 Analyze the readings for this unit.

Select one of the instructional approaches

from the readings that you would like to use in a classroom whether you are
currently teaching or not. Consider what type of classroom you would like to use
this approach in. Describe this classroom environment, the students, and the
subject matter/s to be approached in a current or future classroom, (depending
on your status as a pre-service or in-service teacher). Defend why you think this
approach would work well in that classroom. Provide examples, from the
reading or from experience, to support your response.

Based on this week's readings, I would like to use the instructional approach for Historical
Thinking in my classroom. The historical Thinking approach promotes questioning and
guides children to frame relevant questions (Wineburg, 2010). This approach can spark
curiosity and interest in children about the topic and can actively engage their minds in
thinking ways to seek out answers. Understanding and framing relevant questions are the
essential steps towards inquiry, and the Historical Thinking approach help children to be the
inquirers.

An active learning classroom with a mixed seating arrangement will support the historical
thinking approach. The classroom environment will follow inquiry-based learning and will
have various corners set up for artifacts, photographs, related newspaper articles, and a
question wall for children to voice their questions. I will use this approach for inquiring into
Government systems under the theme of 'How we organize ourselves' in a PYP 5 classroom.
Children will conduct an inquiry into this unit to know about different types of governments
and the systems and understand the practices and processes in place in those. They will study
different types of governments around the world, identify their strengths and challenges, and
analyze the decision-making process. Students will look into the countries that are going
through a political crisis. They will evaluate different government scenarios, the past and
present state of that country, the effect of the decision-making process on the citizens, and
work on creating a proposal that is most favorable for the country and its citizen.

A student-centered active learning classroom will foster a historical thinking approach by

developing critical and creative thinking skills and reasoning skills that are needed to
critically analyze the governments and the decision-making process (Gestsdóttir et al.,2018).
The artifacts, photographs, news articles from different times of the specific country and
regime, etc. will work as primary sources. Children will study the artifacts and use the same
for discussions to understand the different historical perspectives and their role in shaping the
present. They will brainstorm the historical context of various articles and pictures, organize
major political events, themes, and people from those specific periods, and list those on a
common wall. This approach will help all student to reflect on each other's understandings
and refer to during close reading (Wineburg, 2010). Under my guidance, children read the
silences to find out the missing part or links in all the primary sources. I will encourage
children to find out any other source that they can use to continue with their investigation.

Through the historical thinking approach, students will establish historical significance based
on the primary source evidence, identify continuity and change, analyze cause and
consequence, and understand the ethics related to the various interpretations. Children will
get a clear understanding of the pros and cons and make an informed decision.

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 Resources

Gestsdóttir, S., Boxtel, C., & Drie, J. (2018). Teaching historical thinking and reasoning:
Construction of an observation instrument. British Educational Research Journal. 44(10).
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327351344_Teaching_historical_thinking_and_reas
oning_Construction_of_an_observation_instrument

Wineburg, S. (2010). Thinking like a historian. TPS Quarterly, Vol. 3. No. 1, Winter
Issue. Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Program. Retrieved
from https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/teachers/about-this-program/teaching-with-
primary-sources-partner-program/documents/historical_thinking.pdf

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