By Meggie Hayes, History Teacher at The Crypt School in Gloucester. If you ask students what a ballad is today, they will go straight to the talents of Adele and Lewis Capaldi – perhaps some of the more cultured of the class will recite the greats of the 80s like Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. But these answers – whilst bangers – are … Continue reading The power of a ballad vs the power ballad
By Catherine Priggs Curricular coherence is a vital element of effective curriculum design. When a curriculum coheres, it unfolds as a logical narrative, ensuring that content is not a collection of isolated topics. In a coherent curriculum, topics are woven together through overarching ideas, reinforcing pupils’ chronological and conceptual understanding. So, what does curricular coherence look like in practice? The power of sequencing A vital … Continue reading Building a coherent history curriculum: why it matters and how to achieve it
In September 2024 the Department for Education launched a consultation on the curriculum asking for students, parents, teachers, employers, leaders and experts to share their thoughts on the current model and what a future curriculum could look like. The Historical Association is preparing a response and we wanted to ask you for your help in enabling your students to give their feedback to us on … Continue reading Curriculum Review 2024
This article is written by Philip Arkinstall, Curriculum Leader for History at Hardenhuish School. It compliments an earlier blog post about how to teach the Second World War (https://onebighistorydepartment.com/2023/04/25/cracking-the-enigma-a-new-approach-to-teaching-all-of-world-war-two/) Here I have reflected upon our department’s wider work on rewriting our Key Stage Three curriculum. It sits within a greater appreciation of diverse histories in the Tudor period, British Empire and the First World War. … Continue reading Diversifying the Second World War
On Wednesday 28th August our friend Helen Snelson sadly passed away in York surrounded by her family and friends. It’s normal after someone has died to list their achievements and praise their impact. With Helen this would be easy. But she would have hated it. She hated being singled out. She saw herself as part of a wider team and community. As a cog in … Continue reading Be More Helen
‘SEND’ is a vast topic that encompasses many needs. Added to that, there is a lot of general support for teachers from experts relating to specific needs. But what about specific support for teaching history? How can we make history lessons more accessible for all? The Secondary Committee has put together a new resource called ‘Making History Accessible‘ to help. Back in 2017, Richard Kerridge … Continue reading Making History Accessible – a new initiative from the HA Secondary Committee
Thanks to Catherine Priggs, member of HA Secondary Committee, and Geraint Brown, HA Fellow, for this blogpost on how to use time gained in the best possible way for your history curriculum. They provide practical help to guide you in a curriculum review process. Pupils on study leave? Exam season coming to an end? More non-contact time? Now is the perfect time to relax… and … Continue reading Gained time = curriculum time
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!
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
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
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