Abstract

This article analyzes citizenship education from the viewpoint of those professionals in charge of its implementation in schools in the north of Chile; that is, of history and geography teachers, and teachers in charge of Citizenship Education Plans in their respective schools. On the other hand, the study includes the perspective of Universidad de Tarapacá’s academics, who prepare teachers in charge of implementing citizenship education. Based on the analysis of information collected by teacher and academic questionnaires, this article points out that most teachers indicate a lack of specialized training in citizenship education. Moreover, most academics do not produce research on this topic. This implies varying ways of understanding citizenship education, which, in practice, impacts the way in which citizenship education is taught in schools. This article concludes by providing a series of recommendations for improving initial teacher training, with the aim of advancing citizenship education in schools, according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Education of Chile.