School coexistence in secondary schools: The voices of teachers

Abstract

The current research describes school coexistence, as experienced by teachers, in several high schools in a state in the northwest of Mexico. Sixteen teachers from public and private secondary schools participated. The participants were selected through the theoretical sampling technique based on the Grounded Theory methodological design. Information was collected through focus groups and analyzed using the constant comparison technique. The results indicate that the participants consider that the administrative aspects of the school, the lack of parental involvement, the social-economic context of the students, and the normalized violence derived from these contexts, are the main obstacles to building harmonious school coexistence. Although teachers recognize that strategies based on the strengthening of values, sports, cultural activities, and collaborative work between parents-students-teachers favor the construction of school coexistence, they affirm that their practice is not enough to remedy the sociocultural patterns related to normalized violence found in students and their families. In conclusion, the results show that the obstacles that impede a healthy coexistence must be made visible. Likewise, teachers must be supported and accompanied through the execution of strategies with a greater scope that allows intervention in the sociocultural elements of students' life, which according to the teachers, are the main challenge towards building a peaceful school coexistence.