In addition to the Vital Themes and Narratives, the Bradley Commission also identified thirteen Habits of the Mind. The premise is that in order to teach history effectively, students have to practice certain analytical and intellectual skills. Historical analysis develops mental perspectives and modes of thoughtful judgment that students can apply to their lives in addition to their formal study of history.
History's Habits of the Mind
- Understand the
significance of the past.
- Distinguish between the
important and the inconsequential.
- Develop historical
empathy as opposed to present-mindedness.
- Acquire at one and the
same time a comprehension of diverse cultures and of
shared humanity.
- Understand how things
happen and how things change.
- Comprehend the interplay
of change and continuity.
- Prepare to live with
uncertainties.
- Grasp the complexity of
historical causation, respect particularity, and avoid
excessively abstract generalizations.
- Appreciate the often
tentative nature of judgments about the past.
- Recognize the importance
of individuals who have made a difference in history.
- Appreciate the force of
the non-rational, the irrational, and the accidental.
- Understand the
relationship between geography and history as a matrix of
time and place.
- Read widely and critically.