I remember a university prof that told me in first year that the sum of Cdn history was a battle between the feds and the provinces over who could sell liquor where. And, as far as I'm concerned, truer words were never spoken. Teach Cdn history to high-school kids and they will either drop out, slit their wrists, or go smoke crack in the parking lot. Seriously not good for the nation.
And d'you know that suicide rates go up in any high-school where they're forced to listen to O'Canada? D'you know that the UN wanted to label the playing of it as being against The Geneva Conventions but G.W Bush. and Israel ganged up to derail the motion? That's why I had so much hope for that rap version they released years ago. But, in the end, it too turned out to be crap.
Have to call bull on this. Canadian history is something worth studying and it should be part of a high school education (that it isn't in too many schools is shameful). My concern however is what version of history this government wants taught. Will it be proper history that includes multiple (even marginal) voices and perspectives, or will it be a very one-sided history which serves less to educate than it does to propagandize?
ReplyDeleteArguments over the politicization of history are nothing new. In fact, they've been around for almost as long as the discipline itself. There will AWAYS be political bias in history. I hope you're not maintaining that students should not be allowed to learn about how their country works (or doesn't work) and about the nature and development of their own political system. History is a great tool for understanding politics and how Canada interacts with the world.
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me that people think Canadian history is boring. I think this stems more from the fact that so little of it is taught and how it is taught rather than the nature of the events themselves.
eCurrently in Ontario, there is a compulsory course in Canadian history at the Grade 10 level.
ReplyDeleteIt is also currently a provincial law that O Canada be played in each school every day.
It always amazes me that people think Canadian history is boring.
ReplyDeleteIt probably also amazes you that many in the world who are familiar with us think Canadians are boring.
What amazes me is the number of Canadians who react defensively and deny this obvious truth rather than celebrate the reasons for it. We are a staid, decent and peaceful country with a staid, decent and peaceful history. If you totaled up the number of deaths in all of Canadian history from political/social violence, including labour violence, you wouldn't reach the number from a typical month in Bleeding Kansas.
Those who think "The Fight for Responsible Government" or "Women in Canada" can grip the imagination of a twelve year old as much as "Battle Cry of Freedom", "The Fight Against Slavery" or "The Rise and Fall of the British Empire" were born old. Much better to chuckle and commiserate with the kids at the torture they are being put through knowing that one day they will be thankful for it.