Making History Accessible – a new initiative from the HA Secondary Committee

‘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

Gained time = curriculum time

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

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!

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

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

How do you get A Level History students to read?

Thanks to Sally Burnham, History teacher and Lead Practitioner, Lincolnshire, and member of Secondary Committee for this blogpost drawn from her experience of a Covid change that has been worth keeping. How do you get A Level History students to read? This was an age old problem for me. I know how important it is for students to be reading historians’ work both to deepen … Continue reading How do you get A Level History students to read?

Active history to make history memorable and accessible

This blogpost accompanies the launch of a new webpage on the HA website. The ‘knowledge turn’ of recent years has been very welcome in many ways. There is inspiring work and success in evidence across the country in relation to developing coherent curricula. There are wonderful examples of historical enquiry and the use of historical narratives weaving disciplinary and substantive knowledge effectively. And yet, there … Continue reading Active history to make history memorable and accessible

What are the challenges of teaching a diverse and representative history curriculum in a rural school?

Thanks to Katie Hopwood for this blogpost. Katie is an ECT at Bishop Young Academy in Leeds. Last year she did her PGCE with the University of York. When starting my second placement of PGCE year, I knew that my second school would be quite different from my first. I had moved from a large inner city religious school to a rural school. As part … Continue reading What are the challenges of teaching a diverse and representative history curriculum in a rural school?