Various

“ The teacher should show certain characteristics which make Greece of vast importance. Among these will be found the fact of the wonderful intellectual force of the Greeks, which led them into the same lines of thought and investigation which interest the modern world; their love of independence, in such marked contrast with the servility of the Oriental races at whose history we have been looking in the past month, and especially their artistic supremacy, which made them the great masters in the creation of beauty for all time ”

“ Like Gregory VII, he asked for no stronger weapons than the terrors inspired by the wrath of Mother Church. Finally there appeared in the arena the brilliant ward of this the greatest of popes, Frederick II, aptly characterized as the first of modern kings, striving for absolute mastery in Sicily and in Germany, placing his trust, as did his illustrious ancestor in the Roman law, but utilizing at the same time his knowledge of men and the rising power of the bourgeoisie. His plans, like those of Barbarossa, met with vigorous opposition at the hands of the popes and for much the same reasons. ”

“ When we come to the development and the glories of the Greek democracy a large degree of caution is needed. In the writer’s opinion there is a good deal of glamour about this so-called democracy. The best Greek never dreamed of manhood suffrage, or the rights of man as man. In his view never were “all men created free and equal.” Athens in her best days had but 30,000 voters, and refused citizenship to all outsiders, even fellow-Greeks from across the nearest border line. Slavery was one of the corner-stones of society. So far as it went, the democracy of Athens was of the pure type. ”

“ The new procedure had to be learned by teachers as well as by pupils, and its application to the conditions of particular schools determined by careful study of local possibilities and needs. What was possible in a large and generously supported school was not equally attainable in a small and poor one; and it was inevitable that mistakes should be made even by those most interested in making the new work a success. No more in history than in language or mathematics, both of which have undergone pedagogical reformation in our day, was perfection to be won at the outset. ”

“ If the Ohio was the gateway to the West, the Mississippi was the great central avenue upon which the western people from all sections met in friendly trade, so that the original feeling of solidarity was strengthened by continuous intercourse and the realization of mutual interests. The different environment at the headwaters and mouth of the river never succeeded in separating completely the western people. Here the idea of the unity of the country took deeper root than in the East, where statehood meant more and nation less. ”

“ The Study of Western History in Our Schools BY PROFESSOR CLARENCE W. ALVORD, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
The West has always been self-assertive. This may sound somewhat banal, but no adjective describes so exactly that principal characteristic of her vigorous youth. Commercially, politically, socially she has displayed her egoism and has continually demanded from her elder sister, the East, praise for her achievements. Youth is, however, passing away; over a century of political life has been left behind; age has brought with it a new pride in the consciousness of accomplishment. ”

“ Where the time allotted to the course in the curriculum is insufficient, as it often is, or where the teacher is incompetent, or where the facilities of the department are inadequate, it is inevitable that the work should be slighted and the results upon examination appear unsatisfactory. Undoubtedly, also, in our zeal for the broad view and the vivifying treatment, we have tended unconsciously to depreciate the value of exact knowledge, and have allowed ourselves to think that because the function of memorizing may easily be overworked, the memory has no place in the study of history at all. ”

“ Probably all teachers of American history will admit that broadly stated the course in American history and government should be organized with special emphasis on the national period, and should represent an attempt to show how out of the diversity of the colonial period there finally emerged the spirit of federal union, and how American history largely centers around the erection of a sovereign federal state, in face of English opposition, and the maintenance of the union, in the face of internal dissensions, and finally, the growth and expansion of the United States as a world power. ”

“ I think it is helpful to the memory, and useful, because of the great influence of the crown throughout English History, to bring out the personality of every sovereign, so that the names of each dynasty will not be a list of names and nothing more. But in every century we shall find certain great personalities, either on the throne or off it, which should be made as vivid as may be. ”

“ In the same way, the student of American history must be continually reminded that he is studying not the history of half a dozen or more isolated communities, but a phase of a great European struggle for world power. ”

“ I am sure that we have not yet solved the problem of examining in history either in school or in college, but I am also compelled to think that the greatest weakness of history teaching at present, in those schools in which the new program is being applied, is that it so often fails to give the pupil a definite knowledge of anything. ”

“ Instruction in civics should aim to train the mind, to develop political intelligence, to awaken civic consciousness, to interest the pupil in civic duty, and to prepare him, through instruction and practice, for its exercise. The scope of the subject should include actual government as found in the local unit, the State, and the nation, with so much of the history of government as is needed to explain present institutions and conditions. Enough of the theory of government should be given to establish an orderly arrangement of the subject matter in the pupil’s mind. ”

“ Yet it is in this very field of politics and government that this country was long supposed to have completely outstripped all the older countries. In the framing of constitutions and in the inauguration of new systems of popularizing political institutions America has led and contributed much, but in the careful, efficient management of public affairs we have not been so successful. In the management of our cities it is conceded that our mistakes and failures are rather more conspicuous than our successes. ”

“ To summarize experiences as a reader is not a happy task for the secondary school teacher. As regards what may be termed the New Learning in history—geographic control, economics, and the exercise of observation, analysis, and judgment, the teacher need not blush at his failure to render his pupil able to observe, analyze, and judge in clear and correct English in fifteen-minute sections of a two-hour examination, or to deal successfully even in an elementary way with subjects that have either only recently become part of a college course or are not generally studied by freshmen. ”

“ Throughout this period of rivalry between Holland and England, especially after 1660, often against the will of the people, the English government maintained a close alliance with the king of France, the bitterest enemy of the Dutch people. In the last years of the reign of James II, however, the tide of English feeling turned irresistibly against the French alliance. ”

“ First of all, if our lesson is to typify the Spanish explorers as a group, it should supply a basic concept of Spanish life and character in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is not a matter of much difficulty to arouse in our pupils a real interest in the Spaniards of that time. There is so much of the romantic and the picturesque about this phase of American history that for the conscientious teacher it will always constitute one of the most attractive portions of his work. Varied selections from literature suitable to the age of the children should be read to them. ”

“ The old pedagogic maxim that we should make haste slowly applies with peculiar force to the “type-lesson” method. We begin slowly that we may gain time later. More than that, we are furnishing our pupils with a definite stock of fundamental historical notions which will constitute for them a genuine intellectual capital. As they go on with the study of history, they will find that their “type ideas” help to interpret the detailed facts they meet, which facts in turn will tend to re-enforce the “type-ideas.” ”

“ You will, I think, find it very helpful in studying the history of those two countries always to bear in mind that throughout most of that period the five States of Western Europe all alike are not properly European States but world States, and that they debate continually among themselves a mighty question, which is not European at all and which the student with his eye fixed on Europe is too apt to disregard, namely, the question of the possession of the New World. ”

“ In planning the work of the Association, the Executive Board has always had in view the fact that not only the general meetings of the main association, but even those of the local conference, are beyond the reach of many who may feel the need of information about matters that closely concern persons engaged in the teaching of history; the stimulus of contact with others teaching the same subject; the enrichment of their own minds through a fresh study of the subject in the light of recent scholarship. ”

“ There is quite a marked tendency to separate American government from American history in the fourth year of the high school, and to give a half year’s work in each subject. If American government is taught as a separate subject a text-book should be selected which allows the teacher to organize the course so as to work from the familiar to the unfamiliar aspects of government, from the local to the national aspects of the field of study. ”

“ But a mechanical basis is not alone sufficient, a topical one is necessary also. This is the most difficult and at the same time the most vital part of organization and the part in which most teachers fail on account of poor perspective as to important and unimportant topics and a failure to realize the inner meaning and significance of the external events with which they are dealing. Fortunately most history text-books have been constructed on a skeleton of topics, and even a poorly-trained teacher can, with a little care, discover the proper lesson divisions. ”

“ The teacher should equally avoid the new hybrid text which attempts to combine in one, a treatment of History and Government. In the very nature of things such books must be confusing and distracting to the beginner.
It is equally important that superintendents and principals stop the practice of assigning the subject to any teacher on the force whose time is not fully taken up with other duties. No one can hope to teach Government with the best success who has not a genuine interest and an appropriate training for the work. ”

“ A little thought and care on the part of the teacher in planning the lesson assignments and conducting the recitation will keep the course from becoming dull and meaningless. The attention of the class should always be drawn to the bearing of what they are studying on present conditions and particular emphasis should be directed to great international movements as well as to the growth and development of the leading European countries. In no field of high school study does careful previous organization lead to more satisfactory results than in the medieval and modern field. ”

“ The question naturally arises whether the public schools have not contributed to these mistakes and failures by neglecting to provide adequate instruction in matters of Government. It may be difficult to demonstrate that school training in the science of Government does result in purer political methods and more efficient administration of public business, but surely a citizenship whose political information has been gleaned from election posters, stump speeches, newspaper head lines, and highly colored magazine articles will not furnish a model of civic enlightenment and success. ”

“ For instance, while the area of New York State is about 48,000 square miles, Greece contained but 21,000. And very early in the course the fact should be brought out that this tiny territory, in the greatest days of its people, was never united politically, but divided into rival States, really nations, each only about as large as one of our counties. A wholesome corrective to our American boastfulness over size may be found in the slightness of area and population of this marvellous land, which has contributed so many more than its proportionate share of mighty men. ”

“ Topics in economics enter to a considerable extent into American history, but it is a question how far economic theory should be developed in a secondary school course. The field is a tempting one to a teacher filled with his subject: the fundamental principles of money, foreign trade, rent, capital and labor, corporate organization, socialism, these and many others the young man will inevitably come in contact with daily. ”

“ Boom towns were not an invention of yesterday. The far-famed American pioneer played his part in these enterprises, but he was often only a pawn in the hands of the gentleman speculator of the East, who is to be found in every period of western development. The speculative energy of such men as George Washington, the Lees, and George Morgan advertised the advantages of the valley lands far and wide. Then followed the wild rush of homeseekers which rapidly built the Western States. ”

“ Emphasis should be laid on the continuity of Roman influence, as seen in the imperial Church and the imperial State and in Roman law, on the Christian religion as a factor in advancing civilization, and on the contribution of political, social and economic importance made by the Germans. The medieval world is more foreign to the schoolboy mind than even that of Greece and Rome, and the struggles of popes and emperors, the intricacies of feudalism, and the ascetic and adventurous aspects of the Crusades are hard for him to understand. ”

“ The idea of the growth of free, representative government (the power of the people, or democracy, in government) is the predominant note, but the broader viewpoint of the growth of national civilization as shown in policies, industry, art, language and letters is also desirable and important. Among the dangers to be avoided in teaching English history, and in teaching how to organize it, is the temptation to emphasize the minor political details relating to royalties, wars and so forth. ”

“ In these times of slighting of the ancient world it is well to reflect how many of the commonest allusions of literature, and even of political editorials, depend for their meaning upon some knowledge of the Greek stories. ”