We are into Day 1 of the trip traveling across Northern France and Southern Belgium. Before leaving Saint John I had expectations about what we would learn and see regarding WWI and WWII sites. In general, my expectations about seeing general sites have been exceeded. The large number of well-known sites in addition to the battlefield cemeteries have been places of both in-depth learning as well as sites for reflection. Lee Windsor, our tour lecturer, has been wonderful in his detail of the various battles yet simplistic in describing the big picture too. His breadth of knowledge about battlefield strategy, individual commanders, Canadian, British, German, had only made each stop that much more impactful.
Lastly, up to this pint for me in particular I have learned that myth or traditional stories of Canadian participation in both wars does not mean real truths. As professional teachers we need to make it a necessity to cross reference, cross check our information, our narrative, before using it in the classroom. Our students cannot make accurate interpretations of an event if the narrative content details are skewed or incomplete. Jim McNiven, High School teacher Saint John, New Brunswick
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AuthorParticipating educators and high school students share reflections on their professional and personal experiences during and after the program. Some posts link to the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society's blog, Studeamus bellum causa pacis. Archives |