Curriculum reform and the displacement of knowledge in Peruvian rural secondary schools: exploring the unintended local consequences of global education policies

Abstract

This paper draws attention to processes of policy implementation in developing contexts, and to the unintended consequences of education policies that follow international policy scripts without enough consideration of local histories and cultures. Drawing on a study of teaching practices in Peruvian rural secondary schools after a period of comprehensive reform and the introduction of a new outcomes‐based national curriculum, the paper highlights the way in which such reforms have led to a displacement of knowledge in rural schools that acts against an already educationally disadvantaged population. This is linked to the prevalence of highly performative and ritualised teaching practices that have emerged through a history of school expansion that has tended to follow imported scripts without much consideration for local knowledge. The paper suggests that policy makers, particularly in highly varied contexts like Peru, should attempt to understand local specificities and plan policies accordingly.

Keywords:

• education policy
• rural schools
• secondary education
• Peru
• outcomes‐based curricula

Notes

1. Source: Teacher Training Office (UCAD), Ministry of Education of Peru.

2. Details of the study for which this information was gathered (through interviews with policy makers) are provided later.