Teaching difficult histories

2026-04-09

Practical strategies to help you confidently teach history involving trauma and conflict.

You’ll learn how to:

build trustuse different techniques so everyone can ask a questionrespond to challenging or confronting student questionssupport students with personal connections to the contentuse frameworks like Safely In, Safely Out to manage sensitive material, andhow to look after yourself as a teacher when the content feels heavy.
Resources and tipsheetSafely In Safely Out resources: Yada Vashem pedagogical principles and Safely In Safely Out preparing Holocaust lessons Teaching Difficult History: A guide for Grade Seven to Twelve Teachers Novia Scotia, CanadaFree professional development tipsheet for this episode (in Teacher Downloads)
Voices

Educators: Ben Lawless (Victoria), Natalie Abadier (New South Wales), Louise Secker (Western Australia), Paul Foley (South Australia), Natalie Fong (Queensland), and Sarah Coleman (Queensland).

Host: Professor Anna Clark

CreditsHey 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.

No. of episodes

17

Latest episode

2026-04-29

Where can you listen?

Apple Podcasts Spotify Podtail Google Podcasts RSS

For kids age 8-12, a series on Australian history with stories and music. For teachers, a professional learning series called Hey History Teacher!

Season 1 follows Stage 2 and 3 of the Australian curriculum, and of NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland. Students can listen in class and use our Learning Materials designed and road-tested by a primary school educator.

Go back in time to the Gold Rush. What happened at the meetings between Captain Cook and First Nations people at Kamay Botany Bay? Experience life as a convict kid, and hear how First Nations people learn on Country.

Season 2 is for teachers, teacher-educators and pre-service teachers. 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, advice for new history teachers, great history teaching, and teaching the Australian Wars.

These eight PD episodes are grounded in current research and features fifteen classroom educators and academics from around Australia.

Hey History! is made by history professors, so you'll hear from Australia's top historians and experts. It's produced by The Australian Centre for Public History and Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney, in partnership with La Trobe University.

Hey History Teacher! series is made with the support of the History Teachers Association of New South Wales.