[Carl Fazackerley]

I wondering if people might be able to help me out!

I will be teaching next year in a school that has opted for WJEC Spec A; studies have provisionally been selected, but I have been given scope to change them if I prefer others that are available. I have some ideas about the topics I would like to teach, however being a newbie I have a limited knowledge of the resources and textbooks that are available, and I don't want to select options that are hard to resource.

So my request comes in two parts;

1. Which options are best resourced with textbooks?
2. Which textbooks and other materials would you recommend purchasing?

Many thanks in advance!

[DaveStacey]

What topics are you considering at the moment?

We do Germany and China from Paper 1 and USA from Paper 2.

Germany is very well resourced (although it's worth being aware that a lot of other boards only go up to 1939, so the final part isn't always as well served by online resources. The one problem I've found with Germany is the sheer volume of stuff to get through - check carefully against the sylabus as some of the areas covered by text books aren't needed.

We use the excellent Brooman text book for China, although there is little else. If you do go down this route then give me a shout and I can send you some of the stuff we've got here.

USA is also well resources, although not all text books go up to 1990.

I know that Russia is fairly well off for resources, and I've heard conversations from people complaining about the lack of resources for the Elizabethian age unit, although I don't know how true that is.

I'd be interested to know which option you'd choose and why. There has been some talk here about changing at some point as we do Nazi Germany as GCSE and A Level. I'll find out the name of the USA and Germany text books we use and let you know.

[Carl Fazackerley]

Thanks Dave

The school are considering the following at the moment

PAPER 1

6. The United States of America 1910-1929
7. Germany 1919-1945


PAPER 2

4. The United States of America 1929-1990

______

Myself I'm thinking more along the lines of;

PAPER 1
5. Russia under the Tsar, 1905 - 1914
7. Germany, 1919-1945

PAPER 2

3. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1924 - 1991

Although I would be interested in China Under Mao Ze Dong, 1949 - 1976 if you think that there is sufficient material out there to make it work.

This post has been edited by Carl Fazackerley: 25 May 2006 - 03:49 PM

[DaveStacey]

I'd say there was enough stuff out there on China. You certainly won't need as much as for Germany.

I'm sure someone else on the forum (it might have been Alison) was talking about doing two consecutive units, and I think that was the USA so she may be able to give you some pointers. I've only been teaching it for a year, so I may not be the best person to speak on this, but it was certainly my perception that a lot of pupis 'got' the USA more easily than they 'got' China. You may find this the same with the USA vs USSR. That may well have influenced the schools decision.

Are you moving up here Carl, or is this one of the English schools that's come over to the WJEC?

[Carl Fazackerley]

DaveStacey, on May 25 2006, 11:55 PM, said:

I'd say there was enough stuff out there on China. You certainly won't need as much as for Germany.

I'm sure someone else on the forum (it might have been Alison) was talking about doing two consecutive units, and I think that was the USA so she may be able to give you some pointers. I've only been teaching it for a year, so I may not be the best person to speak on this, but it was certainly my perception that a lot of pupis 'got' the USA more easily than they 'got' China. You may find this the same with the USA vs USSR. That may well have influenced the schools decision.

Are you moving up here Carl, or is this one of the English schools that's come over to the WJEC?

Thanks for the help here. I'll try and get in contact with Alison on this.

I'm not moving up to Wales ; I'm moving to an academy in London!

[alison denton]

Here I am!

A lot of English centres do WJEC GCSE in fact.

The most popular combination by far at GCSE Spec A is USA/USA/Germany - it is very well resourced and for the reason already mentioned - pupils see the depth and outline USA as following on from each other.

WJEC has produced its own text for this Spec, covering the main depth and all the outline studies:

'GCSE History for WJEC Spec A' (what a title!) by Paul Barnes, R. Paul Evans and Peris Jones-Evans, published by Heinemann, ISBN 0 435 30802 5

It isn't a pupil text for the course really, as it is very text based, but it provides pupils with everything they need to know, and the exams are based on what is in the book.

I examine the Russia depth - and it is just great: really exciting etc, but pupils generally find the names hard. Having said that, it is increasing in popularity - WJEC has had to appoint extra examiners for it for the last 2 years.
I suspect it is partly those schools like yours Dave thinking to change from Germany at GCSE so as to keep it at A-level.

Germany during the war isn't as well resourced as the rest of the depth, but the WJEC book covers it, as does the Lacey and Sheppard SHP one, and there is a great 'World at War' episode which covers it all too.
USA - the period from 1910-middle of World War One isn't very well done, but there are loads of USA books on the market.
The ones we have are:
The USA 1917-1941 by Ian Campbell (Cambridge)
The USA 1917-80 by Nigel Smith (Oxford)
The USA between the Wars SHP Fiehn et al (Hodder Murray)
The USA: A Divided Union? by Neil de Marco (Longman)

Hope that's some help!

[Carl Fazackerley]

Many thanks Alison, lots to think about here!

Does anyone know where I can get the 2006/7 Specification as it doesn't seem to be available on the website, or should I be looking at the 2007/8 specification anyway if we are starting this September? I'm a little confused!

This post has been edited by Carl Fazackerley: 28 May 2006 - 10:49 AM

[alison denton]

Yes - you should be looking at the 2008 spec (because it is for examination in 2008, therefore to start teaching in Sept 2006)

[Carl Fazackerley]

alison denton, on May 28 2006, 09:07 PM, said:

Yes - you should be looking at the 2008 spec (because it is for examination in 2008, therefore to start teaching in Sept 2006)

Thanks!