Resistance of schools in Colombia: Contributing to peace in the midst of violence

Abstract

This article reflects on the role of schools and teachers in the territories mediated by the Colombian armed conflict; taking into account the violence suffered by the territories and its impact on educational settings, based on a differentiated presence of the State in terms of the generation of protection frameworks for communities and institutions, and the incapacity from having a monopoly on weapons, from this base the school has been assuming, from relational practices, forms of resistance and construction of a culture of peace in the minds of violence. In this reflective process, the central references are the schools and teachers in the territories mediated by the Colombian armed conflict and their ability to generate processes of cultural resistance and resignification of the armed conflict that affects school dynamics. This document is constructed from a documentary inquiry, recognizing fundamental aspects of the cruelty of the violence that the country has experienced and the inability of the State to be present and provide basic conditions of care to the communities, based on this situation, the school institutions From their relational practices they have developed mechanisms of resistance and resignification, generating dynamics associated with the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, despite the enormous risk that this represents for educational communities. The conclusions highlight the importance of the country being aware of the situation of teachers and school institutions, especially those located in rural areas or in areas of influence of armed groups, and recognizing the role that teachers have played. In the construction of a culture of peace, this is related to the response capacity of teachers and school institutions, in defense of life, redefinition of values, definition of rules of the game and regulation mechanisms that are built in the classrooms and in the relational practices of the school community and become a breakdown of a generality of violence imposed by the armed conflict. © 2023, Revista Colombiana de Sociologia. All Rights Reserved.