ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ITS RELATION TO EDUCATION IN TIMES OF INEQUALITY

Education is considered to be one of the most important means to achieve equality of opportunity in any society. However, in the case of Latin America, the most unequal region in the world, the lack of a meritocratic structure, as well as an unequally distributed education limit or even void the individual and educational efforts that entire social groups undertake, instead being socially valued by their origin, race or culture. Understanding educational quality merely in a utilitarian view has also undermined the effectiveness of educational policy and research to understand and attend the needs of heterogeneous and unequal societies. Therefore, educational policy is shifting its focus, trying to construct a socially fairer educational space, as the context suggests that social justice and education have to stay together. In that sense, this article aims to discuss the possibilities and limits that different conceptual approaches present for achieving a socially just education. It reflects on the meaning of equality of opportunity and educational quality in deeply unequal societies, and proposes challenges and sacrifices that governments will have to consider if they adopt social justice as the core of their educational systems.