The Study of History In the Public Schools of Saskatchewan 1885 to 1970: A Historical Survey of the Development and Growth of the Curriculum
Date
1972-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
The problem of this research was to discover what was demanded
of the pupils by the Provincial Department of Education through courses
of study in the subject known as history, and to trace the development of
the teaching of history in the Public Schools of Saskatchewan from 1885
to 1970.
An analysis was made of official reports, courses of study,
circulars, prescribed textbooks, and official examination papers. The data
obtained were examined to determine course objectives, course content,
concepts, principles and skills taught through the courses, student
activities, and the evaluation of student progress. The following trends
were noted.
During the 1940's history was replaced by a new subject called
social studies. However, as the social'studies course was developed it
was noted that there was a trend back towards an emphasis upon the
historical perspective, particularly at the high school level.
Teaching students about morality and citizenship were noted to be
two primary objectives throughout the period under review. There has been
a trend away from teaching pupils how to make moral judgments about people
to teaching them how to make judgments about issues and policies. During
the whole period under review students have been expected to learn a body
of factual content.
In the curriculum of 1886 English and Canadian history were
dominant. With the advent of the First and Second World Wars, and the
growing importance of Canada as a world power, English history declined in
importance and much more emphasis was placed upon world history, and
particularly upon the history of the major European powers. After 1920
there was a tendency to place much greater emphasis upon recent events.
Textbooks have been used extensively throughout the period'and
have tended to dictate course content. There was an attempt to move away
from the use of textbooks in the period of the 1940's which appears to
have met with limited success. Recent practice has been for the Department
of Education to suggest several possible textbooks for each course.
There was increasing emphasis upon the concept of man in conflict
with man as a result of the World Wars; the concept of man in conflict
with his environment was included throughout. The economic principles of
laissez-faire were gradually replaced by an increased emphasis upon the
principles of co-operation. Basic skills taught throughout were collecting
data and making judgments.
During the first half of the period student activities were
largely limited to reading the textbook and making extensive notes. In
the years from 1941 to the early 1950's there was an attempt to encourage
students to carry out projects and to solve social problems. The early
course outlines contained no suggestions for student activities,'but in
the past thirty years the elementary course outlines have tended to be a
valuable source of suggestions.
An analysis of examination questions revealed that as the
sophistication of examination technique increased there was a slight
decline in the demands made upon the students' cognitive processes. It
would appear that examination questions have placed great stress upon
cognitive rather than affective learning. In very recent times the
Department of Education has begun to make use of machine scored tests.
The trends expressed were based upon the evidence found in the
analysis of the data which then suggested implications for further study
in the form of problems which remain to be solved.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Degree
Master of Education (M.Ed.)
Department
Educational Foundations
Program
Education