Help! – we’re under scrutiny for our poor results…
Last week the Historical Association was contacted by a history teacher member wanting help. The department they work in is under scrutiny for ‘poor’ results. The advice the department had been given was to differentiate all GCSE lessons into 3 or maybe 4 pathways. The department has mixed ability teaching groups with targets ranging from 2-8. They just knew this didn’t seem like a good … Continue reading Help! – we’re under scrutiny for our poor results…
HA Great Debate for Schools
This year’s HA Great Debate for Schools is “Should we judge historical figures by the morals of today?” The HA is really pleased to be organising this in partnership with BBC World Histories and the final will once again be at Windsor Castle. Before the final in March 2020 there are regional heats around the country and the info about these and all the other information … Continue reading HA Great Debate for Schools
What has the HA survey ever done for me?
Ever doubted that your contribution could make a difference? In this short blogpost, Katharine Burn explains how the HA survey was crucial to defeating the mad National Curriculum plan of 2013 – just ask an older colleague if you were not teaching then! The HA Survey window must end in the middle of October and this is a plea, if you have not yet had … Continue reading What has the HA survey ever done for me?
Teaching interpretations – maximising potential and avoiding pitfalls!
Thanks to Warren Valentine (@warrenvalentine), head of history and politics at Mayfield Grammar School for Girls, for this blogpost about a day spent thinking about the teaching of historical interpretations. This is an area that has been extensively discussed and theorised about for many years. You can find more help with this tricky concept on the HA website. In June a collection of history teachers … Continue reading Teaching interpretations – maximising potential and avoiding pitfalls!
Free 20thC Britain timeline
Sometimes on #OBHD we get the chance to share quality resources that colleagues have made. Thanks to Mary Brown (@MissBHist) for this one: C20th overview card sort C20th overview glossary It’s designed to address the themes of: conflict, empire, ideas and beliefs, migration, everyday life and power across the century. It’s been planned for one lesson and every image/event covers more that one of … Continue reading Free 20thC Britain timeline
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’
Making sense of the past: history curriculum and the education inspection framework
Thanks to Heather Fearn, Inspector Curriculum and Professional Development Lead, Ofsted for this blogpost… What images come into your head when I say the word ‘Egyptians’? Probably multiple thoughts and ideas of pyramids, pharaohs and hieroglyphics. Or perhaps the word triggers more modern connotations? When I spoke at the Historical Association Annual Conference recently, as you might expect, I felt very assured of the audience’s … Continue reading Making sense of the past: history curriculum and the education inspection framework
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
Historians: short film clips
There is currently lots of really good practice around the use of historians’ work in classrooms. Last weekend at SHP a few of us were talking about how useful it would be to have a list of short clips of historians in one place. This list has been started and is shared here as a Google-Doc that can be accessed, added to and improved. Google … Continue reading Historians: short film clips
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
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