Normal students before the Mexican educational reform of 2013: emotions and social representations

Abstract

The 2013 Mexican educational reform involved modifications to the teaching entry process, among the consequences of which was that normal school students faced an unusual situation: competing for a job as a teacher with professionals from other careers, an issue that caused them different emotional states. The purpose of this article is precisely to analyze the emotions that 16 normalista students interviewed say they have experienced in relation to said reform and its link with the social representation that they built of the legal measure. The interviews are analyzed using a qualitative methodology for the study of emotions. The results indicate that the reform triggered different emotions in the interviewees, the most recurrent being sadness and uncertainty.