Teacher of History 0.3 FTE

King Edward’s School is seeking to appoint a part-time History teacher to join a strong and enthusiastic department in an exceptional school. Knowledge or experience of teaching the IGCSE and IB exam courses currently taught by the department are not required and plenty of support is available to help a colleague who is new to the IB or who is less familiar with some aspects of the syllabus. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, and no experience of working in the independent sector is required. A willingness to participate in the wider life of the School with pastoral care duties and help with extra-curricular activities, would be desirable.  

This role will be offered for two terms initially, with the potential for extension. We are seeking someone to start in January 2023.

The History Department

History is thriving at King Edward’s School as boys are justifiably curious about their place in the world and how History has shaped the present day. The study of History is vital to anyone with a desire to understand current trends in politics, economics and society in general, though we aspire to do even more than that with this subject. In the era of ‘fake news’ we think it essential that boys critically engage with source material, learning to ask the right questions about the evidence they encounter, rather than simply parrot the right answers. We also want them to build a helpful historical vocabulary so they can use language as the key link between knowledge, concepts and understanding. In common with other parts of the King Edward’s curriculum, we want History to help boys to nurture their own creativity, to become effective independent learners, to think critically and to have a well-developed sense of international awareness. History sits at the heart of a liberal and liberating education.

The department is comprised of three full-time, and one part-time, specialists and is based in a suite of four rooms in the heart of the school next to the Library, with which it has close links. Textual and audio-visual resources are excellent, and all rooms have interactive whiteboards.

Recruitment at IGCSE is strong with an average of 75 pupils opting for the subject in Year 10. An average of 25 boys study History in Year 12 as part of their IB Diploma. History is also a very popular destination subject at leading universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Durham and Exeter. The History Society meets on a regular basis to hear talks from invited speakers and home-grown talent. The department enjoys organizing field trips, and recent destinations have included: Black Country Museum, Bosworth, National Cold War museum, First World War battlefields and Berlin.

In the Lower School, boys experience a broad introduction to Historical study. In a wider setting, the forces unleashed by the Italian Renaissance and the English Reformation are studied in Year 8. In Year 9, boys undertake a comparative study the English and French Revolutions, with the theme of ‘rights and protest’ running through the year, as well as a topic from the IGCSE course as a taster of what they can expect in Year 10.

The IGCSE course provides a global perspective that boys find particularly useful as well as fascinating and challenging and is ideal preparation for the IB history course. Topics include the development of dictatorship in Germany, 1918-1945; the Cold War, 1943-1972; the USA, 1917-1941; and China, 1900-1989.

History is offered at both Standard and Higher Level as part of the IB Diploma. The Standard Level course is designed to build on topics encountered at IGCSE by providing further exploration of the Cold War, as well as a source-based enquiry into the move to global war, looking closely at the foreign policies of Japan, Italy and Germany in the 1930s. The remainder of the course is devoted to a thematic study of 20th century single party states and authoritarian regimes, such as Mussolini’s Italy and Castro’s Cuba.

The Higher Level course is designed to challenge pupils by taking them to new periods and topics. It comprises medieval, early modern and modern History ranging from the military leaders Richard the Lionheart and Genghis Khan in the 12th and 13th centuries; Portuguese and Spanish exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries as well as late tsarist Russia and the 1917 Revolution. In common with the Standard Level course, the Cold War and single party states in the 20th century are also studied. Pupils at both Levels also undertake an independent assignment on a historical topic, event or personality of their choice.