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It presents three drawings as a progression: from silencing “others” within a Eurocentric historical frame, to reintroducing silence as contested thinking that students must break from a “white box” curriculum, and finally to a realization of how racism and race-thinking shape imagined communities, identities, and the need for unlearning.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/restructuring-the-historical-framework/598566/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/restructuring-the-historical-framework/598566.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"A glass of water","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why does the text argue that merely adding alternative perspectives is insufficient?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Because add-ons enrich content but do not escape the grand narrative framework, leaving the tension of meaning and “narrative competence” unresolved.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does the first drawing symbolize about historical interpretation?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It represents silencing the “others” in a study hall setting, emphasizing Eurocentric focus through symbols like the Canadian Pacific Railway and the creation of insiders and outsiders in history.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How do the second and third drawings expand the idea of historical thinking?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The second drawing shows students struggling to break free from a Eurocentric “white box” curriculum, while the third portrays racism and fluid identities, leaving the body blank to represent unlearning and new understanding of historical 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strong emphasis on recognizing the importance of multiple perspectives in the interpretation of Canada’s past. With the limited time and the multitude of historical perspectives that are vying for acknowledgement and attention, teachers have to deal with incorporating various historical interpretations, stories, and social issues which are all equally significant into their lessons. In order for teachers to deal with multiple perspectives, it is not enough for teachers to merely “add on” the alternative perspectives to the grand narrative, doing so will not “escape the framework of the grand narrative”(Stanley, 2006, p. 41) . The main focus still remains on the Europeans, but with attempts to “multiculturalize” the story (Stanley, 2006, p. 40) . Social Studies teachers should approach dealing with the various perspectives that compete for veracity by restructuring the historical framework in which multiple perspectives become embedded. Add-ons only allow for enrichment of historical content, but the embedding of multiple perspectives creates the tension of disrupted common sense thinking (Tupper & Cappello, 2008, p. 566) as a requirement for the possibility of“narrative competence” – the ability to weave and learn from multiple story-ings of Canada’s past (Rüsen, c.f. in den Heyer, 2005, p. 2)  \nThe three drawings that I have created represent the progression from the overall arching grand narrative of Canadian history to the introduction and embedding of the multiple perspectives to aid the possible narrative competence of the student. The silencing of the “others” and their interpretations ofthe past are represented by the components of the first drawing which takes place in a study hall. This setting is important because it instils a sense of silence that prevails over the perspectives that struggle to be heard. The room is suitably named the “Hall of Collective Memories”because it represents what “we” have chosen to remember and what “we” have chosen to forget (Francis, 1997, p. 11). The Eurocentric perspective, characterized by the eye, maintains the focus of the drawing as the Canadian Pacific Railway, symbolizing the creation of myths, runs through the partitioned wall. The CPR creates the “invented image” of who is defined as a Canadian (Francis, 1997, p. 27), thus creating the insiders and outsiders of history. Outside the wall the voices ofthe others have become faint echoes that go unheard and are kept enclosed in the books, which are told through the perspective the “white man.” The others’ interpretations remain only as “side bars”(Stanley, 2006, p. 42) of the page, perpetuating the notion that, although incorporated in the grand narrative, they will always be outside and never included within the text of the grand narrative.  \n1 Ms. Smith was a student in den Heyer ’s social studies curriculum and pedagogy course. This is a revised version of an assignment she completed for the course.  \nWhile silence prevails in the first drawing, the second drawing brings silence into the historical thinking of multiple perspectives. No longer does the silence prohibit the others’perspectives from creating the tension needed to allow students to break free from the grand narrative framework. Instead, the students are shown struggling with this notion and making attempts to escape from the “white box” that represents the curriculum and dominating Eurocentric view on history (Tupper & Cappello, 2008, p. 562). Acknowledging these tensions, the created symbol of Canada in the background is depicted without a stem. This indicates that the restructuring of the historical framework has disrupted the foundation of the grand narrative which feeds the myths and stories that are perpetuated in Canadian history. The scene behind the sky is filled with birds representing the multiple perspectives that have been shut out from","cbCaifQlod9yIR4B","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifQlod9yIR4B","pdf",9536418,"English","# Restructuring the Historical Framework\n## Limitations of add-on perspectives\n## Drawing progression and symbolism\n## Outcomes for students’ historical thinking","[{\"question\":\"Why does the text argue that merely adding alternative perspectives is insufficient?\",\"answer\":\"Because add-ons enrich content but do not escape the grand narrative framework, leaving the tension of meaning and “narrative competence” unresolved.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the first drawing symbolize about historical interpretation?\",\"answer\":\"It represents silencing the “others” in a study hall setting, emphasizing Eurocentric focus through symbols like the Canadian Pacific Railway and the creation of insiders and outsiders in history.\"},{\"question\":\"How do the second and third drawings expand the idea of historical thinking?\",\"answer\":\"The second drawing shows students struggling to break free from a Eurocentric “white box” curriculum, while the third portrays racism and fluid identities, leaving the body blank to represent unlearning and new understanding of historical interpretations.\"}]","Restructuring the Historical Framework | PDF",1792087168,13]