Zittenblijven in Chili: een analyse binnen een hervormende beleidscontext

Grade retention has come under pressure due to its mostly negative academic, psychosocial and economic consequences in the short, medium and long term. In 2018, Chile's new Decree 67 eliminated automatic grade retention for the first time in Chilean history, stating that it should be used only as an exceptional measure. This new regulation should address student well-being and holistic development in a way that has never been required of Chilean schools before. This doctoral research aims to understand grade retention in the context of this policy shift, examining comprehensively this mechanism within the Chilean context. The following research questions were answered: How has grade retention been historically construed as an acceptable practice for managing student heterogeneity? How do family, individual, and contextual factors influence students' probability of being retained throughout their educational trajectory in Chile? What are the current prevailing teachers' beliefs within Chilean schools concerning grade retention amid the implementation of a policy shift? What are the arguments and the processes through which a policy shift concerning grade retention was created, negotiated, and implemented? A complex mixed-method design was used, incorporating a series of embedded research studies to address the specific objectives derived from these questions. Chapter 1 overviews the terminology, context, research framework, and methodology for this research. Chapter 2 comprehensively reviews the policies and the evolution of grade retention in Latin American countries. Chapter 3, with a historical approach, reveals that grade retention has evolved gradually throughout the history of Chilean education, shaped mainly through historical and social contexts. Chapter 4 explores the influence of parental support and expectations on grade retention, corroborating that participation in school activities and supportive home environments reduce the likelihood of grade repetition. Chapter 5 explores teachers' beliefs regarding the educational, social, and emotional consequences of grade retention; we found that teachers' beliefs about grade retention vary significantly according to school retention rates, administrative dependence, socioeconomic status, and gender. Chapter 6 reveals that adult-centric perspectives may be embedded in regulations and stakeholder opinions, which could perpetuate power dynamics within schools, emphasising the complexities of educational policy formulation and the paradox of progressive intentions potentially reinforcing hegemonic discourses within the educational system. Chapter 7 highlights the contrasting beliefs of policymakers and teachers regarding grade retention, the rationale and negotiation processes underpinning the policy shift, and the challenges encountered during its dissemination and implementation. Chapters 8 and 9 provide a general discussion and the main conclusions on the complexities and challenges of public policy development regarding grade retention. Overall, this research provides a structured and systematic analysis of grade retention in Chile within the context of a policy shift. While creating and implementing a policy like Decree 67 can be considered a significant step forward in inclusive educational policies, the overall results of this dissertation s suggest that the cultural conditions for implementing inclusive policies aimed at students' holistic development and well-being, as mandated by the new legal framework, are not yet assured, since the context in which these policies are being introduced still appear to legitimise and highly accept grade retention as a naturalized order of how school life works. We recommend promoting legitimisation processes in schools and in public opinion, and propose that future research should focus on the implementation and subsequent evaluation of this public policy.