Active teaching methods in history education: Inquiry strategies

Abstract

This chapter1 focuses on the capacity of active learning methods to improve teaching and learning processes in history. In traditional education, the subject of history was originally conceived as a means of legitimating the nation-state and did not have an exclusively instructive purpose. However, historical science does not produce descriptive knowledge to be learned by heart, but rather interpretations which are prone to reinterpretation depending on the sources and the dominant trends. For this reason, an epistemological approach to the subject of history should be based on its critical and analytical function in terms of social reality. The implementation of active learning methods leads students to develop skills of observation, analysis, interpretation, comprehension and expression and helps them to exercise their memories and critical thinking skills. This chapter examines the main active learning methods based on inquiry.