Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Potencialidades didáticas da literatura infantil de ficção histórica no ensino de história: um estudo com alunos portugueses do 6º ano do Ensino Básico

2014; Volume: 20; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5433/2238-3018.2014v20n1p7

2238-3018

Maria Glória Parra Santos Solé, Diana Reis, Andréia Machado,

Science and Education Research

This paper presents a study dealing with the use of historical fiction in teaching history, and seeking to highlight the potentials of this teaching resource on the construction of historical knowledge. The study was carried out with a class of 26 students, from 6th grade (11-12 year olds) of an urban school in northern Portugal, and sought to analyse students’ substantive ideas related to April Revolution when exploring two pieces of juvenile historical fiction literature: "The Treasure” by Manuel António Pina and "Story of a Flower" by Matilde Rosa Araújo. It was intended to notice the answers to the following questions: Which are the potentials of using historical fiction in history teaching, and particularly to understanding April Revolution? Which kind of influences do students reveal their narratives about this kind of educational resource comparing with other sources (historical, historiographical and pictorial sources)? Students accomplished several tasks that led to the production of two narratives. They were challenged to answer: 1) How would you tell a young foreigner the New State was like? 2) How would you tell a tourist that about the April 25 Revolution? Students’ content narratives were inductively analysed and categorized by levels of progression from less elaborate ideas to more sophisticated and complex concepts. This study highlighted that historical fiction pieces are important resources for students’ constructing historical knowledge as regards the substantive concept of April Revolution. It was also stressed that the kind of historical fiction (more historiographical or myth-symbolic) may affect differently students' historical thinking construction.