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Military History Textbook for High School

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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

The first high school textbook on Canadian military history, published by Edmonton‘s school board because existing school books largely ignored the subject, has proven so popular they cannot be printed fast enough.

The 203-page text emphasizes the importance of war in shaping a sovereign Canada.

It comes at a time when parents have objected to teaching children how to spell ‘‘gun‘‘ and teachers‘ unions are among the most vocal opponents of the recent war in Iraq. But the author of Canadians in Conflict says there is a growing interest in the history of Canada‘s wars.

Doug Davis, a historian who works in curriculum development at the Edmonton Public School Board, said the textbook was born out of his frustration at how existing school books ignored the subject.

He could not find a student textbook with a decent section on Canada‘s military achievements. The 20th-century social studies text the district has used for years relegates its section on the First and Second World Wars to only five pages.

Dr. Davis, a distance-education lecturer at Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., jokes many historians and social studies teachers think of military history as the ‘‘depraved uncle in the family who no one wants to talk about.

‘‘I get questions like: ‘Why study this? War is bad and it kills people,‘ ‘‘ he said.

‘‘But if you want to be able to develop a global society where war is no longer a factor, then you had better understand what war is, and how it works and where it comes from.

‘‘How can you possibly prevent something you have no knowledge of?‘‘

The book is being used in schools throughout the 80,000-student district and has been purchased by a handful of school boards across the province since it was published in January.

Its success spurred the publication of a second military history text on the origins of war, titled Sargon to Suleiman. Two junior high school texts: Muskets to Missiles: New France to the Present and War and the West, on the history of war in the Western hemisphere, are in development for September.

The series is winning accolades from noted historians such as Jack Granatstein, former director of the Canada War Museum.

Dr. Granatstein said he stopped writing history books because his texts on the soldiers and battles that shaped Canada‘s past were edited to a ‘‘bland, offense-free‘‘ version of events.

For example, sections on war during the 20th century generally emphasize the forced detainment of Ukrainian Canadians in work camps during the First World War and the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Both events are extremely significant, he said, but hardly tell the whole story.

‘‘The history that comes through the textbooks is that Canada brutalized everyone: natives, women, immigrants and French-Canadians,‘‘ he said. ‘‘It‘s that we were a brutal nation and we‘ve been saved by multiculturalism.‘‘

Dr. Davis acknowledges his series did not completely escape this sort of political correctness. A cover illustration for Muskets to Missiles featuring a native man in traditional dress firing a musket was dropped for a picture of a French-Canadian soldier in the same position.

‘‘Apparently native people can‘t be shown as aggressive or warlike. Forget the fact that the Iroquois quite literally wiped out the Mohicans, enslaved the Delaware and pushed the Cherokee outside the Ohio Valley.‘‘

Still, the books are able to accomplish their objective -- linking the profound effect of war and military events on the development of a modern, sovereign Canada, he said.

‘‘Many of the things that make us Canadian had their genesis in times of crisis.‘‘

For example, an entire chapter is devoted to highlighting how the fallout of Canada‘s participation in the 1899 Boer War led to a heightened sense of Canadian nationalism.

At the time, the British were one of the parties deciding Alaska‘s boundaries. To improve Canada‘s chances of gaining the territory, Wilfred Laurier, then the prime minister, volunteered Canadian troops to bolster imperial forces in South Africa. However, it soon became clear the British, worried about their declining naval power, were attempting to curry favour with the Americans and supported U.S. claims to the northern territory.

‘‘That showed Laurier that imperial interests are not necessarily Canadian interests,‘‘ he said.

The books also include significant but often overlooked events, such as the Battle of Crysler‘s Farm and the Battle of Chateauguay, fought in October and November, 1813, where groups of French-Canadian militia, Mohawks and British regulars defeated thousands of invading U.S. troops.

‘‘Without these victories, we could very well have been an American state by the end of 1813,‘‘ Dr. Davis said.

The series also emphasizes the country‘s failures. For example, Canada is blamed for isolationist attitudes that led to the failure of the League of Nations, the multinational organization that preceded the United Nations, in the period between the First World War and the Second World War.

The author feels the first chapter of the book, titled "Introduction to the Age of Modern War," which describes the evolution of military technology in Europe and North America, is among the most important.

‘‘If the military is ours, if it represents us, then we better know what they do and why they do it,‘‘ Dr. Davis said.

‘‘I want the kids to be aware of the impact of technology on war, to understand why World War I was such a bloodbath. The important lesson to learn is that it was civilians who predicted that. If only military people know military history, then the military becomes the experts on itself and civilians have to take their word,‘‘ he said.
I agree with the principles behind this initiative and hope it spreads to school boards across the country. :cdn:
 
Has anybody seen this? I can‘t find it on either Amazon or Chapters-Indigo.
 
...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.
 
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..
 
Is it me, or does Alberta seem to get everything right?
 
****.. 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..
 
"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.
 
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.
 
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. :cdn:

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!
 
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... ;)
 
Cha-ching.

And awaiting the return from Guelph...

(good one Mike)
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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