Making History Meaningful with Heritage Fairs (North Van February 2014)

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www.bcheritagefairs.ca

Making History Meaningful with Heritage Fairs

North Vancouver, Jan. 30, 2014Tom Morton

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Learning Intentions:

• To understand how the Heritage Fairs program isorganized

• To understand the rationale for doing a Heritage Fairs

• To explore some ideas for how to teach a Fairs unit

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“Purpose and relevance are something that the iGenerationstudents demand. They want to create real products and

share them with a wider audience.” (Sheldrake and Watkins)

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The First Heritage Fair project I ever judged:

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What is a Heritage Fair?

Students...

• research some aspect of local, provincial or national history;

• present their projects in the medium of theirchoice to their class or school, then to the community at a regional fair and a provincial fair;

• receive feedback from judges and take part in heritage activities at the regional and provincial fairs.

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Provincial Fair, Opening Ceremony Victoria, 2011

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The B.C. Heritage Fairs Society …

• is a non-profit, non-governmental society;

• is organized mainly by community museumsand school boards;

• encourages project-based learning, inquiry, appreciation of heritage, and historicalthinking;

• is bilingual with strong participation of First Nations students in many regions;

• Is everywhere (well, close): 12 regionsacross B.C.; 5,000 students

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Why do Heritage Fairs?

• Personal connection: Students choose their topics, which are often connected to family or local history; students can find their place in history.

• Purpose: The showcase of research gives a purpose and can build confidence and self-esteem.

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• Builds connections between family and local history and larger narratives.

• The Fairs also have cross-curricular connections with current "best practice" pedagogy, such as project-based, inquiry, and historical thinking.

• Inquiry: This is the core of the Heritage Fair and proposed new social studies curriculum.

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Heritage Fairs fulfil a hunger for students to see how their story is part of Canada‟s heritage and to have an opportunity to celebrate it. The connections and purpose are expressed in the following letter from an Abbotsford teaching assistant:

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“Before Heritage Fair, Andrew was a very shy, child who missed a lot of school. He chose to do his Heritage Fair Project with his grandfather on the „Salmon People.‟ It was a huge struggle (but) his project made it to the district level. His parents got involved more than they had in all his five years at the school. Accepting the Aboriginal Excellence award in front of his peers left him proud. He learned a full year of reading in two months, greeted students and teachers in the hall, walked with confidence, and spoke more clearly. His grandfather said he was so impressed that Andrew spoke about the Salmon People. „I never knew he was listening.‟”

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Kristen Schulz's "Heritage of My Home"

Heritage Fair teaches inquiry.

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How does the new BC Social Studies Curriculum fit with Project Based Learning and Heritage Fairs?

Heritage Fairs already fit the curriculum for Social Studies. However, recent proposed changes to the curriculum from the Ministry should make it easier for teachers to do Fairs by giving "more time and flexibility to allow students to explore their interests and passions." The Ministry also proposes developing learning outcomes around “disciplinary concepts” developed by the Historical Thinking Project. And…

https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/Social Studies

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Heritage Fairs can teach these historicalthinking concepts!

1. Historical significance

2. Primary source evidence

3. Continuity and change

4. Cause and consequence

5. Historical perspective-taking

6. The ethical dimension

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Introduction to the Concept of Evidence and Inquiry: I Left a Trace

1. Jot down everything thatyou have done in the last 24 hours.

(that would be appropriate for discussion.)

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2. Make a list of traces that mighthave been left from your life duringthe past 24 hours.

3. Check ✓ those that were likelyto have been preserved.

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1. How well could a biographer 50 years from now write the story of your 24 hours based on the traces you left? How much of what happened would be left out? What aspects of the story might the biographer miss?

2. Where else could he or she turn for evidence?

3. How could readers of the biography know if it was an accurate account?

4. What does this exercise tell us about the challenges historians face when writing histories?

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“the past as a series of events is utterly gone . . . some remnants remain like litter from a picnic, but these material remains never speak for themselves. In fact they are inert traces until someone asks a question that turns them into evidence.”

- Joyce Appleby, “The Power of History”

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Working with traces from the past can both developthe concept of evidence and build curiosity for a more in depth inquiry such as a Heritage Fair project on the history of Blacks in Canada.

Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps. Photographer: Gentile, CharlesDate: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives

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Working with evidence involves

• Making inferences

• Using context

• Sourcing

• Developing questions for further inquiry

• Corroborating/cross-checking

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Visual Analysis

What can we infer from this trace of the past about the historical context, the photographic situation, and the situation of Blacks in Victoria at this time?



Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps, also known at the time as Sir James Douglas' Coloured Regiment.Photographer: Gentile, Charles Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives

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Visual Analysis: Inferencing

What can we infer from this trace of the past about the historical context, the photographic situation, and the situation of Blacks in Victoria at this time?


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Question Generation 1 – Question Formation Technique (AKA: Brainstorming)

• Ask as many questions as you can.

• Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer the questions.

• Write down every question exactly as it is stated.

• Change any statement into a question.

(Rothstein and Santana, Make Just One Change)

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Question Generation 2: Brainstorming with Prompts

1. Brainstorm a list of at least 12 questions about the topic or source. Use these question-starters to help you think of interesting questions:

– Why…?

– How is this connected to…?

– What happened as a result of…?

– What kind of a change was...?

– How should we remember...?

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2. Review the brainstormed list and star the questions that seem most interesting and important. Then, select one or two starred questions and be ready to present these to the class.

3. Reflect: How do you know you have a good question? Would it make a good Heritage Fairs project? What possible answer do you have to your question? Where could you go to learn more and test your answer?

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Criteria for Good Inquiry Questions

• They are worth answering (lead to deeperunderstanding of history; authentic)

• They are broadly engaging (for teacher inquiries)

• Students care about them – they see the purposein answering them

• They can be answered, though maybe the answerwill be contested or difficult

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Ways to Support Students to GenerateQuestions:• Look at models, e.g., museum exhibits or

www.bcheritagefairs.ca portfolio

• Supply prompts

• Use engaging sources to build curiosity, e.g., mystery artefact

• Brainstorm questions

• Give or create criteria on which to choose the mostpowerful questions

• Make a Wonder Wall of Questions

• Plan for peer and teacher feedback

• Practise with small inquiries

http://www.bcheritagefairs.ca

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No Frills Steps in an Inquiry:

• Establish curiosity – « some perplexity, confusion, or doubt » (John Dewey)

• Develop questions

• Pose first hypothesis and reflect on certainty

• Explore further evidence

• Refine hypothesis and so on as time and interestpermit

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Further evidence:

Sophia Cracroft, niece and travelling companion of Lady Jane Franklin, who was visiting Victoria in 1861, wrote in a letter:

"At 5 o'clock the Bishop came to be present at the visits of the coloured people who had asked my Aunt to see them… The first was Mr. Gibbs, a most respectable merchant who is rising fast. His manner is exceedingly good, & his way of speaking quite refined. He is not quite black, but his hair is I believe short & crisp. Three other men arrived after him … (T)hey were the Captain & other officers of a Coloured Rifle Corps, & the Captain proceeded to speak very feelingly of the prejudices existing here even, against their colour.

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He said they knew it was because of the strong American element which entered into the community, which however they hoped one day to see overpowered by the English one: -that they had come here hoping to find that true freedom which could be enjoyed only under English privileges, & great had been their disappointment to find that their origin was against them.

… They naturally detest America, & this Rifle corps has been formed by them really with the view of resisting American aggression, such as this San Juan alarm, still pending.

As he went out, the Captain said 'Depend upon it, Madam, if Uncle Sam goes too far, we shall be able to give a good account of ourselves.'"

(cited in Crawford Killian, Go Do Some Great Thing: the Black Pioneers of British Columbia. (1978) Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 78.)

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Reflection on Certainty: Clothesline

www.thinkinghistory.co.uk -© Ian Dawson 2009

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How certain are you about your answer/hypothesis?

UNCERTAIN?

CERTAIN?

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How certain are you about your hypothesis?

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What words do students need to use?

MaybeNot surePossiblyPerhapsMost likelyWhat phrases?

This source suggests…This photo confirms the idea that… I chose these two pictures to show…

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Contextualizing and Building Connections: Enhanced Timelines

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Reflection

• I Left a Trace

• Visual Analysis

• Question Generation

• Clothesline of Certainty

• Enhanced Timelines

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Concept: Historical Significance

The problem: We can‟t remember or learn or

cover everything that ever happened. How do we decide what is important to learn about the past?

“Historical significance”: the principles behind the selection of what and who should be remembered, researched, taught and learned about the past.

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Question Stems for HistoricalSignificance (aka: so-what or who-cares questions:

• What was so special about X?• Why should everyone remember X?• Does X deserve to be famous?• Why was X forgotten?

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Should the Victoria Pioneer Rifles be in ourtextbooks? On what grounds?

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Working with historical significance: Diamond Ranking

Most

Least

www.bcheritagefairs.caPioneer Rifles

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Who were the most historicallysignificant during British Columbia’sGold Rushes?

• James Douglas

• Amelia Douglas

• Matthew Begbie

• Chief Spintlum

• Royal Engineers• Victoria Pioneer

Rifles• Hurdy Gurdy Girls• Billy Barker

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Other Historical Thinking Concepts:

• Continuity and Change

• Cause and Consequence

• Historical Perspective-Taking

• Ethical Dimension

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Resources: www.bcheritagefairs.ca

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Historical Thinking Project

The website features news, descriptions of the key aspects of each of the six concepts, graphic organizers, sample tasks and a searchable database of over 75 lesson plans.

http://historicalthinking.ca/

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Videos on Concepts: TC2 Take 2 videos:

Thinking about history

http://tc2.ca/teaching-resources/online-resource-collections/special-collections/thinking-about-history.php

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TC2 Primary Source Collection

http://sourcedocs.tc2.ca/history-docs/about-history-docs.html

History Docs is a searchable collection of carefully selected sets of primary and secondary source documents about peoples, places, things and events in Canadian history.

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Reflection

• I Left a Trace• Visual Analysis• Question Generation• Clothesline of Certainty• Enhanced Timelines• Ranking Significance


See you at the Fair.

Education

Making History Meaningful with Heritage Fairs (North Van February 2014)