What does school knowledge for all mean? Advances in the curriculum justice theory from the students’ perspective

Abstract

[eng] Despite the significant expansion of education worldwide, multiple exclusions continue to deny the right to quality education for all. School failure, Early School Leaving (ESL), and different forms of school disengagement affect numerous young people around the globe and learning gaps across different students’ profiles continue to persist (Schleicher, 2019). Spain is one of the most challenging cases in the European Union (EU): in 2021 13,3% of the population between 18-and 24-years old had not completed the second stage of secondary education and did not follow any type of education or training. This places the country in the penultimate position in the entire EU-27, only ahead of Romania, and far away from the UE-27 average of 9.9% and the EU2030 target of 9% (MEFP, 2021). This situation seriously endangers the basic principle of equality of educational opportunities and questions the very notions of citizenship and social cohesion. Furthermore, it jeopardizes the commitment of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (SDG 4). According to UNESCO (2021), the dual global challenge of contemporary educational systems is the lack of equity and relevance, which undergirds the need for a new social contract which can help redress educational exclusion and ensure positive educational experiences and learning for all. Research demonstrates that among the multiple factors explaining educational exclusion there is the lack of meaning that multiple students attribute to the form and content of school learning (Coll, 2013; Tarabini, 2019).