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

Smartphones and Mirrors: using presentisms constructively in the classroom.

Here, Jessie Phillips, History Teacher at Sawston Village College, takes her thinking about presentism in the history classroom further. She points out that this tendency to interpret the past through present values and concepts is used by historians as a conceptual scaffold. She challenges us to think about how presentism can help pupils make their own meanings out of history. She builds on David Armitage’s … Continue reading Smartphones and Mirrors: using presentisms constructively in the classroom.

Stacking the Scholarship Shelf

Thanks to Simon Beale (@SPBeale), Associate Assistant Headteacher and Subject Lead of History & Politics at Vyners School, for this blogpost. Simon is a co-founder of @historybookgrp. I have just returned from Bristol and the 2022 Historical Association national conference. It was my first time attending the event and I was blown away at the wealth of expertise being shared by and with the history … Continue reading Stacking the Scholarship Shelf

1381 HATF: it’s good to talk!

Thanks to David Ingledew (@ingledew_j) for this blogpost reflecting on the powerful way that a HATF enables history teachers and teacher educators to learn from academic historians. On my way home from the Historical Association’s People of 1381 Teacher Fellowship programme residential at Mansfield College, Oxford, I was reminded of the mid-1990s advert for BT fronted by Oscar nominated actor Bob Hoskins. In a series … Continue reading 1381 HATF: it’s good to talk!

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

Enriching history in a time of Covid

History teachers have pulled off incredible feats since the start of 2021 and are pulling together to get better at helping pupils to get better at history despite the ongoing pandemic disruption. #disthist has been useful for gathering ideas into one place in the twittersphere, the @histassoc remote learning hubs are available and @TMHistoryIcons held a really well-timed distance learning day that was so supportive. … Continue reading Enriching history in a time of Covid

The importance of reading

Thanks to Anne Hooper of Secondary Committee for delving back into those Teaching History archives again. Here she learns more about the very topical matter of reading in the history curriculum from the history teaching past.  In a recent ResearchEd talk Clare Sealy talked passionately about the importance of reading in the curriculum. In recent years we have seen a renaissance regarding the importance of … Continue reading The importance of reading

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

Pearls of Wisdom from TH Journal 111

Thanks to Anne Hooper (@Hoops752), Lead Practitioner in History at Sandhurst School and member of HA Secondary Committee, for this reflection on Teaching History 111. Anne continues our series of looking back in the archives and reflecting on what colleagues have written that we can learn from today.  As a history teaching community, we are in exciting times regarding reading and scholarship. The History Teachers’ … Continue reading Pearls of Wisdom from TH Journal 111

Bridging from Y6 to Y7 – transitional history

Thanks to Andrew Sweet, Head of Humanities at Millfield School, for this blogpost in which he shares practical ideas for Year 6 to Year 7 transition and reminds us that we can set high expectations.   Planning for September! Where do we begin? The variables are considerable and quite daunting right now. The possibilities of teaching remotely or in a socially distanced classroom are hard to … Continue reading Bridging from Y6 to Y7 – transitional history