Teaching the past in the present

History is important, but so is how it is taught. In this Internet age, education methods need to keep pace

In his epic account of the battle of Isandlwana, the great orator David Rattray asked: “Why is there so much interest in the Anglo Zulu war of 1879? “Why is it that so much has been written about this insignificant campaign fought in an economically insignificant territory adjacent to an almost irrelevant British colony?”

About 15 years ago I came across Rattray’s five-cd set, containing his narration of this battle, and listened to it in one go. It was mesmerising.

“The 22nd of January 1879 reads like a Shakespearean tragedy.

“It opens with the disaster at Isandlwana and closes with the restoration of British military honour at Rorke’s Drift,” Rattray said, adding that more Victoria Crosses were awarded for actions at Rorke’s Drift than at any other battle in history.

“The battle of Isandlwana constituted the greatest defeat that Britain was ever to suffer in her entire colonial history,” he intoned in that marvellous voice of his, adding that the war contributed to the downfall of British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli.

When I was taught about this pivotal conflict at school, it was never told with as much emotion — nor was it as interesting. I gave up history as soon as I was offered the option to do so; the subject seemed to consist only of memorising endless dates and distant events.

It was the worst of the dull national education system I lived through, where only my English teacher, the wonderful Hennie van der Mescht, proved the enlivened exception.

But as an adult I have become an ardent reader of history. After I heard historian and author Antony Beevor speak at the Franschhoek Literary Festival a few years ago, I started reading his excellent histories of

World War 2.

Last month I read the extraordinary Salt: A World History (by Mark Kurlansky) and I’ve listened to numerous history podcasts and audio books in the past few years. I’ve watched that excellent BBC documentary series,

The World At War, and Band of Brothers, and History Channel doccies on a range of subjects my teenage self could not have abided.

What makes today different from those dark, boring schooldays?

There is a lot to be said for a good teacher enlivening any subject, as Van der Mescht did by inspiring generations of students (he later became head of education at Rhodes University and inspired a new generation of teachers). People like him, Rattray and Beevor know how to engage you, enlivening what may seem like dry subjects with their flair for storytelling.

But there is also a range of new technologies that make telling a story so much more fluid, including podcasts, short video clips and, soon, virtual reality.

With the current debate about the importance of history — and the key issue of whose history we are taught — there is no greater time to bring the subject alive with new technologies and great teachers.

Good teachers know how to engage you, enlivening dry subjects with their flair for storytelling