Between a rock and a hard place? Tensions and teachers' frames of reference in the context of public policies on coexistence

Abstract

How can schools be organized to make peaceful coexistence (convivencia) possible? This question concerns not only school actors, but also public policies and educational research. The introduction of the Model of Convivencia to Attend, Prevent and Eradicate School Violence in the Mexican state of Guanajuato is linked to the hope that a corresponding development will be initiated. Based on the observation that many teachers have difficulties in orienting their actions on the basis of such a model, in this article we analyze the educational policy and the usual conditions of teachers' actions related to convivencia. With this objective, we analyze the discourse on school convivencia and the programs in force in México and Guanajuato. We then provide an overview of the results of an exploratory study of interviews with teachers from a total of five schools. To reconstruct their frames of reference, we used the documentary method. It becomes clear that different paradigms on school convivencia coexist and evoke uncertainties among school actors. These uncertainties are not only due to contradictory demands, but also to the perception of difficult contextual conditions for educational work. With involvement and detachment, we differentiate two modes of dealing with these uncertainties, which we can reconstruct in the interviews. These modes have different implications for the development of the discourse and practice of convivencia in schools.