Open research questions in Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy

What the literature leaves open

• more comparative work is needed on Afrodescendant education in smaller states and territories, including Central America and other parts of the Caribbean

  Teaching the unrepaired past as repair in Latin America and the Caribbean · 2026 · DOI

• We also find that most professional development for high school psychology teachers is rooted in the science paradigm and that many teachers feel limited by their ability to connect psychology content to students’ lived experiences under the science paradigm.

  Embracing the interdisciplinary nature of psychology: Challenging the increasing dismissiveness of high school psychology as a social studies course · 2024 · DOI

• If this kind of history remains to be written, at least a way has been shown, however dimly the prospective path is lit. While there is a difference between the employment struc- tures of Canada and the United States, it remains an open question whether or not that difference is sufficient to sustain an argument about the peculiar formation and fragmentation of the Canadian working class. Certainly the structural and determining features of economic life demand more attention than we have in the past given them; and processes of capital accumulation and economic restructuring over the longue duree need to be explored in or- der to situate workers' lives more adeuqately. But what seems answerable in easy ways to sociologists and political scientists often proves for historians to be a difficult, painful, complex process of recon- struction in which essential evidence is contradictory or, worse, just not available.

  Listening to History Rather than Historians: Reflections on Working Class History · 1986 · DOI

• The introduction of AI creates conditions of significant uncertainty for history teachers. Teachers may need to develop new skills to keep up with new technology. The value of teaching historical thinking is being reevaluated in the age of AI.

  Why think historically when AI can do it? Understanding the relationship between generative artificial intelligence and history teacher identity · 2026 · DOI

• The existing literature has studied history teachers' need to develop skills to keep up with new technology, but there is a gap in understanding history teachers' perspectives on their purpose and profession in relation to AI.

  Why think historically when AI can do it? Understanding the relationship between generative artificial intelligence and history teacher identity · 2026 · DOI

• La formación de un pensamiento histórico en los egresados de nivel medio superior es limitada - La necesidad de aplicar una Pedagogía Emergente y Crítica renueva formas de trabajo para perfeccionar la función docente-metodológica

  Orientación cultural hacia la gestión histórico-vivencial: un análisis desde la formación posgraduada del profesor de historia en la educación preuniversitaria · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies the challenge of implementing a curriculum that promotes higher-order thinking processes. It notes the difficulty of bridging the gap between discursive aspirations and classroom practices.

  FROM ACCUMULATION TO HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS: COGNITIVE TENSIONS IN THE CURRICULAR UPDATE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES IN COLOMBIA (2002-2026) · 2026 · DOI

• The paper notes that the implementation gap between the 2002 guidelines and classroom practices was not a failure of curriculum design, but a failure of educational public policy.

  FROM ACCUMULATION TO HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS: COGNITIVE TENSIONS IN THE CURRICULAR UPDATE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES IN COLOMBIA (2002-2026) · 2026 · DOI

• The study was conducted with a small number of participants (four students). The research was limited to a specific context (a public school in Ankara, Türkiye).

  Effect of metaconceptual processes on 7th-grade students’ understanding of the concepts of republic, democracy, and the state of law · 2026 · DOI

• Future research may explore the application of metaconceptual teaching in different contexts and with larger participant samples. The study's findings may inform the development of new educational programs and teaching strategies.

  Effect of metaconceptual processes on 7th-grade students’ understanding of the concepts of republic, democracy, and the state of law · 2026 · DOI

• Limited museum facilities, low museum literacy, and a lack of innovation in learning based on local resources are challenges to implementing museum-based learning. The study only analyzed 20 scholarly articles and may not be representative of all relevant literature.

  The Utilization of the Siginjai Museum as a Local Wisdom-Based History Learning Resource · 2026 · DOI

• Further studies can explore the effectiveness of museum-based learning programs in history education. Research can investigate the impact of integrating local cultural artifacts into history education on student outcomes. Studies can examine the challenges and limitations of implementing museum-based learning in history education.

  The Utilization of the Siginjai Museum as a Local Wisdom-Based History Learning Resource · 2026 · DOI

• Many learners perceive History as less relevant in the digital age, while instruction often remains dependent on lecture-based methods. The application of active learning strategies in History classrooms remains challenging.

  Perceived Effects of Debates and Role-Playing in Active Learning among Grade 7 History Students · 2026 · DOI

• The teaching of social sciences faces new challenges in the digital age, including the need to develop critical thinking, media literacy, and digital citizenship skills. The increasing digitization of public life and the proliferation of disinformation pose significant challenges for social science education.

  Ciudadanía digital crítica y aprendizaje significativo en ciencias sociales: una revisión sistemática sobre mediación tecnológica, alfabetización informacional e innovación pedagógica en educación secundaria · 2026 · DOI

• The existing literature on digital citizenship, media literacy, and social science education highlights the need for a more comprehensive approach that integrates critical digital citizenship and media literacy. There is a gap in the literature regarding the contributions of critical digital citizenship, media literacy, and digital technologies to the strengthening of meaningful learning in secondary education.

  Ciudadanía digital crítica y aprendizaje significativo en ciencias sociales: una revisión sistemática sobre mediación tecnológica, alfabetización informacional e innovación pedagógica en educación secundaria · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies the challenge of structural economic pressures and job market uncertainty. The research highlights the challenge of balancing worldly and ukhrawi needs in education.

  When Factory Uniforms Are More Valuable Than Lecture Books: An Analysis of the Sociology of Education and the Spiritual Reorientation of Science · 2026 · DOI

• Future research can build on the study's findings to develop spiritual intervention programs. Further studies can explore the effectiveness of the Ihya Ulumuddin concept in restoring the dignity of education.

  When Factory Uniforms Are More Valuable Than Lecture Books: An Analysis of the Sociology of Education and the Spiritual Reorientation of Science · 2026 · DOI

• Intractable disagreements between Anglo-Saxon philosophers of education and representatives of the European hermeneutic tradition - The lack of understanding of hermeneutics in Anglo-Saxon philosophy of education

  Pádraig Hogan: Hermeneutics: Understanding Educational Experience (Brill, 2025, 123 p) · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in understanding the chronopolitics of EMI in Moroccan higher education. It highlights the need for a critical examination of the temporal dimensions of EMI policies.

  The chronopolitics of EMI: ‘temporal infrastructuring’, ‘geotemporal bind’, and the ‘never-yet-postcolonial’ in higher education · 2026 · DOI

• The Slovak curriculum for primary schools lacks a clear structure of competencies for historical literacy. The paper identifies the need for a clear definition of historical literacy and a corresponding structure of competencies.

  Historická gramotnosť ako funkčná kategória v kurikule pre základné vzdelávanie · 2026 · DOI

• The issue of education in moral virtues has a long-standing historical presence and remains a constant subject of inquiry. There is a need for a conceptual framework for addressing ethical topics in schools using virtue ethics.

  Ethical Topics in Education. A Conceptual Framework for Upcoming Pedagogical Research · 2026 · DOI

• Political leadership as a political science concept has not received sufficient academic attention. The topic of leadership is mainly studied in management, sociology or psychology, and in political science it is perceived as a 'soft' or ungraspable topic.

  Andrej Babiš as a Populist Leader: Media Framing of the Czech Presidential Elections 2023 · 2026 · DOI

• The paper suggests that future research should focus on the development of systematic methodological guidance for the implementation of oral history. The paper implies that future research should examine the impact of oral history on student learning outcomes.

  Perspectives of In-Service and Pre-Service History Teachers on the Use of Oral History in Teaching Modern History · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in systematic empirical research on the implementation of oral history in the Czech school context. The paper notes that existing studies have focused mainly on theoretical and methodological aspects or on case studies of individual educational projects.

  Perspectives of In-Service and Pre-Service History Teachers on the Use of Oral History in Teaching Modern History · 2026 · DOI

• The study notes the complexity of teaching with artifacts, including the demands that reading artifacts places on students. The research highlights the need to consider the settler-colonial context of education in Canada. The study suggests that educators face challenges in using artifacts in a way that acknowledges artifactual literacies.

  Towards Artifactual Literacies: A Content Analysis of Secondary School History Curricula in Canada · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy

• Historical problem solving: A study of the cognitive processes used in the evaluation of documentary and pictorial evidence. · Journal of Educational Psychology · 1991 · 821 citations
• “Vygotsky’s Neglected Legacy”: Cultural-Historical Activity Theory · Review of Educational Research · 2007 · 712 citations
• Guidelines for Quality in Autobiographical Forms of Self-Study Research · Educational Researcher · 2001 · 675 citations
• Beyond the Methods Fetish: Toward a Humanizing Pedagogy · Harvard Educational Review · 1994 · 611 citations
• On the Reading of Historical Texts: Notes on the Breach Between School and Academy · American Educational Research Journal · 1991 · 453 citations
• Do Learners Really Know Best? Urban Legends in Education · Educational Psychologist · 2013 · 445 citations
• Learning considered within a cultural context: Confucian and Socratic approaches. · American Psychologist · 2002 · 408 citations
• The Theory of Inquiry: Dewey's Legacy to Education · Curriculum Inquiry · 1992 · 385 citations
• Incorporating Comparison within a World-Historical Perspective: An Alternative Comparative Method · American Sociological Review · 1990 · 327 citations
• Historical Reasoning: Towards a Framework for Analyzing Students’ Reasoning about the Past · Educational Psychology Review · 2007 · 300 citations

Most recent work

• Commoning history education: Developing in-curriculum and beyond-curriculum thinking skills · Thinking Skills and Creativity · 2026
• Teaching through content area texts: Exploring how preservice teachers curate and use anti-bias and culturally sustaining collections · Teaching and Teacher Education · 2026
• Mapping Heritage Education: Historical Knowledge and Moral Values · Studies in Philosophy and Education · 2026
• TRANS-HIS (Transformative–Historical Consciousness) Learning Model to Improve the Verstehen Abilities of High School Students in Lampung · Tadris: Jurnal Keguruan dan Ilmu Tarbiyah · 2026
• Pádraig Hogan: Hermeneutics: Understanding Educational Experience (Brill, 2025, 123 p) · Studies in Philosophy and Education · 2026
• Teaching school history in postcolonial states: an analysis of the research literature · Pedagogy Culture and Society · 2026
• Senses, Emotions and Experiences in the History of Education · History of Education · 2026
• Integrating expectancy-value theory and social capital: A netnographic study of social studies teachers' motivations for participation in online teacher communities · Teaching and Teacher Education · 2026
• History: a subject ‘in crisis’ in the Australian senior secondary curriculum context? · Journal of Curriculum Studies · 2026
• Learning to Coach as Identity Development: Examining Novice History Coaches Through the Lens of the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity · Teachers College Record The Voice of Scholarship in Education · 2026

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