Educating on diversity: a research from the Social Sciences in 2nd ESO

Abstract

This paper proposes a teaching unit based on action research paradigms, developed with 2nd ESO students during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 academic years. The main objective was to work on the development of a democratic citizenship based on peaceful coexistence in multicultural contexts, based on geographic and historical content of the curriculum. A critical didactic proposal is presented, sequenced in various activities that have linked specific materials and resources. This teaching unit includes a final task that works, at the same time, as a research instrument. It is a narrative about the coexistence between cultures that the students have developed. The analysis of the content of these narratives allows us to observe the effectiveness of the methodology of the relationships between past and present, the work of historical sources and the use of controversial issues in the classroom, used in the execution of the didactic proposal. Most of the students verbalize positive opinions towards inclusion and tolerance, using for this reason arguments with consistency, although a greater analysis of the non-visible positions is required. This research has led to the conclusion that more work on historical thinking skills will be necessary, as well as promoting an intercultural vision among students that focuses on asymmetric power relations between social groups.