El discurso político como limitante de la libertad de cátedra en la educación media colombiana (1998–2022)

Abstract

This research aims to establish the concept of academic freedom in secondary education, as addressed in the National Development Plans (NDP), understood as political discourses formulated during the last six administrations. The study seeks to highlight the specific meaning of this right and to analyze how, within these political discourses, an ideology is manifested that does not necessarily align with the orientation of established rights. The study is grounded in the theoretical contributions of authors such as Teun A. van Dijk, Paulo Freire, Jorge Huergo, Guillermo Hoyos, Estanislao Zuleta, and Mario Díaz Villa, among others, both for the political discourse analysis (PDA) of the NDPs and for the understanding of the concept of academic freedom and the ways in which it is concealed, replaced, or substituted.

Through a qualitative research approach, an analysis was conducted of the national development plans focused on education during different administrations, complemented by an inquiry into teachers’ perceptions regarding the right to academic freedom. The purpose was to establish the notion attributed to this concept, its presence in political discourse, and the impact of these discourses on the formative processes of secondary education. Based on this analysis, it was possible to determine the role that political discourses play in the development, processes, and manifestations of this educational level. The findings show that, in these political discourses, the meaning and scope of the right to academic freedom are entirely omitted. It is replaced by the concept of autonomy, understood as a biased variable adapted to the developmentalist context of strongly ideologized governments. In this way, the importance of academic freedom is reaffirmed as an exercise of contradiction and resistance to ideological homogenization.