May 6, 2009

The study of Winston Churchill, his life, times, thought and wisdom, continues to expand four decades since his death.  Churchill would be pleased that he remains so prominent.  And rightly so. As he once exclaimed: “Study history! In history lie all the secrets of statecraft.”

Churchill historians are becoming celebrities–called upon by the media to relate Churchill’s experience, be it with the Middle East, world trade, “summit” conferences, the UN, Europe, Ireland, India, America, religion, conflict–from a career spanning the terms of ten U.S. Presidents and six British monarchs.

Consider the success of the History Channel, burgeoning sales of history books (over twenty on Churchill in 2006-08), heritage site visitations, historical reenactments, or the in infinite number of educational websites. Enter “Winston Churchill” into Google and you get 2,750,000 hits–more than Roosevelt, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, or any other 20th century figure.

Considerable misinformation attended a recent announcement that Churchill, Gandhi, Stalin, Hitler and Martin Luther King, were deleted from a suggested list of historical figures recommended for teaching in English secondary schools. The story would be disturbing if accepted at face value. The facts are more complex.

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In the past, England’s curriculum authority has not only specified subjects to be taught, but has issued detailed instructions. The new policy frees teachers from those instructions. Both World Wars remain compulsory in English secondary schools. To cover them without covering Churchill would be impossible.

“It is just conceivable that behind this lies the notion that ‘great personages’ can be taken out of history, which would certainly be a mistake,” states Professor Paul Addison of the University of Edinburgh, a Churchill Centre academic adviser and author of two books on Churchill. “But the rest of Churchill’s life has never been on the curriculum at all. If it were, it would demonstrate among other things the power of the media to distort the record—with Churchill as one of the main victims.”

Sir Martin Gilbert, another Churchill Centre adviser and Churchill’s official biographer, adds: “Paul Addison and I have long believed that there was more to Churchill than World War II (important though the war years are in his life and achievement). Both of us have written about many other aspects and periods of his long career. It would be good if the whole of Churchill’s story could be taught. Perhaps it is, in different parts of the curriculum.”

The Churchill Centre believes there is no anti-Churchill intent behind these changes, any more than an anti-Gandhi intent. England has had an over-centralized system, giving  teachers far too many instructions and trying to dictate the content of every hour of the school day.  In the information age, the practice was too limiting.

Today, young people curious about why China, Russia, Britain and France are permanent Security Council members, but not Japan, India, Brazil and Germany; or why Israel is at such pains to defend itself; or how Ireland won freedom; or why the Middle East is what it is, and the borders of Iraq what they are; or where the Union of South Africa came from, will inevitably encounter Winston Churchill.

Last year, 142 teachers and 24 high school students voluntarily gave up a Saturday to sit for eight hours learning about Sir Winston at Churchill Centre seminars. Another twenty-nine teachers devoted two weeks of their lives to furthering our mission of “teaching the next generation”–thanks to our partnership with the Ashbrook Center, and a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

While these are small blips on the educational screen, they represent a larger picture. The Churchill Centre is honored to be associated with the Churchill Museum in London; the Churchill Archives Centre at Cambridge University; the Winston Churchill Memorial and Library at Fulton, Missouri; the Bletchley Park Trust; the Churchill Societies in Canada, Australia and the UK; and Chartwell, Churchill’s home, with the highest visitation of any UK Heritage site.

Teachers and the educational establishment have long been supportive of our work. If curricula never changed, that too would be criticized. Education is an ongoing process, extending before and beyond ages 11 to 14. Every thoughtful person, whenever they have the time or the opportunity in life, will find in Churchill something illuminating.

Churchill Centre President Laurence Geller says: “I get up every day relishing the fact I am going to learn something new. I marvel over how I survived so long by knowing so very little. I credit Churchill’s life, writings and example every day for educating me in so very many things. Nobody else even comes close.”