Teaching history to face the world today: socially-conscious approaches, activity proposals and historical thinking competencies

Abstract

This book develops the challenges that history teaching must face as a curricular subject at the beginning of the 21st century. These challenges are related, both to new epistemological approaches in history education, and also to the development of new activities, active- learning methodologies, and historical thinking competencies. In fact, one of the most important targets of this book is to develop concrete actions and activities that teachers could easily adapt to their classrooms realities. In terms of new approaches, this book suggests activities regarding invisible topics as social and economic impacts in history, inequalities, church and science, gender equality, power and violence, prosecuted by justice, peasantry and the urban world, family and daily life, terror or travelers and their cross- currents. Regarding to the activities, the incidence of new technologies in social relations and the effects of globalization is very remarkable for our students. In this sense, active- learning methodologies are oriented towards know- how, without forgetting basic historical knowledge. Activities work with different information sources, historical evidences and problem- based exercises to make the students learn in an increasingly heterogeneous society. That way, the authors highlight the need of changes in teaching and learning history. At this point, historical thinking competencies emerge as an educational path to follow, allowing new ways of learning: investigation of socially relevant problems, cooperation among students, critical thinking and the use of media, inquiries and scientific research, skills development and developing democratic values to improve the world today.