1. Historical Thinking Concepts
Canadian History 30F
Historical Thinking Concepts

2. Historical Thinking??
Learning about any history involves much more than simply memorizing a bunch of dates and names
History seeks to ask “essential questions” about a topic to gain insight as to why it was important and it still may impact us today

3. Essential Questions
EQ’s tend to lead to more questions rather than clear-cut answers
Are open-ended – they do not have one “correct” response and many even have no correct response.
Cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no” or even with a single sentence.
Are thought provoking, requiring you to make choices, decisions, and judgements that can be supported by evidence or research

4. Consider the following regarding WWI
Set #1 – Traditional Questions
Set #2 – Essential Questions
To what extent did Canada respond effectively to the First World War?
Did participation in the First World War do more harm than good for Canada?
Could a conscription crisis ever happen in Canada again?
When did Canada enter the war?
What happened at the Battle of Vimy Ridge?
What was the conscription crisis?
Consider the following regarding WWI

5. Non Essential question
When did the Canadian government decide to join NATO?
Should Canada continue to belong to NATO?
Why did Canada decide to join NATO?
To what extent does membership to NATO reduce Canadian sovereignty?
Practice identifying and asking essential questions (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) pp. 5

6. *Historical Thinking Concepts
Responding intelligently to an essential question requires a person to think critically
In order to do this a person needs to interpret and analyze relevant evidence, make reasonable judgements and ignore bias
In order to develop these skills, various historical thinking concepts have been developed, six of which will be used in this class

7. Concept #1 – Establish Historical Significance (HS)
What makes a topic significant (important) and who deems it to be this way?
Significance is based on judgement, and thus can lead to debate
**Some criteria to consider includes: -the impact that the person/event had at the time, -the people affected then/now, -short and long term consequences and -how/if its presence is still felt in Canada today.
Historical Significance 7 mins

8. Concept #2 – Using Primary-Source Evidence (E)
Primary source evidence would be any materials from when an event ACTUALLY happened
Materials may include speeches, letters, maps, photos, media broadcasts as well as artifacts such as clothing or tools
Primary sources allow us to go back to the time of an event and understand some of the different values and ideas that existed
Evidence and Interpretation 7 mins

9. Concept #3 – Continuity and change (C&C)*
What remains the same and what changes over time…..
Continuity and change are interrelated- change is usually a continuous process rather than an isolated event
Change does not always mean progress
In order to study C&C – must know order of events.
Continuity and Change 6 mins

10. Concept #4 – Analyzing Cause and Consequence (C C)
Every event has a series of causes and consequences (outcomes) and we can use this skill to help is infer significance
Involves roles of individuals and groups in shaping events
Some C&C’s are direct, which are easy to detect, but the indirect ones (usually much more far-reaching/layered) are what historians seek to discover
Humans are the agents of change
Cause and Consequence 6 mins

11. Causes/Factors that lead to John Smiths death
1) Out of cigarettes
2) drunk neighbour
3)Icy roads/weather conditions
4) Time (store closed or open)
5) Negligence of the local authorities of fixing/caring about the conditions/road
6) Acceptance of drunk driving in the area

12. Concept #5 – Taking a Historical Perspective (HP)
This is the idea that it is unfair for people to judge past actions by today’s standards
Taking a historical perspective involves putting yourself in the shoes of someone who lived in a different era and trying to see their world
Historical perspective does not mean you need to agree with the perspective but just to understand it
Primary source evidence is used to help a person gain historical perspective
Historical Perspective 6 mins

13. Concept #6 – Ethical dimensions (ED)
Studying and learning from past actions can help shape the way people think about ethical dilemmas today.
Need to take a historical perspective – suspend judgement to try to understand the perspectives of the historical figures.
Ethical Judgement 7 mins