This paper discusses how the Latin-American educational policies have altered school reality and, more particularly, the relationship between teachers and school. Based on references developed in other contexts - Europe and North America -, it analyses the results of documental research on the educational policies cur rently applied in some Latin-American countries and of empirical research developed with basic school teachers in Brazil. It notices that such policies have generated a new organization of school work that reflects a model of educational regulation produced by the articulation between global demands and local responses. Through their administrative, financial and pedagogic decentralization, schools have acquired more flexibility and autonomy, but have also responded to a growing demand for activities and responsibilities. This has contributed to intensify and self-intensify teachers' work.
Teacher's work; Educational policies; Regulation; Latin America