How do GCSE History source questions need to change?
It was never going to be long before the tabloid press picked up on the new GCSE History sample assessment materials: history is always the most controversial subject on the [...]
Articles by Michael Fordham
Why do GCSE and A-Level exams get it so horribly wrong?
As GCSE and A-Level reforms come into reality over the next year, I am left reflecting on the latest stage in a story that has been developing in England for over two [...]
Why does truth matter in teaching?
Consider the following propositions, all of which are ones that pupils in school are likely to encounter in their futures: (1) Homeopathy is an effective treatment for a [...]
“I’m a teacher, not a…”: the problem of mission creep in schools
It is a well-known problem that schools suffer from ‘mission-creep’. It is common these days for just about every problem in society to be placed at the door of [...]
In defence of DVDs?
It’s that time of year again. “Have you planned your Year 9 lesson for today?” “Yes: insert DVD, then press play”. Quite rightly, teachers who decide to sit out the [...]
On not losing the ‘what’ in the ‘how’
I followed an interesting discussion on Twitter this week where David Didau lampooned a resource given to @MissNQT at a NQT training event. The resource advocated a variety [...]
Why don’t we have set texts in history?
Short extracts of sources or interpretations have been a feature of history exams for decades, and, I would argue, they have never been done well. For those unfamiliar with [...]
Preparing children for jobs that exist: the importance of vocational education
It might surprise some regular readers to see me writing a post under the title ‘the importance of vocational education’, not least because I have used this blog to [...]
Senior leaders and the school curriculum
School senior leaders, I would argue, ought to be taking a keen interest in the detail of the school curriculum, not least because that curriculum helps to define what the [...]
Be not afeared: criticality and the teaching of history
I suspect most readers will have seen the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. One of the early parts of the performance involved our green and pleasant land being [...]
Should we teach useful knowledge? The poverty of a ‘useful’ curriculum
This question is doing the rounds a bit on Twitter at the moment with numerous people jumping in to claim that we should be teaching only those things that are ‘useful’ [...]
Want to improve your teaching? Study the teaching of your subject
What makes someone a good writer? There are various guides out there and one of the more famous is the list of rules in George Orwell’s essay Politics and the English [...]
Using multiple-choice questions
A few years ago I would have completely rejected the idea that multiple-choice questions were in any way useful in history lessons, and I still have reservations. I have [...]
Stay in School: the importance of knowledge
You have probably now seen the “Don’t Stay in School” video by Boyinaband. The singer has received a lot of criticism for making the case that academic subjects in [...]
Reforming Ofsted: creating a slimmer inspectorate
Critiques of Ofsted are widespread and last year must rank as the toughest year the inspectorate has ever faced (see Andrew Old’s blog for commentary and Joe [...]
On nurturing a mentor community
By Christine Counsell This post is a comment copied from the previous post that Christine Counsell and Michael Fordham co-wrote. The comment was written by Christine in [...]
Developing trainee teacher knowledge: the Cambridge History PGCE model
By Michael Fordham and Christine Counsell The recent Carter Review has raised a number of questions about teacher training, and one of these is how to ensure that, on a [...]
Clio et cetera 