Abstract

The text evaluates the relevance of understanding the characteristics of the educational reform in Chile, in continuity with the idea of ​​a paradigm shift in public policy in education. In this sense, the article points out the importance of the student mobilizations of 2006 and 2011, headed by secondary and tertiary level students, respectively, as critical social instances on the basis of the generation of such change. The notion of "paradigm", coined by Kuhn, serves as a heuristic concept that allows to explain the phenomena and their impact. In relation to this objective, the situation is analyzed of the Chilean educational policy in order to account for its main lines of action. These axes show a state of crisis, as well as the need to solve it. However, the eventuality of reaching a solution to the difficulties of the sector collides with the starting point by which explanations are formulated about why the Chilean educational system presents these features. This is what is called a "neoliberal draw" and is what in our opinion, requires a change in standards of rationality.

Keywords Educational policy; Governance; Paradigm; Educational function; Educative Explanations; Social change