Understanding policymakers' perspectives on teacher professionalization: Insights from Peru's Teacher Reform Law

• In Event: The Teaching Profession in Latin America: Education, Reform, and Policy Actors in Chile, Colombia, and Peru

Proposal

The professionalization of teaching in Latin America has been a focal point of educational reforms aimed at improving education quality (Stanton et al., 2015). The Peruvian Teacher Reform Law, enacted in 2012, sought to simplify the complex teacher career structure and base teacher selection and promotion on standardized evaluations (Choque, 2019). The reform aimed to attract and retain the best talent while tying promotion and salary raises to professional performance (Espinosa & Miranda, 2022).

Despite extensive research indicating that Western trends influenced the adoption of teacher professionalization reforms in Latin America, there is a lack of detailed analysis on how accountability policies were sustained and legitimized among policymakers. This case study explores Peruvian policymakers' perceptions of the Teacher Reform Law and its impact on public education improvement in the country.

This study employs a critical discourse analysis of memoirs and interviews with Ministers of Education from 2011-2021. The analysis of publications and media characterizes how policymakers discursively articulate policies and identifies the principled beliefs through which accountability policies regarding teachers are maintained.

Author

• Gabriela Chacon Ugarte, Columbia University Teachers College