The history play as an educational environment. The analysis of four plays to commemorate the triumph of the Republic in Queretaro, Mexico

Abstract

This article begins from the central assumption that history plays, because of the ways in which they combine cognitions and emotions, produce an understanding through high-impact means. Through the review of the most recent states of knowledge in the ield of history teaching, it is ascertained that the study of non-formal teaching environments and emotionality are topics which need to be investigated. This research project focused on four history plays. Their study required an interdisciplinary methodology which wove together expertise from philosophy, anthropology, psychology and neuroscience, with which instruments of analysis were constructed that were processed through ethnographic tools provided by Grounded Theory. The results produced categories that explain the relation between the cognitions and emotions aroused by plays, give an account of the components that give rise to them, and make a point of the fact that they are a vehicle to generate empathy in relation to  the adoption of perspectives and the humanization of previous understanding. This work is part of a doctoral thesis that will be presented in the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona under the direction of Doctor Joan Pagés and the research project is registered in the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro.