Historical thinking is the process that historians use when constructing narratives of the past. This process involves a close examination of primary source documents and other historical evidence to create a historical narrative that is as accurate as possible. Historical thinking is about more than just what historians now to be historical facts and truths, but also how they know these facts to be true. To be able to think historically, the historian needs to be able to put themself in the place of the historical actor/actors they are researching. This involves setting aside modern biases and assumptions and for the historian to be able to understand the context and the mindset of historical figures. For professional historians, the process of historical thinking is something that comes natural to them. Professional historians have been trained to look at and examine historical events using historical thinking.
However, as Sam Wineburg points out, historical thinking is not a natural process for human beings. When studying historical events and figures, we tend to examine them through our own perceptions and understandings of the world we live in. This is problematic because historical figures often did not possess the same views and perceptions as people living today in the year 2021 do. To gain a true understanding of history and historical events we need to move beyond our own perceptions to put ourselves in the shoes of historical actors. This process is something that does not come naturally and needs to be taught. Historical thinking is a skill that can be taught to students in history classes at both the high school and college level through different methods of teaching besides the typical lecture. The video “What is Historical Thinking” provides five important aspects of historical thinking that can be taught to students in the classroom. These five aspects are examining multiple accounts and perspectives of a historical event, analyzing primary sources, looking at the creation of particular sources, understanding the historical context behind the creations of sources, and creating historical claims based on the evidence provided in primary sources. Teaching these five aspects in a history classroom can help students to be able to think historically.
Three questions that I have about teaching history are:
- How do you engage an audience that consists of people from different age groups and knowledge levels in the same historical presentation?
- How do you encourage someone in the setting of a museum or a historical site to engage in historical thinking?
- How do you get a member of the general public to set aside their modern perceptions in order to place themself in the position of a historical figure?
The best way to engage a public audience is to provide them with a variety of primary sources that contain a variety of different perspectives on a historical event and to help the audience be able to understand what the sources reveal based on the historical context they were created in.
