To think this was an inappropriate school task

[Lalalabrador]

My year 8 daughter was asked to write an essay today on the question How did India benefit from colonialism and how was it harmed by it? I’m pretty gobsmacked. I’m a professional historian and sad that something so intellectually bankrupt is being taught to young people.

I don't even know what you mean when you say it's intellectually bankrupt but if I had to write the essay I'd say the benefit were the railway infrastructure and possibly in the long term English as a link language in a country where there are hundreds of different languages. Overall the British did more harm than good though, so there's quite a lot for your DD to mention.

@Enidblyton1 and @PinkPlantCase -op's dd is Year 8, not age 8. She's 12-13.

@Benjispruce2 - Year 8, not age 8.

Reasons to not read a post whilst watching tv. Misread year 8 as 8 year old. As you were.

😂
Absolutely no way are you a historian! What a bizarre post.
You should know that history teaching in schools attempts to make pupils think outside the box, think critically, and to question “accepted” lines of thinking, both historic and contemporary. For example “in what way were the Nazis a positive influence?” and “General Haig - butcher or hero?”

@JulieJJ

What's the issue?

I would assume that the OP assumes there were no positives in colonialism, that seems to be the perceived wisdom among the intelligentsia.

The banning of sati.

Sati was a widespread practice in which a widow was burned at the funeral of her husband. When her husband died, her life was deemed worthless, so she was burned alive.

The British outlawed it.

@Lalalabrador - do you mean collegial?

Sorry, misread the age! It makes much more sense that a Y8 would write essays on colonialism. Not aged 8 . Thought it must be a very academic school!

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. Sorry if I sounded pompous describing my job it seems to have made some people annoyed. Guess you don’t want to buy my new book?

@Peanutbuttercupisyum

😂 Absolutely no way are you a historian! What a bizarre post. You should know that history teaching in schools attempts to make pupils think outside the box, think critically, and to question “accepted” lines of thinking, both historic and contemporary. For example “in what way were the Nazis a positive influence?” and “General Haig - butcher or hero?”

OP is/was a civil servant elsewhere on MN, so I'm curious as to what aspect of 'civil servantry' involves conducting historical research and publishing history books. It sounds fascinating.

Guess you don’t want to buy my new book?

I do ~ what's the title of it?

@Lalalabrador

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. Sorry if I sounded pompous describing my job it seems to have made some people annoyed. Guess you don’t want to buy my new book?

Is it called 'The impact of British Colonialsm on India'

@PinkPlantCase

YANBU OP. Surely at aged 8 DCs should be taught that colonialism is and always was wrong and damaging for those on the receiving end. Not research both sides and reach your own conclusion.

Just because you can ask a question in a balanced way doesn’t mean you should.

I can understand them learning about it from the point of view of the coloniser and the colonised using primary sources etc. but always under the guise of ‘this was not okay and was very damaging’

In the same way that we were taught what hitler was trying to achieve with concentration camps but we are always taught that they were very very wrong and you would never expect a balanced question on the subject.

In Year 8, which is what the OP's DD is in, I would hope they would be taught the critical thinking skills they need to develop.

@Lalalabrador

My year 8 daughter was asked to write an essay today on the question How did India benefit from colonialism and how was it harmed by it? I’m pretty gobsmacked. I’m a professional historian and sad that something so intellectually bankrupt is being taught to young people.

You’re right that fucking question is leading. It should have been phrased better. Basically means what the fuck did we English do to make their country better. And those of you in the ‘know’ what the hell do you KNOW about colonialism? Go there and find out, the British put poison in the Hearts of Indians, separated a massive country into three parts to kill future success. India didn’t need us, we needed India.

There were pros and cons - which side are complaining about?

I'll be honest, I know next to nothing really about colonialism. A history buff I am not. However would you have reacted thisnway if the question was say 'how did Scotland benefit from the Highland Clearances and how was it harmed by it?'. I'm a staunch independence supporter however I could probably put together some kind of argument for both sides of the question. It doesn't mean that I think it was a good period in Scotland's history, very far from it, it simply means that one can put together an argument for and against many topics, regardless of our own personal opinions. It's healthy to be able to produce reasoned debate and a good way if getting students to research a topic in depth

@Lalalabrador

India did not benefit from colonialism. There is no for or against colonialism. There ‘weren’t good people on both sides’. I want my daughter to learn the truth about the British Empire not a skewed, jingoistic myth of a Britain generously bestowing ‘civility’ on the poor ‘savages’ of the colonies.

And the student can say that in their work. The fact that a question has been asked doesn't mean the obvious answer is the correct one. Critical thinking? Questioning the question? (Or even analysing it properly)

Even if the question didn't include the signposted handhold on what to write with the "how was it harmed" bit, any half awake year 8 student would realise the question won't necessarily have a 50/50 good and bad answer. (Even if a "professional historian" won't)

Even at year 8 I would say you are lucky to get any decent attempt at balanced argument or even facts fully explained.
It's a higher level gcse skill.

To be able to argue both sides of an issue - even a controversial one - is a basic academic exercise and essential to the development of critical thinking.

Critical thinking and independent thought seem to be dying a death in contemporary academia.

I agree with you OP. The question should have been phrased differently to something like “explore the ways in which India was affected by colonialism”. As someone who came from a country that was colonised, I can assure you all that there are no “benefits” to colonialism. No country should have had the right to do that and to even use the word “benefit” when talking about it is actually very upsetting and has an undertone that it’s something that can be good if done correctly. It was and never will be a good thing.

Would people feel the same if the question was “what were the pros and cons of the holocaust”?

My guess, having taught slavery to Year 8 (although a decade ago now!!), is that the question is worded that way to make them consider if there were any benefits. Because if it wasn't in the question they wouldn't consider it at all. It's not that colonialism is being taught as a lovely fantastic thing, its that kids can't get their heads around why anyone would do that to anyone else ever.

That's what I thought too @infinitediamonds.

YABU OP.

It sounds a very hard question for a child of your daughter's age. But objection to it would be that to use the term 'colonialism' is to foist a construct onto the minds of the learners. I'd prefer it if the facts were taught, and the children decided for themselves, independently, what those forays into another territory meant and what had been intended. Had the 'visitors'/ 'invaders' intended to establish something lasting, or are we looking at a series of initiatives derived from random quests for gain. Didn't companies go into territories in the 17th and 18th century, and civil service structures came later. I wouldn't want to dignify the history of it with a concept. Let the children decide what these actions constituted. Don't accept the term: ' 'colonialism' uncritically. It might be lots of entitled westerners adventuring and plundering and then historians dignifying it all with an -ism. I'd rather have the concept of governance and when it's legitimate debated, but not at that age -its nonesense.. It's too abstract a notion for their young brains. These children, they are too young. GCSE is soon enough for such a topic.

I object to this forcing of concepts on younger and younger age groups. It's like all the complex grammar they learn now in Year 5, and BIDMAS in maths. It's all too abstract for the age group.

@Lalalabrador

India did not benefit from colonialism. There is no for or against colonialism. There ‘weren’t good people on both sides’. I want my daughter to learn the truth about the British Empire not a skewed, jingoistic myth of a Britain generously bestowing ‘civility’ on the poor ‘savages’ of the colonies.

But the question isn't asking anyone to justify it, so your daughter would be perfectly correct to explain why there was no benefit.

I remember some years ago doing a degree as a mature student and we were asked to write a report on how nuclear power was beneficial. Only two people actually stopped to consider that it wasn't and wrote as such - everyone else just took it that they were supposed to extol the virtues of NP, which wasn't what they were asked.

The question is badly worded but it isn't asking for justification of past wrongs.

[quote Lalalabrador]@EarringsandLipstick I earn my living from practising history. I conduct research and publish papers and books.[/quote]
Have you changed career since March then?
Congrats on the new career path, but I think you might need to brush up a bit on history (and critical thinking) if you want to do well at it.