Ethical and Civic Education and the Social Commitment of University Students

Abstract

RESUMENEstamos siendo testigos en estas últimas décadas de una creciente preocupación internacional por el escaso compromiso social de los jóvenes, que se manifiesta en su baja participación social, el exiguo interés que muestran por la política formal y la insignificante participación electoral que ejercen.El esquema que seguimos es, en primer lugar, dibujar el marco internacional en que nos movemos. Después se indaga en la formación ético-cívica del alumnado universitario en el marco de la tercera misión de la universidad y del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior. Posteriormente tratamos de una de las iniciativas más fructíferas en este ámbito: el service learning. Finalizamos haciendo una propuesta de algunas sugerencias para la educación superior. Está latente a lo largo del artículo la necesidad de la suscitación de una formación ético-cívica como clave para la promoción del compromiso social de los jóvenes.Descriptores: formación ético-cívica; compromiso social; estudiantes universitarios; Espacio europeo de educación superior; service-learning; misión social de la universidad.

Are We Training in Sustainability in Higher Education? Case Study: Education Degrees at the University of Salamanca

“…Ethical principles are a benchmark in learning processes in education degrees [25], as are educational values and citizen training [26,27]. However, a greater impact on ethical and deontological training is required in order to produce professionals capable of carrying out educational work aimed at recognizing the value of each individual, as well as seeking harmony with the environment surrounding them and respecting their fundamental rights [28,29]. In essence, it is necessary to redesign the processes promoting sustainability in the education degrees of the University of Salamanca, and thereby the social variable of learning [19,30].…”

Citizenship, Democracy and Higher Education in Europe, Canada and the USA

“…Even so, given our results, any work in this way should insist on two aspects. First, it will be necessary to strengthen the community dimension of civic experience in our universities, for example by in-service learning practices as a form of social participation that fosters a sense of community and can help to improve the social well-being (Cicognani et al, 2008;Martínez, 2008;Naval et al, 2011). This would counteract the tendency perceived at the university today toward clientelistic attitudes that in the end are one more manifestation of nihilism.…”

A Methodology to Analyze the Presence of Sustainability in Engineering Curricula. Case of Study: Ten Spanish Engineering Degree Curricula

“…It is probable that the influence of the creation of the European Higher Education Area, where "the university marks new spaces to carry out proposals of ethical learning, connected with new ways of professional and scientific training" [38], is beginning to be noticed in engineering degrees. However, the report prepared for the GUNI (Global University Network for Innovation) [39], in which more than 500 experts from around the world participated, warns that "teaching programs usually contain a hidden agenda of practices based on unsustainable actions that do not favor reflection on the ethical values of human actions in the middle."…”