British Kids Know Jack About D-Day

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2004-06-03 10:06am

and acording to me, they should know some sort of common sense

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2004-06-03 10:10am

antitrek wrote:Well according to some people, alot

according to others, not much

You've got 6 years of school by that point, assuming you still want literacy and numeracy then you can knock off half that time...lets then assume two or so big history projects for them in a year, which is even then, pushing it....you've got them covering six major periods or events in history.

So, you could cover two on the Roman occupation and the fall of rome, the normans and the vikings, the hundered years war and the spanish armada...all world shaping events...and still not cover WW2 or anything else in the last 200 years.

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2004-06-03 10:12am

Col. Crackpot wrote:So the turning point of a war that determined the destiny of Europe and the survival of a race a mere 60 years ago is just another event that school kids can't really be expected to know? I find that disturbing.

El Alamein was a turning point, Stalingrad was a turning point D-Day less so however that really isn’t the issue. British kids learn plenty (some would say too much) about WWII however this doesn’t include much learning about specific battles and with good reason, military history is a specialist branch and not really suitable for school kids.

Most British kids learn about the rise of Hitler and the origins of the war and many of them learn about the social effects of the war in Britain these are much more important than the details of particular battles. Personally I’m happier with most students leaving school having leant about the dangers of belligerent nationalism but largely unaware of the intricacies of the Normandy landings than the other way around.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2004-06-03 10:18am

Keevan_Colton wrote:
antitrek wrote:Well according to some people, alot

according to others, not much
You've got 6 years of school by that point, assuming you still want literacy and numeracy then you can knock off half that time...lets then assume two or so big history projects for them in a year, which is even then, pushing it....you've got them covering six major periods or events in history.

So, you could cover two on the Roman occupation and the fall of rome, the normans and the vikings, the hundered years war and the spanish armada...all world shaping events...and still not cover WW2 or anything else in the last 200 years.

and shall i tell the thing that pissed me off about the Primary school teaching me about those subjects? the teaches barely knew naymore than us! they just got the books out and said page Blahblah, the do questions 1 to whatever. I went back to the school where i wnet, and i aksedmy teachers a few questions about History, particulerly about the parts they taught us, that could not even answer simple questions..

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2004-06-03 10:23am

That's the case with a lot of teaching though, not just history.

The school I went to was good in that respect at least, projects were just that, projects. Using school trips and the like tied together with it to get the kids to actually interested in the material, working in groups to study things and generally getting the kids enthused about what they were learning.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2004-06-03 10:27am

I think that my old school was just really shit, one recent example of the stupidity of the governers, They voted a member of the BNp in as the chair of Goveners!

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2004-06-03 10:29am

antitrek wrote:I think that my old school was just really shit, one recent example of the stupidity of the governers, They voted a member of the BNp in as the chair of Goveners!

Fuckin' hell.

Plekhanov · Post by **Plekhanov** » 2004-06-03 10:30am

antitrek wrote:and shall i tell the thing that pissed me off about the Primary school teaching me about those subjects? the teaches barely knew naymore than us! they just got the books out and said page Blahblah, the do questions 1 to whatever. I went back to the school where i wnet, and i aksedmy teachers a few questions about History, particulerly about the parts they taught us, that could not even answer simple questions..

To be fair on them primary school teachers (at least at my own smallish school and the one I volunteer at) are expected to teach every subject from art, through history to science it’s hardly surprising they can’t match specialist knowledge on individual topics even if they have taught them.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2004-06-03 10:33am

I know, but even simple things like, who landed here in whatever year, and went on to create britains first parliment only five miles away?

Hell even they should know that!, theres a statue in line of sight from the school to tell us!

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-06-03 01:19pm

If British education is anything like American education when it comes to history, I don't blame them for not knowing. My 'history' classes kept covering from the Pilgrims up until the Civil War. We never went any further until HIGH SCHOOL. Everything I knew about after the Civil War was learned on my own time.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2004-06-03 01:22pm

Indeed, The History Channel has always been a much useful item, in the ever increasing world of historical interest for me

Bob McDob · Post by **Bob McDob** » 2004-06-03 01:36pm

As long as they learn about it before they're old enough to vote, I'm not especially concerned.

Bob McDob · Post by **Bob McDob** » 2004-06-03 01:40pm

Lonestar wrote:Which one was that?

*wants to look it up.*

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_b ... ory=508517

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-06-03 04:31pm

One 10-year-old in a Northamptonshire school thought it was the day the "Americans came to rescue the English".

I love this one. Who's your daddy, England? WHO'S YOUR DADDY?

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-06-03 04:33pm

HemlockGrey wrote:
One 10-year-old in a Northamptonshire school thought it was the day the "Americans came to rescue the English".
I love this one. Who's your daddy, England? WHO'S YOUR DADDY?

Well, long ago, the Celtics and the Romans loved each other very very much....

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-06-03 04:43pm

HemlockGrey wrote:
One 10-year-old in a Northamptonshire school thought it was the day the "Americans came to rescue the English".
I love this one. Who's your daddy, England? WHO'S YOUR DADDY?

That there's American history.

Though the problem with surveys and kids is that kids like to screw around. I know I did when I was a kid.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-06-03 05:07pm

antitrek wrote:Indeed, The History Channel has always been a much useful item, in the ever increasing world of historical interest for me

The History Channel? Buddy, we didn't get that until a few years ago. I READ all my information.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2004-06-04 03:54am

Hey, im almost the youngest board member, i read some bits and peices, but at the time, my reading skill was pretty low