Chapter 5. The Chilean educational curriculum on citizenship education: the
5.8 Citizenship education in relation to the development of competences
The intended Curriculum 1998 constructed CE as a ‘group of contents’ that primarily had a direct relationship to civic matters. Hence, the focus has been on issues that can be understood as a framework for good civic behaviour. In the curriculum Update 2009, it is stated that OF should be more orientated to promoting citizenship which is understood from ethics, moral and civic formation. In 2013, a new curriculum proposal for CE had been intended to encourage in students the development of competences needed for citizenship. It is conceived as a set of contents to be taught and a group of competences to be developed in more than one subject (Maths, Language and HGSC). However, this proposal does not cover grades 11 and 12 as a reform in education is currently in process.
The Curriculum 1998 of HGSC states that the formation of citizens should include knowledge about the state (or nation-state) and the political system and also (and this is a new emphasis) to develop in students the skills and attitudes for a democratic social coexistence. The diversity of views and the ability to argue and debate are essential for the development of a pluralistic society. The knowledge that is associated with citizenship topics is democracy and human rights; national identity and international relations; social cohesion and diversity; political economy; and environment education, among others. Skills to be developed are: the management of public information; expression and debate; relationships with others and expertise for the management of new situations; critical thinking and moral judgment; organisation and participation; and formulation and resolution of problems. Attitudes to be promoted are: personal and social responsibility; the concept of the ‘other’; social inclusion; and peaceful and democratic coexistence.
One study about classroom assessment of primary and secondary schools conducted by MINEDUC in 2006 showed the shortcomings on the achievements of the goals defined for HGSC with particular reference to CE. Therefore, the curriculum Update 2009 is the response to these deficiencies in HGSC. In a document about the justification to change the subject of ‘History and Social Sciences’ to ‘History, Geography and Social Sciences’, several issues are clarified. One of them is the shift of the subject towards CE, an area that should be promoted in the curriculum Update 2009. Emphases linked to CE are: the understanding of historical temporality and knowledge of historical processes; understanding identity as a historical and social construction; systematic understanding of geographical space; assessing and acting responsibly within a particular geographic area for sustainable development; the value of the rights and duties of life in society; understanding and appreciation of the fundamentals of representative and participatory democracy; and skills of inquiry, analysis and reporting. In other words, what is new is the importance given to geography in the understandings of citizenship. However, as will be discussed, students do not relate some of these emphases with understandings of citizenship.
In the 2013 textbook for HGSC, there is no specific mention of CE, because it follows what is prescribed in the 1998 and 2005 curriculum rather than in the Update 2009. However, several topics that are linked to citizenship can be found in the textbook, such as human rights and identity. When these contents are analysed it can be stated that they form part of the set of contents on CE; there are several mentions of ‘citizens’ for example,
fighting for the protection of their human rights or being part of a Latin-American community.
5.9 Summary
I have presented a discussion on the key findings from the analysis of the data collected from documents, specifically the Curriculum 1998, Curriculum Update 2009 and Curriculum Proposal 2013, and the textbook for the subject HGSC. I have looked at how policy-makers have re-engineered the school curriculum to respond to the recovered democracy after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and to the new interest and emphasis on CE in Chile.
Before the fieldwork for this study, I reviewed the documents previously mentioned in order to have a base to construct my data collection tools. The first review of documents provided the basis for the detailed analysis of texts developed after the fieldwork. The main themes that emerged from my analysis were: context of enactment of three versions of the Chilean educational curriculum and the textbook of HGSC; ideologies embedded in the education curriculum; objectives and contents within the three versions of the curriculum; conceptualisations of citizenship and citizen; the purpose of CE; CE within the subject HGSC; and CE in relation to the development of competences.
The Curriculum 1998 for secondary schools formed the basis for the updates in 2005 and 2009 and the new Proposal 2013, currently being implemented. It establishes fundamental objectives which are the competences or capabilities that students should achieve by the end of secondary education, and minimum mandatory content, which describes the knowledge, abilities, and attitudes to be taught to students. It emerged after a debate between several actors, such as politicians, economists, professionals from the academic world, and religious and social leaders, among others.
Curriculum Update 2009 was enacted with no direct involvement of specific economic or political groups. The modifications needed were identified through continuous assessments by the Curriculum and Assessment Unit and the results of international studies in which Chile did not achieve the expected outcomes. Experts in education, especially teachers, were consulted. The Curriculum Bases 2013 is a response to the
recently promulgated LGE, new learning standards, changes in knowledge and the demands of society. Both, the Update 2009 and Proposal 2013, were the result in a significant way, of the student mobilisations seeking and demanding quality education for all.
The three versions of the curriculum show changes in emphasis, contents and objectives embedded in them, depending on the context of the country and the way it was promulgated. In addition, some contents and pedagogical tools were improved. What has not decidedly changed over the years are the discourses and ideologies ingrained in them. Neoliberal, liberal and republicanism are its prevailing ideologies; human capital emphasis is present in the curriculum as well, and some critical ideas have been incorporated in a major way.
Citizenship education is delivered through the subject HGSC. There is a lack of articulation between documents in education due to the continuous changes in the curriculum. One example is that in 2013, according to the Update 2009, the focus of HGSC should have been to strengthen CE in grade 12; but PP and the textbook of HGSC were following the guidelines given by the Curriculum 1998.
Regarding conceptualisations of citizenship and citizen, the evidence shows controversies and contradictions for those terms in the documents. First, there are no direct references or definitions for citizenship and citizen within the curriculum and the textbook. Citizenship is an expected result of the education system and is usually connected to attitudes that citizens should develop to understand and behave appropriately in current scenarios (democracy, neoliberal contexts, on the protection of human rights, amongst others). It should be exercised by human beings; it is understood as a ‘value’ and categorised into the individual level. Although the Curriculum 1998 emphasises the importance of citizenship, there are no specific transverse objectives related to the practices and forms of citizenship. The notion of ‘citizen’ is linked to conceptions of an individual committed to her or his country and other individuals.
The Curriculum Update 2009 and the Proposal 2013 introduce some contents and broad conceptualisations related to citizenship that show the topic is relevant to Chilean society. The Update 2009 includes citizenship themes in the subjects HGSC and ‘Philosophy and
Psychology’, not through a particular subject like ‘Civic Education’ during the dictatorship of Pinochet.
Since 2014 CE has been implemented from grade 7 in three subjects: HGSC, ‘Maths’ and ‘Language’, according to the Curriculum Proposal 2013. It was argued that the purpose of CE in the curriculum has not dramatically changed but has incorporated an emphasis on the characteristics of a plural society. This version has been intended to encourage in students the development of competences needed for citizenship. The emphasis on competences was also present in 1998 and 2009. This focus is shown in the encouragement to students to develop the skills and attitudes for a democratic social coexistence; to be able to argue and debate, negotiate, organise and participate, formulate and resolve problems and to get the knowledge needed for the practice of citizenship.
One reflection at this stage is that different political, economic and social groups have sought to maintain power and others to gain it. CE could be a liberating force for students who would learn how to practise their citizenship; thus, how to balance the distribution of power. However, this liberation depends on the discourses, intentions and ideologies of those who design and enact the education curriculum; in the case of Chile, those who have maintained power for years have been involved in promulgating the curriculum.
Having reflected on how citizenship and CE are enacted in the Curriculum 1998, Update 2009 and Proposal 2013, the next chapter examines students’ views of these phenomena being studied.