History Teaches Respect - St Benedicts School Newsletter As part of their syllabus on Human Rights and Crimes against Humanity, the grade 9’s of St Benedict’s College went on an outing to the Apartheid Museum near Gold Reef City. The experience turned out to be both reflective and informative, as one grade 9 boy wrote: “it was a learning experience that was not to be missed”. He went on to say that he learned how apartheid “affected everyone and how a true democracy was created in South Africa”. As we proceeded through the halls of the museum, which was built to resemble a prison symbolically, our excellent guide took us on a journey of the past from the early inhabitants in South Africa; to 1652 with the Dutch landing at the Cape; clashes with the British settlers of the 1820s and then on to the democracy of 1994 and beyond. The displays were both graphic and eye-opening. Another grade 9 boy commented that he was able to “absorb the atmosphere of the years gone before” and he went on to say that the media aids gave him the opportunity to experience the turmoil as if he were there. Near the end of the almost-three-hour tour was a museum section on former president Nelson Mandela, which even included a replica of his prison cell on Robin Island with a simulation of the sounds that he would have heard, for example the sea and the gulls. Some of the greatest historians have seen human self-awareness as the very essence of history. Arnold Toynbee said, History is a search for light on the nature and destiny of man. Psychologist Bruno Bettleheim asserted that human self-knowledge is the most important role of education. He said, Most of all, our schools ought to teach the true nature of man, teach about his troubles with himself, his inner turmoils and about his difficulties in living with others”. Upon leaving the museum, we were encouraged to leave our prejudices behind, by taking a stone from one pile and casting it away in another. It is only through learning from history that we can truly become more self-aware and try and change things for the future. History teaches us to respect Insights from the past Sharing past mistakes to correct That hopefully will last Only by the simple means and Respecting whats been done You can mend the broken seams until peace has been won Ms T. Lennox (HISTORY TEACHER)
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 08:02:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015