Reforming Schools, Disciplining Teachers: Decentralization and Privatization of Education in Honduras

Abstract

This article examines how teachers in post-coup Honduras approached implementing neoliberal school finance reforms with which they disagreed. The laws in question decentralize national public education and demand that teachers secure funding for basic school infrastructure and academic programs from private businesses. I show how teachers reluctantly engaged aspects of this legislation, but for their own reasons, and suggest that their partial compliance is illuminative of how teachers in other contexts may approach policy implementation.Este artículo examina cómo los maestros en la Honduras pos-golpe implementaron reformas educativas neoliberales con las cuales estaban en desacuerdo. Las leyes intentan descentralizar el sistema de educación pública, exigiendo que los maestros gestionen fondos del sector privado para mantener sus centros educativos. Demuestro cómo los maestros manejaron esta legislación de manera renuente y con fines propios. Argumento que su cumplimiento revela cómo los maestros llegan a implementar políticas con las cuales estén en desacuerdo.

“We’re in compliance”: Reconciling teachers’ work as resistance to neoliberal policies

“…However, "even when they reluctantly ended up implementing aspects of the policies, they did so for their own reasons" (p. 17). While we agree with the qualities of resistance mentioned by Levy (2019), we do not feel that the teacher is either partially compliant or partially resistant. We argue that agency and resistance live alongside and in between neoliberal policies that govern teacher's work.…”

“…As designed, in neoliberal policies there is a sense of always "keeping up" (Ball et al, 2011, p. 616). Levy (2019) identified a coping strategy where teachers engage in partial compliance. That is, they reluctantly engage in the implementation of some of the policies they deem beneficial.…”

“…Currently, this tension is described by Levy (2019) as "partial compliance" while "questioning policies of governance" (p. 16). That is, "teachers the world over will likely continue reluctant engagement with neoliberal policies if it is necessary to keep their job" (p .…”

“Part of Their Chemistry”: The Reproduction of Neoliberal Governmentality in Principal and Teacher Subjectivities

“…This is not uncommon. The entanglement of subjectivity and policy can result in “an uncomfortable pressure” (Valenzuela 2005, 177) to conform where even educators with social justice dispositions sacrifice or negotiate those ideals for adherence to accountability pressures through partial compliance (Jean‐Marie 2008; Levy 2019; Picower 2011; Theoharis 2007).…”