Innovation in policies for secondary school and the government of education of the CambiemosAlliance (2016-2019)

Abstract

This article critically analyzes how the concept of innovation played a central role in the educational transformations implemented by thenational administrationof Argentina, the Alianza Cambiemos, between 2016 and 2019. These changes aimed to depart from the policies pursued by the previous administrations of the Frente para la Victoria, within a context dominated by managerialist and neoliberal perspectives on the role of the State in education. This work is part of a doctoral thesis and provides an account of the reforms implemented in secondary schools under the banner of innovation. It examines both the curricular changes and the redefined role of secondary education. Additionally, it explores how innovation emerged as a guiding principle for transforming the institutional architecture of the State and modernizing the tools for educational planning and management of funds allocated from the Nation to the provinces. The research employed a qualitative methodology. Between 2018 and 2020, forty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with technicians and civil servants from both the national and subnational education sectors. Additionally, documents and secondary data were collected and analyzed. The data analysis was conducted by the principles of grounded theory.