitrary discrimination to reduce segregation and increase social diversity in schools as a way to encourage encounters amongst students from different socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic, gender, nationality and religious conditions. An important assumption of this policy is that socially heterogeneous relationships at the school promote democratic education, that is, learning values and attitudes to live with others, i.e., respect and tolerance.

This paper draws on a study focused on a small subset of secondary schools categorised as ‘Schools with High Academic Standards’ (SHAS). Traditionally, the SHAS have a reputation for offering an above-average quality education, oriented towards admission to higher education, using demanding admission mechanisms that allow the recruitment of students with high academic performance. In recognition of their exceptionality, the Inclusion Law allows the SHAS to continue some degree of academic selectivity to keep their academic excellence while slowly incorporating open admissions to include students from more diverse social backgrounds without considering their previous academic records (since 2021, only 30% of their vacancies are allowed to be admitted through academic selection mechanisms).

Internationally, the study of SHAS has tended to focus on the effect that attending these schools has on the students’ academic performance, measured through their results in standardised tests, graduation rates or level of segregation (e.g., González and Valenzuela, 2016; Gorard and Siddiqui, 2016; Quaresma and Orellana, 2016). However, only a few studies adopt a more comprehensive approach to address the students’ educational experiences (Pop-Eleches & Urquiola, 2013; Quaresma et al., 2016a; Quaresma et al., 2016b; Rao, 2013). Therefore, our study addresses educational results in a broad sense that reflects the comprehensive nature of educational experiences. This includes not only individual academic performance but also the development of socio-educational aspects (Aincow, 2002; Bischoff, 2016). Given that the SHAS’s priority has traditionally been academic results, we wonder whether this is achieved without neglecting other areas of development. Specifically, this paper explores the experiences of the students and the strategies and adjustments implemented and/or projected by these schools’ members of staff, given the implementation of SAE, to understand how the SHAS are adapting to more socially diverse students while trying to keep high academic results.

The paper’s theoretical framework dialogues with studies about inclusion and social diversity in schools (school mix), which show that this may promote cultural exchange and democratic learning among students (Janmaat, 2022). However, these benefits are not guaranteed and depend on the school's pedagogic and institutional strategies (Thrupp et al., 2002). Thus, it is necessary to avoid a romanticised conceptualisation of social diversity as ‘happy togetherness’ (Wise & Noble, 2016) and rather explore how school actors in SHAS are experiencing inclusion and diversity while trying to keep high academic results.

The study deploys a mixed methods research strategy. This paper focuses on the qualitative component. In 2022, we conducted in-depth interviews with headteachers, deputy headteachers, teachers, conviviality deputies, students, and parents at 15 SHAS in Chile (out of a total of 34). We inquired about the pedagogical and training strategies being applied, for example, (i) the modalities of student course allocation, (ii) pedagogical and (iii) psychological support devices, (iv) the work with parents and the (v) use of extracurricular training instances. We also investigated the perspectives of the interviewees regarding the (vi) Inclusion Law and the main difficulties experienced, and (vii) the educational and institutional challenges and adaptations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The analyses reveal that while there is an extended appreciation of school mix, this is perceived as producing coexistence challenges that jeopardise the development of democratic learning. The paper analyses the schools’ strategies to cope with these challenges and concludes with a discussion on the feasibility of desegregation policies in environments of academic excellence, an important challenge for school systems in transit of desegregation, such as the Chilean one.

Authors

• Manuela Ji Mendoza Mendoza Horvitz, Universidad de O'Higgins

• Ngaire Noelle Honey, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile