History Teachers' Association of WA

CALLING ALL YEAR 12 GENERAL ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY TEACHERS 🗣️

HTAWA is hosting our first ever Year 12 General EST-focused student seminar! This is a practical "hands on" workshop focusing on content and skills - specifically targeting the EST.

Get your tickets here: https://www.htawa.org.au/event-rsvp/general-history-est-workshop/

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR THE AUSTRALIAN HISTORY COMPETITION? ✏️

Entries close on March 31st! The Australian History Competition not only creates an opportunity for your students to demonstrate their History skills it is an excellent opportunity to celebrate History within your school community.

Check out the link below to register for your school TODAY!
https://australianhistorycompetition.org.au/

🙋 YES - there’s still time to sign up to conference!

Just click here 👉 https://www.htawa.org.au/conference/registration/

⏰ 🚨 ITS TIME TO SELECT YOUR SESSIONS 🚨 ⏰

1. Download the Whova app
2. Sign in with the email used to sign up to conference.
3. Select your sessions!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy 🍋 🤓

Still haven’t registered? There’s still time! https://www.htawa.org.au/conference/

Its not too late to join online! 💻
Sign up now through the following link 👉 https://www.htawa.org.au/events/upcoming-events/

⭐️ ADD THIS TO YOUR TO DO LIST! 📋 ✅
⭐️ SESSION SIGN UP IS OPEN!

Register for the HTAWA State Conference - link below 👇

https://www.htawa.org.au/events/upcoming-events/

Are you registered for our upcoming Conference on Saturday March 14th? There is a variety of sessions for lower school, upper school, ATAR, General, Modern and Ancient History. There are also multiple options per session available for online participants.
All information and the link to register can be found on our website
https://www.htawa.org.au/events/upcoming-events/

🌏 2026 STATE CONFERENCE 🌏

Have you got your tickets to our 2026 State Conference? This year's theme is 'Dialogues across time: shaping historical perspectives.' 🔎 Join us for a day of practical ideas, fresh content, and strategies you can use straight away in your classroom. Connect with other passionate educators at our conference by teachers, for teachers! 🎉

Check out our website for more information: https://www.htawa.org.au/events/upcoming-events/

✏️ NEW TO HISTORY WORKSHOP ✏️

Are you a recent graduate, a teacher who is new to teaching History, a new HTAWA member, or even a university student studying to be a History teacher? If so, we invite you to join us for the first New to History workshop of 2026!

During the session, you'll have the opportunity to network with peers, explore HTAWA resources, and receive valuable tips on teaching lower-school source analysis.

Register at https://www.htawa.org.au/event-rsvp/teachers-new-to-history-2026/

Have you heard about the upcoming HTAWA Conference??
‘Dialogues across time: Shaping historical perspectives’ will be happening on Saturday March 14th 2026.
Further details and a link to registrations can be found on our website. We look forward to seeing you there! https://www.htawa.org.au/products/conference-htawa-conference-2026/

In 2025, WA had four National Winners in the National History Challenge – including Grace Sharma who was awarded National Young Historian 2025!

The NHC is an excellent opportunity to get your students engaged in all things History, develop inquiry skills, and promote HASS/History in your school.

The theme for 2026 is ‘VOICES’. Head to https://historychallenge.org.au/ to register your interest for 2026. Also keep an eye out for our 2026 HTAWA Conference in March where we will officially launch the NHC 2026 and host a teacher workshop on this year’s theme!

A message from Catherine Baron, President of History Teacher Association Australia (HTAA):

Now more than ever, there is a need for our young people to study History.

It helps create a unified society by introducing youth to the ideas and experiences of people different to themselves as when young people study their past they learn about their connection, their commonality and thus gain a sense of belonging. History and Humanities education connect them to our nation and our global community. It supports their development as active citizens and by having the skills that History teaches they learn to make smart informed choices, making them less vulnerable to those people who don’t necessarily have their best interests at heart.

There has been a significant focus on STEM education, and although we acknowledge the significance and place of STEM in scientific, technological and environmental advance, we equally herald the role of History/Humanities education in generating understanding, empathy, and tolerance, all essential in generating, arguably now more than ever, a less divisive and more unified society.

We need to actively value Humanities education if we want to truly give our young people the skills to thrive in this world of increasing complexity. To do this we need to be vocal about the importance of History/ Humanities education.

There has been a national outcry over the atrocities at Bondi, and I am sure there will be further actions undertaken to reduce the chance of this occurring again. One of the most powerful, long term actions that can be taken is by increasing the value of our History/ Humanities education. It is hard to hate what you understand and see connection too. In Australia we have thousands of dedicated History educators, a well-developed curriculum and a community of History educators with HTAA and the state based affiliates all work towards a stronger History education.

The foundation for building tolerance and acceptance of difference exists, however what is needed is advocacy and fostering of the value of History/ Humanities education and educators. This isn’t expensive or hard; it just requires acknowledgement of the importance of Humanities. It can be as simple as encouraging the young people in your world to study History in senior school, to learn more about their community (and how the past has shaped the present) and development of critical analysis skills. By supporting History teachers to do what they do best and valuing the skills and knowledge they have we can create a long term positive shift in our cultural values, a more cohesive society as well as one that helps keep our young safe.

It is now, more important than ever to make long term, sustainable positive change.