"History is a most improving part of knowledge, as well as an agreeable amusement; and a great part of what we commonly call erudition, and value so highly is nothing but an acquaintance with historical facts…
…if we consider the shortness of human life, and our limited knowledge, even of what happens in our own time, we must be sensible that we should be for ever children in understanding, were it not for this invention, which extends our experience to all past ages, and to the most distant nations, making them contribute as much to our improvement in wisdom, as if they had actually laid under our observation. A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to have been making additions to his stock of knowledge in every century.”
David Hume
History is the study of human experience; it explains the world we live in. History teaches students to think in a combination of ways not found in any other subject. The use of sources as evidence requires critical skills of detective work. Students have to understand real people whose motives and ideologies are alien to our own, and make balanced judgements about them.
The Advanced Level History course is the OCR ‘History A’ course, which involves four modules: a ‘Period Study’, an ‘Enquiry’, a ‘Themes in History’ paper and an ‘Interpretations and Investigations’ coursework unit.
The course is wide-ranging, covering different regions (the British Isles, Continental Europe and the Middle East) in different periods (mediaeval and early modern); it also involves different types of history (social/cultural, religious, military, political/constitutional). But there is also coherence: both AS papers are on the High Middle Ages, while both A2 papers are on the sixteenth century.
In the Lower Sixth the focus of the course is the mediaeval period, specifically the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Advanced Level mediaeval history, with its long perspective and considerable uncertainty, is very different to GCSE Modern World History. We will study the Crusades and eleventh-century England; in doing so we will investigate the difficulties in reconstructing the distant past and interpreting documentary evidence.
In the Upper Sixth we will study two aspects of sixteenth-century Europe. The coursework paper on Queen Elizabeth I focuses particularly on her control of politics, religion and foreign affairs. The ‘synoptic’ paper (which deals with continuity, change and development over time, and the ‘turning points’ of history) concerns the development of the nation state in sixteenth-century France, including the impact of institutions such as the parlements and the estates-general, attempts to extend and restrain royal absolutism, and the consequences of civil war and wars of religion.
The papers are:
Period Study (the essay paper): Henry VIII - Mary I 1509 - 1558
Enquiry (the document paper): Crusades & Crusader States 1073-1130
Themes in History (the ‘synoptic’ paper): France 1498-1610
Interpretations & Investigations (coursework): Elizabeth I 1558-1603
History develops skills of research and information handling; how to select relevant information to construct logical, analytical arguments and to express them concisely and clearly. These are skills which are valued in a variety of professions. History combines well with all other Arts subjects, and increasing numbers of students combine it with mathematics and/or a science, because it demands similar skills of logic and analysis. It leads to History, Politics or Modern courses at university and is regarded as an excellent preparation for careers in management, law, politics and the media.
07 February 2012