Abstract

Chilean education is an extreme case of a market-oriented educational system. The Chilean government implemented policy instruments associated with this view for several decades. These policies entail privatization and socioeconomic school segregation. Teachers suffered the effects of such policies. As a response to the demands of the 2006 and 2011 student movements, the Chilean government (2014-2018) launched reforms to diminish the relevance of the market dynamics in Chilean education, including ending public subsidies to for-profit schools. Specifically, two new laws aim to reduce school selection in publicly funded schools and to improve the management system of public schools. A third law addresses teaching and teacher conditions by establishing requirements for teacher education and a new teacher career system. Based on a literature review and the study of policy documents, this Chapter discusses two aspects of the Chilean education reform. First, it deals with the challenges this change will face and the extent to which it moves away from the market model. Second, it focuses on the teacher reform that sectors of civil society and political groups consider essential to improve teachers working conditions and preparation.