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As a heads up, this will be tangentially political. The greatest thins I ever learned at school, other than hockey - I was really quite good at it - was sourcework through my History lessons. The ability to analyse what was said, who said it & why they might have done so. 1/
Whatever criticism you can make about the National Curriculum and what areas of British history it promotes/overlooks, sourcework is so, so important. For example, it can explain why Shakespeare made an entire play that was a hatchet job on Richard III. 2/
As a historian, I have learned that whilst there's the element of truth to certain aspects of his reign, such as not following due process to have Lord Hastings executed, he was made out to be far more monstrous in the play than he was in actuality. 3/
This was done because Shakespeare's patron, Elizabeth I, was the granddaughter of Henry VII who deposed Richard III and it was politically expedient to legitimise Henry VII doing so given how many usurpations there had been during the Wars of the Roses. 4/
The fine folk of the best iteration of Horrible Histories put it best with this song: but the point is that the truth was embellished because there was a primary motive in which to do so. 5/
Through sourcework, historians are able to establish what was said about a subject at various points in time, why they might be being said (particularly with a view to who is saying it) and what can be gleaned from the quote: its accuracy and/or the purpose of saying it. 6/
And the reason I consider it was one of the most important things I have ever learned is because it allows for criticial thinking - a life-long skill which is fundamentally crucial for unpacking the events of the day. 7/
Today, and here's where it gets political, the communications chief of the current UK government, gave a televised press conference to justify his actions following the news reports surrounding him breaking the lockdown measures, put in place to counter the current pandemic. 8/
Without giving a full analysis, which isn't the point of this thread, he did not apologise and stated his actions were, in his mind, completely justifiable on the basis that he has a child. This position is intellectually inconsistent with the published measures, however.... 9/
I am not using this thread to discuss the rights/wrongs of Dominic Cummings, merely use it as an example. Comparing the stance he has taken to the actual guidance demonstrates clearly that he broke the lockdown measures. I want to talk about the response. 10/
