What are the best strategies for promoting historical literacy in students?

2 Connect history to current issues

History is not only about the past, but also about the present and the future. Teachers can help students see the relevance and importance of history by connecting historical topics and themes to current issues, events, or problems. For example, teachers can use historical case studies to explore concepts such as democracy, human rights, social justice, or environmental sustainability, and to compare and contrast different historical and contemporary situations, perspectives, and solutions. Teachers can also encourage students to use historical knowledge and skills to investigate and address current issues or problems that interest them, such as through project-based learning, service-learning, or civic action.

4 Use technology and media

Technology and media can be powerful tools for enhancing historical literacy, as they can provide access to a variety of sources, resources, and platforms, as well as opportunities for creativity, collaboration, and communication. Teachers can use technology and media to enrich their instruction and assessment, such as by using digital archives, databases, or collections to find and share primary and secondary sources, by using multimedia tools or applications to create and present historical projects or products, or by using online platforms or forums to facilitate discussions or debates. Teachers can also help students develop digital literacy and media literacy skills, such as by teaching them how to search, evaluate, and cite online sources, or by guiding them to analyze and critique media representations of history.

5 Develop historical habits of mind

Historical literacy is not only about content knowledge and skills, but also about habits of mind, or ways of thinking and learning that are characteristic of historical inquiry and practice. Teachers can promote historical literacy by developing historical habits of mind in their students, such as by modeling and scaffolding historical thinking skills, such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, or synthesizing, by fostering historical curiosity and questioning, such as by using essential or guiding questions, by encouraging historical reflection and metacognition, such as by using self-assessment or feedback, or by cultivating historical dispositions and values, such as by promoting historical empathy, perspective-taking, or civic responsibility.