Alternative pedagogies in the context of current capitalist relations. A new Tower of Babel

Abstract

Alternative Pedagogies have been associated to the construction of a form of education involving the rethinking of educational practices through collective, dialogical, horizontal and emancipatory creation. However, this study aims at analyzing the validity of this category, as it is often subject to multiple interpretations and perspectives, and therefore, assumed to be intersected by polysemy and heteroglossia. Hence, it is necessary to contextualize this category in a socio-historical and political situation so as to avoid its use as mere rhetoric or conceptual mirage.The methodological strategy used in this study involves analyzing recent documents of Argentina and educational policies of San Luis province that propose innovation processes to update an outdated educational system with the new skills required by the world of work for economic development. This analysis is conducted using discourse analysis and a social historical framework to understand the context of the capitalist crisis since 2008, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. The study focuses on three reforms: homeschooling, educational financing through school vouchers, and generative schools. The analysis reveals that these educational reforms are founded on a conservative modernization process that hides neoliberal reforms, with efficientist, neuroscientific, and moralizing features.