Thousands of years of history. A world of unique and fascinating areas for schools to study.
Hawklad’s favourite subject. He loves absorbing and living bygone places and events. Already he has an in-depth knowledge of Britain’s Kings and Queen’s dating back before 1066. He’s pretty hot on the Roman Empire. During lockdown he has developed real expertise in Hitler and German fascism. These all were developed largely without school help.
Now he us keen to expand his knowledge into ancient Egypt and the French Revolution.
It would be nice if the school system would run with this desire to learn. Sadly the UK state school system has developed a Henry Ford approach. You can have any learning as long as it’s only the one that is imposed on pupils. One learning fits all approach.
So what subjects will school history focus on for the remainder of his schools days.
Russian Tsars – ok Hawklad can live with that one
American Wild West – ok
Victorian Crime and Punishment……
I’m sorry he has zero interest in that. Learning graphic details of the Ripper Crimes is not his thing. He struggles to even think about this area due to his anxieties. Effectively a third of his best subject course and exam is likely to cause him severe stress.
Of all the fantastic areas they could have picked and they went for this. When did History effectively become Criminology. So a complete school stay and no European history (apart from the two world wars), no ancient history. Here’s what really bugs me. Hawklad’s school history has failed to look at some of the great historical figures. Nero, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Martin Luther, Louis XIV, Charlemagne, Constantine the Great. Nothing. Yet Jack the Ripper gets shed loads of focus.
Some might want that, but many won’t.
Here’s a radical thought. Let the pupils have discretion to pick from a wide range of subject interests. That’s how you great a true lifelong spirit of learning.
A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. 
But that would make the system turning them into cookie cutter clones unable to think, consider and learn on their own difficult. Oh wait, was that a conspiracy thought? Maybe, allowing the students to find their own journey into learning more difficult on the instructor as they would have to think in more than one direction. Oh wait, is that wrong too? I have nothing but respect for real instructors who see the differences and not only allow but encourage them while having zero respect for those who insist that all colors must be inside the lines. Personally, I don’t care for the grisly either.
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More difficult definitely but with proper resources surely more enjoyable for the teacher
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One would think so yes. It was amazing all those many years ago, when my son ran afoul of a middle school principle. He ended up in an alternative school. I was terrified for him until I got to know the teachers and see how it worked. It actually was much better than the public school and he learned so much more. He was mainstreamed the next year back into public school and that was a disaster. If only the public school worked as well as the other one. They were amazing in what they offered and how they treated the students. In the end he still managed to get his education though not as planned.
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It would be great for him to choose his area of interest.
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It really would
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👍
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I agree with you – there’s so much fascinating history, so many pivotal figures to look at, and yet the system zeroes in on what it desires and ignores the rest, while overlooking the desire the kids might have in other areas. All I can remember from our history lessons at school was Henry VIII. It was all Henry Henry Henry. Then again, we also learned lots on one topic to prep for our A Levels, only for the A Levels to be on something completely different in another era altogether.
Caz x
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That’s exactly right the system takes over and picks it’s own course x
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Knowing what a student is interested is the key to unlock the door of learning
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It really is
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Food for thought indeed!
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Thanks
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I’ve found standing stones and Neolithic sites so interesting, would Hawklad be interested in that far back? Going to visit these sites means there is no having to go inside buildings so much.
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https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/yorkshire/ancient/index.htm
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“WOW!” I just found out about Rudston standing stone, it’s blinkin’ massive!
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Do you know what we haven’t been to any of these. Maybe this summer. Thanks 🙏
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He loves that. He’s been to one a couple of years back.
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I’m glad I’ve been of use. This is our human history, that we did these amazing things, standing stones upright and we can only speculate as to how our distant relatives did that.
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Victorian? Maybe someone should let them know Dostoevsky wrote that.
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Maybe Hawklad can find something else from that time period and you can suggest it to the teacher? He’s not gonna be in class anyway, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.
Oh, sorry… English Education system (which is similar to US)🙄🤦🏼♀️
💌💌💌
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