History campaigners demand more detailed subject coverage for trainees

A government review of teacher training prompted by the Rose primary curriculum review should ensure students spend more than just a few hours on subjects, campaigners say.

Some primary PGCE courses feature just half a day on humanities, despite worries that lack of expertise leads to less interesting lessons.

The Historical Association is to campaign to encourage universities to spend more time on history. The association will use a major survey to try to gauge teachers' confidence level in the subject.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools will be reviewing initial teacher training this year following the Rose review, which recommended major alterations to primary school lessons - including more cross-curricular work.

"We have serious concerns about primary training, particularly when we hear some universities spend just half a day on humanities," said Historical Association chief executive Rebecca Sullivan.

"Of course we don't expect primary teachers to be specialists, but half a day is not enough. Some trainees might not have taken history GCSE, so this is their first experience of the subject since the age of 14 - then they are expected to teach it."

The full article is available on the TES website...