Aprender historia y construir identidad en la escuela

Abstract

This theoretical paper discusses the reasons why students learn history
in school. The question is addressed
of whether they learn history to acquire knowledge and skills which are usef
ul in context, and/or learn it to
transform their behavior within the academic community. This discussion i
s underpinned by the theoretical
debate on the incommensurability between cognitive learning theory and the soci
o-cultural perspective, which
has given way to the debate on incommensurability which underlies the learni
ng goals for history designed
by Colombian public policy. Incommensurability is argued in three ways: wh
at is learned in history (i.e.
intellectual habits vs. cognitive skills); what changes during the learni
ng of history (i.e. participation in work
contexts vs. solving problems); and commensurability related to the constru
ction of national identity as the
goal of teaching history in schools. The proposal here is to deal exclu
sively with learning and identity as co-
extensive elements in participation, and re-define the notion of competency as
a dimension of social practice
as a way to seek commensurability in the conception of learning which underp
ins public policy. The resulting
conclusion is that learning history involves changes in knowledge and cogn
itive skills, but is not limited to
these; learning history transforms students’ participation as citizens i
n their academic community.