One of the six historical thinking concepts that explores the question, "How can the past help us understand the present?" Specifically, this presentation suggests ways to "OUT" the textbook, our obligations that we might owe to other groups, and how we might memorialize some of those obligations.

1. Celebration, Commemoration, and
Contestation: Teaching the Ethical
Dimension
Tom Morton(tmorton1027@gmail.com)
Brisbane, 2014

2. Learning Intentions
• To identify the tension in considering the
ethical dimension of historical thinking
• To recognise some ways to « OUT » the
textbook
• To explore how to monuments and memorials
to respond to the obligations that the past
imposes on the present

3. Guideposts to the Ethical Dimension
1. Authors, film directors, museum educators, etc. make implicit
or explicit ethical judgments in their historical narratives.
2. To make reasoned ethical judgments of past actions we need
to take into account the historical context.
3. When making ethical judgments, it is important not to impose
contemporary standards of right and wrong on the past.
4. A fair assessment of the ethical implications of history can
inform us of our responsibilities to remember and respond to
the contributions, sacrifices, and injustices of the past.
5. Our understanding of history can help us make informed
judgments about present day issues, but only when we
recognize the limitations of any direct “lessons” from the past.

4. Inquiry Questions:
• When is a textbook like a movie?
• What obligations does my group owe to
others or other groups to mine? How should
we fulfill those obligations?
• What heroic
actions/contributions/sacrifices/tragedies
deserve to be remembered? How should we
remember them?

5. When is a textbook like a movie?
(Seixas and Morton, The Big Six Historical Thinking Concepts, Toronto: Nelson, 2012)
• Did the movie have heroes or villains? Where they
clearly good or did they have different sides to their
characters?
• Did you care about some characters more than
others right from the start? Why is that?
• Was the movie trying to share a message, a lesson,
or even a moral? If so, what was it?
• Does a textbook also have an ethical dimension or is
it factual and neutral, just telling what happened?

6. …In June 1775, British
troops attacked American
forces defending Bunker Hill,
the heights overlooking the
city of Boston. The heroic
stand of American patriots
in this battle inspired the
colonists in their struggle for
independence….
—Beers, Burton F. Patterns of
Civilization. Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey, 1985.

7. The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775 by
John Trumbull, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.

8. Opening up Textbooks (OUT)
(Historical Thinking Matters
http://historicalthinkingmatters.org/ted/lessons/)
• Comparison of accounts or textbooks (an Australian text to
a foreign one; old to new; etc.)
• Direct Challenge (bringing primary evidence to challenge
issues of fact or interpretation)
• Narrativization (where does a text begin to tell story, where
does it end it?)
• Articulating Silences (bringing in voices of the silenced)
• Vivification (breathing life into a text that only mentions
some topic or group)
• Close reading

9. Questioning the Author Strategy
(Ogle, Klemp, McBride. Questioning the Author. Newark:
International Reading Association, 1997)
• Who wrote this?
• Why was this information included?
• What point is the author trying to make?
• What else could have been said?
• Whose voice is missing?
• How could it have been improved to help
students like me understand?

10. How should we judge each other's past actions?
What obligations does my group owe to others
or other groups to mine?
How should we fulfill those obligations?

11. Engraved on a stone in the castle of Col, the
ancient home of the Maclean clan:
“If any man of the clan of Maclonich shall
appear before this castle, though he come at
midnight, with a man's head in his hand, he shall
there find safety and protection against all….”

12. The Story:
The text if from an old Highland treaty. In the distant
past, one of Maclean’s forefathers obtained a grant of
the lands of another clan…
…In gratitude to the Maclonich
clan, he designated his castle a
place of refuge for any member
of the Maclonich family who felt
him or herself in danger.

13. Your task: Imagine that you are a member of the
Maclean clan living in the ancestral castle. One dark
night a member of the Maclonich clan, called Ian,
knocks at your door asking for help. He tells you
that the police are looking for him because of a
crime he is alleged to have committed. How would
you react? Would you hide him from the police or
decide on some other course of action? Imagine as
well that later on you need to explain what is going
on to a friend who is unfamiliar with the ancient
clan narrative. Whatever you decide to do in
respect to Ian Maclonich, you have to tell your
friend the tale about the switched infants in order
to explain your situation and your decision.

14. How will you respond to Ian Maclonich?
1. You could hide Ian Maclonich because you feel that
there is a binding obligation on your part to honour
the ancient Scottish agreement.
2. You can also hide Ian Maclonich for a number of other
reasons based on a general principle of reciprocity.
3. You can refuse to hide him based on historical critical
arguments, e.g., the story is only a legend.
4. You still feel obliged to help someone from the
Maclonich clan because of what happened in the
past, but wish to do so in a way based on modern
considerations, e.g., find him a good lawyer.

15. Four Orientations to World War One
• Traditional: certain past events define us
• Exemplary: past events are a source of lessons
and models
• Critical: past events are not relevant to our
present lives
• Genetic: we need to consider the present
context when we interpret the role of the past

17. What heroic
actions/contributions/sacrifices/tragedies
deserve to be remembered? How should we
remember them?

18. Reading Memorials

23. • Is this an appropriate subject?
• Is it effective?
• What did the creator want us to think, feel,
do?
• What does it tell us about the time and place
when it was created?

24. Cianfanelli comments on the different ways of
viewing his sculpture: “This represents the
momentum gained in the struggle through the
symbolic (sic) of Mandela’s capture. The 50 columns
represent the 50 years since his capture, but they
also suggest the idea of many making the whole; of
solidarity. It points to an irony as the political act of
Mandela’s incarceration cemented his status as an
icon of struggle, which helped ferment the
groundswell of resistance, solidarity and uprising,
bringing about political change and democracy”.
(from the web site of Marco Cianfanellie
www.marcocianfanelli.com)

25. Shrine of Remembrance, ANZAC
Square, Brisbane

30. AustralianWar Memorial, Canberra

31. Pete Pickering
Pete Pickering twice walked 300km across the
battlefields of the Western Front dressed in full
WW1 Australian marching order carrying a pack,
helmet, gas mask and, where possible, even a
303 rifle.
His pilgrimage was meant to honour the
sacrifices made by men from cities, towns and
farms across the Australia who served overseas
between 1914 and 1918.

33. [name of holocaust memorial goes here]
The memorial gets people to
think about…
The memorial is situated in a
particular place for a particular
reason.
The place is…
This place was chosen because…
The feelings which the memorial
tries to evoke are…
It evokes these feelings by…
The memorial takes the form
of…
This is an effective choice
because…
[your name goes here]

34. Creating a Commemoration

35. http://www.growingremembrance.org.uk/

37. Sketch your memorial below:
Inscription (if any):
Purpose:
Audience:
Location:
Name of memorial:
Intended feelings or
thoughts of audience
:
Unveiling:
Possible controversy:

38. Ways to Meet our Obligations to the
Past

39. Reflection
Activities:
• Outing the ethical stance in the textbook
• Corners/Four Orientations to the past
• Analysing a Memorial/Monument
• Creating a Memorial/Monument
What ideas/activities of these or your own might
you use to teach the ethical dimension?
What prep is needed? What pitfalls to avoid?