Youth and changing realities: rethinking secondary education in Latin America

The Education 2030 Framework for Action adopted by the global education community in May 2015 calls for youth, learners and their organizations to be full partners in the implementation and realization of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) - 'ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all'; to determine their requirements for improved learning; to encourage governments and other stakeholders to respond to their needs and aspirations; and to help shape relevant policies. The present study aims to inform the debate on youth disengagement from secondary education - focusing on the Latin American region - to provide recommendations for policy-makers and identify future lines of enquiry on the road to SDG4-Education 2030. Specifically, it seeks to enhance knowledge on the relevance of secondary education and curricula, especially for youth, and addresses the need to regain young learners' trust in education and to arrive at more positive social constructions of youth among educators, parents and education authorities. In so doing, this study explores the subjective dimension of youth identity - their disengagement in particular - in an effort to supplement available data on the structures, coverage and effectiveness of national education systems. It also looks at how educational experiences shape youth cultures and identities as well as their attitudes toward education and its potential to improve individual and collective well-being.