ROB Sieborger reviews Help-U-History Grade 12 Study Guide by Helen Terre Blanche and John Illsley (Kagiso, R65.00)
IT’S not easy to write a study guide for matric history. There is a lot of content to cover and changes in the way that matriculation examination papers are set and the differences between the papers set in each province can result in a book being out of date before it is even published.
There are, however, many sections of the grade 12 syllabus that have not changed for a long time, particularly in general history, which makes the writing of such a guide simpler.
The first part of Help-U-History deals with how to write essay questions and short questions. There are useful suggestions given, particularly on how to answer the old-fashioned cartoon questions. What is missing from the essay section is a clear guide on how to select the information needed to answer a question and an explanation of how essay questions are marked (which every candidate needs to know).
On the shorter questions, there is very little attention paid to skills-based questions, which are surely the direction which future matric exams will follow. The second and third parts of the book concern general and South African history. Summaries of all the main topics which form part of the syllabus and are likely to be included in an exam are given. Interesting sketch diagrams, which graphically summarise each topic, and a range of cartoons and occasional other illustrations are helpful. Sample exam-type questions are provided. (There is often no indication whether the questions come from past exam papers or not.)
Each topic also has a good glossary explaining the historical terms used. This is not just a students’ study guide: there is a great deal of very useful information for teachers to use in their classrooms.
The book is spoilt by an outdated approach to the South African history sections, particularly the period after 1948, which is called ”The National Party government 1948-1994”. Although there are summaries of sections on anti-apartheid movements, the armed struggle, black reaction to the apartheid system during the 1970s and the period of lawlessness and the state of emergency, they are relatively brief and contain few cartoons, one sketch diagram and only one illustration, predictably of Hector Petersen on June 16.
The bibliography is also not very helpful. It still contains the matric textbooks written in the 1980s for Department of Education and Training schools and omits more recently published books such as Dynamic History (Kagiso), Making History Grade 12 (Heinemann), In Search of History Grade 12 (Oxford), Looking into the Past Grade 12 (Maskew Miller Longman) and From Apartheid to Democracy — History for Grade 12 (Shuter and Shooter), which ought to be the obvious choices of any matric teachers looking for more up-to-date approaches.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, August 3, 2000.
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