Education for democratic citizenship being debated in Spain - Study on the concept and its application within the context of education policies (1970-2006)

Abstract

This research aims to conduct a comparative analysis on the content and purpose of the Spanish educational policies through two perspectives: on the one hand, from the perspective that argues that the subject “Education for Citizenship” should be taught as a subject in the curriculum, and from the perspective that emphasizes that this content can be taught through the contents of other subjects with a transversal character. To do so we first examine the concept of citizenship and the educational policies through legislation that has regulated the Spanish education from the 1990 Act to the present. Secondly, we analyze some undertaken initiatives for developing its contents. Finally we show the results and conclusions of the work regarding to the comparison both in law as in the area of the curriculum.