Transformando realidades: Aportes desde la lectura y escritura inicial en la construcción de ciudadanos críticos en El Salvador

The school is seen as a space for the construction of resilience for young people in the face of different scenarios of inequality and violence. However, the lack of evaluation of critical thinking in standardized tests in El Salvador makes it difficult to link the learning processes of reading and writing to the development of critical thinking. The Ministry of Education in El Salvador reported that in 2012, 62% of third-grade students who took the PAESITA test copied texts partially or entirely, indicating that they had not developed the ability to write their own ideas about a text. The lack of development of reading and writing competencies is a major challenge in the Salvadoran education system, affecting the efficiency of schools and the results of achievement tests. The study aims to design a standardized test to evaluate the development of critical thinking in the first cycle of basic education, addressing the difficulties of the demands of literacy in the current era, and to contribute to the development of critical thinking in girls and boys who can be more resilient in their environments and form themselves as committed subjects with their reality and interest in participating as active citizens. The study proposes to expand the theme by investigating teaching practices to contribute to the development of critical thinking in girls and boys, allowing them to be more resilient in their environments but also the possibility of forming themselves as committed subjects with their reality and interest in participating as active citizens. The study aims to contribute to the formation of citizens with historical consciousness, reflective capacity, and critical thinking, which requires accompanying the work of the teacher. The practice of teaching can be directed towards a liberating practice from a critical perspective and a citizenship approach, where girls and boys can say and decide, starting from their context and constructing new realities with others. The study recommends stimulating the practice of teacher research in the classroom to know and reflect on the learning processes of reading and writing and the development of critical thinking. It also recommends building a map of good teaching practices that are currently being implemented in the Salvadoran context, to motivate other teachers to implement them. Additionally, it recommends generating territorial spaces for reflection on the sense of teaching practices and generating processes of formation that allow a more critical look at the learning process of reading and writing.