Contextualization can be a deceptively easy skill for students. Many default to information overload instead of thinking through which historical facts or developments are the best choice for revealing historical insight about their argument.
In AP World, I introduce contextualization early and constantly embed quick and simple practice opportunities in future lessons. This includes contextualizing topics or arguments as well as individual sources or documents. At the end of a lesson I’ll provide students with a thesis statement and ask them to write a few sentences of context as if they were completing a DBQ or LEQ. Sometimes I’ll ask students to brainstorm a list of historical developments or processes that can be used to contextualize a topic and then ask them to rank them according to historical significance. Constant skill practice is of critical importance to their learning, as is seeing the teacher model through think-alouds and exemplars.
Contextualization can be chronological or geographic. It includes the broader global, national, or regional processes and developments. It connects to circumstances of time and place and helps us understand the causes of a development. As students unpack these ideas, graphic organizers can be helpful. Over time, the process becomes quicker, more natural, and easier to integrate into AP writing.
What makes historical context strong?
I have no doubt this list can be expanded, edited, debated, etc. However, it’s the simple checklist I use to keep students on the right path and to develop some of the tools I use in class.
- Relevance or Significance: Context is significant if it enhances understanding of the topic, helps explain causality, is connected to the appropriate theme, is situated in the proper time and place, and supports the argument or interpretation under investigation.
- Balancing the “Big Picture” with Specificity: Context should recognize the broader global trends and themes at play, but also be supported by perspectives or examples that are more national or local. In this way context represents the multiple layers of developments and conditions that impact historical actors.
- Recognize Complexity: History is not mono-causal. Neither do historical actors act or developments occur within a vacuum of time and space. Good context recognizes the impact of multiple influences that come together at a specific place and time and addresses the nuance or variation in their aforementioned impact.
Contextualization Poster
This poster was conceptualized to help students apply the skill of contextualization in their DBQs and LEQs. I ask students to develop their thesis statements before contextualizing them, so in practice, the pyramid may seem reversed.
Posters for other historical thinking skills are available on my AP World History page.
My Graphic Organizers
These are neither fancy nor proprietary. The first is meant to get students thinking about different layers or levels of context; This helps them start thinking about the “Big Picture” and then get more focused as they “zoom in” towards the topic. The second is a fillable version of the poster for contextualizing a thesis statement. The third is more general and can be used to brainstorm developments, processes, specific examples that be used to contextualize a topic or primary source. As with any tool, personalize it according to the needs of your students.
NHD Contextualization Tool
I traditionally use the terminology “Big C” and “Little C” to refer to contextualizing an event or development versus contextualizing a document/primary source. I do this because it helps my AP World students differentiate between sourcing a DBQ document with historical context and earning the broader contextualization point in their DBQ/LEQ. However, I like the way the NHD contextualization tool uses the Big C/Little C terminology to differentiate contextualization by scale, that is, national and global trends versus local and regional trends. This tool is specifically for working with individual sources. I have used it when introducing HIPP to students.