The Importance of Teachers’ Voices in Collaborative Research in Mexico

• In Event: Sharing power and vision: Student, family, and teacher voices in educational research

Proposal

One significant outcome of the UN Transforming Education Summit was a call to improve student learning by transforming teacher classroom practice (United Nations, 2023). Changes in classroom practice require changes in teachers’ pedagogical approaches. However, pedagogical reform is complex and multifaceted and teachers are often not consulted, considered, or integrated in this process despite their essential role in the classroom. Many reforms have focused on teacher professional development but have failed to create positive changes in classroom practice (Yakavets et al., 2022; Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Kay, 1975). Educational research often involves researchers and experts who conduct studies in and on pedagogy but without involving teachers in the design and planning stages. When teachers’ voices are excluded from education research design and subsequent pedagogical reforms, there is often resistance to change, difficulties with implementation, and/or disconnects between new policies and existing classroom practices.

Based on the Research Practice Partnerships model, an empirical collaborative research initiative jointly led by a civil-society organization and an international research institution, explores how mindsets, values, experiences, systems, structures, and other intangible factors - invisible pedagogical mindsets - in three states in Mexico ( Mexico City, Nuevo León, Yucatán) influence pedagogy in local contexts. The research collaborative has brought together educators, researchers, families, policymakers, and other education actors within the local education ecosystems to help close the traditional gap between research insights, policy formulation, and effective classroom implementation. The collaborative allows policymakers to enter a space together with educators, who are most impacted by reforms, to agree on priorities and design the research.
This research collaborative in Mexico is examining the impact of culture, education ecosystems, and learning theories on the implementation of active pedagogies in primary schools as outlined in the “New Mexican Schools” policy. The act of teaching is the visible part of pedagogy—the tip of the iceberg. However, less attention has been paid to elements beneath the surface that deeply impact pedagogical approaches such as culture, local education ecosystems, and prevailing learning theories.

The research uses a qualitative comparative study design that spans three states. The research uses focus group discussions and interviews to see how culture, ecosystems, and learning theories have influenced the implementation of “active pedagogies” in the classroom during the next two academic years in 3 primary schools in each state. The study focuses on the perceptions and attitudes of policymakers, school administrators, and teachers toward integrating “active pedagogical practices” into teaching in the three schools. It also examines the specific resources and support available for teachers in each region and the cultural, ecosystemic, and theoretical challenges that policymakers, school administrators, and teachers faced when they tried to integrate "active pedagogies" into their teaching methods.
Teacher participation in the research collective in Mexico has provided insights into educators’ daily classroom struggles, students’ realities, and systemic constraints teachers may face when considering their pedagogical approaches. The findings aim to help contextualize education policies, teacher training, and other support structures to meet the goals of the “New Mexican Schools” policy.

Authors

• Rachel Jordan Dyl, The Brookings Institution

• Gabriela Lozano Campos, Education for Sharing