A report which surveyed History and English teachers about how the First World War is taught and perceived has highlighted concerns about “war fatigue” in classrooms as the Centenary approaches.
The report, entitled The First World War in the Classroom: Teaching and the Construction of Cultural Memory was conducted by the University of Exeter, the Arts & Humanities Research Council and Northumbria University.
It focused on the First World War from the perspective of cultural history and memory studies, rather than from an educational point of view, and seeks to establish links between topics, methods and motivations in teaching the war and the way it is remembered.
One issue those surveyed were concerned about was that of “fatigue” amongst students who are caught up “in the face of a media barrage and constant commemorative events”.
There have been a number of factual documentaries and dramas on the BBC since the start of 2014 about the First World War to mark the Centenary, with some levying accusations of “too much too soon” at the organisation.
This was refuted by the BBC’s Great War Controller, Adrian Van Klaveren, in an interview with Centenary News.
To read The First World War in the Classroom: Teaching and the Construction of Cultural Memory report, click here.
Images courtesy The First World War in the Classroom: Teaching and the Construction of Cultural Memory report
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News