Educational mediation of death
The death It is a phenomenon in our lives that is present, paradoxically, until the day of our last breath. When it happens near us, it forces us to recognize its existence, as well as our own vulnerability and finite condition.
Although some of us, to a greater or lesser extent, have known death through the death of loved ones, we have never experienced our own death, which is postulated as a continuous reflection in our daily life, through the questions we ask. which, much to our regret, have no answer. Savater (1999) describes it as follows:
I was going to die, despite being me. Death was no longer someone else's business, a problem for others, nor was it a general law that would reach me when I was older, that is, when I was someone else. Because I also realized then that when my death came I would still be me, just as myself as I was now that I realized it. I was to be the protagonist of the true death, the most authentic and important, the death of which all other deaths would be nothing more than painful rehearsals. My death, that of my self! Not the death of the 'you', however dear they were, but the death of the only 'I' he knew personally! Of course it would happen in a long time, but... Wasn't it already happening to me in a certain sense? Wasn't realizing that I was going to die, myself, also part of death itself, that important thing that, despite being still a child, was now happening to myself and to no one else?
Duel
For its part, Grief is a transition process, a process that involves an affirmation of termination of life and an affirmation of continuation of life. When an important person dies and the family and individual begin to feel the loss, the world changes and meaning is altered, life is altered. The grieving process makes it easier to find a new identity, change coordinates, find a new meaning. In the end, the grieving process consists of the construction of a new narrative about one's own history and the loss suffered.
Pedagogy and didactics of death
The education for death It is based on the idea that, avoiding the denial of this, the attitudes and practices related to it in Western culture will allow individuals and institutions to be in better conditions to face it (Cantero, 2013). To this end, it is essential that, both from the school and from other social entities that work to improve the quality of life of different groups of people, professionals and students and individuals "recipients" of their services are trained to develop a concept and process of death that is less artificial and culturally conditioned.
You can understand the pedagogy of death, through the definition of De la Herrán et al. (2021), that is, the field of pedagogy that investigates everything related to the inclusion of death in education and teaching, based on: Didactics and school organization, Theory and history of education and Research and diagnosis methods in education. Understanding, therefore, the didactics of death as the theoretical-pragmatic application of "Education for death." This is oriented towards basing teaching, learning, unlearning and relearning based on the (self-)training of students and teachers (Herrán and Cortina, 2007).
Covering, among other aspects, educational planning, social climate, motivation, formative learning, teaching methodology, resources, including ICT, creativity teaching, teacher and student evaluation, attention to diversity, tutoring (De la Herrán et al., 2021). Education for death and the pedagogy of death facilitate awareness of death as a Presence that fills life with meaning and value.
They also propose to make it evident that death does not only exist when we lose someone. We suffer losses throughout life, from the moment we are born. Addressing partial losses from the pedagogy of death facilitates the development of tools that minimize the disconcerting effect caused by loss and suffering. If we pay attention to Savater's story (1999), we can see how he describes one of the stages of life in which we find ourselves with that “realization”, the discovery of our own death and becoming aware that “I too must die someday.” day".
The awareness of one's own finitude opens us to the awareness of one's own Self. And in the words of Savater: “I was to be the protagonist of the true death, the most authentic and important, the death of which all other deaths would be nothing more than painful rehearsals. My death, that of my self!” At the same time that the consciousness of finitude awakens us to the consciousness of our own self, it also reveals to us its death.
What does the pedagogy of death have to do with educational mediation?
The educational mediation It is the discipline in charge of building tools to find possible alternative solutions to the problems generated in the educational field. The final object of it should be mediation through equals, since there is a horizontal dimension between them that is not characteristic of other types of relationships in said area (such as the student-teacher relationship). It encourages students to be able to resolve and learn from the interpersonal disputes that occur between them and from this changes are established in the way students understand and resolve conflicts.
What greater conflict and possibility of self-management than coming to terms with the death of a loved one?
School is a transmitter of social values and taboos and death is a topic that barely has a place in school centers and classrooms. Therefore, it is worth highlighting the power of communication and words so present in the mediation process. Where we seek from the first moment, as in the grieving process, to reveal what we feel in order to show how we are and what we want. Although our culture is based on the use of words, silence, on many occasions, has as much communicative and educational power as this. So much so, that when we have a problem we tend to act impulsively showing what is happening to us, trying to resolve it as quickly as possible, without giving ourselves time to meditate and reflect on the circumstances and causes that gave rise to a certain conflictive situation.
Likewise, when we face the loss of a loved one or a loved one of someone close to us dies, we try, by all means, to intervene immediately. When, in many cases, what is required is a process of attention, listening and observation that helps the person involved to digest the situation and be able to make decisions, always starting from a climate of security and emotional warmth.
The main idea of the various religions is to show and enforce, each from its particular approach, a moral code on life, placing dying as its turning point and fundamental consequence, to provide both with a deeper meaning. . Whatever the beliefs of each tradition and religion, taking a look at the multiplicity of versions that exist about death and the “beyond” broadens our own “version”, inevitably influenced by culture. At the same time, it promotes a relativization of beliefs, paving the way towards a transcultural and transreligious understanding of life and death.
For all this, the mediation in the grieving process It is an undoubted tool, and almost essential, since it aspires to meet a series of vital objectives worth mentioning:
- Conceptualize death and grief as a means to foster a narrative that questions existing taboos.
It is worth remembering that Sara Cobb's circular-narrative model is based on changing the history that the parties bring, constructing an alternative narrative history.
- Define grief and the meaning of death in other cultures, for a greater understanding of what death means in today's society.
Which undoubtedly fits with the object of study of intercultural mediation.
- Build the necessary foundations and theoretical bases towards a socio-educational pedagogy of death.
Where, as we have seen, educational mediation becomes an almost essential tool.
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