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…

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

Revisiting Chartism: The importance of teaching about the ‘Black Man and his Party’

The Secondary Committee at the HA is keen to challenge and support all history teachers to teach about the rich and multi-faceted past. Gemma Hargraves (@History__Girls) has written this blogpost to help colleagues teaching Chartism. In it she provides some interpretations and ideas for resources. As she says: “this isn’t just about pupils seeing themselves in the narratives of the past; be they working class, black … Continue reading Revisiting Chartism: The importance of teaching about the ‘Black Man and his Party’

Women’s Suffrage: history and citizenship resources for schools

When the Historical Association invited me and several other teachers to design new schemes of work for the website, we had two new resources upon which to draw. The first was the new and exciting scholarship that had emerged to coincide with the centenary, including works like Jane Robinson’s Hearts and Minds and Fern Riddell’s Death in Ten Minutes; the second a database designed by … Continue reading Women’s Suffrage: history and citizenship resources for schools

Ringing the changes: the power of enquiry questions that both chime and resonate

Enquiry questions – the back story! Editors’ note: Thanks to Hugh Richards for organising all of us and co-ordinating this post. His lovely tables had to be posted as screen-shots. The Word Doc of the same material is here: Enquiry Questions Continue reading Ringing the changes: the power of enquiry questions that both chime and resonate

History teachers’ sources of support – part 3 – TMHistoryIcons

Thanks to Alex Fairlamb and Andrew Sweet for this blogpost about the wonderful TMHistoryIcons. What a superb example of subject specialist community in action and the next in our series of blogposts about sources of support for history teachers: History and history teachers are at the heart of TMHistoryIcons, a not for profit organisation, founded by Tom Rogers four years ago. The philosophy of the … Continue reading History teachers’ sources of support – part 3 – TMHistoryIcons

How undertaking a Teacher Fellowship could change your life – in teaching, at least!

Thanks to Louisa Dunn, Head of History, Westcliff High School for Girls, for writing this blogpost. She’s at @LouisaKDee (and says… “not that I am very active, but I am happy for people to contact me with questions etc.”) A new Historical Association Teacher Fellowship has just been announced on the Korean War and applications are open now .  I was lucky enough to be part … Continue reading How undertaking a Teacher Fellowship could change your life – in teaching, at least!

Exhausted and exhilarated! A personal reflection on HA Conference 2019

First-time conference attender and Chartered History Teacher Natalie Kesterton blogs about her HA conference experience. The drive across the Pennines was lovely and sunny; boding well for a great weekend in Chester; my first national HA conference and first time presenting. I went with the aim of ensuring my planning of the new KS3 curriculum is on the right track and of finding more ideas … Continue reading Exhausted and exhilarated! A personal reflection on HA Conference 2019

History teachers’ sources of support – part 2 – local history teacher networks

Continuing our celebration of sources of support for history teachers, this post takes up the theme of local networks. Thanks to Kate Smee, Director of Humanities at Fairfield High School, in the Bristol network for sharing with us how their network has supported her. Please let us know of other such networks so we can connect people to them, support them and inspire more.  Local … Continue reading History teachers’ sources of support – part 2 – local history teacher networks