For a long time, the school worked like this: Secretary of Public Education told what had to be taught and the teachers They were in charge of carrying it out. The curricular contents were a pastiche of knowledge that was transmitted in their respective class hours, without being linked to each other or grounded in the specific context of a community.
This resulted in a fragmented education and alien to the realities of the students. There was something called language and it had nothing to do with living things, the history of our country or the things that happened outside of school. Many educators, pedagogues and philosophers realized this problem. They asked themselves what sense it made to pigeonhole knowledge into disciplines and separate it from reality if we live in a world where everything is related and nothing exists by itself.
The concern eventually reached the state apparatus and is currently at the center of the project known as the New Mexican School. This is one education reform approved in 2019 that seeks to create an education humanist and comprehensive, where knowledge is intertwined and works together to address the real problems of the communities. Sounds great, but how does this translate for teachers and students? And how feasible is it to implement this approach under current conditions?
In the most recent episode of Constellations (you can hear it here), I talked with David Meza, poet and teacher at the head of a secondary school group. He gave me his point of view on this and other aspects to consider for the New Mexican School. And, although the desire for a radical change in our education cannot be underestimated, it is worth stopping to reflect on its implications, difficulties and opportunities.
A new school implies new profiles of teachers and students. The NEM requires that teachers math, biology and the other subjects get out of their comfort zone, talk to each other and use their knowledge to address problems in the place where they live. Students, for their part, are obliged to approach knowledge holistically, always applying it to reality.
I find it an interesting proposal, without a doubt. Even more so if we think, as I talked about with David, that the school has a very important role in training of people. What perspectives will emerge among teachers in these meetings? multidisciplinary? What will these students be like who will grow up seeing knowledge as something collaborative and under construction? Will the school have the potential to generate real change in the functioning of society?
I don’t want to err on the side of hasty optimism. Like any new project, especially one coming from the current government that is on its way out, it must be seen in a criticism and wait for its effects to be tangible to make a judgement. For now, let’s take the opportunity to think about the students and teachers we need today.
More from this author:
#Mexican #teachers #students