in his department, and by the boys taking the course. Dr. Tildsley is
a strong advocate of the problem question as a means of making the boy
think. At first memorandum books were given to the pupils in which
they noted definitions, local statistical tables and the problems,
the written answers to which they brought into the next recitation. At
present mimeographed sets of notes are given to the pupils containing
this matter. The course was revised from time to time, and two years
ago, on account of the accumulation of material, Dr. Tildsley and the
author decided on a thorough revision of the course. The course had
come to be grouped around two main ideas which furnished a basis for
the division of the work into two parts to be given in each half term
of ten weeks into which the school work is divided at Commerce. During
the first half New York was considered as a manufacturing city, and
in the second half as a commercial city. A sentence from De Garmo to
the effect that commercial geography should be taught to furnish the
concrete background for economics, gave us the touchstone. We reviewed
the material and rejected all topics that did not illustrate any
economic principle, law, or problem. A few topics were rejected because
they were too difficult for first-year pupils. Then the standard
secondary economic texts were gone over rapidly to see if we had
omitted anything that could be used. Seager and Seligman were found to
be the most helpful in this respect. The material selected was divided
into two groups, as already indicated. As a result of our efforts we
have now in Commerce a course in elementary economics that we believe
to be unique.
The subject is begun with a report on the occupations of the boy’s
family, his friends, and neighbors, and a study of the industrial
life on his block. The boy is given the problem of classifying these
occupations and grouping the workers according to his classification.
He is then given as standards the figures from the United States and
State census for gainful occupations in the United States, New York
State, New York City, Manhattan and Bronx Boroughs, which he must
express graphically. Then he combines the figures collected by the
boys of his section (some forty) and his class (some five hundred).
The results show, of course, that the manufacturing and mechanical
pursuits and trade and transportation are the great groups of city
industries.
We take manufacturing first as being nearer the boy, and we begin
the study of the problem of the manufacturer, from a table specially
prepared by us from the census report on the concentration of important
manufactures in forty-seven cities. The problem is formulated as
being the assembling of raw material, power, labor and capital at a
place most convenient to its market. Each of these factors is studied
in detail. The following are some of the topics discussed under
labor: population; its composition, its growth from immigration, from
migration and from excess of births over deaths; the effect of an
increase from each source upon the efficiency of the workers of the
city; the location and distribution of the labor force throughout the
city; the effect of the sanitary regulations of the Board of Health and
housing regulations of the Tenement House Department, etc.; the systems
of employment; why the help, handicraft and the domestic systems still
survive in this city; the important manufactures of this city, together
with the kind of labor they use; and how the labor supply has affected
them; what manufactures are leaving the city on account of the labor;
what manufactures are coming in because of an abundant supply of cheap
labor; the distribution of manufactures throughout Manhattan and the
greater city; and how this distribution is related to the distribution
of labor; how transportation improvements modify this distribution,
etc. In a similar way are treated the problem of a supply of power, of
a supply of capital, of a supply of raw material and of access to a
market. The natural advantages New York has for commerce, its harbors,
its inland water-ways, its situation, and its hinterland, with its
products, is the first topic taken up in the second half-term. The
improvements of these natural advantages and the sharing of the work
of improvement on the high seas, throughout the hinterland and in the
harbor by the national, State and city governments respectively is
the second topic. The general idea of a great seaport that the boys
formulate from a study of the great ports of the world, is that it is
favorably situated on the coast, where it can draw unto itself the
products of the near hinterland and distribute them over the world, and
that it gathers together the products of the lands beyond the seas, and
distributes them over the near and far hinterland. These topics are
worked out in detail like that of the labor supply, already described.
The course is concluded with a simple outline of the works of banks,
trust companies and stock exchanges in supplying the necessary capital
for manufacture and for trade.
The boy has now secured a generalised and systematic view of the trade
and manufactures of his city and has obtained a lot of detailed and
specific information about the part he and his neighborhood play in
making New York a great city. The boy is studying an economic unity,
the metropolitan district, and he is comparing it whenever possible
with the United States and the world. He has learned to use statistics
compiled by others, and he has helped compile some of his own. His
generalizations are economic generalizations, he has learned to
formulate economic principles, and he has observed the operation of
economic laws. We believe that this study has supplied him for his
future study of economics with a concrete background which will be
filled out in the later years of the course, by the study of his civic
environment and his more formal study of commercial geography of the
United States and of the world.
This method of beginning economics can be applied in almost every
school. The local economic unit will furnish all the material that the
teacher can utilize. It means work for the teacher, but the trained and
enthusiastic teacher will find the work full of interest to himself and
to the pupils.
Forman’s “Advanced Civics”
REVIEWED BY H. W. EDWARDS, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.
This book represents the prevailing tendency to make instruction in
civil government minister to good citizenship. The author states his
purpose in these words: “While preparing this book I have constantly
kept in mind the truth that instruction in civics should have for
its highest aim the indoctrination of the learner in sound notions
of political morality, and I have attempted to assist the teacher
in achieving this aim whenever such assistance has seemed to be
practicable.” A careful examination of the book, followed by a two
years’ test in the class-room, has convinced the present reviewer that
Dr. Forman has achieved his purpose and that the book is admirably
adapted for use in the upper grades of secondary schools.
The book is divided into three parts. Part I is entitled “The Essential
Principles of American Government. The Spirit.” In a way that is at
once thorough, vital, and practical, the author explains the origin and
_raison d’être_ of democracy, representation, separation and balance of
powers, federalism, local self-government, political parties; viewed in
the light of American conditions. The treatment is clear, and abounds
in allusions that an alert teacher can apply to present circumstances,
developing interest and stimulating thought. This portion of the book
affords a good introduction to the study of government for classes
that can devote an entire year to the subject. It is especially useful
where pupils have missed previous training in English history and
government. Used in connection with American history, it furnishes a
helpful interpretation of the political institutions whose development
the pupil is studying.
Part II is headed, “The Organization of the American Government. The
Form”; and gives what is usually found in manuals of civil government.
This is compressed into one hundred and twenty pages, and while
non-essentials are excluded, it does not appear that any important
topic is neglected. Four chapters are devoted to local government, and
one chapter to party organization. Some of the topics discussed are:
“The President as a Political Personality,” “The Supreme Court and
the People,” “The Citizen and His Country,” “The Sphere of Municipal
Activity.”
The third part deals with “The Functions of the American Government.
Its Services.” Here the author describes the government, national,
State and local, in action. Included here are such topics as “Laws,”
“Taxation,” “Money,” “Commerce,” “Elections,” “Corporations,” “Labor,”
“Crime,” “Charity.” The treatment of controverted problems is
dispassionate and conservative, and free from dogmatism. The method is
to state the origin of the problem, indicate suggested solutions, and
lead the pupil to reach his own conclusion in the light of the facts.
At the end of every chapter is a list of “suggestive questions.” Unlike
the pedagogical apparatus found in many text-books, these questions are
really useful. They are well calculated to lead the student to pursue
the subject farther, by research and by independent thought. Many of
them involve the application of principles to concrete instances, and
are useful to train the judgment. Properly handled, they will enable
the student to experience the pleasure of independent discovery, and
thus serve one of the main purposes of all education.
In general, the problem of proportion is well solved. At first glance,
one is tempted to criticize the relatively brief treatment of Part II
and the large space given to Part III. But the suggestive questions
at the ends of chapters will enable the teacher to treat of the
organization of the government as fully as he desires, while some of
the chapters dealing with the functions of government may be omitted
without violating the unity of the subject. To the present reviewer,
however, the arrangement is very satisfactory, for he believes that
teachers have erred in sacrificing the live activities of government
to the dry details of form. If, instead of compelling pupils to master
the functions of the Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General, or to learn
the appellate jurisdiction of each of the courts, we could lead them
to watch a State purify its elections or a city secure a water supply,
fewer of them would find civil government “dull.”
The criticisms that may be made are of minor importance. School books
should be bound in part leather. The book would be more usable if
the paragraphs were numbered. An occasional misstatement appears, e.
g., that only eleven colonies were present in the First Continental
Congress (p. 45). Chapter IX, a narrative of the expansion of American
territory might well be omitted, as belonging more properly to another
subject.
The index is adequate. The appendix contains some useful documents,
including the New York law of 1892 for the prevention of bribery, and
the provision of the California Constitution which permits cities to
frame their own charters.
President Nicholas Murray Butler has indicated in the following
sentence the ultimate object of civics teaching: “He who truly
understands the meaning of liberty and the meaning of law, and the
relation of one to the other, is ready to face his full duty as an
American citizen.” To impart this understanding, the present volume
seems especially well fitted. The high responsibility of citizen
training rests upon the teacher and cannot be shifted, but he should
find in this book a most serviceable tool.
[“Advanced Civics. The Spirit, the Form, and the Functions of the
American Government.” By S. E. Forman, Ph.D. New York. The Century Co.]
* * * * *
The History Teacher’s Magazine
Published monthly, except July and August, at 5805 Germantown Avenue,
Philadelphia, Pa., by
McKINLEY PUBLISHING CO.
A. E. McKINLEY, Proprietor.
=SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.= One dollar a year; single copies, 15 cents each.
=POSTAGE PREPAID= in United States and Mexico; for Canada, 20 cents
additional should be added to the subscription price, and to other
foreign countries in the Postal Union, 30 cents additional.
=CHANGE OF ADDRESS.= Both the old and the new address must be given
when a change of address is ordered.
=ADVERTISING RATES= furnished upon application.
EDITORS
=Managing Editor=, ALBERT E. MCKINLEY, PH.D.
=History in the College and the School=, ARTHUR C. HOWLAND, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of European History, University of Pennsylvania.
=The Training of the History Teacher=, NORMAN M. TRENHOLME, Professor
of the Teaching of History, School of Education, University of Missouri.
=Some Methods of Teaching History=, FRED MORROW FLING, Professor of
European History, University of Nebraska.
=Reports from the History Field=, WALTER H. CUSHING, Secretary, New
England History Teachers’ Association.
=American History in Secondary Schools=, ARTHUR M. WOLFSON, Ph.D.,
DeWitt Clinton High School, New York.
=The Teaching of Civics in the Secondary School=, ALBERT H. SANFORD,
State Normal School, La Crosse, Wis.
=European History in Secondary Schools=, DANIEL C. KNOWLTON, Ph.D.,
Barringer High School, Newark, N. J.
=English History in Secondary Schools=, C. B. NEWTON, Lawrenceville
School, Lawrenceville, N. J.
=Ancient History in Secondary Schools=, WILLIAM FAIRLEY, Ph.D.,
Commercial High School, Brooklyn, N. Y.
=History in the Grades=, ARMAND J. GERSON, Supervising Principal,
Robert Morris Public School, Philadelphia, Pa.
CORRESPONDENTS.
HENRY JOHNSON, New York City.
MABEL HILL, Lowell, Mass.
GEORGE H. GASTON, Chicago, Ill.
JAMES F. WILLARD, Boulder, Col.
H. W. EDWARDS, Berkeley, Cal.
WALTER L. FLEMING, Baton Rouge, La.
ORGANIZATION.
The days of isolation are passing. It is no longer possible for college
professors to conduct classes and give lectures upon subjects unrelated
to the student’s ability or to his year in the college course. All the
world knows what each instructor is doing; questionnaires quiz him
about methods and subjects; associations require him to talk about his
work and consciously to face its problems.
Neither is it possible for a high school teacher to drag listlessly
along, or arrange his history topics as he wishes. College entrance
requirements, the criticism of the high school inspector, the rising
standards of State educational systems, are holding him to more
definite and more accurate work. He has not the earlier liberty to be
careless and slovenly; he has still in almost all cases the liberty to
do his work well in the way best suited to himself and to his class.
History teaching to-day is entering upon the period of conscious
endeavor, and neither college professor nor high school instructor can
afford to ignore this fact. By far the strongest element in raising the
standards of history teaching has been the historical associations and
the organizations of history teachers, which, during the past twenty
years, have faced many problems of the history teacher. It is well nigh
impossible for all of us to solve all these problems individually,
although some of us may solve some of them. We need the comparison of
ideas and of experiences which can be gained in the organizations; we
need the inspiration coming from association with the strongest minds
of the profession; we need the personal acquaintances which grow out of
such meetings.
The alma mater,--generous, inspiring, appreciative,--of historical
study and teaching in America, is the American Historical Association.
For twenty-five years its stronger members have given of their
strength, its weaker members have received inspiration, and its younger
members have been encouraged to higher work by its appreciation of
their labors. Its membership is open to all interested in the study,
the writing, or the teaching of history, upon the payment of a small
fee. The best work which the association performs for its members is
the holding of the annual meetings, which are not only opportunities to
hear learned or practical discussions of historical questions, but also
a means through which the history teachers and writers of the country
can be brought in personal contact with one another. It is this social
element, say all who have attended the meetings, which constitutes
their most valuable feature. Members of the association receive a
quarterly magazine, “The American Historical Review,” containing
original contributions to historical knowledge, and reviews of recent
historical works in all the modern languages; and also two volumes of
annual reports of the association. For the convenience of members
living in the extreme West, a Pacific Coast branch has been organized,
the members of which meet annually in the West, but they receive all
the publications of the parent society.
Not history teachers alone, but all interested in the subject, are
eligible to membership in the national association. Not so with the
principal sectional organizations,--the New England, the Middle States
and Maryland, and the North Central history teachers’ associations.
These are designed primarily for the stimulation of those engaged in
teaching the subject; their meetings discuss not so much the content
of history and its sources, as the form and method of presentation,
the choice of subject-matter, and the relation of history teaching in
the school to that in the college. The associations have arranged to
exchange publications, so that the teacher who is a member of any one
of the associations receives the publications of each of the others.
A third form of associations is that made up of State associations of
history teachers. In some cases these have grown out of the sectional
bodies, but in most cases they are an outgrowth of the State teachers’
associations. The State associations are now growing in numbers and in
membership. They are accomplishing much good, not only in raising the
State standards, but also by turning attention to the study of local
history in the State schools.
Local conferences of history teachers are now meeting in a number of
cities. The most recently-formed is the San Francisco Conference; the
oldest, probably, is the New York City Conference. Such meetings are
often of a social nature, including informal round table discussions of
topics of current interest to the history teacher.
The existence and growth of these local and general societies show
that there is a strengthening of interest in history, and that the
work of the history teacher is becoming more conscious and more highly
organized. They indicate also that under new standards the comparison
of ideas and the stimulus of personal intercourse are needed to hold
the history teacher to his work. There is no excuse for back-sliding
with these associations in the field; and if local organization has
not yet been perfected in any district, the success of the local
conferences already organized should lead to the founding of many more.
In another column of this number of the MAGAZINE will be found a
partial list of history associations and conferences, together with the
names and addresses of their secretaries. This list will be printed
each month; and it is hoped to make it a complete directory of history
teachers’ associations in the country. Readers who are interested
in joining any of these organizations should correspond with the
respective secretaries.
Shall not the school year 1909-1910 be made notable by increased
usefulness and enlarged membership of all these associations?
The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Meetings
In commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the
societies, the joint meetings of the American Historical Association
and the American Economic Association, to be held in New York, December
27 to 31, will be the occasion for a more elaborate program than has
been arranged for previous meetings, and the participants will include
not only the officers and members of the Associations, but many other
persons of local, national or international standing. New York, in
many respects an ideal convention city, and accustomed to entertaining
associations of all kinds, is outdoing its record in order to make
this meeting of the historical and economic bodies memorable in their
history.
In addition to the American Historical Association and the American
Economic Association, a number of allied societies will hold meetings
at the same time and place. Among these bodies are the American
Political Science Association, the American Statistical Association,
the American Sociological Society, the American Association for Labor
Legislation, the American Social Science Association, the American
Society of Church History, the Bibliographical Society of America,
and the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. There will be a
Conference of Local and State Historical Societies and a meeting of the
Public Archives Commission. The New York State Teachers’ Association
will also be in session at Columbia University on these days, and
will hold at least one joint meeting with the American Historical
Association. There will be meetings of the working committees and
boards of the several societies, and a conference of the editors and
correspondents of THE HISTORY TEACHER’S MAGAZINE.
Such an association of active organizations is a worthy tribute to the
work of the two parent societies during the past twenty-five years;
but it is not the members of these societies alone which will join in
celebrating the anniversary. Public-spirited citizens of New York,
national officials, including the President of the United States, and
many representatives from foreign states and learned societies abroad
will have a part in the general or special programs.
It is not possible here to give in detail all the announcements already
issued concerning the meetings. For convenience it is necessary to
group them into three divisions: Meetings of a general nature, arranged
by New York citizens as a recognition of the worth of the associations,
and joint public meetings of several societies; meetings of the several
societies in which matters of special interest to their own members
are discussed; and social meetings and events prepared by the local
committees of arrangements in which the liberal hospitality of the city
is well shown.
The general program will open on Monday afternoon with a joint
meeting of the Sociological, the Statistical, and the Social Science
Associations in the Metropolitan Building as guests of the Metropolitan
Life Insurance Company, at which will be delivered the presidential
addresses of the presidents of the three societies. In the evening of
the same day there will be held the principal public meeting arranged
by citizens as an official welcome to the associations. The meeting
will be held in Carnegie Hall, and addresses will be made by Chairman
Joseph H. Choate, President Taft, Governor Hughes, Mayor McClellan and
Dr. Nicholas M. Butler. Tuesday morning and afternoon will be devoted
to joint meetings at which will be given the presidential addresses
of the Historical, the Economic, the Political Science, and the Labor
Legislation Associations; these will be delivered respectively by A. B.
Hart, D. R. Dewey, A. Lawrence Lowell and Henry W. Farnam.
The detailed programs of the several societies contain a long list of
topics to be treated by trained specialists. Only the more important
can be mentioned. The Tuesday evening meeting of the Historical
Association, held at the New York Historical Society Building, will
be devoted to a discussion of the work of historical societies in
Europe. Delegates from England, Germany, Spain, France and Holland
will describe their respective national historical activities. The
Wednesday morning joint session of the Historical and Political Science
Associations will have as topic “British Constitutional and Political
Development, with Special Reference to the Centenary of Gladstone,” and
papers will be read by Ambassador Bryce, Prof. Dennis, of Wisconsin;
Prof. Wrong, of Toronto; Mr. Porritt, and by Mr. Fisher, of Oxford.