Thematic

For those teachers used to teaching the Modern World course, the concept of a Thematic study is going to take some mental readjustment. It will not only involve teaching unfamiliar content, it will also require teaching second order concepts over arcs of time. There are three choices from the examining bodies for the thematic study. There are 5 different thematic studies on offer through the various awarding bodies. They vary slightly in their titles but can be summed up under the following broad headings: Read more

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  • Using individuals’ stories to help GCSE students to explain change and causation

    Article

    Should we, and how do we, develop in our students a sense of period – or a series of senses of period – in a thematic study spanning a thousand years? This was the problem faced by Matthew Fearns-Davies in preparing for the GCSE ‘Health and the People’ paper. He shows...

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  • Film: Choosing the migration unit for GCSE

    Article

    When the first revised GCSE specifications were launched in 2016, Sharon Aninakwa and her team at the Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College in North London made the decision to change their thematic unit to a study of migration. Some years later, they have a chance to reflect upon...

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  • Move Me On 173: teaching the GCSE thematic study

    Article

    This feature of Teaching History is designed to build critical, informed debate about the character of teacher training, teacher education and professional development. It is also designed to offer practical help to all involved in training new history teachers. Each issue presents a situation in initial teacher education/training with an...

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  • Dealing with the consequences

    Article

    Do GCSE and A-level questions that purport to be about consequences actually reward reasoning about historical consequences at all? Molly-Ann Navey concluded that they do not and that they fail to encourage the kind of argument that academic historians engage in when reaching judgements about consequences. Navey decided that it...

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  • Significance

    Article

    Please note: these links were compiled in 2009. For a more recent resource, please see: What's the Wisdom on: Historical significance.  This selection of Teaching History articles on 'Significance' are highly recommended reading to anyone who wants to get to grips with this key concept. All Teaching History articles are free to HA Secondary Members...

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  • Cunning Plan 163.1: GCSE Thematic study

    Article

    I started teaching ‘crime and punishment through time’ thematically a few years ago. I was teaching it as a Schools History Project ‘study in development’. We had moved from ‘medicine through time’ in order to keep things fresh. After six times through the content, much as I loved it, crime,...

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  • Key Principles for teaching Thematic Studies at GCSE

    Article

    For many teachers the thematic study is the most new and most troubling unit of the new GCSE specifications. By following this link, you will be connected to an article that appears on www.thinkinghistory.co.uk.  This free website for teachers is maintained by Ian Dawson.  In this article Ian works with...

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  • New, Novice or Nervous? 162: GCSE Thematic Study

    Article

    Thematic studies have been a long-standing feature of the Schools History Project (SHP) GCSE specifications in England and Wales; but for teachers of ‘Modern World’ GCSE specifications, the thematic study in the new GCSE specifications for teaching in England from September 2016 is unfamiliar territory. Perhaps you are entirely new...

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  • New Treatments of Familiar Topics

    Article

    Comparision of new GCSE Specifications Treatment of Familiar Topics If you, like many other departments are beginning to ask the questions that will determine which of the new history GCSE specifications your department will choose, one consideration may well be looking at the retention of familiar topics that you already...

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  • Thematic GCSE Content

    Article

    The helpful guide below sets out links to a range of podcasts, articles and pamphlets that will provide subject knowledge guidance that you may find useful for all of the identified thematic topics of the  GCSE specifications. In addition there are also links to helpful articles dealing with bigger picture...

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  • Transforming Year 11's conceptual understanding of change

    Article

    For all that history teachers appreciate the need to build substantive knowledge and conceptual understanding systematically over time, they are also likely to have experienced that sickening moment when they realise that a Year 11 pupil has somehow missed something fundamental. In Anna Fielding's case, her pupil's misconception was related to...

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  • Historical Perspective & 'Big History'

    Article

    Moving forward, looking back - historical perspective, ‘Big History' and the return of the longue durée: time to develop our scale hopping muscles ‘Big history' is a term receiving a great deal of attention at present, particularly in North America where considerable sums of money have been invested in designing curricula...

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  • Ideas on the Shape, Size and Movements of the Earth - Pamphlet

    Article

    This classic pamphlet takes you through some of the key ideas on the shape, size and movements of the Earth as they changed over time from classical cosmology to the work of Galileo and Isaac Newton.

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  • Migration - GCSE

    Article

    Podcasts Podcast Series: England's Immigrants 1330-1550 Podcast Series: Social & Political Change in the UK 1800-present: Part 3 Diversity - A Changing Population Podcast Series: Diversity in Early Modern Britain Social & Political Change in the UK 1800-present: Part 5 Religion The Huguenots in Britain & Ireland  Native North Americans...

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  • Warfare - GCSE

    Article

    Warfare

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  • Big Picture History - GCSE

    Article

    GCSE Thematic Study LinksBigger picture history and teaching change and continuity over time.

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  • Medicine - GCSE

    Article

    GCSE Thematic Study LinksMedicine:

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  • Crime and Punishment - GCSE

    Article

    Crime and Punishment: HA Podcast: Crime & Punishment - Factors and Time Periods HA Podcast: Crime and Punishment - Roman to Early Modern HA Podcast: The Bloody Code - Early Modern Crime and Punishment HA Podcast: Roman Crime and Punishment Topic Pack: Crime and Punishment Through Time

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  • Power and Democracy - GCSE

    Article

    Power and Democracy

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  • Themes over Time

    Article

    The study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils'chronological knowledge from before 1066While the 2014 Curriculum sets out the broad focus of each particular content area, considerable choice has been left to history departments in determining which particular events or developments to include and...

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