Redefinitions of Meritocracy in Educational Policies for Secondary School Change in Argentina.
In Argentina, the historical configuration of the education system and the different waves of massification contributed to the expansion of education access and to the production of new social inequalities linked to the distribution and hoarding of cultural goods. Within the framework of this double function, the state educational structure allowed the consolidation of a broad middle class constituted from processes of intergenerational upward social mobility through, among other factors, access to free state education, particularly university education. In this process, the secondary level was a crucial link in the chain, since, with its propaedeutic origin, it selected the elite -inheritors and fellows- to continue their university studies.
In 2006, secondary education became compulsory. From that moment on, the challenges faced by public education policies that seek to modify selective practices can be seen more clearly. To achieve the universalization of secondary school, these policies alter the selective mechanisms of school organization that used to model an educational subject legitimized by the criterion of academic merit, thus supporting its social positioning.
We will explore how the changes promoted by these policies are articulated with the students' representations of how they navigate the new formats. We will delve into the redefinitions of merit in these secondary schools, how it affects and redefines the ways of being a student, and the modes of personal legitimization. This analysis is based on the research project results which analyses four provincial policies of secondary school change.