The Teaching and Learning of History in Lower Secondary Education: Perceptions of Teachers and Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62697/rmiie.v5i3.400Keywords:
History didactics, secondary education, historical thinking, teaching practices, curriculumAbstract
The teaching of History in secondary education faces multiple challenges related to student motivation, study habits, cognitive gaps resulting from the post-pandemic context, and the persistence of traditional pedagogical practices. In Mexico, the 2022 Curriculum proposes a curricular reconfiguration that integrates History into the formative field Ethics, Nature, and Societies, with the aim of strengthening critical thinking, historical time understanding, and civic participation. However, the implementation of this approach presents tensions in everyday school practice. This article aims to analyze and compare teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the teaching and learning of History in secondary education, as well as to identify the school, family, and cognitive factors that influence this process. The study followed a mixed-methods approach with a non-experimental, cross-sectional, and descriptive design. A Likert-scale questionnaire was applied to 65 students, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three teachers, and a classroom observation guide was used in a public secondary school. The results reveal the persistence of negative perceptions associated with memorization, lecture-based instruction, and the limited connection between historical content and contemporary reality, as well as the influence of institutional and family conditions on historical learning. It is concluded that improving History learning requires a comprehensive transformation of pedagogical practices, assessment processes, and teacher training, oriented toward reflective, critical, and meaningful approaches.
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