Crazy for History

What is the essence of historical understanding? How can historical interpretation and analysis be taught? What is the role of instruction in improving students’ ability to think? In light of his foresight, it is instructive to examine how [J. Carleton] Bell’s research agenda was carried out in practice. In a companion article to his editorial, Bell and his colleague David F. McCollum presented a study that began by laying out five ways the historic sense might be defined:
1. “The ability to understand present events in light of the past.”
2. The ability to sift through the documentary record--newspaper articles, hearsay, partisan attacks, contemporary accounts--and construct “from this confused tangle a straightforward and probable account” of what happened, a goal they pointed out of many “able and earnest college teachers of history.”
3. The ability to appreciate a historical narrative.
4. “Reflective and discriminating replies to ‘thought questions’ on a given historical situation.”
5. The ability to answer factual questions about historical personalities and events.