Newly Qualified Teachers, historical subject and conceptual knowledge

Please note: This article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references may be outdated.

During the autumn term 2008 I covered World War I as an example of how to attempt a cross curricular project at KS 2 [7-11 age range] with Newly Qualified Teacher Status [QTS] students. During my teaching I tried to develop their thinking on two essential historical elements: subject/conceptual knowledge and working through sources and evidence - namely oral history, photographs, film and artefacts. In the project described below I interviewed school pupils to see what they had learned from Sarah teaching them about World War I using similar, if not identical, subject knowledge to that I had taught my QTS students.

The ‘case' below illuminates major, serious issues about teacher training and professional development that need to be urgently addressed if the post-2010 primary curriculum is to be taught effectively. Such ‘cases' are essential elements in the development of professional knowledge...