Vol.:(0123456789) Journal of Educational Change https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-020-09374-3 1 3 Educational change as social movement: an emerging paradigm from the Global South Santiago Rincón‑Gallardo 1 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract This paper advances the notion of social movement as a new way to think about and pursue educational change. It articulates a critique to scientifc management, the paradigm that has shaped how schools and educational systems have been under- stood and run for over a century, since the creation of compulsory schooling. Draw- ing 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 fghting chance to override scientifc 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. Keywords Educational change · Social movements · Pedagogy · Global South · Scientifc management · Paradigm change · Whole system reform Introduction Ideas are powerful forces. They shape how we make sense of the world and how we act on it (Kuhn 1970). They delimit what we believe is possible and desirable (Fou- cault 1970). For over a century, one particular set of ideas has shaped in profound and pervasive ways how we think about and run schools and educational systems. This set of ideas is scientific management, a paradigm that emerged in the wake of the industrial revolution in the early 20th century. At a time when mass produc- tion and efciency were considered key forces for economic growth and prosper- ity, scientifc management was a revolutionary idea. It proposed that the best way to organize human activity was to break down complex work into small, repetitive The ideas in this article are taken from and further developed in Rincón-Gallardo (2019). * Santiago Rincón-Gallardo rinconsa@gmail.com 1 Michael Fullan Enterprises, 68 Cloverlawn Ave., Toronto, ON M6E 1H5, Canada