The document discusses Heritage Fairs, which are student history projects presented at regional and provincial fairs. Students research an aspect of local, provincial, or national history and present their findings. The goals are to give students a personal connection to history, provide a purpose for their research, and teach historical thinking skills. Heritage Fairs help students understand how their own stories fit within larger historical narratives. They also align well with inquiry-based learning and British Columbia's social studies curriculum.

1. Making History Meaningful
with Heritage Fairs
North Vancouver, Jan. 30, 2014
Tom Morton
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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2. Learning Intentions:
• To understand how the
Heritage Fairs program is
organized
• To understand the
rationale for doing a
Heritage Fairs
• To explore some ideas for
how to teach a Fairs unit
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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3. “Purpose and relevance are something that the iGeneration
students demand. They want to create real products and
share them with a wider audience.” (Sheldrake and Watkins)
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4. www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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5. The First Heritage Fair project I ever judged:
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6. What is a Heritage Fair?
Students...
• research some aspect of local, provincial or
national history;
• present their projects in the medium of their
choice to their class or school, then to the
community at a regional fair and a provincial
fair;
• receive feedback from judges and take part
in heritage activities at the regional and
provincial fairs.
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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7. Provincial Fair, Opening Ceremony Victoria, 2011
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8. The B.C. Heritage Fairs Society …
• is a non-profit, non-governmental society;
• is organized mainly by community museums
and school boards;
• encourages project-based learning, inquiry,
appreciation of heritage, and historical
thinking;
• is bilingual with strong participation of First
Nations students in many regions;
• Is everywhere (well, close): 12 regions
across B.C.; 5,000 students
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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9. Why do Heritage Fairs?
• Personal connection: Students choose
their topics, which are often connected to
family or local history; students can find
their place in history.
• Purpose: The showcase of research
gives a purpose and can build confidence
and self-esteem.
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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10. • Builds connections between family and
local history and larger narratives.
• The Fairs also have cross-curricular
connections with current "best practice"
pedagogy, such as project-based, inquiry,
and historical thinking.
• Inquiry: This is the core of the Heritage
Fair and proposed new social studies
curriculum.
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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11. Heritage Fairs fulfil a hunger for students
to see how their story is part of Canada‟s
heritage and to have an opportunity to
celebrate it. The connections and purpose
are expressed in the following letter from
an Abbotsford teaching assistant:
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12. “Before Heritage Fair, Andrew was a very
shy, child who missed a lot of school. He
chose to do his Heritage Fair Project with
his grandfather on the „Salmon People.‟ It
was a huge struggle (but) his project
made it to the district level. His parents
got involved more than they had in all his
five years at the school.
Accepting the Aboriginal Excellence award
in front of his peers left him proud. He
learned a full year of reading in two
months, greeted students and teachers in
the hall, walked with confidence, and
spoke more clearly. His grandfather said
he was so impressed that Andrew spoke
about the Salmon People. „I never knew
he was listening.‟”
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13. Heritage Fair teaches inquiry.
Kristen Schulz's "Heritage of My Home"
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14. How does the new BC Social Studies Curriculum fit
with Project Based Learning and Heritage Fairs?
Heritage Fairs already fit the curriculum for Social
Studies. However, recent proposed changes to the
curriculum from the Ministry should make it easier for
teachers to do Fairs by giving "more time and flexibility
to allow students to explore their interests and
passions." The Ministry also proposes developing
learning outcomes around “disciplinary concepts”
developed by the Historical Thinking Project. And…
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15. Heritage Fairs can teach these historical
thinking concepts!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Historical significance
Primary source evidence
Continuity and change
Cause and consequence
Historical perspective-taking
The ethical dimension
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16. Introduction to the Concept of Evidence
and Inquiry: I Left a Trace
1. Jot down everything that
you have done in the last 24
hours.
(that would be appropriate for
discussion.)
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17. 2.
Make a list of traces that might
have been left from your life during
the past 24 hours.
3.
Check ✓ those that were likely
to have been preserved.
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18. 1. How well could a biographer 50 years from now
write the story of your 24 hours based on the
traces you left? How much of what happened
would be left out? What aspects of the story
might the biographer miss?
2. Where else could he or she turn for evidence?
3. How could readers of the biography know if it
was an accurate account?
4. What does this exercise tell us about the
challenges historians face when writing histories?
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19. “the past as a series of events is utterly
gone . . . some remnants remain like litter
from a picnic, but these material remains
never speak for themselves. In fact they are
inert traces until someone asks a question
that turns them into evidence.”
- Joyce Appleby, “The Power of History”
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20. Working with traces from the past can both develop
the concept of evidence and build curiosity for a more
in depth inquiry such as a Heritage Fair project on the
history of Blacks in Canada.
Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps. Photographer: Gentile, Charles
Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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21. Working with evidence involves
•
•
•
•
•
Making inferences
Using context
Sourcing
Developing questions for further inquiry
Corroborating/cross-checking
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22. Visual Analysis
What can we infer from this trace of the past about
the historical context, the photographic situation,
and the situation of Blacks in Victoria at this time?
Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps. Photographer: Gentile, Charles
Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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23. Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps, also known at the time as Sir James Douglas' Coloured Regiment.
Photographer: Gentile, Charles Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives
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24. Visual Analysis: Inferencing
What can we infer from this trace of the past about
the historical context, the photographic situation,
and the situation of Blacks in Victoria at this time?
Victoria Pioneer Rifle Corps. Photographer: Gentile, Charles
Date: [186-] Photo C-06124 courtesy BC Archives
www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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25. Question Generation 1 – Question
Formation Technique (AKA: Brainstorming)
• Ask as many questions as you can.
• Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer the
questions.
• Write down every question exactly as it is stated.
• Change any statement into a question.
(Rothstein and Santana, Make Just One Change)
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26. Question Generation 2: Brainstorming
with Prompts
1. Brainstorm a list of at least 12 questions about
the topic or source. Use these question-starters
to help you think of interesting questions:
–
–
–
–
–
Why…?
How is this connected to…?
What happened as a result of…?
What kind of a change was...?
How should we remember...?
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27. 2. Review the brainstormed list and star the
questions that seem most interesting and
important. Then, select one or two starred
questions and be ready to present these to the
class.
3. Reflect: How do you know you have a good
question? Would it make a good Heritage Fairs
project? What possible answer do you have to
your question? Where could you go to learn more
and test your answer?
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28. Criteria for Good Inquiry Questions
• They are worth answering (lead to deeper
understanding of history; authentic)
• They are broadly engaging (for teacher inquiries)
• Students care about them – they see the purpose
in answering them
• They can be answered, though maybe the answer
will be contested or difficult
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29. www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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30. Ways to Support Students to Generate
Questions:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Look at models, e.g., museum exhibits or
www.bcheritagefairs.ca portfolio
Supply prompts
Use engaging sources to build curiosity, e.g.,
mystery artefact
Brainstorm questions
Give or create criteria on which to choose the most
powerful questions
Make a Wonder Wall of Questions
Plan for peer and teacher feedback
Practise with small inquiries
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31. No Frills Steps in an Inquiry:
• Establish curiosity – « some perplexity, confusion,
or doubt » (John Dewey)
• Develop questions
• Pose first hypothesis and reflect on certainty
• Explore further evidence
• Refine hypothesis and so on as time and interest
permit
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32. Further evidence:
Sophia Cracroft, niece and travelling companion of Lady Jane Franklin, who
was visiting Victoria in 1861, wrote in a letter:
"At 5 o'clock the Bishop came to be present at the visits of the
coloured people who had asked my Aunt to see them… The
first was Mr. Gibbs, a most respectable merchant who is rising
fast. His manner is exceedingly good, & his way of speaking
quite refined. He is not quite black, but his hair is I believe
short & crisp. Three other men arrived after him … (T)hey
were the Captain & other officers of a Coloured Rifle Corps, &
the Captain proceeded to speak very feelingly of the
prejudices existing here even, against their colour.
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33. He said they knew it was because of the strong American
element which entered into the community, which however
they hoped one day to see overpowered by the English one: that they had come here hoping to find that true freedom
which could be enjoyed only under English privileges, & great
had been their disappointment to find that their origin was
against them.
… They naturally detest America, & this Rifle corps has been
formed by them really with the view of resisting American
aggression, such as this San Juan alarm, still pending.
As he went out, the Captain said 'Depend upon it, Madam, if
Uncle Sam goes too far, we shall be able to give a good
account of ourselves.'"
(cited in Crawford Killian, Go Do Some Great Thing: the Black Pioneers of
British Columbia. (1978) Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre, 78.)
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34. Reflection on Certainty: Clothesline
How certain are you about
your answer/hypothesis?
CERTAIN?
UNCERTAIN?
www.thinkinghistory.co.uk © Ian Dawson 2009
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34
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35. How certain are you about your
hypothesis?
Maybe
What words do
Not sure
students need to use?
Possibly
Perhaps
Most likely
What phrases?
This source suggests…
This photo confirms the idea that…
I chose these two pictures to show…
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36. Contextualizing and
Building Connections:
Enhanced Timelines
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37. www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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38. Reflection
•
•
•
•
•
I Left a Trace
Visual Analysis
Question Generation
Clothesline of Certainty
Enhanced Timelines
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39. Concept: Historical Significance
The problem: We can‟t remember or learn or
cover everything that ever happened. How do we
decide what is important to learn about the past?
“Historical significance”: the principles behind the
selection of what and who should be remembered,
researched, taught and learned about the past.
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40. Question Stems for Historical
Significance (aka: so-what or whocares questions:
•
•
•
•
What was so special about X?
Why should everyone remember X?
Does X deserve to be famous?
Why was X forgotten?
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41. Should the Victoria Pioneer Rifles be in our
textbooks? On what grounds?
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42. Working with historical significance:
Diamond Ranking
Most
Least
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43. Pioneer Rifles
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44. Who were the most historically
significant during British Columbia’s
Gold Rushes?
•
•
•
•
James Douglas
Amelia Douglas
Matthew Begbie
Chief Spintlum
• Royal Engineers
• Victoria Pioneer
Rifles
• Hurdy Gurdy Girls
• Billy Barker
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45. Other Historical Thinking Concepts:
•
•
•
•
Continuity and Change
Cause and Consequence
Historical Perspective-Taking
Ethical Dimension
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46. Resources: www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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47. www.bcheritagefairs.ca
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48. Historical Thinking Project
The website features news,
descriptions of the key
aspects of each of the six
concepts, graphic
organizers, sample tasks
and a searchable database
of over 75 lesson plans.
http://historicalthinking.ca/
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49. Videos on Concepts: TC2 Take 2 videos:
Thinking about history
http://tc2.ca/teaching-resources/online-resourcecollections/special-collections/thinking-about-history.php
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50. TC2 Primary Source Collection
History Docs is a searchable
collection of carefully selected
sets of primary and secondary
source documents about
peoples, places, things and
events in Canadian history.
http://sourcedocs.tc2.ca/history-docs/about-historydocs.html
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51. Reflection
•
•
•
•
•
•
I Left a Trace
Visual Analysis
Question Generation
Clothesline of Certainty
Enhanced Timelines
Ranking Significance
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52. See you at the Fair.
www.bcheritagefairs.ca