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The Harkness Method: achieving higher-order thinking with sixth-form
Teaching History article
Hark the herald tables sing! Achieving higher-order thinking with a chorus of sixth-form pupils
On 9 April 1930, a philanthropist called Edward Harkness donated millions of dollars to the Phillips Exeter Academy in the USA. He hoped that his donation could be used to find a new way for students to sit around a table...
The Harkness Method: achieving higher-order thinking with sixth-form
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Move Me On 159: Writing Frames
Teaching History feature
This issue's problem: Hannah Mitchell would like to wean pupils off the use of writing frames.
Hannah Mitchell has embarked on her PGCE training after a year spent working as a Teaching Assistant. Her varied experiences in that role - sometimes working one-to-one with young people, within a targeted intervention programme,...
Move Me On 159: Writing Frames
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Securing contextual knowledge in year 10
Teaching History article
Using regular, low-stakes tests to secure pupils' contextual knowledge in Year 10
Lee Donaghy was concerned that his GCSE students' weak contextual knowledge was letting them down. Inspired by a mixture of cognitive science and the arguments of other teachers expressed in various blogs, he decided to tackle the problem...
Securing contextual knowledge in year 10
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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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Progression without Levels
Briefing Pack
"As part of our reforms to the national curriculum , the current system of ‘levels' used to report children's attainment and progress will be removed. It will not be replaced." (DfE 2013)
When National Curriculum levels were removed in 2014, it was all too easy to fall into the trap of...
Progression without Levels
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Knowledge and the Draft NC
Teaching History article
Silk purse from a sow's ear? Why knowledge matters and why the draft History NC will not improve it
Katie Hall and Christine Counsell attempt to construct a Key Stage 3 scheme of work out of the draft National Curriculum for history that was released for consultation in England in...
Knowledge and the Draft NC
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Reflections on the Empathy Debate
Article
Not only do the various discussions on empathy show no signs of abating, they remain as confusing and emotionally charged as ever. On the one hand, much of the empathy argument is concerned with...
Reflections on the Empathy Debate
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Some Reflections on Empathy in History
Article
Undoubtedly, the introduction of empathy into the GCSE National Criteria for History has caused considerable problems for teachers and pupils, as debates in the national educational press have shown. It cannot be presupposed that...
Some Reflections on Empathy in History
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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
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. Some content may be outdated and some links may no longer work.
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...
What Does the English Baccalaureate mean for me?
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Pedagogy, politics and the profession
Teaching History article
History curriculum reform proposals and debates are a persistent feature of the contemporary educational landscape in England and, very probably, a ‘sign of the times' that can reveal a great deal about contemporary predicaments and concerns. History curriculum controversy is also a global phenomenon and one that can fruitfully -and,...
Pedagogy, politics and the profession
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HA Secondary History Survey 2024
Survey Report on History in Secondary Schools
For the last 15 years the Historical Association has carried out an annual or biennial survey of history teaching in Secondary Schools. The survey data now provides us with an up-to-date insight into the successes, pressures and concerns in schools affecting history and how those factors have developed, changed or...
HA Secondary History Survey 2024
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How history teachers can support their own and others' continued professional learning
Teaching History article
‘If I wasn't learning anything new about teaching I would have left it by now!' How history teachers can support their own and others' continued professional learning
Katharine Burn has a longstanding interest in history teachers' professional learning - not just the ways in which experienced teachers can support beginners,...
How history teachers can support their own and others' continued professional learning
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Guidance Pack: Building a Local Teacher Network
Information
We know that it is difficult for teachers to get to events too far from school. As a national charity, the HA recognises the importance and need to build strong regional networks for the history teaching community. Many of these are already existing or organically growing across the country at...
Guidance Pack: Building a Local Teacher Network
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Ofsted research report into history 2021
14th July 2021
Ofsted writes: The study of history can bring pupils into a rich dialogue with the past and with the traditions of historical enquiry.
In this report, Ofsted have:
outlined the national context in relation to history
considered curriculum progression in history, pedagogy, assessment and the impact of school leaders’ decisions on provision...
Ofsted research report into history 2021
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GCSE Controlled Assessment
Briefing Pack
Context:
Following a great deal of adverse publicity about coursework, the then-QCA carried out a study into cheating and plagiarism. It released this in 2005 and found that about 4000 students a year were being caught for breaching the rules. The blame was laid at the internet especially custom-made essays...
GCSE Controlled Assessment
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Ofqual: Quality assurance for GCSE, AS and A level
27th April 2021
With exams cancelled, summer 2021 grades will be determined by schools and colleges. Every year, there is teacher assessment in subjects with non-exam assessment and schools and colleges will be familiar with moderation arrangements. This summer, with exams cancelled, the context is very different, so the quality assurance (QA) process...
Ofqual: Quality assurance for GCSE, AS and A level
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Historical Association Secondary Survey 2021
Annual Survey Report on History in Secondary Schools
For the past 11 years we have been doing an annual survey into history teaching in secondary schools. This year our main focus was on the content of the history curriculum, examined with a particular focus on diversity.
It looks particularly at diversity understood in terms of race and ethnicity,...
Historical Association Secondary Survey 2021
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HA Secondary History Survey 2010
Survey
Findings from the Historical Association survey of secondary history teachers 2010
Summary of key concerns about history teaching in English secondary schools
*Full report attached below
1. The changing face of history teaching at Key Stage 3 (11-14): an emphasis on generic skills at the expense of subject knowledge and...
HA Secondary History Survey 2010
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Background information: citizenship and history
HITT Resource
Citizenship was introduced as a National Curriculum subject at key stages 3 and 4 in 2002. Prior to that many schools had taught aspects of citizenship as a cross-curricular theme, often in the context of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Much of the impetus for introducing citizenship as a...
Background information: citizenship and history
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HA Survey of English Secondary Schools
Survey
History Faces Extinction in English Schools
Pupils are receiving fewer and fewer hours of history teaching across secondary schools in England according to research by the Historical Association. The specially commissioned report discovered that:
Many children receive little or no history education after only two years of secondary school
48%...
HA Survey of English Secondary Schools
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Professional wrestling in the history department: a case study in planning the teaching of the British Empire at key stage 3
Teaching History article
Three years ago (TH 99, Curriculum Planning Edition), Michael Riley illustrated ways in which history departments could exploit the increased flexibility of the revised National Curriculum. He showed that precisely-worded enquiry questions, positioned thoughtfully across the Key Stage, help to ensure progression, challenge and coherence. His picturesque image for this...
Professional wrestling in the history department: a case study in planning the teaching of the British Empire at key stage 3
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History in Schools - Present and Future
Conference Report
History in Schools - Present and future: Event report This one day conference was organised by the sponsors to raise awareness of the changes in the 14-19 curriculum and initiate discussion on how history, taught from Key Stage 3 to HE level, could be best served and enhanced by the...
History in Schools - Present and Future
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The National Curriculum Attainment Target (from 2008)
HITT Resource
Level 4
Pupils show their knowledge and understanding of local, national and international history by describing some of the main events, people and periods they have studied, and by identifying where these fit within a chronological framework. They describe characteristic features of past societies and periods to identify change and...
The National Curriculum Attainment Target (from 2008)
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Developing Citizenship in Schools
Article
The HA would like to thank the Association for Citizenship Teaching for allowing us to reproduce this article on the HA Website!
In a novel and revealing 'dialogue', Scott Harrison HMI, specialist adviser for history and citizenship at Ofsterd, and Liz Craft, lead consultant for citizenship at QCA, discuss the...
Developing Citizenship in Schools
