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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”
Evidence
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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.
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Context and Curiosity:
In 1710, the British brought three
Mohawks and one Mahican to
England to meet Queen Anne,
introducing them as “kings” of the
Iroquois confederacy. During their
visit, the Queen asked artist John
Verelst to paint their portraits. This
is his portrait of the Mohawk Tee
Yee Neen Ho Ga Row, also known
as Hendrick.
Why would they bring them to
England?
Why would the Queen want Verelst
to paint their portraits?
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Further Context:
Those who brought Hendrick to
England said that he was the
“Emperor” of the Iroquois
Confederacy, even though they knew
he was only a minor chief.
The Iroquois were traditional allies
with the English in conflicts against
the French in North America.
Why would they be brought to
England?
Why would the Queen want Verelst to
paint their portraits?
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Though naturally curious, curiosity is fragile
When you solve a problem, your brain may reward itself with
a small dose of dopamine, a naturally occurring chemical
important to the brain’s pleasure system...
Notably, we get the pleasure in solving the problem. We do
not find it pleasurable to work on a problem with no sense
that we make progress on it. Then too, we don’t get great
pleasure in simply knowing the answer. (Daniel Willingham)
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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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Experts do those things, but only because their mental toolbox
enables them to do so. The only path to expertise as far as
anyone know involves long, focused practice.
(Daniel Willingham)
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Developing Questions and Cross-Checking
What 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
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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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Context
• The Fraser River and Cariboo Gold Rushes (1858 – 1862)
attracted tens of thousands of mostly American miners. They
soon came into conflict with First Nations.
• Governor James Douglas invited free Blacks living in San
Francisco to settle in Victoria and several hundred did so.
Many were of Caribbean origin. They soon began farming
and opening various businesses.
• Governor Douglas created the colony of British Columbia
joining Vancouver Island and the mainland.
• In 1859 a dispute between Britain and the United States
over possession of the San Juan Islands (in what is now the
Salish Sea) led to the Pig War.
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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...?
– What does this suggest to us about…?
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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)
• They are broadly engaging (for teacher inquiries)
• Students care about them – they see the purpose
in answering them
• They can be answered, though the answer may
be contested or difficult (and this may need
teacher support if this is the case)
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Ways to Support Students to Generate
Questions:
• Look at models, e.g., www.bcheritagefairs.ca
portfolio
• Supply prompts
• Use engaging sources to build curiosity
• Brainstorm questions
• Give or create criteria for powerful questions
• Make a Wonder Wall of Questions
• Plan for peer and teacher feedback
• Practise with small inquiries
• Have students choose one question; you choose
another
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No Frills Steps in an Inquiry:
• Kindle curiosity – « some perplexity, confusion,
or doubt » (John Dewey)
• Establish some knowledge base
• 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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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
Why was this photograph of the Pioneer Rifles taken?
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How certain are you about your
hypothesis?
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What words do
students need to use?
Maybe
Not sure
Possibly
Perhaps
Most likelyWhat phrases?
This source suggests…
This photo confirms the idea that…
I chose these two pictures to show…
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Corroboration with further evidence:
Sophia Cracroft, niece and travelling companion of Lady Jane Franklin, who
was visiting Victoria in 1861, wrote in a letter:
"At 5 o'clock the Bishop came to be present at the visits of the
coloured people who had asked my Aunt to see them… The
first was Mr. Gibbs, a most respectable merchant who is rising
fast. His manner is exceedingly good, & his way of speaking
quite refined. He is not quite black, but his hair is I believe
short & crisp. Three other men arrived after him … (T)hey
were the Captain & other officers of a Coloured Rifle Corps, &
the Captain proceeded to speak very feelingly of the
prejudices existing here even, against their colour.
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He said they knew it was because of the strong American
element which entered into the community, which however
they hoped one day to see overpowered by the English one: -
that they had come here hoping to find that true freedom
which could be enjoyed only under English privileges...
… They naturally detest America, & this Rifle corps has been
formed by them really with the view of resisting American
aggression, such as this San Juan alarm, still pending.
As he went out, the Captain said 'Depend upon it, Madam, if
Uncle Sam goes too far, we shall be able to give a good
account of ourselves.'"
(cited in Crawford Killian, Go Do Some Great Thing: the Black Pioneers of
British Columbia. (1978) Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 78.)
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• Does this new context support your
understanding, challenge it, or expand it?
• What other questions do you have about the
photographic situation, the Victoria Pioneer
Rifles, or the position of Blacks in Victoria at this
time?
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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).
Hinweis der Redaktion
But evidence is complicated and so I want to spend some time with it. Adapted from H.A.T.s on the Beyond the Bubble web site.
The first step is to just look. So ask « What do you see? » or « What do you notice? » Every student can have some answer to « What do you see? »
Do not ask « What’s going on? » because that launches you into interpretation and they may be quite muddled. You want to emphasize observation and inferencing.
Take time – maybe a minute. To scan left to right, top to bottom, diagonally.
What does this suggest to you? What can you infer?
I am going to suggest an inquiry question for this photo, one that points to the source.
But it needs some context to be able to answer my questions.
Students who are able to think historically about evidence will be able to explain how (1) the false impression that Hendrick was an emperor and (2) the alliance between the British and the Iroquois against the French are connected. These two factors may have encouraged the regal and flattering nature of the painting and explain why it was painted.
So at least some context or some prior knowledge is needed.
What does this tell you? Face value, e.g., there were soldiers in Victoria in the 1860s. It was muddy in Victoria. Etc.
What does it suggest? Inferencing, e.g., there was a war. There were many Blacks in Victoria.
Based on this, what else might we infer.
One of the key elements to inquiry is questioning. It is key for understanding evidence. For students to create their own questions, however, takes considerable time and scaffolding.
Another important activity to establish curiosity is the generate further questions. Look at one of the blog posts on our web site for more on Rothstein and Santana’s approach.
I used question prompts to encourage and guide responses. This leads to dependence on the teacher but it is a time-saver.
The third element – students care about them – is central to making history meaningful. With Heritage Fairs because students choose the topic so we could assume some greater motivation. It can take some time to arrive at a question that will carry them through a long-term project.
Point four: If students can’t find answers or can reach only tentative conclusions, inquiry can have a paralyzing effect. You will want to start with small inquiries before taking on a large scale project.
Did the relationship between Champlain and the Huron (Wendat) benefit both equally? Tell story.
Students need to know that there are some questions to which we can’t find answers, or there are questions to which answers do not come easily.
You could have a mix of both your inquiry questions and theirs.
Here is a basic outline of the steps in an inquiry.
If you look at the guide on our web site, the very first step is to decide on student « voice and choice » and reflection is key throughout but otherwise these are more of less the steps. Is this how you see it?
Let’s return to The Pioneer Rifles. I am going to stipulate an inquiry. I want you with your partner to suggest an answer to a sourcing question: Why was this photograph of the Pioneer Rifles taken?
Write down your answer in big, bold writing.
The next excercise is an application to history of an old co-operative learning structure that I learned from Ian Dawson. It is away to address the challenge for some students of the anxiety of the difficult answer that the grade 4 student had.
There is a difference between math and science and history in the nature of knowledge. In history there is only degrees of certitude based on your evidence.
For inquiry we want to foster the habit of not lavishing too much affection on one’s conclusion. Doubt is the handmaiden of on-going inquiry.
We also want to give students the scaffolding in the form of vocabulary to support doubt and corroboration.