Exploring the past through archaeology and history offers far more than just facts and dates. These fascinating disciplines provide a powerful pathway to developing essential life skills. Archaeology meticulously uncovers and records findings through careful excavation, while history builds narratives by drawing on diverse sources. Beyond simply reconstructing what happened, engaging with these dynamic fields presents incredible opportunities for personal and intellectual development. For educators at Primary and Secondary levels, this means exciting ways to involve students in ‘real’ history and archaeology through community digs, conferences, and research projects. This active involvement makes knowledge and learned skills feel even more relevant and likely to stick. Just look at the modern fascination with family history—it’s a perfect example of how applied historical skills empower individuals.
Creative Thinking
Creative thinking about the past is fundamental in transforming artifacts, facts, and other traces into narrative. When I’m writing, I often look at museum collections, photographs online, or pieces from my own collection and ask six key questions: Who owned this? What is it? Where did it come from? What was that place like? When is it from? And why is it important? These questions help me focus my writing and my project. It’s also a useful exercise for children’s writing.
Research Skills
Where history differs from creative writing is that it focuses on the past, real events, and real people. As such, real people leave traces of themselves in the material world. These may be as faint as the Happisburgh footprints or as solid as a letter from Queen Elizabeth I to the people of Coventry, warning them to be careful in their imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots (the original is on display at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum). It’s by bringing these traces together, commenting on them, and weaving together the themes that we can produce effective pictures of the past.
Empathy and Perspective
What is most striking about the past is how different it is from the present. I think that is one of its greatest appeals to the general public. It’s popular in novels, films, and popular histories; in fact, whole television channels are dedicated to history. For me, this provides a different lens to see the world. As I’ve quoted in previous months, “the past is a foreign country, they do things differently there…” We see that there are different ways of living and different ways of doing things, despite it being done by the same kinds of people. From the Saxon plowing his field to the mill worker hurrying to the mill in the morning to the present day, we see people going about their lives, and this encourages us to see ourselves in different places and develop sympathy and compassion for others.
Inspiring Young Minds Through Active Learning
At Portals to the Past, we run workshops ranging from Prehistory to the Second World War. In these sessions, ordinary people are presented as the main characters, fostering the very empathy and understanding we’ve discussed. To enrich your teaching, we can provide a powerful and exciting experience designed to inspire your children’s learning.
If you are interested in booking one of our workshops, or would like some more information, please contact us today to discuss how we can help – Contact Us.