Subjective ambivalences of Chilean teachers towards neoliberal teaching policies

Abstract

In 2016, Chile enacted the Carrera Docente (Teaching Career) law, that expands the standardized performance evaluation system with incentives and individual sanctions to all teachers in publicly funded schools. This measure consolidates neoliberal logics to regulate teaching practice through the principles of New Public Management. This research, which is part of a broader study, was based on the conduct and analysis of 28 semi-structured interviews with teachers and principals of state-funded schools, identifies subjective transformations in teacher's resistance and adherence to the regulations proposed by the teacher evaluation policy. Consequently, there is an ambivalent discourse on the part of teachers who suffer and resist the effects of these neoliberal policies in their practice, but at the same time value it to the extent that they are seduced by its logics.