Youth and Geography in Secondary Education: A didactic proposal on urban space for geographical thinking

Abstract

In a context marked by the deepening of neoliberalism in education, in which teacher autonomy and authorship are challenged, organizing teaching in a theoretical and meaningful way for students constitutes a challenge. Against this backdrop, this study aims to understand the relevance of youth in Geography education in the face of the educational transformations resulting from the Reform of Upper Secondary Education. To this end, a qualitative approach is adopted, and a didactic mediation pathway is proposed based on the methodology Innovation in Geography Teaching Proposals (IPEGEO). The proposal seeks to contribute to Geography education by problematizing youth and their relationships with urban space, taking their experiences and spatial practices as elements for the organization of teaching. The study is grounded in theoretical and conceptual frameworks on youth and Geography Education, articulated with contributions from the Critical Didactics of Geography and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. It is based on the premise that geographical knowledge has social relevance for the critical understanding of reality and for the conscious engagement of youth in their socio-spatial contexts. From this perspective, a didactic mediation pathway is presented that articulates youth, urban space, and geographical concepts, oriented toward the formation of scientific concepts and the development of geographical thinking, recognizing youth as a diverse and situated social category and their experiences as a fundamental dimension for understanding urban space.