The first two weeks of my course I conduct what I call “History Bootcamp.” Upon reflection, what I’m trying to do is locate the threshold concepts that students need, combined with digital literacy skill, akin to what Calder describes his first three sessions to be. So, my first question is: what threshold concepts do I cover well and what concepts need buttressing or building? Partly in response to Calder and Wineburg’s focus on procudure, I think I also want to ask myself how much time (in weeks) should we devote to history bootcamp?
Both Calder and Lévesque include lists of “moves” or questions they ask themselves and their students. A third question for me is: how are these questions relevant to my teaching today and what parts of them need to change?
Finally, and unrelated to what I’ve written thus far, I’m cognizant of the preponderance of male pedagogic theoretical frameworks in these articles, despite the long and equally valuable contributions of women scholars of teaching and learning. So, my final question is who aren’t I reading that I should when I frame my own threshold concept questions?
I can only begin to answer these questions. I know that my students struggle with the past as a stranger element of historical thinking, and that needs better incorporation into my History Bootcamp. Two weeks of actual working on threshold concepts might be necessary, which I do now, but I think I may need to acknowledge that the first week is for settling in and extend my Bootcamp to the first total of three weeks.
On the question of moves, I want to include at least two additional questions I ask students to wrestle with: what sort of digital literary is necessary to ask informed historical questions and how does the way we ask a question of the past inform our ability to recognize injustice? These are preliminary answers, but digital literacy and justice are questions I haven’t seen in our readings and I know I wish to cover.
As for more reading I might assign myself, I’ll likely start with Joan Scott and move forward chronologically. I’m especially interested to investigate if there are feminist cognitive learning scientists.
