About the Authors

Shauna Anderson

Tamim Azadzoi

Mitchell Barry: Mitchell lives on the land of the Wurrundjeri People in eastern Melbourne. Their specialisations are History and Literature and have studied with Deakin since 2018. Mitchell has a strong passion for Australian history and the outdoors and hopes to make history relevant and meaningful to the lives of all students.

Devon Bennett: Devon lives in regional Victoria and studies online with Deakin. Devon has a keen interest in the histories of the oppressed, and oral traditions, as well as the intersectional perspectives of history.

Sarah Bishay: Sarah resides in the northern suburbs where the Wurundjeri Willum People are the Traditional Custodians of the Land. She is a passionate History educator, dedicated to igniting students’ curiosity about the past. With boundless enthusiasm and growing expertise, Sarah aims to foster deep appreciation and understanding of History in the classroom.

Chava Block: Chava resides in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and currently teaches Jewish studies at a local school. She has a deep passion for history and is dedicated to instilling its importance in her students. In addition to her teaching role, she is completing her Masters in Secondary Education to enhance her teaching skills.

Hayden Booker: A father of two, Hayden lives and studies in Melbourne. He shares fascination in new world history–particularly cartography and early medicine. Hayden also has a keen interest in exploring the role of sport in history as a conduit for societal change.

Gemma Bristowe: Gemma grew up, lives and learns in Naarm, Australia. She is driven to provide accessible and equitable education and intends to utilise her love of literature and history to facilitate this. Too often, ‘history is written by the victors’, but when Gemma teaches she aims to include all perspectives to provide the opportunity for holistic historical interpretation.

Sophie Briggs: Sophie is a former professional dancer, current movement educator and future English and History teacher. She has a keen interest in social and oral histories and sees the study of history as an exercise in empathy, offering new ways to understand the world around us through storytelling.

Rebecca Cairns (Editor): Rebecca has been teaching and researching in the Deakin School of Education for a decade on Wadawurrung Country. Prior to this she taught Humanities and English in secondary schools in Victoria and Queensland. Her curriculum inquiry research examines the complexities of how we do curriculum, with a focus on history education, studies of Asia, decolonising practices and OER-enbled pedagogy. Rebecca leads the Deakin Master of Teaching unit, History Curriculum Inquiry Senior Years, through which this book was developed.

Stephanie Cahill: Currently completing her Masters of Teaching Primary and Secondary, Stephanie resides and teaches high school English and Humanities in the south eastern suburbs of Victoria. Stephanie has had a keen interest in history since a young age and eventually turned that interest into pursuing undergraduate studies majoring in History Revolutions, Stephanie hopes to inspire young historical thinkers alike to find passion in our rich history.

Raka Chatterjee: Raka lives in Vermont South, Victoria with her 13 year old son, husband and her dog Mocha. Though originally from India where Raka had completed her Graduation and Post graduation in Modern History, she has spent 15 years in Singapore teaching MYP Humanities in an international school. Raka is looking forward to embracing her teacher identity again and do what makes her most happy: teach historical thinking concepts to the future generation in a way they can relate and identify with.

Brodie Clancy: Brodie lives in regional Geelong and is studying online with Deakin. Brodie always tried to keep learning and has long had a passion for History and English which she hopes to share with her future students.

Darci Cowell

Jacob Darlow: Jacob Lives in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and currently teaches a Grade 2 classroom. With a passion for ancient history, Jacob has completed a Bachelor of Music with a Minor in History, a Graduate Diploma in Theology and is about to finish his Masters of Teaching. He hopes that these lessons can help future teachers and history classrooms excel in their studies.

Aidan Davies: Aidan is a historian from the northeast region of Victoria. Taking special interest in the wartime periods, specifically on politics, has led him on a pathway to teaching history in secondary school.

Alto Djakasuwarno

Kimberly Eastham: Kimberly is from Gippsland in regional Victoria where she resides with her 10 year old son. Kimberly has always been captivated by the intricate tales of the past. Her passion for history not only drives her to uncover forgotten stories but also inspire her students to appreciate the lessons and legacies of bygone eras.

Caitlyn Elias: Caitlyn is located in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs on Wurundjeri Country and studies online with Deakin. She has an interest in how history has shaped our modern world and is looking forward to teaching students historical thinking concepts, particularly historical perspectives.

Alex Elliott: Alex grew up, lives, works and studies in Burwood, Victoria on Wurundjeri Country. During her schooling, Alex, as a person of colour, experienced a profound sense of her own history being erased, overlooked and marginalised in the curriculum. This feeling of injustice now serves as her motivation in pursuing a career as a History teacher who hopes to adopt an inclusive and decolonised approach to her teaching practice.

Emily Franken: Emily is located in Victoria’s Yarra Valley on Wurundjeri Country and studies at Deakin Burwood campus. Emily has a passion for the history surrounding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and cannot wait to teach the future generations about this important topic.

Andy Gilbee: From the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Andy is a student at Deakin Burwood and soon to be a father, with a strong love of Greek antiquity. He has the ambition of teaching historical thinking for use in day to day life.

Kate Gillespie: Kate resides and teaches on Boonwurrung land in southeast Victoria. Kate specialises in History and English and has a strong passion for teaching true accounts of Indigenous history within the history classroom as well as incorporating a range of Indigenous and culturally responsive pedagogies in her teaching practices.

Hannah Grace

Lisa Grbin: Lisa lives on Wadawurrung country and is a Liaison Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Education and Health at Deakin University. Her favourite thing about working as a librarian is collaborating with a variety of people and exploring different technologies and solutions to support learning and teaching.

Eleanor Hogan: Eleanor Hogan lives on Boonwurrung land in the south east of Victoria. Her disciplines are history, and media studies, which tie neatly together in both her life and her work. Eleanor is passionate about history, taking particular interest in the French, and Russian revolutions, and twentieth century history. Eleanor is dedicated to fostering an environment rich in student participation within all her classrooms across both history and media studies.

Maddie Jamieson

Hannah Jones: Hannah lives in Warrandyte on Wurundjeri Land. She is passionate about young people, and endeavours to focus on the development of character and identity within the scope of subjects such as History, Outdoor Education, Physical Education and Health.

Dean Kennedy: Dean grew up in Wadawurrung Country – Lara, Geelong – now residing in Wurundjeri Country, Coburg. Dean is passionate about understanding the experiences and perspectives of people throughout history and the contexts within which they lived, and looks forward to sharing this with students in the future.

Joshua Lake: Joshua studies on campus at Deakin Burwood. He has a passion for sport, specifically football and basketball. Joshua loves to learn and teach Revolutions alongside Ancient Rome and World War One. Joshua cannot wait to venture into the real world and become a teacher to be able to teach what he is passionate about.

Charley Lethlean: Charley resides in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne. She is a passionate and a hard working individual who adores history and all it has to offer.

Billy Longer

Amelia Lowe

Nick McFarlane: Nick lives in Geelong, Victoria, and is a Master of Education (Secondary) student. Nick’s passion for teaching flared up at the end of his VCE career, with a set of strong Humanities and History teachers who ignited that desire to pursue the urge to teach and learn. His passions revolve around developing an open forum of discussion for the Humanities, and facilitating an inclusive, diverse learning environment to foster young people into global citizens.

Declan McLaughlin: Declan has worked within schools in different capacities, all across Victoria. He has a passion for getting the best out of youth and helping them develop their critical thinking skills in a modern world where they are more needed than ever.

Mason Montgomery

Megan Mooney: Megan resides in Melbourne, Victoria. Her passion for History and English is one she wishes to share with her future students.

Grace Moroney

James Nowland

Thomas Nisbet: Thomas lives in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs where he has found his passion for education, history and literature. He enjoys the impact contexts have on the formation of art, music and culture. He inspire his future students to find their own passions like he has.

Daniel Owen: Daniel lives in Wurundjeri Country and is currently completing a Master of Teaching (Secondary). Studying History and Visual Art methods, he is particularly interested in how they can be used to complement and enrich learning across disciplines.

Shalini Perera

Joseph Prpic: Joseph lives in Geelong, a town in Victoria and studies at Deakin University. Since his early teens he has had a passion for history, particularly the First and Second World War. Currently studying to become a history teacher in secondary schools, he hopes to spread his love of history among his students whilst simultaneously continuing to learn.

Aaron Redmond: Aaron resides in Melbourne, Victoria. He has a keen interest in revolutions and ancient history. He hopes to teach the future generation of students the importance of history and hopes they will develop the same passion he shares for it.

Benjamin Siscos: Benjamin lives in Melbourne and studies on campus at Deakin Burwood. He has a passion for history and especially the ancient history of the world. He loves sharing this passion with others and continues to learn more about it every single day.

Corrine Spalding

Amy Sellers: Amy lives on Boon Wurrung country and is a Liaison Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Education at Deakin University. Her favourite aspect of working as a librarian is talking to interesting people who are passionate about their learning and research.

David Speer

Lochlan Stenhouse

David Speer: David lives and teaches in a secondary setting in northeast Melbourne on Wurundjeri Country. His methods at university were Media Arts and History, appreciating the storytelling aspects of both disciplines. His particular historical interests lie in social history and historiography and wants to share with students the enjoyment he feels when studying new and unknown history.

Edward Stephens: Currently studying the Master of Teaching (Secondary) online at Deakin, Edward is training to be both a History and Indonesian language teacher. He is fascinated by intersections of different subject areas, such as where Indonesian language, history, nationalism and culture intersect with another topic, such as Australia’s involvement in the Cold War.

Montana Thai: Montana lives and works on Bunurong/Boonwurrung land. She is an Asian-Australian whose family has immigrated to Australia as a direct result of the Vietnam War. Because of this, she hopes to use her specialisation in History to highlight diverse – often marginalised – voices to develop future historians who are provided with a profound and in-depth insight into real world history.

Keila van der Plaat: Currently pursuing her Masters of Teaching (Secondary), Keila has a unique, multicultural background having lived in various parts of the world, immersing herself in different schools, cultures and languages. Though Keila works as a Kinder teacher right now, her true calling lies in teaching cultural history, inspiring future generations to appreciate the profound impact of history on our world.

Kyle Warford

Kim Wong: Kim specialises in Drama and History as his disciplines. He is interested in how Drama pedagogies can be applied to the History classroom to enhance learning and increase student engagement. He hopes to make his future History classes unforgettable for his students.