A Guide to Methods and Observation in History Part 7
2. Is there a "richness" of details or is there a dearth of them?
3. Are details presented in a vivid manner, with many gripping tentacles, or are they set forth in bold, uninteresting forms only?
4. Are the details intimately fused or correlated?
5. Is effort made to get each pupil to develop a mental picture of the scene represented by the details?
6. When the image is fashioned, is an effort made to discriminate and to abstract the dominant characteristics?
7. Is effort made to get at the spirit of the historical fact, and to discover the motives that operated to produce it?
8. Are generalizations and principles of human thought, feeling, and conduct deduced from the study?
9. Is effort made to test the validity of such principles among social relationships of to-day?
10. Does the teacher make history appear what it is, i.e., a ceaseless development, a unity, or does she leave the impression among the pupils that history is a ma.s.s of disconnected dead facts?
XI. _The Organization of History in High Schools._
+--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | PLAN 1 | PLAN 2 | PLAN 3 | +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | 9th grade} General History |Ancient History | | |10th grade} |Med. & Mod. History|Anc. & Med. Hist. | +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ |11th grade} American History |English History |Modern History | |12th grade} |U.S. Hist. & Civics|U.S. Hist. & Civics| +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | | | | +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | PLAN 4 | PLAN 5 | PLAN 6 | +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | 9th grade Loc. Hist., Civics |Ancient History |Recent history | | and Industries | | Local Civics | | | | Local Indust. | +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ |10th grade Ancient History |Med. & Mod. Hist. |{Indust. Hist. 1/2 | | | |{Commer. Hist. 1/2 | | | | Ancient History | +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ |11th grade Med. & Mod. Hist. |{Eng. History 1/2 |Mod. & Med. or | | |{U. S. History 1/2 | Eng. History | +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ |12th grade U. S. Hist. & Civics|{U. S. History 1/2 |U. S. History | | |{Civics 1/2 | Civics | +--------------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
QUERIES
1. Which of the above plans appeals to you most? Why so?
2. What is the plan of organization in the school observed?
3. What courses are prescribed, and what are elective? Do you approve?
4. How many recitation periods per week are allotted to the work in each course? Is this wise?
5. Is there one period per week devoted to "una.s.signed" or "unprepared"
cla.s.s work?
6. If so, how is the period employed?
7. Do you approve of such a period as a regular feature of the course?
8. What justification is there in making the first year's work consist of "Local History, Civics, and Industries"?
9. What argument is there for placing Ancient History in the 12th grade, and making it an elective study?
10. Is the work in Advanced Civics presented in a separate course, or is it correlated and interwoven with the work in U. S. History?
11. What arguments can you give for and against the practice?
12. What is the scope and aim of each of the courses Of history you have observed?
XII. _The History Teacher's Preparation and Equipment._
1. Has the teacher the kind of personality you could wish for yourself?
2. Is her voice melodious and pleasing?
3. Has she winsome manners?
4. Is she sympathetic with her students?
5. Does she show distinctive qualities of leadership?
6. Has she evidently had a good general training in literature, sociology, philosophy, biology, and psychology?
7. Has she evidently had extensive and special training in history and political science?
8. Has she had professional training in educational psychology, history of education, methods, and general administration of school work?
9. Is she tied to the textbook?
10. Does she have a fund of explanatory and ill.u.s.trative material at her command?
11. Is she accurate, positive, and confident?
12. Has she a sense of humor and of the fitness of things? Has she self-control, or does she, for example, use sarcasm and ridicule?
13. Has she clearly prepared herself anew for the lesson in hand? What evidences have you of this?
14. Does she inspire her pupils? How?
15. Is there good discipline? If so, how is it secured?
16. Does the teacher seem to be familiar with local history, local geography, and both local and general industrial, political, and social conditions?
17. Does she seem to be familiar with the local library and its equipment?
18. Does she know her pupils--their interests, home life, and ambitions?
19. Does she possess enthusiasm, energy, optimism, sympathy, imagination, force, incisiveness, tact, judgment, geniality, social graces, courtesy, and kindliness?
20. Does she grasp the subject in its unity and entirety?