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Training for the marathon: history at Michaela
Teaching History article
Michael Taylor begins his piece by reminding us that writing great history essays is hard. He compares the process to running a marathon, and his central thesis is that, just as the best training for running a marathon is not running marathons, so the way to encourage students to produce...
Training for the marathon: history at Michaela
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Thinking makes it so: cognitive psychology and history teaching
Teaching History article
What, exactly, is learned knowledge - and why does it matter in history teaching?
Michael Fordham seeks to use the general tenets of cognitive psychology to inform the debate about how history teachers might get the best from their students, in particular in considering the role of memory. Fordham surveys the latest research concerning memory while also arguing that remembering does matter in history...
Thinking makes it so: cognitive psychology and history teaching
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Bringing together students from Bradford and Peshawar
Article
Connecting Classrooms: bringing together Bradford and Peshawar, primary and secondary schools, history and English
In this article, Dianne Excell shares her experience of a crossphase, collaborative project funded by the British Council that brought together teachers and pupils from three schools in Bradford and five schools in Peshawar, Pakistan. Although...
Bringing together students from Bradford and Peshawar
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Low-stakes testing
Teaching History article
The emphasis on the power of secure substantive knowledge reflected in recent curriculum reforms has prompted considerable interest in strategies to help students retain and deploy such knowledge effectively. One strategy that has been strongly endorsed by some cognitive psychologists is regular testing; an idea that Nick Dennis set out...
Low-stakes testing
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HA Secondary History Survey 2015
Survey Report
*Full Survey Report attached below
1.1 Data on which this report is based
This survey was conducted during the summer term 2015. Responses were received from 455 history teachers working in a wide range of different contexts, including sixth form and tertiary colleges. The rapid expansion of the academies programme...
HA Secondary History Survey 2015
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Past Forward: GCSE History
Article
This summer was the thirtieth in which I have worked as an Examiner in History for 16- year- olds. This is a really sad confession, but I think it at least might allow me to offer an insider’s perspective. What follows is a consideration of the issues confronting GCSE history...
Past Forward: GCSE History
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Using causation diagrams to help sixth-formers think about cause and effect
Teaching History article
Alex Alcoe was concerned that mastery of certain keywords and question formulae at GCSE perhaps obscured fundamental gaps in his students’ understanding of the nature of causation. These gaps were revealed when he invited Year 12 students to make explicit, by annotating a diagram, their understanding of the relationship between...
Using causation diagrams to help sixth-formers think about cause and effect
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Why Gerry likes history now: the power of the word processor
Article
Ben Walsh argues that many teachers of history completely miss the point of the word processor. Criticising those who use it merely for 'typing up' he reminds us that the purpose of the word processor, as with any other resource, is to teach good history. He analyses the types of...
Why Gerry likes history now: the power of the word processor
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Tyne Cot Cemetery, near Ypres, Belgium
Historian feature
My Favourite History Place: Tyne Cot Cemetery, near Ypres, Belgium
We can truly say that the whole circuit of the Earth is girdled with the graves of our dead. In the course of my pilgrimage, I have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace...
Tyne Cot Cemetery, near Ypres, Belgium
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HA Secondary History Survey 2012
HA Survey
A little over a year ago Michael Gove announced the introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). It would transform education and rid schools and young people of ‘soft subjects'. However the real impact so far has been less than impressive. Those schools that already taught history well to GCSE continued...
HA Secondary History Survey 2012
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Progression & Assessment without Levels - Guide
Progression & Assessment
In the 2014 national curriculum for primary and secondary history one of the key differences is that, for the first time since 1991, there are no level descriptions against which you can assess pupils' progress. The new attainment target says simply that:
‘By the end of each key stage, pupils...
Progression & Assessment without Levels - Guide
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Fact Based Quiz Ideas For Turning 3s into 4s and 5s
Briefing Pack
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
If you are looking to raise your 3/4 grades into 4s/5s, a big focus is going to be fact retention. This can be in the form of fact based quizzes and organisational activities,...
Fact Based Quiz Ideas For Turning 3s into 4s and 5s
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What Does the English Baccalaureate mean for me?
Briefing Pack
History constitutes a key player in the new English Baccalaureate, being one of the two choices that students may opt for in the Humanities section. The English Baccalaureate is a measure of pupil progress consisting of 5 core subjects that will be reported in league tables. Students who successfully achieve ...
What Does the English Baccalaureate mean for me?
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Bruce! You're history.' The place of history in the Scottish curriculum
Teaching History article
History teachers in Scotland are feeling vulnerable. A curriculum review is leading to debates about history’s place in schools – will it or should it be a statutory part of Scotland’s curriculum for 11-14 year olds? Many of the concerns in Sam Henry’s article will ring true for teachers throughout...
Bruce! You're history.' The place of history in the Scottish curriculum
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What about history? Lessons from seven years with project-based learning
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Alternative curriculum models can take many forms. Some seem to be imposed on reluctant history teachers with little opportunity for planning. Other teachers are given the opportunity to really embed and revise models that might...
What about history? Lessons from seven years with project-based learning
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Maths and History - Cross Curricular Case Study
Case Study
Maths and Museums: Norwich Castle Museum Working with Key Stage 3 MathsFaye Kalloniatis (Museum Education Manager, Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service)The project, ‘Storming the Castle, challenged the idea that museums are not places where schools can extend their students' maths skills. On the contrary, the project demonstrated that museums can...
Maths and History - Cross Curricular Case Study
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Teaching about heritage through a cross-curricular enquiry
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
What should we do with our brightest and best? Neal Watkin and Johannes Ahrenfelt suggest an enquiry for a very high ability Year 8 group which is both challenging and genuinely historical. The enquiry itself...
Teaching about heritage through a cross-curricular enquiry
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Question: When is a comment not worth the paper it's written on? Answer: When it's accompanied by a Level, grade or mark!
Teaching History article
In this article, Simon Butler advances a strong case for ‘comments only’ marking. Good assessment, he argues, is about encouraging students to reflect on their current performance and take responsibility for their own progress. Assigning Levels to pupils’ work is often justified in terms of the generation of targets which...
Question: When is a comment not worth the paper it's written on? Answer: When it's accompanied by a Level, grade or mark!
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How studying history can help with a range of careers involved in shaping the places we live.
History & Careers Unit 5
Town-planning, property development, leisure and heritage industries, archaeology and museum work. Context: This idea for a short series of lessons is aimed at year 7 students who are studying either a "Who do We think We are?" unit, or, more broadly, a unit on migration and settlement in Britain. It...
How studying history can help with a range of careers involved in shaping the places we live.
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Promote the past, celebrate the present: putting your history department in the news
Teaching History article
Dan Collins urges history teachers to promote both their subject and their department in the local press. Drawing on his experience of a history department in a large, mixed, multi-cultural comprehensive school in West London, Dan argues that there are many opportunities available, from national anniversaries to the success of...
Promote the past, celebrate the present: putting your history department in the news
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Why we must change history GCSE
Teaching History article
A head of steam for change in GCSE history has been building for some time now amongst history teachers, heads of history, advisers, teacher-trainers, researchers, consultants and all who regularly engage in debate about history teaching and learning. All those who read widely, share their practice, experience many Key Stage...
Why we must change history GCSE
