Teaching has two sides to it: first, there is the student (whom we are teaching), and, second, there is the subject (which we are teaching). Thus, the teacher is a bridge between the student and what it is he seeks to learn.
1. What is the nature of the facts of history?
2. How should facts be grouped for exposition to a class?
3. Is there any typical or characteristic pattern of grouping events which is peculiar to the discipline of history?
4. Can he please himself in selecting events for treatment and emphasis, or are there historical principles, derived from the nature of history, by which he should remain faithful?
5. Can a course in social or economic history bring the same, or comparable benefits, as a course in general history?
6. On what scale should history be studied? (How much local history and how much world history?)
7. Are there historical principles which should guide his choice in any or all these problems of selection, and if so, what are they?
“The essential problem of a school is to adapt academic subjects for immature minds: in this process it must try to secure that its abridgement of a subject is a true one which preserves the essential nature of the subject, and that is simplification does not lose the educational value of the subject. School history is a subject already adapted for school purposes, ad if we were to start on the hypothesis that it was essentially different from real history we should be involved I a circular operation, in inquiring into how successful the adaptation was. It is certainly valuable, and in deed essential, to examine all school syllabuses and techniques from the point of view of the assumptions which they make about the subject. But such an examination is valueless unless we can set beside ti a view of the subject as it ideally should be in schools, a view of the subject as it is as an established body of knowledge. Without this we have no standard of comparison or criticism.
1. The nature of the facts of history
A. Historical evidence: present, contemporary and observable (the basis)
B. Historical facts: the human events
I. The outside (activity, action, behavior)
II. The inside (the “Thought” expressed by the action; motives, intentions, designs, purposes and policies)
C. Historical events
I. Three typical feature of historical events (Cannot be observed; have to be visualized or imagined; Concern with the uniqueness of each event; It is knowledge studied in detachment (not available for direct inspection)
II. standpoints (From the standpoint of its practical effect on him; From the point of view of the peoples of the past of their practical effects; From the point of view of their practical effects (the past events) upon us, here and now in the present (practical past)
III. The problem of teaching practical past (Shorn from the proper context of historical events because of the emphasis on one aspect only; The lack of historical imagination for the students in history lesson (no need to leave the present and immerse themselves in the past); Ignorance of the individuality of the historical events
IV. The problems of discovery method as a principle (The material to be used would be selected not because it was valuable as content, but because it was suitable for different stages in training students in historical method; The content of the subject which can be taught at school is either unimportant or immature and over-simplified; The skills involved are of general value and could be transferred to contemporary needs)
V. The advantages of treating Discovery method as a means of studying a content of history (Involves the pupil in active problem-solving; Gain some elementary introduction to some of the problems of analyzing evidence; Teacher’s dependence on the work of historians is not misplaced.)
VI. The use of visual aids in history teaching (Create the atmosphere of a period and something of the social background; Portrait of the character of eminent people of the past; The use of map/ sketch-map/ date or time chart)
Explanation in History: The historian to be preoccupied with the uniqueness of events does not preclude him from noting what it has in common with other events: on the contrary, it is a necessary preliminary step towards demonstrating its uniqueness that he should first expound what it has in common with other events…. By using ordinary language historians do not ignore the common characteristics of events, and it is a matter of common experience that they do not concentrate upon the uniqueness of events to the exclusion of all else.
Syllabus: Professor Butterfield's phrase, the historian seeks to understand the peoples of the past 'better than they understood themselves.'...The peculiar advantages of the historian, which enable him to be more penetrating in his understanding of the past than he can be of hte present, arise from two sources. First, he is a spectator and not a participant in the events of the past, and, second, and more important, he has the enormous advantage of knowing what came after the events which he is dealing with, whereas in the contemporary world, wuch developments lie in the unknown future.
We are concerned with whether the division of history into periods is sound, and whether, therefore, we can properly pose our second question as to whether some periods are more important to study than others.
Two kinds of study which are an essential part of history: the broad sweep of development on the one hand, nad the detailed study of a 'slice of life' on the other. ... If history is to bring a true picture of the past, and if it is to have its real value in education, it is essential that the two be kept in balance.
The 'patch' syllabus of history teaching is based on the view that the detailed study of a short period will retain in main benefits of the study of history and yet provide a sufficient abridgement for school purposes. .. The Line of Development syllabus is based on the vertical perspective of history, and omits the horizontal: by our argument it is open to equal objection....In practical terms this implies a syllabus which is a combination of 'outlines' and 'special peiods.'
A period of history should offer some intellectual challenge: our pupils should not avoid the hard work of historical study, rather they should, by studying limited periods thoroughly, experience both the hard work and the ultimate pleasure and satisfaction that the study of history can bring.
The historian to be preoccupied with the uniqueness of events does not preclude him from noting what it has in common with other events: on the contrary, it is a necessary preliminary step towards demonstrating its uniqueness that he should first expound what it has in common with other events…. By using ordinary language historians do not ignore the common characteristics of events, and it is a matter of common experience that they do not concentrate upon the uniqueness of events to the exclusion of all else.
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