Infrastructural Pedagogy in Post-Agreement Colombia: Social Sciences Teachers and the Reconstruction of Historical Memory in PDET Zones

Abstract

Teaching the historical memory of the Colombian armed conflict in schools within Development Programs with a Territorial Approach (PDET) remains under-theorized despite its policy visibility. Frontier scholarship on trauma-informed practice, embedded curricula, and teacher well-being rarely engages Casanare, Meta, and Guaviare, treating teachers as bearers of emotional cost rather than agents constituting a local public sphere. This study asked how Social Sciences secondary school teachers in these three departments reconstruct memory pedagogically. A systematic Grounded Theory design was applied across three semi-structured interviews (60–90 minutes); sample adequacy was justified through the 3S Continuum at Summation and Saliency levels and through Information Power. Six categories organized around a selective core: Situated Pedagogical Practice as Mediation. Findings identify fear as an agentive strategy of care, infrastructural pedagogy compensating for state absence, and teachers acting as political brokers. The study advances trauma-informed peace pedagogy beyond individualized burnout frames.