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The importance of history
Article
The importance of history: Powerpoint presentation from the Regional Subject CfBT/HA ConferencesStarting point. Creating a departmental vision.The construction of any curriculum begins with questions about the purpose and philosophy of the curriculum. The new orders for history offer departments a ready made statement of history's importance and purpose.
The importance of history
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Historical Interpretation: Why is it still such a major issue?
E-CPD
This E-CPD unit was produced for the previous National Curriculum, when Interpretations in History were still relatively new. In the current National Curriculum, Interpretations are still central to the skills necessary for success. Perhaps more so, as it is now a separate assessment objective [AO4] at GCSE, starting in 2016,...
Historical Interpretation: Why is it still such a major issue?
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David Cannadine Interview about his book: The Right Kind of History
Cannadine Interview
Sir David Cannadine has done the unthinkable he has traced the teaching of history in state schools since the beginning. In his book The Right Kind of History: Teaching the Past in Twentieth-Century England he explores the real history of history education the truth is discovered to that age old...
David Cannadine Interview about his book: The Right Kind of History
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History through Drama, A Teachers' Guide - Revisited
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
It is now some seventeen years since the publication of our original pamphlet by the Historical Association [HA] as part of the Teaching of History Series (Wilson and Woodhouse, 1990). This article offers a personal review...
History through Drama, A Teachers' Guide - Revisited
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Primary Topic Websites
Topic Pack
Please note: these links are now over 10 years old and some may no longer work
We have put together a short list of websites that may be useful for teaching particular topics. Please note this is not an exhaustive list, the sites are not necessarily ones we endorse and are...
Primary Topic Websites
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One of my favourite history places: Mount Fitchet Castle
Primary History feature
Alf Wilkinson explores Mount Fitchet Castle in Essex – one of his favourite history places.
As every schoolchild knows, William the Conqueror landed near Hastings in 1066, pursuing his claim to the throne of England. He was accompanied by the pope’s blessing, but also by an army of adventurers who...
One of my favourite history places: Mount Fitchet Castle
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Using historical fiction in the classroom
Article
If it is a story then what has that got to do with my teaching history? Well to begin with the best historical fiction is well researched. Good writers like Jill Paton Walsh take their research very seriously. She has commented that, "the writer may invent characters, conversations, circumstances, but...
Using historical fiction in the classroom
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Cooperative Learning: the place of pupil involvement in a history textbook
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Pupil involvement is at the heart of every good history lesson. Its planning ensures that pupils are given the opportunity to think for themselves, share ideas, discuss evidence and debate points. The history education community...
Cooperative Learning: the place of pupil involvement in a history textbook
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Conducting the orchestra to allow our students to hear the symphony
Journal article
Alex Ford and Richard Kennett both welcome the renewed emphasis on knowledge within recent curriculum reforms in England, but are concerned about some of the ways in which the principle of a ‘knowledge-rich’ curriculum has been interpreted and transformed into particular pedagogical prescriptions. In this article they explain their reasons...
Conducting the orchestra to allow our students to hear the symphony
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Time and chronology: conjoined twins or distant cousins?
Teaching History article
Weaknesses in pupils' grasp of historical chronology are a commonplace in popular discussion of the state of history education. However, as Blow, Lee and Shemilt argue, although undoubtedly necessary and fundamental, mastery of chronological conventions is not sufficient: the difficulties that pupils experience when learning history are conceptual, as much...
Time and chronology: conjoined twins or distant cousins?
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Primary history in the 21st century: Back to the past?
Primary History article
During my teaching of history I have been amazed by the asinine questions that children and adults ask about the subject matter. For example, a child once asked, ‘Sir, if Queen Cleopatra hadn't been bitten by the asp would she still be alive today?'. This question suggests that despite comprehensive...
Primary history in the 21st century: Back to the past?
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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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Insights from a year of leading the development of a ‘knowledge-rich curriculum’
Primary History article
Raynville Primary School serves a highly disadvantaged area of West Leeds and we work hard to provide our children with the best opportunities to learn and enjoy their time with us. One jewel in the crown of our school’s curriculum is children’s historical learning as part of a knowledge-rich curriculum....
Insights from a year of leading the development of a ‘knowledge-rich curriculum’
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Primary History 43: Time and Time Again
Journal
05 Editorial
06 Primary Noticeboard
09 In My View: working with historical picture books — Carole French
10 Time past: working with historical picture books — Fiona Collins (Read article)
14 ’Discovery visits’: what's new at English Heritage for schools? — Kate Whitworth
17 Think Bubble
18 How should we...
Primary History 43: Time and Time Again
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Higher Education Committee remit
Information
The HA's Higher Education Committee will:
raise awareness in the UK-wide HE sector of the work of and benefits offered by the HA
ensure that the HA continues to disseminate an up-to-date and appropriate understanding of the way History is taught, researched and interpreted in higher education to the teaching...
Higher Education Committee remit
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My Favourite History Place - Nuneaton's Old Grammar School
Historian article
Near the centre of the largest town in Warwickshire, an oasis of calm encompasses the area of Nuneaton parish church, vicarage and Old Grammar School. Of the three buildings, the Old Grammar School may be the least impressive but its history is just as eventful. Nuneaton’s Boys’ Free Grammar School,...
My Favourite History Place - Nuneaton's Old Grammar School
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RAF100 Schools Project
Project and website launch
The Historical Association and the Institute of Physics have teamed up to deliver an exciting project for school and youth groups as part of the Royal Air Force centenary celebrations.
The RAF100 Schools Project uniquely uses the professional understanding of historians and physicists working in education to create an active...
RAF100 Schools Project
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Oppenheimer – a review
Paula Kitching
It is a blockbuster summer and autumn for films as the big studios seem to be hitting back following the Covid slump. Even better, rather than it just being about comic-book superheroes and supervillains, this year some of the film studios have hit on historical topics to get the audiences...
Oppenheimer – a review
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British National Curricula For History 1989-2011
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
The national history curricula for Northern Ireland, England and Wales have passed through various stages since working groups were set up in England and Wales in 1989. Developments have been distinct, with Northern Ireland having quite...
British National Curricula For History 1989-2011
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Trees
Primary History article
This article includes a compilation of a series of articles about significant trees around Britain. It is hoped that this will prompt readers to explore their own environments, helping children to engage with and enjoy nature. Some of the trees in the article are designated as Great Trees. These were significant...
Trees
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1906-2006 One Hundred Years of the Historical Association
The Historian 91
4 Foreword - Lady Antonia Fraser
6 Swanning around - Jeremy Paterson
10 A Parade of Past Presidents 1906-82 - Donald Read
24 The Norton Medlicott Medal - Bill Speck
30 For Short Time an Endless Monument: The Shifting History of a Familiar London Landmark - Lisa Jardine
38 Wise...
1906-2006 One Hundred Years of the Historical Association
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Case Study: Children's questions about historical pictures
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
Pictures are an important source of evidence for children to use to find out about the past. They have an immediate impact and children of all ages and abilities find that they have...
Case Study: Children's questions about historical pictures
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Film: What's the wisdom on... Causation
Your Virtual History Department Meeting
We’ve been talking to our secondary school members and we know how difficult life is for teachers in the current circumstances, so we wanted to lend a helping hand.
'What’s the wisdom on…' is a brand-new and already popular feature in our secondary journal Teaching History and provides the perfect...
Film: What's the wisdom on... Causation
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Film: Medlicott Lecture 2023 - Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch
Article
The Medlicott Medal is awarded annually for outstanding services and contributions to history. This year the Medal went to renowned historian and author Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch who is currently Professor of the Church at Oxford. His 2008 book History of Christianity: the first three thousand years is the leading authority on the history...
Film: Medlicott Lecture 2023 - Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch
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Teaching History 110: Communicating History
The HA's journal for secondary history teachers
08 Narrative: an underrated skill - Seán Lang (Read article)
18 Direct teaching of paragraph cohesion - Maria Bakalis (Read article)
27 Developing conceptual understanding through talk and mapping - Jannet van Drie and Carla van Boxteland (Read article)
32 ‘You be Britain and I’ll be Germany...’ Inter-school e-mailing in...
Teaching History 110: Communicating History
