Thinking Historically

Student misconceptions must be explored, not ignored

1. Student ideas about history are often confused or represent “facts and timelines” history
   
2. Students are not taught to question and imagine
   
3. Students must find the paths of access to information or a perspective in order to construct a narrative
   
4. Students must recognize the human element in history – and be able to explore its impact on recorded and unrecorded history

Teachers must be models of mindfulness

1. Answers do not “come from the book” but are products of the environment of though created by the teacher and students
   
2. Teachers must provide or model the asking of questions, the raising of issues, and the critical consideration of ideas
   
3. Thinking must be recognized as a public event
   
4. Strong teaching involves values and choices

5. Students must be exposed to the history of the history they are reading so they understand the values and choices that went into the creation of that work
   
6. Teachers must introduce the idea of history as the tale of competing narratives

1. The approach that emphasizes the facts and dates gets in the way of the bigger questions that provide the context for the basics
   
2. The study of history is yet another way to engage in authentic problem solving
   
3. The meaning of “higher order skills” must be reexamined

Instead of the conventional HOTS, we should consider the skills of questioning and imagining – the skills necessary to “doing history” The skills necessary to retrieve facts are data-oriented and not the premier skills needed for the creation of narrative and theory building. We must compare the necessary HOTS with those we used in scientific theory-building

1. Authentic materials prompt thinking

2. Documents, diary entries, and other such artifacts broaden the “text” from the narrow and politically exclusive books we are accustomed to using
   The books we use, like “cookbook” science texts only verify the “truth”

Students know more than we think

Students understand narrative and have their own theories of history
We must acknowledge the student perspective and push and pull their views as a way to enter into meaningful dialogues about important historical concepts

This should help to address the gap that exists in schools with regards to thinking skills. If we can change the most traditional of disciplines in order to emphasize thinking as a legitimate approach to investigating the content, we will meet up with the other disciplines and provide better services for kids.