historical thinking and inquiry learning (kamloops, 2014)

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www.bcheritagefairs.ca

Historical Thinking and Inquiry Learning

Kelowna, Kamloops, 2014Tom Morton

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Learning Intentions:

• Understand better how historical thinking and inquiry learning fit togther

• Identify some concepts and skills to teach

• Have some clear ideas about how to teach these concepts and skills

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References:

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“Histories are the stories we tell about the past... But the past is gone. By definition it is no longer present, so we can’t observe it directly. We have a need for

meaningful, coherent stories about what came before us. Yet a gap exists between the present we live in and the infinite, unorganized, and unknowable ‘everything

that happened.’ How we overcome that gap gives rise to history.” (Seixas and Morton, 2012)

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Six Concepts of Historical Thinking

1. Historical significance2. Evidence3. Continuity and change4. Cause and consequence5. Historical perspective-taking6. The ethical dimension

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No Frills Inquiry:

• Establish curiosity – « some perplexity, confusion, or doubt » (John Dewey)

• Develop questions• Pose first hypothesis and reflect on certainty• Explore further evidence• Refine hypothesis and so on as time and interest

permit

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Introduction to the Concept of Evidence and Inquiry: I Left a Trace

1. Jot down everything that you have done in the last 24 hours.

(that would be appropriate for discussion.)

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2. Make a list of traces that might have been left from your life during those past hours.3. Check ✓ those that were likely to have been preserved.

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1. How well could a biographer 50 years from now write the story of your 24 hours based on the traces you left? How much of what happened would be left out? What aspects of the story might the biographer miss?

2. Where else could he or she turn for evidence? 3. How could readers of the biography know if it

was an accurate account? 4. What does this exercise tell us about the

challenges historians face when writing histories?

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“the past as a series of events is utterly gone . . . some remnants remain like litter from a picnic, but these material remains never speak for themselves. In fact they are inert traces until someone asks a question that turns them into evidence.”- Joyce Appleby, “The Power of History”

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Working with evidence involves

• Making inferences• Using context• Sourcing• Developing questions for further inquiry• Corroborating/cross-checking

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Working with traces from the past can both develop the concept of evidence and build curiosity for a more in depth inquiry such as a Heritage Fair project.

Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps. Photographer: UNDETERMINED Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives


Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps, also known at the time as Sir James Douglas' Coloured Regiment.Photographer: UNDETERMINED Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives

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Visual Analysis: InferencingWhat can we infer from this trace of the past about the historical context, the photographic situation,

and the situation of Blacks in Victoria at this time?

Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps. Photographer: UNDETERMINED Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives


Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps, also known at the time as Sir James Douglas' Coloured Regiment.Photographer: UNDETERMINED Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives

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Question Generation 1 – Question Formation Technique (AKA: Brainstorming)

• Ask as many questions as you can.• Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer the

questions.• Write down every question exactly as it is stated.• Change any statement into a question.(Rothstein and Santana, Make Just One Change)

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Question Generation 2: Brainstorming with Prompts

1. Brainstorm a list of at least 12 questions about the topic or source. Use these question-starters to help you think of interesting questions:– Why…?– How is this connected to…?– What happened as a result of…?– What kind of a change was...?– How should we remember...?

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2. Review the brainstormed list and star the questions that seem most interesting and important. Then, select one or two starred questions and be ready to present these to the class.

3. Reflect: How do you know you have a good question? Would it make a good Heritage Fairs project? What possible answer do you have to your question? Where could you go to learn more and test your answer?

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Criteria for Good Inquiry Questions

• They are worth answering (lead to deeper understanding of history; authentic; historically significant)

• They are broadly engaging (for teacher inquiries)• Students care about them – they see the purpose

in answering them• They can be answered, though maybe the answer

will be contested or difficult

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Ways to Support Students to Generate Questions:• Look at models, e.g., museum exhibits or

www.bcheritagefairs.ca portfolio• Supply prompts • Use engaging sources to build curiosity, e.g.,

mystery artefact• Brainstorm questions• Give or create criteria on which to choose the most

powerful questions• Make a Wonder Wall of Questions• Plan for peer and teacher feedback• Practise with small inquiries

http://www.bcheritagefairs.ca/

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No Frills Inquiry:

• Establish curiosity – « some perplexity, confusion, or doubt » (John Dewey)

• Develop questions• Pose first hypothesis and reflect on certainty• Explore further evidence• Refine hypothesis and so on as time and interest

permit

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Reflection on Certainty: Clothesline

www.thinkinghistory.co.uk - © Ian Dawson 2009

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How certain are you about your answer/hypothesis?

UNCERTAIN?

CERTAIN?

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How certain are you about your hypothesis?

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What words do students need to use?

MaybeNot surePossiblyPerhapsMost likelyWhat phrases?

This source suggests…This photo confirms the idea that… I chose these two pictures to show…

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Contextualizing and Building Connections: Enhanced Timelines

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Guideposts to Understanding Evidence

• History is intepretation based on inferences made from primary sources. Primary sources can be accounts, but they can also be traces, relics, or records.

• Asking good questions about a source can turn it into evidence.

• Sourcing often begins before a source is read, with questions about who created it and when it was created. It involves inferring from the source the author’s or creator’s purpose, values, and worldview, either conscious or unconscious.

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• A source should be analyzed in relation to the context of its historical setting: the conditions and worldviews prevalent at the time in question.

• Inferences made from a source can never stand alone. They should always be corroborated—checked against other sources (primary and secondary).

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Concept: Historical Significance

The problem: We can’t remember or learn or cover everything that ever happened. How do we decide what is important to learn about the past?

“Historical significance”: the principles behind the selection of what and who should be remembered, researched, taught and learned about the past.

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Question Stems for Historical Significance (aka: so-what or who-cares questions):

• What was so special about X?• Why should everyone remember X?• Does X deserve to be famous?• Why was X forgotten?

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Should the Victoria Pioneer Rifles be in our textbooks? On what grounds?

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Working with historical significance: Diamond Ranking

Most

Least

www.bcheritagefairs.caPioneer Rifles

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Who were the most historically significant during British Columbia’s Gold Rushes?

• James Douglas• Amelia Douglas• Matthew Begbie• Chief Spintlum

• Royal Engineers• Victoria Pioneer

Rifles• Hurdy Gurdy Girls• Billy Barker

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Other Historical Thinking Concepts:

• Continuity and Change• Cause and Consequence• Historical Perspective-Taking• Ethical Dimension

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Reflection

Activities:• I Left a Trace• Visual Analysis• Question Generation • Clothesline of Certainty• Enhanced Timelines• Ranking Significance

Tomaloo (Tu as mal où?):What are the pain points in implementing historical thinking?

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Resources: www.bcheritagefairs.ca

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Historical Thinking Project

The website features news, descriptions of the key aspects of each of the six concepts, graphic organizers, sample tasks and a searchable database of over 75 lesson plans.

http://historicalthinking.ca/

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Videos on Concepts: TC2 Take 2 videos: Thinking about history

http://tc2.ca/teaching-resources/online-resource-collections/special-collections/thinking-about-history.php

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TC2 Primary Source Collection

http://sourcedocs.tc2.ca/history-docs/about-history-docs.html

History Docs is a searchable collection of carefully selected sets of primary and secondary source documents about peoples, places, things and events in Canadian history.

historical thinking and inquiry learning (kamloops, 2014)

Education

good inquiry questions

interesting questions

good question

starred questions

question generation

concept of evidence

past hours

undetermined date