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A different kind of history class
I have been thinking about my
history lessons from the 1970s. Ask people what they studied in history at school back then, and most mention British monarchs, old European wars or the early
days of New Zealand settlement. My memory is different. I remember lessons on
the collapse of capitalism, the Great Depression and Franklin D Roosevelt's New
Deal. We spent hours looking at photos of American soup kitchens and dust
storms. It was an interesting subject, presented with up to date resources, but it always struck me as an odd choice for
a school in Auckland.
Looking back, I see that our
lessons formed part of a bigger shift. We were not just learning facts. We were
learning a new way to view and understand the world.
The teachers who changed the room
The choice of topic came from a new generation of teachers. In the 1970s, the baby boomers began to enter
our schools. These young teachers had left university during a time of global
protest. Many had joined anti-war marches or supported the civil rights
movement. When they reached the classroom, they turned away from traditional
history. They saw the story of the British Empire as dull and outdated.
Instead, they wanted to teach us about social justice and economic struggle.
They chose the New Deal because it showed how government action could mend a
broken society. They wanted us to question authority and focus on the power of
ordinary people.
The wave spreads beyond school
This energy did not stay behind
the classroom door. The same generational wave hit the wider workforce, and it
changed several major sectors for good.
In the public service, young
graduates broke down rigid British administrative habits. They pushed for an
independent foreign policy and a new bicultural approach to state welfare. In
journalism, a fresh wave of reporters broke away from stuffy broadcasting
traditions. They began to challenge politicians on live television, and it
shocked older viewers. Trade unions moved beyond wage disputes. They used
strikes to protest against nuclear testing and the Vietnam War. Even in the
arts and architecture, young creators turned away from British styles to build
a national identity of their own. The old post-war establishment could not hold
back the tide.
The cost of the revolution
We live with the results of
that cultural revolution today. The 1970s generation broke the old rules, but
their victories brought new problems. When they removed the traditional
European framework from schools, they also removed the standard timeline of history.
Generations of students left school without a basic grasp of their own
political and legal systems.
The healthy habit of
questioning authority turned into cynicism about public institutions. Social
trust sits at a low point today. The push for individual freedom weakened local
communities too, and this has fed our modern problem with loneliness. The young
radicals of the 1970s now run the management class. They built a large
bureaucracy that often cares more about identity frameworks and compliance than
good public service.
A new generation pushes back
History moves in cycles. When
one way of thinking takes over, the next generation pushes back, and we can see
the first signs of a new rebellion.
Generation Z, born between 1997
and 2009, and the emerging Generation Alpha, born between 2010 and 2024, have
begun to push back against this progressive orthodoxy. A gap is opening in
youth politics, as many young men shift to the right. They feel shut out by
modern institutional language and look for other ideas about merit and
self-reliance. In universities, pressure is building for leaders to adopt
strict neutrality policies. Schools are also moving away from vague social
studies units and back towards structured phonics and chronological history.
Today's teenagers do not trust
legacy media or university gatekeepers. They get their information from
independent podcasts and platforms outside the traditional media system. The
most rebellious thing a young person can do today is mock corporate speech and
embrace traditional values.
The future will not be a simple
return to the 1950s. This new generation is pragmatic, and it holds a deep
suspicion of social engineering. They have watched public institutions spend
decades on social causes while basic services declined. In the years ahead,
these young people will likely push the state to step back. They will ask our
institutions to focus on economic stability, practical results and clear merit.
The long shadow of the 1970s is starting to fade.
References
McCrindle Research. (2021). The
generations defined.
Te Ara Encyclopedia of New
Zealand. (2012). Curriculum changes.
The Australian Journal of
Indigenous Education. (2010). The New Zealand school curriculum history wars.