Thinking Historically through Stories

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1、THINKINGSKILLSANDTHELEARNINGOFPRIMARYHISTORYThinkingHistoricallythroughStoriesPeterVassJuly2003PreambleThisisoneofaseriesofpapersderivedfromapieceofresearchundertakeninanOxfordshireprimaryschoolinthesummerof2002.Themajoraimoftheprojectwastoconsiderhowthinkingskillsmightenhancethelearningofhisto

2、ry.Thispaperfocusesonthepotentialofnarrative,andinparticularcounterfactuals,inthisrespect.1Narrative,fictionandfaction“Historicalunderstandingistheexerciseofthecapacitytofollowastory,wherethestoryisknowntobebasedonevidenceandisputforwardasasincereefforttogetatthestoryasfortheevidenceandwriter’s

3、generalknowledgeandintelligenceallow”.(Gallie,p51)WhenGalliereferstothestoryhehintsattheunknowablethatisassumedtobepartofanyhistoricalnarrative,thepartthatthehistorian‘invents’.Evidence,inthiscontext,ismoreorlesssecureasattemptsaremadeto‘fillthegaps’inordertocreateassincereandasevocativeimpress

4、ionaspossible.Lang(2003)whenwritingonanextractfromSimonSchama’sCitizens,compareshisapproachtowritingnarrativewiththatofafilmmakerwherethecentralcharacteristrackedthroughalandscapethatthehistoriancreates.Thegoodhistorian,andSchamaisagoodhistorian,iscarefultoensurethattimeandplaceareaccuratelyrep

5、resented,butboldenoughtopaintpictureswithproseforthesakeofhistoricevocation.Thisdoesnotmaketheformer‘hardevidence’orthelatter‘aflightoffancy’.Infact,theprosecanoftenhaveabettergroundinginactualitybecauseitistheoutcomeofthehistorian’sreflection.AsLangwrites“Whatmightseemthehistorian’svividbutuns

6、upportedimaginationatworkcanhaveasurerbasisinevidencethanonemightthink”(2003,p-12).Ifwewantchildrentoimaginethepastthey,too,musttakeonthemantleofthehistorywriter.Theyneedtoexperiencetheproblemsofmaintainingahistoricalstancewhileallowingthecreativityofthestory-writertoevokeapastthatwillbevividan

7、drealtothereader.Wehadafirmbeliefthatnarrativeisstillthekeycomponenttomuchofthelearningofhistoryinprimaryschoolsandisthewaymostteachersexpectchildrentoimaginethepast(Vass,1996).Thetechniquesadoptedbymanyteachersandtheapproachessug