Historical Thinking Community of Practice

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Historical Thinking Community of Practice (HTCP)

Since 2007 the Historical Thinking Project has collaborated with various partners to organize Historical Thinking Institutes (HTI) in different locations across Canada. The HTI’s have been attended by hundreds of teachers, graduate students, curriculum developers, professional development leaders, historians, and museum educators interested in enhancing their understanding of historical thinking and how to apply it in their varied contexts.

In order to make the HTI more accessible for educators from different parts of Canada and around the world, less expensive, and better aligned with effective professional learning practices, we offered the Virtual Historical Thinking Institute (VHTI) online for the first time in 2021-2022, and again in 2022-2023.

Past HTI participants have regularly requested an institute for educators who are knowledgeable about historical thinking and have experience working with it, but want to collaborate with a community of educators to further investigate how to apply historical thinking in their context.

Join the HTCP

The Historical Thinking Community of Practice (HTCP) aims to support a network of educators interested in designing historical thinking learning activities, museum exhibits, lessons, projects, units, or courses focused on teaching, learning, and assessing historical thinking.

We will be hosting seven English and French sessions between January 2024 and April 2024. Each session will focus on a key aspect of designing historical thinking learning activities, and participants will be invited to generate new ideas, give and receive feedback, and share experiences teaching and assessing historical thinking. In the final session participants will be organized into breakout groups where they will share a 3–5 minute presentation that describes a learning activity, museum exhibit, lesson, project, unit, or course they created during the HTCP, and reflects on their learning during the HTCP.

Schedule

The English and French sessions of the HTCP will be held on Tuesdays from 7 pm to 8:30 pm ET / 4 pm to 5:30 pm PT on Zoom.

January 16, 2024: What is historical inquiry?
January 30, 2024: What is an effective historical inquiry question?
February 13, 2024: How to provide background knowledge and context?
February 27, 2024: How to find and use historical evidence effectively?
March 19, 2024: How to scaffold students’ learning?
April 2, 2024: How to assess students’ learning?
April 16, 2024: Presentations of learning

Instructors

Fees and refund policy

Registration fees for six virtual meetings: $157.50 ($150 + $7.50 GST)

Participants who attend all six sessions will be given a certificate of completion.

The HTCP will be capped at 45 participants.

Please note that should the course be cancelled, a full refund will be issued. To withdraw from the 2024 HTCP, please submit a written notice to be eligible for a full refund (less an administration fee).