Rosalind Stirzaker has big ambitions for her students. She wants them to do more than make a simple list of the key causes of the Second World War. Yes, she wants them to complete a piece of written work, but she wants – and gets – a great deal more than that. Her description of how she involved students from three different years to collaborate is an uplifting one, and it shows just how much students can gain from the big activity that attempts to answer the big question. This activity involved collaborative work and role-play. Sixth Form students helped Year 9 students and thereby deepened their own understanding of the topic. Students learned to detect bias but also gained that crucial understanding of how this knowledge can advance historical thinking. It’s not surprising that they had fun too, an element of the historical process of paramount importance, as this - and all the other articles in this edition of Teaching History – make abundantly clear.