A History of Change is a brand new, innovative package for the Junior Cycle history course.

This textbook follows a rigorous and consistent approach to the presentation of each topic to ensure the student develops a deep understanding of its importance and relevance in history.

Taking recent exams into consideration, A History of Change will prepare students thoroughly for their assessment, while also giving them an appreciation of how historical consciousness shapes society.

The A History of Change package includes:

• A comprehensive textbook.
• A skills’ book.
• A teacher’s resource book.
• A suite of online resources to further and deepen understanding.

Click here to view Sample Chapters

Student Textbook

A History of Change takes a chronological and thematic approach to the history of Ireland and the history of Europe and the wider world.

The key Nature of History element (Strand 1) is addressed in every chapter by using an evidential approach to develop historical consciousness and help the student to acquire the ‘big picture’.

The main features of the textbook are:

Consistent, developmental chapter structure
Each topic is constructed to build mastery of concepts and support planning by including six characteristics of high-leverage teaching practices: 1. Links to prior learning through retrieval practice; 2. Teacher-modelled explanations of historical concepts; 3. Opportunities for students to check for understanding; 4. Opportunities for guided student practice with scaffolds; 5. Opportunities for increasingly difficult independent student practice; 6. Summative progress checks linked to exam-style questions.

Differentiated tiered questioning
At the end of every topic, ‘Check Your Understanding’ tiered questions provide students with an opportunity to test their knowledge of the key historical concepts of the topic at three different levels: bronze, silver and gold. These questions are constructed to build student-understanding slowly and enable students to apply their knowledge to a wide variety of questions by engaging with action verbs used on the Junior Cycle paper. This creates an inclusive book to allow students of all learning levels, including Level Two Learning Programmes, to access bronze level questioning.

Retrieval practice 
Every topic provides opportunities to complete retrieval practice and consolidate pre-requisite knowledge in the form of ‘Knowledge Retrieval’ features.

Think like a historian
The ‘Think like a Historian’ features provide students with the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of primary and secondary sources to equip them with the historical skills necessary to perform well in the Junior Cycle history exam. The questions that accompany these features enable students to make judgements about the usefulness and limitations of different types of historical evidence and apply those skills to a diverse range of historical sources.

Write like a historian
These writing exercises are longer questions directly linked to the JC exam. They include a set of explicit success criteria to break the questions into manageable steps and help students maximise their marks in the exam, further developing the student’s ability to write in a historical style.

Exam question practice
Each chapter ends with a source-based exam question, featuring historical documents, images, and accounts to build critical thinking and exam skills.

Student Skills’ Book

The main features of the Skills’ Book are:

• Consistent chapter structure with exercises developing in difficulty from knowledge recall to in-depth source work on every topic.
• ‘Examiner Insight’ features provide students with a wide range of sample answers from previous JC history questions, giving feedback on each answer from an examiner’s perspective under the headings of ‘What Went Well’ and ‘Even Better If’. Additionally, an extension task asks students to improve the answer or create success criteria to help their classmate write an answer of similar quality.

Teacher’s Resource Book

The Teacher’s Resource Book includes:
A full Unit of Work for each chapter of the textbook incorporating:
1. Contextual learning outcomes;
2. Nature of history learning outcomes;
3. Key historical concepts;
4. Learning intentions;
5. Teaching and learning methodologies;
6. Differentiation;
7. Learning experience;
8. Assessment checkpoints; and
9. CBA links.

Additional sources (print, audio and video links) for each topic with further scaffolded questions on each. Detailed learning outcomes provided for each chapter of the textbook.

Online Resources

The main features of the online resources are:

• Detailed PPT presentations designed to deepen understanding of all topics covered and provide additional information on all learning outcomes. These PPTs are designed with an explicit lesson structure and are ready to be used by teachers and students in the classroom.
• Sample answers to all questions in the textbook.
• End of chapter podcast providing students with an engaging, convenient way to interact with historical content. Each podcast provides a detailed breakdown of a particular topic in the relevant chapter, before explaining how that topic links to the exam.

About the authors

Niall Lenehan is a teacher of history and geography at Dunshaughlin Community College in Meath and is the author of Revise Wise Junior Cycle History. He frequently delivers CPD seminars to teachers around the country through various education centres. He is vastly experienced in the area of online learning having designed and delivered Junior Cycle history and geography courses for digital learning platforms such as Homeschool.ie and Exam Revision.

Lee O’Donnell is a teacher of history and geography at Woodbrook College in Wicklow. He is the author of The Natural World for LC Geography. Lee also works in the University College, Dublin, School of Education as a geography/history methodology lecturer, PME supervisor and dissertation supervisor. Lee’s work in UCD focuses on evidence-based teaching practices and student attainment with a particular focus on retrieval practice and digital technologies. Lee also works with an exam revision company as the Leaving Certificate history content creator creating digital resources to support students. He runs a successful Leaving Certificate revision podcast called ‘Skin in the Game’ for geography and history students.