A crisp fall morning brought a class of fourth graders to a one-room schoolhouse that still stands amid an oak grove in Seneca, Maryland. This charming remnant of America's past fascinated the students who approached the red sandstone building.
"Where's the gymnasium and the cafeteria?" asked one rosy-cheeked girl, who was dressed for the field trip in a long skirt and apron. "And what about the basketball court?" asked a boy wearing knickers and a vest.
Their teacher, Anne Barlow, explained that the schoolhouse was built in 1866 by workmen who hauled stone from the local quarry and that the children of the farmers' shoemakers, barge owners, blacksmiths, and tanners who attended the school didn't have modern facilities. Barlow was preparing her students for a hands-on history lesson that would allow them to experience a typical nineteenth-century school day and learn about life in the 1880s. The program was initiated by the local historical preservation organization that restored the school and helped establish it as a museum.
Patti Griffiths, the museum docent and acting schoolmarm, stepped out of the building wearing a long skirt and high-necked blouse and holding an antique bell. She rang the bell until the students gathered around. Then she introduced herself and asked the students to step back in time with her.
"Your predecessors didn't have TVs or hair dryers, and they didn't ride to school in a big, yellow bus," she said, anticipating their questions. "Today you will experience what it was like to attend school where children ages six to fourteen shared one room and were taught by a teacher who might have been sixteen years old. Let's imagine that it's 1888, not 1988, when we get inside." Indeed, when Griffiths led the students into the whitewashed room with its potbellied stove, old maps, and books, and the students took their places at double desks, folding their hands as instructed, time seemed to have stopped in another century.
Barlow said that multisensory history lessons like this are gaining the attention of educators who are looking for ways to make history a lively, timely subject. She noted that hands-on learning done on field trips and in class suits elementary school children, because most of them learn best by doing.
"Excursions appeal to youngsters' natural spontaneity. They're not embarrassed to dress up and play act, and they easily immerse themselves in the atmosphere," she said.
Barlow, who has taught all over the United States and in various European countries, said that wherever she has taught, historic sites with costumed guides and restorations of plantations, mining towns, or general stores were always close enough for short trips.
A Sense Of Historic Continuity
"Making the effort to take children to these destinations gives them a sense of their place in the community and a sense of historic continuity." she said.
Gilbert T. Sewall, a researcher at Teachers College, Columbia University, said that he is a
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