Exploring Resilience in Indigenous Pewuenche Teachers in Alto Bíobio, Chile – Sharing Experiences From Four Case Studies

Conference: The Paris Conference on Education (PCE2022)
Title: Exploring Resilience in Indigenous Pewuenche Teachers in Alto Bíobio, Chile – Sharing Experiences From Four Case Studies
Stream: Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Patricia Lagos, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

Abstract:

Teaching is considered one of the most stressful and demanding jobs (Kyriacou, 2000), especially when teacher performance is delivered in vulnerable settings and groups such as Indigenous people. Generally, Indigenous students carry historical traumas and long-term mental sufferings. In many cases, they have endured discrimination and structural violence. This last aspect is manifested in social and educational systems that do not acknowledge their culture but rather suppress it. Such is the case of teachers in Pewuenche communities in Alto Biobío, in southern Chile. This group inhabits a disputed land rich in natural resources. Because of the same, they have undergone a long story of violence and repression stretching as far back as the first Spanish conquerors, which continued during Pinochet’s dictatorship and the return of democracy to the country. Nowadays, they endure the constraints of the economic globalisation process and COVID-19. For teachers working in Pewuenche communities, dealing with these historical circumstances requires a tremendous resilience capacity. They have conveyed and reinforced this emotional ability through oral Pewuenche traditions, the use of their language, and a strong sense of community. These characteristics are placed at the core of this particular group of teachers. This presentation will offer a comprehensive review of the current empirical work on teachers’ resilience by introducing the cases of four teachers working in a Pewuenche community. The main aim is to shed some light on how teachers working in Indigenous communities can resist, cope and thrive in adverse historical circumstances.

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