La necesaria circulación de la sociología entre el estudiantado de secundaria y bachillerato.

Abstract

Abstract

This article focuses on the presence of sociology in pre-university education, which was taught as an optional subject until the 2015/16 academic year. Sociology was excluded from the curriculum after the approval of the Organic Law for the Improvement of Educational Quality (or LOMCE, short for Ley Orgánica para la Mejora de la Calidad Educativa) in Spain in 2013. With a view of testing alternative formulas to compensate for this elimination from the education system, the ‘Understanding society’ competition was launched in the 2014/15 academic year. Organized annually by the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Valencia, it is aimed at students in the fourth year of secondary education, baccalaureate, and intermediate and upper secondary vocational training in the Valencian Community. Based on the resulting awards in this ten-year period, the presence of sociology in secondary schools in the Valencian Community is examined. To this end, the concept of ‘didactic transposition’ is used to analyse the circulation of sociological knowledge in the classroom. The results highlight the importance of considering the research works presented as a lens to interpret the social reality with the tools and codes pertaining to the social sciences and the sociological discipline. The conclusions support the need to promote other initiatives akin to this competition and thus reverse the unjustified and regrettable absence of the sociological perspective in non-university education.