The State of the Guatemalan Education System through an Analysis of Teachers’ Education Programs

Sammanfattning: Improvement of the Guatemalan national education system is a center for development. Many attempts have been made over the years to improve the system; one, in particular, is the creation of the National System for Teacher Training. This paper reviews the changes made to the National System for Teacher Training (SNFD) and places them into the larger context of the Guatemalan educational system. Through interviews, four themes about the general state of the education system were selected. These four themes represent some of the most prevalent problems within the system, these are: a non-inclusive system; administrative and bureaucratic problems; lack of continuity; and the perceived societal devaluation of the importance of education. The study analyzes how these four themes interact with the SNFD, specifically through two of its sub-programs: the Formacion Inicial Docente (FID) or in English “Initial Teacher Training” and the Programa Académico de Desarrollo Profesional Docente (PADEP/D) or in English “Academic Program for Teachers Professional Development”. This is done through the use of grounded theory, Merton’s middle-range theory, and a sociological approach to professions.