What does "commoning" mean in education? EduCommon has explored this question from an autonomist perspective, which conceptualises commoning as the setting up of horizontal, assembly-based initiatives with utopian aspirations, organised by civil society—primarily social movements. These initiatives aim to address the social needs of communities and resist the enclosure dynamics (privatisation) promoted by the capital-state alliance, particularly through neoliberal policies. In alignment with this perspective, commoning experiences distance themselves from both 'the public,' understood as the realm of the state, and 'the private,' governed by competitiveness and profit rationale. Thus, the commons assert their autonomy not only from the market but also from the state.
From this autonomist perspective, EduCommon has explored an empirical case of Popular Education: the Bachilleratos Populares (BPs) in Argentina, whose political-pedagogical organization aligns closely with commons principles. The BPs are popular education experiences for young people and adults created by grassroots organisations following the Argentinean crisis of 2001 as a response to the gap in adult education left by the neoliberal policies in education in the 1990s. Soon after their creation, the BPs decided to vindicate official recognition by the state, in response to the need expressed by the students of obtaining a secondary diploma. Consequently, the BPs mobilised collectively as a social movement to advocate for state recognition and secure material resources, such as teacher salaries and student scholarships. As a result of this collective struggle, a large part of the BPs have already been recognised as secondary schools, whilst maintain their autonomy to select their teachers. Furthermore, their numbers have proliferated since the early 2000s, with over one hundred BPs currently in operation, primarily concentrated in the city and province of Buenos Aires.
Through qualitative research, based on document analysis (legislation recognising BPs and documents elaborated by the BPs describing their experiences) and interviews with BPs teachers and state managers from the Ministry of Education of the city of Buenos Aires, EduCommon has disentangled the institutional organisation of the BPs. This examination has underscored elements such as their utopian vision of social justice, dedication to horizontality, utilization of direct democracy mechanisms, autonomy, and the dynamic interaction between "the common" and "the public." Notably, in the political-pedagogical dimension, the BPs demonstrate a strong political commitment within their curricula, aimed at nurturing a utopian horizon that reflects the ethos of the commons. Progress updates are available for consultation on the project’s website: www.educommonproject.com.
The results of EduCommon have been disseminated in 4 academic article, one book chapter, 10 contribution in academic conferences,6 research seminars, de dataset of the action, a short-documentary, the website of EduCommon, an educational policy report that will be published as a book chapter in 2025, 7 outreach events and an updated map of all the bachilleratos populares in the city of Buenos Aires.
