Classroom journals: A critical reflective tool for learning about gender issues

Abstract

This article analyses a teaching experience in which learner diaries are used as a reflective teaching tool. This experience focuses on gender: a relevant issue promoted as the fifth objective of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Specifically, this study works on gender inequality in order to raise critical-reflective awareness among students. The formation of a global citizenship that is aware of inequalities and that acts in favor of social justice is essential in today's society; as is the formation, from educational centers, of students who possess adequate media literacy that makes them critically evaluate the news coming from the media. A qualitative approach has been developed to analyze the discourses that the teacher and the students included on their personal diaries. The results reveal not only that the teaching experience was successful, but also that the use of the diaries is effective in forming a global citizenship that thinks critically and understands the importance of acting against inequalities. In conclusion, the use of the newspaper and news media as a teaching resource is a useful and effective tool that teachers can apply successfully in the classroom, thus promoting both the formation of critical global citizens and media literacy.