In the past two decades, the interdisciplinary push to denaturalise the concept of society has historicised the very object of social history. In this paper, I propose a way of studying the social history of education that eludes the presupposition of the social as a transcendental or pre-discursive object. My central claim is that it is possible…

There is now an extensive body of research concerning the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and its recent additions and variations. Despite this, we argue that there is a paucity of theory-informed empirical research on the ways in which the PISA results about a nation's education system both circulate within, and are…

This paper reports on the family language policy (FLP) of three families in a Nahuatl community in Mexico. It investigates the role of: (1) parental experiences, beliefs, attitudes and expectations; (2) child practices; and (3) broader societal attitudes in shaping these policies. Drawing on survey and interview data, the study points to a tension…

Background/Context: This article is part of a broader investigation of the sociocultural history of rural education in Mexico that focuses on federally financed "social experiments," the main purpose of which was to find "effective" methods to educate and "civilize" the rural population, especially Indigenous people.…

National education policies often emerge from the global arena. These global policy norms hold the promise that reforms will produce similar education and development outcomes in different contexts. However, research on "how" and "why" global education reforms are practised 'on the ground' and with "what effects" is…

Do assimilationist restrictions on a minority language lead to greater national unity or a more rebellious minority population? Under what conditions might short-term backlash to language assimilation evolve into greater national unity in the long term? While much of the literature on ethnic politics implicitly treats language simply as an…

A "worldization" process of the education system started during the later years of the last millennia. This movement has been strengthened through the participation of supranational organizations, in which their recommendations have served as the source of guidance in the definition of educational policies of the associated countries.…

This paper explores "pedagogies of resistance"--or critical and democratic educational models utilized by social movements--and how global examples of engaged educational praxis may inform peace education. The central inquiry of this article is "How can educational projects that resist larger social, political and economic…

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the determinants of the current state of the ELT field in Mexican contexts. In particular, it explores the ways in which diverse social and political factors hamper the successful implementation of national and institutional ELT policies. Drawing on a case study carried out throughout a period of five years,…

The reflections presented in this article include the process of incorporating women teachers into schools during the post-revolutionary period in Mexico. From one standpoint, women teachers lived in a state of ambiguity throughout this period because they were seen as symbols of national reconstruction following a war that left more than one…

During most of the twentieth century, Mexico was governed by one of the longest-ruling authoritarian parties in the contemporary world. Even as most Latin American countries democratized in the 1980s, Mexico remained under the control of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). It was not until the 2000 presidential election that a two-party…

During the interwar period, California's labor-intensive agriculture transitioned from reliance on diverse immigrants to preference for Mexicans. Political movements to restrict immigration, the Great Depression, and labor unrest compelled farm employers to search for labor that could be used flexibly and deported easily. To achieve this…

The paper contributes to the debate on the implementation of policy reforms developing a typology for implementation based on the initial agreement on means and goals at the time of reform design. It is argued that the volume and nature of knowledge gathering and stakeholder involvement required to gain approval of a policy and avoid the…

"Dancing with the Devil and Other Stories My Mother Told Me" is an analysis of the history and growth of a popular folktale genre that developed during the 15th century in Mexico and has persisted over time throughout the Southwest. The oral tradition and the telling of folktales are means by which the cultural traditions of people of…

This article presents the rich history of community psychology in Latin America, describing how the field was systematically built during the second half of the 20th century. Discussed are social and political influences such as the critique of individualistic emphasis dominant at that moment, Paulo Freire's popular education, critical sociology…