For the past year a debate has been heating up in Britain about the teaching of history. The opening salvo in the most recent round was delivered by the Secretary or State for Education, Sir Keith Joseph. He has been joined by historian Lord (Hugh) Thomas.
Sir Keith has called for a brand of British history that emphasizes the “shared values” that form the core of British society. Lord Thomas emphasizes a need for a more “patriotic” history, in part to educate immigrants in British values and traditions.
Some British historians have reacted strongly to both suggestions as a violation of free enquiry and in opposition to a democratic tradition that has left the content of historical study, research, and teaching in the hands of historians. Plans were laid this fall to launch a History Workshop Centre for Social History to be based at Oxford University. The History Workshop is to function as an “invisible college” to help shore up “the status and purpose of history.” In part a response to budget cuts perceived as jeopardizing liberal arts, the History Workshop also seeks to “expand the ambition of historical scholarship by offering support to historians “at all levels, scholars, as well as part-timers and enthusiasts.”
Concerns about the status or history have also surfaced in France in recent months. The French Minister of National Education commissioned a study on the status of history in the schools. The results of the study showed that little attention was being given to chronology in history teaching. A subsequent survey found that one-third of students in their sixth year of schooling could not recite the date of the start of the French Revolution, 1789, President Francois Mitterrand used words such as “scandalized” and “anguished” to describe the situation of history teaching, and laments “the loss of a collective memory in the young generation.”
The French government is planning to introduce reforms in history teaching and curricula at virtually every level of education, from elementary school to the university. These reforms are to replace some of the experimental teaching techniques of the 1970s.
In the last year the United States has seen a spate of official reports on education, focussing especially on the schools. Most have concentrated on technical skills of students (reading, writing, analytical abilities), proficiency in science and math, and the school environment.
