Advance notice of books to support the ‘strengthened’ GCSE specifications.
Across the summer we have been revising three books to meet the requirements of the new specifications. These books will be published later this term and further information on publication dates will be made available here as soon as possible. The three books are:
Keep an eye on the Hodder website for further details:
www.hoddereducation.co.uk/History
Ian
INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
University of London
National Education Co-ordinator (World War 1) (2 posts)
Faculty of Children and Learning
Salary will be on the Grade 8 scale, in the range £37,382 to £44,607 per annum plus £2,323 London Allowance
Job Share considered
The Institute of Education is a world-leading centre for education research and teacher development, located at the heart of one of the world’s most vibrant cities.
We are currently seeking to recruit two National Education Co-ordinators to play an instrumental role in establishing the IOE’s new, ground-breaking First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Project, which is designed to provide the opportunity for a minimum of two pupils and one teacher from every state funded secondary school in England to visit battlefields on the Western Front between 2014-19.
To undertake this role, you will have current working knowledge of the secondary education sector, with the ability to demonstrate excellent planning and co-ordination skills, along with the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
This appointment will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Closing Date: Monday 16 September 2013
Interview Date: Wednesday 25 September 2013
Reference: 8PR-CL-5332
To apply online please visit http://jobs.ioe.ac.uk or telephone 020 7612 6159
We positively encourage applicants
from all sections of under-represented communities
Another successful summer conference - my thanks to all delegates, workshop leaders, Fellows and back-room staff for their energy, enthusiasm and ideas.
Feedback includes:
‘Brilliant. It’s been inspirational to come and be reminded of the richly talented community I am part of as a history teacher.’
‘Food for history teachers’ souls’
‘A really brilliant weekend which has enthused and excited me. Can’t wait to get back in the classroom.’
Resources from the plenary sessions are collected together in one location here.
And I’ll see you all at the Autumn Day Conference in London on 30 November 2013. Booking is now open here.
Michael
The Holocaust Educational Trust is holding an Ambassador Conference in London on 8th July.
The conference will be the first gathering of its kind – a unique day of lectures and workshops designed to help students gain a deeper understanding of the Holocaust and encourage them to share this with their peers and local communities. Speakers include Yehuda Bauer and Shami Chakrabarti.
See more information [ HERE ... ]
Edexcel has made some further announcements relating to the re-accreditation of their GCSE specifications [ HERE ... ]
Do you teach The First World War?
An important new survey has been launched by the University of Exeter and Northumbria University, in collaboration with the IoE, seeking to establish secondary teachers’ views (in English Literature and History) about the way the First World War is taught.
For more information on the survey, the benefit to teachers and how to sign up …
… visit the News Hub [ HERE … ]
The survey will remain open throughout the summer.
Michael
Calling all visitors to the Mughal exhibition at the British Library …
… and everyone else!
Following the successful launch of the pilot SHP-BM India Project last year we are delighted to announce that the next phase of the project will begin on Thursday April 11th 2013 at the British Museum.
Last year’s projects were really diverse, ranging from Tipu Sultan’s sword to miniature Mughal art and a Sikh warrior turban. Now we are recruiting even more teachers from across all key stages that are interested in developing teaching materials about Mughal India or India during the Raj era. This is a fantastic opportunity to work with expert educators from the British Museum who will provide great subject specific knowledge and amazing insights into their incredible archive material. There will also be support from leading History teachers who will work collaboratively to produce rigorous and engaging teaching materials. The time commitment to the project is very flexible, we usually meet in the holidays for a morning and the time frame for producing materials is very open, so there is not a great amount of pressure involved. Instead this is an amazing opportunity to develop your understanding of a rich and fascinating period of history.
If you are interested in becoming part of the project or have any further questions then please contact me at [email protected]
Dan Lyndon
Advanced Skills Teacher, Head of History, Broomfield School
Fellow of the Schools History Project
www.blackhistory4schools.com
www.comptonhistory.com
“Fantastic, uplifting and inspiring. The history teaching community is lucky to have SHP and its conference” was how one teacher summed up her first experience of an SHP Conference in 2012.
And the draft programme is now available for SHP13 showing a wide range of workshops from some of the country‘s most inspiring teachers and history educators. Workshops cover a range of topics across KS3, GCSE (SHP and Modern World) and A level.
Online booking is also open.
See it all [ here ].
Michael
At last we’ve had an announcement on the future of the curriculum – well 14-16 at least.
At some point (either 2015, 2016 or later, depending on what the DfE decides following the consultation) GCSE will disappear and there will be a new EBC (English Baccalaureate Certificate) for history. The History EBC will be provided by the Awarding Organisation that puts forward the best ‘suite of qualifications’ in the subject.
The whole process of curriculum reform has been, and continues to be, a shambles. At the outset we were told that Niall Ferguson and Simon Schama would be fixing school history. Where are they now? Whatever happened to the worthy notion of coherent curriculum reform 5-18? We still don’t know whether revised A levels for History will start in 2014 or later. And we are still waiting to hear about the future of the National Curriculum. What will be the point of a new National Curriculum anyway if academies can teach whatever they like? The whole process of curriculum reform has been a messy muddle, and the lack of clarity and genuine consultation continues to be an insult to the teaching profession.
Rant over!
What we shouldn’t forget in all this confusion is that, as one of the six core academic subjects in the E Bacc, history now has a more secure place in the 14-16 curriculum than ever before. We don’t yet know the shape of the future accountability framework, but it’s clear that history will be part of it. This can only be good news for the position of history at Key Stage 3 as well as Key Stage 4. Hopefully, those schools that slid down the slippery slope into the skills mush at Key Stage 3 will now be clambering onto the firmer ground of subjects and rigorous disciplinary knowledge. The Schools History Project campaigns for a curriculum in which the distinctive contribution of history to the education of children and young people is recognised and developed. There’s further to go, but at least the distinctive contribution of history has been recognised through its inclusion in the EBacc.
For SHP, the priority now is to engage fully in the consultation process, to work with Awarding Organisations and higher education bodies in the development of specifications and, further down the line, to provide the resources and professional development that will guarantee an improved experience of studying history for 14-16 year-olds.
The DfE’s consultation document seeks our views on ‘the characteristics of the new qualification’. It demands ‘challenging requirements for content’ and requires that students develop ‘a sound understanding of the subject studied, and are ready to move on to further study’. Interestingly from SHP’s perspective, the consultation document states that the DfE expects Awarding Organisations to put forward a ‘suite of specifications’ for each subject. It’s perfectly possible, therefore, that Awarding Organisations will devise versions of existing SHP and Modern World specifications. However, the intention of the DfE is to aid the Awarding Organisations by setting out its ‘broad expectations’ for essential subject content may preclude this.
So, 2015 (or 2016, or later) may see the end of SHP specifications as we know them. Does this matter? My view is: NO, AS LONG AS WHAT IS OFFERED TO 14-16 YEAR OLDS IS BETTER THAN THE CURRENT MODERN WORLD AND SHP SPECS.
The Schools History Project has long-argued that a study of only modern world history at 14-16 limits students’ knowledge and understanding of the subject. But, let’s face it, for a range of complex reasons, the current SHP specifications only partially reflect the principles on which the Schools History Project is based. It’s time for a radical overhaul, and the most important thing to argue for is not the preservation of current specifications, but an experience of learning history 14-16 that is underpinned by SHP’s six principles:1.Creating curiosity 2.Developing wide and deep knowledge 3. Engaging in historical enquiry 4.Understanding diversity 5.Engaging with the historic environment 6. Learning history in enjoyable and rigorous ways .
Just imagine a situation three year down the line, in which both Modern World and SHP specs no longer exist, but have been replaced by a five unit History EBC which consists of: 1. A development study 2. A depth study of an early period of British History 3. A local study 4. A depth study of a later period of British history 5. A wider world study. Imagine that these units are linked and structured in order to build a coherent and worthwhile knowledge of the past And imagine too, that each of these units is assessed in creative and rigorous ways that allow all students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. Surely something like that would be an improvement on the current GCSEs? It’s crucial to grasp this opportunity to improve the experience of leaning history for the next generation of students. The Schools History Project is far more than the current SHP specifications. In the months and years ahead we’ll help to create a history curriculum 14-16 that all our young people deserve. More broadly, we’ll continue to be an innovative and creative force in history education 11-18. Our immediate priority is to provide an SHP response to the DfE consultation which runs until 10 December, so please read the consultation document [see it on the DfE website] and let me have your views by responding to this blog.
Michael Riley
Director, Schools History Project
In September 2012, Chris Culpin, former Director of SHP, was the guest blogger for the Hodder History Nest. His blogs are a response to Michael Gove’s announcement that GCSEs will be replaced with a new English Baccalaureate Certificate.
Chris provides a long view of curriculum reform in England, helps us to make sense of the planned changes and explains how it could be done much better.
Chris’ blogs are reproduced in full on this site
And you can find more blogs relating to school history at the Hodder History Nest
www.hoddereducation.co.uk
Michael