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| Britain |
| The death of History |
| 2011-12-19 |
| h/t Gates of Vienna ...Education Secretary Michael Gove was horrified by a recent survey that found that half of English 18 to 24-year-olds were unaware that Nelson led the British to victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, while a similar proportion did not know that the Romans built Hadrian’s Wall. ...Last year, less than 30 per cent of 16-year-olds in comprehensive schools were entered for GCSE History, compared with 55 per cent of pupils in grammar schools and 48 per cent in private schools. Alarmingly, there were 159 comprehensives where not a single pupil was entered for GCSE History; and in a majority of state secondaries, less than a quarter of pupils now take the exam. ...Teachers in comprehensives appear more likely to put their pupils forward for ‘soft’ subjects such as Media Studies, which are less valued by employers. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #12 BP, msnbc has a commercial for themselves which says exactly that. We also have a presidential candidate who says JFK just called up Kruschev and said pretty please remove those nukes, and Kruschev replied sure diddly do. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-12-19 18:39 |
| #11 I got told FDRs big government ended the depression when in fact it accelerated, extended and deepened the depression! |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2011-12-19 17:20 |
| #10 Ebbang Uluque6305: While they are told about Hitler and the Holocaust, it is just a mention, and the teachers do not go into any detail. This is actually worse, because students just think of the Nazis as little more than 'snazzy uniforms'. Which leads to some dangerous moral equivalence. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-12-19 15:52 |
| #9 AH!, a fine pearl among many here. Mike Kozlowski who posts here is a writer as well. I always enjoyed Kenneth Roberts- Rabble in Arms. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-12-19 14:24 |
| #8 This is why I write historical fiction - strong emphasis on the historical, along with all the research that implies - especially reading original material; letters, memoirs and first-hand reports. We have to know our history, where we came from, who and what our ancestors were, what an amazing concept that the American experiment was. Yes, there were shadows on that bright sunny aspect- there are shadows in anyone elses' national history too - but there was amazing courage, optimism, creativity. We have to know our history, otherwise we are floating in a kind of cultural sensory-deprivation tank. I'm coming around to believe that is what the edu-cultural pooh-bahs actually want: a large, ignorant mob, easily led. That being said - can I bleg Rantburgundians for some Christmas gift potential attention to my books? I have six out there now, the most recent two came out this year, touching on interesting times in the Republic of Texas ... which, believe me, was more than just the Alamo. (and if anyone is getting a Kindle ... all six are available in Kindle editions...) |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2011-12-19 14:04 |
| #7 Our public high schools make sure to tell kids about Hitler's atrocities 100 times before they graduate (which is a good thing) but none of the students have heard of Stalin even once. Stalin gave the communists a bad name. So now they call themselves Democrats. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-12-19 12:01 |
| #6 Authoritarian governments don't want you to know anything. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-12-19 11:47 |
| #4 Don't forget their painting of the Nazi's as 'right wing' when they weren't. That the right was responsible for slavery and the left spearheaded the civil rights movement. The KKK was a right wing organization. Revisionist history. And it was that way even back when I was in high school in the 70's. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2011-12-19 10:18 |
| #3 It's no better over here. Our public high schools make sure to tell kids about Hitler's atrocities 100 times before they graduate (which is a good thing) but none of the students have heard of Stalin even once. This is purposeful. It's an attempt by the teachers' unions, leftist organizations that they are, to indoctrinate students to believe that evil only comes from right or centrist politics and never from the left. Don't believe me? Check it out. Take a look at a high school history textbook some time. Look at a syllabus. Our taxpayer funded public schools do NOT in the main teach about the communist holocausts. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2011-12-19 08:08 |
| #2 All most of 'em want to know is "when does the looting start up again..." |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2011-12-19 06:35 |
| #1 Knowledge of the useful elements of history tends to immunize a student against brainwashing. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-12-19 04:21 |