Our current Unit of Inquiry in Stage 2 has seen the boys working like historians to unlock the stories of the past and to consider why remembering the people and events of our past is important.  Our approach to teaching history may be very different to how parents remember learning history at school. I certainly recall a list of dates and sequences of events that I had to memorise and then restate accurately at a later date in order to be deemed successful, only to forget them all when the test was over.  

Whilst knowledge is an important component of history as an academic discipline, it is also vital that we teach our boys the skills they need to extend their historical knowledge, understanding and perspective.   Historical inquiry is the process of developing knowledge and understanding in history by asking questions about the past, and applying skills associated with analysing, interpreting and evaluating sources of evidence to develop informed and defensible answers.  In Stage 2 we have been finding clues from a variety of primary sources and using these to develop informed historical stories.  To structure our inquiry we have been utilising the Design Thinking methodology.

SPARK – an artefact (object, photo, painting, news clippings) that grabs our attention and prompts us to investigate further.

DISCOVER – asking questions, creating wonderings and using a variety of primary sources to gather clues  (through observations, taking notes and making connections between sources).

IMAGINE – imaging a solution/story that combines the clues into a reasonable and informed story.

EXPLORE – writing or orally telling the story, receiving feedback on it’s strengths and improving it through more research or detail.

SOLVE – creating a secondary source that informs an audience about a historical person or event.

The most enjoyable part of teaching history in this way is witnessing the boys’ excitement as they discover new clues and debate with each other what these clues might mean.  Having the time to dig their teeth into something and discover history for themselves has our boys engaged and has provided a hum of curiosity into our classrooms.

Carol Peterson – Year 3 Teacher