The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 2, October, 1909 — John Shaqi
The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 2, October, 1909Various
History
The History Teacher's Magazine, Vol. I, No. 2, October, 1909
Various
History -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals
Printed on another page of this number is a paper by Miss Briggs upon
her experiences as an examiner and reader in history for the College
Entrance Examination Board, in which figures are given to show that
history papers are rated lower than any other of the major subjects,
and that the average grade in history, instead of rising, is actually
getting lower year by year. Miss Briggs expresses the hope that the
low grades are due to the number of applicants who prepare by rapid
tutoring or wholly by themselves for the history examinations; a
practice, of course, almost impossible in the other major subjects. But
while such cramming is partly responsible for the failure of history
applicants, it cannot relieve the history teacher of blame. All who
have had experience in the marking of history papers in entrance
examinations know that much of the teaching of history is careless,
indefinite, and without evident purpose or understanding. If our
subject is not to lose caste altogether we must find a method which
will give the student that which can be measured objectively, as well
as furnish subjective satisfaction or culture.
Such a method will not add to the intricacy of history for the student,
but it will require more efficient teachers of the subject, and it will
prevent that serious evil of the high school teaching of history,--the
assignment of history to any unattached instructor, whether he or she
knows anything about history or no. History teaching in the college or
the graduate school has, to a certain extent, found itself, and won
the respect of its fellows; history teaching in the high school and
preparatory school has not yet reached that point of self-development.
There has been much talk, and rightfully, about the content of
secondary school history courses. The market has been filled with
excellent text-books and admirable source books--indeed they are
almost too good in that they have made text-book recitations easier
and somewhat more interesting. There have been pages and volumes of
reading references and map references and source references. Yet with
all these aids to the better teaching of history there has not gone a
proportionate ability to use them. Let us ask for a while, not what
period of history shall we teach? but, how shall we teach any period of
history?
In the Latin or Greek class there are objective standards which must
be reached; in the mathematics or the English class there is a certain
amount and quality of productive work to be accomplished; in the
physics or chemistry or botany class there is laboratory experience to
be gained and recorded in note-books. Has history a method which can be
compared with any of these? Can we measure objectively the student’s
acquisition? Can we get him to use in some way his experiences in the
field of history, or have him record them in a valuable form?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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