#10 Schools can change the world

Looking at the news this week, I've been feeling really down.

In the Middle East, Palestinian terrorists are attacking Israel, and Israel are retaliating by bombing Gaza into submission. In Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Christians have been sent into the mountains to die simply because of their religious beliefs.

Ethnic cleansing on this scale has been rarely seen since the World Wars, and as we mark the centenary of the beginning of WWI, we have to ask the question 'have we learnt nothing at all?'

In both of those stories, the media is keen to stress how children are frequently the victims here. Children. Girls who should be skipping to school with bunches in their hair. Boys who can't wait for break time to get out and kick a football. Instead, they are killed and maimed simply because they happened to be born in the wrong country.

In the west, we really don't know how lucky we are, but it shouldn't be this way. Every child has the right to a childhood, safe from harm and exploitation. But we can do something about this.

As a teacher, I have noticed that schools often educate children about very contentious issues. They encourage children to make choices about morality and raise awareness of the importance of charitable giving. In September, World War One will be a focus of many schools up and down the land, and children will gain knowledge and insight about that chapter in our collective history. Schools are very good at teaching, and even analysing history BUT (and it is a big but) they are not always so good at telling children what is happening RIGHT NOW.

Be it lack of understanding; lack of time in the curriculum; fear of being political or even blind ignorance, most schools will completely gloss over Iraq and Gaza this September. Yet as teachers, we are in the unique position of having a group of twenty or thirty young people with us for six hours every day. There is no other sphere of life that brings people together so frequently in such a melting pot. Further to this, these children don't want to be passive observers...they want to change the world, and we as teachers have the great privilege of facilitating that.

So what can we do?

1. Share the story

Some children will know about the issues, but others won't. Often parents choose to shield their children from news like this. Find a child-friendly source of news that will be accessible to all children, and not too graphic in content. I often start a class discussion by watching BBC Newsround. They will have plenty of video material on these recent conflicts.

2. Give

It's only when we see the plight of others that we understand how fortunate we are to live in the west, and an important response is to donate some of our worldly wealth. This could be money; Christmas presents for children; paper and pens; baby clothes...the list goes on. School's are often tied in to commitments with charities meaning non-uniform days (the quickest and easiest way of raising a few hundred pounds) are booked in for the year. That said, school's also need to be reactive to where the most pressing need for help is. Right now, there are humanitarian crises in Iraq and in Gaza. The easiest way to donate money to any of these appeals is through the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). This website can be used for any area of need in the world at any particular time.

You may want to do something slightly different...how about a sponsored sleepover in school? You could build makeshift shelters to try and go some way to understanding what life is like for Iraqi Christians trapped on a mountain.

3. Pray

OK, quite a contentious one here, especially given that these conflicts have religion as their root cause. Having said that, the vast majority of believers of all of the world's religions are praying right now for peace and relief for those that need it. Praying can be important for children as it helps them to be reflective; see situations through different eyes; and feel that they can do something about a situation. Whether you're a faith school or not, prayer can be a powerful tool in mobilising your class behind a common cause. Prayer doesn't have to be boring either...in fact it can be extremely creative and fun. Here are some ideas as to how you might use prayer in your classroom to engage with this topic.

4. Write

As an adult, this is one of those ideas that we like the sound of but rarely do anything about, if we are honest. But with children, persuasive writing is part of the curriculum, and is even more engaging for children if we are actually going to do something with the work. So what can we right about? How about asking the Government to increase aid from our country? Or banning the export of weapons from EU countries to these conflict zones? Or putting pressure on countries that kill innocent children? Or how about this - opening our borders so Christians living in fear can take refuge in the UK.

If your local MP receives a different letter from every child in your year group, he will have to respond in some way. You can find a list with your local MP on here.

5. Sponsor a Child

What better way to understand the issues faced by children in another part of the world than by sponsoring one of them as a class? This video provides some information on child sponsorship and how you can go about doing it.

6. Learn more

Here are some more websites with ideas for you and your class to learn more about what is going on in Gaza and Iraq:

Christian Aid
Save The Children
CAFOD
Unicef


So there are some ideas as to how we can engage with Gaza and Iraq. Teachers have a unique role to play in helping to shape and change the world that we live in, and can do this by promoting a curriculum that is responsive and reactive. We don't need to be overtly political to do this...we simply need to be able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. And there are plenty of things that are wrong in the world today.

Shall we do something about them?

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#8 Franz Ferdinand's assassination is a compelling story in itself

        

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

I've always known that Franz Ferdinand's death triggered World War One, but didn't know much more about it.  I'm currently planning some reading resources on the war for my class in September, and have been intrigued by the story.

In 1914, Europe was a cauldron of tension and fear as the dark clouds of war loomed on the horizon. The cauldron reached boiling point when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assasinated in Bosnia. Historians often focus on the complex set of events that followed, as various countries became involved in a war. The assassination itself, however, was a daring and bold mission that often gets overlooked.
        In spring 1914, Danilo Ilic carefully co-ordinated an assassination that would change the course of history. The Serbian recruited six others to kill Franz Ferdinand because they didn’t want Bosnia to be part of Austria-Hungary. Instead, they wanted Bosnia to be with Serbia in a new country called Yugoslavia. Using intelligence from a number of sources, Ilic learned that Ferdinand would visit Sarajevo in Bosnia at the end of June along with his wife, Duchess Sophie. He smuggled his team into Bosnia and provided them with false identities. As well as his fellow assassins, Ilic received a stash of weapons. These had been hidden in a large crate of sugar which was taken to Sarajevo. In the box were six hand grenades and four Browning automatic pistols and ammunition. There was also money, suicide pills and a map with showing the location of sentry points and a secret escape tunnnel.
        On 28^th June 1914, Ilic positioned the six assassins along the route of a motorcade that Franz Ferdinand was due to travel along later that day. Amongst that team was a Serb called Gavrilo Princip. 

Gavrilo Princip

        Despite the importance of the visit, security was limited in Sarajevo that day. Only sixty police officers were tasked with protecting the Archduke’s motorcade. This made it ideal for Ilic to carry out his plan. The vehicles passed the first assassin, who was armed with a bomb. He failed to carry out his duty. The second assassin had a pistol and a bomb. He too failed to act. At 10:10am, the car carrying Franz Ferdinand and Sophie approached assassin number three: Nedeljko Cabrinovic. This time, the assassin threw the bomb, but it bounced off the canopy of the car and blew up the car behind instead, wounding more than a dozen people.
         The remainder of the motorcade sped away quickly to the Town Hall. The cars travelled so fast that the final three assassins, including Gavrilo Princip,  were not able to carry out the plan. At the Town Hall, Franz Ferdinand was greatly distressed. “Mr Mayor, I came here on a visit, and I get bombs thrown at me. It is outrageous!” That said, Ferdinand and Sophie wished to visit the injured in hospital. This would prove to be a fatal decision.

         Gavrilo Princip knew that the planned assassination had been unsuccessful so took a chance on the Archduke’s next move, waiting beside a nearby delicatessen. Sure enough, the motorcade travelled towards him. The driver of the car stopped right in front of the shop. Princip knew this was his one and only chance. Stepping forward, he fired two shots from a distance of about 1.5 metres. The first hit the Archduke in his jugular vein; the second inflicted an adominal wound on the Duchess. Both remained seated upright, but died on the way to receiving medical treatment. His last words were “Sophie, Sophie! Don’t die! Live for our children!” followed by several utterances of “It is nothing.”
         So what happened to the assassins? A trial was swiftly set up in Sarajevo in October 1914. Danilo Ilic was sentenced to death and executed by hanging, along with one of his conspirators. The other six, including Gavrilo Princip, received prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years. Their sentences were so lenient because they were seen as unwilling participants in the killing, and were forced into it by Ilic. Princip died of tuberculosis in prison.

The trial. Princip is seated in the centre of the first row.

What happened next? Well, we know a bit more about that - and we'll all know plenty more in the months to come I'm sure.
For Guided Reading resources on the Great War, check out my store in the coming weeks. There will be some free resources, and more in depth resources which can be purchased.

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