Institutional and relational actions that favor school retention of students from disadvantaged socio-economic sectors

Abstract

Any pedagogical action that wants to be promoted requires an initial condition: school retention. In this paper, we identify the actions done by managers and teachers from an argentine secondary school to ensure the permanence of students from disadvantaged socio-economic sectors at risk of dropping. From interviews, classroom observations, and documents, we characterize institutional and relational initiatives that have been identified both in the literature and by interviewees as favoring class attendance. Those who develop this network of actions recognize the social situation of students and take a critical stance on a political level that is shown through their educational practice. With permanence guaranteed, it will be necessary to overcome another challenge that falls on the school function: thinking how to build appropriate didactic conditions for teaching disciplinary content.