The North WESTERN Monthly

A Magazine Devoted to the Correlation of Educational Forces

Vol. IX.

SEPTEMBER, 1898

No. L

Better History Teaching

WE

E shall have better history teaching when the ethical training it gives, for its power of

we have better trained teachers; and forming character, and so on ad infinitum.

we shall have the trained teachers Now, history is not ethics, and it claims a right when the teachers themselves, and those who to an independent existence. It deals with the employ them, realize that history can be taught evolution of man in society, and no further only by those who have been prepared for the reason need be given to justify the study of work.

history than the necessity of knowing how that As the matter stands to-day, it is the popular evolution has taken place. If the teachers of belief that any intelligent person may teach a history can be induced to see how rational this class in history without special training, or, with view of their work is, one long step will have no other knowledge than general information, been taken toward improving the work. may participate in a discussion upon methods But what is this training that the teacher of teaching history and what the object of his- must have, if better work is to be done and if torical study is. It is not an uncommon thing history is to take its place by the side of Latin, for a college graduate, who has devoted all his Greek, mathematics, and the sciences as a distime to Greek and Latin, or to science, to have ciplinary study? She must learn what the a class in history assigned to him. He may not process is by which an historical narrative is be particularly pleased with the assignment, constructed, and she must go through that but it does not strike him as at all incongruous.

process herself.

She can no more become a While, on the other hand, no good high school satisfactory teacher of history without this principal would assign a class in Greek to a training than she could become a successful man who had not been trained for that work. teacher of chemistry without laboring with her What is the reason for this distinction? It is own hands in the laboratory. It is difficult to not far to seek. As history has been taught make the teachers realize this, but if the cruand is still taught, in the high school, no spe- sade for better history teaching is to succeed, cial training is necessary. Any bright man can they must realize it. read over the lessons and hear the class recite This subject of how history is written has it. The large majority of history teachers been treated in a general manner in a previous never engaged in a bit of original research and number of the MONTHLY; it is my intention to have no more idea of what constitutes history treat it now more in detail. But before taking & science than has the intelligent public outside up the successive steps in the construction of an the school room.

historical narrative, I wish to point out the difThis unscientific spirit crops out of all the ferences between the historical method and the discussions in teachers' associations and of most method employed in the natural sciences. of the articles in educational papers.

In the natural sciences, the so-called method The reasons so commonly given to justify the of direct observation is made use of. The obstudy of history can be traced to the same ject itself is studied directly either with the source. Instead of studying history for the naked eye or with the microscope. Not one obsame reason that we study botany or chemistry, servation but many are made and under the that is, for its own sake, we must study it for most favorable circumstances. The observations thus made are recorded at once, and in tradition. It is of three kinds; oral, written, exact, scientific language, the neaning of which: iand: pictorial. Pictorial tradition has attained is not ambiguous. But scientific truth is not a great significance in our generation and a established by the work of one man.

Other great value that it did not formerly possess. scientists must make similar observations and This change is due to photography. For the obtain like results before these results can be historian of the Napoleonic era, the great war accepted as fully demonstrated.

It is only scenes by French contemporary artists are of necessary to recall the controversy over the little value; while for the historian of our supposed discovery of a cure for consumption war with Spain, the snap-shots taken by the by Dr. Koch, of Berlin, to make clear how ex- camera of a war correspondent will form the acting the scientists are, and how difficult it is most valuable source material. to establish a new truth beyond the possibility Oral tradition is the least reliable of all. It of doubt.

is the account of an event that has passed from Is the historical process similar to this? Not lip to lip and has been handed down from one at all. It is quite different. History deals with generation to another. It soon becomes utterly the past. It may be the past of this morning, unreliable and worthless, although it may have of the war with Spain, or of the Persian wars been very valuable when it came from the lips of Greek history, but it is always the past. of the eye witness. Yet it is not with the past in an indefinite way The written tradition, upon which the histhat history has to do. It is with the past in torian chiefly relies for his knowledge of the which human society has developed and the thoughts and acts of men in the past, if it be a problem with which it deals is this: How has source, contains the record of what has been the present complex, world-society been evolved seen or heard by an eye or ear witness. from the primitive, disconnected beginnings of This is the material with which the historian four or five thousand years ago? It is its busi- works. He observes it directly, it is true, but ness to reconstruct the process and to describe what he observes is not the event, not the the successive steps. When it has done that, it object, but the record of an observation made has done its whole duty.

upon that object. And what an observation it But how does it perform this duty? What is often is! Made by an incompetent person, its method? It cannot be the method of direct who, at the time, had no intention of recording observation, the method of the natural sciences, it, it is onesided and incomplete, and written and the reason is very plain; the objects are not down so long after the event that what little here to be observed. The past can be known value it originally had has been materially imto us only through its records, technically called paired, if not wholly destroyed. Add to this, the sources. These sources are of two kinds; the fact that it is expressed in unscientific material remains and traditions. The remains language, and some of the difficulties of the are all of those things that were actually part problem will be clear. What would be the and parcel of the life of past generations; bodies value to the chemist of a series of experiments, of men, clothing, weapons, houses, roads, if,--to borrow the illustration of a French bridges, newspapers, letters, coins, etc. writer, -his knowledge of them were based subdivision of the sources will be better appre- upon the accidental observations of the janitor ciated if a list is made of the material objects of the laboratory? Not only, then, is the histhat will form the sources for the history of our torian of the remote past unable to observe the own society. One of the characteristics of events directly, “but it is very rare that the modern historical method is the increase in the documents of which he makes use contain exvariety of the source material. Some of our act observations. He cannot, moreover, make most valuable information is drawn from ma- use of the records of observations scientifically terial that past generations never thought of established, that, in the other sciences, may, putting to such a use.

and often do, take the place of direct observaThe other main division of source material is tion."

His method must be that of indirect observa- in the colleges; it is very seldom that it is tim. He starts with the record and attempts done there. to work his way back to the fact, to see the In future papers I shall give a more detailed fact as the observer saw it. The fact is the treatment of criticism. My purpose at this goal of his efforts, not the starting point, as in time is to bring out the characteristic feature the work of the natural scientist. The docu- of historical method, namely, that of indirect ments that form the starting point for the his- observation and to distinguish it from the direct torian are nothing more than the traces of observation of the natural sciences. psychological operations.” In order to infer As the material with which the historian from the document the fact that gave rise to it, deals consists largely of “the traces of psychothe student of history must retrace the whole logical operations," it is perfectly clear that the series of psychological operations that lay be- student of history must have at least a working tween the fact and the written record of the knowledge of psychology. Much good hisobservation, retracing them in the inverse tory, it might be said, was written before such order, beginning with the document.

a science as psychology existed. True, but it The object of the procedure is to establish

was written by men who through introspection the genuineness of the document and the value

knew much about the workings of their own of the observations. If the document is not minds, and through experience much about the genuine, we need not take it into account; and workings of their fellows' minds. They apan observation is practically useless until it has plied this to their work, sometimes consciously, been localized, that is, until we know when it

more often unconsciously. To-day, in addition was made, where it was made, and by whom it

to his own introspective study and his experiwas made.

ence, the student of history has at his disposal

scientific treatises upon the operations of the From this crucible of criticism, the contents

human mind, and is taught to apply this knowlof a document come forth separated into single edge consciously in his work. Without such a affirmations, each affirmation bearing the mark training, he is unable to trace the mental procof its value. This is the foundation work that

ess by which an observation is made, and thus places in the hands of the historian observa

determine its value; without such a training, tions similar to those possessed by the scien- he is unable to control his own mental operatist, but seldom, if ever, as exact or as valuable.

tions when he attempts to imagine the event The work of historical criticism is extremely described by the witness. The more conscious dificult, but absolutely necessary.

these processes become, the more likely are It is, however, the portion of method to they to become exact and scientific. which the least attention is paid in our colleges, The teacher of history, then, should be a although it is the best developed part of constant student of herself, observing carefully methol. The natural credulity of the human every mental process that has any relation to mind leads the student and the historian, too, historical method; through reading and travel, for that matter, to accept with the faith of a she should enlarge her experience, and, finally, child the evidence that comes to them, and to she should systematize her psychological knowlutilize observations without having first localized edge by the careful study of some good work them. Here is where the reform must begin. on psychology, like that of James, for example. The student must be taught that “historical Psychology is as likely to throw as much work is critical work par excellence,” and that light upon the problems of history teaching as he is sure to fail if he undertakes it without it has already thrown upon those of historical having been previously put on his guard method. It teaches the student of history that against his natural instinct to accept without “the eye sees in an object what the eye brings examination anonymous information and to power of seeing," and the student of history, utilize good, bad, and indifferent documents become the teacher of history, knows that the without distinction. This work should be done boys and girls in her classes can acquire a knowledge of past society from the sources just on Method. It is, to my mind, the most imso far as their knowledge of present society has portant chapter in the book. given the eye power to see, and no further. If this article, and those that are to follow, We know that this mass of knowledge has been accomplish what I hope they may accomplish, acquired unconsciously and to a very large ex- the teacher that reads them and needs their tent has been used unconsciously. One of the help will not accept on trust the statements innovations of the future in history teaching that I have made, but will proceed to test them, will be the care for the systematic acquisition and by so doing make the truths they contain through direct observation of such knowledge her own property. Let her satisfy herself by of existing society as will enable the young dealing with source material (accounts of the student to understand the past. This work battle of Manila by eye witnesses--August must be done in the early years and lay the Century) that the method of the historian foundation for the study of ancient society. It must be that of indirect observation; let her has long been a question as to whether history see, at the same time, how necessary to her study should begin with ancient history or with work a knooledge of psychology is, and if she the history of the locality in which the child has not already done so, let her take up the lives. Psychology would seem to have an- study of the subject; and last of all let her swered this question once for all. It says the convince herself of the need of a systematic child can begin in but one way, and that is by study of existing society by her young pupils, the direct observation of the society in which it and learn from the examination of the life of lives. When through this direct observation the village or city in which she lives what fasthe eye has acquired the “power of seeing," cinating material for direct observation lies the attention may then be turned to the societies unused around her. Such effort will give her of the past that may be studied only indirectly a new insight into the nature of historical work, and by the light of the knowledge that has been and will enable her to become a valued helper acquired. Some excellent suggestions for this in the crusade for the better teaching of direct observation of society will be found in history.

F. M. FLING. one of the chapters of Professor Mace's book

B

Christian and Pagan The Works of Tacitus. The Oxford transla- EARING in mind the purpose of these extion, revised, with notes. Vol. I., the An

tracts, I quote the cheapest and most acnals. Vol. II., the History, Germany,

cessible editions rather than the most Agricola, and Dialogue on Orators. don, 1890 and 1889. Juvenal, translated scholarly. by Charles Badham, M.D., F.R.S., and The student should make himself familiar Persius, translated by the Rť. Hon. Sir W.

with the most important facts concerning each Drummond. New York, 1837. The Letters of Caius Plinius Caecilius Secundus.

author, when and where he lived, what sort of The translation of Melmoth, revised and

a man he was, what position in society he occucorrected by Rev. F. C. Bosanquet, B.A. pied, what he wrote, etc. For the purpose of London, 1890. The Lives of the Twelve

this number, the chief stress in preparing the Caesars, by C. Suetonius Tranquillus, trans

bibliography should be laid on the question, In lated by Alexander Thompson, M.D. Edited by J. Eugene Reed, M.A. Two

how far may the opinions expressed here be volumes bound in one. Philadelphia, 1889. regarded as current at the time? In how far The Writings of Quintus Septimius Flor- are these authors representative men?" If ens Tertullianus. In three volumes, Vol. Tacitus and Pliny thought ill of the Christians, I. In Ante-Nicene Christian Library:

what other classes in Roman society in all probtranslations of the writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. Edited by the Rev.

ability thought the same? The Pagan writAlexander Roberts, D.D., and James Don- ers quoted are so familiar to the student that aldson, LL.D. Edinburgh, 1869.

no information concerning them is necessary