Farewell to Hybrid History

Like a number of History teachers around the country I was extremely disappointed to discover that OCR has dropped the Hybrid History Pilot course with immediate effect.  This is a huge shame as I believe that this was one of the most innovative and creative courses put forward for any GCSE students in the last 10 years.  I had a great time teaching it and I know the kids really enjoyed it.  It was hard work - particularly as most of the content and resources had to made from scratch, but it was worth it.
We did the International Terrorism unit to start off which really challenged students' perceptions of terrorism, protest and the effect of 9/11.  I teach in Cornwall and there are times when the rest of the world can feel like it's a long way away - this unit involved students in big current world issues.
I have to admit that I was always surprised at how much kids genuinely enjoyed the Medieval Kings unit - I think the fact that it was so different from the other history they had covered made it exciting and the 4 hour exam predated the new Controlled Assessment.
The Heritage Marketing Unit was superb - the highlight of the course each year as it encouraged students to consider the role of history in today's society and to think outside the box.  Over 5 years students produced new marketing materials and strategies for the Cornish Records Office and for Bodmin Jail and the ideas the kids came up with were fantastic.
The Victorian Society in Depth unit allowed us to take a more traditional period of history and look at in a different light.  This year we looked at why the Victorians were fascinated by horror and invited in a professional magician to demonstrate how Victorian mediums fooled audiences to believe in spirits and ghosts, recreated a Victorian school and held a competition to decide who was the greatest Victorian (narrowly won by Charles Darwin, just ahead of Jack the Ripper and Oscar Wilde).  I also teach Modern World GCSE and love it - but the Hybrid was a hell of a lot more fun.
So the course is gone - and OCR should be particularly ashamed of it's timing by cutting a course after students have been recruited.  However, the resources still exist and the ideas can be changed and adapted for Key Stage 3.  A lot of our Medieval Kings stuff has already drifted into Year 7.  We put together a great resource box looking at the images on medieval kings' seals with the Record Office which has been used by several schools and goes down really well with Year 7.  You know what teachers are like - we never throw stuff away and can recycle anything.

The hope has to be that the spirit of the Hybrid course can be kept - this is the type of history we should be teaching - history that enthuses and inspires kids, that challenges perceptions and forces students to ask questions.  A great course that will be missed - but which will still have some effect for a long time.