Discourses and Practices of Curricular Development in Ecuador

In the last ten years two major projects of curriculum development have been realized in Ecuador: The Hispanic Curricular Reform and the Ecuadorian Intercultural Bilingual Education Model (MOSEIB). They are the curricular expression of the two educational systems that constitute Ecuadorian education: the Hispanic Curricular System and The Intercultural Bilingual Education System. Each of those systems came into being, following a particular construction and implementation process. However, these processes of curriculum development have not yet achieved the expected positive results. The quality of learning in most of the rural basic schools remains poor and the inequalities in Ecuadorian society are reinforced. This research provides some insights in this (provisional) lack of success. It also analyses the discourses and practices of curricular development using a case study on rural education in Ecuador, where multiple cultures and languages, ethnic groups and indigenous nationalities coexist. Theoretical sources, events and reasons that finally originated and developed both curricular models are studied to examine the curricular discourses.