Why are historical interpretations different?

L/O – To explore how different versions of the past arise

Starter – Write a short paragraph describing what your first day at KCCIS was like. Think about feelings,

expectations, enjoyment, incidents, friends etc…

Evil Monster? Nati onal Hero?

Doing History: Interpretations• Interpretation = one persons

version of events

• In History, there is never just one version of events that is 100% accurate.

• Different people have different interpretations of what happened. It is up to the historian to decide which interpretation is more accurate or truthful.

What is an interpretation then?• An interpretation is

simply someone’s version of events. Look at this clip, is it a goal or not?

History is full of interpretations.

Why do you think this is?

Fact or Opinion?

• To try and find out what actually happened in History, we need to firstly work out whether an interpretation is fact or opinion.

• Which of the following are facts? Which are opinions?a) Richard III was crowned King of England

in 1483.b) Richard III was an evil man who

murdered his nephews.c) Richard III was a successful king.d) Richard III was killed at the Battle of

Bosworth in 1485.

What is Bias?• Bias = putting across an unfair or

unbalanced opinion

• Historians have to be careful of bias because biased sources are not always entirely truthful or accurate.

• If we are using a source from a long time ago, it is important to know who wrote the source and why they wrote what they did.

• Are sources being fair and balanced or showing bias?

“I support Portsmouth

Football Club. Their the best

team in the world!”

Is Bias good?• Bias can be useful though –

it allows us to learn about people’s opinions, what they believed and what or who they supported.

• Recognising bias is a skill that all historians need to develop.

• Read the hand-out and complete all questions.

“I love King John, he is the best king

ever!”

“I really hate King John, he is the

worst king ever!”

Plenary1. What is an interpretation?

2. Why do historians need to look at interpretations?

3. Does it matter if an interpretation is fact or opinion?

4. What is bias?5. Is a biased source useful? How?

Did we meet our learning objective?

L/O – To explore how different versions of the past arise