Teachers in the Spotlight: Spanish Companies’ Influence Strategies on the Educational System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/reec.42.2023.34310Keywords:
education privatization, education marketization, Global Education Industry, new philanthropy, teachers trainingAbstract
The Spanish educational system has traditionally been characterized by the presence of public-private partnerships in the education provision. However, in the expansive context of the Global Education Industry (GEI), emerging actors are now developing new influence strategies. This paper analyses the free educational programs offered through the foundations of four enterprises characterized by being located in Spain and having a business sector different from education. The selection of the programs seeks to identify in the context of the Spanish school system the presence and the influence actions of businesses actors which don’t have an educational profile but that target their products to that sector, mainly teachers. The analysis of the educational products has been carried out through the three moments identified by Jessop within the Cultural Political Economy approach: variation, selection and retention. Results show the legitimation of the participation of private actors into the educational systems as the basis on which the programs operate, reflected on the absence of justificatory discourses; the focus of the educational products on school practices, specifically on curriculum elements (competencies, contents, teaching methodologies) and teachers training; and the use of economic rewards and technological compensations, courses and standardized teaching materials as main influence actions. As a whole, these actions seek to impact the educational system by placing teachers as recipients of their interventions, but at the same time they develop hybridization strategies through collaboration with public institutions. With their speeches and actions, companies build a system of market educational knowledge that emphasizes the utilitarian value of the education system and that has public institutions as collaborators.
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