With the newer specification GCSEs, many teachers have seen significant alterations in the complexity and the amount of content in their subject areas.

There has undoubtedly been an increase in the range and difficulty of literary texts studied in my subject, English. And, with 100 per cent examinations at the end of the course, students need to be able to remember more information than ever before.

Substantial changes have also been seen in history, where students are expected to understand and discuss in some depth an extensive time frame throughout history, including events from circa 1000AD right up to the present day.

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For both of these subjects, it is vital that students are exposed to expert knowledge of historical events, culture and society throughout the ages and given regular opportunities to revise and recall this knowledge. This is vital both at key stage 3 and KS4.

So how many English and history teachers have teamed up to do this together?

The team approach to GCSE

Across-curricularr approach to teaching this knowledge is fundamental to ensuring that students are able to form links between the different aspects of their schooling. It also helps them to develop a detailed understanding of how history, culture and society are inextricably linked and influential in all aspects of life.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been teaching the historical context of a text only for a pupil to pipe up with “Oi Miss, we did this last week in history!”

So there I am planning a lesson on patriarchy in Elizabethan England for our study of Shakespeare, and so is my diligent colleague over in history - both of us blissfully unaware of each other’s efforts until an observant pupil points it out.  

Although it is undoubtedly beneficial for students to encounter key information more than once, it is not beneficial (nor time-efficient) to teach it from scratch both times.

Curriculum planning

An introductory lesson and subsequent recall strategies, planned using the expertise of both specialists, would instead be more constructive.

Of course, there are barriers that mean that this is not implemented in many schools. Instead, subjects are taught in isolation and teachers are often unaware of what students are learning in other subjects.

Lack of time off-timetable means that department heads are having to prioritise, with curriculum planning sometimes taking a back seat to data and general administration of duties.

And let’s be honest, it’s demanding enough to coordinate curriculum planning for a single department, let alone trying to coordinate it for two.

Cross-curricular links

Despite this, an enriched pedagogical approach where English and history departments work together to pool their broad knowledge would inform a powerful curriculum of study across both subjects. Having specialists from these two disciplines cooperating to identify meaningful links in their subjects would enable them to more effectively share the teaching of this key information in a way that maximises the benefits to their students and generally enhances teaching and learning in both subjects.

Maybe it’s time for senior leaders to acknowledge the benefits of creating cross-curricular links between the knowledge and skills of separate disciplines and to provide the time and flexibility for their subject experts to implement it effectively.

Only then, perhaps, could my diligent colleague in history and I begin to pool our knowledge of Elizabethan England, planning high-quality lessons and resources that present students with explicit links between both our subjects, broadening their contextual understanding in a far more efficient way than when subjects work in isolation.

Laura Tsabet is lead practitioner of teaching and learning at a school in Bournemouth. She tweets @lauratsabet