来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2022年7月3日
Medieval history should be taught more in England’s schools or “vast chunks” of our past will be lost, an MP has warned. Emphasis on the “two Hs – Hitler and Henry VIII” was too narrow, forcing children to focus on “what happened and why” rather than developing more analytical skills, according to Alexander Stafford.
英国一名议员警告说，英国的学校应该更多地教授中世纪历史，否则我们过去的“大部分”将会丢失。亚历山大•斯塔福德认为，强调“两个h——希特勒和亨利八世”过于狭隘，迫使孩子们专注于“发生了什么以及为什么发生”，而不是培养更多的分析技能。
The Conservative MP said the subject was “greatly neglected in schools, with very little taught at GCSE or A-level” and that most students “don’t have the option to study anything pre-1066”.
这位保守党议员表示，这一科目“在学校里被严重忽视，GCSE或A-level课程很少教授”，大多数学生“没有选择学习1066年以前的历史”。
“Lots of our history teaching in this country revolves around the two Hs – Hitler and Henry VIII – and we need to actually broaden out,” he said.
他说：“我们国家的很多历史教学都是围绕着两个h——希特勒和亨利八世——展开的，我们实际上需要扩大范围。”
“There is a lot more of our history; our country is quite old with a lot of influential history. We need to discuss it, talk about it. It is a situation where students are far more likely to learn about someone like Martin Luther King than they are about Alfred the Great.”
“我们的历史还有很多；我们的国家历史悠久，有很多重要历史。我们需要讨论它，谈论它。在当前的情况下，学生们更可能了解像马丁·路德·金这样的人，而不是阿尔弗雷德大帝。”
The MP is scheduled to lead a debate in the Commons on Monday, promoting medieval history as a school subject.
这位议员计划于周一在下议院主持一场辩论，将中世纪历史作为一门学校科目加以推广。
Mr Stafford said there are lessons to be learned from the past, including how the Black Death compared with the Covid-19 pandemic, or how “the clash between East and West” in the Crusades has an “obvious parallel with what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan”.
斯塔福德表示，我们可以从过去吸取教训，包括黑死病如何与新冠疫情相比较，或者十字军东征中的“东西方冲突”如何“与伊拉克和阿富汗发生的冲突明显相似”。
“I would say most students haven’t heard of Athelstan, who is the first king of a united England,” Mr Stafford said, adding “I believe it is important that we get medieval history, from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West from 476 to the discovery of the New World in 1492, really in the spotlight.”
斯塔福德说：“我想说的是，大多数学生都没有听说过艾塞斯坦，他是统一后的英格兰的第一位国王。我认为，重要的是我们要把中世纪历史真正放在聚光灯下，从476年罗马帝国在西部的灭亡，到1492年新大陆的发现。”
The MP, who studied medieval history at A-level and went on to specialise in the subject during his degree, fears there is a “self-fulfilling cycle” between children not being taught medieval history in school, and later not taking it up at university. “I think we are in danger of losing vast chunks of our history.”
这位议员在A-level课程中学习了中世纪历史，并在攻读学位期间专门研究了这一学科。他担心孩子在学校里不学中世纪历史和后来在大学里不学中世纪历史之间存在一种“自我实现的循环”。“我认为我们面临着失去大部分历史的危险。”
Mr Stafford said the subject could help children develop reasoning and thinking skills, as discussion of the “few sources” underpinning medieval history could lead to different conclusions.
斯塔福德先生说，这门课可以帮助孩子们发展推理和思考技能，因为讨论支撑中世纪历史的“少数资料来源”可能会得出不同的结论。
He said: “It teaches children how to think rather than saying ‘This is the correct answer, this is what happened and why’ - we can actually have a proper discussion about the different potential options around it.”
他说：“中世纪历史教会孩子们如何思考，而不是说‘这是正确的答案，这就是发生的事情和原因’——我们实际上可以围绕中世纪历史就不同的潜在选择进行适当的讨论。”