Timelines in teaching history

‘History is about time, it subsists in time, time is the medium by which it happens’ (John Fines, Primary History 59, 2011). Yet the fact that time is fundamental to the study of history does not make it any easier to teach (Hoodless, 2008). The abstract nature of time as a concept is complex and takes years for children, or indeed adults, to develop into big pictures, mental frameworks or schema. 

Timelines are one tool we can use to help make the abstract more concrete. A timeline is a visual way of representing events in chronological order. At their most basic they simply sequence events in order. As they become more sophisticated they show he spaces between events and may layer multiple types of events onto each other, such as events from different places, or types of events such as changes in transport...