History and A Curriculum for Excellence

1. History and A Curriculum for Excellence

4. A Curriculum for Excellence • The Four Capacities • Successful learners • Confident individuals • Responsible citizens • Effective contributors

9. Theme of Remembrance • History department teaching trench warfare to S4 pupils • English department cover some of war poetry with S4 • Art department pupils designed posters on theme of remembrance • Music department involved with music from the two world wars • Display of pupil work in school foyer around war memorial

10. CfE Trialling Hermitage Academy – History Department Progress Audit of draft experiences and outcomes undertaken for present S1/2 courses. Areas identified where present courses match draft experiences and outcomes Working group set up to refresh present courses and to identify appropriate methodologies and resources to deliver draft outcomes and experiences.

11. CfE and the Draft Outcomes • SOC 301A Scottish Wars of Independence • SOC 302B The Vikings in Scotland • SOC 303 C Viking/Medieval society JFK: Civil Rights and the Cold War SOC 304D: Vikings/Normans S3: population growth and distribution

12. CfE and the Draft Outcomes • SOC 305D: economic crises of Weimar Germany and the rise of Hitler • S3: Highland Clearances/coal mining/shipbuilding • SOC 306 E: S1 – Battle of Bannockburn • S2: Life on the Home Front • S3: Industrial Change

13. CfE and the Draft Outcomes • SOC 307E: S1 – Norman Conquest/settlement of Scotland • S2: Cuban missiles crisis/nuclear missiles at Faslane

14. CfE and the Draft Outcomes • Issues In S1, the need to draw greater comparisons of societies was identified. Also, the need to deepen understanding of different lifestyles and attitudes.

15. Proposals – S1 teaching block 1 • These are based on the premise of minor adaptations to current courses.

16. Proposals – S1 teaching block 1 • Week 1: Time in History; types of sources; bias/exaggeration • Week 2: Who are the Vikings/where did they come from? • Week 3: Why did they leave their homeland? How do we know about the Vikings?

17. Proposals – S1 • Week 4/5: How did they get here? Viking society/impact on Scotland – place names/life/culture/government • Week 6: Rich task: use of ICT to deepen understanding of aspects of Viking life e.g. as sailors/boat builders/structure of Viking society – tied into work with Art/technical departments • Week 7: assessment of unit using self/peer assessment/teacher observation.

18. Proposals – S1teaching block 2 • Week 1: When was the Medieval Age? Differences in lifestyles, then and now/reasons for Norman invasion/Battle of Hastings • Week2: Victory completed – feudal system/link to David ! In Scotland • Week 3: Castles

19. Proposals – S1teaching block 2 • Week 4: Church/education • Week 5: Life in the countryside/towns • Alexander III – reign/death/succession crisis • Week 7: Battle of Bannockburn

20. Implementation • Social subjects will still be taught in a rotational basis. • Curriculum will be delivered by specialist staff • Use of AifL techniques • Use of ICT • Use of co-operative learning strategies

21. Implementation • Differences • Greater emphasis on how pupil learns • Pupil to take greater responsibility for their learning • Use of personal learning plans to ensure above is happening

22. Implementation • Use of ICT to underpin new methodologies • New assessment techniques to evaluate success/indicate support needed to ensure progress

23. Implementation • Evidence from trialling in session 2007-2008

24. Exemplar • S2 control group being used to explore SOC307E – interpreting range of sources to consider advantages/disadvantages for those involved. • Pupils are looking at the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. • Class is divided into two camps – Soviet/Western • They are looking at the crisis from their respective points of view. • After some scene setting, they take part in a decision making exercise, based on a power point presentation, about how the crisis should be handled.

25. During, and at the end of the exercise, they have to present their conclusions and justify the actions that they have taken. • In this way, they are acting as responsible citizens [trying to avoid global thermo-nuclear war], effective contributors to both the group and the class, successful learners as it is hoped that this interactive approach will result in their better understanding of the crisis and confident individuals who can make and justify a point of view within a small group and to a larger class audience. • They then watch the videos to see how their decisions matched up with those taken at the time of the crisis.

26. Assessment will be based on formative assessment techniques from the Assessment is for Learning programme –e.g. observation, peer/group assessment and the groups will be encouraged to suggest ways in which the other presentations could be improved. • Pupils will then write a short ‘memo’ of their decisions and the processes by which these decisions were reached.

27. Alternative Proposal • Review outcomes and experiences • Bundle together coherent group of outcomes and experiences • Devise new content to deliver these outcomes and experiences.

28. Alternative Proposal • This approach is much favoured by the SLT. • Idea of a ‘common course’ in S1, deliver all year by a single teacher has been ‘floated’.

29. Issues • Time allocation in 2010/11 and following years • Nature of replacement S Grades • Skills required for pupils to move from broad curriculum in S1/3 to more specialist study in S4 and beyond • Two year Higher beginning in S4 and S5 • Pupils who do not wish to pursue courses at Higher level

30. Issues • Restriction of choice for pupils to only five subjects in S4 • Idea of single teacher delivery has been met with hostility by social subject teachers