The 2023 Chronicle

A selection of photographs of various A Block boys enjoying what was on offer at the Markets of Warwick

HISTORY

Head of department: Mr Brandon Venter Staff: Mr Bradley McManus, Mrs Leigh Kotze Intern: Simeon Goddard

organism, is so rich in history that we start our Michaelhouse historians with the history of the school in E Block. Although it helps the boys with the infamous Cack test, it teaches them about their new surroundings and aids them in settling into their new environment. As they transition through the latter half of their syllabus and into D Block, they learn of the events and effects of the world wars. We feel that the learning environment helps determine the success and motivation of the boys to achieve, so we treat them to an escape from the formal class setting and the campus. We take the E Blockers on an outing to Pietermaritzburg and its surrounds, and the D Blockers to the Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre. This is invaluable as a learning experience for these boys. For our senior boys we have amalgamated the International Baccalaureate curriculum with our South African prescribed IEB syllabus. This offers the boys a greater scope for understanding contemporary history, which ranges from the 19th to the 21st centuries. Topics range from nationalism to fascism, communism and capitalism, which all allow for a good understanding of conflicts, tensions and world domination. This leads nicely into the final six themes needed for the boys’ IEB matric. These include the Cold War, civil protest in South Africa and the world, and looking at South Africa from the 1980s up to its democracy, along with the decolonization of Africa and some of the problems faced in independent Africa.

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n the back of excellent matric results in 2022, with 40% of boys achieving a distinction in their final examinations, the History Department grew exponentially in 2023. As the numbers of boys taking History have swelled, they have shown a great interest and love for learning from the past. Beyond the content, they have been learning the vital life skills of critical and creative thinking, to have a grasp of modern trends that creates an understanding of the world they live in, to be able to discern the difference between fact and fiction, the real and the tangible in the evergrowing fake news they face from social media. However, the most important skill the History boys are developing is the ability to ask a certain question, “Why?” As Albert Einstein is quoted as saying: “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” Our young men must question, they must challenge and they must learn from the flaws of society, as they will be the ones to rectify the wrongs we have faced and still face in the world today.

Michaelhouse, as a campus, institution and evergrowing

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