The First World War in the Classroom: Teaching and the Construction of Cultural Memory

直接谈到资助计划的主题“代际交流，文化传播和交流”，这个探索性的研究项目旨在批判性地审视英国中学和大学通过历史和英国文学教授第一次世界大战的方式。该项目的最终目的是加深我们对英国背景下教育与当代战争记忆形成之间联系的理解。它是关于审视战争在当下的表现，使我们能够对未来提出建议。然而，在我们弄清楚英国各地教室的实际情况之前，这是不可能实现的。在英国，人们对第一次世界大战有一种特殊的民族观念。一场悲剧性的灾难，主要是在泥泞、老鼠横行、虱子横行的西线战壕中，由年轻、无辜的“Tommies”在愚蠢的将军们的领导下，为了一项随着第二次世界大战爆发而被证明完全没有意义的事业而牺牲自己的士兵。总的来说，人们普遍意识到这场战争是一次独特的可怕经历。这种观点从何而来？流行文化作品，如《黑爵士向前走》、《唐顿庄园》、《鸟歌》、《重生》和《战马》——仅举几个例子——重申并巩固了上述观点。斯蒂芬·巴德西、伊恩·贝克特、布莱恩·邦德和加里·谢菲尔德等学术评论员认为，这些节目、小说、戏剧和电影之所以受欢迎，是因为它们与英国各地中学历史和英国文学课程中所教授的战争形象相呼应。然而，到目前为止，还没有人认真研究过通过历史和英国文学来教授第一次世界大战的方式。在这种情况得到纠正之前，在允许学者和中学教师之间进行对话和互动的背景下，我们无法断言教育与21世纪对战争的理解方式之间的联系。随着一系列百年纪念的临近，第一次世界大战可能会增加中学和高等教育教师的兴趣。因此，这是一个开始研究战争在学校中的教学方式及其在创造战争文化记忆中的作用的时机。如果中等教育确实有助于狭隘的、以盎格鲁为中心的对战争的理解，并且与大学里教授的一些最新学术知识不匹配，那么百年历史提供了一个成熟的机会，可以调查变革的能力，并提出建议，平等地考虑中等和高等教育教师的专业知识、要求和目标。这个探索性项目旨在倾听教师和学者关于他们在两个阶段的第一次世界大战教学中的经验、需求和挑战。首先，在2013年2月的半学期休息期间，将在伦敦举办一场研讨会，届时教师和学者将聚集在一起讨论和比较通过历史和英国文学科目教授第一次世界大战的方式。其目的是创造一个积极和富有成效的氛围，讨论如何在学校和大学学习第一次世界大战的学生的学习经历之间实现更大的连续性，并取得持久的成果，例如建立一个互动网站，允许教师与学术对话进入未来。第二阶段将采用一份问卷的形式，以两层方法分发，在线和面对面采访由全国各地的教师和学者组成的焦点小组。这两个研究阶段将构成一份关于中学和高等教育教学实践的综合报告和两篇同行评议的关于第一次世界大战通过教育的文化传播的期刊文章的基础。

Speaking directly to the grant scheme's theme on 'inter-generational communication, cultural transmission, and exchange', this exploratory research project seeks to critically examine the ways the First World War is taught via History and English Literature across secondary schools and universities in England. The ultimate aim of the project is to deepen our understanding of the link between education and the formation of contemporary memories of the war in the English context. It is about examining the war in its articulation in the present, to allow us to be in a position to make recommendations for the future. This cannot be achieved, however, until we find out what is actually happening in classrooms across England. There exists, in England, a specific national perception of the First World War. A tragic disaster, fought mainly in the muddied, rat-filled and lice-ridden trenches of the Western Front, by young, innocent 'Tommies', led by imbecile Generals who willfully sacrificed their men for a cause that would, with the outbreak of the Second World War, be proven to be utterly pointless. Overall, there is a general awareness that the war was a uniquely terrible experience. Where has this view come from? Popular cultural outputs such as Blackadder Goes Forth, Downton Abbey, Birdsong, Regeneration, and War Horse - to name a selection - reiterate and consolidate the above view. Academic commentators such as Stephen Badsey, Ian Beckett, Brian Bond, and Gary Sheffield argue that these programmes, novels, plays and films are popular because they echo the image of the war that has been taught in secondary level History and English Literature classes across the UK. However, until now, no serious study has been undertaken into the way the First World War is taught via the subjects of History and English Literature. Until this is rectified, and in a context that allows dialogue and interaction between academics and secondary school teachers, we cannot make assertions about the links between education and the way the war is understood in the 21st century. With its series of centenaries approaching, the First World War is likely to be of increased interest to teachers in secondary and tertiary education. It is therefore an opportune moment to begin research into the way the war is taught in schools and its role in the creation of a cultural memory of the war. If secondary education does contribute to a narrow and Anglo-centric understanding of the war - and is at a mismatch with some of the latest scholarship taught at university level - the centenary period provides a ripe opportunity for investigating capacity for change and making suggestions that consider the expertise, requirements and aims of teachers at secondary and tertiary level on equal terms. This exploratory project seeks to listen to teachers and academics about their experiences, needs and challenges in teaching the First World War in two stages. Firstly, in the half-term break of February 2013, a symposium will be hosted in London where teachers and academics will come together to discuss and compare the ways the First World War is taught via the subjects of History and English Literature. The aim is to create a positive and fruitful atmosphere to discuss ways of achieving greater continuity between the learning experiences of students who study the First World War at school and university, with lasting outcomes such as an interactive website to allow for teacher-academic dialogue into the future. Stage two will take the form of a questionnaire circulated in a two-tier methodology, online and in face-to-face interviews with focus groups made up of teachers and academics across the country. These two research stages will form the basis of a comprehensive report into the teaching practices in secondary schools and Higher Education and two peer-reviewed journal articles relating to cultural transmission of the First World War through education.