About Help... I'm a History Teacher!
Help... I'm a History Teacher! is a podcast for teachers of History in all phases and for anyone curious about the past!
Created in May 2024 with a September launch, Help... I'm a History Teacher! provides a subject knowledge boost to the busy teacher: whether you are teaching a topic for the first time, brushing up on a familiar area, or just want to know more about History.
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Help... I'm a History Teacher! features both teachers working in and across schools, and academic historians with expertise in a particular area of the past. If you would like to appear on a show to talk about your passion for the past, make sure to fill out our contact form.
Values and principles
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History is for all of us.
History should be accessible for all. Help... I'm a History Teacher! aims to help every single listener learn more about the past. There are no silly questions, and all contributions are welcome.​
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History is about all of us.
History is not just about dead white men. To gain a full understanding of the past, Help... I'm a History Teacher! seeks to explore the lives of everyone in the past, not just the most privileged.​
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History is an ongoing process.
History is not the past - it is the study of the past. As new traces of the past are uncovered, existing interpretations of the past are re-evaluated. Help... I'm a History Teacher! aims to bring new interpretations of the past to light.
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History is more than 'just one thing after another'.
History is not just about learning facts about what happened in previous generations. Help... I'm a History Teacher! aims to support teachers in analysing changes and continuities, making causal links, assessing significance and answering big questions about the past.
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History must be protected as a unique discipline.
While cross-curricular links can be made between History and other subjects, Help... I'm a History Teacher! values History as its own subject in schools, not to be combined with others in "Topic" or "Humanities" lessons.
Who we are
Tom Hopkins Burke
@HB_History
Tom is the founder of Help... I'm a History Teacher! He teaches History and Politics, and leads Literacy, at a 11-19 academy in Nottinghamshire, having joined in 2019. Tom completed his PGCE in Secondary History with post-16 enhancement at the University of York.
As a founder member of Teachers Talk Radio, Tom and served on its executive team between February 2022 and May 2024, before leaving to launch Help... I'm a History Teacher! for September 2024.
Tom completed his National Professional Qualification (NPQ) in Leading Literacy in January 2024.
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Specialist subject?
1917 in Russia.
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Favourite History book?
Russia in Flames by Laura Engelstein.
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Favourite education book?
The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading by Christopher Such.
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Favourite historical figure?
Gustav Stresemann.
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Dream podcast guest?
Anne Applebaum.
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If you had a time machine, where would you go?
England when the Black Death arrived in 1348 (so long as I was immune!) - it would be fascinating to compare attitudes and reactions to the early days of Covid-19.