TAHP

1
Why and How Study History?

• TAHP Vertical Teams
• January 21, 2009

2
Why Study History? (a la the "standards")

• Knowledge of history is the precondition of
  political intelligence (National Standards for
  History, p. 1)

3
Why Study History? (a la Seixas)

• To develop a collective memory?
• Learn the most important things in history
• But what are the most important things?
• To learn a way of thinking and a way of knowing?
• Learn how to read and do an historiography
• History is neutral and disinterested
• To develop a postmodern perspective?
• Learn that the knowledge and tools of the
  historian are historically positioned
• There is a relationship between historical
  knowledge and power.

4
How do Children Learn History?
5
Shemilt's Scaffold for Teaching and Learning
History

• Chronologically ordered past
• Think about timelines
• Address what happened to some people and what
  happened to most people
• Incorporate geography given that things happened
  differently in different places

6
Shemiltcontd.

• Coherent historical narrative
• Avoid what happened and focus on what was
  going on
• Narratives contribute to connections, patterns,
  and generalizations
• Connecting the past to present through narratives
  helps students build conceptual understanding. In
  other words, students move from RECALLING a
  series of events to INTERPRETING, THINKING ABOUT,
  AND UNDERSTANDING a constantly evolving narrative
  framework

7
Shemiltcontd.

• Multidimensional narrative
• Moves slightly beyond coherent narrative
• Includes three distinct historical dimensions and
  perspectives
• Means of production and population history
  (economics, technology, people)
• Forms of social organization (institutions and
  politics)
• Cultural and intellectual history (religion, folk
  and institutionalized history)

8
Goals for Teaching History (per Linda Levstik)

• An understanding of major historical themes and
  time periods should accompany the teaching of
  historical details
• Major historical themes and the sequence of
  important time periods should be reviewed
  frequently to foster student understanding of the
  big picture and to provide students with a sense
  of story line in history
• As historical information is introduced, its
  relationship to major historical themes and time
  periods should be explored and understood to
  establish meaning.