history

SOURCES AND IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY

Meaning and Importance of History

Background of the topic

History is an academic subject taught as part of a primary and secondary education. This chapter tackles the significance of history as a discipline in both primary and secondary levels. It gives the basics of history and lays a solid foundation of this subject. It traces the different definitions of history, the importance of studying history as a subject as well as the different ways by which information that constitutes history is obtained.

THE MEANING OF HISTORY

Explain the meaning of History

Definitions of history

Various definitions have been put forward to define history as a discipline some of them are:

• History is a record of events pertaining to human activities, his social, economic and political development from the past the present and the future.
• History refers to the study of past events, present situation and prediction of the future or it is the study of changes in the process of material production.
• History is defined as knowledge that entails chronologically presented narrations about human activities pertaining to social, economic, technological and political aspects from the past to the future.

In general history can also refer to an academic discipline which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequences of past events and objectively determine the patterns of cause and effect that determine them. It’s the record of human activities which enable man to survival and attain essential needs from the environment.

The basic needs of humankind include food shelter and clothing. Due to social, political, cultural, economic and technological transformations humankind's activities have to change from time to time.

Actions taken against nature aim to change natural objects into conditions that can satisfy human needs; these activities against nature are what we call material production. Material production includes can be observed in sharpening of sticks to make a spear, digging trenches to trap wild animals and many more.

THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING HISTORY

Explain the importance of studying History

Studying history is important because it allows us to:

ü  Understand how African societies were formed, how they developed and the factors that influenced this development. It also allows us to develop an understanding of the events, conditions and factors that shaped the past and those which have shaped the present conditions of the world in order to predict the future.

ü  Historical knowledge makes the present comprehensive which is why journalists and writers of sensational stories spend some time explaining the history of a particular incident; it is only when one knows the past of a person or an incident that the present can became meaningful.

ü  Develop an understanding and appreciation of the cultural, political, economic and technological advancements made by African societies before and after colonial ruler ship.

ü  Develop the basic skills of critical thinking, reasoning, judgment, empathy and effective participation in human developmental activities. Studying history also helps us to understand and appreciate the efforts made and strategies used by African people to regain their independence and resist neo-colonialism

ü  Develop, understand and appreciation the need for African unity, cooperation and interdependence, conflict resolution and effective participation in social, economic and political development of Africa. It also helps us to develop an understanding of the relationships between African’s development problems and foreign intrusion, colonial domination, cultural subjugation and economic exploitation at various stages in history.

ü  Acquire knowledge for its own sake as you enjoy a novel with fiction, a film with an interesting plot. It is not clear why people are interested in these ventures and in the same way people do enjoy to know the history of particular topics.

ü  Develop our patriotism, history students know their heroes and heroines and traitors. This make history a sensitive subject in places where political leaders are not sure of their legitimacy.

ü  Enlightens people about the advantages of certain economic practices for example, the way the development in the world today is measured by the industrial revolution that took place in Europe in 1750

ü  Understand the level of development at different stages of human development. Without history it is very difficult to determine or to tell what humans were doing in the past. Therefore, it is through history that one can extensively understand the level of development that humans have reached at in a given period in time.

ü  Helps us learn about technological transformations, for example primitive livelihood to advanced livelihood (using of stones and wood tools to iron tools)

ü  Understand how humans adapted to their environment and how the struggled to earn a living from the environment. This therefore looks at the long struggle of man by exercises of his reason to understand the environment and to act up on it.

ü  Understand the relationship that existed between humans, and between humans and the environment.

ü  Acquire skills in historical issues and becoming professionals in history, some people such as archaeologists and historians study history for career purposes.

Assignment

INTRODUCTION

External sources of potential employees

The term external sources of staffing indicate the sources of recruitment outside the enterprise. The persons recruited from outside sources are, thus, unknown to the enterprise so far. Some organizations prefer this source particularly originality, initiative and drive are of paramount importance. Particularly in a competitive economy, fresh blood should be injected into the organization so as to make it more dynamic.

 The outside sources of recruitment usually include

• New entrants to the labor force i.e., young mostly inexperienced potential employees the college students. 
• The unemployed with multiple skills and abilities.
•  Retired experienced persons.
• All others not in the labor force

Methods of recruiting from external sources

1. Advertisements: Staff recruitment is one of the purpose of advertisement. This is a very common and effective method of bringing in candidates from outside. The employer puts up an advertisement in the newspaper either in the classified advertisement column or in the form of display advertisement. The name of the post, educational qualifications, experience in the relevant field of activity, salary, etc., are all given in the advertisement. This method is generally suitable for finding out skilled personnel.

2. Employment Exchanges: In Tanzania, employment exchanges are run by the Government. In Western countries, employment counsels and private employment exchanges are very popular. The employment exchange, can help the employers to find out suitable personnel. Besides, it can also help job seeker to get appointments. In particular these exchanges are very helpful to procure unskilled and semi-skilled workers.

3. Personnel Consultants: These personnel consultancy agencies have developed a lot in Tanzania. They recruit personnel on behalf of employers. This method of external recruitment is a costly affair. Although this method is very popular in western countries, it is not so popular in Tanzania.

4. Colleges, Universities and Institutions: Some progressive employers maintain a dose contact with the universities, colleges, vocational institutes, and management institutes for recruitment to various jobs. It is easier to mold the fresh graduates and hence they follow the well-known principle ‘Catch the Young‘. This practice has several points to its credit. This method, however, is in its infancy in Tanzania.

5. Recommendations: Applicants introduced by friends and relatives is yet another source of recruitment. Many employers also prefer this method because something about the background of the candidate is known. This method is widely practiced in Tanzania. However, this method has the inherent defect of favoritism and nepotism.

6. Labor Contractors: This method is very popular in Tanzania. They hire skilled and semi-skilled workers. The labor contractors are in constant touch with workers and bring them to places wherever required. Recently, this system has been in operation for supplying unskilled and semi-skilled laborers to the gulf and Middle East countries where large scale construction works are going on.

7. Casual and Unsolicited Applicants: Sometimes, job seekers may visit the factory, office or work site with the hope that jobs would be avoidable. They may be considered for employment. Similarly, job seekers may also put up their applications. If suitable jobs are available, they are interviewed. Even if there is no vacancy, their applications are preserved and called for interview whenever vacancies arise in future. This is the most economical method of recruitment and is popular all over the world.

8. Poaching

It means ‘stealing’ from rival firms. This is where an organization approaches employees in other competing organizations to apply for jobs in their organization.

Besides, those cited above, there are various other methods like notice at the factory gate, inviting applications through labor unions, etc. Computer Data Banks constitutes a very popular source of recruitment in the Tanzania government institutions.

Evaluation of External Sources:

Like any other sources of recruitment, external sources are mixed of advantages and disadvan­tages.

The following are the main advantages:

1. Open Process:

Being a more open process, it is likely to attract large number of applicants/ applications. This, in turn, widens its options of selection.

2. Availability of Talented Candidates:

With large pool of applicants, it becomes possible for the organization to have talented candidates from outside. Thus, it introduces new blood in the organization.

3. Opportunity to select the best candidates:

With large pool of applicants, the selection process becomes more competitive. This increases prospects for selecting the best candidates.

4. Provides healthy competition:

As the external members are supposed to be more trained and efficient. With such a background, they work with positive attitude. This helps create healthy competition and conducive work environment in the organization.

However, the external sources of recruitment suffer from certain disadvantages too:

These are:

1. Expensive and Time Consuming:

This method of recruitment is both expensive and time consuming. There is no guarantee that organization wall get good and suitable candidates.

2. Unfamiliarity with the Organization:

As candidates come from outside the organization, they are not familiar with the tasks, job nature and the internal scenario of the organization.

3. Discourages the Existing Employees:

Existing employees are not sure to get promotion. This discourages them to work hard. This, in turn, boils down to decreasing productivity of the organization.

CONCLUSION ON EXTERNAL SOURCES OF LABOUR

As seen above External Sources of Labour have their beneficial impact on any organization, External recruits bring knowledge, skills and experience gained in other companies, helping to avoid mistakes made by others in the same industry.

An employee who has not been exposed to your company culture may bring fresh new ideas that an existing employee may not think of.

If any major changes are to be made to the way the business is run, external recruits may be less reluctant than internally-recruited staff - they usually bring “fresh blood” into a company and are happier to facilitate the changes. Decides to use them as a way of sourcing for employees.

References;

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Recruitment and induction, Acas. Accessed 10 May 2015

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