Debating controversial issues in order to educate citizens. An experience with high school students

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an action-research project conducted in Chile, in 2015, which has inquired about the potential of controversial issues debate for the development of citizenship skills. Specifically, seventyfour secondary school students, aged between 14 and 15 years old, have researched and debated about the possible decriminalization of marijuana in Chile and about the Bolivian maritime claim, against the Chilean government, at the International Court of Justice located in The Hague (Netherlands). The results show the big potential of such issues for the development of citizenship skills, a high positive evaluation of this method by students and the need to incorporate these kinds of issues in the new Chilean citizenship subject.

School Inquiry in Secondary Education: The Experience of the Fiesta de la Historia Youth Congress in Seville

“…In this sense, it seems evident that there is a need to clearly define the learning objectives of a Congress proposal like the one presented here, and especially to encourage the participating teachers to design and carry out learning experiences with their pupils that will allow them to think about and discuss controversial problems and challenges (Aguilar-Forero et al 2019). Different studies (Llorente and Etxeberria 2019;Morgade 2017;Salinas and Oller 2017) corroborate the positivity of pupils' responses to this type of proposal. Indeed, the results of Llorente and Etxeberria (2019) showed that pupils are highly motivated when the learning of historical content is linked to current and complex situations which allow them to assimilate the interrelated and multi-causal nature of the processes, since, methodologically, the approaches are active, mainly based on the historical method.…”

“…Various research findings support this claim. The work of Salinas and Oller (2017) reveals how learners are in agreement with treating controversial issues in class, claiming that this allows them to become informed, take a position, and concern themselves about issues that affect their contexts, as well as giving them the possibility to acquire a greater sensitivity about what is happening around them locally, regionally, and globally. For Muñoz and Pagès (2012), the study of pastpresent relationships, and therefore the fostering of historical and civic awareness, must be carried out on the basis of issues concerned with wars, political questions, economic crises, and people's rights.…”

¡Chile despertó! Una investigación-acción en formación ciudadana de futuros docentes durante el estallido social

“…A partir de los resultados, es posible sostener que tratar el estallido social y el proceso constituyente fue una estrategia didáctica útil para el desarrollo de las competencias ciudadanas del alumnado partícipe, lo cual se condice con posiciones teóricas que apuntan al potencial de los temas candentes y de interés público en la formación de ciudadanos (Magendzo, 2016;Santisteban, 2019) y con el resultado de diversas estudios empíricos realizados tanto en el ámbito de la educación superior (Salinas, 2019 como en secundaria (Salazar, Orellana & Arias, 2019;Salinas & Oller, 2017. Al igual que en las investigaciones mencionadas, el alumnado demostró poseer conocimientos previos respecto a los asuntos tratados, lo que facilitó su uso con fines educativos.…”

“…Primeramente, y en base a la literatura especializada en la materia (Magendzo, 2016;Santisteban, 2019) y a nuestras experiencias previas de formación ciudadana en educación superior (Salinas, 2019, se estableció la hipótesis-acción de que un enfoque centrado tanto en la participación democrática del alumnado como en el análisis y debate de la realidad social resultaría útil para el desarrollo de sus competencias ciudadanas y de su interés por el proceso constituyente. Tras ello, se determinó un diseño de indagación provisto de las siguientes fases: 1) diagnóstico sobre los conocimientos e ideas previas de los jóvenes respecto al estallido social y el proceso constituyente, 2) diseño y aplicación del MCC, 3) recolección y sistematización de la información, y 4) análisis e interpretación crítica de los resultados, con el objeto de determinar fortalezas, debilidades y propuestas a considerar en su rediseño.…”

School inquiry in Secondary Education: The experience of the Fiesta de la Historia Youth Congress in Seville

“…Various research findings support this claim. The work of Salinas & Oller (2017) reveals how learners are in agreement with treating controversial issues in class, claiming that this allows them to get informed, take a position, and concern themselves about issues that affect their contexts, as well as giving them the possibility to acquire a greater sensitivity about what is happening around them locally, regionally, and globally. For Muñoz & Pagès (2012), the study of past-present relationships, and therefore the fostering of historical and civic awareness, must be carried out on the basis of issues concerned with wars, political questions, economic crises, and people's rights.…”