10 (+1) Reasons Why Heritage Fairs are Good for You!

Posted by Cynthia Wallace...
23 September 2011 - 2:42pm

Now that all have returned to school, those of us in New Brunswick’s heritage community are looking forward and planning with eager anticipation for Heritage Fairs! So with this blog entry… in honour of project-based learning and disciplinary inquiry, I am taking on my motherly persona today to dish out some words of advice as to why Heritage Fairs are good for you. :-)

Feel free to comment and build upon my list...

1. You do not have to listen to your teacher talk…

· Facilitates independent study and establishes a classroom culture of thinking

2. Let’s you ask Big Questions – like why is this topic significant? And whose voice is left out of this narrative?

· Promotes critical historical literacy

3. Hones your research skills…

· Recognizes history as a discipline with its own unique modes of inquiry and ways of looking at the world

4. Let’s you make your thinking visible…

· Requires students to document their thinking visually

5. Let’s you be creative…

· Supports differentiated learning and provides students with their own entry points into the past

6. Gives you a soapbox for discussion…

· Strengthens language skills and allows students to express themselves verbally in a meaningful way

7. Let’s you get to know people who work in your archives and museums...

· Requires students to examine the residua of the past first-hand, by seeking out primary sources

8. Makes you realize that you cannot believe everything that you read or see in communication media…

· Promotes critical thinking

9. Let’s you make friends with elders in your community…

· Enables transmission of knowledge and experience between generations

10. You will come to see that history is complex and there are no easy answers…

· Recognizes complexity and diversity within history

And... (one more!)...

11. Makes you smarter!...

· National History Day researchers in the United States have found that student participants perform better on standardized tests, are better writers, and are more confident and capable researchers.

Why have YOU participated in Heritage Fairs?

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