SCHOOL SOCIAL CLIMATE IN STUDENTS OF LA ARAUCANIA REGION, CHILE

The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception of the School Social Climate of second-year highschool students in La Araucania, Chile. We worked with a representative sample of 2.352 students. The instrument to evaluate the School's Social Climate (CECSCE) was used. The confirmatory analysis showed that CECSCE has a unifactorial and bifactorial structure. The invariance analysis showed the stability of the scale for students of both genders and has adequate validity and reliability for its use in educational interventions. The results show that the students of La Araucania region perceive a moderate social climate. Likewise, those who belong to municipal schools perceive the most unfavorable social climates, especially in the type of Technical-Professional education and in rural areas. The role of teachers in general and, specifically, of Physical Education teachers, in their contribution to the improvement of school environments and stress levels in school is discussed