‘Historical time’ helps students truly understand the complexity of the past – and how they fit into it

By Ilaria Bellatti, Profesora Ayudante Doctora, Didáctica de las Ciencias Sociales, Universitat de Barcelona
Judit Sabido-Codina, Profesor Doctor en Didácticas de las Ciencias Sociales, Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya

Was the Franco dictatorship a cause or consequence of the Spanish Civil War? Was Einstein a medieval scientist? Confusions like these are quite common among secondary school students, who tend to learn history as a rote series of names and dates in varying degrees of detail.

Basic topics – such as historical periods and their corresponding sets of key figures and events – do not provide the foundation that the study of history ought to offer. Study of the past should give us the ability to appreciate historical perspective, to place the events around us within a context, and to understand…

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