Developing a shared sense of purpose for history

Planning for history in the school should

• create a common understanding of the nature and role of history in the curriculum of the school. Planning will be a collaborative and consultative process involving the principal, teachers and, where appropriate, parents and the board of management
• seek to utilise the interests and aptitudes of individual teachers to the full. Some members of the school staff may have a greater knowledge of the locality, others may have interests in particular aspects of history, while others may have developed and used a range of methods and approaches in teaching and assessment.
  Some of the work of developing or co-ordinating the implementation of history might be delegated to a teacher or teachers with a particular interest or expertise in the area. These teachers should be seen as catalysts and facilitators, enabling all members of the staff to assist each other to respond to the challenges presented by the curriculum. They may be able to stimulate discussion on aspects of the curriculum, help to advise others on a range of new approaches in teaching and assessment, and assist in the coordination of teaching resources for the subject
• provide real help and support to the teacher without creating undue paperwork. The re-examination of history in the school will eventually lead to the emergence of a written statement of the school’s policy for history. This document will be a useful record and reference point for the staff. However, the main aim in planning should not be the production of a written policy; the process in which people are engaged and the clear sense of direction and purpose it gives to the work of teachers and the school are more important than any formal record
• determine how the school intends to phase the introduction of the new programme. Some aspects of the history curriculum may already be in place while other parts of the programme may require a substantial amount of preliminary work by the staff and others. For example, a school may be confident that it has excellent work in place on aspects of Story and on units of national and international history yet may feel that children’s local studies lack sufficient opportunities to handle and use artefacts and evidence. This aspect of the programme cannot be rectified overnight – the planning process should help to clarify a sensible schedule for implementation taking into account changes in other subject areas and the circumstances of the school
• involve review and evaluation during development and after a fixed period. Regular discussions in the early stages of implementation can help to refine the draft policy by identifying those aspects that have been most successful and those that may need further development or support.
  In order to ensure that the work load created by curricular change and the costs associated with the acquisition of new teaching and learning resources are spread evenly, schools will often phase development work on individual subject areas. Once in place the policy for history should be revisited on a regular basis. The effectiveness of the programme can be evaluated and amendments can be made. This process can help to refocus attention on the subject and the policy of the school towards it
• contribute to the overall school plan which will be reviewed by the board of management. Within the resources available to it, the board will provide support for the development and implementation of the school plan
• involve communication and consultation with parents and the board of management at appropriate stages. Teacher-parent meetings and circulars or information sheets are among the methods which may be used to facilitate this process of communication, and the section below (p. 36) suggests other ways in which parents may support the planning and implementation of the history curriculum.

Identifying support for implementation

Planning for the history curriculum will also involve reviewing how existing resources could best be used to support the programme and identifying where further help is required. Some useful strategies and potential sources of support are discussed below.

The contribution of parents and other relatives of the children

As the programme places a heavy emphasis on family and local history, the co-operation and help of parents will be very important for success. Informing parents of the aims of the local history work being developed in the school and its role in the education of pupils will help to foster parental support. It will mean that when children arrive home asking questions such as ‘What was it like when you were at school, Mammy?’ and ‘What work did Granda do?’ parents will understand what is going on!

Many parents will gladly lend items which can help to illustrate elements of their own past and that of the children. The items and children’s work based on them can be mounted in attractive displays, to which parents could be invited. Such events can help to develop parents’ understanding of the type of work envisaged and can lead to even further offers.

Invitations might be issued to some parents or grandparents who are willing to talk to children about their memories. Such visits require careful preparation to ensure that children can obtain full benefit from the visit and that the visitor, particularly if an older person, knows what to expect. Visits of this sort are an excellent way in which children can come to develop a sense of the past as a real and tangible part of the life of the community.

Parents can also play a very useful role in helping to identify places and events of interest in the locality. Parents, or their friends and acquaintances who have lived in the area for some time, or those who have a particular interest in the history of the locality, can be invaluable sources of information for teachers during the preparation and planning of local studies.

Teachers will be very conscious that the exploration of family history needs to be treated delicately for all sorts of reasons. Some parents, children and teachers may find it painful to discuss aspects of their own lives, and the school has to be sensitive to this issue. In most cases parents will co-operate willingly with the school if they are fully informed in advance about the type of work which is envisaged and reassured that the emphasis of studies will be on their everyday lives, work and leisure activities in the past. Trust and confidence can be enhanced further if parents are consulted and involved in the planning stages. However, some schools may wish to substitute a study of the family of a person known to the children, for example the childhood of a teacher or principal, for the unit ‘My family’. In all cases, the school policy should give explicit guidance to teachers on the way in which this work should be undertaken.

The local library

Many county libraries have excellent local history collections, including books, articles, photographs and maps. Many librarians are able to copy items and make material available to schools on a block loan basis. Such loans can beinvaluable, not only for the teaching of units of work but during the preparation of the school plan for history. Getting to know the librarian and discussing the school’s requirements well in advance is advisable.

However, schools should avoid the situation where children from a class arrive in the local library over a relatively short period, all asking, ‘Have you got anything about Ballyboden?’ Learning to use the library in a focused way is an important part of historical research and should be practised in the school library first.

The local museum or heritage centre

In recent years, there has been a huge growth in the number of local museums and heritage centres in many parts of the country. Many of these centres concentrate on aspects of social history in the locality and will therefore complement several of the units of work in the curriculum. Some of the larger local museums may have items of national significance, for example Stone Age or Iron Age artefacts, and these can help to illustrate the units of work on these historical periods.

Few museums or heritage centres have the resources which would enable them to lend items from their collections to schools. However, most centres will welcome invitations for members of the staff to talk to children and teachers about aspects of local history, and the centres will provide invaluable advice to teachers during the planning of the history curriculum.

Local societies

Local history societies exist in many parts of the country. Members of these societies can be important sources of information about the area, and the journals of these bodies (usually available in the local library) record many aspects of local history which are not readily available elsewhere.

Planning section of the local authority

Planning departments of county councils and other local authorities maintain comprehensive large-scale maps of their areas. These are particularly useful in rapidly growing suburban areas, where the rate of building may mean that published maps are somewhat out of date. Some planning departments may be able to supply photocopies of their maps for a charge.

Publications, library books, textbooks, computer software

During planning, teachers should review the reference books, story books, novels and computer software (including CD-ROMs, etc.) available in the school. Recording how these may support the units of the history plan will be a useful aid to teachers as the programme is implemented. This may also highlight gaps or weaknesses in the school’s resources for history and can help planning for systematic purchasing for the school’s library and the collection of teaching resources.

A number of publications which provide excellent starting points for research in local history and other books and sources generally available in county and other libraries are listed in the Appendix.

Charts (whether made by teachers or purchased) and photographs will be valuable in history lessons. It may be possible for a teacher or parent to photograph items of interest in the locality and other areas. These photographs, protected in plastic pockets, can be a very useful and durable classroom aid when preparing for children’s visits to sites and during follow-up work. Relating the photographs to maps of the area can also help to develop the child’s spatial awareness.

Sometimes teachers may not be aware of the books and other resources that are available throughout the school. Some form of indexing or filing of teaching materials, including photographs, artefacts and other items of evidence, slides, videos, etc., can help teachers greatly in the implementation of the curriculum. Some aspects of this work might be the responsibility of a history co-ordinator in the school.

Carefully chosen, well-produced textbooks may be an important source of teaching material for history. The policy for history should reflect the general policy of the school regarding the selection, purchase and use of textbooks. However, it should be noted that textbooks, of their very nature, cannot adequately cover local history studies and should therefore be regarded as only one source among many for the teaching of history. The exclusive use of one textbook per class could have a constricting influence on the selection of strand units. If resources permit, the availability of classroom sets of two or more different textbooks would facilitate greater flexibility.

Radio, television and video

A number of radio and television programmes broadcast for educational and entertainment purposes may support some of the units of work in the curriculum, particularly those involving international themes. Some programmes made about aspects of life in Ireland will also be useful. Generally, these programmes are best used in recorded format; teachers can then view the material in advance and select or edit the sections most suitable for their own classroom.

The National Archives
The National Museum
The National Library
The National Gallery

These bodies hold many collections of local and national significance, while the Museum, Library and Gallery mount major exhibitions. All these bodies produce some excellent publications, charts, packs of facsimile documents and models for sale.

National organisations

Several national and state bodies produce a wide range of publications and other items which will prove useful in the teaching of history. These bodies include:

Dúchas: the Heritage Section of the
Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands
Department of the Environment and Local Government
ENFO
An Taisce
Electricity Supply Board
Tourism boards

Education centres and other in-service providers

Local education centres and other agencies provide support for schools and teachers who wish to enrich their knowledge of local areas and develop further their range of teaching and assessment strategies.

Courses to enhance teachers’ knowledge of the local area can provide opportunities for the identification of suitable units of work, supporting materials, available historical evidence and ways in which these could be used with children. Co-operating with other teachers in the development and trial of units of work can be an enriching and rewarding experience. Several centres have special collections of materials for the teaching of local studies.

Practical advice on how teacher observation, teacher-designed tasks, portfolios and curriculum profiles couldbe used in the assessment of history will be required by many teachers. Schools contemplating this type of training might consider co-operating with adjoining schools in the locality. Such co-operation would be particularly beneficial in enabling teachers to share experiences in teaching and assessment. This teacher moderation of assessment can enhance the reliability of assessment methods and enrich teaching considerably.