Jonathon Dallimore
@jvdallimore.bsky.social
Currently working as the Executive Officer for the History Teachers’ Association of NSW. I also write (mostly textbooks and articles) and teach on-and-off at UNSW and some secondary schools. History, teaching, writing, music, photography and adventure
I know it doesn't mean a lot in the big scheme of things given that the category is so niche, but it's still a nice surprise to see my little book on Teaching History hit #1 on Amazon's bestseller list after 6 months in the wild. Its first review is a lovely 5/5 from a teacher in the UK.
August 10, 2025 at 1:46 AM
I know it doesn't mean a lot in the big scheme of things given that the category is so niche, but it's still a nice surprise to see my little book on Teaching History hit #1 on Amazon's bestseller list after 6 months in the wild. Its first review is a lovely 5/5 from a teacher in the UK.
Copies of my new book on the Pacific War have arrived! I really enjoyed working on this with an old friend and working some new features into the book. We worked hard to bring it up to date with recent scholarship while still ensuring that it’s accessible to students.
July 30, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Copies of my new book on the Pacific War have arrived! I really enjoyed working on this with an old friend and working some new features into the book. We worked hard to bring it up to date with recent scholarship while still ensuring that it’s accessible to students.
It’s interesting how much research and discussion on history education within the frame of cognitive science has been done and almost completely forgotten in public commentary on education. It’s not the narrow field of memory technique so many don’t seem to recognise it. This example is from 1994.
July 22, 2025 at 10:39 PM
It’s interesting how much research and discussion on history education within the frame of cognitive science has been done and almost completely forgotten in public commentary on education. It’s not the narrow field of memory technique so many don’t seem to recognise it. This example is from 1994.
Although I don’t agree with everything here, this is still a packed 50-pager from 1989 that has a lot of useful tips for teaching historical concepts in secondary schools.
July 22, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Although I don’t agree with everything here, this is still a packed 50-pager from 1989 that has a lot of useful tips for teaching historical concepts in secondary schools.
Small but brilliant exhibit of some of Tim Page’s Vietnam War photographs at the Leica store in Sydney. Can’t afford the $10,000+ for a camera, but can still appreciate the way he captured that conflict.
July 16, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Small but brilliant exhibit of some of Tim Page’s Vietnam War photographs at the Leica store in Sydney. Can’t afford the $10,000+ for a camera, but can still appreciate the way he captured that conflict.
Small but brilliant exhibit of some of Tim Page’s Vietnam War photographs at the Leica store in Sydney. Can’t afford the $10,000+ for a camera, but can still appreciate the way he captured that conflict.
July 16, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Small but brilliant exhibit of some of Tim Page’s Vietnam War photographs at the Leica store in Sydney. Can’t afford the $10,000+ for a camera, but can still appreciate the way he captured that conflict.
I love this kind of research.
July 15, 2025 at 1:10 AM
I love this kind of research.
This book is nearly everything I love about history. Rich in story, enlightening in detail, meditative, challenging, at times funny and just full of warmth and wonder. It’s also about places I have spent a lot of time since I was a kid and I thought I knew.
July 10, 2025 at 9:54 AM
This book is nearly everything I love about history. Rich in story, enlightening in detail, meditative, challenging, at times funny and just full of warmth and wonder. It’s also about places I have spent a lot of time since I was a kid and I thought I knew.
Textbook activity in preparation for a unit on Australian history in NSW from 1926. These problematic (in more ways than one) empathy activities have been around a very long time!
July 9, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Textbook activity in preparation for a unit on Australian history in NSW from 1926. These problematic (in more ways than one) empathy activities have been around a very long time!
Some student opinions about school History published in The Australia History Teacher (1976): too much focus on exams, too shallow, too much Australia, no generalised theory about history and heavy-laden with facts.
July 8, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Some student opinions about school History published in The Australia History Teacher (1976): too much focus on exams, too shallow, too much Australia, no generalised theory about history and heavy-laden with facts.
Finding it genuinely difficult to see what is unique about this ‘new’ model of writing instruction release by AERO today. I have sat in/delivered countless PL sessions working through examples of how to do this in History since the early 2000s.
June 26, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Finding it genuinely difficult to see what is unique about this ‘new’ model of writing instruction release by AERO today. I have sat in/delivered countless PL sessions working through examples of how to do this in History since the early 2000s.
Turns out these teaching resources that I used in my early career produced by the NSW Department of Education were visionary. This is from 1998 - maybe they should just reprint this instead of spending millions reinventing old ideas. The scaffolded resources are great and still relevant.
June 20, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Turns out these teaching resources that I used in my early career produced by the NSW Department of Education were visionary. This is from 1998 - maybe they should just reprint this instead of spending millions reinventing old ideas. The scaffolded resources are great and still relevant.
Interesting analysis included in Norman Dale Norris' 'The Promise and Failure of Progressive Education'.
June 9, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Interesting analysis included in Norman Dale Norris' 'The Promise and Failure of Progressive Education'.
Fascinating seminar this evening at Sydney Uni exploring conservative critiques of education from the 70s. It’s incredible how much has been recycled in recent years to push a particular agenda: crises of standards and morals, corruption of ITE, dangerous progressivism everywhere, anti-globalism.
April 30, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Fascinating seminar this evening at Sydney Uni exploring conservative critiques of education from the 70s. It’s incredible how much has been recycled in recent years to push a particular agenda: crises of standards and morals, corruption of ITE, dangerous progressivism everywhere, anti-globalism.
A thousand times yes: blog.aare.edu.au/turning-away...
April 30, 2025 at 3:27 AM
A thousand times yes: blog.aare.edu.au/turning-away...
This is grim reading: www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati...
March 22, 2025 at 2:01 AM
This is grim reading: www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati...
From the very first edition of 'Teaching History' (NSW) in 1961. It's refreshing to see so many historic examples of thoughtful teachers working through popular pedagogy trends rather than jumping on bandwagons uncritically or taking up fundamentalist positions.
March 20, 2025 at 8:48 PM
From the very first edition of 'Teaching History' (NSW) in 1961. It's refreshing to see so many historic examples of thoughtful teachers working through popular pedagogy trends rather than jumping on bandwagons uncritically or taking up fundamentalist positions.
Change and continuity in debates about the teaching of History in Australia (SMH, 19 October 1931).
March 18, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Change and continuity in debates about the teaching of History in Australia (SMH, 19 October 1931).
Excellent piece by Michael Gorman from 1998 'Teaching History' (UK). This thinking has been around for a very long time and not buried away in hiding, but frequently written about, modeled and promoted.
March 17, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Excellent piece by Michael Gorman from 1998 'Teaching History' (UK). This thinking has been around for a very long time and not buried away in hiding, but frequently written about, modeled and promoted.
This is utterly depressing: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
March 16, 2025 at 12:42 AM
This is utterly depressing: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024...
Although this is written about history teaching in England, I think this broadly rings true to teaching history in Australia. The rhetoric is often more divisive than the reality and most teachers in my experience are not that interested in the heroism underlying a lot of the polarising debate.
March 12, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Although this is written about history teaching in England, I think this broadly rings true to teaching history in Australia. The rhetoric is often more divisive than the reality and most teachers in my experience are not that interested in the heroism underlying a lot of the polarising debate.
I'm looking forward to 1804
March 11, 2025 at 4:56 AM
I'm looking forward to 1804
Interesting insights into the history of progressive education from a historian. Much more useful than the populist narratives masquerading as analysis in vogue atm. This is focused on England and Wales across the 20th C but there are clear parallels with the history of ed in the US and Australia.
March 11, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Interesting insights into the history of progressive education from a historian. Much more useful than the populist narratives masquerading as analysis in vogue atm. This is focused on England and Wales across the 20th C but there are clear parallels with the history of ed in the US and Australia.
We appear to be a long way from the end of history.
March 1, 2025 at 10:40 PM
We appear to be a long way from the end of history.
Still a favourite quote to share with early career teachers. Worth knowing even a little bit of education history if you become a teacher. The re-invention and re-packaging can be mind-boggling, but if you know that's what's probably coming, you can more deftly navigate it.
February 26, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Still a favourite quote to share with early career teachers. Worth knowing even a little bit of education history if you become a teacher. The re-invention and re-packaging can be mind-boggling, but if you know that's what's probably coming, you can more deftly navigate it.