Introducing South Asian Heritage Month

Thanks to Sharon Aninakwa, member of HA Secondary Committee and Head of History at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls, for this blogpost inviting us to to engage with South Asian Heritage month next term. Sharon provides context, reasons why we should engage, and practical support to do so. In the history teaching community we are blessed to be able to bridge the gap between … Continue reading Introducing South Asian Heritage Month

New Podcast Series: Confronting Controversial History

Thanks to Jason Todd, Oxford University and HA Trustee, for this blogpost. Jason worked with Natasha Robinson and a team of contributers to create the podcast series ‘Confronting Controversial History’. Here, Jason explains the context to these podcasts and that they are intended to enable teachers to confidently engage with the topics and with further conversations about controversial histories. In October 2019 we organised a … Continue reading New Podcast Series: Confronting Controversial History

Decolonising Source Analysis and Introducing Sikh Female History to Year 9

Many thanks to Dr Danielle Donaldson, Head of Department, Concord College, Shrewsbury for this blogpost sharing her department’s work to extend the range of sources used in class and to teach the history of Sikh women. The curriculum intent & context We have been working on decolonising and integrating more representative history in our schemes of work at Concord College. Our enquiries are aimed to … Continue reading Decolonising Source Analysis and Introducing Sikh Female History to Year 9

Better history by working together!

Thanks to Martyn Bajowski and Hugh Richards for this blogpost. In it they share the process they went through to create resources … and share them! This story starts with Martyn Recently I posted the story of Sophia Duleep Singh on Twitter which I produced as a team effort with Hugh Richards. Hugh and I both thought it would be worthwhile going through the process … Continue reading Better history by working together!

Empire blogpost 3: the thorny issue of literacy when teaching the British Empire

Thanks to Richard Kennett for continuing his series of blogposts about teaching the British Empire… The difficulty of literacy and the teaching of the British Empire Teaching any historical topic is hard as it requires a lot of disciplinary vocabulary. Those pesky words that enlighten a subject, bring it to life and really allow you to get your teeth in. Revolution, peasant, autocratic, industrial, agricultural, … Continue reading Empire blogpost 3: the thorny issue of literacy when teaching the British Empire

Empire blogpost 2: visualising Empire a bit differently

Thanks to Richard Kennett, Assistant Headteacher at Gatehouse Green Trust in Bristol, HA Fellow and member of Secondary Committee, for this second post in his series about Empire. In my last blog I tried to suggest some practical ways to improve our teaching of Empire by focusing on asking different questions about Empire. In this blog I would like to continue with the same theme … Continue reading Empire blogpost 2: visualising Empire a bit differently

Empire blogpost 1: asking different questions about Empire

This blogpost is the first in a series written by Richard Kennett. He is a member of HA Secondary Committee, assistant headteacher in Bristol and co-author of the new MShed published book: “Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery”. Like many of you I have been thinking a lot about how we teach the British Empire this year. The Black Lives Matter protests and reflections that followed it … Continue reading Empire blogpost 1: asking different questions about Empire

What do we know? How do we know? What do they say? Knowledge for history teachers and students!

The name Richard Brown is probably unfamiliar to many people reading this blogpost. But Richard taught for many years, was an editor of Teaching History and is a Fellow of both the HA and the RHS. He has been creating websites for many years and the purpose of this blogpost is to make more history teachers aware of them. They are very much worth exploring … Continue reading What do we know? How do we know? What do they say? Knowledge for history teachers and students!

Decolonising the curriculum one step at a time: lessons on race in the early British Empire

In this blogpost, Jen Thornton (@jen_a_thornton), Head of History at Loreto Grammar School, shares her recent work to improve the history curriculum. Jen started by listening to students, she has gone back to the scholarship to gain the knowledge she needs, she has consulted and worked with colleagues, and she is clear that this is work in progress. Her description of this work and her … Continue reading Decolonising the curriculum one step at a time: lessons on race in the early British Empire

Teachers’ perspectives on teaching Black History

Thanks to Simon Beale, Associate Assistant Headteacher and Subject Leader of History & Politics, and co-founder of the History Teacher Book Club, for sharing the key findings of some teacher to teacher sampling that he did earlier this term. It raises interesting points to add to discussions about future work, as it gives a perspective from teachers about what they think will help them make a difference.  … Continue reading Teachers’ perspectives on teaching Black History