Abstract

Initial history teacher training faces the challenge of addressing controversial content, especially topics related to state violence and territorial conflicts. This article analyses the didactic treatment of the Occupation of Araucania, with an emphasis on multiperspectivity and the teaching of myths, using a qualitative approach and an instrumental case study design. Ten history education students from two universities offering the programme in Araucania, Chile, participated in the study. Both institutions are located in the southern macro-region, an area affected by a historical conflict linked to the loss and fragmentation of ancestral Mapuche lands. Data collection was based on direct classroom observations and the review of teaching resources. The results reveal weaknesses in the reading and contextualization of historical sources, as well as a tendency among trainee teachers to reproduce emotional and identity-based discourses. Multiperspectivity is addressed in a limited way, which contributes to simplifying the conflict through dichotomous narratives, making a complex and pluralistic historical understanding difficult. The study highlights the need to strengthen teacher education in historical competencies, critical analysis, interpretive diversity, and the rigorous treatment of controversial issues in educational contexts marked by historical conflict.