Raise your voice for subject specific ITE!

Thanks for this blogpost to Martyn Bajkowski who is Head of History at Pleckgate School and a member of the HA’s Secondary Committee. To set out my stall from the start, I am really concerned with the lack of a subject specific focus that I am witnessing in some initial teacher education. I am finding that some pre-service teachers I encounter or observe are not … Continue reading Raise your voice for subject specific ITE!

Helping Y12 tackle the NEA

Thanks to Sally Burnham for this blogpost. Sally is a history teacher at Carres Grammar School, history tutor at the University of Nottingham and incoming chair of the HA Secondary Committee. Here she shares her depth of experience of supporting A Level students to successfully complete the NEA. I love the History NEA! To me, the NEA is the part of the A Level course … Continue reading Helping Y12 tackle the NEA

5 years’ on from ‘Britain and Transatlantic Slavery’: lessons learned and next steps

In 2018, Abdul Mohamud and Robin Whitburn (Justice2History) wrote a blogpost for OBHD entitled ‘Rethinking how we teach about transatlantic slavery’ as they were preparing for the HA Teacher Fellowship ‘Britain and Transatlantic Slavery’. In this blogpost Abdul, history teacher and now working on his PHd as part of the Empire, Migration and Belonging project, returns to the topic to reflect on what we have … Continue reading 5 years’ on from ‘Britain and Transatlantic Slavery’: lessons learned and next steps

Wisdom from Prof Terry Haydn

This very short blogpost is written by Helen Snelson, Chair of Secondary Committee. Having taught history and worked with beginning history teachers for quite a long time, I realise that sometimes it is useful simply to pass on knowledge of something that people might not have come across. Let me do that now with the teaching website of Professor Terry Haydn, Fellow of the HA. … Continue reading Wisdom from Prof Terry Haydn

Bringing the Black Tudors to Life Through an Interdisciplinary Approach

Alex Fairlamb (@LambHeartTea) is a Senior Leader in charge of Teaching and Learning and CPD, based in the North East, and also a member of the Historical Association Secondary Committee and the Schools North East Steering Board. The publication of Miranda Kaufmann’s ‘Black Tudors: The Untold Story’ had a profound effect, not only my teaching, but on many other educators’ teaching too.  ‘The Tudors’ is … Continue reading Bringing the Black Tudors to Life Through an Interdisciplinary Approach

Planning enquiries: five rules of thumb

Thanks to Mike Hill, Head of History, Ark Soane Academy, and a member of HA Secondary Committee, for this blogpost to help with the planning of enquiries. Over the last term, I planned seven new enquiries and I am currently working on an eighth. I feel out of breath typing this. Planning these enquiries has sometimes felt like trial by ordeal, but it’s also been … Continue reading Planning enquiries: five rules of thumb

The power and potential of Pratchett (for your History curriculum)

Thanks to Gemma Hargraves, deputy head of the Crypt School, Gloucester, and member of Secondary Committee for this blogpost focused on building students’ sense of period and place to help them imagine a past world with joy. With the increasing prominence of stories in history education, I wanted to make the case for the inclusion of one of Terry Pratchett’s stories in a KS3 curriculum. … Continue reading The power and potential of Pratchett (for your History curriculum)

Making sure your first history post is the right post

Thanks to Simon Harrison, headteacher of Crofton School in Hampshire and member of HA Secondary Committee, for this blogpost. This post is specifically for people aiming to secure their first history teaching post in 2024. Getting your first teaching post is a big step, one many trainees will be looking to take in the next few months.  However, in truth the recruitment crisis in teaching … Continue reading Making sure your first history post is the right post

Using Artificial Intelligence to support history teaching

Thanks to Will Bailey-Watson, University of Reading history PGCE and member of HA Secondary Committee, for sharing his initial explorations of AI to support history teaching. Hopefully this will help to start a discussion about AI and history teaching. We’d love to hear from you! Artificial Intelligence (AI) is clearly going to change the world. It probably already has done in ways I don’t know. … Continue reading Using Artificial Intelligence to support history teaching

You might want to rethink your teaching of 1381!

Thanks to the teachers and academics of the HA Fellowship ‘The People of 1381’, the resources have now started to go ‘live’. Here is a short introduction and links to the resources. Downloadable classroom resources with teacher guidance Support for teacher knowledge, curriculum and teaching ideas The importance of The People of 1381 Why make time for the people of 1381 in a crowded curriculum? … Continue reading You might want to rethink your teaching of 1381!