The school classroom as an active-modifying environment in vulnerable contexts: a necessary proposal

Abstract

The school operates as a routine and aseptic space and time, the product of the perpetuation of pedagogical practices that, often influenced by school technology, are based on an empiricist, disciplined and authoritarian practice. Therefore, the experiences of Mediate Learning, assumed as an optimistic pedagogical approach about the cognitive and emotional development of the students, are relevant. Methodologically, we assume a qualitative interpretative approach; exploring the behavioral guidelines that guide the pedagogical work of Chilean teachers, who are related to young lawbreakers. For the interpretation of the data, we resort to content analysis, following the logic of Grounded Theory and In-Depth Interviews, from a biographical perspective. The results allow us to identify strategies favoring active-modifying environments characterized by curricular autonomy, the deployment of pedagogical intuition and the use of playful strategies in the classroom, as well as the permanent promotion of practical learning.

Keywords:
Learning; emotional development; pedagogy

Resumen

La escuela opera como un espacio y tiempo rutinario y aséptico, producto de la perpetuación de prácticas pedagógicas que muchas veces, influidas por la tecnología escolar, se sustentan en una praxis empirista, disciplinada y autoritaria. Por ello, cobran relevancia las experiencias de Aprendizaje Mediado, asumido como un enfoque pedagógico optimista acerca del desarrollo cognitivo y emocional del alumnado. Metodológicamente, asumimos un enfoque interpretativo cualitativo; explorando las pautas de comportamiento que orientan el quehacer pedagógico de maestros chilenos, que se relacionan con jóvenes infractores de ley. Para la interpretación de los datos, recurrimos al análisis de contenido, siguiendo la lógica de la Teoría Fundamentada y las Entrevistas en Profundidad, desde una perspectiva biográfica. Los resultados nos permiten identificar estrategias favorecedoras de ambientes activo-modificantes caracterizados por la autonomía curricular, el despliegue de la intuición pedagógica y la utilización de estrategias lúdicas en el aula, así como la promoción permanente del aprendizaje práctico.

Palabras Clave:
Aprendizaje; desarrollo emocional; pedagogía

Resumo

A escola opera como um espaço e tempo rotineiro e asséptico, produto da perpetuação de práticas pedagógicas que muitas vezes, influenciadas pela tecnologia escolar, se sustentam em uma práxis empirista, disciplinada e autoritária. Por isso, merecem relevância as experiências de Aprendizagem Mediada, assumido como um enfoque pedagógico otimista sobre o desenvolvimento cognitivo e emocional dos alunos. Metodologicamente, assumimos um enfoque interpretativo qualitativo; explorando as pautas de comportamento que orientam a tarefa pedagógica de professores chilenos, que se relacionam com jovens infratores da lei. Para a interpretação dos dados, recorremos à análise de conteúdo, seguindo a lógica da Teoria Fundamentada e às Entrevistas em Profundidade, de uma perspectiva biográfica. Os resultados nos permitem identificar estratégias favorecedoras de ambientes ativo-modificantes caracterizados pela autonomia curricular, a implementação da intuição pedagógica e a utilização de estratégias lúdicas na sala de aula, assim como a promoção permanente da aprendizagem prática.

Palavras-chave:
Aprendizagem; desenvolvimento emocional; pedagogia

Introduction

The present research becomes a critical and reflective space around the relational dynamics that are deployed daily in the school institution, contributing new ways of understanding and rethinking the School, contributing to the integral formation of all those pedagogues who work in Vulnerable contexts¹, attended by young people linked to episodes of violation of the law.

Likewise, it becomes a relevant methodological experience of study for the Social and Human Sciences, understanding education as a relevant space and time to advance in greater social justice, moving towards an educational reality, broader and more inclusive, and where the educator is able to respond to the various political, economic and sociocultural changes experienced, integrating active strategies that pedagogically captivate students from vulnerable contexts, who retain a series of codes and particular cultural practices, which must be properly collected and interpreted , for the discovery of their learning potential and the adequate recognition of their previous talents and experiences, since such skills have enabled them to survive in contexts marked by exclusion and social inequalities (Fernández, 2004; Sandoval, 2014a).

From this perspective, we seek critically rethink the educational needs of students and the socio-pedagogical strategies of those teachers located in vulnerable contexts, contributing to the construction of new areas of relationship and communication between educational actors. Thus, we set as a general objective: Interpret and understand the behavior patterns displayed by educators in their relationship with adolescents from vulnerable contexts, based on the analysis of their vital trajectories. Specifically, we were interested in describing the strategies that favor the creation of modifying active educational environments in vulnerable contexts.

Theoretical contextualization of the study

School failure² and the need to rethink educational processes

School failure is a dichotomous category that has prevailed and sustained epistemologically to the school system, to assess the performance and school work of students, and accordingly, guide pedagogical strategies in order to obtain quantitative indicators of learning (Rizvi & Lingard, 2013), that are consistent with a model that strives to advance in effectiveness, competitiveness and the commercialization of the education system (Rescalli, 1995). In this sense, we believe in the words of Perrenoud (1990, p.15) that “school classifications are nothing more than the prefiguration of hierarchies in force in global society, by virtue of models of excellence that receive a sufficient valuation to value a space in the curriculum”. Hence, students are permanently compared to each other (independent of their conditions of social, cultural, political, economic, etc.), promoting individualistic and results-focused learning. In turn, teachers, whether they like it or not, become judges and protectors of the school norm that defines the success or failure of students, given that they are moved (implicitly or explicitly) to make judgments of pedagogical value about of the school work that their students execute, perpetuating school hierarchies that homogenize student learning and precipitate the reproduction of social inequalities.

Given this reality, it is expected that those young people who exhibit greater difficulty to adapt to the standards of evaluation and certification of learning, in the school institution (due to poor performance, rebellious behavior, disinterest, etc.), begin as part of their development, to experience early, the rejection of everything that is representative of the school (repeat decontextualized knowledge, the rule of norm and discipline, the emphasis on results etc.), and at the same time, experience greater bonding with your group of peers, experiencing processes of marginalization, exclusion and stigmatization in the face of a society that fosters modes of relationship based on the standards of excellence of the school.

So what to do before such an unequal School? In this regard, we believe in harmony with Bourdieu (1966, p. 366), that the school must open up to new practices and pedagogical strategies that are capable of minimizing the devastating impact of this logic. In this sense, Boaler and William (2001), warn about the negative effects of the grouping by levels and the increasing tendency to segregation by performance, since such practices tend to underestimate the students of the less favored groups, especially those that come from vulnerable contexts. Therefore, we believe it is valuable for the public school to be able to turn diversity into its main virtue, making a beneficial use of it, treating all students no matter how different they are, as equal in rights and duties for the adequate recognition of their interests and abilities, providing experiences of school success that enhance positive self-esteem, in addition to a greater degree of personal self-efficacy, since such dynamics will produce effects well beyond school space and time. This reinforces the need to de-school the school (Illich, 1971), making visible that all students are sufficiently qualified to succeed, insofar as the interests and abilities of each subject are protected from a critical, democratic and emancipatory pedagogical practice.

The school: an institution in crisis

There is no doubt that in the present times, we live with various social, political, economic and cultural problems, which have been affecting culture and school, causing encounters and disagreements among its actors. Particularly, the teachers breathe an atmosphere of perplexity, exhaustion and frustration, witnessing the permanent questioning of the epistemological foundations that legitimized the school and the teaching and learning processes. And it is that according to Pérez Gómez (1998, p. 76) “the school, which for centuries has contributed to the extension of knowledge, to the overcoming of ignorance and superstitions that enslaved the individual, to the preparation of citizens, and to the reduction of inequality, it has been a faithful reflection of the values and contradictions of modern culture”.

This is the consequence of a school model that has systematically embraced the positivist model of scientific knowledge, over the curriculum and pedagogical practices, encouraging the deliberate transmission of content, discipline and standardization of learning. However, contradictorily, the school institution has forgotten the peculiarities and educational complexities of its students, as well as their cultural development, notoriously disregarding the socio-emotional, historical or even political aspects of learning, eventually reproducing and maintaining the prevailing status quo.

So that children and young people entering school do not arrive as unsuccessful or typecast according to their performance, but it is in the school space, where they are classified and labeled many times with the label of failures. In previous research, we have seen how the students exhibit from an early age, their propensity to learn (Sandoval, 2014b; Sandoval, 2014c; Calvo, 2016), but this one begins to become annoyed because of the positivist and fragmentary logics that dominate the school curriculum.

Nevertheless, what can we do about this reality? What tools or reflections could we identify to support current pedagogical practice? In this regard, we believe that this work deepens the vital experiences of those educators who work pedagogically, in vulnerable contexts where young people linked to episodes of law violations attend, so that a wider intercultural framework emerges, capable of integrating the various values, customs, beliefs, interests and aspirations of its students, encouraging critical reflection in the teaching and learning processes.

The educational function of the school from a critical perspective, requires epistemologically stress the foundations that support it, presenting another way to the school and educational dynamics that educators build in the daily life of their professional work. Note that we do not deny that, for whatever reason, some children and young people learn more slowly than others or in a different way. However, the truth is that “without the social arrangements that attach importance to differential learning rhythms, learning disability would not exist (McDermott, 2001, p. 295).

Thus, and as indicated by Cuesta (2005, p. 253), we intend to generate “a different way of schooling and school, aware of the limitations and easements of our pedagogical practices”, promoting critical thinking that admits new ways of relating and learn in the daily lives of our lives, respecting the complexities of the educator and his students.

Critical pedagogy and school de-schooling: educational alternatives for young people in vulnerable contexts

The school legitimizes exclusion, giving way to an action generally institutionalized from the central level, based on a curriculum rigidly established and internalized by the educator, standardizing the processes that are built there. However, and paradoxically, it also favors socialization and allows the acquisition of unavoidable knowledge for an effective development in daily life, contributing to inclusion in a particular sociocultural group. Nevertheless, can the pedagogical practices displayed by educators in vulnerable contexts also operate as a basis for the creation of active-modifying educational environments? How does this exclusionary school system (implicitly) promote higher dropout rates and school failure in those most vulnerable adolescents? What are the educational opportunities that these young people have, coming from marginalized and deprived in sociocultural contexts?

Despite the bleak school landscape, previous experiences such as those of Iglesias (2007; 2012) and Sandoval (2014a) reveal that these young people have been able to develop various learning experiences, through cognitive skills that have germinated in diverse times and spaces, thanks to the interaction of various factors. Among them, the existence of significant people for these young people who would have acted (consciously or not) as mediators of their learning, facilitating the emergence of mediated learning experiences, stands out. Such findings reaffirm the purpose of this work, visualizing the experiences of mediated learning, as an effective alternative of socio-educational intervention with young people from vulnerable contexts. As Ester (2003, p. 36) states, the learning interactions to which a human being is exposed, “can be divided into two groups: direct learning and mediated learning. Mediated learning by another human being is essential for a child since it helps him create those cognitive prerequisites that then make direct learning effective.” Thus, this possibility would allow expanding the pedagogical strategies used by a teacher to stimulate and enrich the educational opportunities that these young people access, discovering their potential, taking a leap from incidental to intentional learning.

In addition, teachers must strive to incorporate in the classroom, the various learning and skills that students permanently build in other spaces and times, and that largely define their identity as an apprentice, according to the new ecology of learning (Coll, 2013; Marchesi & Martín, 2014).

The theory of structural cognitive modifiability

Experiences of mediated learning in vulnerable contexts

Under this perspective, the cognitive and emotional development of students would not depend exclusively on their ability to obtain benefits from the stimuli and lessons learned from their immediate environment, but that this could be enhanced through experiences of mediated learning, where a third (mediator figure), is who brings the world closer to the subject, organizing and selecting those most relevant stimuli in the environment, so that the subject himself interacts with them and displays their cognitive potentials, achieving the acquisition of relevant and innovative learning for their adaptation to the environment.

Feuerstein, Rand and Rynders (1998), define the experience of mediated learning, as that interaction during which the human organism is an object to the intervention of a mediator. The apprentice not only benefits from a particular stimulus, but through this complex interaction, a set of dispositions, orientations, attitudes and techniques that allow him to continuously modify himself are forged. In such a way that the cognitive development that a subject could achieve in collaboration with others, would be given by the capacity for change, flexibility and adaptability that it has to move from a functioning level, to a more complex and elevated one, facing and solving new situations or problems

In this way, it would be the mediated learning experience that produces and explains cognitive modifiability, as something much more complex and relevant than a simple change, since the student would be able to expand their cognitive schemes, enriching themselves with new behavioral structures, making it a more open and receptive subject to change, through dialogic interaction with its environment (culture, socializing agents, peer group, etc.).

Transforming schooling processes implies turning towards educational reforms that enhance the student's interaction with others (such as 'potential mediators'), allowing him to display his cognitive functions (since the subject would be able to develop and modify continuously, through the processes of active mediational interaction). It is important to mention that mediation processes (Feuerstein, 1991; Sandoval & López de Maturana, 2017), must follow some basic criteria such as intentionality and reciprocity, transcendence, search for the new and the complex, mediation of meaning, among others, to achieve a significant impact on the adolescent and allow internal changes in their thinking structures.

We cannot fail to emphasize that in school, if there is no intentionality on the part of the teacher, learning becomes a linear, routine and monotonous process. This results in low correspondence and reciprocity on the part of the student, who reacts obligatorily to comply with an imposed rule and not for the satisfaction of learning. That is, if there is no meaning, learning is meaningless, harmless, and has no effect on students. They do not arouse curiosity or encourage motivation to achieve. If there is no transcendence, the 12 year old or more in the school are of no use to the student, who spend and do not alter their level of reasoning.

In short, the importance of the MLE in the school will result in learning that will have a significant impact on the cognitive and emotional structure of the student, nourishing the teachers' commitment to the student's educational process, becoming a stimulating source of creative energies. In this regard, López de Maturana (2010), asserts in relation to school logic and the role of the educator, that modifiability is not something utopian or unattainable, since teachers are prepared for such effects, and sometimes It is only enough to provide support and guidance to students to overcome the causes of failure. In this way, the emergence of active-modifying environments is admitted, nourishing current pedagogical knowledge.

Methodology

Methodologically, the research was developed from a qualitative interpretative approach; exploring the behavior patterns that guide the educator in his relationship with young law breakers, revealing spaces of tension, resistance and socio-cultural subversion that coexist in the school institution (but also outside it). For the interpretation of the data we resort to content analysis, following the logic of the Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 2002) and the Interviews in Depth (Kvale, 2011), from a biographical perspective (Pujadas, 1992; Bolívar, Domingo, & Fernández, 2001).

Data Collection Technique

The use of in-depth, semi-structured interviews was used (Kvale, 2011), based on the Life-history, of cross-stories (Pujadas, 1992). This approach assumes a multicenter perspective, in which voices and personal testimonies converge towards a central point of interest, of which all participants have been both protagonists and observers. Thus, the stories that were emerging “allow us to establish categorizations and comparisons of informants and accumulate evidence on coincidences or divergences between the various biographies” (Bolívar et al., 2001, p. 264). The script that guided the in-depth interviews was reviewed and validated by leading national and international academics, who acted as expert judges belonging to Chilean Universities (University of Valparaíso, Universidad Austral de Chile, and University of La Serena) and Spanish (University of La Coruña) respectively.

Participants

In this work, we opted for the creation of an intentional or deliberate sample (Pujadas, 1992), characterized as that in which the people or groups are not randomly selected to complete a given sample, but rather the participants are chosen, according to the degree to which they meet the criteria or attributes established for the investigation.

Specifically, the sample criteria defined in the present investigation were:

• Four Educators (the sample consisted of three men and one woman. Hereinafter, we will refer to them with the fictitious names of Edgardo, Humberto, Julia and Juan respectively, protecting the confidentiality of their stories and identification data). Likewise, its average age range is 47.5 years old.

• Educator’s voluntary participation in the study.

• That they are inserted in the Higher Institute of Administration and Tourism (INSAT) of Valdivia. Participants have 7 years (on average) of professional performance in said educational center.

• To be holders of the pedagogy degree, recognized by the Ministry of Education, with at least 5 years of professional experience. In this regard, participants average a total of 26 years of pedagogical experience.

• That the study participants reside in the commune of Valdivia (Los Ríos Region, Chile), to facilitate contact and their participation in the proposed study.

Descriptive presentation of results

We will focus our analysis on the category called ‘Favorable Strategies for Active-Modifying Environments’ characterized as that set of educational strategies and / or techniques employed by teachers working in the INSAT, promoting the construction of active-modifying educational environments. This repertoire of strategies is characterized by generating a dynamic and collaborative planning of learning; flexible evaluation of student learning, according to their needs; the use of active, creative and recreational strategies in the transmission of curricular contents; the permanent promotion of practical learning; recognition of student strengths and abilities; to promote their natural interest in learning and personal improvement (Sandoval, 2017).

In order to demonstrate the richness of the narratives collected, we have opted for the use of tables, highlighting the most representative quotes provided by the participants.

Table 1
Category "Strategies for the Promotion of Active-Modifying Environments", with the respective codes that make it up.

Related Codes	Representative Appointments
Curriculum Autonomy: Perception of freedom, independence, self-management and collaborative work among peers, which enables the teacher satisfactorily comply with the ministerial norms and requirements in the subsectors in which they work, to deploy flexible and innovative educational processes that favor the student learning process.	Humberto: "... Well I am the only History teacher ... I have independence ... To prepare my classes, I do it according to the guidelines given by the Ministry of Education ... but at the same time, I have essentially professional freedom and I have professional respect ... " Julia: “… Well, there are some guidelines established by the College… but here in the specialty of tourism, we have managed to strengthen during all these years, a work team… that we know each other quite a lot… so we are always analyzing what we can do, and how we do it together to get the most out of our students…”
Positive Motivational Strategies: A set of didactic skills and competences used by the teacher inside the classroom, with the purpose of playfully promoting the learning of their students, using various pedagogical tools such as: incomplete sentences, comparative pictures, sense of humor, use of music and systematic integration of audiovisual tools (ICT) for educational purposes.	Edgardo: "... I gave them the possibility of responding from the most basic to the most complex ... I used the comparative tables ... we worked the vocabulary ... we put together sentences ... then completing sentences through the game ... everyone participated ...” Humberto: "... I try to adapt my class, to the current moment in which the course is ... I try to achieve in any way ... with jokes, challenges, etc. ... I try to make them learn ..." "... I have been told with much satisfaction that my classes are entertaining ... For example, if one day the class becomes pure challenges ... things do not work ... I try to use audiovisual media (videos) ... I let them put their own music ... sometimes I sing songs that they listen… I repeat familiar jokes…”.
Flexible Learning Assessment: Dynamic and diverse repertoire of assessment mechanisms and differential certification of students' learning, according to their abilities and development possibilities, such as: written exams, development tests, oral presentation, questions, etc. Such tools allow appreciating and monitoring the students’ progress and / or backward movement, according to the results (qualification) they obtain, according to the requirements of the central level for the students’ promotion.	Edgardo students: “… I always gave the possibility of the easiest to the most difficult ... I always made scales ... I always considered that there are some who study a lot, others a little and others who study much more ... then I considered the one that cost him the most and asked him such questions ... I tried to make it something flexible and according to the development of my students…” Juan: "... one according to what he teaches, has to ask and evaluate the unit he has seen ... then there are evaluations that considers the summation of the grades, which measure a complete unit ... but I am also doing class-by-class or week-by-week assessments, depending on the content where we are ... I also have process evaluations ... that is the work they do in class ... so, there are some that are doing well, because they work ... but there are also others, which are not doing well tests where is applied summation.... and in this case there is the compensation of the one who strives…”
Educational Infrastructure in Vulnerable Contexts: Belief shared by teachers working in vulnerable contexts, of the gradual, continuous and systematic improvement of the infrastructure and / or equipment they have in the educational centers where they have worked, as along its vital trajectory; represented by various acquisitions such as: computer lab; interactive screens, English lab; minibus for student transport, gradual improvement in texts, etc.; which would enhance student learning and motivation.	Humberto: "... we are working to learn how to use interactive screens in the English laboratory ... there are many new things and many resources that in the private system ... maybe one would not find ...” Juan: "... lately, we have had good texts ... that allow the work and development of students ..." "... There are several positive things ... one is the infrastructure ... that did not exist before ... municipal schools are better prepared than many private schools in terms of equipment ... and that is motivating ... here we have a computer room ... an English room, last generation with all technologies ... interactive whiteboard and other things ... those things help ... ".
Pedagogical Intuition with Studentsin Vulnerable Contexts: Educational strategy used by teachers located in vulnerable educational contexts, characterized by a close proximity and reciprocity with their students (affectivity); building a flexible, instinctive and creative planning that is able to recognize and integrate the characteristics of the student body and the course in which it is inserted, which favors its integral development within the educational center	Humberto: “… my recipe is to try to get closer, try to talk, to be a close person ... to adapt to their language ... not to have prejudices for their way of speaking ... If his stories frighten me ... I get excited sometimes ... but I try to be the nearby teacher ... tell them in their words, that they do not make mistakes ... the strategies are given to me by experience ... because I have the will to create, devise and test ... but that is improvised ...”. Juan: “… sometimes, I am in a class and I make the students go to the board… then there one realizes… if the students are afraid… security or not… if they advance or not… if they have any learning problem or not ... " " ... I think the classes arise from improvisation ... the form or strategy... and even from the students themselves ... because one asks a question ... and one has to use the elements they handle ... know their interests ... is typical of the spark of the moment and the characteristics of the course group ...”.
Promotion of Practical Learning: Set of pedagogical tasks and practices that promote and encourage the gradual and immediate application of knowledge and / or theoretical knowledge acquired by students, in their home contexts (basic phrases of public attention at the fair; use and money management in horse races in Chile; guided tourist visits; professional internships, etc.); being able to identify and integrate pedagogically the previous experiences of their students (life stories for example); reinforcing their sense of individual competence, collaborating in the construction of an optimistic future and in the progressive mastery of the tasks and / or professional activities that demand their professional technical training.	Humberto: "... there were students who knew enough of this ... we started discussing that or another contingent theme ... I try to connect it with their particular stories ... close to them ... or finally, with those more conflicting ... that can be made known and participate ... I try tomake everyone think and apply it in their lives ...”. Julia: “… Well, I always try to reinforce the contents… and also to link the contents… so that they really understand why they are learning and what they can be useful for in the future…” “… most of my classes are active ... I bring a work guideline ... or do some group work ... or some situation to do ... we pass the matter, but we apply it immediately ... we reinforce it and then among all, we do as a conclusion of the class ... what they learned and what This is what must be improved ..." " ... bring new methodologies to the student, knowing their learning pace ... ".
Teacher’s Social Reinforcement: Rigorous, demanding and systematic pedagogical work that fosters and promotes in students, the sincere recognition of their personal achievements and successes; the importance of lifelong learning and taking advantage of the development opportunities that life brings (in particular, from an educational point of view); awareness of change (that is, effort and openness to move towards higher stages of functioning); perseverance and desires for self-improvement.	Julia: "... depending on their progress, I am helping them ... I try to get feedback ... to help them ... how they can improve ... to give their possibilities ... to move on...". Juan: "... one can talk and be motivating ... maybe losing a few minutes of math ... but I'm interested in strengthening the student's emotional or spiritual training ..." "... tell the kids that they have a chance to change ... and the motivation for it , it is important ... one has to allow that ... because in perseverance, there are the achievements of getting the objectives ... of accompanying and motivating them ... in this way, we get many students to get ahead ... those things do not teach them in college ... one the learn in the heat of practice… ”

Discussion

By analyzing in depth, the codes and narratives that enabled the emergence of the category ‘Favorable Strategies for Active-Modifying Environments’, the Curricular Autonomy becomes relevant. In this regard, the participants describe it as that perception of freedom, independence, self-management and collaborative work among peers, which makes it possible to comply with the ministerial norms and requirements in the various subsectors in which they work, developing flexible and innovative educational processes that enrich student learning

With regard to the above, we believe it is important to highlight autonomy, as a significant and relevant factor to make the prevailing curriculum more flexible, if the case requires it. What is sought is to advance in the decentralization of exclusionary and monotonous thinking of the school, which subjugates and immobilizes educational actors, only in this way can the curriculum be decentralized (Catalan, 2010).

In another area, and in coherence with critical pedagogy (McLaren & Kincheloe, 2008), participants show a commitment to justice, equity and emancipation of the prevailing ideologies that perpetuate the status quo, strengthening autonomy and self-management with a view to the construction of one's own thinking (Múnera, 1994) and self-management in teaching professionalism, to stress market education (Ball, 2006; Labaree, 2007).

The pedagogical challenge that characterizes the stories of the participants is to motivate students and reflect critically on the knowledge they convey, “about the way they should teach it and on the general objectives they pursue. This means that educators have to play a responsible role in the configuration of the objectives and conditions of school education” (Giroux, 2001, p.65), favoring the construction of an active-modifying environment that nourishes cognitively and emotionally Students from vulnerable contexts.

On the other hand, educators show coherence in the implementation of Positive Motivational Strategies, described by Edgardo, Humberto and Julia, as that set of teaching skills and competencies used by the teacher within the classroom, in order to playfully promote student learning, using various pedagogical tools such as incomplete sentences, comparative pictures, sense of humor (Fernández, 2003), use of music and systematic integration of audiovisual tools (ICT) for educational purposes. Like Osorio (2013), we highlight the importance of all those synergistic, non-invasive strategies that transform the school into an active-modifying environment, capable of amplifying the relationships between the educator, the stimuli and the student, avoiding that practice unidirectional, authoritative, passive and monotonous pedagogical that restricts learning possibilities.

In line with what was pointed out by Murillo and Román (2009), teamwork and pedagogical leadership at the level of management teams are highly decisive in the planning and implementation of various teaching strategies, legitimizing teaching practices active, as we observed in the INSAT. In this way, students will have a conscious and active participation, according to what the educator provides, germinating a more solid and comprehensive knowledge (clarity regarding what and how to look for it), which becomes methods of study for cognitive independence (Ortiz, 2004).

In this way, they are committed to the Flexible Assessment of Learning, exhibiting a dynamic and diverse repertoire of mechanisms for differential assessment of student learning, consistent with the capacities and possibilities of development that they manifest, such as: written exams, development tests, oral presentation, interrogation, etc. Such tools allow students to monitor the progress and / or backwardness of students, according to the results they obtain, responding in part to the demands of the central level and the promotion of students (Corralo& McDonald, 2002).

Another interesting element points to the Pedagogical Intuition reflected in the participants as that intentional educational strategy, characterized by a close proximity and reciprocity with their students (affectivity); building a flexible and creative planning that is able to recognize and integrate the characteristics of the students and the course in which they are inserted. The aforementioned, maintains connection with a modality of pedagogical thinking different from conscious reflection and therefore, slower than this (although its inferences may suddenly emerge to consciousness). These mental elaborations that usually require a certain period of maturation and internal analysis, enrich the early mental process preconscious of the educator, and it would be especially appropriate “when it comes to uncovering hidden relationships between different areas of knowledge and understanding the patterns that connect seemingly disparate experiences” (Claxton, 1999, p. 83), such as the great diversity of knowledge, experiences and knowledge that is stressed within the school.

With regard to the above, the Promotion of Practical Learning (Sandoval, 2014b) is relevant, indicated by the participants as that set of pedagogical tasks and practices that promote and encourage the gradual application of knowledge and / or theoretical knowledge acquired by students, in their home contexts (for example: essential public attention phrases at the fair; use and administration of money in horse races to the Chilean; guided tourist visits; professional internships, etc.). In this way, they integrate pedagogically the previous experiences of their students, reinforcing their sense of individual competence and the construction of an optimistic future in the field of professional technical training. Pedagogical guidance contributes to the enrichment of educational processes, providing various situations and moments of analysis and interpretative understanding of the reality in which young people live, tremendously useful and consistent with the critical perspective that underpins this work, so that students “are able to build, in an appropriate, personal and autonomous way, value systems oriented to fight, consolidate and deepen in favor of a society based on the dignity of the person and the lifestyles and values of democracy” (Martínez, 2010, p. 25). Likewise, the Teacher’s Social Reinforcement is valuable (Paula, 2000; Abarca, Marzo, & Sala, 2002), represented by that rigorous, demanding and systematic pedagogical work that fosters in the students, the sincere recognition of their achievements and successes personal; the importance of lifelong learning and taking advantage of the development opportunities that life brings, awareness of change (that is, effort and openness to move towards higher stages of functioning); the perseverance and the desires of personal improvement, maintaining a continuous feedback (Sheerens, 2000), allowing him to construct realistic objectives and adjusted to the possibilities of development of each student, fully understanding his mediating and amplifying work of learning.

Final comments

The limitations of this work revolve around the shortage of local and national studies that explicitly address pedagogical practices located in vulnerable contexts and the minority participation of educators (with work experience of less than 5 years). However, they are elements that could be integrated into future research, exploring critical and out of colonial perspectives in the educational field, which contribute to the revaluation of teaching professionalism and the transformation of school space and time.

Finally, and by way of conclusion, we highlight the importance of the pedagogical strategies reported by the educators that enabled this work, dreaming of the construction of active-modifying educational environments, which enhance the emotional and cognitive development of every human being, and particularly of those young people from vulnerable contexts (Sandoval, 2016), allowing us to make decisive progress in school unscholarliness, through experiences of mediated learning as an optimistic, necessary and fair pedagogical alternative in the democratization of learning and social transformation.

Referencias

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• 1
  When we talk about vulnerable contexts, we are mentioning all thos eenvironments and / or development spaces in which children and adolescents have developed during their life trajectory, characterized by the prevailing social inequalities (unemployment, poverty, violence, marginalization and social exclusion, precarious housing, isolation, self-fulfilling prophecies off ailure; stigmatization, economic inequality, etc.), as socio-cultural factors that directly or indirectly impact on the educational processes of students and the violation of their rights. This conceptualization implies a deep and critical view regarding the responsibilities of the family, school, society or the State in the structural perpetuation of these conditions as well as the needs of transformation and educational demand, which allow the construction of a space and more democratic and fair educational time for all.
• 2
  When referring to school failure, we refer to the various episodes facing a student within the schooling processes, characterized by a history of repetition, poor performance, learning difficulties or pedagogical delay. Therefore, this construct can be differentiated according to gender, social class, context of origin, ethnicity etc.

• Work funded by the PCHA, National Doctorate Scholarship 2013 - CONICYT.
• 5
  This paper was translated from Portuguese by Ana Maria Pereira Dionísio.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  9 Dec 2019
• Date of issue
  2019

History

• Received
  17 July 2018
• Accepted
  18 Oct 2018