‘Tactical’ pedagogies: The implications of teacher fear in settings affected by urban violence

• In Event: Urban Insecurity: Dynamics and Responses

Abstract

Building on prior analysis of teacher practices in relation to student involvement in micro trafficking, this paper explores the theme of teacher fear and how fear shapes pedagogical decision-making. While on the one hand, teachers must be understood as holders of vast symbolic power, both through their exercise of pedagogical authority and in their role as agents of the state, on the other hand, teachers often undertake their decisions from a position of weakness relative to other forces at play, such as the precariousness of labor in the neoliberal state, and the presence of non-state armed actors and the logic of criminal networks. In settings affected by urban violence, fear is a prominent factor shaping teachers’ self perception of their capabilities and options. Teachers often make decisions from a position of perceived vulnerability due to scarcity, isolation and the power of other state and non-state actors. In this paper, I draw from a qualitative multi-sited case study that employed interview, focus group and participant observation techniques over the course of one school year in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to describe how and when fear operated in teachers’ pedagogical approaches. Through this discussion I posit that teachers’ exercise of discretion in settings affected by urban violence is best viewed as tactical, despite their position of relative authority. These findings shed light on the intersection of teaching and urban violence, and nuance explanations of teacher influence over dynamics of insecurity.

Author

• Maria Jose Bermeo, Teachers College Columbia University