What is the difference between “the past” and “history”?  Take 5 minutes to discuss  Prepare to explain to whole group

Learning How To Think Historically An Introduction to the Benchmarks of Historical Thinking Presented by: Dr. Carla Peck University of Alberta

Six Elements of Historical Thinking Significance Continuity and change Evidence Cause and consequence Historical perspective-taking The moral dimension

 Significance –We can’t commemorate, teach or study everything about the past. We have to make choices. –“Historical Significance”- the principles behind the choices we (the public, the government, historians, teachers, textbook authors, etc.) make. –What are the key understandings of history? –What criteria do we use to decide what to commemorate, teach, study?

Aspects of Significance  Resulting in Change With deep consequences For many people Over a long period of time  Revealing  Occupies a key place in a meaningful narrative (applies to both the other aspects)

Aspects of Significance  Resulting in Change With deep consequences For many people Over a long period of time  Revealing  Occupies a key place in a meaningful narrative (applies to both the other aspects)

What “significance” might look like in…  Kindergarten: What are the 3 most significant events that have happened in my life so far? (K.1.1)  Grade 1: What are 3 most significant events in my family’s past? (1.2.1)  Grade 2: Who were the most significant people in our community’s past? (2.2.6)  Grade 3: What has been the most significant change in someone’s life since moving to Canada? (3.1.2)  Grade 4: Create and defend a list of the 5 most significant places/landmarks in Alberta. (4.2.1)

 Continuity & Change –Understanding change over time is central to historical thinking. –Can things change yet also retain elements of continuity? –As things have changed, have they gotten better or gotten worse? –Does perspective matter?

Aspects of Continuity & Change  Continuity and change are interrelated  Turning points and tipping points  Progress and decline are ways of evaluating change over time.  Chronology helps to organize our understanding of continuity and change.  Periodization helps to organize our understanding of continuity and change.

What “continuity & change” might look like in…  Kindergarten: Using baby photos and more recent photos, ask students what has changed about them since they were born? What has stayed the same?  Grade 1: How have children’s games changed since your grandparents played games? (Ask grandparents/parents/guardians for input!)  Grade 2: Discover two ways that Saskatoon has changed and two ways it has stayed the same.  Grade 3: Compare changes in [technology, transportation, etc.] in India to changes in [technology, transportation, etc.] in Canada since you were born?transportation  Grade 4: List 5 ways the population of [your town, or province] has changed since List 5 ways it has stayed the same. Do you think things have gotten better or worse over time?

India: Transportation Past & Present India Image 37 - Bundi, Rajasthan (

 Evidence –How do we know about the past? –How do we decide what to believe about the past? –Learning to critically analyze accounts from the past is an important skill to develop: What are the problems with the account? How do I decide what/who to believe? Is this account reliable and how do I know?

Aspects of Evidence  Position of the author(s)  Purposes of the author(s)  Values and worldview of the author(s)  Contextualization

What “evidence” might look like in…  Kindergarten: Students use a personal artefact (baby blanket, favourite story book) to show and tell others about something they used to do as a baby.  Grade 1: Examine a family artefact – what is it? What was it used for? Who used it? What can we learn about family life in the past from this artefact?  Grade 2: Look up, way up! What do the buildings in our town tell us about its past?  Grade 3: Interview someone about their life in the Ukraine and their life since moving to Canada. What can we learn about (family, school, traditions) from this person’s experience?  Grade 4: Examine a Frances Anne Hopkins painting of the voyageurs. What does it tell us about the life of voyageurs?Frances Anne Hopkins

Shooting the Rapids ( Quebec ) Frances Anne Hopkins Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No What are they doing in the canoe?

Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (Ontario) 1869 Frances Anne Hopkins Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No

What do/don’t these paintings tell us about life as a voyageur?

 Cause and Consequence –Why did things happen the way they did? Is there more than one reason that [X] happened? (There usually is!) –Who makes history? –What were the relationships of power at the time? –What constraints (social, political, economical…) had an impact on this group’s history? –What did this person/group do to effect change?

Aspects of Cause & Consequence  Causes are multiple and layered, involving both long-term ideologies, institutions, and conditions, and short-term actions and events  Human beings (individually and collectively) cause historical change (Agency)...  In contexts that impose limits on change

Sample Activity… Cause & Consequence  What conditions made it possible for Louis Riel to effect change?  What conditions made it harder for him to make a difference? 1873, Ottawa, ON. Notman Studio / Library and Archives Canada / C

What “cause & consequence” might look like in…  Grade 5: What attitudes and actions led to anti-Asian sentiments in the early 1900s in Canada?  Grade 8: Who and what has enabled the survival of Francophone culture in Canada?

 Historical Perspective-Taking –Historical perspective-taking means understanding the different social, cultural, intellectual, and even emotional contexts that shaped people’s lives and actions in the past. –Learning to use the frameworks of the day, rather than present-day perspectives, to judge past events. –Why did this historical actor act in that way? –What evidence do I have that supports my conclusions?

Aspects of Perspective-Taking  Taking the perspective of historical actors must use evidence for inferences about how people felt and thought (avoiding presentism).  Any particular historical event or situation involves actors who may have diverse perspectives on it.  Empathy is not identification.

What “historical perspective-taking” might look like in…  Grade 4: Using evidence, write a newspaper article about [X] in Quebec’s history.  Grade 8: Using evidence, develop your position on: –The Spanish plan to explore, conquest and convert the Aztec people to Christianity, if you are a member of the Independent Counsel to the Catholic Church. –You are a supporter of Hernando Cortés and have just found out about a policy the Catholic Church might be developing.

 The Moral Dimension –We want to learn from the past in order to face the issues of today. –Major difficulty: Imposing our own ideas of “right” and “wrong” on a past time, on past actors. –“The past is a foreign country-they do things differently there.”* –What do I need to put aside before beginning to understand events or people from the past? *David Lowenthal (1985). The Past is a Foreign Country. New York: CambridgeUP.

Aspects of the Moral Dimension  Collective responsibility –Examining the legacies of past actions: When do we owe reparations to injured parties? (Residential schools, Apology for Chinese Head Tax, etc.)  Profound change over time –Makes moral judgments difficult: We look back on the past differently than those who lived it.  Connection with conditions in the present –Understanding how past actions/sentiments contributed to current situations (e.g., John A. Macdonald’s stance on the Chinese and immigration policies that developed (and persisted) over time.)

What “the moral dimension” might look like in…  Grade 4: Examine a local historical event and decide whether the decisions made at the time resulted in positive or negative change in your community.  Grade 7: Should the Canadian government apologize for the Komagata Maru incident?

How you might begin…  Students write a history of the first day of school.  In small groups, they compare their histories – Why are there differences? They all experienced the first day together – shouldn’t the histories all be the same?  Why do they think other students wrote histories different than theirs?  Discuss this with students – introduce terms like “significance”, “perspective”, “agency”…  Could the same thing happen when history books (and textbooks) are written? Why?  What does this tell us about historical accounts? – Interpretation is key! Bain, R. B. (2005). "They thought the world was flat?": Applying the principles of how people learn in teaching high school history. In J. Bransford & S. Donovan (Eds.), How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom (pp ). Washington: The National Academies Press.

Benchmarks of Historical Thinking Website

Material History, or using Artefacts to Foster Historical Thinking  Material history is the use of historical artefacts as “documents”, which can be analyzed, synthesized, compared and contrasted with other documents to understand the past.  According to Schlereth (1982), the study of material history serves as a gateway into the belief patterns of the people who made, altered, purchased, commissioned or used the objects under study. In turn, we gain a glimpse into the larger society’s belief patterns as well.

Why Material History?  Through material history, artefacts: –make the past both tangible and accessible –are more accessible to learners who are poor readers or who benefit from interaction and manipulation strategies –allow more effective use of community resources in local museums –can be collected by teachers and students –encourage interaction between learners and artefacts’ producers/owners (in the present & the past!) –demonstrate cultural differences & similarities in terms of class, gender, ethnicity, historical period, region and occasion

How Do I Study artifacts?  When trying to determine an object’s ‘story’, museum curators ask specific questions in a specific order.  Despite the fact that some answers may remain incomplete, the data collected still sheds light on the artefact and the era, place and society attached to it.

Ask the Big Questions:  What is it?  What is it made of?  How was it made?  How does it work?  What else do we know?

What Is It?   A good place to start if you can!

What Is It Made of?  The selection of materials is rarely left to chance.  The material (and its qualities) an artefact is made of can help us understand the nature and function of an object.

How Was It Made?  The design and way an object was made can help us understand the person who made it and/or who it was made for.  Take note of signs of wear/repair – these tell a story about an artefact’s actual working life.

How Does It Work?  What is the function of each of the parts? How is an artifact used, or how does it operate?  Finding this out might help answer the “What is it?” question.

What Else Do We Know? Provenance  A basic definition of ‘provenance’ is source. In the study of material history, provenance refers to an object’s reason for creation.  Finding out who built, owned and/or used the artifact, what era it belongs to and what history is behind it all form the ‘provenance’ of an artifact.  Provenance provides a context for an artifact – and may actually challenge conclusions drawn about an object.  Provenance can also help the researcher make distinctions between two otherwise similar objects.

 Of course, an artifact probably won’t tell you everything you want or need to know. Once you have examined the artifact in some detail, more research is required to fully understand its history.  Sources such as newspapers, magazines, catalogues, manuals, directories and photographs can provide additional information. Web References used to prepare the information on material history: