Secondary education, the final phase of basic education, has as fundamental purposes to promote in Mexican children and young people the development of the basic intellectual skills necessary to permanently learn autonomously and to act with initiative and effectiveness in multiple life situations. everyday. Likewise, secondary education is expected to help consolidate the acquisition of basic knowledge about the natural and social world, as well as the formation of attitudes and values ​​that are necessary for social coexistence and responsible incorporation into adult life and work. productive. This approach establishes as a priority of secondary education the development of intellectual skills, such as the ability to select and use information, to analyze and make own judgments about social and natural reality, the development of inquiry and study habits to continue learning autonomously, as well as attitudes of interest and curiosity for knowledge. The achievement of these purposes is a task of the entire teaching and management staff of each secondary school; In other words, it implies that each of the teachers, regardless of the subject they teach, deliberately contributes - through teaching activities, relationships with students, participation in other school activities - to help students achieve these goals. Consistent with these goals, starting in 1993, new study programs were established for secondary education, and in each one the reorientation of teaching practices has been promoted. In the case of the teaching of history, two aspects stand out: the reintegration of history 3 as a specific subject of study to replace the area of ​​social sciences and, particularly, the rethinking of the teaching approach. The purpose of this change is to make historical knowledge more interesting and accessible to students and, in this way, they acquire basic knowledge, develop their curiosity about the past and, especially, develop their capacities to think historically about facts or current social situations.