Relaciones sociales e interacción en el aula en secundaria

In this article, we emphasize a conceptual distinction between “interaction” and “social relationship”—a distinction that is rejected by one of the predominant currents that analyzes the effects of teacher/students relationships on teaching and learning. We carried out ethnographic research with a group of eighth-graders in Spanish class during the 2004-2005 school year. The results show that establishing social relationships over the year implied agreements on respect and authority that influenced learning. Focusing on social relationships as probabilities of the occurrence of a certain type of interaction, implies emphasizing the temporality and precariousness of their establishment, as well as understanding their formation in the school according to the region’s specific cultural principles. We emphasize individuals’ social constitution and not only the morphology and techniques of face-to-face interpretation and interaction.