!mi ,11 !| I:! i ; !i II ! DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO Departmental Teaching in Elementary Schools BY VAN EVRIE KILPATRICK, A. M. 77^3 ILLUSTRATED Sorfc THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1908 till rights reserved 1908 COPYRIGHT, 1008 BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and electrotypcd. Printed March IQOT THE MASON-HENRY PRESS SYRACUSE, N. Y. Education Library PREFACE Ever since President Charles W. Eliot of Harvard emphasized the necessity of en- riching the elementary curriculum through departmental teaching, there have been a number of efforts in various cities of the country to try out the suggestion. Dr. William H. Maxwell, the chief ex- ponent of departmental teaching in the United States, has encouraged its growth in New York City during the last seven years. It has there become the prevailing method of teaching in the last two years of the elementary schools. Its success is pro- nounced. Numerous inquiries indicate that the leaders of other educational systems are greatly interested in the new departure. In adding to the literature of the subject, I have written entirely from the standpoint of a teacher. I have spoken from years of experience, both in private and in public vi PREFACE schools. I have taught in schools where the departmental plan was not used and in schools where it was used. I have taught in large schools and in small schools. I have organized departmental teaching and have supervised it. Out of all these years of experience has grown a positive conviction that a proper form of departmental teaching would bring a wealth of gain to any elementary school. But it must be effectively adapted. The purpose of this little treatise has been to present the most effective plan of adaptation and use. An effort has also been made to base the plan upon well- known principles of school organization. These principles may seem commonplace, but they are necessarily fundamental. I have never witnessed a failure in departmental teaching, but that I have marveled why it did not take place before it really did, as the mistakes in method were plainly apparent. This work has, PREFACE vii therefore, been made for the most part a practical text-book of method. I have never listened to a speaker, or read an author, who argued against de- partmental teaching, but that I have ob- served that they objected to conditions and results which should not exist in a depart- mental system. They have all voiced with unstinted zeal the shortcomings of the special teacher system as belonging alike to the depart- mental. This work has, therefore, been made argumentative. They have all voiced with unstinted zeal opposed to the departmental, but it is even supplanted by the departmental plan. The value of both the special teacher sys- tem and the one-teacher plan is preserved in the new common-subject plan of depart- mental teaching. VAN EVRIE KILPATRICK. Public School 52, New York, February, 1908. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION i 1. Definition i 2. No Educational Panacea 2 3. Historical Statement 3 4. Special Teacher Phase 4 5. Nomenclature 8 CHAPTER II. ADVANTAGES n 1. Expert Teaching 12 2. Improved Discipline 13 3. Improved Physical Conditions 17 4. Better Equipment 20 5. Enriched Curriculum 23 6. Unity and Force in School Management 25 7. Other Considerations 30 (a) High School Articulation 30 (b) Greater Interest 30 (c) Teachers will be Attracted 31 (d) Teachers will be Better Prepared 31 (e) Distribution of Sex Control 32 (f ) Recreation Provided 32 (g) Special Talent Developed 32 (h) Responsibility and Independence of Children Developed 32 (i) Individuality Increased 33 (j ) Favoritism Lessened 33 CHAPTER III OBJECTIONS 34 i. Overwork 36 x CONTENTS 2. Correlation Difficult 37 3. Teachers Become Narrowminded 41 4. School Organization May Become More Difficult. . . 44 5. Teacher's Personal Influence Lessened... 46 6. Miscellaneous Objections 47 7. The New, Absent or Incompetent Teacher 49 CHAPTER IV. PRINCIPLES OF ADAPTATION 51 1. The Prime Functions of the Teacher 51 (a) Relation to the Pupil 51 (b) Relation to the Branches of Study 53 (c) Relation to the School 54 2. The Threefold Nature of the Child 56 (a) The Intellectual Nature 56 (b) The Moral Nature 56 (c) The Physical Nature 59 CHAPTER V. PLAN OF ADAPTATION 61 1. Personal Control of Children 61 2. Presentation of Studies 62 (a) A Common Subject English 62 (b) Departmental Studies 65 3. Faculty Organization 66 4. Equipment of Departments 67 5. Movement of Classes 69 6. The Introductory Organization 69 (a) Selection of Classes 69 (b) Assignment of Studies 71 (c) Preparation of Program 77 PARTICULAR ADVANTAGES OF THE COMMON-SUBJECT PLAN OF DEPARTMENTAL ORGANIZATION 77 1. Personal Control of Children is Secured 77 2. School Management is Simplified 78 CONTENTS xi 3. The Plan is easily Adaptable to all Ordinary School Conditions. Two Grades to a Teacher 78 CHAPTER VI. DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 81 1. Assignment of Studies 81 2. Programme 82 3. Coordination of Departments 82 4. Length of Periods 83 5. Movement of Classes 84 6. Study 85 7. Discipline 87 8. Attendance 87 9. Correlation 90 10. Absent Teachers 90 ix. Records and Reports 93 12. Spelling and Penmanship 93 13. Text-books and Supplies 94 14. Fire Drills and Regular Dismissals 94 15. Detention 95 16. Signals 95 17. Location of Departments 96 18. Management of School Implements 96 CHAPTER VII. MISTAKES w ADAPTATION 98 1. All Studies Departmentalized 100 2. Children not moved from Room to Room 101 3. Music and Drawing not Departmentalized 101 4. Class Teachers "held responsible for all Discipline... 102 5. Departments of Unrelated Studies 102 6. No Head of Department 103 7. No Effective Study Period 103 8. Promotion not. Proportionate 104 9. Too much Presentation 104 10. Too many Teachers in a Departmental Division... 105 xii CONTENTS CHAPTER VIII. LIMITATIONS 106 1. Size of School 106 2. Size of Class and Room 106 3. Part of the Course to be Departmentalized 107 4. Number of Teachers 108 CHAPTER IX. OTHER PLANS OF DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 109 1. The Study-Hall Method 109 2. All Teaching under Specialists in 3. The Peripatetic Method in 4. A Departmental Unit for each Year 112 CHAPTER X. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 114 1. Optional Introduction 114 2. Preparation of Teachers 114 3. Examination of Teachers 116 4. Comparative Results 117 5. Units of Work 118 6. Laboratory Work 120 7. Individual Education * . . 121 APPENDIX. SPECIAL DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 125 ILLUSTRATIONS Plate I : Special Departmental Room 68 Plate II : Teachers' Programmes 73 Plate III : Teachers' Programmes 74 Plate IV : Class Programmes 75 Plate V: Class Programmes 76 Plate VI: A Model Departmental Programme in Graphic Outline 80 Plate VII: Special Departmental Attendance Record 88 Plate VIII: Special Departmental Attendance Record 89 Plate IX: Departmental Report Card (Face) 91 Plate X: Departmental Report Card (Back) 92 Plate XI: Pupils' Box for Holding Pencils and other Articles, 97 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION / THAT method of school organization un- der which each teacher in an elementary school instructs in one subject or in one group of related subjects only is generally known as departmental teaching. This plan of teaching is very well understood ^ from the almost universal practice in high schools and colleges. x s It has also been employed in varying de- v) grees in the private elementary schools, . and, for that reason, its general manner of use with young children has long been com- prehended. The employment of the de- partmental plan in private schools has doubtless been continued, both because more 2 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING effective, and because it has been held up as a point of superiority over public school methods. This work will attempt to put forward a most practical plan of departmental teaching. It has been developed from ex- perience and from elementary principles of pedagogy. But it must not be imagined that this modern adaptation of an old meth- od will cure all the ills of the ordinary graded school. No educational panacea is being recommended. Following the natural laws of growth in the social and economic world, the time is ripe for this application of these laws in a modified adaptation of departmental teach- ing in elementary schools. The experience of the last few years very forcefully indicates that this system of school organization will surely improve to a greater or less extent, depending upon the judgment and enthusiasm of the intro- ducers, the results in any elementary school. INTRODUCTION 3 Departmental teaching, however, as a plan of teaching, does not appear to have been tried to any wide extent in public ele- mentary schools, until within the last ten years. Isolated schools in Brooklyn, Bos- ton, and other cities have reported that they have used departmental teaching for a number of years. The study-hall form of departmental teaching was used to a considerable extent wherever buildings of that plan were con- structed. Judging from meager reports, this plan was doubtless in use in many sec- tions of the East fifty or sixty years ago. Some twenty-five years ago a general demand in our large cities for more expert teaching, especially of the newer branches, resulted in the special-teacher phase of elementary instruction. This has been con- founded with departmental teaching be- cause it is a certain manifestation of the desire to improve instruction in any given branch. 4 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING The growth of the employment of the special teacher in the public educational systems of our country is really a most in- teresting chapter in the history of depart- mental teaching. It has shown that educational leaders have begun to realize that one teacher can- not effectively teach all the branches of the curriculum, so the special teacher was ap- pointed to proceed on his peripatetic round. The strength and weakness of this system only pointed out the more clearly the necessity of a specially equipped teacher in each branch. To completely secure the well recognized advantages of expert teach- ing, it is necessary to select the best system of applying the principle. The special teacher has come, and is continuing to teach in public school systems of our cities, but no one as yet seems to look upon his position as affording a basis for a better system. There is a disposition to look upon the plan as an excrescence. Many educators INTRODUCTION 5 have, doubtless, had the special teacher sys- tem in mind when bringing forward objec- tions to the departmental plan. The two methods are, however, widely separated. No extended adoption of the depart- mental plan seems to have occurred until about the year 1900. It was then intro- duced in New York City. Under the leadership of Dr. William H. Maxwell, City Superintendent of Schools, a number of elementary schools began the new method in the seventh and eighth years of the course. The great majority of these schools were successful, and this system of organization rapidly spread until at the present time there are over 150 elementary schools so organized. The feeling in New York City relative to the new plan of teaching may be gath- ered from an epitome of several reports which have been made public from time to time. 6 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING The fifth annual report of Superintend- ent Maxwell, contains the replies to a circu- lar letter to principals relative to depart- mental teaching. These replies show that the majority of principals are decidedly in favor of the new plan. For example, 124 out of 132 principals reported the "interest of teachers" as "highly satisfactory," or "greatly increased," while no out of 132 presented the same report relative to the "interest of pupils." Dr. Edward W. Stitt, District Superin- tendent conducted a questionnaire among the 43 departmental teachers of the 8th and 1 2th districts, in the form of an Australian ballot, so that each teacher felt free to ex- press his unbiased opinion.. In answer to the question, "Are you in favor of depart- mental instruction?" 39 answered "Yes," 2 were undecided, and 2 answered "No." Mr. John W. Rafferty, Principal of Pub- lic School 19, Brooklyn, took a vote of his departmental pupils in such a way as to se- INTRODUCTION 7 cure a free opinion, and found that 241 out of 294 voted in favor of departmental in- struction. In 1905, Dr. William H. Maxwell sent out a circular letter which sought the opinions of principals with reference to the value of departmental teaching in the last two years of the course, and whether its adoption should be made compulsory. A large majority expressed themselves as highly in favor of departmental teaching in the seventh and eighth years, but they opposed the proposition to make its adoption compulsory, and hence in New York the principal of each school may or may not organize his school according to the de- partmental plan. Following the wide adoption of depart- mental work in New York City, several cities in New York State and throughout the Middle West have reported an increas- ing number of schools which have adopted it. 8 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING Albany has several schools which are organized departmentally. Syracuse, Buf- falo, Troy, and other cities are trying the plan. In other states, Chicago, Philadel- phia, and Boston have shown the greatest interest in the movement. Considerable difficulty has been found in fixing a proper nomenclature for this sys- tem. Certain circumlocutions and inac- curate expressions are being used both in elementary and high schools in connection with the departments as applied to school organization. The system of school organization under which a single teacher or one teacher in- structs the pupils of a certain class in all the studies of a grade has no term by which it is commonly distinguished. Many speak of it as the graded system, but the depart- mental system is likewise a graded system. For the same reason it cannot be called the class system. Seizing upon its chief char- acteristic, this work denominates it as the INTRODUCTION 9 single-teacher plan. Some have felt that "single" might be taken in the sense "un- married," but this use will rarely if ever be taken from the context. If "single-teacher system" should be accepted as a proper terminology, its other meaning will soon be lost. "One-teacher system" has been used, but this name, too, is somewhat objection- able. The latter name may, however, prove the better. Again, it has been found very difficult to select an appropriate title for the teacher who has personal charge of a group or class of children. The terms "official teacher", "official class teacher", "class adviser", "class officer", and "class teacher" have been variously used. Following the usage at Princeton in naming one who discharges a similar func- tion a "preceptor", this work highly recom- mends the employment of that good old word. So that, when a teacher exercises personal 10 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING supervision over a class as one responsible for all school activities not comprehended under the departments, he is a preceptor, and when he acts as the teacher of a de- partment he is a departmental teacher. However, it is quite practical to call the above mentioned preceptor a class teacher, and little confusion need occur. Whenever class teacher is used in this work, it should be understood in the above sense. CHAPTER II. ADVANTAGES Before a school system decides to adopt any new method, the gains and losses should be very carefully weighed. Do the gains overbalance the losses? Can the advantages be attained, and are they worth the effort of reorganization? Are they based upon fundamental prin- ciples? Will they be of permanent value? The grounds of one's faith should be established before any trial is made, and then the effort will be worth while. The principal advantages claimed for departmental teaching in elementary schools are expert teaching, improved dis- cipline, improved physical conditions, better equipment, enriched curriculum, and unity and force in school management. 12 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING I. Expert Teaching Expert teaching is the chief claim of the departmental plan. It is evident beyond the peradventure, as experience has long ago shown, that a teacher can master one subject better than many. When he is freed from the confusion and discourage- ment of preparing properly in fifteen to twenty subjects, or parts of subjects, he can use his time to prepare in a single study or group. He soon becomes highly proficient in the science of his branch, as well as in the best methods of teaching it. So it is important to note that by the very organization of the system itself in any school the teachers tend to become expert. If each teacher becomes, even in a small degree, more expert than formerly, then the teaching as a whole must improve, and it will continue to improve in proportion to the advancement made by each teacher. The system, then, does not necessarily ADVANTAGES 13 need the specialist upon introduction: it develops the specialist. This specialist may be only a specialist in a small way, but in any case he is capable of doing work far superior to that done under the single- ; teacher plan. Therefore, the pupil is always placed under the direction of the teacher who is best qualified to instruct in any given branch. He responds at once to superior instruction and profits greatly thereby. Indeed, this method is a necessary evolu- tion from the natural order of things in civilized society. A man only excels by learning to do something better than any other man can do it. Specialization is the basal principle of all our high success in the arts and industries. Division of labor is the congealed expression of the spirit of the age. 2> Improved Discipline Most educators will hesitate to look upon departmental teaching as a means of im- I 4 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING proving discipline. The frequent move- ment of classes is feared as an additional disciplinary burden; but the reasons which give departmental teaching this ad- vantage grow out of the most natural laws of child nature. If a mother should shut up her little child in a single room with but a few play- things, he would very soon become rebel- lious and boisterous. The best way to quiet him, as all know, is to allow him to go into another room among new surround- ings, and his nature will more easily re- spond to control. Just as simple and as natural, as the above illustration indicates, is the movement of children from one de- partment to another. The exercise itself serves as a positive quieting force. A normal child seems rapidly to accumulate physical energy, which must have an out- let in one way or another. If the plan of school organization provides easy means for the exercise of this energy, it is so far ADVANTAGES 15 prevented from exercising itself in per- nicious channels. Therefore, departmental teaching tends to remove one of the most fertile causes of ordinary school disturbances. The nor- mally active child is provided for. He will respond at once to more natural treatment. The reasons why departmental teaching secures better disciplinary conditions may be summed up as follows: a. The movement from room to room is a great and necessary physical relief. b. The educative variety of new teach- ers, new studies, and new rooms tends to keep wholesome thoughts ever present. c. The expert teacher is more interesting. d. The equipment of a departmental room is more effective. The necessities of this kind of free move- ment demand that the pupil should become more and more his own master. Added op- portunities for disorder must give added op- 1 6 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING portunities for self-restraint. The child will become more and more a free moral agent. This element in discipline is of fundamental significance. Very few chil- dren are really bad or vicious. Unnatural conditions make the best children un- tractable. In this discussion one can hardly overlook that large body of teachers who will still look upon the fact that children are obliged to move as, in itself, something that dis- turbs the good order of the school. It matters little to this class of teachers how it is accomplished. Such an act to them re- mains an unnecessary and gross disturbance. It is unavailing to attempt to meet the objections of those who hold to the "pin drop test." Their ideal is directly opposed to that of the teachers who believe that children attend school primarily to learn important life lessons. The "pin drop test" adherents, and it is surprising how many of them are left, seem to hold that ADVANTAGES 17 children go to school chiefly to learn to be quiet. Quietness becomes an end in itself. They assume that silence is the sine qua non of all school activities. This may or may not be the case, but it should never be an aim of a school, but rather a condition to be brought about naturally and inci- dentally. The chief condition of good discipline is found when the good will and interest of the child in his work 1 has been preserved and developed. If that work involves movement, talking, or noise, any or all of these manifestations may become not only harmless but markedly beneficial. 3. Improved Physical Conditions Although much has been said about the necessity of improving the physical de- velopment of the elementary school child, yet too little has been said or realized about the imperative necessity of improving the physical conditions of school organization 1 8 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING which act unfavorably upon the health and growth of children. Children who remain continuously for three hours in one room, in a single seat, do so at a great physical loss. Ordinary class movements are insufficient. The physical relaxation and exercise attending the movement of classes at frequent in- tervals cannot but prove of great benefit to the general health and growth of the child. In this connection, the following extract from the writings of Horace Mann may be cited : "But to make small children sit both dumb and motionless for three successive hours, with the excep- tion of a brief recess and two short lessons, is an infraction of every law which the Creator has im- pressed upon both body and mind. There is but one motive by which this violence to every prompting of nature can be committed, and that is an overwhelming, stupefying sense of fear. If the world were offered to these children as a reward for this prolonged silence and inaction they would spurn it. The deep instinct ADVANTAGES 19 of self-preservation alone is sufficient for the purpose. The irreparable injury of making a child sit straight, and silent, and motionless, for three continuous hours with only two or three brief respites, cannot be con- ceived. Its effect upon the body is to inflict severe pain, to impair health, to check the free circulation in the system all of which leads to dwarfishness and to misdirect the action of the vital organs, which leads to deformity. In regard to the intellect, it suppresses the activity of every faculty, and, as it is a universal law in regard to them all, that they acquire strength by exercise, and lose tone and vigor by inaction, the inevitable consequence is, both to diminish the number of things they will be competent to do, and to disable them from doing this limited number so well as they otherwise might. In regard to the temper and morals the results are still more deplorable. To command a child whose mind is furnished with no occupation to sit for a long time, silent in regard to speech, and dead in regard to motion, when every limb and organ aches for activity, to require a child to sit down in the midst of others whose very presence acts upon his social nature as gravitation acts upon his body, and then to prohibit all recognition of, or communication with, his fellows, is subjecting him to a temptation to dis- obedience which it is alike physically and morally im- possible he should resist." 20 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING The above passage has been inserted here because it places such just emphasis upon the necessity of this mobility of children as an educative means. Although this scathing rebuke was uttered many years ago, it is surprising to what extent mere silence and immobility remain the prevail- ing ideals in the classrooms of to-day. Children will be healthier as the school organization itself provides for frequent movement. This natural movement is much better than the forced exercises of a gymnastic drill. It is exercise through living, not living to exercise. 4. Better Equipment One of the greatest difficulties encoun- tered by the regular grade teacher is to use easily, and without undue friction, the es- sential apparatus for the most effective teaching. For example, the material for demonstrating an arithmetic lesson is no sooner brought into use than the session ADVANTAGES 21 must end, and be followed by a science period. Experiments of any value in science require considerable time and room. If this lesson is taught properly there will hardly be time left to select and mount the proper map for a geography recitation which follows before the noon recess. As is well known, the difficulties suggested above have proved so great as to prevent almost entirely, in the elementary schools, the proper acquirement or use of needful equipment. Not only is there no time for the constant change of apparatus, but there is no available space in an ordinary class- room for all the apparatus needed for all branches. When to these limitations is added that of economy, which practically prohibits the supply of equipment for all subject's in all rooms, then one can form some idea of the general meagerness under the single-teacher system. But under the departmental plan there is a marked im- provement. One of the first effects is that 22 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING each teacher equips his own department. The teacher of history is on the lookout for maps and charts, the teacher of arithmetic is collecting weights, measures, etc., the teacher of science, perhaps most zealous of all, is sure to gather a great deal of valuable material and apparatus to make instruction profitable in branches which, for no other reason than the limitations of the single- teacher system, have long been a mere name in the elementary curriculum. Then, too, a department demands more than apparatus. In science, especially, seats good only for listening and writing are inadequate. Seats which permit free- dom of movement are necessary. Or, rather, no seats at all, but tables where chil- dren can systematically, and under direc- tion find out the simple elementary facts of nature. Man is not naturally a sedentary .being, although he is fast becoming such. The child can learn while standing, or even ADVANTAGES 23 while moving about. It is possible to conceive of a school where there are no desks and seats constructed solely for writ- ing and sitting, but where each corner con- tains a departmental laboratory to which children can go naturally, and move, and grow, and "learn by doing" the riches of each department as all the rest of the world acquire facts and skill. 5. Enrichment of Curriculum. It is obvious that one of the best means of enriching the elementary course is by broadening and intensifying each branch through expert teaching. A second means of enrichment is by pre- serving a proper distribution of time. There is a constant tendency in the single- teacher method to give much more time and energy to one subject than to another. In fact some branches have been notoriously slighted. No matter what the programme calls for, the study the teacher likes best, 24 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING the one in which he is best prepared, the one to which his pupils give best attention, or the one the principal magnifies, is the study that receives the maximum amount of work. But, it is fair to assume, that, if a subject is worth putting in the curriculum, it should receive its proportionate time. The departmental plan insures this proper distribution. A third means of enrichment has been suggested above. A new subject may be added to the course and an expert teacher may be developed to teach its elements. Or, again, a subject that has received little or no attention in certain classes, due per- haps to the need of a peculiar talent on the part of the teacher or teachers, may become as well taught as any study in the curri- culum. For example, a teacher who teaches all the subjects of a grade may do well in all except one, as music. In this work the class may utterly fail. Under the depart- ADVANTAGES 25 mental plan, the class could have passed to an expert teacher. Suppose, again, that it is desirable to in- troduce a new subject, as cooking, into the course of any school. Under the single- teacher plan, its practical teaching would be hindered. Under the departmental plan, a teacher could be assigned to this branch who would soon become an expert. As the teaching of each study must be en- riched by the departmental plan, so the curriculum as a whole will increase in value. 6. Unity and Force in School Management Certain important gains in school man- agement are afforded by departmental teaching. a. There may be greater unity of work. When an entirely new class begins work with a strange teacher there is bound to be a more or less extended period of groping about for a true beginning. Re- 26 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING views and repetitions are manifold. The new teacher knows nominally where the former teacher left off, but results do not tally. Now, under the departmental plan, a teacher teaches the same pupils for years. He can, therefore, lay out the entire work as a complete whole. b. Responsibility for results in any study may be more directly fixed. Although the single teacher of a grade has been nominally held responsible for the work of that grade, yet he has successfully evaded, and properly too, a large part of that responsibility. If, for example, the prin- cipal criticised the work of a class in composition, the teacher would exhibit his class compositions, showing most conclu- sively, (a) how very defective the class was in that work at the beginning of the term, and (b) how remarkably the class had improved during the same term. Each former teacher of this class would repeat more or less the same set of proofs. ADVANTAGES 27 Every supervisor knows that this shirking of responsibility is inherent in the single- teacher plan. Under the departmental plan the composition teacher would have no one to place the responsibility upon other than himself. c. Economy in the employment of teach- ers will be gained. In most large cities a number of special teachers has been employed to teach or assist in the teach- ing of certain subjects known as "special branches." This practice has resulted in a large in- crease in the cost of running the schools, particularly because the special teacher has no particular class for which he is held responsible. An increase in the number of special teachers never decreases the num- ber of pupils per teacher. While the special teacher has taught, the class teacher has not been profitably engaged. This is an unnecessary duplication of service. Again, the character of the work of this 2 8 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING special teacher has often been very faulty, due to the fact that his uncoordinated rela- tion in the school faculty brought about great obstacles in class management and in securing a proper interest. The class teacher can always use more effective means to secure good work than the special teacher. Under the departmental plan, the pecu- liar organization itself tends to develop specialists rapidly, at least specialists of sufficient capability for elementary work, and thus the need of an extra specialist is no longer felt. d. The saving of the teacher's time in the preparation of lessons, the saving of the time for needless reviews, and the economy in the use of school equipment have all been discussed above. e. Pupils may be promoted with less friction. Individual promotion, or pro- motion at other than the usual times, has been one of the rarest occurrences of the graded school. The brighter the pupil the ADVANTAGES 29 more the grade teacher desires to keep him. In recommending his promotion the teacher has everything to lose and nothing to gain; but, under the departmental plan, no such influence need work against a child, for as soon as the required pro- ficience is reached every one of his teachers is interested in his advancement. Another phase of this problem of promotion gives promise of great benefit. Promotion by sub- ject is being adopted in many high schools of the country, and there is no reason why a modification of the system may not be worked out for the elementary school. It has its peculiar difficulties with young children, but the principle of differentia- ting the individual child and his work is the foundation stone of all progress in the grammar grades. 30 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 7. Other Considerations The various reports that have been made, and the discussions that have been held on the subject of departmental teaching have emphasized some other phases of this ques- tion which are worthy of mention. Most of these claims are really manifestations of the gains already discussed, but, in a new form, they are significant. a. Departmental teaching in the ele- mentary school will bring about a much better articulation with the high school. . This is not so striking a gain to the pupils of the grammar school as a whole as the more fundamental arguments which have been advanced, but it is, when the school system is considered as a whole, unques- tionably a very important advantage. b. Interest in school work will probably be greatly intensified by departmental teaching. While this may not always fol- low, as interest is a result of the will, still the natural means afforded tend to produce ADVANTAGES 3 1 a proper condition for greater interest. The variety of teachers, equipment, methods, and general conditions, the physical relief in changing rooms, the continuity of supe- rior teaching, the greater educative free- dom, all serve to stimulate the child to his best endeavor. Nothing is more deaden- ing to a child than to listen to the same voice, see the same surroundings, witness the same methods, and all within the nar- row confines of a single room, and under the eye of the same teacher. Children become weary from the eternal sameness. c. Departmental teaching is more at- tractive to teachers. This is shown by the tendency to prepare in a specialty in normal and training schools. d. There is great difficulty in properly preparing teachers in the many studies of the elementary schools. If teachers could be prepared in a group of studies only, there would be a greater number of efficient teachers. 32 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING e. In schools for boys and in schools for boys and girls where both men and women are teaching, the control of both sexes may be exercised upon boys and girls alike. This will mitigate to some extent the undue influence of either sex. f. Recreation may be provided for the children of large cities who have been de- prived of a recess at 10:30 A. M. It has been found quite impracticable in most large schools to conduct a recess at that time. The departmental plan may give brief recreative periods at short intervals. g. The special talent of a child is likely to be developed. The greater stimulation * of the work in a given department may set free a force which will lead to the selection of a proper vocation by many children. h. Children become more responsible for their actions and hence increase more rapidly in initiative and independent thought. This result, however, depends largely upon the manner of adaptation, but ADVANTAGES 33 the strong tendency of the system is to de- velop these most desirable qualities in children. i. Again, children are developed as individuals. The departmental plan tends to differentiate each child and his work. He is, therefore, stimulated to much greater effort. If he can be promoted as soon as he is prepared to advance to a higher grade, certainly no better condition for him than this could be brought about in the school management. j. Favoritism, or what school children have for generations, called "partiality" will be greatly reduced. Consciously or unconsciously many teachers acquire the habit of making favorites. This is very harmful in a class with but one teacher, but where pupils go from teacher to teacher any evil tendency of this kind will surely be so diffused as to become much weakened. CHAPTER III. OBJECTIONS Many objections have been made to de- partmental teaching, some from a failure to apply it effectively, and some from a failure to distinguish it from other new methods in elementary schools which may have resembled the departmental plan. Some prominent educators have raised objections to the departments in elementary schools, seemingly from the fact that they confounded it with the special teacher system. They have attributed the well-known short-comings of that system to the de- partmental. The special teacher has largely failed, not because of any weakness in teaching ability, but because he was unable to es- tablish any proper personal relation to his 34 OBJECTIONS 35 pupils, and because he had no cooperative relation as a member of a particular school faculty. He has not failed because he was a specialist. Any approved method of departmental teaching should employ all the functions of a teacher, and then there will be no similarity between the special teacher system and the departmental. There are, moreover, a few difficulties that are inherent in the departmental plan. These should be studied and overcome, or the resulting friction will hinder the free movement of the system. The principal objections to departmental teaching are that the plan tends to promote overwork, weak correlation, narrowmind- edness of teachers, difficulties in school man- agement, and lack of personal control of pupils on the part of teachers. The remedy is found in an effective method of adaptation. 36 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING I. 7"oo much 'work may be demanded of pupils. Certainly the tendency is marked, upon the introduction of the departmental plan, for each teacher to magnify the value of his subject. Each teacher is brought into competition with every other teacher in order to secure the interest and effort of each child. But it should be clearly under- stood at the outset that the tendency to overwork is great under the single-teacher plan. The point of this criticism is that the tendency to overwork pupils is greater and more difficult to control under the de- partments. These means of control of school work are offered : a. Regular conferences of principal and teachers should be held, at which a system may be perfected for the proper distribu- tion and regulation of all home and school work. OBJECTIONS 37 b. All home work, as a school require- ment, may be abandoned. Many educa- tors have long realized that a period of five hours a day, for ten months in the year, comprises all the work that ought to be de- manded of the young children of the ele- * mentary school. c. Home work might be made voluntary. An adoption of any of the above recom- mendations would, in practice, break the entire force of the objection. 2. Correlation will be made more dif- ficult. This theme has offered wide opportuni- ties for the opponents of departmental teaching. The six principal phases of correlation are therefore herein examined for the pur- pose of discussing all the difficulties in- volved. a. Proper sequence of studies and parts of studies. This kind of correlation is 38 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING positively facilitated by departmental in- struction as shown above under "unity of work." b. Coordination. The equalizing and harmonizing of studies in point of time and valuation is greatly helped by departmental instruction as shown above. c. Correlating subjects with the faculties of the mind, as well as d. Correlating subjects with the entire human environment of the child, are corre- lations which are evidently secured as well or better by the departmental plan as by the single-teacher plan. e. Unity of studies. Colonel Francis W. Parker based his case against depart- mental teaching chiefly upon his belief that it would hinder the proper unity of studies. His theory of unity demands, primarily, a teaching of content studies only, while the studies of form or means of expression are taught incidentally. First, Colonel Parker and his followers OBJECTIONS 39 seem to have confounded the special-teacher system, which is practiced in most large cities, with departmental education. These are not to be confounded, hence many of their illustrations are not applicable. Second, the unity of content and form, along the lines suggested by Colonel Parker and others, is a valuable thought in educa- tion, but the educational public has not accepted to any degree the extreme views of Colonel Parker. Therefore, he would make departmental teaching antagonize a theory rather than a condition. Third, departmental instruction in no sense hinders the unity of content and form to the degree Colonel Parker maintained. The departments may be all content sub- jects, and each department, as history, may be held responsible for the spelling, pen- manship, etc., involved in its teaching. In this way unity may be actually enhanced. f. Cross-correlation or interrelations be- tween studies. This phase of correlation is 40 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING the one most commonly accepted as corre- lation by teachers. For instance, the science work should not involve division of fractions before this topic has been taught in arithmetic. This is a matter that will not take care of itself, and will prove very harmful to the smooth working of a departmental plan, if not adjusted. It is, however, easy to regulate. First, a well-developed course of study will take care of all direct correlations. Second, all other correlations of any value may be adjusted at the conference above recommended. Third, many magnify, beyond all reason, the importance of this kind of correlation. There are, of course, natural and direct correlations as named above, but many of the "wild-cat schemes" that have been put forward in recent years are not worth con- sideration. The child will naturally unify all the knowledge that he apperceives. Let him alone. He is a positive unifying OBJECTIONS 41 organism. Many plans of correlation re- mind one of chewing the food for a child. Give him his dinner without depriving him of the privilege of its mastication. He is actually educated by unifying all these so- called "scrappy" and isolated facts of hu- man knowledge. 3. Teachers may become narrowminded. Those who have made much of this point seem to have forgotten that the employ- ment of a single teacher for a grade is a positive form of specialization. The grade teacher is confined to a short cross-section of the course, while the departmental teacher is confined to a longitudinal section. So, even from this view, the departmental teacher does not suffer. But the narrowing tendency does exist among all teachers, and it is quite probable that the departmental system does not tend to minimize some very objectionable phases of this influence. 42 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING In a recent article Dr. Julius Sachs, of Columbia University, calls attention to a harmful condition of over-specialization which has arisen in the high school. His position is so sound and applies so directly to conditions that exist or conditions which must be guarded against in the elementary school that his words are here used at some length. "The pure departmentalist is a distinct hindrance to the construction of a rational curriculum. He is apt to refuse to teach anything but his own subject, in which case he adds materially to the costliness of the school system, or else he will assent, by way of half- hearted accommodation, to teach as matters of sec- ondary importance to him those subjects that should command the very fullest powers and abilities of the class teacher." And again he writes : "I hope I have made it clear that departmental organization is as far removed as possible from spe- cialization in one subject." And still further: "The remedy for the all-around teacher of the old OBJECTIONS 43 academy days is not to be found, then, in the one- subject teacher, but in the teacher who has definitely prepared himself to meet the requirements of at least three subjects of the curriculum." Over-specialization may become just as damaging to a school organization as un- der-specialization. In rushing from the teacher who carries a dilute mixture of anything you may need, we should not em- brace the teacher who offers the poignancy of some concentrated extract. The broad- minded teacher must be retained alike in college, high school, and elementary school. The plan proposed in a later chapter of this work contemplates securing for the schools not only the teacher who can teach a department of related studies better than any one else, but also the teacher who is open-minded and has broad sympathies for all attainments of human achievement. Holding ever to this breadth of view there is still another phase of specialization of vocation. 44 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING We all agree that division of labor pro- motes efficiency. Again, division of labor has everywhere been characteristic of prog- ress in civilization. But, if specializa- tion produces narrowness, then civilization and narrowness must be concomitant a thesis which is so paradoxical as to admit of no defense. The narrowest people are those who can do fairly well a thousand things. It is probable that men are not made narrow by the limits of their occupations, but by the narrowness of their outlook upon life. 4. School organization may become more difficult. This difficulty is not inherent in depart- mental teaching. It is necessarily greater upon the introduction of any new method. Should the high schools introduce the sin- gle-teacher plan for each grade, it would offer many difficulties to those accustomed to the departmental plan. OBJECTIONS 45 The work of organization and its con- duct depend largely upon the plan adopted. Many have used an over-departmentalized method which is burdensome as well as in- effective. Drawing conclusions from such usage, some writers on this subject have laid great stress on the necessity of a competent principal. A competent principal is neces- sary for the management of any large school, but where the traditions of a good departmental plan are well established, no greater executive ability is needed for the direction of a departmental organization than for any other. In fact, if the great ad- vantages of improved teaching, discipline, equipment, interest, and physical relief mean anything at all, they must mean that, when the plan is once under way, the very impetus of these gains must actually lessen the burden of school management. 46 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 5. Personal influence and general re- sponsibility of the teacher may be lessened. That the personal influence for good ex- erted by teachers upon children is a very potent agency in education, is a fundamen- tal thesis in pedagogy; but the depart- mental plan, if properly adapted, will strengthen rather than weaken this valuable personal influence. First. The influence of the departmental teacher is continuous, extending over the entire course of the child, while the single teacher controls the child for a brief period only, at the end of which his influence is entirely ruptured. Second. The varying personal influences exerted by several teachers are more like the influences of life, and afford richer va- rieties of character manifestation. Third. Under the single-teacher plan, many children are not reached by a proper personal attraction. The teacher's person- OBJECTIONS 47 ality may, through no fault of his own, posi- tively repel some children who are thus placed beyond his influence; but, in pass- ing through the departments, each pupil is more apt to meet the peculiar quality in a teacher which is fitted to awaken what is best in him. Fourth. Thus the rare and more in- timate personal relations, which often prevail for good, are more common un- der a departmental system than under any other. 6. Other objections that have been raised. Many other objections to departmental teaching have been made, chiefly on ac- count of a failure to properly adapt the system to elementary school conditions. These objections are, for the most part, dis- cussed in other portions of this work where the topic has been specially developed. It has been claimed that discipline will be- come lax, that penmanship and spelling will 48 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING become poor, that English generally will suffer, that responsibility will not be defi- nitely fixed, that there will be no time for study, and that class spirit will not be de- veloped. There is no good reason why each and all of these objections will not disap- pear under the departmental plan, if the suggestions made in the succeeding chapters are carried out. The proposed plan has been perfected in order to over- come the possibility of any such harmful tendencies. Again, it has been held that the "harder studies" cannot always be placed in the morning hours as under the single-teacher plan. This is true, but the constant physical relief and variety provided by a depart- mental programme doubtless mitigates the force of this objection. There is another class of objections, which have been made, which present only the common difficulties of any system of school organization. OBJECTIONS 49 It has been stated that incompetent teachers, new teachers, and teachers given to irregular or unpunctual attendance cause trouble. This is true, but such teachers are the cause of trouble under any system or in any school. If the case of the incom- petent teacher is taken it might be stated in the following question: Which is the better plan, to place a pupil for one year or one-half year entirely under the control of an inefficient teacher, or to place him un- der such a teacher for one period of each day? When distributed over a period of years, it will be found that each pupil's lost time is the same under either plan, but most teachers will agree that it is far better to have these weak periods scattered rather than concentrated upon the entire class dur- ing a whole year. In this way the weakening influence seems to be diluted. Was this not the case in your high school and college course? The fact is there can be but few inefficient 4 50 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING teachers in the departments, because the chief advantage of the system itself is that it tends to develop its own expert teachers. CHAPTER IV. PRINCIPLES OF ADAPTATION A few of the fundamental principles of school organization are presented here for discussion and amplification in an attempt to present a pedagogical basis for an ideal plan of adapting departmental teaching to elementary schools. The chief functions of the teacher must surely find proper expression in any effect- ive plan of school or class organization. The chief developing centers of the child should also be exercised to the best possible advantage under such a plan. I. The Prime Functions of the Teacher a. Relation to the pupil. The most important function of a teacher is that which arises from the necessity of caring for the individual child. This duty is best fostered when each teacher is largely 51 52 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING responsible for a certain group or class of children. The younger the child the more this function of the teacher predominates. The history of education shows that this prin- ciple has always been observed, as our lowest grades have uniformly employed teachers in the closest personal relations, while our institutions of higher education have always shown a tendency to ignore entirely the personal relation to the student. A notable departure has just been intro- duced at Princeton University in the pre- ceptorial system. This system distinctly recognizes the value of emphasizing the personal care and responsibility for each and every pupil on the part of the teacher. Many high schools have long appreciated the force of this function, and in many of these schools, each class of students has been placed under the personal supervision of a certain teacher. This personal touch is not only beneficial PRINCIPLES OF ADAPTATION 53 to the child as a dependent who by nature needs constant advice and direction, but it is an indispensable condition for all effect- ive teaching. The first great work of the teacher is to gain a strong personal control over his pupil. Many teachers have failed because this relation had not been firmly established. Likewise, many plans of teaching have not succeeded for the reason that these plans did not provide for the development of the personal relation. b. Relation to the branches of study. Primarily, the child attends school for the express purpose of learning something, and therefore the teacher's second duty is to instruct him in a study or studies. The best instruction is sure to result from particular preparation in and presentation of one subject. Hence, the most effective activity of this function is in the selection of a special branch by each teacher. The higher institutions of learning, of course, have developed to their present 54 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING efficiency through this function alone. Many signs indicate that it has been per- fected at the expense of other obligations. The elementary school, however, has always ignored this function until in recent years it has been forced to make use of the special teacher. This practice simply proves the necessity of recognizing that one of the greatest duties of any teacher is to give the very best possible instruction in the subject matter of the curriculum. All must agree that this can be accomplished only when the teacher becomes a specialist in teaching a given subject. . c. Relation to the school. Many teachers fail to recognize the great value of the school as an organized whole instituted for the benefit of the child. The tendency is to ignore this relation as much as possible by conceiving of each class as a complete whole. In many schools teachers do not know how to wors together. There is no common forum, PRINCIPLES OF ADAPTATION 55 but rather government by a dictator. The best expression of this relation is in a thoroughly organized faculty. The work of a faculty, as such, is one of the most important functions in school work. But there is a vast difference between a constructive cooperation and a destructive dictation. Appearances are many times deceptive. The unguarded and incapable child is placed in school. Who is personally and directly responsible for him? His class teacher. The child goes to school to learn something of value to study branches of knowledge. Who is responsible for the teaching of these studies? His depart- mental teacher. The child is individually a part of the school a social whole. Who is responsible for the school? The faculty. The competent teacher is, there- fore, one who can control, instruct, and co- operate. 56 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 2. The Threefold Nature of the Child a. The intellectual nature. Primarily, the school gives chief con- sideration to the intellectual development of the child. The best educative methods are those which best facilitate the mental act of learning. Since the fundamental principle in mental growth is spontaneous mental action, it is evident that the school organization should consider how best to bring about conditions under which each child is given the responsibility for a fitting amount of work, together with the most favorable circumstance for its accomplish- ment. The child must in his turn become the worker, and all methods should posi- tively foster this independence of thought and action. b. The moral nature. There can be no doubt but that the moral nature of the child is best developed when he habitually wills to do his best. The PRINCIPLES OF ADAPTATION 57 first and greatest problem of the school is to interest him in right action. Right action will be stimulated and will follow most naturally those conditions in school management where the child is offered the greatest opportunity for freedom of choice. It is obvious that there is no possibility of adequately educating the moral nature unless the child be given the opportunity to do wrong as well as to do right. This principle of freedom has been so abundantly tested in American civilization that it is difficult to understand why it is not accepted universally in the schools. Of course its application in the ele- mentary school must be limited in com- parison with the degree in which it is applied to civilized society. The school should create an atmosphere in which each and every child shall feel that he is being led to do right rather than wrong, that he is held responsible for the just discharge of all his privileges, that high ideals of attain- 58 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING ment are ever kept before him and within his reach, and that his energies find full opportunity for self-control as well as for the control of others and the direction of school activities. There are two requisites in school or- ganization which determine the extent and force of moral education. The teacher, his character, personality, and influence, is the first determining agency. The young child looks to persons in authority for ideals of conduct. Their right activity be- comes surely the right activity of the learner, and the pupil who comes under the control of a great and good teacher is always influenced for good. The second agency is the method of school organization. That method is al- ways best which allows the greater liberty. Of course, this liberty should never become absolute license, nor should it approach immoderation. As liberty of action is granted to adults PRINCIPLES OF ADAPTATION 59 only in a limited degree, so it should be granted to children in a less degree, but it is important to see that no method fosters moral development except that which recognizes free will. c. The physical nature. It is almost trite to say that these three natures of the child are a unity, and always develop together. The main fact is that no one of these natures can far outstrip another without all failing to attain their proper growth. Each supports the others. Somehow, as Herbert Spencer long ago pointed out, the school has failed to give proper attention to the physical develop- ment of children. And further, as he also pointed out, what the school has provided by way of gymnastics has been just a little better than nothing. The essential fact to realize is, that the school organization the school program should in its execution automatically bring about the needed physical education 60 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING while it works out the mental and moral education. Living itself provides physical activity for adults. The carpenter needs no special gymnas- tic exercises. The man who works in an office has long since abandoned his dumb- bells and has taken to all kinds of athletic sports, both outdoor and indoor, not be- cause they necessitate physical exercise, but because they supply the best amusement and recreation, the delight in which is the common heritage of all mankind. So the school should furnish a natural physical relief and activity for the child, and that system of school organization which facili- tates the frequent physical relief and exer- cise of the child is best. CHAPTER V. PLAN OF ADAPTATION COMMON SUBJECT PLAN The discussion of the advantages of and objections to departmental teaching which has been presented above is predicated largely upon a use of the following plan of adaptation. This plan is not only the outgrowth of personal experience, but it is also deduced from the considerations brought forward in the preceding chapter, i. Personal Control of Children Pupils should be grouped into classes and grades largely as under the graded, single-teacher system. Each teacher should be assigned to a class as its "class teacher" or preceptor, and should be held responsi- ble for the personal welfare of each and every child in his class. He should also be held directly responsible for all matters in school organization relating to his class 61 62 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING which do not properly fall under the con- trol of some departmental teacher. And, above all, he should be the teacher who exerts the strongest personal influence for good over each and every member of his class. 2. Presentation of Studies a. A common study English. Each teacher should be a class teacher, and as such should have sufficient opportunity al- lotted to him to establish a potent influence for good and sufficient time to perform the many class duties involved in the school organization. These duties are many, and comprehend such as recording the attend- ance and supervising the entrance and exit of pupils. The most economical way to give this time is to have each teacher teach his own class in a certain subject taught in common by all teachers. This subject should be English or one or more of its subdivisions. The reason is PLAN OF ADAPTATION 63 apparent: English is a peculiar study in the elementary school in that it is funda- mentally common to all other studies. Teaching cannot be performed in any study without the constant use of oral and written English; therefore, the forms of pen- manship, spelling, capitalization, punctua- tion, and grammatical usage must be ever under the responsible examination of each and every teacher or else great waste will result. The child should feel that it is just as necessary to write well and to spell correctly under his history teacher as under his Eng- lish teacher. If the responsibility for the attainment of proper English usage on the part of both teacher and pupil is not placed alike upon each teacher in an elementary school, pupils will habituate themselves to writing well, when under the penmanship teacher, and scribbling in all the other de- partments. Many have held that the importance of 64 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING English is such that it should be special- ized. The importance of English as a branch in the elementary school doubtless transcends the value of any other branch, and that reason alone may indicate why no elementary teacher can afford to be any- thing else than an elementary specialist in English. But, English is also peculiar in being the one common branch. It is distinct and separate on account of these qualities from all other branches. No teacher can teach a single lesson in any study without using it constantly, and for this very necessity he is perforce an English teacher whether he wills or not. Every child that sees or hears his English expression is imbibing his strongest ideals and habits of English usage. From this, it will be seen, that it is positive economy in the grammar school to require at least an elementary specializa- tion of the English branches on the part of every teacher. PLAN OF ADAPTATION 65 It must not be concluded from this, how- ever, that certain English branches, as grammar or penmanship, may not, at times, be profitably departmentalized. The gain of this suggestion will depend upon the peculiar conditions that exist in a given school. As a rule, all, or a part of the English branches, should be taught as a common study in all elementary schools. b. Departmental studies. In addition to being a class teacher of one class, each teacher also becomes the special teacher of a certain study or group of related studies, which is known as a department. The studies to be taught by a teacher might be, for example, English and arithmetic. He would teach only his own class or grade in the English branches, but he would teach arithmetic to all the classes or grades in that part of the school which is organized into departments. 66 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 3. Faculty Organization The departmental plan, or for that mat- ter any plan, will not work successfully unless there is a properly organized faculty. Cooperation is greater than dictation. Where the martinet principal stalks all may appear well, but, in reality, desolation abounds. The school spirit, progress, and work are all promoted by a faculty. Any school does its best work only when it is organized as a united whole, and each teacher per- forms his greatest service only when he realizes the great value of entering into the work of the entire school with the same zest that he pursues his departmental work. The plan proposed above presupposes regular conferences of teachers at which various local school questions may be dis- cussed and set right. The faculty meetings may be extended to cover a wide range of professional en- deavor and activity. PLAN OF ADAPTATION 67 4. Equipment of Departments The equipment of departments will fol- low departmental teaching almost as a corollary. But this feature is such a strik- ing advantage of departmental teaching that it should be developed as a necessary part of the school equipment and work. The special purpose and work of a depart- ment should control the selection of all furniture, apparatus, and supplies which it uses. Hence the departmental teacher should be permitted to choose the necessary ma- terial and equipment for his department. It is quite probable, as the plan of depart- mental teaching develops, that the com- plete equipment of certain departments, as cooking, shopwork, and science, might in- terfere with the use of the room as an ordi- nary classroom for the study of English. When such a development takes place the room should be made large enough to ac- commodate both the full departmental 68 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING DDDDDDD DDDDDDD DDDDDDD DDDDDDD DDDDDDD nnnnnan an a an a a an a an a a nan an a a DDD a a a a PLAN OF ADAPTATION 69 equipment and the desks and chairs suitable for English work. 5. Movement of Classes The movement of classes from one de- partment to another is essential to success. The class teacher must feel that after he has instructed his class for a time in the common subject, he can best serve this class by send- ing it to a specially equipped department under a special teacher, while he in turn gives specialized instruction to another class. 6. The Introductory Organization The first steps taken in introducing the departmental plan of teaching are very im- portant. These suggestions are offered for consideration : a. Begin with the highest class and unite in the first departmental division the five, six, or seven highest classes. Never take less than three nor more than eight classes. Five is probably the ideal number. If the school is very large, having twelve 70 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING to fifteen classes in the last two years, two or more departmental divisions may be formed, as it were, along side of each other. Or, if it is desired to organize the last four years of the course departmentally, one de- partmental division might even be allowed to follow another, but this should not be generally permitted. The parallel ar- rangement is always preferable where the conditions are the same. It is, of course, desirable to include all the classes of any given year in a depart- mental unit, but not always necessary. For example, if in a certain school there are nine classes in the last two years it would be better to organize departmentally the highest six or seven classes only than to comprehend the nine classes in one division. Or, it might be profitable to organize two divisions, one division taking in part of the sixth year. The point in the course at which a division should end is not so im- portant as other considerations. PLAN OF ADAPTATION 71 b. The selections of departments by teachers and their final adjustment and as- signment is a matter governed largely by individual preferences, aptitude, previous education and experience, and general con- ditions. After some compromises have been made, the principal must make the final assignments. The following table, showing possible arrangements of the departments under a different number of teachers, is submitted. Teacher A English, Mathematics Teacher B English, History, Music Teacher C English, Geography, Science Teacher D English, Manual Training Drawing is included under manual train- ing. Physical training and penmanship would 72 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING be taught as common branches under English. Nature study and hygiene would be taught under science; civics and ethics under history. Five Teachers Teacher A English, Mathematics Teacher B English, History Teacher C English, Geography Teacher D English, Science, Music Teacher E English, Manual Training Six Teachers Teacher A English, Mathematics Teacher B English, History Teacher C English, Geography Teacher D English, Science Teacher E English, Manual Training Teacher F English, Music, Physical Training Seven Teachers Teacher A English, Mathematics PLAN OF ADAPTATION 73 m 7 hg H ^ H & o r~ CO OF 'ENIN EX ERCIf ES I 1 I Eii cr > 8A CO H -0> bd bd cd bd bd PHV . TR, 8A 00 00 00 00 00 u 'r- r*" ^ ^ H m o Eng. 8A I m JO N 00 N 00 RE CP 'C i O k En ?. 8A 00 00 00 00 00 rn bd bd bd bd bd H O 30 i . > a .. > a ~ . ^ ^. ^ ^^ \,f ^ C co O mo . zo H^ -^ ^ H iu os r;^ CO o OP ENIN 3 EX! : .RCIS ES I 1 ,~ 1? -Lfn En 0" 8B - a PHV . TR. SB -0> bd bd bd bd bd H En y > 8B S N 30 N > RE CE SS En ? 8B GC 00 00 00 QO ^n ^ ^ ^ B* ^ > rn H', U I T m3 00 bd QO 00 bd 00 00 bd MENTS VIATICS 74 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING m Z A..JI *3 H ^ H ^. o 9: CO gYis OF ENIN 3 EX ERCIJ ES I -o i~ I 3 En r > 7A CO -1 9:55 35 6 00 00 00 00 oo i W W W to to 10:35 Ul PHY . TR. 7A 10: Ml fe *5 ^ S ^ "~ ^. r" r" H m 11: SO ^ t: o O En K 7A m DO P.M N' N g HE OE SIS 1: O 3 En nc 3* 7A 2 1:40 7 c K- ^ O r~ 3 to to to W W H 2:20 O 00 00 00 oo Of) > B "* k- $ 7 3: *J H ^ H & OF ENIN G EX ERCI! ES En ? 7B 00 > 00 > 00 k 00 ^ 00 > PHY . TR. 7B oo W 00 to 00 W 00 to 00 W En r > 7B ] IS" IE )0 CI N SS En rr t 7B -Q ^ a > Q > $ W J W - - 10:50 PI YSIC ^L T MINI MG 11:30 H H H 12: GC * GC ^ GO P.M. 1: N fcE 00 CE N SS 1:40 ft O - - - - 2:20 * GC * GC C 3: - = *J H ^ H @ OP ENIN( 3 EXI 1RCIS ES o "1 ft O *i ft O *t tt = tt w PI YSIC \L T MINI MG J>- > > > ^ GC ^ GC HC GC TS N IE 30 CI N S5 ft o |-i t-i S3 fcH &s ^ H e S H to i=s H O GC O GC C O 0) CO CD 76 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING OPENING EXERCI GC oc OC PHYSICAL TRAINING S E* H QC 00 CE N las O C/3 W 00 ^ H ^ H 3 OF ENIN 3 EX RCIS ES O -J O ^ O N w H e H t) isS H p 1YSIC AL Tl MINI JG fl5 oc O QC O 00 W . o oc w M O QC N RE 00 CE N ss o "-J f 58 fcH 5S W = SaS A = > >* > > ^ PLAN OF ADAPTATION 77 Teacher B English, History Teacher C English, Geography Teacher D English, Science Teacher E English, Manual Training Teacher F English, Music, Grammar Teacher G English, Physical Train- ing, Composition c. The program should be carefully pre- pared so that no conflicts will occur. An appropriate one should be given each teacher and pupil, and then the system should be ready to operate successfully, provided the interior organization is made to conform to the suggestions of the fol- lowing chapter. The more pronounced gains secured by the above plan over all other plans of de- partmental teaching may be stated as follows: i. The same personal control of children is attained as under the single-teacher plan. This is accomplished by assigning each pupil to the care of a class teacher, and by 78 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING providing ample time for the class teacher to establish his influence. The physical well-being of the child is cared for through the development of the first function of the teacher. 2. School management is simplified. Whatever advantages follow the single- teacher plan are preserved. The entrance and exit of pupils, the disposal of clothing, the keeping of class records, the distribu- tion and control of all supplies, can all be managed directly through the class teacher. The making of a program is greatly sim- plified. The time for the departments is first assigned, then the remaining time is taken by each class teacher for English. 3. The plan is easily adaptable to all ordinary school conditions. The above plan is much more flexible than any other. It can be introduced as readily in a small school as in a large school. Even in a small school where there are two grades to each teacher it can be em- PLAN OF ADAPTATION 79 ployed with great advantage. The method of application is to have the two grades move at the same time, and in each depart- ment one grade recites while the other studies as in the regular classroom. 8o DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING CHAPTER VI. DETAILS OF ADAPTATION In discussing the details of departmental teaching the writer has drawn freely upon the results of four questionnaires which have been placed at his disposal. One was conducted by Dr. Edward W. Stitt, District Superintendent of Districts 8 and 12, New York, in 1903; two were conducted by the Board of Superintendents of New York in 1903 and 1905, and an- other was conducted by the Schoolmen of New York in October, 1905. I. Assignment of Studies The principle that the teacher should select his own specialty should prevail as far as possible. Compromises, however, must often be made. Si 82 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 2. Program The time before and after all recesses, entrances, and dismissals should be given to the class teacher. This secures proper opportunity for the recording of attend- ance, care of clothing and books, and is the best time to use for the common study. The departmental time will take up the middle periods. This arangement may be graphically shown: see plate VI. 3. Coordination of Departments It is very important that the special work of each teacher be as nearly equal to that of every other as possible. Content studies may be placed in groups so that each group shall embrace related studies. It will be found very difficult to equalize the time of each department exactly ac- cording to the requirements of most courses of study. But, the best courses of study DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 83 leave a margin of "unassigned time" which assists to balance the periods within the re- quirements. Exact time limits are immaterial and should never be insisted upon in the execu- tion of a school program, but relative time periods are important. Each study should be given its proportionate time. When the plan of proportionate equaliza- tion of departments has been carried out, it will be found to facilitate greatly the making of a program. 4. Length of Periods The preferable length of the period is forty minutes. However, it is often de- sirable to have some periods, as manual training, longer, and some, as music, shorter. A variation of five or ten minutes in the length of a period to suit particular conditions is not material. 5. Movement of Classes The movement of classes between periods 84 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING should take from three to five minutes. Some speak of this time as lost, but the great necessity of physical relief ought to convince one that an intermission of five minutes between periods for free move- ment between departments is both possible and profitable. This movement between classrooms may be used as a brief recreative recess, and in modern schools, where the halls are wide enough, it will be found pos- sible to allow some free play during this breathing spell. On account of the varying heights of seats and desks, children should be asked to form lines according to size, i. e., the small- est pupil first. The seating of most class- rooms is graduated from the lowest desks in front to the highest desks in the rear. Therefore, if a class always comes in and goes out of a room arranged in this same or- der, each pupil will be in his own properly adjusted seat at each recitation. If conditions are such that freer move- DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 85 ment can be permitted, each pupil may take such seat in each room as has been as- signed him. If each pupil is required to sit in the same seat at every appearance in a given department it will greatly assist in noting attendance. The number of vacant seats shows the number of absentees. In schools containing boys and girls, care should be taken to form the girls in lines separated from the lines of the boys. The halls are usually best supervised by requir- ing each teacher to stand in his classroom door during change of classes. 6. Study Children in the elementary school are in great need of a proper amount of time for independent preparation of lessons. It is important to see that five hours is about all the time that a child should be held to his daily school work. Therefore, a large part of this time should be given for inde- pendent study. The full school time pre- 86 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING scribed for a subject should be at the disposal of the departmental teacher so that he may use it for study or recitation. Therefore, each departmental teacher should control all the time assigned to his department. The time for study is what- ever time the teacher may think best to assign for such an exercise. The "omnibus study period" threatens to work great harm to the principle of school study, and is, therefore, not recommended as a part of a departmental school program. Every study period should be set apart for preparation in a certain study or studies, and the work done during this period must be supervised and examined by the teacher of the appropriate department. Every child should feel that he must render as strict an account of the use of his time dur- ing a study period as during any other period. Study to be done at home should be carefully controlled by the faculty to the end that overwork may not take place. DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 87 7. Discipline In general, the teacher who is in imme- diate charge of a class should be responsible for its conduct. The responsibility for the discipline between periods must be placed by some faculty plan, as conditions vary greatly. Acts of disorder may be profitably re- ported to a class teacher so that he may support the departmental teacher by means of his own class organization, but the teacher in immediate charge should be primarily responsible. 8. Attendance The attendance of a class should be noted and recorded in the usual way. The class teacher should be held responsible for the good attendance of his class and should use all proper means to perfect it. The at- tendance of pupils in each department is easily kept by the class president or secre- tary who enters the record in a book which DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 1 C5 c 00 1 1H o 1-1 eo iH (M iH TH iH 1 > O V ^ 11 1 a flq ^ cs a H 3 1 o ti HH ^ ^ a j^ ( ) O ^ ^> 4 c u 2 5 ^ J. ^ i 4 a. B , -! , Q 1 J _ _ 3 (M "^1 ^ 6 q < S in S ' g Q ! j tf c i 1 ^ S Cb g p s 1 1 I Horace Smith Henry Hall Mathematics 1 History - Mu 1 Geography- Manual Tr. - DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 1-1 S as o> T3 C n u 0) pH H ft) y Qrj c * 1 -*j CD 1 o 1 < >! tm * , - 2 2i r: *. c J2 1 < S ^ i I 3? P O S C D. B Q ll if 1 *S S *- ** : i' o. ^ cq G q CO 1 tc 2 s JS I 1 g B _ "S "S a 1 S ' - ^ H l 4 VI o Pi > g .2 = 25 1 Manual 90 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING should be signed by each departmental teacher. Any pupil's tardiness or absence from the room may be recorded in the same way. Each day the class teacher attends to these reports and other such reports as it may be found best. 9. Correlation Correlation is a proper subject for faculty conference. The curriculum will provide for most correlations, but those correlations which can be taken up to ad- vantage, as points of contact between de- partments, are easily adjusted as the work progresses. 10. Absent Teachers Of course the effectiveness of the work left by the absent teacher depends entirely upon the ability of the substitute as it does under any system. In some schools, able teachers from lower grades have acted as "understudies", so that the substitute could take up the easier work of a lower grade. DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 8 S fi ^ M 0, b Q 2 O >*a I O C5 S , | 5 02 O C5 Mathemat "E. a Science 50 3 H "S A 1 -= = 1 Absence Tardiness Conduct 92 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING 1 eg R S tf - 2^ 3* o a (4 S o E cs C o * " E c V "S 1 in a .fee 0. V ic Q VI " a o S AH JB ^ 525 S (-1 ts Q EXPLANATN | CLASS TEACl 02 C fc a ^ BM S <| t-s DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 93 ii. Records and Reports The record of each pupil's work should be recorded as it is performed. It should be made in each subject and given by the teacher of that subject. Records should always be proportionate to educational value. Reports may be collected by the class teacher and made to supervisors and parents as recorded. It is highly essential that the record of individual pupils be re- corded and reported to parents and super- visors of departments, and exactly as given in those departments. 12. Spelling and Penmanship Every departmental teacher, as he is also an English teacher, should be very watch- ful of and largely responsible for all the spelling and penmanship done in his de- partment. This subject is a proper one for conference. It may be helpful to suggest one means of perfecting the use of written English 94 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING throughout the departments. Fifteen per cent of every piece of written work might be agreed upon as its English valuation. One per cent, might be deducted for each misspelled word, one per cent, for each error in capitalization or punctuation, five per cent, or more for poor penmanship and other errors. All deductions are to be made from the mark attained in the given subject on the paper being considered up to the maximum of fifteen per cent. This plan could be worked without any maxi- mum. Also, to a limited extent, papers may be rewritten for the sake of English form. 13. Text-books and Supplies As far as possible each departmental teacher should have charge of the text- books and supplies which belong to his work. 14. Fire Drills and Regular Dismissals At the sound of the fire alarm each teacher should take charge of the class DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 95 under his immediate control, and proceed as directed for classes in his room. Class teachers should receive and dismiss their classes at regular entrances and dismissals. 15. Detention If children are detained after school hours difficulty will arise from the fact that two or three teachers will require the same pupils at the same time. This conflict may be easily overcome by a plan which pro- vides that each department or teacher may detain only for a certain day of each week. Thus, the teacher of history may be given the first right to detain delinquent pupils on Monday. 1 6. Signals The best plan for signals is doubtless to ring the call-bell twice to give notice of the end of the period. Each teacher knows then that he has a certain period (three to five minutes) in which to prepare his class for the passage to another room. At the 96 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING end of this brief period the call-bell should ring once and all classes may march in order to the assigned room. 17. Location of Departments The classrooms used by any departmental division should be as near together as pos- sible, as the movement of classes is liable to disturb pupils not in the departmental plan. 18. Management of School Implements The distribution, collection, and proper care of pencils, pens, rulers, and other arti- cles is one of the most unsatisfactorily con- ducted exercises in the public schools. A large amount of time and money is wasted in the confusion of the process and the loss of material. A still greater waste is the loss to education in that so many teachers are quite willing to work without proper implements or with none rather than as- sume the responsibility of their care. Ex- ercises that should thus be enriched by use- DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING Plate XI Fully extended showing how each article is held in place Closed ready for carrying On desk ready for use Pupil's Box for holding Pencils and other Articles DETAILS OF ADAPTATION 97 ful tools are reduced to little more than a barren lecture. A child should be given the essential tools for all his lessons, and held responsible for their condition. He should use the same implements at all times, and, there- fore, they must be often inspected. When a pupil leaves his classroom to enter other departmental rooms, he should take with him such books as he needs together with his regular school implements, which may be carried in a tin box suitably arranged for that purpose. In this way all delay in giving out and taking up material in each department will be avoided. CHAPTER VII. MISTAKES IN ADAPTATION The view of departmental teaching hereinbefore presented has been the posi- tive form. If there is general agreement as to the value of the plan presented, then mistakes in adaptation and use will be found in the failure to conform to its gen- eral requirements. It is doubtless profita- ble, however, to call attention to the more common errors which are customarily made. Many principals introduce a system of teaching which they call departmental that has. little or no relation to any approved method. They actually invite disaster by their own errors. Another class of principals are conduct- ing departmental teaching, as it were, "by main strength." It is applied in such a way that the ordinary changing conditions MISTAKES IN ADAPTATION 99 of the school affect it too much. New school terms, new teachers, absences, and physical conditions entail unwonted and wasteful effort. Usually this condition follows an over-adaptation of the plan. A large number of principals, therefore, hesitate to undertake a plan which seems to be so easily interrupted. They fortify their position by citing particular conditions in their schools which appear to them insur- mountable. But the point to be made is that if departmental teaching is funda- mentally more valuable than the single- teacher plan, then it is valuable because, by its introduction, conditions are positively bettered. If, then, the general conditions of any school are undesirable, the proper introduction of the departmental plan should improve these conditions. There may be conditions in a given school which hinder the introduction of departmental teaching, but such instances are extremely rare. The conditions most 100 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING commonly offered as detrimental to depart- mental teaching are really only those con- ditions which hinder the wrong adaptation of departmental teaching. The plan of departmental teaching which experience has evolved as best is clearly one which adapts itself rapidly, and greatly improves conditions and results in all schools, large and small. The following errors in adaptation are selected for discussion as most common. I. All studies have been department- alized. This practice is directly opposed to the more flexible plan offered above. It is truly over-departmentalization. It ignores largely the first function of the teacher by providing no time for its exercise. The ordinary physical changes involved in school management become too burden- some with young children. Penmanship, spelling, entrances, dismissals, deten- tions, care of books, clothing and supplies MISTAKES IN ADAPTATION ioi all become sources of endless difficulty. 2. Children have remained in the same classroom during the entire day. It is difficult to understand how this error could be made in view of the added inter- est, the physical relief, the better equip- ment, and other gains made possible by the passing of pupils from one departmental room to another. The teacher, who is then compelled to go from room to room, is either obliged to do without equipment altogether or to carry it for instantaneous adjustment. This is one of the greatest objections to the special teacher plan. Imagine a science teacher carrying apparatus, or a geography teacher carrying maps and globes from room to room! The example of the high schools in this regard is ever present to temper and guide the elementary school. 3. Music and drawing have been as- signed to the class teacher. Among the chief advantages of depart- 102 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING mental instruction are the gains of expert teaching and the enrichment of the course. Music and drawing have suffered long for want of expert instruction, and should be the last studies to be left to the class teacher unless, of course, that teacher is a specialist. 4. Class teachers have been held re- sponsible for the discipline of their classes at all times. This error is palpable, and one could hardly imagine a college or high school pursuing such a scheme. The class teacher, however, may exert a great influence for good behavior over each and every member of his class, and, indi- rectly, his class organization should sup- port the good discipline of his class at all times. 5. Teachers have been assigned to studies in combinations unnecessarily disassociated. There is evidently great loss of time and strength in preparing for expert teaching in unrelated studies. This refers partic- MISTAKES IN ADAPTATION 103 ularly to the waste which follows the prac- tice of making up a program, so that "odds and ends", as it were, are left over. For example, the science teacher must teach a period of grammar and another of history; the history teacher must take a period of arithmetic and another of composition. Every means should be taken to avoid this necessity. One of the advantages of the above plan of adaptation is that such con- tingencies are minimized, if not wholly avoided. Yet again, in no sense should the depart- mental teacher become too narrow by an undue specialization. 6. No head of department has been named where two or more teachers are teaching the same subject. In large schools two or three teachers are often teaching history or arithmetic. Much is gained by naming one as a responsible head. 7. The study period has been ineffec- tually managed. IO4 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING Some sort of effort by way of prepara- tion should be made by each pupil, un- assisted and unhindered, before each formal recitation. The study period is very im- portant and should, therefore, be placed at the beginning of each session, and, if this is insufficient, a part of each recitation period should be taken. The practice of placing the study period late in the day is ob- jectionable, because the incentive or need of learning a lesson is too remote to over- come the fatigue of children who have been in school all day. 8. Promotion marks have not been pro- portionately coordinated. The amount of time given a subject by the program should be paramount in de- termining the value of each "A," "B," or "C" of a given subject. The "B" of music (60 minutes) should not count the same towards promotion as the "B" of English (360 minutes). 9. There has been too much giving of MISTAKES IN ADAPTATION 105 instruction not enough individual work on the part of the pupils. There is no valid reason why this per- nicious tendency should be carried over from the single-teacher plan to the de- partmental. 10. Too many teachers have taken part in a single departmental unit. In many schools it has been the practice to unite all the teachers of the last two years into one departmental division regardless of the number. Surely, it needs no argu- ment to prove the absurdity of sending a child on a confusing round of ten or twelve teachers. Such a practice is unknown in high schools or colleges. CHAPTER VIII. LIMITATIONS Departmental teaching from the nature of the system can be employed only in schools which fulfil certain conditions. 1. Size of School Departmental teaching may be used suc- cessfully in any school where there is at least one teacher for each year of the course. This would mean that the school of mini- mum size would be one which contained at least eight teachers in the entire elementary course. There is no maximum size for the school containing departments, because, in very large schools, such as exist in some cities, two or more departmental units might be organized. Proper relations between these units may be easily established. 2. Size of Class and Room The size of class is not material so long 106 LIMITATIONS 107 as the largest class can be accommodated in any room. Likewise each and every room should be large enough to seat each class. The size of classes may vary to any extent without affecting the system, providing the above requirements are met. 3. Part of the Course to be Depart- mentalized. The work of departmentalizing should begin with the last year, and it may include the pupils of each lower year down to the fourth. The line of departure between the single-teacher and departmental systems may be drawn at any time in the last four years that the departmental plan seems about to work itself out as a complete whole. The particular point of cleavage is imma- terial. It should, however, be kept in mind that a child is ready to enter a modified system of departmental teaching as soon as he has mastered the mechanical parts of 108 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING reading, writing, and arithmetic. There- fore, the departmental plan can be applied to any or all of the last four years, always beginning with the last year. 4. Number of Teachers In a departmental unit, there should not be over eight teachers as a maximum, nor less than three teachers as a minimum. It is quite evident that there can be little de- partmentalization or expert teaching with less than three teachers, but three teachers may work effectively under such a plan. To allow a child to meet more than seven or eight teachers is bewildering, and carries specialization entirely too far. The ele- mentary course should seldom be broken up into so many highly personalized parts. The preferable number of teachers to employ in any departmental unit is four or five. This number will usually suffice to accomplish the work, and provide all the profitable advantages of expert instruction. CHAPTER IX. OTHER PLANS OF DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING i. The Study-Hall Method The study-hall plan is the most common method of using departmental teaching in high schools, and it has been employed in many elementary schools for some years. The plan is conducted to the best advantage when all the pupils of a school or depart- mental unit have desks in one large hall. The departmental rooms in which all teach- ing is done are situated about the study hall, and upon signals at the beginning and end of each period, the classes move to and from the study hall, which is reserved solely for the preparation of lessons. The chief advantages of this plan are: a. The departmental rooms may be more specially constructed and equipped 109 1 10 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING into practical working laboratories than under other systems. b. Economy of time is gained in being able to examine, control, and direct an en- tire departmental division at one time and by one teacher. The disadvantages of this plan are : a. It destroys the possibility of a proper personal control of young children. b. The study hall and its management present great and peculiar difficulties. The assemblage of large numbers in a hall seems to hinder the maintenance of a proper repose for study. The teacher in charge must discharge a peculiar function which seems separate from the common duties of a teacher, and which can be satisfactorily performed by very few. If a special direc- tor of the study hall should be employed, he would be out of touch with the other teachers, and his salary would entail addi- tional expense. c. This plan necessitates a special and OTHER PLANS OF TEACHING m expensive construction of the school build- ing on account of the extra seating required. 2. All Teaching under Specialists In many large schools it has been possible to use a plan by which each study was as- signed to a particular teacher, who soon be- came, in an elementary sense, the special teacher of that subject. The children never recite with their class teacher in any common study, and in some instances do not meet with their class teacher in any study. The gain of this plan is great specializa- tion of teaching. The losses are difficulty in school man- agement, and in personal control of and responsibility for general results. Chil- dren meet too many different teachers dur- ing the week for effective work. 3. The Peripatetic Method There can be no impropriety in terming the plan, under which the teachers go from classroom to classroom to give instruction in their specialty, according to the method 112 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING of the celebrated Greek. By this method each class remains in its own classroom all day. This plan follows the practice of the special teacher system, and entails most of its faults, but it is by many believed to main- tain a condition of better discipline. It is sometimes tried in schools where the physical conditions of rooms and halls make undesirable the plan of frequent movement of classes composed of boys and girls. Where such conditions exist, it is questionable whether departmental teach- ing should be tried at all. 4. A Departmental Unit for each Year In some large schools a departmental division has been organized in the eighth year and one in the seventh. Others have adopted this plan by beginning in the eighth year and completing the division in the seventh or lower and then beginning where the first division ended to form an- other in the sixth and fifth. The gains of this plan are that: first, it OTHER PLANS OF TEACHING 113 keeps the number of teachers in a division at the most effective number; second, it pro- motes more intensive specialization by less- ening the amount of subject matter to be covered by each teacher. However, there is a great loss in con- tinuity of teaching one subject and respon- sibility for results in that subject, due to the fact that two or more teachers follow one another in specializing the same sub- ject in the same school. The first form of the fourth plan is very objectionable because, if the point of cleavage between divisions is made at the end of each year, great difficulty will be found in making a program and providing the proper num- ber of teachers, as the number of pupils varies with each term. Modifications of the above plans have been tried, but the plan that employs a com- mon study is surely best adapted to all the present conditions of public schools. CHAPTER X. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 1. Optional Introduction Until departmental teaching is popularly accepted, it should be introduced in each school at the option of the principal and teachers. This will mitigate the effect of a reaction, which is bound to set in, as well as enhance the genuine worth of the new plan of teaching. Departmental teaching in the elementary school is so radical a de- parture from the single-teacher plan that its success must always presuppose an en- thusiastic faculty, and the adoption of an effective plan. 2. Preparation of Teachers The preparation of teachers for depart- mental teaching will become a problem by itself. The striking peculiarity of the plan, how- ever, is that the very organization of de- 114 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 115 partments in a school tends to the rapid development of expert teachers, that is, teachers who are at least elementary special- ists. So that, for the most part, the system itself becomes its own teachers' training school. But how will the departmental method affect the teachers' training and normal schools? For a long time students in these schools have shown a marked tendency to prepare themselves only in some specialty. This has promoted the training of high school teachers more than elementary school teachers. The very greatest difficulty has been to prepare a sufficient number of the old fashioned all-around teachers for the elementary schools. Thus there is now and will be a great dearth of properly prepared elementary teachers. Then, too, the de- mands of the elementary school have in- creased greatly. A few years ago the teacher who could teach a smattering of Il6 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, history and music sufficed for most elemen- tary schools; now, he must be able to teach according to approved methods, the Eng- lish branches, arithmetic, algebra, geome- try, geography, nature study, history, civics, ethics, science, physiology, hygiene, phys- ical training, drawing, construction, cook- ing, sewing, and music. If the above list were in the least over- drawn, it might become a source of amuse- ment, but it is too tragically true. Teach- ers cannot be prepared to teach properly the meager elements of one-half of this cur- riculum. Therefore, the normal school must sooner or later prepare teachers for the elementary school only in the pedagogic branches, the English branches, and a de- partmental branch. 3. Examination of Teachers Those directing the examination and selection of teachers under a departmental system must sooner or later recognize that GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 117 teachers cannot be examined critically in all the branches which are now presented in the elementary curriculum. A teacher can properly prepare only to qualify in peda- gogy, English, and a special subject. The academic part of an entrance exam- ination should then consist of no more than the above divisions comprehend. 4. Comparative Results The determination of the comparative results of the single-teacher and depart- mental methods must evidently be broadly conducted or very little of value will be shown. To examine a number of schools, which use both methods, in two or three subjects of the curriculum only is surely worthless as a true basis of comparative valuation. Or, to examine a school before the introduc- tion of departmental teaching, and then afterward to reexamine in two or three sub- jects only is quite as valueless as a compar- ative test. Il8 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING One of the greatest advantages of depart- mental teaching is that it enriches the course of study by giving to each branch its pro- portionate time under an expert instructor. Now, it is one of the most patent deficien- cies of the elementary school that, regard- less of the course and the program, certain studies only are taught and other studies are slighted. It is probably no exaggeration to state that in many classes where arithmetic was supposed to be taught for forty minutes per day, that it was taught for two hours, and those hours, the best of the morning. So, to examine schools using both methods in arithmetic and grammar and to expect to draw therefrom comparative results is idle. Any test to be of value must be compre- hensive. 5. Units of Work The value of recognizing the work that a child does, rather than the time that he spends in school, is of the greatest impor- GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 119 tance. The graded school of our great cities is acknowledged to be a form of "mass education" in its purest form. All agree that children are promoted when unfit, and held back when ready for advancement. Whole classes, possessing the most striking individual variation in attainment, move forward in order that a higher grade and classroom may be filled. The only com- mon element among these children is that of the time spent in school. From the nec- essities of the graded system, under the single-teacher plan, the time unit must con- tinue to be the paramount factor in require- ments for promotion. Departmental teach- ing gives an opportunity to recognize the units of work. There lie before me the catalogues of a prominent university and a high school, in which the students' names are arranged alphabetically, and after each name there is placed the earned credit of work. When the requisite number of "work-units" have been credited, the stu- 120 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING dent has standing in the next higher grade. The best promise, then, of departmental education is in the fact that it makes pos- sible the division into "work-units" of the course in each department, and the credit- ing of each pupil only upon his mastery of a "work-unit." Departmental teaching ought to make the idea prevail that, when a child has ac- complished a certain unit of work, he should have credit for the same and should not be asked to repeat it. He should be made to feel that school is not the mere service of time, but a service of definite ac- complishment. 6. Laboratory Work The system which emphasizes a plan, where each child can go into a department, and seek information and do work as an individual, is surest to succeed. It is true that a child cannot successfully carry out this plan to the same extent that a college student can, but, within the limits of child- GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 121 ish application, he can learn most rapidly by performing set tasks in a well equipped room. This kind of work is but a part of his school routine, yet it is an essential part, and to neglect to provide it for him is to fail to provide the most natural and neces- sary means of development. 7. Individual Education. Through the placing of greater re- sponsibility upon each child, and the increasing of his opportunities for self- restraint and self-direction, under the departmental plan, one of the most funda- mentally educative processes is emphasized. The pupil, while acting with others, learns to act under direction of his own free voli- tion. Real individual education is made possible. This is directly opposed to the "mothering" plan which has been fostered by the single-teacher system and defended by many educators. This "mothjering" has led to a most pernicious system of over- helpfulness in the elementary school. The 122 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING child has been deprived of proper oppor- tunities for initiative, invention, and self- mastery. All kinds of pretty things have been said about the motherly teacher. This senti- mental tendency has fostered the so-called "soft" education. The school is no place for "mothering;" it should be a place for work. If a child is so young as to need a mother send him home. There is not, or should not, be any substitute for a real mother. Not that teachers should not be kind, gentle, and wisely helpful, but a school is not great because it is homelike, but because it is truly school-like. Individual education is again intensified by the fact that the child, as a result of the influence of several teachers, is better able to see, compare, and choose the strongest characteristics of each. Under one teacher he is liable to acquire any objectionable peculiarity which may be possessed by his teacher. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 123 Whether the departmental teacher gives, or probably will give, greater individual attention to each pupil is quite another matter. But it must be noted that, so far as time is concerned, the teacher, under the departmental system, has just the same time to devote to each pupil in each of the pupil's studies as he had under the single- teacher plan. Effectiveness in individual education is not comprehended by the no- tion that each teacher should give time to each pupil to attain it, but it is rather expressed in the notion that the method of each teacher and the organization of each school should give the maximum oppor- tunity for every pupil to act freely in at- taining any given purpose. Departmental teaching is simply a method of school and class organization which tends to offer this freedom. Teach- ers under this system may be highly in- dividualistic in teaching or not. Their opportunities in this regard do not differ 124 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING materially under either the departmental or the single-teacher system. But, as has been stated, each pupil has a greatly superior opportunity of being differentiated in his attainments from all other pupils. APPENDIX SPECIAL DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS Special Departmental Room The full development of the common subject plan of departmental teaching will result in the condition that the class teacher who specializes manual training and draw- ing, for example, will be obliged either to use one room for his common subject and another for his specialty or combine the two equipments as shown in Plate I, page 68. This suggestion of combination presup- poses that in each school building two or three such rooms should be constructed out of every twelve. Science and cooking work also demand the same development in equipment. 125 126 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING A Model Common-Study Program Plate VI, on page 80 shows the time of the common subject brought out in propor- tionate contrast to the time for the depart- mental studies. The common subject takes up the most effective part of the school day for the work of any class with its own class teacher. In adapting this model, each school must modify according to particular conditions. Attendance Records Where classes are large some time-saving device must be used to record attendance in the departments. The first plan, found on Plate VIII, page 89, shows a leaf of a book to be carried by a trusted member of the class acting as president or secretary. He presents the book in turn to each depart- mental teacher who verifies and signs it, the custodian then returns the book each day to his class teacher. The second form, on page 88 (Plate VII) APPENDIX 127 is ruled so as to comprehend the record of one month on one page. Circles are made by the secretary to indicate "excused from room", horizontal lines to indicate absence, and lines drawn across circle to indicate return to classroom. Vertical lines are drawn by class teacher as a means of check- ing. Monthly Report Card The principal advantage of the monthly report given on pages 91 and 92 is that it gives each departmental teacher an op- portunity to record the work of each pupil in his department. The blank spaces after English may be used for any other subjects that the teacher cares to report upon. Model Programs The programs shown on pages 73, 74, 75, and 76 are an adaptation for four classes of the model program. The meanings of the abbreviations used 128 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING are believed to be obvious for the most part, but a few are here expanded : 8B Second half of eighth school year 8A First half of eighth school year 76 Second half of seventh school year 7 A First half of seventh school year A Arithmetic or Mathematics C Composition Cor Correspondence D Drawing Die Dictation G Geography Gr Grammar H History L Literature M Music M T Manual Training P Penmanship R Reading Sp Spelling S Science APPENDIX 129 Box for Articles used by Pupils The illustrations of a receptacle for the common articles used by all children in school work, given facing page 97, show a device that has been tried with excel- lent results. It may be used to hold any or all of the following common articles: Drawing pencil, writing pencils, pen ruler, blotter, eraser, compass, scissors, protractor^ triangle, pins, thumb tacks, paper fasteners, pen wiper, and pencil sharpener. It is carried easily along with the books from room to room. Its chief advantages are; 1. Cleanliness and health. Every pupil always uses the same articles at all times. They can be cleaned, and they never come in contact with the material of any other child. 2. Economy. It saves a great amount of time in giving out, collecting, counting, and caring for material. It also saves expense in that 130 DEPARTMENTAL TEACHING the responsibility placed upon each child through an easy inspection prevents loss of articles. 3. Educative life process. It is essential to all right living that every worker shall have a place for his tools and product. Responsibility for tools cannot be taught children unless a place for them be provided. Only then can they be taught how to care for property in a careful and economical way. Methods in Elementary School Studies By BERNARD CRONSON, A. B., PH.D., Principal of Public school, No. 3, New York City. I2mo. Cloth. 167 pages. $1.25 net. This is a brief outline of the author's lectures on teaching the principal branches in the elementary course. The subjects treated are reading, dictation (including spelling, paragraphing, etc..) composition, grammar, literature, nature study, geography, history, civics and arith- metic. The book is interleaved with blank pages, making it a conveni- ent note book for the lecture room in normal schools and training schools, as well as for teachers in general. Classroom Management: Its Principles and Technique By WILLIAM CHANDLER BAGLEY, Superintendent of the Training Department, State Normal School, Oswego, N. Y. I2mo. Cloth, xvii+352 pages. $1.25 net. This book considers the problems that are involved in the massing of children together for purposes of instruction and training It aims to discover how the unit group of the school system the "class" can be most effectively handled. The topics commonly included in treatises upon school management receive adequate attention: the first day at school; the mechanizing of routine: the daily program; discipline and punishment; absence and tardiness, etc. In addition to these, however, a number of subjects hitherto neglected in books of this class are pre- sented: The "Batavia system" of class-individual instruction; different plans for testing the efficiency of teaching; a new treatment of school incentives based upon modern psychology; and a formulation of the generally accepted principles of professional ethics as applied to school- craft. Appendices include plates showing quality of work that can be expected from pupils of different grades and syllabi of topics and questions for the use of "observation" classes. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Ave., NEW YORK Boston Chicago Atlanta San Francisco The Principles of Secondary Education By CHARLES DEGARMO, Professor of the Science and Art of Education in Cornell University. I2mo. Cloth. xii+299 pages. $1.25 net. The author discusses the social and individual presuppositions un- derlying American secondary education; the chief bases for the selec- tion of studies; the classification of studies according to the nature of their content; the function and relative educational worth of various studies and study groups; and the organization of studies into curricula. The ample scope of Professor DeGarmo's work and the thoroughness of his analysis will commend this book to teachers as a text-book of unusual value. A Brief Course in the History of Education By CHARLES MONROE, PH.D., Professor of Education in Teachers College, Columbia University. I2mo. Cloth, xviii+409 pages. $1.25 net. This is practically a condensation of Professor Monroe's "Text- book in the History of Education," issued more than two years ago, and Still the most extensive work on the subject in English. The present abbreviation has been made in answer to the demands of normal schools and teachers' training classes which have not the time to devote to the study of the larger text. Nevertheless it treats of all the general periods, and of most of the topics discussed in the larger work. Methods in Teaching Being the Stockton Method in Elementary Schools. By MRS. ROSA V. WINTERBURN, of Los Angeles, and JAMES A. BARR, Superintendent of Schools at Stockton, Cal. I2mo. Cloth, xxii+355 pages. $1.25 net. This book is the direct product of the schoolrooms. It treats the presentation of subject-matter in the various studies usually taught in element iry schools from three points of view that of the superintendent or supervisor, of the teacher and of the pupil. The book grew out of the exhibit made by the Stockton schools at the Exposition in St. Louis, and later in Portland, which attracted widespread attention because of the honesty of the pupils' work, the "method sheets" by teachers, and the efficiency of results. Many compositions by young pupils trained under this method are given. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Ave., NEW YORK Boston Chicago Atlanta San Francisco