Posted on 07/17/2007 3:36:49 AM PDT by Daffynition
FURY erupted last night after Sir Winston Churchill was axed from school history lessons.
Britain’s cigar-chomping World War Two PM — famed for his two-finger victory salute — was removed from a list of figures secondary school children must learn about.
Instead they will be taught about “relevant” issues such as global warming and drug dangers. Churchill’s grandson, Tory MP Nicholas Soames, branded the move “total madness.”
The decision to axe Churchill is part of a major shake-up aimed at dragging the national curriculum into the 21st century, it was claimed last night.
But the plan — hatched by advisers — angered schools secretary Ed Balls, who vowed to probe ALL the changes to the curriculum.
The proposals will see traditional timetables torn up, with pupils focusing on modern “relevant” topics such as drug and booze abuse, climate change and GM foods.
Churchill — voted the greatest ever Briton — goes off the required lessons list, along with Hitler, Gandhi, Stalin and Martin Luther King.
There will also be no need to mention the Wars of the Roses, Elizabeth I or Henry VIII.
The move left Mr Balls locked in a row with his curriculum advisers.
He insisted: “Churchill should be taught to all pupils and I shall be taking steps to ensure it is.”
Shadow schools secretary Michael Gove said: “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.”
Churchill’s grandson, Tory MP Nicholas Soames, stormed: “It’s total madness. The teaching of history is incredibly important. If people do not seem to care about the country in which they live, the reason is that they don’t know much about it.” *
Ministers said the shake-up will free up a quarter of the school day so teachers can focus more on individual pupil needs. All subjects for 11 to 14-year-olds face an overhaul.
ENGLISH: Lessons must focus on reading and writing accurately and speaking clearly. Classic and modern literature will be a must. Recommended authors will include Jane Austen, George Orwell and Alan Bennett. Pupils must study at least one Shakespeare play.
SCIENCE: Touchy issues such as genetic engineering of plants and animals and use of nuclear power are added. Kids will also learn about the effects of drugs such as booze, cigarettes and cannabis, sexual health and infection.
MATHS: Personal finance, such as how to manage a bank account and work out credit card interest will be added to algebra, linear equations and ratios.
HISTORY: Will still focus on major events in Britain, Europe and the world, including both world wars, the Holocaust, and the British Empire. Visits to museums, galleries and historical sights are a must.
MODERN LANGUAGES: Schools will be able to stop teaching French, German and Spanish and offer other languages, including Urdu, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. Qualifications and Curriculum Authority boss Ken Boston said the changes would equip young people “with the skills for life and work in the 21st century”.
A spokesman said changes would not be radical, adding: “Anne Boleyn will still be beheaded, the Pennines will remain the backbone of England and Romeo will still fall in love with Juliet.”
Headteachers last night said that the reforms were “a move in the right direction”.
Lots of versions of this story but I liked the title of this one posted best... for obvious reasons.
Churchill dropped from England's history syllabus
Gandhi, Churchill no more part of history in British schools
British schools cut Churchill from curriculum
The same is happening in the United States as the federal government becomes more and more demanding of setting the curriculum and management of public schools.
This will happen as democracy takes charge and enforces its ‘vote’ through polls and surveys which influence politicians; and not through a democratic decision within the local communities from parental agreement with school boards. Indeed, the local level is where this form of socialistic, pure democracy works best, if at all!
That way, even if history is attempted to be erased because of the bias’ of the community, it can’t handicap the entire state, or nation; weakening it in the eyes of a more thoroughly, better educated world.
Just as Robert E. Lee is being “disappeared” from US textbooks Churchill seems to be a gonner too. History is written by the winners and in public schools, politically, that’s the Left.
The war on white males continues.
I cannot reason how the history of that era and the history of the UK, in particular, can be taught without Churchill.
They won’t teach it, they’ll skim it. It’ll become like the French and Indian War, it happened but we are gonna move on to the important stuff, like feminism and gay culture.
My heart breaks for the next generation.
I will always contend that Churchill was the most important figure in the 20th century.
My heart aches for our generation....as the products of our schools make it into the mainstream:
A series of supposedly true tales for your amusement.
“I was at the checkout of a K-Mart. The clerk rang up $46.64 charge. I gave her a fifty dollar bill. She gave me back $46.64. I gave it back to her and told her that she had made a mistake in MY favor and gave her the money back. She became indignant and informed me she was educated and knew what she was doing, and returned the money again.
I gave her the money back again ... same scenario! I departed the store with the $46.64.
They Walk Among Us and Many Work Retail.
I walked into a Mickey D’s with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for a sandwich. I handed it to the girl and she looked over at a little chalkboard that said “buy one-get one free.” “They’re already buy-one-get-one-free”, she said, “so I guess they’re both free”.
She handed me my free sandwiches and I walked out the door.
They Walk Among Us and Many Work Retail.
One day I was walking down the beach with some friends when one of them shouted, “Look at that dead bird!”. Someone looked up at the sky and said, “Where?”
They Walk Among Us!
While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn’t want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, “Does the sun rise in the north?” When my brother explained that the sun rises in the east, and has for sometime, she shook her head and said, “Oh I don’t keep up with that stuff.”
They Walk Among Us!!
I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call center. One day I got a call from an individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, “The number you dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” He responded, “Is that Eastern or Pacific time?”
Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, “Uh, Pacific.”
They Walk Among Us!
My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car designed to cut
through a seat belt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk.
They Walk Among Us!
My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought 2 cases. The cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount.
They Walk Among Us!
I couldn’t find my luggage at the airport baggage area, so I
went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional and I was in good hands. “Now,” she asked me, “has your plane arrived yet?”
They Walk Among Us!
While working at a pizza parlor I observed a man ordering a
small pizza to go. He appeared to be alone and the cook asked him if he would like it cut into 4 pieces or 6. He thought about it for some time before responding. “Just cut it into 4 pieces; I don’t think I’m hungry enough to eat 6 pieces.”
Yep, They Walk Among Us!
They Walk Among Us, AND they reproduce, and WORST OF ALL .....they VOTE!”
And they all vote Democrat. If they can figure out how to punch the card; many in Florida couldn’t.
The decision to drop Churchill from the school curriculum merits the middle finger salute!
Why do they want to stop teaching about WWII and the Nazis (they also dropped Hitler from the list of subjects to be taught)?
Because they don’t want people to draw the obvious conclusion: many of the UK’s “new citizens” believe in a kind of Naziism, Islamofacism.
Such a conclusion would be oh-so-un-PC. So the only thing to do is quietly drop one of the most important eras in the Western World, and in British History, from the history books.
The minds of social programmers at work.
It’s a way to erase the sovereignty of the British people. If you don’t teach something, it didn’t happen. You cannot very well teach about Churchill’s stance against fascism and how great it was, and at the same time try to impose fascism on the country..........
Great stories, though I’d be willing to bet the guy was joking in the pizza story.
I could be wrong, though.
I do have my own stories to add to the list:
I stopped at a small antique shop on a rural road in NY state and bought a small end-table for $12. The person working the cash register was a young man, probably 20 or so.
Since it was a small store and I didn’t want to take their loose bills, I handed him a twenty and two one’s.
He tried to hand me back the two one’s telling me that twenty was already way over the $12 price.
When I explained to him why I gave him the two one-dollar bills, he thought about it for a moment and agreed that it was a very good idea.
So he did get it. But he had to think about it, and he had to be told to think about it. And though this was a small town, it was an upscale one, and the kid looked normal enough.
Something similar happened to me in a Duane Reade one time when I tried to give a few extra coins to round-things up on the change-back and the cashier was totally flummoxed. When I tried to explain the concept to her she said she had to return the exact change displayed on the register. When I tried to explain that the machine won’t know the difference if the assortment of bills and coins changes as long as the total remains the same, she said, “oh, honey, I don’t know about that sort of thing.”
Just another reason to homeschool. It was reinforced to me when I recently overheard my 5yr old son repeating parts of Patrick Henry’s speach ending with “...give me liberty, or give me death!”
Just another reason to homeschool. It was reinforced to me when I recently overheard my 5yr old son repeating parts of Patrick Henry’s speech ending with “...give me liberty, or give me death!”
oops another double post
One of the greatest men in Brittish history, dumped for globalal’ssideshow - global warming. They will live to regret this.
No, they must be taught to be "world citizens" - least any new arrivals from the Middle East be offended.
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
So wait...by skipping Churchill, does this mean they will be ‘doomed’ to getting another strong willed, intelligent leader who can show them all what a stiff upper lip really is?
They really need that right now, maybe it’s a good thing. :)
(yea, I know it doesn’t work that way...)
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