History 7-11: Developing Primary Teaching Skills (Curriculum in Primary Practice)

Learning history is remembered by many teachers as a passive process involving 'learning dates'. In this book, the emphasis is on 'doing history' - making sense of the past through the process of investigation as a true historian would. The authors argue that children should be involved in historical investigations, thus developing the skills and processes that underpin historical understanding. Using an Action Research approach to improving practice, the authors' own case-study of 'The Vikings' and teachers' accounts are used to illustrate different teaching approaches. These fully involve the children as historians in an imaginative and creative way. Each chapter is supported by exercises and activities which demonstrate how to translate theory into practice together with a specific focus on the problems of planning and resourcing to produce practical teaching strategies.