Learning how to teach GCSE History amidst the
announcements about the new 'EBacc' replacements is a challenge. On the one
hand, it's essential to know about GCSE History because EBaccs will not be in
place for the next few years, and indeed no announcement at all has been made
as to when History will become examinable by EBacc. This means I am still fully
committed to teaching GCSE History to the best of my ability. On the other
hand, I wish to stay up to date with the new proposals so that when the time comes
to teach to a new syllabus, it will be easier for me to adapt the teaching
styles I'll already have practiced at GCSE.
Another aspect I have found interesting whilst
observing and studying the teaching of GCSE History has been its similarities
and differences with KS3 teaching. Theoretically, it was encouraging to work
with HS in finding similar approaches to teaching at both levels- for example,
differentiation, AfL, the use of ICT and so on. However, I have found that this
approach has not been echoed in the classrooms that I have observed. For
instance, at School B, KS3 lessons are always really interactive, engaging, and
varied. At GCSE, the lessons I have observed have relied heavily on copying
from the board, or from PowerPoints, to ensure the pupils have notes in their
book. However, there is no chance for the pupils to give feedback, and I could
envision this approach leading to alienation and making the revision process
more difficult. If the pupils don't understand what they have written down the
first time round, how can they revise from those notes? It seems such a shame
to me that the excellent teaching I have observed at KS3 by the same members of
staff is thrown off because of perceived exam pressure.
However, in a school that I worked in before
starting this course, School S, GCSE was taught extremely well, with engaging
activities involving ICT, students teaching other students, fast-paced and
varied lessons, and revision sessions set up at lunchtimes from the beginning
of the year, so that students constantly revisited their knowledge. Our
discussion last Wednesday about re-capping and revision methods reminded me of
how effectively School S had set this revision framework right from the
beginning of the course. This enabled the history department to strike the
correct balance between really engaging lessons, and revision and exam
technique. I know that not every teacher has the luxury of being able to run
lunchtime clubs, but I would certainly adapt this approach using some of the
methods HS suggested to make revision a large part of my GCSE teaching. I
particularly like the idea of discursive margins, as it enables constant
communication between teacher and pupil, ensuring no pupil will get 'lost' in all
the content!
Finally, another aspect of GCSE History that
interested me was transition - both from KS3 and to A Level. There is an
excellent display in one of the classrooms at School B aimed towards attracting
students towards continuing the study of history, with pictures of famous
people that studied history at university and quotes from them about how it
helped them with their careers. Likewise, the humorous video HS showed us about
appeasement would definitely have an impact on a Year 9 class! It was
interesting to hear about the different methods you could use to attract pupils
to study History at a higher level, especially because it is regarded as
'hard'. To me, the key is to make history engaging from the day they start in
Year 7 to the day they finish (hopefully, at A2!). I will do this with personal
enthusiasm, a push for high achievement, and varied, interesting lessons. I
came from a secondary school where 60 pupils a year took A Level History, from
a year of 120. I've been surprised to see smaller numbers so far on my PGCE and
in my past experience, and hope to help raise the numbers of students taking
post-KS3 History.
No comments:
Post a Comment