ThinkingHistory
Celebrating the creativity, variety, challenge and craft of history teaching
This site contains a wide range of articles on curriculum planning, chronological understanding, the nature of enquiry and numerous other topics, as well as over 200 detailed teaching resources – structured role-plays, decision-making activities, living graphs and other techniques which incorporate physical and visual activity into learning. Experience shows these techniques demand far more of students in concentration and depth of thinking and lead to deeper knowledge and understanding than lessons ‘delivered’ to circumscribed templates.
The common threads linking these resources and articles are curiosity about learning, creativity in seeking solutions and a belief in the importance of making the complex accessible and being constantly responsive to individual students’ needs. History teaching is in essence a problem-solving activity – the central problem being how to help students learn effectively – and I hope this site helps teachers solve some of those problems.
Ian Dawson: author and editor of this website
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Latest on the Site
Latest Redmayn Chapters
Chapter 15: How did the Redmayns experience the preparations for war, 1414‑15? HERE …
Parliamentary discussions, friendships and networking, recruiting soldiers – the ‘texture of the family’s lived experience’ in the words of Hilary Mantel rather than the story of Henry V’s road to glory. And my grandmother, Charlotte, helps with the end of the chapter too!
Chapter 16: One Fortnight in Summer: 26th July-11th August 1415. How did the delay to Henry V’s expedition affect the Redmayns? HERE …
Historians writing about The Southampton Plot focus on the plotters and on Henry V’s actions. But what problems did the delay cause for Brian Stapleton, as commander of 40 men, and how might he have tackled them?
Also find all the Redmayn chapters and my introduction HERE …
Future Additions
Now that I am fully retired I will not be adding any more detailed teaching resources to the site. However I shall be writing new essays, some of which will be related to my past experiences in History teaching (with SHP, for example).
Coming Soon
The Jim Shields and Bob Unwin Bursaries: bursaries to support new teachers attending the HA Annual Conference.
More details as soon as they become available on the HA website.
The Sections of the Website: Introducing the different sections of this website HERE …
The worst thing about being a deputy head was that I had to pretend
other subjects mattered as much as history. They don’t. (Ian Luff)