Resumen

RUANO Y RUANO, Carlos Roberto. Educational Reform in Nation-States with Pre-modern Traits: The Guatemala Case. REDIE [online]. 2002, vol.4, n.1, pp.01-22. ISSN 1607-4041.

In this article, an analysis of specific instances of educational reform failure in contemporary Guatemala is conducted in order to highlight the particular issues that must be confronted when formulating and implementing educational change platforms in the context of weak Nation-States with Pre-modern traits. Key among those issues is the careful analysis of the governance and organizational structures, among them, the parallel organizational structures through which real decision-making power is exercised as opposed to those which only operate in nominal or formal terms as decision-making channels. At the individual level the Loyalty Principle helps to understand how parallel channels of decision-making -which are located outside standard bureaucratic structures-are formed and strengthened over time. It is further argued that educational policy and administration in weak Nation-States with Pre-modern traits are not merely issues of choosing a particular manner in which to modernize or update otherwise archaic governance arrangements, but rather it requires solutions based on these States' internal social dynamics.

Palabras llave : Educational reform; educational policy; educational planning.

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