Through the Lens of the Historian

1. Through the Lens of the Historian Examining history based on fundamental concepts (c)2011

2. Goal Help students deconstruct informational sources, develop historical arguments, and support their conclusions with evidence. In essence we are trying to get students to think critically about history rather than absorb and accept any and everything that is said. (c)2011

3. Where This Works It is best to use this technique for studying points in history where there has been great change or upheaval. • Colonial Conflicts • American Revolution • Jacksonian Democracy • Manifest Destiny • Decade of Crisis • Civil War • Reconstruction • Industrialization • Imperialism • Great Depression • World Wars • Cold War • Civil Rights Movements • The 1960’s (c)2011

4. What this method is based on… The Theory (c)2011

5. The Theoretical Basis Students learn history best through authentic applications, and mimicking the thought processes and actions of professional historians. i.e. let’s try to get students to do what historians do (c)2011

6. Based on Fundamental Concepts These five concepts are at the heart of what historians see as the foundation of the discipline. According to Thomas Andrews and Flannery Burke – “They stand at the heart of the questions historians seek to answer, the arguments we make, and the debates in which we engage.”(1) 1. Thomas Andrews and Flannery Burke, “What Does it Mean to Think Historically”, Perspectives 45:1 (January 2007) (c)2011

7. Change In the present day it is easy for students to see how things change. In history it is of huge importance for students to see how things have changed over time. Students should also analyze the impact of the different types of change in the time period that they are studying and across different time periods. This will help students see that the past wasn’t just a set of things that happened, but that there is an underlying sense of movement that takes place throughout the past. (c)2011

8. Causation Students must have an understanding that events do not occur in a vacuum, and that those events had causes and ultimately consequences. To develop an understanding of causation and consequence students have to differentiate between single and multi-causation and begin to examine historical events through those ideas. By like token, studying causation is merely an academic exercise if the consequences of an event or action are not studied. This includes immediate or short-term consequences, long-term consequences, as well as intended and unintended consequences. By focusing on causation and consequence, students will begin to see the past as an evolving and interdependent continuum rather than as a series of disconnected events and people. (c)2011

9. Context Some of the most compelling history is the well-written narrative. In the narrative, history becomes a story, an alternate universe of sorts that sucks the student in. However those narratives have to be placed into the proper setting, else they are just stories without greater meaning. George Lucas perhaps did it best in 1977 when he rolled the opening sequence in Star Wars “A long time ago… In a galaxy far, far away…” In the end, understanding context allows students to see where events of the past took place in reference to what was going on around them. The past is not just a series of things that happened, but instead becomes an interdependent and interwoven world where each person, place, or event is part of a greater whole. (c)2011

10. Contingency The easiest way to describe contingency is to say that every event in the past was dependent on prior conditions. Changes in those prior conditions would have led to different outcomes of some type. This idea of contingency is somewhat troubling because it can cast doubt on the inevitability of the past. Nationalist ideas such as manifest destiny or American exceptionalism have been created to fend off this idea of contingency, though they often do not stand up under analysis. In the end, students need to be aware that the future has not been determined (from a historical standpoint) and that actions today reverberate in the future, just as actions in the past have reverberated to today. (c)2011

11. Complexity At its heart, complexity is in this sense historical rigor i.e. making sense out of numerous factors, stories, people, movements, and events. It is natural to want to produce a tidy order for the past that makes it easy to “see” and easy to understand. However history is not that tidy and is not that simple. The past is interwoven with a tremendous amount of “moving parts” that follow Newton’s laws of action causing reaction that ripples throughout the past. The idea of history as a some monolith with clearly defined ideas of “good” and “bad”, or all-encompassing narratives should be dispelled. (c)2011

12. How in the world to put it into practice … The Process (c)2011

13. Step One: Reading This technique works best when students have had a reading assignment. This could be something that was read the night before, or something that they read immediately prior to the lesson itself. The key is that they have been exposed to new historical material that needs to be digested and internalized. (c)2011

14. Step Two: Big Ideas We want students to begin taking something away from the reading – so we will seed it. Have to write down five things from what they have read: questions, statements, key ideas, important terms, etc The items that they write down have to be of high importance to the reading. This gets them to focus on discerning and analyzing rather than getting caught up in trivial details. (c)2011

15. Step Three: Compilation In a whole-group process, we have to compile the list on the board. No real order to how, just get them randomly on the board. (c)2011

16. Step 4: Collaboration Collaboration time! Divide into groups of about 3 or 4 students. Make sure that they know that each of them is responsible for doing the work. (c)2011

17. Step Five: Processing This is where the thinking and processing begin to happen. The groups have to take the “things” that are written on the board and begin to categorize them based on the five concepts. (see next slide) This may seem simple, but the discussion and thinking required to categorize the statements, questions, terms, etc is actually information processing. (c)2011

18. A Simple Chart is Best (c)2011

19. Step Six: Synthesis It is time for the students to put that knowledge to work by answering a question or addressing a topic. Samples: What was the greatest cause of _______________ Why did __________________________________ How important was _________________________ (c)2011

20. Step Six: Synthesis • First thing the students need to do is determine their one sentence answer. i.e. the thesis • After the thesis, the groups need to establish the historical evidence to support their thesis. • This can be from the statements, questions etc. • This can be conceptual from the chart • This can be from a re-examination of the reading • The idea is that they have to use evidence to defend their answer (c)2011

21. Step Seven: Bringing it Together The groups should present their thesis and evidence to the whole group The idea is to get all of the groups to enter into the discussion and debate the merits of the case, or provide additional / alternative approaches (c)2011

22. Debriefing All of this is just an academic exercise if the students do not add to their historical framework. One of the best open questions that you can ask is “So What?” We have to get students to address what they know now that they did not know before. (c)2011

23. Let’s see this thing work In action (c)2011

24. Our Reading An excerpt from “Industrializing America” by Walter Licht Why I chose this piece: Gives us a great overview of how business and unions have been at odds with each other for over 150 years. (c)2011

25. Our Ideas • Let us all be good students and write down five things from the reading. • Questions you have • Statements • Key concepts or ideas • Major terms • Just remember that what you write down has to be of some importance to the piece we just read. (c)2011

26. Our Compilation Just like we talked about. Time to get these compiled in some random fashion. The white board is always a good thing for this. We will come up a few at a time and write them up here. (c)2011

27. Our Collaboration Yeah this is the scary part  We will divide into groups of 4-5. Please be prepared to work together on this. Working collaboratively will help you see how other people process historical material just like it helps students see the same thing. (c)2011

28. Our Processing Time to begin categorizing and labeling the items on the board. It may help if your group does this together and tries to reach some consensus. If you go off the chart then simply write on the back or in the margins. This isnt a beauty contest, but rather a process for learning. (c)2011

29. Our Synthesis • Fun time is over and we have to get down to business. • The question is: • How important were labor unions in restructuring the American political and economic system? • Now it is time for each group to develop their one-sentence answer. • After the group has developed the answer, the group needs to find evidence from the reading, the items on the board, and any other place available to defend the thesis. (c)2011

30. Our Bringing it Together Yeah we are going to share our answers and share our evidence. We are going to encourage each group to chime in on the others. (c)2011

31. Our Debriefing So what? What did you learn that you did not know before? This is the time where we can begin to catalog the knowledge that we have constructed. In terms of students, we are helping them develop their personal historical framework. (c)2011

32. If you have any questions or comments please call or email. 704-470-4406 rbrown@aihe.info (c)2011