Lest we forget: How are Remembrance Day commemorations evolving in schools?

As Remembrance Day approaches, schools are preparing to engage students with one of the most solemn events in our national calendar.

The challenge for educators is to help pupils grasp the importance of remembering those who sacrificed their lives while navigating the complexities of history and memory. Many young children may feel disconnected from World Wars that took place several generations ago. Teachers must seek meaningful and age-appropriate ways to connect these children with the past.

Oxford Brookes academics, Professor Patrick Alexander and Dr Susannah Wright, have explored these challenges in depth through their seven-year ‘Remembrance in Schools’ project, which examined how English schools handle remembrance practices. Here, they share insights from their research on how commemorations are evolving, the role of tradition, and the impact of changing educational and cultural landscapes.

What are the challenges teachers face in making Remembrance Day both historically accurate and emotionally resonant for students?
The events being commemorated, the World Wars, and subsequent conflicts, were truly horrific and traumatic. There is a risk of either sanitising that reality and not doing justice to the immense sacrifices and suffering, or of exposing children to the brutal details before they are emotionally ready. The teachers we spoke to thought hard about how to find an age-appropriate balance.

During your research, did you find any significant differences in how schools commemorate Remembrance Day across different regions or school types?
In our research we found that the core elements of Remembrance Day rituals, the minute of silence, reading of poems, wearing of poppies, laying of wreaths, were quite consistent across schools (and over the seven years of the project). 

However, there were some differences. Schools in areas with a strong military presence or history tended to have more elaborate ceremonies, often with active participation from current armed forces personnel, local veterans, or school cadet forces. Faith-based schools incorporated more religious elements. War graves and local memorials were visited by some primary schools where they were close by. Commemoration events at older secondary schools generally included rolls of honour (ex-pupils and staff who had died in conflict), and sometimes a war memorial at the school. But overall, the key rituals and symbols like the poppy and the silence were universal.

How do students at different age levels engage with Remembrance Day activities, and what challenges does this present for educators?
This is difficult to tell even with plenty of research data. Younger primary school pupils seemed to be able to understand enough to engage in the act of silence (most of the time). They experienced the solemnity of the rituals, perhaps without fully grasping the historical context. Older pupils, in upper primary but especially at secondary level, engaged more with the complexities - the scale of the losses, the historical debates, the links to current conflicts. Some were quite moved emotionally - we picked this up from our observations. Some expressed fears, sadness and anger. Others appeared more detached, some fascinated by the weapons and the adventure. Managing these varied reactions is part of the challenge for educators.

In what ways are digital media and technology shaping the future of Remembrance Day in schools?
Technology is being integrated into remembrance in interesting ways. Some schools had pupils research fallen soldiers from their area through online records and create digital memorials. Online resources are part of teaching pupils about remembrance. We could potentially see more digital elements in the future, like virtual visits to battlefields and memorials. The key will be using these digital media to enhance understanding and empathy, not just as a gimmick.

How can schools navigate diverse student backgrounds during Remembrance Day, especially in multicultural classrooms?
There is a danger that communal rituals can mask difference. Teachers have to be sensitive to the fact that pupils may have very different relationships to the military. They have varied perspectives on Britain's past conflicts, based on their family histories and cultural backgrounds. We learned of different means used to reflect diversity of experience and background among pupils - and among staff - while still marking the event as a shared moment of remembrance for the whole school community. The 'silence' also offers a moment for individuals' interpretations - but the thoughts at that moment remain with the individual and are not necessarily articulated to others. The centenary of World War One meant the creation of a range of resources which - albeit imperfectly - helped highlight the global and multicultural nature of the conflict and a variety of experiences of it; schools in our project made use of these.  

How does the way we commemorate past conflicts influence students' perspectives on current global issues?
The Remembrance rituals evolved after World War One as part of the "never again" sentiment, but they've also been invoked at times to build support for new military actions. The rituals can promote peace or valorize war, depending on the framing. The teachers we spoke to were keen to help students think critically about links between memory and current events.

What areas of remembrance in schools need further research as we approach future anniversaries of significant conflicts?
We need to keep exploring how remembrance rituals and the teaching of military history are evolving as the World Wars recede further into the past. What elements of the rituals still resonate with young people and what feels archaic to them? How are difficult colonial legacies being reckoned with or ignored? How does remembrance intersect with pupils' other identities around, for example, ethnicity and faith. This year (2024) we marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June. There will be many more anniversaries and significant moments which will provide opportunities to study those issues. We need to keep talking to teachers and students to understand their lived experiences of remembrance.

Professor Patrick Alexander is a Professor in Education and Dr Susannah Wright is a Reader in Education. Both work in the School of Education, Humanities and Education at Oxford Brookes University. 

The journal article, ‘Remembrance and Ritual in English Schools’ is published in Children and Society.