SHP & Hodder Education: A partnership that stands the test of time

I first attended the Schools History Project (SHP) conference at Leeds Trinity University in 2005 and it changed my life. For the first time in my career, I was truly inspired. At that conference I met some of the legends of the History teaching world including Ian Dawson, Chris Culpin, Michael Riley and Dale Banham, who all welcomed me into the SHP family. Their names were so familiar to me because the textbooks that they had written, published by Hodder Education, were in use virtually every day in my classroom. I still use many of them today, nearly 20 years later; a testament to the impact of their work. 

One of the core principles of SHP has been a longstanding commitment to diversifying the history curriculum. As a new Head of Department, keen to build a curriculum that was representative of my multicultural student body, this resonated strongly with me. This was particularly striking, as at that time there were virtually no teaching materials available that widened the lens in the history classroom. So, it was a huge honour to be commissioned by Franklin Watts (an Hachette imprint) in 2008 to write a series of books on Black History including African Empires, Resistance and Abolition and Civil Rights and Equality. It is a mark of SHP’s impact that today, many of these topics have become the norm in History classrooms across the UK.  

When I became the Director of the Schools History Project, curating our summer conference was something that I was really excited about. This year it takes place at Leeds Trinity University on June 29–30, and we have a fantastic programme for primary and secondary history teachers. We are delighted that Hodder Education is again one of our key partners. And in keeping with tradition, alongside the aforementioned legends, there will be representatives of the current generation of Hodder Education authors presenting their inspirational work at the conference. Come and see SHP Fellow Alex Ford, who will share his expertise on the impact of colonialism on the indigenous peoples of the USA; Claire Holliss will be showcasing the work she has done to embed LGBTQ+ histories into the curriculum; Emmy Quinn will be investigating scholarship and interpretations at KS2; Teni Gogo will be providing ‘practical approaches for dealing with legacies of Empire in the classroom’; Alex Fairlamb will be focusing on disciplinary writing, and Helen Snelson will be chairing our roundtable discussion ‘How can we make schools history meaningful?’ With 28 workshops, three keynote events, fringe sessions from the exam boards, and exhibition stands from Hodder Education and many other leading organisations, there is so much to look forward to.  

Come and join us in Leeds and come away feeling truly inspired! 

You can find out more about the SHP Conference on the SHP website.

Tickets available from SHP Summer Conference 2024 | Leeds Trinity University Online Store with fantastic discounts for PGCE / ECT / Primary teachers, weekend or day tickets, and group discounts on request from d.lyndon-cohen@leedstrinity.ac.uk