iriili^H ,!.'! ; i , "li, ^,..S4^g - . -^. ^^-^gr tpj^ Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2008 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/classroomorganizOOsearricli RIVERSIDE TEXTBOOKS IN EDUCATION EDITED BY ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION LXLAlfl) STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY DIVISION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION UNDER THE EDITORIAL DIRECTION OF ALEXANDER INGLIS PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION HARVARD UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL BY J. B. SEARS ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO ^1)t Qitaet^tie ^xt^^ Cambcibge [SfK I COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY J. B. SEARS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MiRJC. DEFT. CAMBRIDGE • MASSACHUSETTS PRINTED IN THE U.SJl EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION The plan followed in the development of the present ad- dition to this series of textbooks is so well stated by the author in his Preface as to call for but little in addition from the editor of the series. That the author has worked out quite successfully the plan he has followed, and has produced a stimulating and a useful book, will doubtless be proved by its future use as a textbook for teachers in training, and as a reading circle book for teachers in service. While not neglecting the psychological aspects of the problems of school management, the author has placed special emphasis on classroom organization and control as a social problem of large potential importance. Regarding the school as a great social instrument, education as a proc- ess of social adjustment, and school management as a con- structive social undertaking to the details of which the most careful thought should be given, he has stressed the impor- tance of the teacher conceiving clearly the important social purpose of the educative process, of making definite plans for classroom organization and control in the hght of well- established social aims and demands, and of knowing how to determine the effectiveness of her labors in standard social as well as psychological terms. The volume is essentially a treatment of the old and ever-present problem of school management from the point of view of modern sociology, rather than from the psychological angle. While containing numerous practical hints and suggestions for the manage- ment of the details and the orderly conduct of classroom procedure, these, too, are stated in terms of a great under- vi EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION lying social purpose rather than as devices of the do or don't variety. The prosj>ective teacher who studies this volume care- fully while in training, and tries to answer the thought- provoking questions found at the close of each chapter, can hardly fail to go to the work of the classroom possessed of an important and highly useful insight into the deeper social values of good classroom organization and control. Teachers in service also, especially such as have but recently entered the service, should find the book equally helpful for profes- sional study, because its practical suggestions and important social point of view can be appreciated even better in the light of some classroom exp)erience. Part rV is a very desirable addition to the usual volume on this subject. The chapter on "The Teacher's Personality" is an excellent statement, and one which any teacher could read and re-read with continual profit to herself and her school. The next chapter sets forth an excellent program for personal development and professional progress. The im- portance to the teacher of health is emphasized in another well-written chapter; and finally, the teacher is told how she may measure her social usefulness and how she may set herself right in her personal, oflBcial, and community relations. It is a pleasure to introduce, to the educational pubUc and to the many new teachers this book will reach, so help- ful and so stimulating a volume by a former pupil and a present colleague. Ellwood p. Cubbebley PREFACE The management of a school is a many-sided problem, lyings roughly speaking, between the intimate details of teaching method at the one extreme, and the coarser ad- justments of administration and supervision at the other. As the term imphes, the task is essentially an executive one — the manager, that is, the teacher or the principal, being a director of the activities of children in their pursuit of an education. The functions of this teacher executive are not only to direct; she must also formulate much of the policy she is to execute. To do this she must have some knowledge of the essential working principles upon which organization and management rest. These principles have been set forth in this book, not so much as a theoretical treatise, but rather by showing, as concretely as possible, how such principles are to operate among the plain practical facts which are to be dealt with in actual school situations. It is assumed that in managing a school the first step is a clear aim; the second, carefully formulated plans; the third, execution; the fourth, evaluation of results. Thus, by implication, it is demanded of school managers that they shall take a critical attitude toward their work, and dismiss the idea that experience is all that counts in preparation. The book is divided into four parts. In Part I the prob- lem of school management is set forth. The broad social aim and character of education and of the school as an institu- tion are emphasized, and the essential relationship between a clear aim and any trustworthy plan of action is explained. viii PREFACE — all these in their relation to the two large sets of fac- tors, natural and environmental, in respect to which man- agement is to be effected. In Part II the discussion centers about the pupil as the object of management, showing how the school is to help the child to develop a real sense of membership in the group. This brings up questions of attendance, order and discipline, punishments, and incentives, with constant em- phasis upon what the school can do for the individual child. Part III describes the machinery necessary for managing children in groups, and explains the process by which such means may be made effective in achieving the principal educational aims. The organization of children, of subject- matter, of the day*s work, of the physical features of the school; the directing of study, recitation, and recreation; and, finally, the ways and means for measuring results achieved, are dealt with here, not as isolated structural parts, but as dynamic featiu'es of institutional life. Part IV undertakes to sketch out and to point the way toward the attainment of a set of standards in personality, professional development, health, and methods of work, for the teacher as the instrument by means of which society hopes to attain its educational aims. The book is designed as a text for college and normal- school students and for teachers in service. It has avoided over-technical treatment, but wherever recent scientific studies have made it possible to substitute fact for opin- ion, these studies have been liberally drawn upon. The purpose has been to prepare a readable book which may help toward placing the management of our schools upon a more scientific basis. The author is substantially indebted to the editor of this series, both for important suggestions and for continuous encouragement, and to Professor C. E. Rugh, of the Uni- PREFACE ix versity of California, for the privilege of reading several ex- cellent unpublished manuscripts bearing on certain phases of the subject-matter of this volume. Stanford University November 20, 1917 xl CONTENTS PART I. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM I. The Meaning and Aim of Education ... 8 lit The Function of the Aim in Management . . 19 III. Human Factors concerned 27 IV. The Environment and Teacher as Factors . . 39 PART n. THE PUPIL AS THE OBJECT V. Membership AND Attendance . . . . , 49 \ VI. Order and Discipline 5^ VII. School Punishments 75 Vni. Incentives in Management 87 PART m. THE MACHINERY AND THE PROCESS IX. Organizing the School 109 X. Grading and Promotion 123 XL The School Curriculum 144 XII. The Daily Program 159 XIII. The Class Studying 173^. XIV. The Class Reciting 188/' XV. Testing the Effectiveness of the Machinery and the Process 207 PART IV. THE TEACHER THE INSTRUMENT XVI. The Teacher's Personality 227 XVn. The Teacher's Training and Growth . . . 245 xii CONTENTS Xviii. The Teacher's Health and Recreation . . . 263 XIX. The Teacher at Work 275 BIBLIOGRAPHY 293 INDEX . 297 LIST OF FIGURES IN THE TEXT 1. The Distribution of Intelligence 128 2. Distribution of Work done in Addition .... 130 3. Group Progress with a Course of Study . . . .134 4. The Cambridge Plan 135 5. The Differentiated-Course Plan 136 6. A Teacher Efficiency Score Card 254 • •. ••• •. • • • • •*• ••• ••«• •» •• ••• • CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL PART I THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL CHAPTER I THE MEANING AND AIM OF EDUCATION ^ Outline of Chapter 1. Education as the free ejcpression of natire impulse — Education essential to life — The necessity for personal adjustment — Ideals and actions essentially related. 2. Education as inhibition in terms of social demand — Education not wholly individ- ualistic — Learning to meet social demands — Natural veratis artificial education. 3. The general aim of the school — No opposition between social and individualistic bases of aim — General aim from child's point of view — General aim from society's view- point — Need for specific statement of aims. 4. The more specific aims of the school — ■ (a) Health and physical vigor as an aim ; — (6) Morality as an aim — (c) Knowledge as an aim — Knowledge useful for action — (d) The vocational or utilitarian aim — Right and wrong interpretations of this aim — (c) The aesthetic aim — (J) Other aims. 6. Summary — References — Questions. 1. Education as the free expression of native impulse No one is in greater need of a clear conception of what education means than is the classroom teacher. The one who is to direct the child in the long program of becoming a man or woman, must have some notion of what that pro- gram involves. It is not enough merely to learn a verbal definition of education, such as Plato, or Milton, or Her- bert Spencer wrote, and then go on in the traditional way, " hearing recitations." Education will mean " life,'* or " preparation for life," or " development," or " growth," or " adjustment," or " change," in a real and vital sense, only when the teacher manages the school in those terms. Education essential to life. We are too often prone to forget that whatever produces change or growth in the child. 4 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION is in that sense educating him, and that at most the school plays but a small part in the sum total of a child's training. However, the fact that most of our education is obtained in a way purely incidental to ordinary life procedure only lays a heavier responsibility upon the school for making the most of that small amount of time which is devoted ^ipcifically to school work. If the school is to live up to this responsibility, it must give the child no false directions. Less than two centuries ago Rousseau saw that learning was essential to living, and suggested what has been more clearly stated since, namely, that the very same laws which underlie the processes of ordinary life activities are the fundamental laws of learning in the school. This seems obvious enough when stated, but, lest we might commit it to memory as one more interesting pedagogical axiom to be remembered, but not appHed in managing a school, let us examine the suggestion more closely. The necessity for personal adjustment. First of all, when the child finds himself in a new situation in the nur- sery among his toys, on the lawn with his dog, or in a quarrel with another child, learning is essential if he is to succeed in making the adjustment which he desires to make. Since all of life is new to the child at first, — all people, all places, all things, all his own movements even, — it follows that necessity for learning confronts him at every tiun. And this idea of necessity^ as a featiu-e of the learning situation outside of school, is too frequently over- looked when we enter the classroom, where we too often attempt to manage children in terms of adult notions. The nmnberless movements of the child — his looking, his lis- tening, his turning, his touching everything — are neces- sary parts of the continuous process of making himself comfortable in the midst of many strange situations. The school should not attempt to put an end to this ceaseless MEANING AND AIM OF EDUCATION 6 wiggling, for it is thus, bit by bit, that the child constructs the world he will live in as an adult. The school must help the child to create new needs for himself, of course, but it must take care not to confuse things really needed with things imposed from without. Ideas and actions essentially related. Again, if we watch the child as he is learning in his big free world out of dooi^ as when he is shouting from the top of a tree, or bending over a puddle trying to capture a poUiwog, or taking to his new toboggan for his first slide down the snowy hillside, we note a peculiar eagerness in his tones and movements which tells, not only that he is swinging forward to meet these adjustments with a will, but that all the vigor of his will is accompanied by a feeling of exhilaration and of joy in the doing and shouting. It is no set task, or master from without, but the feeling of mastery within that drives him to achievement after achievement. With him there are no ideas without actions to carry them out, no mere listening or learning about things, but in this real world of his all learning is accompanied by do- ing. Various psychological terms come to mind here, such as interest, feeling, will, etc., but we need not pause for such an analysis of the process of learning. Our interest is rather to describe what a few simple observations may bring to Ught as we examine the process under natural, as opposed to artificial, circumstances, to sketch a true pic- ture of that process as it is taking place according to nature. 2. EdiLcation as inhibition in terms of social demand Education not wholly individualistic. But this is the meaning of education as it pleases the child to educate him- self, and not as it may please others to have him educated. And yet the school we are to manage is not a school of Robinson Crusoes, but a school in a democratic State. 6 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Wherever we find a child, — on the street, on the play- ground, at the market-place, in the bank, or church, or dining-car, — he is forever inhibiting his own first impulses in order to meet the likes, or maybe the commands, of others. Obedience is the word, so important in the proper exercise of our rights and duties in a social world. ^JEducation, then, has a broader meaning than we have outlined above. It is not a mere matter of following one's own interest or enthusiasm. It is not so individualistic as that. In the same sense that a child feels impelled to climb the highest tree, he may also feel impelled to restrain him- self where his companion's rights or wishes are involved. But this restraint is a different kind of experience, and will often be exercised with reluctance rather than with pleas- ure. Yet obedience to the will or the wishes of others is essential in a social life, where cooperation is the basis of unity, so we are also concerned with the meaning of this kind of learning as we see it in process outside of the school, and ask: How does the child learn the sort of obedience or cooperation or inhibition which the social world will demand of him? Learning to meet social demands. A child's first im- pulse is likely to be to refuse to share his sled with his play- mate, whereupon he shortly finds himseK playing quite alone. Upon the playground he insists that the game shall be tag and not ball. Soon the game of ball is in full swing, and while he stands pouting he is embarrassed with ques- tions as to whether he has been hurt. He takes his own time crossing a busy street and is shocked when the police- man suddenly pulls him from in front of a passing vehicle. At a public gathering he talks in a hoarse whisper and sud- denly finds himself being stared at. Thus it is that the world teaches him to obey the laws of common social usage. It is not a mere case of being suppressed, but a case MEANING AND AIM OF EDUCATION 7 of making an adjustment where others besides himself are concerned. The boy shares his sled with the other children rather than suffer that feeling of loneliness. He enters the game selected by other children, he moves rapidly and at- tentively in crossing the busy street, and ceases to whisper in the pubUc assembly, all because he desires the social sanction to his acts. That is, he has been changed from a mere individual to a social person. But learning to restrain our impulses is not always a disagreeable experience. Our contact with others is not always a clash. The most delightful team work the child does on the playground involves a continuous process of inhibiting his own impulses. It is a matter of obedience to the rules of the game; not obedience which suppresses, but obedience which directs and gives meaning to the ac- tivity. Natural versus artificial education. Education, then, is doing, acting out one's own or another's will, experiencing, adjusting one's self to real situations, conforming or coop- erating here, resisting or striking out alone there, always answering to the call of necessity with ideas, but with ideas put into immediate execution. It is this latter point which seems to contrast the meaning of education as nature provides it with that we see in the formal, isolated, infor- mational education which we too often find in the school. It is not merely to contrast the ideal with the real and practical meaning of education, but rather to force upon us the simple fact that education is merely the natural process of making needed adjustments to our social, phys- ical, aesthetic, moral, and intellectual environment, and that the world regards that man as educated who makes those adjustments accurately, speedily, and sympatheti- cally. Education must therefore mean not merely growth, or adjustment, but growth or adjustment with respect to 8 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION the world in which the child lives, and with respect to sit- uations which are his very own. 3, The general aim of the school No opposition between social and individualistic bases of aim. What, then, should be the aim of the school? Obvi- ously it should be to facilitate the processes of growth described above. These are extremely broad in their scope and significance, including as they do the physical, the intellectual, the aesthetic, the moral, the economic, and the social, and involving modes of activity peculiar to each of these types of experience. Oiu" aim, then, must be cognizant not only of the needs of the individual, but Ukewise of the needs of society. Nor should we assume that these are at cross-purposes with each other. No child is going to live outside of society, and since he is what he is because of the life his own and thou- sands of generations before him have lived, it is futile to argue that the social and individual instincts and impulses are at war with each other. It has been well said that " the individual's normal growth lands him in essential soUdarity with his fellows, and that through the performance of his social duties and privileges the individual advances to his highest and piurest individuality." ^ The biological basis which educators have to offer for such a statement lies in the social as well as the personal nature of that equipment with which we are born, and which we therefore do not have to get by education. On the personal side, the child does not have to learn to cry, to wink, to take food, to shrink from a blow or a ferocious- looking animal; he does not have to learn how to feel hun- ger, fear, and wonder. On the social side he does not have * See Baldwin, J. Mark. The Individual and Society. (The Gorham Press. Boston, 1911.) MEANING AND AIM OF EDUCATION 9 to leam to imitate others, to enjoy group life, to feel bash- fulness, sympathy, and shame. True, as he grows he will consciously inhibit and modify these native tendencies to act, but they are there, as original equipment, and quite as many seem designed to serve a social as a purely indi- viduaHstic end. General aim from child's point of view. In spite of this substantial unity of social and personal elements in the child's nature, however, there is still the practical possi- bility that the strong-willed individual may dominate the group to the extent of subordinating society to his own self- ish ends. Also the reverse of this may happen, in which the child's individuality is suppressed by the demands of society, and so be permitted to play but a small part in his social functioning. Either extreme is undesirable. To di- rect the child in discovering the proper balance and re- lationship between these two sets of interests would seem to be the general aim of the school, so far as the individual child is concerned. General aim from society's viewpoint. Wherever society is highly organized, it must, like the individual, become self-conscious, and for the sake of its own preservation, comfort, and progress must direct its energies with a clear purpose toward these ends. The school has arisen as an institution to serve this very function, and if this funda- mental meaning of the school were more fully realized by the teacher, then this social responsibility or aim of edu- cation would express itself more fully in the organization, management, and instruction of the school. Concretely, this means that the school is not only to give direction to free individual expression, but also to bring this free individual to a consciousness of his appropriate and rightful privileges and responsibilities as a member of society. It will acquaint him not only with the form of our 10 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION government, but with the meaning of citizenship. It will teach him not merely to respect authority, but to feel a sense of loyalty to the principles which that authority is designed to protect. In other words, it will so shape its organization and instruction as to give the child a fund of knowledge and experience which will help him to dis- cover both the opportunities and the Umitations within which he may hope to find his highest individual freedom. This defines the general aim of the school from the stand- point of society. Need for specific statement of aims. This general state- ment of aim should afford the teacher a point of view from which to approach the task of managing a school, and an ideal to direct and inspire her in her work. For the more intimate guides to action, however, it is necessary to con- sider aims which are more immediate. The owner of a fac- tory not only sets up business success as his ultimate aim, but various aspects of this larger purpose — the purchase of raw materials at the lowest price, the most economical organization of his plant, the simplest and clearest method of accoimting, a knowledge of markets — present them-* selves as clear and definite problems, or aims, through which alone the ultimate goal of business success can be attained. So in education, that aim which looks for a perfect ad- justment of the individual to society must be made defi- nite and concrete for immediate and practical use in the classroom. To become socially efficient in the sense of being capable of rendering the greatest possible contribution to himianity, as well as to have capacity for enjoying to the fullest the richest gifts of others, means thai we must train Off ediLcaie children physicallyy economicaUyy intellectually ^ morally, and cesthetically. Each of these interests then be- comes a definite problem in education, so that when we say MEANING AND AIM OF EDUCATION 11 the school is aiming at physical training, the task becomes much narrower than when we make the aim social adjust- ment or efficiency. An examination of each of these narrower aims should therefore help to make clear the more specific terms in which the school is to be managed. It is not to be assiuned, however, that any one of these narrower aims can be achieved entirely apart from the others. We can hardly think of any kind of physical training that does not involve intellectual activity, and much of it is closely associated with moral and social training. In outlining an aim, there- fore, we are but defining the point of emphasis of the cur- riculum, or of the lessons or instruction in question. ^. The more specific aims of the school (a) Health and physical vigor as an aim. With the ancient Greeks physical education was institutionaHzed in a national sense. But for more than a thousand years this worthy aim of the school was buried beneath the ascetic ideals of the mediaeval monk, and, aside from the emphasis which chivalry placed upon this phase of train- ing, the school gave little attention to the welfare of the body till well into the nineteenth centiuy. But the de- veloping humanitarian movement of recent times could not overlook such a responsibility for the school, and, like every other new interest of our age, this problem has been attacked by science, and one of the larger contributions to educational thought in recent decades has been the idea that care for the health and the normal growth and devel- opment of the child are legitimate functions of the school. This conception represents the newer phase of the work in physical education, and is important in bringing the physician and teacher together in the task of producing a sound mind in a sound body. This gives to medicine a 1« CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION positive and constructive as opposed to a negative or merely curative aim, and brings to its aid the constant care which can be exercised only by the school. As a result our school work in formal gymnastics is now being reorganized and re- directed by this newer aim, and plays and games which were once indulged in for social reasons only, are taking the place of much of the former drill. The social and moral values are not lost in this new work, but the health value is greatly enhanced, and mere physical strength is broad- ened to include motor control and the expression of per- sonality or character. (b) Morality as an aim. Morality is not a mere matter of doing right or being honest, but of knowing when and where to do right and be honest; it is not merely a matter of not stealing, but of standing positively and actively for the protection of society against stealing, and of learning how to earn an honest living. This makes the moral aim extremely broad and com- prehensive, to be sure, but moraUty is a big fact in a social worid. There are points of emphasis here, however, such as habits of personal cleanliness, fair play in group games, respect for elders, all matters of common honesty and politeness, ideals of civic honor and of pubUc service, and knowledge and judgment concerning the common moral situations to be met in ordinary community life. Training in these directions is essential, and practically achievable for the school. With the ever-increasing tendency of mod- em life to dissipate the moral influence of the home, this responsibility of the school cannot be shifted. The idea of service and cooperation, as opposed to selfishness in these and other habits and ideals, and the ability to judge the right, are the specific points at which the moral aim finds its issue in the management and instruction of children. (c) Knowledge as an aim. Knowledge is perhaps the MEANING AND AIM OF EDUCATION 13 most obvious aim of all, and the one which has received the most emphasis in the school. To this there might be little objection were it not true that in practice we have thought of knowledge only in the narrow sense of information, the teacher's problem having been mainly that of seeing that children accumulate a prescribed quantity of facts. The school has too rarely raised the question as to what knowl- edge is for, and as a consequence its actual use has been too largely that of mere intellectual ornamentation. As a practical school aim, knowledge must be regarded from the standpoint of its use, rather than from that of a finished product. Only when it has been appUed to the solution of tasks, old and new, has its full value been real- ized. With young children, especially, knowledge must not remain isolated. With them it must be knowledge how, — how to skate, how to sing, how to sew, how to speak and write correctly, how to be polite, how to enjoy music and poetry, — each of which will yield information, but infor- mation tied up with conduct. We seek knowledge only that we may act. Recognizing this meaning of knowledge as the one of first importance for the school is only taking account of the natural motive a child has for getting knowledge, namely, in order that he may do something. Gradually, however, as the child is able to conceive future or remote, as well as immediate, needs, information not immediately applicable may be- come a legitimate aim. A knowledge of geometry, of the Euphrates Valley, of the technique of language construc- tion, of a foreign tongue, may to a considerable degree re- main in the child's mind as information, but always with the idea that they are to be applied in getting more knowl- edge in the college or university course later on. This brings us to a particular point of emphasis in con- nection with knowledge as an aim, and that is in the use 14 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION of knowledge in getting more knowledge. ^ How to study, once a motive for study is present, is a constant problem, not only in the school but everywhere. Not to recognize this is to ignore one of the most important functions of the school. We must not only impart the accumulated knowl- edge of the past, but cultivate method and zeal in getting new knowledge. In a democracy every child must be a dis- coverer. (d) The vocational or utilitarian aim. The cultiu-al and the utilitarian in education have long been set over against each other as if mutually exclusive; and so they were in a sense. When education was for the leisure class only it was not necessary that it should be of a sort useful in making a living; consequently a knowledge of the classics and of mathematics served well to separate the " cultured *' from the " uncultured." In those days industrial life was sim- ple, and by a crude and wasteful system of apprenticeship the industries trained their own workers. But to-day, with the rising tide of democracy and with industries highly mechanized, education is for all, and the demand is for trained workers. This necessitates a new definition of culture, which is slowly but surely working itself out under the new condi- tions. It also places upon the school the new and impor- tant task of training for other than the merely professional vocations. There are the trade, industrial, commercial, agricultural, and home-making pursuits to train for, and the school is asked to formulate aims to meet these new demands. Such aims cannot be formed by pushing the responsibility back upon the occupations. The school must see in these conditions the demand for practical as opposed to purely theoretical study, and arrange its curriculum, equipment, and class exercises accordingly. ^ See chap, xin for a fuller treatment of this problem. MEANING AND AIM OF EDUCATION 15 Right and wrong interpretations of this aim. The dan- ger which the school faces in meeting this new aim Ues in the natural incHnation to interpret this new training in terms of its disciplinary value at the one extreme, or in terms of the degree in which it merely faciUtates the earn- ing of money at the other. No such false interpretation as the former, or narrow interpretation as the latter, can possibly be accepted if we insist upon the meaning and general aim of education which we have set forth above. No training could be counted utilitarian from the school's point of view if it is so narrow in its use as to be unsocial. It is not training to earn a Uving merely that is wanted, but training how to hve intelligently and happily on what we earn as well. (e) The aesthetic aim. To be able to enjoy the beauties in nature and in art is to have access to constant sources of inspiration. To be able to enjoy a landscape, or to catch the vision of the poet, the musician, or the painter, is at least in some degree possible for us all. Landscape and cloud effects cannot be fenced in, art galleries and libraries are open to all ahke, and however busy we may be with the problem of earning our bread, yet there is time amid the toil for us to tap these rich sources of pleasure if only we learn how to see them. Aside from the individual pleasures which children may derive from such sources, the school must not ignore the fact that common aesthetic ideals and pleasures rank along with common pohtical and reUgious ideals as bases for social solidarity. When two people find that they see the same beauty in a picture they are thrilled by the discov- ery of a new means of communication. If all the people who visit the park could see the beauty which the artist finds in the shrubbery-fringed lagoon, the park would by force of this fact become a social center. We cannot all go 16 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION to the park, or to the opera, but we can all see the fields and the sky, we can aU read poetry and enjoy pictures, and we can all listen to Victrola music, and it is the busi- ness of the school to make of these aesthetic experiences a common language. (f) Other alms. We have by no means exhausted the niunber of aims. The ones we have mentioned might be made still more specific and detailed as we apply them in se- lecting our subject-matter and in working out our methods, and many others might be stated. We might speak of skill, of information, of good manners, of respect for expert work, of methods of study, of graceful movement, of industry, of honesty, of civic duty, of good recitations, of school loyalty, of good speUing, of rapid addition, etc., as aims, for training to all of these ends is within the legitimate function of the school. Yet each of these is included under one or more of the above captions, and to discuss them further would be to discuss separate phases of the subject which this book can cover but briefly. The point to be emphasized here is that the teacher needs to have a broad conception of the meaning and end of her work, and some clear notion of the several larger purposes, in order that the details of daily problems may be dealt with in their proper perspective. Is the particular plan selected for handling a given situation, such as the pass- ing of wraps or the collecting of papers, conducive, in as large a way as is possible, not only to meeting those imme- diate needs, but in giving training and experience in the direction of the broad social and moral aim of the school? This is the question which the teacher must keep constantly in mind in the conduct of her school, if she is to apply any- thing Uke scientific method to its management. MEANING AND AIM OF EDUCATION 17 6. Chapter summary We have seen that education gets its meaning from the character of human nature itself. Not human nature in isolation, or quies- cent, but human nature in society, and in action. Starting from one set of instincts, education is free self-expression; from another, it is the inhibition of the impulsive self in terms of the claims of society. The conflict between these views is only apparent, and the aim of the school is to facilitate the child's development in both these directions, to the end that the man will be also the citizen. The teacher needs to state her school aims in the light of these larger facts and principles. This can be done only when we think of the social and individual needs which the child must face in his expanding world. Every child must maintain life and keep himself physically fit; he must deal justly with his fellows; he must ration- alize his conduct, and know the world of facts with which he must cope; he must earn his bread; and he must enjoy life. Thus we set up the physical, the moral, the knowledge, the vocational, and the Aesthetic aims, in terms of which the school, the curriculum, the children must be organized and directed. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bagley, W. C, The Educative Process, chap. ni. Butler, N. M., The Meaning of Educaiion, chap. i. Strayer, Geo. D., ^4 Brief Course in the Teaching Process, chap. i. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What are some of the most important things a child learns outside of the school? a. Does the school offer any opportunity to the child to learn these same things? b. What part of a child's school experience, if any, seems to you to give support to these things? 2. Mention some school experiences which are designed to teach the child to inhibit his own selfish impulses in favor of the wishes of the group. 8. At what points is it possible to misinterpret the cultural and utili- tarian aims of the school so that they represent conflicting purposes? 4. In what sense is it the duty of the school to teach obedience? 18 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION 5. In what way may supervised play be useful in carrying out the moral a-im as discussed above? 6. Name several special aims which could be appropriately classified under the physical aim. Analyze each of the other aims similarly. 7. What specific and what general aims do you expect to achieve by a given system of distributing wraps? 8. Explain the influence of prizes in school work in terms of their ^ect on social and moral training. 9. If to impart knowledge is one of your aims, what school work do you include under the term of knowledge? 10. What studies would be most useful for aesthetic training? 11. Explain the function of a well-decorated, well-lighted and ventilated, properly-seated and equipped room, in the achievement of the above CHAPTER n THE FUNCTION OF THE AIM IN MANAGEMENT Odtlinb of Chapter 1. The changing point of view. 2. Theory and practice must join hands in the schoolroom — Traditional ver$ia per- sonal methods in management — Theory vertus tradition — Importance of the modem social aim — Means and method dependent on aim. S. A clear aim makes for efficiency — Mistaking means for ends — The pin-fall-quiet theory — An indefinite aim makes for loss of time — Relation of aim to motive in work — Clear aim essential in habit formation — A clear aim insures a critical attitude. 4. Summary — References^— Questions. 1. The changing point of view The traditional schoolmaster gave little thought to the why of his work. He expected the children to learn their lessons, and to recite them, remembering to be properly submissive to the teacher's authority, which authority was symbohzed by a long list of rules and a birch rod, both con- spicuously displayed in the classroom. Under the old regime there was little thought of educa- tion as development. The child was regarded as a little man, and accordiugly the aims of instruction and manage- ment were crudely stated in terms of adult needs. This attitude dominated education until social and economic pressure had forced upon the school a broader function, and until a more scientific knowledge of the child, of society, and of the educative process had made possible a reinterpre- tation of its aims. To-day the school is expected to turn out a definite prod- uct. This means that the teacher must not only know the materials and forces with which she must work, but that she must be able to shape and to direct these to the ends desired. «0 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION 2. Theory and practice must join hands in the schoolroom Traditional versus personal methods in management. It is not enough to study the aims of teaching as we study a lesson in history. As our study of the child, of subject- matter, and of society gives us the basic principles upon which we construct our general educational theory, so this theory must enter into the making of the plans and devices by which we govern children in the schoolroom. It is much easier to study about the aims of school man- agement than it is to keep a constant check on one's own teaching, to see that those aims are being reaUzed in the form of stronger, more intelligent, and more socially effec- tive children. It is easier to accept the traditional modes of procedure in class work, to apply the same penalties for petty offenses, to keep records, give tests, etc., in the same way year in and year out, than it is to make new plans to meet the changing needs. It is easier, in other words, to avoid the responsibility of knowing the definite purpose of each plan and device which enters into the management of the room, of stating the extent to which that plan is being realized, and then of revising procediu^ where shortage in achievement is discovered. That is, it is easier to dawdle, to guess, to be irresponsible, than it is to apply industry and intelligence in the execution of a constructive program which has been planned to accomplish a given end. Theory versus tradition. When we can give no scientific reason for doing a thing we usually rely upon tradition to guide us. The mediaeval dictum, that the child is bom in sin and is therefore by natm« bad, gave rise to a pedagogi- cal practice which was designed to suppress all native im- pulses in children, and to enforce a rigid discipline through a hard-and-fast, machine-like organization. This point of view, essentiaUy characteristic of all phases of mediaeval FUNCTION OF AIM IN MANAGEMENT 21 civilization, fastened itself upon the school as one of its most harmful traditions — harmful because it prevented just what we have described above as the normal process of education. That tradition is not as yet dead. There are the militarists in school management to-day, and on the whole they are true to their mediaeval ancestry in the sense that they offer no scientific justification for their practice. Their aim is determined for them; they are cogs in a great and ancient machine which ignores progress as the funda- mental characteristic and ideal of our age. Importance of the modem social aim. The teacher who has developed a scientific notion of the aim of education, is confronted with the force of just such imreasoned pres- sure as this, when she attempts to put these notions into practice. She is everywhere hemmed about with the tradi- tions of the past, and, imless she is willing to conduct her school in terms of the needs of a civilization that no longer exists, she must guard against the natural tendency to take this traditional line of least resistance. The only way to fortify against this is to cease to be directed by inspiration, or luck, to provide one's self with a rational purpose, adapted to present-day needs, and to make that purpose a constant check on practice at every turn. Means and method dependent upon aim. The reason that teaching without a clear aim is bound to lead to more or less chaotic procedure is because of the fundamental relation between the end sought and the method by means of which that end is to be realized. If I do not have clearly in mind what it is I wish to do, I can scarcely hope to choose the most intelligent method for doing it. When a fire alarm is soimded, every teacher and pupil must get out of the building as speedily as possible. The fire drill is a method of training children in those particular types of cooperation and self-control which are necessary «2 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION to achieVe this end. Certainly such cooperation and self- control could not be obtained if the drill called the children out one class at a time. This illustrates very simply how the means, or method, is practically determined by the aim in view. In other words, real training or education can only result when the conduct or management is directed in terms of a predetermined aim. Therefore, any management which is not clear and specific with respect to its aim cannot be economical, or in the highest sense educational. It is almost as true to say that the aim is not well defined until the plan by means of which that aim is to be realized is fully outlined. And this principle applies just as fully in the details of learn- ing to write, or to draw, as it does in the movement of pupils, or in the distribution of supplies. 3. A clear aim makes for efficiency Mistaking means for ends. Since the method and the end in school management are so intimately bound to- gether, it is obvious that the teacher who has a well-defined aim has taken an important step in the direction of effi- ciency. Efficiency in management insists first of all upon getting results, and in getting those results it insists that every moment of time, and every part of the school machinery, shall give an educational account of itself. Or, stating it neg- atively, that no false moves shall be made, no unsatisfac- tory habits formed, no pm^ly suppressive measures used, and no uncritical procedure followed. Every teacher will readily sanction this, but it must be remembered that it is more easily read than practiced. The do side to school management is a problem in itself, which every beginning teacher must face. This may make clear what to do, and what not to do, and later chapters may explain the how, but there will still be left the actual exe- cution, which will call for clear thinking and persistent effort. FUNCTION OF AIM IN MANAGEMENT 23 The pin-fall-quiet theory. Without a definite notion of what is to be accompHshed one may easily mistake means for ends. A quiet schoolroom is only a means, and yet how often the ancient schoolmaster has prided himself upon being able to hear a pin fall in his room. How often, too, has that achievement been made at the cost of a free and cheerful atmosphere of work. The reason a schoolroom should be kept quiet is that quiet is one of the conditions under which attention can be concentrated, work can be done, and right work habits built up. We must remember, though, that the habits developed here are for use in the outside world where there are many distractions. Hence, work habits which are developed in an absolutely quiet room are not only developed under repressive measures, but they defeat their own end by un- fitting the child for thinking and working under normal con- ditions outside the schoolroom. This is but a single illustra- tion of how the teacher without a clear aim is misled into thinking her task is done, when in reality it has only begun. An indefinite aim makes for loss of time. U a clear aim is insisted upon throughout the entire day, then recess periods can no longer be thought of as temporary rehef from hard work. They may mean this, but they must mean more. They must mean play or change of work which does not allow a large percentage of the children to stand around as if waiting for the next thing to happen. All must play, and that play must be designed to yield definite social, recreational, moral, and intellectual values. This it will not do if left undirected and aimless. Play must be supervised, just as study is supervised, and when some tangible aim is set up for it to achieve we shall realize that no inconsid- erable part of a child's education, as defined in chapter I, will be accomplished diu-ing these moments of the school day which, until now, have been regarded as waste time. U CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION But the recess period is not the only point at which moments slip by without yielding an educational output. How much time is consumed in getting into action when the class assembles; what is the speediest and most educa- tive method of distributing supplies and wraps; are children permitted to bring useless and impertinent ideas and facts into the class discussion; is a pooriy prepared pupil per- mitted to consume an unreasonable portion of the class period in trying to bluff through a recitation? These are among the hundreds of loose joints we find in schoolroom work. If our aim insists that every moment shall render educational account of itself, there will be a general tight- ening up of the program throughout the day. Relation of aim to motive in work. Time, however, is not the only measure of waste in school work. Lack of a clear aim not infrequently provides a wrong motive. Thus children may march into the room in good order, not be- cause they care for, or see any point to that kind of train- ing, but for fear that they may have to remain after hours and study. The motive here is fear of punishment, and not a desire to cooperate in an effective method of getting into the room quickly and in good order, or to learn to walk in good form. Clear aim essential in habit formation. Likewise in the matter of habit formation, a carefully studied aim is neces- sary to insure right procedure. To develop the habit of neatness in respect to language papers, and carry the idea no further, is to build up a habit which, unsupported by others of its kind, is so specific and narrow in its applica- tion as to be next to useless in after life. How much better to consider the full importance of neatness as a virtue, and insist upon a hundred habits of neatness instead of one. Neatness in all written work, in dress, manners, and wherever it applies, indoors or out. The difference between FUNCTION OF AIM IN MANAGEMENT 25 these two conceptions of what to aim at in the matter of formulating plans for the development of habits of neat- ness is just this: in the one case the habit serves one narrow aim, which may or may not carry over into letter writing or preparation of documents in after life; in the other the single habit is so supported by others as to make it a guar- antee against slovenliness in any line at any time. It is probable, too, that the building-up of the large number of habits of neatness will consume but little more of the teacher's energy and time than will the driving in of the isolated habit in respect to language papers alone. A clear aim insures a critical attitude. We also must not fail to see that a clear aim tends to keep the teacher con- stantly critical of her own work. She does not follow a plan which does not show promise of bringing about cer- tain preconceived results. She reads books, Kstens to ad- dresses, and studies the reports of experiments and inves- tigations more intelligently because at every point they are criticized in the light of some function which they may perform in her own work. She is more sympathetic with children, because her aim is always with respect to the individual child. She makes the greatest possible use of supervision, of teachers' meetings, and conferences with her principal, because she does not listen meekly to what her superiors tell her without demanding of them answers to specific questions which have arisen in her own work, a thing she could not do if she had not constantly held her work to answer in terms of a specific end. 4. Chapter summary To summarize the ways in which the aim functions in school management, then, let us remember that the modern school has moved away from the old hand-to-mouth and mechanical modes of school management, and in the direction of a scientifically- planned procedure; that the greatest enemy to scientific school management is the ignorance of fundamental principles, and the 26 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION consequent pressure of outworn school traditions; that sound theory will work; that a clear aim involves a critical study of the means and methods by which the aim is to be realized; that a clear aim leads to efficiency, because it counts every moment of time, denaands results, and discards useless machinery; and that a clear aim reflects itself in the teacher's habits of thought and work and in the training of the children. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING McMurry, F. M., How to Study and Teaching How to Study, chap. m. Betts, G. H., Classroom Method and Management, chap. m. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. In what ways have the old conceptions of school management failed, and what is the basis of the new conception.'* 2. How has the mediaeval doctrine "that the child is by nature bad" disappeared, and what has been the influence of the new aim on school practice? 8. Show by concrete illustrations from school-management problems how the aim very largely determines the method of procedure. 4. How might a strict adherence to the principle that every moment of school time and every part of school machinery must render educa- tional account of itself have changed your own program when you were in the elementary school, in the high school, in the normal school, in college? Is this principle being enforced in your school? 5. Do you know of any school, or system of schools, which is carrying out this principle with respect to the problems of play? What is the most suggestive literature on the subject for the teacher who would like to work out such a plan? 6. How, because of the lack of a clear aim, may the teacher fail to see that a child is performing a task from an entirely wrong motive, and so defeating the purpose of the school? 7. Can you recall any wrong or inadequate habits which you formed as a pupil in school, and which you need not have formed if the teacher had had a clear aim in view? 8. Cite cases of how a clear aim necessarily makes the teacher critical of her own work. 9. How will the teadier who works to a plan influence the children in respect to: — a. Systematic methods of work? 6. Economizing their time and energy? c. Actual work done, amount and quality? d. Attendance, promptness, tardiness, etc.? e. Discipline? CHAPTER in HUMAN FACTORS CONCERNED Outline of Chapter 1. The factors enumerated — Divisions of this book. 2. The child to be educated — The period of infancy — Immaturity an educational re- ■ource — The native equipment of children. 8. The school and the native equipment of children — The task of the school — The play instinct — The constructive instinct — The instinct to imitate — The instinct of curiosity — Other instincts. 4. How the child learns — The function of the senses — Principles of habit formation. 5. The problem of health — New interest in health questions — Health problems and school work. 6. Individual differences — No two children alike — Significance of differences for the school. 7. Summary — References — Questions. 1. The factors enumerated Divisions of this book. In our brief interpretation of the meaning and aims of education we have had in mind: first, the native equipment of the child; second, the fact of continuous development or growth of the child; and third, the physical and social terms in which, and ends to which, that growth must be directed. Accordingly, any adequate treatment of school management must concern itself with three large problems, namely: the chUd^ individual and social, as the objective of all management; the process, by which the environmental conditions are to be used in exer- cising control over his development, or over the methods by which his development shall take place; and the teacher, the agent through whom society directs the process. These problems will constitute the subjects for Parts II, III, and IV of this book. 2. The child to he educated To know the child for educational purposes means te know the essential facts and principles regarding the child's 88 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION nature as these are involved in his development toward the intellectual, physical, moral, vocational, and aesthetic aims set forth above. The period of infancy. Biologically the child is imma ture, both with respect to his organs and with respect to their functions. It is noteworthy that this immaturity is greater in its duration than obtains with any other animal known. According to John Fiske, who first called attention to the importance of this period of prolonged infancy, those organs and functions which are perfect at birth rarely change very much, and are changed with great diflBculty; whereas those which are not perfect at birth are easily capable of change. Not only, then, are early perfections, physical and mental, not conducive to further modification, that is to learning, but lack of such perfection makes learning not only pos- sible but absolutely necessary. Immaturity an educational resource. This makes imma- tiffity a positive factor rather than a negative one. A set of forces is there, which are designed to perfect the ad- justments of the child to the world he is to live in. These adjustments may be left to chance, or given careful direc- tion. Giving direction to them is precisely what is meant by conscious education. To the teacher, then, this imma- turity, or infancy means plasticity, adaptability, possi- bility for further growth. Negatively it means that the child is not an incomplete adult, that childhood is not a time to hasten through, as if it were a period of waiting instead of a period of growing and living. It means that we are not dealing with organs or functions which are already fixed, with adjustments al- ready made; that we are not to spend our time in break- ing the child's will; and, most of all, that we are not to let a moment of time pass in which opportunity to direct the growth of the child may be lost. HUMAN FACTORS CONCERNED 29 The native equipment of children. That the period of infancy is a time in which the child is perfecting his adjust- ments to the world, and so a most important educational resource, does not mean that the child has no ready-made equipment for life when he is born, or by the time he enters school. He has an abundance of such equipment, and with the passing of years that abundance increases. These mate- rials exhibit themselves as tendencies to respond to certain situations in certain typical ways, and are referred to as reflexes, or instincts, or predispositions, and constitute the original mental make-up of man. When the situation is simple, and the response very prompt and direct, and the bond between them hard to modify, as the opening or closing of the pupil of the eye with decrease or increase of light, it is called a reflex. Where the situation is not so simple, the response more variable, and the coimection more easily modified, it is referred to as an instinct, as for instance the tendency to pay atten- tion to bright colors, sharp contrasts, and moving things, or to imitate the acts, or seek the companionship of others. When the situation and response are both extremely vari- able, and the connection between them very modifiable, it is referred to as " capacity " or " predisposition.'' Thus when a child responds readily and accurately to all kinds of musical or mathematical situations, we think of that child as having unusual capacity for music or mathematics. S, The school and the native equipment of children The task of the school. This original equipment is quite varied, and as yet has not been fully described. Enough is known about it, however, to offer many suggestions to the teacher. First of all, the school is largely concerned with just this task of modifying these original tendencies to act, and in selecting the right modes of behavior and so CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION reducing them to habits. In the evolution of the human race this original equipment is of ancient origin, and must have served to adapt man to a far different life from that which he must now live. Consequently the child wiU dis- play some instinctive acts which are not only not useful, but destructive in our modem society. These must be eliminated by preventing them from having a chance to get expression. Others will be useful in their original primi- tive form, and will need to be stimulated and nourished. Since some of them are transitory, it follows that if they are not promptly reduced to habits, the possibility of build-^ ing upon them may be lost. Since they do not aU appeal at the same time, education must not only strike while the iron is hot, but it must also be constantly on the alert for the appearance of new instincts. A brief discussion of some of the more important of these may be of service here. The play instinct. The tendency to play is probably one of the most striking, and for education one of the most useful of these bits of native equipment. Play was frowned upon by our Puritan ancestors as being not only useless and wasteful, but positively wicked. To-day, imder the direction of education, it is regarded as a most useful start- ing-point for many school processes. Through play the child not only becomes acquainted with many objects and persons, but through the adaptations necessary in his games he becomes conscious of his own powers. A very large part of what the child has learned before entering the school he has learned through play. Thus have children always familiarized themselves with the fundamentals of the arts of peace and war. In his games he has sowed, harvested, himted, invented, explored, ar- gued, and fought. Nor have these playful achievements always resulted without serious effort. And the spirit of that effort is one of the important subjects of study for HUMAN FACTORS CONCERNED 31 the teacher who would have the work of her room pervaded by a similar spirit of freedom and of definite purpose. The constructive instinct. The tendency of children to construct and to destroy is early noticeable. No object of interest escapes thorough handling. It is seen, touched, Ufted, squeezed, tinned, thrown up or down, accordingly as it is of quality, size, and weight to make such manip- ulation possible. The block house is erected and destroyed; the pictm-e is examined, then torn to pieces or thrown aside. All this to the end that the child may more fully sense his world of materials, and find out the real meaning of his own acts or powers as their meanings are reflected in what happens to his materials as he toys or toils with them. The teacher has only to understand the principles under- lying such behavior to see that their conscious application will make number work, drawing, geography, and many other features of school work thoroughly concrete and objective. The child's idea of a mountain, a valley, an animal, or a temple, expressed in clay, is not only the best test of what he knows about these things, but it is the best starting-point for him in his effort to learn more about them. The instinct to imitate. Unconsciously the child copies from the models about him. A properly arranged and decorated schoolroom, good organization and management, a teacher with correct speech, manners, and dress, and with kindly ways, all these are desirable models, and they are in large degree under the teacher's control. The instinct of curiosity. Curiosity is the instinct that prompts that endless questioning of children which the tired parent or teacher too often dismisses lightly. Examine a child's questions. They are about everything, from ants to stars, from digestion to volcanoes, and from steam to glaciers. They are the httle feelers through which the child 32 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION is struggling to gain a kinship to his world. This inquiring disposition can practically be stayed by forbidding the child ever to ask a question in class, or, by directing them, they can be made the basis for developing the true scientific spirit and method of work. Other instincts. There is also the collecting and hoard- ing instinct, which may turn to postage stamps, through which a world of geography may be learned, or to shells, or nests, or cocoons, through which the child may enter into most intimate converse with nature, and, if the teacher is wise, it may even be extended to the collecting of ideas or facts about a given subject in history, civics, composi- tion, or art; the instinct of emulation, where one child is stimulated to his very best effort by the fact that he is being outdone by another child; and the gregarious instinct, which is the basis upon which the ideas and ideals of social order may be constructed. All these are the crude, raw materials, which, together with their modifiability, are, if properly handled, the great- est asset which education has. To study the ways in which these native materials express themselves, and the ways in which they grow into permanent modes of behavior, is to study the very essence of both himian nature and educa- tion. If.. Haw the child hams The principles underlying conscious behavior, the get- ting of ideas, the formation of habits, the control of atten- tion, etc., are factors with which intelligent teaching must reckon. How does the child explore, or shall we say con- struct, the world he is in? We have discussed his native equipment above, and have seen how nature has provided motivating forces which push the child out to explore the world about him, and lead him to try to control it. Leav- HUMAN FACTORS CONCERNED 33 ing aside that kind of conduct which is purely reflex or instinctive, and so largely unavoidable for the child, what are some of the principles which operate to direct his con- scious behavior? The function of the senses. The contact which the child has with the objective world is through his senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, etc., and some knowledge of these would seem to be our first step in a study of the principles underlying conscious behavior. All the ideas we have are the direct or indirect result of om* sense experience. Excel- lent evidence of this is seen in the nature of sense experi- ence itself. If we hear a sound, or view a strange object, we immediately change the position of the body, to the end that we may more fully drink in the sight or sound if it is pleasant, or shut it out if it is unpleasant. In other words, no sensation is complete without some bodily move- ment as a response. This seems to mean that the reason for sensation is that we may adjust ourselves properly to the new object or situation, that is, that we may get a meaning for it. It follows, then, that a child's ideas, information, knowl- edge of things social, aesthetic, intellectual, moral, eco- nomic, or physical increase in proportion to the nmnber of sensations he feels and the number of responses he makes to these stimuli. For education this principle suggests the importance of concrete as opposed to verbal training, of doing as opposed to mere remembering, of organization in terms of social relationships which are natural, of govern- ment in terms of leadership. It means that sense training must be a fact, as broadly applied in school management and instruction as it is in the child's own free life at home or on the street. Principles of habit formation. Getting ideas, or infor- noation, or meaning, is but one side of education. There S4 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION is yet the other side, which has to do with the development of skill, or the formation of habits. Habit is the line of least resistance in conduct, and our concern in education is to see that right habits are formed, and that wrong habits are prevented. How, then, are they formed? If stated in simple terms there are three principles we need to follow. First, get clearly in mind the full nature of the perform- ance that is to be reduced to habit. Second, go through the performance repeatedly, with closest attention to every detail. Third, never permit an exception to the mode of action decided upon. As James says, we can thus make our nervous systems our enemy or our ally. Habits are bound to be formed on the playground, in respect to methods of study, neatness, politeness, language, and recitation, and it is for the teacher first of all to get a clear notion of the habits she wishes to establish, and then stick persistently to the application of these three principles till the performance has become as mechanical as if it were purely instinctive. An important reward for this persistence is the freeing of consciousness from many simple duties, and the guarantee that these duties will be performed promptly, accurately, and in the right place. 5. The problem of health New interest in health questions. Physical development is another angle from which we must view the child as a factor in our task of management. City health depart- ments are growing, health statistics are accumulating in gynmasiums and laboratories, diseases and preventive measures are being studied as never before, children are being taught physiology and hygiene, laws are being en- acted for the control of contagious diseases, and the prob- HUMAN FACTORS CONCERNED 35 Icxns of health and theur influence in education are being studied in every school of education. Yet step into most any school and we find evidences of malnutrition, adenoids, diseased tonsils, defective hearing and vision, lack of nerv- ous control, and we read that scarcely one third of our American school children are frefe from physical defects which are prejudicial to health. Health problems and school work. Surely this makes a difference in the problems of school management, and in sdf-defense, if for no other reason, the teacher should for- tify herself against this extra burden. The child who has to open his mouth and thrust his chin forward in order to breathe has too often been scolded for lack of attention, when in fact he was using practically all his energy in get- ting his breath. When we recall that on the average two of every three children in the room are thus handicapped, we are inclined to say that a large part of the teacher's responsibiUty in management turns upon matters of health. Prominent symptoms of most of these ailments can be detected by any intelligent layman who will take the trouble to look for them, and with no great amoimt of read- ing teachers may be able not only to solve more intelli- gently many knotty management problems, but they may, by a little inteUigent and sympathetic direction of children, and parents, be able to save hundreds from suffering and disease. Such a service should not only be looked upon by teachers as a privilege, but as one of their sternest obUga- tions.^ It is children we are to manage, and not merely textbooks, report cards, time schedules, fire drills, and such other material details of school work. * A book of value to teachers in this connection is The Hygiene of the School Child, by Dr. L. M. Terman. 86 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION 6. Individual differences No two children alike. There is yet another angle from which the child must be miderstood and that is from the standpoint of his unlikeness to other children, or from the standpoint of his own individuality. We are accustomed to speak in terms of averages — the average score attained in the test, the average number promoted, the boy of aver- age intelhgence, etc. — as if the aim of the school were to turn the children out, each as nearly as possible like the others. We are often satisfied if the child is up to the average in deportment, application, and studies, forgetting that no two children are alike. In color of eyes, height, complexion, length of arms, etc., there are wide differences among children of the same age. In exactly the same way children differ in respect to mental ability. The range from idiocy to genius is the possible range of intelligence. If a few thousand children were selected at random and competently measured for intelli- gence, it is probable that a very few would be marked as idiots, and imbeciles; that a few would rank as geniuses, and that every possible grade of intelligence between these extremes would be represented. Human nature is just this variable, and while so wide a variety of iatelligence would likely not be found in a single classroom, yet if we refer to a single trait of intelligence, such as the abihty to spell, or the ability to sing, we should find a wide difference between the poorest and the best, and that the members of the class were very much unlike in the exact nature of their responses in these tests. ^ Significance of differences for the school. In grading and promoting children, in making lesson assignments, in ap- * The significance of all these differences is brought out more fully in later chapters. HUMAN FACTORS CONCERNED 87 pomting pupils for special duties, in seating the pupils, in developing incentives for work, in cases of punishment, in supervision of games, in dramatizing stories, in making class excursions, this fact of individual differences must enter as a determining factor. This is not a matter to be deplored; it is rather to be prized as the guarantee of society's capacity to progress. Just as it has been the great biological fact in the evolution of the human race, it has also been the great social fact. If we were all alike, no one would discover a new way to do things. It is our imlikeness, our variability, that needs to be treasured. So instead of trying to bury it in the schoolroom, by preparing every task for that mysterious average pupil, let us stimulate these differences so that, by supplementing each other in school, they will enrich school life, just as variation, biological and social, haveien- riched human society. 7. Chapter summary In this brief sketch of the nature and extent of the problem which the child presents, it has been the purpose to emphasize the fact that it is human nature that management has to deal with, and that regarding this human nature there is a well defined body of knowledge, — biological, psychological, and physiological, — upon which rests any rational interpretation of the true import of the child as the first factor and the sole object in all school man- agement. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Fiske, John, The Meaning of Infancy. Strayer and Norsworthy, How to Teach, chap. n. Tennan, L. M., The Hygiene of the School Child. Thorndike, E, S., Education, diap. v. Thomdike, E. S., Individuality. 38 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Enumerate the large factors to be dealt with in the management •£ a school. 2. What is meant by native equipment of the child? 3. Describe a concrete case of instinctive behavior which you have observed. Connect it with the appropriate instinct, and explain what seemed to you to have been its real value or significance to the child. 4. Describe similar activities belongmg to other instincts and explaiu any suggestions they might offer to the one directing the child's education. 5. Compare the period of infancy in length with that for several animals with which you are familiar. 6. How does the human infant compare with the young of other animals in respect to helplessness at various ages.'* 7. In what sense is the period of infancy a positive factor in a child's education? 8. In managing children, what value is there in knowing how they make use of their senses in getting knowledge? 9. How would you go about the formation of a new habit? 10. In what sense is a teacher responsible for knowing the symptoms of the common diseases of children? 11. What is meant by individual differences among children? 12. What significance will these differences have in the management of children? CHAPTER IV THE ENVIRONMENT AND TEACHER AS FACTORS Outline of Chapter 1. Environment — Our point of view — The materials to work with — Directing the process — The real test of efficient management — School management a rational process. i. The teacher — New professional demands — The teacher's relationships — Pro- fessional relationships — Relationships with parents and community. 6. Summary of Part I — References — Questions. In the preceding chapter we enumerated three factors as having to do "with school management. The first of these was the child; the second was the environment; and the third was the teacher. The facts regarding the first of these were set forth above, and we shall attempt here to sketch out the field covered by the other two, hoping to show something of the nature and extent of the knowledge which the teacher must possess herself of if she is to deal intelligently with these two factors in her problem. 1. Environment Our point of view. It is better to think of the environ- mental factors from the standpoint of the part they play in directing the child's education, rather than from that of their own formal or physical make up. In thinking of desks from the standpoint of their perfection as pieces of furniture, it is easy to overlook the importance of the height of the seat from the floor, or of the adjustability of the seat, and to think rather of the general form, stability, and appearance. Similarly, in marching children into and out of the building it is often easier to think of the procedure in terms of its military precision than to think of it in terms of its contribution to the social and physical training of the 40 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION children. The most formal scheme of promotion is the best looking on paper, and easiest to administer, but it is also of least educational service. Our starting-pK)int then should be the process, rather than the machinery by which that process is determined. The materials to work with. In addition to the factor of child nature, above discussed, the teacher must deal with the physical equipment and the plans of operation by means of which this child nature is to be changed. Over many of these latter materials the teacher will have but little control. The building, the furniture and equip- ment, the playgrounds, and most often the curriculum, are all there, and in too many cases have been there for years. There are other aspects of the situation, however, in re- spect to which the teacher is not so helpless. She may not be able to determine the color and texture of window shades, but she can determine whether the shades render service. She may have to use unsuitable textbooks, but these she can edit and supplement in numerous ways, while the dust- covered equipment of whatever sort can be made to serve some purpose, so that what was evidence of neglect and waste may be made to look clean and orderly. AU these features are means and instruments in the hands of the teacher, and will be effective only as the teacher develops skill in bringing their influence to bear upon the growing child. A dirty and disorderly room and playground are sure to be reflected in the dress, manners, and speech of the children, and in a lack of loyalty to an institution in these respects so much below the standard of their own homes. On the other hand, by systematically connecting the work of instruction with these things, it is not only possible to enhance their appearance and increase their usefulness, but to develop within the children a sense of ownership and pride in the school which is sure to spread ENVIRONMENT AND TEACHER 41 to the community at large, and ultimately to react favor- ably on the school. Directing the process. It is in terms of child nature, and with the use of such physical surroundings and equipment as may have been provided, that the teacher is to work out her plan of action. First of all, let us insist that all action be planned action; second, that plans, as far as possible, shall be worked out before the school year opens, and go into effect the very first day; and third, that all plans shall be frequently checked up in terms of their educational serv- ice, and not in terms of the ease with which they work. In making plans the first step is to get clearly in mind what is to be accomplished, and the length of time in which it is to be done. This means that the course of study and the textbooks must be checked up against each other, and rough monthly plans of the work outlined. These rough plans will furnish the basis for making the daily or weekly lesson plans for teaching, and will tend to keep the work of the year well balanced. Then there is the daily time schedule; the basis of grading and promotion; the plan of seating the children; the movement of the class into and out of the building; the handling of wraps and supplies; — aU these represent problems of organization, a full grasp of which every teacher must have. The modes of proce- dure in these matters will represent the main structure of the school. The real test of eflBicient management. But the real proc- ess of management is more complex than this would seem to make it. The main plans of operation, though more or less fixed in character, must yet be suflSciently flexible to meet the needs of child nature, which we have shown above to be extremely variable. Meeting these needs success- fully, making these finer adjustments to individual cases, is the real test of eflScient management. The control of 42 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION attention, the development of right motives for work, handling the child with defective vision, or hearing, — the nervous, the mischievous, the dull, the bright, the morally degenerate, the half -fed, the ill, as well as the normal child, — cannot be done by rule of thumb. For each of these cases specific plans must be made which will sometimes test the patience and inventiveness of the teacher, as well as the elasticity of the regular routine procedure. School management a rational process. Thus the process of management is to be from start to finish a rational proc- ess, involving the making of plans, and their execution. These plans become more complex, more flexible, more in terms of individual natures, as we pass from their coarser and external to their finer and internal features, from the gross structure of the school to the management of indi- vidual children. To make the operation of these plans rational, the meaning and aim of education, and the natiu-e of child life and its modes of learning must alike be kept in mind as the plans are evolved. In their coarser features they may be designed outside the school, but in their final application they cannot be made away from the cases they are to fit. A study of these plans, and of the physical fea- tures of the school environment which enter into their work- ing, will be the purpose of a later section of the book. 2. The teacher New professional demands. Finally, we are to deal with those facts which pertain to the teacher herself. These we are putting last in order because we wish to emphasize the scientific as opposed to the personal approach to the study of school management, and to show the character of the task before outlining the qualifications of the one who is to direct it. The school of to-day is by no means the simple insti- ENVIRONMENT AND TEACHER 43 tution it used to be when teacher and school were consid- ered as synonymous. Then a Httle book learning coupled with a pleasing appearance constituted the necessary equip- ment for teaching, but to-day the task has broadened and become technical and the demand is for men and women who have been scientifically trained along these lines. The teacher's relationships. The teacher is but a part of a complex institution, and to know well how to perform her function is not only to know her own immediate task, but to know it in all its implications, physical, social, and professional. To be able to work harmoniously with her school trustees, her superintendent, her supervisor, her principal, her fellow teachers, and to be able to make the school a factor in community life, demands a broad grasp of the larger professional and social problems of public education. Through the board of education^ the people delegate authority to those who manage the schools. Its members stand as the representatives of the people and are responsible, not for running the schools but for employing competent officers and teachers for that purpose. While the teacher is ultimately responsible to this board she must remember that it is concerned only with the larger questions of school policy and not with matters of teaching and management. Professional relationships. The teacher's most impor- tant relationships are with her immediate co-workers in the school, — the superintendent, the supervisor, the prin- cipal, and her fellow teachers. Her own duties as a member of this group will be a constant study, since upon her full cooperation here depends her own success and that of the entire enterprise. These relationships will be fully exam- ined in later chapters, but here, it must be pointed out, lie some of the most difficult problems the teacher will have to face. To direct one's own epergy in full sympathy an(J 44 CLASSR(X)M ORGANIZATION accord with that of the entire faculty calls for a clear under- standing of the respective functions of each member in addition to a high degree of self-control and self-effacement. Relationships with parents and communily. Finally, the teacher is responsible to her patrons. She is a servant of the community. Her relationship to parents will be more or less intimate accordingly as she is in a rural, village, or city school. In any case she must formulate or assist in fonnulating a school policy, and that in terms of com- munity needs. To do this she must know the people and their social and work-a-day interests, and become in fact a real member of the commimity. It would seem to require an unusual person, of unusual training, to establish proper relationships, and to bear all the responsibilities thus far suggested, and so it would. An unusual i>erson in character and personality, an un- usual person in professional equipment and ability to grow, an unusual person as to insight and leadership, an unusual person in physique. In part IV we shall consider the teacher from these points of view. 3. Summary of Part I In the above chapters we have attempted to outline the problem of school management, and to show in a brief way the fundamental bases upon which any scientific handling of children must rest. We have tried to see just where the problem of management Ues, and to develop a point of view from which the teacher may ap- proach the actual practical task in the schoolroom. In doing this we have seen that the teacher, who is society's agent, will have to deal with two large sets of facts. First, facts about original child nature; second, facts about all the forces which combine in the school to give direction to the changes which are to be wrought in that nature, as the child grows to manhood and to citi:2enship. Over the first of these sets of facts the teacher has no control, but over the second she has a very wide control. This last set of facts we have arbitrarily, and for purposes of study. ENVIRONMENT AND TEACHER 45 dMded into two groups. The physical and formal features of the institution we have grouped under the head of "the management process," in order to accentuate the function of such features, rather than their form; while those which have to do with the direction and control of the process were to be dealt with under the title of "teacher." We are to think of school management, then, by thinking of children; of the process of their development; and of the person who directs that process. We have seen how good management involves an understanding of child nature, and of the future claims which society places upon that nature; how the school can be managed to these ends; and when the aim of the school with respect to each is clear. This in- volved a study of the biological, psychological, and physical factors in child nature on the one hand, and of sociological and institu- tional facts on the other. This study of individuality brought to light the fundamental relation between theory and practice in school work, from which we saw not only the relation of aim to management, and of correct method to the accomplishment of a given aim, but also the respon- sibility of the teacher with respect to the why of all her work. Finally, the nature and scope of the tfeacher's task from the standpoint of the physical factors she is to deal with, the plant and equipment, the formal organization of children and materials, and her relationship to her community and to her feUow school oflBcers, was examined. From this we saw that the task of managing a school is far more complex to-day than it was when social and industrial life were simpler, and that the teacher's task is one which involves technical knowledge and professional skill, as well as a good personality. In the chapters which follow we shall examine in greater detail the problems affecting the child (part ii), the process of manage- ment (part III), and the teacher (part iv), which have been out- lined in the above discussion. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Chancellor, W. E. Our Schools; Their Administration and Supervision,, chaps, ni, rv, and vi. Cubberiey, E. P. Changing Conceptions of Education^ pt. ni. Eliot, Chas. W. The Concrete and Practical in Modem EducaHon. 46 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What advantage is there in thmking of a blackboard, a plan of pro- motion, or a daily time schedule in terms of their use in the school? 2. How would you classify the materials with which the teacher must work in managing a school? 3. What is a correct basis for measuring the efficiency of a management plan? What is the advantage of making out as complete plans as possible before the time they are to go into effect? 4. Why do most plans have to be slightly elastic? Illustrate. 5. For what kind of problems is it impossible to have fixed plans? 6. Why is it economical to develop set ways of carrying on certain features of schoolroom procedure? What plans of this type have you used? What educational return did you expect from them? 7. Is there relatively less emphasis placed upon the teacher's personality than formerly? Why? 8. In what sense is the teacher a state officer? 9. Explain the teacher's relationship to the various other school officers, and show why, in a large school, success is dependent upon the way in which the work of individual teachers is coordinated. 10. What should be the relation of the teacher to the social Ufe of the conmiunity? PAJRT 11 THE PUPIL AS THE OBJECT CHAPTER V MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE Outline of Chapteb 1. The chad's contact with the school — The responsive character of childhood — The teacher as leader. 2. The attendance problem in the large — The State's interest in attendance — Aspects of the problem. 3. Causes and consequences of such irregularities — Causes classified — What poor attendance means. 4. The first step in meeting the issue, analysis — Adequate records and reports necessary — Cases demand individual treatment. 5. The second step, what to do — Make school i if e attractive — Coercion the last resort — The attendance department. 6. Summary — References — Questions. The purpose of this part. The child is the fundamental point about which all our study of management must fin- ally center. He is the sole object for whom all plans are to be made, and only in so far as any plan or device faciHtates his development can it be considered effective. We have set forth above the ends which are to be sought in the child's training, showed how those ends must func- tion in management, and indicated the materials which must be dealt with in attaining those ends. The interests of the child are therefore the beginning and end of every plan, or program, or basic principle, which enters into our study of this subject. How to help the child to comprehend the meaning of the institution of which he is to become a part, how to bring him into congenial rela- tionship with his teacher and with the other members of the school, how to secure his regular attendance, to man- age him when disobedient and disorderiy, to reform him when unsocial, to provide him with appropriate incentives for right behavior and study, and to know when we have secured the desired results, will be our next group of problems. Hb CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION 1. The child's contact with the school Responsive character of childhood. The child is natu- rally responsive to kindly treatment. His membership in the home has given him six years of most intimate and per- sonal exp>erience with his parents who have thus far di- rected him. Now the teacher is to stand in loco parentis y and it will be her task to assume this responsibihty in real- ity. This means that she shall seek to estabhsh between the child and herself, and between the different children, those same intimate personal relationships they have thus far known only in the home. If this is really undertaken the response of the child will be immediate, and the develop- ment of a real sense of membership will go rapidly forward. Such relationships once estabhshed the school can then guarantee to the child the widest freedom for personal development, and at the same time teach him the larger meaning of his place in a social world. There will be room for his play, for his imagination, for his reasoning, for his judgment, for his will, all to find expression in terms of the claims put upon them by his fellows. The teacher as leader. In this program the teacher is the leader. It is her task to see to it that not one but every pupil shall live up to these possibilities. All shall work and play freely, all shall initiate ideas and axjtions. For the teacher the problem of estabUshing this membership, then, is not to be left to chance. It is a problem of executive training, and deserves a far more careful study than has so far been given to it, or than can be devoted to it in the brief space available for it here. 2, The attendance 'problem in the large The State's interest in attendance. If such membership is to be estabhshed, then one of the first problems is that of at- MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE 51 tendance. Society is attempting to provide for all its children the kind of introduction to school life which we have just de- scribed. This is the State's gift to its children, and from the standpoint of a trained citizenship, it is highly desirable that every child should improve this opportunity to the full limits of its possibilities by regular and punctual attendance. State legislatures have enacted compulsory-attendance laws in order to protect children from the ignorance and selfishness of such parents as fail to appreciate the value of education, yet in the face of these laws our school records show that there are yet many difficulties to be overcome before perfect attendance can be realized. Aspects of the problem. In the school the problem pre- sents itself in three different forms. First, there is the child who is rarely or never in school; second, the child whose attendance is irregular; and third, the child who is fre- quently late to school. The first of these is supposed to be cared for by the compulsory-attendance and child-labor laws of the State. Yet the attendance records in almost any city afford ample evidence that these laws are even yet to a large degree ineffec^ve.^ The second and third types constitute the teacher's problem in management. Who these absentees are, why they are irregular, the diffi- culties they create in the school, and how they can be most effectively dealt with, are questions which the teacher and principal must attempt to answer. 3. Causes and consequences of such irregularities Causes classified. There are almost as many causes of these evils as there are types of hmnan nature. There are * Out of 57,830 cases of absence in St. Louis, in 1913-14, taking this city as an illustration, there were 2383 which were due to truancy by 728 different children. In this same year it was found that 90.6 per cent of the truants were retarded in then* work. (Annual Report of the Superintendent of Schools.) 52 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION just causes, such as illness, severe storms, serious trouble in the home, etc., which are legitimate reasons for absence or tardiness. But of unjust causes there is no end. Read the excuses which children bring to school: "Had to help mother," " Father wanted me to run an errand," " Did n't feel well," " Had to stay with baby," " Wanted to stay out a day and rest," etc., without ceasing. The cause may, however, lie within the school itself: a cross, unsympathetic teacher, a formal curriculum, a stiff and unnatural school atmosphere, or a gloomy, uncom- fortable room, are often causes which will not be men- tioned in the child's written excuse, and yet are true, and one is tempted to say justifiable causes of such irregulari- ties. What poor attendance means. School, like time and tide, waits for no child. Whether he is out for a good or a bad cause, his opportunity is slipping by, and when he returns after a day or a week out of class he will find his work harder, his own interest materially weakened, and the temptation to quit and go to work more pressing than ever. These are not mere opinions any longer, as numerous studies of retardation go to show. ^ In a recent study of the annual reports from one hundred and thirty-four city school systems, the writer found that practically one fifth of the superintendents of those cities had recommended some revision in their methods of handling the various problems of attendance. 2 There is yet another consequence which must not be minimized, and that is that such irregularity causes the child to lose respect for the school and for learning, while developing in him habits of slovenliness where there should * See Ayers, L. P., ** Irregular Attendance — A Cause of Retardation,*' Psychological Clinic, March, 1909. * American School Board Journal, June, 1914. MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE 53 be habits of punctuality. From the standpoint of sound manhood, to say nothing of the claims of business and social life later, no pains should be spared to establish habits, and to fix in the minds of children the importance of prompt- ness and regularity in all school activities. Attendance is one vital point at which this type of training should begin. 4. The first step in meeting the issue, analysis Adequate records and reports necessary. In every man- agement problem a fuU understanding of the facts and what they mean to all concerned — the child, the school, the State — is the first step to be taken. The State has provided the legal machinery for handling the problem, and it is the business of the schools to make that machin- ery effective. This is being done with some degree of suc- cess in the larger cities, where a complicated system of records and reports provide the necessary information for the officers in charge, but in the smaller towns and in rural communities, where a single attendance officer must cover a large territory, the work frequently is inefficient or en- tirely neglected, and thousands of children are out of school as a result. Cases demand individual treatment. As has been sug- gested above, the apparent cause of absence or tardiness is not always the real one. To get at the real cause the teacher must know her pupils at home as well as at school. Often the home conditions explain the case fully. Many parents are thoughtless or indifferent, and the complete lack of any system in their home life makes it practically impossible for the child to apply system to his school work. Under such circumstances the child deserves pity rather than reprimand. But the home is not always the source of trouble. There is the careless pupil, the physically defective, and also the 54 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION truant. These cases must be studied fully. To punish hastily is often to aggravate rather than to remove the cause. Of one thing the teacher may feel reasonably sure, and that is that no two cases are alike. This means that each case must be studied individually if it is to be intelli* gently dealt with. Once the case has been carefully diagnosed some sort of remedy may be proposed. Whatever method is decided upon it must be in terms of the needs of the particular child in question. 5, The second step, what to do Make school life attractive. If the first step is to analyze the situation, the second must be to determine what action to take. Prevention is to be our first line of attack. We cannot assume that the issue will never arise, and conse- quently we must try to anticipate it. This may be done in two ways, one positive and the other negative. We may make school so attractive that the child will want to come, or we may resort to coercion. The school may be made attractive in two ways. First by seeing to it that the principles developed in the above chapters are fully appHed every day, and with respect to every pupil who enters school. Tardiness is often over- come entirely by having opening exercises that are worth while. The school may also be made attractive by the use of prizes, holidays, and other kinds of rewards. These are for the most part little short of bribes, and will usually react badly, for the reason that they imply that " being good " will puFchase some sort of relief from the unpleasantness of school work.^ The use of an honor roll, keeping indi- vidual records of the pupils by themselves, wholesome ri- * For a full discussion of this see chapter vui. MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE 55 vaJry between classes, a five-minute warning bell, and other similar devices may often be used to good effect, but a poor school will sooner or later offset the effect of the best de- vices, while a good school will make them unnecessary. Coercion the last resort. When all such efforts have failed, then coercion is the only recourse, and no time should be lost in applying such measures as will get results. Here is where the teacher becomes a diagnostician. She must make a full study of each case, looking into the pu- pil's home life, his physical condition, his likes and dislikes of school work, records of his past conduct and scholar- ship, kiuds of associates in school and out, and thea, once all the facts are clear, she must attack the causes of the trouble. Nor should she be satisfied until every cause has been removed. In such little investigations the teacher will often get the most pointed sorts of criticism of her own work. These she should treasure and not scorn. In some cases the teacher will be able to remove the cause with little or no friction, but in other§ she will not. Then some kind (rf force must be used. Here the possibili- ties of error are also great. Scolding, threats, keeping in after hours, demerits, extra study, and aU similar devices will only add to the child's dislike of school, aud should seldom or never be used. Corporal puuishment, loss of privileges, etc., may be resorted to or the case may go at once to the attendance oflBcer. The attendance department. This takes the case out of the teacher's bauds, but suggests a certaiu other duty which she has in connectioQ with matters of atteudance, viz., that of keeping accurate and full records of every case, and of reporting these promptly and in good form to the proper oflficer. The beginning of these duties lies in taking care that adequate excuses are brought from home by the child each time he is ab^nt or tardy. By a little tact and persist- 56 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION ence, the standard for excuses can be brought up to where it belongs. The next step is recording the essential facts for each case for future reference, and as a basis for report to the attendance officer. In the large city the whole ques- tion of attendance is handled by a separate department, carefully organized for that piu*pose. A study of the or- ganization and working of such a department is recom- mended to the teacher who wishes a larger perspective for this imp)ortant asi)ect of her work. ^ By these and similar means the teacher may hop)e to put an end to the various kinds of leakage by way of poor attendance. In doing so she will guarantee to the child protection against the greed or ignorance of others and against his owq lack of foresight, and also will provide him with a right point of view and a wholesome set of habits with respect to the matter of regularity and promptness in school work. Furthermore, if due precaution is taken to keep the principles of regularity a ad punctuality clearly before the child as principles, and fully applied in other things, as well as attendance, there is no doubt that the child will have one acquisition that is as useful out of school as it is in school. 6. Chapter summary In this chapter we have outlined the problems to be treated in Part 11, and have discussed the questions of membership and attendance. We have seen that the teacher's first problem is to help the child to establish the right sort of contacts with the school, which if accomplished will give him an understanding of his duties and privileges as a member of a new social body. This is primarily a problem of socialization and executive training. * A brief and clear description of the system in use in New York City has been recently published. See "The Bureau of Attendance and Child Welfare of the New York City Public School System," by Paul Klapper, in Educational Review, November, 1915. MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDANCE 67 To manage this well involves first of all the question of regular and punctual attendance. Attendance is not merely a personal matter with the child alone, it is of immense importance to the school and to the State as well. In most schools there are three general types of cases that have to be dealt with. These are the truant, the irregular pupil, and the pupil who is habitually behind tim^. Innumerable causes account for these cases, some reasonable and some unreasonable, which the teacher must understand before she can hope to control. In general her diagnosis of a given case will call for a study of the child's rela- tionships with the school and with his work and play, as well as for an understanding of his health and of the home influences involved. Her success will depend upon her ability to perfect these adjustments, or perhaps finally upon resort to legal authority exercised by the attendance department. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bagley, W. C, Classroom Management, chap. v. Kellogg, A. M., School Management, chap. vi. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. If regular and punctual attendance is a fair measure of the efficiency of your teaching, what figures would you use in finding your own grade of efficiency and stating it in percentage form? 2. State the essential features of the compulsory-attendance law in your State (see State School Law) and explain: — a. What officers are necessary to administer the law? b. What records and reports are necessary to make the law effec- tive? c. Just how would you proceed in placing one of your pupils in the hands of that law? 3. About what percentage of the total enrollment can we expect to be in average daily attendance? See city and State school reports. 4. Make a list of the main facts you would expect to bring to light in diagnosing a case of truancy. What would you do if you found the blame to rest entirely with the parents? 5. Why is a careful study of each case necessary? 6. In terms of the compulsory attendance law of your State, what con- stitutes a legitimate excuse for absence? 7. What is the influence of irregular attendance on the rate of promo- tion? Look up half a dozen prominent studies of retardation, or make 58 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION a study of the past attendance records of an eighth-grade class in your school. 8. In what way does the child who is frequently out of school for a day or two at a time impose an injustice on his class? Make a careful study of a few cases in your own room to see just the nature and amount of trouble each case causes. 9. What special devices do you know for overcoming tardiness? 10. What objection is there to the granting of a half holiday to the class at the end of the month, if attendance has been perfect? CHAPTER VI ORDER AND DISCIPLINE Outline of Chapter 1. What we mean by discipline — Two types of discipline — Meaning of natural disci- pline. 2. The teacher's problem — The application, not the formulation of principles — The child's need of information. S. Bad discipline and its causes — When a school is disorderly — Studying and remov- ing the causes — Bad order due to lack of understanding — Bad order due to forgetfulness — Bad order due to mischievous or malicious motives — Looking for the underlying 4. The influence of bad discipline — Positive and negative influence — Immediate and remote bearings of conduct — All behavior enters into environment. 5. Conditions essential to good order — Public opinion and authority the bases of con- trol — The teacher to help form public opinion — Knowledge the basis of leadership — System saves time and friction — Energy and persistence are contagious — Fair play and good cheer — Self-control a large element — Other elements of leadership. 6. Summary — ^Eleferences — Questions. 1, What we mean by discipline Two types of discipline. In a well-governed school, prob- lems of order and discipline^ do not exist apftrt from prob- lems of directing the regular work and play of school life. In a badly governed school the opposite is true. In the one case the question of discipline is only an incident, a phase of the total school procedure. In the other it is by necessity an end in itself, since there the behavior does not facilitate study, recitation, and orderly play, and may even seriously disturb them. So when we speak of discipline we have in mind the modes of behavior, the manner of living and work- ing in the school. When these tend to bring teacher and pupils into pleasant and profitable relationships, and so to produce a natural and comfortable social atmosphere, we ^ The practical schemes that are being used by city superintendents for rating their teachers place the item "eflSciency in discipline" as of very first importance. (See The Fourteenth Year Book oj the National Society for the Study of Education, part n, p. 19.) 60 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION call it a well-disciplined school. When they do not we say the school lacks in discipline. Meaning of natural discipline. Problems of order and discipKne are by no means confined to the school. In fact their real meaning may be best understood if we first exam- ine typical modes of behavior in other institutions. If we look for the problem of discipline in such places as the street car, the church, the hotel, the bank, or the street, we find in each place particular modes of behavior which are adapted to the comfort and convenience of those present. Yet in no two of these places is the behavior the same, and in no one of them is the behavior well adapted to school purposes. So when we say that the school must be like life we do not mean that its discipline must be like the disci- pline in the shop or home, or at a picnic. We mean rather that school discipline is to be just as intimately adapted to school life as is the discipHne at church to religious life, or as is the discipline on the street car to the convenience and comfort of the passengers. 2, The teacher* s problem The application, not the formulation of principles. The teacher's problem then is one of establishing and maintain- ing standards of conduct. ^ These standards cannot be copied from standards in vogue outside the school, but must be determined by the nature of school life itself. This does not mean, however, that school discipline has nothing in common with discipHne elsewhere. Common ideals and standards of politeness and cooperation obtain everywhere the same. Just as people who are entering a ^ Investigations have shown that weak discipline is more often the cause of teachers' failures than is any other one thing. See Buellesfield, "Causes of Failures among Teachers," in Educational Administration and Supervision, vol. i, p. 439 (September, 1915). ORDER AND DISCIPLINE 61 car step aside until passengers desiring to leave the car have gotten off, so, in school, the same principle of politeness demands that a child shall not break into a line or into a game when by so doing he will discommode other pupils. The difference is not in the principle of conduct, but in the occasions which caQ the principle into action. Thus the teacher's task is not one of developing a new set of moral or social principles of behavior. Hers is the much more practical task of seeing that the accepted standards of society are not obscured by the new set of conditions which the child meets with in the school, and that they are prop)- erly applied in the behavior best adapted to life in the school. The child's need for information. When the child enters school for the first time he is quite as much a stranger to the appropriate modes of behavior there as is the country youth to the signals of a traffic officer in a large city. And just as the boy from the country has to learn the law and the etiquette of city streets, so the new pupil must learn the law and the etiquette of the schoolroom. Consequently disciplining a school involves, first of all, a clear conception of the best modes of behavior, that is, a clear aim, on the part of the teacher; and secondly, the estabhshment of those modes in school practice through careful instruction. This makes discipline a positive constructive program, with development and not suppression as the end. 3. Bad discipline and its causes When a school is disorderly. We have said that a school is disorderly when the accepted modes of behavior are not conducive to the chief aims of the school. If people began to enter the train before the passengers had alighted there would be much loss of time. If automobile drivers had not adopted the rule of " keeping to the right " there would be confusion, to say the least. Ladies remove their hats at 62 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION the theater, the clerk waits on the customers in the order of their coming, people enter the chm-ch quietly, etc., be- cause these are the accepted " best ways " for all concerned. Similarly in school there is confusion, loss of time, and httle accompHshed when the accepted ways of doing things are not ways which are best suited to the end sought. If all talk at once no one can hear, if some play while others work there is little satisfaction for either group. If children move at widely different rates of speed in entering or leaving the room there is friction and discomfort, if a pupil does not respond promptly when called upon to recite there is loss of time for all. Yet the order at the station, on the street, and in the store, is not always perfect. The caU of the conductor to **Let the passengers off, please"; the quiet voice of the usher saying, " Please remove your hat "; the clerk's " Par- don, sir, I believe this gentleman is ahead of you," suggest to us that some one has failed to conform to the accepted best style of conduct. Some fail to conform because they do not know the accepted procedure, others because they temporarily do not think, and others in order to get an advantage for themselves. Similarly in school there is the same need for a firm quiet command to set the ignorant, the forgetful, and the mischievous or mean pupil straight in line with the best behavior. Studying and removing the causes. The school that is a failure because of disorder is one where the many instead of the few ignore the best ways of doing things, where the common principles of ix)liteness have given place to indif- ference and insolence, and where much of the conduct is designed to defeat the chief aims of the school. Here the result is anarchy, the occasional expression of mob violence, and general social disintegration. If such infringements of good order in the school are to ORDER AND DISCIPLINE 63 be corrected, the causes must be studied and removed. The teacher cannot long remain a mere poHce oflScer in her room. Why then does the question of discipUne arise, why are the accepted modes of behavior in the classroom disturbed by the ignorant, the forgetful, or the malicious child? It is with the motive that any effective remedy must deal. A child should not be punished for not conforming to a pro- cedure which he does not understand. A brief analysis of a few typical causes of bad order therefore should at least furnish the teacher with a more critical point of view for meeting such cases. Bad order due to lack of understanding. The child who is entering school for the first time has much more to learn outside of books than he has inside. He has a whole set of new adjustments to make, some physical, some intellec- tual, but mainly social. He is facing life in a new and strange institution, and has before him the large task not only of understanding the institution, but of becoming a part of it. He must learn to play a part, to cooperate with a group of strangers in a new enterprise. If with such children the teacher fails to make very clear the plan of work from hour to hour there will be hesitating, and continuous miscarriage of the program. However innocent this disorder may be as to motive, it is none the less dangerous to the develop- ment of right habits of procedure. There are certain other cases which come under this head which the teacher must learn to recognize. Children come from different types of homes, where different standards of politeness and refinement prevail. It is therefore much more difficult for some children to conduct themselves ac- ceptably in the school than it is for others. The teacher must not mistake crudity which is due to lack of home training, for crudity which is due to indifference or maUce. Bad order due to forgetfulness. The second group of 64 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION cases are those which are due to inattention and forgetful- ness. How frequently a child excuses himself simply by saying, " I forgot." And so the child forgets the lesson assignment; forgets to bring his book to school; forgets his place in the line when fire drill is called; forgets about crowd- ing, leaving his books in disorder, keeping his written work neat, cleaning his shoes, washing his hands, or being cour- teous to other pupils. Such disorderliness is serious because it is so deep seated. It is a case of disorderly mind, of slovenly habits of thought as well as of conduct. True there may be behind this habit- ual inattention and forgetfulness certain physical or men- tal defects which tend to distract the child's attention, and these are among the sources to which the teacher must look for the full explanation of the causes. But habits of in- attention and forgetfulness may also be due to external causes. If there are no estabhshed ways of doing things in the school, ways which the teacher regularly insists upon, then it is easy to forget any exception to this. If assign- ments are not made with care, and if pupils are not regu- larly held up to those assignments, inattention is sure to result. If the teacher excuses a second or third offense there is little to induce the child to remember. Bad order due to mischievous or malicious motives. The third group of cases are those which the child himself rec- ognizes as disorderly behavior. They range all the way from innocent pranks, to studied malicious acts designed to destroy good order. Bubbling childhood must not be ignored. There must be room in the school for laughter and fun as well as for serious study. Yet there is a point beyond which jokes and pranks cannot wisely be permitted to go. It should be remembered that a large percentage of the little annoying mischievous acts is committed merely for fun, and that the fun is not in the act itself but rather ORDER AND DISCIPLINE 65 in displaying the act before other pupils. John purposely mispronounces a word in reading, or attaches a paper to Tom's coat, merely to cause a laugh. Throwing spitbaJls at the blackboard would not amuse James were it not for the fact that other children are looking on and marveling at his daring. The bent pin, the sly nudge, the hidden hat, or chalk down a neighbor's back, are fiu'ther familiar illus- trations. These acts, while by no means harmless, do not present the serious problem which arises in cases of dishonesty, theft, immorality, fighting, etc. Of course, home training, or a lack of it, influences in these directions as well as others. E the moral standards of the home are low the children from that home present a special problem for that very reason. But the causes are not all in home training, or in human nature, or in mental or physical defects; they are often in the associations between children. One bad pupil in a school may lead several good ones into very wrong ways. A cigarette smoker is likely to have imitators even among children from good homes if careful supervision is not exer- cised. The gang, or the clique, or the club, is in many schools the most dangerous source of trouble. Out of fra- ternity the boy or girl is kindly and genteel; in it, snobbery often becomes a fashion which spreads like an infection to good and bad alike. Alone, the boy does not think of smoking, or gambling, or robbery; in the gang, he goes with the crowd. It is these associations, these social forces or fashions, which constitute the real cause. Looking for the underlying causes. In all cases of bad conduct, then, we must look below the surface for the real motive. It may be deep down in human nature, it may be in present mental or physical conditions, it may be in home training or street training; but it may also be within the school itself. If so, look to the general ideals of conduct and W CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION of work which are being enforced and see whether they are steadily, or only spasmodically insisted upon. Look to the hygienic conditions of the room, and to facilities for work. Look to the social life, to the relations between pupils. Is John mischievous simply because he sits near James; has swearing, or smoking, or bullying, or coarse play, jokes, and laughter become fashionable because of a certain pupil; is there any sort of group organization which is tending to isolate certain children from others? Or again, is the teacher a model of gentility and good breeding, is she industrious and businesslike in her work, and is she thoroughly human with it all.f^ These are the possible sources to which we must look for the explanation of bad order in the school. Over a few of these causes the teacher may have no very di- rect control, but most of them she can reasonably hope to remove once they are fully understood. 4. The influence of had discipline Positive and negative influence. The influences of bad discipline are both positive and negative. Positive, in that the individual child and the class as a whole develop habits and ideals of behavior which are detrimental in life; nega- tive, in that the fundamental aims of the school are being defeated. Likewise the influence may be only temporary, or it may be permanent; it may be direct, or indirect. If the immediate value of good behavior is in a happy well-directed schoolroom, where eflGicient work is being accomplished, its ultimate value is in sound moral, social, and intellectual habits and ideals. Consequently any dis- order whatsoever is a force in opposition to these ends. If a child is permitted to use coarse language, to leave his desk and books in disorder, to walk noisily through the room, to wear his hat in the house, it is true that the im- mediate effect appears to be of but sUght consequence, and ORDER AND DISCIPLINE 07 such acts are often permitted to pass unnoticed or with only a sHght reminder. The ultimate effect however is a group of habits and ideals of slovenliness where there should be habits and ideals of refinement. Immediate and remote bearings of conduct. In such cases it is not the immediate but the remote bearing of the conduct that counts. The school may suffer slightly, but it wiU not imimediately go to pieces under such strain. Similarly, the child may seem a bit less refined but not specially imruly. But if passed imnoticed the accimiulated effect of such acts will ultimately not only rob the child of the opportunity to develop habits of refinement, but will fasten upon him habits of the opposite sort. Similarly, by its influence on others it will coarsen the behavior in the room, and in time wiU lower the accepted standard of good order. In other cases of a more serious nature the same prin- ciples hold true, only that the influence is increased in in- tensity. An act which involves genuine disobedience, gross neglect, or base immorality, is immediately destructive of the sense of decency and justice both to the child and to the group, and if passed unnoticed by the teacher will quickly undermine the order of the school. All behavior enters into environment. All behavior, good or bad, by one or by many pupils, constitutes a part of the environment, and operates as one of the educational forces under which the child is placed. As such its influence is good or bad in some degree. It is not neutral. There is no waiting between acts; growth is going on in terms of whatever forces there are present. Again every act in the room which is recognized by the teacher as in the least imruly or out of line with her ideas of good order consumes a certain amoimt of her energy which might otherwise go into her teaching. A constant 68 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION drain of this sort will in time result in nervousness which rapidly lowei-s the teacher's power to control either by ex- ample or precept. The same influence will be felt by the pupils, particularly by those who are sensitive to any sort of noise or friction. Disorder therefore thrives on what it feeds upon. The same, however, is just as true of orderli- ness and system, 5. Conditions essential to good order Public opinion and authority the bases of control. As on the train, in the store, or on the street, so in the school there are two forces which operate to maintain good dis- cipline. These forces are public opinion and legal author- ity. Just as the burglar is not restrained by public opin- ion from imposing upon society, and so makes it necessary to have peace officers who can apply force, so in the school there is the occasional pupil who for one reason or another will not conform to the accepted usages in the school with- out coercion. Likewise as the mere presence of a police- man restrains miany from unsocial acts on the street, so the mere presence of a strong teacher, who habitually deals promptly and vigorously with offenders in the school, con- stitutes an important restraining force. The teacher to help form public opinion. For the teacher to control public opinion in the school then is of the utmost importance. If John is told in the presence of the class that he is not to repeat a certain act, he will almost certainly look about to see whether the other pupils are with him or against him. If he feels that the teacher's reprimand is in disfavor, he is very sure to cause further trouble. If, on the other hand, he detects no sympathy in the glances which other pupils give him he is very likely to yield promptly to the teacher's wish. How to get and maintain control over public opinion ORDER AND DISCIPLINE 69 in the school thus becomes the teacher's first large prob- lem in establishing conditions for good discipline. This can be done only through the exercise of leadership. A boss who controls a school by a constant display of authority will win only by suppressing the children's freedom in a very large sense. If in the end such a teacher does not appear to have failed it will be only in appearance, for under such oppres- sion children do not learn to think for themselves and to control and direct their own energies among their fellows. While authority is in no sense to be surrendered by the teacher, neither is it to be used for mere display, or because to lead is often more troublesome than to drive. Knowledge the basis of leadership. No one can lead who does not know the way. The teacher who does not know more than she must teach, who does not frequently do some fresh thinking about her subjects, cannot long hide these limitations from children. And while children respect, even reverence wisdom, they are quick to scoff at a lack of it, and no teacher can quickly regain a child's con- fidence on this point once it has been lost. System saves time and friction. A place for ever^hing and everything in its place is a maxim which applies not only to furniture, supplies, window shades, and wraps, but to children, to recitations, to study time, to illustrations in teaching, and to ideas as well. The teacher who be- gins the day without a definite plan of her work will fre- quently have to retrace her steps. The geography class i? called, and only after the recitation is started does the teacher discover that a certain important map has not been hung; that the specimens of grain, stone, or oil from the fields, quarries, or wells of the region being studied, are still in the cabinet. An assignment in history is made by saying to-morrow we will take the lesson on the settlement at Jamestown, but no suggei^ion is made that the children 70 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION look at the maps, and no reference is made to a delightful little book full of stories about John Smith. Consequently the next day when these things are brought in by the teacher they are but half appreciated, because the chil- dren were not properly prepared for them. Time is lost by trying to do for the children things they would have done for themselves had their work been properly systema- tized. Similarly in moving the children into and out of the room, in getting supplies distributed, in the fire drill, where the procedure from the beginning should be systematized and reduced to habit, there is certain to be confusion and all its evil consequences where and when such system fails to do its work. Energy and persistence are contagious. If the teacher knows her work thoroughly, has it well systematized, and then pursues it with energy and persistence, the example will surely be followed by her pupils. Chancellor Jordan has said that " the world steps aside to let a man pass who knows where he is going.'* It is this type of man who puts his knowledge to account in the achievement of a purpose, and does not quit till that purpose is achieved. Such a teacher is irresistible as a leader of children, who are quick to imitate behavior which they admire. Such a teacher does not leave tasks half done, nor does she permit pupils to do so. If a theme is handed in which is not neat, then it must be done over. Nor does it stop there, for all written work is watched for the same thing, and the idea of neatness is pushed further to include arrangement of books and papers, clean shoes, hands, face, nails, and teeth, clean language, and clean sport. The teacher who makes no mean no, and yes mean yes, is the teacher who is obeyed without question or argument. When snowballing has been forbidden on the street the ORDER AND DISCIPLINE 71 matter is not left to care for itself. While the wise teacher will not make herself a spy she will take care to know that such acts have ceased, and where they do not she will deal with them promptly till they have been completely stopped. If she tells a boy that he must have his hair combed she will follow the case morning after morning till the habit is fixed. The very certainty that the teacher means what she says, that she will do exactly what she says she will do, and do it in no half-hearted way, wiU perhaps be feared by a few who can only be conquered by fear, but will be respected by all, and imitated by most. Such disinte- grating forces as laziness, slothfulness, irregularity, cannot thrive in such an atmosphere. Fair play and good cheer. Pessimism and discontent cannot thrive in an atmosphere of fair play and good cheer. In every schoolroom justice, seasoned with mercy of course, must be dealt out to all alike. There must be no favorites. The most troublesome child is likely to be a strong admirer of the principle of the " square deal," and all children will support the teacher in her insistence upon the application of that principle on the playground, in the recitation, in her own assignments of work, and in her administration of punishment. But justice or fair play is cold and harsh unless applied in a spirit of good cheer. The successful banker is one who can refuse a loan to his customer and yet send him away feeling that he has been well treated. Anger is no part of justice, and in almost any case will be resented. In school government it is often necessary to be firm, but firmness is always strengthened and never weakened by kindness. A cheerful face and cheerful words dispel suspicion and pessimism and stimulate cooperation. The clouded, tear- stained face of a pupil entering to relate a grievance is often brightened by a cheerful remark from his teacher, who, 72 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION anticipating the child's errand, deliberately sidetracks it till the child is in a mood not to exaggerate the facts. Self-control a large element. It is almost self-evident that one who cannot control himself cannot control others. Children as well as adults respect the man of poise, because he is not one to be moved by mere sentiment to do foolish things. The teacher who can control herself under vexing circumstances, so that she does not act hastily, or show anger, or speak harshly, is the teacher to trust, if only for the reason that the children need such an example before them to imitate. Other elements of leadership. There are other elements of leadership which enter in a lesser way, such as a good voice, proper dress, manners, and speech, and good health, which will help to determine the extent to which the teacher will be able to direct the public opinion within her school, and so to maintain high standards of order and discipline through the power of leadership. If the teacher will apply the principles here set forth to the physical conditions of her room and equipment, to her relations with pupils, to her instruction, and to her own preparation for her work, she will have provided the most favorable conditions possible for good order. This is attack- ing the problem in a constructive way. Pupils living in such an atmosphere will have a program so full and so well organized that there will be little time left for irregularities of any sort. In spite of such a program, however, the exceptional case will arise, over which public opinion and good teaching will have no influence. Such cases can only be met by the firm hand of authority. If obedience is not willing, it must be enforced. How force is to be used, and its relation to the fundamental task of instruction will be problems for an- other chapter. ORDER AND DISCIPLINE 7S 6. Chapter summary To summarize, then, let us keep in mind that school discipline has to do with modes of behavior in the school, in the same sense that applies on the street, or elsewhere in the world outside the school; that such problems can never be separated from the regular work of instruction; and that they are, for the teacher, an end in themselves only when behavior constitutes rebellion against the school. Let us remember that the teacher's problem is that of establishing the commonly-accepted moral and social principles of conduct in the behavior of her pupils individually and as a group, keeping in mind that bad discipline is detrimental in the school in precisely the same sense that it is detrimental on the street, and that it can only be corrected by removing its cause; that the cause may be inherent in the child's mental or physical make-up, in his present physical or mental conditions, in his previous training or the lack of it, or in the way in which the school is conducted. Let us remember that the teacher must study each case, with a view to removing its cause; or anticipate cases, b y^setting up cond i- tio ns which will tend to preven t their appearance. And further, that such conditions can only be established through thenlnfluence of leadership and authority. Leadershi p involves a f^ knowledge of what and how to teach, the use of systematic methods of work, the application of energy, persistence, justice? and good cheer; and the use of self-control, good manners, dress, voice, and lan- guage. Authority must be used sparingly and with dignity, and never for mere display, or because it is easier than to lead. Finally, we must bear in mind that true leadership will always be backed up by public opinion, which is one of the most potent forces for control in the school as it is everywhere else in life. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bagley, W. C, School Discipline. Morehouse, Francis M., Discipline of the School. Perry, A. C, Jr., Discipline as a School Problem. Smith, W. R., Educational Sociology, chap, xni, "The Socialization of Discipline." 74 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Explain the meaning of discipline in the light of the statement that in a well-governed school problems of order and discipline do not exist apart from problems of directing the regular work and play of the school. 2. When is a school said to be badly disciphned? Mention several cases of bad behavior in the school, and several cases of a similar sort which might occur on the street or at a public assembly. What common elements do you find in the two sets of cases? 3. To what extent and in what specific ways do the established principles of good behavior apply in schoolroom behavior? 4. To what extent is the problem for a foreign child, or a child entering school for the first time, a problem of learning lessons from books? To what extent is it a problem of adjusting himself to a new and strange set of physical and social conditions? Is the teacher's large problem in such cases that of teaching book lessons, or is it mainly that of establishing modes of behavior that are well adapted to the handling of book lessons? What are some of the things a child would have to learn during his first week in school? 6. What is the importance of establishing right modes of behavior from the start? Mention certain parts of school procedure which should be reduced to routine. 6. Outline the causes of bad discipline, and suggest typical cases under each type. Why is "I did n't think" a poor excuse for a child to offer as an explanation of wrong behavior? How can children be taught to remember the right thing to do? 7. Why is it necessary to study each individual case of disorderly con- duct separately? What would you look for as the possible explana- tion of a disturbance due to too much whispering? 8. Explain, by typical cases, what is meant by positive and negative influence of bad conduct. 9. In what ways does popular opinion operate in the control of the school? Should the teacher definitely undertake to formulate the public opinion of her class with respect to such problems as (1) the degree of quiet best suited to the work, (2) the extent to which whis- pering is permissible, (3) fair play on the playground, (4) hard work, (5) good manners, (6) right use of library, (7) proper reading matter, etc.? 10. Where will authority be effective in formulating public opinion? Under what circmnstances would any use of force cause the teacher to lose control of public opinion? 11. Name the elements of leadership which a teacher must show posses- sion of if she hopes to direct public opinion in her room. Outline several cases, to show how these elements play a part in control. CHAPTER Vn SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS Outline of Chapter 1. The reason for punishment — The group more important than the individual. 2. The meaning and end of punishment — Punishment means pain — Must not express anger — Immediate and remote aims — Fundamental aims in pimishment — Retribution not an aim. 3. Characteristics of effective punishments — Certainty the chief deterrent — It must be painful — It must be understood. 4. Kinds of punishments — Corporal punishments — Reproofs and rebukes — Other punishments — Suspensions and expulsions. 5. The administration of punishments — Need for punishment a teaching situation — Like other instruction punishment is individualistic — Time and place for punishment — The teacher's responsibility. 6. Summary — References — Questions. 1» The reason Jot punishment The group more important than the individual. However skillful the teacher may be in directing the public opinion in her school, however cleverly she may lead her pupils in the establishment of right modes of behavior toward each other, toward their work, and toward their play, there will always be the exceptional child, who, for one reason or an- other, will not conform to the accepted fashions of his little society. For such children there must always exist the rUle of force. The school must be protected against the mis- conduct of any of its members who are inclined to ignore the rights and wishes of others, for society never sacrifices the group for the individual. Penalties, therefore, must constitute a part of the ma- chinery for maintaining good discipline. As such, though, they exist for use only in these exceptional cases, and are never for display. 2. The meaning and end of punishment Punishment means pain. Punishment means pain and loss inflicted upon offenders, and unless there is pain, 76 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION physical or mental, there is no punishment. This is obvious enough, but it is sometimes overlooked by teachers who mistake their own feeling of relief at having " disposed of the case " for pain to the offender. A cuff on the ear, a sharp rebuke, an order to do so and so next time, consumes the teacher's ire and leaves her feeling easier, while it may only provoke a knowing smile from the children, which pleases the offender. Such not only is not punishment, but it is a severe blow to good order and tends to destroy the dignity of the teacher's position. Must not express anger. Punishment must not mean merely an outlet for the teacher's anger. Historically pun- ishment has been supposed to represent the claims of jus- #4ice, and never the claims of some overwrought emotion on the part of the one who administers it. Punishment is to uphold the just claims of the school, and not the per- sonal rights of the teacher. The teacher is always in danger of interpreting an offense in terms of a personal insult to herself, whereupon punishment becomes a matter of " get- ting even " with the pupil. No offense should ever be so interpreted. It may be so intended by the pupil, but the teacher will add much to her power by making it clear that the offense is against the school, and against the teacher's position, and not at all against her personally. That makes the teacher's attitude that of protector of the rights of others, and not of her own. Calmness and reasonableness then, instead of anger, will characterize her attitude, and punishment will mean pain and regret instead of personal resentment. Immediate and remote aims. The immediate aim of punishment then is to maintain the dignity and rights of the school and of the teacher's position, and to inflict pain on the offender. It is to reestablish right relationships. The remote aim is to make those relationships more secure. This SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS 77 latter purpose tends to broaden the possible service which school penalties may be expected to render. Right relationships are not reestabhshed until the of- fender is himself again a cooperating member of the group. This he cannot become until he is completely reformed, when he will again possess the confidence of his fellow pupils and of the teacher. Reform of the offender thus becomes one of the ultimate aims of all punishment. Every time a pupil commits an offense in school, his little society suffers a break in the bonds which secure to it all its group privileges. Consequently, punishment becomes a step not only in reestablishing those bonds, but in making them more secure against a similar danger in the futiu*e. Punishment is thus used as a means of publicly condemning wrong, and of warning others against similar offense. Fundamental aims in pimishment. There are thus set up three fundamental ends to be achieved through the administration of punishment: — 1. To give expression to society's disapproval of wrong. 2. To deter others from committing like offense. 3. To reform the offender. Retribution not an aim. This purposely omits retribution as an end of punishment, and definitely declares against such a purpose, and that for two reasons: — 1. Society, no more than the individual, should punish in order to "get even '* with the wrongdoer. It is not ** getting even," but self-protection that society wants. " Getting even " is a motive in fighting or quarreling, but society, the school, is not in the fighting or quarreling business. 2. Reform of the individual cannot be wrought by such means. Punishment must stimulate the offender to change his ways. If the school merely " hits back " the offender is left in a resentful instead of a regretful mood. And re- sentment is not the beginning of reform. 78 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION 3. Characteristics of effective punishments Certainty the chief deterrent. A good punishment is one that is certain to come when deserved, one that causes O pain without serious or permanent injury, and one the meaning of which the child fully understands. It is not so much the severity as the certainty of punishment that de- l ters children from doing wrong. It is obvious to every student of American politics that the greatest weakness of oiu* municipal governments lies in the fact that punish- ment for wrongdoing is by no means certain. The same principle holds true in the school. It is human nature to enjoy taking a risk. Every boy worth educating loves adventure. But when punishment is certain the element of risk or adventure is eliminated. There is no longer uncertainty or chance, and consequently no sp)ecial appeal is made to this primitive iostinct. It must be painful. Second to the certainty of punish- ment is the discomfort it brings. To control the nature and amount of pain is the important and difficult task. The punishment must be just if it is to effect reform. Pain may be in the form of sorrow, remorse, or chagrin, or it may be purely physical. It will certainly be different with differ- ent individuals, and must be administered accordingly. That the pain shall be mental or physical or both is not the question here. There must be real hurt, hurt which is genuinely repulsive to the offender. How great the hurt should be will depend upon the nature of the offense; how it shall be produced wiU depend upon the temperament of the offender. It must be understood. Finally, a pimishment is only effective when the child understands fully what it is for, "* and why he must accept it. That means that he must fully appreciate the nature and extent of his offense, and SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS 79 the relation of the punishment to the particular offense committed. That is, he must see that this suffering which he is to undergo is a reasonable, and as nearly as possible, a natural consequence of his deed. Or, putting it in psy- chological terms, he must form a mental association be- tween the pain and the misdeed which provoked the pain. 4. Kinds of jmnishments Punishments have been enumerated and classified often and in various ways, and long explanations of how, when, and where they are to be applied have been given. Prac- tically all agree that severe types of punishment should not be banished from the list of available penalties for misconduct in the elementary school. This book is attemptiiig to present a constructive pro- gram, to put emphasis upon instruction and leadership as opposed to coercion. Yet every practical schoolman knows that a severe shock of some sort is frequently necessary before certain children will accept the leadership of the teacher and enter upon a cooperative program with the school. What kind of shock, or how to produce it, is after all not an easy question for the inexperienced teacher who is confronted with the practical task of punishing a child. How can she produce the results characteristic of effec- tive punishments? Corporal punishment. Bodily punishment will produce pain, and can be administered soon enough after the of- fense so that association between the misdeed and the pain may be established. It should be used only in extreme cases, after every other milder method has failed to get results; only after the child has been made fully conscious of the meaning of his offense; and always in the presence of another school officer. It should not be applied in pub' 80 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION lie, and under no eireumstanees should a ehild be shaken violently or struck about the head. Corporal punishment is not only wise but necessary under certain conditions. A child whose home training has been coarse and brutal, and who has never had an opportunity to develop respect for anything except physi- cal strength, is practically incapacitated for imderstanding any other type of punishment than that which demon- strates the teacher's superior physical strength and her willingness to use it on offenders. Such a child is to be pit- ied, and though such punishment will be temporarily nec- essary to bring him within the reach of better influences, yet, as rapidly as possible it should be dispensed with, and the child should be made to feel himself a member of a group which is bound together not by force but by the spirit of cooperation toward the common good. Reproofs and rebukes. Many children will respond very readily to a sharp reminder that what they are doing is wrong. This does not mean that scolding, threatening, and nagging are to be sanctioned. Such procedure always brings the teacher-pupil relationship into the realm of quarreling. The offense and the punishment then become personal matters which engender bad feehng on both sides, and stimulate argument on the part of the pupil instead of submission to the teacher's wiU. A sharp reproof, brief and to the point, without a threat of further pimishment " if it happens again," will often restore the unruly child to a proper attitude. Reproof or rebuke must be in as few words as possible without being satirical or sarcastic. It must never admit of a reply, and must be fully backed up by action if necessary. Other punishments. There are numerous other possible punishments available if used with proper discretion. Cer^ tain privileges may be taken away from children, such as SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS 81 acting as class monitor, leading the games, etc.; detention after hours or at recess may be used, if care is exercised in distinguishing the punishment from school work, so that the child will have a feeling of dislike for the penalty and not for the school. Suspension and expulsion. Suspension and expulsion must always be available as final modes of handhng the confirmed cases which will not submit to other methods. They should not be trifled with, as by threatening expul- sion, and should be used very rarely. 5. The administration of punishments Need for punishment a teaching situation. As was pointed out in the chapter on order and discipline, manag- ing children's conduct is a part of instruction. The object is to develop types of behavior which are best adapted to the place and to the purpose of the school. This may be accomplished, in most cases, by mere suggestion or by imitation. In some cases definite instruction is necessary; in others requests that such instruction be applied. In a few cases it will be necessary to command observance of such conduct, and in a very few coercion will be needed, and we meet with the question of administering that co- ercion. - The point to be emphasized here is that all these are cases for instruction. They are different in a few respects, but they are all teaching-situations. The result sought in all cases is regard for the rights of others, high moral ideals, and right habits of conduct. The unruly child may not like to develop the habits appropriate to school life, but when occasion demands the school must force him through the essential processes. This point of view with respect to punishment should help to reUeve its administration of some of its disagree- 82 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION able features. Punishing a child should be looked upon as teaching the child, and the method of punishment should be studied in exactly the same sense as is the method of teaching arithmetic. With such an attitude the whole pro- cedure is viewed objectively by the teacher. This is a mat- ter of first importance, as it ehminates the strictly personal element, and so prevents anger, or any other emotional state, from interfering with the process. Like other instruction punishment is individualistic. Once punishment is accepted as a teaching problem its in- dividualistic nature is more easily reahzed. In this, as in all instructional work, individual differences play a large part in determining the method to be pm-sued. All chil- dren should know how to use good English, but we know that exactly the same methods cannot be used in any two cases. Our methods always vary slightly to meet individual needs. Similarly, if two boys commit the same offense they must both be corrected, but the methods to be used will necessarily vary to meet the particular needs of each case. This principle has a rather wide significance. 1. It means that however many rules of behavior the teacher may make, she cannot assign a given penalty for any particular rule. Suppose a rule is made against truancy, and corporal pimishment is assigned as the penalty. Now suppose two boys break this rule, one because he is a con- firmed truant, the other because he was coaxed and bribed into it. Corporal punishment must follow. We can imagine the following results. The confirmed truant suffers the punishment without a whimper, and actually in glee at the privilege of showing his grit. The other boy is humiliated to the extent of feeling that he has forever lost his honor and brought shame up>on his home. Certainly no one would say that corporal punishment here has fulfilled the require- ments for effective punishments. SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS 83 2. Every case must be fully diagnosed before a penalty is enforced. It would be little short of crime to punish a child, such as truant number two above, with corporal punishment, while for a boy such as truant number one such treatment would be next to foUy unless it could be made almost brutal in its nature. Temperament, mood, sex, age, size, physical and mental condition, motive, — all represent types of individual differences which punish- ment cannot wisely ignore. Time and place for pimishment. Where and when pun- ishment should be administered are likewise important questions. No child should be seriously punished in the presence of other children, and that for two reasons. First, for a sensitive child it is extremely degrading to be so hu- miliated in the presence of his fellows, and leaves him crushed rather than punished; or if he be of the brazen dare-devil type, then it is just his chance to show off. In either case the real aim is defeated. Secondly, it arouses sympathy for the offender which he does not merit, ter- rifies the younger and more timid pupils, and throws the whole room into a state of excitement, fear, pity, anger, and resentment. The many are thus made to suffer for the one. As to the proper time for punishment, there can be no set rule further than to keep in mind that if the offense is to be associated with the pain of punishment the two must be as closely related in point of time as is possible. How close this may be will depend upon the nature and extent of the penalty necessary. A penalty may often consist of two parts, — anticipation and realization. For some chil- dren an afternoon's dread of a conference with the teacher after school is a more effective treatment than is the con- ference itself. In such a case pimishment foUows imme- diately after the offense, and continues till after the con- 84 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION ference is concluded. For some other child, however, the afternoon would be spent in preparing plans to defeat the purpose of the conference, or in gleefully announcing to the boys that he is " in for it " to-night. In such a case the passing of time will certainly weaken the effect of the penalty. The teacher's responsibility. One other caution should be added, and that is that every teacher should in the main rely on herself to do the pimishing necessary in her own room. Sending children to the principal's office is too often a mere farce in school practice. A good principal will not permit his office to develop into a mere peace officer's job, and will not be slow in making it clear that teaching, dis- cipline, and punishment, all belong to the same program, and that the teacher cannot easily imload the disagreeable part of her work on his office. But even from the teacher's point of view very few cases should go out of her hands. To use this method often amoimts to holding the princi- pal's office over the children as a constant threat, and goes far to destroy the prestige the teacher may estabhsh in other lines. . Finally, the teacher should depend upon leadership as far as possible, and when punishment is necessary think of it as a suggestion that leadership is weak at some point. She should remember that pimishment must be instruc- tive as well as corrective, that all offenses are against the school and not against the teacher, that anger will destroy the teacher's power, belittle her office, and produce only resentment in the offender. She should also remember to be deliberate and fully self-possessed, to talk Httle, to act promptly where action is necessary, and never to promise something that she does not mean to carry out. Still fur- ther should she be cognizant of and remember that an im- portant measure of her success as a teacher is the extent to which the need for discipline in her room diminishes. SCHOOL PUNISHMENTS 85 6. Chapter summary In bringing together the chief points in this chapter we should keep in mind first of all that some occasion for punishment is almost certain to arise in every class room, and that plans for dealing with such cases cannot be wisely ignored. Pimishment must mean pain to the oflFender, and must be admin- istered, not as an expression of personal resentment on the part of the teacher, but as an expression of the entire school's disapproval of the wrong done. Its purpose is to help in the establishment of this conception of society's rights against wrong doers, to de- ter others from similar acts, and to reform the offender. Its aim is never retribution. Neither teacher nor school can ever stoop to mere revenge. Punishment is effective only when its certainty is guaranteed in advance, when it causes real pain and regret, and when it is fully understood. (^Corporal punishment, when used with discretion, has proven effective, while its complete abandonment has usually resulted in weakened control) Reproof and rebuke, the loss of privilege, and, as a last resort, suspension and expulsion are useful means of curbing unsocial conduct. Finally, punishment must be looked upon as a part of instruc- tion. It must be administered in a like spirit, and with the same regard to individual differences among children, and when severe, never in the presence of other children. With rare exceptions each teacher should control her own class, and administer the necessary punishments, never forgetting that the first step is always a full and complete diagnosis of the case in hand. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bagley, W. C, School Management, chap. vm. Spencer, Herbert, Edtication. White, E. K, School Management, pp. 190-217. See also references for chapter vn, above. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Justify the statement that problems of punishment are merely prob- lems of instruction. Why should a teacher never permit an offense to become personal? 2. Take a common school offense, such as quarreling, and show what 86 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION relationships have been broken by it. When have these relationships been restored? 3. Explain and justify the three purposes of punishment, as set forth in this chapter. Why is retribution not a reasonable aim? 4. Explain Herbert Spencer's theory of natural punishments, and point out their strong and weak points for school use. Cite cases in which such punishments would be useful. 5. How would you characterize an effective punishment? What is meant by "the child must fully appreciate the meaning of the punishment"? 6. Under what circiunstances if ever is corporal punishment justifiable? In what ways does it fulfill the requirements for an effective punish- ment? Point out its limitations. 7. Enumerate a list of punishments which you think could be used to good effect in school. Make a second list you think of rather doubtful value, or to be used only under peculiar circumstances. 8. What has the question of individual differences to do with the admin- istration of punishments? Why is it dangerous to make rules in school with definite penalties assigned? Would you make rules without nam- ing the penalties? W^hy should the penalty be administered as soon as possible after the offense? What is included in the diagnosis of an offense? 9. Describe or characterize a child to whom you would never administer corporal punishment. One whom you would not rebuke sharply. For what kind of child is mere suggestion adequate punishment? Reproof? Lowered deportment? When should suspension and expulsion be resorted to? 10. Of what kinds of privileges would you deprive children by way of punishment? Why not assign tasks as punishment? Why should teachers rarely refer cases to the principal? CHAPTER VIII INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT Outline of Chapteb 1. Meaning of the term — Bridging the gap — The disciplinary conception of study — > Interest related to effort — The practical meaning of interest — Training the pupil in proper habits — The teacher's task. 2. What makes an incentive effective — Incentive a means, not an end — Appeal must be immediate — Incentives must be adapted to age — Appeal must be positive — Use nega- tive incentives sparingly — Danger in competitive prizes. 3. Types of incentives — Incentives vary with age and individual nature — (a) Incen- tives more or less incident to the regular organization and management of the class: (1) grading, promotion, and class marks; (2) monitorial service; (3) holiday programs; (4) school exhibits — (b) Incentives incident to good teaching method: (1) devices as incentives; (2) tjrpes of devices which serve as incentives — (c) Incentives not essentially coimected with the regular organization or management of the school: (1) prizes; (2) honor rolls; special privileges and immunities, class rank, and public commendation — (d) Incentives based upon acquired interests and ideals. 4. Summary of Part II — References — Questions. 1. Meaning of the term Bridging the gap. Every one knows that managing and teaching children are simple and pleasant tasks when the children are vitally interested in the essential aims of the school. But, as was pointed out in chapter i, some of these ends may, for the child, seem extremely remote. Remote in the sense that he feels no interest in them and sees no way in which they are likely to profit him in later years. This situation is to a certain extent imavoidable, unless this gap between the child's present and his adult future needs can somehow be bridged. To do this means simply to fill it in with something that has a present meaning and significance for the child. The younger the child the more completely is he occu- pied with the immediate present. The world is all new to him, and wherever he goes there are fresh views to take of things at hand. It is largely by experience and training that we are able to look ahead in life, and the child is so 88 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION busy getting experience that he feels little concern about the distant time when he may need this or that information or skill which the school proposes to give him so far in advance. The disciplinary conception of study. These are facts which the past has largely ignored on the assumption that doing disagreeable tasks under compulsion is the best means of getting an education. Not only was this the assumption of our Puritan educators, but one which has fought stubbornly against every subsequent proposal to make school work interesting. Cons^uently, even after psychology had won the fight for " interest " in instruc- tion, the ancient school traditions, backed up by theologi- cal prejudice favoring a stern suppression of every activity in any way productive of pleasiu-e, prevented any attempt to explain away the artificial barrier which centuries had erected between interest and so-called discipline. This battle has only recently been won for school practice, and the meaning of the term incentive will become clear for the teacher only when she imderstands the part which interest plays in education, and the real relation of interest to seri- ous effort. Interest related to effort. When a given lesson or school task is attractive to the child, and he works at it on his own initiative, we say he is interested in it, or that the subject is interesting to him; when the task is unattractive and tends to repel him we say the task is iminteresting to him, or that he is not interested in the subject. If we study the behavior of the child under these two sets of circumstances we will see that in the case where interest is present the child is attentive to the subject, that the more attractive the task the more concentrated his attention becomes and the greater becomes his effort. In the case where interest is not present we see the child's attention constantly flit- ting from the task; he is easily distracted, and assumes about INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT 89 the attitude of a careless spectator. Thus we are easily able to distinguish an interesting from an uninteresting lesson, or an interested from an uninterested pupil. And we are familiar with the difference between the amounts of work accomplished imder the two sets of conditions. The practical meaning of interest. Now why are some tasks interesting and others disagreeable .^^ Interest is a comprehensive term which includes not only the personal emotional inclination of the child toward a lesson, but also the objective results which he foresees in the lesson and wants for himself. How to find in an uninteresting task something which the child recognizes as pertinent to his own needs is the question. First, we have the child, always with a capacity for hav- ing an interest in things which really concern him; second, we have the school aim, the lesson to be learned. The child is or is not interested according as the lesson does or does not contain something which he recognizes as valuable to himself. If he is not interested it is because he feels no important connection between his own self and what the lesson offers. The explanation then, of why some tasks are interesting and others are not is to be sought, not in the nature of the child alone, nor in the nature of the task alone, but rather in the connection between the two, — in the actual relation of what the child now knows and feels and can do to the new facts /or skills we are asking him to ob- tain, to the new appreciation or mental processes we are asking him to experience. Training the pupil in proper habits. Where this connec- tion is close there is no problem of management. The child will study without direction. He is interested, and attends to his work because he sees where to begin. But where this connection is not close the child is not interested, and then the task of management is present. 90 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Three possible lines of procedure are open to the teacher: first, she may leave the child alone to study or not, as he pleases; second, she may force him to study by holding punishment over him; third, she may undertake to man- age him with respect to his diflBculty. The last is her plain duty. To leave the child alone is to waste his time and to force him to adopt the trial and error method, from which he will soon turn away in disgust. If driven by fear of punishment he will learn to despise the subject, and in time the school; and in either case will miss his opportunity to develop right habits of work. This is only another way of saying that he is forced to develop wrong habits of work, by which the school defeats its own end. The teacher's task. How to provide an incentive, how to fill this gap, how to find some facts or activities akin to what he now knows and wishes to do, is the question for the teacher. 2. What makes an incentive effective Incentive a means, not an end. Incentives are only means, and must not be permitted to replace the ends which they are designed to serve. Young children admire bright colors, and will readily attend to the number lesson if permitted to use brilliantly colored objects to coimt with. The question is, do they attend to bright colors, or to num- ber experience, in such a case? The end sought is facility in the use of numbers, the means or incentive is bright- colored objects to work with. Does the incentive really fill the gap, or only seem to fill it? Certainly it makes a vital appeal to very genuine instinctive interests in the child, and makes the numbers objective and concrete, which means to make them real to the child. According to our definition that is the way an incentive should function. A closer examination, however, shows that something has INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT 91 been overlooked. Are the colored balls and the number experience inseparable? Must the child get the one if he gets the other? At once we realize that it is possible for the child to make coimting, adding, subtracting, etc., a mere incident in the jolly experience of rolling bright balls or piling up colored blocks. So, while playing with colored balls and blocks seems on the face of things to serve per- fectly as an incentive for studying an abstract and unin- teresting number lesson, we see that it is very easy for the means to be converted into an end, the real end being re- garded by the child as a mere inconvenience incident to the pleasant game. Other illustrations could be given: Mary studies very often not so much to learn as to win a prize; James takes pains with his written lesson, not to improve his skill in writing and correct use of English but to avoid the negative incentive which is to remain after school and do his work over. So, to be effective, an incentive must not be so at- tractive in itseK as to dominate the situation to the exclu- sion of the more important fact of the relationship which it is designed to establish between the known and the im- known, between the child's present active self and his task. Neither should it be so uninteresting as to create a motive of fear or dread. Appeal must be immediate. To be effective an incentive must make an immediate appeal. That means that it must appeal to some native instinctive interest, or be so inti- mately related to the child's present purpose that it tends to illuminate that purpose. An extended knowledge of psychology is not so necessary as are a few simple obser- vations to show us what this means in practice. It is char- acteristic of young children to take httle thought of the morrow. They live in the present, and an ever and rapidly- changing present. Their toys are attractive for only a short 92 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION time at best. Their world is mainly a world of things, while the teacher's world is quite largely a world of ideas, laws, and relationships. It is only because the teacher has had a long experience with things that she is now able to deal with principles. Consequently the incentive appropriate to early school life must be something concrete and striking from a sense standpoint, something which at once affects the child*s narrow personal world almost in spite of him. The yoimg child loves change above all things. His life is dominated by his instinctive liking for intensive stimuli of all kinds, for play, for building and destroying, and he is extremely inquisitive about strange and wonderful things and hap- penings. Incentives must be adapted to age. Incentives which appeal to these instinctive tendencies without falling into the danger of replacing the real end sought will be appro- priate for early childhood and for older children who are mentally retarded. With more advanced children these cruder and simpler likes do not fully disappear, but others develop. With the larger mental content of growing years comes also an increased power to see ahead, to see relation- ships which are not so intimate, greater power to reason, all of which means ability and willingness to lay aside an immediate for a future good. Incentives may then be of a higher order, without being less intimately related to the child's immediate interests. That is, the appeal is now not only to the instinctive but also to the acquired inter- ests. The number experience, at first gotten in connection with games and play, has itself become an interest to which we can appeal. Thus, as soon as the child has completed the arithmetic work of grade four, he will be permitted to apply it in manual training and shop work in grade five. This privilege becomes a real incentive to the child, but INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT 93 makes its appeal not only to his original primitive instinc- tive interest in construction, but also to his acquired in- terest in the use of numbers. It is of course to be remembered that the transition from the use of incentives which appeal to the cruder instincts to those which appeal to later instincts and to acquired interests, or, as we may say, from a lower to a higher order of incentives, will be very gradual. The higher incentive must bring some new aspect of an acquired interest into the light by suggesting an imtried value for it. Appeal should be positive. The most effective incentives will inspire positive rather than negative attitudes and activities. There are two possible ways of bridging the gap between the child and his uninteresting task. One is by compelling him to accept an alternative which is less at- tractive, or more repulsive, than the task itself, the other is by providing an interesting intermediary experience which leads naturally into the task itself. Both will be effective at times, and many incentives will actually contain elements ^^ of each, as when a child works hard both to win a prize and for fear he will not win it. That the positive is the more important element should be kept in mind: — First, because common experience and observation teach us that when we work from fear we work with less confi- dence in our own ability, and that we go grudgingly, and with much less energy. Second, because psychological experiments have veri- fied these common observations, and state their conclu- sions by saying that fear tends to depress and choke up our channels of energy, while confidence and hope in our work tend to brace us up and to liberate energy for the task ahead. Third, because, with a negative incentive there will be 94 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION a tendency for a child to form a mental association, not between punishment and his own laziness or indifference, but rather between punishment and the lesson. Use negative incentives sparingly. Our last chapter dealt with punishments. If we will reconsider that chapter from the standpoint of this discussion we will have before us about all that can be said in justification of negative in- centives. They cannot be fully dispensed with in school management, except in rare cases. In managing instruc- tion though, as opposed to the management of other kinds of behavior, they should be used as sparingly as possible. This is not said with a view to drawing a sharp line of dis- tinction between the task of learning to play, or to keep clean hands and teeth, or to be polite, on the one hand, and the task of learning an arithmetic lesson on the other. The two are psychologically not so unlike as the traditional schoolmaster has made them. The one is a little more directly social in its bearing on the child's present seK than the other, but they are both learning processes. Children meet with disagreeable tasks on the playground, just as they do in the recitation-room. The only reason we fail to see this is because we have not looked upon the child's playground experiences as part of his constructive program of education. When we have developed play into something real and vital in education, then the need for a study of incentives suitable for play and other lines of social and executive training will appear. Danger in competitive prizes. Finally, incentives to be effective in school must not be injurious to the many while they serve only the few. It is a poor achievement that is better measured by what someone else has not done than by what the achievement itself represents. A child is not necessarily good or bright because others are bad or dull. The incentive which involves competition therefore runs INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT 95 the risk of putting emphasis in the wrong place, and may result in teaching a child to wish ill luck to his fellows rather than to strive harder to win for himself. S. Types of incentives Incentives vary with age and individual nature. As was pointed out above, the gap which an incentive is to bridge may be very narrow or very wide. The boy who is well up in his language work, but who is not fond of writing themes, may find his recent first experience in a snow storm an incentive amply strong enough to overcome his dislike of writing. Not so, however, with the boy who not only does not like to write themes but who has been scarcely able to keep up with his class. The one knows how and merely needs something interesting to write about, the other lacks basic knowledge and skill. The incentive in one case has merely to overcome a little mental laziness, while in the other it must stimulate the child to seek knowledge as well. Consequently, when we speak of types of incentives, we must remember that we are dealing only with general prin- ciples, and that the ultimate test of the value of an incen- tive Hes finally in its actual use. An incentive which is good, from the standpoint of the general principles involved, is not necessarily good every- where and imder all circumstances. Its function is always specific with respect both to the individual child, and to the particular circumstances in question. The following classi- fication of incentives is suggested as a basis for a critical examination of this important aspect of management. (a) Incentives more or less incident to the regular organi- zation and management of the class. There are certain features of school procedure which are indispensable to a proper handling of children in groups, many of which can be made effective incentives for practically all members of 96 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION the class. Such are grading, promotion, class marks, moni- tonal services, holiday programs, and school exhibits. Let us restate in brief form the principles set forth above, to which all incentives must conform in order to be effec- tive for service: — (1) An incentive is only a means to an end, and so must not be so attractive in itself, and so widely separated from the end it is meant to serve, as virtually to replace that end. (2) Its appeal must be direct, and to some basic instinctive interest, or to some present and pertinent acquired interest. (3) It must as often as possible be positive rather than negative. (4) It must not be injurious to other children. With these criteria in mind, let us examine the above features of the regular working machinery of the school to see how they may be turned to good effect in this con- nection. (l) Grading, promotion, and class marks. Perhaps the greatest evil that attends the use of grading and promotion as school incentives is that they too often become ends in themselves, in the mind of both teacher and pupil. By un- pedagogical methods the teacher fairly drags the child through the required amount of work that his failure may not reflect unfavorably upon her own eflficiency. The child fears demotion, or being left behind; or craves the social distinction of skipping a grade; and so in desperation mem- orizes but does not digest the subject matter covered. The appeal is to the emulative and social instincts, and it is direct. This is well, but the stimulus often is negative rather than positive, and the desire of the child too fre- quently is that, if he fail, his friends also will fail, or that if he is permitted to skip a grade certain others will not be. This does not mean that these incentives are essentially bad, but rather that it is easy to put the emphasis in the INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT 97 wrong place, and so to destroy what might be a wholesome stimulus. Competition is not imwholesome when both means and end are legitimate. Good management will see to it that the real end — work done — is attained, and further, that the child shall learn to compete, not only with others, but with his own past record as well. When this attitude is established the value of grading and promotion as in- centives is unquestioned. (2) Monitorial service. The necessary monitors for the class room may be chosen on the basis of merit in a given study one week, on the basis of entire scholarship standing another, on the basis of deportment or application another, etc., each time making the appointment an incentive fo^ special effort at some particular point. Measured in terms of the above principles there is little danger of abuse of such devices. (3) Holiday programs. Certain places on holiday pro- grams can be made open on condition of attainment in various lines of work, preferably those most nearly asso- ciated with the material which the program is to present. Of course all the places could not be assigned in that way for there will be certain pupils who ought under any cir- cumstances to be on such a program, and certain others for whom such training is not important. (4) School exhibits. Occasional displays of children's work, either in competition with each other or in com- petition with other schools, will, like interclass and inter- scholastic games, debates, and spelling matches, tend not only to bring out the very best individual effort but to de- velop a sense of school loyalty as well which is thoroughly wholesome. The danger here is that the single item for exhibition may receive an undue amount of attention, to the detriment of regular class exercises and routine matters which are of greater importance. 98 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Thus practically all such devices as these must constantly be guarded in their effect upon each individual child if they are to be of large service. They have the advantage of being always at hand, and intimately associated with one or another aspect of the regular life of the school. The teacher who is ingenious in finding out ways to use them, and who carefully guards against their abuse, will find incentives of this type valuable soiu'ces of help. \/ (b) Incentives incident to good teaching method. A second group of incentives, which are perhaps more prop- erly thought of as special methods and devices, should at least be mentioned here, if for no other reason than to show that, like incentives, their fimction is to elicit interest in the immediate situation and to bridge over the gap from the known to the unknown, or from the old to the new. (1) Devices as incentives. It was pointed out above that the gap to be filled by incentives is sometimes very wide, and sometimes very narrow. A story is related, a picture is displayed, some object is measured, a lesson is drama- tized, and we usually think of these as teaching devices or as features of the special methods in use. Yet their fimc- tion is to sustain and direct attention, to develop an in- terest in the end sought, which is the fimction performed by incentives. The difference is that in the one case the gap is narrow in both point of time and in knowledge or skill needed, whereas in the other it is wider. In the latter, attention is to be sustained for a longer time, a more per- manent interest is to be developed, more work is to be done, This is but a difference in degree, and not in kind. If a device is a feature of the refined details of teaching method, then an incentive is a feature of the coarser struc- ture of method in the large. (2) Types of devices which serve as incentives. Whether we call these incentives, or devices, or special methods, is not INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT 99 important. It is important that the teacher shall make their use conform to the principles we have set forth for evaluating incentives. The use of pictures, maps, pets, flowers, field trips, dram- atization, xmderscoring words with colored chalk, writing letters to children in foreign countries, and others of this sort, practically without end, would come under this group. They are designed for use in particular situations, and so are highly specialized. Every young teacher should collect great stores of such, and exercise her own ingenuity in working out new and original ones. To become versatile and resourceful in the use and invention of such incentives should be a constant aim of every teacher who wishes to keep out of pedagogical ruts. (c) Incentives not essentially connected with the regular organization or management of the school. In this group would come prizes, honor rolls, special privileges and im- munities, class rank, and public commendation, all of which have been brought into use in the school, not because they are in any way essential to its organization, but because of the strength of the appeal which such things make. Every normal child loves a tussle, either physical or intellectual. To be able to win by main strength or by wit means social prestige, personal power, self-confidence, and success to the child. The big question before all such incentives is, are they, by the fact of their lacking any real connection with the life of the school, the more easily separated from the end which they are designed to serve? (1) Prizes. There are almost numberless incentives of this class, some valuable intrinsically, and others which bring some special distinction only. The former are likely, indeed will almost surely become ends in themselves, and so violate our principle number one. The latter are only slightly less likely to do this, and both will have the fol- 100 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION lowing objections in common: 1, the number of contestants quickly narrows down to a few of the brightest pupils who are least likely to need an incentive, all others becoming disinterested spectators; 2, certain sensitive pupils, who feel themselves losing in a desperate attempt, are depressed and disheartened, and lose confidence in their own abilities; 3, the winners often develop an over confidence, amounting to offensive and, for themselves, dangerous conceit; 4, it tends to stratify the children in all social and intellectual matters, whereas the contest may involve only a very nar- row mental trait, such as spelling ability. So there is scarcely a point in our principles which is not violated by the use of such incentives. (2) Honor rolls, special privileges and immunities, class rank, and public commendation. It is often argued that when the prize is available for aU who attain a certain standard, then most of its evils are done away with. This is at least partly true of the use of honor rolls, etc., but there are certain other considerations which have to be watched. As an incentive for regular and pimctual atten- dance, a monthly half-holiday is often granted, and the children go home or roam the street. The natural inference which the child draws is that school work is regarded by all, even teachers, as hard and disagreeable, and that this half -holiday is pay for having patiently endured nineteen and one half days of it. If this half day were devoted sim- ply to a different line of work, say a field trip to a factory^ a shop, a park, a lake, or a mountain side, in which the object is to gather material for Monday's language lesson, or for the study of civics, nature, or industry, then the prize would in itself become a very legitimate end, and would be far more interesting to the child than merely go- ing home. Furthermore it would stimulate interest in school work instead of marking it as drudgery. INCENTIVES IN MANAOEKEl^t ' ' 101 So much depends upon how all kinds of prize incentives are used, and they are so easily possible of abuse, that the best advice regarding them seems to be: 1, use single prizes of intrinsic worth not at all; 2, use single prizes which mean only some mark of distinction rarely, remem- bering that the spirit of rivalry is abundantly stimulated on the playground, and in debates; and 3, use prizes which are open to all, such as honor rolls, half -holidays, freedom from examinations, etc., only when they can be intimately bound up with some legitimate phase of the real work of the school. (d) Incentives based upon acquired interests and ideals. There is, finally, another group of incentives, best charac- terized, first, by the fact that they are not external either to the school as an institution or to the nature of the child; and second, by the fact that they have to be developed. Such are love of knowledge; pride in the good name of the school; love of justice, honor, cleanliness, fair play, prompt- ness, regularity, and cooperation; and an earnest desire to be worthy of the friendship of teacher and fellow pupils. We are not born with these high ambitions and purposes, but with right training in the home and school all have capacity for developing them. Though we know all too little about the psychology of ideals, we are all fairly fa- miliar with their practical working. The man who cannot be bribed, who stands by his duty to others in the face of personal loss, who desires power that he may render serv- ice, is the man who is living up to his ideals. Such incen- tives as these cannot be dragged into the school like prizes, they must be developed by example, by good teaching, and by strong personal appeal. They are means and end all in one. School loyalty is not made up of hurrahs, class songs, and yells, and other superficial signs of loyalty, though these 102 ' ' * ' ' 'ciIassroom organization may have a place in its making. There must be behind these a cx)mmon aspiration, a common life, shot through with habits of cooperation, of fair play, of justice, of hard work and clean living. So it is with love of knowledge, and other high ideals. They are powerful as motivating forces, once they are firmly established in our conduct as well as in our beliefs. There is no lesson so dull that an incentive cannot be found which will make it interesting to the normal pupil. Sweeping out the office is uninteresting to the boy passing by, but not so to the boy inside who looks upon his work as the beginning of a professional career. It is the teacher's business to help her indifferent pupils to the office boy's point of view. This she can do if she is resourceful, and constantly on the alert for new motivating material. -4. Summary of Part II In Part I we set forth the ends which are to be sought in the child's training, showed how these ends function in managing the school, and described the materials with which the teacher has to deal. In this Part we have discussed the pupil as the object of all management, explaining how he is to be brought into an under- standing of his place as a member of the school group, the problem of attendance, order and discipline, school punishments, and in- centives in management. Upon entering the school the child's first problem is that of becoming oriented with respect to his duties and privileges as a member of a new social body. The teacher's problem is that of assisting him in making the right contacts with this institution. The question of attendance thus becomes of very first impor- tance, and that not to the pupil alone, but to the school and to the State as well. As a management problem it usually presents itself in the form of truancy, irregularity, or tardiness, and each case demands individual treatment, for the reason that its causes lie within the numerous influences under which the child lives and works. The teacher is especially advised to look closely into the child's school relationships as a possible source of the trouble. The second problem was that of order and discipline. Discipline INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT 103 here was thought of as those modes of conduct which are peculiarly appropriate to school life, and the teacher's problem as that of determining the most suitable practices, and then of applying to those practices the common principles of politeness, honor, and integrity which prevail everywhere. For the teacher it is a problem of developing within herself the power to lead, and her study is always of how to apply that power to individual cases. The third problem, that of punishments, brings the pupil into his most critical relationships with his social group, and the teacher into her most critical teaching relationship with the child. Pun- ishment must mean pain to the offender, and must result in his realization of a broken relationship with his school, and that the responsibility is his very own. The offender must be made to feel the power of public indignation at his wrong if his punishment is to weigh heavily with him. This the teacher's leadership must provide for, all cases being treated impersonally and in terms of their individual merits. Finally, we have discussed the difficult but important question of incentives. What an incentive is, what makes it effective, and the different types of incentives that are possible of use in the school. One's incentives for doing a thing are his reasons or mo- tives for doing it. Where, as is necessarily the case in many in- stances in the school, the task is not closely related to the child's present interests, it is necessary to bridge the gap between them. This is the most vital point in the entire teaching process. To be able to select facts, incidents, and exercises that will serve as a means to this end is the teacher's problem. This requires intimate knowledge of the child and of the task, and skill in manipulating the incentive in terms of the child's peculiar needs. We have grouped incentives as those incident to school organi- zation and management, those incident to good teaching method, those not essentially connected with school work, and those based on acquired interests and ideals. In these chapters the reader should have come to realize that the child is the center of all our interest as we develop machinery for dealing with children in large groups. Children are widely different from each other in their power to learn, and the test we set for ourselves in the remaining portion of this book is, — can the machinery of school management be so constructed that it will recognize and make full use of this wide diversity in human nature while adjusting itself to the welfare of the group? 104 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bagley, W. C, Classroom Management, chaps, xi, xn. Dewey, J., Democracy and Education, chap. x. Excellent as a brief statement of the underlying principles for this chapter. Dutton, S. T., School Management, chap. in. White, E. E., School Management, pp. 130-189. Wilson, H. B., and G. M., Motivation of School Work, Ptot I. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What is meant by the term incentive, and why are incentives needed in school work? 2. Explain how the study of incentives comes to be a study of the psychology of interest and attention. Why do we call one task inter- esting and another not interesting.? Does the effort which you or yom* pupils put forth because of interest in a task seem to you to have the same, greater, or less disciplinary or educative value than the effort which is put forth under some penalty or disagreeable cir- cumstance? Cite cases to illustrate. 3. Why is it that a given incentive may be effective with a child one day and not the next, or with one child and not with another? Does this answer explain why a successful use of incentives in the school in- volves careful judgment and skill on the part of the teacher, as well as a knowledge of the object or activity used as the incentive? 4. Can you recall a case of where an incentive failed because the pupils treated it as an end instead of a means? 5. State the four principles to which an incentive must conform if it is to be effective. 6. What is the difference between an incentive and a device? Explain how they are alike. 7. What is meant by a negative incentive, and what is the most serious objection to its use? Under what circumstances are negative incen- tives justified? Give illustrations of where they would be effective, and also of where they would be ineffective. 8. Suggest an incentive that would be useful to one pupil, but detri- mental to others. 9. Make up as long a list of incentives as you can for each of the four general types mentioned above. 10. Show how the following incentives may be made effective: — promo- tions, prizes, class monitors, school exhibits, field trips, pictures and railroad maps, freedom from examinations, love of truth, school loy- alty, love of knowledge. 11. Take the same list and explain how each may fail of its purpose, stating its failure in terms of the four guiding principles laid down. INCENTIVES IN MANAGEMENT 105 12. When may an incentive be used legitimately as both means and end? Explain a case that could be worked out by the teacher. 13. Why is fear of having to copy a list of words, commit something to memory, or remain after school for study, almost invariably a wrong incentive? 14. Is an incentive something that is supposed to replace teachmg effort, or is it merely a part of an effective teaching process? Explain. PART III THE MACHINERY AND THE PROCESS CHAPTER IX ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL Outline of Chapteb 1. The problem of Part HI. 2. The nature and purpose of organization — Division of labor a necessity — Organiza^ tion means systematization and economy — Organization as means and as end. 3. Plans for the first day — Importance of first day — Getting oriented — Putting the schoolroom in order — The teacher an example in promptness — Starting and organizing the school — Advance planning makes all organizing easier. 4. Mechanical features of the organization — Routine procedure — Entering and leav- ing the building — The fire drill — Handling wraps — Distributing and collecting papers, pens, etc. — Leaving the room — Keeping desks and room orderly — Personal cleanliness — The daily program and other details — The necessary signals, 6. Summary — References — Questions. 1. The 'problem of PaH in Thus far we have thought almost exclusively from the point of view of the individual child, keeping the group aspect and the machinery of the school somewhat in the background. This has been done in order that, first of all, we may have fully established the idea that the school is made up of children, and that the ultimate test of the school and of its management is what they can do for the individual child. We have not, however, ignored the fact that the child's world is social, as well as intellectual and physical, and that his training is to take place very largely in a group, and that it is always training for group life. In chapter five we attempted to show something of what this group life in the school may mean to the child, if he is prop- erly managed with respect to the social aspects of the in- stitution of which he becomes a part. In this section of the book it will be our purpose, not to lose sight of this viewpoint, but to examine the machinery essential to the management of children in groups, and to 110 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION study the processes by means of which this machinery may be made effective as a means for achieving the principal aims of the school. The organization of the physical fea- tures of the school; the organization of the children, of the curriculum, and of the day's work; the planning and di- recting of the efforts of the group at study and in recita- tion; the checking up of results by group tests; and the changing and shifting of machinery to meet the constantly expanding needs of the children and the commimity, — these will constitute our problem here. In this we shall combine the study of the bare structure, the fixed and static features of the school, with a study of those flexible and dynamic features which are essential to the proper func- tioning of the structural parts. Thus we shall avoid the necessity for studying the machinery of the school aside from the part it plays in making for economy and effec- tiveness in the group enterprise. 2. The nature and purpose of organization Division of labor a necessity. Education has become one of our most popular enterprises, and with this increase in its popularity has necessarily gone a great increase in the diversity of its interests. Hence the school problem has become rapidly more diflBcult, both from the standpoint of numbers and from the standpoint of aim. The school is no longer a mere matter of teacher and pupil, it is a whole State and its children trying to conserve the best ideals of the past and to anticipate the endless variety of occupa- tional, social, and cultural needs of the future. The principle of division of labor has therefore become a pressing one, and the school organization of a decade ago finds itself ill adjusted to the school problems of to-day. The State, the county, the city, and the district oflBcials unite to form a vast machine for handling this problem in ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL 111 the large, and it is within this larger system that each teacher is to operate, not as a mere cog in a wheel, but as an inteUigent personaHty, responsible for the solution of certain details in the greater problem. Its purpose is only to systematize and to divide responsibility, to the end that such specialization may result in efficiency. The teacher needs this larger perspective for her work in order that she may be the better able to define her own immediate aims and to relate means to ends in attaining them. Organization means systematization and economy. Or- ganization then, for the teacher is, as it is for the State, a matter of systematizing the work to be done. There is the building, and her room, with their particular plans of entrance and exit, with their cloak-rooms, halls, windows and furniture, aU more or less fixed and unchangeable features to which her plans have to be adjusted. Then there are books, pencils, wraps, etc., to be distributed and put away again; there are children to be classified, to be moved into and out of the building, and to the blackboard, many times every day; there is the division of subject- matter, the arrangements for study and for recitation, all of which have to be dealt with, by the very fact that one teacher is trying to teach many children many things in many ways, all in the same day. To reduce all this to order means to bring each of these factors into a proper relation- ship to aU others. Organization as means and as end. Good organization must serve both as a means and as an end. It wiU not only facilitate study and recitation, but it will establish habits of economy in respect to the use of time, furnish useful drill in cooperative movements, and in all give excellent training along executive lines. The boy who has learned how to keep his place in line, how to arrange and distribute materials with dispatch, how to put his own desk in order, 112 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION has learned something that will be useful to him outside of school. In such cases it is not a matter of imposing a system upon the school, but rather of reducing the normal procedure of the school to a system. Not all organization, however, will thus reduce itself to a mere mechanism. Some plans are for activities which nm through the whole term without change and will quickly reduce themselves to habits, while others have to do with activities which are not often repeated, or which are for individual rather than for group guidance. These will have to be made anew for each occasion, and followed out con- sciously rather than mechanically. These latter have to do more especially with the handling of the study and recitation of lessons, while the former will have to do almost exclusively with the movements of the children and the handling of equipment. 3. Plans for the first day Importance of first day. To bring this conception of organization to bear in the teacher's preparation for her first day's work is very important. First impressions are lasting ones, and the teacher should make that day stand out as one with a clear-cut program of orderly and effective work. Instead of being given over to leisurely registration of pupils and assignments of lessons, it should be the first day of regular work, as nearly as possible under the condi- tions that wiQ prevail throughout the year. This means that the teacher must be prepared with very specific plans covering every feature of the day's program. Getting oriented. Such plans begin with her own work in its relations to the school, or even to the city or coimty as a whole. What is the larger educational problem of the commimity? What is the general policy, and who is re- sponsible for making that policy? To answer this she should ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL 113 obtain recent copies of annual reports, bulletins, circulars, courses of study, and syllabi, if any such have been pub- lished, and look them over. If there are no such publica- tions, then a personal conference with her principal, super- visor, or city or county superintendent will be desirable, in order to talk over in advance the general plans for the year's work. Early teachers' meetings and the principal's bulletin board will clear up the problems common to all teachers in the building. The teacher's own preliminary arrangements will call for a visit to her building and room, where she will familiar- ize herself with the plans of entrance and exit for the chil- dren; with where the wraps are to be placed; with how to regulate the ventilation and light; with the arrangement of desks and blackboard, the location of drinking fountains, lavatories, and toilets; with the facilities indoors and out for play activities; with the library; and with the location of maps, charts, pictures, chalk, pencils, paper, etc. She will find the last year's register, with some information about the children and their work; and perhaps a well- marked copy of the course of study. Nor will she forget to leave such information for her successor when she moves to another room or position. Putting the schoolroom in order. Preparatory to begin- ning her work the teacher will see that her room is in order. This means a great deal, again partly because of the in- fluence of first impressions. The room should be clean, the blackboards and chalk trays ready for use, supplies of pen- cils, pens, and paper should be on her desk, and the place should look inviting. The room should be Hght and airy, the pictures should be properly hung, and the bookcases, tables, and chairs should look neat and orderly. The room should also be made to look like a place for work. If in a on^-room school, or a school with several 114 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION grades, the blackboards may well contain questions, prob- lems, and assignments, for various classes. Books should be in evidence, and a daily program (tentative perhaps) should be ready to point the way through the day's work for each class. The teacher an example in promptness. When the first day arrives the teacher should be in her room early. She should call at the principal's office for a moment, not to visit, but to receive any final instructions regarding the plans for the day, or to ask any necessary questions. She should greet any of the other teachers she meets, and then go to her room to be ready to meet the children as they arrive. She has already arranged her room, and so on this morning has merely a few details to look after. The few should not prevent her from meeting her pupils and an- swering their questions as they enter, aU anxious to see the new teacher. Starting and organizing the school. When the gong or bell caUs the children in she should know precisely how they are to enter. She should know where she is to be, just where her class will form into line, and just how they will enter her room. She should know exactly how the wraps are to be disposed of, and what she is going to say and do " next." If these plans have all been carefully worked out beforehand, they should go through perfectly. The open- ing speech should not be long. A very few remarks, not about what " you must or must not do," but about what " we are going to do " this very day. While talking the teacher should also be working, handing to the children in front slips of paper and pencils to be distributed to those in the seats behind them. Soon all are busy writing what she has asked for: name, age, grade, name and address of parents, and any other information necessary for the sys- tem of individual records which she will prepare for the principal's office. 1 ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL 115 These slips are collected by the same monitors. The teacher now unrolls the daily program and hangs it up where all can see, while the monitors pass out the books or other articles next needed. Things are so well planned and so quickly and simply explained that these new monitors are catching the spirit of this very quiet but very business- hke teacher, and are passing it on to other children, who are busy following directions. The first section of the pro- gram is explained, assignments are made, and soon one group is busy preparing a lesson, and another with the teacher at the board, perhaps, with some work she placed there the day before. Somehow it is only about nine thirty o'clock, and all are at work. The opening speech is past and the school is actually running. Advance planning makes all organization easier. It is easier to give these instructions than it is to carry them out, but here they are, without the thousand details and inter- ruptions which the teacher will have to meet, and the only other suggestion is that no teacher will ever open her school in such an ideal way who has not learned two important lessons : — first, how to plan her work so that she will know exactly what she is going to do; and second, how to make every moment of her time count. If these lessons have been well learned the children will return to their homes at night with a definite idea of what they have done and of what they are to do the next day, and also with the right kind of fireside report about the new teacher. ^. Mechanical features of the organization Routine procedure. Certain parts of the organization must be reduced to habit as soon as possible, both because a thing done by habit will be done in the same way each time, and because it will be done more speedily. Such rou- tine procedure has sometimes been looked upon as being lie CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION suppressive of individual initiative. It would, of course, be possible to carry it to such an extreme as effectively to prevent children from thinking for themselves. It is not miUtarism, or blind obedience, that is wanted in the school, except in a few places where blind obedience can render the best sort of service to the individual as well as to the group. Most of the routine proposed here will be of such a char- acter as to recommend it, both for its educative value to the individual and for its value in facilitating the movements and work of the group. The psychology of habit formation demands: first, strict and fuU attention to the activity that is to be reduced to habit; and second, continuous drill which allows no devia- tion from the original mode of procedure. This law is an- other excellent reason why certain of the teacher's plans should be fully worked out and carefully executed the first day. If it is decided to have children march in to music, then the sooner this plan is initiated the better it will be for the habit that is to be formed. Entering and leaving the building. This will be a simple or a complex matter, accordingly as it is a building of one or of many rooms or stories. In any case, marching in will serve as an excellent opportunity for teaching children how to walk, and how to cooperate in filling or emptying a building of its children. A fairly good speed will prevent dawdling, save time, and give a proper tone to work when the children arrive at their seats. A little study of how fast the line can move to advantage will be desirable. No slov- enly behavior of any sort should be permitted. If talking in a low tone while in line is found to interfere with the movement of the line it should be stopped. There are few places where some supervision of the lines will not be neces- sary, though the idea of self-government in the lines should be cultivated. ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL 117 In most schools these lines will form and pass to or from the building at least eight times a day, or forty times a week. If it takes two minutes for each trip, that means more than five hours per month devoted to this exercise. It would be a pity if nothing of real value came from the expenditure of so much time. The aim should be, first, an orderly entrance and exit in as short a time as is conducive to safety and comfort; second, careful training in how to keep the chest and head up, and how to move with accuracy and decision. That is, demand of this bit of machinery that it shall not only be a means, but that it shall show in the carriage and manners of each child a definite educational output. The fire drill. At irregular intervals, in buildings where there is the least danger from fire, these very same lines will be formed and the very same movements will be gone through with at a sHghtly increased speed. Such drills should always be strictly supervised by the teachers, who will invariably be the last persons to leave the building. They will be called at the times least expected, and if it happens at any time when the children are in process of entering they should be drilled in facing about and reversing their movements. In such drills the lines should not break till the last child is some step)s from the building. This insures against fright or panic of any sort. Handling wraps. Some forty times a week the children's wraps must be handled. Where it is possible for the lines to pass through the cloak-rooms, the wraps may, during most of the year, be deposited on assigned hooks as the children enter and leave. Where this cannot be done a group of monitors should be assigned to collect and dis- tribute them. Here careful planning needs to be done in advance, and the time carefully figured. Once the best time standard is established, the monitors, newly appointed from 118 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION time to time, will know what is expected of them, and they will take pride in living up to the standard set. Distributing and collecting papers, pens, etc. There is constant need for a plan of distributing the necessary books and supplies which the children use at their seats, and most of this sort of work can be done according to a set plan by monitors. Where papers are to be collected, they may sometimes be passed forward, the children in the front seats placing them in orderiy piles on the teacher's desk. In all such work the teacher will need to watch the time consumed and keep her standards for speed and order high. Every moment lost by a monitor means not one but as many as the number of pupils he serves. Leaving the room. Freedom to leave the room at will is desirable, but such privilege is almost siu^ to be abused. While over-leniency is a little better than too great restric- tion, there is possibility here for some very important work to be done. Though the subject of the proper use of the toilet is perhaps a delicate one to handle, it is an important one from the standpoint of health, as well as from that of social and moral development. A frank but good-natured talk with the boys and girls separately will go far toward starting right habits along these lines. Keeping desks and room orderly. Good order about a pupil's desk first of all expedites his movements in getting the book, pencil, or paper he wants without bending over to look for it. Secondly, an orderiy desk is conducive to clear thinking. Knowing exactly where this or that book or paper is is next to knowing where this or that idea is. Habits of this sort can easily be extended in number and variety, to include the entire room and playground, to the end that bits of chalk and paper on the floor will be picked up by the first child who sees them, the basket ball will ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL 119 always be in its place, and the window shades and pictures on the waUs will be straight. Habits of this sort will not form themselves, however. The very first day they should be started carefully, and then with eternal vigilance one may hope to succeed in getting all these things done so perfectly that no one thinks of them. Personal cleanliness. Along with these habits go those relating to personal cleanliness. John's stubborn hair can be parted, if he works long and often enough with it. Many children have never learned to clean their teeth and naUs at home, and some appear never to have learned to keep hands and face clean. It is not only the business of the school to teach the importance of these things, but it ought to be one of its first and most important duties to fix such knowledge in the form of established habits. The daily program and other details. There are certain other features of the necessary organization which involve habit formation to a limited extent, as the order of study and recitation periods, — which will be treated in a sepa- rate chapter, — the arrangement of written work, the use of reference books, the passing of articles to other pupils, etc. The customary routine of roll call will be unnecessary by the fact that, since the children are assigned permanent seats, the teacher has only to have the seats numbered and to note down the numbers of the vacant seats on a card, and to make the record in the evening as she is preparing her room for the next day's work. The necessary signals. Some kind of simple system of signals, such as words or movements, will be foimd neces- sary in order to produce imity of action. A bell or gong sounds three or five minutes before time for entrance. Games cease and children go to the drinking fountain or lavatory to make ready for the second bell, which means 1«0 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION form in line. Immediately the line is formed some one teacher or older pupU at the entrance gives the signal, a simple tap of a bell or wave of a hand and the line enters, each child passing promptly to his or her seat without de- lay. If wraps were not deposited on entering, a second sig- nal starts the monitors who collect the wraps which are found on the side of the desk near the aisle down which the monitor passes. In some rooms a simple signal for be- ginning work is desirable for the sake of the few who have not learned to make the right use of time. In calling classes, collecting and distributing supplies, etc., other signals are necessary. In all cases avoid the noisy or ceremonious. The quiet businesslike way is best and most effective in all cases. In all the above plans the aim is concerted action, prompt- ness, and regularity. While these habits are all specialized for school purposes, yet every one of them is of value in itself. Some are for reasons of health and general cleanli- ness and refinement; others are insurance against panic, which might be useful to a certain extent in a burning theater or a sinking boat, as well as in a school building; others are essential elements in all scientific and scholarly train- ing, and not one of them robs the child of anything that is essential to his individuaHty or initiative, nor do they accustom him to too much bHnd obedience. 5. Chapter summary In this chapter we have explained the problem that is to be treated in Part HI, where we change from emphasis upon the individual to emphasis upon the group. Here we have tried to make clear that all effective school machinery must serve both as means and as end. That is, it must not only conserve both time and energy, but it must furnish the child with useful knowledge, skills, and ideals as well. We have shown the application of these principles in suggested ORGANIZING THE SCHOOL 121 plans of organization for which the teacher is responsible. From what has been said it should be clear that habits of order in enter- ing the room, in distributing supplies, in promptness, in keeping the desks and room clean, must be firmly established, and that success depends, first, upon a right start, and second, upon ever- lasting persistence. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bagley, W. C, Classroom Management, chaps, ii, in. Colgrove, C. P., The Teacher and the School, chap. v. Wray, A., Jean MitcheWs School, chap. ii. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. In beginning your own first teaching, to what extent did your earlier experience as a pupil dictate your schemes of organization? To what extent were you later forced to change those first plans? 2. State the law of habit formation, and explain what it would mean to apply that law in organizing your school. 3. Explain how some feature of organization may be of use both as a means and an end in teaching. 4. Why has the increased popularity of education made new demands upon organization? What are some of these? 5. What would an inexperienced teacher want to talk over with her principal or superintendent a week before school opened? 6. If you were to teach your first school in the country, and could not go for a personal conference with your county superintendent, what questions would you ask in a letter? Formulate a definite list of such questions, keeping in mind that none but definite questions can be answered satisfactorily. 7. Supposing you are to teach a rural school, tell what you would expect to learn and to do on your visit to the building the day before school opens. 8. Suppose that you have accepted a position in an eighteen-teacher school, and that you are going for a conference with your principal. Formulate a list of questions you expect to get answered in that con- ference. Formulate a list that you might be called upon to answer. 9. Suppose that you have thirty pupils, and that you occupy a room on the second floor. The pupils have just entered, and the monitors have the wraps about half collected when the fire gong soimds. Make a list of the commands you would give, and describe the procedure you would follow. 10. Write out a little speech which you think might be appropriate for a nual teacher to give to her thirty-five pupils on the first morning of her first day at the school. 122 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION 11. What would you expect to accomplish by having the children march in and out of the building every day? 12. With the chapter on incentives in mind, explain how you would make use of the monitorial positions as incentives in your rural school. 13. Suppose John abuses the privilege of leaving the room at will, write the necessary note to his mother. 14. Tell how you would keep your attendance record without calling the roll each day. 15. About how much time would you expect to consume per week in the following activities in a rural school of thirty-five pupils of all grades: (1) entering and leaving the building; (2) disposing of wraps? CHAPTER X GRADING AND PROMOTING Outline of Chapter 1. Class and individual systems of instruction — Group work a necessity — Crroup werms individual instruction. 2. The proper bases for grading — Grading related to other problems — Possible bases — When children may work together — Correct bases — Individual differences in general intelligence — The distribution of intelligence — How these differences show themselves — Teacher must understand scientific tests. 3. Difficulties in applying these principles — Difficulties stated — Practical solution — Teacher's judgment not trustworthy — The principle applies in ungraded school. 4. Flexibility the essential element — Need for frequent reclassification — Two ways of obtaining flexibility — The single-course plan — The multiple-course plan — Results under the multiple-course plan. 5. Promotion by grades and by subjects — The old annual grade promotion plan — How to overcome these evils. 6. The teacher's problem — Why teachers should understand promotional plans. 7. Summary — References — Questions. 1. Class and individual systems of instruction Group work a necessity. In the above chapter we have dealt with the more or less external features of the schooFs organization, taking classes for granted. Here we are to examinie the principles and plans e/sential to the formation ■of these instructional groups. The problem is at once one of economy and of sound teaching principles. A community has a large number of children to teach, there is a fairly well-defined body of knowledge to be taught, and^nancial resources are in a measure limited. How best to give to each child this common fund of knowledge and experience, and how to do this in the most economical way, is the ques- tion. The basis upon which class groups will be organized will depend upon whether we expect to teach the pupils together, as a class, or separately, as individuals. K by groups, then they must be organized somewhat on the basis of the work 124 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION they are capable of doing; if by individuals, then each pupil must be permitted to work as rapidly as he can without reference to what others can do. Group versus individual instruction. What are the rela- tive merits of these two points of view? The arguments for the class plan of instruction are: — 1. It brings the child into intimate contact with other pupils, whereby he learns that there are children who are as original, or as stupid as he, and so leams to know his own ability in terms of the abilities of others. 2. He is forced into competition of all kinds, competition in ideas, in speed and accuracy, in the requirements of the vari- ous skills, and in good manners, and is thereby stimulated to do his very best. 3. He learns ho\(^ to cooperate with his fellows in all the various class exercises. 4. Through these intimate contacts he develops a more cosmo- poHtan point of view, a broader basis for human sympathy, and a saner view of his own rights and duties. 5. Practically none of these things can be efiFectively accom- plished by strictly individual instruction. Certainly life outside of the school is full of comp)etition and cooperation, and certainly for training along executive lines these social contacts are indispensable. The advocates of individual instruction, on the other hand, will insist that: — 1. Group instruction attempts to meet the needs of the fictitious "average child," and so loses sight of individual differences. 2. It tends to become mechanical and to operate on the princi- ple of the survival of the fittest. 3. This failure to meet the needs of the individual causes great nervous strain on the weaker pupils. 4. It tends to discourage those who find it hard to keep up with their grade. 5. Individual instruction in most of these matters has the oppo- site effect of conserving the health and energy of the indivi- dual, and of adapting the method and the content to the par- ticular needs of each child. GRADING AND PROMOTING 125 These arguments seem to the writer to point out abuses which are entirely possible, but by no means inherent in the group system. There must be a middle ground between these extreme views which will conserve the best elements of each, without including the evils of either. This the graded system has attempted, during the last half-centuiy, to discover. S. The proper bases for grading Grading related to other problems. Any system of grad- ing is intimately connected with two other problems in school organization, namely, that of curriculum making, and that of promoting children from gracje to grade. For each group of children there is a corresponding section in the course of study, and the promotion of a child from one grade to another must mean that he has completed one section of the course of study and is ready to begin the next. Here we are concerned with two proble ms : first, the re- lation between groups of children on the one hand, and the relation between groups of subject-matter on the other; and second, what are the principles underlying the organi- zation of each. (The organization of subject-matter will be treated in the following chapter.) Shall we group chil- dren in terms of an arbitrarily prearranged course of study, or must the length and character of the sections of the course of study be determined by the nature of the group of children to be taught? If we were to organize the subject-matter of arithmetic in the most careful and logical manner we should find that the natural divisions of the subject would be unequal in both length and diflSculty, and the same would be true of history or geography materials. Secondly, the logical divi- sions of arithmetic would not correspond in length to those 12« CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION of history. This being true of other subjects, we can readily see that the bare logic of subject-matter cannot become the basis for the organization of the curriculum, to say nothing of its significance for the organization of groups of children. What then are the principles underlying the grading and classification of children.? The aim of grading is to make it possible to teach a given subject to a number of children at the same time. This means that the children must be homo- geneous with respect to the task, and our problem is to find the essential basis of this homogeneity. Possible bases. There are numerous ways in which we might group children for instructional puiposes. 1. We might group them with respect to sex. But while inves- tigations have shown that boys and girls differ in respect to their achievements in school, these differences are not so pro- noimced as to warrant separate groups for instructional pur- poses.^ 2. We might grade children on the basis of chronological age, but our retardation studies show that chronological age is no index to what children can do in school work. 2 3. We might use physiological age as a basis, but, while we know that physiological age often does not correspond closely to chronological age, we do not know how closely it corresponds to ability to do school work.^ 4. We might use psychological age, that is, general intelligence, as a basis, only that this does not tell us what specific prepa- ration a child may have for doing work of a given kind. 5. We might use school examinations, but we know that such tests are untrustworthy. 6. We might use "time in school" as a basis, but tests show that children of the same age, sex, physical conditions, and train- * Thomdike, E. L., Educational Psychology (2d ed.), chap, m, also. Sears, J. B., Spelling Efficiency in the Schools of Oakland, Col. 2 Ayers, L. P., Laggards in Our Schools. ' Crampton, C. W., "The Influence of Physiolo^cal Age upon Scholar- ship," in The P^ychologiccd Clinic (1907), pp. 115-20. GRADING AND PROMOTING 127 ing vary greatly in the amounts of work they can accomplish in a given time. 7. As far as possible our basis should be that of ability to do accurately a definite piece of work at a given rate. When children may work together. From this we are reminded that children are unlike in almost every particu- lar. To teach a dozen or twenty children in a group it is of course not necessary that they should be exactly alike. It is only necessary that they be nearly enough alike so that on a given problem they will all require about the same amount of assistance. It is a question then, first, of what are the traits which determine a child's abihty to do a given amount of a given kind of work in a given time; and second, are the individual differences in these traits so pro- nounced as to make impossible or extremely difficult the grouping of children for purposes of teaching. Correct bases. In order to settle these questions let us repeat; first, that in their bearing on instruction sex differ- ences are small; that chronological age does not at all indi- cate " abihty to do work "; that school examinations are not satisfactory, because they only show what a child knows, and not how rapidly he can do a given piece of work; and that time in school is not a practical basis. Physiological age, to a certain extent, and psychological age almost cer- tainly, indicate how difficult work a child can do, and how rapidly he can do it. They fail only to show what previous formal preparation the child may have had for doing the work in question. Individual differences in general intelligence. In view of the fact then that it is upon the basis of intelligence and previous training that we must group the children for in- structional purposes, we are concerned here with a quanti- tative statement of the individual differences among chil- dren in respect to physiological and psychological age, and 128 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION in respect to previous preparation for a given piece of work. So, if we had eight hundred children to grade the best metbod would be to determine, first, their general intell^Sce, per- haps by physiological, and certainly by psychological tests, and second, their previous preparation, by pedagogical tests. The following diagram shows the distribution of 905 unselected children, five to fourteen years old, with respect to general intelligence. This distribution is based upon the Stanford revision of the Binet-Simon tests for measuring general intelligence. ^ The term " intelligence quotient " fl6-7fi 96-105 106-H5 U6-125 9.0* 8.6 < 20M Fig. 1. The Distribution" of Intelligence I2&-136 22* tas-nt Showing distribution of I Q's of 905 unselected children 5-14 years oi age. (From Terman's The Measuremeni of Intdligence.) (I Q) means the ratio of mental age to chronological age. A mentally normal child has an I Q of approximately 100. If, however, an eight-year-old child tests as ten years old mentally, then his I Q would not be 100, but 125, or 25 above normal, etc. A study of this figure shows that these 905 children range in I Q's from 56 to 145; that is, from very low to very high mentality. • The distribution of intelligence. This diagram gives, perhaps, as true a description of the range of intelligence ^ For a full explanation of the scale and its use the reader is referred to The Measurement of Intelligence by Dr. Lewis M. Terman. (Houghton MiflBin Company, Boston, 1916.) GRADING AND PROMOTING 129 among elementary-school children as can be given to date, and we should note the following facts which this diagram brings out: first, that about ojie th ird of the children tested are non^al (96-105); second, that almost exactly as many are above as below normal; third, that the distribution of those -above normal corresponds closely to the distribution of those below normal. That is, the .33 per cent who have I Q's between 56 and 65 are offset by the .55 per cent, at the upper extreme with I Q's between 136 and 145, etc., with the other groups. Certainly the child at the upper extreme can work at an incomparably faster rate in school subjects, or at anything else, than can the child at the lower extreme. For any scheme of grading or promotion whatsoever this distribution of human intelligence is f imdamental fact num- ber one. How these differences show themselves. The next ques- tion is, how do these individual differences in intelligence reveal themselves in the educational output of a group of children who have worked together on a given subject for a given length of time. This can be answered best in terms of the results shown by giving some standardized pedagogi- cal test. For this purpose the following diagram, repre- senting the scores attained by 416 sixth grade children in a test in addition, is presente^. Presumably these children had had approximately equal training in addition, and yet twelve of them failed to complete one problem correctly, while two others completed eighteen correctly. Just as many worked less as worked more than six problems. It is obvious that these children have worked with widely different degrees of effectiveness during their first six years in school. That is, assuming that all started equal in their knowledge of addition, we find these differences at the end of six years. The most satisfactory explanation for these 180 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION differences in adding ability is difference in mentality. These mental differences were there to begin with, but in grading these children they were ignored. Simply because the chil- dren aU entered at the same time, and were about the same M O J 2. 3 ^ >5- 6 7 8 *y /O If /Z 13 l«f /S- /6 IT 18 Fig. 2. Distribution of Work done in Addition Showing the distribution of scores of 416 sixth-grade children in Courtis addition test. M = number of examples completed by m^an child. # age, it was assumed that they could aQ work together. This diagram proves that that was a false assumption. The re- sult is that about one fourth of the group are wasting their opportunity trying to do something they cannot do, while another fourth are doing the same, because, not having to work to keep up with the class, they are developing habits of inattention, indifference, and laziness. Teacher must understand scientific tests. From these facts it becomes obvious that a system of grading, to be GRADING AND PROMOTING 131 -effective, must give careful consideration to two things: — first, native intelligence; and second, previous training. To find these the teacher and principal need a working knowl- edge of two sets of educational tools, namely, scales for measuring intelligence,^ and tests or scales for measuring knowledge and skill. ^ The child's health, his physiological age, and his size and chronological age to a hmited ex- tent, as well as examinations and the teacher's judgment, will also enter as modifying factors in difficult cases, but in- telligence and previous training are basic and fundamental. 3. Difficulties in applying these principles Difficulties stated. It is easy to say that children should be graded and promoted on the basis of their abilities to do work of a certain degree of difficulty, but there are many practical difficulties to be overcome in carrying out this dictum. When school opens in the autumn, twenty or fifty pupils, five to seven years old, enter for the first time. If measured for intelligence we should find them distributed very much as shown in Fig. 1, above, though probably without showing the lower extreme. If measured for knowl- edge of subjects to be studied let us assume that we should find them all equal, or nearly so. Now how shall we apply these two facts iiL grading such a group? Certainly they must all begin at the same {)lace in their studies, namely, at the beginning. Practical solution. Then they may as well begin together in a single class, or in two classes if there are more than thirty. Our problem is, how to provide for the different * Terman, L. M., The Measurement of Intelligence. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916.) The most useful book for intelligence testmg. * Monroe, DeVoss, and Kelly, Educational Tests and Measurements. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917.) The most useful book on tests and measurements in the school subjects. 1S« CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION rates of progress which our intelligence test indicates as pos- sible for the different children? It is not reasonable to expect the child with an I Q of 80 to keep pace with the child whose I Q is 130. It is necessary, therefore, that practically from the start the class should be divided into three groups, with those whose I Q*s are below 95 in one group, those whose I Q's are 95 to 106 in another, and those whose I Q's are above 106 in a third. According to Fig. 1, this would divide them almost equally into three groups. Any one teache r can handle three such groups far more effectively than she can handle them together as one group. Teacher*s judgment not trustworthy. To show that this is practically possible we have only to add that this is pre- cisely what is being done now in our better city schools, with the exception that intelligence is being determined, not by adequate psychological tests, but by the teacher*s judgment alone. To show that the teacher's judgment, though an indispensable factor always, is often erroneous, we have only to cite the results of careful investigations of this question. ^ These studies show that the bright children, though accelerated for their chronological age, are almost always retarded for their mental age. This means that the teacher (or the grading and promotion machinery) did not let the bright pupils go as fast as they were capable of going. Just the opposite of this is found to be ftue of children of low mentality. 2 The point is that the teacher is too often satisfied when John is leading his class, when the fact is he ought to be leading the next class above. It is merely one more point * Dr. Tennan has shown that teachers almost invariably overestimate the intelligence of children of low mentality, and that they underestimate that of children of high mentaUty. See his Measurement of Intelligence, ch&p. m. These findings are clearly borne out by the results of recent pedagogical tests. 2 Hoke, K. J., Placement of Children in the Elementary Grades. U.S. Bureau of Education. Bui. (1916), No. 3. GRADING AND PROMOTING ISS at which ox-cart methods in school work must give place to the more refined methods of science. The principle applies in ungraded school. But here we have assumed that the entering class would have the en- tire attention of one teacher, whereas, save in large schools, this is not possible. Probably at least two thirds of all the children in the United States do not enter school under such conditions. Instead. they enter a room containing from two to eight full grades, and it is in such places that the for- mation of these special divisions of each grade is difficult or impossible, for in addition to the differences in native intelligence, the pupils will necessarily vary greatly in age, size, and previous training. Instruction imder such cir- cumstances is of course more difficult, but it can be made more effective if the teacher knows the kind of intelli- gence she has to work with. She can then add library and report work to the assignments of the brighter pupils, and ease up the load on those not so bright. We might say that the more widely her children vary in intelligence and in previous training the more individualistic her instruc- tion must be made. ^. Flexibility the essential element Need for frequent reclassification. In any system of grad- ing flexibihty is the essential element demanded by the facts we have pointed out above. If children vary in in- telligence, as we have already shown, and can consequently work at different rates of speed, the system of grading must make possible a frequent reclassification in order that those who are capable may not be held back by the slower pupils, and in order that the slower pupils may not be overworked or discouraged. Numerous systems, varying from no elas- ticity to extreme individual instruction, have been devised to meet these demands. 134 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Two ways of obtaining flexibility. There are two possible methods by which such flexibility may be provided. One is to have a single course of study for all, and correct inequali- ties by regrouping or promoting at frequent intervals, push- ing the bright pupils ahead and the extremely slow ones back. The other is to have two or more courses of study, differing in the amount of supplementary work to be done in addition to covering a certain minimum common to each. The difference between these two plans is that in the one all children who complete the eight grades wiQ have cov- ered the same ground, some in six years, perhaps, others in seven, eight, nine, or even ten. Some will therefore be twelve, others sixteen years old, when they are ready to enter the high school. By the other plan, if carried out to its logical limits, all are the same age, that is fourteen, when they finish the elementary school, and all have alike covered the essential facts and principles in the course of study, but in addition to this the brighter pupils have en- riched this common core of learning with much supplemen- tary work. The single-course plan. The working of the two plans will be made clearer by the following diagrams. Let us sup- Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June Fig. 3. Group Progress with a Course or Study The five different groups made different rates of progress during the half-jrear shown here. (FVom Cubberley's Public Sdiool Adminittraiion.) pose that the coiu-se of study for the elementary school is divided into eight equal parts, each part representing the GRADING AND PROMOTING 135 work of one year, and that each year's work is divided into ten sections each representing a month's work. The vertical bar in Fig. 3 will represent the end of a half-year's work. Let us imagine a class of thirty pupils starting to- gether on this half-year's work, beginning at the left end of the figure. If they are all equal in intelligence, previous preparation, health, etc., they will keep together, and ar- rive at the right end of the figure at the end of the year. They are not equal in these respects, however, and so in a few weeks some are ahead of the class, while others are be- hind. At the end of the half-year we find about four or five pupils who have completed the half-year's work and done two or three sections on the next half-year's work. We find another small number who have completed only about three sections of the half-year's work. If these thirty pupils move at these rates year after year we see that some will finish the elementary school in a httle over six years, and others in httle short of ten years, but all will have covered the same ground. Instead of promoting at the end of each month, as is suggested by Fig. 3, the so-called Cambridge plan Jor grad- ing and promotion, as shown in Fig. 4, is an attempt to meet A Basal Course 8 Years 1 1 S L 3 4 2 5 6 7 3 8 9 10 4 11 12 13 6 14 15 16 6 17 18 19 7 20 21 22 8 23 B ParaUel Course 6 Years 1 2 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 3 9 10 11 4 12 13 14 5 15 16 17 Fig. 4. The Cambbidgb Plan Two parallel elementary-school courses, with one third more work assigned for each year in Course B than in Course A. Pupils may transfer from one course to another at five points without loss. (From Cubberley's Public School Administration.) 136 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION these needs by having a six- years course and an eight-years course side by side. A bright pupil may thus finish the eight- years course in six years, while a slow pupil may use the full eight years. It is also possible to switch from the fast to the slow course, or vice versa, if such an adjust- ment is thought profitable. This is but one of numerous variations of the short promotion idea. The multiple-course plan. In the other plan the correction of this unevenness in the class is done only in part by redistribut- ing the children, that is by pro- motions, the main plan being to provide the brighter pupils with additional work. Here the course of study may be represented by grades or years, as in Fig. 5. Let the gray portions of bar C repre- sent the work by years. The middle bar, B, will include the work represented by the C di- visions, but in addition a certain amount of additional or supple- mentary work, involving appli- cation of principles in a practical way, more details, etc. Bar A will include the work represented by the other two bars, with still more work added. Upon entering GRADING AND PROMOTING 1S7 school the class begins the work of the middle division, but very soon must be divided into sections A, B, and C, in- cluding respectively the superior, the average, and the slow pupils. The teacher will then carry the three groups for- ward, and as occasion demands she will move a child from one of these sections to another till the pupil finds the proper amount of work necessary to occupy his full time. This sort of shifting will take care of readjustments or promo- tions for some time, still keep the pupils together as a group, and so permit them to remain longer with one teacher. For rural schools it probably represents the best grading and promoting plan. In time, however, a few of the pupils of group A will be able to take up the work of section C in the next year above, at which time such pupils may be trans- ferred from section A to section C of the next year above, as shown in I'ig. 5; and so on, later group B, and at the end of the year group C will move to the next year's work. Results under the multiple-course plan. Where this plan was tried, at Santa Barbara, California,^ it was found that about 10 per cent of the children could not do more in one year than the minimum amount of work, as represented by division C; that 23 per cent did ^he work represented by division B; that 44 per cent did that represented by divi- sion A; and that 8 per cent did that represented by A, plus that represented by C in the next year above; and that 14 per cent did even more than this. The important feature of both these plans of promotion is that they are thoroughly elastic. They provide as nearly OS possible for every child, whatever may be his capacity for work, and yet no child works alone. He is always in a class, competing and cooperating with 'others, and so dis- ^ For full description of results of its use see Burk, C. F., "Promotion of Bright and Slow Children"; in Educational Review, vol. 19, pp. 296-302 (March, 1900). 138 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION covering his own strength and weakness. These two plans, with numerous variations and combinations, represent the best that has been achieved by the movement against the old " lockstep " method of yeariy promotions, and with the rapid development of scientific tests for determining a child's abihty there is reason to hope that a system will soon be evolved which will unite all the advantages of individual instruction with those to be obtained by group work. 5. Promotion by grades and by subjects The old annual grade promotion plan. The system of promotions, which Dr. Wm. T. Harris attacked in 1869 to 1874 in his annual reports as superintendent of schools in St. Louis, was one which provided but one chance a year for promotion, and if a child failed in one subject, esi>ecially if that subject happened to be arithmetic, he was forced to repeat the entire work of the year, regardless of the need for it in other than the one subject in which he failed. Our recent studies of school costs and individual differ- ences show how ridiculous this is, yet in many schools we are still making promotions upon exactly this basis. In the high school and in the college we have outgrown that practice. If a student in these schools carrying five studies happens to fail in one of the five, he must repeat that one subject, but not the other four. The result is that in four of his subjects the student retains his interest, and also his prestige with his feUow students, whereas under the old plan he would have been compelled to drop back with another class younger than himself, and waste his time for a year going over work already familiar to him. How to overcome these evils. The elementary school is beginning to realize what such a system means to the child in lost opportunity, and efforts are being made to meet the GRADING AND PROMOTING 139 issue by various forms of reorganization. ^ With our more elastic plans of promotion the loss from failure is corre- spondingly less in quantity, but remains identical in other respects. Why children pass in four studies and fail in one or two may be due to wrong emphasis, either in teaching method, or in the organization of subject-matter, or in time distribution; or it may be due to the child's lack of interest in certain of his studies. Certainly we need standards in all these matters, but this should not interfere, and has not interfered with other attempts at solution. In addition to the types of flexibility in grading outlined above, three plans have been devised for overcoming this weakness. First, to each room is added an extra teacher, whose busi- ness it is to supervise the children's study, giving special help to the slow pupils, or to any who are behind in a given subject. This plan, as worked out at Batavia, New York, and known as the " Batavia System," is a combination of class and individual instruction which is designed to keep the backward pupils up with their classes by means of special individual help.^ Second, the ungraded room has been provided, when the school is large enough. Under this plan a room is set apart as a. sort of teaching hospital, to which any teacher may send a child for special work in any subject. As soon as he has caught up with his class he may resume his work with his regular teacher. Such rooms are used to receive either slow or bright children. If a pupil is almost ready to " jump " a grade he is sent here for special work which will lead up to the work in the grade above. * See especially chapter xvin of Cubberley's Public School Administra- tion. (Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1916.) * For an explanation of the system and its merits, see "The Need of Individual Instruction," by J. Kennedy, in Proceedings of the National Edwation Association (1901), p. 295. 140 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION \ The third plan is that of promotion by subjects. In the elementary school this plan is yet in its infancy, but where it has been tried out there is every evidence that it can be accomplished exactly as it is accomplished in the high school and college. ^ More experiments with this plan are needed, however, in order to guarantee its practicabiUty. 6. The teacher's 'problem Why teachers should understand promotional plans. The teacher who enters a city school will find a system of grad- ing and promotion already established. The problem is of course in the main an administrative problem, but since the successful working of any such plan depends ultimately upon the teacher's ability to detect its strong and weak points when in actual operation imder her own hands, it seems necessary that a work on school management should set forth as clearly as p)ossible the principles upon which any effective system must operate. In the rural school the teacher's responsibility is still greater. The procedure in grading and promoting children is not one of merely watching the clock. It is a matter of using scientific tests which require more than the ordinary train- ing, a matter of recognizing individual differences, of judg- ing what a given mentality will be able to do, etc. It is necessary, in other words, that a teacher shall be able to recognize the extent to which a given promotion plan is making it possible for every child to work up to the full hmit of his capacity in every subject every moment of the time. The teacher is professional in these respects only 1 See Search, P. W., An Ideal School (D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1902); and "The Pueblo Plan," in Educational Review, vol. vn, pp. 154-70 (February, 1894). Also Individual Instruction. Compiled by Frederick Burk, President, San Francisco State Normal School. This bulletin is a study of the data of two years' experience with the individual system in the training school. ^ GRADING AND PROMOTING 141 when she knows and can use the necessary tests, and is trained to judge accurately the extent to which a child is rightly classified, and what to do when she finds that he is not so classified. 7. Chapter summary The object here has been to examine the principles involved in the classification and promotion of children, on the assmnption that group instruction is not only necessary for economic reasons, but that it is profitable for educational reasons. A perfect system of grading and promotion must combine the beneficial features of group instruction with those of individual instruction, and as far as possible avoid the evils of each. This can only be done by making the orgahization flexible enough to meet the demands of individual human nature, which we know to be extremely variable. Investigations of individual differences, and of the results of school work, tend to show that sex, age, length of time in school, examinations, and the teacher's judgment do not form satisfactory bases upon which to determine promotion, but that general intelli- gence and previous training are fundamental. To meet the demands of individual differences two types of flexibility in grading have been devised. One has a single course of study with frequent promotion periods, the other has a variable course of study which cares for most of the necessary adjustments, frequent promotions playing only a secondary part. Numerous combinations and variations of these two plans have been used to good effect. Even with such flexible plans it is found that children are fre- quently held back by the fact that they fail in one subject. To remedy this, three plans have been devised : first, the Batavia plan, of providing each room with a special teacher for backward pupils; second, the ungraded room, to which children may be sent for special help; and third, promotion by subjects. All these have been tried out with excellent results. Whatever system may be devised for the organization of children into teaching groups it will be the teacher's business to conduct her room on that basis. The teacher should therefore famiHarize herself both with the principles of grading and promotions, and 142 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION with every detail of the particular system under which she is to teach. To this equipment she must add a working knowledge of the best psychological and pedagogical tests of intelligence, knowl- edge, and skill, and train herself to detect quickly the degree of effectiveness with which her plans are serving each individual child. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Chancellor, W. E., Class Teaching and Management, chap. vn. Colgrove, C. P., The Teacher and the School, chap. xi. Cubberley, E. P., Public School Administration, chap, xviii. Holmes, W. H., School Organization and the Individual Child, pp. 11-86. Monroe, W. S., De Voss, J. C, and Kelly, F. J., Educational Tests and Measurements. Terman, L. M., The Measurement of Intelligence. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of group instruction? Of mdividual instruction? 2. What are the practical difficulties in the way of each? 3. How is the problem of grading connected with the problem of curricu- lum making, and with that of promotions? 4. Enumerate all the possible bases for grading children. Why is sex not an important basis? What is the difference between chronologi- cal and psychological age? What is meant by physiological age, and what connection is it thought to have with intelligence? 5. What evidence have we that the teacher's judgment is not an ade- quate basis for determining promotions? 6. Upon what basis should grading and promotion be determined? What is meant by intelligence quotient (I Q) ? 7. How can we measure intelligence, and what is the best way to measure the amount and kind of knowledge and skill a child possesses? 8. How do children vary with respect to intelligence and how do these variations reveal themselves in the results of study? 9. What are some of the practical difficulties in the way of applying these tests as bases of promotion? 10. What is meant by flexibility in grading children? Describe the two plans suggested for providing such flexibility. What improvement do these schemes afford over the old method of annual promotions? 11. Suppose a child would do passing work in all his classes except arith- metic; would you have him repeat all the work of that grade? If so, what do you think the actual educational, social, and moral conse^ GRADING AND PROMOTING 143 quence would be for the child? If not, what possible plans have been devised for permitting him to continue in all his studies, and still re- view his work in arithmetic? 12. What diflSculties do you see in the way of individual promotions by subject? 13. How can the rural teacher overcome some of the obstacles to grading her pupils according to plans suggested above? 14. Why does a teacher need to know something about individual differ- ences, methods for measuring general intelligence, pedagogical tests, the principles involved in grading and promotion, and the practical plans for carrying out those principles? 15. Suppose in your class you had one pupil who was fair in all his classes except reading, and excellent in that. What woidd you do? Suppose by lie beginning of the last month of school he had brought all his studies up except history, what would you do? I CHAPTER XI THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM Outline of Chapter 1. "What a curriculum is — Curriculum to supplement worid experience -^ Two i tial viewpoints — Each study a means to a special end — The changing nature of the cur- riculum — Why "fads" and "frills" in the curriculum. 2. The teacher's interpretation of the curriculum — The curriculum as a body of knowl- edge — The curriculum as a body of experience — The two viewpoints contrasted. 3. Socializing and motivating the curriculum — Meaning of socialized subject-matter — How to socialize the curriculum — Examples in socialization of studies — The teacher's responsibility. 4. Types of subject-matter — Form and content studies — Form and content inseparable — Poor teaching results from too great separation of the two — Double character of all studies. 6. The tendency in curriculum -making — Changing conceptions of education. 6. Summary — References — Questions. 1. What a curriculum is Curriculum to supplement world experience. The term curriculiun usually brings to our minds a printed course of study or a collection of textbooks, the one being the directions by which the content of the other is to be ad- ministered to the children. We tend to think of the chUd and of the curriculum as two unrelated objects of concern for the teacher, who assumes it to be her function to bring the two together. We think of the child as coming to school to get knowledge, and of the curriculum as the knowledge which he is to get. So it is that we are likely to set the one over against the other. If, however, we turn to oiu* definition of education* we are reminded that to leam is not merely to master the printed page, to get information, but that it is to develop, to grow, to experience, to live. It follows then in a broad sense that whatever enters to modify the thought or the behavior, that is the learning, of the child, is in so far a ' See chap. i. THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM 145 part of his larger curriculum of life. Forgetting the narrow work of the school then, for the moment, and remembering that the child is busy learning wherever he is, we see that the world, in so far as he can in any way appropriate it, is his curriculum. The world, too, is not merely pouring into his mind, — he is also attacking the world, selecting here and rejecting there. He almost literally carves out his own world, and so his own education. The school, historically speaking, came in to supplement this larger program, and to economize this larger learning process. Consequently the school curriculum is scarcely more than an incident in the sum total of the child's edu- cation, and it will be an important incident only if it in- cludes the same wide variety of information and activities as are included in that broader curriculum we call life. All this wider knowledge the school must reduce to order, to the end that the child may learn more rapidly and effectively. Two essential viewpoints. Two points, then, are to be observed. ¥^t, the curriculum must include both knowl- edge and activities, and these must be drawn from the actual life the child is Hving, else they cannot supplement his ordinary experiences. Second, this knowledge must be so organized that it will be approachable for the child in the same way that the outside world is approachable. Other- wise the child will not actively select and reject, but will remain passive with respect to it. Similarly, the activities included in the curriculum must be the natural activities of children, else they will not readily engage in or under- stand them. A curriculum, then, is not merely a given quantity of in- formation to be memorized and reproduced by the child. If we think of the printed course of study we may call it a set of directions whereby the child may be permitted to give 146 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION expression to his own best impulses and purpyoses, and to get possession of the kinds of exf>erience and knowledge which will make it possible for him to understand the past, and to enter into the civilization of the present and future. If, on the other hand, we think of what this outline or printed course stands for, we must think of the whole of life, — physical, intellectual, social and moral, sesfchetic, and eco- nomic. Not of mere information about these, but of in- formation plus actual experience in them. Each study a means to a special end. If we examine the diflFerent studies with this broader fimction of the curricu- lum in mind, we will see that each study is essentially a means by which the true meaning of education and the fun- damental aims of the school are to be reahzed. If we ask what are reading, writing, spelling, and composition, and why are they part of the curriculum, we at once see how life could scarcely go on without them. They are social instnmaents or tools which the child must have if he is to have access to the past experiences of the race, or even if he is to take part in ordinary social and business affairs. Arithmetic is scarcely more than a tool in a similar sense. History is taught in order that the child may have some sort of tem- poral perspective for the part he is to play in society; while geography and civics orient him with respect to place and to present institutional life. If we ask the same questions about gardening, cooking, sewing, all kinds of construc- tion work in paper, leather, wood, metal, etc.; or about singing, dramatization, story-telling, painting, drawing, modeling in clay, plays, and games, as we find them in the elementary school, we must answer that, while for the child these are actual social activities which appeal to his natural impulses, yet from the standpoint of adult society they are not only important experiences, but introductory to fun- damental occupations without which there could be no THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM 147 community life. When we study language from the stand- point of literature, and drawing and painting from the standpoint of fine art, it is only a study of these modes or instruments of expression from the point of view of their aesthetic value, as distinct from that of their technical or industrial value in community life, for which they were originally developed.^ Thus the curriculum includes be- havior quite as much as it includes knowledge, and each is pertinent both to child nature and to adult social needs. The changing nature of the curriculum. The curriculum is thus a medium through which the child may find his place in the highly institutionalized life about him, living through the various types of experiences which have been and are essential to the development of society. By getting these experiences he comes into possession of the essential social tools, reading, writing, number, etc.; gains a knowledge of the past culture which is so essential to an understanding of the present; and enters into the life of his own time. With such a function the curriculum cannot remain static. The past extends into the present, the present into the future, and each age has its own tools, customs, knowl- edge, and ideals, and interprets the past in these terms. With new inventions, with the growth of science and of art, with the enlargement and increasing complexity of com- munity life, the past must be constantly reinterpreted if it is to serve the present and anticipate the futiu'e. Thus, at one time the study of history in our schools was largely a study of the military and political past; now, with our industrial development, our history looks more to the eco- nomic and social past. Similarly, at one time we studied physiology and anatomy from the standpoint of the domi- * For a fuller explanation of these meanings for the different studies see "Course of Study, Theory of," by John Dewey, in Monroe's Cyclopedia oj Education, 148 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION nant scientific movement. This is now developing into per- sonal and social hygiene and sanitation. A few years ago there was no need for music and drawing in the school be- cause frontier life had little time or place for the higher forms of art, but now the world demands them. So the curriculum is ever changing to meet the changing needs of the time. Why " fads " and "frills" in the curriculum. We need not be surprised, then, that the layman and the antiquated teacher, who have been accustomed to think of the child as a little man and of the curriculum as a body of knowledge, complain of " fads " and " frills " in the curriculum. They think of drawing, manual training, basketry, weaving, sew- ing, and cooking as superfluous subjects, when in fact they are designed mainly to furnish important social experiences through which the child may grow to a fuller understanding of various occupations which have been basic in the evo- lution of society. One can think of numerous facts and ac- tivities, really essential to a modem curriculum, which would have been entirely meaningless in a monastic school of the fifteenth century, or even to a pioneer rural school a half century ago. The difference is a difference in civili- zations. Change, then, is a fundamental characteristic of any curriculum that fulfills its proper purpose. 2. The teacher's interpretation of the curriculum The above has suggested two widely different points of view from which the curriculum may be interpreted by the teacher. She may think of it purely from the standpoint of so much information to be imparted; or she may thinly of it from the standpoint of the experience (involving both information and activities) essential to the all-round devel- opment of the child. The curriculum as a body of knowledge. If the former THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM 149 point of view is taken, then the formal side of every study will be stressed. Composition will not mean a study of free and natural expression, but rather of grammatically- correct expression. Each little theme will be written, not eagerly and out of a full experience, but ploddingly, to demonstrate the correct use of capitals, how to make para- graphs, or how to distinguish narration from exposition or description. History will become a study of names, dates, and places, instead of a study of the life of a people. Physiology will be a study of how the teeth are constructed, with due emphasis upon remembering the words mastica- tion, enamel, dentine, etc., rather than upon why the teeth should be kept clean and actual practice in keeping them clean. Discipline will come to mean keeping the children quiet, morals and manners will be taught by preaching and scolding, and play will have no part in school work. It will be the intellectual alone that is stressed, with the greatest emphasis upon the memory aspect of intelligence and least upon observation, reason, and imagination. The curriculum will become an end instead of a means, and the teacher a slave to the printed course of study. The curriculum as a body of experience. If, on the other hand, the development idea should dominate, then the teacher will watch the child more and the printed directions about the number of pages to be covered less. Nor will training of memory exclude training in observation, judg- ment, will, imagination, and expression. It will be the whole mental life, and not one single part of it, that will be trained. Nor will the physical, ethical, and aesthetic sides of the child's life be neglected. Play will become a fundamental part of social and physical training. Through basketry, weaving, sewing, modeling, and gardening, the child will gradually be led into the essential processes of civilized society. He will not merely read about, or be told what 150 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION agriculture means, but through planting and tilling and harvesting in the school garden, he will discover man's real relationship to the soil. He wiU not merely read of the great cotton and woolen industries, but through weaving he will experience something of their meaning. Reading will not be correct pronunciation alone, it will be thought getting and expression. The curriculum will not merely provide for some lessons on digestion, but through cooking and a study of foods and how to care for them, through wash- ing dishes and serving meals, it will bring the knowledge of digestion to bear upon the practical problems of health and development. Civics will not be studied so much from books as from streets, offices, industries, and pubhc places. The curriculum will not be an end, but only a means. It wiU not be all-inclusive, it will only serve to point the way. The two viewpoints contrasted. In the one case the cur- riculum is viewed solely from the standpoint of that knowl- edge which adult society demands that each of its mem- bers shall possess. In the other case it is viewed from the standpoint of the process by which the young, immature, impulsive child comes into possession of the knowledge and experience essential to membership in society. In the for- mer the child learns mainly from books, in the latter from books plus experience. Thus the teacher's interpretation of the curriculum, whether it be conscious and studied, or merely inherited as a tradition, becomes her working phil- osophy in school. 5. Socializing and motivating the curriculum Meaning of socialized subject-matter. To apply this second interpretation to the curriculum means to socialize and to motivate the work of the school. A subject is social- ized when the knowledge it contains bears intimately upon the child's contacts with the physical and social world THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM 151 about him, and when it can be promptly converted into active experience with one or another aspect of that world. It is motivated when it is selected and organized with re- spect to the child's native interests and his immediate con- tacts with life about him. How to socialize the curriculum. How to make such a curriculum, or how to reshape a traditional curriculum to these ends, is the vital point at which this whole question becomes a practical issue with the teacher and principal. In order to do this the teacher must keep in mind not the textbook alone, but also the points at which the materials within the text connect up with the outside world and with the natural spontaneous activities of children. The child is continually deaUng with quantitative aspects of his environ- ment, social, physical, and economic, and his arithmetic lessons should not be left to find their own connection with this experience. This does not mean that the course in arithmetic will discard the necessary memory work involved in mastering the number combinations, but it does mean that it will in- volve the kind of experience with numbers that will help the child to a new way of looking at the world about him, and to facility in some very essential social processes. The child may learn all the tables of measure there are in his text, and work the problems, but until he has fairly con- verted these standards or units of measure into a language they are not sociaHzed, but are held in his memory as so much verbiage or so many bare symbols and rules. Examples in socialization of studies. On the way to school the child sees a snake, a squirrel, and a busy ant hill, and the flowers he brings were found at a certain place on the roadside. Here he has an abundance of material for a splendid oral or written language lesson. But when he goes to write he cannot say how long the snake was, how far 15« CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION from the Kttle bridge he found it, how far he watched it run before it entered a hole; he cannot tell how high up the squirrel was in the tree; the dimensions of the ant hill, or how many minutes it took to gather the flowers, though these would all be vital points in the story; and all because the inches, feet, yards, seconds, and minutes of the arith- metic had not been made to do their proper work outside of class. Again he learns the number of cents, nickels, dimes, and quarters in a dollar, but is much embarrassed when he attempts to make change at a coimter. To socialize and motivate arithmetic the teacher must force numbers into action in connection with all kinds of exp>eriences, not only for the sake of extending the child's knowledge of number, but also for the sake of facilitating expression, for the sake of the new mode of appreciation it affords, and for the sake of more accurate thinking where number is involved. The teacher's responsibility. A printed course of study or a text can scarcely be large enough to give specific direc- tions for so many details, nor can the maker of texts and courses know in advance the thousand particular oppor- tunities the teacher is going to have with a given group of children in a given community for socializing and moti- vating the work in arithmetic. This is very largely the teacher's problem. She must discover the opportunity and the material to work with. If necessary, she should note down from day to day typical situations in which children find a real use for quantitative expression. This practice will not only accumulate the richest kind of supplemen- tary material for arithmetic, but it will train tlie teacher in a type of observation that is highly important in all her teaching. What is true of arithmetic is equally true of other sub- jects'. Most homes contain newspapers, magazines, and THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM 15S books, and the opportunity for developing interest in read- ing is almost unlimited if the teacher is on the alert. How much more the lessons in civics would mean if the thou- sands of county court-houses, city halls, state capitals, police, street, and fire departments were converted into laboratories for our schools. These are but a few illustra- tions of what it means to socialize and motivate the course of study, but these are enough to suggest reasons for put- ting the newer studies into the curriculum, and to con- vince the teacher that even after these studies are included, success still depends very largely upon the materials she brings in to supplement the text and connect the subject in a vital way with life outside the school. ^. Types of subject-matter Form and content studies. In the past the studies of the curriculum have been divided into two groups, called re- spectively form and content studies. Form studies include reading, writi/ig, spelling, arithmetic, and grammar; while geography, history, literatm-e, civics, and physiology are commonly classed as content subjects. In the form studies the emphasis is placed upon the mastery of formal rules and symbols. The form of the letter or word in spelling, read- ing, and writing, the formula or rule or law in mathematics and grammar, have to be learned. In the content subjects there is Uttle time spent on the mastery of symbols and rules as such. Here the idea is to get at the facts for which the combined symbols stand. Form and content inseparable. Such a division of sub- ject-matter may be of use in helping the teacher to think more clearly about the specific teaching problems with which she is working at a given time, but there is a genuine danger in thus separating two things so organically united as are form and content in the course of study, or in a given sub- 154 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION ject. We only have to try to imagine what value one would have without the other in order to feel the force of their intimate relationship. Historically, bare symbols arose only as they were needed to convey ideas to others, and language came before grammatical rules, yet science and mathematics have reached their high stages of develop- ment only because symbols, rules, and principles have made it possible to think clearly in the midst of vast quan- tities of facts. Thus, while experience (content) precedes the use of symbols and the formulation of rules (form), yet each is essential to the other, and they should not consti- tute a dualism in curriculum making. When teaching writing, grammar, spelling, and arith- metic the teacher should keep this relationship firmly in mind as a further reason that her subject-matter should be thoroughly socialized and motivated. This will not do away with the necessity for drill in writing, spelling, arith- metic, etc., but it will lay emphasis upon the idea of unity in the curriculum as a whole. Then spelling lessons will be frequently drawn from the composition work and from other studies. Language lessons wiU find their content in natiu-e study, history, civics, games, and plays; the reading lesson may frequently be drawn from the history, the daily paper, or the composition lesson; and the number lessons will go into action in manual training, domestic science, and composition. Poor teaching results from too great separation of the two, The abuses that come from an undue separation of form and content need only to be suggested. It is often assumed that reading, for instance, is entirely a form subject. This explains why the selection of subject-matter for beginners is often made on the basis of length of words, rather than on the basis of the meaning the words may convey to the child. It explains, too, why some " systems " of teaching THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM 155 reading are wholly phonetic and mechanical, and why, until recent years, even pupils in the advanced grades studied one single reading text filled with scraps of moral philosophy, the virtue of the book depending upon the diffi- culty of the words and sentences, and upon the formal moral teaching it contained. Similarly, the spellers were full of rules about the final e of primitive words, etc., fol- lowed by a list of words illustrating the rule, and other lists illustrating the numerous exceptions. We are gradually learning that such a separation of form and content in spelling does not produce good spellers. ^ Li the older arithmetic textbooks every new subject, from notation to cube root, was preceded by a rule covering the examples to be worked. This rule was committed to memory. That was one task. Then it was applied in a list of problems. That was a second task, only a little less mean- ingless than the first one. But the trouble had only begun, for since the rule and the problem were entirely unrelated to the child's actual experience, he must find some kind of artificial method of remembering them. Here is where the old-time schoolmaster flourished his ferrule and insisted upon his doctrine of repetition, repetition, repetition. Double character of all studies. Such an attempt to treat these subjects as though they had no content is only slightly more ridiculous than to assume that history, nature study, geography, manual training and music have no form. We cannot discard names and dates in history, nor places in geography, nor can we study nature without some system of classification for the objects we deal with. The classifica- tions of trees, birds, plants, and land forms «re based upon fundamental principles which have to be mastered as we proceed with the study. * See Cook and O'Shea, The Child and His Spelling, chap, n, for the results of an investigation of this subject. 156 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION The danger is that we shall try to master the system of classification apart from the things it classifies, or else go to the other extreme of ignoring dates, names, and principles, to the end that the child gets the merest smattering of un- related facts. There is a great deal of the formal in arith- metic, and a great deal of content in geography, but arith- metic is not without content and geography is not without form. And while the teacher should see her problem clearly, as dealing specifically with the one or the other at a given moment, she must always keep that broader perspective which sees each as a single aspect of the larger whole in which both appear in proper relationship. 5. The tendency in curriculum-making Changing conceptions of education. The curriculum of to-day is much richer in content material and far less formal than was the curriculum of even a decade ago. The idea that because a subject is useful it is therefore not educative has about disappeared, with the result that the modem curriculum provides for a rich and varied experience in almost every conceivable line. Through dramatization, plays, games, and caHsthenics, and through practical work in personal hygiene, the child's physical development is being provided for; through civics, the study of pubhc sani- tation, and history, as well as through play and cooperative work in field and laboratory, the moral and social side is being cared for; through music, drawing, painting, and hand- work, aesthetic training is provided; while through cooking, sewing, manual training, designing, agriculture, and garden- ing, the child receives a useful introduction to home making and to numerous basic occupations and economic and social processes. The subject-matter of the older subjects is being sifted more and more to meet these broader aims of the school THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM 157 so that one may say that the curriculum of to-morrow promises to be very true to real life. Training for the eyes, the ears, the hands, the reason, the imagination, as well as for the memory, and this as much from real experience as from the printed page, characterize the new curriculum. 6. Chapter summary The purpose of this chapter has been to explain the real function and character of subject-matter, or the curriculum. Such an understanding is necessary if instruction is to be managed to a proper end. Two opposing viewpoints — one inherited from the past, the other a recent development of scientific study — have been strug- gling for control in our schools. The one looks upon the course of study as an end, while the other regards it as only a means. One emphasizes the formal, the other the functional aspect of the knowl- edge and skills to be imparted. The one insists upon learning rules and principles as such, the other upon learning these in their real applications. These points of view are irreconcilable, and in the light of modern thought the former must yield its place to the latter. This means that the curriculum will come to be defined in terms of social and psycnological need as opposed to tradition, and that it will be organized in terms of psychological and pedagogical prin- ciples rather than in terms of the bare logic of subject-matter itself. It means that the teacher will draw upon the social and physical life about her for materials to enrich her studies; that she will not interpret form as having no connection with content; and that the curriculum will be constantly remade in terms of changing locial needs. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Colgrove, C. P., The Teacher and the School, chap. rx. Cubberley, E. P., Changing Conceptions of Education. Dewey, John, Schools of To-morrow, chap. rv^. McMurry, F. M., Elementary School Standards, chaps, vni and DE. Any typioEil State and city courses of study. 158 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Re-read chapter i, and then try to answer the following questions: — • a. Mention ways in which your own elementary school curriculum supplemented your experience outside of school. b. Were activities — plays, games, folk dancing, dramatization, music, and handwork, such as sewing, gardening, drawing, etc., stressed more or less than study from the printed page? c. Did your curriculmn give you any information about, or any experience in: — ^how to meet people in a business way, in a social way; how to offer your services to a stranger in need of help; public or civic duties in matters of sanitation, public oflSce, community library, park, playground, celebrations, the care of public property; propriety in dress, or propriety in conduct on the street and in public places; the value of money, public enter- prise, paying taxes, etc.? If so, in connection with what studies? d. Classify the studies you took under the school aims discussed in diapter one. What studies can properly be placed under more than one of these aims? 2. What is meant by a Static curriculum? In what sense is change essential to the curriculum. 3. Mention some changes that have taken place in the American ele- mentary school curriculum which reveal fundamental social changes in American life. 4. What of the newer studies would a strictly informational type of curriculum ignore? What is the objection to such a curriculum? Are the different studies in such a curriculum likely to be carefully corre- lated? 5. What is meant by socializmg and motivating the curriculum? What is the teacher's responsibility in the matter? 6. What is meant by form and content subjects? Distinguish form from content in. reading, arithmetic, civics, geography? 7. What advantage is there for the teacher in such a division of subject- matter? What are the dangers of such a separation? 8. Explain how the course in geography might be taught largely as a formal subject. Distinguish form and content in music, drawing, and domestic science. 9. Through what studies would you expect a child to obtain training in observation, memory, imagination, reasoning, senses of touch, hear- ing, and sight? 10. How would you aim to supplement the ordinary curriculum to obtain the ends suggested in question 9? 11. In what way would you expect the course in history to supplement that in geography? CHAPTER XII THE DAILY PROGRAM Outline of Chapter 1. Organizing the day's work — The problem stated — Principles involved in pregram^ making — The time av£ulable — Number of recitation and study periods — The allotment of time — Time allotment in representative American cities — The order of studies — The problem of fatigue — Rules concerning work and rest — Deductions from the study of fatigue — The arrangement of recreation periods. 2. Typical programs — A proper program — A three-class program — Program for a mral school. S. How to use the program. 4. Summary — References — Questions. 1. Organizing the day's work The problem stated. The organization of the movements of children and of the handUng of materials is much simpler than is the organization of the day's work. Once the chil- dren are graded and classified, and the course of study out- lined, we have then to decide that perplexing question of the relative value of studies, and to determine the order in which they shaU be dealt with in the study and recitation periods of the day. Nor is it merely an academic question of which is the more important, geography or spelling, but just how important is each as measured by the amount of time it is to consume. Principles involved in program-making. In making out this program there are certain factors to be dealt with, and certain prindples to be kept in mind: These may be sum- marized as follows : — 1. There is so much subject-matter in each course to be covered in a given time, from which one can estimate the approxi- mate amount to be covered each week and each day. 2. There is the number of classes or recitations to be heard each day, from which, with the amount of available time, one may compute the average time which can be devoted to each classr 160 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION 3. There is the relative value of each recitation or study, to be decided upon as a basis for determining which studies shall have more and which less than the average time allotment. 4. There is the order in which each lesson shall be studied and recited, to be determined by the relative difficulty of the studies, as shown by the tendency of each to fatigue the child. 5. There is the general problem of the distribution of the child's energy throughout the day. 6. Then there is the division of the day into work and recreation periods, to be determined by the influence of recreation upon keeping the child's energy at a high state of efficiency. The time available. The teacher will usually have from twenty-eight to forty weeks of time in which to complete the work outlined for the year, and each school day is in most places five hours in length, beginning at 9 a. m. and closing at 3 p. M. A six-hour school day, from 9 a. m. to 4 p.m., also is frequently found, especially in rural schools. The tendency in this country seems to be to lengthen the school year, but to shorten the day, the latter particularly for the earlier grades. However, with the increasing emphasis upon supervised play, and upon field and laboratory work, it is quite likely that the school day will tend to grow longer rather than shorter in the future. ^ The day is ordinarily divided into four work periods of approximately equal length, the forenoon and the afternoon each being broken by a fifteen-minute rest period, and with an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes* rest at noon. There are numerous vari- ations from this to meet the needs of special cases, such as increasing the number of recreation periods for the younger and for physically defective children, of doing away with the recess periods for the upper grades, etc. Deducting at least an hour and a half for rest we have left in a six-hour day two periods of ninety minutes each, 1 The Gary, Indiana, plan probably indicates the tendency of the futuie. THE DAILY PROGRAM 101 and two periods of seventy-five minutes each in which to plan for the necessary number of daily recitations. The time is very close at hand when we shall cease to speak of these rest periods as if they contained nothing. These periods are coming to be more and more definitely programed in our best managed schools, to the end that all children engage in some kind of free play that not only rests and refreshes them physically and mentally, but gives them important social and executive training as well. Number of recitation and study periods. The number of recitations the teacher will have during the day will depend, first of all, upon the number of grades in her room. The larger city or consolidated rural school will have but one grade in a room, while the one-room school will probably have eight. The time schedule for a room containing but one grade, divided into two sections a half year apart in their studies, is not diflBcult to arrange, but with eight grades present the problem is extremely complex. In the one case the teacher will have plenty of time to hear the necessary recitations, ana to supervise much of the study, while in the other she will be busy practically the entire time with recitations alone. The writer has before him two daily pro- grams now in use, one by a teacher of a single sixth grade, the other by a teacher of all eight grades. The one conducts nine, the other thirty-six recitations each day. It is obvious that these two teachers cannot give equal care and atten- tion to the supervision of study. One of these teachers has an average of more than thirty-six and the other less than ten minutes for each recitation. The allotment of time. The daily program contains three main divisions: study, recitation, and recreation. If recrea- tion consumes an hoiu" and a half, then in the six hours from 9 A. M. to 3 p. M. there are left four and a half hours for study and recitation. The question of how to divide the time 16g CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION between these two activities will depend partly upon the practical diflSculties to be overcome in working out the program, but as far as possible it should depend upon the nature of the work to be done, and the need for supervision of the study. Aside from the help given in a careful assignment of the lesson the child will need very Httle supervision over his study of spelling. The same is not true, however, of natm-e study, theme writing, or geography. If the teacher has any time available for the supervision of study therefore she should plan as far as possible to have it at a time when supervision is needed. This is also easy to work out in a room with but one or two classes, and next to impossible in one of many classes. Time allotment in representative American cities. Some studies will properly require more time both for study and for recitation than others, first, because some are more important than others, and second, because some are more difficult to master than others. While there is no way of saying exactly how much more time should be spent on English than on mathematics in a second-grade class, we know roughly that the EngHsh training at that age is rela- tively more important, and that it should have a relatively larger share of the time. The best basis we have upon which to decide this question is the consensus of opinion as ex- pressed in practice. The table on page 163, computed from a study of time distributions by subjects and grades in rep- resentative cities in the United States, shows roughly the average number of minutes per week devoted to each sub- ject in each grade in fifty cities. An investigation of time allotment in the subject of arith- metic alone, covering six hundred and thirty cities,^ tends * Jessup, W. A., " Current Practices and Standards in Arithmetic," The Fourteenth Year Book of the National Society for the Stvdy of Education, pt. I., 1915, chap. vm. THE DAILY PROGRAM 16S Distribution of Time by Subjects and by Grades in Fifty Cities ^ Minuies per v>eek devoted U Opening exercises Reading Language Spelling Penmanship Arithmetic Geography History Science Drawing Music . Manual training . Physical training. Recess Miscellaneous . . . . Grade 59 412 116 83 77 93 25 42 57 151 70 65 71 135 118 II III 59 364 122 102 149 11 48 63 84 130 73 63 128 59 291 145 113 81 203 77 54 62 87 73 62 62 128 135 IV 54 237 164 103 82 231 128 88 57 82 74 70 62 119 119 195 179 94 77 223 157 103 53 77 70 77 59 113 122 VI VII VIII 48 181 182 9C 73 226 166 110 62 77 70 88 62 108 122 48 151 207 81 60 217 151 141 70 77 70 112 59 102 102 48 150 220 79 57 220 118 181 76 76 115 60 102 135 * Henry W. Holmes m The Fourteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Educatim, pt. i (1915). to show that the cities included in the above table average high in the proportion of time devoted to arithmetic. It must be understood that this table is only suggestive at best as to what constitutes a proper time allotment. The wide variabihty in practice in different schools in the same city is astonishing to those who have investigated the sub- ject, and shows how far we are as yet from a scientific time schedule. 1 1 See Sears, J. B., "Time Allotment in the Schools of Salt Lake City," in Educational Administration and Supervision (March, 1916), for a full discussion of this variability, and for a complete bibliography of the investigations to date. i 164 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION The order of studies. Each child's program will contain two kinds of studies.^ It is obvious that the formal subjects, being only indirectly useful, will be less interesting than the content subjects, and for that reason more difficult to learn. This would suggest, first, that form subjects come at the time of day when the children are freshest; second, that ordinarily one form subject should not succeed another on the program; third, that the recitation period for form sub- jects should not be too long; and fourth that the study period for form subjects should more often be a supervised period. The problem of fatigue. School management, especially in the organization of its daily program, is concerned with the problem of conserving human energy. ^ The best studies of fatigue, so far, both from the standpoint of psychology and from that of physiology, permit us to say : first, that the average American school program does not overburden the normal healthy child, except when work is conducted under unhygienic conditions.; and second, that while fatigue must not be carried to exhaustion we need fear no harm from being tired in the ordinary sense under good working meth- ods and conditions. Rules concerning work and rest. The fact, however, that average conditions in our schools are not likely to result in overwork, and that we need to emphasize the development of sound work habits, does not mean that we are to dis- regard the known laws of fatigue. The suggestions which these laws have for us may be briefly summarized as fol- lows: For work, the forenoon hours are more favorable than those of the afternoon; home work should be reduced * For a discussion of form and content studies see chap, xi, sec. 4. 2 Offner and Whipple's Mental Fatigue offers in concise form the results of the best studies of fatigue, and of the significance of fatigue for arranging the work of the school program. (Warwick and York, Baltimore, 1911.) i THE DAILY PROGRAM 165 to a minimum, and so arranged as not to be exacting; short pauses for free play in the open air tend greatly to offset fatigue; pauses should not interrupt easy and pleasant work; children should have from nine to eleven hours of sound sleep, for sleep is the best protection against the effects of fatigue; a change of work, while not adding to the child's store of energy, tends to offset ennui; free play con- sumes energy but also stimulates metabolism and acceler- ates the excretion of waste products; the school subject is often not so fatiguing as is the method by which the subject is taught and the teacher's personal influence. Deductions from the study of fatigue. The child's energy seems to start low in the morning, to rise rapidly to its highest point between nine and ten o'clock in the morning, to decline slowly, reaching its low level at noon, then to rise to a second height, slightly lower than the morning maxi- mum, by about 2 p.m., and then to decline to its lowest level by evening. With these facts regarding the nature of the different studies and methods on the one hand, and the nature and conservation of the child's energy on the other, we would conclude: — 1. That the day's work should open with some brief but inter- esting and stimulating exercise, which requires little mental exertion. 2. That the first lessons should be perhaps reading or spelling, that is, the simplest of the formal subjects. 3. That the next should likely be arithmetic, the most difficult of the formal studies. 4. That recreation should follow immediately, or at least soon after arithmetic. 5. That the periods immediately following the morning recess should be given to arithmetic or grammar. 6. That writing should precede rather than follow a recreation period. 7. That the most difficult of the remaining studies, say gram- 166 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION mar or history, should come between noon and the second recess. 8. That such studies as nature study, manual training, domestic science, etc., should be placed later in the afternoon. The arrangement of recreation periods. There should be stated recreation periods, as suggested above, but in addi- tion it should be possible to take a class out into the oi>en air at any time, if circumstances seem to warrant it, and this will not be so very infrequent with children in the early grades. The idea should be to make the recreation period come at the time it is most needed, and so arranged as to interfere as Uttle as possible with such studies as writ- ing, or drawing, where careful muscular coordinations are necessary. 2. Typical programs A proper program. A few typical programs will illustrate the practical working of these principles, to which we would add the suggestion that, to be effective for service, the program must reveal at a glance exactly what every child is supposed to be doing at every moment of the day. That means that the child's play and study periods are quite as definitely assigned as are his recitation periods. With a careful explanation at the outset of just how the child is to watch his own program, and with proper care to see that it is followed in all particulars, the procedure will soon become quite habitual. It is true that in large schools the principal usually has a program prepared, but it is also true that he will usually welcome suggestions from the teacher regarding many of the details, and the teacher should by all means master the essential principles of program-making. A three-class program. A careful study of the program on the opposite page will doubtless show a few slight viola- THE DAILY PROGRAM 167 Program for a Room with Three Classes Recitations Study AKD Occupations Begin Min- utes Classes Grade VA GradeVB Grade VI A 9:00- 9:10 10 Opening Exercises— AU 9:10- 9:25 15 Reading — VIA Arithmetic Arithmetic 9:25- 9:35 10 Arithmetic — V B Arithmetic Arithmetic 9:35- 9:50 15 Arithmetic — V A Reading Arithmetic 9:50-10:10 20 Arithmetic — VIA Reading Reading 10:10-10:30 20 Writing 10:30-10:45 15 RECESS Play Play Play 10:45-11:00 15 Reading- VB Reading History and Civics 11:00-11:15 15 Reading — V A History and Geography History and Civics 11:15-11:30 15 History and Civics — VIA Geography History and Geography 11:30-11:45 15 History and Geog- raphy Geography Grammar 11:45-12:00 15 Geography — V A Language Grammar 12:00- 1:00 60 NOON — UiTERMIS SION 1:00- 1:15 15 Grammar — VI A Language Language 1:15- 1:30 15 Language — V B Language Geography 1:30- 1:45 15 Language — V A Physiology Geography 1:45- 2:00 15 Geography — VI A Physiology Physiology 2:00- 2:15 15 Physiology — V B Physiology Physiology 2:15- 2.30 15 Music and Physical Culture 2:30- 2:45 15 RECESS Play Play Play 2:45- 3:00 15 Physiology Spelling Physiology 3:00- 3:15 15 Physiology — VIA Spelling Spelling 3:15- 3:25 10 Spelling -V B Spelling Spelling 3:25- 3:35 10 Spelling- V A Arithmetic Spelling 3:35- 3:45 10 Spelling — VI A Reading Arithmetic 3:45- 4:00 15 Drawing 168 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION tions of some of our principles, as in the case of asking grade V B to study arithmetic at 3.15 p.m. In the main, how- ever, it represents a fairly good distribution of time and a fairly good order of subjects. Spelling might with propriety precede the arithmetic work early in the morning, ending the day with science. In some cases certain alternations of subjects would be necessary. Perhaps the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday drawing periods might be devoted to domestic science and manual training. Physiology and natiu-e study, if treated as separate subjects, might alternate in a similar way; and likewise history and geography in grade V B; and history and civics in grade VI A. Taking the program as it is, it shows exactly what a given pupil is supp>osed to be doing at every moment of the day. Adequate study time is arranged for each lesson, and in nearly every case study immediately precedes recitation. The difficult studies of arithmetic and grammar are, from the standpKDint of fatigue, given the best hours of the day. There is, however, nowhere set apart any time for the super- vision of study periods. This can only be made possible by a system of alternating some of the courses. For instance, the course of study could be so arranged that the fifth grade work in history could be taken by the two sections of the grade together, and, similarly, other combinations could be worked out which would make it possible to save time by having two classes recite together. There is no reason why grades V A and V B should not work together in physi- ology and geography. After the introductory work in these subjects one topic is no more difficult than another, and the same is true of upper grade work in arithmetic and his- tory. Program for a rural school. This scheme of alternations is carefully worked out in the rural-school program printed THE DAILY PROGRAM Program for Rural School^ 169 Recitations Study and Occupations Classes E Division 1st year Opening Exer- cises — All Reading — E Reading — D Reading — C Arithmetic — B Arithmetic — A Arithmetic — C Numbers — E Numbers — D Reading — B Reading — A Language — C Drawing Writing NOON Reading — B Reading — D Creography — B Geography — A Agriculture and Nature Study — C Agriculture and Nature Study — E and D Agriculture — B and A Music or Oral History RECESS Language — D Grammar — A Spelling — C Physiology — B History — A Spelling — B and A General lessons Copying Blackboard work Handwork Handwork Play Number work Drawing Play Copying Blackboard work Written work Handwork Play Handwork Copying Picture work Play Play Copying Drawing Handwork and Manual Arts D Division 2d year Reading Copying Blackboard work Handwork Play Drawing Number work Play Copying Library work Blackboard work Handwork Play Ebindwork Copying Copying Play Play Picture work Drawing C Division 3d and 4th years B Division 5th and 6th years Reading Reading Arithmetic Arithmetic Language Language Language Library work Arithmetic Arithmetic Nature Study Nature Study Drawing Spelling Spelling Spelling Reading Reading Drawing Arithmetic Arithmetic Arithmetic Reading Reading Reading Spelling Spelling Geography Geography Geography Language Language Physiology Physiology Library work A Division 7th and 8th years Arithmetic Arithmetic Arithmetic Arithmetic Spelling Reading Reading Reading Library work Geography Geography Geography Grammar Grammar Grammar History History » Taken from the Course of Study and Manual of Methods for the Elementary Schools al lw>a, 191$. State Department of Public Instruction. 170 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION on page 169 which was placed in the hands of rural teachers in the elementary schools of Iowa, in August, 1913. This program provides for the alternating of all third and fourth grade, j&fth and sixth grade, and seventh and eighth grade studies, so that the teacher has only five distinct classes to provide for. There are twenty-seven recitation periods in all. Of course there are many rural schools in which one or more of these divisions would not appear, but even when the full eight grades are present the program is a possible one. By a somewhat similar scheme of alter- nating studies the Missoiu-i state course of study provides a four-division program, and other variations from the above plan will be foimd in use in different places. The above program illustrates the principle, and wiU furnish a useful starting point for most any rural school. 3. How to use the program The program should be printed on a large stiff sheet of paper that can be hung in an appropriate place in the room. If the Tuesday-Thursday program differs seriously from that for the other days of the week, then have the Tuesday-Thursday program on one side of the card, and that for the other days on the other side of the card, and appoint a monitor (some one who shows that he knows how to live up to a program) to turn the card each evening just before school closes. At the outset, when the program is explained, it may be well to have each child make a copy of his own schedule, and keep it on his desk for a few days till he becomes accustomed to it. The beginning teacher will find it desirable to adhere strictly to the schedule, for the following reasons: first of all, it will be a constant check on her success at making her daily lesson plans; second, it will prevent her giving an undue amount of time to the subject she happens to be THE DAILY PROGRAM 171 most interested in, and so robbing other studies of their proper amount of time; third, it will teach the children to make systematic preparation for all their work, and so establish useful work habits. ^. Chapter summary Here we have set forth: the problems essential to the planning o! the day's work; the fundamental principles involved in its organi- zation; the practical application of these principles in typical situ- ations; and the need for adhering to a specific program of work. We have seen the definite arrangement of subject-matter, of recreation, and of recitations; the reasonable distribution of time for the various studies; the order in which studies shall appear on the program; — all as practical issues which every teacher must meet. We have seen, too, that imderlying the solution of these are the fundamental questions of the relative value of studies; the proper distribution of work and play with respect to the child's energy; and the influence of some systematic distribution of time and strength upon the development of sound work habits. The object in program-making, then, as illustrated in the typical programs here presented, is to establish order in the day's work and to economize in time and energy. To do this, the more formal studies are placed at the hours when the child's energy is at its maximum, and the content studies at the hours when less interest- ing work would cause fatigue. If these practices are adhered to it is believed there will be little occasion for worry about the dangers from overwork at school. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bagley, W. C, Classroom Management, chap. iv. Burns, W. P., The Public School System of Gary, Indiana, U.S. Buieau d Education, Bui. (1914), no. 18. Colgrove, C. P., The Teacher and the School, chap. xn. Seeley, I., A New School Management, chap. v. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. "What does the making of a daily time schedule have to do with the determination of the relative values of studies.'* 2. Make a list of the factors to be dealt with in making out a daily program. 172 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION 8. How does the time allotment in your own school compare with that for the fifty cities represented in the above table? I. In the above table, notice the relative amount of time given to recess. Does it seem unreasonable that we should expect some educational return for that time? What might be the nature of that return? 5. Explain the difference between form and content studies, and state which, in general, should receive most time in the day's program. Why? 6. In your own school how many minutes per week do you devote to form studies, to content studies? Figure out the division in the above table, and compare with your own allotment. 7. What has the study of fatigue to do with the order of the studies on the program, with the length of recitation period, and with the fre- quency of recreation periods? 8. In the above three-class program, figure out the total amount of time devoted to arithmetic. Compare this with the amount devoted to English (reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and language) and with the amount devoted to science. 9. In this program suggest the changes necessary to place spelling im- mediately after opening exercises. What advantages if any would come from such changes. 10. Are music and physical culture placed to best advantage on the pro- gram? Why? What percentage of a child's time is devoted to spelling? 11. What advantage is there in a plan of alternating subjects. 12. In the above program for a rural school, figure out the amount of time in hours a child would spend on arithmetic from the time he would enter grade one until he would finish grade eight, supposing the year to be nine months long. What percentage is this amount of the entire number of working hours the child would have been in school during the eight years ? CHAPTER XIII THE CLASS STUDYING Outline of Chapter 1. The problem — The importance of right methods — Outside problems very real — The meaning of study — Intelligent study — The function of these methods in practical a£Fairs. 2. The teacher's attitude toward the problem — The teacher's problem — Three prob- lems in the learning process — The first step, a clear aim — Making the assignment — Con- siderations in assignments — The second step, to provide a motive — The third step, how to find and to organize materials — Teaching how to study — The fourth step, develop- ment of a critical attitude of mind — The critical attitude illustrated — The fifth step, to provide right conditions of work — The ultimate aim good work habits. 3. Summary — References — Questions. 1. The 'problem In our discussion of what is to be taught in the school, special emphasis was laid, first, upon the wide variety of knowledge and activities to be included; and second, upon the importance of so organizing these materials that their connections with each other and with the common affairs of life outside the school would be felt by the child. How to study is a question of how to work intelligently at each of the numerous and widely different tasks which the mod- ern curriculum presents. The importance of right methods. That the problem of how to study is important is almost too obvious to war- rant any reference to it here, were it not for the fact that its significance is so commonly overlooked in practice. The fact that until very recently the school did not teach chil- dren how to study, but merely heard them recite what they had learned in their own way, does not mean that there was no need for such teaching. It is true that a few boys have learned to swim by being thrown into the water and then left to cet out alone, and possibly a few have learned 174 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION to study and to think clearly by being assigned a lesson and then left to get it or remain after school. But just as the boy who learns to swim under such pressure does not use a single scientific stroke, so investigation has shown that children who have not been taught how to study intelli- gently do not use proper methods of study. ^ If this be true, and it unquestionably is, then teaching a child how to work at a task, is a question of very first importance, and should be accepted by the school as one of its chief problems. Outside problems very real. The extent of this impor- tance is not confined to the schoolroom. The study of problems outside of school is as real as is the study of books, and the two should not only not be separated in the teacher's mind, but it should be her particular duty to lead her pupils to realize that good methods applied to sweeping, running errands, setting the table, doing chores, making garden, buying and selling goods, earing for one's earnings, being kind and courteous, and running the affairs of the commu- nity, is precisely the same thing as good methods applied to school lessons. This is one of the things that is meant when we speak of tying the school up to community life. The tying should have to do with methods of work as well as with subject-matter. The meaning of study. If we are to undertake the man- agement of the study process, we must first of all have a clear notion of what we mean by study, or in other words we must have a clear teaching aim.^ We commonly think of study as work, but too often make no further analysis of the term than that, if we do we think of memorizing as being almost synonymous with the word study. But if we recall the various aims of education,^ and the large num- * See Earhart, Lida B., Systematic Study in tiie Elementary School, Teachers College Contributions, no. 18. (1908.) * See p. 26 flf. 'See Summary to chap. i. THE CLASS STUDYING 175 ber and wide variety of studies ofiFered in the curriculum, we at once see that study is by no means a matter of merely memorizing facts. Intelligent study. Let us enumerate some of the things the child must do when he studies intelligently: — 1. He must observe accurately, otherwise he could not read his music, or his geography, or write an accurate descriptive theme, or dance, or write, or become acquainted with birds and flowers. Here we are concerned with the use of the senses of sight, hearing, touch, and in a limited way with those of smell and taste. 2. He must attend quickly, and be able to concentrate attention upon the question in hand, otherwise he is not studying, but merely dawdling, he is only passive when he should be active and aggressive. 3. He must of course remember the things he observes and at- tends to. 4. He must compare and diflFerentiate objects and facts, that is, he must see relationships, and that not only between objects of the senses, but also between ideas, and between things absent as well as things present. It is a matter of bringing the imagination to bear upon the things experienced. 5. He must be able to state clearly what he has thought or observed, that is, distinguish the main from the subordinate facts and ideas, and put his thoughts in good form. The fimction of these methods in practical afifairs. These are a few of the most important processes involved in study, and it is scarcely necessary to show the extent to which each of these is essential to real success in life. The touch of the surgeon must not fail him when he is cutting human tissues, and the physician must know what he hears when hstening to the breathing or heartbeat of the patient. Musi- cal instruments would remain silent, and the landscape un- painted, were it not for the trained senses of touch, sight, and hearing. How much the work of the sculptor and the artisan is dependent upon the senses of touch and sight. 176 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Imagine the engineer who could not detect a defect in his machinery by its sound, and who could not single out and concentrate his whole attention upon the faintest irregu- larity in the steady hum of his engines. Imagine the in- ventor, the musician, the painter, the sculptor, the scien- tist, or the man of affairs, without imagination, and with- out memory that retains and reproduces the right things at the right time. The purchaser of stock, of cloth or pa- per, who could not detect slight differences in quality would be a failure. The lawyer, the statesman, the journalist, the administrative officer in any line would be helpless in the midst of the greatest abundance of facts if he had not the faculty of organizing those facts and stating them clearly. Teaching a child how to use his senses, how to reason, how to memorize, how to distinguish fact from fiction, is quite as important, and indeed should never be separated from, teaching him facts, for after aU, how we get facts, how we develop skills, determines very largely what we will be able to do with facts and skiUs when we get them. The problem of managing the study of children in school, then, is the problem of training them in these processes, to the end that they may be able to use their knowledge and skill in the further accumulation of that greater knowledge and skill which makes for leadership and marks the edu' cated man. 2. The teacher's attitvde toward the problem The teacher's problem. The teacher looks at the many sides of this problem, and then at the coming examinations which her pupils must pass for promotion, and knowing that she will be judged very largely by the results of those examinations raises the question as to whether children can be taught how to study more intelligently than they do. THE CLASS STUDYING 177 and if so, whether it will pay to take the time to do it. And so she hesitates. A poor teacher may wisely hesitate, for in accepting such a program she is to a large extent laying aside the use of fear as an incentive to study. She can no longer say: ** Take to page 16, and remain after school if you fail to get the lesson.'* A really professional teacher looks for more permanent results of her work. She aims at successful examinations as incidental to the intellectual development of her pupils, and not as the final end of her teaching. Consequently she is not only willing but anxious to face her real problem, the first step in which is teaching the child how to study his lessons. Three problems in the learning process. In the manage- ment of the learning process there are three fairly distinct problems to be dealt with. First, the assignment of lessons; second, the study of lessons; and third, the recitation of lessons. This division of the teaching problem into three parts does not mean that the time is to be divided equally among the three, or that it is not sometimes necessary to shift from one to the other and back again during a recita- tion period, but it does mean that there are three distinct functions which the teacher must recognize and learn to control. As the master carpenter must lay out with care the work that is to be done by his apprentices, so the teacher must learn to give specific directions for study that is to be done by the class in her absence. In this chapter we are concerned with the management of study, which includes two of these problems, viz. how to make assignments, and how to direct children in economical methods of study. The first step, a clear aim. In teaching the child how to study the first step is to make clear to him the problem he m CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION has to solve. This is the function of the lesson assignment, a function more often badly performed than almost any other function in teaching. To know specifically what you are going to do is of first importance. If you are looking for an answer to a question, then information that does not answer that question is quickly discarded, and that which does answer it is quickly recognized. To read a page merely because the teacher assigned that page is not to look for anything in particular, and at best puts the child in a recep- tive rather than a critical attitude of mind. He takes what the page says as final authority, and asks no question. A proper assignment is not merely quantitative, it must set up a specific problem for the child to solve. Something definite to observe, to discover, to describe, to relate, to make, to imitate, to explain, to compare, etc. Making the assignment. How to make such an assign- ment, that is, how to make each lesson stand out in the child's mind as a problem to be solved or as something defi- nite to be done, is by no means a simple matter. To make the aim of the assignment clear the teacher must keep in mind two things; first, the fact of individual differences, and second, the wide variety of problems which the modem school program presents to the child. What has been said of individual differences^ applies in a very important way here. In the study of Evangeline, for instance, no two pupils will have the same interest in the poem. Some will be inter- ested in the chief characters, some in the old legends upon which the story is based, some in the scenes described, some in the literary form. If a study of Evangeline as a character is the lesson, no two pupils will have the same equipment for the study. Some will be familiar with a wide range of characters in fiction with whom EvangeHne may be com- pared or contrasted, and some will know but few. And so 1 See chapter ni, section 6. THE CLASS STUDYING 179 on, in numberless ways, both in native interests and in previous training and experience, the pupils will differ from each other. The complexity of the teacher's problem seems almost limitless when to this we add the wide variety of lessons she is called upon to assign. Nature study, writing, spelling, and arithmetic are not much alike. Nature study is likely to involve careful observation, writing aims at particular muscular coordinations, spelling is largely memorizing, and arithmetic may emphasize either memory or reason, or both. Psychologically, almost every possible variety of problem presents itself where the teacher is in charge of several grades. Considerations in assignments. A full understanding of these two facts will help the teacher to realize that assign- ments must be made, first, in terms of the nature and train- ing of the individual, and second, in terms of the particular mental or physical activity involved. She cannot talk to the "class," or to the "average pupil"; she must talk to each pupil, and that in terms of his interests and knowledge of the subject in hand. This means that her own grasp of the subject must be very broad. K it is a case of memorizing a poem she will have to answer two questions for herself: first, what do the various pupils know about the poem, and what kinds of interests are they likely to have in studying it; and second, what is the best way for them to memorize it? She can answer the first question only if she is intimately acquainted with each pupil, and the second only if she knows something about the psychology of memorizing. The influence of age, of repetition and its frequency, of rhythm, of committing part by part or by wholes, are questions she must be able to answer before she can really make the aim of the child's study specific. Again, if the particular activity is some form of muscular 180 CIASSROOM ORGANIZATION coordination, as in writing, drawing, painting, or musculai work, the aim is not clear when the teacher hands the child a copy or model to work by. How to hold the instrument, position of the body, repetition of movement, speed, amount and periods of practice, and other detailed ques- tions are necessary to determine before the child can know exactly what he is to do. The aim will usually be a combina- tion of two or more of these processes, as memory and obser- vation and reason, or observation and muscular coordina- tion, etc. It is not clear to the child just what he is to do until he knows exactly how it is to be done. The how and the what in teaching are practically inseparable. ^ The second step, to provide a motive. The second large problem in teaching children how to study is that of pro- viding them with a motive for study. Before assigning a lesson the teacher should ask herself why John or Mary should want to study that lesson. The question of motives has been discussed at length in chapter ix, and some of the principles set forth there have a direct bearing upon the management of study. Certainly fear of punishment, so easily applied, would be ruled out here, and our approach would be from the standpoint of trying to create in the child's experience a real need for the new information or skill to be gotten from the lesson assigned. People think only when something p>erplexes them, when their knowledge or understanding of a situation is incomplete; and they work aggressively at the gathering of facts or the acquiring of skill, only when the facts or skill somehow fit into their partially imderstood or half-mastered situation. That means, then, that the child must not only see clearly the aim of his study, but he must feel that the achievement of that aim will help him to a fuller explanation of things now but partially understood. To do this an endless variety ^ See chapter n, section 2. THE CLASS STUDYING 181 of little devices will be brought into play. Questions should be raised by the teacher, and the pupils should be stimu- lated to raise others. Special assignments to individuals or to separate groups, each covering a definite subordinate problem, can often be made. Pupils may frequently be asked to suggest where to find materials, how best to study the lesson, the best form of report to make, etc., the object being to put the child on his own initiative as far as possible, and to stimulate an aggressive attitude of mind. It is only by raising questions in the child's mind that he will be able to discover what the new information or skill will do for him, and only when that discovery is made will he feel the necessity of working to get it. The third step, how to find and to organize materials. Once a child knows exactly what he is to do, and has a motive for doing it, the next question is where are the mate- rials to work with. In the elementary school it will often be true that all the child needs will be the page or two in his text. Because this is so often true for the immediate purpose in hand, the teacher frequently neglects to teach the child how to find and use other materials which bear directly or indirectly upon the lesson in hand. The next thing to know- ing a fact is knowing how to find it, and how to reinforce it with other related facts. One of the school's greatest sources of waste is and always has been the teaching of facts in isolation. The fact learned from the geography is more or less isolated, so far as its real meaning for the child is concerned, until it has been found in some other relations. The bare fact that St. Louis is a large city at the confluence of two great rivers is of no sig- nificance, and will be forgotten unless the child learns more than that. Now, the question is, how to prevent him from being satisfied with merely memorizing the fact from the printed page, and how to equip him with facilities for so 182 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION vitalizing that fact that it will have more than a verbal significance in his memory. There are numerous pictures, guidebooks, maps, and gazetteers, as well as cyclopaedias, railroad time-tables, the United States Census Reports, etc., from which the child could learn how large St. Louis is in terms of its railroads, its industries, its population, its area, the number of churches, schools, parks and playgrounds, public Hbraries, and museums. If the lesson has to do with the location and size of St. Louis, it is worth while, not only to study its size in all these terms, — since at every turn the question of why, why so many railroads, parks, indus- tries, is raised, — but even more important that the chil- dren become familiar with these sources of materials and how to use them. Teaching how to study. College librarians constantly complain that the entering freshman does not know how to find anything outside of his textbook lesson. Not only should the elementary school teach the use of the common reference materials, but it should send the pupil to the high school with firmly fixed habits of using them. This will in- volve a knowledge of how to use an index and a table of contents, two simple tools which will save almost an endless amount of time, and conduce to clear thinking. Nor is all the reference material to be found in books, maps, and pic- tures. The museum is often available, with the very richest materials for proving and illustrating things learned from books, and best of all there is the physical and social world outside which becomes an open book to those who learn to read it. Why study directions, rivers, islands, lakes, drain- age systems, animal and plant life, and industries from books alone, when the real things may often be investigated at first hand only a stone's throw from the classroom window. How to find materials brings the child up against the question of how to select and organize them. If in connec- THE CLASS STUDYING 183 tion with a given lesson the child is asked to read another book or article, he must be taught to read with definite questions in mind, and to write down the ideas or facts which answer his questions. Some definite training in this is necessary. How to take notes, how to pick out the gist of an article or to make an abstract of it, are things that should be taught for they are essential to systematic meth- ods of study. The fourth step, development of a critical attitude of mind. Whatever skill a child may develop in collecting facts under the teacher's directions, he will ultimately be called upon to do his own selecting, and to act in terms of the values he places upon the facts he finds. Ability to discrim- inate the false from the true is of first importance, and will only grow with practice in making such discriminations. School children frequently cite their book as proof of a statement. The reason they have learned to rely on the book is because they have been permitted to do so. The teacher has called upon them merely to recite the facts con- tained in the book, and not to test those facts for their true worth. Such is not only not teaching the child one of the most important elements in the study process, but, by neglect, it is fastening upon the child an attitude of mind that is positively harmful. It makes him a worshiper of the printed page, and trains him not only to trust every author he reads, but to be content with the ideas of others. The critical habit illustrated. The opposite habits are what should be aimed at. The child must take a positive, instead of a passive, attitude toward what he reads, or hears, or otherwise senses. To establish these habits children should not be held to one single bix)k in any subject. Many readers, histories, geographies, arithmetics, will be better than one. If there is not time for each child to read two or three books, then assign lessons in three books and divide 184 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION the class into as many groups, assigning a different book to each group from which reports will be made as to what is said on the subject in question. Again, after the geography class has studied what a couple of texts have to say on drain- age, take the class to a nearby field, where they may verify the statements read. Occasionally books will differ on a question. That is an opportunity to teach the class how to find out which, if either, is right. Children study history and civics, and leave school supposing that our form of government is the best yet evolved. The constitution, the state laws, the city ordinances, are held in awe, and the oflScers are looked upon as different from other people, largely because the textbook facts about these matters have never been questioned. Children should be pyermitted to see how the laws and officers they read about play a part in their own community life, and this they will not do unless they are trained to go to other books and to things them- selves as other sources of knowledge, and to note carefuUy the points of agreement and of difference which the various sources reveal. The fifth step, to provide right conditions of work. Fin- ally, in addition to giving specific directions for work, right conditions for carrying on the work must be looked after. Needless distracting noises inside and outside should be guarded against; the seats or tables should be made com- fortable with respect to position, temperature, and light; a regular study program worked out; and easy access to sources such as have been mentioned above must be pro- vided for. These are all a part of training in systematic orderly methods of work. When it comes time to study spelling, children should be taught to clear their desks of all other material and to place before themselves just the things they expect to use in the study of the spelling les- son. This is really the first step in fixing attention upon the THE CLASS STUDYING 185 spelling lesson, and the first step in clear and undisturbed thinking. The ultimate aim good work habits. The ultimate aim of the teacher is to fix these various steps in the fonn of good work habits. Children must develop a respect for accuracy in general. They must leam how to begin new tasks with care, and to apply system in their procedure. They must accustom themselves to the use of the dictionary and other common reference materials. Not only must the child be taught how to study, but he must be watched constantly to see that he uses correct methods at all times. The laws of habit formation apply here as elsewhere, and the teacher must be constantly on the alert for lapses from the best methods. Most certainly all this cannot be accompHshed in the lesson assignment. The assignment must be followed up by careful supervision during the study period. This is im- possible to do in an ideal way in a one-room school, yet much can be done if the teacher trains herself to see a pupil's needs when he is studying. The common mistake made in supervision is that of telling the child too much. It is far better to raise questions in his mind that will provoke think- ing in the right direction. He must be kept on the initiative always, for otherwise he is not really studying. We must not train children to go groping through the woods with a vague notion that something will stick to them; we must train them to go in search of something, and that something must be as definite in their minds as it is possible to make it. It is not only facts, and clever recitations, but also how to find, to verify, to evaluate, and to use these facts that is ulti- mately important in the child's education. 3. Chapter summary Teaching the pupil how to study has been treated here as a problem in management because that is mainly what it is. The 186 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION importance of right methods of study, when they are extended to all kinds and aspects of school work, and correlated as far as may be with outside activities, has been pointed out, as have the actual steps in the study process. The proper attitude for the teacher to assume toward the three phases of the teaching process — assignment, study, and recitation — has been explained, and concrete suggestions offered for man- aging the individual and the class with respect to each. As everywhere in management, the emphasis here is first upon a clear aim. The child must know exactly what he is to do. Second to a clear aim is a real motive for study. The assignment must create actual problems if we expect an aggressive attitude on the part of the pupil. Third, how to find and organize materials that will solve these problems must be made clear. But this is not all, for proper management of study must result finally in critical atti- tudes toward facts, and in sound habits of work. These can only result from actual practice in comparing sources, and verifying the facts of the book by checking them against facts found out- side the book. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Dewey, John, How We Think, pp. 1-28. Earhart, L. B., Teaching Children to Study. Especially chaps, v, vn, vin. McMurry, F. M., How to Study and Teaching How to Study. Especially chaps, n and xi. Whipple, G. M., How to Study Effectively. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. In what important particulars were you taught how to study while in the elementary school? Explain any important ideas that you regularly apply in your own present methods of study. Where did you get those idea.*^ ? Could they have been explained to you in the elementary school? 2. What do you mean by study, and why is it important that we learn how to study systeinatically? 3. What are some practical diflSculties in the way of teaching children how to study? 4. Before you can teach how to study you must of course know how yourself. Suppose you have assigned a spelling lesson of three new words in grade three. How would you explain to the class how to study that lesson? Do you know any books or articles that explain THE CLASS STUDYING 187 the best method of studying spelling? Are the directions they give based upon the results of scientific study, or merely upon opinion? 5. If the lesson being assigned is a lesson in number combinations, as the multiplication table of three's, state specifically the aim you would try to set up in the minds of the pupils as the thing to be accomplished in their study. Can you mention any literature on the question of how to memorize? 6. What are some of the practical difficulties in the way of making the aim of a lesson clear to all pupils in a class? 7. What is meant by providing a motive for study? How would you provide a motive for the study of a spelling lesson? 8. How soon should a child learn to use the dictionary? How would you teach the use of the dictionary? 9. Explain how you would assign a lesson on the landing of the Pilgrims. What questions would you raise for the class to answer, what materials would you have them use to supplement the text? Would your assignment provide a real motive for study? 10. Explain how you would train children to be critical of what they read? How would you expect to teach them respect for accuracy? 11. What advantage is there for teaching how to study in: — - (a) the use of field trips; (6) special assignments and reports; (c) abstracting articles; (d) reporting on things seen or heard; (e) verifying statements by comparing authors. CHAPTER XIV THE CLASS RECITING OuTUNB OF Chapter 1. Nature and purpose of the recitation — Conducting recitation the real test of teaching skill — The broader meaning of recitation — Rule-of-thumb method inadequate. i. The aim of the recitation — Necessity for a clear aim — The teacher's problem — Recitation tests — Recitation products — Testing as an aim — Teaching as an aim — Lis- tening or observing as an aim — Drill as an aim — When to use these aims. 3. The plan of the recitation — The place and importance of interest — The proper use of the textbook — Textbook use and teacher eflBciency — The topical plan of recitation — The lecture plan of recitation — The question and answer plan of recitation — Two types of questions — Forms of questions — The real test of good questioning. 4. Right conditions of work. 5. Summary — References — Questions. 1. Nature and purpose of the recitation Conducting recitation the real test of teaching skill. The management of the recitation is after all the final test of professional skill in teaching. Here the teacher is confronted with the problem of individual differences as at no other point in her work, and that, too, in a continually widening variety of lessons and exercises. The time was, only a few decades ago, when the term recitation had reference to the pupil's saying over to his teacher what he had previously learned by himself. The exercise was narrowly intellectual, since preparation for it involved little more than verbal memory work. Such a meaning grew less and less applicable as the aim of the school broadened to include the aesthetic, the physical, the social and moral, and the economic elements; and the curriculum to include nature study, hygiene, civics, organized play, domestic science, drawing, music, and manual work. It is not that the process has become less intellectual than before, but that it has become more physical, social, and aesthetic. Under the old regime the child sat in his seat with a book THE CLASS RECITING 189 only. To-day he has not a book, but many books, and is as often engaged in doing as in saying things. Consequently the recitation is no longer a mere re-citing, or saying over, but includes all the wide variety of mental and bodily activ- ities essential to the accompUshment of this newer aim of education. The broader meaning of recitation. Under these new con- ditions the nature of the learning, and consequently of the teaching process, has broadened so that ** recitation '* means widely different things under different circumstances. So wide are these differences, in fact, that we have come to think of "recitation" as " recitation period" and to differ- entiate these periods by referring to one as the geography recitation, to another as the domestic-science recitation, etc. This is merely the way in which we have recognized the fact that the learning process, and consequently the teaching process, is widely different in different cases. From the child's standpoint, that is from the standpoint of learning, it differs in the fact that in one case the child merely sits or stands, and relates what he has previously studied, as in spelling; in another he moves about, work- ing with his hands, and using tools and materials instead of books and words, as in manual training and domestic science; in another he uses his whole body, along with words and materials, to impersonate some character, as in drama- tizing; in another he exercises his imagination, by drawing or painting; in another he is attempting to perfect some mental or physical process, as in memorizing verses or in developing skill in writing; in another he is moving about in response to social stimuli, interpreting the acts of his fel- lows and responding to them in cooperation or in competi- tion, as in the case of organized play; and so on, in almost endless variety, we find the mental, social, and bodily activi- ties combined in different recitations. 190 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION From the standpoint of managing the recitation, these periods vary greatly, because the teacher must control the attention and direct the energy and activities of her pupils under these widely different circumstances, and to these widely different ends. Rule-of-thumb method inadequate. With such a variety of processes it is clear that there can be no simple rule-of- thumb method for their proper management. The broad general purpose of all recitations is to direct this learning process to the end that the greatest economy in time and energy shall be effected. How to organize the many differ- ent kinds of subject-mattei*, or to plan the varied exercises, that they may be most quickly mastered by the pupils; how to organize the class and to arrange the different materials to this same end; and how to keep each individual working with purpose and enthusiasm is the teacher's task. 2. The aim of the recitation Necessity for a clear aim. A recitation cannot be suc- cessfully managed except with respect to some definite end which is clear to both teacher and pupil. It is one thing for the teacher to say the aim of this geography les- son is to impart knowledge; it is a different thing to say specifically what knowledge, how it is related to knowledge the child now possesses, and what she expects the child to do with it now, and five or ten years from now. For pur- poses of instruction the teacher has not a clear aim for such recitations until she has considered the natiu-e and or- ganization of the facts and exercises involved, and from these points of view. The child will seldom have so broad a perspective for what he is to study. He cannot see that what he is now learning wUl be indispensable to him in later years. Yet this does not mean that he is not to have an aim with respect to THE CLASS RECITING 191 every part of his school work. It only means that to him the aim must be very concrete. The geography lesson will answer for him some question, which, in the previous assignment, the teacher was careful to provoke. What causes the seasons; why St. Louis came to be a large city; why Chicago is a great railroad center, etc. Or, in phys- iology, Why should we keep our teeth clean.? In such les- gOTis his aim is to try to answer these questions. In writing it is to imitate a copy, or to increase his speed. In language it is to tell a story, or to write a description of a familiar scene. Thus while all lessons will have these general and future values which the teacher will hold in mind, for him they must stand as concrete tasks or problems, so specific in nature that he sees just where to begin, and so related to what he knows and wants to know that it moves him to action. That is, before the recitation can have a clear aim for him, he must have had an aim in its preparation. The teacher's problem. The teacher's problem is the double one therefore of determining, first, what she desires to accomplish in the recitation; and second, of seeing to it that the pupils have a clear notion of what they are to do. In the schematic presentation given on page 192 it is not presumed to set forth any final analysis of this problem, but merely to offer a plan by which it is believed the reader may be helped to differentiate the aim of the teacher from that of the pupil in the conduct of the recitation, and to see the points at which the teaching aim must issue in some- thing accompHshed by the pupil. Recitation tests. First of all we need to think of the aim of the recitation from two standpoints: first, that of the process through which teacher and pupils are to pass; and second, that of the product which is to result from the procedure. A teacher may, by her clever ways with chil- dren, conduct a lively recitation and yet fail to accompUsh 192 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Recitation Aim From the stand- point of The process < involved 1. Instruction (by the teacher) II The knowl- edge or experience to be acquired ,(by the child) 2. Learning (by the pupil) 1. Appreciation 2. Knowledge 3. Skill 4. Physical training 5. Moral growth 6. Executive power 7. Initiative a. Testing b. Teaching c. Listening or observ ing d. Drilling a. Answering 6. Studying c. Reciting d. Practicing or per forming a. Intellectual 6. Emotional a. Knowledge what b. Knowledge how a. Mental b. Physical a. Corrective .6. Developmental a. Habits of conduct . b. Ideals of conduct a. Intellectual b. Social THE CLASS RECITING 193 a proper end. Recitations are not successful when they end in mere excitement or entertainment alone. This recitation process we must learn to watch from the standpoint of both teacher (instruction) and pupil (learn- ing). While the teacher's aims may be roughly classified as testing, teaching, listening or observing, and drilling, we must remember that a measure of their effectiveness is not how much the teacher talks or questions or observes, but how much she finds out from the child and helps him to accomplish. To him it is not a mere matter of observing what the teacher has to offer. He is active, not passive, and is to be busy with answering, studying, reciting, per- forming, or practicing. Her concern is quite as much with the learning as with the teaching end. The nature of the child's answers, how he studies, recites, or practices, these are the points at which her own aims and processes must have their final issue, and the rather trite statement thai there is no teaching except when there is learning is not less true because it is commonplace. Recitation products. The product to be obtained, that is, the knowledge or experience to be acquired by the pupil, must be understood by both teacher and pupil. The spell- ing recitation aims at correct pronunciation, use, and spell- ing of a given number of new words, with review of cer- tain words previously learned; the writing lesson aims at observable improvement in position, movement, form of words, and speed; the arithmetic recitation at a full and clear explanation of certain assigned problems, or drill on certain number combinations; the reading recitation at correct pronunciation, clear enunciation, accurate expres- sion and interpretation of a given piece of reading matter, etc. Beyond these immediate products, however, the teacher aims at a list of broader, more general, more distant achievements, all of which are matters of slow growth. 194 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION While correct spelling, reading, and writing may be her immediate aim, it is through these that she seeks the devel- opment of her pupils in their knowledge, skill, and ap- preciation of their mother tongue. Nor is it knowledge of language only, but of history, number, institutions, and I>eople past and present, of essential processes, etc., that the teacher must keep in mind. How to bring to bear the narrow and concrete purposes of each individual recitation upon the accomplishment of these ultimate aims of appreciation, knowledge, skill, phys- ical development, moral growth, executive power, and individual initiative, is the real problem involved in the formulation of the recitation aim, and it is in the task of fitting the immediate and concrete teaching act into the ultimate purpose of the work that the teacher comes to realize fully that her aim in teaching can never be sepa- rated from the methods by means of which she may hope to attain it.^ Testing as an aim. In testing a class it is easy to work on the assiunption that the main responsibility lies with the pupils. Such an attitude breaks down the proper relation^ ship between teacher and pupils, by placing the class on the defensive. This need not happen if the teacher has previously determined upon just what she will test for, and upon a plan of procedure. It is not the teacher alone, but the child who must discover errors and deficiencies in the work done. It is a cooperative undertaking, therefore, in which all join in a complete stock-taking, preparatory to the next move forward. The old-fashioned teacher tested more often than she taught, and that mainly for facts. Could the child spell the word, diagram the sentence, trace the military cam- paign, — yes or no? She tested for what the child remem- ^ See chapter n, sections 2 and 3. THE CLASS RECITING 195 bered, and not for how he had learned it, or what he could do with it. In the modern classroom the function of the test has become much broader. Its aim is to get behind the mere lack of infonnation to its causes. Hence it tries to answer such questions as: What does the pupil know? What of the assignment does he not know? Why did he learn facts x and not facts y f Did he fully understand the assignment (if not was it my fault) ? Just how did he study his lesson? Did he try to memorize when he should have tried merely to get the essential meaning and facts? Did he go to the right sources for materials, or effectively use those at hand? Was it merely lack of application or lack of interest, and if so, why? These and similar detailed inquiries will find out just what the child does and does not know, what he can or cannot do, and the why in every case. The teacher who can maintain the hearty cooperation of her class through such an inquiry has accomplished much in the art of teaching. Much, however, that is possible for all teachers who will work to convert the vague aim of " testing" into such concrete and specific aims as are here suggested. Teaching as an aim. In testing, the teacher is trying to find out things for herself, things which she may use not only as a basis for judging the pupil's efficiency, but mainly as a basis for her own positive contribution to the recita- tion through her instruction. The teaching process is so extremely varied in its nature, owing to the ends it must meet, that in this brief space little more than a mere enu- meration of these ends can be imdertaken. First, teaching begins at the point where help is needed, and proceeds in the general direction of the ends set forth under section II, in our outline above. But these ends, while they are fun- damental, are distant, can only be attained in noticeable degree after many recitations, and cannot be substituted 196 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION for the specific end to be attained in a given exercise. More immediate ends are: — 1. Self-expression, which must cover more than what is foimd in books or teacher's directions, more than oral or written speech, more than mere fact. There must be room for the imagination in writing, drawing, story-teUing, hand- work, dramatization, etc., wherein voice, words, gestures, bodily movement, facial expression, and even costimaing are all brought into play to convey to listeners the feelings and thoughts of the one reciting. Such expression leads to moral, social, and executive growth. 2. Cooperation and competition as social and economic principles may be thoroughly estabhshed in the minds and habits of children if group work is turned definitely to such account. The principle of division of labor may be effec- tively experienced where reports on individual assignments all contribute to the development of a central idea, or where individual pupils each perform a separate part in making something in the shop or laboratory. Similarly the spirit of fair play in competition can be taught where groups are pitted against each other in the performance of some task. 3. The development of right habits of work is another spe- cific point of attack for the teaching process. Very few children will discover for themselves that chapter headings, with their formal subdivisions, are the key to the chief points in the lesson. There is a best procedure in all kinds of study, from bare memorizing of spelling to writing a story, solving a problem in i>ercentage, designing a hat, or painting a picture. As has been pointed out,^ this best way will rarely be hit upon by the child if he is left to his own resources. It is an ever present problem which must be cared for in that part of the recitation which is devoted to the assignment of the lesson. ^ See chapter xm. THE CLASS RECITING 197 Listening or observing as an aim. In some recitations the teacher's chief function will be that of auditor and spectator. It is often a great temptation to do the talking, or to add a touch to a drawing when one sees so clearly what is needed, and there are times when such help should be given. On the other hand there are times when such help will destroy the child's confidence in himself and put an end to a type of self-expression that is highly important. When a child is telling a story, discussing a topic in history, describing a specimen, or arguing a point, he should be heard to the end. If he is writing, drawing, dramatizing, or performing an experiment, then too much interference by the teacher will destroy his initiative, and the final product, though it may be better for the teacher's help, will not be the pupil's work, nor will he feel the satisfaction of having originated or completed the task. When a pupil has done well in a recitation, a quick acknowledgment of the same by the teacher will usually be more effective at the time than too many suggestions about how it could have been better. There is a proper place for constructive criticism of a child's work, but so is there for quiet sanction. Drill as an aim. Some recitations will be devoted solely to practice or drill on some mental or physical process, such as number combinations, verses, location of important geographical features, writing, drawing, singing, dancing, sewing, carving, etc. Here the end is mental or physical skill, and the process, that of developing a specific habit. The aim will be slightly different for every habit, but in all cases concentrated attention, with frequent repetition which stops short of serious fatigue, will be necessary, and a completely mechanized procedure must finally result, else all the practice will have been wasted. When to use these aims. It is not possible to say just when and where each of these aims and processes will come 198 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION into play. In almost every recitation there will be testing, teaching, listening, and drilling. There wiU often be rapid and frequent movement from one of these processes to another, and back again. Similarly the pupils will be answering, reciting, and practicing, and no one can direct the teacher as to just when to expect one or the other of these responses. The fact is, however, that these are all distinct and separate functions, and the teacher should study them diligently as such. The result of proper care in their use by the young teacher will be teaching habits which will place a reasonable portion of the responsibility for the success of the recitation upon the class, prevent an un- due amount of bare testing at the expense of teaching, make the teacher an intelligent auditor, give the pupils a chance to tell what they feel and know, insist upon a due amount of inteUigent practice or drill, and teach them how to study. Again there is no way of saying when appreciation, knowledge, skill, etc., will be the aim sought. Certainly many of these will play a part in almost every recitation. To know just what each one means, and how it may be attained, will undoubtedly rationalize the teaching process. There is much too httle conscious effort in the direction of training for intellectual and emotional appreciation; knowl- edge is too often knowledge what, and too seldom knowl- edge how skill is too rarely of the physical type, and too narrowly intellectual; physical exercises aim too indefi- nitely at either development or correction; moral growth is too often either ignored, or expected as a result of moral- izing, whereas its problem is that of developing specific habits and ideals of right conduct; executive training, train- ing for leadership, is grossly neglected; and intellectual and social initiative are more often suppressed than stimulated. These aims may often overlap each other, but they represent definite aspects of personaHty, definite points THE CLASS RECITING 199 of contact with the world, definite sources of power over ourselves and our fellows, definite angles from which we are judged by society, definite lines along which we do or do not contribute to human happiness. They must there- fore stand in the teacher's mind as the ultimate criteria of the effectiveness of her work, and each recitation should be held to one or more of these accounts, and none should be overlooked or long neglected. S. The plan of the recitation In every recitation there are two distinct parts: — the handling of the lesson that has been prepared for the occa- sion, and the assignment of a new lesson. The function of the assignment is mainly that of teaching how to study the next group of materials, and has therefore been treated in the chapter on "The Class Studying." Consequently only a few words as to its place in the recitation plan are needed here. The assignment will be long or brief, general or de- tailed, according to the nature of the task it has to present. As to whether it will come at the beginning or end of the recitation period is a question which can scarcely be set- tled by a general rule. There are times when the assign- ment can properly come at the beginning of the period, as when it has no intimate connection with the lesson in hand. Under ordinary circumstances spelling lessons, drill on number combinations, theme writing, etc., would con- stitute such cases. Usually, however, the end of the period is the better place for the assignment, for the reason that the lesson just recited naturally leads up to and presents problems which the assignment should explain. The plans for conducting the recitation part of the period will vary with the type of lesson to be dealt with, ^ but there ^ For a fuller consideration of types of lessons see Sti;ayer, G. D., ^4 Brief Course in the Teaching Process, pp. 41-106; McMurry, F., The Method of the Recitation; Earhart, L. B., Types of Teaching. «00 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION are a number of problems which present themselves with suflficient frequency to warrant their brief consideration here. Such are the place and importance of interest, a proper use of the textbook, the question and answer method, the place of the lecture, and the topical method. The place and importance of interest. This subject has been dealt with elsewhere, and consequently it is only necessary to apply here what has already been said in an- other connection on page 88 ff. Common abuses of the textbook. The very excellent text- books which we have in such abundance have been invalu- able in systematizing the work of instruction. They have made for definiteness in assignment, and relieved the teacher of the endless task of collecting and organizing material for her classes. On the other hand, they have at the same time been a source of evil. The lazy, indifferent, or ignorant teacher has learned to rely solely upon the text as the source of materials for her class, and has therefore grossly neglected the important duty of supplementing the one small book which was designed as a mere outUne. The consequence has been much memoriter work on the part of the pupils, along with which has developed the assump- tion that the facts of the text are all there are on the sub- ject. Such abuses of the text have stunted the child's ini- tiative in seeking sources outside the book, and so in apply- ing the knowledge and skill of the schoolroom to problems of life outside. These are not imaginary, but rather very real dangers for every teacher who does not hold herself strictly to account in these respects. Textbook use and teacher efficiency. Tliere are proper uses of the text, however, which can be learned, and which, when applied, make the text an indispensable tool. First, the teacher should remember that she is teaching her class, and that she is teaching a subject, not a book; but that the THE CLASS RECITING «01 text presents some essential facts, and suggests a plan of organization for others which, together with the class, she may gather from other sources. Second, the text material offers a convenient means of assigning a definite formal task to which all pupils should be held responsible. Thirdly, the material of the text is hkely to present most of the real difficulties with which the class will have to cope in their study of the subject, such as new words, difficult points in an explanation, etc. Finally, one chief function of the text- book is to bring out clearly the plan of organization of the matter presented. A mastery of this technique is impor- tant, since in ordinary books, journals, and newspapers such helps are much rarer. The topical plan of recitation. To be able to stand before an audience and think logically while speaking is all too rare an accomplishment, and one by which the world sets much store. There is no school exercise so well calculated to develop this ability as is the topical recitation. As a method it is applicable from the very beginning to the end of school work, scarcely more in proportion at one age than at another. The six-year-old will speak more briefly and on a different topic, but with the same problem of clear, logical, forceful presentation before him as has the college student in his advanced discussions. The teacher's task in the two cases differs more in degree, therefore, than in kind. In both cases she wiU see to it that the child speaks in his own language, rather than in that of the book; that he tells what he thinks or knows, rather than what some author thinks (except of course when reporting what he has read); that he sticks to his subject; that every point made bears proper relationship to the line of thought; that his language shall be clear and grammatically cor- rect; that he shall not consume more than a reasonable amount of time; that he makes it a point to interest those 202 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION listening; that he si>eaks to his class, and not to the teacher alone or to the floor; that he stands or sits erect, and sp>eaks in good voice; and that he stops when he is through. To accomplish these miany ends she will not lavish too much or too Uttle praise for a good recitation, and nega- tive criticism or sharp rebuke will be similarly adminis- tered. She will rarely stop a pupil except at a natural pause, and will often tide him over by putting a question or by permitting another pupil to carry forward the discussion. At the close, however, aU types of errors in language, or in fact, or in length or brevity of speech, may be brought to light by questions, to the end that the child may fully judge the success of his presentation. The lecture plan of recitation. In the elementary school there can be httle if any formal lecturing, but there is room for much simple telling, which wiU usually occupy a subor- dinate place during the recitation period. Almost every lesson needs to be supplemented by the teacher who keeps an ever changing and growing stock of stories, anecdotes, and facts which she introduces as additional material in the recitation. The purpose of such kind of lecturing is varied. At one point it will add definitely to the number of facts brought out by the class, at another it will illustrate a point with some familiar incident, at another it will ex- plain and demonstrate the working of a principle, at an- other it will deliberately provoke laughter with some per- tinent anecdote or story which aims partly to drive home a point, and partly to cause a real relaxation. The question and answer plan of recitation. In almost every kind of recitation the question and answer will play a large part.^ Even where a topic has been recited upon, 1 For a careful description and critical study of questioning, see Stevens, Romiett, The Question as a Measure of Efficiency in Instruction^ Teacherg College Contributions, No. 48 (1912). THE CLASS RECITING 20S questions will usually follow to clear up certain points, or to supplement what has been said, and where the discussion has been mainly by the teacher the problem cannot wisely be left till by questions she has assured herself that what she has been saying has been fully comprehended and crit- ically evaluated by the class. Two types of questions. There are two general types of questions, one of which is designed to test memory for facts obtained from books or observation, the other to test the chiW's power to interpret and use facts. Both are es- sential in practice. The one, however, is easy to formu- late, is Kkely to lead to an overemphasis of book learning, to encourage mere guessing, and to discourage originaKty. The other is more diflScult to formulate, but stimulates thought, and leads to a testing out of facts remembered by applying them in practical situations. The former is too frequently overworked in the classroom, because it is an easy way to get a lively response from the class. We should not have fewer fact questions perhaps, but we should have more of the kind that put the pupil on his own initiative, where he must exercise judgment as well as memory. Forms of questions. The form of the question is of fun- damental importance. The direct question, to be answered by yes or no, such as: "Is hail made of frozen raindrops.? " is poor because it stimulates guessing at the answer. By the law of chance a child will answer correctly fifty out of every one hundred such questions without knowing a soli- tary fact involved. By a correct guess the pupil often de- ceives himself into thinking that he really knew the an- swer. The alternative question, such as, "Was Jefferson a strict or a loose constructionist .f* '* has all the evils of the direct question, with no added virtues, and neither is im- proved upon by the leading question so often denied an answer in court. It is worse than a waste of time to ask 204 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION "Is the magnetic north pole a Httle different from the most northern point on the earth? " for what child would be so stupid as to guess " No " in answer. The real test of good questioning. Questions formulated in these ways do not require the child to think, or to reor- ganize his previous experience in any way, and yet these are the real tests of the value of questions in the recitation. There are two aspects of the problem to be studied, the question and the answer. There are certain principles which the teacher will do well to follow: First, the ques- tion must have scope enough to provoke thought, to do which, it must (a) be clear and concise; (b) challenge the attention of all members of the class; (c) be properly re- lated to previous and succeeding questions, and (d) it must not be too long or too compHcated. Furthermore, the question should be asked in an ordinary conversational tone, it should not be repeated, and should be fully stated before being addressed to any particular pupil. Pupils should be questioned in no regular order, and care will be necessary CO prevent most questions being answered by those who habitually make good replies. What to do with answers is little less a problem than how to provoke them. Certainly the teacher must be an attentive listener, taking care not to assist the speaker too much by look or gesture which seems to say yes, go on, or, no it is the other way, etc. A few common errors are: (a) repeating the child's answer after him; (b) jumping at his conclusion without permitting him to finish speaking; (c) adding to his answer to avoid formulating a question that will bring out the information from the class; and (d) permit- ting him to answer a different question from the one asked. ^. Right conditions for work What has been said on this subject in connection with the THE CLASS RECITING 205 chapter on "The Class Studying" appHes almost verbatim here. The teacher needs all her energy for her class, and should suffer as few distractions as possible. Regularity, punctuality, strict adherence to assignments, physical con- veniences, all materials at hand, careful preparation for the recitation by both teacher and pupils, all need to be watched, and then as cheerful and as wholesome an at- mosphere of earnest, rapid work as is possible should be the teacher's aim. 5, Chapter summary In this chapter we have discussed the nature and purpose of the recitation, distinguished between the teacher's and the pupil's aims, clarified these aims by the use of illustrations, and showed when and where they should be used. We have also suggested various general plans for conducting the recitation, and the con- ditions under which such work should be carried on. In doing this we have seen that managing the recitation is above all the real test of teaching skill. The first essential for the teacher is to know specifically what it is she expects to accomplish, and to see that the pupil knows what he is to do and how to do it. She must learn to distinguish the teaching from the testing, drilling, and observing processes, and know when and where each will best apply. She must keep in mind that the chief thing to watch is the character of the child's responses, and his ability in applying the facts or skills he gains from study. In formulating plans for the recitation, the importance of inter- est, that is, real motive, must not be overlooked. The textbook serves as a guide, and not as the only source. The use of the top- ical plan of recitation, the use of question and answer, and the use of lecture or telling methods are all most serviceable where prop)erly managed, though each is capable of abuse and no plan is successful in the midst oi unnecessary distractions. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Betts, G. H., The Recitation. Home, H. H., Stoty^TeUing, Questioning, and Studying, chap. n. Strayer, G. D., The Teaching Process, chaps, iv to xii, inclusive. 206 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Explain the changes that have taken place in the meaning of the term recitation. 2. Why is "recitation pjeriod" a better term for present use? 3. There are obvious differences between a spelling recitation and a recitation in domestic science. From the standpoint of managing the recitation just what are these differences? 4. If you were giving an explanation of the aim of education, how would it differ from your statement of the aim of the recitation? If they are different, why? 5. What difference is there, if any, between the aim the teacher will have for a recitation and that which the pupil will have? Why? 6. In how far does a full statement of one's teaching aim necessitate a clear understanding of the method to be used in carrying out that aim? 7. Under what circumstances in a recitation would it be proper for the teacher to: test? teach? listen? observe? drill? 8. Explain fully how testing is essential in most recitations, and just what function such testing should serve. 9. How does teaching differ from testing: in its purpose? in its plan of action? 10. What does it mean for the teacher to be a good auditor? 11. Just what may be included in the teaching aim "self-expression"? 12. Explain the possible uses and abuses of the textbook, the lecture topical, and question-and-answer plans of conducting the recitation. CHAPTER XV TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MACHINERY AND THE PROCESS OuTUNB OF Chapter 1. The need for definite knowledge as to results — Previous chapters recapitulated — Education a process of change — Tendency in education away from generalities — The movement has been slow. 2. The things to be measured — Membership in the group — Attendance and discipline — Interest in work — School machinery. S. The means for measuring these results — Records and reports — The examination as a means of measvu-ement — Criteria as to examinations — Defects in examination tests — Variabihty in marking illustrated. 4. The use of standardized scales and tests — The beginning of comparative school measurement — Use of the standard tests — Practical use of these tests. 5. Other means of measuring results — Qualities which are hard to measure — De«rable schoolroom standards. 6. Summary of Part III — References — Questions. 1. The need for definite knowledge as to results Previous chapters recapitulated. Thus far we have at- tempted to set forth, in Part I, the nature of the manage- ment problem by a discussion of the meaning and aim of education, how the aim functions in practical management, and the nature of the different factors with which manage- ment has to deal. In Part II these facts and principles were brought to bear upon a consideration of the child as the central object of management, how he is to be brought into contact with school conditions, and the problems of attend- ance, order and discipline, punishments, and incentives for study. In Part III the machinery and processes by which these aims and ideals are to be wrought into concrete changes in child life, e.g., how the school is to be organized, the spe- cial problems of grading and promotion, the making and use of curricula and daily time schedules, and how to direct the study and recitation processes, have been treated at some length. It remains for us to consider here the ques- k 208 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION tion of how we are to know definitely that our machinery and processes are turning our actual results. Education a process of change. We have been thinking so far, to a large extent, in terms of certain biological, psychological, sociological, and economic facts and princi- ples, and have attempted to lay down fairly definite rules of action. Undoubtedly these are the basic sciences upon which education must build, but they are not the only sci- ences needed. Certainly we are working with phenomena of these types, but we are also working with other phenomena which are more properly classified as educational. Medicine deals with chemical, physiological, anatomical, and hygienic phenomena, but when a physician is trying to do a certain thing with these phenomena known as doctoring, we refer to the facts about this practice as medical phenomena. So in education, however much we may know of individual nature, and of the social and economic claims upon it, we have still to reckon with the phenomena created by the attempt of the teacher to direct the growth of the child and to prepare him to meet these claims. When we have taught a child we have produced a change in him. \Miat is the nature and extent of the change.'* Tendency in education away from generalities. For cen- turies the world has recognized educational phenomena, and has built up splendid philosophies of education, but only recently has there been any attempt to speak of the prod- ucts of school training in any save the most general terms. We say we are training the child with respect to memory, reason, morals; that this pupil is doing well, that one better; and that this one shows refinement, culture, or poHsh. Only recently, though, have we frankly faced the question, — What is the nature and extent of these various products which we call education.'^ This new attitude has been brought about by the in- TESTING MACHINERY AND PROCESS 209 creasing complexities which have been forced upon the school as a result of the vast economic and social changes of the past few decades. The cost and the importance of education have become too great to be any longer entrusted to haphazard methods, and as a consequence the school has been compelled to learn how to take stock of its achieve- ments, and as far as possible to do so in quantitative terms. The movement has been slow. The teaching profession was extremely slow to appreciate and to respond to this need. Scientific method made headway in every phase of commerce, industry, and farming before it was applied to education. But as the new studies and new activities and aims began to find place in the school, the problem of evalu- ating each new item was forced upon us, so that no choice was left but to try to say what each was worth. It was in the midst of these conditions that a new type of educational leadership was developed, which set for itself the task of applying scientific method to the measurement of educa- tional processes and products. 2. The things to be measured Membership in the group. We say that education means physical, social, and moral eflSciency, and that to educate means to produce changes in the individual to these ends. To accomplish this the child must first of all become a member of the school group. How shall we know when this has been accomplished? The fact that John causes us no trouble, that he is quiet and studious, that he plays with the other children, does not tell us. Let us ask rather: Is he polite, gentle, and generous, in his relationship to others? and then answer by citing specific instances of politeness, gentility, and generosity, or cases where he failed in these respects. Does he cooperate readily and effectively in group work and group play? If so, he not only knows how to keep 210 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION his place in line, to be a good member of a team at play, to fill his place in the dramatized recitation, to keep his part of the room neat and orderly, to help collect and distribute materials, but he does these things promptly and accurately. Is he learning to lead as well as to follow the group? If so he suggests games to be played, gets himself chosen as a leader, occasionally brings public opinion of the group to bear upon an unruly member, gives directions, not orders, etc. It is the answer to these and a thousand other specific questions that definitely defines a child's membership in his group. Attendance and discipline. We say the child must attend school regularly. What percentage of the full time does that mean, not only on the average for the entire class, but for each pupil as well.'* What is the influence of a given degree of irregularity in attendance upon work in arithmetic, his- tory, etc.? Are the retarded children regular or irregular in attendance? Maintaining good order and punishing offenders have always been regarded as essential. Does the "pin-fall" type of order produce real freedom for work, or is it repressive? Cite cases to illustrate. For each case of disorder, try to state whether it was due to lack of knowledge, forgetf ulness, mischief, or malice. What effect has the case on the offender and on the class? Exactly how should it be dealt with? Interest in work. We say the work of the school should be interesting, but how often do we try to find out exactly why a child is more interested in one subject than in another. We often say that this is a more interesting subject than that. We should try to find out why. Why is the multipli- cation table interesting to one pupil and not to another? If one pupil can find an incentive for studying grammar, then we should study that child to find out what the incen- tive is, and then try to use it elsewhere. TESTING MACHINERY AND PROCESS 211 School machinery. We insist upon reducing certain school practices to routine. Just how much time is consumed in getting the children into and out of the building, in collect- ing and distributing wraps and supplies, and with what regularity are such standards maintained? To what extent are habits of neatness about desks established, when judged by the number of daily reminders to delinquents? We spend much time and worry over promotions. Just how accurately is each pupil classified in each of his sub- jects? Whenever he is much ahead of his class he is losing time, and when he is too much behind he is working under a handicap. So we could go on almost indefinitely inquiring about the curriculum, the daily program, handling the study and recitation processes, asking specific questions, answers to which describe or define in concrete, often in quantitative terms, some particular activity which the school aims to perfect. The more one tries to bring the customary general aims of culture, moral development, etc., down to where they can be thought of in terms of what they do, and of what it takes to produce them, that is, in terms of what is actu- ally going on in the school, the more one is convinced that there are very few educational results or products that can not be measured rather definitely, for after all culture and moral eflBciency are more than vague qualities of soul. They are practical modes of behavior, which rest upon innumer- able specific habits, and innumerable bits of knowledge, both of which can in most cases be singled out and measured. What children have learned must show somewhere in their behavior. If it does not, then no evidence exists that they have learned it. If a child has improved in writing he writes better than he did before; if he has improved in attendance, figiu-es will show how much; if he has improved in leadership he will be seen directing others in play, and oflFering sugges- 212 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION tions about how to dramatize the lesson or how to find some new facts about the habits of the frog that is under discus- sion in nature study. Most of these things that go to make up culture, or physical, social, and moral efficiency, are not so very vague when we come to look for them in these forms. 3. The means for measuring these results Records and reports. Until recently the supervisor has seldom asked the teacher to report on more than two or three things that are not directly connected with children's studies. They asked for records of attendance, punishments, and progress in studies. The formal examination was used for measuring the latter, while the bare figures from the daily register told of attendance and punishments. To-day, how- ever, we wish to measure all the wide variety of processes and results, of which those suggested above are but typical. For this purpose the examination is stiU useful, but, in addition, careful records of many things not reached by ordinary examinations are being kept, and from these records standards and norms are being worked out, by means of which the teacher may quickly and effectively determine the progress her pupils are making. To these two means there is to be added, perhaps the most effective of all, the standardized tests and scales. To use any one of these means effectively the teacher must understand it, know where and when to use it, and the meaning of the results obtained. The examination as a means of measurement. Though susceptible of many abuses, the examination can serve two important functions in teaching. In the first place, it can be made to test results of teaching as they appear in the forms of habits and knowledge. In the second place it has a rather definite educative value in itself. As a test of a child's skill or knowledge the examination is designed to find out what the child does not know about TESTING MACHINERY AND PROCESS 21S the subject, in order that the question of what next to teach may be dealt with. In this the examination is distinguished from the informal test, given as a part of the ordinary reci- tation, where the aim is to bring to light and to clear up the temporary difficulties within a certain narrow field. The examination is exhaustive, and its results are quite as fully a measure of the final effectiveness of the teacher's work as of the children's study. The educative value of such experience lies in the fact that it furnishes a motive (though not the best) for carrying important processes to a higher degree of perfection, and for making a more careful organization of the essential facts. In focusing attention upon these things the child not only learns the things that it is important he should learn, but he receives training in how to get at the essential things in his studies. Criteria as to examinations. The teacher needs to know how to conduct examinations that wiU achieve these results. For this there are at least a few criteria which may be uni- versally followed. First of all, one should decide exactly what the examination is to find out, and then formulate the questions to those ends. In most examinations there will be two, and in some cases three types of questions. All examinations wiU call for facts or information, and for the interpretation or application of those facts, and in some studies there will be questions involving execution. Over- emphasis on any one of the forms is entirely possible. The questions should always be clearly stated, and the test should cover the entire field. Examinations should never be held over a class as a threat, nor should their results be used as the sole basis for deciding the classification of chil- dren. The examination should not replace the briefer and more frequent test. Finally, it should ordinarily be in writ- ing, and the class should know that it is coming. 214 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Defects in examination tests. There are important diflS- culties in the way of using examinations, part of which lie in the fact that the questions are too often not formulated according to these criteria. 1. They are too often merely factual, and so test the child's memory only, or they ask for too many unimportant details. 2. The examination is often made too long, or too diflS- cult, or too easy. If too long or too difficult it tends to dis- courage the class, and if too easy it does not really test the class. 3. The real point at which the examination falls short is in the fact that it furnishes no adequate basis for com- parison of results between classes, or from year to year, for the reason that there is no common standard to apply in reading papers. Teachers commonly suppose that they can mark a set of papers all on the same basis, but investiga- tion has shown that this is not at all true. ^ Variability in marking illustrated. For example. Starch and EUiott had a high-school student solve a simple prob- lem in plane geometry and gave his answer to forty-nine competent geometry teachers to grade on the scale of to 12 J. Their grades were as follows: — 9 gave it 6 gave it 6 1 gave it 2 2 gave it 6^ 2 gave it 3 4 gave it 7 6 gave it 4 1 gave it 8 2 gave it ^ 2 gave it 9 10 gave it 5 1 gave it 10 2 gave it 5^ 1 gave it 12^ The range here, even in the case of an exact problem in geometry, is from zero to perfect. It is clearly evident that 1 Starch and Elliott, "Reliability of the Gradmg of High-School Work in English": in School Review, vol. xx, pp. 442-57; "Reliability of Grading Work in Mathematics," ibid, vol. xxi, pp. 254-59; "Reliability of Grading Work in History," ibid., vol. xxi, pp. 676-81. TESTING MACHINERY AND PROCESS 215 these forty-nine teachers were looking at very different aspects of that paper. Some looked at the form, some at the spelling, some at carelessness, some at the amomit of absolute accuracy, some gave it the advantage of the doubt, etc. An examination of these studies by Starch and Elliott must fully convince us that the results of ordinary examinations cannot serve as an adequate basis for pro- motion, or for the comparison of one school or class with another. With the growing complexity of our educational problems such comparisons are absolutely essential, other- wise sixth-grade ability in one school cannot mean sixth- grade ability in another. Every one who has seen chil- dren enter a school from some other city or district knows of the frequency with which such children have to be en- tirely reclassified, and that because grade two or grade five in one school was not the same as grade two or five in another. Nor can they ever be until we fiind a more defi- nite standard for measuring the results of school work. 4. The use of standardized scales and tests If anything like reliable comparative studies of the achievement of children in different schools are to be made, — studies so essential to any broad and scientific educa- tional policy, as well as to effective class teaching, — some means for making such comparisons has to be found. The beginning of comparative school measurement. As early as 1897, 1902, 1903, and 1904, Dr. J. M. Rice made some extended comparative studies of the results of a number of carefully devised tests of spelling, arithmetic, and language.^ These were given in a large number of city school sys- * The results of these investigations were published in the Forums vol. 23, pp. 163-72, and 409-19; vol. 34, pp. 281-97, and 437-52; vol. 35, pp. 269-93, and 440-57. 216 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION terns. On the basis of the results he declared that there was Httle or no relationship between good spelling, and any one of the methods in use; little or none between poor spelling and foreign parentage; or between ability to spell and the amount of time spent on the subject. His findings in arith- metic and language were equally surprising. The greatest value of his work proved to be the impetus it gave to sci- entific studies of educational achievements. By 1908 there had resulted a carefully standardized set of tests for the measurement of specific arithmetic abilities,^ and in 1910 the first complete scale for measuring the quality of hand- writing 2 was devised. Since then there have been com- pleted other standard tests and scales for the measurement of results in writing, arithmetic, composition, reading, drawing, and speUing, and in due time tests for history, civics, grammar, and other elementary and high-school studies now in process undoubtedly will be perfected. ^ Use of the standard tests. It is not the function of a book on school management to explain the theory of the process of constructing or using such tests,^ but as tools which the teacher must use in the management of her instruction, some idea of their practical use should be given. As an illustration take the Thorndike writing scale,^ which consists of a series of specimens of children's writing, ^ Stone, C. W., Arithmetical Abilities and Soine Factors Determining Them. Teachers College Contributions, no. 19 (1908). 2 Thorndike, "Handwriting": in Teachers College Record, March, 1910. ' For a brief note on all the eariier efforts in these lines see Johnson, Joseph Henry, "A Brief Tabular History of the Movement Toward Stand- ardization by Means of Scales and Tests of Educational Achievement in the Elementary School Subjects"; in Educational Administration and Supervision, vol. n, pp. 483-91 (October, 1916). * The best book for the teacher on the use and meaning of the standard tests is Monroe, De Voss, and Kelly, Educational Tests and MeasuremerUs. (Houghton Miflain Company, 1917.) ^ This scale is published on a single large sheet, and for sale by Teachers College, New York. TESTING MACHINERY AND PROCESS 217 which have been so arranged that their qualities are rep- resented by scores of 0, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 17. That is, the specimens of value 9 are exactly as much superior to those of value 7 as they are inferior to those of value 11, etc. To measure a child's writing, therefore, place it first under one and then another of these specimens till finally the one is found which it most nearly resembles, then give it that score. Such scores, or grades, have a universal meaning, — that is, a paper scored by a standard scale ought to rank the same, regardless of where or by whom scored, and hence comparable results are obtained. The writing scales of Ayres ^ and Freeman ^ are used in a very similar way. The use of composition scales ^ is quite as simple, though they require more time. They are made up of a series of compositions, with values assigned, as in the case of the writing scales, and their use consists in com- paring the composition to be measured with those on the scale till one of equal merit is found. The use of scales and tests for the other subjects is no more difficult than this. All may be used by teachers, and all are easily available for the teacher at a very slight cost. Every teacher should obtain copies of these standard tests, and familiarize herself with practical ways of using them, and learn how to diagnose the results.* * Ayres, L. P., A Scale for Measuring the EandwrUing of School Children. (Russell Sage Foundation, Publication no. 113.) 2 Freeman, F. N., The Teaching ofHandvmting. (Houghton Mifflin Com- pany, 1914.) ^ Hillegas, Milo, "A Scale for the Measurement of Quality in English Composition by Young People"; in Teachers College Records, vol. xm (September, 1912). Also, Ballou, F. W., Scales for the Measurement of English Composition. (The Harvard-Newton Bulletins, no. 11, September, 1914, Harvard University.) * Monroe, De Voss, and Kelly's Educational Tests and Measurements describe each test and tell how and where copies may be obtained. The cost, either singly or by the hundred, is small. «18 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Practical use of these tests. As in the case of ordinary examinations these standard tests should not replace the brief test, nor need they necessarily replace the examina- tion for certain purposes. They will, however, be a valuable check on examinations for purposes of promotion or re- classification, and for supervisory and administrative pur- poses they will soon become indispensable. They show up the results of teaching in sufficiently objective form so that they can be fuUy understood by any one who has a simple working knowledge of the tests. This has untold advantages to every school officer. The administrator may then know what amount of education he is getting for the money expended, the supervisor may then know the real effectiveness of the curriculmn and the extent to which reasonable standards are being attained in different schools, and the teacher may know from the way in which her re- sults compare with established standards just how effec- tive are the methods and devices she is applying. To the pupil also they set certain clearly defined goals toward which he may work. His own past record stands before him as something definite to try to surpass, while the standard for his grade stands as a constant measure of his place in his class. Under such circumstances a child will enjoy comi>etition with himself. A writing scale hung in the room, to which a child can be sent at any time with his written work, will prove a valuable stimulus to care in writing. 5. Otkef means of measuring results Qualities which are hard to measure. As suggested above, there are many featiues of school work that cannot be checked up by ordinary examinations, or even by the best improved scales, — such for instance as neatness, the movement of pupils, blackboard work, light, temperature TESTING MACHINERY AND PROCESS 219 of room, spoken language, correct posture, and the influ- ence of tardiness, ill health, etc. To get some check on problems of this character is extremely desirable. In one school we find a cast-iron system of classroom mechanics, while in another there will be nearly the opposite. In one place manners, neatness, and correct speech and posture are carefully guarded, while in another they receive little or no attention. Some kind of standards, even though they may not be applied universally, ought to be developed by every teacher for her own use. In order to do this she must set about studying the mechanism of her school, with a view to working out the very best way to operate every detail, and when that best way is found, try to develop standards of performance and hold herself and her pupils responsible for living up to them. To do this the teacher will need to study her own and other schools, as well as books and reports. Systematic visiting or observing of other schools for the purpose of comparing her own with the practice of others is most de- sirable. From such trips the teacher should carry home the best ideas, and try them out in her own work. From books and reports of investigations she will gather other facts which win help her to perfect her work. In one school she will get a new idea about handling wraps or collecting papers, in another she will discover a better plan for de- veloping neatness in board work or for correcting oral speech; in a book on school hygiene she will learn the proper standards for ventilation, temperature, light, seat- ing of children, etc. She will perhaps keep a chart illus- trating correct sitting and standing positions, and watch to see how i\;pidly she can develop habits in her pupils that will bring them up to this standard. Desirable schoolroom standards. It is only by being everlastingly on the alert for the best and most educative 220 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION methods that one can hop)e to attain a reasonable degree of perfection in these featm-es of school work. When a teacher has decided, then the next step is to discover the least amount of time the performance should consume, and set that up as a standard to be maintained. When certain eflficient monitors have been able to collect and distribute supplies or wraps in a given time, then set that time as a standard. If James has placed his work on the board in a neat and orderly manner, leave it on the board a few days, caUing attention to that as a standard performance. WTien a child has handed in a neat and orderly paper, keep it for future reference. Comparing with past records is a good practice for both teacher and pupil. The standard for at- tendance and tardiness should always be 100 per cent per- fect, as it should also be for clean hands and faces. The main idea to be insisted upon here is that in these processes, just as in writing, spelling, and arithmetic, we need some definite standards to gauge our work by. Each of these processes plays its part in the sum total of the child's training. Some of them are directly, others indirectly educative, but all are important, and it is the teacher's busi- ness to maintain each at its very best. This she can nev6r do without an earnest study of her ways, means, and re- sults. 6. Summary of Part III In Part 11 we were thinking from the point of view of the indi- vidual child in order to establish the idea that the school is made up of and for individual children. In this part we have thought of the child in his relationships to the group, and consequently of the problems of group organization and control. How to organize and to manage the physical aspects of the school, the children, the cur- riculum, the day's work, the study and recitation processes, and finally how to measure the effectiveness of our machinery and the processes we have directed, have been our problems. TESTING MACHINERY AND PROCESS 221 In our examination of the necessary machinery of organization we have insisted that while the chief purpose of all such machinery is to serve as a means, yet there is no reason why much if not all of it shall not be in itself educative as well. This applies throughout our discussion, but in particular to the machinery of grading and promotion, where the educative value of group as opposed to individual teaching is especially pointed out. This does not mean that individual differences are ignored. Quite the opposite in fact, for the most essential of these differences are made the basis of the grouping; and flexibility of the plan, in terms of these differences, is likewise provided for. In discussing the organization of the curriculum we have pointed out the distinction between the traditional and the modem course of study, showing that to-day social and pedagogical principles determine our selection and organization of materials, and that as a consequence the curriculum is not only thoroughly elastic but is in a constant process of remaking. Our study of the daily program was designed to clarify the principles involved in organizing the day's work, and to illustrate their application in typical situations. The problem of evaluating subjects, of programming studies in terms of their bearing upon the question of fatigue, and the advantages of carefully planned work were discussed as they enter into the practical tasks of the day. In outlining plans for managing the group at study special emphasis was laid upon the idea of study outside as well as inside the school, the purpose being to establish the largest possible num- ber of specific work habits. The problems of assignment, study, and recitation were differentiated, and special stress laid, first, upon setting the class to work at specific problems, and seeing to it that they had a real motive for study; and second, upon directing them in methods of finding, organizing, and verifying facts. The management of the recitation is the real test of teaching efficiency. The teaching aim and the aim of the learner must be clear, and plans devised for their attainment. The child's methods of work and the character of his response are to be the teacher's cue for giving directions. Testing is not to replace teaching, drill is not to be overworked, the teacher is to learn the art of listening and to avoid telling when a mere suggestion will suffice, and chil- dren are not to depend solely upon textbooks. 222 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION Finally, we have discussed the whole question of measuring the efficiency of school work. Its importance, the wide variety of proc- esses and products to be measured, and methods and devices for measuring them were outlined. Special emphasis was placed upon the practical value of statistical ways of stating values, and upon the use of scientific standards and scales. If the teacher will supplement what has been so briefly presented in these chapters with further reading, and especially with careful observation of her own work, it is believed that the machinery of school management will take on a new meaning. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Monroe, De Voss, and Kelly, Educational Tests and Measurements. Parker, S. C, Methods of Teaching in High Schools, chap. xxn. Strayer, G. D., A Brief Course in the Teaching Process, chap. xix. Thomdike, E. L., Edu/sation, chap. xi. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. What are some of the school processes and products that are difficult or impossible to measure effectively.'* 2. It has been said that the school has to deal with psychological, bio- logical, sociological, economic, and educational phenomena. Give examples of each that you think would be met with in the manage- ment of a school. 3. Explain why it is more important now that we should be able to measure the results of teaching than it was a half century ago. 4. Why has the teaching profession been slow to undertake a scientific measurement of educational achievement.'' 6. How would you test out the efficiency of the following plans: — a. For entering and leaving the building.'' 6. For distributing and collecting wraps and supplies? c. For keeping the room neat and orderly? 6. If you were visiting a school with a view to evaluating its results in teaching cooperation, leadership, politeness, and correct speech, where and in what form would you expect to find the necessary facts to work by? 7. The school aims to produce culture. In what ways would you look in a school for evidence that this aim is being achieved? 8. What ends should the formal examination serve? How does the examination differ in nature and purpose from the test? 9. What and how many of the above questions are fact questions? What ones call for application or interpretation of facts? TESTING MACHINERY AND PROCESS 223 10. State the most important ways in which the examination is inade- quate for measuring results in the school. 11. What have investigations shown as to the reliability of the marks which teachers assign to examination papers? 2i4. What is meant bv a scale for measuring the results of teaching? Explain the advantage of such an instrument over the ordinary examination. PART IV THE TEACHER THE INSTRUMENT ^^Y CHAPTER XVI THE TEACHER'S PEBSONALITY Outline of Chapter 1. The problem of Part IV. — The teacher and the task — The personal question. 2. The meaning of personality — The nature of personality — Positive and negative tjrpes — Positive and negative teachers — Frankness and sincerity. — Sympathy — Tact — Self-sacrifice — Optimism. S. Making the personality effective — Good breeding' — Personal appearance — Good manners — Conversation — Correct English — A good voice. 4. Training for personality — Practice decision — Set up right ideals — Develop spe- cific habits — Observing, learning, growing. 5. Summary — Beferences — Questions. 1. The Problem of PaH IV The teacher and the task. It would seem that there is no reward too great for society to pay to the man or woman who is competent to bring to a practical realization in the school the ideas and principles which have been set forth above., The teacher who can understand and appre- ciate child life, and who can devise a scheme of organiza- tion and management such that a natural and normal educative process will result, will have rendered to the children individually and to the state a service for which neither can ever fully compensate. The task which has been sketched out here at some length is by no means a simple one. From the standpoint of hard work, from the stand- point of technical knowledge and skill demanded, as well as from the standpoint of the hi^[5r human values involved, it is a task worthy of the very best men and women we have. The personal question. What kind of man or woman must I be if I would enter this field of work? is the ques- tion every teacher should ask herself.^ What kind of man * The practical importance of personality in the teacher's equipment has been brought out by numerous investigations, all of which have shown 228 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION or woman would the state have me be? Even if these ques- tions could be fully answered, which they cannot be, it is doubtful if our ideal teacher would ever be found. Yet it is worth while to try to set forth at least some of the essen- tial elements without which a reasonable hope of success is impossible, for after all it is only by knowing what it is we wish to attain that we are able to work intelligently toward its attainment. It is merely another case of attempt- ing to set up a clear aim, and to establish a standard or basis for measuring our own efficiency. There are at least four of the larger aspects of this prob- lem which are worth considering here. First, the teacher's personality, which every one would set down as of the very first importance; second, the question of her professional qualifications and growth; third, her health and physical vigor; and fom-th, her relationships with those with whom she must work and her ways of handling the details of her daily tasks. These we shall treat, in order, in the four chapters of this last part. 2. The meaning of personality The nature of personality. It is not necessary here to enter upon a philosophical discussion of personaUty, or to seek for a very exact connotation for the term. We all use the word constantly, and know roughly and for practical purposes what it means. We think of personality as some- thing we possess. We say of a man that he possesses, or has, a good or a poor personality, and commonly include in the term all that goes to make up what the man really means to us. If his worth is great in our opinion, then we believe him to be thorou^y trustworthy in every way, and, in conclusively that a strong personality is one of the chief elements in suc- cess. For a r6simi6 of such studies see Fourteenth Year Book of the National Society for the Study of Education, part n. THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY 229 addition, that he is energetic, cheerful, aggressive, and above all gentle, manly, and clean. On the other hand, the grouch, the chronic complainer, the man without a pro- gram or an aspiration, the slouchy and iU-mannered man, is repulsive to us, and we say his personality is weak and disagreeable. Our first concern is with the extent to which this posses- sion is inherited or acquired. Such a question cannot be examined at any length here, but we should keep in mind one thing, viz.: that whatever we may possess by inheri- tance must undergo a process of development. Biological investigations show that environmental factors furnish the conditions in which this development takes place, and modify, at least to some extent, the course of development. So even if we cannot determine what characteristics we shaQ inherit, we can to a large extent control the environ- ment in which our development shall take place, which is to say that if we choose to do so we can improve our per- sonalities. This is the all important point here for us, for if improvement were not possible then any discussion of the subject would be superfluous. What, then, is our problem .^^ To what specific ends shall we exercise this control over oiu* surroimdings.? What traits or qualities of our personal make-up shall we attempt to cultivate? These are questions which every teacher should seriously put to herself, and try seriously to answer in terms of well-established habits, attitudes, and ideals. Positive and negative types. We are all familiar with people belonging to two general types of personalities, the positive and the negative. The possessor of the one is an executive, a director of affairs; that of the other is a follower, who merely fits into another man's program. The one knows how to make a decision, while the other stands forever in doubt. In an argument the one goes straight to the point. / 230 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION dealing only with essentials, while the other qualifies and requalifies every statement until finally he has drifted quite clear of the main issue. The one ventures something in life; the other is afraid of risk, and waits till the fight is won before he is quite sure which side he believes in. Then, un- conscious of his own weakness, he tries to ride to victory. The one beHeves in something and knows it; if the other has any serious convictions he does not seem to know it. When the one reads or travels he gains in power, for with him to know means to act. His knowledge is dynamic. With the other knowledge means at best accumulated information only. The one possesses self-confidence, and inspires others with a belief in his ability to lead; the opinion of the other is rarely offered or asked, and never followed. The one lays plans for action, and turns up a chance for himself in life; the other follows the beaten path, and waits for his chance to turn up. So one might draw an endless number of sim- ilar illustrations from practical life, and everywhere it would be the same picture of energy, courage, conviction, and action, versiis weakness, indecision, and inertia. Positive and negative teachers. To be sure this pictures the extremes of the two types, but they are not unfamUiar pictures to any of us. We know them both in the poHtical world; we know them in business; we know them in rehgion; we know them in social work; we know them in law, in medicine, and in teaching. The positive type in the school- room rarely sends a case of discipline to her principal. She is not afraid to tell the children she does not know. Work is not drifting in her room, it is going per schedule. Her classes in civics learn what is going on at the city hall, and are familiar with the practical problems of their own city, dis- trict, or county government. The ix)sitive teacher appears energetic, and seems to believe in her work. She is industri- ous, becomes a part of her community, and is sought after THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY 231 by other communities. On the other hand, the negative type of teacher is constantly consulting her principal about trifling details, and expects him to take care of all cases of discipline. She dodges the child's question, rather than ad- mit that she does not know. The program in her room is either ironclad, or the other extreme. Her class in civics will know the term "mayor," but not what their own mayor is doing. Such a teacher dreads the visit of the principal or the parent, and seldom makes a serious impress as a mem- ber of her community. Frankness and sincerity. The essential qualities of a good personality must include frankness and sincerity. We like the man or woman who is frank and honest, and we dislike the poser. The one inspires confidence, the other mistrust. The advice of the one will be Hstened to even by his enemies, but not so the other. Men like Lincoln and Gladstone, men who have been universally loved and trusted even by their enemies, were not shammers or palaverers, or namby-pam - bys or make-believes. They worked, and, when necessary, fought, in the open. Sincerity implies loyalty. Without loyalty to high purpose, and to the policy of superior school officers, a teacher is not only personally miserable but ut- terly impossible as a part of the institution. Sincerity also implies courage, and the man who has the courage of his convictions is respected, even though his convictions may be wrong. The sincere teacher is the one who is impartial in her work with children. She does not try to bluff or frighten. If she disagrees with an order from her principal she may protest, but if so it will be openly to him and not complainingly to her pupils or fellow teachers. In any case she will carry out the order to the best of her ability. Sjrmpathy. Calm and intelligent sympathy, as opposed to mere sentimentalism, is for the teacher, more perhaps than for the soldier or business man, a quaUty of personality 232 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION which is indispensable. The teacher's business is not merely to accumulate information, but to impart it to others. This means that she must enter most intimately into the Hves of others. This she cannot do without the ability to put her- self in another's place, to think and feel as her various chil- dren think and feel. Nothing demands a keener insight and imagination, and a greater amount of self-forgetfulness, than the claims of a room or playground full of children, some of whom are strong and some weak, some happy and some sad, some from good homes and some from poor ones, some aggressive and some bashful and afraid, and each with his own little likes and dislikes, his own little victories and defeats. To be able and ever ready to put one's self in any one of these thousand possible ix)sitions is to possess that invaluable human quality we call sympathy, which is a substantial element in leadership. Tact. The man who has a ready power for appreciating and doing or saying the thing which circumstances require has a peculiar power of discernment, a discriminating sense, a mental touch, that will tide him over many difficulties in life, and smooth for others the social path which their own imcouthness has ruffled. Between this power and the power to deceive there is a wide gulf. Tact is not hypocrisy, or cant, or insincerity; it is not the power to evade, or dis- tort, or pretend; it is not craftiness, or cunning, or trickery. Tact is good sense and keen insight and quick decision at work in critical places making needed adjitstments. It is diplo- macy in a wholesome sense, it is a swift application of the principles of mediation, and forces others to speak or act with discretion. It is quick, accurate, and skillful self- direction. It is clean strategy. If such qualities are essential in business and politics they are more than important in teaching. The teacher is pri- marily an adjuster. She stands between the child and the THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY 23S future citizen, between the home and the State. She must meet children, parents, school trustees, superintendents, principals, and educational meddlers. She cannot do this if she is not quick to sense discord, and skillful in applying the needed adjustment. Self-sacrifice. Another element in personality that is always admired is a willingness to serve without praise. Schiller declared that ingratitude is the world's pay, and that is very often true in the kind of service a teacher must render. To be generous without praise is not easy, when so many men seem to win by egotism and self-advertising. We know of course that a quack wins by the method of blatant self -advertising; but we know, too, that few if any of our really great men have won their ways to fame by such methods. It is not the person who seeks martyrdom either that we have in mind. Franklin once said that after he had tried hard to overcome his pride and to discipline himself to be humble, he was surprised to discover that he was proud of his humility. It is in such ways that people often deceive themselves and only feign self-sacrifice. This is the cheapest sort of posing. The emphasis must be upon service. If something needs to be done, do it, not to be seen, but in order that life somewhere may be better. However, as genuine self-sacrifice does not mean humble- ness for its own sake, neither does it mean that we shall go to the extreme of forgetting self entirely. We are not true to society in a large sense when we fail to treat ourselves as well as we treat others. While we are giving freely of our time and energy to lift others to a higher plane of living, we must not forget that the obligation to lift ourselves is quite as great. It is sometimes easier to let a child go home disappointed and discouraged than it is to help him over his little mountain of trouble. It is sometimes easier to ^.llow our minds to go wool-gathering by the open fireside, 234 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION than to force them to spend the evening in soKd work. Society wants both these needs to be met. The one involves complete self-forgetfulness, the other forgetfulness of the narrower self only. In a very real sense they are equally unselfish and important. Optimism. However honest and self-sacrificing a man may be, if he is not optimistic, if he does not thoroughly be- Heve in humanity and in himself, if he has no enthusiasm, then he should have no part in directing the training of chil- dren. Building air-castles may seem a fruitless enterprise, and so it is so far as its influence on the landscape is con- cerned, but to the builder it means everything. To him it is essentially a process of self -development and self-realization. The optimist trusts himself and trusts others. The pessimist thinks the world "has it in for him," and doubts the good intentions, even of his friends. The optimist fights for a better city government, while the pessimist sits and com- plains of the present bad one. Everywhere it is the optimist who proposes a plan of action, to which, from his cave of despair, the pessimist expresses a dotibt as to its feasi- bility. The schoolroom is no place for the man or woman who is forever crossing a Slough of Despond. It is no place for the chronic grouch to chant his tales of woe. A pessimist is rarely constructive. He is never ready to cooperate cheer- fully, — to him the world is all dark brown. In the school- room we need leaders, men and women who are looking up, not down, who are glad they are living, who have a sense of humor, and can smile at diflBculties. We need men and women who can imderstand and apply Stevenson's recipe for joyousness, which tells us "To take the old world by the hand and frolic with it." Only such i>eople are wholesome companions and leaders for children. THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY 9S5 3. Making the personality effective Good breeding. The above elements of personality may not be mutually exclusive at every point, and they may not be fully comprehensive of all we sometimes mean by the term, but without these the teacher would be handi- capped in a fundamental way. On the other hand, a teacher may possess them all in good degree and still fall short of our ideal teacher for want of skill in their use, for want of those simple acquisitions implied in the terms "good breed- ing," "good manners," "address," etc. In his discussion of the education of a gentleman, Locke states the importance of these in forceful language when he says : " Breeding is that which sets a gloss upon all his other good qualities, and ren- ders them useful to him, in procuring him the esteem and good will of all that he comes near"; and again: "Virtue and parts, though they are allowed their due commendation, yet are not enough to procure a man a good reception, and make him welcome wherever he comes." ^ To be a "plain blunt man" does not mean to lack refine- ment; nor, on the other hand, does elegance of manner, dress, carriage, and conversation imply a lack of force and directness in character. To make our solid virtues count, to get results with all the good there is in us, we must have an open sesame to our social world, to the world of men and women; and that open sesame is to a large extent knowledge of social standards in these things, and skill in their use. Personal appearance. The teacher who does not appear well, whose clothes are not in good taste, whose hair, teeth, and nails are not well cared for, the man who does not shave daily, is at a very great disadvantage in applying for a posi- tion, and also in kefjping one.^ These are evidences of gen- ^ Locke, John, Some Thoughts Concerning Education. 2 By an investigation of the "Characteristics of the Best Teachers 236 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION tility, or the want of it, and they can never pass unnoticed. Cleanliness and good taste in dress are fairly good evidence of clean language and clean morals, and always mark the genteel, the socialized individual. Good manners. There is much less of the ceremonial in the manners and customs of to-day than there was in the age of chivalry. Democracy in government has brought with it even greater democracy in social relationships, but there is still a social code which has become a fixed mode of procedure for all, and to ignore it is to be labeled as ill- mannered. For a lady there is no better insurance against insult than correct manners, nor for man or woman is there a better key to the confidence of those whom they would influence. We cannot all be familiar with the etiquette of international diplomacy, but we can and must know how to meet people, how to entertain, and be entertained. We must know the etiquette of the parlor, the dining-room, the the- ater, the church, and the street. Conversation. To be able to converse pleasantly and in- teUigently is almost a prerequisite in any position of leader- ship, and a little study of the simple principles of conversa- tion is not a frivolous occupation for a teacher. There can be no pleasure or profit either in a conversation which does not hinge upon a common interest, and to be able to dis- cover that interest is the very beginning of skill in conversa- tion. The teacher, the business man, the insurance man, and the socialist are four people who will do well to remem- ber that the line of least resistance for them — which is inevitably "talking shop" — is not always the route that leads to that interest. Again, a conversation will be un- Recognized by Children," Kratz found that in every grade except one more than fifty i>er cent of the children referred to the dress and personal appear- ance of the teacher as among the most important characteristics. H. E. Kratz, Studies and Observations in the Schoolroom (Boston Educational Publishing Company, 1907), chap. v. THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY 2S7 pleasant if dominated entirely by one person. Some people try always to lead the conversation. Such a person should frequently practice the art of following instead. In follow- ing one can contribute, without being a mere namby-pamby. If the conversation is about a matter of business, then directness and brevity are the first essentials. Speech- making, gossip, and cheap wit are everywhere evidence of boorishness. It is far better to be simple and frank, and to talk about only such things as we know about, for then we rule out the over-dramatic, the chatter, and the small talk, and leave plenty of room for real brilliancy, genuine wit, and true social intercourse. Correct English. Correct English is essentially a part of good manners and good conversation, and needs to be men- tioned here not only for its importance in these respects, but for its business and professional value as well. A very large percentage of written applications go into the waste- basket because they are poorly worded. That means that the world regards skill in written expression as an index to character and training in general. This is a plain but sig- nificant fact which the teacher cannot ignore. Clear and forceful EngHsh, either written or spoken, has a force and a charm that cannot be denied. The President's reply to the peace proposals of the Pope was a subject of comment the world over, not only because he restated clearly the position of the United States in the great world war, or because he answered an important communication with plain facts, but also because he couched his answer in the choicest of English. As one reads that letter he can fairly feel the heart throb of our democracy, so clear is the thought, so forceful and direct are the words, so delicate and refined is the phraseology. The teacher has constant need for such an instrument, and constant opportunity to broaden her power to serve as she develops skill in its use. Probably 238 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION no one accomplishment, after good manners, counts for so much with a teacher as the abiUty to express herself in clear and forceful EngHsh. A good voice. The teacher is so constantly engaged in talking that it seems almost trite to suggest here the im- portance of a good voice. ^ And it would be if it were not true that one general criticism of teachers is that they have disagreeable, raspy voices. There is no doubt that adults, as weU as children, are distracted and annoyed by nervous, throaty tones. Nervous, mental, or bodily fatigue is Hkely to show first of all in one's voice. The voice will be pitched higher, the speech will become louder, and the articulation poorer, until finally, in extreme cases, the speaker will seem to have lost his poise entirely. On the other hand, we are all familiar with the soothing effect of a soft, mellow voice, under good control, and recognize what a splendid asset it is in a classroom. 4. Training for 'personality The great question is, after all, how am I to go about it to develop my personahty so that I will possess the charm and force that are essential to leadership. Can I will to be a positive as opposed to a negative type of person? Can I put aside a disposition to be bashful or secretive, and learn to be frank and sincere.? Can I learn to be sympathetic, tact- ful, and self-sacrificing; and can I put away my gloom and doubt and become an enthusiastic behever in life's possibili- ties? And if I can acquire these excellent qualities, how can I make them tell in giving me a place of power and influence in the worid's work? Can I become interested in making my personality attractive? How shall I improve my appear- ' * The Speaking Voice, by Katherine Jewell Everts (Harper & Bros., 1908), will afford helpful suggestions. Also A Hand Book of Oral Reading, by Lee Emerson Bassett (Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston, 1917). THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY 239 ance, and manners, and conversation, and use of English, and how can I develop a good voice? Practice decision. Certainly there are no patent recipes for doing any of these things, and it should be said at once that we cannot make something out of nothing. What we have by inheritance is our foundation material, back of which we cannot go, and in this material we are not all equals. But because we cannot all be Newtons, or Shake- speares, we should not sit and mourn, but instead we should set about it to become all it is in us to become. Ours is the task of building the superstructure and not the foundation, and we can never find the possibilities of that foimdation until we begin to take its measure in terms of life's problems. Every man has it in him to puU against the cross-currents of the world, and if he neglects or refuses to pull, then he must be content to drift. Our task, then, is to exercise this power to choose our course. Instead of waiting like a Micawber for things to turn up, we must go about turning them up for ourselves. We must learn to make decisions, and to follow them up with action. There is scarcely a moment passes in which we are not presented with the possibility of making a choice in something. From morning until night there is a constant flood of ideas coming to our minds, in response to the thou- sand practical situations we find ourselves in from hour to hour. The negative type of person waits for these ideas to settle themselves, and then acts in terms of the one on top. This is lazy and cowardly. We should examine critically every idea we have and seek for others, and out of this com- plex we should choose the one which is to guide our action, and then have the courage to stand for the consequences. The best way to begin is to seek every possible oppor- tunity for making and carrying out a definite decision. Shall I arise now and prepare for the day's work, or shall 240 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION I sleep awhile longer? Why wait for a decision to get itself made? Decide, and get up! Why spend a week trying to make up one*s mind what dress to wear to the i>arty? De- cide it, and then clear your mind for other things. Don*t go to the principal to find out what to do about a simple case of discipline, but force yourself to settle it alone. These seem like trifling details, and so they are for people with executive ability, but they are not trifling when de ciding them consumes a large percentage of a teacher's time and energy. It is by being positive, by deciding things with dispatch, by taking a definite stand in respect to small things, that wc may hope to overcome the indecision, weak- ness, and inertia of a negative personaHty. Set up right ideals. It is a good practice for one to try occasionally to imagine the kind of person he would Uke to be, and the sort of niche he would Hke to fill in the world. If I would like to be a great teacher, then just what does that mean, and what is my present self hke when measured in such terms? Am I as frank and sincere, as sympathetic, tactful, unselfish, and optimistic, as I would like to be? Am I as charming in my dress, manners, and conversa- tion as I make this hero of mine? Such self-examination forces one to define his ambitions and aspirations in specific terms, and this is precisely what we need. So often our ideas are only a vague longing to be great, or good, or clever, and we forget that mere dissatisfaction with our present selves — for that is about all such longing means — is not enough. It is not enough merely to be on the way. We must know where we are going if our steps are to count. Develop specific habits. Ideals, however well-defined, will serve as httle more than disturbers of the peace unless we begin to take stej>s to attain them. These stej>s are to be taken in the form of specific habits of conduct, habits of being sincere, sympathetic, tactful; habits of correct dress, THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY 241 maimers, and conversation. Only a few illustrations are necessary to suggest where and how to begin, and the first of these is that we are not to wait and look for something great or startling to begin with. To develop habits of sin- cerity we need to do two things: first, quit pretending to be what we are not; and second, practice being better in what we are, and learn to give good measure in all we do. If we will apply these general principles throughout the day, and every day, soon we will have the habit of greeting our children with a frank good-morning, and we will apply ourselves more earnestly in the preparation of our lessons, and we will learn to say yes when we mean yes, and no when we mean no. We will cease trying to "bluff," and say frankly, "I do not know, but wiU try to find out for you " (and will not forget the promise), and will be zealous for the progress of every child imder our care. We cannot become sympathetic by waiting to be moved to action by some great catastrophe. We must take note of small opportunities. They appear on the playground and in the classroom every day. Bashful little Mary has come to school for the first time, and feels very lonely be- cause no one seems to know her or to care to have her join the games. She needs a friend to drive away the loneliness, and to help her to fit into the new life. James is behind in his work and is discouraged. Lend him a hand for five min- utes after school, and send him home feeling that now he is going to win in his fight to keep up with his class. Mrs. Brown calls to scold you for punishing her son. Speak kindly to her and seek her cooperation. Observing, learning, growing. Similarly with tact, self- sacrifice, and optimism, it is in the lesser incidents of the daily work that we should seek opportunity to begin. It is not necessary to constantly antagonize people. Nagging at the children, scolding, getting angry, playing the spy. 242 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION are the opposite of tactful procedure. Tact in teaching forbids that we shall always tell John what he wants to know, and insists that we merely put him in a position to find out for himself. To tell him is the teacher's fatal line of least resistance. To merely point the way often involves effort or self-sacrifice. Practice it and practice it again must be oiu* motto. "As the teacher so the pupils" is nowhere so true as in the matter of cheerfulness. It is so easy to doubt when one is tired from a hard day's work, that oftentimes we imcon- sciously become gloomy and not too agreeable when the children seem restless. A little introspection at such times will often show that the teacher's bright, cheerful ways, her smile, her energy and enthusiasm have been replaced by a general attitude of pessimism. Can one ever over- come this.f^ Certainly not without trying. Trying here does not mean merely resolving to put away the gloom if it ever comes again, it means resolution plus "turning the trick" the first chance you have, and then again, and again, till you win. How can I learn correct dress, manners, etc.? Partly by reading, but largely by keeping my eyes open. There are dozens of magazines that deal with dress, and then there are people to look at, and pages of advertising, and shop win- dows. All there is to be known on the subject is easily avail- able. How do the people of my type and caQing dress? How do the best dressed people dress? It is all so very simple that one wonders why so much poor taste is shown. There are books on manners and conversation, and correct Eng- lish, aad there are examples of all of them everywhere we go. Read the best novels, essays, and biographies. Such books teem with suggestions and illustrations. One win- ter's study of these questions along the lines here suggested would be of invaluable service to teachers and indirectly THE TEACHER'S PERSONALITY 243 to the schools. How often the girls dress their hair, or pat- tern their waists after the fashion set by the teacher. How often do they copy their teacher's mannerisms and their phrases, and in the fundamentals as well as in these lesser attributes of personality, how often does the teacher set the standard for her whole community. We must cease to regard our education as complete when it has dealt with books alone. What have these books done to make us dif- ferent men and women personally, is the vital question. These differences must exist not only in the form of ideals and aspirations, but also in the form of specific habits of conduct. If we are really different, then our behavior will be different. Education for us must indeed be organized self -direction. 5. Chapter summary In summarizing, let us keep in mind the large importance of personality as a part of the teacher's equipment. To be positive rather than negative; to be frank and sincere; to be sympathetic, tactful, and self-sacrificing; and with all to be a thorough believer in the possibilities of life; these are the demands of the schoolroom, and they are the demands of real achievement everywhere. As we have seen, these qualities express themselves in good breeding; in our personal appearance; in our manners and conver- sation; in the quality of our English; and in the character and con- trol of our voices. We must remember, too, that these things are not all inherited. The responsibility for their attainment is our very own. Training and self-discipline in the practice of decision; in the development of right ideals and specific habits; in the powers of observation and imitation; these are the specific points of at- tack for the teacher who would enlarge her own personal power and charm, and through these her professional effectiveness. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bagley, W. C, Craftsmanshi'p in Teaching, chap. i. Eliot, C. W., "The New Definition of the Cultivated Man," in his Educa- tion for Efficiency. Hyde, W. DeWitt, The Teacher's Philosopkv. 244 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION McKenny, Chas., The Personality of the Teacher. Palmer, G. H., The Ideal Teacher. QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Define "personality" as you understand the term. 2. Try to analyze and evaluate the personality of some one whom you admire as a man or woman of high character. Try the same plan on yoiu*self , and on one of your former teachers. 3. Under the headings used in this chapter for analyzing character, try to set down the qualities you would regard as necessary for an ideal teacher. Set over against each of these a quality or trait of the op- posite sort. Where, in respect to these two extremes, do you place yourself as a teacher.'' 4. Classify a dozen of your friends as positive or negative. Try the same plan on your pupils and yom-self . 5. Mention some decisions you have made in the past in school work that put your frankness and sincerity to the test. 6. In what ways have you shown sympathy in your school work? 7. Think of the most tactful person you know. Is he a leader in his work and in his community? In what kinds of situations have you seen him show tact? Think of the most untactf ul person you know and apply these same inquiries. In what ways do you need to use tact in your work? 8. Who is the greatest optimist you know? Has he many friends? Do many seem to dislike him? Think of the greatest pessimist you know and apply these same questions. Which one seems to get most out of life? Which one seems to contribute most to society? Is there danger of being too optimistic; if so, what is the antidote for it? 0. Do you think Locke overstates the importance of good breeding? Think of the best-mannered person, the best-dressed, the best con- versationalist, the one who uses the best English, and the one who has the best voice. How many people did you have to name? Is any one whom you named specially short in respect to one or more of the other points? 10. Can you recall the name of any former teacher of yours who was espe- cially long or especially short in any one of these respects? Can you analyze the significance that quality had in adding to or detracting from that teadier's worth in the classroom and in the community? 11. In what ways have you tried to perfect yoiu- own appearance, man^ ners, etc.? Suggest methods for further growth. 12. What specific habits can you mention that you have consciously developed as a result of your desire to make a better appearance, to have better manners, to converse more easily and pleasantly, to per- fect your written and spoken English, and to increase the eflFective- ness of your voice ? What habits along these lines are you now trying to perfect? CHAPTER XVII THE TEACHER'S TRAINING AND GROWTH Outline of Chapter 1. Increased demand for better training — A decade of progress — New attitude and demands — Academic training demanded — Professional training demanded — Ejctent of training required — Trdning and merit in teaching — Why teachers lose their places — Teacher score cards. 2. The teacher's growth — Necessity for growth — Opportunities for growth — The teacher's reading — Professional meetings, visiting, etc. — Progress the only basis of sureness. 3. Summary — References — Questions. Something like a definite plan for the training of teachers was first instituted in the United States about three quar- ters of a century ago. Since that time, through each suc- ceeding decade, the problem of teacher training has gradu- ally become more clearly defined, and has received increased attention and support from the State and from leading edu- cational thinkers. Gradually the pubHc has come to realize that teaching is a dijQScult and a technical piece of work, requiring special preparation, and the old notion that "teachers are born, not made," has gradually disappeared. As this change has come about, the power to examine and certificate teachers for the schools has been taken out of the hands of local school trustees and placed in the hands of State and county school oflScials, while the issuance of certificates has been increasingly guarded by State legisla- tion. 1. Increased demand for better training A decade of progress. To-day the demand for carefully trained teachers is felt on every side. One needs only to set down a few facts and figures showing the extent to which facilities for training teachers already exist, and the tend- 246 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION ency toward better certification and minimum wage laws, to be convinced that the time is rapidly approaching when the education of teachers will be as carefully and fully specified as it now is for the nurse, physician, or engineer. Let us consider a few facts. ^ There were in the United States, at date of last report, 232 state normal schools, 314 imiversities and colleges with teacher-training departments, and 1481 high schools offering teacher-training courses. During the past decade State legislatm-es have increased their annual grants for the support of pubhc normal schools by nearly forty per cent, and the amount spent annually for buildings is rapidly increasing. In the 273 normal schools there were, in 1915, nearly 5000 teachers employed in training over 100,000 students. This is an increase over a decade ago of more than 60 per cent, in teachers, and 65 per cent, in students. We are not merely increasing training faciUties, how- ever, but corresponding to these rapidly-increasing faciU- ties for training teachers there has come an increase in the legal requirements for certification to teach. In about one third of the State legislatures which were in session in 1915, laws relating to the qualification of teachers were enacted, and everywhere the tendency was to replace the old exami- nation system with certain definite academic and profes- sional requirements as to previous training. Each year, too, these requirements are being more exactly stated in terms of the number of units of academic and professional work to be done in the normal school or the college. ^ An indication, similar to this, is seen in the emphasis placed ui>on training by our recently-enacted minimum- ^ For the following facts see the Reports of the U.S. Commissioner oj Education for 1905 and 1915. ' See Updegraff, H., Recognition given College Graduates in the Granting of Teachers' Certificates. School Review Monograph, no. vi (University of Chicago Press, 1915). THE TEACHER'S TRAINING AND GROWTH 247 wage laws. The Indiana law of 1907 illustrates the point clearly. This law determines the minimum daily wage for beginning teachers ** by multiplying two and one half cents by the general average given such teacher in his highest grade of Hcense at the time of contracting." For teachers of one year of successful experience, three cents; and for teachers of three or more years of experience, three and one half cents are used as the multiplicand. The law then states that " a teacher without experience shall be a graduate of a high school or its equivalent, and shall have had not less than one term of twelve weeks' work in a school maintain- ing a professional course for the training of teachers." A teacher with one school year's experience must have had two terms in the professional school, and "a teacher with three or more years' successful experience" must be a graduate of such a professional school. New attitudes and demands. Almost equally forceful evidence of this increasing demand for better training is seen in the results of some of our recent educational in- vestigations. Several studies have been made of the prac- tical bases now in use for the selection of teachers. One such inquiry, covering the prevailing opinions and prac- tices of four hundred and twenty superintendents of schools, and one hundred and eighty-three presidents of school boards in the United States, shows that of fifteen factors or qualities considered in the selection of teachers the greatest importance is attached to '* scholarship and edu- cation."^ "Disciphne (governing skill)" is given second place, "teaching skill or method" holds third place, and "strength of personality" fourth place on their list of fif- teen factors. Thus, if we look at what is going on before our eyes : the ^ Anderson, W. N., "The Selection of Teachers"; in Educational Admin- istration and Supervision, vol. iii, p. 83 (February, 1917). ^48 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION almost unheard of expansion of our schools for the profes- sional training of teachers, the increased legal insistance upon training as a prerequisite for certification, the rela- tion of training to the estabhshment of a minimum wage for teachers, and the extent to which superintendents and school boards are basing their appointment of teachers upon training, we must realize that it is a nation-wide movement. Surely no prospective teacher or school ad- ministrator can face these plain evidences of the trend of things in education and hope to make an educational career for himself or herself without a careful and extensive prepn aration in school. Academic training demanded. There are two sides to the education of a modem teacher, — the academic and the professional. The teacher must first of aU know something to teach, and secondly she must know how to teach it. The first in general consists of a broad cultural outlook upon life, an outlook at once intellectual, aesthetic, moral, and broadly social. While for the most part good books and great teachers will be the chief sources from which such training will be derived, yet there will continue to be in- creasing value placed upon travel and contact with people from all walks of life, as the most important means of supplementing the more systematic training which will be received in the schools. Such an outlook upon life cannot be gotten by the stu- dent who stresses textbook knowledge alone, and seeks to cram the memory with isolated facts. The teacher, above all people, must feel the force of the larger currents in civili- zation, past and present, and be able to see how these are to be influenced by the knowledge and the skills she wishes to impart to her pupils. Mere names and dates in history; mere pohtical forms and formulae; mere ndes in grammar, arithmetic, and speUing, are not enough. These are all THE TEACHER'S TRAINING AND GROWTH 249 essential, but only as the bare skeleton of her real training which looks to the larger and deeper significance of such facts as they enter into the meaning of the world in which we live. Professional training demanded. Such a body of knowl- edge and experience is the only sound basis for the second part of a teacher's education, which is to be professional. Such training consists in being able to view this founda- tion knowledge and experience, or such parts of it as appear in the course of study to be taught, in their relations to the child and to the social and physical world in which the child lives. The demand is that we shall teach children rather than books, and in order to do this we must know some- thing about the processes by means of which knowledge, skills, appreciation, and ideals are gained by the child, and how they are imparted by the teacher. But the professional duties of the teacher, and particularly of the principal and superintendent, are broader than is implied by the term teaching alone. There are the problems of organization and management, the problems of orienting the school with re- spect to the life of the community, the problem of select- ing and organizing the coiu*se of study, etc. These call for an understanding of the school as an institution. What the school has attempted, and should now be attempting to do for civilization; what are the principles upon which such an institution and courses of study may properly be organized; and how these may be managed to the end that health and physical development may be cared for, and real education of the children result, are fundamental questions. First of all we should expect our teacher to possess a general knowledge of the history of education, through which she would come to see the school as one of the sev- eral great social enterprises of past and present civiliza- tions. Secondly, we should expect her to know something 250 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION of the fundamentals of educational psychology, and of the principles of teaching, in order that she might exercise economy in her management of the processes of instruc- tion. Third, she should have some knowledge of school organization and management, as these pertain to the real technique of directing the work of the school. Fourth, we should insist further upon some knowledge of school hy- giene and health conservation, in order that the physical conditions under which our children work may be condu- cive to the attainment of other aims of the school. Fifth, these four fields of knowledge must then be carefully coor- dinated in some actual practice, under wise direction, in order that to her knowledge she may add skiU in execution. Extent of training required. It is not so difficult to state what should ideally be the extent of this training, and cer- tainly every teacher should strive to reach such an ideal, even though we know that the economic laws of supply and demand can be violated here very httle more than they can be in business. For a practical working basis it is safe, however, to suggest that every teacher who is worthy of a position should not be content to remain below the average in preparation. This average cannot be stated with absolute accuracy, but a number of rather extensive investigations^ furnish us with a fairly safe index. Sum- marized in a few words these studies practically agree in setting the average mark at approximately four years of high-school training for elementary teachers, and at least the equivalent of full high-school and college training for all teachers in secondary schools. 1 Those interested in these facts should consult especially: Thomdike, E. L., The Teaching Staff of Secondary Schools in the United States. U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin no. 404 (1909); Coffman, L. D., The Social Composition of the Teaching Popidation, Teachers College Contributions, no. 41 (1911); and Bobbitt, J. F., The Public Schools of Sovih Bend, Indi- ana. (Chicago, 1914.) THE TEACHER'S TRAINING AND GROWTH 251 If this is approximately the average of what is now being accomplished, then no teacher should be satisfied until this point is reached, and even exceeded, for, ideally, it is too low. For elementary teachers the amount of general or academic training should certainly be the equivalent of a full four years* course in a good high school, and in addition to this at least two years are needed to cover, even in a small way, the five general lines of professional training suggested above. For the high-school teacher the academic training should be increased to include the equivalent of a four years' course in college, and the professional training should in- clude substantial university courses in each of the fields here suggested. That we are actually approaching these standards in practice is evidenced by recent changes in our certification laws, and it is clear that the time is approach- ing when those who are below this standard wiU be ehmi- nated from the profession. Training and merit in teaching. Does training count, and if so how, and to what extent.? The facts about individual differences, which we have discussed above, ^ remind us that no two students are alike, and consequently our common observation that teachers of equal training are not equally efficient does not surprise us. Yet we know in general that training counts, and we are concerned here with just why a teacher should spend her time and energy in educating herself to teach. The brief answer we can give here must be based on two sets of facts which are rapidly accumulating, and rapidly making themselves felt in school practice. One of these sets of facts has been gathered by investigations into the prac- tical relationship between training and teaching abihty, and the other in connection with the formulation of devices for teacher measurement. ^ See chapter ni, section 6. 252 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION One of the investigations above dted shows that city teachers are better trained than are rural and village teach- ers. We know also that city teachers are better paid, and that, generally speaking, it is because they can render better service. This does not prove conclusively that the extra training is the cause of the greater efficiency, but such a relationship is strongly suggested. Another study, including the teachers in all the principal high schools of Indiana, states, on the basis of carefully analyzed data, that "the best prepared teachers are the ones who receive the highest salaries."^ Why teachers lose their places. The number of teachers dismissed by one himdred and sixteen city superintendents in the United States were collected, along with a careful analy- sis of the reasons for dismissal, in a recent investigation, and among the causes of failures we find "deficiency in scholar- ship" marked as the chief cause of forty-two of the two hundred and seventy failures, and as contributory cause of forty more. Other causes, such as "poor methods," "un- professional attitudes," "uninterested in work of teaching," and "daily preparation insufficient," all of which pertain to training, stand as the chief cause of sixty-five more failures. ^ Still another study of scholarship and teaching efficiency, based upon the marks received in teachers' examinations and university and normal-school courses, on the one hand, and city superintendents' estimates of teaching efficiency on the other, points conclusively to the fact that there is a positive relationship between scholarship and teaching efficiency.' 1 Shideler, S. E., "Qualifications, Salary, and Tenure of the Teachers in the Commissioned High Schools of Indiana"; in School Retnew, vol. xxi, p. 446 (September, 1913). 2 Buellesfield, Henry, "Causes of Failures among Teachers "; in Educa- tional Administration and Supervision, vol. i, p. 439 (September, 1915). » Clapp, F. L., Scholarship in Relation to Teaching, in School Review Monograph, no. vi (University of Chicago Press, 1916). THE TEACHER'S TRAINING AND GROWTH 253 These are typical of many more inquiries into the influ- ence which training has upon actual teaching eflSciency. It may be true that personal opinion has entered largely into these studies, but the answer to any such criticism is that the facts which they hive made use of are just the facts which are actually counting in the appointment, promotion, and dismissal of teachers, and are therefore of very great practical value. Teacher Score Cards. The second set of facts furnishes a basis for very similar conclusions. There have been a num- ber of practical devices made for measuring teaching suc- cess, and in every one, training, and progressive scholarship, as well as personahty, occupy a prominent place. In the earliest one of these scales,^ such items as "preparation," meaning both academic and professional training, "pro- fessional attitudes and interest," "continuing preparation,** and "increase of professional equipment" indicate the emphasis placed on training. Another similar device makes a complete efficiency record under the five headings: per- sonal equipment, social and professional equipment, school management, technique of teaching, and results. ^ A copy of this score card is given on the opposite page, showing the scoring of one teacher by three judges. Still another some- what more complex device gives ten, out of its total of forty- six points, to the various aspects of preparation and growth.* It must be remembered that these devices have been made by careful students of teaching efficiency, and that their aim has been to develop a thoroughly practical scheme by means 1 Elliott, E. C, Provisional Plan for the Measure of Merit of Teachers. (Wisconsin State Department of Education, 1912.) 2 Boyce, A. C, A Method for Guiding and Controlling the Judging of Teaching Efficiency. School Review Monograph, no. vi. (University of Chicago Press, 1915.) 3 Witham, Ernest C, "School and Teacher Measurement"; Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. v, p. 267 (May, 1914). 254 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION GENERAL RATING rr n-TT- 1 f I'l'T'T 1" Oo»m«o.l«»n 1S rooa Cooo ^ X n i. Health _ ? pl ' J. Voice. _ X n p — 5. Initiative sad leU-idbDcc X nic r cs n X tlndusuy pf 9, Fm>Mti«tni iml cftimhn ^ X p p; Q. n. Sd^eontrol ^ ■ .. ... ^ @ 111 PrnnptMi*. . , , , , , i t3.Tk(t fl 14. Seme of justice 5? a n. SeeidondProjtiiitttalEqiiipmtia— (Jl a Professional prcjnmtioa n /^ X X □ d X 5. School and commuAiiy intemt SI|o <\ a 7. Intenstfo liver of pupils X c 8. Co-opetat>o« and loyalty ^ PnfeMiqBal btentt and growth Q 10. Daily pfcpatation q »». Useof English X t. Care o( Ugbt beat, and vcntilatioa . p p X t. Neatness of room X ?■ X BS r X Vl.Ttckniert, and her success wiU depend upon her ability to learn from the expert and to carry out his directions in conducting her recitations. THE TEACHER AT WORK 985 If. The teacher^s preparation for work Daily routine. Elsewhere we have discussed the general preparation and growth of the teacher. Here it is desirable to consider the question of her daily preparation for the tasks in hand. Each day brings its problems of routine and its new problems, and without some definite preparation the procedure is likely to become too stereotyped in the one case and too halting and uncertain in the other. The nature and extent of preparation will vary slightly from day to day, but the following items will appear fairly regularly on every teacher's daily program : Preparation of lesson to be taught; preparation of assignments; getting the necessary materials and equipment ready; careful consideration of special cases of deficiency in discipline or in scholarship, with preparation for meeting them; records and reports to be made; and her room to be put in order. The time for doing most of these things is the evening before they are to be used. Lesson plans. What is involved in preparing the lessons to be taught? Let us imagine that this is for a beginning teacher, for it is only necessary to remove a few details and shorten the written plans to make it apply to experienced teachers as well. First, the entire lesson should be gone over to see exactly what it includes, how it is related to previous lessons, and the extent to which it will need to be supple- mented by other materials. This done, the next step is to find the materials to be used, and determine exactly what the children are to use and how they are to use them. Fi- nally, make brief notes in a " daily lesson-plan book " on what is to be used, and the steps in the procedure. There will be books, or papers, or pictures, or objects of one sort or another to get together; possibly the class is to be taken outside for a study of the school gardens, or the habitat 286 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION of some wild flowers or insects close by; and all these things must be seen and very definite plans made for handling them in the classroom, or for handling the class out of doors. Assignments; special cases; records. The preparation of assignments must be made in a similar manner, and writ- ten plans must make clear where the materials are, how they are to be got by the children, and how the lesson is related to the one just recited. There need be no great amount of formality about these plans, except that at first they should be made rather full, specific, and so they can be readily understood by the principal, who will look them over from time to time in order to help the young teacher to get a right start. Then there are special cases to prepare for. John is behind and is rapidly losing interest in language. What he needs is a real motive for wanting to use language. Similarly, cases of discipline may often be foreseen and obviated by the exercise of a little ingenuity on the evening before they are to be dealt with. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the wisdom of making up school records at the end of each day, before leaving school. Such a plan guarantees greater accuracy, relieves the teacher's mind, and facilitates the work of the principal or attendance oflScer in case such records are wanted in the teacher's absence. 6. Conserving time Planning the day. In all these things the teacher must learn that most precious of arts, the art of conserving time. To develop a keen " time sense " is an important part of every teacher's equipment. Along with the teacher's motto, " A place for everything and everything in its place," should go, "A time for everything and everything on time," and THE TEACHER AT WORK 287 " Do it now." No teacher can spare half her evenings for so- cial diversion without placing a serious drain upon her time and energy. There should be set aside a certain portion of the evening of each work day for definite preparation for the next day's tasks, and another portion for reading on the program suggested on page 257. The after school hours will hold sacred an allotted time for making records, cor- recting papers, holding conferences, shaping things in gen- eral for the next day, and, finally, for some out-of-doors recreation. 6. Keeping hoitse The schoolroom a model. For many children the begin- ning lessons in good housekeeping are got at school. For this reason, if not for the sake of saving her own time and energy, the teacher should learn to be a good housekeeper. She should not assume the duties of the janitor, but when she sees an accumulation of dust on the pictiu-e frames and window casings, and ink spots on the floor or desks, and chalk trays laden with dust, and broken furniture, she should see that the janitor assumes his own duties more fully. Neither should the teacher rob the children of their own proper responsibilities in keeping the room orderly and home- like. When desks are seen to be disarranged; scraps of paper or an undue amount of dirt under a seat; cloak-room floor strewn with wraps, basket-balls, bats, and gloves; children with dirty hands, or with disheveled clothing or hair; library books in the wrong place; children sitting in slovenly positions, or walking awkwardly; it is not the teacher's business to set these things straight — it is her business to see that the particular children who are respon- sible shall do it for themselves. In all these things the teacher is herself the model, exem- plifying the practice she enforces among the children by her 288 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION supervision. Her own desk should not be a mixture of stale bouquets, marbles, jack-knives, papers, erasers, books, and wraps, but should always be a' model of good order. The pictures should be kept hanging straight, the window shades rendering service, the waste basket in place, supplies available in good order, torn books put aside for mend- ing, dictionary and other reference books easily available, and over all a homelike atmosphere should be created by her own gentle manners. 7. The teacher in her profession Professional attitudes. Finally, the teacher is to leam and live up to the standards of her profession. There are per- sonal, ethical, and professional standards for the teaching profession, as there are for the legal and medical profes- sions. In some ways these standards are not so clearly de- fined for the teaching as for other professions, due largely to the profession being a more recent development, to the nomadic tendency among teachers, and to the large num- ber of temporary members. Yet some standards are well established, and others are rapidly becoming so. First, the teacher must respect herself and the work she is engaged in. She cannot defend the dignity of her calling and be herself undignified. The teacher who sneers at teaching, or tries to hide the fact that she is a teacher, is not above her fellows, but is distinctly unworthy of member- ship with them. Teaching is not a contemptible calling for weaklings, and the teacher must learn to stand on her own feet and think and act for herself as a technically trained public servant. Secondly, she must respect the highest standards that are set for scholarship and professional training, and frown down the tendency of laymen to pass judgment on educa- tional values of which they have no special knowledge. THE TEACHER AT WORK 289 This is one of the nuisances in the educational world, which teachers ought to combat more vigorously than they do. For a parent or member of a lay school committee to try to pass judgment on a teacher's methods, or on the value of teaching appliances, is exactly parallel with the case of lay- men who undertake to diagnose any and every sort of illness that may arise. Third, the teacher must respect the work of her fellows. To blame some former teacher, or to scoff at or belittle an- other teacher's work in order to shield herself, is equaled only by such tricks as seeking a position that is not vacant, or trying to bring the principal or some fellow teacher into disrepute. Fourth, the teacher who would Kve up to the best stand- ards of her profession must demand a reasonable salary, must emulate service, must avoid that over-dogmatic atti- tude of mind so detrimental to wholesome growth and pleasant companionship, must refrain from seeming supe- rior to other people, and must keep herself personally clean and progressive. 8. Summary of Part IV * In the chapters of this part we have set forth in brief discussion those more or less personal problems which the teacher must mas- ter if she is to hold a real place in her chosen profession. We have not tried to think of the teacher apart from her work, but quite the opposite, for we have made her professional, social, and personal responsibilities everywhere the test of the virtues we would have her possess. Our standards have been set high for the reason that only men and women of worth should be privileged to direct the training of our future citizens. The first problem is that of personality. Everywhere example is stronger than precept, and the full significance of this ancient axiom for teachers should be suggested by our brief discussion of the teacher's personality. Such a character as we have demanded there is not attained in a day, but it is attainable for those who ar« 290 CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION willing to pay the price. It calls for earnest, intelligent, and con- tinuous effort and study. To be a real leader calls for action, backed up by knowledge and love of service. To become a leader demands right ideals, right principles and attitudes, and right habits and thoughts, and these are not to be gained by viewing them from afar or by reading about men who possess them. The second problem is that of training and growth. Here also the standard is set high because the demands of the future will be constantly rising. The teacher must not only know books, but she must know men and affairs, else the facts she teaches will be with- out perspective. In addition to this she must know the school, — its ideals and purposes, its possibilities, its methods, and the chil- dren it serves. This she cannot do unless she grows in knowledge and experience. To do this she must adopt some plan of self- education, and keep to it from year to year. The third problem is that of the teacher's health. It is not a pale face and a stooped form that we want to set as an example to grow- ing children. Only men and women of red blood and sturdy physique can do well the work a teacher must do. Exercise and wholesome enjoyment go well with hard work. They keep the mind open and the body strong, and add force to thought and act. It is believed that the extent to which these standards of per- sonality, training, and health have been attained are likely to show in the teacher's work. Accordingly, in our final chapter, we have tried to show the bearing of these attainments upon the teach- er's conception of her position; upon the relationship which she establishes with her patrons, and with her fellow-teachers and school officers; upon her own preparation and methods of work; upon the way in which she conserves her own time and energy; and upon her own professional standards. The teacher who lives up to all the possibilities we have suggested here might perhaps be our ideal teacher. It is believed, notwith- standing this, that these standards are practically attainable for the vigorous, purposeful teacher of to-day. REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING Bennett, H. E., School Efficiency, chaps, vra, xv, xxvn, xxx. Foght, H. W., The Rural Teacher and His Work, Part i, chaps, v, vi; Part n, chap. iv. Wilkinson, W. A., Rural School Management, chaps, n, xiv, xv. THE TEACHER AT WORK «91 QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Explain what you understand to be the distinction between the traditional school program and the type suggested on page 277, and discuss ways and means for realizing in practice the six numbered principles there set forth as characterizing such a school. 2. What is meant by social center? Enumerate the specific lines of serv- ice such an institution might render in a country community, in an industrial community, in a mining center, in a small village, in a residence section of a large city. 3. Work out a plan for utilizing and crediting as school work lines of home work suited to your own community. 4. Make out a sample program for a commimity-center meeting in your school, or in some school you know. 5. Explain just what you would regard as your duty to the superintend- ent of schools in a city, and to the principal of your own school. 6. Try to draw the line of rights and duties that connects the work of the principal with that of the teacher. What is the importance of guarding strictly the rights of the teacher against encroachments from other school officers? 7. Distinguish between the prmcipal who administers the school in terms of authority delegated to his office, and the principal who administers in terms of his superior knowledge and skill. 8. Outline a scheme for keeping a daily plan-book. Draw up a plan for teaching a lesson on some topic in history. Prepare the necessary notes in preparation for assigning the lesson that is to follow. 9. Show what you would put into your plan-book for a lesson to in- clude a field trip to study poUiwogs. 10. Make a list of the standards which you consider to be well established in the teaching profession. What others should be established? SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY The following list of fifty-six titles, with names of pub lishers, are presented here in alphabetical order for the con- venience of the reader who may not have access to a large library, and who might therefore wish to pm-chase some of the best books on this subject. The hst includes only the titles cited at the ends of chapters for supplementary read- ing. The fifteen most useful titles, from the classroom teacher's point of view, are indicated by an *. Bagley, W. C. Classroom Management. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1908. Bagley, W. C. Craftsmanship in Teaching. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1911. ♦Bagley, W. C. School Discipline. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1914. Bagley, W. C. The Educative Process. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1915. Bennett, H. E. School Efficiency. Ginn & Co., Boston, 1917. Betts, G. H. Classroom Method and Management. Bobbs-Merril/ Co , Indianapolis, Ind., 1917. Betts, G. H. The Recitation. Houghton Miflain Co., Boston, 1911. Burris, W. P. The Public School System of Gary, Ind., U.S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin no. 18, 1914. Butler, N. M. The Meaning of Education. Chas. Scribner's Sons N.Y., 1915. Chancellor, W. E. Class Teaching and Management. Harper & Bros., N.Y., 1910. Chancellor, W. E. Our Schools; Their Supervision and Admin- istration. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, 1904. Colgrove, C. P. The Teacher and the School. Chas. Scribner's Sons, N.Y., 1910. *Cubberley, E. P. Changing Conceptions of Education. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1909. 294 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY *Cubberley, E. P. Rural Life and Education. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1914. Cubberley, E. P. Public School Administration. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1916. *Dewey, John. Schools of To-morrow. E. P. Dutton & Co., N.Y., 1915. Dewey, John. School and Society. University of Chicago Press, 1915. Dewey, John. How We Think. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, 1910. Dewey, John. Democracy and Education. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1916. Dutton, S. T. School Management. Chas. Scribner's Sons, N.Y., 1903. Earhart, Lida B. Teaching Children to Study. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1909. EHot, Chas. W. The Concrete and Practical in Modem Education. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913. EHot, Chas. W. Education for Efficiency. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1909. *Fisher and Fisk. How to Live. Funk & Wagnalls, N.Y., 1915. Fiske, John. The Meaning of Infancy. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1909. Foght, H. W. The Rural Teacher and His Work. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1917. *Freeman, F. N. The Psychology of the Common Branches. Hough- ton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1916. Holmes, Wm. H. School Organization and the Individual Child. The Davis Press, Worcester, Mass., 1912. Home, H. H. Story-Telling, Questioning y and Studying. The MacmiUan Co., N.Y., 1916. Hutchinson, Woods. Exercise and Health. Outing Publishing Co., N.Y., 1911. *Hyde, Wm. DeWitt. The Teacher's Philosophy. Houghton Mifflm Co., Boston, 1910. Kellogg, A.M. School Management. E. L. Kellogg & Co., N. Y., 1884. McKenny, Chas. The Personality of the Teacher. Roe, Peterson & Co., Chicago, 1910. McMurry, F. M. Elementary School Standards. World Book Co., Yonkers, N.Y., 1913. *McMurry, F. M. How to Study and Teaching How to Study, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1909. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 295 ♦Monroe, W. S., DeVoss, J. C. and Kelly, F. J. Educational Tests and Measurements. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1917. Morehouse, Francis. The Discipline of the School. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, 1914. Pakner, Geo. Herbert. The Ideal Teacher. Houghton Mifflin Co.j Boston, 1910. Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in the High School. Ginn & Co., Boston, 1915. Patri, Angelo. A School Master of the Great City. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1917. Perry, A. C. Discipline as a School Problem. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1915. Seeley, Levi. A New School Management. Hinds & Noble, N.Y., 1903. Small, W. H. Early New England Schools. Ginn & Co., Boston, 1914. Smith, W. H. An Introduction to Educational Sociology. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1917. *Strayer, Geo. D. A Brief Course in the Teaching Process. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1911. Strayer and Norsworthy. How to Teach. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1917. *Terman, L. M. The Teacher's Health. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1913. *Terman, L. M. The Hygiene of the School Child. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1914. Terman, L. M. The Measurement of Intelligence. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1916. Thorndike, E. L. Education. The Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1912. Thorndike, E. L. Individuality. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1911. White, Emerson. School Management. American Book Co., N.Y., 1893. Wilkinson, W. A. Rural School Management. Silver, Burdett & Co., Chicago, 1917. *Wilson, H. B. and G. M. Motivation of School Work. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1916. *Woofter, T. J. Teaching in the Rural Schools. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1917. *Wray, Angelina. Jean MitcheWs School. Public School Publishing Co., Bloomington.. Indiana. 1902. INDEX Absence, causes of, 51; cases of, de- mand individual treatment, 53. Esthetic aim, 15. Aim, changing, 19; cost of an indefi- nite, 23; function of, in manage- ment, 19 ff.; importance of clear, 16, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25; importance of modern social, 21; in punish- ment, 76 fiF. ; in the learning proc- ess, 176; of recitation, 190, 192; related to method, 21 ; relation of, to motive, 24; testing as an, 194. Aim of school, 8; aesthetic, 15; from child's viewpoint, 9; from society's viewpoint, 9; health as an, 11; knowledge as an, 13; morality as an, 12; need for specific, 10; vo- cational or utilitarian, 14. Alderman, L. R., 278. Allotment of time, 161 ff. Alternation of studies, 168, 170. Anderson, W. N., 247. Appearance, personal, 235. Assignment, considerations in the, 179; how to make an, 178 ff.; must provide a motive, 180, 186. Attendance, 49, 102; and discipline, 210; compulsory, 51; department of, 55; meaning of poor, 52; solu- tion of poor, 53 ff.; State's interest in, 50; the problem of, 51. Baldwin, J. Mark, on relation of in- dividual to society, 8. Bassett, Lee Emerson, 238. Batavia system, 139. Behavior, as part of the school en- vironment, 67. Boyce, A. C, teacher eflSciency score card of, 253, 254. ^reeding, good, 235. tfuellesfield, Henry, 252. jurk, C. F., 137. Cambridge plan, 135. Child, the object of management, 27, 49. Childhood, responsive character of, 50. Clapp, F. L., 252. Coffman, L. D., 250, 264. Compulsory attendance, 51. Cook and O'Shea, 155. Cooperation and competition, 196. Conversation, teacher's ability in, 236. Course of study. See Curriculum. Crampton, C. W., 126. Cubberley, E. P., 139, 267. Curiosity, instinct of, 31. Curriculum, 144; as a body of ex- perience, 149; changing nature of, 147; fads and frills in, 148; how to socialize the, 151; teacher's re- sponsibility touching the, 152; ten- dency in making, 156; two view- points affecting the, 145. Devices, as incentives, 98. DeVoss, J. C, 131, 216, 217. Dewey, John, 147. Discipline, 102; attendance and, 210; causes of bad, 61 ff.; meaning of, 59. Drill as an aim, 197. Earhart, Lida B., 174, 199. Education, a process of change, 208; as expression, 3 ff.; as inhibition, 5, 17; essential to life, 3; natural vs. artificial, 7. Efficiency, a clear aim essential to, 22. Effort, relation of, to interest, 88. Elliott, E. C, 253; Starch and, 214. Environment, 39; behavior as part of. 67. 298 INDEX Everts, Katherine Jewell, 238. Exercise, recreation and, 271. Examination, a means of measure- ment, 212; defects in, as test, 214. Fatigue, 164; deductions from study of, 165. Fire drill, 117. Frankness, 231. Freeman, F. N., 217. Grading, a necessity, 123; as an in- centive, 96; flexibility in, 133; multiple course plan of, 136, 137; possible bases of, 126; proper bases for, 125; single course plan of, 134. Habits, formation of, 33; of study, 183; teacher should develop spe- cific, 240; training the pupil in proper, 89. Harris, Dr. Wm. T., 138. Health, as a school aim, 11; of teach- er, 263 flF.; school work and, 35; the problem of, 34. See chapter on Teacher's Health. Heating and ventilation, 267. Hillegas, Milo, 217. Hoag, E. B., 269. Hoke, K. J., 132. Holiday programs, 97. Holmes, H. W., study on time allot- ' ment quoted, 163. Honor rolls, 100. Hygienic standards, 269. Idea, related to action, 5. Ideals, how established, 101. Imitate, instinct to, 31. Immaturity, an educational re- source, 28. Incentive, 103; a means not an end, 95; incident to teaching method, 90; and acquired interests, 101; incident to plans of organization, 98; must be adapted to age, 92, 95; must make positive appeal, 93 ff . ; in management, 87 ff. Individual differences, 36, 95; edu- cational significance of, 36; how displayed, 129; in general intelli- gence, 127 ff. Infancy, period of, 28 ff. Information, as an aim, 16. Instinct, 29; collecting and hoarding, 32; constructive, 31; of curiosity, 31; of emulation, 32; modifiability of, 29, 32; the gregarious, 32; to imitate, 31 ; to play, 30. Instruction, individual vs. group, 124. Intelligence, distribution of, 128. Iowa State Course of Study, daily program, 169. James, on habit-formation, 34. Jessup, W. A., 162, 264. Johnson, Joseph Henry, 216. Kelly, F. J., 216, 217, 131. Kennedy, J., 139. Klapper, Paul J., 56. Knowledge, as an aim, 12; relation of, to conduct, 13; the basis of leadership, 69. Kratz, H. E., quoted, 236. Learning, necessary to life, 4; social character of, 6. Learning process, management of, 177. Locke, John, quoted, 235. Loyalty, as a school aim, 16. Mackenzie, W. L., 269. McMurry, F. M., 199. Management, a rational process, 42; environmental factors in, 39; human factors in, 27 ff.; the test of eflicient, 41. Manners, good, 236. Marking, variability in illustrated, 214. Means, mistaken for end, 22 ff. Measurement, 297 ff.; beginning of comparative school, 215; examina- tion a means of, 212; teacher. 253 ff. Membership, 49, 209. Method, dependent upon aim, 21. Monroe, W. S., 131, 216, 217. Morality, as an aim, 12. INDEX 299 Offner and Whipple, 164. Optimism, 234. Order, 102; causes of bad, 61-66; con- ditions of good, 68; putting the room in, 118. Organization, 110; as means and as end. 111; mechanical features of, 115; of materials, 181 ; plans of, as incentives, 95. O'Shea, Cook and, 155. Patri, Angelo, 276. Personality, essential qualities of, 231 ff.; meaning of, 228; positive and negative types of, 229; the teacher's, 227 ff.; training for, 238 ff. Plans, for first day, 112 ff.; lesson, 285 ; promotion, why teacher should understand, 140; steps in making, 41. Play, instinct of, 30; must yield values, 23; relation of, to essen- tial social processes, 30; super- vised, 23. Principal, the efficient, 283. Prizes, as incentives, 99; dangers of competitive, 94. Professional meetings, 260. Professional reading, 256; a program of, 257 ff. Program, for rural school, 169; il- lustration of, 167; making of, 159, 221; the daily, 119, 159; use of, 170. Promotion, annual, 138; as an in- centive, 96. Pueblo Plan, the, 140. Punishment, 55, 103; administration ,of, 81; as teaching, 81; character- istics of effective, 78; kinds of, 79; meaning of, 75; reasons for, 75; time and place for, 83. Questions, test of good, 204; types of, 203. Quick, Herbert, 276. Recitation, 188; aim of the, 190, 192, 197; lecture plan of, 202; meaning of, 189; periods, 161; plan of, 199; products, 193; teaching as aim of, 195; testing as aim of, 194; tests, 191; topical plan of, 201. Recitation periods, 161. Records and reports, 53, 212. Recreation, 166, 271. Reflex, 29. Reports, records and, 53, 212. Rice, Dr. J. M., 215. Rousseau, 4. Ruediger, Wm. Carl, 255. St. Louis, school report of, quoted, 51. Santa Barbara Plan, 137. Scales, standardized, 215; Thorn- dike writing, 216. School, a social center, 278; origi© and place of, 275; the task of, 29. School exhibits, 97. School machinery, 211. Score card, 253 ff. Search, W. P., 140. Sears, J. B., 52, 126, 163. Self-sacrifice, 233. Senses, function of the, 33. Shideler, S. E., 252. Signals, 119. Skill, as an aim, 16. Small, W. S., 265. Social center, 278. Standards, hygienic, 269; desirable schoolroom, 219. Starch and Elliott, 214. Stevens, Romiett, 202. Stone, C. W., 216. Strayer, Geo. D., 199. Study, 173; intelligent, 175; teaching how to, 182; the meaning of, 174. Studies, form and content, 153; so- cialized, 151; the order of, 164. Survey, report of, Butte, 267; Cleve- land, 267; Portland, 267; Spring- field, 267; Salt Lake City, 267. Subject-matter, socialized, 150; types of, 153. Sympathy, 231. Tact, 232. Tardiness, type cases of, 51 ff. Teachers, and the curriculum, 152; soo INDEX age distribution of, 263; as leaders, 50; as society's agents, 27; causes of failure of, 252; growth of, 255; health of, 263; hygienic standards of, 269; judgment of, 214; mortal- ity rates of, 264; must control school environment, 40; must mould public opinion, 68; nervous diseases of, 265; personal appear- ance of, 235; personality of, 227, ff.; positive and negative types, 230; preparation for work of, 285; profession of, 288; professional de- mands upon, 42; reading for, 256- 59; recreation for, 270; relation- ships of, 43, 50, 276, 281 S.; re- sponsibility of, 84, 152; score card, 253, 254; training and growth, 245 flF.; vacations for, 273. Teaching as an aim, 194. Terman, L. M., 128, 131, 132, 265, 269. Tests, 215 ff.; limitation to use of, 219; practical use of, 218; recita- tion, 191; teachers must under- stand standardized, 130; use of standard, 216. Testing as an aim, 194. I'extbook, use of, 200. Theory, relation of, to practice in management, 20; the pin-fall- quiet, 23; vs. tradition, 20. Thomdike. E. L., 126, 216, 250. Time allotment, 161; in representa* tive cities, 162. Tradition, the force of, in school management, 21. Training, academic, demanded, 248; and merit in teaching, 251; extent of, required, 250; facilities for, 246; in proper habits, 89; increased de- mand for better, 245; professional, demanded, 249; the teacher's, 245 ff. Truancy, 54. Updegraff, H., 246. United States Bureau of Education^ 264. Vacation, the teacher's, 272. Ventilation, heating and, 267. Vocational aim, 14. Voice, the teacher's, 238. Ward, E. G., the social center, 278. Waste, due to indefinite aim, 23. Whipple, Offner and, 164. Wisconsin, State Department of Education, 281. Witham, Ernest C, 253. Work, rules concerning, 164. Wraps, handling of, 117. Wray, Angelina, 276. RIVERSIDE TEXTBOOKS IN EDUCATION General Educational Theory PSYCHOLOGY FOR NORMAL SCHOOLS. By L. A. AvERiLL, Massachusetts State Normal School, Worcester. EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION. By F. N. Freeman, University of Chicago. HOW CHILDREN LEARN. By F. N. Freeman. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE COMMON BRANCHES. By F. N. Freeman. THE PRE-SCHOOL CHILD. By Arnold Gesell, Ph.D., M.D., Director Yale Psycho-Clinic, Professor ot Child Hygiene, Yale University. DISCIPLINE AS A SCHOOL PROBLEM. By A. C. Perry, Jr. AN INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL SOCIOLOGY. By W. R. Smith, Kansas State Normal School. TRAINING FOR EFFECTIVE STUDY. By F. W. Thomas, State Normal School, Fresno, California. AN INTRODUCTION TO CHILD PSYCHOLOGY. By C. W. Waddle, Ph.D., Los Angeles State Normal School History of Education THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION. By E. P. CUBBERLBY. A BRIEF HISTORY OF EDUCATION. By E. P. CUBBERLBY. READINGS IN THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION. By E. P. CUBBERLEY. PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. By E. P. CUBBERLEY. Administration and Supervision of Schools HEALTHFUL SCHOOLS: HOW TO BUILD, EQUIP, AND MAINTAIN THEM. By May Ayrbs, J. F. Williams, M.D., University of Cincinnati, and T. D. Wood, A.M., M.D., Teachers College, Columbia University. PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION. By E. P. CUBBERLEY. RURAL LIFE AND EDUCATION. By E. P. CUBBBRLBY. A GUIDE TO EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENTS. By Harlan C. Hines, Assistant Professor of Education, The University of Washington. HEALTH WORK IN THE SCHOOLS. By E. B. HoAG, M.D., and L. M. Terman, Leland Stanford Junior University. INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF EDUCATIONAL MEASURE- MENTS. By W. S. Monroe, University of Illinois. MEASURING THE RESULTS OF TEACHING. By W. S. Monrob. 1926 a EDUCATIONAL TESTS AND MEASUREMENTS. By W. S. Monroe, J. C. DbVoss, Kansas State Normal School; and F. J, Kblly, University of Kansas. THE SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION. By H. W. NuTT, University of Kansas. STATISTICAL METHODS APPLIED TO EDUCATION. By H. O. RuGG, University of Chicago. CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL. By J. B. Sears, Leland Stanford Junior University. A HANDBOOK FOR RURAL SCHOOL OFFICERS. By N. D. Showalter, Washington State Normal School. THE HYGIENE OF THE SCHOOL CHILD. By L. M. Tbrman. THE MEASUREMENT OF INTELLIGENCE. By L. M. Tbrman. Test Material for the Measurement of Intelligence. Record Booklets for the Measurement of Intelligence. THE INTELLIGENCE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN. By L. M. Terman. Methods of Teaching TEACHING LITERATURE IN THE GRAMMAR GRADES AND HIGH SCHOOL. By Emma M. Bolbnius. HOW TO TPACH THE FUNDAMENTAL SUBJECTS. By C. N. Kendall and G. A. Mirick. HOW TO TEACH THE SPECIAL SUBJECTS. By C. N. Kendall and G. A. Mirick. SILENT AND ORAL READING. By C. R. Stone. THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. By G. H. Trafton, State Normal School, Mankato, Minnesota. TEACHING IN RURAL SCHOOLS. By T. J. Woofter, University of Georgia. Secondary Education THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. By Thos. H. Briggs, Columbia University. THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL By Charles Swain Thomas. PRINCIPLES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION. By Alexander Inglis, Harvard University. PROBLEMS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION. By David Snedden, Columbia University. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 1926 b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LJB^ YB 35436 ^^^" r;2KT7()n UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY r ill:;; 1 it!!lilit< iHiliii ill 11 i i