"Of Being and Not Being:" Colombian Public Elementary School Teachers' Oscillating Identities

This article presents the partial results of a larger study conducted in Bogotá (Colombia) with public elementary school teachers. Given their nature, and since they are equally affected not only by one, but by every policy of the Colombian educational system, the primary school teachers cannot be t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHOW - A Colombian journal for teachers of English Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 190 - 205
Main Authors Quintero Polo, Álvaro Hernán, Guerrero Nieto, Carmen Helena
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published ASOCOPI, the Colombian Association of Teachers of English 01.10.2013
Asociación Colombiana de Profesores de Ingles
Subjects
Decision Making
Educational policies
Educational Policy
Elementary School Teachers
Focus Groups
Foreign Countries
Grounded Theory
Knowledge Level
Neoliberalism
Professional Autonomy
Professional Identity
Public School Teachers
Teacher Administrator Relationship
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Empowerment
teacher identity
Teacher Responsibility
Teacher Role
Colombia (Bogota)
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Summary:This article presents the partial results of a larger study conducted in Bogotá (Colombia) with public elementary school teachers. Given their nature, and since they are equally affected not only by one, but by every policy of the Colombian educational system, the primary school teachers cannot be treated here as if they taught English only. They are responsible for teaching all subjects (math, social studies, physical education, English, Spanish, etc.). Data were collected through focus groups. Partial results show that the teachers' identities range from feeling powerful to feeling powerless, depending on where they stand, that is, the field of knowledge, in the classroom, and in their relationship with the policies makers.
ISSN:0120-5927
0120-5927