Abstract
Competency-based education is one of the challenges currently faced by social science teachers. At present, there is an abundance of research on competencies relating to the social sciences which favour the development of historical thinking among learners. The ongoing training of teachers is of vital importance when it comes to shifting the method of teaching towards approaches which focus more on the learner, which favour the teaching of historical contents and competences aimed at forming a critical citizenship. For this reason, the two objectives of this study are to discover which disciplinary contents are considered by teachers to be most relevant for the teaching of history and what training is required by teachers who give social science classes in primary and secondary education in Spain. The research is a non-experimental mixed-methods study. In order to achieve the first objective, a quantitative analysis has been carried out of the data obtained from a questionnaire with a Likert-type scale administered to 332 primary and secondary teachers in Spain. To achieve the second objective, the information obtained from 12 interviews with primary and secondary school teachers in Spain has been analysed in a qualitative way. The results obtained indicate that teachers update their disciplinary knowledge via scientific journals and that they are interested in receiving training in historical thinking skills, active learning methods and ICT resources. Based on these training needs, it is concluded that teachers currently envisage a teaching model in the social sciences which is more competency-based and focused on the active participation of the learner.
Highlights
In recent years, ongoing teacher training has been, perhaps, one of the most burning issues associated with the demand for the updating of knowledge due to constant reforms and the continuous evolution of society (Barnes et al, 2017; Cochran and Zeichner, 2005; Darling and Bransford, 2005; Miralles et al, 2019)
One of the integrated training models regarding disciplinary, pedagogical and technological competences, which has been studied in relation with the social sciences is the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model designed by Mishra and Koehler (2006)
As far as the first objective relating to the evaluation made by the teachers surveyed of the most relevant topics for the teaching of history is concerned, a change in teachers’ traditional conception of the teaching of the social sciences can be noted, as the least valued contents are those relating to significant political figures and military leaders
Summary
In recent years, ongoing teacher training has been, perhaps, one of the most burning issues associated with the demand for the updating of knowledge due to constant reforms and the continuous evolution of society (Barnes et al, 2017; Cochran and Zeichner, 2005; Darling and Bransford, 2005; Miralles et al, 2019) Such training is essential in order to be able to carry out the teaching and learning process of history as a social science, as the teacher must be trained in the knowledge, he/she transmits, the way in which he/she does this and the resources to be used. The model consists of seven dimensions resulting from the three basic competences expected of a teacher: disciplinary (CK), pedagogical (PK) and technological (TK) and the intersections among them (PCK, TCK, PTK and TPACK)
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