The purposes of education and Spain’s LOMLOE educational legislation: Controversial questions in educational action.

Abstract

The LOMLOE (Organic Law 3/2020, of 29 December, which amends Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education), like any other law concerning education in an advanced democratic society, puts in place a new system to achieve the aims of education. However, as with any other education law, its wording and implementation raise contentious issues. Some are political in nature while others are more specific to the pedagogical field. In any case, they all relate to the purposes of education. This paper presents some of these controversial issues, perhaps the ones that are causing the most debate at a social level, especially in the field of education. These issues are: the idea of educational and social inclusion and how it is managed with regard to state-funded private centres, in particular ones that follow a single-gender education model and ones that cater for special educational needs; the competence-based curriculum and all that this entails; the objective of educational success and the role of evaluation in achieving it; and finally, the question of religion. This article does not set out to criticise the new education law. Instead, it seeks to consider how these controversial issues relate to the purposes of education. It concludes that the LOMLOE has some good points but that at the same time a political approach to the pedagogical predominates, which instead of integrating and opening itself to freedom and plurality, eliminates options without considering pedagogical arguments.