“I intend to write it.” Encouraging historiographical thinking in source analysis

Both the new Senior Ancient and Modern History Syllabi emphasise the importance of historiography. Historiography goes beyond a cursory CUP analysis of a source. It requires the student to be able to understand the motivation behind the creation of the source. Winston Churchill made it easy, stating clearly that he would literally write his own place in history, would be the master of his own history, ensuring that it “would be kind” to him. The sources in the external exams, primary and secondary, will require students to establish motive for themselves. In preparing for the external exams, History students will need to engage with the sources in a complete, complex, and historiographical way. The aim of this presentation is to share techniques to engage students in a much deeper understanding of sources and their context by interrogating them thoroughly. It will provide ideas to introduce students to, and familiarise them with, the language of historiography, giving them the aptitude to approach and interpret unseen sources with confidence. It aims to provide teachers with some tools to be able to encourage students to think like historians.