Entre la estandarización y la contextualización curricular: Un análisis crítico de posibles contradicciones en las prácticas educativas que orientan la formación ciudadana

This reflection article critically analyzes potential contradictions in educational practices that arise from tensions between curricular standardization and contextualization in citizenship education in Colombia. To this end, a hermeneutic-critical documentary analysis was conducted of official documents, academic works, scientific articles, and prior research on the subject. The analysis suggests a persistent tendency toward curricular standardization, which educational practices adopt through the citizenship competencies approach. This persistence is linked to curricular guidelines and standardized assessments, the near-exclusive responsibility assigned to the social sciences for this type of education, and the reduction of democratic participation to merely electoral ends. From a critical perspective, the article questions how the lack of curricular contextualization limits reflective and participatory citizenship. Consequently, it proposes that pedagogical reflection open pathways for educational institutions to resolutely redefine the curriculum to foster citizenship education through practices that prioritize participation, critical thinking, and citizens' assertive action, in order to respond to the educational community’s sociocultural realities.