Teach Secondary Issue 14.7

Presenting the PAST History isn’t fixed, observes Philip Arkinstall – which is exactly how we should teach it... L ast year, one of my Y7s looked up from their Pompeii worksheet and said, “ Sir, I thought everyone died in the eruption? ” It was a moment that perfectly illustrated how easily students can absorb information and form their own neat, fixed versions of the past – and how it’s my job, as their teacher, to show that that history is rarely ever that simple. For most KS4 students, the security of knowing facts and being able to showcase evidence in lessons helps to confirm their knowledge of the past. It makes it neat, tidy and safe. Yet as teachers, we know that this is only part of the story. History is written throughmany interpretations, and constantly rewritten as new evidence emerges. Interpreting the past is a prime skill we need to foster within our young people – and where better place for that than in the history classroom, where the bread and butter of our interaction with the past comes from these interpretations? Done well, teaching students the power of interpretation will spark their curiosity, sharpen their critical thinking and equip them with the means to track the warping of history to suit modern politics. Changing the story New scholarship will often result in not just a delightful summer read, but a more nuanced and better understanding of how the past is written – not just a change in howwe view the events in question. Take Mary Beard’s Pompeii . Most students (and plenty of adults) believe that the city was obliterated overnight, that thousands perished, and that the site lay largely untouched until the 1800s. Beard reveals, though, that people knew of Pompeii before its ‘discovery’ in the 19th century. She writes of how the city’s residents knew the eruption was coming, which led to many escaping. Sharing this with Y7 turns what could be a tidy tale into a entry point for launching an investigation into ‘ How do we know that...? ’ Rewriting certainties Introducing the concept of new evidence into historical certainties enables history to be seenmore like a science. The invitation of new scholarship lends itself well to taking what we ‘know’, and creating a new history that alters the way the past can be seen. Hallie Rubbenhold’s 2019 book The Five is a strong example of this. It’s groundbreaking work that explores the lives of the womenmurdered by Jack the Ripper, but was met with anger from those in the ‘Ripperologist’ community. For them, these women were sex workers. Rubenhold’s investigations, however, opened up new lines of enquiry which showed how several of his five victims, although living in Whitechapel at the time of their murder, were, in fact, variously a domestic servant, the manager of a coffee house and a professional seller of ballads. It remains a striking example of how fresh research can challenge assumptions while enhancing our knowledge – in this case, of the struggles commonly faced by Victorian working-class women. Historical revisionism Building upon the Pompeii example, teachers could consider developing an awareness of historical revisionismwith their students. Examining how Oliver Cromwell has been viewed during different time periods is a fun way to explore how interpretations are formed. Post-1660, he’s besmirched and ridiculed for his seizure of power, and labelled a tyrant. His body is exhumed, put on trial and beheaded. Yet by the 19th Century, he’s seen by VictorianWhig historians as one of the ‘Fathers of Democracy’. Consequently, his statue is placed outside the Palace ofWestminster. FollowingWWII, however, the winds of favour shift again , with Cromwell now compared to dictators such as Hitler andMussolini. Today, modern historians like Ian Gentles tend to take a more balanced approach to his life, as seen in Gentles’ 2025 book, Oliver Cromwell: God’s Warrior and the English Revolution . Setting students loose on these contrasting interpretations makes a powerful point. The same man, the same events, but very different histories , depending on when the story is being told and by whom. Risks and rewards Of course, showing students that history is up for debate can feel risky. Will they come away from the lesson feeling confused and doubting everything they’ve learned? That may be overstating the issue, though, since over the years I’ve found pupils to be more than capable of processing differences in time, and recognising the re-writing of historical certainties when they see it. Some of these risks can be associated with a lack of support for different needs within the “What’s crucial is for teachers to showstudents that history canbe legitimately reinterpreted” 62 teachwire.net/secondary