Building connections between teachers and historians and championing subject knowledge

In April 2019, I was in a bit of a rut. My enquiry questions and lesson sequences seemed stale. I felt like I had been at my school for too long. To mix things up, I secured a new role for September at a start-up school. 

Full of excitement, I set about shaping an history curriculum for the new school. I quickly realised, however, that this was a huge undertaking. There was so much choice! I had so many books to read! How could I read them all?

In the spring, Professor Jonathan Phillips visited my new school to deliver a lecture about the Crusades to my A-level students. I was transfixed by Jonathan’s discussion of recently-uncovered contemporary sources. Chatting to Jonathan afterwards, I shared my dilemma: how could I ensure that my history curriculum was informed by the latest historical scholarship when there was not enough time to read all the new books being published?

Together, Jonathan and I came up with a plan. After discussing our mutual interest in a range of historians who are asking new questions about the past, we discussed the potential of inviting these historians to discuss their work with teachers soon after their scholarship hit the bookshelves...