Making History Accessible: Why Our Wonderful And Sometimes Wild History Is Too Good To Stay In A Textbook

Topic: Making History Accessible: Why Our Wonderful And Sometimes Wild History Is Too Good To Stay In A Textbook

Description: Mark and Jeremy will share their story and how they created their map (which you can see here: https://smithy.co.nz/products/a-history-of-aotearoa-new-zealand), take a quick journey through key turning points

in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history, and reflect on how they make history more accessible in both education settings and for everyone.

Speakers:

Mark Smith has worked in tertiary education (Unitec and the University of Auckland) and organisational development (Waitemata DHB) over the last 30 years. Prior to that he worked in the energy sector with a focus on energy efficiency and conservation. A common element of all these roles has been communicating complex ideas in creative ways. Mark currently works full time with teachers at Unitec in designing effective learning and assessment experiences for students. He has a Masters in History and recently resurrected this interest with his sons in establishing The Smithy (https://smithy.co.nz), which is dedicated to making Aoteraoa history accessible to all New Zealanders. To this end they design infographics, teaching resources, and write a weekly column on history.

After gaining his Masters of Teaching, Jeremy Smith taught Humanities to high school students (13 - 18 year olds) for 5 years. During this time he lead a team of 12 teachers in curriculum design and assessment. After leaving the classroom, he took on a role as a curriculum advisor and strategic planner for schools in the Auckland area. He is currently full time on The Smithy (https://smithy.co.nz),