Learning Historical

Thinking

Background
To think historically is essentially to be
a critical thinker when it comes to the
study of history.
Peter Seixas,
University of British Columbia

6 Concepts of Historical Thinking

Establish Historical Significance
Use Primary Source Evidence
Identify Continuity and Change
Analyze Cause and Consequence
Take Historical Perspectives
Understand Ethical Dimensions of History

Significance
How do we make judgments about what
events in history are important? What
criteria is used to judge significance?

This is the work of historians and they

must employ historical thinking to
determine significance.

Aspects of Significance
Prominence of the event at the time
Consequences (resulting in change)
Deep consequence for many people over a
long period of time

Revealing
Does the event explain something about
later events or the present?

Occupies a key place in a

meaningful narrative

Aspects of Evidence
Problem: The past is gone
How do we know about the past?
Primary & secondary documents (traces & accounts)
How do we decide what to believe about the
past? Learning to critically analyze accounts from the past is an
important skill to develop. Ask yourself is this credible? Does this
persons account match up with other individuals accounts? Is this
secondary source based in part on primary sources?
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Continuity and Change

Change and continuity are on-going and
ever present
Change can occur at different rates
Change and continuity can be both
positive and negative (e.g. progress & decline)
Comparisons can be made between
points of history and between the past and
the present

The IBM 7094, a typical mainframe computer [photo courtesy of IBM]

What is this?

Continuity or change?
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Cause & Consequence

Events have a myriad of different and often

unappreciated causes
Prior events may have no casual influence
on subsequent events
Looking for broad underlying factors is
more important (often) than identifying
immediate specific causes of an event
Actions have unintended consequences
Part II

Historical Perspective
Presentism is the opposite of historical
perspective.
Presentism is when you examine the past
through todays understandings (values,
norms, technological understanding)

The goal, when thinking

historically, is to avoid presentism.

Moral Judgment
Moral Judgments are a particular kind of

evaluative (or value) judgment

Moral judgments about the past must be
sensitive to historical content/context
There is value in withholding moral
judgments until adequate information has
been acquired
Determining cause is different from
assigning responsibility

What about local history?

What does
this photo
tell us
about
schools in
NB around
1870?

What kinds
of
information
about
schools is
not
included in
the
drawing?

What
Questions
does the
drawing
raise?

What kinds
of sources
might
provide
more
information
about
schools in
NB at that
time?

Thinking historically
Make inferences about life around town at
that time
Consider the societal, economic, &
technological environment
Compare with photos of the same place today
Identify a list of things that have changed and
stayed the same
http://www.histori.ca/benchmarks/