# Military History Textbook for High School



## Deleted member 585 (19 Jun 2003)

http://www.nationalpost.com/soundoff/story.asp?id=6A03255D-229E-4B9F-8CCD-AE3BF4DD912C 



> Not taught in schools: Canadians in Conflict emphasizes how strife shaped country
> 
> Heather Sokoloff
> National Post
> ...


I agree with the principles behind this initiative and hope it spreads to school boards across the country.


----------



## Jason Jarvis (19 Jun 2003)

Has anybody seen this? I can‘t find it on either Amazon or Chapters-Indigo.


----------



## Deleted member 585 (20 Jun 2003)

> ...has proven so popular they cannot be printed fast enough.


That‘s one reason why it‘s hard to find.  It‘s also published by the Edmonton Public School Board, which means it won‘t be for sale in bookstores.


----------



## big_johnson1 (20 Jun 2003)

Hopefully a book like this will help dispel the current myths of how all CF members are killers, war-mongers, etc.. I‘ve seen plenty of posts in other forums about incidents with the public in which the military and it‘s personnel are slammed.. Maybe with books like this, the next generations will realize the sacrifices made by soldiers over the past couple hundred years. Wish I‘d had that kind of a resource when I was in school..


----------



## Infanteer (20 Jun 2003)

Is it me, or does Alberta seem to get everything right?


----------



## Korus (20 Jun 2003)

****.. I wish we had those books a few years ago when I was still in High school.. I know my Social 30 teacher would have used it for sure..


----------



## onecat (20 Jun 2003)

"Is it me, or does Alberta seem to get everything right? "

No they just get a few things right; believe it or not Alberta is no better run than any other prov.  They just have oil money which helps to keep your economy moving.  If New Foundland had that money it be run just as well...... at of course at the present time it doesn‘t.

Great history books though.  One of main problems with Canada is that never teach History in the same degree as other countier do, and let people think our history is boring.  Its not boring,history should be a required course in every year of high school.


----------



## Jason Jarvis (21 Jun 2003)

One of the problems with the way that history has been taught in Canadian schools is that there‘s no national program saying what should be taught and when.

As we all know, Federal control isn‘t always a good thing, but what this has meant for history is that it has allowed various cliques to take over the provincial educational systems and impose a theory of history that many teachers, parents and students might not agree with.

I tend to prefer a hybrid approach to teaching history, one that takes into account all the influences of politics, economics, war and diplomacy, social and cultural migration, etc. I don‘t think it‘s right to focus so much on the "little people" in history (like teenage Mennonite immigrants in Manitoba in the 1890s, for example) because when you do that it‘s very easy to loose sight of the "big picture." Not being able to put people and events in their context is the main reason why so many students find history so boring -- they‘re not taught how everything fitted together and why things were the way they were. This is what university and graduate school is for.

That said, if you‘re the descendant of Mennonite immigrants and live in Manitoba, by all means spend a month or so of class time looking into their experiences, but don‘t spend a whole year on it! The same goes for Acadians, New England planters, etc. This is what your family is for.

The best history teachers do make an effort to present the "big picture" to their students, but considering the huge workload of most teachers nowadays, it‘s not surprising that so many simply accept the curriculum and just go with it (as opposed to researching the extras required to spice it up). I know they‘d like to, but just have too many other responsibilities.

I think this textbook is long overdue, and applaud Mr. Davies‘ efforts to bring this underappreciated history to life. Hopefully the TDSB will cough up some $$$ and my wife will be able to use it next year in her history courses.


----------



## Deleted member 585 (22 Jun 2003)

I‘m still trying to capitalise on the Chinese Studies course from junior high school.

Chiang kai-chek, The Gang of Four, the Cultural Revolution, and the Yangtze River.

While interesting and likely to widen cultural understanding, I think the government could be creating wonderful little patriots.   

Let‘s see how we rank internationally:
4th of 24  UNICEF

Could this favourable ranking prevent any real improvements from being implemented?  Maybe, but Mr. Davis and other progressives like him are needed in curriculum development to ensure kids don‘t graduate in ignorance.

I support revolutionary techniques in education.  A friend of mine was promoted to  "Director of Physical Education" at a junior high school.  She excells in leadership training, experiential learning and team-building which benefits students regardless of their athletic ability.  Rather than teaching kids how to play specific sports really well, they learn the philosophy of team sports and self-confidence through leadership.  IMHO, this philosophy of foundation-building would be best applied across all subjects.

Cheers!


----------



## Michael Dorosh (22 Jun 2003)

Of course, being from Guelph, radiohead is in a far better position to judge how well Alberta is being run as opposed to SARS City...err, Toronto..or Ontario as a whole...


----------



## Infanteer (23 Jun 2003)

Cha-ching.

And awaiting the return from Guelph...

(good one Mike)


----------



## Danjanou (29 Jun 2003)

You go away for a quiet vacation with the wife and come back and find Michael of all people invading my turf and slagging my home town!

Careful, here in the centre of the universe also known as T.O. we do have feelings, and a good stock of Alberta jokes. BTW have you guys found that cow yet?

It‘s interesting we were on a couple of islands down south and it‘s weird and not a  lttele disconcerting to see SARS warnings at the airports. 

But back to the topic at hand. Part of me is impressed that the the polictically correct brigade that hijacked our eductation system are have turned out a new "Canadian History" book at all, let alone one on military history. 

There may be hope for the next generation. Michael if you can get details on how to lay hands on one I‘m sure there‘s several people here who would love to take a look. 

Now get back out and look for that cow.


----------



## Deleted member 585 (4 Jul 2003)

I agree that it‘s difficult to ignore the novelty of this textbook, but there are good books on Canadian military history that aren‘t  _textbooks_.


----------



## Argyll_2347 (8 Jul 2003)

As a high school student, I completely agree with not only just a textbook, but a course on Canada‘s Military History.

In Grade 11 (which I just completed), there are 3 history courses:  20th Century World History (College Course), Ancient History (College/University Course), and American History (University Course).

I am a history buff myself and most of my courses next year are history and law.  But this past year I chose the first 2 courses out of the ones I mentioned and did not take US History because I have strong negative views about them.

I believe that the government should definately replace American History with a Canadian Military History course.  It‘s far better to educate about our own country rather than our neighbours.


----------



## BradT (12 Jul 2003)

I am in Grade 10 and was pretty happy with how it was all taught, I am a history buff and thought my teacher did good, and we had good information to do so.

"No they just get a few things right; believe it or not Alberta is no better run than any other prov. They just have oil money which helps to keep your economy moving. If New Foundland had that money it be run just as well...... at of course at the present time it doesn‘t."
Actually I heard that theres more oil off the coast of Newfoudland then there is in Alberta.

Michael Dorosh, I should have done it earlier, but I would like to thank you for the stuff you did on your Calgary Highlanders website about my Grandpa, Mark Tennant, there was some info, and great pictures, that me or my dad, Wayne, never got to see, thanks alot.


----------

