Platformisation of teaching work: characterisation of labour relations and working conditions

Abstract

This article undertakes a first critical analysis of the growing platformisation of education in the Latin American and Ibero-American context, examining its structural implications for the work of teachers and the organisation of educational activity. In a context of expansion of Online Platform Management Companies, it is argued that platformisation transcends mere digitalisation and virtualisation, imposing commercial and algorithmic logics that reconfigure teaching. Four main models of educational platformisation are identified, ranging from Business-to-Consumer platforms to platform-universities, which share elements such as proprietary infrastructures and the transformation of teaching work. The study delves into the commodification of knowledge, where knowledge is codified and exploited under dynamics of ‘cognitive materialism’ and the transfer of intellectual property rights, and the precariousness of working conditions, with phenomena of surveillance and curricular unbundling. Particular attention is paid to the Latin American context, where these trends are exacerbated and where official statistics are scarce. It also proposes a classification of teaching work on platforms, distinguishing between ‘content producers’ and ‘teacher implementers and tutors’, and analyses their respective labour relations, autonomy and roles. The article concludes that platformisation constitutes a systemic, rather than merely technical, transformation that challenges teacher professionalism and the public sense of education, urging the need for regulatory policies and the defence of pedagogical sovereignty. Future lines of research on the teaching experience and forms of resistance are suggested.