I wrote this thread 🧵on historical inquiry questions after reading Whitney E. Barringer, Scot McFarlane, and Nicholas Kryczka’s article “Good Question: Right-Sizing Inquiry with History Teachers” in the American Historical Review.

@AHAhistorians

1/academic.oup.com/ahr/article/12… Firstly, I commend the author’s and the @AHAhistorians for the “Mapping the Landscape of Secondary History Education project,” which aimed to provide research-based grounding about what US students are "supposed" to be taught about US history.

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I've noticed the term "activist historian" is used by some #Canadian scholars as a way of delegitimizing the work of historians who place ethics and social justice at the core of their work.

https://twitter.com/DavidOlusoga/status/1403278656168935425

Historians and philosophers of history have debated whether ethical judgments are acceptable in the discipline of history since the end of the Second World War.

I always struggle with the notion that we should teach students to "think like historians."

Obviously the academic discipline of history provides the guiding framework for defining the disciplinary knowledge that comprises #historicalthinking, but..... There is a huge gap between the practices of the academic discipline and what is justifiable & possible in school history.

Also, the discipline of history is characterized by eclecticism, hybridity, diversity, capaciousness, and a lack of overarching structure or definition.

One thing about the #abed curriculum that is not being discussed enough is that the Knowledge-Understanding-Procedures categories don't make sense and there's a total absence of concepts. For example, it differentiates between knowledge and understanding, but I have yet to hear a coherent explanation of the difference between the two, or a justifiable reason for separating them.

Given the proliferation of articles about #socialstudies teachers using racist learning resources and assignments I thought I’d write a tweet thread about selecting learning resources for teaching #socialstudies and #history

cbc.ca/news/canada/br…

cbc.ca/news/canada/br…

/1 Studies provide many e.g.'s of omissions, falsehoods, mistruths, generalizations, and stereotypes in textbooks.

Increasingly, teachers are buying & selling classroom resources on for-profit educational sites that do not adequately vet their materials. slate.com/technology/202…

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My response to @jdmstewart1's op-ed in the @globeandmail today about the toppling of the statue of JAM.

For context, JDM is a history teacher at a private girls boarding school and has written a book "Being Prime Minister. Also, we disagree about almost everything.

https://twitter.com/GlobeDebate/status/1300723327409876993

The idea that without JAM the very existence of Canada "may be questioned" is counter-factual logic.

We don't know if Canada would've existed without JAM. Surely he played a key role in initiating Confederation, but there were many causal factors that also contributed.

Want to know what C.P. Champion, the newly-appointed advisor for #abed social studies curriculum thinks about the #abed social studies curriculum?

Here's a few nuggets from C.P. Champion's Spring/Summer 2019 article in the @DorchesterRev about "Alberta's Little History War." He seems to really like @jkenney and approves of his attacks on the NDP's social studies curriculum as "social engineering and pedagogical fads."

Since 2016 I've been part of @projectDOHR, a community-based partnership that, “examines the experience of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children as part of the history and legacy of systemic and institutionalized racism” (Province of NS, 2015a: 4)
dohr.ca

/1 The opportunity to work with former residents of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children (NSHCC), the NSHCC Restorative Inquiry, Victims of Institutional Child Exploitation Society (VOICES), educators, historians, and legal experts on this project has been transformative.
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I am a great admirer of @samwineburg’s research and the contributions that he and @SHEG_Stanford have made to #historyed in the US and internationally cannot be understated, but there are a few conceptual issues with the #historicalthinking chart below.

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https://twitter.com/SHEG_Stanford/status/1263506601887006722

HT is defined in terms of analyzing primary sources, but does not include other important 2nd order HT concepts including historical empathy, cause and consequence, continuity & change, progress & decline, historical significance, and the ethical dimension (amongst others).
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A few thoughts about the recent article "Teaching History Is Hard: How to invite students to think for themselves" by Edward Ayers medium.com/new-american-h… that was also featured in the @washingtonpost washingtonpost.com/education/2020…

/1 As pointed out by @samwineburg in the opening chapter of Why Learn History amazon.ca/Learn-History-… anxiety in the US over students' lack of knowledge of US history (as revealed by national tests like the NAEP and its predecessors) has been ongoing for more than a century.

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I decided to engage in a "good faith" twitter discussion with a fellow settler who asked "when does reconciliation end? We’ve been handing out land, money and other benefits for decades [to Indigenous people]" to see if a less-adversarial approach would be effective. After 20+ tweets explaining the history of colonialism, clarifying assumptions, challenging myths and stereotypes, deconstructing arguments, and suggesting readings, the person said they appreciated the "respectful conversation" & were going to consider these points further.

Let's not get too self-congratulatory about #PISA results (which have many flaws), or hyperbolic in our claims (education superpower?)

Instead, let's focus on why experts think Canadian students are doing better than many other countries. EQUITY.

bbc.com/news/business-…

/1 Despite different policies in individual provinces and territories "there is a common commitment to an equal chance in school," and "there is a strong sense of fairness and equal access."

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I have conflicted feelings about the #Canadian #DDAY commemorations that took place over the last few days, and I struggle during #RemembranceDay because of increasing glorification of war, militarization, and platitudes about honour, duty, and sacrifice. /1 My family has a long history of military service in both World Wars. My great-uncle joined the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, fought at Gallipolli, and died at Beaumont-Hamel. My great-grandfather also enlisted in the RNR and survived the Great War except for a missing finger. /2

I have decided to resign from the Alberta Education Social Studies Curriculum Working Group (CWG). It was not an easy decision as I am deeply committed to designing the best possible Social Studies curriculum for the students, teachers, and people of Alberta #abed /1 I have resisted resigning and publicly criticizing the draft curriculum and curriculum redesign process because I am frightened about what a Jason Kenney-led UCP government might do to the social studies curriculum and K-12 education in #abed should they get into power /2