RHETORIC AND REALITY OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT IN CHILE A Multiple Case Study of School Improvement Policy and External Technical Support Programmes for Municipal Primary Schools Alvaro F. González Torres Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment UCL Institute of Education MPhil/PhD in Education 2016 1 DECLARATION I declare that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, including the author’s previous writing, this has been indicated in the thesis. Word count (exclusive of appendices and references): 88.027 words. 2 ABSTRACT Currently we are witnessing the expansion of performance-based reforms in education around the world, based on a global education reform agenda. In Chile, the policy framework for school improvement has changed because of modifications to the governance structure and the introduction of performance standards in the school system. This policy framework defines a performance-based accountability system according to students’ achievement in Chile’s national examination (SIMCE), and institutes external technical support as the main policy strategy for improvement at the school level. This policy framework assumes a decontextualised, technical-rational perspective of school improvement, influenced by school effectiveness literature. Based on a social theory perspective, I aim to problematise this notion of improvement by studying the influence of the Chilean policy framework for school improvement on the implementation of external technical support programmes in seven primary municipal schools. Through a qualitative multiple case study, I look at the rationale (rhetoric) of the policy framework for school improvement by inquiring about its development and implementation, and in addition, I look at the practice (reality) of improvement in schools in relation to the implementation of three distinct external technical support programmes. The findings from the case studies indicate that the Chilean policy framework for school improvement normalises and places responsibility at the school level, promoting an accountability-based, autonomy-driven, self-improving school system. Furthermore, the influence of the policy framework is found on the implementation of external technical support programmes, the narratives of school improvement that these programmes put forward, and the way these programmes contribute to the attributes of a self-improving school system. Building on this study, and supported with social theory literature, I challenge the dominant notion of school improvement, making the case for and conceptualising an approach to school improvement studies that looks beyond the technical-rationality of effectiveness. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ 2 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... 4 LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... 8 ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER I ............................................................................................................... 12 PROBLEMATISING SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT – PART ONE ...................................................... 12 Chilean school system: normative and institutional setting ............................................................. 13 School improvement, policy and reform ......................................................................................... 15 Research rationale: rhetoric and reality of school improvement in Chile .......................................... 17 Outline of the thesis ..................................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER II ............................................................................................................ 23 THE CHILEAN SCHOOL SYSTEM ............................................................................................... 23 Historical background ................................................................................................................. 23 Current characteristics of the Chilean school system ...................................................................... 27 Achievements and unresolved issues.............................................................................................. 34 CHAPTER III ........................................................................................................... 39 GLOBAL EDUCATION REFORM LANDSCAPE .......................................................................... 39 Current landscape: the global and the local ................................................................................... 39 Global influences on local education systems ................................................................................. 42 The influence of globalisation on the development of local education reform ..................................... 44 CHAPTER IV ........................................................................................................... 48 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES IN CHILE ......................... 48 Prescriptive and centralised improvement: 1990-2007 .................................................................. 49 From centralised to school-based improvement, and back: 2008-2011 .......................................... 55 School improvement initiatives: continuities, changes and problems ................................................ 61 CHAPTER V ............................................................................................................. 63 4 SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT ...................................................... 63 School Effectiveness, School Improvement ..................................................................................... 63 Critiques to school effectiveness and school improvement ................................................................ 67 School effectiveness and school improvement influence on education reform ...................................... 69 External support for school improvement ..................................................................................... 71 CHAPTER VI ........................................................................................................... 78 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 78 Research rationale and background .............................................................................................. 78 Paradigms in research: epistemological and methodological framework ........................................... 81 Research approach and design ...................................................................................................... 85 Ethical considerations ............................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER VII ......................................................................................................... 105 CASE STUDY ZERO: CURRENT POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT ........ 105 Researching the policy framework ............................................................................................... 106 Participant informants .............................................................................................................. 106 School improvement policy in Chile ............................................................................................ 108 Theory of change: How does the policy framework promote improvement? .................................... 122 CHAPTER VIII ....................................................................................................... 126 CASE STUDY ONE: SCHOOLS NETWORK PROJECT (PROYECTO REDES)........................ 126 Programme design ..................................................................................................................... 128 Researching the programme ........................................................................................................ 130 Participant schools .................................................................................................................... 131 Programme implementation in schools ........................................................................................ 134 Theory of change: How does the Schools Network promote improvement? .................................... 149 CHAPTER IX .......................................................................................................... 154 CASE STUDY TWO. LEADING HEAD TEACHERS (DIRECTORES LÍDERES) ....................... 154 Programme design ..................................................................................................................... 157 Researching the programme .......................................................................................................