This is one in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by Christine Counsell (2016) inspired me to improve my study of working conditions during the industrial revolution with…
Category: History Education Blog
‘William was a bastard and wanted to prove it.’ Prioritising substantive knowledge in a process of ‘rewriting’ to help pupils improve their essays
This is one in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by King (2015) inspired me to try and improve my pupils’ understanding of…
‘They were pretty stupid to listen to him, Miss.’ Helping Year 10 to put Rasputin into context
This is one in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by teacher-researcher Smith (2014) and a chapter in a book by intellectual historian Skinner (2002) inspired me to…
“So that’s what you mean, Miss.” Using multiple-choice statements to model source analysis
This is one in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how books by Christodoulou (2017) and Wineburg (2001) inspired me to try and improve my…
‘But I don’t know what a link looks like, Miss.’ Helping Year 7 to express their ideas about how causes of William winning at Hastings link together
This is one in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by Woodcock (2005) inspired me to try and improve my teaching of causation with…
‘But look Miss -here – I wrote down loads of facts.’ Helping Year 12 to think about the quality of their knowledge
This is one in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by Hammond (2014) inspired me to encourage Year 12 to re-consider what…
‘It’s at least a 3, Miss!’ Thinking about the relative significance of causes with GCSE students
This is one in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by Buxton (2010) inspired me to try and improve my teaching of causation…
‘It’s like this big, black hole, Miss, that’s dragging everything into it.’ Year 9 consider the impact of World War I on Russia by playing with the idea of consequence ‘shapes’
This is one in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by Pennell (2014) inspired me to try and improve my teaching of…
‘This extract is no good, Miss, because the historian didn’t include X or Y’. Helping post-16 students to express their ideas about the construction of an historian’s argument
This is the third in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how the classic text What is History? by E.H. Carr (1961) and an article by Fordham (2014) inspired me to try and improve…
‘Which Edward was that again, Miss? Was he a Stark or a Lancastrian?’ Helping Year 8 to navigate the Wars of the Roses by focussing on historical change
This is the second in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by Tim Jenner (2010) inspired me to try and improve my teaching of the Wars…
‘But you never taught us that, Miss!’ Thinking about how to prepare Key Stage 3 pupils for their end-of-year exams at the beginning of the academic year
This is the first in a series of weekly blog posts in which I show how a journal article or book has inspired me to improve my teaching practice. Each post ends with a practical resource or activity. Today I show how an article by Nick Dennis (2016) inspired me to improve my planning of assessment activities, a year in advance,…
From dinner with Simon Schama and tea with Michael Gove to designing independent enquiries with Year 9
How can we help pupils succeed at independent historical enquiry, without them getting lost enroute? Some scene setting: Meeting Mr Gove and brandishing a candlestick A few years ago I was lucky enough to attend a conference called ‘The Future of the Past’. It was held in a big ‘Mr-White-with-the-candlestick-in-the-dining-room’ type manor house, and was funded by a…
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