Some Teenager's Knowledge Of History Is Much Worse Than I First Thought.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2297466/Delia-Smith-Henry-VIIIs-wife-Inept-answers-history-questions-secondary-school-pupils.html

Following on from my earlier post, is there something wrong with today's teaching of history?

[rojash]

I suspect it's more that some kids have a sense of humour

[albaqwerty]

The survey by Premier Inns, and from the link
'A spokesman for Premier Inn said: 'We are a bit surprised by the fact youngsters don't know their Shakespeare from Sir Alan or where many of the major historical events took place in the UK
However it's something that can be rectified by visiting all the fantastic landmarks and places of interest the UK has to offer.'

Roughly translates as 'stay with us and you will become knowledgeable in history. Yes, not a self-promoting advert then?

[LazyGun]

I do not think you can attach a great deal of importance to the findings of a "survey" by Premier Inns.

Nothing mentioned about how the survey was conducted, or how the respondents were selected, or the actual numbers of individuals who had got things wrong.

I suspect many of the wrong answers were deliberate; The idea that Bill Shakespeare was head of the BBC or that Nick Knowles built the Pyramids is pretty funny... :)

If the Mail think this is a genuine story, it says much more about the Mail than it does about UK teenagers knowledge of history, in my opinion...

[mazie]

OL...sorry it made me laugh. I think the kids maybe on a wind up mission.

[Noth43]

^what LG said

[Zeuhl]

Not based on the attached daily wail nonsense

/nick knowles built the pyramids/

And what percentage of kids put that?

no info on that so the article has no serious value

Kids silly jokey answers - big deal
Like that's never happened before

[Mosaic]

Daily Gripe journalism aside, history teaching in schools has been up the spout for at least a decade, squeezed out by the demands of a dull central-government scheme of work and by an ever-overladen list of compulsory subjects. By year 9 of secondary, kids will be lucky to get one lesson of history a week.

[youngmafbog]

I think it shows our kids have a quick wit. Nothing wrong with that.

Premier Inns have got what they wanted, cheap publicity.

[LazyGun]

Whether history is being taught correctly, and enough importance is attached to its teaching are obviously a worthy subject, particularly at the moment.. I do not think this survey informs us much on that subject however. Like ymb and others have said, more like kids being funny and cheap publicity for Premier Inns...

[DangerUXD]

I know from my own kids that history is heavily sensored these days but I never thought it was this bad!

[Zeuhl]

Lol danger

Is your kids' spelling /sensored/ also?

[Gromit]

Q. Who built the pyramids?
A. Nick Knowles

Q. Who was Anne Frank?
A. An American chat show host

Q. Who was Emmeline Pankhurst?
A. An X Factor finalist

Q. Name a World War II prime minister
A. Alan Sugar

Q. Name one of Henry VIII's six wives
A. Delia Smith

Q. Name a Daily newspaper that has no sense of humour and fails to spot 'joke' answers?
A. See link above

[Zeuhl]

On reflection, the kids have come up with some interesting programme concepts:

Giza SOS- nick has just 72 hours to build a tomb fit for a king

The Attic show - people who have been trapped in an attic or cellar for years are given the chance to chat to celebrities of their choice

The cabinet apprentice - Alan sugar takes over as PM and selects 10 hopefuls to be his cabinet

[DangerUXD]

I know what I mean't, I though that looked wrong, doh!

[LazyGun]

@Zeuhl You should be pitching them ideas to TV executives - I reckon you are on to a winner with the Alan Sugar one :)

[coccinelle]

Well, when you don't know the answer you just make one up don't you? I've always said to my pupils never leave a blank in a test or exam!

[Gromit]

AOG

You seem to be some sort of expert on education. I'm sure you meant teenagers' though.

[jake-the-peg]

You wonder why we dig at the DM when they publish tripe like this

This is a regular story for the hard of thought

What it proves is that if you ask 100 teenagers questions about anything at least 5% will give you sarcastic answers which you can then report as fact.


Strewth it must be a slow news day!!!

[boxtops]

It's a shame the DM gave this space - it's not the same as gaffes in exam papers, this is clearly youngsters just having a laugh.

[FredPuli43]

Notice that the Daily Mail puts "suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst" What other person in history had that name? Evidently the Daily Mail thinks its own readers need a bit of help and might not know who she was or what she did. That's shameful !

The children displayed a sense of mischief.