Social issues of difficult definition and solution, which have to do with the very configuration of society as well as with the worldviews of the individuals that form it. They have different degrees of importance or relevance according to their permanence, actuality, generality, typicality, influence or severity. For example, social inequality, climate change, among others.
Published in Chapter:
Education for Citizenship in the Latin American Context
Joan Pagès Blanch (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain), Carolina García González (University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), Chile), and Martha Cecilia Gutiérrez Giraldo (Technological University of Pereira (UTP), Colombia)
Copyright: © 2019
|Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7110-0.ch009
Abstract
The chapter shows the situation of education for democratic citizenship in Latin America and its evolution over the last 25 years, taking as an example three countries: Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. First, the concept of citizenship in curricula is analyzed. Its role in the political and social re-democratization and its limitations are proposed as a result of a national identity concept that limits cultural, social, and political diversity. Their strengths and weaknesses are compared, considering issues like human rights, citizenship responsibilities, citizen participation, community boundaries, levels of identity, and cultural diversity. Second, the purposes of their teaching are interpreted in the curricula. It presents a curriculum focused on relevant social problems and on the formation of critical thinking and social participation and citizenship awareness. Finally, it reflects on the results of the international study on civic and citizen education in Latin America, pointing out its contradictions and the need to continue deepening in research and in teaching practice and training.