Rethinking Teaching from Territories: Approaches from Public Policy, Educational Policy, And Teacher Policy

Abstract

Reflecting on teachers’ work based on the specific realities of each territory or local context, and from different public policy perspectives, remains a highly relevant topic. This paper proposes to analyze and reconsider teaching practice by taking local realities into account, addressing it across different policy levels: general public policy, educational policy, and teacher-specific policy. A qualitative and interpretive approach is adopted; therefore, a documentary analysis is conducted in which the meanings and interpretations attributed to various experiences are described, analyzed, and interpreted. The units of analysis underpinning the study include institutional discourses on teachers’ work, conceptions of teaching embedded in policies, teaching experiences in territorial contexts, and public policy guidelines, among others. The paper provides findings that contribute to understanding how the social, economic, and cultural conditions of the context influence the way teaching work is carried out. Among the conclusions, it is highlighted that teaching must be analyzed from different angles: general regulatory frameworks, an understanding of the territories where teaching is practiced, and the need to rethink it in order to promote a more comprehensive, situated, and contextualized understanding of teachers’ work.