**Abstract**

Studying local history can be approached in a modern way that encourages young students to utilize the methods and skills of a historian. This includes collecting, recording, comparing, and interpreting data from primary and secondary resources. Inquiry-based and art-based learning are effective frameworks for exploring local history. Students can gain a deeper understanding of the subject by focusing on inquiry, fieldwork, thorough recording, and constructing historical narratives based on critical interpretation of all information, including opposing and alternative views. Art-based learning allows students to analyze the forms and social aspects of artifacts, constructions, events, and phenomena and then express their knowledge and understanding in various multimodal and symbolic ways. It's essential for children to take the initiative, and be involved in the learning process, and work in collaborative environments that support their free thinking and exploration. This approach is conducive to critical thinking and encourages creativity in learning history. This chapter outlines the conditions that define inquiry and art-based learning environments and offers a tool with practical suggestions for pre-primary and primary teachers to develop their local history lessons. The tool covers four major dimensions: learning interactions, understanding historical times, art-based learning, and practical strategies specific to local history.

**Keywords:** local history, pre-primary and primary education, inquiry-based learning, art-based learning, practical strategies

## **1. Introduction**

Local history is localized history. The study of local history is focused on a specific geographical area and the societies that existed there in the past, viewed through the lens of individuals who lived in these societies. This area could be a small community, a town, or even a wider geographical area [1]. Often, local citizens who are not professional historians take on the task of writing about their community's history, driven by a desire to preserve and share what they believe is important. By delving into local history, one can gain a deeper understanding of the broader national narrative, as the two are closely intertwined [2].

Stefaniak et al. [3] argue that influencing memories through teaching local history could become a powerful strategy for enhancing place connection and, by extension, fostering more community participation. History classes do not have to be boring if teachers plan activities that encourage students to use primary sources to learn interesting, relevant, and applicable information about the past. The study of local history is one of the best ways to gain insight into the relevance of the past. Public historical materials and re-creating individual histories could be the subject of such research [4, 5]. Stories about real-life local heroes or landmarks in a children's community capture their attention and captivate their minds. Also, a great technique to get children interested in history is to find interesting links to their own family and community's past. The Bradley Commission on History in Schools [6] argues that teaching children about their local history might serve as a "robust bridge" to teaching them about larger historical periods.

The "new history" concept moved away from the traditional emphasis on chronology and historical facts. Instead, it highlighted the importance of history as a unique field of knowledge that required specific skills and conceptual understandings to fully comprehend. It has been argued that students can achieve a higher level of understanding of history if it is perceived as a unique form of knowledge and a means of reasoning through the use of second-order concepts such as change and continuity, causation, significance, accounts, and evidence [7, 8]. Research came to a consistent conclusion that children can possess remarkably advanced ideas at a young age. This presents an opportunity for educators to develop a structured curriculum that builds on their existing knowledge, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of history. One of the key concepts presented in this work is that students should have a solid grasp of the foundational principles of their subject. This includes understanding how historical knowledge is created, evaluated, and debated. Therefore, history education's main focus is to examine students' ideas and beliefs about the past. To acquire or develop their knowledge, they must be able to comprehend and apply key concepts. As a result, history educators and scholars must be attentive to students' conceptions and perceptions of history as both a subject and a discipline [9, 10].

Academics have suggested the need for "big picture" frameworks to help students understand their place in time [11]. They also propose a "conceptual framework of human history" that would allow students to connect different elements of the past and present in a meaningful way ([12], p. 93). Lee ([11], p. 68) emphasizes the importance of developing a comprehensive historical literacy that promotes an "active historical consciousness," enabling students to navigate the constantly evolving past and present. Historical consciousness relies on historical competence that involves a

*Utilizing Creative and Critical Thinking to Build Knowledge and Comprehension… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112688*

multifaceted approach. It requires the ability to ask meaningful questions, analyze sources, and evaluate historical accounts. It also involves connecting the past to our own lives and society and developing a deep understanding of historical concepts. By honing these skills, we can better appreciate the richness and complexity of our shared history [9, 13].

## **2. The creative perspectives of learning local history**

Historians become creative when they use their imagination to make sense of the past, which often involves striving to understand unfamiliar practices, frameworks, and worldviews. Good historians can put themselves back in time and visualize the world as it was. Historical imagination is crucial for learning about other cultures, times, and worlds. Thinking creatively and imaginatively is the key to the capacity to see situations under different parameters and frameworks [14]. This is the capacity we call historical empathy [10].

The following are also signs of creative thinking in history [14, 15] in addition to the capacity to place oneself in an alternative time and space framework:


In the present chapter, we are focusing on two learning strategies that can promote creative and critical thinking in studying local history: the strategy of inquiry-based and the strategy of art-based learning [16–18].

## **3. Inquiry-based learning**

Inquiry-based learning is an approach that prioritizes the learner by encouraging questioning and discovery. Students are given the opportunity to explore their interests to find answers to their inquiries. Students collect, record, and organize relevant data and information and prepare summaries, reports, and/or presentations of the culminated knowledge at the end of the process [19]. Personal assessment and reflection are important components too [20]. The core of inquirybased learning is discovery, which is achieved through research using primary and secondary resources. Fieldwork is also an important component, which includes not only site visits but also measurements, experimentation, object examination, and oral source investigation. This approach requires active learning, both individually and in groups, necessitating a supportive learning environment that caters to the material, emotional/psychological, and social needs of the learners [21–23]. In a spiral mode, the components could evolve in any sequence and traverse through phases. An inquiry may take the shape of cycles, with each cycle including querying, investigating, and concluding, or formulating new, more specific questions and returning to the research cycle.

When the aforementioned procedures are not confined to strict guidelines, they have the potential to encourage creativity. This is primarily because handling, utilizing, and examining information, materials, and ideas is a key aspect of creative endeavors for individuals of all ages. The cultivation of critical thinking skills (which are imperative for comprehending information) is equally vital. Moreover, knowledge and creativity are interconnected. Creativity can be a product of engaging with the regulations and principles of particular domains. The aforementioned necessitates excellent investigative abilities, which will empower learners to discern, obtain, and assess intricate structures and data to fuel their own creative pursuits [24, 25].

## **4. Art-based learning**

Encouraging children to present what they have learned in various ways that incorporate multiple modes of expression can transform inquiry-based learning into a powerful, constructive, and expressive process, as stated by Wallace [26]. Art offers numerous avenues for expression and can serve as an additional means of discovery. Exposure to diverse cultural artifacts allows children to investigate different perspectives, ideas, and cultures, particularly when introduced in a social studies context, such as geography, history, citizenship, etc. One effective method to fight against prejudice is to educate oneself about various cultures and ethnicities. By assimilating new knowledge into their pre-existing frameworks, children can develop a deeper appreciation for the differences and similarities among individuals, rather than relying on broad racial or ethnic stereotypes [26–28].

In addition, artmaking provides a platform for exploring various means of expression and symbolically conveying personal experiences. Through visual, verbal, musical, and physical semiotics, art serves as a medium of communication and a way of constructing meaning [29]. According to Atkinson ([30], p. 77) children "use drawing and other practices such as painting or constructing, for a rich variety of expressive and representational purposes. Children use such art activities to construct narratives, to depict time sequences, to play games, to represent actions, to describe objects, to describe object and spatial relations, and much more. In these activities,

children are developing semiotic strategies as well as conceptual understanding" (see also [22, 31]). In essence, artmaking is a valuable tool for exploring and constructing concepts, ideas, and perspectives.
