Ontario Teachers' Manuals: History Part 3

CHAPTER I

THE AIMS AND STAGES OF STUDY

AIMS

History may be made, in several ways, an important factor in forming intelligent, patriotic citizens:

(_a_) It must be remembered that society, with all its inst.i.tutions, is a growth, not a sudden creation. It follows that, if we wish to understand the present and to use that knowledge as a guide to future action, we must know the story of how our present inst.i.tutions and conditions have come to be what they are; we must know the ideals of our forefathers, the means they took to realize them, and to what extent they succeeded. It is only in this way that we become capable of pa.s.sing judgment, as citizens, on what is proposed by political and social reformers, and thus justify and guarantee our existence as a democracy.

(_b_) Patriotism, which depends largely on the a.s.sociations formed in childhood, is intensified by learning how our forefathers fought and laboured and suffered to obtain all that we now value most in our homes and social life. The courage with which the early settlers of Upper Canada faced their tremendous labours and hards.h.i.+ps should make us appreciate our inheritance in the Ontario of to-day, and determine, as they did, to leave our country better than we found it.

To-morrow yet would reap to-day, As we bear blossom of the dead.

(_c_) "History teaches that right and wrong are real distinctions." The study of history, especially in the sphere of biography, has a moral value, and much may be done, even in the primary cla.s.ses, to inspire children to admire the heroic and the self-sacrificing, and to despise the treacherous and the self-seeking. The constant struggle to right what is wrong in the world may be emphasized in the senior cla.s.ses to show that nothing is ever settled until it is settled right.

(_d_) History affords specially good exercise for the judgment we use in everyday life in weighing evidence and balancing probabilities. Such a question as "Did Champlain do right in taking the side of the Hurons against the Iroquois, or even in taking sides at all?" may be suggested to the older pupils for consideration.

(_e_) History, when taught by a broad-minded, well-informed teacher, may do much to correct the prejudices--social, political, religious--of individuals and communities.

(_f_) The imagination is exercised in the effort to recall or reconstruct the scenes of the past and in discovering relations of cause and effect.

(_g_) The memory is aided and stimulated by the increase in the number of the centres of interest round which facts, both new and old, may be grouped.

(_h_) A knowledge of the facts and inferences of history is invaluable for general reading and culture.

To sum up: It is important that the good citizen should know his physical environment; it is just as important for him "to know his social and political environment, to have some appreciation of the nature of the state and society, some sense of the duties and responsibilities of citizens.h.i.+p, some capacity in dealing with political and governmental questions, something of the broad and tolerant spirit which is bred by the study of past times and conditions."

SCOPE

The ideal course in history would include (1) a general view of the history of the world, giving the pupil knowledge enough to provide the proper setting for the history of his own country; (2) a more detailed knowledge of the whole history of his own country; (3) and a special knowledge of certain outstanding periods or tendencies in that history.

In our schools, we should give most attention to the study of Canadian and British history as a whole, to enough of the history of France and other countries to make clear certain parts of our own history, and to certain important periods, such as the settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, etc. (See Detailed Course of Study, p. 5.) We may also study our history along special lines of development--political, military, social, educational, religious, industrial, and commercial--but these phases are subjects of study rather for secondary schools and colleges.

STAGES OF STUDY

There are three stages in the study of history which, though they overlap each other, yet indicate different methods of treatment for pupils at different ages. They are the Story stage, the Information stage, and the Reflective stage. These stages are not exclusive, nor do they coincide with the first three Forms in the schools.

THE STORY STAGE

This stage is suitable for children in the primary grades and is chiefly preparatory to the real study of history in the higher grades. The need for this stage lies in the fact that the child's "ideas are of the pictorial rather than of the abstract order"; yet his spontaneous interest in these things must be made to serve "as a stepping-stone to the acquired interests of civilized life." The definite objects at this stage are:

(_a_) To create and foster a liking for historical study. It is impossible, in the public school life of a child, which is usually ended at the age of twelve to fourteen years, to accomplish all that has been indicated above concerning the aims of history teaching. The most that can be done is to lay the foundation and give the pupil a desire to continue his reading after his school days are over. Serious blame rests on the teacher whose methods of teaching history, instead of attracting the child to the subject, give him a distaste for it. If history is made real and living to children, it is usually not difficult to have them like it. (For suggestions, see p. 34.)

(_b_) To acquaint the pupils with some of the important historical persons. We wish to take advantage of the fact that "the primitive form of attention which is captured at once by objects that strike the senses is giving place in some degree to appreciative attention, which is yielded to things that connect themselves with what we already know, and which implies ability to adopt the reflective att.i.tude towards a proposed problem."[A] Now children are more interested in people than in inst.i.tutions or events; and, if we can give them a knowledge of some of the striking incidents in the lives of important characters in history, we may expect them to be more interested in the study of history at a later period, because they will frequently meet with these familiar names. The emphasis at this stage is therefore on biography.

[Footnote A: Raymont: _Principles of Education_]

(_c_) To help the development of the "historical sense." The "historical sense" includes the notion of time, the notion of a social unit and, according to some, the notion of cause and effect. The notion of time implies the power "to represent the past as if it were present"--that is, the power to enter into the thoughts and feelings of people of the past as if we were living amongst them. This notion of time comes at different ages; to some early, to others very late. It came to Professor Shaler at the age of about eight or nine years, as the direct result of vivid story-telling:

Of all the folk who were about me, the survivors of the Indian wars were the most interesting. There were several of these old clapper-clawed fellows still living, with their more or less apocryphal tales of adventures they had heard of or shared. There was current a tradition--I have seen it in print--that there had been a fight between the Indians and whites where the government barracks stood, and that two wounded whites had been left upon the ground, where they were not found by the savages. One of these had both arms broken, the other was similarly disabled as to his legs.

It was told that they managed to subsist by combining their limited resources. The man with sound legs drove game up within range of the other cripple's gun, and as the turkeys or rabbits fell, he kicked them within reach of his hands, and in like manner provided him with sticks for their fire. This legend, much elaborated in the telling, gave me, I believe at about my eighth year, my first sense of a historic past, and it led to much in the way of fanciful invention of like tales. (N.F. Shaler: _Autobiography_, Chap. I.)

The best means at the teacher's command to a.s.sist its coming is to tell good stories from history with all the skill he has; the stories need not be told in chronological order. The notion of time implies also in the older pupils the power to place events in chronological order.

The notion of a social unit is also of slow growth and must spring from the child's conception of the social units he belongs to--the home, the school, the community.

The notion of cause and effect does not belong so wholly to the study of history as the notions of time and of the social unit; it is surprising, however, how soon it makes its appearance in the child's conceptions of history, in his desire to know the "why" of things. (See Barnes'

_Studies in Historical Method_.)

THE INFORMATION STAGE

There are several questions that children soon come to ask: "When?" and "Where?" "What?" and "Who?" This stage may be said to begin in earnest with the Second Form, and it continues through the whole course. One of the essential elements in history study is to have a knowledge of the important facts of history, without which there can be no inferences of value for present use. The all-important point in this teaching of facts is to keep the lessons interesting and not allow them to become mere lifeless memorizing of isolated happenings; for a fact is of value only when related to other facts. (See pp. 36, 38.)

THE REFLECTIVE STAGE

This stage naturally follows the Information stage, as one must acquire facts before reflecting on them in order to draw inferences. But reflection of a simple kind may begin as soon as any facts are given that will show the relations of cause and effect. The question for the pupil here is "Why?" just as in the preceding stage the questions were "When?" and "Where?" "What?" and "Who?" Information and reflection may therefore be combined--with due regard to the pupil's capacity.

PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES

We may speak of two difficulties. The first concerns the enormous amount of historical material that exists. It is increased still more by the intermingling of legend with history and by the partial narratives of prejudiced writers. The legendary part may be taken up in the Story stage; and the evils of one-sided accounts are often balanced by the greater vigour and interest of the narrative, as in Macaulay's writings.

The difficulty connected with the great amount of material can be solved by the selection (already largely made by the text-books) of the more important parts, that is, those facts of history that have the greatest influence on after times--"the points of vital growth and large connection" without which subsequent history cannot be properly understood.

The second difficulty has to do with deciding where to begin the teaching of history. There are two principles of teaching that will help to solve this difficulty: (1) The child learns by relating everything new to his present fund of experiences; (2) A child's notions grow more complex as his knowledge increases. To apply these, we must know the child's experiences and his present notions. We cannot a.s.sume that the present conditions of social life are known to the child through his experiences. Our social life is also too complex to be understood by him yet; he can understand an _individual_ hero better than he can the complex idea of a _nation_. How many children would be able to begin a study of history by having, as one writer suggests, "a short series of lessons ... to make some simple and fundamental historical ideas intelligible--a state, a nation, a dynasty, a monarch, a parliament, legislation, the administration of justice, taxes, civil and foreign war!" These are ideas far beyond the comprehension of the beginner. We must be guided, not by "what happens to be near the child in time and place, but by what lies near his interests." As Professor Bourne says: "it may be that mediaeval man, because his characteristics belong to a simple type, is closer to the experience of a child than many a later hero." With older children it is more likely to be true that the life of history lies "in its personal connections with what is here and now and still alive with us"; with historic places and relics, etc., which make their appeal first through the senses; with inst.i.tutions, such as trial by jury; with anniversaries and celebrations of great events which may be used to arouse interest in the history which they suggest and recall.

However, as McMurry points out, we are in a peculiarly favourable position in Canada, because we have in our own history, in the comparatively short time of 400 years, the development of a free and prosperous country from a state of wildness and savagery. The early stages of our history present those elements of life that appeal strongly to children--namely, Indians with all their ways of living and fighting, and the early settlers with their simpler problems and difficulties. The development of this simpler life to the more complex life of the present can be more readily understood by children as they follow up the changes that have taken place. (See McMurry, _Special Method in History_, pp. 26-30.) Of course, at every step appeal must be made to the experiences of children, as the teacher knows them. In Civics, however, the beginning must be made with conditions that exist to-day--schools, taxes, the policeman, the postmaster, etc. The beginning of the real teaching of history may then be made at the beginning of Canadian History, as this will enable the child to go gradually from the simple, or individual, to the complex, and will also allow the teacher to make use of whatever historical remains may be within reach.

CHAPTER II

GENERAL METHODS IN THE TEACHING OF HISTORY

There are many methods used in the teaching of history. A brief description of the princ.i.p.al ones is given for reference merely, since their best features are incorporated in a combination of methods, which is strongly recommended to teachers, and is described fully in succeeding pages.

1. _Methods based on the arrangement and selection of the matter_: Chronological, Topical

THE CHRONOLOGICAL METHOD

The matter is chosen according to the "time" order, beginning at the first of the history, and the events are taught in the order of occurrence without any marked emphasis on their importance, or without considering whether a knowledge of the event is useful or interesting to the cla.s.s at this stage. Such an arrangement of matter is more suitable when the formal study of history is begun.