HA Blog Watch
Selected history education blogs
We've collated some of the best history education blogs here. The list isn't exhaustive so if there is a great history education blog out there that is not on this list – let us know!
One Big History Department
HA Secondary Committee blog
One Big History Department (OBHD) has been created by a group of teachers who have got to know each other through membership of the Secondary Committee of the Historical Association. OBHD is intended to be a place of conversations about teaching and learning history and sharing tried and tested teaching strategies that help students learn. It also aims to make more colleagues aware of the years of discussion to develop knowledge and expertise about high quality history teaching. While each post here is short and offers a solution to a specific learning block in history classrooms, each solution is also connected to a wider ongoing discussion about how to teach history.
One Big History Department blog >
Improving Teaching
Harry Fletcher-Wood's blog
Harry currently works for the Institute of Teaching on the development of a teacher educator course. In the past Harry has been a teacher in London and has spent some years as a teacher educator on the Teach First programme. Harry blogs regularly about his research experiences.
Lobworth
Paula Lobo's blog
Paula Lobo is a relatively new addition to the blogosphere but her blog is already being well received for its mix of evidence and research-informed practical thinking and ideas. Paula regularly writes for Teaching History journal.
Ben Newmark
Ben has taught in a variety of different situations both in this country and abroad. Ben’s blogs are thoughtful and reflect strong ideas about particular issues affecting history education along with personal thoughts and reflections.
The Dignity of the Thing
Christine Counsell's blog
Christine Counsell is the Director of Education for the Inspiration Trust in East Anglia and an editor of the Historical Association journal Teaching History. Before taking up her current post, Christine was a senior lecturer in the education faculty at the University of Cambridge.
The Dignity of the Thing blog >
One Damn Thing
Ed Podesta's blog
Ed Podesta is a lecturer in secondary education at Leeds Trinity University and coordinates the PGCE. He blogs for history teachers and wants his website to provide support for teachers to carefully think about and plan lessons and to become a repository for longer articles and larger plans.
Clio et Cetera
Michael Fordham's blog
Michael Fordham is one of two leading history across the Inspiration Trust in East Anglia and an editor of Teaching History journal. Formerly an assistant head teacher at the West London Free School, Michael blogs regularly and thoughtfully about a variety of issues relating to history education and the philosophy of education.
High Dive teaching
Sally Thorne's blog
Sally Thorne teaches in Wiltshire and blogs regularly on everything from why she decided to focus on talking less in class for her self-directed appraisal target, to the last history open evening at her school.
Radical History
Richard Kennett's blog
Richard Kennett lives and teaches in Bristol. He is a senior leader and also very active in local networks as well as being a member of the HA secondary committee. He blogs about a wide range of issues from teaching history at Key Stage 3 to issues of policy, to interpretations at GCSE to including women in a study of the Normans at GCSE.
And All That
Alex Ford's blog
Alex has been a head of department in Leeds and now lectures in the secondary education department at Leeds Trinity University. He is a self confessed obsessive of 19th century American history although he blogs widely on issues affecting history education including assessment, the new GCSE and A-Level specifications and textbooks.
Jivespin
John Mitchell's blog
John Mitchell - AKA Jivespin - offers a lot of practical advice to teachers looking for history lesson ideas.
Nick Dennis’s Blog
Nick Dennis's blog
Nick Dennis is a senior leader and history teacher and when he’s not blogging about new approaches to teaching, he’s writing articles for Teaching History journal.
Schools History Project Blog
Esther Arnott's blog
Esther is an experienced teacher and school leader and former member of HA secondary committee. She currently blogs for the Schools History Project.
Schools History Project blog >
York Clio
Networking and resources from York History Network
If you are based in York or surrounding areas then this blog will not only keep you up to date with local news, but also the chance to network and share resources with other schools and get involved in exciting projects.
Love Learning
Debra Kidd's blog
Debra does not always blog about history - in fact she is an English teacher by training, although many of her posts are equally pertinent.
Esse Quam Videri
Heather Fearn's blog
Heather has taught history and politics for over 20 years and currently works with teachers in the Inspiration Trust on all things even loosely related to curriculum and assessment. Heather offers views on examining, assessment, the role of knowledge in developing skills among other things.