Currículo, igualdade de oportunidades e liberdade individual

Abstract

Educational planning and practices involve a series of inherent tensions, such as the tensions between the educational system and the individual, between the “prestigious” variety of language and “dialects”, between demand and inclusion, between the community and the individual. The philosophical analysis allows us to show that such tensions are virtuous because both extremes are necessary. A common national curriculum [CNC] is designed to avoid the undesirable consequences that are generally attributed to it: the annulment of regional and individual differences, and the exclusion of those who do not achieve the objectives which are supposed to be common. In effect, the general objective of a CNC is not to create a dominant elite and, with it, legions of excluded persons. On the contrary, thanks to the same quality education for all children and adolescents, the CNC aims at consolidating and strengthening both equality of opportunities and individual freedom.