Welcome to the Teaching Portal
A Resource for Students and TeachersThis initiative was set up by the Royal Historical Society in 2018 to develop a central hub to support the teaching and learning of history.
In recent years the Royal Historical Society has become much involved in teaching as well as in research. The RHS established its Education Policy committee in 2003 and two annual teaching prizes in 2018.
The teaching portal, with your help, can inform and assist all those interested in teaching practice and pedagogy. The teaching portal will offer guidance on good practice and innovative methods of teaching; provide posts for undergraduate and postgraduate students; address transitions through HE from BA to PhD; discuss career progression for History teachers in HE; give advice to history graduates on careers that a history degree may lead to; and act as a hub for online resources.
Use the buttons below to browse the six categories which indicate the scope of the portal. The blogs will express a multiplicity of perspectives and views; we are keen that users submit suggestions and propose new resources so that the portal will grow and thrive as a dynamic arena for discussion and debate.
The teaching portal is open to all: we hope its audience will be not just RHS Fellows and Members, but all teachers and students of history who wish to learn more and share their expertise, experience and insights.
Recent additions to the Teaching Portal
The Future of (Teaching) the Past
What happens when a university lab-based Digital History module goes online due to lockdown? You might think the imposed digital switch would be straightforward for 'born digital' digital history students. But as Dr Jessica van Horssen of Leeds Beckett University...
Teaching the Tudors on a two-way street
Dr John Cooper was runner-up in the 2020 RHS Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching and Supervision in History. Here, he reflects on the importance of open dialogue in teaching: between undergraduate year groups, who've much to teach one another, and between...
Creating an Online Community: A Pre-Pandemic Initiative
Professor Marjory Harper won the 2020 RHS Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching and Supervision in History. Here, she reflects on the process of planning an online Master’s Programme in Scottish Heritage in 2017. The RHS annual teaching prizes recognise...
Data Protection and Historical Research: The Basics
Recent data protection laws, implemented across Europe in 2018, have implications for academic researchers. The Royal Historical Society recently published a set of guidelines to help researchers navigate the legal requirements around data protection. Here, Dr...
Making sense of your research
In this post, Dr Andrew Foster offers guidance to PhD research students about how to make sense of their research during the PhD process. His guidance offers to encourage students through the highs and lows of research, and poses a series of questions to support...
Ethics in the Classroom Setting
History is about opinion, judgement and (often) getting beyond monolithic assumptions about ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. At the same time, the classroom should be a safe and ethical place for the exchange of views and a space that is marked by respect, sensitivity and...
Launching the new RHS Teaching Portal
The Royal Historical Society launches its new online Teaching Portal today. Ken Fincham and Peter d'Sena, former and current RHS Vice Presidents for Education, who have led the portal's working group, explain more: The Royal Historical Society is well-known as an...
Teaching Materials for Low-Tech Online Teaching: Online Discussion Groups
Teaching in most HEIs next academic year will be conducted with at least some Covid-19-related restrictions in place. In this second post for the Teaching Portal considering low-tech materials for online teaching, Dr Mary Morrissey, Associate Professor in Early Modern...
Putting the Past in its Place: Teaching Environmental History in the Age of the Anthropocene
In this post, Karen Jones, Professor of Environmental and Cultural History at the University of Kent, provides a brief methodological introduction to the field of environmental history, together with a short reflection on teaching innovation and practice. She draws...
Teaching Materials for Low-Tech Online Teaching: Planning for Social Distancing
In this guest post, the first of two looking at low-tech materials for online teaching, Dr Mary Morrissey, Associate Professor in Early Modern English Literature at the University of Reading, offers advice to teachers about the different teaching materials to use to...
Small Group Teaching in a Large Class: ‘Understanding History’
In this post Dr Marcus Collins, Senior Lecturer in Cultural History at the University of Loughborough, shares his knowledge and experience of teaching the course 'Understanding History', a compulsory module for second-year undergraduates which aims to develop the...
Surviving the PhD Process as a Self-Funded Student
In this post, Dr Eilish Gregory, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Royal Historical Society and an early career researcher, offers an account of her own personal experience of studying her PhD as a self-funded student. While there were many scholarly and personal...
Funding and Fellowship Opportunities in Historical Studies
There are many funding opportunities for history researchers to apply for in the UK and internationally, including research and travel grants, and library fellowships. Funding grants and fellowship opportunities are advertised across the year, although some have...
Archives and Research Libraries in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
This is a list of archives and research libraries in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The list is divided into sub-categories to make it easier to find which archives or libraries you are interested in visiting, including cathedral libraries, private...
Teaching with BME Students
The cohort of students who study History at SOAS is one of the most diverse in the UK but the findings of the RHS’s Race and Equality Report have been highly pertinent to departmental discussions about inclusive pedagogy. Dr Eleanor Newbigin, Senior Lecturer in the...
Teaching Black and South Asian British Histories
In the current political juncture, we are witnessing wide-ranging calls to decolonise the curriculum. Many are now campaigning to ensure that history teaching within the UK incorporates histories of British imperialism and, more specifically, Black British History....
‘Imagined Communities’: Regionalism and Minority Nationalism in Modern Europe
In this guest post, Dr Andrew Smith, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary History & Politics at the University of Chichester, shares and reflects on a module he created for undergraduate-level students at university. The module introduced students to unfamiliar...
Supervising PhD Students: A Collaborative Approach
In July 2018, Professor Julie Anderson, Professor of Modern History at the University of Kent, was the first winner of the Royal Historical Society’s Jinty Nelson Award for Inspirational Teaching and Supervision in History. Here she provides an account of her...
Teaching World History
What does world history look like if you approach it through a BA History programme focused on the histories of Asia, Africa and the Middle East? What are the challenges of introducing such an approach to students who have, up until they join the programme, largely...
Working in Archives
In this post, Dr Mary Morrissey, Associate Professor in Early Modern English Literature at the University of Reading, offers advice to those who are beginning to work with historical archives. She explains how to locate archival information, understanding how archival...
Historical Societies and Related Organisations in the United Kingdom
This is a wide-ranging list of historical societies and related organisations that exist primarily across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, but which also includes global history organisations which support the study of history. The list is divided into...
Transitions from Taught Degrees to Research Courses and Careers Advice for History Graduates
In this post, historian Dr Andrew Foster offers guidance about the transition for students undertaking taught undergraduate and Masters degrees to research courses, as well as his thoughts on future careers for history graduates. He turns the spotlight towards the...
Tips on Using Bibliographic Software
Linda Robertson, who has extensive experience working as a librarian, offers her views on the advantages of using technological aids for bibliographic research. In this post, she gives a detailed analysis about how to use the bibliographic software EndNote as a useful...
Bridging ‘Digital Divides’ in Virtual Teaching
We should not assume that others interact with the digital world in the same way as we do ourselves. In this post Dr Andrew Smith and Dr Mary Morrissey consider the challenges that many students encounter when required to engage with online teaching. As noted by...