Download pgce secondary history

PGCE SECONDARY HISTORY
As this is the first opportunity I have had to contact you since your interview I would
like to welcome you to the PGCE History course. The world of education is one of
constant change and secondary History education is part of this with the new
National Curriculum still bedding in, as well as ‘A’ Level and GCSE changes on the
horizon. As you will soon realise, there is a considerable amount to do in the space
of 36 weeks, most of which you will spend in schools. The more preparation you can
do beforehand the better.
MOST PRE-COURSE INFORMATION WILL BE GIVEN AT THE PGCE HISTORY
INDUCTION DAY TO BE HELD ON
SATURDAY 27th JUNE AT 10.00a.m. IN THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION.
It is important that you make every effort to attend this induction event as you will be
shown how to access and use the Induction and Subject Knowledge Development
Resources and to enable us to set up a Facebook Users Group which will act as a
significant means of communicating both before the course commences and during
your PGCE year. You should bring the subject-knowledge self-evaluation at the back
of this pack along with you too.
You need to confirm your attendance at this meeting with the course leader. The
most effective way to do this is via e-mail. You should contact Roger Gwinnett,
History PGCE Course Leader when you receive this material at
[email protected]
This will allow me to send you any updates or other essential information before the
induction event in June.
Essential and Recommended Pre-Course Reading
You will need to buy some essential textbooks
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Ian Phillips ’Teaching History: Developing as a Reflective Teacher of History
Sage 2008. Each chapter has a clear focus on a significant aspect of history
teaching from discussions about the development of the Curriculum in the 1990s
and practical ideas about ways to teach your subject. One focus in the text is on
developing an understanding of thinking skills and metacognition.
Also very useful ‘Learning to Teach History in the Secondary School by
Haydn, Arthur and Hunt’ and published by Routledge. This is a good “nuts and
bolts” book about what to do and how to do it and you should soon come to
appreciate that Terry Haydn is to the history PGCE world what Alan Titchmarsh is
to gardening!
A book that is not essential, but you may find interesting is ‘The Right Kind of History’
by David Cannadine. This is a history of history teaching and may help you to start
thinking about debates over what we teach, why we teach it and how we teach it.
WHAT WILL I HAVE TO TEACH? – GETTING TO KNOW THE CONTENT
Schools have been teaching a new National Curriculum course since September
2014. This curriculum is available to view here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-historyprogrammes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-history-programmes-of-study
When reading this document it is important to notice that much of the content here is
described as “non-statutory.” Once we remove this guidance (which is illustrative
and not exhaustive) we can see that the Key Stage 3 course consists of seven
“units”:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The development of Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509.
The development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745.
Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-190.
Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day.
A local history study.
The study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and
extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066.
7. One study of a significant society or issue in world history and its
interconnections with other world developments.
However, more important from your point of view as trainee history teachers is the
statement of aims. This is a brief description of the kind of history students that we
are trying to develop:
Pupils should extend and deepen their chronologically secure knowledge and
understanding of British, local and world history, so that it provides a wellinformed context for wider learning. Pupils should identify significant events,
make connections, draw contrasts, and analyse trends within periods and over
long arcs of time. They should use historical terms and concepts in increasingly
sophisticated ways. They should pursue historically valid enquiries including
some they have framed themselves, and create relevant, structured and
evidentially supported accounts in response. They should understand how
different types of historical sources are used rigorously to make historical claims
and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past
have been constructed.
History is not compulsory beyond Key Stage 3: after Year 9 pupils follow GCSE
courses. These GCSE courses are set for a significant overhaul for first teaching
September 2016. Assuming you begin as a qualified teacher in September 2016,
you will teach this new curriculum in your first year. You are strongly advised to
familiarise yourselves with the syllabus releases from the three main examination
boards: AQA, Edexcel and OCR. There are also two available courses from each
examination board: Syllabus A Schools History Project (SHP) and Syllabus B
Modern World History. You should make sure you are aware of the differences
between these.
You should use these websites to access specification (syllabuses) and sample
examination papers. It might be advisable to bookmark these websites as they will
be essential next year:
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www.aqa.org.uk
www.edexcel.org.uk
www.ocr.org.uk
You should repeat this process to find information about A-Level specifications and
examination structure. In particular you might want to look at OCR’s Option B
syllabus which makes interesting reading. A-Level examinations are also due for
radical change from first teaching 2015. The changes include the following:
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A-level students will be required to study topics from a chronological range of
at least 200 years
a strong focus on British history has been retained although the minimum
percentage for A-level has been reduced from 25% to 20%
the A-level will have a 20% non-exam assessment
AS grades will no longer contribute to A-level awards
.
BUT I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT! HOW CAN I TEACH IT?!
Most trainee history teachers are concerned about gaps in their subject knowledge
and ask for advice about a good book to plug these gaps. You should use the
appendices at the back of this pack to give an honest appraisal of your strengths in
terms of subject knowledge. You should then compare this to the curriculum
documents that you accessed above and be able to identify areas in need of
development. You should bring these with you on the induction day.
I am reluctant to recommend one single title believing that history graduates should
be able to locate appropriate reading for themselves. I still believe you should, I am
prepared, however, to urge all history PGCE trainees to read the three volumes of
Simon Schama’s ‘A History of Britain’ (BBC). Anyone who is familiar with Schama’s
work will know that he is a good story teller as well as a good historian. Each chapter
begins with a story, which acts as a leitmotif or allegory for the rest of the chapter.
For example the allegory for the period of the Restoration leading to the Hanoverian
Settlement is the controversy surrounding the design and rebuilding of St Paul’s
Cathedral in London. Even before the Great Fire Wren had ideas about how the
Cathedral could be rebuilt. His plans more resembled a Roman Catholic Basilica
which drew howls of protest. The compromise combined the ‘Roman dome with the
long English nave’. Not only do you get a well written view of British History, you also
have the opportunity to discover the allegory and guess its significance.
In Volume 3 Schama uses the experience of personalities to develop themes:
Industrialisation is examined from a feminine (rather than feminist) perspective, 20 th
Century British history through the experiences of two Winstons: Churchill and Smith
(aka Eric Blair and George Orwell)
Schama is also a great proponent of iconography – the significance of imagery and
in all three volumes there are any number of illustrations which are included not just
to lighten up the text, they are integral to the narrative. For example extensive use is
made of political cartoons which are a novel way to teach 17th Century History.
Most PGCE History Trainees have, of necessity, a limited experience of history,
should you need to develop a sound overview of medieval and early modern British
History; Simon Schama is a valuable starting point. If 16th and 17th Century early
modern history does not feature in your degree profile, the Schama is essential
reading. Even if you think your knowledge and understanding of British History is
good Schama’s ‘A History of Britain’ is well worth the read.
DEVELOPING YOUR ICT CAPABILITIES
It is assumed that all trainee teachers will be confident working with windows and
can use the internet for searches, email and social networking. You should also aim
to develop your skills with database (Access,) spreadsheets (excel) and Presentation
Software (PowerPoint and Prezzi.) History trainees are not expected to be computer
programmers but the ability to work in an increasingly online and virtual workplace is
essential.
History and Fieldwork
An important aspect of the course involves Field Work. During the course of the year
visits are made to sites which are directly relevant to all the history study units in the
national curriculum. The aim of the field work is three fold:
1. It is a valuable way of developing your subject knowledge at a level appropriate
for secondary teaching.
2. You are able to consider ways of using the historic environment to develop your
history teaching and to make history more relevant and interesting for your pupils.
3. It develops your social skills.
Visits scheduled for the Autumn Term include are:
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N. Wales: Caernarfon and Beaumaris:- Britain 1066 – 1500 Castle Building, &
Nation building Edward I and the conquest of Wales.
Liverpool: Using museums to tell stories.
Towards the end of the course the Department, in the past, has run a residential field
visit to Northern France to 1st World War battlefields. This visit would take place
during the Spring Bank Holiday Half Term at the end of May/beginning of June. The
visit concentrates on the Somme and considers the historical development of
strategy and tactics on the Western Front. The other aspect of the work focuses on
how suitable work can be developed for pupils taking part in such visits. The cost of
this visit will be around £310.00 and the visit would be voluntary this year. The
number of school history departments who run Battlefield visits is considerable and
the opportunity to take part in this field work can be a considerable advantage when
it comes to job interviews.
Roger Gwinnett
PGCE History Course Leader
01695 584357
[email protected]
Developing your History Subject Knowledge
This document is designed to help you develop your growing subject knowledge over
the course of your PGCE year.
The first part of this form requires you to outline:
 Areas covered by your A Level or Open College courses.
 Areas covered by your degree course.
You should then assess as honestly as you can what you feel are your strengths as
a graduate historian. You should not simply consider these in relation to topics.
History is an academic discipline with a defined and systematised approach to
‘knowledge’. To some extent this process led view of history is also embedded in the
national curriculum. Instead focus your comments upon the skills and levels of
conceptual understanding which you feel you possess as a graduate historian.
Name
A Level / Open College Courses
Degree Title.
Degree Content
Please be as specific as possible
Degree Class
Reviewing and updating subject knowledge and understanding.
During each phase of your training it is important to review new topics which you
have encountered for the first time as well as familiar subject areas which you are
revisiting and perhaps having to moderate your graduate level of understanding to
make it appropriate for pupils. During the Autumn Term you will be introduced to new
‘subject knowledge’ in a number of different contexts:
 Field Visits: each visit has a strong knowledge base.
 ICT Sessions have, as a focus, ‘unfamiliar’ aspects of the National Curriculum.
 Practical workshop sessions which require you to produce resources have a
defined curriculum area to work with.
 Observed lessons
 Lessons which you have to plan and teach on practice
All these ‘experiences’ are relevant in building confidence in your subject knowledge.
The development of your subject knowledge during block teaching practices will be
largely based around topics which you have taught but you should also note lessons
which you have observed.
If this review were simply limited to keeping a tally of topics you had taught, or seen
taught, it would only be of value to auditors who feel that a tick box mentality is of
itself intrinsically rewarding; they are the unimaginative, ahistorical functionaries who
have done so much to stifle the creativity which can engage and challenge pupils in
the classroom.
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