Why Teaching Our History is so Important for Vital Citizenship

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This article presents a case for (1)  the teaching of our history to all students; (2)  for the teaching of the history of science and maths within science and maths (and other) degrees, and (3) for the inclusion of relevant histories as part of non-history courses in general.

For many years now NZ's secondary  education has been drifting  towards teaching "practical" skills useful in business and the service economy, to the neglect of the broad-based education of English, History, Geography, Science and Maths that once prevailed. As one English teacher said, "Schoolchildren will only learn history if we stop denigrating the humanities and try to end the ingrained apathy to their past."

The same has been happening in tertiary education where once a  sound education in Arts .was equated with a broad base in years 1 and 2, leaving specialism to year 3,  a post-graduate diploma, honours or masters.  Subjects like Philosophy and logic, Religious Studies, and even Psychology became less "relevant" as more of our young people studied business and IT. 

And You Complain Your Neighbour is an Immigrant!

Thanks Lone J.  pn315

Four Positives in the Christchurch Killings

Soon, I suspect, we will grow tired of the ongoing media

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coverage of the Christchurch killings. We can only stand so much grief before we tune out.  

There's little I can add to all that has been said but I'd like to mention four long-needed positives that should result from the tragedy.