General
Introduction
Education for Citizenship and Human Rights was one of the most important new elements of the
Organic Education Law of 2006. In its preamble, the law confirms that, “su
finalidad consiste en ofrecer a todos los estudiantes un espacio de reflexión,
análisis y estudio acerca de las características fundamentales y el
funcionamiento de un régimen democrático, de los principios y derechos
establecidos en la Constitución española y en los tratados y las declaraciones
universales de los derechos humanos, así como de los valores comunes que
constituyen el sustrato de la ciudadanía democrática en un contexto global.”
Once the
Ministry of Education and the Autonomous Regions published the Decree stating
the minimum requisites for this subject we understood how this space for
analysis, reflection and study was defined. Conscious of the importance of this
subject, we have prepared a series of didactic units that can be used to
develop this space for analysis, reflection and study. We have started by
developing the units for Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO), or Obligatory
Secondary Education, because we think it is a key phase of the schedule
underlined by the law.
As we are
conscious of how valuable these units are to the educational community of which
we are part, we would like to highlight some of the general characteristics of
the philosophical approach that inspired us as we developed them, and some
specific characteristics of the materials that we present to you here.
In terms
of our general approach to this space for analysis, reflection and study, we
are convinced that the need for and the urgency and value of a true education
in citizenship go beyond the limits of the formal education system. Education for Citizenship and Human Rights is not an exclusive competence of the education
system; it also belongs to parents, families and society in general. Learning
about citizenship starts at home, continues at school and conditions a person's
development on a community level. The course that we present is open to
families, teachers and all citizens who want to help young people and
adolescents to develop the way they learn about citizenship.
The course
is open to the collaboration of all those interested in a truly democratic
citizenship. This type of citizenship is not the exclusive consequence of the
will of legislators or the state; rather it is the will of all free citizens
and free societies. Democratic citizenship is not a by-product of the state,
its legislators or politicians; it is the result of the effort of society as a
whole. This guidance makes our commitment to public spaces of democratic
deliberation as a place for promoting citizenship clear. Instead of presenting
a type of citizenship that fits into political spaces, then, we present a type
of citizenship made for public spaces. In all democratic citizenship courses,
political spaces are necessary, but they are also insufficient.
We want
our citizenship education to be active. In line with European Union guidelines,
democratic citizenship demands active citizens, and this means that the people
who make up a political community must not passively conform to the duties
outlined in the laws of their respective countries, but that they must also
take shared responsibility for everything that happens in public spaces. Citizenship
is active when it appeals for, motivates and promotes the participation of
citizens. It's not enough to develop feelings of belonging and to learn about
rights; active citizenship generates ways of participation and the learning of
responsibilities. Citizenship education cannot exist if there is no teaching of
shared responsibility, because rights are accompanied by duties. To learn about
citizenship is, at the same time, to learn about rights and responsibilities. To
learn about citizenship is to be trained in civic responsibility, urbanity and
good behaviour, it is to teach sensitivity, intelligence and good taste so that
we can aspire to the most noble side of the human
soul.
In the
development of the teaching units we have followed a model of active
citizenship featured in the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. The active citizenship model that appears in the
Spanish Constitution is still applicable today and that is why we have
developed the content in accordance with the spirit of the document. Our
approach has been guided by the higher values of the constitutional
legislation, just as they appear in Article 1.1 of the Preliminary Title. By
using the higher values of the constitution as our guide, our material has been
created to respond to the new ethical, political and cultural challenges that
all democratic citizenships must face. Instead of structuring the way
citizenship is learned in strictly legal terms, we have tried to propose some
materials that facilitate its understanding in all of its dimensions, from
legal aspects to the social, economic or cultural dimensions. Furthermore, we
want our students to not only make local commitments but also approach their
citizenship with a global frame of mind.
Our
approach also aims to be universal, but not only because we are concerned with
the extension and impact of democratic citizenship. It is important to know
that citizenship goes beyond the borders of states, nations and peoples, and it
is also important to know that democratic citizenship is the result of effort,
sacrifice, study and memory. Learning about citizenship cannot be reduced to
learning about rights; it should be extended to the radical longing for
freedom, justice and peace that have always been present in the history of
humanity.
This
philosophy, which is the foundation of our approach, has influenced the
preparation of the material that we present here. First of all, they are materials
developed freely, with a clear objective of increasing public contemplation of
the subject. Commitment to pluralism does not excuse us from coming up with
convincing arguments and a shared search for truth, thus making the type of
civic responsibility we propose inclusive, rather than exclusive.
In the
promotion of this civic responsibility, the material that is included plays an
important role, along with moral and political philosophy, in strengthening an
integral idea of the individual and a humanistic understanding of knowledge. This
has led to the design of teaching units where the bulk of the philosophical
debate or deliberation is complemented by other areas of knowledge. We start
with an experience related to anger, an experience that motivates reflection on
the conditions of democratic citizenship. We then coherently develop the
contents with which to build public debate and deliberation.
This first
part of each unit is complemented by other sections that aim to analyse the
complicated nature of democratic citizenship as represented in the press, on
film, through art and in literature. In this way, it is clear that learning
about citizenship is not simply learning about laws; rather it is learning what
classic philosophers called civic virtue or virtues. That is to say, it's not
just about learning laws and legislative texts; it's about training in civic
responsibility, exercising civic responsibility and generating attitudes of
civic responsibility that are guided by the higher values. As Aristotle said,
we don't study ethics to understand what virtue is; we study ethics in order to
be virtuous.
The units
are divided up into four sections. In the first section, the question of
citizenship is addressed in the context of personal, social and institutional
life; in the second we place citizenship within the framework of the state,
with human rights, which bring together and provide guidance about rights as
duties and responsibilities, as the overlying concept. In the third section, we
concentrate on the analysis and reading of our Constitution, and what could be
called Spain's place in the world. Finally, in the fourth section, we place
citizenship within the context of plurality, that is, within a society affected
by new technology, a global perspective and cultural diversity.
Each unit
concludes with summary activities, within which we intend the student to apply
the previously analysed information. However, the units do not end here; rather
they end in the student's notebook and as part of his or her daily life. These
are units that reach out to the students' own lives and the lives of their
families, so that they learn to look for information, analyse it and critically
approach the different spheres where citizenship is exercised. We want the student
to not only find out more, we want him or her to become actively involved
(active citizenship) in the spaces where citizenship exists. It's not about
looking for information and then storing it, it's about accessing that
information in order to participate, and it’s about learning to look for
information and analysing it in order to exercise one's citizenship.
|