IT has dominated news events for the past 14 months, but inside most British classrooms, it seems October 7 it never happened. Half a million students studied history at GCSE or A-level last year, but only 2,000 researched the origins of the war in the Middle East: why Israel was born, what it meant for the Palestinians, and the decades of occupation and violence that followed. .
Children are not interested. They hear about it at home, in their communities and of course on social media, where a bitter and bloody 100-year schism boils down to 15 seconds. But inside the school, it is too difficult. It’s too dangerous, too.
All this made it even more amazing in the Royal Grammar School at Lancaster Grammar School (LRGS) this month as pupils from a selective Lancashire state school came together with children from a local Islamic academy to explore and debate. elements of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Around fifty students aged 13 to 18 attended the session, organized by Parallel Histories, an educational charity working with more than 1,000 schools across the UK and more than 400 worldwide.
One of the three alms money for 2024 The guard and Notice appeal, Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Some of the children seemed nervous (“I was worried about saying the wrong thing,” one boy later admitted, allaying his unfounded fears.) Older students, veterans of the Parallel History method, which also has its limitations. in Northern Ireland, like Putin and Ukraine, and the “great” leaders including Churchill and the co-operator – were falling apart.
Layla, 18, used to be at school, which could hardly handle the overly aggressive stories. “We did the Vikings, Elizabeth I, British crime and punishment and the Nazis. So it’s all very typical stuff. And then I came here and suddenly a whole new world opened up to me.
Psalter History Method – recently developed by a LRGS history teacher Michael Davies after the disciples now it seems an inexplicable school trip Israel and the West Bank in 2014 – encourages children not to drive narratives in competition, but to play them side by side. They will be taught to examine evidence from other perspectives and to discuss alternative interpretations before reaching their own opinion. Curriculum and all learning material They are available on the Parallel Histories website for parents – or indeed anyone – to examine.
“You can understand both stories without just seeing a Twitter post that says here and it’s populist, since this allows you to see the evidence and make up your own mind about that topic,” said Layla.
Even before the October 7 attacks, teaching Israel-Palestine was difficult: in 2021, except for the exam boards to withdraw two papers accused of supporting Israel in his country’s curriculum material and optional history GCSE.
On the day we visited, pupils as young as Year 9 were holding up the Balfour Declaration, the 1917 document in which the UK declared its support for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. The 1910s saw the Six-Day War, or Naksa, which resulted in Israel’s victory over the combined forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria – and the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. And the year 12s examined who was responsible for the peace process up to the present day.
Each group was split in two, with half told to discuss the Israeli perspective and the middle the Palestinian perspective, with each making their case based on primary sources (letters, memos, speeches, etc.).
The key to Parallel Histories is that the group then switches sides – in this case after a much-anticipated pizza lunch – and is forced to confront the topics they just did.
In the first session, Zain, 17, could be heard arguing that “the deep divisions between the Palestinian political parties Fatah and Hamas have helped to dampen the prospect of a deal.” He was met by Sol, 16, using the UN Security Council to make the case for Palestine, which has ignored repeated Israeli decrees to stop building settlements in the occupied territories.
Arguing for Israel does not come naturally to Zain: “I am very pro-Palestine. I work for a family there,” he says. “But it’s important to see from a different perspective how others think, and it’s worth it.”
It was important for schools to teach Israel-Palestine, said Sol, otherwise “You have these two extreme sides that do not listen to each other, and therefore you cannot achieve peace, because neither side will listen to what is going on. “.
Emma, 16, said the session helped “real gain for both parties, with more time nuance. Not just black and white. Both sides have good arguments.
Assaan, 14, said schools should not be afraid to teach the subject. “Let’s learn about this, especially since we don’t know much about the news and most of our history.”
Learning about the Balfour Declaration, which followed decades of Jewish persecution in Russia, helped to better understand the struggles, he added: “Looking at these sources, learning a lot, you understand how simple these things can be implemented in the future. a great conflict like the one that is happening now. “
Al-Yasa, a LRGS-born boy who now teaches history at an Islamic children’s school, said: “I think it’s important that we talk about controversial topics, because if we don’t, other people will echo in their classrooms. And where better to teach controversial topics than At school, where can we teach kids to express their opinions in a controlled and safe way?
However, teaching in this way comes at a risk, for one reason his school asked not to be named in this regard. But Al-Yasa thinks Parallel History is the best way to counter extremism – far better than controversial government. Don’t fightwhich turns teachers.
“Putting my head forward, when I had introduced him into Parallel Histories, I said: ‘This is what seems to be prevented.’ This is prevented when sources can view it, they can report it in a safe environment.”
The charity hopes to extend its work to 3,000 schools with funds from the annual appeal and expand its staff of five.
Bill Rammell, the former Labor minister who took over the Parallel Histories chief executive this year, said the methodology had never been more important.
“Society is more divided than ever before. We live with social media, where algorithms just feed us news and opinions based on what we believe. And there is a real sense of schism. I think the way we teach Histories and Parallels, the discussions we organize, allows young people to have truth and understanding on both sides of the arguments, and in a way builds their capacity to cross over. divides I think that it really contributes to social cohesion.”