Educational Innovation and Curriculum Reform in Mexico

Abstract

In the implementation of curriculum reform reaching across the Mexican educational system, the term innovation has been the key factor associated with the design and implementation of new curriculum models and the implementation of alternative teaching methods. The claimed innovation is intended to meet the demands facing Mexican education to a complex and increasingly globalized society. However, the incorporation of certain innovative models (curricular flexibility, competency-based education, learner-centered curriculum, incorporating ICT in education, among others) comes not only from the apparent need for change and quality improvement educational, but is based on a series of international trends in education reform. The most recent reforms have been driven by policies emanating from national and international organizations not only in the education sector, but the economic and business environment, with a clear dependence on the proposals to evaluation linked to education funding. Recent studies found that innovation is not encouraged and that systemic changes involved in education, teachers and students, have experienced significant tensions in the process of appropriation of curricular innovations.