Abstract
In this chapter, we analyze and compare three cases of education policy formation in El Salvador, a country affected by civil war from 1980 to 1992. The three cases presented here relate, first, to the “Education with Community Participation” (EDUCO) program, second, to the policy for gender equality in education, and, third, to the policy to include the teaching of values in Salvadoran education. These policies began to develop in the early 1990s and would all be incorporated during the 1990s into policy of the Ministry of Education through the Ten Year Plan and, later, the National Women’s Policy. In the three cases, we address contextual aspects as well as the influence of international conferences, international trends, and a range of actors from the local, national, and international levels. In so doing, we explain how and why certain policy formation processes reflect “imposition,” “negotiation,” or “hybridization.” From our findings, we also: suggest factors that determine the dynamics of education policymaking, reflect on the ways in which policy formation can be more symbolic than meaningful, and, finally, emphasize that globalization is diminishing the predominance of traditional state channels with regard to the formulation of education policy.
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Notes
- 1.
To put these contributions in perspective, the total budget for education in 1992 was approximately $109 million (MINED 1994).
- 2.
In this chapter, we use the term policy to refer to government policy specifically (and, more narrowly, that of the MINED), as opposed to state policy generally (Krasner 1984).
- 3.
- 4.
This section is based on Edwards (2013b).
- 5.
It is of note that Cecelia Gallardo, before becoming minister of education, was an education specialist at FEPADE.
- 6.
It should also be noted that the MINED’s relationship with teachers’ unions was also dysfunctional, as these unions tended to support the cause of the FMLN.
- 7.
- 8.
Interview with INTACT12, October 19, 2011.
- 9.
While the EDUCO program was initially only intended as a strategy to provide education at the preschool level and in grades 1–3, it was subsequently expanded in 1994 to cover through grade 6 and then again in 1997 to cover through grade 9 (Meza et al. 2004). After 2005, even some high schools became EDUCO schools (Gillies et al. 2010).
- 10.
This finding is not meant to negate the vision and ability of MINED officials, for both interviewees and available literature have affirmed these attributes with regard to Cecelia Gallardo and others (Gillies 2010).
- 11.
The one exception was the 1980 conference in Copenhagen, in which El Salvador presumably did not participate because a special resolution was presented citing serious human rights abuses in El Salvador, against women and children.
- 12.
For a detailed explanation on the evolution of approaches to issues of women, development and society, see García Prince (2008).
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Edwards, D.B., Martin, P., Victoria, J.A. (2015). Different Policies, Distinct Processes: Three Case Studies of International Influence in Education Policy Formation in El Salvador. In: Brown, C. (eds) Globalization, International Education Policy and Local Policy Formation. Policy Implications of Research in Education, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4165-2_4
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