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Move Me On 132: Already the best teacher in the department
Teaching History feature
This issue's problem: Phyllis Wheatley already seems to be the most effective teacher in the department. How can her mentor ensure that she goes on learning?
Phyllis Wheatley is several weeks into her second placement and her mentor, Selina, is acutely aware of how impressive her teaching is already. A degree in...
Move Me On 132: Already the best teacher in the department
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Cunning Plan 94: Study Unit 2: Crowns, Parliaments and Peoples, 1500-1750
Article
Flesh and blood people bring history to life. Capture the interest of our Year 8 pupils by making sure they engage with human dilemmas and dangers. A focus on individual people as the starting point for enquiries helps pupils to tackle the ‘big' stories (overviews) and difficult concepts.
Cunning Plan 94: Study Unit 2: Crowns, Parliaments and Peoples, 1500-1750
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Move Me On 92: Having problems teaching causation
The problem page for history mentors
This Issue's Problem: Melville Miles, student history teacher, is in Term 3 of his PGCE year. Melville has taught a number of excellent lessons in which he enabled pupils to reach high levels of historical understanding. His diagnostic assessment of pupils' work is unusually sophisticated for a PGCE student. Melville's...
Move Me On 92: Having problems teaching causation
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Move Me On 91: work with historical sources lacks focus
The problem page for history mentors
Problem: Mike Jones, student history teacher, is half-way through his PGCE year. He is making unusually good progress in his knowledge, understanding and practice with regard to the use of sources in history. He also appears to have no difficulty with classroom management and relationships with pupils. He easily creates...
Move Me On 91: work with historical sources lacks focus
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Do smile before Christmas: the NQT Year
Teaching History article
Lucy Russell challenges the ancient wisdom passed down to new teachers. Addressing issues of relationships with pupils, the demands of historical learning and the new teacher's personality and integrity, she advises taking a thoroughly positive, and ambitious, view of the NQT year. NQTs should aim to move historical learning forwards....
Do smile before Christmas: the NQT Year
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Cunning Plan 105: Crusades enquiry
Teaching History feature
Jamie Byrom’s article ‘Using a concluding enquiry to reinforce and assess earlier learning’ (TH 99) offered a practical solution both to weak knowledge acquisition in Year 7 and to effective, worthwhile assessment. This enquiry follows the same model. The assumption is that pupils would be carrying out this enquiry at...
Cunning Plan 105: Crusades enquiry
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Cunning Plan 103: why did Henry VIII marry so many times?
Teaching History feature
This enquiry sequence was inspired by an Historical Association lecture given last year by Susan Doran entitled, ‘Why did Elizabeth I not marry?’ Through its 14-19 conferences, sections of this journal and local branch activity, the Historical Association has started to secure stronger connection between up-to-date historical scholarship and classroom...
Cunning Plan 103: why did Henry VIII marry so many times?
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Online CPD Unit: Creativity in the History Classroom
E-CPD
Oh no - not more extended writing! Firing pupil motivation through creative tasking.
This E-CPD unit considers the issues departments needs to consider in planning for both challenging and engaging history.
The example of teaching below comes from the Historical Association Key Stage 2-3 History transition project website (2005). The...
Online CPD Unit: Creativity in the History Classroom
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Move Me On 131: Mentor struggling to help trainee learn to plan independently
Teaching History feature
Richard Baxter's mentor is struggling to know how to help him plan independently.
Richard Baxter is a relatively young trainee with a background in ancient history. He came to the PGCE course straight after completing his undergraduate degree, and is aware of his relative youth as well as what he...
Move Me On 131: Mentor struggling to help trainee learn to plan independently
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Beyond Multiple Choice: Questions and Answers, Pedagogy and Technology in the History classroom
E-CPD
*This unit was produced a number of years ago and whilst still relevant from the pedagogy side of things many of the ICT aspects are outdated.
Interactivity: A Grail-like QuestIn recent years the buzzword in many sectors, whether it be business, communications, entertainment or education, has been interactivity. One of...
Beyond Multiple Choice: Questions and Answers, Pedagogy and Technology in the History classroom
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Move Me On 130: How to generate class discussion
Teaching History feature
This Issue's Problem: Dot Bradford would love to generate much more productive small group talk and worthwhile class discussion but can't work out how to manage it.
Dot came to the PGCE straight from a history degree and was originally inspired by approaches quite different from her own school experience....
Move Me On 130: How to generate class discussion
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The T.E.A.C.H. Project
A Report from The Historical Association on the Challenges and Opportunities for Teaching Emotive and Controversial History 3-19
The report look at approaches that enable teachers to tackle these issues in ordinary lessons through rigorous and engaging teaching while at the same time challenging discrimination and prejudice.
The T.E.A.C.H. Project
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Move Me On 128: Assessment without Levels
Teaching History feature
This Issue's Problem: Meg Dawson is keen to find ways of recognising and recording students’ progress and achievements without resorting to ‘levels’.
Move Me On 128: Assessment without Levels
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Move Me On 127: Using PowerPoint as anything more than glorified chalk and talk
Teaching History feature
This Issue's Problem: Nat Turner is feeling confused and aggrieved about what is expected of him in using ICT in his teaching.
Move Me On 127: Using PowerPoint as anything more than glorified chalk and talk
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Cunning Plan 127: Abolitionist icons
Teaching History feature
What makes someone an Icon? A cunning plan to explore the relative significance of individuals involved in abolishing the slave trade.
Cunning Plan 127: Abolitionist icons
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The use and abuse of a history researcher in residence
Article
The Researcher in Residence scheme, funded through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), brings together researchers and teachers by getting doctoral students into schools. Will Pettigrew, an expert on the Atlantic Slave trade and DPhil student at Lincoln College, Oxford worked with students and staff from the History Department...
The use and abuse of a history researcher in residence
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Move Me On 125: Lack of conceptual clarity
Teaching History feature
This Issue's Problem: Steve Cloye is over half way through his first main teaching placement and has been struggling with the PGCE. His degree was in American Studies, and although this included American history he lacks confidence in his subject knowledge, and particularly in his understanding of the nature of the...
Move Me On 125: Lack of conceptual clarity
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Move Me On 126: Setting worthwhile homework
Teaching History feature
Val Messalina is a lively and engaging young student teacher who has come straight to the PGCE course after completing her history degree. She has made a positive start to teaching but is quite nervous and tends to look for very clear guidance and support. She is now half way...
Move Me On 126: Setting worthwhile homework
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Move Me On 124: Teaching local history
Teaching History feature
This Issue's problem: Lucy Hutchinson is finding it difficult to teach local history well. Now her new mentor has asked her to plan a local history dimension into the 1750-1900 scheme of work.
Move Me On 124: Teaching local history
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Cunning Plan 102.1: teaching decolonisation and the end of apartheid
Article
Cunning Plan for teaching decolonisation and the end of apartheid to 13 and 14 year-olds. The rationale behind this teaching unit is manifold: first, it takes away the idea in the children’s minds that all that happened in the twentieth century is world war. Second, it is designed to appeal...
Cunning Plan 102.1: teaching decolonisation and the end of apartheid
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Cunning Plan 107: the big idea of Freedom
Teaching History feature
Big ideas, making connections, citizenship, thinking skills. We were nothing if not ambitious in our planning for this unit for a lower attaining Year 8 group at Langley School in Solihull. Having identified the big ideas which could underpin a dialogue between history and citizenship and make the connections between...
Cunning Plan 107: the big idea of Freedom
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Cunning Plan 114: building overview understanding of 19th-century social history
Teaching History feature
This five-lesson sequence gradually builds overview understanding of aspects of 19th century social history through a depth study of the campaigner and reformer, Josephine Butler. Through the sequence, pupils build on earlier work on historical significance, first, by reviewing their understanding of the huge range of reasons why things get...
Cunning Plan 114: building overview understanding of 19th-century social history
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Move Me On 115: the class already know all about WW1
Teaching History feature
This Issue's Problem: Vera is worried that her Year 9 class already know all about World War One.
Move Me On 115: the class already know all about WW1
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Cunning Plan 123: planning a school trip
Teaching History journal feature
School trips are a fantastic opportunity for learning, but they must be planned tightly. Each trip must be carefully justified – what will the students learn which they cannot learn in school? Is this sufficient to justify them (and you) having a day out of the classroom? Does the trip...
Cunning Plan 123: planning a school trip
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Move Me On 113: Getting pupils to really care about what happened in the past
Teaching History feature
This Issue's Problem: Ronnie Wedgewood is struggling to get pupils really to care about what happened in the past.
Move Me On 113: Getting pupils to really care about what happened in the past
