News

Katherine Gilks, Education Coordinator at Heritage Saskatchewan

From July 11-16, 2016, I attended the 2016 Historical Thinking Summer Institute held at the Museum of Vancouver and sponsored by Canada’s History Society.  

This was a wonderful opportunity to learn about the teaching of history and how Heritage Saskatchewan can better our educational programming for all ages, particularly the Heritage Fairs program.

Historical Thinking is based on using the following six concepts to study history: 1. Use of Primary Source Evidence; 2. Establishing Historical Significance; 3. Taking Historical Perspectives; 4. Analysing Cause & Consequence; 5. Evaluating Continuity & Change; and 6. Analysing Ethical Dimensions.

These concepts are invaluable in the study of history, but also are practical critical thinking for a variety of topics. They are being incorporated into education curriculums at all levels in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. However, they are applicable to any age, from a small child to adult.

Some historical thinking concepts are easier to grasp than others. Causes and consequences of an event can be quite obvious. In terms of technology, it is very easy to observe change. The ethical dimension of an event can seem extremely blatant, particularly to children.

Teaching historical thinking can appear daunting. More than once during the Institute, we discussed that the concepts can seem too difficult for younger students to grasp. But by breaking down each individual concept, it becomes clear that children observe them from a young age, and can be taught to hone their critical thinking skills as they grow. As for adults, I notice that we frequently use historical thinking without necessarily understanding it. By not understanding historical thinking, we can fail to fully understand our past as well, and by extension, our present and future – our living heritage.

Heritage Saskatchewan’s Heritage Fairs Toolkit is entitled It’s All About the Story. The story is very important. History is crafted and retold – it does not exist in a vacuum. There are no objective observers. Historical thinking allows us to understand the story and how it is told. It gives us the framework to tell our own stories about our history and heritage.

Primary Source Evidence allows for us to piece together our own story about a person, place, topic, or event, rather than relying on someone else’s retelling. Primary source evidence does not present a clear picture on its own, but needs to be analysed and compared.

Historical Significance may seem obvious, but it is highly subjective. What is be significant for one family, community, ethnic group, province, region, or country may not be all that significant for others.

Historical Perspective is the skill of realising that people in the past (and in different places in the past, or who occupied different roles in society) had vastly different perspectives, as well as that we in the present have the benefit of historical hindsight.

Cause & Consequence is being able to see multiple causes and consequences of events and trends, and being able to establish a timeline of events in a larger story.

Continuity & Change is observing how things have changed over time, whether more or less, and how some trends continue throughout history.

Ethical Dimension is applying history to the present – what are the ramifications of past events, how must these events be addressed, how ought something/someone be commemorated or celebrated?

The story that we tell is about the past, but it is also about our present society. The view of history changes over time.

The textbook that we used for the Historical Thinking Summer Institute is an invaluable resource on the topic for teachers: The Big Six Historical Thinking Concepts by Dr. Peter Seixas and Tom Morton.