Abstract

Through this research we aim to accomplish two objectives: firstly, to analyze the knowledge of middle and high school students in the Bio Bio region (Chile) regarding the causes and consequences of the Hispanic-Mapuche conflict (XVI and XVII centuries); and, secondly, to understand how the current and controversial dimension of the Mapuche conflict affects the students’ reasoning about this historical context. This qualitative research involved the participation of 231 students from eighth to tenth grade from different educational institutions in the Bio Bio Region. In order to collect the information, an open-ended questionnaire was applied. The answers were analyzed through a rubric to assess the student’s performance level on cause and consequence knowledge regarding the conflict. The results revealed that students have a deficit when understanding the complexity of the causes of the historical conflict. Additionally, several influences derived from the ongoing Mapuche conflict were detected, such as the terminology used by the students and the manner they build their explanatory reasoning on its causes and consequences. © Autor(s) 2025