I was proud to write this guest blog for my friend Elizabeth Cox. Having just spent three days at a Social Science teachers’ conference thinking about these same things, it seemed appropriate to share on my own page.
Today we are publishing a thoughtful piece by passionate history teacher Clementine Fraser, Head of History at Avondale College, Auckland, about her experience of opening young people’s eyes to the connections between their past and their present reality. She also demonstrates the benefits of visiting the places where events really happened, reminding us of the need to treasure these places and to facilitate opportunities for school children to visit them.
I’ve always loved history. When I was a child, books about the past were always my favourite. For much of my childhood I alternated between wanting to be an archaeologist or a librarian. The past seemed to me to be a magical place full of interesting people, astonishing customs, and cool artefacts.
I didn’t, however, think much of New Zealand history.
This is odd because I loved Maori legends and was part of the kapa haka at Intermediate School, and the Howick…
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Clementine Fraser - Author 