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Move Me On 180: feeling unprepared to start as NQT because of Covid-19
Teaching History feature
Una Marson had her training interrupted by school closures in response to Covid-19 and feels unprepared to start as an NQT.
Move Me On is designed to build critical, informed debate about the character of teacher training, teacher education and professional development. It is also designed to offer practical help to all...
Move Me On 180: feeling unprepared to start as NQT because of Covid-19
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Move Me On 179: Supporting new history teachers in a lockdown
The problem page for history mentors
This issue’s problem: The closure of school buildings (to most pupils) in March this year brought an abrupt end to the normal opportunities for history trainees’ learning in school.
Move Me On is designed to build critical, informed debate about the character of teacher training, teacher education and professional development. It...
Move Me On 179: Supporting new history teachers in a lockdown
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Move Me On 178: trainee sees all observation as assessment
The problem page for history mentors
Move Me On is designed to build critical, informed debate about the character of teacher training, teacher education and professional development. It is also designed to offer practical help to all involved in training new history teachers. Each issue presents a situation in initial teacher education/training with an emphasis upon...
Move Me On 178: trainee sees all observation as assessment
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Move Me On 133: Relying too much on teacher talk and alienating students
Teaching History feature
This Issue's problem: Margaret Cooper has struggled hard to realise her ambition to train to be a teacher but, now that she is taking responsibility for whole-class teaching, she is finding that her assumptions are being challenged and she is losing confidence...
Move Me On 133: Relying too much on teacher talk and alienating students
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Move Me on 177: using questioning effectively
The problem page for history mentors
This issue’s problem: Christine Pizan is struggling to use questioning effectively.
Move Me On is designed to build critical, informed debate about the character of teacher training, teacher education and professional development. It is also designed to offer practical help to all involved in training new history teachers. Each issue presents...
Move Me on 177: using questioning effectively
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Move Me On 176: worried about how to deal with his own dyslexia in the classroom
The problem page for history mentors
Move Me On is designed to build critical, informed debate about the character of teacher training, teacher education and professional development. It is also designed to offer practical help to all involved in training new history teachers. Each issue presents a situation in initial teacher education/training with an emphasis upon...
Move Me On 176: worried about how to deal with his own dyslexia in the classroom
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Cunning Plan 174: creating a narrative of the interwar years
Teaching History feature
The major aim of this sequence of lessons was to teach Year 8 how to create and refine a narrative. I chose a period I was substantively confident on, which lent itself well to the narrative form, had a number of prominent academic narratives published about it and followed neatly...
Cunning Plan 174: creating a narrative of the interwar years
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Move Me On 174: Not doing all the thinking for the students
The problem page for history mentors
This issue’s problem: Alex Spotswood finds that the activities that he devises tend to involve him, rather than his students, doing all the real thinking and processing of information.
Alex Spotswood is well established in his main placement and has taken responsibility for regular GCSE and Key Stage 3 teaching. He is highly...
Move Me On 174: Not doing all the thinking for the students
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New, Novice or Nervous? 173: including BME history in the curriculum
The quick guide to the ‘no-quick-fix’
This page is for those new to the published writings of history teachers. Each problem you wrestle with, other teachers have wrestled with too. Quick fixes don’t exist. But in others’ writing, you’ll find something better: conversations in which history teachers have debated or tackled your problems – conversations which any history teacher...
New, Novice or Nervous? 173: including BME history in the curriculum
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Cunning Plan 173: using Black Tudors as a window into Tudor England
Teaching History journal feature
On 29 September 2018 I was fortunate enough to get involved with a collaborative project with Dr Miranda Kaufmann, the Historical Association, Schools History Project, and a brilliant group of people from different backgrounds all committed to teaching about black Tudors. In this short piece, I will share how I...
Cunning Plan 173: using Black Tudors as a window into Tudor England
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New, Novice or Nervous? 172: Curriculum planning
Teaching History feature: the quick guide to the ‘no-quick-fix’
This page is for those new to the published writings of history teachers. Each problem you wrestle with, other teachers have wrestled with too. Quick fixes don’t exist. But in others’ writing, you’ll find something better: conversations in which history teachers have debated or tackled your problems – conversations which...
New, Novice or Nervous? 172: Curriculum planning
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Children's ideas about school history and why they matter
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Richard Harris and Terry Haydn recently carried out research funded by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority into pupils' views and beliefs about history. Whilst the overall results were very encouraging (and more so than earlier,...
Children's ideas about school history and why they matter
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New, Novice or Nervous? 169: Developing a sense of place
Journal article
This page is for those new to the published writings of history teachers. Each problem you wrestle with, other teachers have wrestled with too. Quick fixes don’t exist. But in others’ writing, you’ll soon find something better: conversations in which other history teachers have debated or tackled your problems – conversations any history...
New, Novice or Nervous? 169: Developing a sense of place
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New, Novice or Nervous? 168: Local history
Teaching History feature
This page is for those new to the published writings of history teachers. Each problem you wrestle with, other teachers have wrestled with too...
The opportunities afforded by local history are far from parochial. The study of a neighbouring town, a local battalion, a village street or even a...
New, Novice or Nervous? 168: Local history
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New, Novice or Nervous? 167: Confidence with substantive knowledge
Teaching History feature
This page is for those new to the published writings of history teachers. Each problem you wrestle with, other teachers have wrestled with too...
History is a complex enterprise. In order to produce sophisticated arguments, pupils need firm foundations. One foundation is knowledge of the argumentative structures that historians...
New, Novice or Nervous? 167: Confidence with substantive knowledge
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Punk, Politics and the collapse of consensus in Britain
Podcast
2012 Annual Conference LectureShot by both sides: Punk, Politics and the collapse of consensus in BritainMatthew Worley: Reader in History, University of ReadingThis paper examines the way in which organisations of the far left and far right endeavoured to appropriate elements of British youth culture to validate their analysis of...
Punk, Politics and the collapse of consensus in Britain
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Fighting a different war
Podcast
2012 Annual Conference LectureFighting a different war: contesting the place of the queer soldier in the mythology of the Second World WarEmma Vickers: Lecturer in Modern British History University of Reading In the mid-1990s, the queer soldier finally became visible. On the streets, gay rights campaigners led by Peter Tatchell...
Fighting a different war
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War, Society and the State in Early Modern Europe
Podcast
Lecture from the 2012 HA Annual Conference
Frank Tallett: Fellow in History at the University of Reading and former Head of its School of Humanities
Until recently, military history has largely been concerned with ‘badges and buttons', an approach that stressed tactics, strategy and weapons. The so-called New Military History has sought...
War, Society and the State in Early Modern Europe
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New, Novice or Nervous? 165: Enabling progress - students who need more support
Teaching History feature
Students often find history ‘hard’; senior managers and pastoral managers perceive it as challenging and many, with the best of intentions, steer students away from taking it for GCSE. Indeed, in the most recent HA survey, 49% of respondents reported that some students are actively discouraged or prevented from continuing...
New, Novice or Nervous? 165: Enabling progress - students who need more support
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Move Me On 164: Similarity & Difference
Teaching History feature
This issue’s problem: Sam Holberry is getting very confused about the concept of similarity and difference
Sam Holberry has returned to his main training school after a short placement in another school. Although he found it challenging to work with students he didn’t know, he enjoyed seeing a wider range...
Move Me On 164: Similarity & Difference
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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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New, Novice or Nervous? 163: Historical significance
Teaching History feature: the quick guide to the no-quick-fix
Historical significance first appeared in England’s National Curriculum for history in 1995. It entered the assessment framework (Level Descriptions) in 2008. In 2014, it became part of the History NC ‘Aims’. One thing never changes, however: it is hard.
But history teachers have written a great deal about historical significance...
New, Novice or Nervous? 163: Historical significance
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Move Me On 163: Ahistorical thinking
Teaching History feature
Jane Whorwood’s concern to encourage students to think for themselves is leading to some very ahistorical thinking.
Jane Whorwood has proved to be a generally confident and positive trainee, largely due to two years’ experience as a cover supervisor before committing to a formal training programme. She has made a...
Move Me On 163: Ahistorical thinking
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Debates: Narratives - what matters most in school history education?
Teaching History article
In England, a curriculum review is imminent. Following a recent ‘call for evidence' by the government, further consultation on the future shape of history in schools will follow. The HA is currently consulting its membership and will be publishing discussion papers in January 2012. At such a time, everyone in...
Debates: Narratives - what matters most in school history education?
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Move Me On 162: Reading
Teaching History feature
This issue’s problem: James Connolly is finding it difficult to judge how much or what kind of reading he should expect of his students.
James Connolly, an eager and knowledgeable historian, has frequently struggled to pitch things appropriately for students. This applies particularly to his expectations of their reading, but also...
Move Me On 162: Reading