1. Historical Thinking Concepts

2. Historical Thinking Concepts...  Are essential to development of “historical literacy”. Historical Literacy: means to gain an understanding of historical events through active engagement with historical texts.  To be historically literate is to give yourself the ability to actively argue historical debates in a thoughtful manner.  Gives one the ability to detect the differences between the uses and abuse of history (Margaret MacMillian).

3. HS- Historical Significance  Significant events include those that resulted in great change over long periods of time for large numbers of people.  Significance depends upon one’s perspective and purpose. A historical person or event can acquire significance if we, the historians, can link it to larger trends and stories that reveal something important for us today.  Both “It is significant because it is in the history book,” and “It is significant because I am interested in it,” are inadequate explanations of historical significance.

4.  Example:  The experiences of a soldier on the front lines written in a diary.  The experiences of the soldier help others better understand war and how individuals coped with the trauma of the situation. This also lead to variations in training and how war would be fought in the future.

5.  USE THE CONCEPTS TO HELP BETTER UNDERSTAND HISTORY AND MAKE THEM YOUR GUIDE TO LEARNING ABOUT THE PAST!  THE CONCEPTS ARE THE KEY TO HISTORICAL LITERACY!

6. C&C- Identifying continuity and change  Students often misunderstand history because they see it as a list of events. The fact is that there were lots of things going on at any one time in the past.  Key to C&C: Look for change when common sense suggests that there has been none and look for continuities where it is assumed things have changed.

7. C&C Example: When aboriginal children were forced to attend the Residential Schools. All the while a slow but fundamental change was occurring that would effect the lives of the First Nations for generations to come.

8. C-C- Cause and Consequence  When analyzing history we often put too much focus on the event itself. When we start to ask questions like “how?” and “why?” we have started our search for the causes. Simply put, it is important to determine the actions, beliefs, and circumstances that lead to the consequence.  Causes are multiple and layered and can involve many elements.

9. C-C example: Event: Stock Market Crash of 1929 Causes  Easy credit  Disconnect between the market and the actual products  False sense of security in people  Lack of rules and regulations  Irresponsible bank practices

10.  Past actions should be judged according to the standards of time. You must put yourself in the shoes of the person from the past in order to understand why they did what they did.  Taking historical perspective means understanding the social, cultural, intellectual, and emotional settings that shaped people’s lives and actions in the past. HP- Historical Perspective “The Past is a Foreign Country”

11. HP example: Canada’s reaction to the outbreak of WWI (1914) Canada’s reaction to the Afghanistan conflict (2001)