In Chile, at least one third of secondary schools have a school vulnerability index higher than 80% (MINEDUC, 2016). These schools congregate students with low socioeconomic levels, with scarce cultural capital, diverse social and behavioural problems, together with complex family difficulties (CASEN, 2015). Several authors (Moscovici, 1988, Gergen, 1994, Wagner, 2015) state that the background with which each teacher has, and that constitutes a large part of their social representations, could influence their daily pedagogical practices. The way in which the teacher plans, develops and evaluates his classes would be mediated by the notions, ideas, concepts and theories he has about his/her students, the context where he/she works, the role he or she plays, among others. At vulnerable settings, resilience could be a crucial skill to overcome adversities positively for teachers as well as students. However, In Chile, this concept and its potential to the development of learning in disadvantaged contexts is not well-known or understood in many schools. The research aims to investigate social representations that high school teachers have about the notion of resilience and its contribution to the learning process. The study is designed from a sociocultural theoretical perspective and has a qualitative methodological approach. The data collection methods used were: semi-structured interviews, focus groups and observation of classes. The findings show a vast wealth of notions, ideas and reflections of how teachers understand their students today, what are their main challenges and the concept of resilience as a controversial element regarding their potential contribution in the development of learning processes more autonomous. This study also allows us to reflect on the importance and need to discuss how our social representations impact, often unconsciously, our practices in daily life and sometimes the lives and future of others.