Latin America in the chilean history curriculum: Analysis from critical literacy perspective

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyse the written discourse of Latin America as a concept, in the school curriculum within the Chilean Social Sciences study texts. The materials that will be used for this analysis are those produced in the period between 2009 and 2015. This is a period of ministerial continuity in terms of programs and study books. Now, this study investigates the programs' contents, facing the recurrence with which the terms 'America' and 'Latin America' are used. At the same time, this text wants to investigate which places those concepts occupy in the hierarchical organization of contents and perspectives presented. The methodology used was a documentary analysis that gathered data submitted to analysis under Critical Literature and its conceptions. Among the main results, we find that the content referring to Latin America is in a disadvantage in the curricular hierarchical organization compared to other stories focused on a Chilean national history that foster patriotic values and mestizo national identity, where other contents from universal history are primarily related to the processes of the powerful western countries from military and economic aspects. Therefore, among the main conclusions, it is worth highlighting the relevance of working with the official programs and with students but from a critical and dangerous perspective (Giroux, 1998),moreover, to promote teacher training that allows criticism and reform of official programs such as the provision of materials that include diversity.