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A good starting pouint would be for those on the right to stop using the word 'woke'. its just part of the culture war that is already underway in the US and Cummings and the right wing press seem keen to start here.As for comments like 'did WW1 and WWII not happen', how pathetic and ridiculous. So when some oaf says are we not allowed to teach history, my response should be absolutely. But who chooses which bits and from what perspective?Gove's rewriting of the GCSE curriculum, as well as massively increasing pressure on pupils, removed some key American literature that gave some insight into different perspectives and exposure to slavery and racism. This was to favour British authors, but did narrow the viewpoint.I got as far as University and a non-history subject before I learnt anything of colonialism, specifically in this case the carve up of Africa. I knew basically nothing of the partition of India until reading Midnight's Children, an appalling event that still dominates politics in the region today. Similarly the darker side of the Empire. The fact is most of the Empire was established and run by private companies, purely and simply for profit, such as the East India Company, with little proactive role for the Crown. This was no great benevolent exercise. Episodes such as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of unarmed civilians are certainly not taught, an event that the India govnt still wants a formal apologoy for. Churchill did condemn this, but others in govnt at the time celebrated it and the commanding officer suffered no punishment.So please, lets teach history, warts and all.

Paul Green ● 2323d

First few lines from DofE:History programmes of study:key stage 3National curriculum in EnglandPurpose of studyA high-quality history education will help pupils gain a coherent knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world. It should inspire pupils’ curiosity to know more about the past. Teaching should equip pupils to ask perceptive questions, think critically, weigh evidence, sift arguments, and develop perspective and judgement. History helps pupils to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change,the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.AimsThe national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils: know and understand the history of these islands as a coherent, chronological narrative, from the earliest times to the present day: how people’s lives have shaped this nation and how Britain has influenced and been influenced by the wider world know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’, ‘parliament’ and ‘peasantry’ understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance, and use them to make connections, draw contrasts, analyse trends, frame historically-valid questions and create their own structured accounts, including written narratives and analyses understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed

James Petri ● 2322d

I read an interesting blog on this by Pippa Catterall, history professor from Westminster univeristy. One key point is very relevant and seems to lie at the heart of some of the issues and specifically concerns raised:'statues represent what people in the past chose to celebrate and memorialise, they do not represent history.'So removing a statue of a slave trader does not change history in the least. I suspect 90% of the population know more about slave trading and this country's role now than 3 months ago. So actually the act and coverage have taught history...So statues were not meant to teach history, rather:'statues in public spaces since Antiquity have most typically been used to represent power and authority'This is surely blindingly obvioius. Less than 3% of statues in UK are of non-royal women. So why is that, the answer is to think who had the power and money when most of these were erected. Were women absent in our country for last 300 years..?Also our landscape can and does change, we moved statues in many of the countries we occupied. The Victorians and later removed old statues. Landscapes evolve...We need to careful of comparing changes now to the fall of the Iron curtain or misinterpreting quotes from 1984. My point in this thread is simple: huge aspects of British history are ignored and not taught or even referenced. Lets address that, actually teach history, acknowledge the good and bad (many commentators on Empire still seem to take a very relaxed view of it as a civilising exercise).

Paul Green ● 2321d

A friend of Indian origin of my son's when questioning India being referred to as British India asked - "Well where were we then?"I expect Bristol now regrets not having put an additional explanatory notice on Colston's statue.  It is a history that can't and shouldn't be hidden but would it just create more tension?  I think we should all also think about all the public buildings that those benefactors built for their home towns or cities - schools, libraries, museums, concert halls - and all the buildings that citizens paid for by voluntary subscriptions.  How many of today's millionaires or billionaires do the same?I think the history curriculum can be very restricted and it is greatly enhanced by the programmes like the one on the story of the house - which is something that more children could be encouraged to do.  The history projects where each person on a war memorial has been researched and personal memories from visitors to schools who experienced wars is much more memorable than just reading a text book.  It so often depends on an inspirational teacher.  Researching your family tree can be very enlightening as well as the programme 'Who do you think you are?'  because you may not be as English or British as you think.  It is also fascinating to find out what relatives did for a living and why they moved around - usually for good economic and family and employment reasons rather than travel for the fun of it.I also don't think there are as many school trips as there used to be or visitors who come into school presumably because of costs.  Unfortunately history can become another teaching to the test subject rather than something that creates a growing lifetime interest.I find Southall's Havelock Road Sikh Temple situation curious. And where are the anti-racism memorials that appear to have been stolen from the Town Hall?

Philippa Bond ● 2321d