Revolutionizing Rural Curricula: Human Rights through Critical Curriculum Management in Lorica

Abstract

The main objective of the study is to propose strategies to improve rural curricula in the southeastern area of Lorica, Colombia, through the integration of human rights through critical curricular management. This initiative seeks to transform education in vulnerable contexts and promote social equity. The review carried out on the subject explores the historical evolution of rural curricula in Colombia, highlighting their traditional technical approach, disconnected from local realities and influenced by centralized policies that do not consider the cultural and socioeconomic dynamics of communities such as those in the southeast of Lorica, where extreme poverty, forced displacement and exclusion of ethnic groups persist. The main arguments argue that critical curriculum management, inspired by the liberating pedagogies of Paulo Freire and others, could allow the reconfiguration of educational plans, including fundamental human rights such as intercultural education, non-discrimination and community participation, through processes that involve teachers, students and local leaders in the co-construction of relevant content. The preliminary critical analysis poses limitations in current curricula, such as the reproduction of structural inequalities and the absence of transformative approaches. In view of this, a model of critical curricular management is proposed that uses tools such as local mapping of human rights, dialogic workshops and formative evaluations, in order to decolonize knowledge and promote active citizenship. Based on the problems documented in rural institutions in Lorica, it is projected that the implementation of the new approach could contribute to increasing school retention by about 30% and strengthen critical awareness.