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The article examines the enduring popularity of a form of school history which is based predominantly on the idea that the transmission of a positive story about the national past will inculcate in young people a sense of loyalty to the state; a reassuring and positive sense of identity and belonging; and a sense of social solidarity with fellow citizens. England is one of the countries which has to at least some extent moved away from this model of school history; but the past few years have seen suggestions for a move back to a history curriculum which focuses predominantly on the transmission of "Our Island Story"; and which presents a positive rendering of that story. The history curriculum in England is currently under review; and public pronouncements by politicians; academic historians and newspaper editorials suggest strong pressures towards a restoration of what is often termed "traditional" school history; which was prevalent in English schools before the advent of what has been termed "New history" in the 1970s. The paper questions some of the arguments which have been put forward in order to justify a return to a history curriculum based on a positive and unproblematic narrative of the national story and suggests that such a course of action is based on some unexamined assumptions and a limited understanding of pedagogy and learning. The final section of the paper outlines several weaknesses and flaws in the arguments for reverting to a traditional (i.e. "nation-based" and celebratory) form of school history; and some of the dangers inherent in such a project. A list of references and notes is included.

The paper reports on the outcomes of a Department of Culture, Museums and Sport (DCMS) funded project which provided resources for three groups of teachers in different subjects and age phases to have some time where they were freed from their teaching responsibilities, and also given time to meet together with other teachers to share ideas. The idea underpinning the project was to explore a model of continuing professional development for teachers which was different in approach to recent Department for Education and Skills (DfES) "strategy" and training based approaches. The three groups of teachers (primary science, secondary history and secondary science) met together with curriculum tutors from the local School of Education to explore ideas about how to develop innovative approaches in aspects of their subject teaching. In addition to funding four days of supply cover for the teachers involved to meet, the teachers were also given at least two days of supply cover during the course of the project to develop their ideas. Towards the end of both academic years, the groups met again to share their ideas. The paper describes the outcomes of the project and the teachers' perceptions of the process issues and problems involved in pedagogical innovation. The paper also considers some of the broader issues arising from the project, in terms of how to make the most effective use of teachers' time, in an era when there are many competing demands on this finite resource.

The working atmosphere in the classroom is an important variable in the process of education in schools, with several studies suggesting that classroom climate is an important influence on pupil attainment. There are wide differences in the extent to which classroom climate is considered to be a problem in English schools. Some "official" reports suggest that behaviour in schools is "satisfactory or better" in the vast majority of schools; other sources have pointed to behaviour being a serious and widespread problem. The paper details four studies conducted over the past decade which aimed to explore these disparities. The aim of the research was to gain a more accurate insight into the extent to which deficits in classroom climate limit educational attainment and equality of educational opportunity in English schools. The findings question the suggestion that behaviour is satisfactory or better in 99.7% of English schools and the concluding section suggests ways in which deficits in classroom climate might be addressed. Although the study is limited to classrooms in England, OECD studies suggest that deficits in the working atmosphere in classrooms occur in many countries. The study therefore has potential relevance for education systems in other countries.

The paper reports on a particular strand of the outcomes of the English contribution to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development comparative study, "ICT in Initial Teacher Training," which aimed to develop insights into how courses of initial teacher training prepare student teachers to use information and communications technology (ICT) effectively in their teaching. The paper extracts from the broader dataset the views of practitioners who were identified as being particularly "expert" in their use of ICT, on what strategies and interventions are most helpful in developing teachers who are able to use ICT to enhance learning in their subject teaching, and also what it "means" "to be good at ICT" as a subject teacher. Although some findings confirm research elsewhere on the importance of Technological and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) frameworks, other aspects of the study question some of the assumptions which have been made about teacher induction in this field in England, which may have implications for the training of pre-service teachers in other countries.

"Never again" is the clarion call of much Holocaust and genocide education. There is a danger, however, that it can become an empty, if pious, wish. How can we help pupils reflect seriously on genocide prevention? Elisabeth Kellaway, Thomas Spillane and Terry Haydn report teaching strategies that focused students' attention on what came after the Holocaust, on events in Rwanda, on warning signs and steps to genocide and on the nature of genocidal language. They encouraged students to apply their learning about the past to the present--in Chechnya--with beneficial effects on student engagement and understanding.

Approximately 7 out of 10 pupils in England choose to exercise their right to drop history as a school subject as soon as they are able to do so (at the age of 13 or 14). However, this 30% overall take-up rate conceals massive variations between schools, with over 80% of pupils continuing to study the subject in some schools, and under 5% in others. The study which was funded by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority sought to gain greater insight into the factors influencing post-compulsory take-up of history, with a complex range of factors emerging as influencing these figures. The findings should be of interest to those involved in history education in high schools and for those involved with other subjects that are similarly affected by the freeing up of the post-14 curriculum. (Contains 2 tables.)

The article reports the outcomes of a survey of 678 Dutch, English, and French students in multicultural high schools located in three urban areas, with the aim of developing insight into the sort of history they consider worthwhile. The research was undertaken in the context of widespread concern about the effects of recent migration patterns on the cohesion of the nation-state. The outcomes show that many of these youngsters do not construe their identity in primarily national terms; their interest in the past lies mainly in areas such as family, religious, and trans-national history. Using factor analysis, it was possible to identify five profiles of historical interest which could be related to students' backgrounds. In addition to uncovering facets of history that are of interest to young people, these profiles revealed some remarkable differences. Native boys valued "Pride and connection with Dutch-English-French history" more highly than native girls and all non-natives. Non-native students valued "Connection with history of migrants" more highly than natives; girls appreciated this profile more than boys. The conclusion suggests that recent attempts to revive history in primarily national terms may result in a model of school history that many students consider irrelevant. (Contains 11 tables, 5 profiles, and 9 notes.)

The paper looks at the ways in which policymakers in the UK have attempted to get student teachers to use new technology effectively in their subject teaching over the past decade. During this period, there have been changes in the competence frameworks for validating student teachers' ability to use ICT in their subject teaching, and the UK government has invested billions of pounds in equipment, websites and training materials in order to secure the development of a technologically empowered teaching force. In spite of these evolving policy and competence frameworks and the investment of considerable sums of money, recent research and inspection reports suggest that the outcomes of these investments have been at best "patchy", with the Office for Standards in Education (the government agency charged with inspecting the quality of schools and initial teacher education institutions) suggesting that many teachers still do not make effective use of ICT in their teaching (Ofsted, 2007), and the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTa, 2007) suggesting that only three out of ten schools in England and Wales are making effective use of ICT to improve teaching and learning. The paper looks at the recent history of ICT policy for initial teacher education in the context of student teachers' views on various components of their "education" in the use of new technology to teach their subject. In spite of the importance attached to this facet of initial training, and significant investment in training materials and resources, there is evidence to suggest that much of this investment is not found to be helpful by students. The research was undertaken in two phases; the first phase, in 2002-3 examined student teachers' views of the competence framework put in place by the Department of Education and Employment in 1998 (DfEE, 1998), and the second, in 2009, explored university tutors' and student teachers' views of the arrangements for developing and assessing competence in ICT under the revised competence framework which was introduced in 2007. The study attempts to elicit student teachers' views on what aspects of the arrangements for the development of competence in ICT have been or are helpful, and which facets of ICT training and assessment have been or are less helpful. The concluding section considers the extent to which lessons have been learned from past mistakes and misjudgements in this area, and (from a student teacher perspective) what are the most propitious ways forward for helping new teachers to make best use of the potential of ICT for improving teaching and learning. There is a degree of consistency in the feedback provided by the two cohorts of students which suggests that there may be lessons to be learned for education systems outside the UK. (Contains 4 figures.)

Drawing on data from 1740 pupil questionnaires and 160 pupils in focus-group interviews, the study aimed to gain insight into British pupils' ideas about why they study history at school. The paper considers the implications of these ideas for history teachers and teacher educators. The data suggest that many pupils have very vague ideas about the purposes of school history. The variations among schools suggested that there are things that teachers can do to explain the purposes and benefits of school history to their pupils. The outcomes of the study also indicate that there is a case for teachers devoting more time and thought to helping pupils to understand the purposes and benefits of studying their subject in secondary school in order to improve the motivation and engagement of their pupils. The study may also have similar implications for teachers of other school subjects. (Contains 8 notes and 5 tables.)

The paper reports on a Department of Culture, Museums and Sport (DCMS) funded project which provided modest amounts of time for teachers to be freed from their classroom teaching to explore the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in their subject teaching, and to meet up together to discuss their use of new technology. The funding was sufficient to provide a day of supply cover for two groups of secondary teachers in different curriculum subjects (history and science) to meet towards the start of the academic year to discuss their use of ICT, a day of supply cover to work on their ideas and interests, and a day to meet together again towards the end of the year to share ideas and experiences. The rationale behind the project was to allow teachers the freedom to explore their own areas of interest in the area of ICT and to avoid a prescriptive or "coverage" based approach. There was a conscious attempt to avoid target setting and audits and teachers were encouraged to come to the end of year meeting even if they had nothing "to put on the table". The concluding section of the paper describes the outcomes of the project. The main issue to emerge was the highly positive reaction of the teachers involved. Whilst for some there were significant ICT outputs, all those involved found the process useful and enjoyable, especially the collaborative sharing process in the final session. This was in marked contrast to other ICT training experiences which many of the teachers had been involved with.

The article presents the findings from a survey of over 400 young people in metropolitan areas in the Netherlands and England concerning their views on identity and school history. The research explored pupils' ideas about which facets of history were of interest to them, what history they believed should be taught in schools, and their views on the purposes of school history and history in general. The coding of the data made it possible to delineate between those from different ethnic minority backgrounds, boys and girls, age and level of education and first or second generation of migration. The study revealed significant differences between young people's ideas about history and identity, and those advanced by politicians and policy makers in the Netherlands, England and elsewhere. The concluding section of the paper considers the implications of the findings for policy makers in the field of history education in schools.

The paper reports on the outcomes of a British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTa) funded study which explored the views of teacher trainees and their mentors in two different school subjects on what strategies, interventions and resources had a positive impact on their ability to use ICT effectively in their subject teaching. The research aimed to explore both commonalities in trainees' views of which strategies and interventions had a positive influence on their ability to use ICT effectively in subject teaching, and subject discipline dimensions of ICT use, i.e. the ways in which training needs might vary between trainees in different school subjects. The study focused on the views of two successive cohorts of science and history trainees (133 trainees in all), and 21 of their supervising mentors. The outcomes showed that some important determinants of progression in the ability to deploy ICT confidently and effectively in subject teaching were common to both subject groups, but that there were differing views on which ICT applications offered most potential for enhancing teaching and learning in their subject and differences in their preferred priorities for investment in ICT. The study also revealed that trainees felt that many of the experiences and resources which they had encountered in the course of their training had not been helpful. A follow up survey was undertaken of 114 trainees across six subject areas to further explore some of the findings from the initial survey. The concluding section of the paper suggests ways in which trainee teachers might be prepared more effectively for using ICT in their subject teaching.

This article explores pupil attitudes towards history as a school subject in England, with a view to developing a better understanding of the factors which influence disaffection or engagement with the subject. The study attempts to identify what pupils like and dislike about how they are taught and what they are taught in history lessons. The study was carried out in 12 secondary schools with pupils aged 11-14. Questionnaires were returned from 1740 pupils and 160 of these were involved in focus group interviews. The findings show that how pupils are taught appears to matter more than what they are taught and identifies teaching approaches that pupils considered to be particularly effective, and teaching approaches that appear to contribute to pupil disaffection and disengagement from the subject. The study also provides insights into the extent to which pupils find history enjoyable compared to other school subjects. Although the study is primarily of interest to history teachers, it may also be of interest to teachers of other subjects who have a concern for the degree of pupil engagement with their subject. (Contains 1 figure, 5 tables and 3 notes.)

The past 25 years have seen an accelerating erosion of the comprehensive "ideal" in England and Wales. Parental choice has replaced centralized LEA allocation of pupils, systems for engineering a balanced social mix in schools have been largely abandoned, and the introduction of "league tables" to measure the comparative effectiveness of individual schools has led to a polarization of secondary school intakes -- the very opposite of what the original comprehensive system was intended to achieve. The current Labour government has created a range of differing "types" of secondary schools, including "beacon", "specialist", and "training" schools, as well as planning to increase the provision of "faith" schools. Prominent government spokespersons have disparaged the "bogstandard" comprehensive school, and called for an end to the "one size fits all" rationale for secondary education. The paper examines the reasons behind the erosion of the comprehensive ideal in England and Wales. There is no simple party political division to explain the abandonment of the comprehensive school; no single vote, debate, or act of parliament to mark its end, and no commission of enquiry, report, or unequivocal body of research evidence to justify the policy moves away from "the common school". The study of the strange death of the comprehensive ideal in England and Wales provides interesting insights into the ways in which educational policy is made and unmade in modern democratic societies.

Examines transference issues in school effectiveness and improvement, including the relationship between within-school and across-school improvement. Describes how the head of a successful history department in an innercity high school changed the entire school from low achieving to high achieving after being appointed head teacher. (Contains 57 references.) (PKP)