London Socialist Historians Group
17th February
Historians say latest Tory edict on teaching Churchill is anything but balanced
The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, has said that the latest Government guidelines on history teaching in schools are designed to promote anything but a balanced approach.
As often in Tory pronouncements on the matter a key focus seems to be on Winston Churchill. The fact that Boris Johnson has written a distinctly mediocre book about him perhaps underlines on reason for the focus.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has picked up on stories that some schools may have stopped teaching about Churchill preferring to avoid discussions about his racism. However a balanced view of history, which is what the guidelines call for would surely demand that Churchill’s bigoted views on some issues are taught alongside his role as Prime Minister in the Second World War.
The historians say that there is little evidence that teachers do not strive to teach history in a balanced way in the classroom and that the guidelines are just the latest chapter in the Tories War on Woke Culture Wars.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, the problem is that the Tories see Churchill as a hero and believe that outweighs downsides in what was a very long political career. That however is itself a partisan political point. Historians seek to tell all of British history, good and bad, which is actually something Boris Johnson has demanded.
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