Meanings and challenges faced by primary education teachers in the curricular development of the New Mexican School

Abstract

The New Mexican School (NEM) is a curricular proposal for basic education as an alternative to transform traditional teaching practice into an active practice based on humanism with inclusive, participatory and transdisciplinary character. Given this, it is important to assess the role that primary teachers play in the new curricular policy, the challenges they face for its development and the meanings they have built in this regard, which is why a quantitative methodology with a descriptive design and cross-sectional study is used. Primary teachers from the States of Durango and Chihuahua participating in postgraduate studies in Education at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional del Estado de Chihuahua (UPNECH) and the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional de Durango (UPD) participated. The survey technique was used with a Likert scale, with a Cronbach’s Alpha reliability of .977 and open questions. The challenges they face are the lack of continuous training, the change in teaching practice, lack of knowledge in the design and development of projects, disconnection of the school from the community and an organizational culture that does not facilitate the development of collegiate activities for the construction of projects. Teachers have not been able to internalize the curriculum and put it into practice due to lack of training. The NEM is very significant, however, they recognize important challenges in its development. It was identified that 46% of teachers have made changes to achieve self-managed curricular autonomy, an aspect characterized in those who have one to ten years of service.