Our learning in History

Learning Intention: We are learning to think like historians and understand how perspectives shape history

This week, students deliberated over the below questions and posted their responses to our Canvas discussion board. There were many in depth responses from Year 5. 

What determines someone as a historian? How is history recorded? 

How do we know if something is factually correct when researching history?

How do understanding other people's perspectives assist us in understanding history?

Some of the responses from students include:

• ‘A historian is somebody who tells other people about history. Being a historian is basically a job. They might specifically study Aboriginals or Explorers or Ancient Egyptians. To determine someone as a historian they would've had to study history at university for a while.’ Ella

• ‘The person would have to study history really deeply, not just knowing that Tutankhamen was alive, it is knowing why and how he died and what he did.’ Harrison

• ‘History can be recorded in many ways such as books/diaries, art, carvings, stories that have been carried down by generation after generation and many other ways.’ Gracie

•  ‘What determines someone as a historian is someone that makes a difference and wants the world to know about it though out the future and present.’ Otto

• ‘Historians research and research to check if history is correct. People from the past also write things down from what happened. Also, there might be actual proof because we can see it. e.g: the Titanic sank long ago and we know that it happened because people witnessed it and the ship has been found way below the surface of the water.’ Liberty

• ‘We know something is factually correct by using trustworthy websites like .GOV.au or .ORG or it is proven and there is actual evidence.’ Jamie

• ‘Understanding other people's perspectives assist us in understanding history because you can get lots of different perspectives of the event. It is like a crime scene -  there are multiple stories to the one event and different witnesses are interviewed.’ Harrison

• ‘Looking at people’s perspective can lead us to the truth of history and knowing what really happened. We can see different perspectives from other peoples point of view. If we don't listen to the people who were there and impacted we will never know the truth.’ Olivia

Our unit of inquiry for the term is delving into our early colonial Australian history. We will be investigating why Britain colonised Australia, what the lives of those early settlers was like and how the colonisation of Australia impacted our Indigenous Australians.