[Dan Moorhouse]

The QCA are currently reviewing the curriculum for History and other subjects. I have been asked to attend a consultation conference that is discussing the future history curriculum. The details suggest that the conference will look at the relationship between depth studies and chronology, ways of avoiding a Nazi heavy curriculum, links with the Citizenship curriculum. The emphasis is on 14-19 provision.
This is possibly an opportunity for teachers to get their opinions about the future direction of the subject heard by some of the people who make curriculum decisions. I would prefer to go to the meeting knowing the thoughts of as many other history teachers as possible.

A few questions I'm expecting to be addressed at the conference:

What changes would you like to see?

Should greater emphasis be placed on vocational based history teaching?

Should the study in depth element be reduced to allow for a greater development of chronological awareness?

Should World and European issues be more prominent in GCSE syllabi?

How should 14-19 History be assessed?

This post has been edited by Dan Moorhouse: 15 March 2004 - 02:31 PM

[dwiliamsmts]

Subjects that interest children such as Jack the Ripper, Usa 1920-30s should be units in the KS3 curriculum.
We need to avoid war heavy KS4 syllabi

[Nichola Boughey]

dwiliamsmts, on Mar 15 2004, 11:40 AM, said:

Subjects that interest children such as Jack the Ripper.

I agree!

The fact that I get approximately 30- 40 GCSE and A-Level students in a Criminal History lecture, many of whom are the G&T cohort in the school but who don't all take History as an examination subject, suggests that a greater scope in our sylabus is needed.

The examination of law and order at KS3 would appeal to many students, both genders, and would also offer great topics for examination, source skills, interpretation and analytical skills. Plus the discussions are great!

Beats Agricultural Revolution any day of the week!

[Dan Moorhouse]

14-19 provision doesn't cover Key Stage 3... its GCSE and AS/A2 that will be affected.

[Paul Smith]

Nichola Boughey, on Mar 15 2004, 02:12 PM, said:

The examination of law and order at KS3 would appeal to many students, both genders, and would also offer great topics for examination, source skills, interpretation and analytical skills.  Plus the discussions are great!

Beats Agricultural Revolution any day of the week!

Agree - and it does provide that wonderful link with citizenship. I don't think that marketing it as Jack the R. would go down at Charlie Clarke level! (By the way did you pick up the latest theory - another ex-murder squad member arguing that it is at least two separate murderers and dismissing all previous named suspects)

What is wrong with the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions? As we experience almost constant technological revolutions and their impact on society, it is a wonderful opportunity to put both these non-revolutions into a context the students may relate to. (and it links with Citizenship)

(Previous students were always very fond of contemporary descriptions of the weekly punch ups between the hand loom weavers of Edgeley and the factory workers of Cheadle Heath....as more than one student remarked it is no different these days! The post 16 students quite enjoyed the mid Victorian social investigations, particularly those into the sexual mores of factory workers....I suspect more of us than we care to admit are descendents of overseers rather than those names on the birth certs!!!)

Whilst KS3 ain't in your remit I think the point Nicky makes is relevant.

As I've said elsewhere I suspect it is not long before we all have to make a choice between KS1 -KS3 schools and KS4/KS5 schools (but thats another thread)


Dan I'll try to give a more detailed response later...especially regarding the vocational aspect....which I think we will have to embrace in the light of Success for All.

This post has been edited by Paul Smith: 15 March 2004 - 02:38 PM

[Nichola Boughey]

Dan Moorhouse, on Mar 15 2004, 02:30 PM, said:

14-19 provision doesn't cover Key Stage 3... its GCSE and AS/A2 that will be affected.

Thanks for pointing that out Dan - gosh just 3 years in the job and I obviously don't know the difference!

No seriously what I should have stressed is that a good grounding of interesting topics at KS3 would influence the uptake at the 14-19 - that has to be a priority.

It is no good saying to children - ' ok we have studied the less interesting stuff early on in your education, please take our subject we promise to make it more interesting at KS4 and KS5 (See I do know my terms Dan! )

Bit like shutting the barn door after the horses escape! This is when we will lose out to newer subjects like ICT and Media Studies!

[neil mcdonald]

I'd like to see an abandonment of the traditional chronological ideas and instead focus on themes such as popular protest in History, global conflicts, religion and power -give teachers the power to be more creative in key stage four. What about portfolio for some of the assessment. Exams still have a place although I'd like to see a more innovative idea. Get the students to make their own project up on an element of study they are doing - it could be marked on the content, nature of the arguement, style etc and then moderated elsewhere as per norm.

I like the idea which the IB has of global history not just a European dimension so if you were doing a study of single party states you can examine Hitler, Stalin and then someone like Mao, Castro or Peron - a much more global understanding.

[Dan Lyndon]

Scrap coursework. Introduce more teacher assessment. Increase the flexibility of the courses available, just like they have done at KS3. Nazi Germany to be banned. Have 'seen' exams rather than memory tests.

This post has been edited by Dan Lyndon: 15 March 2004 - 06:24 PM

[Dan Moorhouse]

In the TES this week there is an article that looks at the level of demand and supply of different skills:

Shortage of skills were noted as being high in:

Basic Computing
Advanced IT
Numeracy
Literacy
Management
Miscellaneous Skills

If these are the skills being demanded by employers, then it follows that the curriculum model will adapt to meet these shortages. Can the History curriculum be adapted to help address some, or all, of these skills? (And there are clearly many other skills that can be put under these umbrella's, analytical thought, reasoning etc...)

I think its entirely feasible to address a number of these skills within a either a chronological framework, thematic study or series of in depth studies. That strikes me as easier to achieve at KS4, what about Post 16 though? What adaptations need to happen there? I'm fairly unfamiliar with the IB course; what skills does that develop that aren't developed by AS/A2?

[Paul Smith]

Dan Moorhouse, on Mar 15 2004, 06:22 PM, said:

I'm fairly unfamiliar with the IB course; what skills does that develop that aren't developed by AS/A2?

The course is far more thematic than the more chronologically based AS/A2 syllabus. I would argue that it demands higher level organisational and management skills .

The research and management of information across a far broader perspective.

The international element should mean that students will have to confront and challenge/defend received truths. Example: a student I taught who was less than complimentary about those who capitulated/collaborated under German occupation was challenged by two Bosnian refugees to explain exactly how he would have reacted in the circumstances.

It is the nature of the IB that those centres who offer it will also attract students of other nationalities or who have spent considerable time in other cultures.

The demands of the whole IB course forces students to be be far more organisationally efficient

Some civic activity is a mandatory element of the course

The extended essay, at the higher grades, demands skills of research and interpretation beyond those normally required at AS/A2.

However for many post 16 institutions given the "conservative" nature of the market it is not cost effective to offer it alongside AS/A2 or Vocational provision.

This post has been edited by Paul Smith: 15 March 2004 - 06:40 PM

[JohnDClare]

Apart from a plea to reduce the required content at KS4, I think my main plea would be to leave as much as possible alone, and to realise that continually changing things to try to make them better only makes them worse.

[Dave Wallbanks]

I think Chris Culpin has a valid point when he said that we should be teaching the skills of SHP GCSE within our units of KS3 history. I worry that we're being driven both into the need to make our subject more popular as we face the risk of extinction in the ever changing changing curriculum whilst also making our GCSE the most difficult one there is for pupils in KS4. Is there a more difficult GCSE than ours? I think we need to look at changing the nature of GCSE by offering more coursework, research projects, incorporation of ICT within the course as an essential part of its' core and far less exam based subject knowledge testing. This doesn't send our students out better equipped for the real world, it creates a situation where kids are required to learn over 300 years worth of history in detail about topics they will never use (unless in pub quizzes). Far more relevance and far less study of the ins and outs of Nazi Germany too!
We need to look at the way we join up for hybrid gcse's and get them more involved with work related skills. As I go on as a teacher I realise that after 9 years, the pupils I taught in 1995 didn't need the obscure depth of knowledge of Arab-Israeli conflict and I feel like i sold those kids short. The skills element is fine but in the real world academics must wake up and address what happens next.

[Richard Drew]

i'd like to replace coursework with the open book style project that many A-Level courses offer as an alternative to coursework.

i'd like to reduce the number of exam units studied from 3 to 2

i'd like to have exam papers that ask the key questions that are on the specification, rather than the often obscure/oddly worded questions that we get now. there is nothing wrong with the students knowing what to expect on exam papers, we can all spot the difference between a well rehearsed answer and genuine understanding

[Dan Lyndon]

Richard Drew, on Mar 15 2004, 07:51 PM, said:

i'd like to have exam papers that ask the key questions that are on the specification, rather than the often obscure/oddly worded questions that we get now. there is nothing wrong with the students knowing what to expect on exam papers, we can all spot the difference between a well rehearsed answer and genuine understanding

Absolutely. I think that you have hit the nail on the head. I get so frustrated when I read the exam paper and see my student's heads go down because they don't understand what the question is asking them to do.

[Dom_Giles]

Paul Smith, on Mar 15 2004, 10:39 PM, said:

Dan Moorhouse, on Mar 15 2004, 06:22 PM, said:

I'm fairly unfamiliar with the IB course; what skills does that develop that aren't developed by AS/A2?

What skills DOES AS/A2 develop full stop

I've taught IB and am now teaching AS and the most obvious difference is the simple fact the IB is spread over two years. TYear 12 can actually have a year off from exams and get so much more work done. So that is my major complaint at 14-19 level. Scrap the Year 12 exams.

Also scrap coursework as has been said earlier.

"Open book" exams sounds really interesting

Thematic not chronological approac to KS4

MAKE HISTORY COMPULSORY. BECAUSE IT IS OPTIONAL WE HAVE TO COVER THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN TWO HOURS A WEEK BY THE END OF YEAR 9. IF IT WERE COMPULSORY WE COULD SPEND SO MUCH MORE TIME ON EACH SECTION. IMAGINE NOT HAVING TO DO 20TH CENTURY CENTURY HISTORY UNTIL YEAR 1(ASSUMING ONE STILL FOLLOWS A CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEM)