Course-VII-(A) (1.2.7A) Pedagogy of a School Subject Part-I (History)
Topic outline
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Aims and objectives of teaching History
1. To promote self-understanding: Without history Indians will not know w
2. hat it means to be Indians. To know what it means to be an Indian a person needs to understand the racial National family and individual traditions that make up the heritage of India. Knowledge of history is very much needed for new generations of politicians, statesmen, economists and scientists.
2. To provide a proper idea of time, space and society: It helps the child to understand the relationship that links the present with the past, the local with the distant and personal and National life with lives and cultures of other men and women elsewhere in time and space.
3. To teach tolerance of other's faith, culture and opinions.
4. To cultivate a valuable intellectual attitude: History teaches students to not label something as bad or good simply because someone else is saying so rather it teaches students to formulate judgement based on scientific data and analysis. Thus, History aims to broaden the intellect of students.
5. To teach moral principles: History aims to teach students about various moral principles from various events and lives of eminent historical figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda etc.
6. To cultivate a forward look: It can make students understand how the lessons from the past can be applied to better understand the present and the future problems.
7. To foster nationalism.
8. To develop international understanding.
9. To train students how to handle controversial issues.
10. To develop various skills such as using maps, charts, models, timelines and various other reference materials.
Value of teaching History
Disciplinary Value: History provides a great mental training.Memory and imagination are as much trained by history as by literature and geography. The mental training the child receives from a study of history in comparison and contrast, in examining the data and arriving at conclusions, in weighing evidence and in connecting the cause and effect and of sifting truth from conflicting accounts, is a boon in itself.
Informative Value: History is a wonderful treasure-house of information and can offer guidance for the solution to all human problems pertaining to science and art, language and literature, social and political life, philosophical speculation and economic development.
Educational Value: One of the best reasons for teaching history to children is its educational value. It is logical to treat history as a temporal canvas against which the facts learned in other subjects can be arranged. Science and mathematics are subjects far remote from history in the mind of the child; yet a well-planned syllabus of history can help to set scientific discoveries and the invention of mathematical techniques in an historical perspective, e.g. the stories of transport and communications, of tools and machines, of food and medicine, of geographical discoveries, make it possible for the child to have a more secure understanding of science and mathematics as well as a wider sense of the meaning of history. History is a veritable mine of stories-stories can illustrate even subject of curriculum the only condition is that the teacher should know enough stories and should know how to narrate them.
Ethical Value: History is considered a very important part of the school curriculum on the ground that it teaches morality. Bolingbroke says, "History is philosophy teaching by examples." Firth holds, "Not only is it a branch of learning to be studied for its own sake; but it is a kind of knowledge which is useful to men in daily life the end and scope of all history being to teach us by example of times past such wisdom as may guide our desires and actions."
Cultural Value: History can be an effective instrument of civilizing the human mind.
History also enables us to understand our present culture. It explains the origin of existing state of things, our customs, our usages, our institutions. It tells us that our present day culture has been evolved as a result of the effects which have been brought to bear upon the ancient human culture through the long chain of centuries.
Political Value: History also helps in the politics of our country. History is said to be the past politics. T.R. Seeley says, "The historian is a politician of the political group or organism, the state being his study. To lecture on political science is to lecture on history." It teaches us how under certain circumstances we also may do what others have done.
Nationalistic Value: As an instrument of inculcating into the child's mind a love for his country, its use is unchallengeable. Without history, a nation is like a boat without oars. History teaching renders an effective service in imbibing the young minds with a sense of patriotism. It is through history alone that an Indian child comes to know of the various deeds performed by such patriots as Shivaji, Rana Pratap, Guru Gobind Singh, Rani Jhansi, Bhagat Singh, Gandhiji, Pandit Nehru, etc. By reading about their great lives and deeds, the child can easily be inspired to emulate them. A proper teaching of history can prepare the way for sober, nationalism.
Internationalistic Value: History is invaluable for developing the roots of sane internationalism. Through a survey of world history, the young learners will come to realise that although differ- ent peoples had and still have different customs, habits, laws and institutions, they have been striving towards the same end. History shows the dependence and inter-dependence of nations which is the root of internationalism. If rightly taught, it can engender the idea of world citizenship. It can develop an awareness among pupils that each country is like a flower in the garden of God, and has a beauty and fragrance of its own. Thus, history can serve as the best instrument for creating a saner social order in the world.
Vocational Value: History has its value from the vocational view point also. There are several openings for persons well qualified in the subject. They can get jobs of teachers in schools, colleges and universities, librarians, archivists, curators of museums, secretaries of institutions, social service workers, political journalists, foreign and military correspondents, etc.
Educational Value: Not only history helps pupils of varying ages and abilities to find their place in time by means of establishing a 'reassuring liaison with the past, such a viewpoint implies the adoption of a philosophy of meaningful origin in the past and a meaningful goal in the future which alone provides a rationale for human striving in the present.
History Curriculum
Principles for Selecting History Curriculum
1. The curriculum selected should help in the achievement of aims of teaching history.
2. The curriculum selected should be appropriate to the age and ability of that group of pupils to whom it is to be taught.
3. The contents of study should have functional relationship between them: Taken together they should appear as an organic whole, and not as isolated experiences.
4. The curriculum must be wide and comprehensive: Let the pupil learn about the story of humanity starting from the local history, proceeding through the regional and national history and ultimately reaching the world history.
5. The curriculum selected should lay emphasis on national and world unity.
Evaluation of the Existing History Curriculum at the Secondary Stage
1. Curriculum does not include variety of experiences inside and outside the school.
2. Curriculum is failing to acquaint the students with their social, cultural, political and economic environment.
3. Curriculum is not related to day-to-day life.
4. Curriculum fails to foster national and international understanding among the students.
5. Curriculum does not take into account the individual differences among students.
6. Principle of correlation is rarely followed in preparing curriculum.
7. Less opening for practical work.
8. Principles of activity and interest is not fully observed.
Inter-relationship of Various Branches of Social Science
History and Geography
History and geography are most intimately related. History studies people of different times and geography deals with the people of different places. In order to do a geographical study one needs to find out historical facts about the topic. At the same time various geographical phenomena please a very important role in influencing the course of history. For example, in order to understand the establishment of earliest civilizations near rivers one needs to take help of geography.
History and Political Science
Political science is the science of citizenship. Citizenship in the modern setup involves a good knowledge of local National and international affairs. To gain this knowledge one needs to study History. History provides up to date knowledge about the origin development and progress or decline of some of the social institutions. History provides information about revolutions and political movements. History without a proper analysis of political events becomes simply fiction and cannot be used for furthering the interest of humanity. Various political revolutions such as American revolution French revolution Russian revolution have been very significant political events in the history of these countries. That is why John Seeley has said that history without political science has no fruit and political science without history has no root.
History and Economics
History describes the story of man; economics describe the activities of production and consumption. The history of past economic events throws and important light on the present economic policies and helps in the formulation and verification of various economic laws and theories. Every economic problem of the present can be understood and solved against the historical background. History, too, is not only concerned with the story of wars are kings it also studies the economic condition of a country at a particular time. The economic prosperity of India has been attracting invaders and these have determined the force of India's history. Therefore, the study of history reinforces the study of economics and vice versa.
History and Sociology
Sociology is closely connected to History. The work of History is to study social and other allied forces from the earliest times to the modern times to ensure social change. This knowledge from history helps sociology to develop an insight into various social forces at work at different times, analyse their varied nature and multiple functions.
Innovation in Teaching History
1. Thinking like a historian. by using various primary sources and asking students to analyse those sources teachers can teach students how to critically think and analyse various aspects of a historical phenomenon the students can develop researching skills as well. They can understand how to solve problems quickly and effectively. Teachers can help students to hone their observation skills as well. Rather than telling them the fact the students must be encouraged to find out the facts and draw their own conclusions.
2. Contextual analysis of subject-matter is an important aspect of present day history teaching. In order to make learning meaningful to the students, the teachers should present information in such a way that students are able to understand the context and construct meaning based on their own experiences. If the information provided to students has no contextual relevance, the students will fail to grasp the matter properly. It will just remain mere information without any practical relevance or information. But if the subject-matter is taught with proper contextual relevance it will provide the students a better understanding and develop an interest in them about the subject.
3. Participatory approach involves the students into the teaching learning process. In the traditional teaching process, the students only listen to the lectures delivered and carry out the instructions of the teacher. They just remain passive listeners and hence may not develop much interest in the subject. But in a participatory approach, the students actively get involved and contribute to the teaching and learning process. They thus think for themselves and take much more interest in the subject-matter. Thus this is a form of reflective teaching where the students often reflect on their personal experiences and integrate them with the information that they receive in school. This may also be cited as an interactive teaching method which expands the domain of a learner's thought process and enables him to express and exchange his ideas with others easily.
4. Another innovative teaching strategy adopted in history is the use of interdisciplinary approach. By means of this approach a topic can be taught in different contexts by cutting across different curricular disciplines. It takes ideas from different disciplines and establishes links between various subjects.
5. Innovations can be brought in the assessment process as well. Instead of giving questions to answer they can be asked to study some specific books or historical texts related to the topic to be taught and then students can be directed to write assignments on what they understood from the text. Group discussions, debates and project works can be used to assess their understanding.
6. Using community resources for teaching learning process by visiting nearby historical sites or observing historical artefacts or interviewing eminent people from the community, celebrating local fairs, and festivals can bring innovations in history teaching.
Inculcation of National Integrity through Teaching History
National integration is a feeling that binds the citizens of a country. it means bringing about economic social and cultural differences prevailing among people within tolerable range. It creates and straighten them attributes of patriotism and national pride.
National integration is very much needed to preserve unity in diversity, to ensure social economic and educational progress, to enrich the cultural life of the nation, to lessen the divisive tendencies, to ensure security from internal danger and external aggression.
Through the teaching of the content of history various threats to national integrity in India such as casteism, communalism, linguistic fanaticism, regionalism social disparity, economic inequalities can be explained.
Only through proper critical and analytical teaching of history a student can understand what it means to be an Indian a sense of Indian Ness can be inculcated in the students.
The content of history especially various controversial issues must be presented in an objective way.
Emphasis should be given on cultural synthesis. It must be emphasized that social and religious reformers, political leaders, poets, philosophers and scientist from all parts of India have held in contributed in the pool of Indian culture.
(This content is solely for the purpose of teaching-learning and not intended for publication of any sort. The content is taken from books and open educational resources.)
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