Making teachers’ voices heard from rural Peru: practices of social justice in education in a neoliberal context

Winner of the BAICE Student Writing Award 2025

Over the previous three decades, social justice in education has become increasingly relevant to debates on globalisation, capitalism, and inequalities around the world (Zajda et al 2006; Rizvi, 2009; Taylor et al, 1997). In the Latin American context, neoliberalism has become hegemonic in the last 30 years with Peru adopting this model in 1991. However, neoliberalism has affected communities in distinct ways, creating further disparities between a minority who have benefitted from this model and more than one third of the population still living in poverty and exclusion in countries like Peru. Moreover, the neoliberal model has served to marginalise the voices of rural teachers and their practices of social justice in Peru.

As teachers play a central role in educational process, the Peruvian scenario shows that rural teachers’ voices who are engaged in the praxis of social justice have not been sufficiently heard at the level of national debates nor have they been part of large studies.  The aim of this blog is to discuss how a group of schoolteachers in rural Peru conceptualise and practice their commitment to social justice through critical pedagogies within the constraints of the neoliberal policy landscape. This piece of writing is part of my doctoral research conducted with seven schoolteachers from Cusco and Ayacucho (two of the poorest regions in rural Peru). This blog entry will reflect on the social justice practices implemented by three of these teachers for reappraising indigenous knowledge.

How to practice social justice in education? The value of critical pedagogies

Critical pedagogies emerged from Paulo Freire’s work in north-eastern Brazil during the 1960s. Freire points out that the injustices within education are not methodological or pedagogical, but rather political (Freire, 1970; Jones & Torres, 2010).  Within this scenario, critical pedagogies are related to the understanding of the relationship between power and knowledge (McLaren, 2002). Schools are seen not only as spaces of instruction or socialization, but also as a cultural and political spaces which activates empowerment and the self-transformation of students. In this sense, schools are spaces of both domination and liberation (McLaren, 2002). Through Freirean concepts such as dialogue, problem-posing, critical consciousness and epistemological curiosity, critical pedagogies seek human liberation beyond the educational field. Within critical pedagogies, teachers have a central role in challenging oppressive educational systems. For Giroux, educators must be “transformative intellectuals” rather than be reduced to the role of technicians engaged in formalistic tasks (Giroux, 2013). In this sense, Giroux (2013) points out that teachers should combine the mutually interdependent roles of critical educators and active citizens.

Within the Peruvian context, my doctoral research used a narrative approach to investigate the social justice practices of seven rural teachers. This blog entry will include the voices of Amaru (Cusco), Kuntur (Ayacucho) and Urpi (Ayacucho).

Revalorising indigenous knowledge through critical pedagogies from rural Peru

Rural teachers are promoting social justice in education through conversations with wise elders within their communities and the promotion of Quechua language. About the conversations with wise elders, Amaru seeks the collaboration of the broader community through walks and engagement with wise elders (“Yachaq”). The “Yachaq” is an experienced and respected person within Andean communities (Estermann, 2006). “Yachaqs” share their experiences and provide the knowledge to empower teachers, students and the community. Kuntur refers that the knowledge from wise elders is spreading among the members of the community to both preserve and revalue the indigenous practices beyond the constraints of formal curricula at schools. Kuntur shares: “we say that the community is involved with the school, we have a relationship with “Yachaqs”: they teach how to cook or embroider. But weaving is not just like that, it has its moments, the sticks must be baptised, you have to have a whole wisdom, the hands also know, not only the brain, but your heart also knows. We invite the Yachaqs, the wise ones, what we are doing with the children, then we invite the farmer, who knows how to cultivate the land, when to sow, look at the halo of the sun and the moon, those people who know should be called.” Through these conversations Kuntur is raising awareness of the value of indigenous knowledge. From Kuntur’s testimony, the role of wise elders as bearers of knowledge on how to cook, weave or cultivate the land is highly valued.

Urpi is working with storytelling. Within traditional societies, storytelling is an important process in which customs and values are taught and shared (Shank, 2006). Urpi has encouraged their children to talk to their parents and grandparents about Quechua language and their culture. Urpi shares: “we collected all the stories, the children used their tablets, they recorded their parents and grandparents narrating the stories to them. I made them listen to how their parents narrated so that they (the children) could narrate as well. Then I told them: now you are going to write it down. Then they narrated, wrote and read in Quechua”. Urpi conceives this process as creative while they are preserving their cultural ties. Additionally, she organised workshops with parents and grandparents in the community through dialogues to contribute to the communal calendar. The inclusion of “Yachaqs” as storytellers stimulated the use of Quechua language while preserving their cultural elements (Espinal-Meza, 2024).  Thus, storytelling is a powerful pedagogical tool not only to make children aware of their culture and social world but also as a mean by which social change is enacted (Coulter, 2007).

To sum up, these three teachers are bringing valuable practices for reappraising indigenous knowledge in classroom and beyond. Unlike individualism and market-oriented values of neoliberal policies, these teachers are promoting critical pedagogies among their students.

Conclusion

Neoliberalism in education has silenced the critical voices from historically excluded populations such as rural teachers in Peru. However, a social justice perspective in education is being practised by a group of teachers in Cusco and Ayacucho. Through the promotion of Freirean concepts such as critical consciousness, dialogue and epistemological curiosity a group of rural teachers is making their voices heard. The inclusion of wise elders and the revalorisation of Quechua language are part of social justice practices for reappraising indigenous knowledge. Finally, this  group of teachers are moving beyond technical roles to be transformative intellectuals (Giroux, 2013) in a context still dominated by neoliberal mandates.

References

Coulter, C., Michael, C., & Poynor, L. (2007). Storytelling as Pedagogy: An Unexpected Outcome of Narrative Inquiry. Curriculum Inquiry, 37(2), 103–122. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30054791

Espinal-Meza, S. (2024) Critical pedagogies in neoliberal times: teachers’ voices of resistance from rural Peru. NORRAG Special Issue 10: Education for Societal Transformation: Alternatives for a Just Future. https://resources.norrag.org/resource/900/education-for-societal-transformation-alternatives-for-a-just-future

Estermann, J. (2006). Filosofía Andina. Sabiduría indígena para un mundo nuevo. Instituto Superior Ecuménico Andino de Teología.

Freire, P (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, Continuum

Giroux, H.A. (2013). Critical Pedagogy in Dark Times. Praxis Educativa, 17, 27-38.

Jones, L & Torres C.A. (2010) Struggles for memory and social-justice education in Latin America In: Development in Practice, Vol. 20, No. 4/5, Achieving Education for All through Public-Private Partnerships?, pp. 567-578

McLaren, P. (2002). Critical pedagogy: A look at the major concepts. In Antonia Darder et al. (Eds.), The critical pedagogy reader (pp. 69-96). New York and London: Routlege/Falmer

Rizvi, F. (2009). International perspectives on social justice in education. In: Ayers, W. et al. Handbook of social justice in education. Routledge.

Taylor, S., Rizvi, F., Lingard, B., & Henry, M. (1997). Education Policy and the Politics of Change. London: Routledge

Zajda J., Majhanovich S., Rust V. (2006) Education and Social Justice: Issues of Liberty and Equality in the Global Culture. In: Zajda J., Majhanovich S., Rust V. (eds) Education and Social Justice. Springer, Dordrecht

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