History Alive!: A Framework for Teaching the Historical Process. 5 Historical Skills Learners are to Acquire from Engaging with Primary and Secondary Sources

Historical skills are quintessential for learners to fully understand and analyze the past from both primary and secondary sources. According to Waring and Hartshorne (2020), five key historical skills include: 1. **Historical Inquiry:** This involves the research process, asking pertinent questions, identifying potential sources, and forming conclusions based on gathered evidence (Waring & Hartshorne, 2020). 2. **Source Analysis:** This skill teaches learners how to scrutinize and interpret primary and secondary sources, discerning the validity, reliability, and potential bias (Waring & Hartshorne, 2020). 3. **Historical Interpretation:** This allows learners to make sense of historical events, ideas, and figures by using evidence from primary and secondary sources to form explanations (Waring & Hartshorne, 2020). 4. **Historical empathy:** As per Waring & Hartshorne (2020), this skill assists learners in understanding the perspectives, values, and motives of people from the past, immersing in their cultural, social, and intellectual context. 5. **Chronological Thinking:** Here, learners can identify, analyze, and make connections between historical events through temporal terms like dates, era, or period (Waring & Hartshorne, 2020). These skills obtained from engaging with primary and secondary sources can invigorate learners' historical imagination and intellectual curiosity, equipping them to effectively understand the connectedness of past and present. Reference: Waring, S. M., & Hartshorne, R. (2020). Source Analysis and Historical Interpretation. In Teaching and Learning with Primary and Secondary Sources (pp.17-34). Routledge.