Conflictive memory and heritage education in the initial training of primary teachers

This study shows that the professional competence of trainee teachers improves when social aptitudes are accepted as a key dimension guiding their training and the education of their pupils within the social sciences field. In the initial phase of the training of several cohorts of students of primary teaching degrees in Spain, work has been carried out on uncomfortable pasts, discovering hidden memories in everyday places. Taking this to be both a civic and educational problem, a process was begun to integrate emotion and critical rationality and to give meaning to the students’ educational experience both at university and, later, in the primary classroom. Here, results are presented in relation to the impact on trainee teachers of a training method incorporating conflictive memory, heritage education and emotional education. Secondly, the results of transferring this training to the primary classroom during periods of teaching practice in schools are shown.