Abstract
The primary purposes of this study are to investigate the opinions and conceptions of primary education teachers undergoing initial training on active methodologies and to evaluate a training program that uses these methodologies with a particular focus on the teaching of Social Sciences. To this end, a mixed methodology has been employed, using an initial questionnaire and a focus group as research instruments. Following the data analysis, the results show a favorable assessment of these active methodologies. There were some gender differences, as women assigned greater value than men to the active strategies, resources, and evaluation approaches and were more focused on competency-based learning. Another result highlighted the suitability of using service-learning or inquiry methodology to teach Social Sciences. The authors conclude that improving the training program developed is necessary, offering more connections with practice and expanding initial teacher training in active methods.
TopIntroduction
The introduction of competency-based teaching in school curricula has significantly affected how Social Sciences are taught in the classroom. In light of this new reality, in recent years, various studies have insisted on the need to renew training programs to ensure that teacher training programs enable an improvement of the teaching-learning processes according to the new demands (González & Skultety, 2018; Oliveira et al., 2019; Maloy et al., 2019; Moreno-Vera & Alvén, 2020; Raya & Navaridas, 2021).
In the field of Social Sciences teaching, research shows the need to shift toward a teaching model that encourages students to think critically through active methodologies, thus abandoning passive and rote learning practices (Moreno et al., 2021; Gómez et al., 2022). Thus, as opposed to traditional teaching, active learning methodologies have been postulated as the guarantors of the balance between knowledge, skills and abilities (Souto & García-Monteagudo, 2019; Ordoñez et al., 2021; Moreno-Vera et al., 2021; Gómez et al., 2020a).
The studies that analyze the inclusion of active learning methodologies in educational contexts focused on gamification (Hanus & Fox, 2015; Attali & Arieli-Attali, 2015; De Marcos et al., 2016; Han-Huey et al., 2018; Hakak et al., 2019; Durrani et al., 2022) and the Flipped Classroom (Gilboy et al., 2015; Hao & Lee, 2016; Yilmaz, 2017; Steen-Utheim & Foldnes, 2018; Shibukawa & Taguchi, 2019; Maloy et al., 2019; Ruiz et al., 2022) are particularly noteworthy. Moreover, these strategies receive the most attention from primary education trainee teachers (Blasco-Serrano et al., 2018; Gómez et al., 2019).
The results of some studies show how learning opportunities in training programs have a remarkable correlation with teachers' knowledge and competencies at the end of their training (Blömeke et al., 2014). Thus, the paper by Coll et al. (2018) has shown the close correlation between the methodology used in university classrooms with the professional development of graduates. In fact, among the most influential factors are problem-based learning, curricular practices and practical knowledge, results that, on the other hand, coincide with those shown by Hortigüela et al. (2018).
More specifically, in teaching social knowledge, the improvement of teaching processes must involve learning alternative methodologies to traditional teaching (Gómez et al., 2021). Furthermore, this situation requires a methodological change that favors the student's active participation in constructing social knowledge (Miralles et al., 2017). Thus, intervention in teacher training is essential as long as the development of knowledge, skills and teaching competencies in two areas are established: methodology and epistemology.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Active Learning Methods: Methods in which the teacher encourages students to take a leading role in their learning, through responsible participation, reflection in problem solving, creative activity and group work.
Focus Groups: Qualitative research technique used to collect data through the interaction of a group made up of a small number of carefully selected people who discuss a given topic.
Metacognition: People's ability to reflect on their thought processes and the way they learn, becoming aware of their own cognition and acquired learning.
Service-Learning: Methodology that combines the academic curriculum with community service to enrich the educational experience, train citizenship, encourage social and civic participation throughout life, and strengthen the common good of communities.
Gamification: Learning technique that transfers the mechanics of games to the educational field in order to achieve better results in terms of acquiring knowledge, improving some skill, or rewarding specific actions.
Inquiry Learning: Teaching methodology through which students must find solutions to a problem situation from a research process. This methodology focuses on tackling problems and cooperative work.
Flipped Classroom: Pedagogical model that changes the traditional learning system, since students study and prepare lessons outside of class and, later, in the classroom they do homework, interact and carry out more participatory activities.