DEBBIE JACOB

TAKE ONE picture of the British monarch's crown, add some choice selections from a slew of internet stories on the Queen's death and you get a myriad of teaching possibilities on everything from evaluating resources to understanding how history shapes our lives and culture. Students - especially those in CAPE Caribbean Studies - need to have discussions about current events like the Queen's death to understand the complicated world we live in.

As English teachers and librarians, we want students to learn how to find credible resources to evaluate stories on the internet and in social media. Which stories are most factual? How can readers tell facts from opinion? Why is that important?

So many questions surface from the coverage of the Queen's funeral. Why did journalists write about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and their rift with the royal family in that funeral coverage, and why were those stories often based on anonymous sources? How much should we trust anonymous sources in any journalism we read?

A timeline of Elizabeth II's life covers nearly a century of history, which becomes a perfect platform for examining how past events like slavery and colonialism shaped the present and possibly impact on the future. We need to ask what does the monarchy and its role in slavery and colonialism symbolise to different people and cultures? What's the role of the Commonwealth?

It's important to discuss what history is and how we should view it. Many people think history is factual, but it's not. There are facts - dates and events - but people make history and their complex personalities shape events that are interpreted differently by the recipients of their actions.

History is a combination of the good, the bad and the ugly, and separating those evaluations is as impossible as trying to separate tangled silk threads; so the question is what do we lose when we try to paint history as all good or bad? How does a single interpretation of historical events affect prejudice and racism?

Equally important are discussions about class. In a world where we have been taught to value equality, why do we have institutions like monarchies that are based on hereditary and class structure? Why are people still fascinated by kings and queens?

This is an opportunity to look at how abstract concepts like symbolism, tradition and rituals become concrete for students who approach writing from a visual sense. What about a discussion of the jewels in the monarch's crown - especially the massive diamond that South Africans reportedly want back?

The monarchy plays a symbolic role in Great Britain. Do we need leaders to play symbolic roles as much as we need them to play real roles on the political stage and in our lives?

Much was made of Queen Elizabeth's symbolic role as a child during World War II.

Could you consider Elizabeth's war-time pep speeches activism? What young activists do stu