Not
long ago I was walking behind a group of Y13 students on my way to
the staff room at the school where I work as a relief teacher. Two of
them were prefects, the other was a German exchange student. It was a
few weeks before Anzac day, and the German student asked the other
two what it was all about. They didn't have a very in depth
conversation about it, but the few sentences I overheard “Oh it's
about the war … history and stuff …. they get you to read these
bits from the bible and do this ceremony” were followed quickly by
laughter and a change of topic. There was absolutely no hint of
discomfort or anything due to the fact that the student was German.
Rather, this was Boring Adult Business: they make you bow your head,
read from the bible, sing the national anthem: all that sort of
stuff. You, as a teenager, hold your breath and go through all the
motions, waiting for the bell to ring.
I
think this reinforces the claim I have made in earlier posts:
commemorations like Anzac day actually have very little to do with
history, and a lot to do with “values”. Children are not dumb to
this – they are constantly lectured and admonished throughout
school, encouraged to strive, do their best, respect others, be
honest etc etc. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and I think that
ethics and values should inform our educational practices. But there
is a distinction between, for example, a history lesson and a lecture
from the school principal. It is this distinction itself which gets
blurred with Anzac day commemorations. What the children pick up on
much more readily, with a great deal of sensitivity (tone of voice,
context, atmosphere), is the values side
of the equation. It doesn't matter that much if they weren't
listening during the history lesson when they supposedly learned the
details of the battle of the Somme, or Gallipoli, or whatever –
they know that when the principal asks for a minute of solemn
silence, he really means it. If they get caught making a noise, they
will certainly get into trouble.
There's
a really interesting lecture given by Peter Stanley, an Australian
military historian, at a history teacher's conference very recently.
I don't know much about him or his views, apart from what I can infer
by reading the transcript of the lecture. I doubt he would agree with
many of the views I have expressed here in my blog. Anyway, it is
interesting to note his views on this crucial distinction between
history and values:
“...the
future, where, if we’re not very careful, we will see war history
in schools used as a vehicle for explicit, compulsory commemoration,
in which we are no longer able to look critically at Anzac, because
to do so will be regarded as ‘inappropriate’ or ‘unpatriotic’.
I fear that unless you are vigilant this will happen.
I
should make clear my outright opposition to the way children are used
– I would say exploited – in pursuit of a commemorative agenda.
How often have we seen children conscripted to be either the
background to commemoration, extras or actors, as in the event at the
Australian War Memorial recently? We hear 10-year-olds saying, ‘we
should be grateful because they died for us’, or ‘thank you to
the brave soldiers who fell for our freedom’. I find this sort of
exploitation and manipulation nauseating: it is not anything to do
with education, but everything to do with propaganda.”
“...
should that educational effort extend to inculcating or fostering a
respect for or adherence to Anzac as part of education? I think not:
it is not up to schools or teachers in our Australia to inculcate
‘proper’ attitudes. And yet the quantity and character of so much
of the educational resources directed at you – history teachers –
is intended not to offer merely an historical resource but to
encourage school teachers to adopt a basically favourable attitude
towards the study of war. “
Clearly the situation is somewhat
different here in New Zealand, where Anzac Day is not quite so much
of a big deal as it is in Australia. But Anzac Day continues to grow
and grow in stature and popularity. There must be a complex set of
reasons for this growth, and I'm suspicious of the idea that it is a
simple and spontaneous upsurge of pure patriotism. But it's a fact
that can't be denied, and this fact will be further intensified and
magnified next year on a massive scale. And children will be roped in
to this, thousands upon thousands of them. As the innocents of
history who need to be taught its Lessons, they are in some sense the
main target of the moral commandment “Lest We Forget”. History,
bible readings, bow your head, sing that song. All that stuff they
make you do.
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