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School climate is recognized as a relevant factor for the improvement of educative processes, favoring the administrative processes and optimum school performance. The present article is the result of a quantitative research model which had the objective of psychometrically designing and validating a scale to diagnose the organizational climate of educational institutions. This study had the participation of 549 teachers and directors from 42 primary and secondary educational establishments of Chile. Diverse procedures were applied for the validation of content and psychometric validation in the various stages of the investigation, obtaining an instrument composed by seven factors and made up of conceptually and statistically consistent items. The complete scale and its sub-scales show adequate reliability, and likewise an appropriate validity, constituting it an instrument of wide use for supporting the process of education administration, and to promote coexistence climates of appreciation and respect among the educational participants. The complete scale and its subscales permits the understanding that the organizational climate of the educational center is not reduced to the teacher-student relationship, but rather contemplates the dynamic relationships between diverse players, establishing the importance of the joint action between teachers, directives, students, and parents, as well as revealing the importance of some structural organization variables which influence the daily perception of school climate.

Ethnic or racial discrimination towards children and adolescents at schools is of concern in many contexts around the world because it is associated with diverse psychosocial, behavioural, emotional, and identity problems. The purpose of this study was to identify the types of ethnic discrimination experienced by indigenous Mapuche adolescents in schools in Chile. The study was qualitative in nature and two techniques were used: semi-structured interviews and focus groups involving an "indicative" sample of 80 participants (30 students and 50 teachers) from three urban high schools in the Araucanía Region, Chile. Three modes of ethnic discrimination were identified: "verbal," "behavioural-attitudinal" and "institutional." A "non virtuous cycle" of discrimination is suggested. It originates with teachers' prejudiced attitudes that lead to attributions of deficit among Mapuche adolescents. When these attributions are activated, they lead to a diminished sense of competence, avoidance and segregation among Mapuche students who then withdraw from active participation in learning, which perpetuates and confirms teachers' prejudice and attributions. Recommendations for the educational system, schools, and teachers are discussed to diminish the manifestation of ethnic discrimination at schools and its negative consequences for indigenous adolescent population.