Historical Thinking Operations of Young Students: a Study on the Concept of Evidence

Abstract In this article, we analyze the operations of young students’ historical thinking, seeking to emphasize the concept of “evidence”; an idea advocated by the field of History of Education. Through the production of written narratives, we investigate how adolescents appropriate historical references to support their opinions, to interpret substantive concepts, and to envision their own future. The study was carried out in a public State school located in Butantã, in São Paulo/SP, between May and June 2016. 106 students participated, between 12 and 16 years old, male and female, from the 8th and 9th years of Elementary School. The data were collected from a questionnaire and analyzed according to the assumptions of Grounded Theory with the aid of the IRAMUTEQ software. The results showed the difficulties of the young person in the process of constructing historical thought, denoting the complexity of this mental operation.