Abstract

GOMEZ, William Orozco. The rural teacher in Colombia: challenges regarding memory and the reconstruction of social fabric. Prax. Saber [online]. 2022, vol.13, n.33, pp.88-103.  Epub Feb 27, 2023. ISSN 2216-0159.  https://doi.org/10.19053/22160159.v13.n33.2022.13199.

In many rural areas of Colombia, the teacher is the only presence of the State. For this reason, they acquire an important role for community leadership, given the historical place of the rural school in territories where the armed conflict left extensive after-effects. This article presents reflections derived from a participatory action research conducted over four years in a hamlet in the municipality of Sonsón, eastern Antioquia, which sought to strengthen the social fabric through an educational project that, among other issues, addressed the work with collective memory. Regarding the results, it is possible to point out some ethical and political challenges faced by the rural teacher with respect to the social fabric, and in particular, to memory. For this, the methodological tools used are the works of Mèlich, Spanish philosopher, which allow emphasizing the role of memory when facing the experience of evil and barbarism, with the joint of remembering and forgetting, in order to bequeath to rural communities a symbolic heritage based on testimonies that show the pain of the absent ones. The relationship between memory and hope is highlighted and the undervalued role of rural teachers is acknowledged.

Keywords : rural education; teacher; collective memory; armed conflict; social fabric.

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