Hopes and challenges for the new civic education in Mexico: Toward a democratic citizen without adjectives

Abstract

This paper presents the main goals and themes, as well as a critical analysis, of an ambitious new reform of Mexico’s secondary-level program for civic education. It begins with a brief historical review of the modern Mexican secondary school, as well as a thematic analysis of the new published curriculum and study program, which puts heavy emphasis on the development of democratic citizenship skills and habits. The paper then draws on interview research to highlight some of the challenges that national and local actors have identified for the program’s successful implementation. Because the new program espouses a progressive democratic pedagogy in the absence of a supportive democratic political culture, an appropriate structure of school governance, or adequate training for in-service teachers, many actors expressed skepticism about whether the reform could meaningfully take hold. Skepticism turned around two areas of concern that must be addressed by policymakers: 1), teacher training, teacher identities, and teacher hiring, all mired in older structures of tradition, convenience, economic opportunism, and even union favoritism and corruption, and 2) the cultural and political immaturity of the broader society to sustain whatever democratic habits and attitudes the school manages to develop in students.