Building on a partnership that began over three years ago, the Santiago Center is once again collaborating with Momento Ciudadano, an NGO dedicated to civic, democratic, and citizen education founded and led by historian and Teachers College alum Rodrigo Mayorga (TC '20). The current partnership is now focused on creating a guidebook for student council advisors in Chilean schools.
Student councils play a vital role in promoting democratic cultures by cultivating essential skills like active listening, mutual respect, and valuing diverse perspectives. By empowering students to engage in decision-making processes, these councils create safe and inclusive spaces where students feel motivated and empowered.
The new guidebook, specifically designed for advisors of student councils in primary and secondary schools, addresses a critical gap in existing resources by providing practical tools and strategies tailored to the unique needs of student council advisors. It equips them to effectively guide student representatives in their actions and activities, reframing the council as a valuable space for learning and fostering a deeper understanding of its role in civic education.
The guidebook, set to be published in the coming weeks, focuses on three key areas: raising awareness of the roles, rights, and responsibilities of student representatives; developing skills for exercising these rights through participatory and active methods; and fostering dialogue between schools and external bodies to identify shared challenges and work towards collective solutions.
Once completed, the guide will be freely available for download on the websites of Momento Ciudadano and the Santiago Center. It will also be printed for distribution during upcoming activities with student councils.
The collaboration between the Santiago Center and Momento Ciudadano began in 2021, during Chile's first constitutional process. Together, they developed ConstituTodos, a board game presented in 2021 and 2022 in partnership with municipalities and schools across Chile, promoting civic engagement among young people. This partnership continued in 2023 with the “I+E: Research for Civic Education” dialogue series which sought to bridge the gap between academic research and classroom practice, offering insights from academics and public and civil society representatives and suggesting pedagogical activities to bring new knowledge into the classroom.
This latest project further strengthens the partnership between both organizations, demonstrating their shared commitment to creating spaces to discuss challenges and opportunities in advancing civic and democratic education. By equipping advisors with the knowledge and resources they need, this project aims to foster a more vibrant and engaged student body, ultimately contributing to the strengthening of Chilean democracy, which is at the core of the Santiago Center's thematic areas.
