To The Past

Shortlist: Best (English-Language) Scholarly Book in Canadian History Prize | Canadian Historical Association | Société historique du Canada The CHA is proud to announce the books that are shortlisted for this year’s Best (English-Language) Scholarly Book in Canadian History prize. (In alphabetical order). Crystal Gail Fraser, By Strength,...

The CHA is proud to announce the books that are shortlisted for this year’s Best (English-Language) Scholarly Book in Canadian History prize! #cdnhist #prize

Shortlist: Wallace K. Ferguson Prize | Canadian Historical Association | Société historique du Canada The CHA is proud to announce the books that are shortlisted for this year’s Wallace K. Ferguson prize. (In alphabetical order). Jacob Blanc, The Prestes Column: An Interior History of Modern Brazil. D...

The CHA is proud to announce the books that are shortlisted for this year’s Wallace K. Ferguson prize! #cdnhist #prize

Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts (Wineburg), Why Won't You Just Tell us the Answer? (Lesh), New Possibilities for the Past (Clark), Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History (Stearns, Seixas, Wineburg).

Social Studies Field Guide Foundational evidence, inquiry-based instruction, & edtech tools

For the #FIELDGuide primary sources are the heart of Foundational Evidence. How do you use them to bring history to life? Share your favorite primary source and how you use it in your classroom and check out socialstudiesfieldguide.com to learn more
#PrimarySources #Inquiry @glennwiebe.bsky.social

Contextualization: Stalag XI - To the Past Stalag XI Topic: Canadian History, WWII Historical Thinking Skills: Contextualization Time Period: 1939-1945 Contextualizing a primary source is the process of utilizing an understanding of historical...

Working with primary sources is not a "spot the bias" game. Encourage students to attend to source metadata and contextual information to better understand why sources don't always agree with one another: tothepast.ca/contextualiz...

Support Heritage Fairs in schools

“I always tell my visitors that history is not the past — it is an interpretation of the past…It is fine to have good-faith disagreements about historical figures and events; that is what the historical process is about”

But for me the episode revealed that what allows grandmasters to play with such tactical acumen is not only skills, and practice, but as you note, knowledge. How have historians approached similar problems in the past, how does their produced work help me better understand my current inquiry?

When games do finally go out of book, it's a real dramatic moment, wonderfully illustrated in the podcast episode.

Both players have already consulted the database, and have so much of "The Book" memorized that whole portions of the game are played in a noticeably rote manner, not dissimilar to the way a child who has played too much tic-tac-toe. Sometimes, whole games are played “within The Book”.

The Rules Can Set You Free Play is something we all do--it seems so natural, it feels a little bit ridiculous to ask why we need it.

For years afterwards he is booed booed by chess fans at major tournaments. For now, when two players face off in a major tournament, a certain phenomenon occurs:

The Rules Can Set You Free Play is something we all do--it seems so natural, it feels a little bit ridiculous to ask why we need it.

Hi @lightningjay.bsky.social, @radiolab.bsky.social has a particularly memorable episode in which they describe how Frederic Friedel convinced the Russian Chess Federation in the 1980s to upload their database of games played onto an online database. www.radiolab.org/podcast/1538...

Blog: What is Sourcing? And why are we doing it again? - To the Past In our previous post, I described how typical historical thinking assessments such as DBQs might just be assessing too much at one time, and that we would do well to break down the component skills, h...

10 years in and I'm still figuring out what sourcing means in the context of historical inquiry. Thinking about assessment often means a rethink of our pedagogy as well: tothepast.ca/blog-what-is... #sschat #canadianhistory #bced #socialstudies

A little louder for the people in the back! Sourcing, close reading, and questioning without robust historical knowledge is unlikely to generate robust demonstrations of historical thinking. @lightningjay.bsky.social directing us appropriately towards "skills, practice, AND knowledge".

Includes an image of a bookshelf in the background and the following text: Are you a historian or history teacher in Canada? We'd love to hear from you to learn more about your beliefs about history and its relationship to the present. Click the above link to take the survey.

Advertisement from the University of Alberta and UBC that features an image of a bookshelf in the background adn the following text: We're conducting a survey and interview research study at the University of Alberta focused on how teachers and historians thinking about the problem of presentism. University of ALberta Research Ethics ID (Pro00144497) Please be aware that interacting with the social media post via "liking" or "following," will publicly identify you with the study. Dr. James Miles, Principal Investigator, jamiles@ualberta.ca Dr. Lindsay Gibson Co-Investigator, lindsay.gibson@ubc.ca

We're looking for historians and history teachers in Canada to share their beliefs about history and presentism.

If you're interested in participating in this study, please click the following link:

ualbertauw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

"...a lack of pedagogical supports to help teachers use them effectively."

That checks out. I remember collecting a few as a new teacher ...and then not knowing what to do with them.

Read about the "Rise and Fall of Jackdaws" from the man who has them all (or nearly) @lsgibson.bsky.social

A glimpse into how Canadian teachers from across the country are are tackling the teaching of the past. #canhistory #socialstudies #canada #Canadianhistory #HTed

We are excited to announce the launch of our Portraits of Professional Practice (PPP) webpage!

The PPP project focuses on understanding how the context where history is taught shapes educators’ practices. Learn more at thinking-historically.ca/ppp/

@carlapeck.bsky.social

Ten Historians: 10 Different Interpretations on Who Started WWI Ten historians give 10 different interpretations on who started WWI in this BBC story. Sir Max Hastings - military historian, argues th...

World History Teachers Blog: Ten Historians: 10 Different Interpretations on Who Started WWI bit.ly/40AKVcw #sschat

Developing Minds 2025 For the Love of Critical Thinking! 14 February 2025 Professional Development Conference Conference Co-Chairs: Dr. Nic Fillion and Dr. Dale Martelli Conference Coordinator: Cem Erkli (devminds@sfu.c…

Attention BC Teachers. Check out the "Developing Minds Conference: For the Love of Critical Thinking" that is being offered on the February 14, 2025 Professional Development Day.

Note, this is not just for social studies teachers.

bcssta.wordpress.com/devminds2025/

Blog: Breaking Down The Guideposts, OR AT LEAST A FEW - To the Past This is the assessment triangle. It emphasizes the importance of coherence between what is being assessed, as in what aspect of cognition or thinking, how that cognition will be observed, and how resu...

Specifying exactly what we aim to assess is a trying, but illuminating process. It allows teachers to provide more effective formative assessment for students as they move towards more robust historical inquiry.

tothepast.ca/blog-breakin... #HTchat #BCed #socialstudies #Canhistory #Canada

When I have time, it would be interesting to create a type of flow chart and explore which ideas were temporarily subsumed into other categories and when or if they emerged distinct or changed later.

This is really fascinating to see the evolution of an idea. Curious of the return to "primary source evidence" in 2017. "Epistemology and Evidence" is my preferred version, and not only because its fun to hear teenagers use the word epistemology.

Webinar: Supporting Educators in Holocaust Education | CMHR This webinar will discuss supports for educators to bring Holocaust education into the classroom.

Attention K-12 Educators: Free seminar focused on bringing Holocaust education into the classroom with respect and consideration.

Hosted by the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and Dr. Andrea Webb, the co‐director of Survivor‐Centred Visual Narratives project.
humanrights.ca/event/webina...

The first of seven sessions for the 2025 Virtual Historical Thinking Institute (VHTI) is coming up soon.

There are still a few spaces available in the English and French groups.

@canadashistory.bsky.social @thinkhist.bsky.social

Attention Canadian K-12 social studies & history teachers.

The Treaty Map includes every Canadian treaty from 1763-present, & challenges the commonly held view of treaties as land surrenders.

Includes an interactive learning & teaching tool, grounded in Indigenous perspectives of treaties.

Propose new designations, revise existing texts...National historic sites are rich spaces for exploring historical thinking, historical consciousness and public memory. #sschat #iteachsocialstudies #bced #HTchat #cdnhistory

Is Mackenzie King frustrated with European politics, or completely opposed to Canadian participation in a looming conflict? CHATs can serve as both formative assessment and an entrance point for deeper historical inquiry. #sschat #iteachsocialstudies #bced #cdnhistory

tothepast.ca/close-readin...

Interpretations – the essential ‘how to’ for history teachers! Historical interpretations are hard! Students and teachers struggle with the concept. Christine Counsell has been a leading light in thinking about and honing our practice in relation to this conce…

From 2019: "Interpretations – the essential ‘how to’ for history teachers!" Essential insights from @counsellc.bsky.social onebighistorydepartment.com/2019/05/14/i...

As we close the door on 2024, I want to bump this project. Free resources for Social Studies Teacher Educators. @socialstudies.org and @librarycongress.bsky.social were generous enough to support a few of us in thinking about deepening teaching practice. www.socialstudies.org/tps/teaching...