‘Its ultimate pattern was greater than its parts’

Teaching History journal article

By Ed Durbin, published 26th September 2018

Using a patchwork quilt analogy at Key Stage 3 to support analytical thinking at GCSE

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 analysis his students required to make sense of their GCSE course. Drawing the analogy of a patchwork quilt from historical scholarship on the problems facing African Americans in the Jim Crow South, Durbin deployed rich and diverse content to bring breadth and complexity to his Year 8 students’ thinking about causation. In doing so, he created a rich hinterland of knowledge into which students will be able to situate new knowledge and analysis at GCSE.

This resource is FREE for Secondary HA Members.

Non HA Members can get instant access for £2.49

Add to Basket Join the HA