Weakened authority, violence against teachers and pedagogical work

ABSTRACT This article aims to analyze the connections between disempowerment and school violence against teachers in a basic education institution, as well as to identify its possible effects on the teaching work. It resulted from a research with mixed methodological approaches, exploratory delineation and a case study format. It was carried out in a public high school in the city of Rio Branco (AC), Brazil, in the year of 2015. The data collection occured in two stages: preliminary (documentary) and principal (semi-structured interview and closed questionnaire). The subjects were 35 teachers. The research sought to understand the perspective of the subjects victimized by the disempowerment and violence. The results indicate that teachers associate the violence, which they say they suffer, as a weakening factor of their authority, whose consequences have directly affected their professional performance. Although there is a climate of insecurity and fear among teachers, it is clear that they are not direct victims of serious violations, but of microviolences, nevertheless, guided by an imaginary of school violence, they act as if they were. It was concluded, therefore, that the teachers’ talk about the disempowerment and the increase of the violence reveal much more than they seem, also symbolizing a denunciation of the precariousness of the teaching work and the neglection regarding education; additionally, they also express an attempt to signify their anguish in the face of professional frustration; and represent, finally, an appeal to justify or cover up the psychological and physical withdrawal of work.