Selecting the Right Historical Figure for Your Lesson: A Complete Guide for Educators

Choosing the right historical figure for your lesson can feel overwhelming. With countless individuals who have shaped our world, how do you decide which ones deserve valuable classroom time? Which figures will spark curiosity, challenge assumptions, and help students see themselves in history?

The historical figures you choose to teach don’t just fill curriculum requirements. They shape how your students understand the past, connect with different cultures, and see their own potential to make a difference. When students learn about the various historical figures who have made a mark in the nation’s and world’s history, they develop a better understanding of the relationships between individual people and society as a whole.

Yet many educators struggle with this selection process. Perhaps you’ve found yourself defaulting to the same familiar names year after year, or you’ve wanted to diversify your curriculum but weren’t sure where to start. Maybe you’ve chosen a figure only to discover limited age-appropriate resources, or selected someone who failed to engage your students.

This guide will walk you through a comprehensive framework for selecting historical figures that align with your educational goals, engage diverse learners, and bring history to life in meaningful ways. Whether you’re planning a single lesson or designing an entire unit, you’ll discover practical criteria, strategies, and insights to make informed choices that resonate with your students.

Why Your Choice of Historical Figure Matters

The historical figures you introduce to your students carry more weight than you might realize. These aren’t just names and dates to memorize. They become the lens through which young learners understand human potential, social change, and their place in the world.

As elementary educators, we are uniquely positioned to introduce our students to people who have achieved great things and persevered despite many trials. The stories of historical figures, scientists, explorers, artists, and leaders offer more than just facts; they provide rich narratives that can inspire, motivate, and challenge our young learners to think beyond the confines of their immediate environment.

Research shows that representation matters deeply. Some researchers define educational materials as “societal curriculum” because they indirectly teach students about cultures, languages, attitudes, behaviors, and society’s expectations of and values attributed to them and different people based on social identity markers. Characters also influence children’s racial/ethnic and gender identity development and their understanding of different racial, ethnic, and gender groups.

When students see people who look like them, share their background, or overcame similar challenges, it sends a powerful message: “You belong in this story. You can make history too.” Conversely, when certain groups are consistently absent from historical narratives, students receive the opposite message. Your choices in the classroom have the power to affirm or alienate, to inspire or discourage.

Beyond representation, the historical figures you select shape students’ critical thinking skills. Well-chosen figures provide opportunities to explore complexity, examine multiple perspectives, and grapple with moral questions that remain relevant today. They help students understand that history isn’t a simple tale of heroes and villains, but a nuanced story of human decisions, consequences, and change.

8 Key Criteria for Selecting Historical Figures

When evaluating potential historical figures for your lessons, consider these eight essential criteria. While not every figure needs to excel in all areas, the most effective choices will score highly across multiple dimensions.

1. Curriculum Alignment and Learning Objectives

Start with your educational goals. What specific standards, skills, or concepts do you need to teach? The most valuable historical figures are those who naturally illuminate your learning objectives rather than feeling forced or tangential.

For example, if you’re teaching about the Civil Rights Movement, figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Thurgood Marshall are obvious choices. But depending on your specific objectives, you might also consider lesser-known activists like Bayard Rustin, Diane Nash, or Fannie Lou Hamer, who offer different perspectives and learning opportunities.

Ask yourself: Does this figure help students understand the historical period, concept, or skill I’m teaching? Will studying this person support the broader narrative of my unit? Can I connect this individual to multiple curriculum standards to maximize instructional value?

Remember that curriculum alignment doesn’t mean sticking only to figures explicitly mentioned in your standards. Bailey said teachers often have to perform a balancing act between meeting state history standards that are politicized and slow to change, and trying to teach history lessons that a diverse range of students will find meaningful—placing the onus on the teacher to seek out additional teaching materials. Use standards as a framework, not a limitation.

2. Age-Appropriateness and Developmental Readiness

Not all historical figures are suitable for all grade levels. The complexity of a person’s life story, the challenging events they experienced, and the abstract concepts required to understand their significance all factor into age-appropriateness.

Teaching kids about historical figures can be challenging, especially if they are too young to understand complex ideas and concepts. For younger students, look for figures whose stories can be told in concrete terms with clear cause-and-effect relationships. Someone like George Washington Carver, whose experiments with peanuts and sweet potatoes can be demonstrated through hands-on activities, works beautifully for elementary learners.

For older students, you can introduce figures whose contributions required more abstract thinking or whose lives involved moral ambiguity. Thomas Jefferson, for instance, presents an opportunity for middle and high school students to grapple with the contradiction between his words about liberty and his actions as a slaveholder.

When teaching history to elementary students, it can be hard to strike the right balance between teaching facts and keeping the content age-appropriate. Consider these age-appropriate guidelines:

• Early Elementary (K-2): Choose figures with straightforward stories of courage, innovation, or helping others. Focus on biographical details students can relate to (childhood experiences, family, overcoming obstacles).
• Upper Elementary (3-5): Introduce figures who faced more significant challenges or made complex contributions. Students can begin to understand multiple perspectives and historical context.
• Middle School (6-8): Select figures who allow exploration of nuance, contradiction, and moral complexity. Students can analyze how historical context influenced decisions and actions.
• High School (9-12): Choose figures who provoke deep analysis of systems, ideologies, and historical interpretation. Students can engage with historiography and contested narratives.

3. Diversity and Representation

One of the most critical considerations in selecting historical figures is ensuring diverse representation across your curriculum. This goes beyond simply including a few women or people of color. It means actively seeking figures from various backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences throughout the school year.

Choosing the right people from history is important. Think about people who did significant things and helped shape the world. Make sure to include a variety of people —men, women, young, and old. Consider diversity across multiple dimensions:

Racial and ethnic diversity:Part of this is due to who we choose to study in history, and who ultimately gets left on the cutting room floor. If we hope to make diversity and equity a priority in our classrooms, we need to give our students diverse heroes they can aspire to. Look beyond the most famous names to discover figures like Mary McLeod Bethune, Daniel Inouye, or Kamehameha the Great.

Gender representation: Actively seek out women who made significant contributions in fields traditionally dominated by men, such as scientists, political leaders, and inventors. But also honor women whose work in traditionally female-dominated areas changed society.

Geographic diversity: Don’t limit your selection to American or European figures. Students benefit from learning about influential people from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and indigenous communities worldwide.

Diversity of contributions: Include not just political leaders and military figures, but also scientists, artists, writers, educators, activists, inventors, and everyday people who made extraordinary contributions.

“The more people understand other perspectives and the more we include underrepresented people in history, the more they are legitimized as American history,” says Shana Brown, a middle school teacher in Seattle Public Schools who helped write the Native American history curriculum for Washington state.

Avoid the trap of relegating diverse figures to specific months (Black History Month, Women’s History Month). While these celebrations have value, diverse historical figures should appear throughout your curriculum all year long.

4. Historical Significance and Impact

While representation matters tremendously, the figures you choose should also have made genuine, substantive contributions to history. Students deserve to learn about people whose actions, ideas, or achievements created meaningful change or advanced human knowledge and progress.

Historical significance can take many forms. Some figures changed the course of nations through political leadership or military strategy. Others advanced science, technology, medicine, or the arts. Still others shifted social consciousness, challenged injustice, or pioneered new ways of thinking that influenced generations.

Ask yourself: What lasting impact did this person have on their time period or on subsequent generations? Did they influence important events, movements, or changes? Do historians and scholars consider them significant? Would understanding this figure help students better comprehend larger historical patterns or themes?

Be cautious about selecting figures primarily because they’re interesting characters but whose historical impact is minimal. While engagement matters, students’ time is precious. Choose figures who offer both engagement and substantive learning about history’s trajectory.

5. Availability of Quality Resources

Even the most perfectly aligned, diverse, and significant historical figure won’t work for your lesson if you can’t find appropriate teaching resources. Before committing to a figure, investigate what materials are available.

Dig into primary sources like letters, diaries, and speeches. Primary sources can tell us exactly what happened, and can help students understand history and what life was like.Primary sources help students relate in a personal way to events of the past and promote a deeper understanding of history as a series of human events.

Look for resources including:

• Primary sources: Letters, speeches, photographs, artifacts, or other materials created by or about the figure during their lifetime
• Age-appropriate biographies: Books written at your students’ reading level that present accurate, engaging information
• Visual materials: Photographs, paintings, videos, or documentary footage that bring the figure to life
• Lesson plans and activities: Pre-existing educational materials you can adapt for your classroom
• Online resources: Digital archives, educational websites, or interactive materials from reputable institutions

Quality matters as much as quantity. Ensure that available resources present accurate, culturally authentic information. Develop cultural authenticity: Scholars noted the cultural background of content creators and if they shared the same background as the primary characters. When choosing and developing educational materials, examine the characters, their activities, and the creator’s ability to authentically represent complex depictions. This could mean creating a vetting system for materials and curricula to ensure that they are authentic and accurate.

If you discover a historically significant, diverse figure but struggle to find resources, don’t immediately dismiss them. Consider this an opportunity to create materials yourself or use AI tools like Estha to develop custom educational content tailored to your students’ needs.

6. Student Interest and Connection

Academic merit alone doesn’t guarantee student engagement. The most effective historical figures are those students can connect with on a personal level, whether through shared identity, relatable struggles, fascinating accomplishments, or compelling stories.

The first step in teaching kids about historical figures is to choose an appropriate figure that interests them. You can ask them what kind of person they would like to learn about, or you can introduce them to some famous historical figures and let them choose.

Consider what will capture your particular students’ imaginations. Are they fascinated by inventors and innovation? Athletes who broke barriers? Artists who challenged conventions? Young people who made a difference? Connect your selections to your students’ existing interests while also introducing them to new perspectives.

Look for figures whose personal stories include elements students find engaging:

• Overcoming adversity: Students connect with figures who faced and conquered significant challenges
• Childhood experiences: Learning about a historical figure’s early life helps students see them as real people
• Surprising details: Unexpected facts or little-known stories capture attention and make figures memorable
• Contemporary connections: Figures whose work or ideas still influence life today feel more relevant

Talk about why historical figures still matter today. Connect their actions and ideas from the past to events happening now. Discuss how what they did in the past may still affect us today. This makes history more interesting and shows us why it’s important.

7. Complexity and Nuance

Real historical figures are complex human beings with strengths, flaws, contradictions, and contexts that shaped their choices. While we may need to simplify some details for younger students, avoid creating one-dimensional heroes or villains. Students benefit from understanding that historical figures were real people who made both admirable and questionable decisions.

Evaluating historical figures as a product of their times isn’t about endorsing wrongful actions, but about recognizing the complexities of their impact and learning from it. Instead, we should aim for an informed engagement with history by embracing a balanced view that acknowledges both figures’ achievements and failings.

This doesn’t mean exposing young students to every troubling detail of a figure’s life. But as students mature, help them understand that historical figures made choices within specific contexts, held beliefs shaped by their time and culture, and sometimes took actions we now recognize as wrong or harmful.

For example, teaching about Christopher Columbus can include both his navigational achievements and the devastating impact of colonization on indigenous peoples. Abraham Lincoln can be presented as both the president who issued the Emancipation Proclamation and someone who held complex, evolving views on racial equality.

This nuanced approach develops critical thinking skills and prepares students to evaluate historical and contemporary figures with sophistication. It teaches them that understanding history requires examining multiple perspectives, considering context, and wrestling with moral complexity.

8. Contemporary Relevance

While all history offers valuable lessons, students engage most deeply with figures whose lives, work, or challenges connect to contemporary issues. Look for historical figures whose stories illuminate current events, ongoing social movements, or timeless human questions.

For instance, studying figures from the women’s suffrage movement gains new relevance when students can connect those struggles to ongoing debates about voting rights and political representation. Learning about scientists like Rachel Carson or George Washington Carver connects to contemporary environmental concerns. Civil rights leaders offer frameworks for understanding current social justice movements.

By collapsing the distance between historical eras and the present day, we motivate students to ask hard questions and dig deeper into the past. Ask yourself: Does this figure’s life or work connect to issues students encounter in their world? Can studying this person help students understand current events or contemporary challenges? Will learning about this figure equip students with knowledge, perspectives, or inspiration relevant to their lives?

Contemporary relevance doesn’t mean every historical figure must connect directly to today’s headlines. Sometimes the most powerful lessons come from figures whose time period seems distant but whose human experiences—courage, creativity, resilience, moral choices—resonate across centuries.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Even well-intentioned educators can fall into certain traps when selecting historical figures. Being aware of these common pitfalls will help you make better choices for your students.

The “Heroes and Holidays” Approach:Educational texts may use a “heroes and holiday” approach in recognizing different heritages, focusing on celebrations and historical figures. This limits diverse figures to special occasions rather than integrating them throughout your curriculum. Avoid relegating women to March, African Americans to February, and other groups to their designated months. Diverse representation should be woven throughout the entire year.

Oversimplification: Creating sanitized, one-dimensional portraits of historical figures does students a disservice. While age-appropriate presentation is important, resist the urge to erase all complexity. Even young students can understand that people make both good and bad choices.

Tokenism: Including a single woman or person of color in your curriculum doesn’t constitute diverse representation. Look for multiple figures from various backgrounds representing different time periods, contributions, and perspectives.

Presentism: Judging historical figures entirely by contemporary moral standards without considering their historical context can be problematic. Judging them by current moral guidelines is necessary because even though they are figures of the past, celebrating them occurs in the present. Thus, our expectations for them must be based on contemporary values. The key is balancing historical context with honest examination of actions and their consequences.

Assuming Prior Knowledge: Don’t assume students already know the basics about even famous figures. What seems obvious to adults may be completely new information for students. Build foundational knowledge before diving into complex analysis.

Neglecting Primary Sources: Relying solely on textbook summaries or secondary sources limits students’ engagement and understanding. Whenever possible, include primary source materials that bring historical figures to life in authentic ways.

Ignoring Local History: While famous national or international figures certainly deserve attention, don’t overlook local historical figures who made important contributions to your community. These individuals often feel more accessible and relevant to students.

Practical Selection Strategies

Now that you understand the criteria for selecting historical figures, here are practical strategies to help you make informed choices for your specific classroom context.

Create a Diverse Database: Develop a running list of historical figures you might teach, organized by time period, field of contribution, demographic information, and curriculum connections. This resource will grow over time and help you ensure diversity across your entire curriculum rather than making isolated decisions.

Audit Your Current Curriculum: Review the historical figures you currently teach. What patterns do you notice? Are certain groups overrepresented while others are absent? Do you teach more political figures than scientists or artists? This audit will reveal gaps you can address.

Seek Student Input: Especially with older students, involve them in the selection process. Provide options that meet your learning objectives and let students vote on which figures to study. This investment increases engagement and gives you insight into what resonates with your particular students.

Consult Colleagues and Experts: Tap into your professional network for recommendations. Which figures have worked well in similar classrooms? Are there emerging names that deserve attention? Subject matter experts, librarians, and museum educators can offer valuable suggestions.

Use Thematic Connections: Rather than selecting figures in isolation, look for thematic connections that create a coherent narrative. For example, a unit on innovation might include Thomas Edison, Mae Jemison, Steve Jobs, and Grace Hopper, representing different time periods, backgrounds, and fields.

Plan Across Grade Levels: If possible, coordinate with teachers at other grade levels to ensure students encounter a progressive deepening of knowledge without excessive repetition. A figure introduced in elementary school can be revisited in middle school with more nuance and complexity.

Start Small: You don’t need to overhaul your entire curriculum at once. Begin by replacing one familiar figure with someone who brings new diversity or perspective. As you develop resources and confidence, continue expanding your repertoire.

Document Your Resources: When you find excellent materials about a historical figure, save and organize them for future use. Create a filing system (physical or digital) that makes it easy to access these resources when planning lessons.

Leveraging Technology to Enhance Historical Figure Lessons

Modern technology offers unprecedented opportunities to bring historical figures to life in your classroom. From accessing primary sources in digital archives to creating interactive learning experiences, technology can amplify the impact of your carefully selected figures.

Digital archives from institutions like the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, and the National Archives provide access to primary sources that were once difficult to obtain. Students can examine letters, photographs, speeches, and artifacts from historical figures without leaving the classroom.

Virtual field trips allow students to visit historical sites, museums, and exhibits related to the figures you’re studying. Many institutions now offer free online tours and educational programs that enhance understanding of historical contexts.

But beyond consuming existing digital resources, you can create custom learning experiences tailored to your students’ specific needs and your curriculum objectives. This is where platforms like Estha become invaluable tools for educators.

Imagine creating an AI-powered chatbot that allows students to “interview” the historical figure they’re studying. Students could ask questions and receive responses based on the figure’s actual writings, speeches, and documented perspectives. Or develop an interactive quiz that adapts to each student’s knowledge level, providing personalized learning paths through the figure’s life and contributions.

You could build an expert advisor AI that helps students analyze primary sources related to your chosen historical figure, offering context and guiding questions that deepen comprehension. These custom AI applications can reflect your teaching style, align perfectly with your learning objectives, and address your students’ specific needs in ways that generic educational software cannot.

The beauty of these technology-enhanced approaches is that they don’t require coding knowledge or technical expertise. With user-friendly platforms, educators can focus on their pedagogical goals while the technology handles the technical implementation. You can create these resources once and use them year after year, refining and improving them based on student feedback and outcomes.

Technology also enables you to include historical figures who might otherwise be difficult to teach due to limited traditional resources. If you discover a historically significant, diverse figure but struggle to find age-appropriate materials, you can create your own interactive content, virtual exhibitions, or multimedia presentations.

When you combine thoughtful selection of historical figures with innovative technology integration, you create learning experiences that are engaging, personalized, and deeply impactful. Students don’t just learn about history—they interact with it, question it, and make personal connections that transform their understanding.

Bringing It All Together

Selecting the right historical figure for your lesson is both an art and a science. It requires balancing multiple considerations: curriculum alignment, age-appropriateness, diversity, historical significance, resource availability, student engagement, complexity, and contemporary relevance.

The process might seem daunting at first, but with practice, these considerations will become second nature. You’ll develop an instinct for which figures will resonate with your particular students, which stories need to be told, and which perspectives have been overlooked for too long.

Remember that perfection isn’t the goal. No single historical figure will check every box or appeal to every student. What matters is the overall diversity and quality of the figures you present across your curriculum. Each choice should contribute to a rich, nuanced tapestry that helps students understand the complexity of human history and see themselves as part of that ongoing story.

As you make these selections, keep your students at the center of your decision-making. Who will inspire them? Who will challenge them? Who will help them see new possibilities for their own lives? The historical figures you choose today may influence how your students understand themselves, their world, and their potential to shape the future.

Teaching history is about more than transmitting information about the past. It’s about empowering students to think critically, understand diverse perspectives, and recognize their own agency in creating the future. The historical figures you select are the companions on that journey, the mentors and examples that shape young minds and hearts.

Make those choices thoughtfully, seek out voices that have been marginalized, and don’t be afraid to go beyond the familiar names. Your students deserve to encounter the full richness of human history in all its diversity, complexity, and inspiration.

The historical figures you bring into your classroom carry tremendous power to shape how students see the world, themselves, and their potential. By applying the eight criteria outlined in this guide—curriculum alignment, age-appropriateness, diversity, historical significance, resource availability, student connection, complexity, and contemporary relevance—you can make informed selections that create meaningful learning experiences.

Start by auditing your current curriculum to identify gaps in representation. Seek out diverse voices across gender, race, ethnicity, geography, and fields of contribution. Balance familiar names with lesser-known figures who offer fresh perspectives. Ensure your selections present nuanced, authentic portrayals that develop critical thinking rather than creating one-dimensional heroes.

Remember that technology can be your ally in this work. Whether you’re accessing digital archives of primary sources or creating custom AI-powered learning experiences, modern tools make it easier than ever to bring historical figures to life in engaging, personalized ways.

The effort you invest in thoughtfully selecting historical figures will pay dividends in student engagement, understanding, and inspiration. These aren’t just curriculum decisions—they’re opportunities to shape how the next generation understands human potential, values diverse contributions, and sees themselves as active participants in the ongoing story of history.