Teaching History 135 June 2009 The Historical Association
50
The idea for this article came from my puzzlement over the idea
of ‘a sense of period’.
It is a sense I use a lot; from mulling over the
motives of fifteenth-century men and women, to guessing...
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Teaching History 135 June 2009 The Historical Association
50
The idea for this article came from my puzzlement over the idea
of ‘a sense of period’.
It is a sense I use a lot; from mulling over the
motives of fifteenth-century men and women, to guessing the dates
of effigies before I read the information boards.
Sense of period is
also integral to the perspective history provides on our own time
and lives.
That perspective requires awareness of the continuities
and disparities between ourselves and people of other times; what
we have in common with our forefathers and what we do that would
leave them utterly perplexed.
What intrigues me is that I have never been taught to develop a sense
of period.
It seemingly happened while I wasn’t looking.
Nor have I
ever taught anyone to develop their own.
And yet, it is in the 2008
National Curriculum, so I really should think about how to teach it.
I realise that I need to be much clearer in my mind about what ‘sense
of period’ is, so I
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