Out went Caesar and in came the Conqueror, though I'm sure something happened in between...

A case study in professional thinking

Michael Fordham examines the evolution of his own practice as an example of how history teachers draw upon collective, professional knowledge constructed by other history teachers in journals, books, conferences and seminars. Fordham explains how a  particular Year 7 enquiry examining historical change from the ‘fall' of the Roman Empire to the Norman Conquest gradually evolved over time as he reflected on the strengths and weaknesses in his own practice and as he situated that reflection within a wide range of other teachers' published practice and research.

The article focuses on three main areas shaping his evolving enquiry: interplay of overview and depth (his device for managing content breadth and complexity), the second-order concept of change and the enquiry question itself.

Fordham uses this account to show how his own professional thinking changed over time, with particular emphasis on the interplay between his own professional knowledge and that of others. The article will also be useful to history teachers in England who are interested in understanding some of the deeper factors that led to the success of Fordham's current department in being selected by Ofsted as a ‘case study' of excellence in scholarly rigour.