COURSE In considering a history course for our high schools it must be kept in mind that the Texas school system is organized on an eleven-year basis, and that the eighth grade is the first year of the high school. Outside of the South the prevailing type of school is organized on a twelve-year basis, and the ninth grade is the first year of the high school. The ninth grade pupil in the twelve-year system has had a year more of training than the Texas pupil when he enters upon his high school work. Consequently, the pupils in the twelve-year system are able to do a more vigorous type of work in the first year of the high school than pupils in the eleven-year system. History courses that have been worked out by N. E. A. committees and history teachers' associations, have almost invariably been designed for the twelve-year schools. It is not surprising that such courses have presented difficulties when undertaken by high schools that are based upon seven years of elementary school work. That the history course in the Texas high schools is not fixed is evident from the variety of arrangements of the history units offered, and from the expressed dissatisfaction of the teachers of the subject with the several plans of organization that have been tried. A few schools offer elementary English history in the eighth grade, ancient history in the ninth, mediaeval-modern history in the tenth, and American history with civics in the eleventh. Other schools offer no history in the eighth grade. In such schools, as a rule, ancient history is placed in the ninth grade, mediaeval-modern in the tenth, and American history and civics in the eleventh. Although there is an evident tendency on the part of history teachers to avoid giving ancient history to eighth grade pupils, yet the most common arrangement and the one most generally approved by students of high school organization is to place ancient history in the eighth grade, mediaeval-modern history in the ninth, English history in the tenth, and American history and civics in the eleventh. Doubtless, we may expect, in the near future, a complete reorganization of the whole history program for secondary schools. Many authorities in the field of history have long felt that too little time and emphasis have been given to the modern period of history, more especially nineteenth century history. High school pupils have not been getting a grasp of the essentials of the history that is just subsequent to their own time. Hence, by the failure to bridge the gap between the remote past and the proximate present, historical data most valuable to the pupil, because it is information which is necessary to enable the pupil to knit up the present with the past, are omitted. Two text books in which the subject matter of general history is so organized and partitioned as to emphasize the latter part of modern history have recently come from the press. In Part I, which was written by Robinson and Breasted, and which is intended for one year's work in the high school, nearly six thousand years are covered. Ancient, mediaeval and a considerable part of modern history is treated in this text. The second volume, written by Robinson and Baird, covers only the period of time from Louis XIV to the present. Since it is intended that a full high school year shall be devoted to the second volume it is evident that a much more intensive study will be made of that period of history than has been the practice heretofore. A committee from the National Education Association has been working for several years collecting data on the subject of high school history. The report of this committee will have tremendous influence in determining the content and the organization of the history course for secondary schools. Text books are being published that ignore the traditional divisions of general history. It is possible that high school pupils of the future may study great movements and work out significant problems of history rather than attack the subject by arbitrary divisions. However, at the present time, for the four-unit history course, practice decidedly favors English history in the tenth grade. Such an arrangement is chronological and enables the pupil to follow movements and to appreciate the cause and effect relations of events. The more vital essentials of English history are its institutional phases. To comprehend and organize the account of the development of institutions and the great social movements of English history, the pupil should have ancient and mediaeval-modern history as a background. Also, the pupil must have some maturity of thought and some knowledge as to the method of attacking the subject. It seems to the writer that there is a decided advantage in having the English history immediately precede the American history which is uniformly placed in the eleventh grade in our schools. The English history affords an excellent preparation for the American history. The pupil comes to understand the origin and development of English institutions which were transplanted in America and which he meets in the study of American history. Notwithstanding the fact that the commonly accepted arrangement of the history course is open to objections, when the course is given in the eleventh-grade school, yet the writer is decidedly of the opinion that when a four-unit history course is offered the order should be: 1st year-ancient history. 2d year-mediaeval-modern history. 3d year-English history. 4th year-American history and civics. It is believed that the pupil who pursues his history subjects. in this order will, until the whole history course is re-organized and adapted to secondary pupils, get greater returns for his time and effort that if he completed a course arranged in some other order. The chief objection urged by Texas history teachers to the order suggested is that ancient history is too difficult for eighth grade pupils. It is pointed out that the transition from the study of a simple, elementary text on United States history to the study of the adopted text in ancient history, represents too great a gap for the average beginner in the high school. It is insisted that pupils cannot successfully pass from the study of a simple narrative in which the names of many of the places and the characters were familiar before the text was read to the study of strange peoples, unfamiliar settings, incomprehensible systems of government and unpronounceable names. It is argued that the pupil has no basis for apperceiving this new data and that, as a consequence, the subject proves uninteresting and the pupil derives little benefit from the study of it. It is for these reasons that some schools place elementary English his tory in the eighth grade, and quite a few schools offer no history at all in this grade. In the writer's judgment, the difficulties enumerated may be eliminated without disturbing the chronological order of the history units, or postponing the ancient history until the ninth grade. Since ancient history presents these obstacles because it is not adapted to the eighth grade pupil's capacity, why not so trim, abridge, and modify this division of history as to render it both comprehensible and interesting to the pupil who is just entering the high school? Mr. Muzzey, in the N. E. A. proceedings for 1905, discusses the kind of material from ancient history that should be taught to the youth in order that he may better understand the world in which he lives. He concludes that the following facts should be presented to the pupil: 1. Facts closely related to his material environment. 2. Facts related to the social phenomena that are comprehensible to the youth. 3. Facts that can be related to the spiritual phenomena which surround the youth and with which he is conversant. In the Report of the Committee of Five the following recommendations are made relative to the teaching of ancient history : 1. Keep to the simple and concrete and avoid abstractions and vague generalizations. 2. Devote more time to the study of the occupations, arts, and habits of the people. 3. Emphasize the study of the great characters of the time. 4. Devote considerable time to familiar talks and lessons about things that are within the grasp of the pupil. 5. Do not emphasize the history of institutions. 6. Omit the consideration of meaningless wars. 7. Omit constitutional details. 8. Make much use of the stories of great deeds and achievements. 9. Use pictures and concrete illustrative material whenever possible. It might be added that the memorizing of unimportant dates should be omitted. It will be observed that the foregoing recommendations and suggestions are general and not specific. They merely furnish a |