Morphogenizing the study of educators’ activism for public education in Colombia: Some methodological considerations from critical realism

• In Event: Latin America’s pressing education challenges and possible futures: New privatization trends, public education for all, sociolinguistic tensions, and migration crises

Proposal

This presentation begins by engaging with recent debates in comparative education that advocate for a realist ontological turn within the field (jules & Salajan, 2024). In this context, I argue that Knio’s (e.g. 2020, 2023) recent contributions to social ontology, which propose amendments to Margaret Archer’s timely Morphogenetic approach (MA) –considered by some as the critical realist approach to social theory— have the potential to provide a renewed language and practical methodological tools to assists researchers in understanding contemporary educational challenges and tracing their genealogies over time. Notably, the MA originates from Archer’s research in the late 1970s on the historical emergence of European education systems, which underscores the thematic and ontological significance of her legacy in enriching this current discussion.

Motivated by this perspective and an openness to some experimentation, I aim to explore the potential of morphogenizing the study of educators’ movements and their struggle for public education in Colombia. In other words, I suggest that one way of advancing the type of reflection outlined in the previous paragraph involves revisiting existing research and applying alternative theoretical lenses —namely the principles of an amended MA— to pose new questions and devise alternative research strategies that could lead to new explanatory theories of interest to education comparativists. Along these lines, exploring the political economy behind the historical successes or failures or Colombian teachers’ unions push for a public education for all –a topic of significant interest in ongoing global education debates – represents an opportunity not only to outline potential methodological innovations but also to highlight their relevance in informing contemporary educational discussions.

The presentation will commence with a summary of Knio’s recent work, emphasizing how his proposed enhancements to the original MA’s —particularly by rethinking the interaction between fundamental material and ideational ontological principles that Archer’s work overlooked— are relevant for studying education ploblématiques in capitalist societies. I will then reflect on how insights from recent contributions examining Colombian educators’ struggles (e.g. Chambers-Ju, 2024; Diaz-Ríos, 2024) can, when viewed through the lens of morphogenesis, help delineate a promising new research agenda centered on the role of educators’ movements in influencing education policy reforms.

References
Chambers-Ju, C. (2024). Mobilizing Teachers: Education Politics and the New Labor Movement in Latin America. Cambridge University Press.
Diaz-Ríos, C. (2024). Translating Global Ideas: How Policy Legacies and Domestic Politics Shape Education Governance in Latin America. State University of New York Press.
jules, tavis deryck, & Salajan, F. D. (2024). Toward the (Post)Qualitative Turn in Comparative and International Education. Comparative Education Review, 68(2), 199–211. https://doi.org/10.1086/730517
Knio, K. (2020). Critical realist encounters: Morphogenizing the French régulation approach. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 50(4), 462–489. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12253
Knio, K. (2023). Complexity, trans-immanent systems and morphogenetic régulation: Towards a problématique of calibration. Journal of Critical Realism, 22(5), 790–812. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767430.2023.2264139

Author

• Juan David Parra, Erasmus University Rotterdam