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