What is Students’ Perceptions

This chapter presents the results of a study carried out at the Universities of Murcia and Santiago de Compostela in Spain regarding the perceptions of trainee primary education teachers about educational knowledge of history education. The decision was taken to employ a quantitative non-experimental design via a Likert-type questionnaire (values from 1 to 5). Significant data have been obtained making it possible to carry out a diagnosis of their professional competencies. The results show that the majority of trainee primary education teachers identify with a critical model of teacher, one who must use active teaching methods and promote ethical values related with social justice. However, this idea contrasts with an implicit model which is much more traditional in its theoretical and methodological conceptions. In the conclusions, its propose the need to improve teacher training linking it more directly with the carrying out of teaching practice.