Inclusion “in the Chilean way”: School inclusion in a context of advanced neoliberal policies

Abstract

The Chilean educational system has been considered one of the most mercantilist in the world, with a strong presence of private providers of educational services under a financing based on demand (voucher system). In 2015, the “Law of School Inclusion” was promulgated with the stated purpose of transforming the model towards one based on the public good. This article addresses the analysis of the justification and installation of this policy, as a case of transformation in a highly neoliberalized context. The results of two studies are presented. The first analyzes the official discourse by which this reform is justified and promoted. The second analyzes the specific instruments that materialize it. This is a way of acceding not only to the rhetoric through which such a transformation is justified, but to the concretion of this transformation from the approach of the specific instruments and procedures through which the law becomes operative by addressing schools And communities through concrete demands and regulations. The results show relevant tensions related to the persistence of the so-called school choice as a basic principle, and mechanisms whose effects tend to increase segregation.