The history of teaching history

Following a display of some of our history textbooks at UCL Institute of Education which were arranged in a mini-exhibition by our Special Collections Librarian Nazlin Bhimani and viewed by the Minister of State for Schools Nick Gibb, I was lucky to be able to view these today before the exhibition was dismantled. I didn’t realise that we had material from as early as the 17th century. This one from 1648 is from our Brooke Collection and would have been used by tutors and governesses to educate the children of the upper-classes:

It was fascinating to learn how the methods of teaching history have see-sawed over time between the purely factual and the more evidence-based which relied on sources. Also, that there were things going on that we might generally associate with more modern times. There are three good examples of this:

First, the use of local history (and what is around us) was being used in teaching history as early as 1914 . This was suggested by the Board of Education (but they also criticised the fact that dates were not being drummed into the children).

Second, the use of drama as a method of teaching history was pioneered in 1911 by Harriet Finlay-Johnson, headmistress of Little Sompting school in Sussex and was the start of the progressive education movement.

Finally, it is interesting (dare-I-say of contemporary relevance) to note that in 1927, the Board of Education’s “suggestions” contained a 22-page appendix on the League of Nations promoting the idea of the global citizen and how that concept should be embedded in education.

Overall, a great exhibition showcasing our collections which we would be happy to run again if there is interest.