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A treasure trove of local history - how to use your local record office
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
In her article in Primary History No 21, Jayne Woodhouse highlighted that the study of history needn’t be all about national events. Essentially it is a series of stories, often about ordinary people and their ordinary lives, which can be built up...
A treasure trove of local history - how to use your local record office
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Literacy, text-genres and history: reading and learning from difficult and challenging texts
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum.
This paper examines the application of TEXT-BREAKER to a year 3 class being taught a history text in the Literacy hour. The context was the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in Britain Study Unit of the National Curriculum for History (DFE, 1995). Within...
Literacy, text-genres and history: reading and learning from difficult and challenging texts
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More than just the Henries: Britishness and British history at Key Stage 3
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the current national curriculum
With the first teaching of a revised history curriculum due in September 2008 the debate over content and order is well under way. Robert Guyver, involved in the design of the curriculum development experiment that evolved into the 1991 version of...
More than just the Henries: Britishness and British history at Key Stage 3
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Worlds in collision: university tutor and student perspectives on the transition to degree level history
Teaching History article
What does it mean to be good at history? At certain times during their formal education students seem to be required to adjust their understanding of what studying history entails. Alan Booth writes from the viewpoint of a university tutor. He has collated ‘student voice’ on the experience of studying...
Worlds in collision: university tutor and student perspectives on the transition to degree level history
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An Introduction to our Pamphlets
Information
Over the last 100 years the Historical Association has published pamphlets on every historical topic, theme, period and subject you can think of. Over the last 15 years we have begun the process of making these pamphlets available as digital downloads.
Access our classic pamphlets series here
If there is...
An Introduction to our Pamphlets
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How visual learning in 'A' level history can improve memory and conceptual understanding
Teaching History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Steve Garnett shares some the techniques that he uses to involve different kinds of learner in his post-16 lessons and explains how he arrived at these approaches after reflecting on problems in his own early...
How visual learning in 'A' level history can improve memory and conceptual understanding
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Promote the past, celebrate the present: putting your history department in the news
Teaching History article
Dan Collins urges history teachers to promote both their subject and their department in the local press. Drawing on his experience of a history department in a large, mixed, multi-cultural comprehensive school in West London, Dan argues that there are many opportunities available, from national anniversaries to the success of...
Promote the past, celebrate the present: putting your history department in the news
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It's a lot harder than politics'...students' experience of history at Advanced Level
Teaching History article
Does the experience of studying history in the sixth form prepare students adequately for study at university? There is plenty of attention given to the issue of continuity across the Key Stages but much less attention given to the transition from school into higher education. It is largely assumed that...
It's a lot harder than politics'...students' experience of history at Advanced Level
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Move Me On 198: trainee finds it difficult to explain substantive concepts effectively
Teaching History feature
Move Me On 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 emphasis upon...
Move Me On 198: trainee finds it difficult to explain substantive concepts effectively
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Arthur Wharton: the world’s first professional black footballer
Primary History article
Schools are now looking to extend their study of significant individuals away from many of the conventional ones. This article looks at a lesser known individual, Arthur Wharton, which could make a good choice for teachers wanting to tap into pupils’ interest. Arthur Wharton was the world’s first black professional...
Arthur Wharton: the world’s first professional black footballer
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Battersea: here for every dog and cat – 165 years and still going strong
Primary History article
In this article Karin Doull looks at the 165th anniversary of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Our treatment of our most popular pets is reflective of society in a given time and Karin highlights several ways in which the history of Battersea can be used to spotlight different aspects of...
Battersea: here for every dog and cat – 165 years and still going strong
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Teaching the First World War in the primary school
Article
The current commemorations of the First World War have opened the door to some real opportunities for those teaching primary history – perhaps even considering taking children to the battlefields. Although this is customarily a secondary-school experience, this article outlines the opportunities for primary-age children. The suggestions here are based...
Teaching the First World War in the primary school
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Polychronicon 157: Reinterpreting police-public relations in modern England
Teaching History feature
The relationship between the police and the public has long been a key subject in English social history. The formative work in this field was conducted between the 1970s and 1990s, but the past few years have witnessed something of a revival of research in the area. By focusing on...
Polychronicon 157: Reinterpreting police-public relations in modern England
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Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge
Article
Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain's past and of the wider world
First, this article considers the reasons why it is essential for children to develop a chronological framework. Next it considers ways in which this framework is necessary for the development of the time concepts set...
Chronology: Developing a coherent knowledge
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Do historical anniversaries matter? Case study: Arnhem 1944
Historian feature
2019 has been quite a year for historical anniversaries – Peterloo 200, D-Day 75, Monte Cassino 75, Women MPs 100 years, Apollo Moon Landings 50 years and all following on the tail of four years of the First World War centenary – and that is not counting the anniversaries that...
Do historical anniversaries matter? Case study: Arnhem 1944
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Learning from a pandemic
Teaching History article
In order to contextualise and make sense of the Covid-19 pandemic, Verity Morgan worked with her school’s long-standing partner school in Ghana to devise an innovative project combining history and science, past and present. In this article, Morgan sets out the rationale for the project, her detailed adaptation of a British Council...
Learning from a pandemic
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V&A Schools SEN Programme
Article
The V&A Learning Department aims to make the Museum's collections accessible to all through an engaging and diverse range of events, courses, workshops, trails and resources. The Schools programme supports Primary and Secondary students and teachers and includes sessions for students with special educational needs. The SEN sessions have a...
V&A Schools SEN Programme
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It worked for me: Knights and castles
Primary History case study
For their 2016 summer term topic, Class 2 at Thrumpton Primary Academy learnt about medieval knights and castles. Their teacher was particularly excited when she found out about the choice of topic for the term, as she has a degree in history with a specialism in medieval history!
We started...
It worked for me: Knights and castles
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Long ago or far away: the Global perspective
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
Even an inclusive national history curriculum can make Britain (and Europe) appear as the lynchpin of world history. Without a coherent structure for global history, young people remain unaware that continents beyond Europe have histories of...
Long ago or far away: the Global perspective
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The Evacuee Letter Exchange Project: using audience-centred writing to improve progression from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3
Teaching History article
Jenny Parsons' work in primary-secondary liaison in history is nationally acclaimed. She is often asked to share her department's practice at courses and conferences. Readers of Teaching History are already familiar with her work in another area: in the ‘Triumphs Show' of Teaching History 93 (the ICT edition in November...
The Evacuee Letter Exchange Project: using audience-centred writing to improve progression from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3
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Managing the scope of study
Teaching History article
Anna Dickson and her department sought a solution to the challenges posed to their pupils by the expanded curricular scope of the new GCSE. In particular, they wanted to address the difficulties their pupils experienced in understanding the Cold War. Dickson outlines here how she drew on the work of...
Managing the scope of study
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Shadow states and armed struggle
Historian article
How did groups resisting the creation of new borders after 1947 use shadow state structures? Luke Rimmo Lego, Abigail Tamang and Sneha Singh with Laishram Bullion and Chinglai Ngamba Moirangthem explore the history of these structures and their development over the past half century.
Shadow states and armed struggle
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Portchester Saxon settlement
Article
One way to use this image would be to focus on continuity and change. Portchester's history is that of a settlement which has passed through the hands of the Romans, Saxons, Normans and onwards. As a result, the appearance and purpose of the settlement has changed over time. One way...
Portchester Saxon settlement
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The International Journal Volume 5 Number 2
Journal
Articles
Lieke van WijkThe Learning and Teaching of History in Europe: EUROCLIO's Enquiries Compared
Peter Brett Citizenship and the National Curriculum
Jerome FreemanThe Current State of the 4-19 History Curriculum in England and Possible Future Developments: a QCA Perspective
Jon NicholFrom Russia with Love: a History Curriculum...
The International Journal Volume 5 Number 2
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Move Me On 189: engendering students' curiosity
Teaching History feature
Move Me On 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 emphasis upon...
Move Me On 189: engendering students' curiosity
