Absent from your curriculum?

The HA Secondary Committee want to support history teachers to be able to access the resources they need to make sure that people are not absent from their history curricula. As part of that effort, we will be drawing attention when we can, via this blog, to really good work being done. Nick Dennis is a Director of Studies and a member of the BAMEed … Continue reading Absent from your curriculum?

Closing the gap for disadvantaged students – can history lead the way?

How can History departments lead the way in closing the progress gap for disadvantaged students? The progress and attainment gaps for disadvantaged students are a source of much soul searching in our profession, and almost the only sure answer we have is that there is no easy solution. However, despite the stubborn and depressing national picture, I can testify from my own experience that there … Continue reading Closing the gap for disadvantaged students – can history lead the way?

Teaching beyond Europe, the less trod path…

Happy New Year! May 2019 be kind and also full of really effective and inspiring history teaching – including of more diverse pasts! The Historical Association has welcomed the Royal Historical Society’s 2018 ‘Race, Ethnicity and Equality’ report that highlights the need for greater diversity in UK History and is committed to helping school history teachers to teach about a more diverse past. At the … Continue reading Teaching beyond Europe, the less trod path…

A guide to historical enquiry questions in action

A few weeks ago Christine Counsell (@Counsell-C) gave the benefit of her wisdom and her encyclopedic knowledge of Teaching History articles to all of us seeking to understand the role of the historical enquiry question in great history teaching. In case you missed it on @twitter, here it is reproduced with links to the articles…  In @histassoc TH articles, I’m not sure you want articles … Continue reading A guide to historical enquiry questions in action

Women’s Suffrage Resources launched

Really exciting launch today of a project between the Historical Association and the Association for Citizenship Teaching with support from the Government Equalities Office and Cabinet Office. Check out this new website for a database of over 3000 people who campaigned for the vote. There are also fully resourced history enquiries and citizenship activities.  Plus, there are podcasts, films, case studies and articles to support teacher … Continue reading Women’s Suffrage Resources launched

Lessons learned: how are we changing our teaching in light of the first cohort of GCSE results?

In this blogpost a very experienced history teacher shares with us how her department are reshaping KS3 in the light of the first 1-9 GCSE results.  Once we had completed the mammoth two-year task of planning and teaching for the new History GCSE we awaited the results with nervous apprehension. Had we understood the spec? Had we used teaching techniques that had helped our students … Continue reading Lessons learned: how are we changing our teaching in light of the first cohort of GCSE results?

FREE Religion in Elizabethan England macro inspired by a recent Teaching History article

Thanks to Vicky Bettney (@missvichistory) for sharing with us her macro on Religion in Elizabethan England. Vicky was inspired by reading an article by Hugh Richards (@MisterHistry) in the recent Teaching History 172. Hugh writes about his department’s thinking and work to develop their enquiries at Key Stage Three. They have found that using a ‘macro-micro’ approach has helped students to retain the bigger picture … Continue reading FREE Religion in Elizabethan England macro inspired by a recent Teaching History article

Black history resource shared for easy adaptation!

Zara Daswani (@DaswaniZara) is an ITE trainee and is currently on placement in a rural school run by a major northern academy chain. She volunteered to take on a Black History Month initiative for her placement department. They were delighted with it and she has kindly agreed to share her work so we can all use it. Zara enthused her students to research and prepare … Continue reading Black history resource shared for easy adaptation!

Memory palaces – the ancient idea that could be the future of history teaching?

Trying to help your students to learn all that ‘stuff’ for GCSE? Here’s a great idea from Ben Taylor (@BenTaylor_CSS) … The memory palace technique originated in Ancient Greece and has endured down the centuries. Yet recently it has been made to seem beyond ordinary folk due to its use by Sherlock in the BBC series. Nothing could be further from the truth; it is … Continue reading Memory palaces – the ancient idea that could be the future of history teaching?

Black Tudors – part 1

On the 29th September a group of us met to discuss ways in which we might develop Miranda Kaufmann’s book Black Tudors for classroom use. We are really keen to share this work with everyone to help provide useful resources. BLACK TUDORS tells the stories of ten Africans. The book traces their paths through the Tudor era revealing rich detail about their daily lives and showing … Continue reading Black Tudors – part 1