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Democratic Citizenship Education in Latin America. Global Interests, Institutional Forms, Contested Meanings. Bradley A.U. Levinson Juan G. Berumen Indiana University. Overview. Political democratization across Latin America, post 1983
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Democratic Citizenship Education in Latin America Global Interests, Institutional Forms, Contested Meanings Bradley A.U. LevinsonJuan G. Berumen Indiana University
Overview • Political democratization across Latin America, post 1983 • Imperative to create a “new citizen” for a “democratic culture” • Globalization, NGOs, and the “market” for democratic citizenship education (DCE/FCD) • Local appropriations/hybrids of globalizing educational models
The organizational and institutional landscape Initial questions: • What are the major organizations sponsoring democracy, and how do they work? Who funds them? • What laws and policy statements have been passed that are driving these programs? • What is the political/social context in which certain kinds of programs and policies are being developed? • What role do government agencies, especially ministries of education, play in developing and implementing these programs and what role do various NGOs play? What kinds of collaborations/relationships, if any, exist between these 2 different sectors?
The organizational and institutional landscape(continued) • Democratic social movements: within and without ministries of education • National ministries of education and the civil society (NGO) sector • The Inter-American Democratic Charter and the OAS initiative • Increased engagement with international NGOs and donor agencies
Key values of democratic citizenship: Contested meanings Initial questions: • In programs and initiatives, how is “democracy” implicitly/explicitly defined or conceived? • How is “the democratic citizen” implicitly/explicitly defined or conceived? • What kinds of knowledge, competencies, values, or dispositions are highlighted? • What is the political/social context in which certain values and competencies are highlighted over others?
Key values of democratic citizenship: Contested meanings(continued) • Respect for authority and rule of law • Discipline and peaceful conflict resolution • Privacy and individual choice • Tolerance and respect for diversity • Equality and social justice (gender? ethnicity?) • Responsibility and civic participation
Examples… Aristóbulo Izturiz, Secretary of Education, Venezuela Talks about need to turn turn democracia política into democracia social; educación para un estado de derecho into educación para justicia social; democracia formal into democracia participativa; and democracia representativa into democracia protagónica. Democratic education is thus oriented toward the “new” democratic society, towards “participación y protagonismo en la toma de decisiones.”
Examples… He highlights the features of the secondary program, Education for a Culture of Lawfulness, which puts emphasis on combating delinquency and corruption, but also the “fortalecimiento de los procesos de toma de decisiones dentro de un marco de respeto a la ley.” Lorenzo Gómez-Morín, Subsecretary for Basic Education, Mexico