Historical competences in curriculum documents and teaching resources used for teacher training at universities in the Southern Macrozone of Chile

Abstract

Abstract

Introduction The notion of historical thinking has become a central focus in the teaching of history, particularly in contexts affected by conflict where teaching certain topics is a priority. This is the case in Chile's Southern Macrozone in relation to the State–Mapuche conflict and the occupation of the Araucanía. The aim of this study was to describe the presence of historical competencies in the subject syllabuses used during Initial Teacher Training (ITT) for specialists in “History, Geography and Social Sciences” at universities located in this macro-region, with a focus on the teaching of issues related to the conflict. Methods The study employed a mixed-methods approach and a descriptive–comparative design to analyse 56 course programmes from four higher education institutions, using an analysis matrix focused on four dimensions: learning outcomes, content, methodology and assessment. Results The results reveal that the “historical evidence” competence is the most frequently encountered in the programmes analysed, whilst “change and continuity” and “cause and effect” are rarely found and show little variation among institutions. In addition, “historical significance”, “historical perspective” and “ethical dimension” are defined in general terms and with limited reference to methodology and evaluation. Together, there is limited evidence of a direct link between these issues and the State–Mapuche conflict and the occupation of the Araucanía. Discussion These results suggest a need to strengthen the integration of historical thinking into the curriculum at the FID and to incorporate controversial territorial issues more explicitly, with a view to fostering teacher training that promotes critical and context-sensitive historical analysis in situations of conflict.