Guest teacher for the Guest Teachers WW II Workgroup Southeast Asia Foundation: at the primary school De Helmstok
April 4, 2022
As a guest teacher working for the Guest Teachers WW II Workgroup Southeast Asia Foundation, I still give classes about the period before, during and after World War II in the Southeast Asia region in the previous century at different types of schools.
Today I gave classes at the Primary school De Helmstok in the city of Lelystad.
It’s still a nice and rewarding thing to do.
It’s really not just to teach about a particular period in human history in a particular region on planet earth.
The basic philosophical thinking behind the lessons is not only to provide information about the particular period in history but also to take it to a broader and perhaps more current level. In particular, the concepts of war, peace and freedom and the connection with the contemporary world in which we live can be reasons for children for personal contemplation about the world in which they are currently growing up. After all, the concepts of war, peace and freedom are interrelated and there must be a balance between, in particular, the concepts of peace and freedom. Without peace there is no freedom, but without freedom there can be no peace. Hitler invaded surrounding European countries and even entered North African territory. Emperor Hirohito of Japan invaded neighboring countries in the Southeast Asian region. Putin recently found it necessary to invade Ukraine and has invaded other countries before when he felt it necessary to do so. Through what has happened in the past, children can better understand that some so-called political leaders for some reason never seem to learn from the past. And that the balance between peace and freedom and freedom and peace can sometimes be suddenly disrupted. You can also make children realize that in a war there are always people who resist the aggressor who invades their country and kills their fellow countrymen. And that all those who fight against the aggressor also run the risk of being injured or killed themselves in their struggle to regain peace and freedom. And that those people are often the reason that they exist at this moment in time. If those people hadn’t fought for freedom and peace, they might not even exist. Because freedom meant for their great-grandparents, grandparents and parents the reason and opportunity to meet each other in life and have children. It is also important that children also learn to realize that it is therefore also important to regularly commemorate all those fighters for freedom and peace and to respect their ultimate life sacrifice. They gave their lives for the peace and security of all of us.
