Education and Democracy - Topic - Organization of American States

Policy Brief Series

September 2013

Education and Democracy

EDUCATION AND CRITICAL THINKING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF CITIZENSHIP: An Investment toward Strengthening Democracy in the Americas By: Rosario Jaramillo Gabriel Murillo

Department of Human Oficina de Educación Development, Education y Cultura and Employment DDHEC/SEDI SEDI Programa Interamericáno sobre Educación en Valores y Prácticas Democráticas

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About

The Program

EDUCATION AND CRITICAL THINKING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF CITIZENSHIP: An Investment toward Strengthening Democracy in the Americas

The Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices is a hemispheric alliance of ministries of education, civil society organizations, international organizations, universities and private sector organizations working to strengthen education for democratic citizenship through cooperation, research and professional development.

By: Rosario Jaramillo Officially adopted at the IV Inter-American Meeting of the Ministers of Education on Trinidad and Tobago, in August 2005, its main objective is to promote the development and strengthening of a democratic culture in the Americas through formal and non-formal education. For more information about the Inter-American Program please contact us at: [email protected] or visit our Web page www.educadem.oas.org Follow us on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/educadem Twitter: www.twitter.com/EDUCADEM

Gabriel Murillo

Content

I. The Fundamental Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4 II. A Few Basic Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 5 III. Citizenship Competency: Essential Element in Education for Democratic Values and Practices . . . . . . . . . . .page 7 IV. Civic and Citizenship education in the Americas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 10 V. The Importance of Evaluations of Education for Democracy in the Hemisphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 12 VI. Corollary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 13 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pág. 13

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Coordination Department of Human Development, Education and Employment Organization of American States Text Rosario Jaramillo Gabriel Murillo Editorial Team Romina Kasman Graphic Design Diana Valentina Pernett

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“If it is true that citizenship cannot be constructed people to make the transition from heteronomy with only education, it is also true that without it to autonomy, from isolation to participation, from citizenship cannot be constructed.” fear of not having their full rights to the conviction that they can demand respect for their dignity. Paulo Freire Citizenship education improves people’s abilities to engage in such behaviors that promote a deEDUCATION AND CRITICAL THINKING FOR mocratic society. THE CONSTRUCTION OF CITIZENSHIP: AN INVESTMENT IN STRENGTHENING b. A democratic society requires that the instiDEMOCRACY IN THE AMERICAS tutions that sustain it (family, school, work, political organizations, associations, etc.) resolve I. The Fundamental Question their matters in a congruous manner. In order to educate citizens in democratic values and practices, as well as ensure their ability to act in a critical, conscious, and responsible way, we must keep the following in mind: a. Without solid citizenship education, a truly democratic society is impossible. People are not democratic by nature. From birth, their existence is characterized by a tension between antagonistic ideas such as altruism and egoism, empathy and indifference, justice and injustice. From an early age, however, people are most inclined to seek that which benefits them directly. It is only gradually, through experiences with relationships, logical reasoning, fondness, and reflection upon decisions and actions, that one may become more sensitive to the wellbeing of others and toward the greater good. In this way, people gradually develop attitudes and values that make them more inclined to seek the good of the “other” and of society as a whole. Since citizenship education handles a variety of factors that influence citizen behavior, it allows

When different societal institutions—family, school, work—normalize asymmetrical power relations that disfavor a small or a large number of their members through prejudice, such relations reproduce themselves in the power structure of the government as well, and vice versa. In order to break this vicious cycle, both citizens and the government must work together to find ways to restructure power relations in accordance with the values that everyone seeks to uphold. In this way, everyone is responsible for keeping watch to ensure that the interpersonal relations within the many forms of social organization are participatory, free, respectful, symmetrical, just, and otherwise characteristic of a lively, healthy democracy. In other words, people must live democracy in their institutions in order to be able to be fully democratic and to have a thorough understanding of the importance of the common good. When families, schools, and workplaces reflect respectable, impartial, equitable, free, and just behaviors, they create environments that promote these behaviors in their members. The contrary is also true, however. 4

1 Ennis, Robert; see http://www.criticalthinking.net and Faccione, Peter http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/ 2 Paulo Freire; Lawrence Kohlberg; Eleanor Duckworth; Angela Bermúdez; Andrés Mejía; Bradley Levinson, Abraham Magendzo, Program of Citizenship Competencies, MEN of Colombia. 3 Critical thought is based on the social sciences’ critical interest: revealing the unseen causes of social phenomena, for example in power relations. (Habermas, Conocimiento e Interés, 1990. Taurus Humanidades. Buenos Aires.) The mind’s abilities in this case have not only an element of truth—an experimental and predictive interest—as in the natural sciences, but also a character of historical interpretation—an inter-subjective, cultural-interpretive interest—or transformative in terms of justice and “care for others.” This last socialethical dimension includes realities and social practices that range from the interpersonal level to the socio-cultural and historical level. For Ángela Bermúdez, the mental abilities that are required for critical thought are: a)Problem conceptualization—the sensitivity toward and capacity to identify dilemmas, controversies, falsehoods, biases, etc., to be approached and to be able to explain their causes, reconstruct their meaning, understand the processes of change, etc. b) Systemic thinking—going from specific to general and vice versa, or establishing complex relations in time (i.e. causes going from specific to general and vice versa that have a combined impact over short, medium, and long periods of time on a historical event; on space and on local, regional, and global interdependencies); and c) Multi-perspectivity— recognizing and coordinating perspectives given their diversity and plurality at different levels in the social sphere. See Bermudez, A. (2008) “Thinking critically together: The intellectual and discursive dynamics of controversial conversations.” Cambridge: Harvard University. ISBN 0549697551, 9780549697558

Education for democracy does not refer exclusively to the concepts upon which it is based and which explain it. It also deals with citizen formation, and with the practices that develop the many skills that a committed and responsible citizen should possess. Knowledge of the operational organization of the state and of the reasons that sustained it, an understanding of the Constitution, of its fundamental principles and the rationale for its norms and laws, are all necessary elements to one’s understanding of political and social life. But knowledge of procedures and norms are neither the only nor the single most important component of citizenship education. It is equally important—if not more—to reflect on the concrete practice of making decisions and taking actions that we engage in daily and affect everyone. Then upon reflection on these actions and decisions, people must learn to take note of their own actions and how these actions could affect not only people close to them but also their entire community.

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In colloquial terms, critical thinking means “not believing everything you hear.” Rather than taking ideas for granted, critical thinkers asks themselves why matters are the way they are, and if they could be different. Many scholars believe that the object of critical thinking is the thought itself and the validity of the knowledge that this thought generates.1 Others believe that intellectual ability and rigorousness are important but insufficient in isolation.2 For these scholars, critical thinking exists within the framework of culture and history. It has the potential to transform that which is problematic, inconsistent, and unjust.3 This vision of critical thinking as a combination of cognitive and moral tools means, among other things, that it is not only a cognitive skill or set of skills, but that it also requires refining one’s sensitivity and disposition so that one can be discriminating and

d. The active exercise of citizenship requires specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

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c. Citizenship education is not complete without the development of critical thinking.

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John Dewey

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“I don’t know just what democracy means in detail in the whole range of concrete relations of human life—political, economic, cultural, domestic—at the present time. I make this humiliating confession the more readily because I suspect that nobody else knows what it means in full concrete detail. But I am sure, however, that this problem is the one that most demands the serious attention of educators at the present time.”

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therefore prepared to act in a conscious and responsible way.4

Considering these four ideas, it is possible to answer the following basic questions: II. A Few Basic Questions a. What is meant by civic and citizenship education? It is the continuous process of immersion in the full exercise of citizenship. Through civic and citizenship education, people come to understand that they can have an influential role in the fate of society. Through this type of education it is possible to answer several basic questions about daily social and political life; among them: 4 Perkins, David & Richard, Tom 2004.”When is good thinking” in David Yun Dai and Robert J. Sternberg (Eds.), Motivation, emotion, and cognition: Integrative perspectives on intellectual functioning and development. Mawah, NJ: Erlbaum. See http://www.pzartfulthinking.org/vtp_art_1.php and Perkins. D. N., & Tishman, S. (2001). “Dispositional aspects of intelligence” in S. Messick & J. M. Collis (Eds.), Intelligence and personality: Bridging the gap in theory and measurement (pp. 233-257). Maweh, New Jersey: Erlbaum.

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In the formal education system, these types of questions can be developed in a gradual and

On the one hand, without civic education, people would lack the knowledge they need for the full exercise of their citizenship; they would not understand the meanings of laws and regulations for common welfare. They would stop participating in decisions on public matters or exerting control over their elected representatives. They would not become involved freely and responsibly in collective action to find necessary solutions. They would not understand the value of balance in the use of power, nor would it be possible to guarantee that power is used for the common good and not for the good of a few. In such a sociopolitical environment, people would not know their rights and duties and, as a result, would not have 5 In other places, such as the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) this differentiation is also made, but with less specific characteristics than those laid out here.

On the other hand, without citizenship education, people would not be able to understand that living in society is a matter that concerns everyone to the same degree. People would not fully develop their sense of justice and of care for the “other,”6 nor would people experience the mutual human development that they can share with others when they learn to respect each other’s dignity. They would not learn to listen and to discuss, nor would they take control of their futures through critical, collective, responsible, and independent thinking. It would be difficult for them to demand to political organizations for their freedom to participate in politics, so that their social projects would gain access to formal power and to the exercise of legitimate government. There would be no room for opposing or antagonistic views. In other words, political participation would become a mirage. d. Why is understanding the hidden curriculum important for education for democratic values and practices? The hidden curriculum refers to the values and modes of interaction that go undetected in the education system and that in large part reproduce the lifestyles and values that the students and teachers conform to without question. For example, nobody questions teacher-student or student-student power relations that are established in the classroom. Nobody questions why a teacher pays more attention to the boys than to the girls in the math class, or why another teacher favors students who speak with more proper language. When they engage in this type of be-

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6 This is about the two morals: the moral of Justice and the moral of Caring.

Given these considerations regarding the fundamental question of civic and citizenship education, and having answered the above questions, we will now address the notion of competency in citizenship education, as it has been demonstrated that this notion is of vital importance for meaningful education.

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c. What would be some potential consequences in the absence of civic and citizenship education?

a clear understanding of how or why to demand them from others.

havior, teachers do not perceive that they are reproducing gender or class biases that could give preeminence to misogynistic or classist attitudes. Another tangible manifestation of the hidden curriculum is the way that furniture is traditionally arranged in classrooms, with the teacher’s desk on top of a platform in front of the students, who are arranged in rows so that they may only look at the teacher. This reproduces vertical power relations through which the teacher is seen as the person who possesses all the knowledge and who, as a result, deserves all the power. An alternative to this arrangement would be to organize the classroom space into a circle so that everyone can hear each other and participate in understanding the topic at hand. Within such an arrangement, knowledge could be constructed collectively through the combined contributions of the whole class, rather than through the teacher’s unilateral vision and “wisdom.”

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Can people determine what type of society they want to live in? Can they express preference for a certain type of economic, judicial, and political system, and if so, how? What relation ship exists—if any—between power structures in the home, school, church, work… and power structures in the government? What are the connections between political power, economic groups, and other social organizations? How can minds be adequately developed to intelligently recognize the necessary socioeconomic and political transformations and controversies surrounding these topics? How is power negotiated between nations? What is the meaning of power and how is it useful? Why do some people seek power while others do not? What type of leaders should we choose? What mechanisms are there to decide who governs? What happens when there is disagreement among those who govern? What role does religion play in social order? What should be done when it is not possible to reach agreements? How can consensus be built in spite of dissent? Why should we accept and respect laws? How can the legitimacy of the state be strengthened? When people ask themselves these questions and search freely for the answers, when they have the attitudes and skills necessary to resolve daily conflicts in a sensible, reasonable way, it is because they live in a democracy that offers them the opportunity to think critically and express themselves freely. In other words, they have the opportunity to participate actively as citizens.

It is convenient to distinguish between civic and citizenship education5 in order to have two categories that allow us to establish the dual character of this type of education. In essence, civic education refers to the transmission of knowledge of the basic notions of politics and government expressed in the Constitution and in the laws. For this reason, it maintains this name, given that this is what most people mean by ‘civic education.’ But complementarily, citizenship education refers to the formation and development of values and attitudes that prepare people to participate in public matters, to seek the common good, and to practice different types of social understanding in their interpersonal relations. For this reason, it is best to implement civic and citizenship education together.

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b. Why differentiate between civic and citizenship education?

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increasing way throughout preschool, primary school, and secondary school, and then they can be reinforced at the university level. In the informal realm, this type of education can be promoted with the assistance of mass media by taking advantage of information technology and with the use of other educational resources.

III. Citizenship Competency: Essential Element in Education for Democratic Values and Practices a. The notion of competency as a starting point. A competent person is a capable person, a custodian of their own knowledge and decisions, a person who knows how to “play” with ideas, create new things, and come up with creative and useful solutions. Such a person does not allow others to influence his or her way of thinking without being legitimately convinced by substantial arguments

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10 Cognitive competencies are progressively developed from a self-centered, heteronomous level (young children basically internalize adults’ or authorities’ positions on what is right or wrong and they cannot understand that other people may have different perspectives than they), to an autonomous level (where people are capable of forming their own position, understanding multiple perspectives, and making evaluative judgments that depend on their own convictions). The idea is that people can learn to solve social problems by sympathizing with the perspectives of others and understanding others’ motivations and the potential consequences of their viewpoints. In this way, people can continue to develop their capacity to weigh options and to reach an agreement that allows for social transformation according to both logical and value-based criteria. (Selman, R.l. 2007. The Promotion of Social Awareness: Powerful Lessons from the Partnership of Developmental Theory and Classroom Practice. Russell Sage Foundation). 11 ‘Emotional competencies’ alludes to the capacity to feel, understand, and express both our own emotions and the emotions of others (empathy) in order to respond constructively. In referring to emotional competencies as a part of citizen competencies, we mean that they are share a common moral and political sense of individual action. Therefore, emotional competencies are not just about the capacity to guide our actions in consideration of feelings, but rather, specifically with regard to respect for others and the recognition of their unique characteristics. (Ruiz, Alexander y Chaux, Enrique, 2005 La Formación de Competencias Ciudadanas: http://www.colombiaprende.edu.co/html/mediateca/1607/ articles-168260_archivo.pdf)

Assertiveness, one of the vital characteristics of communicative competencies, is the capacity to express one’s own ideas, needs, interests, positions, and rights in a clear and emphatic way, while avoiding causing harm to others or to relationships. Assertiveness is necessary for expressing disagreement or responding to an offense in a way that does not make others feel as if they are being attacked. Many children and adults believe that when they are offended they have only two options: to allow themselves to be offended or to respond aggressively. Assertiveness is a third alternative through which people can halt others’ offensive behavior without having to resort to aggression. Assertiveness is also a means for people to respond non-aggressively to situations of injustice or maltreatment that they witness around them and not only those that offend them directly. In other words, assertiveness is a competence that not only facilitates clear and direct communication among people, but also one that provides people with a way to promote respect for their own rights and the rights of other citizens. Listening actively to others, another skill part of communicative competencies, implies not only making a concerted effort to understand what others are trying to say, but also demonstrating that you are actively listening to them. This can occur in various ways, such as demonstrating attention with body language, trying not to interrupt others while they are speaking, or by paraphrasing, which consists of repeating what others

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12 Most of the examples presented in this section were taken from the Theoretical Framework of the Program for Citizen Competencies of the Ministry of Education of Colombia, which can be found at www.colombiaprende.edu.co/html/ mediateca/1607/articles-168260_archivo.pdf

Another cognitive competency that is fundamental to the exercise of citizenship is the capacity to imagine different ways of resolving conflicts or social problems. Some studies have shown that when this competence is not well developed, people tend to resort more easily to settling their differences through aggression and force. Some social scientists, for example, found that adolescents who can only imagine one or two ways to resolve a conflict situation tend to resort more quickly to aggression than those who are able to imagine three or more alternative solutions to the same situation. Various education programs that seek to promote peaceful means of dealing with conflict propose creative strategies, such as brainstorming, as alternatives.13

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The following are several examples that serve to illustrate the above:12

have said using one’s own words in order to ensure that the speaker was properly understood (for example using expressions such as, “so, what you’re trying to tell me is that…”). In this way, the speaker may respond by verifying that the listener understood, or by indicating that they misunderstood and then clarifying their statement. In particular, active listening and paraphrasing are communicative competencies that children can learn to put into practice from an early age. These are competencies that not only promote an understanding of others’ ideas, but also create a space within which dialogue can truly flourish because of the fact that when someone feels as if they are being listened to, they are more likely to listen to others.

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7 In recent times, the notion of competency as an innate structure of the mind that is developed through action (Chomsky) became relevant in education when it was confirmed that students did not know how to solve problems in situations that were different from the ones in which they had acquired much of their knowledge. (See articles by H. Gardner, D. Perkins in Wiske, Martha Stone, ed. 1998 Teaching for Understanding. Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers). The reason the students could not complete this task was related to their lack of practical experience with the knowledge they had acquired academically. This reaffirmed the importance of being able to use knowledge acquired through repeated performances, and of receiving feedback during these performances to ensure that whatever action being taken is done well and that it generates an evolution in understanding. In other words, when a person can use their skills to generate something specific, these skills are reflected in the result and the person grows ever more competent. 8 A competence can be described as a collection of knowledge, skills, attitudes, understandings, and cognitive metacognitive, socioaffective, and psychomotor behaviors that are coordinated together to facilitate a flexible, effective performance in activities or certain tasks within relatively new or challenging contexts. (Vasco, 2003). Education that is focused on competencies seeks to bestow an active, flexible, type of knowledge that enables people to solve problems and to use what they already know. Therefore, the intent is indeed for people to have a great deal of knowledge and skills, but beyond that, for them to also learn to transfer what they learn to new situations, to solve problems that are different from the ones they read about, to apply what they know in different situations, because if not, all the knowledge and skills they have acquired will be lost. (Vasco, C. E., 2003 and http://noticias.universia.net.co/vida-universitaria/ noticia/2008/11/11/239955/problemas-desafios-educacioncompetencias.html). For further reading, an interesting critique which enables a deeper understanding of the complexity of this topic, as well as the importance of developing the different cognitive and behavioral skills and capacities can be found at http://www.universidad.edu.co/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=81 9 Duckworth, E. (2005). “Critical Exploration in the Classroom”. The New Educator, 1(4), 257-272 and Mayer, S. J., (2012). Classroom Discourse and Democracy: Making Meanings Together. New York: Peter Lang. See http://www.susanjeanmayer.com/critical-exploration

‘Citizen competencies’ refers to the skills that promote 1) peaceful coexistence; 2) participation and democratic responsibility; and 3) plurality, identity, and an appreciation of differences. These competencies are an integral part of critical thinking, which will be described later in further detail. These competencies should exist within a multi-dimensional framework that includes communicative competencies (dialogue, discussion, and otherness—respect for others and for difference); cognitive competencies10 (critical thinking and analytical skills that grow continually more all-encompassing, systemic, and complex), and emotional competencies11 (ability to identify with and respond constructively to others in order to harmonize one’s own feelings with the feelings of others).

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In the realm of democratic citizenship, ‘competencies’ refers to the collection of knowledge, attitudes, and cognitive and emotional skills that allow people to recognize the “other” and to advocate for the common good without compromising their individuality. Citizens should conduct themselves in accordance with procedures and mechanisms

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b. The notion of citizen competency for education for democratic values and practices.

for participation which are based in morality and civic politics. This will allow them to make decisions on the basis of their own autonomy and rational acceptance of social regulation. In this sense, civic and citizenship education is intrinsically connected with moral reflection.

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and evidence. Such a person can resolve problems by applying their knowledge to unknown situations.7 8 9

Otherness, or respect for difference, is another cognitive competency that is essential in any dialogue where different views on a single problem converge. Otherness entails the understanding that each of these views responds to a different type of impact that the problem could have, and it therefore implies the capacity to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” and accept points of view that are different from your own. In summary, it can be affirmed that active learning is necessary in order for students to develop democratic competencies. To this end, consideration should be given to the basic knowled13 Nancy Guerra and Ronald Slaby (1988), Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders: II. Intervention. See http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy. optionToBuy&id=1990-15627-001

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IV. Civic and Citizenship education in the Americas a. Main Achievements By the end of the 20th century, it was generally accepted that there was an urgent need to develop civic and citizenship education on a hemispheric level. With the turn of the decade from the 80s to the 90s and the elimination of dictators, people began working to construct a citizenry to support the democracy that had recently been recovered in most counties in the hemisphere. The teaching of civics at the time was generally perceived as boring and irrelevant, uncritical, and lacking in sufficient emphasis on human rights. Education in values was limited to religion classes. Different countries throughout the Americas (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, United States, Guatemala, Mexico, and others) were separately undertaking plans and programs to reformulate the preexisting curriculums and make them more analytical and critical. In keeping with the principles and values of democracy, human rights based on dignity, which provide the basis for the UN and the OAS, were given priority treatment. Paulo Freire, in his Critical Pedagogy, places emphasis on human dignity and on respecting this dignity in all people through horizontality in our interpersonal relations. In this sense, teaching requires knowing not only how to listen to students instead of giving responses to questions that have not arisen within the classroom, but also requires respect for the wisdom that the learners already possess.

c. Civic and citizenship education for confronting the challenges to democracy in the region. There are two complementary challenges to strengthening public policies on civic education in the Americas in order to confront the persistent threats to democracy in a short time frame: i. Problems with the socio-economic gap

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As the importance and complexity of civic and citizenship education were confirmed and continued to grow, this national and widespread challenge was also taken on in the multi-lateral sphere throughout the region. The declaration of the Inter-American Democratic Charter in Lima in 2001 set the stage for a broader, more comprehensive, and more intersectional line of work to be adopted, which would allow for lessons to be learned from the ideas and experiences of those who had already begun working on this issue. In this way, progress continued to be made in the countries mentioned above in defining and accepting the model of citizen competencies. After several progressive intergovernmental agreements were reached, in 2005 the Ministers of Education of the Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS) at their meeting in Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago, officially adopted the InterAmerican Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices as the ultimate resource to encourage the necessary horizontal cooperation, research, analysis, and professional development to strengthen the democratic culture in the Americas though formal and non-formal education. Subsequently, in 2010 with the financial support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Regional System for the Evaluation and Development of Citizenship Competencies (SREDECC) was created, which, in alliance with the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), launched a module for evaluating civic and citizenship education specifically in Latin America. This module sought to understand the state of democratic knowledge and values in

the hemisphere, and to prepare a baseline which would allow for an understanding of how much progress was being made in this field in the Americas. This contributed with the necessary information for educational policies in each country to be based on a tangible reality supported by the regional Frame of Reference for Citizenship Competencies and by the creation of a Regional System of Information about Citizenship Education. Finally, the educational MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market) and the new UNASUR (Union of South American Nations), along with the declaration of the CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) ministers, meeting in Havana on February 19th, 2013, have continually confronted the challenge of civic and citizenship education for democracy on the continent.

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Recent studies and research have demonstrated the importance of considering the socio-cultural context within which citizens form and develop their competencies. Even though competencies are a collection of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that an individual develops and utilizes, learning and using them is not merely an individual matter. A citizen is essentially an active subject within a social context. It has also been noted previously that competencies are developed through practice, in other words, through the conscious use of knowledge within social contexts. For this reason, competencies are an individual’s intellectual resources, but socially constructed through a constant negotiation of meaning. Research in cultural psychology explains that cultural narratives, social discourses, and subjects’ identity come into play throughout this process of negotiation. Narratives offer a point of social reference that helps individuals to make sense of their knowledge, values, and skills. In turn, subjects begin to construct their identity as citizens and see themselves as responsible actors in their communities, and in this way they learn to exercise their citizenship (putting their competencies into practice). For this reason, the development of each element that comprises citizen competencies involves cultural narratives and the identity of the subject,

Another important element is the basic political knowledge that is needed to understand the influential factors in democratic governability, such as efficiency, efficacy, credibility, legitimacy, and the equity with which political systems attend to the needs of their citizens. People who have developed this knowledge and are able to act on it should make the necessary changes to strengthen democracy in the Americas.

b. Advances made in multi-laterality

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c. Other influential factors in Citizenship Competency

two key pieces in the dynamic of the socio-cultural context.

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ge of politics, democracy, modes of reaching agreements and of participation, and above all, continually confirming that that participation in collective decisions occurs within a climate that is conducive to the respect and recognition of difference among the members of any organization. In this way everyone can continue to grow as human beings.

Based on the application of Our Democracy, a diagnosis of trends published in 2010 at the regional level by the UNDP and the OAS, it is necessary to analytically extrapolate the negative implications of the socio-economic problems in the region for the sake of optimizing the implementation of civic education. In the executive summary of this novel multilateral report, it is argued that “Latin American democracies face three challenges in improving the democratic exercise of power: (1) creating new forms of political participation to counter the crisis in representation; (2) reinforcing the structure of the State as a republic with independent branches of government with mutual oversight and mechanisms for accountability; and (3) modernizing the State to increase its effectiveness and its real political power within the framework of checks and balances.” In this way, with this comprehensive diagnosis (which includes 18 countries in the Americas), the aim is to confront both the extreme and persistent socio-economic inequalities and the asymmetries of power in the practice of democracy in Latin America. And to achieve these purposes, it is es- 11

ii. Continuous support by multilateral and national contributors Civic education is widely acknowledged in the region as an indispensable resource for constructing democratic citizenship in the Americas, but it requires the continuous and increasing support and commitment of multilateral and national supporters involved in the field. Their support would make it possible to optimize, for example, the continuity of the Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices as a large hemispheric platform for education for democracy in the hemisphere that would support effective integration, combination, coordination, and direction of the available resources, both those that can be applied regionally in a homogeneous way, and those that are specific to the various idiosyncratic needs of each member-state in the Inter-American system. iii. Some challenges to a democratic future There have been numerous successful experiences in the implementation of civic and citizenship education within the hemisphere, however they are dispersed in terms of time and location in the region. For this reason, an urgent challenge is making this topic more visible in the education and policy agenda of the region, and giving it greater priority in dialogues, especially considering its influence and relevance in the democratization of countries. Hence the importance of implementing a methodological procedure that can direct standards and patterns of selecting,

In order to apply Freire’s paradigmatic thinking, a problem-posing pedagogy must be created to challenges students to continually reflect and think critically, preparing them to offer valid responses to authentic questions that will open the doors to further developing and propelling civic and citizenship education. This pedagogy will also prepare students to explore the possibilities that this type of education opens up for transforming the social order that educators and learners envisage in the Americas. Finally, it is important to note the possibility to define, agree upon, coordinate, increase, and carry out strategic short-and-medium-term actions to ensure the sustainability of these efforts. In addition, this large task must be supported by favorable responses from the so-called solidarity sector (or third sector) and from the governments of the OAS member states and the multi-laterality that unifies the Inter-American System. In this way, the inclusive hemispheric community can become a vehicle for ensuring that the continual process of resizing the Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices initiates a new stage in its development, with newer and greater economic, human, and technological resources, more sustainable stimuli, and broader, renewed commitments.

In order to know whether changes are really occurring in citizen behaviors in the educational community, it is necessary to conduct rigorous evaluations. More than simple opinion surveys, these should be evaluations on both the level of knowledge comprehension and the levels of stu- 12

In 1971 the first international civics test was carried out with the participation of nine countries; the second occurred in 1999 with the competition held by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). 28 countries participated in this competition, including three from the Americas: Chile, Colombia, and the United States. In 2008 and 2009, the third test was carried out, called the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), where more than 140,000 students of about 14 years of age and almost 62,000 teachers from 38 countries participated. In this third test, in which Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, and the Dominican Republic participated, the Regional System for the Evaluation and Development of Citizenship Competencies (SREDECC) was developed with support from the IDB, which produced the regional module for citizenship evaluation. The study evaluated the understanding of knowledge and gathered information about the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors related to civics and citizenship. It also collected information about the cultural contexts of the students, about the beliefs of the teachers from different disciplines, and about the types of relationships in their institutions and public spheres that they occupy.15 14 Fernando Mejía Acosta for the Inter-American Programo n Education for Democratic Values and Practices. Evaluation of policies and programs in education for democractic citizenship”. Policy Brief Series Education and Democracy. 2013. Link: http://portal.oas.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=oDDnK5 WkfUA%3d&tabid=1227 15 See the Official Website of International Association for

Bibliography Bermúdez, Angela. (2008). Thinking critically together: The intellectual and discursive dynamics of controversial conversations. Cambridge: Harvard University. ISBN 0549697551, 9780549697558

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The regional diagnoses acquired until today corroborate, value, and support the recommendations included in the studies consulted and in the in-depth interviews conducted with experts from various countries in the region for achieving a sustainable democratic future based on conscious, resolute, responsible, and inclusive citizen actions. Comprehensive civic and citizenship education, supported by a universal commitment to respecting rights and fulfilling the corresponding obligations, could become the catalyst for a transformation of social order in all the countries in the hemisphere. The noted threats to democracy in the Americas can no longer be allowed for. The construction of citizenship leveraged by a regional commitment to democracy in all of its forms and dimensions provides the appropriate avenue into a new sphere of social progress based on equity, sustainability, and fairness.

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VI. Corollary

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V. The Importance of Evaluations of Education for Democracy in the Hemisphere

dent competence at different points in the educational process. The importance of evaluating university students’ citizen competencies has also been noted. Other elements that should be evaluated are the development of critical thinking, the levels of participation in the classroom and in the school, the types of relationships between teachers and students, and among fellow students, as well as the relationship between the administration and the teachers, and among fellow teachers. All these elements make up the school environment, which is critical for the development of democratic behaviors. Additionally, as the OAS Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices asserts, the evaluation of policies and programs in citizenship education is also very important.14

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sential to continue with and strengthen civic and citizenship education in the region.

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Another important challenge in the future will be to articulate and coordinate different concrete actions and strategies directed at closing the worrisome gap between the idealism of the discourse and the rhetoric of civics in democracy on the one hand, and the contradictory actions that may occur in practice on the other.

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recording, collecting, and channeling this valuable information in a unified way in order to make it available to those interested and involved in civic education in the hemisphere.

Chaux, Enrique; Lleras, Juanita; Velásquez, Ana María. 2005. Competencias Ciudadanas: De los Estándares al Aula. Una propuesta de integración a las áreas académicas. Bogotá: Universidad de los Andes y Ministerio de Educación Nacional. Chaux, Enrique; Peña, Ángela; Arango, Alexandra; Castellanos, Melisa; Heinsohn, Roberto; Jiménez, Manuela; Molano, Andrés y Nieto, Ana María. “Empoderamiento para la convivencia: una experiencia de motivación y formación docente en competencias ciudadanas” en Formación de docentes para la educación en valores y ciudadanía: Tendencias y perspectivas. Bogotá, OEI. Cox, C., Jaramillo, R. & Reimers, F. Educación para la ciudadanía democrática: Una Agenda para la the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) - http:// www.iea.nl/iccs_2009.html- for all the information about this study, including a link to the general study and another link to the regional module or study.

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Ennis, Robert H. Critical Thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. (1996) http://faculty. ed.uiuc.edu/rhennis/ConceptCT.html Facione, Peter A. Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts. Facione+critical+thinking&source id=chrome&ie=UTF8&q=facione+critical+thinking+ what+it+is+and+why+it+counts Freire, Paulo. 1970 Pedagogía del Oprimido descarga gratuita en http://lahistoriadeldia.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/paulo-freire-pedagogiadel-oprimido-descargar-libro/ y Pedagogía de la Autonomía: saberes necesarios para la práctica educativa. Mexico: Siglo XXI editores. 2002. Georg Lind. Fostering moral-democratic competence with the Konstanz Method of Dilemma-Discussion en http://www.uni-konstanz.de/ag-moral/ moral/dildisk-e.htm Jaramillo, R & Mesa J. A. 2009. “Citizenship education as a response to Colombia’s social and political context”. Journal of Moral Education. Volume 38, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 467 - 487. Special Issue: Moral and Citizenship Education in Latin America: Towards Reconciliation, Community Development and Democracy. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ abs/10.1080/03057240903321931#preview Jaramillo, Rosario. 2008. “Educación cívica y ciudadana como respuesta a la violencia en Colombia.” Transatlántica de Educación, Año IV, Volumen 4, Julio 2008. Editorial Santillana S.A. de C.V., Mexico 155N 1870 -6428.

Mejía, Andrés. Presentación de Pensamiento Crítico para el Instituto Colombiano para la Evaluación de la Educación, ICFES. Colombia. 2012 http://wwwprof.uniandes.edu.co/~jmejia/PDF/assumptions_and_critical_thinking.pdf Meza, LG http://webs.uvigo.es/msuarez/WEB_ Deseno_Material_2a.pdf Ministerio de Educación Nacional, Colombia. 2004. Formar para la Ciudadanía ¡sí es possible! Lo que necesitamos saber y saber hacer. Estándares de Competencias Ciudadanas. Serie Guías No 6. http://www.eduteka.org/pdfdir/MENEstandaresCompCiudadanas2004.pdf

Murillo, Gabriel & Pizano, Lariza. 2003. Deliberación y Construcción de Ciudadanía: Una Apuesta a la Progresión Democrática a Comienzos del Nuevo Milenio. Bogotá, Universidad de Los Andes. Kettering Foundation, Alfaomega Editores, Murillo, Gabriel, Pizano, Lariza & Casas, Carolina (eds). 2003a. Deliberación Pública: Diez Experiencias de Toma de Decisión Comunitaria en América Latina. Bogotá, Universidad de los Andes, Fundación Interamericana, Fundación Kettering, Alfaomega Editores. Murillo, Gabriel & Restrepo, Rodrigo. 2003b. “ Reflexiones en Torna al Papel de la Sociedad Civil en la Crisis Política Colombiana” en Ann Mason y Luis Javier Orjuela (eds.) La Crisis Política Colombiana: Mas que un Conflicto Armado y un Proceso de Paz. Bogotá, Universidad de Los Andes, CESO, pps. 233-252.

Moreta, Miguel Angel 2008. Transatlántica de Educación, Año IV, Volumen 4, Julio 2008. Editorial Santillana S.A. de C.V. , Mexico 155N 1870 -6428. Ver: http://www.educacion.gob.es/exterior/ mx/es/transatlantica/Transatlantica04.pdf

Perkins, David N.& Tishman, Shari: Dispositional Aspects of Intelligence 
[Read on-line version] [Download Word Version] [Read PDF Version] PNUD. Democracia, Estado y Ciudadanía: Contribuciones al Debate. Lima, PNUD-Unión Europea, 2008.

Murillo, Gabriel. 2007. “Inter-American Democracy Network” en Kenneth Brown y Maxine Thomas (eds.) The Challenge of Democracy. Dayton, Kettering Foundation Press, pps 15-21.

PNUD. La Democracia en América Latina: Hacia una democracia de ciudadanas y ciudadanos. Buenos Aires: PNUD, 2004.

Tishman, Shari & Andrade, Albert Thinking Dispositions: A review of current theories, practices, and issues en http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/ thinking/docs/dispositions.htm Torney-Purta, Judith & Amadeo, Jo-Ann (con un capítulo de F. Pilotti). Fortalecimiento de la democracia en las Américas a través de la educación cívica: Un análisis empírico que destaca las opiniones de los estudiantes y los maestros. Washington, D.C.: Organización de los Estados Americanos, 2004. Watson, D., Hollister R.M., Stroud, D.E., & Babcock, E. (2011). The Engaged University: International Perspectives on Civic Engagement. New York, NY: Routledge.

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Wiske, Martha Stone, (compliadora). Enseñanza para la Comprensión. Vinculación entre la investigación y la práctica. Buenos Aires: Editorial Paidós, 1999. Ver: http://www.uisek.cl/pdf/Stonewiske.pdf

PNUD/OEA. Nuestra Democracia, México DF: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2010.

Murillo, Gabriel & Catalina Arreaza. 2006. “Artisan Democratic Societies” en Ileana Marin (ed.) Collective Decision Making Around the World. Dayton, Fundación Kettering, Kettering Foundation Press, pps 35-70. Murillo, Gabriel. 2005a. “Política para la Gente y

Sherrod, L.R., Torney-Purta, J., & Flanagan, C. Editores: Handbook of Research on Civic Engagement in Youth. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. 896 pp. 2010. Watson, D., Hollister R.M., Stroud, D.E., & Babcock, E. (2011). The Engaged University: International Perspectives on Civic Engagement. New York, NY: Routledge 282 pp.

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Murillo, Gabriel & Márquez, Tatiana. 2005b. “La Redefinición del Espacio Público en Bogotá” en Gabriel Murillo y Victoria Gomez (Comps.) Redefinición del espacio Público: Eslabonamiento Conceptual y Seguimiento de las Políticas Públicas en Colombia. Bogotá, Universidad de Los Andes, CORCAS, pps. 1- 38

co/html/mediateca/1607/articles-168260_archivo.pdf

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Mejía, Andrés. “In just what sense should I be critical? An exploration into the notion of ‘asumption’ and some implications for assessment”, en Studies in Philosophy and Education, vol. 28, no. 4, 2009, pp.351-367.

Ciudadanía” en Ministerio de Educación Nacional de Colombia (ed.). Comprensiones sobre Ciudadanía. Bogotá, Cooperativa Editorial Magisterio, pps 191-200.

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Duckworth, Eleanor. 2005. “Critical Exploration in the Classroom” in The New Educator: Volume 1 issue 4 y Critical Explorers en http://www.criticalexplorers.org/

Lagos, Martha y Dammert, Lucía. 2012. La Seguridad Ciudadana. El Problema Principal de América Latina. Lima, Corporación Latinobarómetro, mayo de 2012.

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Culture of Lawfulness Project & Ministerio de Educación de Colombia, “La Enseñanza de la Cultura de la Legalidad en la Educación Formal”, Bogotá: Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 2008.

Jaramillo, Rosario. 2012. “Preguntas auténticas, relaciones democráticas y aprendizaje de calidad.” En Palabra Maestra. Año 12. Número 31. Bogotá, septiembre de 2012.

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Acción. Education for democratic citizenship in the Americas: An agenda for action. Washington D.C.: Inter-American Development Bank.

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Ruiz, Alexander; Chaux, Enrique. 2004. La Formación de Competencias Ciudadanas. Bogotá: Ministerio de Educación Nacional, 1ª edición: mayo de 2005-04-25. http://www.colombiaprende.edu.

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Also consult

Your opinion is important to us www.educadem.oas.org

Other Publications of the Program • The Inter-American Journal of Education for Democracy. • Education on Migrant Children and Youth in the Americas: current situation and challenges (2011). • Mapping of Public Policy for the “Education of Migrant Children and Youth” (2009). Our Electronic Bulletins on the following topics Human Rights Education, Gender and Citizenship Education, Edonomic and Financial Education, The Role of Communications Media and the Arts in Education for Democratic Citizenship, among others. Access each edition of the serie and the Program’s brochure through our Web site: www.educadem.oas.org • Evaluation of education policies and programs for democratic citizenship (2013).

The Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and ​​ Practices is a concrete response to articles 26 and 27 of the InterAmerican Democratic Charter.

• The Contribution of Human Rights Education to building peaceful coexistence in schools based on democracy and solidarity (2012). • Violence Prevention Through Early Childhood Interventions (2011).

“The OAS will continue to carry out programs and activities designed to promote democratic principles and practices and strengthen a democratic culture in the Hemisphere, bearing in mind that democracy is a way of life based on liberty and enhancement of economic, social, and cultural conditions for the peoples of the Americas...” (Art. 26) InterAmerican Democratic Charter “...Special attention shall be given to the development of programs and

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activities for the education of children and youth as a means of ensuring the continuance of democratic values, including liberty and social justice.” (Art. 27) Inter-American Democratic Charter

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