International Symposium on History Education.

The history curriculum in primary schools in England: opportunities and challenges.

Professor Penelope Harnett, University of the West of England, Bristol. UK.

Penelope.Harnett@uwe.ac.uk

Stages of schooling

Key Stage 1 Year 1 5-6 years

Year 2 6-7years

Key Stage 2 Year 3 7-8 years

Year 4 8-9 years

Year 5 9-10 years

Year 6 10-11 years

Key Stage 3 Year 7 11-12 years

Year 8 12-13 years

Year 9 13-14 years

Key Stage 4 Year 10 14-15 years

Year 11 15-16 years

History Programmes of Study include:

• Specific historical knowledge for each Key Stage

• Key historical concepts and skills such as:

• Asking and answering questions from a range of sources of information ( artefacts, photographs, paintings, maps, documents, buildings etc).

• Developing awareness of change and continuity; causes and consequences• Developing a chronological framework of the past:• Representations and interpretations of the past

Key Stage 1 ( 5-7 years)

I played in my play pen I was in my pushchair at the zoo

Personal timelines

• Developing important vocabulary

• Before/ after• Now/then• Past/present• New/old

Sharing memories

•

Sharing memories

Learning about the past beyond living memory.

Contents page...

Time to get up

Working at school

Going home

Time for bed

Index and blurb

Marjorie’s box

Marjorie’s box

• Do you think it is a boy or a girl? • Is it just a girl because it has pretty things? (Drawing conclusions

from the information and justifying a conclusion) • Oh look, it has a diary – I wonder if it has a name inside? ( Raising

a historical question to promote further historical enquiry) • What do you think she did? ( Another historical question to promote

further enquiries) • Maybe she worked in a shop – isn’t that one of the jobs that people

used to do? ( Speculative language – use of the word maybe. Draws on existing historical knowledge to support an hypothesis)

Marjorie’s box • Do you think that she was famous?• Look at these gloves, do you think that she would mind if we tried them on?

( Awareness that working with a ‘real’ person’s objects and empathy with the owner of the objects)

• Oh – they’re really lovely – be careful though! ( Care taken in handling historical objects)

• Look here is an old book, it has a name in ... I can’t read this – the writing is really old but it begins with the letter M. Miss can you help me read this Name? Marjorie – the suitcase belongs to Marjorie but who was she? ( Draw conclusions about the name of the owner from historical sources – raises further historical questions)

Great events; Remembrance Day ; the Great Fire of London; Olympic Games

Significant individuals - Guy Fawkes, Brunel • Mary Seacole, bru

Significant individuals – Florence Nightingale

• Opportunities for teaching about a greater range of significant people including:

Scientists, artists, inventors, explorers and writers

Ibn Battatu

• Who was Ibn Battatu and when did he live?

• What were the most important events in his life?

• What was society like at the time when he lived?

• What sources of information are useful to learning about Ibn Battatu?

• How should we remember Ibn Battatu and why?

The importance of play based activities in the early years

• It is a very old toy. It is made from straw. It is not cuddly. It belonged to Miss Paddock’s dad. It used to have fur. It has holes. It has one eye.

• (Label in classroom museum)

Key Stage 2 history British History up to 1066 Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the

Iron Age The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain Britain’s settlement by the Anglo-Saxons and

Scots The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the

Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor

A local history study

A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066The achievements of the earliest civilisations - an overview with an in-depth study

Ancient Sumer The Indus Valley Ancient Egypt The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China

Ancient Greece A study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world

A non-European society to contrast with British society – one of

Early Islamic civilisation, including a study of Baghdad c. CE 900

Mayan civilisation c. CE 900 Benin ( West Africa) c. CE 900-1300

Local studies – central Bristol – now and then.

Central Bristol in 1866

Key issues at Key Stage 2

• Developing a connected narrative of the past• Knowing about key events in British history

Key Issues at Key Stage 2

• Role of history in a multi- cultural society – finding one’s own story in the narrative

Key issues at Key Stage 2

• Emphasis on early histories before 1066

Key issues at Key Stage 2

• Primary teachers’ history subject knowledge – not history specialists.

Key principles for learning history; the importance of talk • What are opportunities are there for a variety of talk in

the classroom – disputational, exploratory and cumulative?

• How are children organised so that they can share ideas and draw conclusions from their historical investigations?

• Is the classroom context supportive for children to express their ideas and feel that their ideas are valued?

• June 5th

Personal timelines

Playing at school