Corporate reform and militarization on a large scale: external evaluation as an instrument for adapting schools

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the impact that external evaluation has on the plural forms of teaching and learning, on teachers' work, and educational policy, as well as on the militarization of education. To this end, documentary research was conducted to determine the central role that external evaluation, particularly PISA, plays in shaping the restructuring of state action, through changes imposed on educational management and the school curriculum. Based on preliminary bibliographical research, technical documents, and interviews with secondary sources, the processes triggered by the external assessment policy were analyzed to cover and articulate all relevant aspects. It was considered that this policy shapes the reorganization of school work and the formation of new subjectivities, without the state relinquishing its active role in this process. Finally, recalling the tragic massacre in Nochixtlán in 2016, where punitive teacher evaluation triggered social conflict, we considered how external evaluation significantly contributes to the militarization of education. This reinforces that, for these reasons, the state collaborates with corporate and authoritarian education reforms, using external evaluation as a means of applying pressure to implement these policies.