Over the previous three decades, social justice in education has become increasingly relevant to debates on globalisation, capitalism, and inequalities around the world (Rawls, 1971; Young, 1990; Fraser, 1997; Greene, 1998; Zajda, 2006; Rizvi, 2009; Taylor et al, 1997). In the Latin America context, neoliberalism has become hegemonic in the last 30 years with Peru adopting this model in 1990. 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.

Although previous educational research in the country has made important contributions in terms of quality education and educational inequalities, the voices of rural teachers from a social justice perspective have not been sufficiently incorporated into these studies. A social justice framework encompasses a set of ideal theories with which to analyse social contexts like the Peruvian case where disparities persist. The praxis of social justice in education is expressed through critical pedagogies.

Thus, the research will explore how do a group of secondary school teachers in rural Peru conceptualise and practice their commitment to social justice through critical pedagogies in a neoliberal context. In particular, the research will delve into the implementation of these critical pedagogies from the voices of seven rural teachers. The theoretical framework discusses distinct social justice traditions (liberal individualist, market-individualist and social-democratic) and the main concepts from critical pedagogy as a praxis of social justice in education. Through the review of authors like Rawls, Fraser, I.M. Young, Freire, Giroux, McLaren, Darder, among other scholars, the theoretical framework presents the implications of social justice and critical pedagogies through the concepts of dialogue, problem-posing and critical consciousness.  

The research uses a narrative inquiry perspective within the tradition of qualitative studies. The study of narratives refers to the plural ways humans experience the world (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990). Narrative inquiry embraces narrative as both the method and phenomena of study (Pinnegar & Daynes, 2007). Within the educational field, there are experiences and stories from teachers and learners that illuminate larger scale social narratives. For this research, the use of narratives aims to bring the micro level (teachers’ stories) and the macro level (educational policies in neoliberal times) into dialogue. The research applied in-depth interviews to grasp the teacher’s stories about their experiences in social justice and critical pedagogies. Following this, seven teachers in rural Cusco and Ayacucho (highlands of Peru) were interviewed. These teachers are working at primary and secondary levels in rural Peru and have at least five years of teaching experience working with critical pedagogies in rural areas of Peru. Furthermore, they have a trajectory not only as teachers but also activities or leaders working in line with social justice in education. Regarding narrative analysis, a paradigmatic analysis is applied to identify the categories that emerge from these stories and establish relationships among these categories of social justice practices (Polkinghorne, 1995).

As a work-in-progress, the first analysis reveals the important role of native language (Quechua) as fundamental to reappraising the local culture. Through creative methodologies that include arts, dance and drawings, teachers seek to empower the native culture through Freirean concepts such as critical consciousness and problem-posing. To achieve these objectives, the teachers acknowledge the role of parents and the community in supporting their critical pedagogy practices in schools. Thus, for most of the teachers interviewed, social justice in education is addressed by valuing the native culture in dialogue with western knowledges. Consequently, they seek to empower native knowledge to place both cultures on the same level. Finally, these narratives are emerging from rural teachers who are making their voices heard from a social justice approach.

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