Whatsapp groups and the construction of new forms of citizenship in schools

Abstract

This article focuses on the debates on the new forms of citizenship that are emerging with the spread of connective media in the educational realm, which tend to flatten discourses within an educational system with a hierarchical structure. Grounding on the analysis of the observation of two WhatsApp groups of teachers in primary schools in Mexico City and of interviews, we study how the participation of teachers is organized in these new arenas, paying attention to languages, textures and borders, and to the callings, closings and openings produced. The chat groups appear mostly as motivational circles and message boards; they do not seem to channel relevant political-pedagogical debates or expand the margins to produce digital acts that claim rights or question established hierarchies.