Source method

 

THE SOURCE METHOD

                                         This is another activity method of teaching social sciences. According to this method, pupils are expected to bulid up historical, political, social, and economic accounts with the help of available sources, such as documents, historical accounts, biographies and inscriptions, coins, travel accounts, literature, etc. They learn how particular items of information can be gathered from such sources. While the use of the source method is advocated, it does not mean that the aim is to convert school children into full fledged historians, social scientists etc.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SOURCE METHOD

 1. To enable the students to develop critical thinking by using the sources and weighing the device.

2. To enable the students to form their own independent judgment through a critical analysis of sources.

3. To develop skills of collecting data, sifting the relevant data, organizing them and interpreting them.

4. To create proper atmosphere to make the people and events of bygone times more real to students.

5. To stimulate the imagination of the imagination of the students for reconstruction of the past.

6. To develop and promote proper interest and right perspective in the study of social studies.

DIFFERENT STAGES OF SOURCE METHOD

1.Primary Stage: According to Dr.Keatings, original sources can be used for creating atmosphere in the lower forms as such a use does not necessitate any great exposition. For example, reading of Guru Govind Singh's Zafarnama ,will make the pupils realize the atmosphere lead to his death. Reading of couplets of Bhakti movement will help them to realize the causes leading to it 

2.Secondary Stage: Sources can be profitably used in the secondary stage to encourage pupils to collect ,examine and correlate the facts and to compare and rationalise different conflicting accounts of characters. To begin with the exercise should be fairly simple.

SOURCES OF HISTORY

                  History is a subject that mainly deals with the past. Past cannot be easily observed directly and equally difficult to recall. But luckily there are certain traces left behind by past events and well-preserved by the foresight of man which helps the historian to reconstruct the past.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOURCES

                    Sources are classified as: Archaeological sources, literary sources and oral traditions. The archaeological sources can be divided into three categories

1. Monumental Findings include buildings, images, pottery, and terracotta figures and other antiques.

2. Epigraphics include inscriptions on stone slabs, pillars, rocks, copper plates, walls of buildings, bricks of terracotta, stone seals and images.

3. Numismatic evidence is collected from the study of coins.

LITERARY SOURCES:

1. Sacred or Religious Literature: The Vedas, the Epics, the Puranas, Buddhist religious literature contained in Tripitakas: the Vinaya-pitaka,the Sutta-pitaka and the Abhidamma ,the religious books of the Jain's the Angas etc.

2. Secular Literature: It can be divided into two classes--Private literature  and official literature. Private literature includes dramas, novels, poems, books on grammar and astronomy, medicine and art, biographies, autobiographies, diaries, travellers account etc. Kalidasa's Shakuntala and Vikramorvashi, Visakhadatta's Mudra Rakshasa. Aryabhatta's Aryavhatiya, Babar's Babarnama come in this category Official order, despatches, sanads, Furman's, decisions of the law courts, come in the category of official literature.

3. Foreign Testimony: Accounts written by foreigners like Fa-Hein, Megasthanes, Nearchus come in this category. 

Oral Traditions are very helpful in imparting information about local history. Todd's Annals, Dipvamsa and Mahavamsa come under this sources.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

1.Primary Sources: These are the accounts prepared by persons who were either directly connected with an event t or were eye witness to it. Minutes of parliamentary and judicial proceedings, laws, treatises, official papers of states, auto biographies come in this category.

2.Secondary Sources: These are the sources prepared by persons who were far away from the scene of actual happening, but who took help of the eye witness accounts in preparing them. The standard historical works of the various periods generally based on original accounts may be classified as secondary sources.

HINTS FOR USING SOURCES

1. It is better to give a practice at the initial stage in giving well considered answers.

2. An original source, especially an extract, must be seen by each child and read carefully by themselves. In the absence of the source book, cyclostyled copies of the extracts should be pasted on the blackboard to be copied by the pupils.

3. The teacher should try to get good books containing the sources of History. 

4. Pupils should be encouraged to study the source books in the library after the oral work by the teacher is over.

5. After the pupils have read them, a separate time should be fixed when the teacher , along with his pupils, could discuss the sources.

TECHNIQUES OF USING SOURCES

1. Pre Lesson Use of Sources: The teacher can use sources to motivate the pupils for a particular topic.

2. Mid lesson Use of Sources: The use of sources can be made for developing the lesson also. The teacher tries to substantiate and illustrate the information, the view point with the help of sources. The teacher can motivate the students for the use of sources with the help of some researches being conducted by eminent historians, appearing in the newspapers and periodicals.

3. Post Lesson Use of sources: Sources can be used by the teacher after he finishes the lesson .Useful extracts from the original or secondary sources  may be given to students and they may be asked to write answers to some questions on their basis.

Following points should be borne in mind to achieve satisfactory results through Source Method.

1. Self Study: An original source must be read carefully by the children themselves. The source book is not available to all the pupils. Cyclostyled copies of the extracts should be pasted  on the black board to be copied by them.

2. Use of Library: After the oral work by the teacher is over, the pupil s should go to study the source book in the library.

3. Discussion: Now a separate time should be fixed when the teacher, alongwith his pupils, could discuss the topic.

4. Assignment: After the discussion is over, the teacher may give the assignment to the pupils. At the initial stage, it is better to give a little practice in giving well -considered answers. The Pupils should be asked to right their on impressions and inferences.

ADVANTAGES OF THE SOURCES METHOD

1. Creating a sense of vividness and reality: Use of sources in the teaching of social studies gives a touch of realism to the subject.

2. Satisfying the curiosity of children about the question: Sources give the children an insight into the methods by which social studies have been built-up. The sense of curiosity so important for a student of social studies can be particularly developed through this method.

3. Creating a right type of atmosphere: The sources vitalise the subject and create  a congenial and motivating atmosphere for its study.

4. Mental Exercises: These include right thinking, and imagination, comparing and analysing, drawing inferences, self expression and discussion.

5. Illustration and Supplementation: The original sources can be used to illustrate more important points in support of an oral lesson or to supplement the one sided picture of historical, political, economic and social accounts.

6. Initiation in Research: The method initiates the pupils in research which can later prove useful.

7. Use at all stages: Though most suitable for the pupils of higher classes, this method can be used by the pupils of primary classes also with advantage.

8. Meaning: The study of social studies through sources method  makes the subject more concrete and meaningful.

 LIMITATIONS OF SOURCE METHOD

1. No Easy Access: It is not always possible for the teacher of schools to have easy access to the original sources.

2. Not Easy: Use of sources is not easy for the teachers who are not trained in their use.

3. Complex and Technical: Source method is too complex and technical .It's use is difficult at the junior stage and at the senior stage also it's frequent use is doubtful.

4. Many Languages and scripts: As the sources are available in many languages and scripts covering a period of more than three thousand years ,the teachers cannot be conversant with sources in different scripts. This makes their use difficult.

5. Difficult Sifting: There is also the difficulty of shifting the suitable evidences from a multiplicity of sources for their use.

       In the case of use of source method in social studies, ”The Road travelled is more important than the destination reached.” Use of the method for selected topics may make the study of social studies more interesting.

CONCLUSION  

                       

                         Source method is another activity method of teaching history. The pupils are expected to build up history with the help of available source materials. One of the important skills which the students of history must learn is the skill to use sources. It is very important ,therefore ,to teach the