The Construction of a Citizenship Model Through the Teaching of History

What Kind Of Citizens Would We Like To Shape?

Since the Greek polis, the concept of citizenship has changed and varied according to current political, social, economic and cultural trends. At present, there is a special focus on it, not only as subject of political and philosophical interest, but as a practice that has specific rights and duties. Thus, the public policies of all democratic states, and the regulations governing those policies, reflect the conception and values ​​that guide democratic citizenship, in addition to the rights and duties associated with it.

As such, we are becoming increasingly aware that terms such as citizenship and education for citizenship are not stable and that they do not have a single and fixed definition, since it is the context and its reality that allows us to associate it with one set of ideas or another. In addition, our current global society does not facilitate associating citizenship with simply belonging to a state or to participating in elections; our new social realities connect citizenship with all those actions that in one way or another affect our community’s development and make society and the individuals that comprise it an active part of life and of the transformation of their environment. An example of this is found in the deep-seated crisis that the European Union is currently experiencing, where an education for citizenship that gives stability to the entire project is more necessary than ever; one that ensures its citizens are aware of their role in democratic participation (Pausch, 2016).