Teachers' concerns over Iraq are valid
The National Union of Teachers is justified in expressing concern over the materials included in the lesson plan commissioned by the Ministry of Defence for teaching about the Iraq war. As Steve Sinnott, its general secretary, says, it makes no mention of civilian casualties or the fact that the UN failed to sanction the invasion. A High Court judge ruled that Al Gore's Oscar-winng film, An Inconvenient Truth, could not be shown in schools without teachers providing "balance" and correcting inaccuracies in it. The same should be the case for the MoD lesson plan.
Having said that, the debate at the NUT conference will be interested. The motion attacking the lesson calls for support for opposition to military involvement in sxchools. Mr Sinnott wants that support limited to cases where the military is providing biased information to schools. He concedes that - if the produce quality material - there is no reason why schoolshould not use it.
First a litany of dodgy dossiers, leading to Blair (with the current Prime Misiter then writing the cheques) to Nuremberg's 'supreme international crime', for which they and others, were legality to have any meaning be in the dock in the Hague - now the educational curriculum itself is set to become a dodgy dossier, if the MOD has its way.
'History is a chronicle of lies, agreed on' (Napoleon) how he underestimated the enormity of future lies.
Posted by: Felicity | Friday, 14 March 2008 at 02:07 PM
While the NUT is correct to question the balance of educational material in schools they are in no position to talk. At the NUT conference next weekend the delegates will be debating and no doubt passing a resolution calling on the NUT to buy and distribute resources from the Palestine solidarity campaign to educate children on the Middle East. Hardly an example of balanced education.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2264765,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=8
Posted by: Daniel | Saturday, 15 March 2008 at 04:23 PM