Talleres para fortalecer factores protectores frente al reclutamiento juvenil: transformaciones en convivencia y narrativas en estudiantes del grado 11°C (Valledupar, Colombia)

Abstract

This study examines the transformations that emerge in the narratives, school relationships, and conflict-resolution practices of 11th-grade students at Andrés Nicolás Escobar Escobar School in Valledupar, Colombia, within a context marked by risks of youth recruitment, fragile social ties, and limited life opportunities. The research is grounded in Critical Action Research and develops a pedagogical intervention based on art workshops, dialogue circles, and school mediation processes. Data production and analysis draw on field journals, semi-structured interviews, student-produced materials, and intervention records, interpreted through thematic coding, narrative analysis, and source triangulation. The findings show that the process fosters the expression of previously silenced experiences, the reinterpretation of conflict, the strengthening of caring relationships, and the recognition of the school as a space of support and protection. Protective factors also emerge, particularly school belonging, support networks, future-oriented thinking, and youth agency. Overall, the study suggests that schools can become pedagogical spaces of care, participation, and the construction of alternative life paths in contexts of violence and exclusion, while also acknowledging the structural tensions that continue to shape young people’s trajectories.