Teach and Learn the Middle Age in Primary. Student Representations and Intervention Proposals

Abstract

The theory of social representations that was created in the field of social psychology, has spread to various academic fields as a useful tool for the analysis and interpretation of different social realities. Education and specifically historical education is one of the areas in which this theory has proven fruitful in recent decades. Studying the representations of the students on different social and historical themes is especially indicated to identify their origin, the construction mechanisms and formulate educational proposals to transform them and build a more rigorous knowledge. This paper analyzes the representations of the Middle Ages that a group of 6th grade students have through the application of a questionnaire. The results obtained are contrasted with other studies that addressed the problem of teaching and learning history in general and the Middle Ages in particular. Finally, some suggestions are made for the teaching of the Middle Ages in primary education consistent with the previous results.