Running head:CRITICAL ANALYSIS
ECS 110 self and others
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ECS self and others
All what exist on the face of the universe has a history. Every record or narrative description of a past event is important as it forms the roots or the origin. Canada has a public memory that underlies a grand narrative as depicted by Stanley who critic the real fact about it. People of a given nation should embrace a their history. Stanley feels that some people of Canada are not part of what should be their history as they are an only imagined community.
According to Stanley, grand narrative underlying public memory of Canada means that there was no history before arriving of the Europeans (De Oliver 2011). The nation had not registered any growth till the resettlement of European who are said to have built the nation thus the great men. Stanley feels that it is not a good history as it displays a governance of the proceeding that begins with the now and works towards the back. Grand narrative has been assumed to be the measuring tool for all other things which he feels is not the real history of Canada.
Stanley state that within the same classroom, the relationships of students using the same history curriculum can be largely different. For instance, learner is presented with a curriculum that identify some as Canadian because their great grandmothers did the election while others are treated as non-Canadian as their great grandmothers did not participate in the election (De oliver2011). Some students quit classes in part as they are not included in the official curriculum thus feel the school is all about the white. Students are disadvantaged as the curriculum is unilateral especially in matters of history. They feel that they are learning somebody else’s history. The young nationalist of Canada treat African Canadian as lesser being who are only disrupter and segregate them (De Oliver 2011) The discussed issues are good illustration that students using same curriculum can be different.
History syllabus should integrate diverse aspect of all learners for them to own up the history. The syllabus should help learners to discover their past, retrace a story that expound on how one is an inhabitant of the space he inhabits and let learner familiarize with the narrative. Secondly, the syllabus merge student’s personal history based on personal background. It should provide an alert to young people to know the spaces they occupy were built by the heroes (De oliver2011) It should also educate the young on how to establish claims of history in evidence and assess historical interpretations.
Stanley ‘s critical assessment of Canada being a grand narrative is an untrue fact based on the given arguments he put. He has the same critical stand with Jack granastsein who point out various faults of the Canada history is devoid of social history, distressing because many immigrants come from countries with radically different social histories (De oliver2011) It claims that there was history. Also the original natives of the land are not acknowledged in the great works they have done for the nation. The two are in same school of thought that the history is inadequate.
Grand narrative is really not true reflection of exactly Canada is a state recorded as their past. History should involve the stakeholder who have tirelessly worked to grow the nation. The young generation should be handed to correct information so as them may own and be proud of their hero’s work. The curricula should be refashioned to ensure the historical interpretations are correct. No people of a nation should be made to feel not to belong to his community
Reference
De Oliver, M. (2011). Nativism and the obsolescence of grand narrative: Comprehending the quandary of anti-immigration groups in the neoliberal era. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 37(7), 977-997.