Mexico weekly ledger., 1879-01-16
ESTORY IN OUR C1IzGaON
s~ssNENdkSkE&

HISTORY IN OEJsa COMMON
SCHOOLS.
1t is told of Beecher that he once
gave this recipe for making good
coffee: .sFind out how they make it
at the restaurant and don't do it that
way" So perhaps one may give the
rule for teaching history by saying,
1'Find out how they teach it in the
common schools, and do not teach it
that way There are, doubtless,
restaurants which make good coffee,
and common schools which teach his-@
tory efficiently but the rule, it is to
be feared, is poor coffee and bad
teaching.
The Importance of the study Of his
tory is admitted. II has the Two char
acteristies of useful study ;it affords
good mental exercise, and it gives
useful knowledge. Properly taught,
it brings into play not only the MEM
cry, but also the judgment OF the
connection OF events: the cause OF
human successes and failures, and the
moral qualities Of the actions Of men
and of natioiFj. 1.-The knowledge it
gives when wildly impressed is
thought-inspiring, and useful in our
daily estimates of men and events.
In the hands of a skillful teacher, few
studies can be made so useful or in
teresting but, as commonly pursued,
/. none are 81 tiresome or useless. In
place of the vivid pictures of great
people and great men, struggling,
suffering, end triumphing by turns;
building cities, settling States, form
ing governments. conquering enc
mics, developing industries, extend
ing commerce, and growing great OIL
sinking into weakness through the
presence or lack of heroism, wisdom,
and justice, there is too often the dull
memorizing, OF attempts TO memorize,
some poor, dry abridgemenS,-a
meaningless and lifeless string of
dates and events.half told.
FIRST MIsTAKE.-The first mistake
made by most teachers in teaching
history, comes from not discriminating
the difference between history and
the other common studies, such as
arithmetic. and grammar. In these
latter branches, the facts and princi-
pies to be studied lie in the textbooks
themselves. The real numbers and
operations are in the arithmetic which
the pupil holds in his hand; the real
words and sentences to be analyzed
are in his grammar. The problems
to be thought ont, the demands upon
the Judgment and the reasoning fac
ulty, are there in the book, and cam
not be substituted for that of the
Judgment. Thought is imperative.
But history is the description of
scenes and events not present, and
which demand at the Outest an eXer-
else of the Imagination to bring them
before the mind. They involve re-
lations of time and place which can
only be learned by a careful study of
their chronology and geography.
They require often an explanation of
old customs and usages, and a study
OF contemporary events and people.
To be valuable, history must be vivid.
The reader or student must, as much
as possible, live over the events, and
be, rs it were,S IAN eyewitness Of the
scenes. Especially must he compre-
bend the motivessand feelings of the
real actors, and make his own judg-
ment of their wisdom and justice.
Nothing of all this is accomplished,
or even attempted, by the ordinary
textbooks or teachers. 4 lesson of
so many pages, in some mere tout
line," as it is called, is assigned the
class, and nothing is demanded ex-
cept the rehearsal of the lessOn,-
often only selected parts Of it, giving
some leading events and dates,-a
sort Of abridgmept of an abridgment.
The pupil is invited, If not compelled,
to substitute an act of memory for an
exercise OF thought and reason. No
problem demands solution. No think
ing is required beyond the simple
understanding of the words. Occas-
ionaI questions are perhaps asked on
The geography and chronology in-
volyed, confined usually to the query,
Where, or when, did this event oc-
cur?'
=, Cen one wonder That history thus
taught is one Of the idlest and most
fruitless studies in our common
schools?
SECOND MIsTAKE.-The second, and
perhaps the fundamental error of the
a eom;non-schOol teacher of history is,
the lack OF the needful preparation.
Misled, it may be, by the fact that
one who has mastered gwen text
hook in grammar or arithmetic can
give lessons in 1t, the. teacher con-
eludeaihat a knowledge of the text
/. book used for the history-lcsson is all
that is-needed to give the proper in
struction. But this is as II one were
to attempt to give lessons from q work
on grammar, having only the table
of contents before him. Our little
school histories are scarcely more
than a table of contents of history
proper. 1t seems palpable that q
teacher Of history must know history.
4AAC iuuob hHph5 WIN SOliS pIOpCl
fulness, the events which the text
book mentions in brief. He must be
able to restore, with its proper de-
tails, color and circumstances, the
picture OF which the textbook gives
the most meagre outline. He must
supply, or show the pupil how to
supply, the geographical and chro-
biological environment of the historic
fact stated, and must thus call into
exercise the critical historical judy
ment in determining both the truth
of events, and their real character
and significance.
The possession of this full knowl-
edge implies much reading and study,
more perhaps than most Of our COM
mon-school teachers can be expected
to have done. But the necessity re-
mains the sane. No knowledge, no
good teaching. Let the teacher feel
this, and he will perhaps command
tie time to master the history of our
own country. Let him, at least, do
this, or cease to pretend to teach his
tory