Toolbox historical concepts and skills for TTO students
History is not only about knowing facts but also about a deeper understanding what was important to people and what the effects were of their behaviour. You have to understand how to use the historical information which is presented to you. To conduct meaningful historical enquiries you need to develop skills in the use of the historical concepts. This toolbox will help you to understand the historical concepts and develop the skills you need.
historical concepts and skills
Context and chronology
Developing an understanding of the context and chronology of events involves:
- Considering the order in which things happened, using dates, vocabulary and chronological conventions.
- Building up an historical overview or framework of periods and themes.
- Developing ‘a sense of period’ through characteristic features and perspectives.
- Placing events in their broader historical context.
- Understanding that contexts can provide preconditions, triggers or catalysts that shape and influence, for example, when an event or outcome occurred, where it occurred and the manner in which it occurred.
Timelines
Indelen in het verleden
chronology
Change and continuity
We evaluate change (the ideas of progress, regression / decline or continuity) by comparing points in the past with the present, or between two points in the past. Analysing and explaining the reasons for change and continuity /stability / stagnation over time involves considering:
- the types/ diversity of change, e.g. political, economic, social; cultural, religious, technological.
- the speed/rate of change, e.g. rapid, gradual, erratic, violent.
- the extent, variations/ patterns of change e.g. localised, widespread, affecting certain groups more than others, in one area of life rather than many.
- the duration of change, e.g. long-term, short-lived change.
- key moments / key individuals and turning points that triggered change, e.g. economic events might ‘trigger’ or ‘precipitate’ change, an individual may ‘influence’ or ‘motivate’ change.
- whether change involves progress, regression, evolution or leads to little real change (continuity).
- the level of change and its significance, e.g. what made the most difference.
- how people experienced, promoted, shaped or resisted change.
Change and continuity
Cause and consequence (effect)
Analysing the causes and consequences of change requires thinking about why change did or did not happen and the relationship to the outcomes or results. For example:
- the range of factors which combined to bring about change at any given time.
- significant turning points, events or developments.
- the relative significance or importance of different factors.
- whether some events or developments were more important than others.
- deciding how, and how far, this relationship helped to enable or determine an outcome.
Causes and consequences
The role of individuals / historical perspective / empathy
Analysing the historical perspective and role that individuals played in events involves understanding
- context – the social, cultural, intellectual, and emotional settings that shaped people’s lives and actions
- individual hopes, intentions, beliefs, motives and decisions which shaped their actions
- intended and unintended consequences – outcomes that were desired or not wanted or anticipated
- diverse perspectives, interpretation and explanations of the actions and how these interpretations are affected by hindsight
- empathetic judgements about the person and their actions in the context of the period
- ethical judgments clearly based on hindsight and the values and ethical issues of today
historical perspective
Significance
Some events, ideas or people have had such a long-lasting impact on the world that they could be significant. Not all things are significant for the same reasons as other things.
Significance is the measure of the importance that is assigned to events, developments, people, groups and locations. Something is considered to be significant if it caused an important change in history.
Discovering an event’s causes and its consequences helps work out if an event is significant or not.
Assessing Significance:
Example questions for assessing Significance:
- What impact did it have on people?
- How did people in the past view this person, event, location or change?
- What changed as a result of this person, idea or event?
- How important were the consequences of this person or event?
- Why is it still talked about today?
- How many lives were affected?
contestability
Contestability is the idea that two separate sources can draw different conclusions about a historical person, concept or event.
Contestability most commonly occurs between two modern sources, typically academics, who have studied the surviving material in detail, but hold two different interpretations of the past.
The ability for different interpretations is often caused by a lack of surviving primary sources for anyone to know for certain which interpretation is most likely to be correct. On these occasions, the different interpretations are both considered valid until further evidence is found.
contestability
How do I identify contestability?
When you are reading and researching sources, look for any of the following:
- Two different sources provide contradictory explanations of the same thing (such as significance, motives or consequences)
- Two different sources use the same primary sources but draw different conclusions
- A source mentions that there are alternate ways of understanding the topic
- A source specifically mentions another author that disagrees with them
If you notice any of the above, it could indicate that the topic you are investigating is contestable. On such occasions, take the time to record the names of the different sources and record how they understand the topic. It might also be worthwhile recording the evidence each source quotes to justify their interpretation.
comprehension
Comprehension is the easiest of the critical thinking skills. It simply requires you to read a source and find what is explicit (plainly obvious) regarding what the source is saying. This works best with written documents. To ascertain easily what a source says, it is useful to ask yourself the following questions:
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What is this source trying to prove (e.g. what argument is it making)?
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What is a direct quote that shows this?
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What are the main points the source makes in order to make the argument? (Paraphrase the points as an indirect quote).
analysis and use of sources
Historians have different kinds of sources to help them understand historical events. They can use all sorts of written sources like diaries, books, newspapers etc. But they can also use paintings, fotographs and films. How do you know how to use all this information in a proper way so you get a good look into the past?
kind and type of sources
what is a source? video and textual explanation
the diary of Anne Frank
interpretation of sources
representativeness
research
History is about doing research on the past. This takes a lot of time and effort, but with the right guidance and instructions, you will be able to achieve this task.
The research process
historical concepts.docx
