If the past is everything that has ever happened, and history is comprised of narratives that are told about the past, then historical thinking is the process of analyzing and interpreting historical evidence to construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct historical narratives.

Typically, history is taught as an informational subject in schools. Students are presented with accounts or narratives—often framed as “the” true version of events—and are expected to learn and accept the information presented by responding to basic recall and comprehension tasks that focus on finding relevant information, but little thinking.

Teaching history using an historical thinking approach encourages students to question and problematize the information they receive and construct their own historical interpretations after analyzing and interpreting historical evidence. If students do not understand that history consists of constructed accounts that need to be analyzed and assessed, they will have a difficult time grasping both the content they learn and the nature of history. Additionally, teaching students to think deeply about the both the nature and subject matter of history is more likely to make history more relevant and engaging for students.

Professor Peter Seixas developed a framework of six interrelated concepts that define what it means to think historically. These six concepts reveal central questions inherent in doing history:

• Significance: Who or what is important to know about?
• Evidence and Interpretation: How do we know what we know about the past?
• Continuity and change: How have things changed over time and how have things remained the same?
• Cause and consequence: What caused historical events or developments to occur and what were the results of those changes?
• Historical perspective: Why did people in the past think and act as they did?
• Ethical judgment: What is an appropriate and ethical contemporary response to actions and events of the past?

These six concepts can be seen as accessible entry points for teachers and students to develop a common vocabulary for talking about history. Each concept can be used to frame questions that require students to think historically about the topics, events, and people being studied. The concepts are inseparable from the content of history in that the concepts do not work without historical content, and historical content is little more than disconnected and random information unless historical thinking concepts are used to make sense of it.

Historical Significance
Historical significance invites questions about which events, people, and developments from the past should be learned about and remembered.

Questions about significance present some of the most fundamental and unavoidable considerations in historical thinking. The past is everything that ever happened to everyone everywhere, but we cannot study or remember everything from the past. History by its nature is selective, and we must make decisions about what to study, how to describe it, and how individual events and trends fit into a larger story of the past. This requires that historians and students of history continually assess which aspects of the past are historically significant.

Evidence and Interpretation
Evidence and interpretation focus on the validation, interpretation, and analysis of primary and secondary sources to construct and critique historical arguments and narratives.

We cannot know what happened unless we learn about it through sources that have been purposefully collected, left behind, or discovered, including artifacts (for example, tools, clothing, coins, buildings, drawings), documents (for example, wills, catalogues, posters, photographs, censuses) and written and oral descriptions (for example, newspaper reports of events, diaries). Appreciating the challenges of constructing secondary sources enables students to approach textbooks, movies, and other secondary sources with a critical eye—viewing them not as “the truth” about the past, but as constructed sources that may or may not be justifiable, given the available historical record.

Continuity and Change
Continuity and change focus on the examination of how lives and conditions have changed or stayed the same over periods of time.

History focuses on the study of change over time and continuity and change is essential for making sense of both similarities and differences over time. There are two common stereotypes about change over time: either nothing really changes over time, or things in the past were completely different than today. The truth lies somewhere in between; for every important difference between past and present times, there are other facets that are remarkably similar. Learning to identify important changes and constants in human existence helps people understand their place in the continuum of time.

Cause and Consequence
Cause and consequence address who and what influenced historical events to occur and the effects of those events.

Understanding what caused change to occur, and what the results or effects of those changes is a central concern in history. Some changes are caused by intentional decisions and actions carried out by individuals and groups focused on bringing about change, while others occur as the result of accident, omission, or broader systemic conditions. The challenge for students is to understand the role that human agency and social, economic, political, technological, and environmental forces play in causing historical events to occur, and then trace the consequences of these events over time.

Historical Perspective
Historical perspective involves understanding the past through the social, intellectual, emotional and ethical lenses of the time.

One of the most challenging aspects of thinking historically involves trying to understand the beliefs, values, and motivations of people who lived in a time and place that was often much different than the present. Our attempts at historical understanding are often shaped by our current language, concerns, beliefs, and values, and it is difficult to understand what was meant by and what we can legitimately conclude from the evidence that remains from bygone times. Without an understanding of the historical time and place, and people’s beliefs, attitudes, and values, students will be trapped in a simplistic view of the past, seeing events exclusively through present experiences and values. Historical perspective goes beyond understanding the specific attitudes and opinions that individuals or groups may have held to focus on the underlying values, assumptions, and beliefs that gave rise to these opinions.

Ethical Judgment
Ethical judgments assess whether the historical actions people in the past were justified, which individuals or groups should be praised or blamed for past actions, and what obligations those in the present owe to victims, heroes, and others who made sacrifices in the past that benefit those in the present.

One of the most complicated aspects of history involves judging past actions in light of historical and contemporary considerations about the appropriate treatment of people. It is difficult to avoid making ethical judgments about the actions of villainous or heroic people in the past, yet it is generally accepted that imposing present ethical values and beliefs on the past is ahistorical. Ethical judgments focus on helping students negotiate this challenge by learning to judge the past more fairly, and make decisions about appropriate responses in the present. Thus, ethical judgments imbue the study of history with meaning and expand students’ historical consciousness by helping them learn from past wrongdoings, judge the past more fairly, and deal more effectively with present-day ethical dilemmas (Seixas & Morton, 2013).

For more information about the six historical thinking concepts go to the Historical Thinking Project website.

Educators should make the following decisions before using a learning activity:

• Which learning activity? Select a historical thinking learning activity that is aligned with your goals and purposes.
• What size group? Decide whether students are going to work individually, in pairs, or in small (3-5), medium (6-9), or large groups (10+).
• Which cards? Select specific cards for students to use in the activity that are relevant to the historical topic(s), time period(s), or theme(s) being investigated and appropriate for the age and background knowledge of the students. For students with limited knowledge about the historical events featured on the cards, consider starting with a limited number of cards or cards students already know about, before introducing cards focused on new events.
• Where? Choose a flat surface such as a desk or table for students to work. The size of the workspace needed will depend on the size of the group and the number of cards used.