Since 1972, when the Schools Council History 13-16 Project began, the teaching of history in our schools has been transformed. Much of SCHP’s distinctive original philosophy has been incorporated into the mainstream. However, there is much that has still to be achieved. Today the Schools History Project, as we are now known, believes that the study of history in schools is more vital than ever. It campaigns for a school curriculum in which the distinctive contribution of history to the education of children and young people is recognised and developed.
1. Connecting history to the lives of young people
The history taught in schools should matter to children and young people. It should help them make sense of the world in which they live through a deep understanding go the past. Not only should the content that is taught be meaningful to young people’s lives in the 21st century, but teachers should be able to articulate clearly why it is important for the children that they teach to study history.
SHP will support teachers to…
- Choose topics which build powerful knowledge of the world;
- Help students find and make connections between the past and present;
- Put real people at the heart of history;
- Develop a clear rationale for historical study and share this effectively with students.
2. Enquiry driven
Students should be taught that history is constructed and contested using a shared understanding of the conventions of historical enquiry. They should also be encouraged to see that by following these conventions, they too can construct valid historical narratives, explanations and arguments and can challenge those put forward by others. To support this induction of students into the community of historical enquiry, the Schools History Project believes that the following features should underpin the learning of history in schools: building knowledge; pursuing historical enquiries; engaging with evidence and interpretations; and communicating in rigorous and creative ways.
SHP will support teachers to…
- Teach history through enquiry questions that provoke students’ interest and are based on meaningful historical problems and underpinned by second-order concepts.
- Develop a range of meaningful outcomes from historical enquiries;
- Help students to develop their own views on historical problems and identify worthwhile enquiries to pursue;
- Help students to see how their work fits into wider historical debates;
- Show how historians operate within communities of enquiry;
- Develop students’ understanding of how historians pursue historical enquiries and base their claims based on the rigorous use of historical evidence;
- Use the work of historians to shape the planning and teaching of enquries;
3. Chronological focus and study in development
Children and young people should be enabled to develop a deep knowledge of the past within robust chronological frameworks. They should understand changes and continuities in human affairs over short periods of time, as well as over vast sweeps of history. They should be enabled to develop a clear sense of period to help them navigate these different time scales. They should also have an opportunity to trace patterns of change and continuity from the past through to the present’.
SHP will support teachers to…
- Allow students to study history on various scales: studies in depth, longer period studies and thematic studies;
- Engage students with cotemporaneous sources and artefacts which help build a sense of period;
- Help students to contextualise detailed knowledge of past societies in a wide-ranging chronological understanding.
4. Diversity
Curricular diversity is essential. We should strive to create curricula that reflect the continuing social, cultural and ethnic diversity of Britain. Schools should offer opportunities for young people to study a curriculum that not only includes a chronological and geographical diversity of enquiries, but that also allows them to see to diversity within the societies studied – not as a tokenistic nod to ‘political correctness’ but because this gives a better reflection of what those societies were like and how they functioned but also lets students hear the voices of people from the past on their own terms. Finally, students should have experience of engaging in a wide range of the types of history that can be studied including local and family history, and social and cultural history.
SHP will support teachers to…
- Think carefully about how historical content is presented to ensure students see the breadth of historical experience;
- Focus on other cultures and societies in their own right, not just when they intersect with a British story;
- Explore the rich diversity of past societies, looking for complexity, as well as analysing similarities and differences;
- Explore diverse types of history including: local, national, political, economic, social, and cultural history.
5. Awareness of the historic environment
Children and young people should be given opportunities to study the history that surrounds them in the landscapes and built environments that they live in and visit. They should be encouraged to explore and ask questions about the historic environment. They should be enabled to pursue enquiries which use the historic environment as a means to illuminate people’s lives and beliefs in the past.
SHP will support teachers to…
- Give students the chance to visit historical sites and environments, including those local to them;
- Use historical sites as the inspiration for historical enquiries;
- Explore identity, ideas, lives and beliefs through historical sites and environments.
6. Enjoyment
All children and young people should have the right to access rigorous, enjoyable and meaningful history whatever their prior attainment. Learning history should be an enjoyable and life-enhancing experience for all children and young people, providing the foundations for lifelong curiosity and engagement with history.
SHP will support teachers to…
- Make history accessible without removing its fundamental challenge;
- Promote the study of history to the age of 14 and beyond;
- Make complex historical ideas accessible to all students without unhelpful over-simplification;
- Encourage students engage in wider historical work through further study and work with heritage organisations.
7. Acknowledging the full humanity of the past
Children and young people should be encouraged to explore the lives and experiences of real people in the past and to try to understand those people on their own terms. They should be given opportunities to understand past societies on their own terms and thereby develop a respect for people living in very different circumstances from their own, in the past, present and future.
SHP will support teachers to…
- Engage respectfully with the ideas and beliefs of the people of the past;
- Avoid approaches which portray people in the past as inferior to those living today;
- Avoid the creation of ‘easy controversy’ or activities which involve judging the past by today’s standards;
- Engage carefully and meaningfully with controversial historical issues.