Historical Association CPD is always led by primary and secondary history specialists, to ensure delegates receive high quality professional development based on recent classroom practice and research. Find out more about some of our regular presenters and mentors below. 

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Sharon Aninakwa, FHA

“Very thought provoking. Gave me some good ideas to be able to take away and use with my department.”
“Professional, encouraging and very welcoming.”

Courses delivered include: Subject Leader Development Programme

Sharon is passionate about teaching history, cultivating collaborative department cultures and curriculum design. She has thirteen years of school history teaching experience across Key Stages 3–5, leading a successful history department and collaboratively designing an innovative, diverse curriculum. She is particularly interested in curriculum cultures which are constructed around ethical considerations, and empowering pedagogies which centre student experience in the classroom. Sharon has an MA in History Education from the UCL Institute of Education.

Dale Banham, FHA

“I found it incredibly valuable and took a lot of new ideas and inspiration from the session.”
“Fascinating, engaging and insightful techniques”

Courses delivered include: Making history accessible, Making GCSE history accessible, Creative history teaching, Review and refine your teaching to improve GCSE grades

Dale is a senior leader and history teacher at a large comprehensive school in Ipswich, where he is responsible for curriculum development, teaching and learning and CPD. Dale has written several articles for Teaching History and published a variety of textbooks and revision guides. He supports local Initial Teacher Training providers, delivering subject-specific training for trainee and early career teachers, and has delivered training on curriculum development and raising attainment in history for many schools and local education authorities.

Otis Blaize

“The course has invigorated me to revise/rethink my curriculum”
“Expert insight and guidance”

Courses delivered include: History Teacher Development Programme

Otis Blaize is a history teacher based in South London, with broad experience across different schools. A former head of department, he has successfully led curriculum development and supported colleagues in raising standards of teaching and learning. Otis is passionate about making history accessible and relevant, encouraging young people to connect with the past in meaningful ways.

 

Elizabeth Carr, FHA, CTHist

“It was invaluable to hear from such presenters who were equally comfortable discussing the theoretical bases to approaches to management and curriculum design as they were in rooting their ideas in real-life, concrete scenarios and experiences.”
“Amazing!”

Courses delivered include: Subject Leader Development Programme, A masterclass for senior leaders

Elizabeth is an assistant principal for curriculum and subject lead for humanities in Hertfordshire. She has more than 10 years’ experience as a subject leader of history and as a mentor on the University of Cambridge PGCE. Elizabeth is a managing editor of Teaching History having previously contributed numerous articles, giving her unique insight into the thinking of history teachers and how this has developed. She regularly presents at local and national conferences and has worked with several schools and trusts to develop their history teaching at primary and secondary.

Ed Durbin

“Particularly good for thinking about KS4 and how to broaden and enrich my understanding”
“I found Ed’s suggestions such as building rich hinterlands at KS3 and remembering that the specification is not the curriculum to be transformative in how I now approach planning for and teaching GCSE classes.”

Courses delivered include: History Teacher Development Programme

Ed Durbin is an experienced history teacher and subject leader who has worked in schools in London and Bristol for over ten years. He is a regular presenter at regional and national conferences and has contributes articles to Teaching History. He has also co-written and edited textbooks including Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery. His interests include teaching rigorous and representative history at GCSE, approaches to teaching race and empire, and understanding the Viking world.

Teni Gogo

“Passionate, knowledgeable, encouraging and inspiring”
“Engaging with the programme reinvigorated my practice”

Courses delivered include: History Teacher Development Programme

Teni Gogo trained as a history teacher at the University of Cambridge and has spent much of her career exploring medieval African kingdoms and Black British history. She has written for Teaching History, the BBC, and as a textbook author, as well as delivering workshops for students and CPD for both early career and experienced history teachers. She is currently undertaking postgraduate research at the University of Oxford as an Action Research Fellow for the Empire, Migration and Belonging project.

David Hibbert, FHA

“So open in sharing the challenges of what they tried to do”
“New ideas with practical examples”
“The clarity, focus and enthusiasm of the contributors [gave] a wide range of suggestions for improvement.”

Courses delivered include: Subject Leader Development Programme, A masterclass for senior leaders

David is a senior leader, history teacher and former head of humanities in Oxfordshire. David has always been a great advocate for sharing learning and experience and passionate about continuous professional development. He has written for Teaching History and is a regular presenter at our annual conference. He has also contributed to books covering teaching and learning in history and was a founder member of the Virtually Teachers podcast set up during the pandemic to provide much needed support.

 

Mike Hill, FHA

“Really transformative to my practice.”
“You will be left with a deeper, richer, more complex understanding of what it means to teach history and how we should be teaching it.”

Courses delivered include: History Teacher Development Programme, Direct history teaching

Mike is a head of history based in west London. A member of our secondary committee, Mike has helped to shape our professional development offer through designing and establishing the History Teacher Development Programme, and through sessions at our annual conference and writing for Teaching History. His article on Curating the imagined past: world building in the history curriculum is still regularly referred to several years after it was first published. Beyond the HA, he is involved in the popular Ark Soane history conference and has an MA in History Education from the UCL Institute of Education.

Hannah Howard

“The conversations had, knowledge gained and confidence earned from this course leave you thinking.”
“Encouraged me to reflect on my planning and practice”

Courses delivered include: History Teacher Development Programme

Hannah is head of history, government and politics at a comprehensive school in Berkshire. She has contributed to Teaching History and is passionate about early modern history and bringing material culture into the classroom.

Rachel Lewin

“Aspects of all of the sessions have resonated with me, both in terms of validating much of my current practice and highlighting ways to further my practice.”
“Rachel's warm and empathetic nature shone through. I would definitely contact her in the future to share and ask for ideas on teaching history.”

Courses delivered include: Experienced Teacher Programme, Developing confident readers and writers in the history classroom and beyond

Rachel is a school leader and former head of department for history. She is a subject champion for history in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Rachel is a co-founder of the HA South West Network, a professional community sharing inspiring pedagogy and practice across South West England. Her particular interests are working in partnership with local museums, teaching diverse, global histories in her rural island environment, literacy in history and intelligent interdisciplinarity within curriculum design. She also has a Masters in Learning and Teaching.

Ruth Lingard, FHA

“A wealth of history teaching expertise”
“Really practical and thoughtful ways forward”
“Open to new ideas and discussions but also very open to sharing their expertise and advice whenever needed.”

Courses delivered include: Subject Leader Development Programme, History Teacher Development Programme

Ruth is a head of history and PGCE tutor at the University of York. She is the driving force behind YorkClio, a local network of history teachers committed to developing and sharing the best possible practice of history teaching in schools. Ruth has been a dedicated contributor to the HA for many years, including as a conference presenter and former member of our secondary committee. She is a champion of teaching inclusive histories, particularly the history of people with disabilities. She can often be found wearing a tabard!

Abdul Mohamud, FHA

 “An excellent mix of 'big picture' thinking, structural pedagogy, and applicable ideas and strategies.”
“Insightful and thought-provoking”

Courses delivered include: Decolonising the secondary history curriculum, Teacher Fellowship programme: Teaching the economic history of colonialism in Africa and Asia, Teacher Fellowship programme: Britain and Transatlantic Slavery

Abdul has an interest in a wide range of historical periods and issues but is passionate about the history of migration to Britain, the history of the Black diaspora as well as the role of history in shaping personal identity and belonging. He has over thirteen years’ experience teaching and leading history, and is currently undertaking doctoral research on the Empire, Migration and Belonging project. He has conducted educational research in South Africa and the UK, contributed to Teaching History, textbooks and scholarly volumes. He is (with Robin Whitburn) the co-founder of Justice to History and a member of our secondary committee.

Catherine Priggs, FHA

“I have gained a much better understanding of the ‘big picture’ of the history curriculum” “Thoughtful, well-structured sessions.”

Courses delivered include: Subject Leader Development Programme, Making history accessible, Making GCSE history accessible, A masterclass for senior leaders, Teaching history as a non-specialist

Catherine has been involved in history education for over 15 years. During this time, she has led and supported history departments within and outside her school setting as a specialist leader of education. She has worked as a senior leader in contrasting schools and led the history SCITT in Bedfordshire. Catherine enjoys being part of the history subject community. She is a member of our secondary committee, regular conference presenter and author of textbooks and online resources. She has contributed to Teaching History and is a GCSE examiner. She now applies her considerable experience as an education consultant and a Quality Mark assessor.

Hugh Richards, FHA

“Built my confidence… but also made me really excited for the direction of travel”
“Clear explanations and great use of examples”
“Very knowledgeable and also very approachable.”

Courses delivered include: Subject Leader Development Programme, A masterclass for senior leaders, Embracing messiness: teaching disciplinary thinking in history

Hugh has been teaching history since 2010 and has been head of department at a comprehensive school in York for over 10 years. He was the driving force in establishing our popular Subject Leader Development Programme. He has presented at national conferences, as well as a range of in-person and online CPD, on a wide range of history pedagogy, curriculum and leadership topics. He blogs regularly for OneBigHistoryDepartment, the secondary committee’s blog. Hugh's school is a Research School and he has worked regularly on applying research-based practice to the history classroom.

Andrew Sweet, CTHist

“Andrew was passionate, witty and engaging. I would love to have him as Head of Department!”
““I have already utilised several things I learned”

Courses delivered include: Experienced Teacher Programme

Andrew has been teaching for 20 years and is a head of history and humanities in Somerset. He is a co-founder of the HA South West Network, a professional community sharing inspiring pedagogy and practice across South West England. He has presented workshops at national conferences on historical scholarship, local history and teaching history in China, organising network presentations and articles for OneBigHistoryDepartment. He has always been a strong advocate of scholarship, co-founding the History Teacher Book Club.

Robin Whitburn, FHA

“High quality history thinking delivered coherently.”
“Rich subject knowledge and an exploration of how to approach planning an enquiry.”

Courses delivered include: Decolonising the secondary history curriculum, Teacher Fellowship programme: Teaching the economic history of colonialism in Africa and Asia, Teacher Fellowship programme: Britain and Transatlantic Slavery

Robin has been a lecturer in history education at the UCL Institute of Education since 2010, prior to which he had thirty years’ experience teaching and leading history in London schools. He has spoken at national and international conferences in North America, China, South Africa and Europe. He is (with Abdul Mohamud) the co-founder of Justice to History, an organisation which aims to help teachers and students explore relevant, and often neglected, diverse histories. He has published extensively, including in Teaching History, on a range of subjects including migration and empire, teaching Black histories, and historical enquiry.