Educación para la convivencia en la formación docente. Desafío pedagógico y compromiso social

Abstract

Education must attend the integral development of the individual as much as to contemplatethe manifold aspects of a person. A society profiled on media and communication brings aboutrapid changes caused by migrations, modifications in family status or the economic crisis,whose merging problematic of coexistence becomes a must which needs to be attended. Theeducational institution is a mirror reflection of that context which needs thus to efficiently assumethe pedagogic challenge to face aspects related with social responsibility, democratic citizenship,diverse social competences and attitudinal work, as part of a social compromise whichwill necessarily lead to improve coexistence. The goal of this lecture is to justify the need toinclude in the initial teacher training respective subjects which will attend an education for coexistence,democratic citizenship and human rights. To that effect, an analysis of the experiencewith the subject “Educación para la Convivencia” (Education for Coexistence) at the Universityof La Rioja (Spain) will be undertaken, as taught in the second degree of Preschool and PrimarySchool Education Studies since academic year 2009/2010. Optimistic conclusions are drawnwhich point out to the academic and, above all, the personal involvement of students, a highperformance of students regarding this subject, their explicit manifestation of their preferencefor it or the need to keep delving into its specific contents; also lastly, the use of resources andstrategies pertaining to this subject during the school practice period, which attests that ourservice transcends the boundaries of the university class.