Teachers who educate in contexts of poverty face situations that make the teaching practice more complex. The objective of this study was to describe the perception of teachers in relation to the skills acquired as a result of their initial professional training to educate in contexts of poverty and the practices they perform to address the ways in which poverty appears in the classroom. It was sought to identify the manifestations of poverty identified by teachers, the actions they take to face these situations and the self-perceptions about the pertinence of their professional training to educate under those conditions. Methodologically, a qualitative approach with exploratory descriptive scope was adopted, based on a questionnaire prepared by the research team and validated by experts. The results show that teachers define poverty beyond the economic dimension. In the school they recognize it in the shortage of materials, the no attendance of the students, the low levels of education of the parents and the neglect toward their children. Furthermore, educators rely fairly on the learning possibilities of their students. It is concluded that teachers perceive poverty in a contextualized way and recognize it in manifestations that goes beyond the economic dimension. Finally, the reflection on the teaching practice is considered fundamental to educate in contexts of poverty.
Keywords:
Education; poverty; perception; teaching practices; professional education
Uribe-Lotero, C., Vélez-De La Calle, C., & Merchán-Naranjo, J. (2019). Educate in Contexts of Poverty: Perceptions and Practices of Teachers in an Educational District in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Revista Saberes Educativos, (3), 25–53. https://doi.org/10.5354/2452-5014.2019.53788
