Representations and images about the rural school in Colombia: the case of a school in the city of Montería

Abstract

This article aims to understand the representations and images of the school in students, parents, and teachers located in a rural area of Montería - Colombia. The research had a qualitative approach, and the participants were 15 students, five parents, and ten teachers, who were asked to represent, through the technique of drawing and graphic design their school. The results showed that for the students, the school is associated with their physical and rural environment, where technology becomes a window to the outside world. For their part, the teachers showed the precariousness and abandonment of rural schools and their poor working conditions, portrayed mainly in the lack of classrooms and poor administrative management, which in their opinion is not focused on the development of academic processes that is the duty of the school. Finally, parents recreate a school that is linked to safety and discipline, omitting any aspect related to the teaching-learning process, a situation that leads to the need to rebuild and reconfigure the concept of school in this community.