Qhta state conference 22 6 13

What is Historical Thinking?
“History draws on and
contributes to other bodies of
knowledge, but it is a discipline
with its own methods and
procedures… Historical thinking
requires the mastery of the
methods, procedures and tools
that constitute the discipline of
history.”
National Curriculum Board. (2008).
National History Curriculum: Initial
advice paper, pp.5-7.
http://about.me/DavidHilton

 Historical thinking is present in the Australian Curriculum: History as the concepts for
historical understanding…

 …and the transferable skills of historical inquiry.

…aka…
• „historical reasoning' (Kuhn, et
al. 1994; Leinhardt, et al. 1994;
Van Drie & Van Boxtel, 2008)
• historical thinking'
(Levesque, 2008; Seixas, 1993;
Spoehr & Spoehr, 1994;
VanSledright & Frankes, 2000;
Wineburg, 2001)
• „historical consciousness'
(Goegebeur, et al. 1999;
Jeismann, 1997; Rusen, 1993;
Seixas, 2006; Von Borries 1997)
• 'historical literacy' (Lee 2004;
Perfetti, et al., 1995;
Roderigo, 1994)

 [Historical thinking] assists with deep understanding and transformative learning, as it
enables the contextualization, organization and evaluation of historical information with
reference to substantiated and ordered generalisations about historical conditions and
human activity.
 Howson, J. & Shemilt, D. (2011). Frameworks of knowledge. In Davies, I. (Ed.). (2011). Debates in History
Teaching. London: Routledge.

"Disciplines such as history have
their own modes of inquiry, networks
of concepts and
principles, theoretical
frameworks, symbolic
systems, vocabularies, and modes of
self-regulation… Not only do people
need to acquire established
knowledge within their respective
disciplines (e.g. facts and
accounts), they must also (and
perhaps above all) learn to employ
their methods, procedures, and ways
of thinking and inquiring."
 Levesque, 2008, pp.7-8

Concepts for Historical Understanding
EVIDENCE
How to find, select and interpret
historical evidence. This involves
comprehending the nature of a
primary source, locating its
provenance and context, asking
questions about it, distinguishing
between the claims it makes and
the assumptions and values that
give it its present shape, and the
ability to compare competing
primary sources.
 National Curriculum Board (2009).

POTENTIAL STUDENT TASKS: Evidence
 Find and select primary sources appropriate for responding to historical questions.
 Formulate questions about a primary source, whose answers would help to shed light
on the historical context.
 Analyze a primary source for the purposes, values and worldview of the author.
 Compare points of view and usefulness of several primary sources.
 Assess what can and can‟t be answered by particular primary sources.
 Use primary sources to construct an argument or narrative.
Seixas, P. (2006). Benchmarks of historical thinking: A framework for assessment in Canada 1-
12. Retrieved from http://www.histori.ca/benchmarks/.

CHANGE AND CONTINUITY
Dealing with the complexity of
the past. This involves the
capacity to understand the
sequence of events, to make
connections by means of
organising concepts including
periodisation, and to evaluate
change with an informed
understanding of the principles of
progress and decline.

CAUSE AND EFFECT
The interplay of human agency
and conditions. This involves an
appreciation of motivation and
contestation, short-term events
and embedded circumstances,
the ways that the legacy of the
past shapes intentions and the
unintended consequences that
arise from purposeful action.

 POTENTIAL STUDENT TASKS: Cause & consequence
 Examine an everyday event (e.g. a car accident) for its potential causes (e.g., the skill
and response time of the driver, the state of health or drowsiness of the driver,
distraction of the driver, violation of driving rules, the condition of the cars, the
technology of the cars, the weather, the road signage, absence of traffic lights, the
culture which glorifies speed, the size of the oncoming SUV, etc.)
 Analyze a historical passage, and identify “types of causes,” (e.g., economic, political,
cultural; conditions, individual actions) that it offers as causes.
 Examine the relationship between an individual actor‟s motivations and intentions, and
the consequences of their actions.
 Create a schematic chart of the causes of [e.g., the Japanese internment] and explain
their arrangement.

SIGNIFICANCE
The principles behind the
selection of what should be
remembered, investigated, taugh
t and learned. Establishing
historical significance involves
going beyond what is personally
interesting or congenial: it
requires judgments of
contemporary
import, consequence, durability
and relevance.

 POTENTIAL STUDENT TASKS: Significance
 Explain what made [X] significant.
 Choose the “most significant events” [e.g., in Canadian history; in the 20th century; for
new immigrants to Canada], and explain your choices.
 Identify and explain differences in significance over time or from group to group (e.g.
Why is women‟s history more significant now than 50 years ago? Why do Canadians
consider Louis Riel significant, while Americans generally don‟t?).

PERSPECTIVES
The cognitive act of
understanding the different
social, cultural and intellectual
contexts that shaped people‟s
lives and actions in the past. This
involves an understanding of the
dangers of anachronism and an
appreciation of diverse
perspectives on the past.

 POTENTIAL STUDENT TASKS: Perspectives
 Write a letter, diary entry, poster (etc.) from the perspective of [x], based either on
some sources provided by the teacher, or sources the students find.
 Compare primary sources written (or drawn, painted, etc.) from two opposing or
differing perspectives about a given event. Explain their differences.

EMPATHY
The capacity to enter into the world
of the past with an informed
imagination and ethical
responsibility. The discipline of
history constrains the practitioner
from imposing personal
preferences on the evidence but all
meaningful historical accounts
involve explicit or implicit moral
judgement, and historians require
an awareness of their own values
and the impact of these values on
their historical understanding.

 POTENTIAL STUDENT TASKS: Empathy
 Examine a historical issue involving conflict [e.g., attitudes for and against women
getting the vote; why Canada admitted such a small number of refugee Jews 1933-39;
the outlawing of the potlatch], identify the perspectives that were present at the time,
and explain how these historical conflicts can educate us today.
 Students identify a moral issue today [e.g. Canadians‟ role as peacekeepers, private
vs. public health care, protection of the environment], research aspects of its historical
background, explain the implications of the history for today.

CONTESTABILITY
Dealing with alternative accounts
of the past. History is a form of
knowledge that shapes popular
sentiment and frequently enters
into public debate. This requires
the ability to connect the past
with the self and the present, and
appreciation of the rules that
apply to professional and public
debate over history.

 How is contestation enacted in our classrooms?

Qhta state conference 22 6 13

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