CHAPTER XXIII

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS

INCREASING DEMAND FOR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

It has been the aim of the preceding chapters of this volume to make it clear that the teacher of the future must be able to cope in a large and intelligent way with problems which are not discussed in courses dealing with the subject-matter ordinarily taught in schools. The compensations offered to the trained teacher are fortunately more adequate than formerly, and increasingly justify the demand that the teacher bring to his or her task a more complete professional training.

AMERICAN NORMAL SCHOOLS

The proper content of a professional training is a matter on which there is no general agreement in the United States. For a little more than seventy-five years there have existed in this country normal schools for the training of elementary-school teachers. These institutions have in some cases required graduation from high school as a prerequisite for admission, but more commonly not. Their courses of study have in some schools consisted chiefly of reviews of elementary-school subjects supplemented by a modicum of methodology or discussion of how to teach the subjects. In other cases the courses of the normal school have been general, of the type commonly offered in colleges or high schools. Sometimes the normal school has given its students large opportunity to teach children in so-called practice schools or model schools. Sometimes, on the other hand, the students in normal schools have had no direct contact with classroom management, but have gone out into the schools equipped only with the theory of teaching.

The situation with regard to these institutions is set forth in the following paragraphs from a bulletin of the United States Bureau of Education:

Normal schools differ from each other very widely in organization, in admission requirements, in courses of study, and in modes of instruction. The explanation of this lack of uniformity is to be found in the fact that normal schools have never been a part of the system of higher education evolved in this country. Normal schools have grown up in isolation. While the colleges have been in the closest touch with each other through the organization of entrance examination boards and accrediting institutions, while high schools have been brought together by standard definitions of units, normal schools have stood apart. The typical normal school derives its financial support from legislative appropriations, receives its students without competition from a territory over which it exercises exclusive control, and has no difficulty in placing its graduates in positions which they regard as satisfactory. Furthermore, so urgent has been the demand in the country for teachers that school boards and superintendents have not been able to make rigid selections, with the result that standards of training have not been forced upon the normal schools from without.

In a situation where relative isolation has not compelled normal schools to define themselves to others there has been the largest opportunity for the play of personal influences. A strong president has often dominated the policies of a normal school to a degree that is almost unbelievable. The faculty sometimes has little or no voice in determining the courses or the modes of admission. There is no State authority in most of the States which is strong enough to determine what shall be done in normal schools. The result is that within a single State there are the widest variations. One president with the ambition to develop his institution into a degree-granting university goes on his way, while his neighbor uses the funds granted by the same legislature to develop a normal school which loudly announces its objection to granting degrees and limits its activities rigidly to the training of elementary teachers.

In recent years a number of causes have begun to break down the isolation of the normal school. First and foremost is the desire of normal graduates to enjoy the advantages of higher education in universities and colleges. The growth of summer schools at universities and the frequent transfer of normal-school graduates to college and graduate courses show with clearness the desire of teachers to enjoy the advantages of all kinds of higher education. Normal schools, drawn into the current of higher education, have been called upon to announce more definitely their requirements for admission and to describe the content of their courses. What is a course in methods of teaching arithmetic? Is it a review of the course given in an elementary school or is it a discussion of the pedagogical principles on which such courses are arranged? What is a course in practice teaching? Does such a course require of the student any study of material, and does it afford him any adequate critical discussion of his work? There has been a sharp and at times unfriendly clash between normal schools and colleges in the effort to secure answers to such questions. The normal school often takes the position that it administers only high-grade courses, while the colleges express a frank doubt as to the value of these courses for mature students.

Perhaps the disagreement between normal schools and colleges can best be illustrated by the widespread dispute regarding foreign languages. The normal school has been historically related to the vernacular school, and its officers have had little patience with classical or even literary courses. The traditions of the college are of a totally different type. So long as no students passed from normal schools to colleges the normal schools were at liberty to hold to the vernacular, but as soon as normal-school graduates sought admission to higher institutions the controversy was on.

A second reason why normal schools have been called upon to define themselves arises because colleges and universities have in recent years entered the field of teacher training through the organization of departments of education and colleges of education. In the State universities the demand for preparation of high-school teachers has been heard, and generous provisions have in many cases been made for the work of preparing such teachers. The normal schools have looked upon this organization of teacher-training courses as undesired competition. Conversely, the university authorities have been critical of the courses in the normal schools, and the issue has been sharply drawn. Incidentally it may be remarked that college departments of education have usually been subjected to the closest scrutiny and sometimes to violent criticism by other college departments because of their supposed inferiority. It may even be admitted that entrance requirements in the departments of education have sometimes been lower than those for other college departments in the hope of meeting the competition of normal schools, and courses of inferior standard in the college have been tolerated for like reason. All of these disputes and efforts at adjustment have aroused a general inquiry about teacher-training courses which a generation ago would have been without interest except to a small group of specialists. Now the problem is known to all who are interested in education, and the discussion must go on until some satisfactory conclusion is reached.[93]

AMERICAN DEMANDS ON SECONDARY-SCHOOL TEACHERS

If the situation with regard to the training of elementary-school teachers is chaotic, the situation with regard to secondary-school teachers is more so. Until very recently there was little or no effort in the state laws defining requirements for teachers’ certificates to distinguish between elementary teachers and teachers in high schools. The candidate for a position in Latin found himself taking the same examination that would have been required if he had been about to teach a third grade. Of course in practice the school officers who employed the Latin teacher took steps to assure themselves that he had studied that subject, but practice in this respect has never been standardized.

GERMAN TRAINING OF SECONDARY-SCHOOL TEACHERS

By way of setting up a contrast we may review the system which prevailed in Germany before 1914. The German system was the most highly developed system of training secondary-school teachers in the world.

Candidates for positions in the secondary schools must first of all have completed the course of one of the secondary schools. In the second place, the candidate must have attended a German university for at least six semesters. Here an exception is made in the case of those candidates who expect to teach in the sciences. They may take half of the university courses in one of the technical institutions rather than in university lectures.

After this preliminary training is completed, the candidate presents himself for an examination. Usually the period of training is much longer than the minimum above described. Indeed, in most cases candidates take the university doctor’s degree before they come up for the examination. The examination consists of two parts. First, there is a general examination covering those subjects which are supposed to be essential as training for all departments; and, second, there is a special examination given in the particular subject in which the candidate is preparing to teach. Both examinations include written and oral divisions....

The examinations are formidable ordeals. They are conducted by special commissioners. On these commissions are university professors, officers of the education department, and representatives of the secondary schools. The candidate is first required to present two elaborate theses, one on some phase of the general subjects and one in the subject in which he has elected to take a complete examination. At the discretion of the commission the candidate’s doctor’s dissertation may be substituted for one of these theses. A period of 16 weeks is allowed for their preparation, and they are intended to show the ability of the candidate to carry on independent research in his selected field, and his ability to formulate material in a clear and systematic fashion. After the presentation of these theses there follows a written examination, followed in turn by an oral examination.

After the examination the successful candidate now has before him two years of contact with the schoolroom before he can become a teacher with a regular position. The first of these trial years is known as the Seminar year and the second as the Trial year. During both of these periods the candidate is connected with one of the secondary schools and is under the general direction of the principal or director of this school....

After a candidate has been assigned to a particular school, it becomes his duty, first of all, to participate in the activities of that school in any way that he can. He is usually assigned to some teacher, whose reports he helps to prepare and whose classes he has to visit with regularity. In addition, he is expected to visit all of the classes in the institution, so as to observe different methods of instruction and class management. It is required that the candidate meet with the director two hours a week for special training. At this point in particular the greatest diversity of practice appears....

Sometimes the meeting is conducted as a demonstration lesson; sometimes it is a discussion; sometimes it is a series of reports by candidates; sometimes a lecture by the director or one of the teachers of the school....

After the candidates have gone through a part of the first year’s training and have become somewhat familiar with the methods of instruction in the classes which they visit and through the advice which they receive in the weekly meetings, they are allowed to give instruction. At first this instruction is limited to single class exercises under the immediate supervision of the regular teacher. The candidate is expected to prepare fully for such an exercise, so that he may carry on the work of the students in accordance with the general plan adopted by the regular teacher. The regular teacher remains in the class during the instruction given by the candidate, and after the class has been dismissed the teacher gives the candidate the benefit of such criticism as he has to make. Opportunity for these criticisms is presented by the school program, which is uniformly so arranged that 45 minutes of class work are followed by 15 minutes of recess. The criticisms are in some cases very helpful, especially where the teacher is interested in developing better methods of instruction upon the part of the candidate. On the other hand, the criticisms are often very severe and sometimes even caustic. In any case, the candidate learns through the comments given him by the teacher how far he has failed to conform to the expectation of the school....

Several weeks before the close of the seminar year each candidate is called upon to prepare a thesis on some concrete pedagogical or didactic problem set for him by the director. This thesis constitutes part of his preparation for the teaching profession and may be the outcome of his readings or the outcome of his observation. Not uncommonly the candidate makes an elaborate study of some of the pedagogical literature related to his subject. It is to be remembered that many of these candidates have already completed the work for the degree of doctor of philosophy in the university and are for that reason trained in the methods of research and in the preparation of theses, while all have prepared elaborate theses in connection with the examinations which admitted them to the seminar year.

At the end of the seminar year the director, with the coöperation of the other teachers who have observed the work of the candidate, makes a report to the school authorities, and if the work of the candidate has been satisfactory he is now advanced to a higher grade and enters upon the trial year.

During the trial year he is required to teach six to eight hours a week without compensation. If he is especially fortunate, he may receive some compensation for substitute teaching which is needed by the school. In the main, however, he is called upon to carry a heavy burden of work without any compensation from the school. The director may also use his services for other purposes, such as the preparation of reports, the checking of lists, and other duties which need to be attended to for the purpose of administering the school. During this trial year the regular teacher is not required to attend the classes conducted by candidates. The candidate, therefore, gradually acquires independence in his conduct of the classes.

At the end of this trial year another report is made of the activities of the candidate and the judgment of the teachers in the school with respect to his success. If this report is favorable the candidate is now put on the eligible list and may be appointed to a permanent position. The length of time which it is necessary for him to wait for this permanent appointment is determined wholly by the needs of the schools. If there are no vacancies, the candidate may wait a relatively long period of time, in some cases as long as four or five years. On the other hand, for some years past it has been possible in most cities for candidates to receive appointment almost immediately on completion of the trial year.[94]

NEW COURSES IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES FOR SECONDARY-SCHOOL TEACHERS

The example of Germany is instructive as showing something of the amount of professional training which may be deemed necessary properly to qualify a teacher of secondary schools. It is not at all likely that the particular method adopted will be followed in the United States. Indeed, there is a rapidly developing movement in American colleges and universities to provide training for such teachers. The state universities especially have developed in recent years series of courses, both in subject-matter and in professional lines, designed to train secondary-school teachers. These, like the normal-school courses described above, are very little standardized, but are promising as a nucleus for the final organizations which will solve the problem.

The following paragraph indicates the existing conditions:

The significant fact is that 21 of 24 universities report teachers’ courses. This means that in some way the academic departments are professionally coöperating with schools or departments of education in furnishing to intending teachers the special methods and peculiar technique, as well as more fundamental educational principles and distinctive values of the actual subjects the students will teach when they take positions in the schools. The proper coördination of the university forces contributing to teaching efficiency is the curriculum problem for the immediate future in university administration. At present the solutions are about as numerous as the institutions concerned.[95]

THE REQUIREMENTS OF A STANDARDIZING ASSOCIATION

The standardization of the requirements will require legislation or the action of central standardizing associations. This movement is now under way. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools sets as its standards for approval of high schools the following:

All teachers teaching one or more academic subjects must satisfy the following standards:

_A._ The minimum attainment of teachers of academic subjects shall be equivalent to graduation from a college belonging to the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools requiring the completion of a four-year course of study or 120 semester hours in advance of a standard four-year high school course. Such requirement shall not be construed as retroactive.

_B._ The minimum professional training of teachers of academic subjects shall be at least eleven semester hours in education. This should include special study of the subject matter and pedagogy of the subject to be taught. Such requirements shall not be construed as retroactive. (For the succeeding year the Board will interpret courses in education as the same courses are interpreted by the colleges or universities offering them.)

_C._ If a teacher, new to a given high school, does not fully meet the requirement of the above standards but, in the opinion of the inspector, possesses the equivalent of the training prescribed, the inspector shall submit, to the Board of Inspectors, a statement concerning the training, experience, and teaching efficiency of the said teacher, together with his recommendation. The Board shall, on each case presented, make a decision.[96]

THE CALIFORNIA REQUIREMENTS THE MOST ADVANCED IN THE UNITED STATES

The qualifications required by the State Board of Education in California are the highest required in any state. They are as follows:

REQUIREMENTS

High school certificates may be issued by county and city and county boards of education under the provisions of section 1519, subdivision 5 (_a_); section 1775, subdivision 1 (_a_), and section 1792 of the Political Code of California, to candidates who meet all of the following requirements, to wit:

(1) _Requirement of Bachelor’s degree._ Each candidate shall have received a Bachelor’s degree from a standard college requiring not less than eight years of high school and college training.

(2) _Requirement of one year of graduate study._ Each candidate shall submit evidence that in addition to the academic and professional courses required for the Bachelor’s degree, he has completed at least one year of graduate study, doing full regular work, though not necessarily a candidate for a degree, in an approved graduate school as hereinafter defined. Such graduate study shall include at least one full year course of advanced or graduate work in at least one of the subjects in which candidate expects to be recommended for certification.

(3) _Requirement of fifteen units of work in education._ Each candidate shall also submit evidence that he has completed in undergraduate or graduate standing, or the two combined, not less than fifteen units (semester hours) of work, in courses listed in the department of education in the institution in which the graduate work is completed, or courses in other departments of that or other institutions accepted as preparation for teaching by the department of education. These fifteen units of work shall include the several courses in education hereinafter prescribed.

* * * * *

_Required work in education._ The required fifteen units of work in the department of education shall include the following courses:

(_a_) A course in school and classroom management, or equivalent work—a minimum of one unit.

(_b_) Work in actual practice of teaching, with conferences—a minimum of four units.

(_c_) A teacher’s course in at least one subject in which the candidate expects to be recommended for certification, if such course be given in the institution and be accepted by or listed under the work in education—a maximum of three units for all such courses.

(_d_) A course in secondary education, presenting particularly the purpose and attainable goals of high school work—a minimum of two units.

(_e_) Such other courses relating to the theory, function and administration of public education, as are needed to complete the required fifteen units.

_Practice teaching._ The work in practice teaching shall be done under the general supervision of the department of education of the institution in which the year of graduate work is taken, and may be done in schools of elementary, intermediate or secondary grade, though preferably in secondary school work of the kind the candidate is preparing to teach, and under the direction of competent instructors in such work. The work in practice teaching may also be done in connection with the training school of any California state normal school.

_Teachers’ courses._ Each teacher’s course shall be a _bona fide_ teacher’s course and shall be made as concrete and practicable as possible, and shall have for its purpose the preparation of teachers to give intelligent instruction in the subject in the high schools of this State.[97]

CONTINUATION TRAINING OF SCHOOL OFFICERS

The requirements which have been discussed up to this point have to do with admission to the teaching profession. Beyond that point there is nothing that can be described as sufficiently common to be regarded as typical. There are voluntary and compulsory gatherings of every kind and variety intended to keep teachers intellectually alert and to inform them of progress in educational matters. There are institutes, so called, where teachers hear lectures. There are extension lectures, provided sometimes by boards of education, sometimes by teachers’ associations. There are meetings of teachers called by the superintendent or by the supervisor of a special subject or of a special grade.

The miscellaneous activities which are indicated by such a list as the above all recognize the necessity of continued study on the part of teachers in service, and many boards of education are requiring study in addition to success in teaching as an essential prerequisite to promotion or to increases in salary.

The most significant movement which has ever been witnessed in the training of teachers in service is the summer-school movement. All the leading institutions of learning in the country are filled during the long summer vacation with teachers who are pursuing courses in education or in the various subjects which they teach.

SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR ADMINISTRATION

Two phases of continuation study on the part of teachers deserve special discussion. First, the form of promotion which carries a teacher into school administration, that is, into a principalship or superintendency, is being hedged about with very definite demands for advanced study on the part of candidates. This advanced study must take the form of readings or courses on administrative problems. Such problems have been exemplified in earlier chapters which have dealt with costs, promotions, and the like. It can be safely asserted that the time is not far distant when a special preparation will be required for entrance on administrative positions.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION

Second, the study of school problems by teachers in service has contributed powerfully to the creation of bodies of organized knowledge bearing directly on school matters. When education courses were designed chiefly for candidates for teaching positions, these courses survived even if they had no close relation to school work. To-day the situation is entirely different in character. Teachers in service come to the study of education with urgent problems to be solved. The abstract statements of the older courses will not satisfy such students. The impulses toward the development of scientific information about schools which arise out of a demand for efficiency and economy are powerfully reënforced by the demand within the teaching profession itself for definite and constructive studies of school problems.

EXERCISES AND READINGS

The training of teachers is so closely related to state legislation that this chapter suggests the possibility of introducing the student to the methods of looking up state laws. How does one go about finding school laws? Why is education a matter of state legislation rather than a matter of national legislation? What are some of the striking differences between the educational laws of different states?

Second, since the economic conditions which control teachers’ salaries are of importance in determining how much training teachers shall be required to secure, the question of salaries is an important one. This matter may be looked up in the two bulletins referred to below.

COFFMAN, L. D. Social Composition of the Teaching Population. Teachers College Publications, 1911.

The Tangible Rewards of Teaching. _Bulletin No. 16_, United States Bureau of Education, 1914.

A Comparative Study of the Salaries of Teachers and School Officers. _Bulletin No. 31_, United States Bureau of Education, 1915.

FOOTNOTES:

[93] Charles Hubbard Judd and Samuel Chester Parker, Problems involved in Standardizing State Normal Schools, pp. 7-9. _Bulletin No. 12_, United States Bureau of Education, 1916.

[94] Charles H. Judd, The Training of Teachers in England, Scotland, and Germany, pp. 74-82. _Bulletin No. 35_, United States Bureau of Education, 1914.

[95] Charles Hughes Johnston, “Progress of Teacher Training.” Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1913, Vol. I, chap. xxiv, p. 520.

[96] Proceedings of the Twenty-first Annual Meeting of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, 1916, p. 94.

[97] “Revised Rules governing High-School Certification,” pp. 3-5. _Bulletin No. 5_, California State Board of Education, 1915.

APPENDIX

CLASSROOM OBSERVATION

In connection with the study of the foregoing chapters and collateral readings it is desirable that students visit classrooms and make systematic observations of the work there under way. In order that such observations may be productive it is necessary that the student have definite ends in view, otherwise observation will be scattered over many phases of that which is seen. The questions below are intended to furnish guidance.

It is recommended that each student in the course be required to spend at least three hundred minutes in observation and that he or she prepare a written report.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS

Before going to the classes for observation determine which of the topics outlined below you are going to make the subject of special study. It will be advantageous for you to learn the questions.

Go prepared to take notes. Confine your attention after the first general observations outlined below to the particular topic on which you are to report. Take down facts and definite individual observations. You are at liberty to talk with teachers if you can do so without imposing on them, but your report is not to be based on what they say but on what you see. Do not quote from books on the subject of your study.

Prepare a report of not less than two thousand words.

GENERAL QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED IN EACH REPORT

1. In what school or schools did you make your observations?

2. How many visits did you make, and how long was each? (Give dates and minutes.)

3. What was the grade of the class, and what was the subject of instruction?

4. Report on the physical conditions of each room. What was the condition of the temperature, of the lighting, of the ventilation? What kind of furniture was used? Did you see signs of fatigue on the part of teacher or pupils?

After noting these general external conditions, turn your attention to one of the problems outlined below and prepare your report with reference to that single topic.

I. GRADING

Attend a class several times until you come to know something of each individual member; then form a judgment as to the desirability of holding the group together. Suggest changes such as the putting forward or putting back of certain individuals.

1. Are the students alike in their physical development, or are some oversized?

2. Are the mental differences parallel with the physical?

3. Do you observe symptoms showing that some children frequently do not understand the class work and therefore are to be regarded as below the grade?

4. Do you see evidences that children are not fully occupied because the work is too easy for them?

5. Children differ in their willingness and ability to take part in class work. How far should this be considered in grouping children?

6. How far does the grouping of students in a class help or hinder the development of an individual? Give definite cases.

7. Should the class be changed in size to provide for the best teaching?

8. In certain schools the effort is now being made to organize more individual instruction. What do your observations lead you to conclude about the desirability of such a plan?

II. METHODS OF DISCIPLINE

For observations under this section visit a number of different classes and note the general restlessness or quiet of the groups. Note in detail how the “order” is maintained, and try to determine (1) what is the teacher’s notion of order in each case, and (2) what devices he employs in securing what he wants.

1. Are there formal rules? For example, must the pupils sit in a certain way? Must they ask questions in a certain way?

2. Does the teacher talk about order?

3. Does he have other devices that are evident, such as pausing and looking at some member of the class?

4. Does he inflict penalties?

5. Does he have devices that are less obvious, such as varying the character of the work or calling on a member of the class who is disorderly?

6. What is the relation of order to the subject of instruction?

7. Does the teacher neglect disorder which you would correct?

8. Of all the cases which you observed, which do you regard as the best kind of order?

III. PREPARATION ON THE PART OF THE TEACHER

Visit several different teachers and contrast their methods. It may be advantageous after a first visit to go back to observe again teachers who are radically different.

1. Distinguish between a teacher’s general preparation or broad knowledge of a subject and his special preparation for a particular class exercise. What evidence is there that the teacher prepared for this particular exercise?

2. Does the teacher seem to have in mind a fixed order in which the lesson is to proceed?

3. What is the relation of economy of the time and energy of the class to the teacher’s preparation?

4. Has the teacher anything to contribute outside of the textbook material?

5. Does the teacher know how to fit the work to the class period so as to make a complete exercise?

6. Is there evidence that the teacher has made specific preparation for the next exercise?

IV. PREPARATION ON THE PART OF PUPILS

One of the best ways to get material for this section is to go first to the high-school study room or to the general library and take note of the way in which people study. The kind of question which should be raised in these observations of study periods is illustrated in V (_B_) below. After making these preliminary observations go to some recitations and see if there are evidences in the individual recitations of the way in which the work of preparing the lesson has been done. The purpose of this particular section is to discuss the methods of judging preparation from the recitation.

1. What proportion of the class has thought about the lesson as well as learned what is in the book?

2. When a student fails try to determine whether his failure is due to lack of study or to bad methods of study. For example, if a student has learned his lesson by heart, and forgets, he is very different from the student who has not tried either to understand or to learn by heart.

3. How far is the recitation an examination, and how far does it teach students to think? What is the effect of the teacher’s method on the future study of the pupil?

4. How far do students show initiative in carrying forward the work?

5. How many questions do they ask?

6. Girls generally get better marks than boys for their class work. Why is this? Do boys contribute anything that girls do not?

7. Is there any difference in intellectual maturity exhibited by different members of the class?

V (_A_). ATTENTION DURING RECITATION

This section will be of special interest to those who wish to observe in the lower grades. Productive observations can be made, however, in every grade. The chief business of the school is to train in concentration. Observe individual pupils closely.

1. How long does a child keep his attention fixed on one thing?

2. What distractions does a schoolroom present?

3. What concession does the teacher make when pupils do not keep up concentration? For example, does he repeat questions?

4. What positive devices are adopted to keep up attention?

5. What are the physical symptoms of attention and its absence?

6. What individual differences are to be noted?

7. Do you note differences in attention at different times in the day or at different periods of the recitation?

V (_B_). ATTENTION DURING PERIODS OF STUDY

For this section go to the study room or to some class that is engaged in individual work, as, for example, the laboratory.

1. Note the way in which a student goes about his work. Is he ready to begin at once, or does he have to get matters together deliberately after he sits down?

2. Note whether he reads continuously from the book which he is studying.

3. Pay attention to the sort of thing that the student does when he looks away from the book. Does he turn his attention to other objects, or is he trying to think about the book itself? In general, what are the distractions that seem to take his attention from the work? When he comes back to his book, where does he take up the work?

4. Is his rate of work evidently slow or rapid? This can be judged by watching him long enough to see how much time he spends in reading a given page.

5. Note, if you can, the different ways in which students study different subjects. For example, is their work in history different from their work in mathematics? If so, which one seems to you to secure the highest degree of attention? Is the writing of notes apparently of value in keeping them at work?

VI. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

A comparison of different teachers and of different subjects of instruction will bring out most clearly the distinctions here aimed at.

1. What part of the recitation is consumed in asking questions?

2. Are the questions such as to require answers of more than a single sentence?

3. Are the questions based directly on the text?

4. What is the mode of assigning the question to members of the class for answer?

5. Give examples of good questions with reasons for your selection.

6. Contrast different subjects of instruction with reference to the questions which they permit.

7. Give examples of questions which seem to you too general or otherwise vague.

VII. MOTOR PROCESSES

The gymnasium, the sewing class, the cooking class, and the manual-training shop furnish the best opportunities for observations on this topic. Penmanship classes and almost any lower-grade exercise will, however, serve.

1. What are the characteristics of a clumsy movement?

2. Point out certain instinctive elements of behavior; that is, forms of movement which do not have to be learned, but are natural. Are these always helpful in the learning process?

3. Note the prevalence of rhythm in many forms of behavior. Is the rhythm more striking where the behavior is natural and instinctive or where it is being acquired as a special habit of skill?

4. Comment on the _educational_ value of repeating acts which seem to have reached a high degree of perfection, such as taking stitches or swinging Indian clubs.

5. Are individual differences in rate and grace of movement capable of elimination through class training?

6. How far is skill dependent on knowledge?

VIII. RELATION BETWEEN SUBJECTS TAUGHT

For purposes of this section follow a class for a whole forenoon. If the class observed is one of the lower grades, the organization which places this class largely in the hands of one teacher favors a close interrelation of subjects. In the upper grades and high school, on the other hand, organization makes interrelating difficult.

1. What cases did you observe in which the teacher consciously tried to illuminate one subject by reference to another?

2. Did the pupils ask any questions or make remarks which showed that they were thinking about other school topics?

3. Within a given subject there is sometimes opportunity to relate topics which are remote from each other in the textbook. Did the classes visited show any examples of such relating of topics?

4. What opportunities for interrelating subjects did you observe in addition to those taken advantage of by the class?

5. Sometimes the contrast produced by change from one topic to another or from one classroom to another is important in arousing or depressing a class. What contrasts did you observe?

INDEX

Academic courses in high schools, 7

Academy, American, 27

Accounting, school, 61

Administration, studies of, 208 training for, 319

Administrative problems, study of, 303

Adolescence, 268 early, 190 later, 194

Adults, continuation classes for, 147 and the curriculum, 200

After-school classes, 145

Age limits of compulsory education, 42

Agricultural high schools, 134

Alderman, L. R., 144

Algebra, history of, 115

Allen, I. M., 110, 238

Allison, Elizabeth W., 285

American Academy of Political and Social Science, 155

American schools, 14, 26 of 1850, 33

Ames, E. S., 196

Appendix, 321

Arabic numerals, 116

Arithmetic, 117 nonpromotions in, 103 studies of, 210

Associations of parents and teachers, 152

Athletics, 146

Attendance, 35, 41

Attention, observation of, 324

Auditoriums, school, 90

Austin, Texas, 38

Authority in school system, 66

Ayres, L. P., 5, 45, 82, 106, 202, 215, 216, 288, 307

Ayres, May, 82

Bagley, W. C., 204, 211, 251, 253

Bailey, W. A., 264

Batavia system, 110

Binet-Simon tests, 172

Board of education, 66, 67

Bobbitt, J. F., iv, 56, 101, 126

Boise, Idaho, 104

Books, free, 60

Boston, Massachusetts, 95

Boston Latin School, 27

Boys, special commercial training for, 177

Breslich, E. R., 235

Bright pupils, 174

British Royal Commission on the Feeble-minded, Report of, 170

Brooks, Charles, 22

Brown, E. E., 31

Bryant, Louise S., 282

Buildings, school, 74, 78

Bunker, F. F., 22, 24, 31

Bureau of Census, 51

Bureau of Education, 62

Burritt, B. B., 200

Business administration of schools, 68

California State Board of Education, 317

Cameron, E. H., iv

Caste and schools, 17

Centralization, of school control, 64 of school organization, 291

Charters, W. W., 206, 241

Chicago, Illinois, 46, 50, 64

Child labor, 40

Childhood, 185

City Club of Chicago, 133

Civics, 139

Clark, E., 62

Class, organization of, 96

Class instruction, 110

Class period, 256

Classes, sizes of and costs, 58

Classical curriculum, 114

Classical program, 129

Classroom management, 242

Classroom observation, 321

Clerks, training of, 177

Cleveland, 102, 181, 217

Clubs, corn, 149

Coffman, L. D., 208, 320

College courses, as preparatory, 207 once professional, 114 for teachers, 315

Colonial education, 122

Colorado, 6

Comenius, 300

Commercial Club of Chicago, 132

Commercial courses, 177 in high schools, 132, 133 in private schools, 132, 133

Commissioner of Education, 25 reports of, 37, 38, 41, 48, 307

Committee of Ten, 126

Community, conservatism of, 2 and control of schools, 63 lessons in, 139 studies of, 292

Community centers, 150

Comparative method, 14

Comparison, method of, 221, 304

Compulsory education, 30

Compulsory legislation, 37

Concentration, 158

Connecticut school law, 16

Conservatism in community, 2

Consolidation of schools, 92

Contagion in schools, 283

Continuation classes, 147

Continuation training of teachers, 318

Coöperative recitation, 240

Corporation schools, 135

Correlation, observation of, 326

Correspondence schools, 153

Costs, and class instruction, 97 and efficiency, 52 school, 46 of school construction, 89

Course of study, changes in, 2

Courses of study, and costs, 56 for girls, 180

Courtis, S. A., 228, 295

Cousin, 23

Credits, for courses, 261 for home activities, 142

Cubberley, E. P., 34, 37, 52, 62, 77

Current references and the curriculum, 203

Curricula of schools, 18

Curriculum (_see also_ Course of study), 113, 197 conservatism regarding, 2 and costs, 49, 56 for girls, 180 grading of subjects in, 99 and individual differences, 17 and industry, 125 principles of, 156 readjustments in, 105 revision of, 132 and school buildings, 90 and school equipment, 88

Deffenbaugh, W. S., 255

Democracy, and individual differences, 182 and school management, 291

Demonstrations as means of education, 150

Denver survey, 85, 107

Department of Superintendence, 70, 182

Departmentalization of grades, 91

Desks, 87, 88

Detroit, Michigan, 72

Device, 229

Dewey, John, 13, 88

Differentiated curricula, 182

Discipline, 157 classroom, 242, 249 impersonal, 252 observation of, 322

District control of schools, 64, 71

Dressler, F. B., 80

Drill, 240

Dual school system, 131

Earhart, L. B., 241

Economy, demand for, 52

Education, of common people, 32 according to nature, 158 and industry, 40

Educational psychology, 301

Efficiency and costs, 52

Efficiency experts, 295

Elementary-education expenditures, 47, 48, 55, 58

Elimination from school, 121

English secondary schools, 29

Entertainment, 150

Errors in oral reading, 225

Euclid, 116

European schools, 14, 17

Examinations, 240 English, 29

Exceptional pupils, 174

Excursions, field, 239

Exercises and readings, 12, 30, 45, 62, 76, 95, 111, 125, 139, 154, 168, 182, 195, 210, 228, 241, 252, 265, 278, 287, 297, 306, 320

Experimental method, 8, 302

Experiments in education, 302

Extension of education, 141

Eye movements in reading, 9

Failures, and classification of pupils, 102 in high school, 107

Fairy tales, 188

Farrington, F. E., 31, 140

Fatigue, 256 and lighting, 85 and play, 269

Feeble-mindedness, 170

Figures, 6, 8, 9, 18, 50, 59, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 103, 133, 181, 218, 223, 263

Financial support of schools, 36

Fiscal problem, 44

Fiske, John, 184, 306

Fleming, G. L., 57

Flexner, Abraham, 129, 153

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 100

Food and education, 281

Foreign languages, teaching of, 166

Formal training, 162

Free education, 28

Freedom, doctrine of, 158

Freeman, F. N., iv, 216, 302, 306

Galton, Francis, 183

Gardening, school, 146, 239

Gary plan, 90, 100

General courses, 138

General education, 114, 127

General Education Board, 149

General training, 162

Geometry, history of, 115

German schools, 22, 29

German system of training teachers, 312

Giles, F. M., 236

Girls, education of, 28, 175 new courses for, 180 special training of, for vocations, 177 trade training for, 136

Grade system, 96

Grading pupils, 261, 322

Grading systems, 100

Grammar, 204

Grammar school, 27

Grand Rapids, 223

Grand Rapids survey, 55

Gray, W. S., iv, 226

Greek and formal discipline, 164

Greeley, Colorado, 141

Greeley, Horace, 280

Groos, K., 278

Gulick, L. H., 288

_Gymnasium_, 19, 25

Hadley, A. T., 164

Hall, G. S., 196, 306

Handwriting, 215

Harvard, 114, 199, 207, 262

Health, 279

Health department, 283

Heating, 86

Heck, W. H., 169

Herbart, 301

Hibbing, Minnesota, 59

High schools (_see also_ Secondary schools), 27 agricultural, 134 classification of pupils in, 105 commercial courses in, 132 costs of, 55 curricula of, 5 failures in subjects in, 107 laboratory methods in, 233

High-school building, 82

Higher education, 44

Higher schools and the curriculum, 113

Historical method, 14

History of education, iii, 300

Holmes, W. H., 112

Home, education in the, 186

Home activities and school credit, 142

Home credits, 143

Home feeding, 280

Hopkins Grammar School, 27

Household arts, 179

Hygiene, 85 teaching of, 285

Idiots, 170

Illinois, 6

Illinois State Teachers Association, 222

Imbeciles, 170

Imitation and primary grades, 187

Immigrants, training of, 147

Impersonal discipline, 252

Impersonal standards, 219

Indiana, 6

Individual differences, 160, 170 and instruction, 104 from training, 180

Individual instruction, 110

Individualism, 194 period of, 189

Industrial continuation classes, 147

Industrial demands and education, 11

Industrial education, 123, 131 demand for, 119

Industry and education, 40

Infancy, 184

Instincts and play, 268

Instruction, in classes, 110 and classification, 105 and costs, 49, 56 and grouping, 98 in health, 285 in play, 273 state supervision of, 43

Intelligence, low grades of, 170 tests of, 172

Interest, 158

Intermediate grades, 189

Intermediate school, 193

Iowa, 6

Irnerius, 113

James, William, 306

Jessup, W. A., 208

Johnson, G. E., 273, 277

Johnston, C. H., 316

Jordan, David Starr, 232

Junior high school, 121, 193

Kansas, 6, 7

Kansas City, Kansas, 264

Kansas City, Missouri, 204

Kilpatrick, W. H., 160

Kindergarten, 185

Kirkpatrick, E. A., 119, 196

Knight, H. R., 271

Koos, L. V., 126

Laboratory method, 232

Laboratory methods and science of education, 302

Laboratory-class period, 260

Laggards. _See_ Retardation

Lancastrian system, 35

Land grants, 35

Language, 186

Latin school, 27

Leavitt, F. M., 137

Lecture method, 239

Legal requirements for secondary-school teachers, 317

Liggett School, 295

Lighting in school buildings, 78, 85

Locke, John, 300

Lowell, A. L., 207

Luncheons, school, 280

MacAndrew, W., 77

McFarland, E. G., 143

McMurry, C. A., 169, 241

McMurry, F. M., 163

Madison, Wisconsin, 274

Maine, 99

Malnutrition, 281

Management of school system, 67

Manhattan Trade School, 136

Mann, Horace, 22, 36

Marks, 245 systems of, 261

Massachusetts, 22, 37

Mathematics in high school, 115

Maturity of pupils, 166

Maury, Sarah W., 280

Measurement of school results, 73, 212, 294

Mechanical aspects of school work, 227

Meek, C. S., 2

Method, 229 experiments in, 239

Methods, courses in, iii, 300 of study, 235

Meyer, M. F., 263

Michigan, 6, 22

Miller, Edith, 206

Minneapolis, 74, 119

Minneapolis survey, 11

Minnesota, 6, 7

Missouri, 6

Mistakes of pupils, study of, 204

Monahan, A. C., 95

Money, training in use of, 118

Monroe, Paul, 265

Monroe, W. S., 31

Montana, 6

Montessori, 159

Morehouse, F. M., 253

Morons, 171

Motor processes, observation of, 325

National Association of Directors of Educational Research, 77

National life, lessons in, 139

National Playground Association, 278

National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, 11, 293

National Society for the Study of Education, 126, 140, 211

Natural behavior, 267

Natural education, 158 and play, 268

Nebraska, 6

Neef, Joseph, 231

New England, 27

New York City, 50, 53

Normal schools, 308

Norsworthy, N., 241

North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, 5, 126, 316

North Dakota, 6

Object teaching, 231

Observation, classroom, 321

Ohio, 6, 7

Oklahoma, 6

One-room school, 97

Open-air rooms, 279

Opinion versus measurement, 213

Oral instruction in European schools, 15

Oral reading, 9, 222

Parents’ associations, 152

Parker, S. C, iv, 31, 166, 241, 311

Part-time courses, 134

Pathological cases, treatment of, in schools, 279

Pathological conditions, 258

Period of class, 256

Periodicity, in mental development, 184 and play, 267

Perry, Arthur Cecil, 253

Perry, Clarence Arthur, 150, 155

Personal standards, 219

Pestalozzi, 231, 300

Peterson, E. A., 283

Physical conditions of classrooms, 322

Physical education, 270

Pierce, J. D., 22

Plato, 300

Play, 266

Population and educational costs, 48

Portland survey, 52

Practical applications of academic courses, 138

Preparation, of pupils, 323 of teachers, 323

Primary grades, 187

Principal, school, 289

Professional courses, preparation for, 207

Professional education, 113, 122

Professional training, 199 of teachers, 308

Program, daily, 254

Promotion, 102, 104, 109

Propaganda, educational, 148

Prussian schools, 22

Psychological methods, 302

Psychology, iii, 301

Public Education Association of Chicago, 67

Public expenditures and school costs, 51

Public opinion and reading, 16

Punishments, 247

Pupil’s point of view, 1

Pupils, grading of, 97 unruly, 251

Puritans and play, 266

Quality of handwriting, 217

Question and answer method, 234

Questions, observation of, 325

Quintilian, 300

Rapeer, L. W., 282

Rate, of handwriting, 217 of oral reading, 225

Reading, 8, 188 in American schools, 15 individual differences in, 180 nonpromotions and, 103 oral, 222 rate of, 180

Reading school, colonial, 16, 123

Readings, exercises and, 12, 30, 45, 62, 76, 95, 111, 125, 139, 154, 168, 182, 195, 210, 228, 241, 252, 265, 278, 287, 297, 306, 320

Recitation, 14 attention during, 324 coöperative, 240

Records, and scientific studies, 304 and standardization, 222

Recreation, 269

Religious teaching, 29

Report on classroom observations, 321

Report lesson, 239

Retardation, 4, 302

Reviews in seventh and eighth grades, 193

Rewards, 247

Rice, J. M., 215

Roman, F. W., 140

Roman numerals and multiplication, 116

Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 13, 158, 300

Routine, organization of, 245

Rudimentary curriculum, 25

Rugg, H. O., iv, 55, 62, 211, 307

Rural school buildings, 80

Salaries, teachers’, 60

Sanitation and school buildings, 78

Scales, 215, 294

Schmidt, W. A., 10

School credits for home activities, 142

School day, length of, 254

School discipline, 249

School finance, 89

School program and play, 276

School Report of 1801, 20

School-city, 250

Science of education, 299 definition of, 305 subdivisions of, 304 and teachers, 320

Scientific methods, 14 applied to marks, 262 demand for, 3 for revising the curriculum, 200 and standardization, 228 of studying the curriculum, 197 and supervision, 44, 72, 296

Scientific supervision, 289

Secondary schools (_see also_ High schools), 17, 192 teachers in, 311

Secular schools, 29

Sense experiences and primary education, 187

Seventh grade, reorganization of, 182

Shearman, F. W., 24

Sheldon, 231

Shopwork, 240

Shorey, Paul, 130

Silent reading, 8

“Six-three-and-three” plan, 121

Smith, W. H., 95

Social arts, period of learning, 188

Social consciousness, 190

Social control, types of, 244

Social standards, 220

South Carolina, 41

South Dakota, 6, 7

Space study, 117

Spaulding, F. E., 105

Special classes, 105, 175

Special courses for defectives, 172

Specialization, 194

Specialized education, 113, 127

Speed of handwriting, 217

Spelling tests, 201

Spencer, Herbert, 13, 253, 306

Springfield, Illinois, survey, 202

Standardization of results, 294

Standardizing associations, 316

Standards, based on opinion, 213 objective, 214

State control, 33

State and school finance, 54

State supervision of education, 42

Statistical studies, 301

Stevens, Bertha M., 177

St. Louis, 106, 223

St. Louis survey, 55

Strayer, G. D., 95, 241

Study, attention during, 325

Study lesson, 239

Subject-matter versus method, 230

Summaries, 125, 167

Superintendent of schools, 66, 69

Supernormal child, 174

Supervised study, 111, 235, 237

Supervision, 42, 63 of courses, 210 of health, 278 scientific, 289

Supplies, costs of, 60

Survey, industrial, 11 of recreations, 270

System, the school, 30

Tables, 48, 51, 55, 57, 58, 107

Tachau, Lena L., 280

Taunton, Massachusetts, school report, 20

Taxation, general, for schools, 36

Teachers, continuation courses for, 318 preparation of, 323 relation of, to community, 63 and the science of education, 320 secondary-school, 311 selection and management of, 293 training of, 308

Technical courses in high schools, 7

Terman, L. M., 95, 172

Tests, 294 of adults, 201 of general intelligence, 172 of methods, 240 of school products, 72, 212

Texas, compulsory education in, 37, 38

Textbooks in American schools, 14

Thorndike, E. L., 183, 216, 301, 307

Trade education, 11

Trade schools, 135

Trade training for girls, 136

Training of teachers, 308

Transfer of training, 165

Ungraded class, 101

Units, high-school, 7

University of Alexandria, 116

University of Cincinnati, 134

University of Missouri, 263

Unruly pupils, 251

Vacation classes, 145

Ventilation, 86

Vernacular, 18, 25

Vocational education, 122, 131

_Volksschule_, 17, 18, 19, 25

_Vorschule_, 19

Ward, D. A., 233

Washington, Booker, 169

Wealth and educational expenditures, 53

Wheaton, H. H., 147

Wider use of school plant, 141

Wirt, W. A., 90

Wisconsin, 6

Wood, T. D., 288

Woolman, Mary S., 136

Wyoming, 6

Young, Ella Flagg, 2

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FOR THE TEACHER’S LIBRARY

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF EDUCATION

By CHARLES HUBBARD JUDD, Professor of Education and Director of the School of Education, The University of Chicago

xii + 333 Pages

This book summarizes the scientific methods employed in solving problems of school organization and administration which in recent years have resulted in much economy of time and effort and the elimination of nonessentials. It is the first comprehensive introduction to the scientific study of education. The wealth of concrete, informing material makes it particularly valuable in introductory courses in normal schools and training classes as well as in colleges.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HIGH-SCHOOL SUBJECTS

By CHARLES HUBBARD JUDD

515 pages

A psychological analysis of the mental processes developed in the student by each subject in the high-school curriculum. On these analyses many problems of value and method depend for their solution. Each discussion is introduced by a summary of the psychological facts relating to it. This book should not be overlooked by anyone interested in educational problems.

METHODS OF TEACHING IN HIGH SCHOOLS

By SAMUEL CHESTER PARKER, The University of Chicago

xxv + 529 pages, illustrated

A careful study of the principles underlying the actual class work of high-school teachers. The scope and method are indicated by some of the chapter titles: Economy in Classroom Management; Reflective Thinking; Conversational Methods; Laboratory Methods; The Art of Questioning; Measuring the Results of Teaching. For reading and general reference the book will be most helpful to high-school teachers.

TWO BOOKS ON ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

SCHOOL EFFICIENCY

By HENRY EASTMAN BENNETT, Professor of Education, College of William and Mary.

The first aim of “School Efficiency” is to be practical and genuinely helpful to teachers. It aims also to set higher ideals in this field than are usually associated with the practical attitude. The author has discussed topics which claim the attention of the teacher on every day of the school year,—school grounds, buildings, lighting, heat and ventilation, health inspection, marking systems and reports, discipline, and many others,—and in discussing them has kept ever uppermost in his mind the _average_ school of _average_ opportunities and the teacher of _average_ ability, which is one of the important reasons why this volume is a real contribution to the teacher’s library. _374 pages, illustrated_

HISTORY OF MODERN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

By SAMUEL CHESTER PARKER, Professor of Education, The University of Chicago.

This book provides a continuous, connected history of elementary education from the earliest vernacular schools of medieval cities to the schools of the present. The subject is considered under three main heads: social conditions, educational theory, and school practice. The relation of each to historical development is clearly traced.

The author shows in a concrete way how elementary schools keep abreast of changing social conditions such as the growth of vernacular literatures, of cities, of modern science, and of national governments and democracy, tracing the resulting changes in the elementary curriculum. He gives especially full treatment to Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Herbart, Froebel, Parker, and Dewey. _505 pages, illustrated_

GOOD BOOKS FOR TEACHERS

EVERYDAY PEDAGOGY

By LILLIAN I. LINCOLN, State Normal School, Farmington, Maine. 310 pages

Definite and practical suggestions from a teacher of wide experience. The book treats each of the regular common-school subjects in a separate chapter. It includes chapters on discipline, conducting the recitation, and similar general topics.

WHAT IS EDUCATION?

By ERNEST CARROLL MOORE, Harvard University. 357 pages

What is Knowledge? The Doctrine of General Discipline, Education as World Building, The Kinds of Education, The Place of Method in Education, and other essays on the underlying philosophy of teaching by an experienced educator.

THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING

By HARRIET FINLAY-JOHNSON. 199 pages, illustrated

The fascinating story of what the author accomplished as head mistress of a unique school on the Sussex Downs of England. She applied dramatic methods of teaching to every subject in the school curriculum, with surprising results.

THE NORMAL CHILD AND PRIMARY EDUCATION

By ARNOLD L. GESELL, Yale University, and BEATRICE CHANDLER GESELL. 342 pages, illustrated

A fresh, comprehensive, nontechnical study of the child. Introductory chapters present in a readable way the biological and genetic background, and later chapters make concrete, practical applications of the principles developed.

SOCIAL EDUCATION

By COLIN ALEXANDER SCOTT, Mt. Holyoke College. 300 pages

The social forces at work among pupils and the ways in which these can be utilized for education. Schools like the George Junior Republic and the Dewey School are studied for their suggestive value, but the book covers a much broader field.

EDUCATION AS GROWTH: OR THE CULTURE OF CHARACTER

By L. H. JONES, formerly President of Michigan State Normal College. 275 pages

A detailed discussion of the best ways of developing sound character through education. The method of the book is that of evolution, each chapter treating the spiritual life of the developing child on a higher level.

BOOKS FOR TEACHERS

Allen: Civics and Health Bloomfield: Readings in Vocational Guidance Brigham: Geographic Influences in American History Curtis: Play and Recreation for the Open Country Davis: Vocational and Moral Guidance Finlay-Johnson: The Dramatic Method of Teaching Gesell: The Normal Child and Primary Education Hall: Aspects of Child Life and Education Hodge: Nature Study and Life Johnson: Education by Plays and Games Johnson: What to do at Recess Jones: Education as Growth Judd: Psychology of High-School Subjects Judd: Scientific Study of Education Kastman and Köhler: Swedish Song Games Kern: Among Country Schools Leavitt: Examples of Industrial Education Leiper: Language Work in Elementary Schools Lincoln: Everyday Pedagogy Moore: Fifty Years of American Education Moore: What is Education? Moral Training in the Public Schools Palmer: Play Life in the First Eight Years Parker: History of Modern Elementary Education Parker: Methods of Teaching in High Schools Phillips: An Elementary Psychology Prince: Courses of Studies and Methods of Teaching Read: An Introductory Psychology Sargent: Fine and Industrial Arts in Elementary Schools Sargent and Miller: How Children Learn to Draw Scott: Social Education Smith: The Teaching of Arithmetic Tompkins: Philosophy of School Management Tompkins: Philosophy of Teaching Williams: Gardens and their Meaning

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