Primary and secondary school teachers' perceptions of their social science training needs

The study addresses the pressing need for ongoing teacher training due to continual educational reforms and evolving societal demands. It examines teachers’ knowledge across disciplinary, pedagogical, and technological domains, drawing on frameworks such as TPACK and DigCompEdu to conceptualize integrated teacher competence. In-service training is emphasized as vital for updating content and pedagogy in social sciences. The research question is: What are the disciplinary and educational training needs of history teachers in primary and secondary education in Spain? Two specific objectives guide the study: SO1 identifies which disciplinary contents are viewed as most appropriate for teaching history and tests differences by educational stage; SO2 analyzes teachers’ perceptions of how up-to-date their disciplinary knowledge is and their training needs.

The background highlights Shulman’s knowledge bases and the TPACK model (CK, PK, TK and intersections) as dominant frameworks to assess and develop teacher competence, including in social sciences. Recent work refines TPACK theory and designs training aligned with it. Studies stress balancing disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge, with methods, activities, and resources central to social science teaching. European frameworks (DigCompEdu) define educator digital competence. Prior research underscores the importance of in-service training for social science teachers in Spain and Latin America, noting a shift from purely disciplinary to integrated, competency-oriented training. Spanish studies over two decades explore in-service training, digital competence, and methodological innovation, revealing varying strengths across pedagogical, disciplinary, and technological knowledge domains.

Design: Non-experimental mixed-methods study aligned to achieve complementarity across objectives. Quantitative (SO1): Cross-sectional questionnaire with 5-point Likert responses (1–5), administered to 332 practicing teachers in Spain (2019–2020). Sample: 51.2% primary (6–12 years), 47.3% compulsory secondary (13–16 years), 1.5% not specified; participants from 10 of 17 Autonomous Communities. Margin of error ~5%, 95% confidence level (for population of 712,181 non-university teachers). Demographics: 52.7% women; age ranges provided (largest groups 40–49: 31.32%, 50–59: 28.31%). Instrument: Part 1—socio-demographics (10 items). Part 2—two blocks: (a) Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI, Spanish S-ATI-20) with 20 items adapted to history; (b) Ad hoc block “Opinions and conceptions on the teaching of history and teaching competencies,” 58 items in five dimensions with Likert 1–5 from “not very relevant” to “extremely relevant.” This study uses the first dimension (19 items) on relevance of historical topics. Validity: ATI validated in prior studies; ad hoc block content-validated by seven expert researchers. Data analysis: Descriptive statistics (means, SD, medians) and inferential analysis via Mann–Whitney U tests to compare primary vs secondary (ordinal variables). Software: Mplus 7.0. Qualitative (SO2): Twelve semi-structured interviews (6 primary, 6 secondary) conducted Mar–Apr 2020 with purposive convenience sampling ensuring variation (sex, academic training, years of experience, school type). Written responses were analyzed in ATLAS.ti 8 using a predefined and validated coding scheme (5 categories, 12 subcategories; intercoder agreement Kappa=0.83). Open coding identified key concepts; categories included Updating (disciplinary/educational, procedures), Training needs (disciplinary/educational), Teacher training (timing, provider, satisfaction, type, format, disciplinary field), and Considerations (educational field). Ethics: Informed consent obtained; ethics approvals from coordinating universities.

SO1 (Relevance of disciplinary contents): - Highest-rated topics for history teaching: development of human rights, social demands and struggles for equality (Item 15: Mean=4.58, SD=0.615, Median=5); development of democracy and political participation (Item 14: Mean=4.47, SD=0.659, Median=5). The great processes of humanity (Item 4: Mean=4.45, SD=0.691) and environmental issues/landscape/resources (Item 18: Mean=4.38, SD=0.778) were also highly valued. - Lowest-rated topics: main political characters and military leaders (Item 2: Mean=3.11, SD=1.057, Median=3); history, culture and heritage of distant countries (Item 8: Mean=3.69, SD=0.843, Median=4). - Primary vs secondary differences (Mann–Whitney U, p<0.05) in 12 items. Largest differences: Item 9 (interesting characters) Primary Mean=4.07 vs Secondary=3.50, Z=-5.198, p<0.001; Item 13 (disappeared, mass graves, repression) Primary=3.43 vs Secondary=4.01, Z=-4.845, p<0.001; Item 1 (origins of the nation) Primary=3.96 vs Secondary=3.52, Z=-3.635, p<0.001. Primary teachers rated Items 1 and 9 higher; secondary rated Item 13 higher. No significant differences for Items 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 17, 19. SO2 (Updating and training needs): - Disciplinary updating: Primary teachers were mixed; some felt up-to-date, others not or only partially, citing rapid knowledge evolution or lack of post-initial updates. All secondary teachers reported attempting to stay updated, framing it as professional responsibility and motivated by student engagement and achievement challenges. - Procedures for updating: Predominant reliance on specialized scientific journals and bibliography across both stages; also Teacher Training Centre (CPR) courses (more frequent in secondary), digital platforms/social networks, Internet, scientific meetings/congresses, and to a lesser extent mass media/popular magazines. - Training needs: Emphasis on educational/methodological aspects—strong interest in ICT resources for social science teaching, active and student-centered methods (e.g., gamification, flipped classroom, role play), and competencies including historical and geographical thinking. Most primary and nearly all secondary teachers expressed interest in training on competencies and historical/geographical thinking. - Training formats and satisfaction: Preference for educational innovation projects over traditional courses; favored delivery online or mixed. Satisfaction depended on applicability to classroom practice; some dissatisfaction when training was not directly implementable. - Reported challenges: Overreliance on textbooks, scarcity of contemporary/contextualized texts, difficulty shifting entrenched models due to workload, limited interdisciplinarity, and insufficient institutional support/resources.

Findings indicate a shift away from traditional political-military narratives towards content fostering democratic citizenship, human rights, and equality—aligned with competency-based curricula and broader social movements. Primary teachers’ higher valuation of significant characters/events reflects their curricular emphasis on introductory historical narratives, whereas secondary teachers’ higher valuation of topics like repression and mass graves aligns with Spain’s recent history emphasis. The mixed sense of being up-to-date among primary teachers versus stronger confidence among secondary teachers aligns with literature showing primary teachers’ stronger pedagogical than disciplinary orientation, and secondary teachers’ stronger disciplinary grounding. Teachers’ strong interest in ICT, active methodologies, and historical/geographical thinking signals a move toward student-centered, competency-oriented social science education. Predominant updating via journals and courses, along with preference for online/mixed formats, suggests both the persistence of traditional professional learning modalities and growing digital adoption. The results directly address the research question by identifying both content priorities and concrete training needs that can inform in-service program design.

The study contributes evidence that social science teachers in Spain prioritize content promoting active citizenship (human rights, democracy) over traditional political-military narratives. Teachers envision and seek training for a competency-based, learner-centered model emphasizing historical/geographical thinking, active methodologies, and ICT integration. Practically, in-service programs should prioritize applied, classroom-oriented formats (workshops, innovation projects, working groups) delivered online or in blended modes, featuring specialists in didactics and educational technology, and focusing on transferable resources and strategies. Future research should validate constructs via confirmatory factor analysis, expand probabilistic sampling, include broader regional representation, and triangulate with classroom observations and student perspectives to connect reported needs with actual practice and outcomes.

- Lack of confirmatory factor analysis to validate the construct identifying historical themes’ relevance in primary education. - Non-probabilistic sampling limits generalizability. - Interviews limited to teachers from specific regions; broader regional coverage is needed. - Need to contrast findings with classroom observations and student interviews to validate self-reports and link to practice.