Meanings of secondary education for teachers and students: Tensions that exclude?

Abstract

The research aims to understand the re-significations that students and teachers attribute to secondary school, as well as the tensions arising from their differing perspectives, rooted respectively in School and Community Culture. Grounded in Neo-Marxist Theory, the concepts of Hegemony and Culture as a means of reproducing it became central categories of the study. The influence of neoliberal educational policies is acknowledged. Using a qualitative methodology, the research combined Ethnography and Participatory Action methodologies in a secondary school located in the State of Mexico. The findings revealed that, although teachers are familiar with the principles of the New Mexican School (NEM), exclusionary practices toward students in vulnerable situations persist, thus reproducing hegemonic and elitist logics. However, critical voices also emerged, opening up possibilities for transformation toward a more inclusive and democratic education. The conclusions highlight that, although school is often a space for ideological reproduction, it can also serve as a site of resistance and liberation, provided that critical reflection is encouraged among both teachers and students. Therefore, it is recognized that the teacher can identify with the principles of the organic intellectual who, through the use of relative autonomy, constructs new subjectivities.