Listening to Emilce and Pedro: Exploring the subjective constitutions of teachers amid violence

In Colombia, some educators coexist with varying and pervasive forms of violence, which in turn influence their teacher subjectivities. This pilot study discusses a) what it means to be a teacher and to teach amid violence in Colombia and b) conversation as a research method to explore such an issue. The conversations sustained with the teachers who participated in this study allowed for exploring the definition of docentes, the social perception of teaching, docentes and community involvement, and docentes and violence. Finally, I conclude that conversing and reflecting as teachers can help explore teachers’ subjective experiences with contextual violence. In exploring that, we can contribute to developing trauma-sensitive pedagogies for teacher education. •Exploring teachers’ subjective experiences of contextual violence to develop trauma sensitive pedagogies for teacher education.•Conversations with teachers could facilitate co-constructing what being a teacher amid violence means.•Reflection between researcher and participating teachers can benefit understanding what it means to teach amid violence.•A contextual description of the violence teachers have experienced in Colombia.