Educational Change under Autocratic and Democratic Governments: The case of Argentina

Abstract

This study contrasts the strategies, procedures and outcomes of educational reform as they took place in Argentina's military autocratic government (1976-1983) and the civilian democratic government that followed (1983-1993, when the study ended). As the study points out, the harsh strategy of change employed by the military regime proved to be ineffective, even disastrous. During the democratic period that followed (at least until mid-1993 when the study ended) the participative strategy of change healed many wounds, but it encountered numerous barriers that significantly limited its effectiveness. In both cases and in a comparative context, the study attempts to explain why. With the support of a Fulbright Research Award, the data for the study were gathered in Argentina through extensive interviews and document analysis over a 5-month period in 1993.