Lesson 1: An Introduction to the Study

of History
What Is This Lesson About?
This lesson focuses on the different perspectives in studying the discipline, the meaning
and relevance and the various views on sources of history. It similarly includes a discussion on
the view of Philippine history taken from the stand of Filipino historians- the Pantayong Pananaw.

The lesson similarly gives you the opportunity of understanding the difference between
the primary and the secondary sources, the repositories of primary sources, kinds of primary
sources, historical method, and historical criticism. These are all considered essential for you to
be able to comprehend the succeeding lessons and eventually be able to find the meaning of
history in your everyday life. Thus, history will not remain as “events that happened in the past”
but events where we draw out lessons in life in order to improve the situation at present and be
able to prepare what will happen in the future. The entire lesson has a time allotment of 6 hours.

• What Will You Learn?

In this lesson you are expected to identify credible and authentic primary sources and
know how to evaluate their origin. Based on the tests of credibility and authenticity including the
origin of the primary sources you are also expected to be able to do the following:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the meaning and relevance of history.

2. Exhibit the ability to explain historical criticism.
3. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate the credibility and authenticity of historical
sources.
4. Express appreciation on the relevance of history as part of human life.
5. Reflect on the significance of historical events in local and national scenes.

• What Do You Already Know?

Let us check this out. Complete the following sentences. Use the space provided after
each statement.
1. History is ___________________________________________________________.
2. Historiography is _____________________________________________________.
3. Give 3 examples of primary sources ______________________________________.
4. Give 3 examples of secondary sources ____________________________________.
5. Historical reconstruction refers to
____________________________________________________________________
6. Historical criticism is
____________________________________________________________________.
7. History is relevant because
____________________________________________________________________________________________.
 • Learning Tasks/Activities
- Let’s Try This

Activity 1.1
Look around your surroundings, take a mental inventory of the objects which surround
you. Then, choose 1 object which you believe could be a valuable source of history 50 years from
now if historians by then would like to know the lifestyle, interests, and beliefs of the people at
present.

Then, identify the object and the reason for choosing the object. Limit your write-up to 5
sentences only.

- Let’s Read

Readings 1.1: Historiography: An Overview

History as a discipline is laden with controversies which may be due to the interpretation
of historians. The historians could be influenced by their personal views, the socio-political,
economic and cultural climates they were exposed to, the methods and approaches they used in
the analyses of the historical sources, the availability of the historical sources as well as the very
questions they asked.
 The A2 History: Different American Wests: Introduction to the different schools of
historiography along with the specific methods used in creating history as well as how each school
of historiography views the source. Some of those included in the list are as follows:

(a) Historicists. The Historicists as a school of historiography was developed in the late
19th century. It was pioneered by Von Ranke who introduced a scientific approach in
the use of primary sources in the reconstruction of the past. Ranke believes that with
the objective study of the primary sources, history can be reconstructed as actually it
happened. This school of historiography views that people can learn lessons from the
past. This is because of their Free Will, and their Free Will aided them to be in control
of their own destinies.

The Historicists as a school of historiography is complemented by Positivism as a method

of creating history. The Positivists rely on the use of sources for accurate and complete
visualization of the past. They view the significant role of sources in the reconstruction of
history.

(b) Accidentalist. The Accidentalist as a school of historiography subscribes to the idea

that behind every historical event are accidents which served as driving force. The
focus is more on why the event happened.

(c) Intentionalist. The Intentionalist recognizes the roles played by key individuals in
history as they were influenced by their intentions and personalities thus, they acted
on a particular circumstance which led to the unfolding of history. The intentions and
personalities are viewed as a factor that results to historical change.

(d) Hegelian. Hegel viewed history as a relentless advancement towards freedom. The
Hegelian school of historiography recognizes that behind every historical change are
intellectual movements and advancement of ideas.

(e) Marxist. Karl Marx on the other hand made use of statistical data to emphasize that
history is influenced by exploitation and conflict among social classes. The Marxist as
a school of historiography adheres to the idea that every historical change happened
due to economic forces.

(f) Structuralist. The Structuralist on the other hand believes in the role of political and
military structures in shaping history. This school of historiography emphasize that
historical events happened due to the existing political and military structures.

(g) Post-Modernist. In contrast to the Historicist, the Post-Modernist was developed in the
late 20th century. As a school of historiography, Post-Modernist is strongly influenced
by Foucault when he disputed that all sources are biased and incomplete therefore
the past cannot be known. The Post-Modernist subscribe to the belief that all
interpretations of history are valid.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, for the longest time, Philippine History was written based
on the perspective of the West or written by Filipino historians influenced by the West. Until a
group of Filipino historians developed a discourse called “Pantayong Pananaw”. As they
explained, it is a communication-based theoretical innovation coming out of the field of Philippine
historiography (Mendoza, 2001).
 Pantayong Pananaw is roughly translated in English as “A For-Us Perspective”. From the
perspective of Pantayong Pananaw, language is a controlling element in discourse. It is likewise
seen as corrective mechanism. The language is also considered as a tool in the thinking process
thereby results to the development of thought which in turn lead to the further development of
language.

However, if language becomes a barrier to thought, the thinking process is impeded or

retarded which could result into cultural stagnation. The Pantayong Pananaw regard language
barrier as a “Great Cultural Divide”. The Pantayong Pananaw further posits that language could
even hamper the development of creative thinking, analytic thinking, and abstract thinking
because it could influence memorization thereby could limit the learner. It supports Nelson
Mandela’s belief “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you
talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”.

The Pantayong Pananaw is an evolution from the “pangkami” or the “we-speaking to

others” into “pantayo” or the “we-speaking among ourselves.

The Bagong Kasaysayan uses a methodology grounded in the indigenous or native

conception of history. It refers to history as “salaysay na may saysay”. It focuses on drawing-out
the meaning of “saysay” to extract its meaning, sense and relevance of events for a constituent
people.

Navarro (2008), identified the three elements in teaching history. These are the contents,
strategies, and language or medium of instruction. He further pointed-out for effective teaching of
history these elements must be congruent and must answer the fundamental questions of- “Ano
ang ituturo”- (What will be taught or referring to the content) and “Paano ito ituturo?” (How will be
taught? Or referring to strategy).

Readings 1.2: Historical Reconstruction, Method, Sources and Criticism

History connects the present with the past. The task of the historians is informing the
people at present of what happened in a specific historical period. However, “many times they are
removed” from the events under investigation. They rely on the surviving records. According to
Gottschalk (1969), “Only a part of what was observed in the past was remembered by those who
observed it; only a part of what was remembered was recorded; only a part of what was recorded
has survived; only a part of what has survived has come to the historian’s attention”.

In the reconstruction of history “Only a part of what is credible has been grasped, and only
a part of what has been grasped can be expounded or narrated by the historian (Gottschalk,
1969). Hence, the need for verification of sources. This includes the thorough checking of the
date the source was found, the date when it was written (for the written sources of history), the
place it was found and identification of the intended function of the source. Hence, historical
method is “the process of critically examining and analyzing the records and survivals of the past”
(Gottschalk, 1969).

Since historians rely on the sources of history for the reconstruction of the past, it is then
important to for us to understand the sources of history very well. The historical sources are
remnants of the past, only a portion of sources may be found and available, they may be in
different conditions, some are even on the edge of deterioration and could be affected by the
technology.

In recording history, the challenge is out of the entire historical event only an exceedingly
small portion of details are eventually known. This challenge is illustrated in figure 1.

(1) Event witnessed

(2) witnessed and remembered

(3) witnessed, remembered, and recorded

(4) recorded event with surviving records

(5) useful and believable surviving records

(6) narrated events

Figure 1.

The sources of history are any object from the past or could also be a testimony about the
past used by the historians as tools to re-create an event which happened in the past (Howell and
Prevenier, (2001). According to Brundage they are tangible remains of the past. And are classified
as primary and secondary.

The primary sources are those produced by a contemporary of the event it narrates
(Gottschalk, 1969). They give first-hand information about an event. Some examples are
documents, creative works, artefacts, oral narratives, oral traditions, and movements of people.
They can be in written form, visual, oral, or digital.

On the other hand, the secondary sources are based on the primary sources and with
interpretation and analysis of the historians. A quite common example of a secondary source of
history are the history books. Other examples include articles in academic journal, paper read in
conferences or any narratives written by someone who does not witness the event but based the
information from other sources.

Since these sources are used as evidence of history, form and content are to be
thoroughly examined. The process is then known as historical criticism classified as external and
internal criticisms.

The external criticism examines the form and revolves on the issue of authenticity of the
source. It checks whether the source was fabricated, forged, or faxed. It identifies a hoax or a
misrepresentation. Meanwhile, the internal criticism checks the content. It tests the credibility of
the source.
 - Let’s Think About This

After completing the 2 readings, let us find how well you understood them. Perform the
activity indicated here:

Activity 1.2
A. Choose 1 Philippine historical event that you are remarkably familiar with. Then,
discuss how it will be presented based on the different schools of historiography. Be
guided by the matrix below:

Philippine historical event: _______________________________________________________

School of Historiography Presentation of historical account

Historicist

Structuralist

Hegelian

Marxist

Annales

Post-Modernist

Pantayong Pananaw
 B. Based on your entries in letter A, list down 3 primary and 3 secondary sources which
can be used in writing the identified Philippine historical event.

Primary Sources Secondary Sources

- Let’s Study

Activity 1.3
Below is a short narrative from the National Museum of the Philippines. Answer the
questions that follow.
BB
Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Pt., Palawan
895-775 BC

The cultural treasure found in the early 1960’s in

Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Point, Palawan is a secondary
burial jar. The upper portion of the jar, as well as the cover
is incised with curvilinear scroll designs and painted with
natural iron or hematite. On top of the jar cover or lid is a
boat with two human figures representing two souls on a
voyage to the afterlife. The boatman is seated behind a
figure whose hands are crossed on the chest. The position
of the hands is a traditional Filipino practice observed
when arranging the corpse.

The burial jar which is unrivaled in Southeast Asia and

considered as the work of a master potter, signifies the
belief of early Filipinos in life after death. It is dated to the
late Neolithic Period, about 890-710 B.C.

Source:
http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/Collections/Archaeo/Manung
gul.html
A. 1. Explain or justify the classification of manunggul jar as primary source.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

2. Indicate information of the manunggul jar showing external criticism.

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

3. Indicate information of the manunggul jar internal criticism.

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

B. 1. Based on your experience in completing the activity, what is your reflection on the importance
of historical events in shaping the local and national scenes and even influencing the lives of the
people?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

• Feedback
Go back to your answers in Activity 1.1 and compare them with your answers in Activity
1.2 and Activity 1.3. What are your observations? What about some realizations which could help
improve your performance in the succeeding lessons?

• Let’s Remember
History is the systematic reconstruction and interpretation of the significant events of the
past based on evidences. It identifies the cause and effect of events and show patterns of events.
History helps people understand who and what they are as an individual and as a people. It also
serves as a guide towards the future.