A PEDAGOGICAL MODEL FOR DEVELOPING HISTORICAL THINKING THROUGH DIGITAL HERMENEUTICS IN HISTORY TEACHER EDUCATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/Keywords:
digital hermeneutics, historical thinking, history education, digital history, critical thinking, teacher education, digital literacy, inquiry-based learning, historical interpretation, cultural heritageAbstract
The rapid digitalization of education has transformed the ways historical knowledge is accessed, interpreted, and taught. In history education, digital historical resources have created new opportunities for developing historical thinking and critical analysis. However, the pedagogical mechanisms through which digital hermeneutics contributes to the formation of historical thinking among future history teachers remain insufficiently explored. This study aims to develop a pedagogical model for fostering historical thinking through digital hermeneutics in teacher education. The research employs conceptual analysis, comparative analysis, synthesis, and pedagogical modeling to examine contemporary scholarship on digital history, digital literacy, historical thinking, and hermeneutic pedagogy. The findings reveal that historical thinking develops through a five-stage digital hermeneutic process consisting of digital source access, source verification, hermeneutic interpretation, historical reasoning, and reflective evaluation. The proposed model integrates cognitive, interpretative, digital, critical, and cultural dimensions of learning. The study concludes that digital hermeneutics provides a comprehensive framework for developing historical thinking in digitally transformed educational environments and offers practical guidance for history teacher education programs.
References
1.Arriazu, R. (2018). A research methodology in the service of critical thinking: Hermeneutic approach in the post-truth era. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26, 148–148.
2.Burgos-Videla, C., Parada-Ulloa, M., & Martínez-Díaz, J. (2025). Critical thinking in the classroom: The historical method and historical discourse as tools for teaching social studies. Frontiers in Sociology, 10, 1526437.
3.de Macedo Santos, M. P., Lopes da Silva, M., & Rodrigues Palhano, T. (2023). Use of digital tools in times of remote education: An analysis from the perspective of hermeneutic rationality. Revista Ibero-Americana de Estudos em Educação, 18.
4.Fickers, A., Tatarinov, J., & Van Der Heijden, T. (2022). Digital history and hermeneutics: Between theory and practice (Vol. 2, pp. 1–22). Berlin: De Gruyter.
5.Lee, B. N. (2023). Digital tools & inquiry-based learning in history education. Muallim Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 78–88.
6.Martelli, D. (2022). Empathetic and transformative engagement in historical understanding: A design-based exploration of an analytical-hermeneutic approach to teaching history in the classroom.
7.Mkrtchyan, L. (2025). Assessing digital-historical literacy and critical thinking among history students. Education in the 21st Century, 7(2), 161–174.
8.Sebbowa, D., Ng’ambi, D., & Brown, C. (2014). Using wikis to teach history education to 21st century learners: A hermeneutic perspective. Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning (CriSTaL), 2(2), 24–48.
9.Van Den Akker, C., Legêne, S., Van Erp, M., Aroyo, L., Segers, R., Van Der Meij, L., ... & Jacobs, G. (2011). Digital hermeneutics: Agora and the online understanding of cultural heritage. In Proceedings of the 3rd International Web Science Conference (pp. 1–7).