Page 131 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

Change and continuity. At first, children view changes as unrelated rather than as progressions in a causal chain. Then they believe that everything can be traced back to a first cause and that everything that happened in the past is an antecedent to the present. Eventually they begin to view historical change as gradual transformation, realizing that only some aspects of the situation change and that these changes may range from the trivial to the radical. Continuous change is universal and inevitable.
Presentisim/understanding motivation and intention of historical actors. Initially children do not empathize with people from the past. When exposed to accounts of what seem to be inexplicable behavior, they adopt a patronizing attitude, suggesting that the people acted as they did because they were stupid or not as developed as we are. Later they begin to understand that the people were acting rationally from their own per- spectives. Initially they attribute vague or stereotyped motivation to these people (“his character,” “their religion”). Later they attribute more specific motives, although they still use a modern viewpoint. Finally, they begin to appreciate the need to recon- struct the probable perceptions and beliefs of historical actors, reasoning from whatever historical source materials may be available.
Evidence and historical method. At first, children equate evidence with factual information. They do not notice contradictory evidence or do not know how to make sense of it. Gradually, they come to understand that evidence must be interpreted, that different sources of evidence may conflict, and that historians need to follow disciplinary rules for evidence collection and use and then develop interpretations that are defensible but not final or definitive.
As a teacher, you can foster your students’ development toward more advanced levels of history learning by emphasizing higher-order thinking during discussions of historical events. You can help students understand generalizations, such as that conflict typically occurs when groups compete for resources and power or have different values. In teach- ing about the American Revolution, for example, you can explain that it was a major event that had multiple causes and multiple effects on government, including converting the colonies into a new nation, but few direct effects on everyday social and economic activities; note that the British might have won (and lead a speculative discussion about what might have happened subsequently); help students to empathize with the founders and appreciate that much of what they wrote into the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution reflected their recent experiences with the British government (e.g., taxation without representation, forced quartering of troops in private homes); and help students recognize that accounts of the Revolution have been constructed by historians working from documents and artifacts that have survived from the time, and that differ- ent accounts conflict on some issues (e.g., the British have a different view of the nature of and justification for the Revolution than Americans do).
Hallden (1994) noted that history learning is complicated by the fact that students may process historical information using alternative frameworks that differ from the framework emphasized by a text author or teacher. Students tend to personify history by seeking explanations of historical events in the intentions, actions, and reactions of individuals, which hampers their efforts to follow lessons on general historical trends that are explained using structural rather than personal explanations.
Britt, Rouet, Georgi, and Perfetti (1994) asked students to read text selections, summarize them, and answer causal-temporal questions. Fourth graders’ summaries were disconnected lists of facts, fifth graders’ summaries were more coherent but focused on a sub-story rather than the main story, and sixth graders’ summaries were both coherent and focused on the main story. Students who gave more sophisticated summaries focused more on main events and learned more about the connections among them.
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CHAPTER 5 How Can I Teach History Powerfully? 103