We all learned history in different ways. For some, it was mainly in their K-12 education. For others, it was in college courses or your own study. No matter what level of education, your knowledge of history can be based upon certain perspectives that have been presented to you in your learning. Examining multiple perspectives of the same event presents a fuller historical perspective that you can then determine your own conclusions. We can provide the same experience for our students with eMediaVA resources that have been developed, curated, and chunked to aid in differentiated learning of history.
Traditional narratives have been long studied and analyzed by historians that give fantastic insight and foundational knowledge of long-standing events. The examination of multiple perspectives means to not only learn of traditional fact bases but include other groups that may be affected by historical events.
A great starting point for presenting multiple perspectives of history in the classroom can be to include:
- Accounts of women
- Accounts of minority groups
- Accounts of differing economic groups
- Accounts from differing nations or countries
- Accounts of leaders and general populations
- Accounts or positions of social movements or non-governmental organizations
- Accounts of invention or development during historical events or eras
- Accounts that focus on economic, political, or social change
An example of a curated playlist on the Civil War with multiple perspectives can be found here.
A lesson plan example can be found here.
Teaching with primary and secondary sources of multiple perspectives in history is highly recommended from the National Council of the Social Studies for students to “think critically, and make personal and civic decisions based on information.” This supports goals for students to become highly engaged learners and develop their social studies skills to become productive citizens interacting in their world.