1. December 10 th (2010): PD related to the Modern History 112 DRAFT curriculum Agenda:  Acknowledgments  Timeline  PD Videos  Historical Thinking (ppt)  Preparation time/feedback

2. December 10 th (2010): PD related to the Modern History 112 DRAFT curriculum Agenda: Acknowledgments  Timeline barbara.hillman@gnb.ca barbara.hillman@gnb.ca  PD Videos  Historical Thinking (ppt)  Preparation time/feedback

3. December 10 th (2010): PD related to the Modern History 112 DRAFT curriculum Agenda: Acknowledgments Timeline  PD Videos  Historical Thinking (ppt)  Preparation time/feedback

4. Historical Thinking: Key Concepts & Practical Applications

5. Six Concepts of Historical Thinking: Significance Evidence Cause and Consequence Continuity and Change Historical Perspective-Taking The Ethical dimension Seixas, P., & Clark, P., (Ed.) (2006) Teaching about Historical Thinking. UBC, Canada: The Critical Thinking Consortium.

6. Significance  Consequences (resulting in change)  Prominence of the event at the time  Occupies a key place in a meaningful narrative  Revealing –Does the event explain something about later events or the present?

7. Evidence Problem: The past is gone  How do we know about the past?  How do we decide what to believe about the past?  Primary and secondary sources make history more tangible for students.

8. Evidence: 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 the idea of “perspective”  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. 179-214). Washington: The National Academies Press.

9. Continuity & Change  Change and continuity are on-going and ever present  Change can occur at different rates  Change and continuity can be both positive and negative (e.g. progress & decline)  Comparisons can be made between points of history and between the past and the present

10. Cause and Consequence  Events have a myriad of different and often unappreciated causes  Prior events may have no causal influence on subsequent events - Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc (after this, therefore because of this )  Looking for broad underlying factors is as important (or more important) than identifying immediate particular causes  Actions have unintended consequences

11. Historical Perspective-Taking  Presentism is the antithesis of historical perspective  Historical perspective is concerned with understanding the prevailing norms of the time more than it is adopting a particular person’s point of view  There are diverse historical perspectives on any given event in the past  Adopting an historical perspective requires suspending moral judgment.

12. The Ethical Dimension  There is value in withholding moral judgments until adequate information has been acquired  Determining cause is different from assigning responsibility

13. Works Cited:  Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness. (n.d.). Benchmarks of Historical Thinking. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from http://www.histori.ca/benchmarks/ http://www.histori.ca/benchmarks/  Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness. (n.d.). Concepts. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from http://www.histori.ca/benchmarks/conceptshttp://www.histori.ca/benchmarks/concepts  Peck, C. (2009). Taking Risks. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from: http://historywire.ca/en/post/19756;jsessionid=BC270DD9DFF0FE6FC8A3D 3980A8B1011.tomcat1 http://historywire.ca/en/post/19756;jsessionid=BC270DD9DFF0FE6FC8A3D 3980A8B1011.tomcat1  Seixas, P. (2006). Benchmarks of historical thinking: A framework for assessment in Canada. UBC: Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness.  Case, R. (Ed.). (2006). Tools for historical understanding: Teaching about historical thinking. UBC: The Critical Thinking Consortium.

14. December 10 th (2010): PD related to the Modern History 112 DRAFT curriculum Agenda: Acknowledgments Timeline PD Videos Historical Thinking (ppt)  Preparation time/feedback