Knowledge about the Civil War and its Use in the Classroom among Trainee Teachers

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse the knowledge that trainee teachers at the University of the Basque Country have about characters and events of the civil war, and their possible use in Elementary Education to work on specific topics and attitudes. The study was carried out with 312 students, based on a questionnaire of four items. A high lack of knowledge has been found. On the one hand, the participants reproduce the knowledge acquired during their previous educational stage, in which the teaching of history was based on a straightforward narration of wartime happenings, with political and military figures as the main characters. The absence of a treatment of the civil war from a critical perspective, which integrates the memory of silenced or forgotten groups, means that students are not aware of the possible uses of a conflictive topic such as the civil war in the classroom. As a result, they are unaware of its potential for working on civic and citizenship skills, reflection, and a critical perspective on history. It is therefore advisable to include historical memory in compulsory education, as well as in the initial teacher training, in order to facilitate a change of perspective in the teaching of the civil war and its consequences in the present.