period it is talking about. Interpretations can reveal a lot about the context of their the context in own time. which they were created and could be put to this purpose. Historical Perspectives: Model based on and One of the most crucial aspects of understanding history is trying to see the past on its own Too often students place modern values on top of the past and therefore fail to understand why people acted in the way they did. When speaking to students about the Holocaust, Primo Levi once noted that he increasingly faced the question: why did you not escape or rebel? These students are viewing History through their own modern lens of understanding rather than trying to engage with the strange world of the past. As Richard White notes: good history begins ‘Any in strangeness…the past should not be a familiar echo of the present…’ . History exposes our inability to understand people in the past on their own terms. In order to do it well we need to try and understand the mentalities of those in the past. History helps us to practice understanding peoples we cannot hope to understand this is a crucial lesson today . – There are major differences between modern WORLD-VIEWS and those of people in the past, this means their beliefs, values and motivations. We must avoid PRESENTISM. The perspectives of HISTORICAL ACTORS are best understood by thinking about the CONTEXT in which people lived and the WORLD-VIEWS that influenced them. Looking at the perspective of an HISTORICAL ACTOR means drawing INFERENCES about how people thought and felt in the past. It does not mean using modern WORLD-VIEWS to imagine the past. A variety of HISTORICAL ACTORS have very different (DIVERSE) experiences of the events in which they are involved. Understanding DIVERSITY is key to understanding history. Lacking Understanding Emergent Developing Mastered Mastered An understanding of the differences between the of people in There is an the past and the assumption that present day. the beliefs, values Understanding that and motivations of Signpost 1 caution is needed people in the past Appreciating Y7/8 Y9/10+ when trying to were the same as World-Views understand those of people Historical Actors today. Presentism through shared abounds. human experiences eg. Death, fear, love or hunger. A lack of historical Understanding that Signpost 2 Y8 Y9 Y10+ empathy with the perspectives of
the context of their own time. period it is talking about. Interpretations can reveal a lot about the context in which they were created and could be put to this purpose. Historical Perspectives: Model based on and One of the most crucial aspects of understanding history is trying to see the past on its own Too often students place modern values on top of the past and therefore fail to understand why people acted in the way they did. When speaking to students about the Holocaust, Primo Levi once noted that he increasingly faced the question: why did you not escape or rebel? These students are viewing History through their own modern lens of understanding rather than trying to engage with the strange world of the past. As Richard White notes: ‘Any good history begins in strangeness…the past should not be a familiar echo of the present…’ . History exposes our inability to understand people in the past on their own terms. In order to do it well we need to try and understand the mentalities of those in the past. History helps us to practice understanding peoples we cannot hope to understand – this is a crucial lesson today . There are major differences between modern WORLD-VIEWS and those of people in the past, this means their beliefs, values and motivations. We must avoid PRESENTISM. The perspectives of HISTORICAL ACTORS are best understood by thinking about the CONTEXT in which people lived and the WORLD-VIEWS that influenced them. Looking at the perspective of an HISTORICAL ACTOR means drawing INFERENCES about how people thought and felt in the past. It does not mean using modern WORLD-VIEWS to imagine the past. A variety of HISTORICAL ACTORS have very different (DIVERSE) experiences of the events in which they are involved. Understanding DIVERSITY is key to understanding history. Lacking Understanding Emergent Developing Mastered Mastered Signpost 1 Appreciating World-Views There is an assumption that the beliefs, values and motivations of people in the past were the same as those of people today. Presentism abounds. Y7/8 Y9/10+ An understanding of the differences between the of people in the past and the present day. Understanding that caution is needed when trying to understand Historical Actors through shared human experiences eg. Death, fear, love or hunger. Signpost 2 A lack of historical empathy with Y8 Y9 Y10+ Understanding that the perspectives of
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