In my last post I shared quotations from “The Teaching of History” by D. M. H. Nesbitt (Volume 12, 1901, pgs. 917-929), in which the author states that “The educational value of history lies in the fact that it gives a knowledge of the world in its human relations.”
Now let’s look at one of Nesbitt’s examples so we can see the specific recommendations for teaching history to young children.
“How then are we to give the children this real and living idea of the scenes and actions of history?”
“Let us first consider the beginners, little children who have learned nothing as yet even of the history of their own country. They will be eager to know, as are all children who have not been given a distaste for knowledge by mistaken methods of teaching. Do not begin by frightening them with a list of the dates of all the kings of England, while their names are still unfamiliar. There are many bright, chatty history books written expressly for children, but these have commonly the fault of “talking down” to them too much, and they are not infrequently written in very poor English. Do not begin with an outline of the whole of English History. It were better to first acquaint the children intimately with one period, and that, a short one. Let them live for a short time under the influence, as it were, of some hero of olden time.”
“It is well for a young child to begin with an early period, such as the Saxon period, because early history is simpler and more natural to study. The story of Alfred is a most suitable one for children, and may well be chosen as the subject for the first term’s work in history with children of from six to nine years of age. The little history book for children will give perhaps a chapter on Alfred in which we shall be told how he let the cakes burn, and how he wandered into the Danish camp disguised as a minstrel. The scantiness of matter will be compensated for by five or six paragraphs of chatty writing with a good sprinkling of moralising. We cannot get a term’s work out of this. But why confine ourselves to the little text-book ? It is better to learn history from books of real literary value, and, when possible, from chronicles written by contemporary historians. The teacher should be capable of selecting passages, rejecting unsuitable matter, and explaining difficult words or involved expressions. For Alfred’s life, we might use a book written by one who really knew and loved the hero king; The Life of Alfred, by Asser of Saint David’s. The narrative is exceedingly simple, and many passages can be read to the children as they stand in the translation. Some of the wording will, of course, require explanation, but it is always easier to explain a strange word to a child than to illustrate an involved idea.”
“[R]eading exercises may be taken from the history that is being studied instead of something totally disconnected with the child’s previous train of thought. The geography lessons of the term would include the physical features of those parts of England with which Alfred was familiar, i. e., Wessex, East Anglia and Mercia. The children might make a model in clay or putty of the south and south-eastern coast lines of England, and mark the various places where the Danes effected a landing. The difference between the physical features of the country in Alfred’s time and to-day must he pointed out. The children can mark the sites of the great forests which have been so much cut down, and the great swamps which have been reclaimed, since the days when the Saxons were hunted and driven from their own homes to take refuge in these friendly wildernesses, before at last they turned to bay and, in a desperate rally, freed themselves from the fierce tyranny of the invader.”
“The method of teaching for these little children is by reading and narration. Maps and pictures should be used as much as possible. We will imagine that the lesson is to be on Alfred, and that the children have already followed his story up to 878, the darkest and most disheartening time for the king. The objects of any lesson or series of lessons, stated broadly, are, first, to give ideas, and, secondly, to cultivate certain desirable habits, as attention, promptness, discernment, etc. A lecture aims only at giving ideas, and therefore is not so suitable for children who need mental discipline as well. A lesson cannot have a disciplinary value unless the children work as well as the teacher. Such a history lesson as this on Alfred has then a two-fold object:—
(1.) To give the children certain ideas about Alfred and his times, e.g., his courage and hopefulness, and the faith of the Christian Saxons as contrasted with the foolish superstition of the Danes.
(2.) To strengthen the power of accuracy and clearness in narration.”
“The lesson may open by a few questions intended to arouse interest and to connect the new matter with the subject of the previous lesson. The scene in which the events (to be taken in the lesson) take place is then described as graphically as possible, with the aid of such maps and pictures as may be procured. As it would not be advisable to interrupt the reading too often in order to explain hard words, such should be introduced beforehand. The children are told they are going to hear about how the Danes attacked a castle believed to be impregnable (that is, impossible to enter from outside), and surrounded by what Asser calls ‘walls in our own fashion,’ that is, great banks of earth thrown up, which were the only kind of walls that the poor Saxons had time to build then. Arouse the curiosity of the children and make them think and ask questions for themselves, e.g., Had the Saxons got anything to eat inside the castle? How could they fight the Danes from behind the earth walls, etc.? When the children are quite interested, and have been told enough about the scene to have a clear mental image of it all, having been helped by graphic word painting, the following passage may be read clearly and with expression:—”
“In the same year (978) the brother of Hingwar and Halfdene, with twenty-three ships, after much slaughter of the Christians, came from the country of Demetia (or South Wales), where he had wintered and sailed to Devon, where, with twelve hundred others, he met with a miserable death, being slain while committing his misdeeds by the king’s servants, before the castle of Kynwith, into which many of the king’s servants, with their followers, had fled for safety. The pagans, seeing that the castle was altogether unprepared and unfortified, except that it had walls in our own fashion, determined not to assault it, because it was impregnable and secure on all sides, except on the eastern, as we ourselves have seen, but they began to blockade it, thinking that those who were inside would soon surrender either from famine or want of water, for the castle had no spring near it. But the result did not fall out as they expected, for the Christians, before they began to suffer from want, inspired by Heaven, judging it much better to gain victory or death, attacked the pagans suddenly in the morning, and, from the first, cut them down in great numbers, slaying also their king, so that few escaped to their ships; and there they gained a very large booty, and, among other things, the standard called Raven; for they say that the three sisters of Hingwar and Hubba, daughters of Lodsbroch, wove that flag and got it ready in one day. They say, moreover, that in every battle, wherever that flag went before them, if they were to gain the victory a live crow would appear flying in the middle of the flag, but if they were doomed to be defeated it would hang down motionless, and this was often proved to be so.”
“This is, of course, one example among many of a passage which may be treated in this way. Such phrases as, ‘we ourselves have seen,’ give a reality to the incidents related. The children should now be called upon to narrate the incident fully and clearly. Careful enunciation and well expressed sentences should be insisted upon, and I have known quite little children very soon acquire the power of narrating a similar passage with perfect accuracy and fluency.”