Abstract

MORENO F., Miguel F.  and  MEJIA, Andrés. “When Nothing is Achieved, the Community Has No Other Option.” How Do Students Decide to Take Over Their School?. RMIE [online]. 2022, vol.27, n.92, pp.47-76.  Epub Mar 14, 2022. ISSN 1405-6666.

This article is centered on a case study of student takeovers of schools that occurred in Bogotá, Colombia in 2017 and 2018 in an attempt to pressure the authorities to solve a school problem. Based on 102 interviews, we developed a qualitative model of system dynamics for both events. To explain the dynamics of the processes, it was key to consider the collective memory of previous takeovers in the educational community, which influenced the students' political agency in considering a takeover as a possible action; it also influenced the authorities' distrust. From the beginning, at one school, "they knew what they had to do." At the other school, the students had to learn about other takeovers and gradually develop agency and indignation, a situation catalyzed by the authorities' short-term solutions.

Keywords : school conflicts; student participation; democracy; models of analysis.