What is the purpose of our research?

Promoting civic participation is key to developing engaged and active citizens. The school system in Chile has developed multiple opportunities for civic participation, including governing bodies such as student councils and school boards. Nevertheless, a new conversation is required to explore the extent of meaningful and effective participation in these governing bodies. This is particularly relevant in societies with a neoliberal agenda, focusing on individual self-interest, competition, privatisation and passivity. In these settings, students have limited democratic spaces for conflict resolution and decision-making, only extending to voting and disciplinary measures (Errázuriz & García-González, 2021). It is relevant, therefore, to investigate examples of participation in school system settings and explore how they develop.

In recent times, Chile has undergone a significant shift towards neoliberal policies. As a result, educational institutions have incorporated a market logic – that is, multiple high-stakes measures and competition utilising managerial and disciplinary foci (Ascorra et al., 2022; Errázuriz & García-González, 2021). In this sense, the principle of freedom of teaching has been reflected in a varied school system determined by funding that provides fully public, municipal, charter and fully private schools. Fully public schools are publicly funded and administered by the Local Services of Public Education; municipal schools are publicly funded and administered by municipalities; charter schools receive both private and public funding; and fully private schools receive only private funding.

Our research study

Through our study, we sought to answer a crucial question: How do governing bodies promote participation in school systems in developing countries? Drawing inspiration from Arnstein’s ladder of civic participation (Arnstein, 1969), we employed critical policy analysis to explore civic participation in a unique context that has undergone an important reform to transform the school system.

Figure 1: The methodology of this study

Findings

We found three main dimensions that underline that collaboration is limited for actors (that is, students, parents and teachers) at the school level. In addition, power imbalances in decision-making processes are revealed, where, unlike school actors, adults who are involved at district level instances have a major influence on decisions.

Limited opportunities for collaboration: Our analysis of Chilean legislation on collaboration between governing bodies reveals that it is restricted to students, parents and teachers’ councils in municipal, charter and fully private schools. Governing bodies within schools, such as Student, Parent and Teacher Councils, primarily focus on internal collaboration among their own members. Few governing bodies promote collaboration between different actors from the district. These only function in fully public school districts.

Power imbalances: Despite varying levels of civic participation among the governing bodies, this may not always lead to significant roles in more extensive decision-making processes. For example, students, parents and teachers have limited influence on decision-making at the school and district levels. They can inform (or be informed), consult (or be consulted) and propose (or be proposed) only about their internal issues, without major influence at the school or district level. Governing bodies with major influence in school and district decisions are mainly composed of educational leaders and adults.

Besides, students in fully private schools have less power than students in fully public schools due to the lack of participatory instances in governing bodies. The School Board, a body that brings together representatives of all the actors in fully public, municipal and charter schools, is the only governing body that influences the school’s decision-making and includes representatives from students, parents, teachers and other educational stakeholders. However, the School Board does not exist in fully private schools.

Conclusion

Civic participation perpetuates neoliberal values in the Chilean school system. Although Chile has been immersed in systemic changes to promote equality, diversity, democratic values and participation, our findings confirm that despite some symbolic opportunities for involvement, the power granted to students, parents and teachers is limited.

‘Our findings confirm that despite some symbolic opportunities for involvement, the power granted to students, parents and teachers is limited.’

Our findings confirm that a key element of neoliberalism – freedom – has been taken to the extreme, jeopardising the development of engaged, participatory citizens. The legislation intentionally protects privatisation by limiting civic participation of educative communities in private-funded settings.

These constraints could lead individuals to perceive their power for effecting real change as limited or non-existent, potentially leading to disaffection with democratic discourse and civic participation. This disillusionment may negatively affect prospects for future civic participation and community involvement.

This blog post relates to a paper presented at the BERA Conference 2024 and WERA Focal Meeting on Wednesday 11 September at 9:00am. Find out more by searching the conference programme here.

References

Arnstein, S. (1969). Eight rungs on the ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, 35(4), 216–224.

Ascorra, P., Cárdenas, K., & Torres-Vallejos, J. (2021). Management levels of school coexistence at a middle level in Chile. Revista Internacional De Educacion Para La Justicia Social, 10(1), 227–243. https://doi.org/10.15366/RIEJS2021.10.1.014

Errázuriz, V., & García-González, M. (2021). ‘More person, and, therefore, more satisfied and happy’: The affective economy of reading promotion in Chile. Curriculum Inquiry, 51(2), 229–260. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2021.1915690