Teachers in Peruvian Public Primary Schools: Views on Teaching as a Profession in a Challenging Context

This thesis explores views on the teaching profession among teachers working in primary public schools in Peru. It argues that teachers are key agents of education systems and that the way they perceive their own work is a fundamental element in the understanding of their practices and the extent to which these are oriented towards guaranteeing children's right to education. This research combines secondary national data with interviews and focus group sessions conducted in the capital city and in an Andean highland province. Both sets of evidence were used to link teachers' biographies and Peruvian history in order to identify key elements in teachers' views on their professional activity exploring how they are connected to overarching social processes. The main findings point to the identification of a dual speech: (i) a public one focusing on the vindication of rights and characterised by a critical stance towards governmental policies; and (ii) individually framed narratives more attached to personal/family stories and mixed views of teachers themselves vis-a-vis governmental initiatives. This research also sheds light on the deep connection between teachers' social background and recent social transformations in Peru. In fact, teacher recruitment, seemingly motivated by concerns external to the education agenda, has resulted in a rather homogeneous workforce in terms of their socio-economic background. Teachers' views on their profession appear mostly rooted in: (i) social mobility expectations, (ii) the role of the State in the creation of work posts and in defining what is expected of teachers; and (iii) a general set of representations about Peruvian social conditions developed against a backdrop of three decades of economic stagnation and deep social transformations. Advancing an understanding of these intertwined elements represents the main contribution of this thesis in relation to: (i) the generation of new knowledge and informing future research, (ii) the advancement of my future professional activities, (iii) feeding into the debates on what is required form the Peruvian education system to better perform as to guarantee the human right to education.