• Effective teachers of history strive to have a broad, deep and critical knowledge and understanding of their academic discipline, including specialist knowledge relevant to the age ranges they teach.
• They seek to have a wide knowledge of the use of different sources in the study of history, including the use of varieties of cultural forms such as artefacts, textual evidence, film and fiction.
• They familiarise themselves with curriculum history of their subject and seek to understand the nature of, and reasons for, curriculum change.
• They aim to have a comprehensive knowledge of relevant and current curriculum documents and courses of study as they relate to the study of history.
• They inform themselves about past and present issues and debates amongst members of the history community regarding different interpretations of historical texts and events.
• They develop an analytically-based understanding of recent pedagogies relevant to the field of school history, including the theoretical and practical background to historical literacy as outlined in Making History (Taylor and Young, 2003).
• Teachers of history aspire to develop links to other content areas and, where appropriate, to integrate learning across and between content areas.
  

As a teacher of history, do I have a comprehensive and current understanding of the relevant scholarship and methodology involved in teaching my subject?

Am I up-to-date with the syllabus requirements in my subject area?

Do I have an understanding of recent and current issues and debates in history teaching?

Am I familiar with the current thinking on what constitutes historical literacy?