Estrategia didáctica como herramienta para fortalecer la participación ciudadana en el aula de los estudiantes del modelo flexible posprimaria de 6° a 9° de la sede Mercedes Escobar Cambas en el municipio de Amalfi del Departamento de Antioquia.

Abstract

This master’s thesis examines weak citizen participation competencies in rural contexts, specifically at the Mercedes Escobar Cambas campus in Amalfi, Antioquia. In this setting, post-primary students in grades 6 through 9 showed limited interest in and difficulty influencing collective decision-making. The problem is supported by Saber assessment results, which indicate low performance in citizenship competencies, with this gap more pronounced in rural than in urban settings. In response, and considering the organizational fragmentation affecting La Guayana village, the study aimed to strengthen citizen participation through a didactic strategy grounded in school-based experiences to enhance critical analysis and decision-making. Using a classroom action research approach, the research team conducted cycles of identification, design, and implementation with ten students. The intervention sought to transform the classroom into a living laboratory of citizenship, aligned with the social realities of the rural environment. The findings show that didactic strategies, understood as organized and dynamic interventions, play an important role in educating through everyday experience and in promoting conscious learning that goes beyond normative discourse. A central finding was the integration of the “Comunalitos” program, for which Amalfi is a pioneering reference. This enabled the reconstruction of historical memory and recognition of Community Action Boards (Juntas de Acción Comunal, JAC) as drivers of youth empowerment and generational renewal. The thesis concludes that strengthening citizen participation in rural classrooms requires recognizing students as political subjects with agency. In this framework, the school becomes the main setting for practicing deliberation, critical thinking, and a sense of belonging, all of which are essential for young people to assume an active and shared responsibility in shaping their own social reality.