Why this? Why now?

Richard Kennett gave the keynote at the first HA North West forum at the end of January. He has turned his talk into this blogpost so more of us can benefit from his thinking about curriculum.  This blogpost is unashamedly about curriculum. Put simply, curriculum is what stuff we choose to teach. It is not the HOW we teach it. That’s pedagogy. It is not … Continue reading Why this? Why now?

“The curriculum garden…

… In which I was inspired by Ruth Lingard’s post to take Michael Riley’s analogy way too far!” As someone with responsibility for the History curriculum at my school, I often worry about the quality of what we do. This is no false modesty, there are aspects of our curriculum that really aren’t that good. Michael Riley’s conceptualisation of curriculum as a garden continues to … Continue reading “The curriculum garden…

‘We hear your voices too!’ – shared resources

Last week the History Department at Abbey School (@theabbey_hist) posted some images on Twitter. They have generously agreed to share these. With the theme ‘We hear your voices too!’ they have adapted famous images to bring forward the people in the pictures whose voices are less often heard from the past. Have a look, the effect is fantastic. Used as a display, they make a … Continue reading ‘We hear your voices too!’ – shared resources

Why should I include local History in my curriculum?

Thanks to Sally Burnham (@salburnham), SHP fellow, HA Secondary Committee member, history teacher in Lincolnshire and PGCE tutor at Nottingham University, for this blogpost. Sally reminds us of the importance of teaching local history and gives lots of top tips for including it across the key stages.    When their eyes light up and they exclaim; ‘What? That really happened here, Miss?’ I smile to … Continue reading Why should I include local History in my curriculum?

What to do with mock exams – part 2

Thanks to Martyn Bajkowski, Head of History at Pleckgate High School and a member of HA Secondary Committee for continuing this series of three blogposts to help us to make the best possible use of mock exams.  Stage 2 – After their exam Standardisation After students have sat their examination it is important to get hold a range of answers but I would suggest no … Continue reading What to do with mock exams – part 2

What to do with mock exams – part 1

Thanks to Martyn Bajkowski, Head of History at Pleckgate High School and a member of HA Secondary Committee for this, the first of a series of three blogposts to help us to make the best possible use of mock exams.  The Year 11 Mock Exam Season has hit.  Whether your school does one, two or even three sittings of examinations I wanted to share what … Continue reading What to do with mock exams – part 1

The History Teachers’ Book Club

As our final blogpost of the year we are really pleased to celebrate the great initiative that is ‘The History Teachers’ Book Club’. Lots of colleagues have been enjoying the collegiality of developing their subject knowledge this way. Thanks to Simon Beale, Andrew Sweet and Anne Hooper for this ‘History of the History Teachers’ Book Club’…. Talking (book) shop It was an idea that developed … Continue reading The History Teachers’ Book Club

Spice up your sources!

This short blogpost is to draw your attention to source collections being produced by EUROCLIO on their Historiana website. The HA is a founding member of EUROCLIO – the European Network of History Educators. They exist to support and promote high quality history education in Europe and beyond. Richard Kennett and Helen Snelson are currently the HA’s reps and Rich has written a previous blogpost … Continue reading Spice up your sources!

Redressing the balance: trying to make Post-16 history a bit more representative

Thanks to Richard Kennett (@kenradical) for this post. Richard has taken up the challenge of Susanna Boyd in Teaching History 175 and been inspired by Claire Hollis (@CitoyenneClaire) to teach better history at A Level. Last year I read two articles that really made me reflect on my teaching. The first was Susanna Boyd’s superb Teaching History article  ‘How should women’s history be included at … Continue reading Redressing the balance: trying to make Post-16 history a bit more representative

An honest view of the curriculum planning process

Ruth Lingard (@YorkClio), a member of Secondary Committee and Head of History at Millthorpe School in York, gives us a refreshingly honest view on curriculum development. It can be easy to get the impression on social media that everything those who post do is marvellous. Ruth takes the long view and thinks about why her department lost track of a coherent curriculum and, at the … Continue reading An honest view of the curriculum planning process