Promoting narrative imagination through the use of the Konstanz Method of Moral Dilemma Discussion with adolescents in Medellin (Colombia)

Abstract

The development of civic skills includes moral decision making based on an approach that integrates students' rational and emotional abilities, where deliberation on moral dilemmas using the Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion (KMDD) becomes a useful resource that can exercise narrative imagination or the ability that leads to the adoption of political commitments. The purpose of the study is to analyze elements of narrative imagination in the deliberation of two moral dilemmas of a sacrificial nature and their contribution to the formation of civic competencies in two schools of different public and private character in the Metropolitan Area of the city of Medellin, Colombia. The methodology included a qualitative and descriptive case study with a phenomenological and narrative design, using the KMDD with n=56 adolescents in the academic middle school cycle. The results show how the application of the method exercised narrative imagination from the two dilemmas, contributing to a 25% and 33% increase, respectively, in attitudes oriented toward cooperation and social welfare, while overcoming differences in cultural capital between schools with the deployment of broad linguistic and dialectical skills. The conclusions indicate the effectiveness of the chosen method and contribute to the line of research on moral dilemmas involving sacrifice with adolescents, reviewing positive perspectives regarding their age and citizenship.