A Type Lesson for the Grades
BY ARMAND J. GERSON.
THE SPANISH CLAIM.
A Type Lesson.
Of the many complaints made by history teachers in secondary schools regarding preparation given in the grades perhaps none contains a greater amount of truth than the oft-repeated statement that while pupils leave our elementary schools with a large stock of historical terms and phrases they often lack a real grasp of their significance. I know of a pupil who after a whole year of Sixth Grade work defined tax as “money that is paid for tea,” and who honestly thought that George III’s ministers were “a sort of clergymen.” Still more frequent are the instances where the pupil’s notions of terms used are so hazy and inadequate as not to admit of definition at all.
This condition may be variously explained. The trouble is often caused by an improper use of the text-book, the incompetent teacher resting content if the pupil commits the words on the pages and recites them with some semblance of intelligence. In most cases, however, it is safe to say that the misconceptions are the result of the teacher’s failure to grasp the child’s difficulties, his inability to put himself into the pupil’s place and realize the mental equipment which the child brings to the grasping of the new ideas. Be the cause of the difficulty what it may, the recognition of its existence must be the first step toward its removal.
The word “claim” occupies a prominent place among the disturbers of the peace. In the course of the history work the children become familiar with the fact that the voyages and explorations of the Spanish, English, French and Dutch somehow give rise to “land claims” whose overlapping results in interesting international conflicts. Judicious questioning, however, is apt to disclose a surprising lack of definiteness as to the meaning of this word “claim.” In accordance with the type-lesson method this vagueness of comprehension might readily be avoided if the “claim” concept were developed thoroughly in connection with the explorations of a single European nation. In other words, the teaching of a typical claim forms the surest sort of basis for the comprehension of land claims in general. Spain, because of the early date of its explorations, naturally suggests itself as the type. Let the pupil understand intensively all that we can teach him about the Spanish claim—how far it extended, on what it was based, what it meant—and there will be no difficulty when we come to develop the claims of England, France and Holland.
In presenting the type lesson on the Spanish claim the teacher must carefully distinguish and strongly emphasize the type-elements, i. e., those aspects of the subject which help form a clear concept or pattern. Chief among these type-elements may be mentioned the following: A clear understanding of what we mean by “right of discovery;” some notion of the distance a claim may be said to extend beyond the point or coast explored; a definite comprehension of what is meant when we speak of a nation “owning” land; a mental attitude toward the rights of the original inhabitants. Reference to these fundamentals will have to be made repeatedly when the claims of other European nations are in their turn presented to the class, but this mere reference is all that will be required if the type-elements developed in connection with the Spanish claim have been thoroughly grounded. The particular incidents of the Spanish story, pedagogically speaking, are of less fundamental significance.
In connection with the Columbus story the class will have been brought to see that the chief political consequence of that event consisted in the extension of Spanish dominion. “For Castile and Leon Columbus discovered a New World” contains an ethical principle immediately recognized by every boy of ten. This principle contains the essence of the whole theory of discovery and exploration, and should, for a time at least, be allowed to remain undisputed. It might be well even to reinforce this theory by reference to the widely accepted principle applied by our boys and girls in their everyday life,—“finding is keeping.” Ownership of what we find may indeed be disputed by others, but the finder may at least be said to have a “claim” to it. It is in this sense that Spain had a “claim” to the New World.
But a nation’s claim to newly discovered land is in many ways different from a boy’s claim to a marble he has found. First of all, the boy has probably picked up the whole marble and put it in his pocket. The Spanish explorers, on the other hand, only caught glimpses of part of the edge of a great continent. Had they a good claim to the whole continent or could they only claim the parts they had found? Difference of opinion on this point is very possible and may give rise to profitable class discussion. Ignorance of the size and shape of the continent, concentration of Spanish interest in the south, and the decree of Pope Alexander should all be pointed out as determining elements in the gradual defining of the Spanish claim. The work of each of the Spanish explorers should be reviewed in this connection, and the claim finally located on the map.
It is important, in the next place, that the pupils should devote some thought to the question of what we mean when we say Spain “owned” Florida, Mexico, etc. In this connection attention may well be called to the theory of government generally held in the sixteenth century. The modern notion of government existing for the sake of the governed had scarcely taken form in the minds of men. The nations of Europe were avowedly selfish. Spain “owned” America in the sense that she could make laws for its people, dispose of its territory, and control its resources.
Finally, a complete notion of European claims to the New World must perforce include some reference to the rights of the natives. The comparative rights of the natives and Europeans is fortunately not a question upon which we are called upon to pronounce a verdict. As an element in all colonizing activities it requires our attention, however, and it certainly affords admirable opportunity for cultivating our pupils’ human sympathies.
Reference should be made to the pre-eminence of the Spanish claim on the score of priority. It is to be borne in mind that our type-lesson, besides forming the basis for the teaching of subsequent claims, will have still greater significance when the conflict of European nations leads to the great international struggle for the New World. Constant reference to maps and charts, and, more important still, the making of claim maps by the pupils themselves, constitute an obvious, but none the less essential, means of rendering definite and permanent the results of the “claim” lesson. A progressive map upon which the conflict of claims could be developed will be of particular value.
Our endeavor throughout the Spanish claim lesson should be to proceed as slowly and carefully as possible. Much of the detail presented need not be retained as such, but will serve its most useful purpose by forming a setting for the salient points. The aim of the type-lesson is to construct a firm and sure foundation for later work.