Hey History!

Starting out as a history teacher can feel overwhelming.
How do you manage a classroom, cover the syllabus, and help students make sense of the past - all at the same time?
Experienced history educators from across Australia share practical advice for teachers who are new to the subject.
From building relationships with students and learning from colleagues, to teaching historical inquiry and source analysis, this episode offers 10 practical tips to help you feel more confident in the history classroom.
Facebook groups for history teachers
History Teachers Resources Australia
Primary History Teachers Australia
History Teachers Australia
Australian 5/6 Teachers
Modern History Teachers NSW
HSIE Teachers of NSW
North West NSW History & HSIE Teachers
NSW Ancient History Teachers Community
Did we miss one? Please let us know

State history teachers associations
History Teachers' Association of Australia
History Teachers' Association of Western Australia
History Teachers' Association of South Australia
Geography and History Teachers Association NT
Tasmanian History Teachers Association
ACT History Teachers Association
Queensland History Teachers Association
History Teachers' Association of NSW
History Teachers' Association of Victoria

Resources and tipsheet
Teaching History: A Practical Guide for Secondary School Teachers by Jonathon Dallimore
Agora: a quarterly professional journal for history teachers published by the History Teachers' Association of Victoria (HTAV)
Starter packs for history teachers by the HTAV
Tipsheet for this episode

Voices
Educators: Sarah Coleman (Queensland), Catherine Baron (Western Australia), David Boon (Tasmania), Paul Foley (South Australia), Christine Abadier (New South Wales), and Megan Tucker (South Australia).
Host: Professor Anna Clark, University of Technology Sydney
About Hey History Teacher!
Hear practical ideas, fresh inspiration and thoughtful conversation about how history is taught in primary and secondary school classrooms in Australia.
Hey History Teacher! is for teachers, teacher-educators and pre-service teachers.
You’ll hear conversations and advice about over 8 episodes, including:
teaching difficult histories
creative history teaching
approaching First Nations histories with care and confidence
complexity in history teaching
how early-career teachers can find their their feet in the history classroom
great history teaching, and
teaching the Australian Wars.

It's grounded in current research and features fifteen classroom educators and academics from around Australia.
Each episode comes with a free downloadable Tip Sheet to support your teaching practice.
Credits
Hey History Teacher! is supported by the History Teachers Association of NSW.
Executive Producer is Professor Anna Clark.
Producer is Jane Curtis at UTS Impact Studios.
Sound engineering by John Jacobs.
Made on Gadigal Country in Sydney Australia.

What does great history teaching look like?
Is it passion for the past? Creativity in the classroom? The courage to follow students’ questions - even when it means throwing out the lesson plan?
Historian Anna Clark speaks with experienced teachers and university educators from across Australia about what great history teaching really looks like in the primary and secondary school classroom.
From building strong relationships with students, to self-regulation, and being able to say, "I need more information and I'll get back to you."
And, the key skills history teachers pass on to students - like asking and answering good questions, researching ethically, thinking routines for source analysis, and communicating historical arguments.
Resources and tipsheet
Project Zero by Harvard Graduate School of Education
See, Think, Wonder thinking routine
Tipsheet for this episode

Research mentioned in this episode
Zuleica Ruiz-Alfonso, Jaime León, The role of passion in education: A systematic review, Educational Research Review, Volume 19, 2016, Pages 173-188, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2016.09.001. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X16300343
Voices
Educators: Claire Colledge, Sarah Coleman, Ben Lawless, Chad Cary, Natalie Fong, David Boon and Catherine Baron.
Host: Professor Anna Clark
About Hey History Teacher!
Hear practical ideas, fresh inspiration and thoughtful conversation about how history is taught in primary and secondary school classrooms in Australia.
Hey History Teacher! is for teachers, teacher-educators and pre-service teachers.
You’ll hear conversations and advice about over 8 episodes, including:
teaching difficult histories
creative history teaching
approaching First Nations histories with care and confidence
complexity in history teaching
how early-career teachers can find their their feet in the history classroom
great history teaching, and
teaching the Australian Wars.

It's grounded in current research and features fifteen classroom educators and academics from around Australia.
Each episode comes with a free downloadable Tip Sheet to support your teaching practice.
Credits
Hey History Teacher! is supported by the History Teachers Association of NSW.
Executive Producer is Professor Anna Clark.
Producer is Jane Curtis at UTS Impact Studios.
Sound engineering by John Jacobs.
Made on Gadigal Country in Sydney Australia.

What does great history teaching look like in practice?
How do teachers handle the challenges with teaching history today?
Hear practical ideas, fresh inspiration and thoughtful conversation about how history is taught in primary and secondary school classrooms in Australia.
Hey History Teacher! is for teachers, teacher-educators and pre-service teachers.
You’ll hear conversations and advice about over 8 episodes, including:
teaching difficult histories
creative history teaching
approaching First Nations histories with care and confidence
complexity in history teaching
how early-career teachers can find their their feet in the history classroom
great history teaching, and
teaching the Australian Wars.

It's grounded in current research and features fifteen classroom educators and academics from around Australia.
Each episode comes with a free downloadable Tip Sheet to support your teaching practice.
Credits
Hey History Teacher! is supported by the History Teachers Association of NSW.
Executive Producer is Professor Anna Clark.
Producer is Jane Curtis at UTS Impact Studios.
Sound engineering by John Jacobs.
Made on Gadigal Country in Sydney Australia.

Have you ever told the truth but it felt like no one listened? This episode is all about truth-telling.
Hey History! follows Travis Lovett, a proud Gunditjmara/Kerrupmara man and Commissioner at the Yoorrook Justice Commission, on a 400km 'Walk for Truth' across Victoria.
Who is Travis Lovett, and why is he going on a really, really long walk?
What is the Yoorrook Justice Commission?
What is 'truth-telling', and how can it happen with history?

Host Axel Clark and students from St Patrick’s Primary School join Travis on his Walk for Truth through Port Fairy.
Hear:
Why telling the truth is important—at school, at home, and in Australian history.
That 'history' isn’t fixed — it changes when new voices and stories are heard.
What is a 'commission'?
What difference does it make when we tell the truth about history?
How the Yoorrook Justice Commission has gathered stories and evidence over 4 years.

Voices
Travis Lovett, Yoorrook Justice Commissioner 2021-2025
Olga Lyons, Principal, St Patrick's Primary School, Port Fairy Victoria
Dr Matthew Keynes, Research Fellow, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne
Aunty Nellie Flagg's testimony to the Yoorrook Justice Commission (excerpt)
Uncle Henry Atkinson's story shared with the Yoorrook Justice Commission
Year Three and Four students of St Patrick's Primary School, Port Fairy Victoria
Rosa Ellen (voice actor for news report)

Credits
Hosted by Axel Clark.
Made on Gadigal and Gunditjmara Country by Jane Curtis.
Executive producers are Clare Wright and Anna Clark.
Production assistance from Alexandra Morris.
Thanks to all the students whose voices you hear in this episode and their schools and teachers: St Patrick's Primary School, Princes Street Primary school, Marrickville West Primary School, La Perouse Primary School, and Yirrkala Bilingual School.

Hey History! is produced by the Australian Centre for Public History at UTS and UTS Impact Studios.
Impact Studios' executive producer is Sarah Gilbert.
Thank you
This episode was made possible by Dusseldorp Forum, a family foundation committed to a just and equitable Australia, one that is caring, ethical and honours our First Peoples.
Special thanks to Principal Olga Lyons and St Patrick's Primary School Port Fairy, Rosa Ellen, Rachel Fyfe and the Yoorrook team.

In this special live recording of Hey History! host Axel Clark asks historians Clare Wright, Anna Clark and Kiera Lindsey what historical objects can tell us about the past?
What can a piece of ochre tell us about Australia’s Deep Time History?
And what about a pair of South Australian pink shorts?
We ask kids what objects are special to them, and play guessing games with objects - including one that's in the Guinness Book of World Records!
This episode of Hey History! was recorded on Kaurna Country for the 2025 Schools Day of Adelaide Writers Week.
Many thanks to
Adelaide Festival, especially Suzanne Critchley, and Tahlia Greco
The History Trust of South Australia for the use of an image of Don Dunstan's shorts
National Museum of Australia for kindly granting permission and usage of images from their collection including: The water bottle of Robert O'Hara Bourke, a gold panning dish, and Chris the sheep

Voices
Anna Clark is a Professor of History at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Clare Wright is a Professor of History and Public Engagement at La Trobe University.
Kiera Lindsey is South Australia's History Advocate and an award-winning historian.

Episode image
Photo of Hey History on stage live in front of primary school students in the Women's Pioneer Memorial Garden in Adelaide, South Australia.
Credits
Hosted by Axel Clark.
Produced on Gadigal Country by Anna Clark, Clare Wright and Jane Curtis.
Executive producers are Clare Wright and Anna Clark.
Podcast concept, design and development by Anna Clark.
Sound engineering by John Jacobs.
Thanks to all the students whose voices you hear in this episode and their schools and teachers.

Hey History! is produced by the Australian Centre for Public History at UTS and UTS Impact Studios.
Impact Studios' executive producer is Sarah Gilbert.