The Keegstra Affair: A Test Case for Critical Thinking

Abstract

The so-called “Keegstra affair” is offered as a test case for the teaching of critical thinking skills in high school history and social studies classes. James Keegstra was a high school history teacher in Alberta, Canada, who taught his students that there is a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world and that the Holocaust did not occur. His teaching is analyzed in terms of three of its salient features: his theory of history, his historical methodology and the way he taught history. His theory of history is a prioristic rather than empirical. His methodology was to appeal to the Bible and such sources as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion—the former being a mix of religion, ethics and history; the latter being thoroughly discredited by reliable authorities. He taught history by offering evidence supporting his interpretations, but without seeking out and considering evidence against them, except to discredit it. It is argued that students need to learn how to think critically about history in the specific ways needed to recognize, understand and avoid the flaws of Keegstra’s approach.

Reprinted, with permission, from The History and Social Science Teacher, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Spring, 1986), pp. 158–164.