Educational Policies in Latin America: From the Economic Model to Education for Sustainability

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the role of public policies in education in the Latin American context. By virtue of the above, it is intended to cover the following aspects in the development of the research: 1) Defines education as a public policy, intended, according to the theoretical references of Aguilar et. al (2018) and Martínez (2018), to promote citizen exercise under the leadership of the State, tending towards public benefit, interaction and interrelationship with the various actors of civil society. 2) Point out how in Latin America at the end of the 20th century, educational policies were guided by the changes promoted by globalization and by the guidelines issued by international organizations such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, strengthening the presence of neoliberal governments, outlining an economistic educational model (Fuenmayor, 2014). This reality began to change at the beginning of the new millennium, with the appearance of public policies proposed and regulated by Latin American states (Tello, 2015). 3) Explore educational management from the human and organizational complexity, insisting on the creation of social and academic interactions in harmony with the regional reality. 4) Promote education for sustainable development, without hiding the challenges of social asymmetries, violence and poverty, which must be overcome in order to consolidate a different educational model. The method used for the elaboration of the work is the hermeneutic-documentary. It concludes on the urgency of thinking about public policies with a future projection, capable of assuming the challenge of entering into social changes, in the construction of a sustainable world, where the active participation of the school and the university is essential.