During the last four decades the Chilean educational system has undergone a deep process of neoliberalization of both the model of regulation and provision, and the meaning of education itself. This trend has been mainly studied for Chile and other countries regarding the history of government regulations, their rationality and their mechanisms. However crucial to identify global convergences, either critical or enthusiastic macro-narratives about neoliberalism have been questioned for being deterministic, universalistic, and for leaving little space for understanding grassroots experiences of change. In this project I propose to study the process of neoliberalization of the Chilean education from the point of view of a city, Rancagua. The aim is to explore the history of its people regarding the transformation of the urban space and education, considering its actors not as passive subjects but as active actors on the production of the social order and its contradictions. Methodology draws on features of critical ethnography, genealogy, and participatory-action-research, since it starts from a commitment with the social movements which are currently redefining what is education for. The aim of the paper is to discuss the results, and the methodological and ethical challenges of my first six months of fieldwork.