Scientific discourse in educational research in Latin America: the case of Mexico

Abstract

In this article it is presented the state of arts of the analysis of the scientific discourse in educational research in Mexico, particularly, in the curriculum design and development research. The development of the research in the area of university curricula started seriously in the decade of 80´s.The scientific discourse was oriented towards the searching of models and methods of teaching and evaluation, of the best way of the implementation of practicum and the correspondence between the professional formation and employment in the national context. In the other hand, the decade of 90´s is characterized by the influence of international educational policies, the use of CIT in the teaching-learning process, the appearance of more competitive occupational market, where professionals should be inserted. The scientific discourse was oriented towards the searching of curricular models that guarantee the correspondence between the professional formation and employment in the international framework. Nowadays an integral educational reform (RIE) is taking place in Mexico where the competence approach is considered the guideline of the curriculum design in primary and secondary levels. Nevertheless, at the university level, different curriculum models are being implemented. This speaks about the diversity of the scientific discourse used in the curriculum research in Mexico.