| Abstract: | The educational reforms implemented in various Latin America countries at the end of the 60's and early 70's shared a common desire to ruralize rural primary schooling in the search for relevance. Some reforms promoted differentiated content for rural areas while others, notably the Mexican, emphasized the adaptation of standard material to the local context through the use of a progressive methodology of teaching.Questions are raised as to whether the Mexican approach is any the less dualist for adopting standard material and whether it represents a viable strategy for the improvement of the quality of education in rural schools. The progressive model of teaching proposed is seen to be based on a number of assumptions of unproven validity, especially with regards to its ability to promote social and political awareness. In practical terms it is seen to depend for its success on types of teachers and pupils that are largely unknown in rural areas, and on a type of school organization that should precede any such reform of methods.More a philosophy than a practical plan of action, the progressive methodology is unlikely to act as an adequate substitute for more expensive but more determined policies designed to tackle the basic problems of truancy, drop-out and poor pupil performance. |
