TEACHER MOTIVATION AND PERFORMANCE IN VENEZUELA: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL-HERMENEUTIC PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative research study conducted at the “El Libertador” National Educational Unit in Portuguesa State, Venezuela, aimed at understanding the intersubjective experiences and internal perspectives of teachers regarding their professional work. The analysis adopts a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach based on Fuster Guillén (2019), allowing for an exploration of the essence of lived experience and capturing the profound meanings of motivation within an educational context marked by a structural crisis. The study identifies a significant gap between educational regulations and classroom reality, where factors such as economic precariousness, insufficient incentives, and the deterioration of mental health—manifested in stress and burnout syndrome—severely condition pedagogical performance. Nevertheless, an ethical and vocational dimension emerges that transcends external limitations, positioning the teacher as a resilient actor. The findings reveal that motivation is not merely an individual phenomenon but an intersubjective process mediated by social recognition, transformational leadership, and institutional culture. Through this phenomenological lens, it is concluded that it is imperative to move toward humanized educational policies that recognize the teacher as a political and emotional subject, beyond their technical function. The design of support strategies that strengthen the autonomy and integral well-being of faculty is recommended as a strategic axis for educational excellence. This theoretical contribution aids in the construction of holistic knowledge regarding teaching praxis in social vulnerability scenarios, enabling the generation of pedagogical proposals that respond to the subjective needs of education professionals.