Some of the issues which may need to be discussed as part of the school’s planning for history include the following:

The purpose and nature of history in the school

The curriculum is based on the premise that history can contribute to the harmonious development of the child if it reflects the nature of the historian’s work, if it involves the simultaneous acquisition of knowledge about the past, the development of historical investigation skills and the fostering of important attitudes. Exploring and discussing the nature of historical enquiry among the staff can clarify the role which history may play in the curriculum and so facilitate the evaluation of teaching resources and approaches.

How the locality of the school will be reflected in the programme

One of the most important aspects of the history curriculum and the wider SESE programme is the emphasis placed on the exploration of the local environment of the child and school. Many teachers in urban areas may live outside the immediate vicinity of their schools, while younger teachers and those who have begun to teach in the school may be unfamiliar with the area. The planning process should involve teachers in becoming familiar with the locality of the school; further advice on where to start in building up information about the locality will be found below on pp. 35–39 and in the Appendix.

Teachers may then be enabled to identify items, locations and topics suitable for inclusion in the history programme. Planning should help to coordinate local studies in the school, so as to ensure that children explore the environment thoroughly throughout their primary school years, that local subjects which can illustrate national or international history are exploited fully, that best use is made of resources, and that undue repetition is avoided. Schools might decide, for example, that particular aspects of the local environment and topics in local history would be allocated for study at particular levels in the school.

Balancing integrated theme teaching and more subjectcentred approaches

An integrated curriculum is particularly suited to younger children because they view the world and their experiences in a holistic way. Many schools may therefore choose to organise work for the infant and junior classes within SESE and other areas of learning using a number of themes.

As children grow older, appropriate teaching strategies can vary; they may include a holistic (or theme-based) approach, some cross-curricular integration and a subject-centred focus. Theme teaching and the use of subject integration will remain important at all levels, but these approaches rely on careful planning by teachers to ensure that the role and distinctive contribution of each subject are realised. In particular, planning should help to ensure that within the range of themes used, a broad and comprehensive coverage of the content strands is achieved and that adequate opportunities are provided for the development of historical skills.

The amount of time for the subject

Given that an integrated approach will be commonly used at all levels of the primary school, it is probably more helpful if schools look at the amount of time to be devoted to subject areas over a term or year rather than attempt to allocate a specific weekly amount of time to each subject. Schools should also discuss the general amounts of time to be devoted to areas within the curriculum, having regard to the circumstances of the school, the needs of pupils and particular priorities which have been identified by the staff.

Staffs and teachers will probably find it more useful to concentrate the available periods on one aspect of SESE at a time. Perhaps the concentration of the work for two or three weeks might be on a theme with a mainly historical focus, to be followed by a period in which the focus would be largely on science or geography. These time allocations should remain flexible, as work in each area should complement learning in other subjects, and individual teachers should be free to use their professional judgement to adjust the guidelines to suit individual pupil needs and the class circumstances.

A broad, balanced and coherent curriculum

The history curriculum provides considerable flexibility for the school and this should be exploited so as to suit the programme to the circumstances of the school and to the range of interests and aptitudes of the pupils. Planning will help teachers to ensure that the history programme at all levels should

include studies from local, national and international contexts. Local studies, concentrating initially on personal and family history, should be included at all levels. The lives of people during major periods of Irish history will be covered, and children should also have opportunities to learn of the contribution of people in other lands to human development. These international elements should reflect cultures and traditions from European and also non-European contexts
ensure that children explore the past from a range of perspectives. Children’s examination of the past should not be dominated by political or military history. The social, economic, technological, cultural, artistic and religious experiences of people are important if we are to understand what life was like for the vast majority of people in the past
encourage children to learn of and come to value the contribution of people of different ethnic and cultural groups, social classes and religious traditions to the evolution of modern Ireland and the wider world. History has a particularly valuable role to play in heightening children’s awareness of the contribution of women and men, of minorities (whether social, ethnic or religious) and of all classes in society
include episodes from a range of historical periods. For pupils of third class and above, elements of early, middle and modern periods of history should be studied each year. A strict adherence to a chronological treatment of strand units is best avoided, but ways in which the development of children’s understanding of chronology will be fostered should be identified: for example, the use of timelines to help children to understand and record the relative position of the events studied should be encouraged whenever possible
provide adequate opportunities for the development of a range of historical skills through local studies and other units of work at all levels. A balance needs to be maintained between the development of skills and the acquisition of knowledge throughout the programme
identify opportunities for the use of a wide range of historical evidence at all levels. Consideration might also be given to how the exploration of the local environment could best be organised and to ways in which teachers, pupils, parents and others could facilitate children’s access to items of historical interest. Schools might consider the development of a collection of items from the past in a school museum
seek to achieve a balance between the need to allow children to learn about the broad sweep of national and world history and the need to provide opportunities for children to engage in an intensive study of shorter periods or more restricted topics in local, national or world history. In third class and above, it is suggested that in each year one strand unit in local history and one strand unit in national or world history would be studied in more depth over a longer period
provide for continuity and progression. Efficient use of the flexibility provided within the curriculum in the selection of strand units should ensure that children acquire an understanding of the broad sweep of history and that significant gaps and undue repetition are avoided. Similarly, there should be continuity and progression in the methods and approaches used with pupils. Work at each level should build on the skills developed at earlier periods, and some thought should be given to the needs of pupils following transfer to post-primary school.
If a primary school has particularly strong links with a local postprimary school, consideration might be given to some co-ordination of content selection at both schools: for example the duplication of local projects in sixth class of the primary school and in first year of the postprimary cycle could be avoided
foster the child’s sense of local, national and European identity. A balanced programme of local studies and elements of national history should help the child to develop a critical awareness of his/her Irish heritage. Similarly, elements of European history should awaken his/her interest in the wider European culture, while some knowledge of the story of European co-operation will make an important contribution to the child’s awareness of his/her European heritage and sense of citizenship.

Developing an assessment policy

Assessment is an integral part of the teaching and learning process in history, as in other areas of the curriculum. Developing the school plan for history creates a common understanding among the staff of the purpose of the subject and how it will be implemented in the school. A significant aspect of this shared sense of purpose concerns the way in which the progress of children in history will be assessed, documented and reported.

Discussing and clarifying how the progress of pupils may be observed, noted and documented in history will contribute to and be informed by the school’s overall policy for assessment, recording and reporting. These discussions should also foster among teachers a sense of how an approach to assessment which is closely linked to teaching and learning can enhance the learning experience for the child. They can facilitate the exchange of accurate information about pupils’ learning among the staff and so promote informed debate on pupil progress and teaching approaches.

Some of the assessment issues which may need to be discussed as part of the school’s planning for history include the following:

The purposes of assessment

Discussion of the many ways in which assessment can help to enrich teaching and learning can foster an appreciation of its role in the implementation of the history curriculum. Among its contributions are:

helping to discover what pupils know, understand and can do
showing the different rates of progress that children are making
helping to check learning outcomes against teaching objectives
helping to plan future learning experiences
identifying areas of difficulty in order to respond to the learning needs of the child
facilitating communication between teachers about pupils
providing the basis for reporting to and communicating with parents and others
providing information for the transfer of pupils between primary and post-primary schools
helping teachers and schools to make decisions about the development and implementation of the curriculum.

A range of assessment tools

The curriculum advises that a diversity of assessment methods be utilised so that individual learning styles are accommodated and the full nature of the children’s learning in history is assessed. Among the tools recommended are:

teacher observation: the details of children’s learning which teachers notice as historical topics are explored and taught
teacher-designed tasks and tests: the wide range of activities in which children will be engaged in history lessons
work samples, portfolios and projects: in which samples of the children’s work from some of the tasks will be compiled, making possible monitoring of the child’s progress
curriculum profiles: a way in which the child’s progress can be assessed and recorded using indicators of achievement which would provide a summary description of the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be expected at various levels in the curriculum.

The ways in which the suggested assessment tools will be incorporated into teaching and learning in the school should be considered by teachers in planning for history. Assessment should arise naturally as part of teaching and learning: while assessment will help teachers to clarify the learning achieved by their pupils and so assist them in planning future learning, it should not distort the educational experience.

Discussing how existing and new teaching approaches or learning experiences can provide the teacher with valuable information about the child’s learning should raise awareness of how much assessment is ongoing. For example, a lesson based on the examination of a piece of evidence, such as a photograph, document or artefact, can tell the teacher about the child’s knowledge of the period in question, the lives of people at that time and his/her ability to make deductions from evidence. The information which the teacher gleans from this teaching and learning is a crucial aspect of assessment.

Assessment and the aims/objectives of the curriculum

Teachers will be guided in the selection of assessment tools by the need for assessment to reflect the aims and objectives of the curriculum, particularly the importance attached to the development of historical skills as well as knowledge and attitudes.

Manageability of assessment

If assessment is to enhance the learning experience for children it should be manageable, so that it provides useful information while not detracting from teaching time. The approach which the staff takes to the compilation of portfolios, for example, needs to bear in mind the manageability and storage of the collections of sample work involved. Portfolios might contain only those samples of work which indicate significant steps in the child’s learning; other schools might retain only ‘best samples’ or ‘final editions’ of children’s work.

A common understanding of assessment

The discussion of some work samples, portfolios, projects and curriculum profiles from different classes among a group of co-operating teachers could lead to the sharing of teaching experience and the moderation of assessment in the school. Sharing experience and discussing how judgements may be made about children’s work and progress can improve the quality and usefulness of the information gleaned from assessment and will facilitate communication about pupils between teachers.

Recording and communicating: continuity and progression

The range of assessment tools recommended in the curriculum will constitute a comprehensive system of assessing and recording each child’s progress in history. The information observed and collected about the child’s learning will be crucial in determining the future educational experiences of the child and will provide the basis for reporting to and discussion with teachers, parents and others about the child’s progress. The exchange of information about the child’s learning between teachers and parents can enhance further the value of assessment information.

The communication of information about the child’s learning to parents and others will be facilitated by the use of a pupil profile card: a means of recording the results of the child’s learning and assessment each year. SESE and history’s contribution within it would form one section of this evaluation of the child’s progress.

The use of a menu-style curriculum, such as that in history and SESE, will mean that the keeping of records of work completed by pupils (for examplein the form of portfolio assessment) will be an important factor in ensuring continuity and progression. Within the context of the general school policy for assessment, provision should be made for common forms of curriculum profiles and class records, and these should be available in the school for the use of successive teachers. The records should help in the planning of work in subsequent years, both in the selection of strand units and in maintaining the balance of skills development and content.