Educational research in Latin America: teacher training, coloniality, and innovative approaches

Abstract

Contemporary educational research recognizes that teacher education, school leadership, and peda gogical practice are shaped by historical, curricular, institutional, and sociocultural factors, particularly in the Latin American context. This article presents a state-of-the-art review that examines structural and epistemological challenges in education, focus ing on initial teacher training, educational coloniality, rural school leadership, and emerging pedagogical innovations. The reviewed studies reveal fragmented curricular organization in undergraduate programs, characterized by unequal distribution of pedagogi cal knowledge and the absence of a shared core curriculum, limiting equity and coherence in teacher formation.