‘Is it possible for us to imagine the experience of trench warfare?’

10.10.40-10.17

T: Tell me then Felix, you and Adill, have you got some ideas about how you would describe this [question posed on IWB: ‘Is it possible for us to imagine the experience of trench warfare?’] and what things would be in the answer?

Felix: Yes, we would put it into three categories: living conditions, medical conditions and the conditions they had to fight under.

(Teacher writes these three phrases on the IWB)

T: Medical conditions and fighting conditions. Do you know what Felix? This is funny. [VIDEO STARTS HERE] When I was planning this lesson, I thought about a trench as a place of, it's kind of what you've just said really, people would be working in them, resting in them, playing in them. Work, rest and play. That's what you do I suppose in your life, and you've articulated some of those there.

What do people think about that? Are you happy with that Dillon, as a way of describing how you might talk about the experience of trench warfare and whether or not it's actually possible to do it?

Dillon: Yes.

T: Have you got some other points? How did you organise it?

Dillon: We don't actually know if that's true because it's a DVD. So because we weren't actually alive, some of that might be true, but we can't be sure.

T: All right. So now we are getting into questions about the reliability of the evidence as well. All right. Very good.

Marcel, what did you say? So what Felix and Adill have done is they've sectioned out what things we could write about here rather well. I think they're good. What was the point you just made to me when we were discussing?

10:12:21

Marcel: I think sacrifice would be made (rest inaudible)

T: Ok so here's the point here. Can we actually really imagine what that would have been like? Is it possible for us to do it? Jonathan, any thoughts on that?

Jonathan: We can't do it, not really.

T: What do you think Felix, about that, because you've sectioned that out there? Marcel is actually challenging the notion that it's actually possible to imagine it. What do you think?

Felix: Yes, well it probably is, but there's people who lived then, and there's so much information about it. Because there's propaganda. But there's what actually happened and we have quite a lot of sources and, back then when the DVD was made there must have been quite a lot of people that were there.

T: Very good. Robert is going to make a point in a minute that I'm going to ask him. Ricky, what do you think? Actually imagining that?

Ricky: I don't think you could imagine being there unless you've been there and done it.

T: So is it one of those things that’s just too hard for us to imagine?

10:13:33
Ricky: Yes, it's like when you imagine winning the lottery. You can imagine what it would be like, but it wouldn't necessarily be like what you think.

T: Very good. I think that's quite a nice analogy. I mean it's different, but it's almost beyond our experience. Alex?

Alex: I think there are probably bits we can imagine and bits we can't imagine. So we might be able to imagine bits of it.

T: We might be able to imagine certain bits of it. All right. Robert, can I take the point that you made? It links in with what Alex said. Listen to this. This is Robert's view.

Robert: You can imagine what it would look like, but you can't imagine what it would feel like or how you would be feeling.

T: Ok. What do you think about that Owen? You could imagine what it would look like, but not actually what it would feel like. I quite like that.

Owen: Yes, because on the DVDs or on the films and the poems and stuff, it explains and you can see what it looks like, in wasteland, and you're both in trenches, but you wouldn’t know what it was like to go ages without food or water.

T: Ok. Go on Ricky.

Ricky: That's partially true, but you wouldn't know what it would be like to be shot by a bullet or be bombed or something. You wouldn't see what it looked like either.

T: Owen is nodding his head there in agreement with what you were saying. It's true isn't it? I like that idea. You know, this notion about it’s something completely outside of our experience. Can we really imagine something? I tell you what then, why not add in, let me try, or someone else help me out here. Is it possible for us to imagine, well, yes, what it would look like? I like that Robert and it wasn't what I'd thought of. I thought I was going to write something else on here. Yes 'what it looked like' [writing on board], not 'what it felt like'. You are then able to bring in all the things that Felix and Adill or Joe or whoever it was who came up with this idea (indicates the first three categories listed on the IWB). So yes there are some things we can describe about it, but the actual feelings are rather difficult.

10:15:31

T: Any other points to make here? Felix?

Felix: Well, about the feelings, every single person's experience with it would be different. Can't really say that... Everybody's got different feelings towards the war, and that.

T: Ricky would you agree with that in view of what you said? I suppose different people would react in different ways to winning the lottery or imagine winning the lottery in different ways. Felix?

Felix: You can't really say... You wouldn't know what anyone would have felt like, even if we were there, you would only know what you felt like.

T: Yes, can we ever achieve a common understanding of anything? There you are. Very interesting, [that relates to] the discussions that we've had on this project so far [looking at SH]. Very good. Henry?

Henry: I was thinking that we can imagine it like on a sort of factual level but not on a personal level.

T: Factual not personal. Marcel, are you happy with this conversation because it was you who brought that up? Do you see? Are these points that you would agree with?

Marcel: Yes.

T: Certainly. Ok, Chris?

Chris: But then you wouldn't think of it if it happened to you though.

T: You wouldn't...?

Chris: … think of it and like feel it, if it did happen to you.

Pupil: What do you mean?

Chris: If you won the lottery, you wouldn't come back and think about what we're thinking now.

10:16:38

T: Ok, so your thinking has been changed. It's almost too hard for us to imagine.

Chris: Some stuff, if it come down to it, you wouldn't do what you said you would do.

T: Ok. I can see that point.