The collection, contextualization and the interpretation of historical information are elements of historical thinking that have remained at the heart of historical teaching. The collection of historical information refers to the gathering and development of historical knowledge. The American Historical Association (AHA) recognizes that the retention of historical information is important but that it should not be the overall focus of history learning. The evolving standards of the AHA agree that historical knowledge should be built in order to “discern context.” 

Unfortunately, there is a general misunderstanding that history is stagnate and is only about fact based retention due to standardized testing. For years, standardized testing has relied on assessing the memorization of dates, names, and events in place of in depth historical inquiry. The building of historical knowledge is only a small aspect of  historical teaching. Contextualization and interpretation serve much larger roles in the understanding of history. The AHA’s other core competencies reflect the elements of contextualization and interpretation. Other scholars such as Weinberg, Kelly, Ayers, and Robinson agree that disciplinary skills like contextualization and interpretation are much more essential in history learning. These two skills allow students to develop and use historical methods, historical arguments, and historical perspective. 

Historians like Carl Becker have responded to technological change in the 20th century by encouraging the expansion of the history profession to the “everyman” or in other words people outside of academia. Becker understood that traditional representations of history were competing against “radio shows, newspaper headlines and suit pockets” (p.508). Edward L. Ayers agrees with Becker. Ayers acknowledges that “ambient history” created with artificial memory has increased with digital media. Online forums, genealogy, documentary, video games, and podcasts have revolutionized representations of the past. In the case of the 21st century, historians like Alison Robinson responded to events like Covid-19 by having her students carry on with their history learning through digital media. In reaction to the pandemic, Robinson had her students create a digital history project using WordPress as an online exhibit platform. Robinson’s project served as an extension of the instruction her students experienced in class. The students had to conduct original historical research using material culture with readings, class discussions, museum visits, and object handling experience. They then had to combine and adapt their historical knowledge with the making of a digital exhibit where they had to consider a target audience and share their research and digital creations. 

External expectations associated with national politics and educational standards have constrained the teaching and learning of history. National politics has placed history at the center of national debates. Heated discussions occur as a means of determining what type of history should be taught in schools. Standardized tests also change the way history is taught by placing an emphasis on multiple choice questions that require the retention of facts as opposed to in depth historical interpretations. The results of these standardized tests also cause alarm on the national landscape and push for more reforms in history education. Consequently, educational standards are developed to reflect the political trends. Questions on whether history should tell the “truth”, be patriotic, or recite the facts are debated. Textbooks, the primary teaching tool of many history teachers, are created to reflect the educational standards as well as the politics of the time. 

The digital might disrupt these constraints by making history more engaging for students. The digital can also allow students to elevate their learning through digital projects. Digital technology such as mobile applications, podcasts, and video games can enhance historical understanding.  Just like with Robinson’s students, digital media can foster enriched learning activities that call for students to expand on their built historical knowledge and utilize their skills of contextualization and interpretation.

In its more simplistic form, historical thinking can be defined as the reading, analysis and writing that is necessary to understand the past. It is a process that is easier to define than it is to demonstrate as students in both k-12 education and higher education struggle to conduct the action of historical thinking. As a result, universities have made moves to close these gaps amongst their students by training their faculty in refined pedagogical approaches. These refined pedagogical approaches aim to teach students concepts such as crossing the historian’s threshold and the evaluation of evidence. In a similar vein, I have my own concerns related to my 8th grade students and their struggles to think like historians. Throughout this course, I hope to find answers to the following questions in order to improve historical thinking amongst my students: 

1. How can I teach my students historical thinking techniques that can compensate for any skills that they may lack? 
2. How can I best plan for collaborative learning opportunities that teach historical thinking?
3. How can I make historical thinking relevant for my students?

Tentative Answer for Question 1: It is possible that I can utilize principles from the theory of pedagogy known as Decoding the Disciplines. Elon University employs a program called Decoding the Disciplines as a model for helping experts and their students locate issues in “crucial operations” that experts and students have in a particular discipline. Indiana University’s Joan Middendorf has explained that Decoding the Disciplines is an evolved theory of pedagogy that allows experts to break down their own automatic complicated thinking/expertise to students who have difficulty comprehending the task the expert has accomplished. Students can have difficulty understanding the actions an expert carries out due to the fact that a student is unfamiliar with a particular discipline. That being said, it is possible for a student to overcome this misunderstanding. According to Elon University’s Dr. Katie King, “disciplines have at their perimeter complex ideas that can be difficult to someone new to the principle but once they are grasped, they can broaden and deepen a student’s understanding of the discipline” therefore crossing the threshold of understanding. I can use Decoding the Disciplines to my advantage as I can use it as means to pause and reflect on the misconceptions students have about a concept that may come easily to me. Modeling, motivation check-ins, and sharing are also important aspects of teaching and learning that my students can benefit from in their understanding of historical thinking. 

Tentative Answer for Question 2: According to the expert in Thinking about Historical Thinking Decoding the Discipline, planning should not be an issue as long as good results are achieved. Although I can understand the idea behind this notion, planning for six different classes with a total of 30 students is exhausting. Admittingly, as stated by  Sam Wineburg, Mark Smith, and Joel Breakstone, “the structure of the school day restricts collaboration to brief meetings taken up by administrative matters, leaving scant time for teachers to articulate goals for student learning.”  However, in spite of my pragmatism, I do understand the value of collaborative learning. As stated, students are more likely to remember concepts from class if they carry out their learning themselves or discuss it with their classmates. Skills associated with historical thinking include contextualization, corroboration, sourcing, and close reading. Since students continue to struggle with these concepts, they can learn from a more proficient classmate who is willing to model a skill in the completion of primary source analysis. 

Tentative Answer for Question 3: Stéphane Lévesque believes “significant events of the late-twentieth- and early-twenty-first century force citizens to rethink their traditional relationships with the past.” From this, it is evident that students themselves must reevaluate their own understandings of the past in order to establish meaning and relevance. Lévesque encourages teachers to use contemporary sources for analysis in order to mimic the same mental activities that are needed to interpret the past. Consequently, students can realize that these same skills used to interpret historical evidence are relevant for understanding contemporary events and activities. As a potential solution, I can begin to use alternative resources like Tiktok videos, YouTube and Snapchat to help students see the relevance of historical thinking.