Historical competences in High School studentes: towards critical thinking

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a research project developed within the framework of a project whose main objective was to determine the presence of historical skills in high school classrooms, in relation to the current curriculum. This is a quasi-experimental study based on the analysis of student perceptions surveyed through a specially designed questionnaire (CUPECH), completed by 486 students from various undergraduate programs at the University of Murcia. The research seeks to answer the following questions related to critical thinking about the present and current world, the critical thinking skills with which students arrive at university, the historical thinking skills developed during high school to distinguish truthful information, the skills to analyze sources, and activities carried out from a historical perspective. The results show that, despite the fact that the curriculum establishes that historical thinking skills must be developed and includes assessment criteria related to these skills, historical empathy, ethical sense, and work with primary sources still have little relevance.