given the extent of the change in teaching practices that the new curriculum requires costa rica might find value in standards that offer more specific guidance to teachers as to what is expected in terms of knowledge and pedagogical practice in different subjects and grades and stages of a teacher s career teacher performance standards in chile for example are widely recognised as having made a major contribution to the professionalisation of teaching in the country for that to happen they need to be taken as a central reference point for all related policies see figure