Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Churchill dropped from England's history syllabus (" pandering to a P.C. agenda")
ABC News (Australia), The Sun (U.K.) ^ | July 13, 2007

Posted on 07/12/2007 11:42:03 PM PDT by Stoat

Churchill dropped from England's history syllabus

Posted 9 hours 19 minutes ago
Updated 4 hours 38 minutes ago

Just not cricket ... the exclusion of Winston Churchill is likely to leave traditionalists aghast. (File photo)

Just not cricket ... the exclusion of Winston Churchill is likely to leave traditionalists aghast. (File photo) (Reuters: Toby Melville)

Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill has been cut from a list of key historical figures recommended for teaching in English secondary schools, a government agency says.

The radical overhaul of the school curriculum for 11- to 14-year-olds is designed to bring secondary education up to date and allow teachers more flexibility in the subjects they teach, the Government said.

But although Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi, Joseph Stalin and Martin Luther King have also been dropped from the detailed guidance accompanying the curriculum, Sir Winston's exclusion is likely to leave traditionalists aghast.

A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority said the new curriculum, to be taught from September 2008, does not prescribe to teachers what they must include.

But he added: "Teachers know that they need to mention these pivotal figures. They don't need to be instructed by law to mention them in every history class.

"Of course, good teachers will be teaching the history of Churchill as part of the history of Britain. The two are indivisible."

Sir Winston's grandson Nicholas Soames, also a Conservative Member of Parliament, described the move as "madness."

"It is absurd. I expect he wasn't New Labour enough for them ... this is a Government that is very careless of British history and always has been.

"The teaching of history is incredibly important," he added.

"If you're surprised that people do not seem to care that much about the country in which they live, the reason is that they don't know much about it."

The History Curriculum Association said it was "appalled" by the move, saying the new curriculum would "promote ignorance" and was pandering to a politically-correct agenda.

The Conservatives' schools spokesman Michael Gove added: "Winston Churchill is the towering figure of 20th century British history.

"His fight against fascism was Britain's finest hour. Our national story can't be told without Churchill at the centre."

Schools Secretary Ed Balls defended the move, saying a slimmed-down curriculum was overdue and traditional elements in all subjects had been protected.

Among the few named figures that stay in the new history curriculum are William Wilberforce, the British law maker who was instrumental in efforts to abolish the slave trade.

Sir Winston, who was British prime minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955, was famous for his defiance to the Nazis, stirring oratory and trademark cigar and "V for victory" sign.

In 2002, a BBC poll with more than one million votes saw him voted the Greatest Briton of all time.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: anglosphere; britain; censorship; churchill; education; england; greatbritain; history; milhist; militaryhistory; purge; revisionismliars; stalin; totalfreakinmadness; uk; unitedkingdom; westerncivilization; winstonchurchill; ww2
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-136 last
To: SuziQ

Supposing some of them are not, is the right way to correct that a Government directive? Is that the way educational standards are improved in the USA? I suspect not.


121 posted on 07/14/2007 11:24:58 AM PDT by Winniesboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]

To: blackie
Winnie died when I was a Senior at Robert E. Lee High in Houston in 1965. I had just started a journalism class and I wrote an editorial about his death. My teacher had it published...

I have a copy of somewhere in that back Fibber McGee closet of mine, but I do recall one part of it: “Ever striving to get firsthand into the fight, Winnie was kept from landing with his forces at Normandy on D-Day, but he did cross the Rhine with his troops.”

He was a great man with flaws and vices, but his true greatness was his single-mindedness that kept Britain in the war against the Nazis when a negotiated settlement would have been easy to arrange and easy to pass off as the convenient thing to do... Winston Churchill did the 'right' thing.

One of the things I still admire about President Bush is his single-mindedness to defeat the Islamic Terrorists even when the liberal dogs and even a few GOP sumbitches are nipping at his heels. I believe W will do the right thing in the War on Terror.

One of my favorite stories about Winnie was when he was once at a party and drinking to excess. A woman there really took him to task, finally calling him a drunkard. "Correct, madam," Winston replied, "However, in the morning light, I shall be sober while you shall still be ugly."

122 posted on 07/14/2007 12:42:49 PM PDT by Bender2 (A 'Good Yankee' comes down to Texas, then goes back north. A 'Damn Yankee' stays... Damn it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 120 | View Replies]

To: Stoat

Thanks for that information, Stoat. These new languages to be taught in UK schools all point to the only Arabic word I know: dhimmitude.


123 posted on 07/14/2007 2:21:15 PM PDT by bajabaja
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Bender2

We are in agreement on your observations and conclusions.

I remember hearing that party put down, good for him!


124 posted on 07/14/2007 4:43:09 PM PDT by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: Stoat

Thanks to the appeasers in the world, we are doomed to relive history, but maybe the outcome won’t be quite as pretty. Pray for a little divine intervention.


125 posted on 07/14/2007 4:50:53 PM PDT by Steamburg (If we don't want our nation bad enough to protect it, it won't be ours long.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Bender2
The woman at the party was Lady Astor. She and Churchill were long time antagonists.

Another example.....

Lady A: Mr Churchill, if I were your wife I would put arsenic in your tea.

Mr Churchill: Madam, if I were your husband I would drink it!

126 posted on 07/15/2007 9:58:07 AM PDT by Churchillspirit (We are all foot soldiers in this War On Terror.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: Stoat

Well, my children will most cerinly be taught about the great man!!!


127 posted on 07/17/2007 5:00:30 PM PDT by batco-barry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Stoat

Well, my children will most certainly be taught about the great man!!!


128 posted on 07/17/2007 5:00:40 PM PDT by batco-barry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bender2

“Winnie died when I was a Senior at Robert E. Lee High in Houston in 1965”

In a bit of relevant irony. I wonder is the name of your former high school still the same?


129 posted on 07/17/2007 5:12:24 PM PDT by Altura Ct.
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: batco-barry
Well, my children will most certainly be taught about the great man!!!

I have no doubt that you will see to it that they are taught the important things.  The sad fact is, however, that for every family like yours there are perhaps a thousand or more that either don't know or don't particularly care.  Also, taking Sir Winston off of the required syllabus removes a very important imprimatur of societal regard and weight that has historically been given him.  Now when children in Government schools are taught that 'global warming' is a man-made fact and it's due entirely to 'Western excesses', they will give that perspective a far heavier regard than some 'old dead white man' who was removed from their syllabus because he's not particularly politically fashionable anymore.

There are some in this thread who argue that it's all of no particular concern and we should all trust the teachers to continue in the excellent works that they do regardless of what the Government's requirements are.

I would suggest that it is indeed a great concern because although some teachers are indeed good and will likely try, for a few years, to maintain some semblance of academic standards, they are all faced with a limited amount of time to cover the Required syllabus items, and little time is left for anything else regardless of the personal convictions of the remaining excellent teachers.

130 posted on 07/17/2007 7:41:59 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: Altura Ct.; Millee; carlr; Maximus of Texas; EX52D; StephenTX; wallcrawlr; Auntbee; Shimmer128; ...
Re: My... “Winnie died when I was a Senior at Robert E. Lee High in Houston in 1965”

Your... In a bit of relevant irony. I wonder is the name of your former high school still the same?

Sadly, no... As per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_High_School_(Houston,_Texas) my dear old alma mater is not something I would care to see again. They do not even have an 'American' football team any more. I prefer my old memories.

Go Generals!

131 posted on 07/17/2007 8:19:10 PM PDT by Bender2 (A 'Good Yankee' comes down to Texas, then goes back north. A 'Damn Yankee' stays... Damn it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: Stoat
received this today:

Thank you very much for the extremely generous and welcome support you sent me about my grandfather.

It is always a source of immense satisfaction that so many of your fellow countrymen cherish his memory and I can assure you that we, his family, are deeply grateful.

Thank you again very much.

With warm best wishes.

Nicholas Soames

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA

132 posted on 07/24/2007 9:53:44 PM PDT by maine-iac7 ( "...but you can't fool all of the people all the time." LINCOLN)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: maine-iac7
received this today:

Oh my goodness....what a wonderful gift from across the pond!

This is something to proudly hand down in the generations of your family for all time to come....such a gracious, friendly and kind letter from the grandson of Winston Churchill himself. 

One can see his warm smile and feel his friendly handshake with these words.

Thank you so much for sharing it with us  :-)

One suggestion....there are ways to prolong the life of important paper documents that reduce the yellowing and visible aging that comes with the passage of time.  I am not an expert in this field, but I know that there is a wealth of information pertaining to this on the internet, and it may be something that you might wish to consider investigating in order to help insure as long a life as possible for such a treasure and family heirloom.....as well as a copy of the letter that you sent him.

Search keywords and phrases might include "document archiving", "archival document storage", ."document conservation", etc. etc.

133 posted on 07/24/2007 10:44:53 PM PDT by Stoat (Rice / Coulter 2008: Smart Ladies for a Strong America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 132 | View Replies]

To: Stoat
LOL

re: saving docs.

Sitting here on my shelf is a can of "Preserve It!" by Krylon.

I am an artist and a writer - preserve things for my kids and grandkids - just, finally, sprayed a sketch I did back in the 60's of Wally Schirra, one of the original 7 Astronauts. My brother was in the space industry then, in the 'wee hours' of it, and we lived in Cocoa Beach - at the time, a sleepy little town with only 1 or 2 hotel/motels.

The one the Mercury guys stayed at when in town was the Ramada Inn, where my mother worked as a hostess. Often, when I went to pick her up, I would wait for her in the bar/lounge. Wally Schirra was there often and I got to 'visit' with him. One day, when we were chatting, someone at the bar produced a piece of note paper and, knowing I did portraits, suggested I do a sketch. Someone else produced a ball point pen - red, of all things, - and I did a quick sketch, which he signed for me.

I just yesterday dug it out to frame and take to one of my sons, this week in Cocoa Beach. He works on the shuttle program.

I have many such "Preserve It!" memorabilia as I have lived all the states and seemed to be where things 'were happening"...


134 posted on 07/25/2007 7:12:33 AM PDT by maine-iac7 ( "...but you can't fool all of the people all the time." LINCOLN)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 133 | View Replies]

To: Stoat

Maybe now they’ll hire Churchill, as in Ward Churchill.


135 posted on 07/25/2007 7:14:26 AM PDT by dfwgator (The University of Florida - Still Championship U)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: KC_Conspirator
I have always thought that William Manchester's passage expanding on Isaiah Berlin's take on Churchill was intensely illuminating as to how a past-his-prime, much criticized parlimentarian, came to be the touch stone of Brtish survival:
He had come to power because he had seen through Hitler from the very beginning--but not, ironically, because his inner light, the source of that insight, was understood by Englishmen.

Churchill's star was invisible to the public and even to most of his peers. But a few saw it. One of them wrote afterward that although Winston knew the world was complex and in constant flux, to him "the great things, races, and peoples, and morality were eternal."

Isaiah Berlin, the Oxford philosopher, later observed that the Churchill of 1940 was neither "a sensitive lens, which absorbs and concentrates and reflects...the sentiments of others," nor a politician who played "on public opinion like an instrument."

Instead Berlin saw him as a leader who imposed his "imagination and his will upon his countrymen," idealizing them "with such intensity that in the end they approached his ideal and began to see themselves as he saw them." In doing so he "transformed cowards into brave men, and so fulfilled the purpose of shining armour."

Reagan had that same quality.

136 posted on 07/25/2007 7:37:33 AM PDT by KC Burke (Men of intemperate minds can never be free...their passions forge their fetters.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-136 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson