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                                                                                HA Awards Evening 2023 round-up
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    14th July 2023
                                                                            
                                    It was a joy to bring together so many people to celebrate the study of history at our annual ‘Medlicotts’ awards evening on 12 July.
Originally formed around awarding the Medlicott Medal for History to that year’s recipient it is now also an opportunity to celebrate all the awards, honours...
                                    HA Awards Evening 2023 round-up
                                 
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                                                                                HA Honorary Fellows 2023
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    5th July 2023
                                                                            
                                    Each year the Historical Association awards a small number of Honorary Fellowships. These awards are to recognise and celebrate outstanding services to history and to the Historical Association. The awards cover services to the Historical Association Branches (of which there are over 45 across the country); our committees; the work...
                                    HA Honorary Fellows 2023
                                 
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                                                                                ‘Its ultimate pattern was greater than its parts’
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Teaching History journal article
                                                                            
                                    Identifying the challenges his students faced both with recall and analysis of the content they had learned for their GCSE course, Ed Durbin devised a solution which focused not on exam skills and revision lessons, but on using Key Stage 3 to build the ‘hinterland’ of contextual knowledge and causal...
                                    ‘Its ultimate pattern was greater than its parts’
                                 
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                                                                                Windrush 75
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    6th June 2023
                                                                            
                                    The ship the HMT Empire Windrush arrived into the UK on 22 June 1948. It carried 592 passengers from the Caribbean who were answering the UK Government’s call to fill jobs in Britain’s post-war economy. Between 1948–1971 many more Empire and Commonwealth citizens from the Caribbean islands would arrive in...
                                    Windrush 75
                                 
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                                                                                Course: Becoming an effective primary history subject leader
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Immersive online course for new, experienced and aspiring history leaders
                                                                            
                                    Book Now
(Registration is via Cademy which opens in a new window. Please read the HA CPD terms and conditions before registering)
Autumn 2025 cohort
Start date: Wednesday 15 October 2025, 4pm–5.30pm
What does this course cover?
This is an immersive online course for developing history leadership in primary teaching. It covers the...
                                    Course: Becoming an effective primary history subject leader
                                 
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                                                                                Using museum and heritage sites to promote higher-level learning at KS2
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Primary History article
                                                                            
                                    The Key Stage 2 Primary History Curriculum sets ambitious challenges for pupils: "…They should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance. They should construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information. They should understand how our knowledge...
                                    Using museum and heritage sites to promote higher-level learning at KS2
                                 
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                                                                                Daniel Defoe, public opinion and the Anglo-Scottish Union
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    There is a tendency to represent Daniel Defoe as a novelist and satirical journalist who was at one point placed in the London stocks as a punishment. Ted Vallance's article broadens our perspective to appreciate Defoe's activities as a propagandist in both England and Scotland...
The September 2014 referendum on...
                                    Daniel Defoe, public opinion and the Anglo-Scottish Union
                                 
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                                                                                WWI primary book reviews: The Christmas Truce and Where the Poppies Now Grow
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Two illustrated stories of the First World War by Hilary Robinson & Martin Impey
                                                                            
                                    The Christmas Truce
‘It's Christmas Eve 1914. A group of tired soldiers start singing Stille Nacht. Soldiers the other side of No Man's Land respond with Silent Night. The next day, soldiers on both sides put down their weapons and celebrate Christmas Day with a friendly football match.'
This heart-warming...
                                    WWI primary book reviews: The Christmas Truce and Where the Poppies Now Grow
                                 
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                                                                                History-specific support – for every career stage
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Information
                                                                            
                                    
 
Register for the HA's SLT newsletter for more
Our biannual SLT newsletter will give you up-to-date information and support on managing history including updates on current issues, priorities and policy issues. Register here
Subject-specific support is an essential investment in your teaching staff, equipping them with the knowledge and...
                                    History-specific support – for every career stage
                                 
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                                                                                Teaching History 170: Historians
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    The HA's journal for secondary history teachers
                                                                            
                                    02 Editorial (Read article)
03 HA Secondary News
04 HA Update – make a ‘connecting with historical Scholarship’ resolution!
08 Myths and Monty Python: using the witch-hunts to introduce students to significance – Kerry Apps (Read article)
16 ‘This extract is no good, miss!’ Helping post-16 students to make judgements...
                                    Teaching History 170: Historians
                                 
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                                                                                Good Evening Sweetheart
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Historian article
                                                                            
                                    The talk given by Sue and Pete Mowforth to the Glasgow Branch, reading from a selection of their parents’ war-time letters, resulted in a flurry of media interest from the national press and radio, including an appearance on the BBC’s The One Show in February 2017.
Olga and Cyril Mowforth married in June...
                                    Good Evening Sweetheart
                                 
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                                                                                The International Journal Volume 12, Number 1
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Journal
                                                                            
                                    Editorial
Sweden
Ethical Values and History: a mutual relationship? 
Niklas Ammert, Linnaeus University (Kalmar) 
 
Australia 
Teaching History Using Feature Films: practitioner acuity and cognitive neuroscientific validation 
Debra Donnelly, University of Newcastle 
 
Greece 
The Difficult Relationship Between the History of the Present and School History in Greece: cinema as...
                                    The International Journal Volume 12, Number 1
                                 
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                                                                                Free webinar: Higher Education and Schools Collaboration project
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    8 November, 6.30–7.30pm
                                                                            
                                    Promoting, supporting and sharing examples of collaboration between historians and schools.
Free webinar: 8 November, 6.30–7.30pm
Open to anyone: register here
In recent years a number of academics and academic institutions have worked with schools to develop relationships on knowledge and expertise that both parties benefit from. To promote and share the...
                                    Free webinar: Higher Education and Schools Collaboration project
                                 
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                                                                                Evidential understanding, period knowledge and the development of literacy: a practical approach to 'layers of inference' for Key Stage 3
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Teaching History article
                                                                            
                                    Claire Riley explains how she developed and improved the ‘layers of inference' diagram-already a popular device since Hilary Cooper's work-as a way of getting pupils fascinated by challenging texts and pictures. Working with the whole ability range in Year 9 she analyses her successes and failures, offering many practical suggestions...
                                    Evidential understanding, period knowledge and the development of literacy: a practical approach to 'layers of inference' for Key Stage 3
                                 
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                                                                                Bristol Branch Programme
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Article
                                                                            
                                    Please contact Mary Feerick Secretary Maryfeerick58@gmail.com or 0117 9442898 for further details.
Annual branch membership is £15. All lectures are free to National HA members as well as University of Bristol staff & all students. Guests pay £5 on the door for a single lecture. Further details are available on...
                                    Bristol Branch Programme
                                 
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                                                                                Corporate secondary membership: a view from SLT
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    By Simon Harrison, Headteacher
                                                                            
                                    From history teacher to Headteacher, in over 25 years of teaching I have filled most school roles; history teacher, in the ‘middle’ as a subject leader, an Advanced Skills Teacher, senior leader and eventually Headteacher. I have learned a lot about leadership in Secondary Schools along the way, and becoming...
                                    Corporate secondary membership: a view from SLT
                                 
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                                                                                Social Studies Teachers’ Resistance to Teaching Francophone Perspectives in Alberta
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    IJHLTR Article
                                                                            
                                    International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research [IJHLTR], Volume 15, Number 1 – Autumn/Winter 2017ISSN: 14472-9474
Abstract
It is increasingly common for social studies programs to call for the teaching of multiple perspectives on past and current issues. Within the Canadian context, the province of Alberta’s social studies program mandates...
                                    Social Studies Teachers’ Resistance to Teaching Francophone Perspectives in Alberta
                                 
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                                                                                Academic Critical Thinking, Research Literacy and Undergraduate History
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Article
                                                                            
                                    International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research [IJHLTR], Volume 15, Number 1 – Autumn/Winter 2017ISSN: 14472-9474
Abstract
The concept of critical thinking is pivotal in academia. Many see it as the very core of intellectual thought and the primary learning outcome of higher education. In addition to its universal merits,...
                                    Academic Critical Thinking, Research Literacy and Undergraduate History
                                 
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                                                                                ‘It’s More Complex Than I Assumed’
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    IJHLTR Article
                                                                            
                                    International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research [IJHLTR], Volume 15, Number 1 – Autumn/Winter 2017ISSN: 14472-9474
Abstract
As with many nations, the teaching of history in Australian schools is often contested. Two prevailing standpoints can be identified, the first of which, in broad terms, emphasises the acquisition of historical knowledge....
                                    ‘It’s More Complex Than I Assumed’
                                 
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                                                                                HA Blog Watch
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Selected history education blogs
                                                                            
                                    We've collated some of the best history education blogs here. The list isn't exhaustive so if there is a great history education blog out there that is not on this list – let us know!
One Big History Department
HA Secondary Committee blog
One Big History Department (OBHD) has been...
                                    HA Blog Watch
                                 
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                                                                                Terms and Conditions
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    A masterclass for senior leaders
                                                                            
                                    Please read the terms and conditions carefully before you register for a place on the programme. Please also refer to the CPD Events terms and conditions
 It is prohibited to share or copy the contents and videos of this course with anyone.
You will be given access to the programme content on receipt of payment and...
                                    Terms and Conditions
                                 
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                                                                                How We Used to Sleep
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    School Resources
                                                                            
                                    Want to take a fresh look at medicine through time with your students?
If so, you might be interested in teaching them about sleep’s history in the Renaissance. By focusing on sleep – something that we all do and have an opinion on – students can be introduced to changing...
                                    How We Used to Sleep
                                 
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                                                                                Analysing Anne Frank: a case study in the teaching of thinking skills
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Teaching History article
                                                                            
                                    For those lucky history departments in and around Newcastle this article will not be news. Peter Fisher alludes to the quasi-religious atmosphere that is often discernible amongst history teachers who have been working with the Thinking Skills groups linked to University of Newcastle Department of Education. He is not exaggerating...
                                    Analysing Anne Frank: a case study in the teaching of thinking skills
                                 
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                                                                                Membership Administrator Job Opportunity
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    Join the HA team
                                                                            
                                    An exciting opportunity has recently arisen for a Membership Administrator to join the Historical Association's small and busy team to help deliver first-class services and support to our members. 
The Historical Association (HA) is a registered charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Since 1906 we have brought together people who share an interest...
                                    Membership Administrator Job Opportunity
                                 
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                                                                                HA awards evening 2022 round-up
                                        
                                            
                                        
                                    
                                      
                                                                                    21st July 2022
                                                                            
                                    On 7 July in central London the Historical Association held our annual awards evening. The evening is an opportunity to present in person the awards for some of the competitions that the HA organises and to recognise many of the people who have achieved awards in history, contributed to the...
                                    HA awards evening 2022 round-up