The Misuse of Developmental Frameworks in Historical Thinking

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 3:45 pm - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Challenging Neutrality: Educators Shaping Social Justice and Reflective Practice in Education

Abstract

Children have an interest in history, and they use history as a way to understand their everyday experiences. They build on knowledge about historical people and events to make sense of complex topics. However, recommendations for how to support young children as they build critical consciousness through history are based on Western, settler colonial ideas about the work of historians and outdated developmental ideas about children. In this conceptual paper, we explore the impact of historical thinking research rooted in traditional developmental frameworks and offer insights into alternative ways of engaging in historical thinking practice with young children that recognizes not only their capabilities as young learners, but also those of their cultural communities’ diverse set of historiographic practices.

Authors

• Anna Falkner, University of Memphis

• Noreen Naseem Rodriguez, Michigan State University