Public Discourse of the Chilean Ministry of Education on School Violence and Convivencia Escolar: A Subjective Theories Approach

Castro-Carrasco, Pablo J.; Gubbins, Verónica; Caamaño, Vladimir; González-Palta, Ingrid; Vicencio, Fabiana Rodríguez-Pastene; Zelaya, Martina; Carrasco-Aguilar, Claudia

doi:10.3390/socsci14090539

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Public Discourse of the Chilean Ministry of Education on School Violence and Convivencia Escolar: A Subjective Theories Approach

by

Pablo J. Castro-Carrasco

¹

,

Verónica Gubbins

²,

Vladimir Caamaño

^1,3,

Ingrid González-Palta

^1,4,

Fabiana Rodríguez-Pastene Vicencio

⁵,

Martina Zelaya

⁶

and

Claudia Carrasco-Aguilar

^7,*

¹

Research Center on Subjective Theories, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, University of La Serena, La Serena 1700000, Chile

²

Research Center on Subjective Theories, Center for Psychology, Education, and Family Research, Faculty of Education, Psychology, and Family, Finis Terrae University, Santiago 8320000, Chile

³

School of Psychology, Santo Tomás University, La Serena 1700000, Chile

⁴

Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Alberto Hurtado University, Santiago 8320000, Chile

⁵

Department of Gender, Policy and Culture, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universidad de la Playa Ancha, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile

⁶

Research Center on Subjective Theories, Department of Arts and Letters, Faculty of Humanities, University of La Serena, La Serena 1700000, Chile

⁷

Department of Didactics and Educational Organization, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Málaga, 29010 Málaga, Spain

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(9), 539; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14090539 (registering DOI)

Submission received: 16 July 2025 / Revised: 2 September 2025 / Accepted: 4 September 2025 / Published: 6 September 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting School Violence: Safety for Children in Schools)

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Abstract

This study analyzed subjective theories on school violence and convivencia escolar expressed in the public discourse of the Chilean Ministry of Education in 2022. This research focused on the return to in-person learning, a time when concerns about violence in schools increased and public policies aimed at addressing it were launched. Inductive content analysis and grounded theory techniques were used to examine 66 tweets issued by official ministry accounts during 2022. The analysis identified three interpretative sets. The first suggests that although violence has external structural causes, it must be eradicated from schools. The second links convivencia escolar with well-being and socioemotional skills, but without an explicit association with violence. The third locates the origin of psychological distress in external factors but assigns its management to the school system. A predominance of expert knowledge existed in the promoted solutions. These findings are discussed based on the idea that the Ministry of Education’s discourse on Twitter not only informs but also seeks to shape educational common sense and validate public policies. This raises questions about its impact on the interpretive autonomy of school communities.

Keywords: subjective theories; school violence; convivencia escolar; public discourse; educational policy

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MDPI and ACS Style

Castro-Carrasco, P.J.; Gubbins, V.; Caamaño, V.; González-Palta, I.; Vicencio, F.R.-P.; Zelaya, M.; Carrasco-Aguilar, C. Public Discourse of the Chilean Ministry of Education on School Violence and Convivencia Escolar: A Subjective Theories Approach. Soc. Sci. 2025, 14, 539. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14090539

AMA Style

Castro-Carrasco PJ, Gubbins V, Caamaño V, González-Palta I, Vicencio FR-P, Zelaya M, Carrasco-Aguilar C. Public Discourse of the Chilean Ministry of Education on School Violence and Convivencia Escolar: A Subjective Theories Approach. Social Sciences. 2025; 14(9):539. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14090539

Chicago/Turabian Style

Castro-Carrasco, Pablo J., Verónica Gubbins, Vladimir Caamaño, Ingrid González-Palta, Fabiana Rodríguez-Pastene Vicencio, Martina Zelaya, and Claudia Carrasco-Aguilar. 2025. "Public Discourse of the Chilean Ministry of Education on School Violence and Convivencia Escolar: A Subjective Theories Approach" Social Sciences 14, no. 9: 539. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14090539

APA Style

Castro-Carrasco, P. J., Gubbins, V., Caamaño, V., González-Palta, I., Vicencio, F. R.-P., Zelaya, M., & Carrasco-Aguilar, C. (2025). Public Discourse of the Chilean Ministry of Education on School Violence and Convivencia Escolar: A Subjective Theories Approach. Social Sciences, 14(9), 539. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14090539

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Public Discourse of the Chilean Ministry of Education on School Violence and Convivencia Escolar: A Subjective Theories Approach

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