Over the last three decades, a significant amount of research has sought to relate educational institutions, policies, practices and reforms to social structures and agencies. A number of models have been developed that have become the basis for attempting to understand the complex relation between education and society. At the same time, national and international bodies tasked with improving educational performances seem to be writing in a void, in that there is no rigorous theory guiding their work, and their documents exhibit few references to groups, institutions and forces that can impede or promote their programmes and projects. As a result, the recommendations these bodies provide to their clients display little to no comprehension of how and under what conditions the recommendations can be put into effect.
The Education System in Mexico directly addresses this problem. By combining abstract insights with the practicalities of educational reforms, policies, practices and their social antecedents, it offers a long overdue reflection of the history, effects and significance of the Mexican educational system, as well as presenting a more cogent understanding of the relationship between educational institutions and social forces in Mexico and around the world.
David Scott is a Professor of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London. He has previously worked at the universities of Warwick, Southampton and Lincoln.
His most recent books are The European School System (coauthored with S. Leaton-Gray and P. Mehisto; Macmillan Palgrave, 2017); Equalities and Inequalities in the English Education System (coauthored with B. Scott; University College London Institute of Education Press, 2017); The Mexican Education System (coauthored with C. Posner, C. Martin, and E. Guzman; University College London Press, 2017); Education Systems and Learners: Knowledge and Knowers (Macmillan Palgrave, 2016); Policy Transfer and Educational Change (coauthored with C. Husbands, R. Slee, R. Wilkins, and M. Terano; SAGE, 2015); Roy Bhaskar: A Theory of Education (Springer International, 2015); New Perspectives on Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment (Springer International, 2015); and SAGE Handbook on Learning (coauthored with E. Hargreaves; SAGE, 2015).