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History in Secondary Schools: Challenges and Opportunities
SHP 21st Annual Conference
Michael Maddison HMI
Ofsted’s Specialist Adviser for History
Leeds Trinity 5 July 2009
Subjects matter – history matters
Today’s text
Unfortunately, photographs have been deleted for reasons of copyright and to reduce the file size.
History in secondary schools: strengths
Secondary successes
Good teaching
Good teachers’ subject knowledge
Effective leadership and management
History is enjoyable and popular
Students acquire knowledge and understanding in depth
Good development of enquiry skills and source evaluation - investigation, extraction, evaluation and communication
High standards and good achievement
‘It makes you think’ (student Year 9)
GCSE Entries
Figures from 2005 onwards are for end of KS4. Figures prior to this are for pupils aged 15
0
40,000
80,000
120,000
160,000
200,000
240,000
280,000
320,000
360,000
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Nu
mb
er o
f en
trie
s
Art and Design Business Studies Drama French
Geography German History IT
Media/Film/TV Music
GCSE History
Figures from 2005 onwards are for end of KS4. Figures prior to this are for pupils aged 15
4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 8% 8% 9% 10% 10% 10% 11%13% 14% 15% 16% 16% 16% 17% 17% 18% 18% 19% 19%
20% 20% 20%20% 20% 20% 20% 20%
20% 20% 21% 20%
20% 19% 19% 18% 18% 18% 18% 18%18% 18% 17% 18%
14% 14% 14% 13% 14% 13% 13% 13%13% 13% 13% 13%
11% 11% 11% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%9% 9% 9% 9%
8% 8% 8% 7% 7% 7% 7% 6% 6% 6% 5%5% 5% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 4% 3% 3% 3% 3%4% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3%
8%
2%2% 2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
A* A B C D E F G U, X
A level History Entries
42,107
36,078
36,373
44,623
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Nu
mb
er
of
en
trie
s
A Level AS Level
A level History
14.9 15.7 17.1 17.5 18.6 20.5 23.3 23.6 23.3 24.4 25.1 24.8
19 19.4 19.9 20.2 20.925.4
25.6 26 26.1 26.2 26.7 28.120.8 21.0 21.8 22.3 22.1
24.523.8 24.4 24.8 24.2 23.9 25.118.6 18.8
18.1 17.8 17.5
17.617.5 16.6 16.5 16.3 16.2 15.1
13.3 12.7 11.5 11.4 10.2
9.2 7.7 7.6 7.4 7.1 6.6 5.713.4 12.4 11.6 10.8 10.7
2.8 2.1 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.5 1.1
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
A B C D E Other
History in secondary schools: challenges
Insufficiently focussed assessment on subject-specific objectives, e.g. progression in skills
Marking insufficiently precise to help students improve
Insufficient challenge for the most able
Limited British Isles history and too little local history
Absence of an overarching rationale leading to an unbalanced curriculum at KS3
Departmental challenges
Insufficient curriculum liaison between Years 6 and 7
Student recruitment to exam courses at GCSE and the falling proportion of students taking GCSE history
Growth of vocational learning & new subjects 14-19
Reduced time allocation at KS3 leading to fleeting coverage and restricted number of topics in depth
Whole school curriculum pressures - greater emphasis on thematic teaching and the skills-based curriculum
Whole school challenges
History at GCSEYear Total number
of students at the end of KS4
Total number of students taking history (full & short)
% of students taking history (full & short)
1996/7
All schools
586,766 207,608 35.38%
2006/7
All schools
655,146 206,834 31.5%
2007/8
All schools
653,045 206,311 31.59%
2007/8
Maintained Schools only
585,967 180,828 30.85%
Figures from 2005 onwards are for end of KS4. Figures prior to this are for pupils aged 15
Curriculum developments at KS3
The curriculum continuum
Separate subjects Cross-curricular links Integrated themes
History in secondary schools: opportunities
How will the primary curriculum changes help my Year 7
students to be better prepared to achieve at KS3? What can we do to help our feeder primary teachers?
Do we have a clear rationale for our KS3 history curriculum?
What contribution have we made, are we making and can we make to the school’s work on ‘Britishness’, identity, diversity, citizenship, community cohesion and political literacy?
How effective is our work in teaching emotive and controversial issues such as the Holocaust and the slave trade?
Do we ensure relevance in what and how we teach history to young people in our school in 21st century Britain?
So what can we do? Ten questions for you to answer
Which cross-curricular links will be the most effective in
enhancing the students’ experience in history?
What can we offer through increased cross-curricular links to students and other departments in and beyond the school?
How could thematic teaching and a skills-based curriculum improve the achievement and progress of students in their historical knowledge, understanding and skills?
What could thematic teaching and a skills-based curriculum achieve that history (and other foundation subjects) on their own and through increased cross-curricular links could not achieve?
What circumstances do we need to engender to ensure that curriculum innovation, which enhances learning in history, flourishes?
So what can we do?
Final thoughts
History fires pupils’ curiosity and imagination, moving and inspiring them with the dilemmas, choices and beliefs of people in the past.
(QCA, KS3)
‘History stops people believing rubbish’
(student age 12)
‘History has taught me to read between the lines’
(student age 16)
Subjects matter – history matters
The importance of history
History in Secondary Schools: Challenges and Opportunities
SHP 21st Annual Conference
Email: [email protected]