@hwshistory
Chris Holmes. Head of History & Politics at Highgate Wood School, North London. History is for life not just exams! For students, staff, alumni & parents. All views expressed here are strictly my own. Formerly https://twitter.com/HWS_History
Feeling a bit emotional today to hear from a former student who has just completed his doctorate in History. I’ve a few years to go yet but it has inspired to dust off some long forgotten ideas for a PhD when I retire. Teaching is always about the circle of life …
Before studying & teaching civil rights, I was aware of Jesse Jackson’s attempts to get the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1980s - and his racist vilification. Makes me realise how figures like him and MLK might be revered in death but were hated at the time by those who felt threatened.
Very humbled to be invited to deliver a session on teaching A level today to the History PGCE cohort at UCL/IoE, where I did my own teacher training. Lovely to meet a new generation of history educators and play even a very small part in helping them on their way.
There’s a crisis in SEND provision & support for adolescent mental health. School infrastructure is literally crumbling all around us. And a teacher recruitment & retention crisis. But the government are going to intervene and micromanage the issue of smart phones … playing to the gallery.
Today in 1649 Charles 1st was executed-‘not in a darkened corner but in the full light of day for all the nation to behold’. Last week I watched the film Nuremberg. Both addressing the issue how do we hold our leaders to account when there is no legal precedent?
The best of teaching times, the worst of teaching times. Two days of gruelling Ofsted inspection. And today an inspiring CPD afternoon on teaching empire with like-minded teachers in other London schools. Sharing practice in doing justice to complex (& in the current climate controversial) History.
One of the pleasures of teaching is staying in touch with former students and seeing where life takes them over the years. I was particularly delighted this week to host a teacher training placement for an ex-student who is now a History teacher. Passing it on. The circle of life and all that …
I’m the Oxbridge guy at my school. This time of year I’m encouraging a new set of 6th form to consider applying & joining the enrichment programme I run. My biggest challenge is breaking down misconceptions that it’s only for the posh. This sets me back years. 🤦🏻
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Under the Trump administration, Howard Zinn’s work has been banished from US classrooms. Now more than ever Americans really should be studying this classic.
The BBC mini series on the Titanic is relatable public history at its best. Using primary sources as its basis - a teacher could create a whole number of enquiry lessons around it. The most powerful for me is what it tells us about class in Edwardian society.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
David Olusoga becoming the most important public historian of a generation. Watching his latest Empire series makes me proud we were early adopters of the Migration, Empires & People option for GCSE. If nothing else it pisses off all the right people in the culture wars.
youtu.be/dQeXmTSJHHs?...
Intuitively I am very nervous about the current suggestions to get rid of trial by jury. There are many good reasons to feel that way. But I do suspect that many of the people who are citing Magna Carta as the guardian of our civil liberties can’t have actually read the 1215 document.
As teachers we sometimes forget how we can be inspired by students: I met up with an ex- student. They’ve followed a roundabout path in education & have now just started a degree several years after leaving school. They’ve never been happier. A role model that education isn’t a conveyor belt.
Whatever we might think about the curriculum I am sick of the dumbing down narrative. I’m old enough to have done O levels. My school had only recently become a comprehensive and retained a grammar school ethos. My students today work far harder than I did. And their mental wellbeing is much worse.
At the end of an inset day in school the History dept went to the Barbican for Olusoga’s ‘Gun through a time’. Genuine CPD - his argument that three technologies built Britain’s empire in Africa:
Quinine / Gunboats / Maxim Guns. I might just steal that.
History teachers use ads as primary sources in lessons. Often disturbing; for better or worse, they provide insight into the prevailing values of a period. So when a modern politician complains that ads today are now actually too multicultural, it's pretty safe to infer where they are coming from...
Anniversary today of Edgehill in 1642 - first major battle of the British civil wars. Interesting to think that those there can have had absolutely no conception of what they were about to be a part of: Three civil wars, regicide and the birth of several new ideologies.
Back from visiting Auschwitz/ Birkenau. Exhausting physically, mentally and emotionally. A privilege to share this experience with our students.
Y13 Auschwitz trip:
At the Waval castle overlooking the old city. An explanation of why the area was ironically a safe haven for Eastern European Jews for centuries.
Time of year of anniversary of me being made redundant from my previous career. Also time for advising students about university choices and seeing ex-students who’ve graduated & now stressing over careers. My example; it’s ok not to know at 18 or 21. You’ll find your path if you stay open minded.
Sadly I couldn’t join them, today but I’m so happy that I work in a department where my colleagues choose to spend their weekends enjoying History. A trip to the battlefield for a reenactment to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings
Excited to be taking a new bunch of Year13s to Auschwitz next week. Did the usual parents briefing I’ve delivered many times before - depressing to think that given the current state of the world, the trip is more relevant now than when I first did it 12 years ago.
The trouble with being a History teacher is that watching the news triggers historical parallels: Now I’m haunted by the fact that in 1934 most Germans who voted Nazi weren’t necessarily antisemitic - they were just prepared to overlook Nazi racism because they wanted to ‘reclaim their country’.
A week to contemplate the revolving door of teaching. New classes. A dinner for History A Level leavers off to university (one of my favourite events of the year). And meeting up with former students now returned home after graduating uni. A continuous community stretching across the years.
That would be wonderful 👊🏼
Much as I enjoy the holidays, I’m ready for a new school year. But I dread starting it with interminable exams analysis & unveiling of new policies & mission statements. Imagine a world where teachers were shown this from Akala at INSET to inspire them for the task ahead.
youtu.be/YsK3Q-QNcpQ?...
A joyous GCSE results day yesterday. But why all the fuss at age 16 when education & training now extends until 18? When I was at school most students left at 16 to start work/join the dole queue. We’re due an overhaul of education & assessment system - that needs some brave & visionary leadership.
Like many teachers I use this London Transport recruitment poster in my migration lessons. To my shame I’ve not thought about the actual woman in the picture.Thanks to Michael Rosen I now know this is Claudette Hart. a salutary reminder to respect that History is the experience of ordinary people.
So the Daily Mail a paper who is sceptical about the value of universities (and indeed education in general) has again come up with a set of rankings. Having dealt with students in Clearing yesterday this thinking is so damaging & ill-informed.
www.timeout.com/uk/news/the-...