WEEK 1

Self-Learning Module in Readings in Philippine History

CHAPTER I: Meaning and Relevance of History; Distinction of Primary and Secondary
Sources; External and Internal Criticisms; Repositories and Different Kinds of Primary
Sources

Learning Outcomes:
1. Recognize the distinction between primary and secondary sources
2. Enumerate materials which can be considered primary sources
3. Appreciate the meaning and relevance of history.
4. Engage deeper with our country’s rich history and culture

Description:
The course means exposing students to where our history comes from. Students will be
reading and analyzing materials from different media that has to do with Philippine history and
culture. Using various techniques, the students are expected to study and analyze the sources and
come up with an understanding of a historical truth.

LESSON NO: 1 (3hours)

Title: Learning History

What is History

The study of the beliefs and desires, practices and institutions of human beings. With this
definition, history becomes an active factor in the study of Philippine society. It also includes a
look into the development of Philippine culture through time especially with the influence of the
colonial period that would eventually shape the present Philippine identity.

Why Study History?

Looking at the past teaches us to see the world through different eyes – appreciating the
diversity of human perceptions, beliefs and cultures. Different and/or new perspectives will
enable us to analyze critically the present contexts of society and beings.

The Meaning of “History”

Excerpts from Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method by Louis

Gottschalk (1950, New York: Knopf, p.17)

The English word history is derived from the Greek noun istoia, meaning learning. As
used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, history meant a systematic account of a set of natural
phenomena, whether or not chronological factoring was a factor in the account.

By its most common definition, the word history now means, “the past of mankind.”
Guide Questions

1. What is your understanding of history? How is your view different from what is
explained in this lesson?
2. As a student of history, what do you think will be your duties?
3. Why is there a need to understand and realize the meaning and importance of our history?

Activity 1
Form a group of five members. Pause for a few minutes and think about or reflect on
your past. Has your past influenced you in a way or another? How does your past shape your
identity and behavior? Discuss your answers with your groupmates.

Evaluation

True or False. Write T if the statement is correct and F if it is not.

_____1. An examination of the past can tell us a great deal about how we came to be who we
are.
_____2. History means “the present of mankind”.
_____3. History includes people’s beliefs, desires and practices.
_____4. The English word history is derived from the Latin word istoia.
_____5. Different and new perspectives will enable us to analyze critically the present contexts
of society and beings.

Essay. Respond to the given question comprehensively.

1. What role does history take in the study of Philippine society, culture and identity?

Strategies

✔ Unique demonstration of student’s own understanding of Philippine history.

✔ Film viewing and reaction regarding interesting highlights in Philippine history
✔ Research on what Teodoro Agoncillo, Reynaldo Ileto and Renato Constantino said about
history.

LESSON NO. 2 (3 hours)

Title: Understanding Sources

What is a Source

The first kind of sources relies or remains, offer the researchers a clue about the past simply by
virtue of their existence. The wooden columns found at the date of a prehistoric settlement
testify for example to the existence of people and tell to historians something about their culture.
The pegs or dowels they used to fasten building materials further enlighten scholars about their
technical skills and artistic capacities. By comparing their articrafts with those with other places
historians can further learn something of their commercial or intellectual relations.
In contrast the testimonies are the oral or written reports that describe an event, weather
simple or complex such as the record of property exchange. The author of such testimonies can
provide the historians information about what happened, how and what the circumstances the
event occurred and why it occurred.
The primary responsibilities of the historians to distinguish for readers carefully between
information that comes literally out of the source itself.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the
event or topic being studied.

Formally, there are eight examples of these primary sources:

1. Photographs that may reflect social conditions of historical realities and everyday life.
2. Old sketches and drawings that may indicate the conditions of life of societies in the past.
3. Old maps that may reveal how space and geography were used to emphasize trade routes,
structural build-up, etc.
4. Cartoons for political expression or propaganda
5. Material evidence of the prehistoric past like cave drawings, old syllabaries and ancient
writings.
6. Statistical tables, graphs and charts
7. Oral history or recordings by electronic means of accounts of eyewitnesses or
participants; the recordings are then transcribed and used for research.
8. Published and unpublished primary documents, eyewitness accounts and other written
sources.

Secondary Sources

Gottschalk simply defines secondary sources as the testimony of anyone who is not an
eyewitness – that is of one who was not present at the event of which he tells. These are books,
articles and scholarly journals that had interpreted primary sources or had used them to discuss
certain subjects of history.

Source of Typologies

Their evolution and complementarity Written source are usually categorized according to
a tripartite scheme as narrative or literally as diplomatic/juridical or as a social document.
Sources are traditionally classified as narrative or literally includes chronicles or tracts presented
in narrative form written in order to impact particular message.

The Impact of Communication and Information Technology on the Production of Sources

 The availability of the sources general, very much determined by technology that is by
the conditions under which is given culture received and collected information. In the first
information was transmitted by people who walked or ran with the news as the rate probably
never exceeding six miles per hour. The second phase of information was transported using pack
animals. This phase began about 20000B.C.E.in central Asia about 10000B.C.E. in the
Mediatarian area and sometimes during sixteenth century among the Incas in Peru.

Three categories of information were transported in this period each of which required slightly
different technology of literacy. The First included secret correspondence of various kind of
diplomatic military which had to be written in code. The second general correspondence which
in time was taken by the newspaper.

Guide Questions

1. What is the main distinction between primary and secondary source?

2. Why is primary source important in the study of history?
3. What is the purpose of a secondary source?

Activity 1

Work in pairs. Look for the sources used by the Philippines and China in their respective
claims of sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal and identify which are primary sources. Also
look for the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and explain the reason for its decision.
Present your findings in class.

EVALUATION

True or False. Write T if the statement is correct and F if it is false.

____1. It is from our historical sources that our history is studied and written.
____2. Primary sources are materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the
event or topic being studied.
____3. Photographs, old sketches and drawings are examples of secondary sources.
____4. Secondary source is a testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness.
____5. Examples of primary sources are books, articles and scholarly journals.

Enumeration. Enumerate the following.

Robert B. Fox.
6-10 Enumerate some examples of primary sources used in studying history
11-15 Enumerate some examples of secondary sources that had interpreted primary sources

Strategies
✔ Group presentation of samples of historical primary sources (drawings, maps,
photographs, cartoons)
✔ Comparative analysis on the ff:
 o Robert B. Fox. The Tabon Caves: Archaeological Explorations and excavations
on Palawan Island, Philippines (Manila, 1970) p. 40
o William Henry Scott. Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine
History (Revised Edition) Quezon City, 1984) pp. 14-15

SUGGESTED READINGS

o Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method by Louis Gottschalk (New York,

1950)
o Writings of Teodoro Agoncillo, Reynaldo Ileto and Renato Constantino about history
o Robert B. Fox. The Tabon Caves: Archaeological Explorations and excavations on
Palawan Island, Philippines (Manila, 1970) p. 40
o William Henry Scott. Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History
(Revised Edition) Quezon City, 1984) pp. 14-15

REFERENCES
Torres, J. V., BATIS: Sources in Philippine History, Quezon City, 2018

Chapter 2: Content and Contextual Analysis of Selected Primary Sources

What is Content and Contextual Analysis?
Content analysis is a systemic evaluation of the primary source be it a text, painting, caricature,
and or/speech that in the process students could develop and present an argument based on their
own understanding of the evidences form their readings. The students will identify pertinent
information from the texts/documents and explain its importance to their understanding of
history in the Philippine setting. While, Contextual analysis considers specifically the time,
place, and situation when the primary source was written. The analysis as well includes the
author’s background, authority on the subject and intent perceptible, and its relevance and
meaning to people and society today (Ligo, et.al., 2018)
Content and contextual analysis is an indispensable approach to strengthen the students critical
and analytical thinking skills and their ability to articulate their own ideas, views and
perspectives on a certain primary data or source. In order to achieve this, primary sources will be
used and utilized for analysis.