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Polychronicon 141: Adolf Eichmann
Teaching History feature
Almost 60 years ago Adolf Eichmann went on trial for crimes committed against the Jews while he was in the service of the Nazi regime. His capture by the Israeli secret service and his abduction from Argentina triggered a number of journalistic books that portrayed him as a pathological monster...
Polychronicon 141: Adolf Eichmann
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Thematic or sequential analysis in causal explanations
Teaching History article
Struck by what he saw as the complexity, artistry and cognitive achievement of historians' narrative accounts, Robin Kemp decided to explore ways of teaching his pupils to write narrative and to analyse the role of such writing in developing various kinds of historical thinking.
Working with Year 8 and Year...
Thematic or sequential analysis in causal explanations
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Contribute an Article to The Historian
Contribute
The Historian is the journal of the Historical Association that is for all our general members and for teacher members who want a little bit of extra subject knowledge.
Containing a mixture of themed articles, regular features and general interest, the journal comes out four times a year. Articles are...
Contribute an Article to The Historian
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The International Journal Volume 6
Journal
Articles
Isabel Barca and Helena PintoHow Children Make Sense of Historic Streets: Walking through Downtown Guimaraes
Min Fui CheeTraining Teachers for the Effective Use of Museums
Terrie EpsteinThe Effects of Family/Community and School Discourses on Children's and Adolescents' Interpretations of United States History
David GerwinObject Lessons: Teachers,...
The International Journal Volume 6
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Strategies for A-Level marking to motivate and enable
Teaching History article
Jane Facey was unsatisfied with the way in which her A-Level students responded to typical assessment practice. This would normally involve their teacher marking their work and then providing them with written feedback. In looking to move beyond this, Facey drew upon a wide range of research and practice which...
Strategies for A-Level marking to motivate and enable
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Polychronicon 144: Interpreting the 1930s in Britain
Teaching History feature
For students of my generation (born in 1954) the 1930s had a very clear identity; so, when the far-left Socialist Workers Party launched a campaign against unemployment, in 1975, with the slogan: ‘No Return to the Thirties', we all knew what they meant: unemployment, economic deprivation and the political betrayal...
Polychronicon 144: Interpreting the 1930s in Britain
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Exploring diversity at GCSE
Teaching History article
Having already reflected on ways of improving their students' understanding of historical diversity at Key Stage 3, Joanne Philpott and Daniel Guiney set themselves the challenge of extending this to post-14 students by means of fieldwork activities at First World War battlefields sites. In addition, they wanted to link the study...
Exploring diversity at GCSE
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Benjamin Jesty: Grandfather of Vaccination
Historian article
Commonly hailed as a discovery or a ‘medical breakthrough', vaccination against smallpox with cowpox exudate was a development of variolation i.e. inoculation with live smallpox matter - a technique popularised amongst the gentry in the early eighteenth century by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu who had observed the procedure in Turkey...
Benjamin Jesty: Grandfather of Vaccination
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Oliver Cromwell 1658-1958
Classic Pamphlet
Ever since the death of Oliver Cromwell 300 years ago his reputation has been the subject of controversy. The royalist view of him was expressed by Clarendon: "a brave bad mad," an ambitious hypocrite. This interpretation was supported by many former Parliamentarians: Edmund Ludlow regarded Cromwell as the lost leader...
Oliver Cromwell 1658-1958
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Passive receivers or constructive readers?
Teaching History article
Rachel Foster reports here on research that she conducted into how students engage with academic texts. Unhappy with the usual range of texts that students encounter, often truncated and ‘simplified' in the name of accessibility, she designed a scheme of work which sought to find out how her students responded...
Passive receivers or constructive readers?
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Cunning Plan 143: enquiries about the British empire
Teaching History journal feature
I wanted to give my Year 8 students ownership of their work on the British Empire by allowing them to suggest our ‘enquiry question'. In order to introduce the Empire, I brought in sugar, spices, bananas, chilli peppers and cotton. I then showed maps demonstrating the Empire at its height....
Cunning Plan 143: enquiries about the British empire
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Polychronicon 142: 'instructive reversals' - (re)interpreting the 1857 events in Northern India
Teaching History feature
The dramatic, chaotic and violent events that took place in Northern India in 1857/8 have been interpreted in many ways, as, for example, the ‘Indian Mutiny', the ‘Sepoy War' and the ‘First Indian War of Independence'. The tales that have been told about these events have been profoundly shaped, however,...
Polychronicon 142: 'instructive reversals' - (re)interpreting the 1857 events in Northern India
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Ancient Greeks: The Olympics' War Games - Teaching through Drama
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
When I was a boy the Greek Olympics was one of the perennials of the primary history curriculum, alongside the Battle of Hastings and the execution of Charles I.
I have memories of an old text...
Ancient Greeks: The Olympics' War Games - Teaching through Drama
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Investigating the ancient Olympic games: A Case Study
Primary History article
Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated.
In a 10-week unit on Ancient Greece, we gave the fourth lesson over to the ancient Olympic Games. The class was a delight: 32 enthusiastic Year 6 children in an urban county primary school.
We knew...
Investigating the ancient Olympic games: A Case Study
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Medieval 'Signs and Marvels'
Historian article
Medieval ‘Signs and Marvels': insights into medieval ideas about nature and the cosmic order.
Many aspects of life in the Middle Ages puzzle the modern reader but some are stranger than others. What can possibly explain an event reported from Orford Castle, in Suffolk? This is an amazing tale and...
Medieval 'Signs and Marvels'
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Fact Based Quiz Ideas For Turning 3s into 4s and 5s
Briefing Pack
Please note: this resource pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated.
If you are looking to raise your 3/4 grades into 4s/5s, a big focus is going to be fact retention. This can be in the form of fact based quizzes and organisational activities,...
Fact Based Quiz Ideas For Turning 3s into 4s and 5s
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Lincolnshire Branch History
Branch History
Brief History of the Lincolnshire Branch.When the branch was founded There was a successful branch of the Historical Association in Lincolnshire after World War Two, centred in Boston, and run by staff from the schools there. In 1999, when I moved to Lincolnshire, I discovered there was no longer a...
Lincolnshire Branch History
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Webinar series: Embedding historical knowledge through story
HA webinar series for primary teachers, history subject leaders and senior leaders
What does this series cover?
Stories can sometimes be seen as a frivolous indulgence in an already crowded lesson. But the evidence is clear: the power of a well-told story in a history lesson for world building and knowledge acquisition should not be underestimated. When a story is expertly delivered,...
Webinar series: Embedding historical knowledge through story
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Webinar series: The Forgotten Generations – Black British experience in the RAF from 1918
Funded webinar series from The Forgotten Generations | Lest We Forget Project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund
What does this series cover?
This series covers the sometimes hidden and controversial history of how the RAF has recruited and treated its black service personnel over time, particularly from the British Caribbean from 1918 onwards.
Using newly researched evidence from surviving black RAF veterans of the West Midlands it...
Webinar series: The Forgotten Generations – Black British experience in the RAF from 1918
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Winner of the Inspiring History Teaching Awards 2026 announced
24th June 2026
We are delighted to share the news that on Saturday 20 June Teaching History Editor Elizabeth Carr FHA was named the national winner of the inaugural Inspiring History Teaching Awards at the Tower of London.
The search for the UK’s outstanding teachers of history was launched at the end of...
Winner of the Inspiring History Teaching Awards 2026 announced
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Webinar series: Improving outcomes in GCSE History: rich and authentic encounters with the past at Key Stage 4
HA webinar series for secondary history teachers and subject leaders
Under pressure to increase student attainment at GCSE but hesitant about what that might look like? Struggling to make a content-heavy course accessible to all learners? In this webinar series, Ed Durbin will take a fresh look at approaches to teaching GCSE History. With all eyes on the new specifications...
Webinar series: Improving outcomes in GCSE History: rich and authentic encounters with the past at Key Stage 4
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HA short course: The World of the Normans
September–December 2026
Book Now
(Registration is via Cademy which opens in a new window. Please read the course terms and conditions before registering)
What does the course cover?
With the Bayeux Tapestry coming to the UK for the first time in 2026, and 2027 heralding the ‘Year of the Normans’, there will...
HA short course: The World of the Normans
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Birmingham Branch History
Branch History
The Branch was founded in May 1907, a few months after the Historical Association was established. The founding Branch President was Professor John Masterman, Professor of History (1902-09) in the University of Birmingham's Department of Commerce, as it was designated in those days. He was one of several historians in...
Birmingham Branch History
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Local History Month 2026
30th April 2026
(and some planning ahead for 2027)
May is Local and Community History month. For 2026 we are linking it to the National Year of Reading by looking at the importance of writers and local records to historians for bringing a place to life. Places change: that is inevitable and also...
Local History Month 2026
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The Great Debate 2026 – the winners
1st April 2026
The Great Debate concluded on 21 March 2026 in Central London following a thrilling day. The competition started in the autumn of 2025 with heats running across the UK and online until February 2026. The three semi-finals held online led to the 21 finalists who were invited to London for...
The Great Debate 2026 – the winners