Enseñar historia de la infancia a los niños y las niñas: ¿para qué?

Abstract

Is it important to teach history of childhood at school? Why and what for? This article suggests that history of childhood may be a very useful content in history teaching. Teaching a history where children appear as social actors and not just as subjects who are subordinate to the power of adults might make empathy processes easier and motivate students to think that the participation of individuals at their age (and not only adults) is significant for social change. If children at school only read that there is a set of actors who "make history" and that the latter are always adults, they might think to have a rather limited capacity as children or adolescents in terms of participating and changing society, they might also believe their participation as children is neither possible or desirable. From the perspective of history as a discipline, this article suggests a reflection on the history of childhood and its significance. To do this, children's presence in free textbooks is analyzed, as well as the causes of children's marginalization in the historical narrative at school, some issues on history of childhood, and the significance of teaching the history of boys and girls.