Original article

Curricular rationales in a History Study Program associated with the Conquest of America

0000-0001-5729-3404Humberto Álvarez Sepúlveda^{1  *} 

¹Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción. Chile.

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the curricular rationales present in the learning objectives and evaluation indicators belonging to "Unit 2: The voyages of discovery and the conquest of America" of the 5th grade History, Geography and Social Sciences Study Program, prepared by the Chilean Ministry of Education (Mineduc). This research was carried out from an interpretative phenomenological paradigm and used content analysis to systematically review the section of the consigned curricular document, based on the three types of existing curricular rationales: technical, praxeological and critical. These curricular perspectives allow us to analyze the hegemonic interests of school history on the conquest of America, since they help to understand the nature of the learning associated with the role of the different historical subjects, the presence of ethnocentrism and the precision of various educational purposes of the history subject in the student body. The results show the predominance of technical and praxeological curricular rationality, since it is evident that the objectives and evaluation indicators of the mentioned thematic unit jointly intend the study of a Eurocentric and androcentric history, marked by the expeditions led by Christopher Columbus, Diego de Almagro and Pedro de Valdivia, and the work based on historical competences. It is concluded that, in order to develop a completer and more inclusive curriculum, a greater effort is needed on the part of the Mineduc to move towards a praxeological and critical curricular rationality that intends the learning and evaluation of significant contents about the conquest of America.

Key words: curricular rationales; school history; study program; conquest of America

Introduction

As a result of the student mobilizations that took place during the period 2006-2009, the Chilean government introduced curricular adjustments in 2009 that repealed the educational law inherited from the Pinochet military dictatorship (^{LOCE, Constitutional Organic Teaching Law, 1990}), which had a marked androcentric, nationalist and neoliberal character, and promulgated the General Education Law (^{LGE, Establishes the general education law, 2009}). This legislative change implied a restructuring of the curriculum that began in 2012, which, in the case of the history subject, seeks to make visible the role of women and indigenous peoples in historical processes and contribute to the construction of a democratic and inclusive.

From a thematic point of view, the Chilean history curriculum addresses various topics associated with universal history (prehistory, ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary history) and Chilean history (pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary periods). A relevant theme of this curricular itinerary is the conquest of America, since it allows us to understand, from the technical, praxeological and critical curricular rationalities, the underlying hegemonic interests in the learning related to the participation of different actors in this process, in the presence of ethnocentrism and in the definition of various educational purposes of school history in students.

According to the above, it is key to briefly characterize each of the curricular rationales mentioned. In the first place, regarding the technical curriculum, it should be noted that this approach is product-oriented, since, based on previously established learning objectives and action strategies, the teacher must achieve the expected results so that the student body develops their intellect. In this way, the training processes are seen as a series of mechanisms that, under sequenced procedures, must be developed and reproduced by the students in their social context (^{Valdés and Turra, 2017}; ^{Ramírez and Pagés, 2022}).

From the side of the history subject, the technical curriculum translates into an imposition of positivist and enlightened historical content that does not consider the cultural and territorial contexts of the students. This occurs because the different curricular inputs are designed from the Eurocentric and androcentric paradigms that have been traditionally forged with the appearance and consolidation of liberal states during the last two centuries. In the Chilean case, from the mid-nineteenth century, school history has been conceived from a technical rationale to strengthen national identity and disseminate Eurocentric knowledge in the training of students.

For its part, the praxeological approach, unlike the technical one, considers the development of the curriculum on a qualitative basis, where explanation and dialogue emerge from each learning activity. In this sense, following ^{Rebolledo and Turra (2022)}, praxeological rationality lies in the need to find the mechanisms that allow students to understand and interpret knowledge, since it considers the context of realization and the specific conditions in which it is developed. teaching work. Due to the fact that the technical curriculum does not allow the effective development of historical thinking in students, praxeological rationality constitutes an important alternative to question the Eurocentric and androcentric paradigms prevailing in school history based on the study of sources that have different interpretations of the same fact. In this line, the development of a historical laboratory in the classroom makes special sense, where the student body has the possibility of simulating the work carried out by the historian to analyze sources and create historical narratives (^{Salazar et al., 2017}; ^{Álvarez, 2020a}). that allow contrasting the Eurocentric position, typical of the technical curriculum, and other emerging ones, such as the conciliatory, chronological and anti- colonialist perspective, which seek to qualify or question its hegemony in history.

Finally, there is the critical curricular rationality whose purpose is social improvement from the joint construction of knowledge. For this reason, coinciding with ^{Gazmuri (2017)} and ^{Alonzo (2022)}, it seeks to confront students and teachers with the problems of the objective reality in which they live; therefore, the fundamental source for the selection of content is the social reality itself, which is closely linked to the educational community. Within the critical curriculum, educational purposes are erected that encompass training practices that tend to the emancipation of the subjects so that they can free themselves from false conceptions and distorted perspectives of reality. This approach, within school history, seeks to aspire to the transformation of society through a critical pedagogy led by teachers to promote the formation of critical, responsible and inclusive citizens.

Based on the planned classification, this article investigates the curricular rationales present in the learning objectives and evaluation indicators belonging to "Unit 2: The voyages of discovery and the conquest of America" of the History Study Program, Geography and Social Sciences of 5th grade, curricular input prepared by the Ministry of Education of Chile (Mineduc).

Materials and methods

The research was carried out from an interpretative phenomenological paradigm, based on a documentary research design whose purpose is to investigate the curricular rationales present in the learning objectives and evaluation indicators belonging to "Unit 2: Discovery journeys and the conquest of America" of the 5th grade History, Geography and Social Sciences Study Program, designed by the Ministry of Education. In this regard, it should be noted that the objectives represent the learning goals that students must achieve through their training process and are, in turn, the basis for establishing evaluation indicators, which detail an observable performance of the student in relation to to the associated goal.

The systematization and interpretation of the data of the consigned curricular section was carried out through a content analysis executed in a matrix elaborated in the Atlas.ti program, version 8.1, following the three types of curricular rationales previously examined (technical, praxeological and critical). These curricular perspectives allow us to analyze the hegemonic interests of historical knowledge about the conquest of America, since it contributes to the understanding of the world vision and the prevailing values in the learning associated with the role of the different actors, in the presence of ethnocentrism and in the Accuracy of different educational purposes of the school history in the student body.

The processing of the information was based on the following steps: first, a first reading of the 5th grade History, Geography and Social Sciences Study Program was carried out to establish a preliminary approximation with the object of study; in a second moment, the learning objectives and evaluation indicators of "Unit 2: The voyages of discovery and the conquest of America" were extracted and organized in the consigned matrix; In a third moment, the content analysis of the data was carried out, following the constant comparative method of the grounded theory, to analyze the curricular rationales present in the objectives and evaluation indicators of the aforementioned thematic unit. To ensure the quality of the process, the confirmability, dependency, credibility and transferability criteria enunciated by ^{Erazo (2011)} were taken into account.

Results

The following table shows the learning objectives and the respective evaluation indicators corresponding to "Unit 2: Voyages of discovery and the conquest of America" of the 5th grade History, Geography and Social Sciences Study Program, planned by the Mineduc.

Table 1 - Matrix of objectives and indicators of Unit 2 of the Study Program of History, Geography and Social Sciences of 5th grade 

Learning objectives	Evaluation indicators
LO1. Explain the voyages of discovery of Christopher Columbus, Hernando de Magellan and some other explorer, considering their objectives, the routes traveled, the technological advances that facilitated navigation, the difficulties and challenges faced by the crews and the general European context in that developed.	They draw on a world map the routes of the main voyages of discovery. Locate voyages of discovery on a timeline or other resource. They give examples of some technological advances that allowed navigation to be perfected, such as the compass, the astrolabe, the caravel, among others. They explain the general European context in which voyages of exploration arose, highlighting factors such as the need to find new trade routes and technical advances, among others. Using sources and maps, they describe the general characteristics of the exploration voyages of Christopher Columbus and Hernando de Magallanes - Sebastián Elcano. They illustrate, using various sources, the impressions of the members of the first expeditions that arrived in America.
LO2. Describe the process of conquest of America and Chile, including the main actors (Spanish Crown, Catholic Church and leading men and women, among others), some expeditions and war conflicts, and the founding of cities as an expression of the will of the Spaniards to stay and expand, and to recognize in this process the emergence of a new society.	They sequence events of the conquest process in time lines that consider years, decades and centuries. They describe the main objectives of the conquest of America for the Spanish Crown, referring to the incorporation of new territories, evangelization and obtaining wealth. They distinguish, using various sources, the main characteristics of the "company of conquest", exemplifying the expeditions of Cortés and Pizarro. They compare the expeditions of Diego de Almagro and Pedro de Valdivia, considering criteria such as prior information from the conqueror about the territory, size of the host, objectives of the trip, chosen route and results of the expedition. They explain that the founding of cities reflects the will of the Spaniards to settle in America and that it helped to consolidate the conquest and the incorporation of new territories to the Spanish Crown. They give examples of the difficulties that the conquest of Chile represented for the Spanish, such as the destruction of Santiago under the command of Michimalonco, the Lautaro uprising and the Curalaba disaster. They characterize the new society that emerged from the conquest process, considering aspects such as miscegenation, new cities, warfare and the role of women, among others.
LO3. Analyze the impact and consequences of the conquest process for Europe and America, considering various areas.	They classify different areas in which the conquest impacted the lives of the indigenous people of America and Europeans, such as image of the world, food, language, trade, religion, among others. They distinguish economic, political and social consequences that the conquest had in Europe and America (eg, accumulation of precious metals, incorporation of new territories, new foods, etc.). They obtain information from various sources related to the conquest of America about the impact of this process in Europe and America. They contrast views on the impact of the conquest based on stories of American and European origin (example: Spanish chroniclers or mestizo chroniclers such as Garcilaso de la Vega).
LO4. Investigate the effects of the conquest on the American indigenous peoples, using sources given by the teacher.	They obtain information from various sources on the causes of the drastic demographic decline of indigenous peoples, recognizing new diseases, forced labor and war as main factors. They formulate pertinent questions regarding the effects of the conquest on the original peoples, such as demographic decline or acculturation. They organize the information obtained from different sources given by the teacher, classifying it by topic, and applying formal aspects in their presentation. They clearly document the sources consulted, presenting a bibliography. They write reports on researched topics, applying a structure and the relevant formal aspects. They compare different points of view regarding the effects of the conquest on indigenous peoples. They support opinions regarding the process of cultural syncretism of indigenous peoples. They relate the transformations of the indigenous world from the process of conquest with the current situation of indigenous peoples in Chile

In the consigned matrix it is evident that the evaluation objectives and indicators are supported by technical and praxeological curricular rationality, since they seek to intention, in an articulated way, the development of historical learning from pre-established criteria and procedures linked to the analysis of sources by the student body.

Specifically, regarding LO1, it should be noted that the technical curricular rationality is revealed because it seeks to forge a teaching of history based on criteria previously established from Eurocentric knowledge that students must learn so that they become citizens who respect democratic institutions and your country. According to evaluation indicators 1 and 2, LO1 carries a Eurocentric interpretation, since it alludes to the idea of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus and other European explorers. This purposeful axiom is a foundational milestone in the history of the continent because, as ^{Álvarez (2020b)} points out, European civilization is the benchmark for a modern State that all nations must achieve.

In addition, according to ^{Álvarez (2020b)}, the idea of the discovery of America entails the annulment of the anti-colonialist perspective that maintains that Christopher Columbus simply arrived on a continent that had already been inhabited thousands of years ago by various cultures such as the Inca, Mayan, Aztec. and mapuche. This anti-colonialist or counter-hegemonic paradigm seeks to incorporate the intercultural perspective in the teaching of history to make visible the groups conquered in it. However, despite the emergence of this current, the Eurocentric paradigm in the History, Geography and Social Sciences curriculum has not ceased to prevail, since it continues to be used to highlight the exploits of the European colonizers in the territory and move towards a second map the role of women and indigenous peoples in history.

Also, it is important to highlight that Eurocentrism is observed in evaluation indicator 5, which also carries an androcentric logic, since it explicitly recognizes the identity of the main conquering men such as Christopher Columbus, Hernando de Magallanes and Sebastián Elcano. This perspective not only denies the role of European women such as Catalina de Erauso (a prominent infantry soldier who fought in the kingdoms of Peru and Chile), Isabel Barreto (the only admiral of Felipe II) and María Escobar (the first European to import and grow wheat in America), but also indigenous people such as Malinche, Guacolda and Fresia. Thus, the gender coloniality verified in OA1 ignores the value and humanity of women in the conquest of America, since, following Lugones (2008), it uses an intersectionality perspective based on the dimensions of gender, race, class and sexuality to justify the superiority of men over women and hide the brutalization and dehumanization that non-white women have suffered since colonial times in acts of rape and forced labor.

In this way, the current social and cultural model is characterized by being the bearer of an androcentric and Eurocentric tradition. Androcentrism "generalizes the male point of view to interpret reality and presents itself as a hegemonic model that has made invisible and underestimated the contribution of women to different societies in history" (^{Álvarez, 2020b, p.146}). For its part, Eurocentrism has its origin in the European conquest of America and "describes the arrogance of Western culture that describes itself as superior and condemns others to be backward or inferior "subcultures"" (^{Álvarez, 2020b, p. .146}). The latter is clearly reported in evaluation indicators 3 and 4, where the importance of European technical advances, such as the compass, the astrolabe and the caravel, for the process of Spanish colonization in America is highlighted.

Based on the above, the technical curriculum is evidenced as an imposition of encyclopedic historical content that does not take into account the particularities of the educational context; For this reason, the learning conceived from the Eurocentric and androcentric paradigms have a high degree of objectivity, universality and logic, since they start from the assumption that reality can be known, understood and represented symbolically, which depends on the dominant interpretations of reality. experts, the demands of the content and society to determine the needs of students.

Additionally, it is important to note that LO1 is also based on the praxeological curriculum, since evaluation indicators 1, 2, 5 and 6 intend a series of procedures that students must develop to achieve the expected learning, such as planning trips exploration on a world map, locate them on a time line and use various sources of information to understand the context and the main characteristics of the conquest process. In this way, the practical rationality of the consigned evaluation indicators facilitates a dialectical process between theory and practice that allows establishing a first level of mastery regarding the historical research skills that students must handle during their formative trajectory.

Regarding LO2, as in LO1, the predominance of technical curricular rationality is evident because it aspires to teach a history based on criteria previously conceived from a Eurocentric perspective, since, according to evaluation indicators 2 and 5, students They must be able to describe the main interests of the conquerors in the continent, such as the incorporation of new territories, the evangelization project and the obtaining of wealth. In addition, this Eurocentric vision is reinforced in evaluation indicators 3 and 4 by highlighting the historical relevance of the expeditions of Hernán Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro and Pedro de Valdivia in the conquest of America.

Also, it is important to highlight that the prevailing Eurocentrism is explicitly observed in evaluation indicator 6, since it focuses all attention on the student being able to give examples of the difficulties that the conquest of Chile represented for the Spanish, such as the destruction of Santiago in command of Michimalonco, the Lautaro uprising and the Curalaba disaster; however, it does not allude to the problems suffered by the native peoples under the process of Spanish colonization. The nominative used by indicator 6 to refer to the Curalaba conflict as a disaster deserves special consideration, since only, following ^{Álvarez (2020b)}, it emphasizes the serious repercussions that this event had for the Spanish forces in 1598, such as the death of Governor Martín Oñez de Loyola and the destruction of the main Spanish forts south of the Biobío River border, and annuls the possibility of redefining this battle as a victory for the Mapuche people in the context of the Arauco War.

Additionally, and to a lesser extent, it is relevant to mention that LO2 is also based on praxeological rationality, since evaluation indicators 1 and 3 intend a series of procedures that students must develop to achieve the expected learning, such as sequencing events. of the conquest process in a time line and use various sources of information to distinguish the main characteristics of the Spanish host. In this way, the practical rationality of the consigned evaluation indicators facilitates a dialectical process between theory and practice aimed at promoting a first closeness with the domain of historical competences whose purpose is the understanding of the temporality of the facts and the handling of procedures. basics to undertake a historical laboratory in the classroom.

Regarding LO3, it is worth noting, as stated in evaluation indicator 2, which invites students, from a technical curricular rationality, to distinguish the economic, political and social consequences of the process of conquest in Europe and America; however, emphasis is placed on the Eurocentric position to highlight the benefits it generated for Europe, such as the accumulation of precious metals, the incorporation of new territories and the discovery of new foods. Likewise, it should be noted, according to indicators 3 and 4, that LO3 promotes the praxeological curriculum by intent on the work of analyzing sources in the classroom to understand, from the European and American perspective, the impact of the conquest process. ; However, at the end of indicator 4, the review of sources written by European and mestizo chroniclers such as Garcilaso de la Vega is suggested in parentheses, nullifying the possibility of considering oral sources of indigenous peoples and documents written from the anti-colonialist perspective by contemporary indigenous historians. .

Finally, regarding LO4, it is highlighted that, although it considers the technical nature of the curriculum of the subject based on already established criteria, it focuses on praxeological rationality because it motivates the student to understand and interpret the impact of the European conquest. in America from perspectives contrary to and/or alternatives to the traditional Eurocentric paradigm.

In this context, it should be noted that the theoretical support of the praxeological curriculum in OA4 is revealed mainly in indicator 1, since it highlights the causes of the demographic decline of indigenous peoples, such as new diseases, forced labor and the war. This idea constitutes a deep questioning of the exacerbated predominance of the Eurocentric position that is based on the discovery of America by Columbus, since it suggests that this character simply arrived in a continent that was already inhabited by various original cultures (^{Harding, 2017}; ^{Taladoire, 2017}; ^{Álvarez, 2020b}).

The practical foundation of the praxeological curriculum, for its part, is operationalized especially in the organization, documentation and writing of information of the process through the analysis of sources, as verified in evaluation indicators 3, 4 and 5. This practical support It is also emphasized in indicator 7 because it intends to contrast the different interpretations of the conquest, since it alludes to the cultural syncretism of the indigenous peoples, and with this, it highlights the conciliatory position that invites the students to agree on the anti-colonialist position with the Eurocentric one to characterize the exchange of customs and products between Europeans and indigenous people, but without considering the violence of the process.

Discussion

Based on this research, it is concluded that the learning objectives and their respective indicators pay tribute to technical and praxeological rationality, which is why the presence of criteria that contribute to the critical curriculum is not observed.

In concrete terms, the evaluation indicators of LO1, LO2 and LO3 associated with Unit 2 of the 5th grade History, Geography and Social Sciences Study Program are based mainly on a technical curricular rationale, with a clear orientation towards paradigms. Eurocentric and androcentric, which relieves the leadership of the great European conquerors such as Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés, Diego de Almagro and Pedro de Valdivia and excludes the participation of women and native peoples in the process of conquest. All this tends to be framed within the idea of the discovery of America, which ignores the historical experience of the inhabitants that already existed prior to 1492. In the same way, it should be noted that the evaluation indicators of LO1, LO2 and LO3 are supported, to a lesser extent, in the praxeological curriculum because they intend to apply elementary procedures of historical research to students.

This hegemonic position responds to the institutional guidelines of the Ministry of Education, which are governed, essentially, by a technical rationality that hinders the development of historical thought in the student because it does not allow understanding the issues in a controversial way or from the educational action that evokes change. social. For this reason, the curriculum of the subject can contribute to guaranteeing in the history taught the dominant position of European history in society and to promote the legitimization of consensus around beliefs that do not allow the assessment of the role of colonized groups in the development of the American continent. This itinerary of school history has the educational purpose of training "good" citizens capable of respecting the cultural canons of the established order.

Despite the above, it should be noted that, although the learning objectives are focused on the technical curriculum, the LO4 and its respective indicators are based mainly on praxeological rationality, since it promotes, from the application of methods specific to the historical research, the study of the impact of the European conquest in America from perspectives contrary and/or alternatives to the traditional Eurocentric paradigm. In order to encourage this learning in the classroom, it is important that teachers additionally incorporate the intercultural or gender perspective in the teaching of history to give new meaning to the participation of otherness and forge a global citizenship that accepts, with respect and tolerance, the differences of all the people who live in the educational context.

In light of these findings, a greater effort is required on the part of the Mineduc to move towards a more comprehensive curriculum that places greater emphasis on praxeological and critical curricular rationality to encourage learning and evaluation of significant and updated knowledge about the conquest of America.

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Received: March 14, 2023; Accepted: May 25, 2023

^*Autor para correspondencia. E-Mail: [e-mail]

El autor declara no tener conflictos de intereses.

El autor participó en el diseño y redacción del trabajo, y análisis de los documentos.