Modern in Secondary Education: from historiography to the classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to propose a teaching of history that tries to establish links with current social phenomena and problems that make this knowledge basic for the development of educational competencies; in addition to reflecting on the relevance of the Modern Age in the historical and civic education of Secon- dary Education students. Firstly, the evolution of content on the Modern Age in the Spanish curriculum since 1990 has been detailed, in comparison with the trajectory of modernist historiography in the 21st cen- tury. Secondly, the research has focused on analyzing the treatment of the Modern Age in Secondary School textbooks in Spain with the previous educational law (LOMCE), carrying out an analysis of the contents of this historical period and its activities according to its typology, cognitive level and historical competen- cies. Finally, the third study has focused on the most relevant images about this historical era according to future teachers. The analyzes carried out on the curriculum, textbooks and teachers in training show how a historical story still survives with little reflection on the social problems of the Modern Period. These results confirm the need to redefine a historical education that develops historical and critical thinking skills, and that allows a constant dialogue in the present and the past.