A Discipline in Transition: Didactics of History and Initial Teacher Training in Chile

Abstract

In initial teacher training, didactics allows, or should allow, linking pedagogical knowledge with disciplinary knowledge, articulating the subjects of the curriculum, thinking and solving the problems of practice and providing the tools for disciplinary teaching (Audigier, 2001; Benejam, 2001; Pagès, 2002, 2004). This article aims to: understand how the subject of didactics of history is developed in six Chilean universities. The methodology is qualitative. The collection of information has been developed through documents (curricular networks and subject programs) and class observation. The results indicate that didactics is a discipline under construction which, in some cases, addresses a great diversity of topics, in addition to being unequal in terms of its representation in the curricular networks, the presence of specialists in the area and what and how it is taught.