This series of webinars will consider how disciplinary knowledge is slowly introduced into the primary curriculum, built upon and strengthened. We know that substantive knowledge in history is the substance ('the stuff') we teach: the facts which we are sure about and which all have to know, the names and places, the events, and well-known stories. But experts in a subject, such as historians, have different types of question they ask of that substance. For example, historians might puzzle over why things happened or ask how much things changed. These types of questions and the way in which historians answer them is called disciplinary knowledge. 

This webinar series will focus on Key Stage 2.

Learning outcomes

This series will enable you to:

• teach the concepts of continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity and difference;
• help pupils make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses;
• teach the methods of historical enquiry, making clear to pupils the difference between 'source' and 'evidence';
• model to pupils how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and gain familiarity with diverse primary sources that the past leaves behind;
• become a more effective storyteller, weaving the substantive knowledge in such a way as to make it memorable, thus ensuring pupils have secure knowledge to draw upon when answering a disciplinary question

About the presenter

Steve Mastin FHA is a history consultant with over 20 years' experience teaching and leading history in state schools across England, and as a senior curriculum specialist across primary and secondary schools in a multi-academy trust. He has helped train teachers in the UK and internationally and is a longstanding contributor to the HA, currently sitting on our primary committee.

Programme

How does good storytelling serve disciplinary thinking? (FREE for HA members)

Why is storytelling so crucial to the journey of the lesson? How does powerful storytelling make knowledge memorable meaningful? How can I get better at storytelling? How does storytelling help children wrestle with disciplinary questions about cause, change and similarity and difference? We will use stories from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Maya.

Helping children think about cause and consequence

One of the most common questions asked by historians is ‘why...?’ Why did this event happen? How did the event happen? What were the results of this event? This session will explore disciplinary thinking around cause and consequence, helping children to see multiple causes, connections between causes, and explain why some causes are more important than others. We will use examples from Alexander the Great, Baghdad, and the Vikings.

Helping children think about similarity and difference

Historians, when comparing civilisations or places, ask, ‘what is similar?’ and ‘what is different?’ This session will explore disciplinary thinking around similarity and difference, building secure knowledge and equipping children with the vocabulary to identity and explain what is similar and different between people, places, events, and civilisations. We will use examples from Mesopotamia, the Roman Republic, and early Christianity in Africa and Europe.

Helping children think about change and continuity

Historians, when studying a period of history, ask ‘what changed over this period?’ and ‘what stayed the same over this period?’ This session will explore disciplinary thinking around change and continuity, helping children to identity and explain the type of change (such as cultural, economic and religious), the speed of change, the size and rate of change, whilst not leaving out what stayed the same: continuity. We will use examples from ancient Egypt, Arabia and early Islam.

Helping children build secure evidential thinking

Handling sources is something all children learn to do in Key Stage 2 history, but often that crucial distinction between ‘source’ and ‘evidence’ is confused. No archaeologist digs up ‘evidence’. And labelling sources as either reliable or unreliable is hugely problematic. This session will consider the importance of how and where evidential thinking is first introduced in the history curriculum, and build teachers’ confidence to ensure their children have a secure foundation about how the discipline of history works. We will use examples from the Indus Valley, Roman Britain, and Anglo-Saxon Britain.

How to book

This webinar series took place in Autumn 2024 and we have made access to the recordings available on demand from April 2025–April 2026.

Release date: Tuesday 22 April 2025
Expiry date: Tuesday 7 April 2026

You will need to be logged in to pay and access each webinar using the links on this page. We regret we are unable to arrange block purchases or issue invoices, but VAT receipts are available upon request. Once you have purchased each webinar, the recording will be available to view at the bottom of the relevant resource page until the stated expiry date. 

Terms and conditions

All Historical Association webinars are subject to the HA CPD terms and conditions. For enquiries please contact events@history.org.uk.