Teaching Causal Reasoning

This chapter, by Laura London, looks at perhaps the most famous of the second-order concepts, causation. She begins by encouraging history teachers to reflect on the different aspects of causal reasoning, from recognising an event has multiple causes, to prioritising and categorising these causes and analysing the links between them. Through providing various examples of causation enquiry questions, she shows how teachers can use the wording of the question to focus pupils on different aspects of causal analysis. This highly practical chapter then provides numerous examples of activities designed to develop pupils' causal reasoning: mind maps to help group and make links between causes, diamond nines to help prioritise causes and analogies like Arthur Chapman's famous Alphonse the Camel. With an eye on helping pupils construct their own causal argument in extended writing, she also explores the role played by card sorts as promoted by Christine Counsell and the value of providing pupils with more precise, causal vocabulary as advocated by James Woodcock.