Notes from the Field: Activating the Community of Dialogue in a 6th Grade Primary School Class in Mexico City: A Workshop to Strengthen the Thought of Care and Awareness of Peace

Abstract

Introduction: In the present writing, whose character is more testimonial and practical, I consider from my perspective as a teacher and specialist the experience of a dialogue community carried out before a group of sixth graders in a private school in Mexico City. To contextualize this experience, first, I briefly focus on the current situation in Mexico, which is deeply affected by violence; second, I discuss ways that I encourage actors and the educational sector to assume appropriate responses to this violence from their respective field and creative possibilities; third, I describe and analyze the experience of organizing a dialogue community in a 6th grade class, breaking this down into a series of sessions aimed at empowering the students. Finally, I conclude with suggestions on how to see the scope and implications of this exercise within the pedagogy of Philosophy for Children, especially in terms of its emphasis on the search for, and construction of, an education for peace. In general, tailoring communities of dialogue to focus on complex everyday issues, informing people about them and providing strategies for dealing with them, acknowledges the complexities of human beings and gives ample opportunities for those leading these communities to utilize their educational expertise to support organizational frameworks.