Chemistry teachers: between tradition and curriculum prescription

Abstract

This article analyzes the persistent tradition in secondary chemistry education, which focuses on the rote and memorized teaching of chemical nomenclature and formulation, in contrast to current curricular requirements, especially the Núcleos de Aprendizaje Prioritarios (NAP). A survey of 26 rural teachers explores their perceptions of the teaching of these contents. The results show a strong attachment to tradition: for example, 80% consider nomenclature essential for solving chemical problems and reject its elimination from the curriculum. There is also a widespread lack of awareness of national curricular requirements. The analysis is based on Terigi's theoretical framework, which proposes three hypotheses of curricular concretion: application, dissolution, and specification (Terigi, 1999), types of curricula, and Chevallard's concept of didactic transposition (Chevallard, 2013). The study concludes that, despite official guidelines seeking to overcome traditional approaches, teaching practices continue to reproduce the mechanistic model, which turns certain content part of the hidden curriculum at the national and jurisdictional levels. This phenomenon reveals the strength of curricular traditions and the resistance to changes imposed from higher levels of educational decision-making.