tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post5032385207311616731..comments2024-01-26T10:20:37.836+00:00Comments on Diary of a Goldfish: Mary Seacole vs. Admiral Lord NelsonThe Goldfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-54508995692096509622013-01-09T21:11:20.931+00:002013-01-09T21:11:20.931+00:00Matthew - sorry for misreading what you meant by o...Matthew - sorry for misreading what you meant by old-fashioned discipline, I forgot for a moment and thought you meant merely very strict...The Goldfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-52645523135088407572013-01-09T20:52:42.291+00:002013-01-09T20:52:42.291+00:00Misspiggy: the reason was that the teacher was lea...Misspiggy: the reason was that the teacher was leaving, and they could not find someone to replace her. It was a small special school (maximum 60 boys, I think) and was in deep financial trouble but also had a very bad reputation, so probably had trouble recruiting decent staff. The school knew she was leaving but we did not find out until the new year started and she was gone - they just told us we could not do her subjects "for reasons they could not disclose". I wonder if she had cancer or something, or if she had decided to quietly leave because the violent behaviour she displayed to pre-pubescent boys wouldn't be tolerated by bigger boys.Matthew Smithhttp://www.blogistan.co.uk/blog/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-50330761056996504222013-01-09T20:46:03.117+00:002013-01-09T20:46:03.117+00:00Matthew, my history education was also much better...Matthew, my history education was also much better than the listing of notable political events that Gove seems to advocate. At secondary school, we learnt about the feudal system (with the villeins etc.) and the causes of its collapse, the Reformation through to the Restoration, the causes of both World Wars, how they effected folk, trench warfare, the Holocaust, Stalinist Russia and so forth.<br /><br />We also had a super history teacher. In fact, I had two, because after I got sick, I had a home tutor to take me through History GCSE - it struck me as the most practical thing I could study on my own, without any equipment, the need for group discussion or oral or practical work (illness really took a hatchet to whatever part of my brain handled maths - otherwise I would have done that).<br /><br />Like Miss Piggy, I'm very sorry History GCSE wasn't an option. Stephen had an odd high school education, mostly at hospital school, so there were several subjects he couldn't study because of the practicalities. But history? You mostly just set the kids off with a few starters and they find out all the information themselves! <br /><br />Janet, this is a fair point and in fact, I originally included "non-disabled" before realising this wasn't true, but disability wasn't touched on - as it isn't much in the story of Nelson. It is also the case that a lot of the events we learnt about - like the English Civil War and the events of the World Wars - heavily involved women, and (particularly the World Wars) many people of colour. But they were largely ignored in the syllabus - I know a lot about women's involvement in the Civil War - women fought on both sides, (sometimes cross-dressing - something the Cavaliers' banned after a general was captured and turned out to be a woman), they were pamphleteers and of course, suffered dreadfully in the midst of it all, but I think pretty much all of that I've picked up through my own reading.)<br /><br />Miss Piggy - Thank you! :-)The Goldfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-68513087292877378252013-01-09T18:50:00.056+00:002013-01-09T18:50:00.056+00:00Matthew, you weren't offered GCSE history?!! G...Matthew, you weren't offered GCSE history?!! Good grief. And there was me feeling cheated that so much of my school history lessons focused on villeins and mottes and baileys. <br /><br />I'd just like to say that I adore this blog, by the way.misspiggynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-45828836573948513152013-01-09T13:55:18.302+00:002013-01-09T13:55:18.302+00:00You claim that you learned about white, straight m...You claim that you learned about white, straight men. I'd like to say that actually you probably learned about a lot of white, gay men too but your teachers neglected to mention their sexual orientation. What about William II, Edward II, Richard I, James VI and I, Disraeli, Shakespeare (bi) (keen on writing about cross dressing), Oscar Wilde, EM Forster, Tennyson, Houseman, all sorts of Greeks and Romans?<br /><br />JanetAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-14772302725860360132013-01-09T11:20:17.010+00:002013-01-09T11:20:17.010+00:00The right have been gunning for Mary Seacole since...The right have been gunning for Mary Seacole since she first started getting talked about in the media and in school textbooks. I recall Rod Liddle writing a very dismissive column about her in the Spectator. Their attitude seemed to be that, as we had forgotten about her all that time, we must have had an ulterior motive for remembering her all of a sudden and that reason must be just because she was black, not because she really did anything of significance. So, it's hardly surprising that they should seek to get her out of the curriculum now that they are in power.<br /><br />I was at secondary school in the early 90s, and we didn't just learn about kings and queens and Winston Churchill, but about the social reforms of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution, the origins of Labour and the trade union movement, and so on. Our history teacher (Elizabeth "Stitch" Wallace) was Scottish and very old-fashioned as far as discipline was concerned, but had quite a progressive view of the world as far as equality and human rights (everywhere except our school) was concerned. However, I don't know what they did for GCSE at that time because we weren't offered it - Stitch left the school quietly at the end of my year 9, and wasn't replaced.Matthew Smithhttp://www.blogistan.co.uk/blog/noreply@blogger.com