History in Higher Definition

Whenever we learn and read about history it becomes easy to forget that the historian we are engaging with has his or her own personal opinions about what is, and what is not, important to learn and read about. Learners should be aware of this, and teachers should account for the parts of history which might have been overlooked. You wouldn’t paint a mural of a Nova Scotian shore-line and leave out all the different shades of blue. Nor would you want to teach history and leave out a whole cultural group. The picture is incomplete, and perspective gets lost.

This week I had the pleasure of talking with Bernard Cameron. As a fan of history, I was excited to talk to someone who is a history teacher, and to ask him about how his deep knowledge of Gaelic culture and history has influenced the way he teaches youngsters about the past.

The story behind how Bernard became a teacher in Cape Breton is beyond the scope of this blog post. Sufficed to say it involved working in Alberta, four years studying at StFX, traversing the ocean and the hillsides of Skye, crossing paths with a billionaire merchant-knight of the realm and founder of Sol Mòr Ostaig, and teaching in the North West Territories before finally returning to his birthplace of Mabou, Cape Breton. Today Bernard teaches Gaelic core classes and social studies to students between grades 4 and 8. I had to ask him: how does his Gaelic perspective influence how he teaches history?

 “It spills over into it. Partially on purpose and partially not. Your points of reference change when you learn something like a new language.”

It’s hard to make students empathise with history. The countless men and women behind historical events are often relegated to statistics. The Gaelic perspective that Bernard brings to his classes adds fresh color to these historical events and brings the picture into sharper focus. For example, Bernard and I talked about how in he teaches students about World War 2 and the D-Day landings.   

“Gaelic language people left here as soldiers and wound up being in France, Holland and Normandy. And unfortunately a lot of those people were unable come home and pass the Gaelic onto their children.”

And Bernard doesn’t just bring that perspective to the classroom. He brought it to Normandy as well.

“A few years ago I got a chance to go on a trip to Normandy with some different teachers. We had a dinner with the local people who had been children when Canadian forces landed on Juno beach. At dinner I remember everyone was sitting at the table and they were all being really quiet. I said, ‘I think they want us to say grace,’ so our trip leader asked me if I would say it. I said ‘I’d be glad to, but I have one favor and it would be to say grace in Gaelic as well.’ So you have to seize your opportunities. It’s not just about pushing Gaelic onto people, it’s about reminding people that a lot of Gaelic soldiers came ashore and into these communities.”

Bernard seizes those opportunities with his students at Bayview Community School every day. That’s high definition history.

 Gach deagh dhùrachd / Every good wish!

Bernard’s favorite word in Gaelic is: teine sionnachain / will-o'-the-wisp