Structural Conditions of the Teacher-Student Relationship: An Analysis of Teachers' Discourses in the Current Context of Educational Reform in Chile

Abstract

The bond between teacher and student, which involves feelings and emotions, is fundamental to the educational process and is embedded in social, historical and structural elements. Considering this, the purpose of our research was to understand the discourse that teachers built around the structural conditions of the teacher-student relationship. To achieve this goal, we worked from the perspective of critical discourse analysis and used two techniques for data production, focus groups and episodic interviews. Study participants were teachers from four secondary schools in Santiago de Chile. For data analysis we followed the three-dimensional model proposed by Norman FAIRCLOUGH.

The main results presented in this article show that teachers mentioned structural determinants of the bond, such as a hierarchical educational institution, the oppressive educational model, and society as an overwhelming structure. However, also contradictions and discursive variability in the positioning of teachers were identified, possibly due to the current context of reforms and social mobilization for education.