The Unfinished Sociopolitical Turn of Science Education in Mexico in the New Curricular Framework for Public Education: A Critical Consciousness Without Action?

This paper analyzes the recent proposal for a national curricular framework for basic (elementary and secondary) education in Mexico, specifically the 2022 curriculum for science education, from the point of view of its matching with the so-called Vision-III, which outline a scientific literacy that is socially critical and transformative, committed to social action, participation and emancipation. It provides a general characterization of the sociopolitical turn in science education, as well as its main pedagogical frames and implications. The recently proposed curricular framework in Mexico is examined through an analytical review of the different moments and components of the development of critical consciousness and considering the culturally relevant pedagogy approach. It is argued that the so-called New Mexican School describes an important shift towards critical social analysis, as a curricular objective previously absent in Mexican education, but it still could provide of new pedagogical principles to ensure the deployment of science education for sociopolitical action. In a postpandemic context, in which is urgent to eradicate all the inequalities that weaken societies to face a new catastrophe, some reflections and recommendations are proposed to consolidate this sociopolitical turn in Mexican science education.