Educational change as social movement: an emerging paradigm from the Global South

This paper advances the notion of social movement as a new way to think about and pursue educational change. It articulates a critique to scientific management, the paradigm that has shaped how schools and educational systems have been understood and run for over a century, since the creation of compulsory schooling. Drawing on some examples of radical and widespread pedagogical change in the Global South, the author proposes the notion of social movement as an alternative paradigm with a fighting chance to override scientific management as the dominant paradigm for educational change. The article concludes with remarks on the possibilities for the new paradigm to make its way into educational systems in so called developed nations.