HTANI Report to Charity Commission 1/10/23 to 30/9/24
HTANI’s stated objectives are to enhance the professional development of history teachers through the organisation of events and the production and dissemination of educational resources. It also seeks to provide opportunities for its members to network on a cross-community basis locally, across the Irish border and internationally.
Between October 2023 and September 2024, in addition to regular committee meetings, HTANI continued to fulfil its stated objectives, particularly by building connections with other organisations. A main achievement was the deepening of cooperative ties with others interested in resource production and providing CPD opportunities for teachers. HTANI organised two online talks during the year which for the first time were in conjunction with HTAI (the History Teachers Association of Ireland). The first was given by Professor Arthur Chapman of UCL on the role of narrative and story in history teaching and the second, as part of CRC’s Good Relations week, an interview with two journalists, Deric Henderson and Brian Rowan, on the theme of Reporting the Troubles to teaching the Troubles in the Classroom.
As a member of Euroclio, the European network of History teaching organisations, HTANI members delivered a seminar on teaching difficult histories to a visiting group of Croatian educators at UU Coleraine and, later in the year, travelled to Zagreb for a similar event. Links with the Ulster Museum and Professor Chris Reynolds also developed over the year through the Voices projects. Members contributed to a Voices of 68 seminar at the museum in September as a precursor to direct involvement in producing educational resources for the project. Two further CPD collaborations were with Corrymeela’s Facing History project and the Imperial War Museum’s Beyond Borders initiative. In both cases, HTANI offered planning advice and helped recruit participants to workshops. Two members also joined an advisory panel for a QUB research group investigating the teaching of controversial issues.
The President’s work with the Observatory for History Teaching in Europe at the Council of Europe continued with two meetings in Strasbourg and one in Paris.
In September a HTANI delegation was given the opportunity to present to the NI Assembly Education Committee on the current state of history teaching, and its future needs, particularly in the context of a contested society.