Being a Historian

To become a Historian, the Curriculum at St Paul’s will help learners develop the following characteristics:

• An excellent knowledge and understanding of people, events, and contexts from a range of historical periods and of historical concepts and processes.
• The ability to think critically about history and communicate ideas very confidently in styles appropriate to a range of audiences.
• The ability to consistently support, evaluate and challenge their own and others’ views using detailed, appropriate and accurate historical evidence derived from a range of sources.
• The ability to think, reflect, debate, discuss and evaluate the past, formulating and refining questions and lines of enquiry. 
• A passion for history and an enthusiastic engagement in learning, which develops their sense of curiosity about the past and their understanding of how and why people interpret the past in different ways. 
• A respect for historical evidence and the ability to make robust and critical use of it to support their explanations and judgments.
• A desire to embrace challenging activities, including opportunities to undertake high-quality research across a range of history topics.

 

To develop these characteristics they will explore the following key concepts:

 

  • Investigate and interpret the past- This concept involves understanding that our understanding of the past comes from an interpretation of the available evidence
  • Build an overview of world history- This concept involves an appreciation of the characteristic features of the past and an understanding that life is different for different sections of society.
  • Identify chronology- This concept involves an understanding of how to chart the passing of time and how some aspects of history studied were happening at similar times in different places.
  • Communicate historically- This concept involves using historical vocabulary and techniques to convey information about the past.