Child wants to be a Historian

[Priceyyy]

Hi all, any advice please. My ten year old is absolutely mad about History and has wanted to be a Historian since she was five. She is currently greater depth in History and it’s something she’s really serious about. Is there anyone she could speak to that could give her more ideas and information as not sure who I would go to. This probably sounds like a silly question but every careers fair she goes to she gets excited there will be someone to talk to but there never is 😔

Have you got a university local to you? Mine had an Egyptology workshop and my kids loved it - at the time they were obsessed with archaeology

What area of history?

A historian is not an obvious career tbh. History teacher or (at a higher level of research) history lecturer in FE? Famous history specialists like Mary Beard and Lucy Worsley are few and far between and probably come at it from another angle. Writer of books on history – again not a well-paid or easy career.

How many careers fairs has a 10yo been to btw and why? I’m all for having a plan but 10 feels a bit early. I infer from "every" that she has been to several?

What does she actually want to do – if she knows?

She could work in a museum, be an archivist.

I’m a historian 👋 As in, I’m a history academic at a university, so I teach history as well as research and write about history.

As others have said, ‘historian’ is quite broad and not very specific. There’s people like me in HE and FE, teachers in schools, museum curators, archivists, professional writers, people who work on history documentaries…

As she’s still so young I’d suggest trying to feed her interest by exposing her to lots of different areas of history. That could be by reading. Going to museums and historic sites, including abroad if you have any holidays coming up. Looking for a local university is a good shout as many run events (though she may be a bit young for some of them). Many museums and galleries run events for children. Basically just keep her interest stoked. There’s time yet for thinking about careers.

One place worth looking for careers ideas is the University of Leicester Museum Studies Jobs desk (online, you can google it). It’s a comprehensive list of heritage jobs from across the country which is updated regularly, so
would give your DD an idea of the types of careers/jobs within the heritage sector. They aren’t the sort of jobs regularly represented at careers fairs, but there is a great variety out there and half the battle is knowing where to look.

It might also be worth considering some voluntary opportunities for her in the future as a way of gaining some experience and trying out different roles/areas within the sector.

At 10 I would just help support her love of history - books, podcasts/audiobooks, films, museum, travelling, discussions, researching topics.

its way too early to be thinking about a career

Definitely not, AI does all that now. And will continue to take over many jobs by the time she's an adult.

I think discussing career at 10 is really weird. Is she really going to careers fairs at that age? That's mad.
I'd just be encouraging her interest in whatever ways she wants, like go to museums, books etc.

My daughter was the same at ten. She’s now at uni doing archeology and anthropology - she loves it. We were always at museums.

My kids always loved history and they accessed it mainly through reading lots of historical fiction. The ‘My Stories’ series is brilliant for this age group as it’s diaries written from the point of view of someone in a particular period eg Tudors, Irish Famine, Suffragettes, etc. Mine also read adult historical fiction by that age as they ran out of kids books. If into War of the Roses/Tudors, Philippa Gregory books are really brilliant. Lucy Worsley’s books are great, though read v quickly if you have a good reader. Her tv series are v good too. We also get the History Extra magazine - though that might be more for when she’s a teen. For WWI & II, there are lots of children’s authors like Michael Morpurgo. Also mine read lots of adult historical fiction for that period. Imperial War Museum is great for WWI &II.

I also highly recommend Dominic Sandbrook’s history books for kids: great historical accuracy whilst being very readable. He’s done one on Henry VIII’s wives, WWII and one on Egypt/Cleopatra I think. Get her reading about lots of different periods and then you can see what sparks her interest and take her to related museums, palaces etc.

Thank you everyone for all your replies. It’s nice to have different ideas from people. I know she’s only young and things may change regarding future careers but it’s just nice to be in the know for the future. She’s in Year 5 and they’ve already had a few career fairs at different schools that they have gone to but so far there hasn’t been any on that subject. Thank you all again 😊

Year 5s go to career fairs?!?

Can I ask if you are in England? Is this a state school? I have never heard of 9-10yos going to careers fairs. It’s not as though they can select the subjects they study for quite a few years yet. Much better use of such events would be to offer them to year 9/10/11 surely.

I’m also intrigued about the careers fairs!!

That does seem bananas! I’m not sure my 6th former has even been to a careers fair 🤣 I guess they’re aimed at opening the kids’ minds to lots of different futures and encouraging them to work hard to achieve their dreams. But if in the UK, it would be v unusual.

It’s not weird to discuss careers at this age. It’s good to encourage young people to engage with the concept of the world of work. It is unusual for them to be attending careers fairs though!

Unfortunately the first couple of years in secondary school will kill any interest in history she has.

I work in the industry and whilst AI is being investigated in various areas I can promise
it doesn’t “do all that now” at all, there are hundreds of different roles within museums, archives and higher education, and a growing industry in heritage storage development. We don’t know where the world will be in ten years, I accept, but we certainly haven’t been absorbed by AI yet, or otherwise I wasted a lot of my time sending unnecessary emails.

I’ve yet to meet AI that can organise, catalogue, store in an archivally sound manner and retrieve archives for readers but I work in a heritage setting so I’m obviously living 100 yesrs in the past.

I’ve been a teacher for a long time and have never known any careers fairs for primary school aged children, is this a new thing?!

She goes to a mainstream primary school. The school goes to various other schools for career fairs that are organised by the Education department of the county council. They also have days where parents can go in and discuss different jobs.

Love this!

I would also add young archaeologists clubs, and open dig weeks.

DD works in a major museum that you’ve all heard of and before that she worked at a historical house. I’m sure it’s because I dragged her around ten thousand National Trust properties when she was a child as they were free (after I’d paid for the annual pass) and she could play in the play park and get an ice cream afterwards.

Basically, it’s two tiers: those with PhDs and then everyone else. Kids with Masters degrees in History are selling tickets, finding lost children and telling the cleaner that the American tourists have left it too late to find the loos again so they need to bring the buckets.

But, she kept her faith, persevered and is now doing brilliantly.

Have you heard of Alice Loxton? She was a History student at Edinburgh uni and answered a job advert to work with The History Man aka Dan Snow. Alice now writes best selling books and has a large social media following.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Loxton

I am going to mention social media and I will leave it with you to supervise, but the young Historians are making their names through Instagram and YouTube. This is also how it’s working with publishing ie editors want their new authors to have a large number of followers before they get the book deal.

If you would like to encourage your DD then perhaps over the summer she could research and write about her local neighbourhood as a local history project? For starters, go to the local history section in your local library and see what books they have. And then find an interesting looking gravestone or a plaque inside your local church google the person and see what comes up. If they are the old Lord of the Manor, try to see if their house is still standing and then research old photographs to see how it looks past and present. Or perhaps find out more about the area a grandparent lives in and then make up the booklet with some photos and text, print it out and give it to the relative as a Christmas present?

We also met Lucy Worsley years ago who said she had careers tips on her website but I don’t know if this is still there.

Place marking x

I don't think it's weird. I knew I was going to be an industrial archaeologist from about age 12. I am not an industrial archaeologist, because it turns out you have to pay rent and bills, but I still go to quite a lot of industrial museums.

I was a junior member of my local museum for quite a few years, and if that's an option for you, it's a way to see behind the scenes. We also went to quite a few museums on family holidays (St Fahan's by Cardiff was and is a favourite.)

Does she know what area of history she's interested in? I was mad on the Tudors around age 7, though A-level and degree and essays on all the bloody Thomases pretty much cured me of that. And around age 9 or 10, I learned about the 1842 Mines Act, and children working down the mines and it fascinated me, and I have been to a lot of mining museums since then... and mills, and...

I do think most people should know more history. I now work in IT (and have worked with other history graduates,) and for some reason Ada Lovelace came up, and my colleagues didn't know who she was. (I failed to hide my surprise at this, which was noticed.)

But - she's clearly interested. There are lots of possible jobs. Some of them are not paid well at all, and that is something to consider when considering exactly which direction to go in - but a consideration much further down the line, post school, certainly. And there are those like Lucy Worsley who do well. They may be few and far between, but there will be some who make it.