welcome
It’s been fascinating working with school students in Northern Ireland over the last few years on the topic of the history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. And not just fascinating but also heartening. It seems to me that these young people who have grown up in a post-conflict society (it’s now over 25 […]
Strong student opinions overheard following controversial news events – Entrenched viewpoints during discussions in the hallways and before class – Tensions between students identifying with opposing groups. While these might be seen as fraught moments to be avoided by some, or difficulties to be subdued by others, for teachers of modern history perhaps these could […]
President Donald Trump speaks to the media outside of the White House. AP/Evan Vucci Lee McIntyre, Boston University Most politicians lie. Or do they? Even if we could find some isolated example of a politician who was scrupulously honest – former President Jimmy Carter, perhaps – the question is how to think about the rest […]
This blog is about how we created our original educational materials which used interactive video, and why we are changing now. But to give a proper account, I need to reflect on what we have learned about educational theory and classroom practice in the last seven years to explain where we started and how we […]
At Agreement 25, the event commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement hosted at Queen’s University Belfast, I watched as the leaders of each major political party in Northern Ireland gathered for a panel discussion. It was mildly ironic as they took their seats next to one another on stage in front […]
I wonder if the authors of the HA report ‘Teaching emotive and controversial history’ 2007 feel despairing or vindicated? Despairing because it’s become ever harder to find controversial history topics taught in the classroom or vindicated because they predicted this in 2007. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is a good example. The Arab Israeli […]