T.R oOll - cop.l DLitton - ochool nanngeinent . y, '>V'>J^ ' ^ H^r^^^KfT'^i Southern Branch of the University of California Los Angeles Form L 1 PWERSITY OF CALIFORIVIA, LB 3011 coD.l Dutton - :-chool manr'.n-ep.ent . Southern Branch of the University of California Los Angeles Form L 1 'JUN 5 1924 ^PR 2 3 19^S JUL 7 1925, JUL 1 1925 AUG - 1921 3 '^^"^ Konn L-9-2/n-12,'23 ^UL MAY p1950 SCHOOL MANAGEMENT > o n ScHooT. Management PEACTICAL SUGGESTIONS CONCEKNING THE CONDUCT AND LIFE OF THE SCHOOL BY SAMUEL T. Din^TOV PBOFEBBOR or' SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION IN r^ACHEBS" COLLEGE, COLtTIBIA CfMIVBBSITT, AND BUPERINTENDBNT OF THE COLLEGE SCHOOLS AUTHOR or "SOCIAL FHASES OF EDUCATION" /v3 6/J^ NEW YORK CHAKLES SCEIBNEE'S SONS 1904 JAN 1905 COPTRIQHT, 1903, BT CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS Soli XLO THOSE PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS, AND STUDENTS OF EDUCATION WITH WHOM I HAVE WORKED IN THE PAST, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED PREFACE The purpose of this volume is to state in as concise and definite form as possible the problems of school management, and to make helpful suggestions looking to their solution. This work is not composed of lectures, but is a special treatment designed to aid teachers in all kinds of schools, as well as students of education. The topics treated comprise a portion only of the field covered by the au- thor in his courses at Columbia University. A later volume will deal with school administration in its his- torical, political, economic, and supervisory aspects. The life of the teacher is too crowded and the issues of practical education too serious to warrant the use of unnecessarily technical or abstnise terms. Whatever defects this book may have, it is believed that every sentence is so clear and distinct that its meaning can be readily understood. The author acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr. Jesse D. Burks, Principal of the Training School, Pat- erson, N. J., for substantial assistance in the prepara- tion of this volume. Thanks are also due to Miss Mary McSkimmon and Mr. John C. Packard of Brookline, Mass., and Miss Caroline W. Hotchkiss of the Teach- ers College, New York, for outlines of lessons contained in the Appendix. CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY— THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT: (1) Changed Conception of the School (2) The School is Complex . . . (3) Changes in its Structure . . (4) The New School Government . (5) The School Bears Relations to Community (6) Value of Public Sentiment . . (7) New Ideals of Efficiency . . (8) Factory Methods not Possible . (9) The Modern Teacher . . ^v.!*- (10) Uniformity not Desirable . . the PAOE 3 4 5 6 9 10 11 12 II. THE TEACHER: (1) The Power of Personality . . . (2) Importance of Good Health . . (3) Duties Out of School (4) Intellectual Fitness of the Teacher (5) Moral Qualities Needed .... (6) Sincerity (7) Honesty 16 17 21 22 22 23 24 X Cojitents II. THE TEACHER (Continued): PAOB (8) The Teacher as a Social Force . . 35 (9) Temperament 27 (10) The Selection of Teachers .... 27 (11) Methods of Certificating 29 (12) Terms of Probation 30 III. THE GROWTH OF THE TEACHER: (1) Cultivate the Social Life (2) Seek Desirable Friendsliips (3) Read Many Books . . . (4) Visit the Best Schools . (5) Institutes and Conventions (6) Teachers' Meetings . . , (7) Travel as a Means of Growth (8) Freedom Facilitates Growth 33 34 34 37 40 42 45 46 IV. PHYSICAL CONDITIONS: (1) The School Site and Grounds ... 49 (2) The School Building 51 (3) The School-room 52 (4) Seating 53 (a) Lighting 54 (6) Cloak-rooms 55 (7) Corridors 55 (8) Staircases 56 (9) Other Features 56 (10) Heating and Ventilation 57 Contents xi V. PHYSICAL CONDITIONS (Continued): PAGE (1) Methods of Heating and Ventilation . Gl (2) Janitor Service 64 (3) General Sanitation and Hygiene . . 67 (4) General Suggestions 70 VI. ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL: (1) Distribution of Authority .... 74 (2) Meetings of Principals 76 (3) Grading of Pupils 77 (4) The Promotion of Pupils .... 84 'y VII. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SCHOOL: (1) The Power of Personality .... 86 (2) Plan with Care 87 (3) Act with Courage 88 (4) Be Kind and Sympathetic .... 89 (5) The School Virtues 89 (6) Self-control and Self-government . . 92 (7) The School City Plan 93 (8) Democracy and Law 94 (9) The Incorrigible 95 (10) Character the En CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT In a land where education holds a supreme place in the ideals and aspirations of the people the work of the school becomes of intrinsic importance. The spirit in which the teacher works and the knowledge and skill he employs are of infinite concern, not only to himself but to those for whom he labors. School management, broadly speaking, relates to the conditions affecting the school, as well as to everything that takes place there. Physical and social conditions, the personality and equipment of the teacher, the ideals ^ and standards of the school, and the means and meth- ^ ods employed in their accomplishment are all to be ^ considered. Account must be taken also of those human relations, so vital and imminent, which give to the problems of school training their professional char- acter and dignity. 1. — Changed Conception of tlie School. It must be confessed that some of the books bear- ing the title of " School Management," written two or three decades ago, seem inadequate and out of date. It 4< School Management is no fault of their authors that they are so, for they were distinguished teachers in their time. Many of the principles they laid down are universal and are as sound to-day as ever, but marvellous changes have taken place in a quarter of a century, and the conduct of the modem school must be treated in the light of those changes. Is there a single profession the members of which can \)e guided by the rules and practices of twenty-five years ago ? There are underlying every profession and voca- tion certain broad general truths which we must not discard, but in the application of those truths we have to think of modern needs and modern conditions. The doctor, the clerg3'man, the lawyer, the merchant, the banker, and the manufacturer must hew closely to a line, and that line must be the latest discovery and the finest possible adaptation of means to end. It is the age of the specialist and the inventor. Multitudes are engaged in tireless investigation and research. No sooner is new truth brought to light than it must be utilized in the department to which it belongs. Who- ever follows the methods of the past, instead of the present, is sure to meet with catastrophe ; the physi- cian loses his patients, the lawyer his clients, the preacher his congregation, and the merchant his cus- tomers. 2. — The School is Complex. Education is also manifold in its relations, and must take account of all forms of progress, and invoke the aid of every discovery in the realm of man and nat- ure. The subject of school management, therefore, can no longer be restricted to rules and devices more Introductory 5 or less mechanical and arbitrary, but must rather take a comprehensive view of human development in the whole range of its possibilities. In the school of to-day feeling and sentiment are to be cultivated no less than thought and expression. Spontaneous self-directed conduct is more important than passive obedience. There must be abounding interest and alertness, even if some portion of knowledge is sacrificed. Character is to be recognized and respected, although the youth may not be able to pass an examination in the higher mathe- matics. Honest effort is to be held at a high valuation, and honesty in the smallest details of school work is to be preferred to mere scholarship. 3. — Changes in its Structure. But very definite changes have been taking place in the structure of the school itself. Nearly every State in the Union has passed laws to protect the child from labor, and requiring his attendance at school. Wher- ever there is backwardness in this direction a storm of protest is raised, either from within or from without. Physical and manual training have been adopted not as incidental forms of amusement but as fundamental means of development. Various kinds of handwork are being organized to-day, not only as a means of securing executive ability and manual skill, but in order that youth may acquire an insight into the elements of in- dustry, and may be acquainted with household arts and economics. Nature study, with all its possibility of out-of-door life and intimate knowledge of plants, birds, animals, soil, 6 School Management and climate, has assumed an important place. With it has come the school-garden, bringing a new interest in agriculture to the city child, aflbrding opportunity for the applications of simple chemistry and physics, a knowledge of the economic questions involved, a sense of the dignity of labor, and the meaning of social co- operation. Out of biology and child study has grown a new gospel of the physical nature of the child and the hygiene of study and play. Physical education is no longer a matter of formal drill, but is related to the whole regimen of the child — his food, dress, bathing, sleep, his tasks, and his games. 4. — The Neiu School Government. The whole theory of school government has changed. "While law and order are still enthroned in the school, the teacher is no longer the sole interpreter of law and the arbitrary dispenser of justice. iBoth teacher and pupil are members of a social comuninity, whose wel- fare and hajjpiness are the dominant aims of all the members, where the teacher is loved and respected ac- cording as he loves and respects his pupils. An offence is regarded as committed against the community rather than against the teacher, and the offender is treated with such good sense and discrimination as to awaken sin- cere regret on his part, and to strengthen the bonds of good feeling and high purpose among all the members of the school circle. Physical punishment may some- times be necessary, but it is the merest makeshift in any attempt to reach the higher nature and summon the Introductory 7 will to resolute well-doing. Penal reform to-day is not satisfied until the treatment of the criminal is of such a character as to arouse his better nature and to make him hope for the opportunity of becoming a self-respect- ing and self-controlled person. How much more should the modern school, in dealing with those whose minds are sensitive and impressible, be free of harshness and severity. School management has to do with character in the making, and no teacher will long be tolerated who does not take the pupil into his confidence and make him an active participant in the task of preserving law and order. 5. — The School Bears Relations to the Community. As the government of a nation sustains relations with other powers, makes treaties with them, and establishes relations of intercourse and co-operation, so the author- ities of the school and its teachers have a sphere of in- fluence and effort outside of the school-room. The children whom they teach do not belong to the school exclusively, but to the home, the church, and society as well. The school cannot be regarded as something apart from them, but rather as their closest ally. One of the teacher's first duties is to know the parents of his pupils and to consult with them freely regarding all their interests. There should be a sort of compact be- tween the teacher and every parent, whereby it is agreed that all difi'erences shall be settled by mutual conference, and that no misunderstanding shall bo permitted to exist. While the teacher may not be able to visit the home often, ho may arrange for an occasional visit to 8 School Managevient the scliool by some representative of the home. The cordiality and sympathy thus established between the home and school are a vital element in school manage- ment. Moreover, there are many ways in which the school stands related to the larger life of the community, which are of no little importance. The proper use of the public library and its reading-rooms, the enjoyment of public parks and playgrounds, respect for property, public and private, conduct of pupils on the street and in public places — all these things must be kept in mind by the teacher and school officers, in order that the school may do its part in securing a quiet neighborhood and those pleasant relations which make citizenship self- respecting and agreeable. 6. — Value of Public Sentiment As every teacher respects his profession and desires to have it grow in the estimation of the people, he will spare no pains in educating his patrons and acquaint- ances to the highest ideals, in order that there may be a public sentiment strong and effective, and favorable to the most progressive measures. It is remarkable how a corps of teachers with common aims and ideals, who are loyal to each other and the cause which they are serving, can indoctrinate an entire community, and secure a generous and sympathetic attitude. Thus it is seen that the management of the modem school has a wide field of activity, and cannot be blind to any interest belonging to the moral and social wel- fare of the community. Its routine is important, and Introductory 9 its machinery must be well oiled and cared for, but the teacher must have a horizon reaching far beyond the school-room, and must work shoulder to shoulder with others who are seeking a better public life. As the school of to-day seeks the most symmetrical growth of the individual, so that in body, mind, and spirit he is fully alive and alert, professional freedom must be granted the teacher, so that he may be governed by in- sight and judgment rather than by inflexible rules. 7. — Neio Ideals of Efficiency. As the function of the school has been enlarged in recent years, so that its conduct presents many new and complex problems, so new standards of efficiency must be recognized. It is interesting to study the organiza- tion of a great commercial or industrial business and see what suggestion we may get to help us in the school. In the factory we find everything reduced to system ; each department has its head, who is held re- sponsible for every bit of material used. He has to see that nothing is wasted, that the machinery is kept in pei-fect order, that the work done is carefully tested. He records the time given by the employees, and any failure in duty or any inferiority of workmanship is re- ported to the head of the establishment. We see that here the element of system is of transcendent impor- tance. The margin of profit is close, and it is only by the most rigid care and economy in the use of time and materials that there is any profit whatever. In several lines of manufacturing the net earnings come fi'om cer- tain by-products. 10 School Management The value of system in the schools cannot be mini- mized ; at the same time the school is not a factory, and the foreman in the cotton mills, according to the modern standards, would make a poor schoolmaster. In the factory, attention is riveted upon material things, their qualities, the processes to which they are subject- ed, and the uses to which they are to be put. In the school the emphasis is laid upon the thiugs which are moral and spiritual. The factory system applied to a school, while presenting an attractive exterior, is deaden- ing as regards those finer products of feeling, taste, in- terest, and ambition which the school ought to nurture. It is distressing to see a schoolmaster to-day exhibit- ing his school to visitors in their concerted movements of sitting, rising, marching, and reciting, as though such results of military drill were of very great moment. While certain movements of the school may well be carried on with promptness and precision, they are but a poor test of the real efficiency of the master or teacher. 8. — Factory Methods not Possible. In the factory a record is kept of the piece-work accomplished by the several operatives. Here we have a kind of marking system which determines the amount of compensation the workers are to receive. This is a just and equitable arrangement; each one is paid for the work he does. He has no ground for dissatis- faction if he fails to receive as much as his neighbor ; the result, being based upon definite measurement of what is produced, determines the reward with justice and impartiality. But how is it in the school ? Can Introductory 11 tlie efforts or even the accomplishments of the pupils be reduced to piece-work ? Can credit for work at- tempted or performed be assigned with anything like the precision that is possible in the factory? If we employ a rigid marking system to determine the stand- ing of our pupils, are we not likely to ignore those mani- fold fruits of the spirit and of the imagination which are the most precious flowers of education and culture ? Are we not forced to say that the ideals of efficiency of the truly modern school are greatly changed since the time when mere system and uniformity were dominant aims ? If this statement seems revolutionary at first, let it be considered in all its bearings before judgment is rendered. Certain it is, that many teachers and edu- cators, if they must pursue the methods of the factory, would prefer to go into manufacturing, where the emolu- ments are usually greater than in teaching. 9. — TJie 3Iodern Teacher. Another field we have to explore is the life and growth of the teacher. He who manages the school must first manage himself. He must be sane and healthy. His outlook upon life must be hopeful. When we come to discuss the means of professional and personal growth of the teacher, we shall find that in his need of general culture and breadth of view he is not unlike men in other professions. New ideals confront us, not merely because the school must be a better school than for- merly, but because it is possible to live a richer life, and draw from many more sources of nourishment and in- spiration. Cheap books and magazines, post-office, and 12 School Management the travelling library, as well as ease of travel, bring the teacher into closer touch with his fellow-men, and give him superior opportunities of growth. No longer is the schoolmaster caricatured in litera- ture, and made the butt of ridicule; no longer is he a social cipher. On the contrary, he is in the ascendant to-day, for he is believed to hold a strategic position and to set the pace for social and educational work. We must also carry our investigation into those means and materials which constitute the curriculum of the school. The great change to be noted here is that the require- ments in subject-matter are more qualitative and less quantitative. This remark applies both to recitations and examinations. The spirit with which the child does his work and the interest with which he regards it are acknowledged to be of more account than any fixed amount of acquisition. Superintendents of schools are not infallible, and are often more insistent upon the letter that killeth than upon the spirit that maketh alive. The individual teacher is comparatively helpless in the pursuit of high ideals, provided he is attached to a system which is unmindful of what those ideals de- mand. 10. — Uniformity not Desirable. The best course of study is one which springs from the good judgment and experience of the teachers, and hence has their entire approval ; even then there should be permitted large freedom in its application. It may not be wise for the different schools of the town to do exactly the same work either in kind or amount. The teacher often finds one class less capable than another, In troductory 1 3 and the situation becomes painful when the supervisor comes in with his measuring-rod and expresses dissat- isfaction with the result. Hence it is that the most current conception of an efficient supervisor or superin- tendent is that of one who claims freedom for himself and grants it to others ; who believes in flexibility, and is ready to commend the teacher who, in respect to the class and to the individual members of the class, is able to differentiate upon the basis of capacity and ability. When we come to devote several chapters to teaching and recitation it would seem that we are entering a field where there is little new and where we can follow only well-beaten paths. There is some force in this, and if we could only fully possess ourselves of the spirit and method of a Socrates or an Arnold, we would doubtless become eminent in our profession. But the greatest and most successful teachers have not become so by imitation. That is only one factor and one less impor- tant than others. Tliorough scholarship, vigorous per- sonality, profound sympathy, and tactful efiiciency all enter into teaching and transcend in importance any particular method. The teacher of to-day must have a certain all-roundedness possessed by few of those of the past, however great they were. The doctrines of self- activity and the interdependence of the motor powers and brain-centres have well-nigh revolutionized all teach- ing. It is said that a man receiving a salary of 850,000 a year said, not long since: "I am paid this annual stipend for the mistakes I do not make." In other words, his value consisted largely in what he refrained from doing. Is not this in accord with the idea that the modem teacher is skilful according as he refrains from 14 School Management doing what his pupils can do for themselves. If we fully accept this suggestion we shall find in our study of this important department of school management the press- ing need of a new set of cautions and precepts. Our most serious attention is directed to the child rather than to the subject-matter. Through an intimate ac- quaintance with his nature and his needs the teacher is able to supply the right nutrition at the right time. In the chapters which follow we have to discuss the programme, incentives used in the school, the nature and method of the recitation, the functions of apperception and interest, and the five formal steps. Practical illus- trations in the organization of subjects for teaching will be given. Here, as in the methods of training pupils to study, plans for examinations, and methods of pro- motion, we are not obliged to follow beaten paths. The school is a growing institution, and adopts new forms and practices according as pedagogical insight is given free play. The school and community are inseparable forces, and our labor will not be complete until we have brought to light all those relationships, so subtle and influential, which, if rightly regarded, bring satisfaction and happiness to all concerned. In all that follows we prefer to avoid that dogmatic form of statement which results in a form of text not unlike the ten commandments or the sayings of Poor Richard. Paradoxical as it may seem, many things are true to-day that may not be true to-morrow. We use the best light we have and constantly seek for more. In the days of wireless telegraphy and the air-ship it pays to be expectant. Introductory 15 TOPICAL REVIEW I. The scope of school management. a. What social changes have affected the school ? 3. New moral aims. 4. New studies. A recognition of the physical and psychical nature of the child. 5. The relation of teacher and parent. 6. Why must the school help the community? 7. Distinguish between the methods of the factory and those of the school. 8. New opportunities for the teacher. • CHAPTER II THE TEACHER The teaclier is the dominant force in every school. Hence the questions, what the teacher should be, and how he should attain the highest usefulness, are among the first we have to consider. The skilled superin- tendent shows his sagacity in nothing so much as in the selection of teachers. All intending to enter the profession, as well as those duly installed in it, may well try to see themselves as others see them. There are many steps in the ladder which lead from the low- salaried places in the smaller communities to those commanding positions in educational work which both men and women may attain. 1. — The Poioer of Pei'sonality. > Every young person should realize that the greatest factor in his success is his own personal charm and ability. If, as is often the case, he is not rated as high as he thinks he deserves, he must look for some weak- ness or limitation in himself, of which he has perhaps hitherto been unconscious. The achievements of man or woman can only be understood by taking into account the personal factor. This is especially true in teaching ; in fact, it can be laid 16 The Teacher 17 down as one of those pedagogic proverbs that are likely to endure. The teacher makes the school because his presence, his sympathy, his sincere interest and helpful- ness are ever operating upon his pupils. He draws them to himself according as he possesses magnetic power. Can this abihty to attract, to hold, and to in- spire pupils be acquired? If it can, there are abundant reasons for beginning our treatment of school manage- ment with a kind of character study. We may thus be able to define the qualities belonging to the successful teacher so clearly as to make ambitious beginners eager to possess them. 2. — Importance of Good Health. The teacher should be well and strong. He needs for his work the joy in life that goes with a sound body, trained to perform every function in a perfect manner. The school should never be a hospital for weak or dis- eased people. It is bad for the pupils, and they are the chief concern. A teacher whose health is under- mined is almost sure to grow worse and to become a victim of those conditions which often tempt us to undertake what we should not. Physical examinations for teachers are quite as desirable as any other, and are likely in time to be universally required. Poor health in the teacher often implies impairment of the nervous system and a lack of self-control and re- pose of manner, which are absolutely fatal to the best interests of the school. The person whose digestion is bad, who cannot sleep well, or who for any cause is unable to exercise in the open air, seldom has a sweet 18 School Management temper or calm judgment. Such teachers unwittingly arouse antagonisms in their pupils which are reflected at home, and the relations between the home and the school become anything but agreeable. I have known of more than one case where the teacher's health was so delicate as to require a much higher temperature in the room than was good for the pupils, or was favorable for the cheerful performance of their work. This portion of the subject naturally addresses itself not only to teachers themselves but to school authorities who permit such a state of things to exist. However hard it may be for weak, diseased, or disabled teachers to relin- quish their positions, I believe in the end they will be gainers rather than losers. A case is recalled where a teacher in poor health showed a morbid unwillingness to resign, but was finally persuaded to do so. While for some time she maintained an air of bitterness toward the superintendent, after having regained her health, and finding a new joy in life, she came and thanked him for what he had done. But, turning from this phase of the subject to one which is more hopeful and constructive, let it be under- stood that, in the vast number of cases, the teacher, as far as health is concerned, is master of his own destiny. The first years of teaching are often a crucial test of a young person's good sense and foresightedness. It is then that he is laying the foundations of his career. Health and vigor are his chief assets ; even scholarship and professional training avail little unless accompanied by physical stamina. Let us try to formulate this matter in a few suggestions that are comprehensive and universal. The Teacher 19 1. The teacher needs the comforts of a good home. This should include a quiet, sunny room, which is well warmed in winter, so that preparation for each day's work may be made under the best possible conditions ; and, in passing, it should be said that thorough prep- aration for daily work is distinctly a health precaution. It gives satisfaction and confidence, prevents worry, and leads to conscious success. 2. The teacher needs also nutritious, appetizing food served at regular hours. Intemperance and irregu- larities of all kinds are inconsistent with those stand- ards of conduct and character which should govern the teacher of youth. The frequent violations of this prin- ciple are a stain on the profession. Persistent selfish indulgence leaves its mark upon many countenances and leads to impaired usefulness and lessened respect in the community. 3. The teacher cannot afford habitually to deprive himself of necessary sleep, even for the sake of study or social pleasure. As long as he was a student solely, he could burn the midnight oil without harming anyone but himself ; but now he is a public servant and needs to have reserve force for those emergencies and off-days which come in every teacher's experience. The laws of nature are inexorable, and no guilty person can hope to escape the penalties consequent upon their violation. In nine cases out of ten, both as teacher and student, the person will accomplish more that is worth doing with a full quota of sleep and with reduced hours for study. There is a morbid conscientiousness which leads teachers to spend dreary hours in examining and marking papers when the best interests of their pupils 20 School Management demand they should be in bed and asleep. Teachers ■u'ho do this are not only sinning against themselves but against their pupils, for they are depriving them of that experience, so valuable, which would make them com- petent to criticise and correct their own work. Refer- ence will be made to this subject in a later chapter. 4. Of equal importance to the teacher is out-of-door life. The intrinsic value of fresh air and exercise to sedentary workers is too well understood to need ex- planation. We are children of nature, but are so hedged about by the artificialities of our modern life that we lose to a large extent the exhilaration of life. We do not, like the Indian, enjoy the abundance of sunlight and air which the Creator intended for us, but rather take them as medicine and often only upon the doctor's prescription. Out-of-door sports and athletics aflford special opportunities to teachers. There is nothing more hopeful in our modern life than the sight of men and women of all ages enjoying golf, tennis, to say nothing of boating, riding, and walking. The teacher who does not have a scheme of daily life which includes regular exercise is willingly assuming a handicap which may cost him the race. The trolley-car may prove a menace to good health if it becomes a substitute for the morning or afternoon walk. There are many claims of a private and professional nature for the free hours of the Saturday holiday, all of which are legitimate, but a portion of it should be devoted to some pleasurable out-of-door diversion. The Teacher 21 3. — Duties Out of School. Teachers receiving limited compensation are often tempted to engage in occupations out of school which make too heavy a drain upon their time and energies. One cannot wisely undertake to be a housekeeper, a nurse, or an editor without discounting his success in the school. He may render incidental assistance in any of these activities and find it profitable diver- sion. Ought a teacher to engage in Sunday-school work? is a question w^hich must usually be referred to private judgment. The need is very great for sound religious instruction, and nobody is so well equipped for this work as the day-school teacher. It brings him into a closer and more personal touch with the young, and gives him a fresh consciousness of those deeper life problems which belong to all true education. Doubtless many teachers need this experience, and are helped and re- freshed by it ; others have so little reserve force that they need absolute rest on Sunday and should not per- mit a morbid conscientiousness to overpower better judgment. Pastors and Christian leaders are often im- bued Avith the idea that there is no salvation for the yoiing anywhere but in the Sunday-school, but the ethical possibilities of the day-school are becoming greater year by year, as increasing attention is given to character-building, and all the means and appliances of the school are made to foster this end. "We do not therefore hesitate to say that the question whether the day-school teacher shall engage in Sunday-school work should be considered without sentiment or emotion after 22 School Management a careful weighing of practical considerations of Lealtb and duty. 4. — Intellectual Fitness of the Teacher. Many people drift into their vocation along the lines of least resistance, thus becoming teachers almost by accident. If any profession is worthy of good mental equipment it is teaching. Fortunately, while persons of inferior ability are almost sure to be found in the lower ranks of the profession, there are now so many checks upon advancement, and standards are being raised so rapidly, that only those of real intellectual worth are likely to reach the better paid and more hon- ored positions. The world seems to have places for all its inhabitants provided those places are diligently sought. For those of mediocre ability there are call- ings where deep thinking, imagination, and constructive genius are not required. The man of one talent need not dig in the earth and hide his treasure, neither may he seek to fill a position where five talents are essential and where ten may be used to advantage. 5. — Moral Qualities Needed. The present emphasis given to imitation and sugges- tion constitute a claim for moral uprightness in the teacher that is almost startling. The student of child- hood observes how sensitive the child is to personality. While children are at home they are to a good extent faithful copies of father or mother. It is an open ques- tion whether the results of imitation are not greater / The Teacher 23 than those of heredity. The expression, the tone, the walk, and the disposition are like those of the parent, simply because the child follows the pattern which is so constantly before him. The more isolated families are, the more significant and specialized become the family traits. When the child enters school he be- comes subject to the dominating influence of a new per- sonality. According as he loves his teacher he will imi- tate her and become fashioned after her pattern. This phenomenon, while affording a most valuable opportunity to the teacher, and giving him a special function as leader, imposes moral responsibility of the most serious sort. It is a compliment to say of a teach- er, " He has put his stamp upon every pupil," only when that stamp expresses nobility and righteousness. We see, then, how necessary it is that the teacher become the complete man or the complete woman, willing and able to stand for the right at all hazards, the champion of every good cause, and a worker for it as well. 6. — Sincerity. Children are not easily deceived. If it were right for a person to be other than sincere, it is certainly not safe to try repeatedly the experiment in the school- room. Let any pretence or sham on the part of the teacher be recognized and become a subject of gossip in the school, the teacher's moral stock is at once rated low. He has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Anyone whose besetting sin is to try to seem different from what he is, or seem to be able to do what he cannot do, has indeed a hard battle on his hands and 24 School Management one from wliicli lie had better retreat. Overpraise of the efforts or work of a pupil is just as bad as undue criticism. Moderate reserve is better than excessive compliment. To say always to pupils what is fair and just tends to establish confidence and respect, without which a teacher can accomplish but little. 7. — Honesty. This plain, every-day word may be regarded as in- cluding many minor traits of character which are intrin- sic in the school. Instead of making a finer analysis we will say once for all, the teacher must be honest. Whether the Father of his Country injured the cherry- tree or told the exact truth about it is of far less ac- count than the fact that the story of his truthfulness has become a national idyl and has made honesty a great cardinal virtue of the American people. There are only two kinds of politicians, the honest and dis- honest ; so with merchants, clergymen, journalists, and teachers. If a man is not honest he is a cipher in the moral scale ; and so if we can apply the test of honesty to ourselves and to our fellow-teachers we shall soon know who are accredited and accounted fit to be lead- ers of children and youth. The application of this principle is wide and varied. It begins in the morning hours and stands guard throughout the day. It reveals itself in countenance and voice, and gives steadiness and proportion to all work. Honesty begets honesty, and the honest teach- er makes the honest pupil. The lad in the school is the future citizen, and he will be a good citizen only as The Teacher 25 honesty becomes a habit inseparable from his whole life. Promises in the school as elsewhere are sacred and must be kept. lu evil report as well as in good reporf principles are to be defended and truth is to stand. All work is to be honestly done. So staunch must be this doctrine that it reaches the home and restrains parents from unduly aiding their children in their school tasks. All spurious exhibitions of school work, for the sake of public notice, should be tabooed both by teacher and pupil. The teacher whose conduct toward the child of the rich or influential is marked by any special cour- tesy or partiality loses measurably his popularity and influence. The American public school is the purest type of democracy and equality which modern civiliza- tion presents. He who violates its first principles and is dishonest for the sake of some personal advantage is unworthy of his profession. 8. — The Teacher as a Social Force. The school exists to create a better social life, hence the teacher must be strong on the social side. His self- respect and dignity of bearing must be such as to make him esteemed and beloved in all circles. He should be broadly interested in the community life about him, in the daily employments of the people, in their various enterprises and undertakiugs. Every community is a sort of economic microcosm of the world ; as an educa- tor he should study and understand the industrial, com- mercial, and social life about him with their various in- terpretations. He should earnestly co-operate in all 26 ScJiool Management efforts to further public sanitation and civic progress. He should be ready to combine with others at all times for every sort of human betterment. Unselfish social conduct tends to react upon any person, and make him more sympathetic and kind- hearted. Practice of social virtue implies social growth in the qualities that are specially needful in a teacher. There is all the difference in the world between the teacher who is instinctively social and the one who is strongly individualistic. The one adapts himself to cir- cumstances and the other is a martinet. For example : a child enters school late in the morning, and the teacher knows the mother is ill ; she may inquire kindly after the sick parent and say nothing about tardiness, or she may remind the child that he must remain after school as a punishment. The latter course would not be un- usual, but it can hardly be called social. Again, a boy or girl straggling to assist in the home and at the same time continue at school gets less sleep than he needs, and consequently does poor work in his studies. In such a case the teacher reveals himself as social or un- social. He is exhibiting himself as human and kind, or as hard-hearted and indifferent. Many other instances might be cited where this test operates ; in fact, the whole stream of life in the school is filled with such incidents. Pupils have their own nomenclature for the words . and acts of the teacher which seem to them to merit cen- sure. The word " unsocial " is a gentlemanly name for a variety of offences against good society, which too often mar the beauty of the school life and blight the influence of the teacher. Tlie Teacher 27 9. — Temperament. Much that constitutes the individuality of the person is ascribed to temperament. This is not in any sense a distinct and separate attribute, but is a sort of complex product partly physical, partly mental and moral. It will readily be agreed that a teacher should possess a sanguine, hopeful temperament. Is it not fair to assume that every young person may cultivate those traits of character that shall result in a disposition that is whole- some and cheerful ? To this end he should summon all the energies of mind, heart, and will. He should always be the master of himself, and the divine goodness that is in him, even though it be but a spark, should be kindled into a flame, fusing every impulse and emotion, and making it pliable and obedient to his best judgment. 10. — Tlie Selection of Teachers. Every superintendent or member of a school board in our smaller communities, who can go out and freely choose teachers for vacant places, feels sure that this is the ideal method of selection. It offers to young teach- ers in the smaller communities the opportunity of ad- vancement to more desirable positions. Thus they are stimulated to excel, and to use all available means of professional growth. This freedom of selection operat- ing in towns and villages. East and West, has produced school-systems of the highest grade. There are some drawbacks to this method. 1. Towns of limited financial ability sometimes lose their best teachers to such an extent as to cripple se- 28 School Management riously the schools. Under these conditions the super- intendent has a constant struggle to keep his schools up to a moderate level of efficiency. 2. Young teachers of pleasing personality and promise are often pushed on too rapidly, and, being ambitious to maintain themselves, draw too heavily upon their health and vitality. In some instances, after gaining the de- sired position, they relax their efforts and growth ceases. 3. Freedom of selection makes school committees subject to the importunity of local candidates, who may or may not be competent. The position of teacher has a dazzling attractiveness for people who have not at- tained marked success in life, and who wish to see their children able to live without manual toil. Girls who have graduated from the public schools are thought to have earned a right to be teachers, as though a commu- nity w'hich gives a free education to its childi-en should also furnish a livelihood. Nothing in the life of our American communities has created more bitter feeling and antagonism than the appointment of teachers. In the larger cities, where school affairs were managed by ward committees, the situation became intolerable. Gradually the appointment of teachers has been hedged about by rules and regulations that prevent the possi- bility of favoritism or political influence. The special object of treating this subject in a work addressed primarily to teachers is that all members of the pro- fession are or should be interested in everything that relates to the validity and dignity of their calling. Working unitedly they may do much to strengthen a public sentiment in favor of those methods which are best for a given community. In many States this mat- The Teacher 29 ter is controlled by statute, and several of our large cities have recently obtained new charters which pro- vide for the administration of the schools on strictly business principles. 11. — Meiliods of Certificating, The new methods of school administration are copied largely from the civil service rules, which have long been used successfully in Europe, and are now well established in a policy of our national and State gov- ernments. The cardinal idea is merit. Examinations to determine the competency of applicants, and the assignment of those who are successful to an eligible list, are the chief working features of the plan. Taking the country as a whole, there are several current methods of certificating teachers which are more or less eflSca- cious in thwarting personal influence and " pull." 1. The requirement of a normal school diploma. 2. Gradua- tion from a high school and a normal school diploma. 3. Graduation from a high school, and diploma from a local training school. 4. Examination by a duly constituted board, with an eligible list. 5. Examina- tion by State or county board, which may be accepted by a local committee. 6, Sundry regulations in the use of an eligible list. 7. A fixed term of probation, upon the result of which the candidate may receive regular appointment. Here, as in other departments, the lack of a centralized system permits much experimentation and variation in practice. This will prove beneficial in the end, for the methods found to be best will eventually become uni- 30 Scliool Management versal. Whatever tlie general method of certificating is, it should always be possible for a school board to go out into the open market when positions of peculiar technical difiiculty are to be filled. 12. — Terms of Probation. Teachers who have received the best normal training have still to gain real professional ability by experience. The first year, at least, should bo a time of probation. The salary should be smaller and the duties less exact- ing than afterward. In college teaching, the young person must needs have several years as assistant tutor and instructor before he is eligible to the position of assistant professor. The beginner in a primary, gi-am- mar, or high school should not give his time grudgingly to this preparatory w^ork. He will wisely make the most careful preparation of the lessons he is to teach, and will observe the work of the best teachers as closely as possible. He will carefully measure himself in his work ; he will solicit criticism from the principal and superintendent ; he will establish pleasant relations with his pupils; in short, leave no stone untuiTied in doing his work thoroughly and well. If this first year of teaching, difficult and trying though it may be, brings him out victorious at the end, he will enter upon his second year with a confidence and satisfaction which could have been found in no other way. "We have thus enumerated some of the qualities which the teacher should possess and which he should try to cultivate during his professional career. "We have endeavored to suggest that these qualities which The Teacher 31 enter into temperament and character are not fixed quantities. They are susceptible to change and devel- opment under favoring conditions whenever there is in- telligent purpose and persistency. AYhat has been said along this line as well as regarding the conditions ud- der which the teacher enters the profession is prelim- inary to a consideration of the means of growth open to the teacher, which will be treated in the following chapter. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. The influence of personality. 2. Ways of preserving health. 3. Activities outside of the school. 4. Desirable mental and moral traits. 5. The teacher as a social factor. 6. Can temperament be changed ? 7. Why should teachers be carefully selected ? 8. Some ways of entering the profession. CHAPTER ni THE GROWTH OF THE TEACHER Geowth is the necessary attendant of life. When a plant stops growing it begins to die. It is doubtful if there is in the life of any organism a period when it is absolutely stationary. We cannot always tell by look- ing at it whether it is still growing, or has turned the point of its highest develoj^ment and commenced its career of decadence. But we know that the period which marks the divide has no appreciable magni- tude. The human organism, in spite of all caution and care, passes through the same cycle of development and de- cay. It is clear also that the mind is so wedded to the body as to make it a dependent subject. Whenever the body is impaired the mind suffers with it. There are, however, two fundamental truths which offer en- couragement to all who cherish life, and especially the life of the intellect : First, every individual, by obeying the laws of health, can measurably facilitate growth, in- crease his potentiality, and postpone the hour when de- terioration begins. Secondly, he can give such suprem- acy to mind, conscience, and will as to make the soul, to a good degree, defiant of bodily ailments, and keep con- stantly growing as long as life lasts. These truths, so rich in value to all people, are espe- 33 The Growth of the Teacher 33 cially valuable to teachers. How then, let us ask, can teachers make a steady increase of mental and spiritual power ? 1. — Cultivate the Social lAfe. The teacher needs to know human life in the con- crete. He needs to enter into sympathy with all kinds of people. If he visits the homes of his pupils he is likely to know a variety of persons, and the acquaint- ances thus made will serve more than one purpose. By knowing parents he can the more readily influence their children. His acquaintance tends to give him a recog- nized place in the community, makes him familiar with his environment, and furnishes him needed local data for his work. Moreover, the teacher needs that particular kind of stimulus that is implied in the term " going into soci- ety." The teacher usually needs cultivation on the human side. He knows more of books than of people. In some circles he is apt to be awkward and ill at ease. This is soon overcome by experience, and the ability to move among people with grace and dignity is an accom- plishment not to be despised. Social life in the best sense is a good tonic for the mind, an antidote to morbidness, broadens one's interests, and makes him more sane and companionable. The clannishness of some teachers is fatal to their best growth. They have an idea that by reason of their calling they are discounted in social circles. This has been more or less true in the past, but is seldom so to- day. The teacher owe? it to his profession to esteem himself as fit for any society. Every time he worthily 34 School Management represents his profession lie is contributing something to its repute and standing. 2. — SeeJc Dcsirahle Friendships. Over and above Avliat lias been said about acquaint- ance with common people, and conventional social intercourse, the teacher particularly needs those close, intimate friendshij)S which, to the young at least, are among the most significant means of j)ersonal growth. The teacher must occasionally throw off restraint and lapse into a sort of cliildlike freedom. At such times he needs the attrition of kindred spirits. It is often better if the intimate friend pui'sues another calling and has diverse interests. Thus we learn many facts quite outside of our own experience, and our thoughts are turned into new and fresh channels. Our pedantry and conceit are properly corrected, and we gain fresh courage and condition for our work by learning what is being achieved in other departments of effort. One cannot have many intimate friends. They should be carefully chosen, and their confidence and sympathy, when once secured, should be guarded as a peculiar and precious possession. In these rare and exceptional friendships the deeper feelings and aspirations find ex- pression, and the best that is in us is brought out and made to do us service. 3. — Read Mamj Books. " Reading," said Lord Bacon, " maketli a full man.** Perhaps if he were living to-day he would say good read- ing, for the range of choice is much greater than it was, The Growth of the Teacher 35 and the danger of dissipation is increased. As the ex- perience of the race is preserved to us in books, the teacher, for the sake of knowledge and professional power, must read widely. 1. The subject-matter of teaching is ever broadening and changing, so that the teacher must do a good deal of reading on the informational side. His knowledge of the subject he teaches should be far beyond that of the pupil. Nothing is more pitiable and unprofessional than the instructor Avho is contented to know simply what ho has to teach. There are now great modern works in geography, history, and science, which con- stitute a treasure-house to any teacher who has access to them. 2. Next in importance is that professional reading which furnishes a broad view of educational history and ideals. Properly speaking, the history of education com- prises the story of human progress. It also presents a record of the great educational leaders, who, far in ad- vance of their time, have been centres of influence and light through the centuries. Neither general history nor the theories of the reformers can be safely ignored. It is not unusual to hear some rising pedagogue ex- ploiting ideas which were preached by Eabelais, Mon- taigne, Comenius, or Rousseau. A good knowledge of educational history gives one a deeper respect for the past and makes him more modest and more teachable. 3. The growing teacher will read psychology, particu- larly as it reveals the nature of mind and is applicable to methods of instruction. No teacher, for instance, can afford to be without Professor James's " Talks on Psychology, and Life's Ideals." Hand in hand with 36 School Management Bucli reading comes the study of individual children, and a growing recognition of the need of adaptation and individual treatment. 4. The general literature of our time is not likely to be neglected, for it is quite disconcerting and inconven- ient to be ignorant of what is produced in this field. There is even some danger, with the wealth of fiction which now crowds our library shelves, to say nothing of history, travel, or sociology, that general reading may compete too sharply with that of a professional sort. It is not wise, however, to draw too sharp a line be- tween professional and general reading. The treatment of social questions of the day is largely educational, and almost any study of ethical, social, or economic problems contains educational elements which readily fit into a broad scheme of pedagogy. A social settlement in Boston, New York, or Chicago is distinctly an educa- tional institution. The same may be said of very many churches. Some of our great writers of fiction, like Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo, and Charles Eeade, have greatly enriched the literature of education. Dickens's "Hard Times," for instance, presents a plea for the nurt- ure of the imagination and fancy in childhood which has never been surpassed. So it can be said with truth that pedagogy cannot be separated from human history and human experience any more than religion can be separated from life. 5. The teacher must be informed in current history as presented in newspapers and magazines. It seems only just to say that such reading is of less account than any other, and should be incidental and restricted. Nothing can be more debilitating for the mind than to absorb the The Growth of the Teacher 37 trashy contents of some of these publications. Journals and magazines render a great service in bringing to us the raw materials of information. It is possible to be- come enslaved to this kind of literature to such an extent as to arrest that higher development which a better class of reading gives. Enough has been said to enforce the idea that a teacher's reading should by no means be narrow, but should be selected from all fields of good literature, giv- ing, of course, special emphasis to those books and articles which have to do with methods of teaching, educating, and uplifting the young. To illustrate more clearly what is meant by a broad selection the following list of ten books is given. Each one is a type of the best material to be found in the particular field which it represents. The Growth of the Brain. Donaldson. Talks to Teachers, and Life's Ideals. James. Apperception. Lange. History of Pedagogy. Co7npaijre. Illustrations of Universal Progress. Spencer, School and Society. Dewey. Hard Times. Dickens. Lectures on Teachiug. Fitch. General Method. Mc3Iurr7j. School Hygiene. Shaw. V 4. — Visit the Best Schools. Here we have a practical means of professional growth which is too often neglected. School oflicials forget that an entire school may often be closed, and the 38 School Management teacher sent to visit other schools, with very little loss so far as the pupils are coucerned. Quality is better than quantity, and teachers frequently return from such visits with renewed courage and enterprise, and the school is at once a better school. Some foolish and undesirable things occur when teachers visit other schools, and a few suggestions relative to those who re- ceive visitors as well as those who visit are in order. 1. Principals and teachers who entertain visiting teachers should let all the affairs of the school move on in their regular way. The visitor does not wish to see an exhibition of unusual and special exercises, but rather the every-day work. Do not, therefore, change the programme unless requested to do so by the super- intendent or principal, and he, if wise, will make this request only in rare instances. 2. Do not ask the visitor to examine an enormous mass of "wi'itten papers. A few typical papers should always be at hand for visitors to see if they choose to do so. Not wishiug to oflend they will insjiect a large number, but it is a thankless task, and is not what they came for. The real object of interest to the visitor is the pupils ; the manner in which they study and recite ; the kind of co-operation existing between them and their teachers ; the degree of promptness and despatch with which the work is carried on ; the methods and de- vices used ; and the general deportment of the school. 3. Another mistake is to hurry visitors from room to room, and from one attraction to another, not giving them the opportunity to see anything thoughtfully or thoroughly. 4. It is a bad practice to send word through the The Groivth of the Teacher 30 school that visitors have arrived and are to make the rounds. It is the fii'st step toward making a show of the school, Avhich too easily affects teachers and pupils. 5. The practice of calling only on the brightest pupils when visitors are present is vicious, for it is too well understood by pupils, and gives them an opinion of the teacher which he cannot afford to have them hold. Those who visit need also to avoid a few mistakes. 1. If possible they should arrive in time to see the school open, and should remain during the entire ses- sion. 2. They should pass quietly from room to room without asking for introductions. 3. Ask no questions while recitations are in progress, but make notes and seek information either at recess or at the close of school. 4. See everything. Count nothiug of small impor- tance. While visitiug another school a teacher is really looking in a mirror. He will, perchance, see some things that he will wish to avoid in the futm-e — or, in other words, he will become conscious of his own faults. 5. Do not go home and speak disparagingly of what you have seen. If called uj^on to report your visit do it with such fairness as to leave no stigma upon the teacher concerned. Be sure that if you have seen nothing to commend there is some fault in yourself. 6. It is well to visit other grades than your own. The kiudergartner should observe carefully the develop- ment of the work in the primary grades. Every pri- mary teacher, on the other hand, should observe the kindergarten as well as the work which follows and precedes her own. Grammar and high school teachers 40 School Management may profitably visit any class where good work is being done. Young, inexperienced instructors in college, who probably are the poorest teachers extant, lose an oppor- tunity and do an injustice to themselves and their stu- dents if they fail to stud}^ the methods used in the best secondary schools. Educators and teachers of all grades may learn much by visiting schools for defective children ; institutions for the care of the deaf, dumb, and blind ; reformatories like those at Elmira, Concord, and Sherburn, Mass. ; industrial schools for backward peoples, like Hampton, Tuskegee, and Carlisle ; as well as various trade-schools, technical schools, and schools of applied art. In an experience covering thirty years of school supervision the writer has noticed that many teachers are contented to go on year after year without visiting other schools. As a rule their work is not of the highest order. It is evident, therefore, that superin- tendents and principals must organize a scheme of regular visitation. Every teacher should have at least two days in each year for this purpose, and, when the vacation permits it, he should be expected to devote some small fraction of his time in the same way. Re- ports made at a teachers' meeting of what has been seen during such visits are an important feature of the plan. 5. — Institutes and Conventions. Normal institutes have been a decided factor in the development of the American teacher. During that period when normal schools were largely academic The Growth of the Teacher 41 in their character, and when a very large percentage of teachers received no professional training, the State and county institute, continuing for several days, at- tendance upon which was required, has been of untold value. If the time comes when, as in Germany, all teachers are required to have preliminary training in normal schools, the institute will become of less ac- count, but even then there will be a place for such con- vocations. The opportunity for mutual acquaintance, the inspiration derived from the eloquent instructors, and the satisfaction that comes from knowing and hearing those accounted as leaders, will always make the in- stitute a means of improving schools. The great conventions which are held by nearly every State and the National Education Association have also contributed their part to educational progress. Teach- ers from distant portions of the United States who at- tended the great convention in Boston, in 1903, re- returned to their homes with a new sense of pride and dignity, and with many impressions of New England life and achievement which Avill be a pleasant memory in their future work. It is no reflection upon Boston, or upon her people, to say that the schools of that city will reap a considerable benefit through the awakened interest of the teachers, who, by their generous hos- pitality and cordial greeting to the teachers of the country, did so much to make the convention a success. Many helpful addresses were heard with interest, but they did not constitute the most valuable part of the programme. There is one caution to be observed by those who attend meetings of an insinrational character. Speakers often go to extremes in emphasizing the par- 42 School Management ticular side of a subject wbich they are treating. It sometimes happens that several people take opposite points of view. Extreme statements are made, and one's credulity is often taxed severely in trying to ac- cept what is urged. All this requires that teachers should weigh evidence carefully, and reserve judgment on questions not clear. Such discussions enlarge one's horizon and extend the knowledge of the subject, but should not lead to hasty conclusions. It has been well said that it is better to know less than too much of what is untrue. 6. — Teachers' Meetings. In all large schools and systems of schools the teach- ers' meeting is often the key to freedom and progress. It is as vital to the welfare of the school as the Sunday service is to that of the church. It often serves a pur- pose not unlike that of a consultation of physicians, in- asmuch as special cases of inaptness and misconduct, which baffle the individual teacher, are successfully diagnosed through the wisdom of several. There are two distinct kinds of teachers' meetings. One includes all in the system, and its purpose is to develop com- mon aims and ideals, and secure perfect understanding touching the practical work to be accomplished. Such a meeting may be conducted in an infinite number of ways, and still accomplish its purpose. In this, as in all other meetings, let there be informality and freedom. An ordinary class-room is not a good place in which to assemble. A room furnished with loose chairs, so that all can group around the leader in a social way, is far better. Questions or suggestions should always be in The Growth of the Teacher 43 order at every point. Even if the superintendent or the principal is lecturing he does not wish to pose as an oracle, or to deliver an address so polished that it slips through the minds of his hearers -without having made any definite impression. The true method of the teachers' meeting is that of conference. The subject should be announced in advance, and in many instances a series of meetings would be required in which the in- terest and discussion should be continuous and j^rogres- sive. Some outside reading should be suggested, and brief, definite reports from persons specially designated are an advantage. These are some of the topics which have been found fruitful at such meetings : Evolution in its relation to education. Sense and motor activity. Culture of the feelings and imagination. The doctrine of interest. Apperception. The five formal steps of education. The hygiene of study and fatigue. How to train pupils to study. Amount and kinds of home-work. School housekeeping. Self-government : Its possibilities and limits. An occasional lecturer from outside is^ welcome feature, but for the most part such meetlfigs Should be carried on by home talent. ' ^ These general meetings are often held monthly. They serve to develop unity, and give some direction to the professional study and thought of the teachers. It is better that such meetings be held in the afternoon at the close of school. This is usually more agreeable 44 School Management to teachers than to be called together on Saturday. The meetings should not continue for more than an hour. Everything unnecessary and trivial should be omitted, and there should be the most earnest concen- tration on the subject in hand. Frequent violations of this rule make many teachers' meetings a dreary waste of time and distasteful to all concerned. An afternoon tea at the close of the meeting facili- tates acquaintance and is always enjoyed. This feature becomes still pleasanter when, in succession during the year, several ladies and gentlemen in the community are invited to be present and make the acquaintance of the teachers. This plan has been known to result in many pleasant friendships between teachers and citizens, and the opening of the homes to teachers. Another class of meetings is that for teachers of a grade, or for a group of those teaching the same subject, as, for example, in the high school. Here there should be even greater informality and indi^'idual initiative. The superintendent or priucijial may wisely let some mem- ber of the grade or group conduct the meeting while he becomes a listener, taking part as opportunity may offer. This is the time for considering, step by step, the several parts of the curriculum, in respect of ma- terial, and the correlation of one subject with another. This study should be intensive and thorough. Discus- sion should not be checked imtil all possible light has been broiight to bear and some definite conclusions are reached and formulated. Methods of teaching with illustrated lessons, teaching plans, devices, and illustra- tive material may all be brought into these meetings. Something is accomplished by having the teachers The Growth of the Teacher 45 bring into each meeting some specimens of the work of their pupils. The special teachers of music, art, physical training, handwork, or nature study should find in the grade meeting opportunity for explaining their plans and se- curing intelligent co-operation. Frank suggestion and criticism on both sides are far better than misunder- standing and lack of cordiality which often creep into a school and mar the pleasure of working. In short, these meetings should be a clearing-house for all details of management and teaching. Teachers will attend them cheerfully, as they furnish specific directions and suggestions for every side of their work. J' 7. — Travel as a Means of Growth. To visit the great cities of our own country, to behold its great mountains, rivers, prairies, and forests is a means of culture to any teacher. To cross the ocean and see the old countries and view their treasures of art and their historic monuments is of still greater value. He who esteems highly such means of pleasui'e and growth does well to practise economy, and lay aside something for this purpose. Viewed simply as academic education, the knowledge of history, geography, art, and human progress gained by travel is far more serviceable than that learned from books. It is real, and bears the same relation to what one reads about such things that a great painting, glorious in color, bears to a photograph or wood engraving. Viewed from a pedagogic stand- point, the teacher who travels can teach with more con- fidence and enthusiasm, and will impart to his pupils 46 School Management somewhat of tlie reality of tilings wliicli he himself feels. Moreover, he finds a new joy in his work, and can exert a wider influence among his associates and patrons. 8. — Freedom FaciUtates Growth. School officers cannot aflbrd to shackle their teachers or impose irksome rules and regulations. Emancipation is the order of our time. To rise in the morning and feel that we can give free rein to our best impulses, and that even our dreams may be transmuted into real achievements, affords us the keenest satisfaction that life can give. Under such conditions the worker, who- soever he may be, becomes the artist, putting a little of himself into his daily task, giving it the stamp of in- dividuality which differentiates it from the work of everyone else. Red tape, precedents, and officialism are a kind of dry rot in any school system. As the large majority of teachers are women, who are naturally conscientious, yielding, and obedient, the evil becomes still greater. All the sources of growth and culture we have heretofore enumerated are of little consequence if the teacher must always hear the clatter of official machinery. She soon ceases to be the artist and becomes simply an operative. Organization is good and there must be some system in every large enterprise. But as education has to do largely with motive, sentiment, and spirit, the more simplicity and directness there is in requirements, and the more freedom of individual judgments, the better. American schools to-day need less of humdrum and routine and more of scientific adaptation of means to The Growth of the Teacher 47 ends. It is only through free, individual initiative that the teacher can address himself unreservedly to the child for whom the school exists. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. The law of growth and decay. 2. Why a teacher should seek society. 3. The value of intimate friends. 4. What should a teacher read, and why? 5. School visiting. What has your experience shown? 6. Institutes as a pedagogic stimulus. 7. Why do teachers' meetings often lack interest? 8. The teacher's right to freedom. CHAPTER IV PHYSICAL CONDITIONS The liealtli of the child is always of first account, whether iu the home or in the school. Conditions have often been so unfavorable in the schools of the past that it is a question whether the value-of the formal educa- tion received compensated for the injury done to the health. During the last century the world has ad- vanced rapidly toward a better knowledge of the laws of health, and in the utilization of the discoveries made by science. School boards and teachers assume a grave responsi- bility in the care of children, and the use they make of means at their disposal to this end is of first considera- tion in school management. Not only should teachers be thoughtful and intelligent in all matters of hygiene and sanitation, but they should enlist the interest of their pupils to the same end. The ordinary means employed to promote health and prevent disease are of the highest educational importance, and not beyond the comprehension of pupils in the elementary schools. Carefully prepared rules relating to contagious diseases and the necessary precautions to be taken should be distributed to all homes, and the co-operation of parents should be solicited. A book on the ph3'sical nature of the child, by Stewart H. Kowe, contains in its closing 48 Physical Conditions 49 chapter a large number of questions relating to food, clothing, care of the skin, breathing exercises, sleep, and the miscellaneous habits of children, which may wisely be used in calling the attention of parents to some of the more common dangers, and as a means of educating the popular mind in the more elementary principles of hygiene. This is not the place for an exhaustive treatment of school construction and the scientific reasons for the in- tricate and elaborate provisions now made for heating, ventilating, and plumbing in school-houses. Teachers are usually called to w^ork where the conditions are largely established, and even if new buildings are to be erected their advice is too seldom sought. The chief emphasis here is laid on the right use of such means as are at hand for conserving bodily health and comfort in the school. At the same time some of the general and more practical considerations are given with the hope that they may assist teachers in understanding, and helping their pupils to understand better, the problems which they have to solve. 1. — TJie School Site- and Grounds. The selection of the school site is a fair index of the wisdom and generous tendencies of the school board. In growing towns and cities, as fast as the areas of future expansion are determined, tracts of land should be secured at low prices, large enough to provide for future school buildings, and for ample playgrounds for the people of the several neighborhoods. To make the school, as is now so often proposed, a communit}' centre, 50 School Management implies tliat playgrounds are to be used by adults as well as children. For those people who are confined the great- er part of the time in unhygienic shops and factories, the need of out-of-door diversion becomes imperative. The school should be located on high ground, away from all objectionable noises and all unsanitary condi- tions. The soil should be natural, dry, and such as can be easily drained. There are at least four features in the ideal school lot : 1. The ground upon which the building stands. 2. Such open space in front as permits landscape gar- dening sufficient to insure attractive entrances and approaches to the building. 3. The school garden. 4. The playground. When the school-house is already established consideration can usually be given to the second and third, and the fourth vs-hen there is sufficient space. There are few school-houses Avhere something cannot be done to beautify its approaches by means of trees, lawn, shrubs, and flowers, tastefully arranged. If the building stands, as is often the case, on one side of the lot, so that there is considerable space on the other, a school garden can be organized as well as a playground, if this is feasible. It is not necessary here to go into detail respecting the method of laying out the grounds or the garden. Many articles have already been written in magazines and school journals, and in nearly every community there are examples of good taste in landscape architect- ure which school officers and teachers can study in working out the proper scheme. The principle of self- activity should have some influence in this connection. For example, in the development of the school garden it Phymcal Conditions 51 would be a waste of opportunity to have all the plans made by the teacher, and simply permit the pupils to obey directions. Rather let the school garden grow out of investigations by the pupils into the methods of agri- culture. Let them consult farmers and gardeners on the best way of growing different crops, and the best kinds of soil and fertilizers to be used. A reasonable degree of rivalry adds interest here, as in other forms of school work. Eesults of these inquiries, with varying degrees of success and failure, will give real education, and make the school garden a good type of industrial and scientific training. The various problems in arithmetic and science which arise are excellent for the pupils to solve, because they are real. 2. — The ScJiool Building. School architecture has progressed rapidly in recent years. Certain principles are coming to be recognized generally. It is commonly agreed that the school-house should be simple and, as far as possible, expressive of the purpose for which it exists. Occasionally good taste is violated by too elaborate design, over- ornamentation, and in- harmonious colors, but an examination of a large num- ber of prints of modern schools shows a similarity of type and an evident subordination of design to utility. It is agreed, also, that the buildiug' should be jjlanned from within outward, the school-room being regarded as the unit. When the school-rooms have been planned and arranged with reference to lighting and conven- ience the architect is less likely to err in completing the rest of the scheme. 52 School Management 3. — Tlie School-Room. Much thought has been given to the form and size of the school-room. Whatever may be the character of a room where a teacher does his work, he should make a careful study of it, to see that the best possible results are obtained in respect of lighting, fresh air, conven- ience and good taste. Every teacher should know what standards are generally accepted. It is understood that in cities, where space is very expensive, there is more crowding than under other conditions. A room 28 X 32 feet is considered a good size for any grade of school. If, as is desirable, the long side of the room is exposed to the light, the rows of desks may be so placed as to leave some vacant space in front and on the side farthest from the windows for tables and other useful furniture. A minimum height of first-story rooms is 13 feet. As the light is usually superior on the second floor, the height may properly be 12 feet. Natural slate blackboards should be placed on all wall space not occupied by doors. These should be from 3^ to 4 feet in -svadtli. For primary pupils they should be placed 2 feet and 3 inches from the floor. For gram- mar and high school pupils from 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches. These boards should be closely fitted together and cemented. Cbalk receivers should be beneath the blackboards. These should have a wire covering at- tached by hinges so that wlicn they are in use no dust may be disturbed, and they may be conveniently cleaned. The floor of the school-room, as of all parts of the Physical Conditions 53 building, should be of maple or liard pine, selected stock, grooved, and closely fitted to prevent cracks for the accumulation of dust. For wainscoting, some of the best authorities recommend hard plaster well painted without gloss, to give a hard, durable surface. 4. — Seating. The best school furniture yet devised is the single, adjustable desk and chair. This is constructed in vari- ous styles, but the differences in them are not marked. Special care should be taken that the seat is comfoi't- able, properly supporting the back and shoulders. A desk designed by the late Dr. Shaw has some advan- tages, as the top slips back and forth, affording minus distance for reading and plus distance for writing. It has a slant of 15°, but may be raised to a level w^hen the nature of the work requires it. The seat should be adjusted so that, with the feet of the pupil on the floor, the lower limbs will be directly at right angles to the thigh, which is level. It is very important that M'hen adjustable furniture is provided the adjustments be promptly and carefully made. The maker usually provides a measuring-rod and definite directions as to its use. The writer remem- bers visiting a new highschool building toward the end of the year when no adjustments had been made. Such oversight is inexcusable. It shows the absence of care for the welfare of the pupils. In case furniture that is not adjustable is used there should be at least three sizes placed in rows, so that the smaller pupils come in front. This permits consider- 54 School Management able adaptation to the size of desks and makes the room present a good appearance. 5. — Lighting. When the planning of the building permits school- rooms oblong in shape, it is desirable that all the light should come from one side, with an arrangement of seats so that the pupils get the light from the left. The more completely that side is filled with glass the better. There should be a minimum of from one-fourth to one- fifth of the floor space. The windows should have square heads which should reach to the top of the room, and should extend to about three and a quarter feet of the floor. In some cases iron mullions are used, thus precluding the use of brick or timber work, which ob- structs the light. All kinds of inside blinds are objectionable. Opaque shades of an ecru or greenish tint, running either from the top or the bottom, afibrd the best means of control- i ling the light. Authorities differ as to which method is 1 better. The objection to having the shades run from I the bottom is that teachers wish to have window-boxes, \ and in the care of plants the shades become injured. Experience has shown that shades attached at the top can be made to serve every purpose. When the shades are large tint cloth is more durable than holland. In dealing with old buildings where there is insuflicient light, factory ribbed glass in the upper sashes is found helpful. The tinting of the walls of the school-room play an important part, not only in its attractiveness, but in Physical Conditions 55 mating tlie liglit agreeable. The ceiling should be white or a light cream color. In school-rooms where there is plenty of sunlight gi-een tints arc most dura- ble. Eooms having a northerly exposure are made to seem more home-like by being tinted in warmer colors, as a yellowish gray or light terra-cotta. 6. — OloaJc-Rooms. Cloak-rooms may be placed either along the corridor or in separate rooms adjacent to the school-rooms. In either case thorough heating and ventilation should be provided. If placed in the corridors they should be connected with the school -rooms and should be locked when not in use to prevent thieving. Each child should have a separate locker or cubicle divided off by parti- tions, with a shelf at the bottom for rubbers, and one at the top for lunch-box or books. Corridor wardrobes are often partitioned off with wire-mesh set in frames, thus permitting the better circulation of air, and a more complete drying of clothing in damp weather. 7. — Corridors. The ideal type of school building has class-rooms along the sunny side with corridors, oflBces, and other rooms on the other side. However large the building, this type in its main features may be preserved. The corridors should be at least nine feet wide, and, in the case of large buildings containing several hundi-ed pu- pils, may well be as much as twelve feet in width. They should be well lighted, and the walls may be tinted in richer tones than are used in the class-rooms. 56 Scliool Management 8. — Staircases. Staircases should be placed at either end of the building. There should be no open wells. Each stair- way should have at least one platform or landing for every story. The risers should be G to 6^ inches high, and the tread from 10 to 12 inches wide. Hand-rails should be provided on either side, firmly bolted to the walls. There should be windows upon the landings, elevated at least four feet from the floor. Staircases should be either of fire-proof or slow-burning construc- tion. 9. — OtJier Features. Doors leading to class-rooms should be made to swing both ways by means of a spring check. Glass panels are necessary in such doors, and, in short, are found to be convenient in doors of different construction. Any means of preventing noise or confusion, like the fre- quent opening and shutting of doors, contributes to the success of the school. When a school-house is being designed, those who are to occupy it should insist upon economy in the planning of both basement and attic. A dry, well- lighted basement, if reasonably free from supporting timbers and masonry, and if well warmed and venti- lated, may be put to a variety of purposes, as play- and lunch-rooms, manual training shops, and gymnasiums. The attic also may be so free from timber work as to provide excellent rooms for domestic art and science, clay work, and all sorts of games and occupations suit- Physical Conditions 57 able for young children, which are becoming a promi- nent feature in school life. The most satisfactory finish for a school building is oak or ash. White wood, however, if properly treated, so that the surface is perfectly hard and without polish, is quite durable, and can easily be kept clean. Every school building should have a small reception- room, neatly furnished, where the principal or teachers may meet parents or other visitors. It is convenient to have this room adjacent to the school office. The principal should have communication with his teachers either by telephones or speaking-tubes. Before each entrance there should be a large steel mat, and just inside the door one or more woven mats, both of which the pupils should be trained to use. 10. — Heating and Ventilation, This subject is so vast and so vital to the best inter- ests of the school that a separate treatise is needed for the use of those who are to study it carefully. " The Ventilation and Heating of School Buildings" by Morrison, and the treatment given by Kottlemann and Shaw in their several works entitled " School Hygiene," contain the essential facts. The heating of the school-house should be such as to secure uniform temperature of 64° to 70° Fahrenheit, there being some variation according to the age of the pupils, the younger children needing a somewhat warmer temperature than the older ones. The ventila- tion of the school-house involves the removal of air that has become vitiated by breathing, and the iutroduc- 58 School Management tion of pure, warm air in its place. Thus heating auil veutihitiug constitute one process, and this proc ess requii'es the application of a definite amount of power. By long experience and many experiments it has been found that thirty cubic feet of fresh air per minute is the minimum for each person. Many modern school buildings now provide fifty cubic feet per minute. Tak- ing the smaller quantity, we can readily see that the amount required for fifty pupils for one hour is 90,000 cubic feet, and, if we take the larger amount of fifty cu- bic feet per minute, the enormous mass of 150,000 cu- bic feet of fresh air per hour for every fifty pupils. But what are we to say in regard to school-rooms where not more than one-half, one-third, or one-fourth of the nec- essary amoimt of air is furnished ? Or where, because of the inadequacy of the ventilating plant, or some fault in its working, there is little or no change of air, unless, perchance, the windows are opened, or the pu- pils sent out-of-doors. This brings us face to face with two significant facts : 1. The inadequate ventilation of a school-room under- mines the health and leads the way to many forms of disease. 2. It is equally harmful in a pedagogic sense, for it makes it impossible for teachers and pupils to do good mental work. Let us briefly consider this situation in some of its more common aspects. " There are many substances," says Morrison,* " con- stantly passing into the air, tending to make it unfit for respiration. Those which more especially concern us * " The Vcntihition and Heating of School Buildings," MorriaoQ. Physical Conditions 59 in consideration of the condition of our school-houses are vapors and gases from the skin and lungs, princi- pally Co.j and vapor of water, solid particles of scaly epiphelium from the skin, fibres of cotton, wool, etc., bits of hair, wood, coal, chalk-dust, and many other things Avhich have a tendency to enter the blood through the delicate air-cells in the lungs, if gaseous, and to lodge in the air-passages, or be drawn into the lungs, if solid, there to irritate by theii' jDresence, and poison the system by their decay." There are also many micro-organisms in the air. Kottlemann * tells of an instance where in every cubic metre of air there were 2,000 bacteria before school began, and 35,000 at the end of school hours. In a small, compact volume entitled " Dust and its Dangers," Dr. T. Mitchel Prudden treats this matter exhaustively, and, while showing that nature has several definite methods of preventing serious injury to the human organism by bacteria, it is made clear that too great care cannot be taken in providing air that is free from disease germs. Much trouble with the bronchial tubes, throat, and larynx is caused those who teach in ill-ventilated and dusty school-rooms. Many of those noxious and poisonous elements which find their way into the air of the school-room are illu- sive and not easily measured. As the chief element of impurity is carbonic acid, this is commonly taken as a measure of impurity and various tests are used to deter- mine the amount. Pure air contains 4 volumes of carbonic acid gas in 10,000, and 8 in 10,000 is the highest allowed for good sanitation. Not long ago a * " School Hygiene," Kottlemann. 60 School Management State inspector in Massachusetts ordered new ventilation apparatus for a new school buikling. According to law an appeal was made to the local board of health, who, after a hearing, reported that the order was unnecessary. The State examiner made tests of air from each floor with the following results : Air from the first floor, where there were thirty-nine children, contained 15 volumes of carbonic acid in 10,- 000. The air from the second-floor room, occupied by forty-four children, contained 32 volumes. That from another first-floor room yielded 36 volumes. These facts are the more startling when we are told that the samples were taken in November, the first after the windows had been closed for ten minutes, the second while the windows were open four inches, and the third after the windows had been closed for twenty minutes. It is evident that in each case the air was unfit for respiration. It should be kept in mind also that people assembled at any time, as in church or in school, are not conscious of the deterioration of the air, because it is gradual, unless they pass out of the room and return. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. Hygiene as a matter of private and public concern. 2. The educational use of school grounds. 3. The school-room. Arrangement of furniture, etc. 4. Windows and shades. 5. The use of corridors and staircases. 6. What details make a school-house home-like ? 7. The relation of ventilation to respiration. CHAPTER V PHYSICAL CONDITIONS (Continued) 1. — Metlwds of Heating and Ventilation. The large open fireplace used in the one-roomed school-house of twenty years ago is conceded to have afforded excellent ventilation. It cannot be praised as highly as a means of heating. The air-tight stove which succeeded it, whether used in the dwelling-house or in the school, had little to commend it. Practically the same air was heated over and over. Many rural schools still have nothing better than this. When proper thought is given to the subject, however, the stove is provided with a jacket extending from the floor one- half the way to the ceiling. At the floor is a register with a fresh-air duct extending under the floor to the outer wall of the building. The air thus enclosed be- tween the stove and its jacket passes up into the room, and fresh air is drawn in from outside to take its place. The open draught of the stove draws out the vitiated air near the floor, thus creating circulation. A foul-air duct at the floor, connected with the chimney which is warm, is better for the egress of bad air than the stove draught. In the construction of rural schools of one room, especially when fuel is plentiful, a fireplace should be 61 G2 School Management provided and used during the spring and autumn, when only a small amount of heat is required. In large school-houses, heated by steam or hot water, both direct and indirect methods of heating are used. The first, which employs pipes or registers, may be used only to supplement indirect heating. In the cold- est weather, and at night, it is an economical ijiethod of keeping up the temperature. By the indirect method fresh air is carried into the building through large ducts, containing stacks of radi- ating surface, and directly into the rooms through regis- ters which are usually placed near the ceiling. The impure air is carried out through a register usually placed directly underneath the incoming air, by means of separate ducts made somewhat larger than those pro- vided for fresh air. Thus a school-room, heated and ventilated in this way, has a volume of fresh air con- stantly entering the room and an equal volume of im- pure air constantly j^assing out. A gravity system is one where the draught necessary for withdrawing the foul air is caused by a heated chim- ney or duct. In every large building this method is not adequate or reliable, and ventilating fans are used either as a means of forcing the fresh air into the build- ing, or of drawing out the foul air, or both. In thus stating in the briefest manner possible some of the main facts connected with warming and ventilat- ing, it is assumed that teachers will study carefully, in connection with their principal, the particular system upon which they have to depend. Ignorance and neg- lect too often prevent the successful working of the ven- tilating apparatus, while care and attention will secure Physical Conditions 68 favorable results. Artificially heated air is usually too dry and tends to affect unfavorably the membrane of the mouth, the throat, and the lungs. Various meth- ods have been employed to humidify the air of school- rooms, none of which is altogether satisfactory. The best plan is probably that of discharging steam, in mod- erate quantities, into the cold-air duct. The practical end to be obtained is to make the inside air conform as nearly as possible in respect to humidity to that out- side, so that persons passing in and out are not subject to too sudden changes. Even when the building is poorly equipped for ven- tilation a great deal can bo done by teachers to prevent injury to health. Windows and doors may be opened every haK hour while the pupils engage in marching, light games, or gymnastics. Boards, five or six inches in width, placed under the windows are a well-known device. Still better are hoods at the top of the win- dows, closely fitting the sash, so that when the windows are opened from the top the air is deflected toward the ceiling, and is gradually diffused throughout the room without falling too directly on the heads of the pupils. In all this work of securing pure air of the proper quality pupils should be asked to co-operate and should assist the teacher in every effort to secure the best that is possible from the facilities at hand. In the high- school, pupils pursuing chemistry and physics may find a variety of problems in testing air, under various con- ditions, in respect to dryness and purity, the amount received and discharged, and the conditions in these respects as affected by the weather and prevailing winds. 64 School Management 2. — Janitor Service, Under this lieading we may include everything per- taining to the care of the building which is beyond the function of the teachers. In the first place, the office of janitor should be given the importance it deserves. He should be a man of intelligence, courteous bearing, good habits, thoroughly faithful and interested in his work, with some mechanical abilit}', and prompt and energetic in responding to every just call. He should be treated with respect by teachers and pupils, and some effort should be made to show just appreciation when unusually good service is given. A superintendent does well to call together his jani- tors from time to time in somewhat the same way that he does his teachers, and consider with them the various kinds of work they have to perform. Thej^ are glad to compare notes respecting their methods of sweeping and cleaning, and helpful suggestions are often made. The chief advantage of such meetings is that the service is elevated and dignified, and so janitors come to have in- creased pride in their vocation. Colonel Waring suc- ceeded in lifting the subject of street cleaning in New York City to a plane of scientific and economic impor- tance, and in one way and another made all his workers share in the feeling that they were responsible for the lives and health of the people to a great extent. So it should be in every school. No degradation or disre- spect should be attached to a class of manual toil which is indispensable to health, to comfort, and the proper care of school property. The janitor should be appointed upon the recommenda- Physical Conditions 65 tion of the principal and should be directly responsible to him. TliG principal is, of course, in turn responsi- ble for the care of the building to the superintendent and school board. A system which places the janitors and care of the buildings under some other municipal authority is vicious and should be sharply attacked. How important an office the janitor fills appears if we enumerate the duties which properly belong to him. 1. He should have entire charge of the school build- ing and grounds. He should be responsible for their care at all times. He should see that everything is kept in proper order, and should promptly report to the prin- cipal all injuries to the jjroperty whether wilful or ac- cidental. 2. All corridors and staircases need to be swept daily. School-rooms should be swept at least three times a week, and daily if circumstances require it. The jani- tor, as in ordinary housekeeping, should have cloths to throw over teachers' desks and tables containing books and other apparatus. The best rule for sweeping and dusting is a general one which calls for a high standard and permits the janitor to use his best judgment. It has been found by experience that a school-house is much better cared for Avhen its tidiness becomes a mat- ter of personal pride with the janitor. 3. It is desirable that corridors, staircases, and class- rooms be washed as often as once a week. A few years ago, in some cities, the washing of the school-room floors was unheard of. Sanitary science, working through health boards, has brought about a marked change in this direction, and in some towns nnd cities the house- keeping in the schools is equal to that in the best 66 School Management homes. Windows, as a rule, need to be washed once a month. Furniture of various kinds, including pupils' desks and chairs, should be wiped over with sulpho- napthol, or some other authorized antiseptic, at least twice a year, and of tener where contagious diseases are prevalent. Banisters, hand-rails, and door-knobs should be cleaned weekly in the same way. Crude oil, which is comparatively inexpensive, may be used for this purpose. Furniture should be wiped with a dry cloth after oil has been applied. Just before the summer vacation, all iron and other metal work should be wiped with the same material. Crude oil has also been found excellent for the floors. By introducing a small amount of burnt umber, the color of the floors may be darkened to match the wainscot- ing. A small quantity of the oil should be applied to the floor by means of a mop, and afterward the floor should be thoroughly wiped with a dry mop or cloth. If the floors are thus treated once or twice each term, there is comparatively little dust, and as little injury to clothing as from any of the floor preparations now on the market. Emphasis is given to this side of the janitor's work because dust has been an ever-present and insidious form of evil in the school-house, producing distress and disease. It has been discovered within the last few years that many of the infectious diseases, such as con- sumption, typhoid fever, Asiatic cholera, and diphtheria, are caused by bacteria which live and float in the air. In order to overcome the pestilential influence of germ- bearing dust in the school, it is found wise, in the care of large buildings, to provide the janitor with one or Physical Conditions 67 more assistants whose whole time is spent in scrubbing and cleaning. 4. The janitor must usually take charge of the heat- ing plant and give special attention to the heating and ventilating of the several rooms. He has to visit the different rooms as occasion requires and see to the temperature, and that all fresh-air ducts and inlets are perfectly clean and wholesome. He must also regularly inspect the sanitaries, and use scrupulous care in keep- ing them as clean and odorless as possible. 5. The janitor must have charge of the yard and grounds, and, with such assistance as may be furnished him by pupils and others, must care for shrubs, flowers, and grass. On public occasions he should aid in every possible way in making visitors welcome and comfort- able. Thus it can be seen that a wise and efficient janitor is hardly second to the principal in promoting the health and welfare of all in the school. A high grade of talent is needed for such positions. The compensa- tion should be such as to make the incumbent self-re- specting, and enable him to support a family in comfort. 3. — General Sanitation and Hygiene. This is an appropriate time to mention some of the ways in which the school may conserve health by giving pupils practical experience in matters of hygiene. 1. As a nature lesson pupils should be instructed in water supply, and the importance of drinking only that which is pure. Wells which have been closed and not emptied for a long time are full of danger. Children 68 Scliool Management / a, should be frequently cautioned in regard to when and where they should drink. Individual drinking-cups are indispensable if the best care is to be used. 2. It should be remembered that in many schools, as in many homes, the lighting is bad, and care should be taken in the use of books not to strain the eyes. Pupils should be trained to sit and hold the book at a proper distance from the eye so the light will come from the left. Every teacher should use the ordinary test-cards, containing different sizes of print, to discover any cases of near-sightedness, or of eyesight otherwise defective, that may happen to be in the class. Such cases should be reported promptly to parents, who should be urged to consult an oculist. Such children should also be seated as near the front as possible. Simple tests of hearing made by holding a watch at different distances will enable the teacher to easily detect any defect that there may be in this sense. The general use of free books and pencils has tended to increase the danger of infection. It is desirable that pupils should use their own or the same pencils. Phy- sicians recommend that both books and pencils be dis- infected from time to time, by the use of a light recepta- cle in which they are subjected to some disinfectant, as formaline vapor. While the general use of blackboards is valuable in the school there is no reason why a large portion of the written work should not be done upon paper, thus avoiding to a large extent the chalk-dust, which is espe- cially injurious to sensitive throats and lungs. The use of slates is accompanied by objectionable and filthy habits, and the fact that they are being rap- Physical Conditions 69 idly discarded in all schools marks an important ad- vance in the practice of hygiene. Teachers are justified in insisting that pupils should be sent to school in a cleanly condition. Not only should the clothing be decent, but the children should be required to bathe at home, and the parents should be expected to see that this requirement is carried out. If the homes of the children are such that this is im- possible it is apparent that the school cannot be decent and healthful unless it is provided with baths. The schools of Europe have made more progress in this di- rection than has been made here, but in the future the school-house located in the slums of our cities cannot be classed as complete unless it has simple yet efi'ective bathing facilities. Of equal importance is the question of proper nu- trition. Many years ago it was found necessary, in the poorer sections of London, to provide children with at least one palatable meal during the school day. The writer remembers visiting a large school in Stockholm, where, during the noon-hour, in a large hall on the upper floor, several hundred school children were given a lunch which they themselves had assisted in prepar- ing. It is evident that children whose bodies are poorly nourished derive little benefit from the school, and that when circumstances demand it free food is just as appropriate as free books. However much our reason may dissent from the idea of free baths and free lunches, certain it is that we cannot have free common- school education universally and successfully applied without them. The study of physiology and hygiene, with attention to 70 School Management the evil effects of alcohol and narcotics, should be part of every curriculum. Concerning the quantity and qual- ity of this instruction there is the widest difference of opinion. A committee of twelve persons, the chairman of which is the Secretary of the State Board of Education in Massachusetts, has made a preliminary report on a course of study for the Massachusetts public schools which avoids extremes and yet covers the essential points. Introductory to that report are certain general suggestions which are given here as indicating the atti- tude to be desired on the part of both teacher and pupil. 4. — General Suggestions. 1. The child's interests and point of view should always be kept in mind. 2. The work should be formal in the sense of hav- ing definite times and places for enough lessons to cover the subject. 3. In addition to the formal work, much incidental and related work should be done. 4. Both the formal and the incidental work should grow out of the child's e very-day life in the school, on the playground, and in the home. 5. The teacher should be on the watch for opportu- nities to inculcate hygienic ideas of living. 6. The lessons should be brief, simple, and conver- sational in form. 7. The teacher should be a model of hygienic living. Bad postures, untidiness in person or dress, the use of tobacco or of alcoholic drinks — all such things in the Physical Conditions 71 teacher are serious handicaps to good hygienic work with the child. 8. The school-room should be a model in all that re- lates to cleanliness, order, ventilation, heating, and light- ing. The children should help to keep it so, and un- derstand how and why everything is done for that purpose. Note. — Every primary teacher should know enough of chemistry and physics to be able to understand thor- oughly the heating, ventilating, and lighting of her own school-room. 9. The children should be led to practise with pleas- ure the laws of personal hygiene which they leam. 10. Mothers' meetings may be profitably held for the discussion of the physical well-being of the children. When parents find that children are being taught things that will make them stronger and healthier, they are usually glad to co-operate with such teaching. 11. The teacher should judiciously consider the home conditions of each child. 12. Special lessons should be arranged to meet such adverse conditions as may be found in the home ; but great care and tact should be exercised that the child shall not be led to feel that his own home and parents are subjected to criticism. Note. — The fact that parents may not use good Eng- lish should not prevent teaching the child coiTect lan- guage, neither should the use of alcohol or tobacco or other violation of hygienic laws by anyone in the home prevent teaching the child in school the danger thus involved. 13. The teacher should take the children precisely 72 School Management ■where they are, and help them to grow into better hab- its of physical life. Evolution, and not revolution, is the natural method of development. 14. Instruction should be mainly positive, and of a character to guide in the formation of right habits. 15. Other things being equal, that teacher will accom- plish most for the children who has the largest sympa- thies, and keeps in the closest touch with both children and parents. 16. Such simple anatomical and physiological ex- planations should be given as are within the grasp of the children, and as are necessary to .make the teaching clear. TOPICAL REVIEW I. Direct and indirect heating. 2 The principle of the gravity system. 3 Relations of teachers and janitors. 4. Relation of pupils to janitors. 5. Cleanliness of pupils. 6. Definite means of improving the hygiene of the school CHAPTER VI ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL The school board, the supermtendeut, the principal, and the teachers are all factors in the organization of the school. The welfare of every pupil is involved, so that all patrons are deeply concerned in the nature and the kind of mechanism which the school becomes. That in the past too much attention has been given to perfecting the machinery, and too little to individual opportunity, is generally agreed. In the rapid growth of cities the graded system sprang into existence as the best method of caring for large numbers of children. During its earlier stages, principals and teachers were often untrained; their knowledge of the child, his nat- ure, and his interests was limited ; methods and appli- ances were crude, and, in the rather servile deference to the idea of a giaded system, lamentable errors were committed. Now there is a large volume of experience at hand. We are no longer worshipping the fetich of system, but are humbly and thoughtfully studying the needs of children, and are trying to adapt means to end in a great variety of waj'S. In respect of grading, pro- motions, discipline, and incentives, professional judg- ment and common-sense are brought to bear, not merely upon the mass, but upon the individual. Formerly a 73 74 School Management child's fate was settled before bis case was considered, now it is not settled until after consideration, and, even then, is often reopened and reconsidered as occasion may require. This view of present conditions implies flexibility and broad-mindedness in all school organization. It implies also an avoidance of extreme measures, and the ardent advocates of specially unique and peculiar ways of do- ing things must not be offended if schools generally seek to extract the best from all methods, yet decline to commit themselves to schemes which may be surpass- ingly excellent in one or two particulars, but fail to do justice in other respects. We should never be ashamed to discard the old for the new, if we are sure it is better ; but wise people will avoid those sudden shifts and erratic tendencies which do harm to the schools, and tend to discountenance them in the public eye. y ... 1. — Distribution of Authority. In rural schools where there is little supervision the teacher has large freedom and responsibility in classify- ing his school and arranging his work. In town and city schools there is a sequence of authority and respon- sibility which is always to be kept in mind. The school boards are responsible to the people who elected them. The superintendent derives his authority from the school board, by whom he is held responsible for what he does. The superintendent, in turn, delegates power and authority to the principals, for the exercise of which he holds them responsible. The principals interpret the general policy of the administration to the teachers, Organization of the School 75 and it becomes their duty to see that they conform to the general plan. It is apparent that the best results cannot be expected unless there is loyalty and integrity in every link of this chain of responsibility. Teachers must be loyal to the principal; the principal to the superintendent; the superintendent to the school board, and the school board to the citizens. Furthermore, the authority must be so distributed that all, within proper limits, have freedom of action. The school board that does not give the superintendent both freedom and power commits a fundamental error, and one that has proved an obstacle to progress in many localities. The principal both needs and deserves to have elbow-room, while faithfully and loyally supporting the superintendent in his general policy, and he should be encouraged to take the initiative in any plan that will make the life in his school stronger and richer. What freedom means to the teacher has been considered in a former chapter. It may be said, in passing, that the efficacy of a cen- tralized school management, such as several large American cities have adopted, will be tested by the de- gree to which the superintendent succeeds in controlling the huge forces under his command without excessive red tape. If centralization of power should mean such a refinement of rules, and such curtailment of individual freedom, and such exasperating espionage as to depress the spirits and cripple the free action of teachers, there would certainly be a reaction in favor of the earlier and more democratic methods. 76 School Management y^ 2. — Meetings of Principals. A superintendent is powerless unless the principals second Lis efforts, and, being loyal and faithful them- selves, bring their teachers into the same attitude. Con- versely, the superintendent cannot expect the support of his principals unless he takes them into his conifidence, consults with them frequently, and inspires in them both respect and affection. The schools of a community well express in their or- ganization and working what is wholesome and health- ful only when superintendent and principals are in frequent conference and consider together in turn all vital questions. A principal, in hearing a problem dis- cussed from different points of view, will often see things in a broader light and will revise his opinions. For the sake of reasonable uniformity, there should always be mutual concession and willingness to abide by the de- cision of the superintendent after all have had their say. Superintendents and principals cannot successfully co-operate in the supervision of teaching unless there is practical agreement on their part respecting the ends to be sought. Teachers should never be permitted to dis- cover any lack of harmony or concert of action in the supervising officers. This suggests that supervision should address itself to things that are fundamental and important and that minor details should be left largely to teachers. Organization of the School 77 /- 3. — Grading of Pupils. In rural schools the classification of pupils is often difficult. If close grading is attempted too many divis- ions is the result. It has been found by experience that a teacher can have four or five divisions or classes in the essential studies, provided the recitation periods are made short, say, ten minutes in the lower classes, and fifteen to twenty minutes in the higher classes. In all schools pupils do not require close grading in music, drawing, writing, handwork, and nature study. Under the right conditions, forty pupils belonging to the same grade in an average city school can work together successfully. But in the more central studies, we will say, as reading, mathematics, geography, history, or language, the problem of grading becomes more pressing. Here, also, experience has been valuable. The evils growing out of grading by years, with its accompanying platoon and lock-step movement, have been greatly miti- gated. The marking system, with its terrifying percent- ages, has either been abolished or has been modified so as to serve simply as a record for teachers and parents. Annual uniform examinations for promotion, or those held at stated times for the same purpose, have largely given Avay to written exercises and tests which are un- announced and which are for the purposes of teaching and training. Courses of study are broader, richer, and more flexible. But the greatest change has come in the fact that educators see that the school has a moral rather than a scholastic aim. They see that the best fruits of the school cannot be tested by a written ex- 78 School Management amination or measured by a system of marks. Would that these changes, which mean so much to the welfare of children, were universal. Were it so, much less would be written about the grading of pupils, for that is always done upon a purely scholastic basis. There is considerable literature on the subject of grading and the promotion of pupils, and a variety of plans are advocated, all of which have something to commend them. We will briefly examine some of them. 1. The Individual or Pueblo method.* This would to a large extent abolish class recitations and substitute longer study periods in which the individual student does advance work under tlie general direction of the teacher. This method, if logically applied, puts each student in a class by himself. It is claimed that under this system a pupil becomes more interested, enthusi- astic, and self-reliant. Not being required to work out of school, he has better health. It is also claimed a pupil does more work and becomes better able to master difficulties. This plan has met with considerable approval, but in certain quarters has been received with objections and even with derision. Its more obvious merits are that it permits quiet study under the eye of the teacher. As in the old-fashioned country school, it permits the in- dividual to go as fast as he is able and to acquire a mo- mentum that is not possible under ordinary circum- stances. It fails, however, to recognize the school as a social whole in which the members are working for others as well as for themselves. It also miui- * " The Ideal School," Preston W. Search. Organization of the School 79 mizes the value of the recitation, which affords the best possible opportunity not only for social co-operation but for mental stimulus and attrition. To wholly ac- «ept or reject this method is evidently a pedagogical error. Frequent silent-study periods, with the indi- vidual opportunity which they provide, should be a part of every school programme. In other words, the sacred principle that the individual should be respected and should not be made to conform to any pattern, ex- cept his own, is sound. 2. The Elizabeth plan.* Under this plan the pupils in a school-room are divided into four or five groups, and, by a frequent reclassification, those of similar ability are made to work together. Thus bright pupils are enabled to go on somewhat faster. When the plan is consistently carried out, groups of pupils are admitted to the high school whenever they are able to take up the work to be done there. It is claimed that under this plan time is saved for many pupils and thus the schools are administered more economically. The fact that younger pupils are often pushed beyond those of their own age has seemed to some to be an objection. There also appears to be a good deal of emphasis upon a purely knowledge standard, and it is claimed that if more attention were given to a character standard, there would be little demand for frequent classification, and the apparent differences in the abilities of children would not be so great. One of the best features of this method is that pupils have a larger proportion of their time in school in which to prepare their lessons, whereas in many schools nearly * " The Grading of Schools," William J. Shearer. 80 School Management all the time is given to recitations, and the pupils have to do most of their studying out of school. e 2 „ „ 3. The Cambridge or II II double-track plan.* This is best described by quoting ^ from the report of School \ Committee. A A A A 11 It n 11 m ^>k SI -a 03(3 Arrow No. 1 indicates the 4 years' course ; grades A, B, C, I). Arrow No. 2 indicates one of the 6 years' courses ; grades A, B, 7, 8, 9. Arrow No. 3 indicates the other 5 years' course; grades 4, 5, 6, C, T). Arrow No. 4 indicates the 6 years' course ; grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Promotions in the Grammar Schools. The course of study is di- vided in two ways : (1) into six sections ; (2) into four sections ; each section cover- ing a year's work. Pupils taking the course in six years are classified in six grades, called the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. Those taking it in four years are classified in four grades, called grades A, B, C, and D. When pupils are jjromoted to the grammar schools they begin the first year's work together. After two or three months they are separated into two divisions. One division advances more * Report of School Committee, 1897. — Cambridge, Mass. Organization of the School 81 rapidly than the other, and during the year completes one-fourth of the whole course of study. The other di- vision completes one-sixth of the course. During the second year the pupils in grade B are in the same room with the sixth grade. At the beginning of the year they are five mouths (one-half the school year) behind those in the sixth grade. After two or three months grade B is able to recite with the sixth grade, and at the end of the year both divisions have completed one-half the course of study — the one in two years, and the other in three years. The plan for the last half of the course is the same as for the first half, the grades being known as the seventh, eighth, and ninth in the one case, and as C and D in the other. There are also two ways of completing the course in five years : (1) apy pupil who has completed one-half the course in two years may at the end of that time be transferred to the seventh grade, and finish the course in three years ; (2) any pupil who has completed one- half the course in three years may at the end of that time be transferred to grade C, and finish the course in two years. In both cases these changes can be made without omitting or repeating any part of the course. It is apparent that this method permits the able pupils ' to gain time, and that it facilitates grading. Whenever it is put in operation in a large school, one or more extra teachers are required. This is a worthy attempt to meet individual needs without seriously disturbing the school machinery. 4. An old and very common method is that of divid- ing the pupils of a room into two or three divisions in 82 School Management the essential studies, 3-et keeping tliem together in others. It is customary in the first grade to have groups of not more than ten childi'en ; in the second grade there are frequently divisions of fifteen pupils; in grades above, the more common practice is to have two divisions, one studying while the other is reciting. Reclassifications and promotions are effected either an- nually or semi-annually. Instead of promoting to the high school at mid-year, the advanced division is given additional work and the entire class goes forward to- gether. 5. One class in a room above the primary, with occa- sional individual promotions from class to class when ability has been shown and sufficient advance has been performed to warrant promotion. This plan has failed to give the best results, because the coui'se of study has often been lacking in breadth and richness, and teachers have been made to feel that all pupils must do precisely the same work in kind and amount. This is a good time to suggest that in all elementary teaching the course of study should be so flexible and the daily les- sons so arranged that the brighter and stronger pupils may do more than those less able. In all the world's activity this is a universal rule. It is, therefore, wise to have in any school supplementary exercises to fill up the waiting moments of the quicker j^upils, as, for in- stance, extra copies to be written, more specimens to be examined, additional models to be constructed, more complex objects to be drawn, correlated questions in geography and history to be investigated and reported upon. It being always understood that the additional work is not to be undertaken until the regular prescribed Organization of the School 83 task has been performed. This is a telling waj of moderating the evils of the graded system, and is specially applicable to the plan of grading last de- scribed. The advocates of individualism and frequent reclassi- fication overlook the fact that bright pupils can make progress in more than one direction. There is value in breadth and intensity of study as well as in mere exten- sion. A person may travel around the world in sixty days and have less to show for it than he who spends the same length of time travelling from Naples to Flor- ence, wisely employing his faculties in trying to inter- pret what he sees and hears. It is evident that all the plans of grading heretofore described have excellent features. It is a mistake, how- ever, to claim too much for any one of them. The spirit in which it is interpreted and applied determines the success of any plan. Able pupils, like able men, have other missions than simply pushing themselves forward. The world to-day is suflfering from an excess of selfish- ness. The highest and best things in life are under- valued. Altruism is too little in evidence. There is little virtue in a hurried journey through school and college ; it too often results in a physical breakdown or in an impairment of the nervous system, while the slow boy who was left behind in the grammar school, goes on and is graduated from the high school with muscle and nerve in good condition for life's battle. It is the old story of the hare and the tortoise. We have given quite enough space to this subject of grading. Due consideration for the human, the moral, the social, and the hygienic aims of education will ever 84 School Management tend to lessen tlie emphasis given to mere form and system. The increased attention now given to all kinds of handwork, including gardening and household economy, as well as to art, music, and nature study brings into stronger relief the fact that mere acquisition is only an incident in the truest development of the individual. 4. — The Promotion of Pupils. After what has been said this topic needs no extended treatment. The things most important to be kept in mind may be briefly summarized : 1. Groups of pupils of about the same age and ability should work together for a reasonable length of time, doing their work faith- fully, helping each other, aiding the teacher ; thus gain- ing not only knowledge and power but also social con- sciousness and strength. 2. Pupils should be promoted to do other and higher work when they have proved their fitness by doing faithfully and well what has been assigned them. 3. The teacher's judgment, based upon the observation of pupils in their daily work of study and reciting, should be the determining factor. 4. A final examination as a test for promotion either from grammar or high school or from high school to college has many objections. It is too often unfairly adminis- tered. It practically ignores the moral element in educa- tion. It enslaves the teacher and narrows teaching. It is unhygienic, as it causes anxiety and worry and puts too great strain upon a child when he is least able to bear it. Even if the institution to which the pupil is accredited does require an examination, a great deal of deference should be paid to the opinion of his former Organization of the School 85 teachers, and if that is favorable he should at least be taken upon probation. Further reference will be made to this subject under the heads of "Incentives" and "Examinations." The more we study the subject of grading and promotion the more clearly we shall see that it becomes of less con- sequence in proportion as we comprehend the social and ethical factors in the school, and give due valuation to the potencies of the child's higher nature which find expression through the head, the hand, and the heart. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. Has there been too much system in schools? 2. Are school teachers too conservative, and why? 3. The sense of responsibility as a stimulus to good work. 4. The true field of supervision. 5. Things to be considered in grading pupils. In what sense is the school both individual and social ? 6. How may some pupils do more work than others ? CHAPTER Vn THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SCHOOL School governmeut, while as important as ever, re- ceives far less attention as a distinct purpose, and is accomplished by far different methods than formerly. In no other respect does the modern school differ so much from that of former times. In the good school of to-day the teacher seeks to promote a life so full of interest, application, and industry, that the energies of the pupils are absorbed, so that there is little time or opportunity for misconduct. Good manners and orderly conduct are simply incidental features to great under- takings, which cannot be carried on without them. The modern curriculum provides abundant work, and this is the true preventive of idleness and disorder. 1. — The Power of Personality. In Chapters IV. and V. qualifications of a good teacher are enumerated. Possessed of these he can assume the leadership so essential in every school-room. He will rule, not by fear but by love, and " Perfect love casteth out fear," as well as many other evil tendencies which are contrary to right feeling and living. The teacher should, therefore, from the very begin- ning of his acquaintance with a new class, put his beat 2Vie Govern?nent of the School 87 self at work, and, by the power of his own personality, seek to enlist the hearty, cheerful co-operation of every pupil. 2. — Plan luith Care. It should not be inferred from what has been said that the principal or the teacher can afford to over- look any practical details affecting the school. Gen- ius when analyzed is usually found to consist in foresight and careful planning. It is so in military affairs and in trade. The wise teacher will, therefore, plan his campaign even to the smallest detail, so that he can conduct the business of the school with despatch, and so that every emergency is provided for. He must not be taken off his guard, at least until he has thorough control. Orators, musicians, and poets, Avho do fine things so easily and so naturally that they seem to be inspired, are usually those who have labored in solitude, and have learned to give every piece of work their most patient and solicitous care. How often have teachers been known to conduct a devotional exercise at the opening of school, with such evident lack of preparation and such apparent indiffer- ence to its real purpose, that not only pupils but visitors are impressed most unfavorably. It is said that the late Edwin Booth, the great actor, once recited the Lord's Prayer in a theatre so that many in the great audience were moved to tears. A principal or teacher may open the school in the morning in a manner so impressive and helpful as to set the pace for the entire day. Every movement and every exercise needs to be carefully con- sidered and arranged. 88 School Management 3. — Act with Courage. The weak, timid teacher is a failure from the start. Unless he can overcome his faiut-heartedness he would better change his vocation. The teacher knowing what he wishes to do should set about it bravely and ener- getically. Knowing what commands he is to give, he should give them in a tone of voice to be heard and obeyed by all. As a rule, it is a mistake to repeat di- rections or commands. Pupils should be trained to hear and to act when the direction is given. "With this suggestion as to the absolute need of cour- age should go an intimation in favor of plenty of reserve. The garrulous, nagging teacher causes disaster and ruin. In school as elsewhere, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." Place Confidence in Pupils. The wise teacher will, from the first, not only trust pupils who are undoubtedly loyal, but will also show his confidence in those who are either reserved or who show some signs of opposition to his policy. He can afford to wait for such, and while waiting show them that he is both generous and expectant. It is not well to make a personal issue of every act not strictly in accord with the standards of the school. In fact, the more imper- sonal the discipline of the school is the better. "We often make people better by believing in them, and by letting them know that we believe in them. A kind word spoken to a doubtful pupil often conquers him. "What a doleful mistake it is to scold individual pupils The Government of the School 89 in the presence of the whole class ! At such times a teacher too often exceeds justice, and speaks bitter words which leave a sting behind difficult to be effaced. As far as possible all serious breaches of conduct on the part of individual pupils are to be treated privately, when by tact and skill the teacher will win the pupil's confidence, and make him his strong and ardent ally. 4. — Be Kind and Sympathetic. How little a teacher knows of the sorrows, frailties, and trials hidden in the breasts of those who come under his charge. Every home has its adversities and distresses. Some even have disasters and miseries, and in these the children share, and often bear the marks of them in their faces, and the burdens of them in their hearts. Rich and poor live under shadows which can- not be escaped, and which affect the disposition and the temper. Kindness and sympathy pay large dividends in every walk in life, and especially in the school. The touch of a kind-hearted teacher is a power at once subtle and unique. 5. — The School Virtues. It has been thought necessary in the past to give special attention to certain forms of conduct and traits of character, and to teach them by means of precepts and concrete examples. While the writer believes that these virtues are the fruit of life, and are developed not by teaching, but by living and practising them, it seems well at this point to enumerate them, so that as we pro- 90 School Management ceed to consider the larger phases of school government, these school virtues will not be overlooked or neglected. Their chief importance lies in the fact that they stand for those fundamental habits which form so large a part of our higher life. 1. Promptness and punctuality. These virtues were never more essential than to-day, for life is rapid, things must be done quickly and on time, minutes and even seconds have definite value, and only he who is prompt and punctual can fit into the modem scheme. 2. Care, neatness, and economy. The habit of thrift is of universal worth. It prevents haste, waste, and im- providence. It induces thoughtfulness and artistic ex- cellence in respect of personal effort as well as in what pertains to the welfare of the school community. Pu- pils should be neat, cleanly, and painstaking in all their work. 3. Silence and obedience. We have already spoken of the necessity of reserve on the part of the teacher. How important that the child should early learn to restrain his impulse to speak, and should be quick to respond to the wishes and the directions of the teacher ! The old adage that "Speech is silver and silence is golden " has a wide application in the school. In this respect, as well as in regard to obedience, it is to be feared that the American home is deficient. The school must therefore be the more assiduous in promoting these virtues. Without obedience to law there can be no government, and no genuine social life. 4. Attention and industry. These traits of character are also essential to success. They are perhaps com- T'he Govermnent of the School 91 prised in the word " strenuousness," so popular at present. The habit of alertness and unwearied exertion marks all those who win the great prizes in life, as well as that larger number who gain an honorable competence and confer benefits on their fellow-men. This habit should be gained in the school, and every activity in which the pupil engages should be an opportunity for adding something to it. 5. Kindness and courtesy. These virtues are to be practised by pupils in their relations to teachers and each other. Pupils are also to be encouraged to act kindly and coui'teously at home and elsewhere. In the good school it is often observed that pupils seem to find pleasure in gentlemanly bearing and conduct. How delightful school life becomes when, in the class-rooms and halls, and on the playgrounds, gentle manners and mutual respect seem to be fixed habits. 6. Truthfulness. Here certainly is a virtue which cannot be taught by precept or any other device. It represents rather a state of mind and heart which is to be reached by gi'owth under the right conditions. The very young child does not apprehend the nature of tnith, and no greater mistake can be made than to accuse him of lying or punish him. The entire school life should be so full of frankness and open-heartedness, and such a high premium should be given to truthfulness in its every form, that even those who are naturally weak in this virtue will become strong, and will learn to hate every kind of falsehood. It is readily seen that these school virtues are not to be treated apart from the daily life. Habits based upon them can be formed only slowly and gradually. There 92 School Management will be frequent lapses and many discouragements, both for tlie individual and the teacher, and considerable faith is needed for carrying on this work of moral improve- ment. 6. — Self-control and Self-government. As self-activity and self-development are the corner- stones of education, so self-control is the very beginning of right discipline. In former times the teacher sought to control his pupils, the modern aim is to have pupils control themselves. This can happen only when the teacher gives abundant opportunity for free choice. A virtue, hke one's arm, will not grow and be strong without exercise. So growth, in all the virtues we have enumer- ated, is to be attained by finding constant occasion in the school life for their practice. The teacher will even permit pupils to make mistakes in order that they may correct them, and so become more thoughtful and care- ful. It is well to have a good understanding with pupils, explain to them frequently the nature and importance of self-control and self-direction, and even ask them to suggest ways in which they think they can improve and gain power in this direction. The teacher should re- frain from criticism or comment of a personal character, which would tend in any way to discourage efifort. If a pupil needs to be reminded of his privilege and duty, a look is often much better than a word. In the silent-study period as well as in the recitation there is unceasing demand for self-control and self-repression. AH the conditions, physical and moral, should be favor- able. Every encouragement should be given by the teacher, for success here means a successful school. The Government of the School 93 Games and excursions give another set of opportunities, somewhat different, but none the less valuable. By these means self-government may be obtained in the school, and by no others. In its attainment there is constant appeal to those qualities which make the good citizen, and the school becomes less artificial and more like a type of free, self -governed society. l.— Tlie School City Plan. It is quite a number of years since certain schools and colleges began to experiment in various plans for self- government. The one best known, which has gained considerable favor, is called the School City. It has been tried in grammar, high, and normal schools with quite a little success. Although varying somewhat in details, this plan usually provides a representative gov- ernment, organized and carried on by the pupils. The several classes elect delegates to a general assembly or council, which elects the necessary executive officers and makes laws which they are to execute. In some in- stances the scheme has been elaborated so as to provide two legislative bodies, resembling the Senate and House of Kepresentatives of a State, or the Common Council and Board of Aldermen of a city. The principal of a school often has the right of veto. There is sometimes a Court of Appeals, of which the teachers are members. This plan of the School City has met with varying success, according as the teachers have show^n good judgment, and have given the right guidance and over- sight. Perhaps the most striking instance of this kind of organization, as a means of moral betterment, is seen 94 School Management in the George Junior Republic. Here a considerable number of boys of rather unfortunate heritage and train- ing have gained experience in self-control and in con- forming to laws, thus acquiring good moral standards, and laying the foundations of a good life. 8. — Democracy and Law, Many failures have resulted in attempting to establish self-government in schools. Frequently a too sudden transition has been made from the old forms of disci- pline where pupils were held with an iron hand, to the new, where they were thrown somewhat upon their own devices. It has been found that backward peoples, like the Filipinos, cannot be given all the functions of democratic government too suddenly. They must learn what free government implies, and must be permitted to acquire ability to govern themselves by gradual ex- perience. So it is with youth, and especially with those whose education has been largely upon the streets, or who have hitherto received no culture in responsible conduct. Moreover, it has often occurred that the school, in at- tempting to realize the conception of true self-govern- ment, has exceeded those limitations which long ex- perience has found to be necessary in all democratic society. For example : Every citizen in America is by no means free to do as he pleases or as he thinks proper. Far from it. He is hedged about by a complex network of laws of the national. State, and municipal govern- ments, the violation of which is attended with severe penalties. Courts of justice stand ready to deal prompt- The Government of the School 95 Ij and sternly with all offenders. The right-minded citizen, pursuing the round of his daily duties, is not con- scious that grim justice is thus enthroned. If he thinks of it at all, he realizes that through laws his rights and privileges are protected, and because of them he lives in safety and security. In other words, democracy and law are not incompatible, but are rather complementary to each other. The school may wisely adopt the forms of civic order, but this should be done under such restric- tions, and with such provisions for final justice, that the system will not break down, because freedom has been turned into license, and democracy into anarchy. Back of all the activities of the school are the authority and power which reside in the principal and his assist- ants. There are also the common laws of decency, hon- esty, and good behavior, which are in force always and everywhere. 9. — TJie Incorrigible. Is the presence of the incorrigible an indication that something is wrong in the school? Doubtless it is so in many cases, but not always. Every possible effort should be made to save to the school those who are handicapped by bad heredity, evil habits, and vicious dispositions. The teacher will endeavor by private ap- peal and kindly intercourse, not only in the school but outside of it, to reach such. He will try to have his best pupils assist in this endeavor. But there is a limit beyond which ho cannot go. The good of the whole school must be taken into account, and if its good repute and moral tone require it, the incorrigible one must be eliminated. This act is sometimes too long delayed, 96 School Management both for the welfare of the school and the individual in question. Nearly all large communities make some pro- vision for such cases in parental or reform schools. It cannot be urged too strongly that an incorrigible youth, who perchance is so by reason of some infirmity for which he is hardly responsible, shall be placed in a home school where there are only a few others, and where at the hands of a kindly Christian teacher, under a system of firm moral training, he is started upon the road to a good and useful life. 10. — Cha7'acter the End of Discipline. "We seek to have good schools and are ever seeking to make them better, but the real pui-pose of school gov- ernment is not the school merely, but the building of character in each individual pupil. We use discipline for that purpose. Many people in their superficial view of things are enthusiastic in their praise of schools which appear well because there is good order. The teacher may be a martinet, and discipline may be ob- tained through repressive or coercive measures, yet the power of tradition and custom is so strong, and people are so short-sighted and ignorant, that they esteem highly what in reality should be condemned. Even those who are not the most devoted followers of Herbart will admit that the great central aim of education is character. How, then, can we approve the methods of discipline which not only prevent the exercise of right motives and noble aims but discourage and thwart the child in his natural and spontaneous efforts to do right ? We have suggested in a former chapter that a school must The Government of the School 97 not be over-systematized. This is applicable in any at- tempts to make discipline a means of character-building. Some movements and exercises in the school may be reduced to military precision, and become as it were au- tomatic, but the teacher's good judgment must decide when this kind of work is to end, for it certainly must end somewhere. The easiest way of disciplining a school is to reduce everything to mechanism, but this method offers the least opportunities for individual choice and initiative. It helps the teacher, but if carried too far does not help the pupil in character-building. He does well while the system is on, but when released from school, having little power of self-control, he is apt to be turbulent and lawless. There should be a good understanding between parents and teachers. The school and the home should not draw apart in the moral training of the young. Noth- ing but persistent and continuous practice in well-doing will produce that staying power which efficient char- acter requires. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. The true aim of school government. 2. The value of thought beforehand. 3. Courage and respect go together. — 4. How may pupils and teachers come tO understand each other ? 5. Other school virtues. 6. The factors in self-government. 7. The strength and weakness of the " School City." 8. The limitations of self-government. 9. Are some pupils unsuited to the school ? 10. Character-building through the exercise of freedom. CHAPTER Vm SCHOOL INCENTIVES Keeping in mind that the chief aim of the school is moral culture based upon self-control and social effi- ciency, we may hope to consider this tojDic with fairness. With the better light of the present time it is easy to see how many sins have been committed in the name of education. To win at any cost has been the motto of the old-time schoolmaster. The old pedagogy, like the old theology, did not deal in a large constructive way with human motive and ambition. It appealed to fear and selfishness rather than to love and honor. Some of the devices employed in earlier schools were not wanting in quaintness and humor. A certain New England school- master, who had obtained considerable reputation be- cause of his ability to control schools where others had failed, was engaged to complete a term at a country school where the master had been forced out. He ap- peared at the school late one Monday morning, shook hands all around with the pupils, apologized for being tardy, and explained that he had tarried at a neigh- boring village to make arrangements for some coffins which would shortly be sent to the school. This method of approach, which can be excused in this instance, was often pursued with such severity as to make school life anything but attractive. School Incentives 99 But, strange to say, there are types of school discipline still prevalent both in Europe and America which re- veal the rudiments of a former and more barbaric age. Moreover, there has been shown remarkable vis inert ice in any movement toward a more wholesome method of moral training. The teacher, instead of assuming lead- ership and summoning his pupils to brave and chivaLric conduct, has been contented to work upon the low plane of cheap devices and sordid motives. He has been slow to see, slow to understand that self-realization does not mean selfish realization, that it means rather the con- sciousness of will to attempt and power to achieve. It means a continuous play of high and noble motives. Another obstacle, perhaps, to breadth and common- sense in school discipline has been the tendency to mystify the subject by injecting into it a scheme of moral philosophy with all its subtle and analytic reasoning. Better than any abstract ethical scheme is a thorough acquaintance with the child and a skilful use of common- sense in helping him to conquer himself and stand for what is good and true. Again, the new education has set in motion new forces both in the school and in the home, so that the child is induced to do well through the incentive of interesting and inspiring work, rather than by moral precepts ac- companied possibly by inducements of a less worthy sort. It is less important that the child understand the philosophy of conduct and life, than that he forms the habit of well-doing from the love of it. Let us briefly examine, somewhat critically, some of the incentives that are available in the school life. 100 School Management 1. — Artificial and Objectionable Incentives. 1. Marks. This incentive is widely nsed, and cannot be wholly condemned. It affords a means of keeping some record of the pupil's efforts and attainments to which the teacher can refer, and by means of which he may make some report to the parents. But working for marks, simply to do as well or better than others, is a low motive, and when teachers allude often to the marks and hold them over their pupils with frequent remioders of the judgment-day to come, they carry a whole train of evils. In the first place it should be understood that pupils differ greatly in ability as well as in physical strength. God has made them so, and to attempt to eradicate these differences is contrary to nature. The bright child should not have his conceit continually fostered by high marks, neither should the slow child be forever oppressed and humiliated by low ones. It is not unusual for children to think so continually, night and day, of the marks they receive and the effect they are to have on their future standing, that they become morbid, unhappy, and suffer partial loss of appetite and possibly of sleep. They are sometimes ashamed to tell at home what the trouble is, so parents, who are often too ambitious for their children, show their displeasm-e when the monthly card is received, and the child's marks are not satisfactory. This, of course, increases the difficulty, breeds unhappiness in the home, and, when parents finally conclude, as they usually do, that the low marks are the fault of the school rather than of the child, the situation becomes acute. In short, it is apparent that the marking system as an School Incentives 101 incentive is not a healthy or proper stimuhis. There is nothing quite like it in real life, and, if properly analyzed, it is seen to be quite out of place in a school which is conducted under the idea that education is life. In Smith College, while marks are used as a means of keeping a record of the work done, no student at any time during her course, or even at the close of it, knows anything about her standing unless it falls below the required grade. If such care is taken with students of college age, how much greater is the need of caution in the care of those in school ! It is earnestly recommended that marks be kept en- tirely imder cover, and that other and higher forms of incentive be employed. 2. Prizes. The custom of o£fering prizes in all kinds of schools is one of long standing, and it is likely to be some time before the practice of giving them is aban- doned. So many people who have but little money to give away and yet wish to have their names connected with some school or college, establish prizes without giving the slightest thought to the question whether they are going to work good or ill. If prizes are given to those who attain some definite result in a given time, or who reach a certain standard of excellence, or if, in other words, a prize is given for good work continued through a considerable period of time, it is less objec- tionable, as it may not necessarily a£fect health or foster the desire to surpass someone else. To be more precise : if a prize in a given school is offered to those whose work in English or history at the end of the year should be pronounced very creditable, the sole desire aroused is to reach that standard and not to surpass anyone 102 School Management else. Even this plan of prize-giving should only be ap- proved in schools with exceeding care and modera- tion. When, however, prizes are offered for the best examination in a given subject, said examination to come near the end of the year, and to occupy two or three hours, the plan cannot be defended. "What is needed is moral courage to oppose the establishment of such prizes. The writer confesses that he once failed to meet such an emergency squarely. The chief fault with prizes is that they stimulate only a very few, and those are the ones who are working hard enough. The large majority in the class make little if any effort to attain them, and those who need the incentive most are absolutely indifferent. The late Dr. White, one of the wisest and most conservative schoolmen that America has produced, says : " that the prize system has an appalling list of victims who have died early, or who are invalids for life. Superiority in scholastic attainments is dearly bought at the sacrifice of health and physical vigor." 3. Special privileges and favors. Under this head would come early dismissals and holidays for good con- duct and good work. This means of inciting pupils to do well is not so reprehensible, and may be justified when the school has not reached that moral state where higher incentives are available, but the promise of special privileges to those who are perfect in attend- ance, or who reach a certain standing in their lessons, is attended with evil results and often with injustice. The writer remembers that once upon a very stormy day he saw two boys entering the school somewhat after nine o'clock. It turned out that their teacher was trying to School Incentives 103 secure 100 per cent, in attendance, and had sent one of the boys out in the rain to get the other one, who was on the verge of sickness with a threatening cold, and really ought to have been in bed. This suggests the idea that 100 per cent, in attendance may cover a multitude of sins. It is entirely creditable for a child to remain at home when he is too ill to attend school, and it is creditable also to the parents who keep him there. If the promise of a holiday, or immunity from any task or of other privilege, induces a child to risk his health, a great wrong is committed. Again, such privileges extended on the ground of excellence in scholarship overlook the claims of the slower but none the less faithful students who, doing their best, yet cannot attain the required standard. What monstrous wrongs have been committed in this way ! The writer recalls an instance in the high school of a city where there was no public library. The school possessed one of its own ; but no pupil gaining a mark less than sixty-five per cent, was permitted to use the library. Those who, by reason of limited home advantages, were the most illiterate, and especially needed to make the acquaintance of good books, were prevented from doing so. In the same high school all were seated in their several rooms according to their standing, and there were other devices for emphasiziug the difference between bright and slow pupils equally objectionable. But such instances are rare at the pres- ent time, and, as exceptions, are useful only as showing that progress is really being made. 4. Commendation and reproof. Actual experience has shown that constant reminders of one's faults in the 104 School Management form of rebuke are poor incentives toward well-doing. To refrain from reproof is often more helpful than to voice what the pupil knows well enough. Wise com- mendation is vastly better, if care is taken to say always what is strictly true and in such a way as not to occasion jealousy and sense of partiality. 5. Punishments. AVe will not quarrel wdth those who have an elaborate creed concerning penalties, and appeal to Scripture or the moral code to substantiate their position. There is no doubt that in all nature there are penalties for wrong-doing, and children may well suffer and through their suffering learn to refrain from evil practices. But punishments as an incentive often produce a negative result and fail entirely in their object. Punishments should be natural, reasonable, and applicable to the offence. A positive and constructive policy in the school will find little need of corporal punishment. Theoretically there are extreme cases where it is needed for the good of the offender and as a deterrent to others. If all teachers could be trusted to resort to that measure only in the case of that incorrigible, defiant, and insulting boy whose salvation is at stake, it would be an error to forbid the use of corporal punishment. But many towns and cities have abolished it, and in so doing have chosen the least of two evils. Whenever this is done the teachers are relieved of responsibility in the use of extreme measures, and are obliged to exercise the high- est skill in preserving their authority. Thus it is seen that these forms of artificial incentive, while not to be condemned wholly, are tainted by such evil reputation and dangerous associations that they are School Incentives 105 to be looked upon with suspicion and used only guard- edly and sparingly. There is a fundamental principle that may well be enunciated here : that in all moral, intellectual, and aesthetic progi-ess there is a movement upward from lower to higher incentives. The moment the inferior means of advancement has served its purpose it is to be discarded and higher and better means are to be sub- stituted. Thus the personality is trained, disciplined, and brought nearer to perfection. The higher moral aim takes the place of the lower one. The book of higher order supplants the inferior one. Works of art become attractive and interesting according as the pupil has reached their altitude by easy steps. 2. — Natural and Worthy Incentives. 1. Respect and regard for teachers. Here is a thoroughly normal and proper incentive. It harmo- nizes with what is current in daily life. Employers of labor, officers in the army, and leaders of political parties may oflfer strong incentives in themselves if they are manly. If they are known to be generous and ti*ue- hearted, those belonging to their shop, or their regiment, or their party will work and do battle for them. We have shown in Chapters I. and II. what a teacher should bo by nature and cultivation. It is suggested also in the last chapter that the personality of the teacher is the most potent factor in school government. It is so because it offers one of the very strongest incentives that the school can give. To work for the teacher and for the sake of his approbation is not perhaps the high- IOC School Management t>" est motive, but it is certainly a natural one, and sad indeed is the state of a school where this incentive does not operate. 2. The esteem of fellow-pupils. In life we desire to stand well with our associates and neighbors. We wish to have a good reputation in the community. AVe strive to perform all our duties as citizen, as parent, as a man of business, in such a manner that men believe in our honesty, respect our abilities, and count it a pleasure to number us among their friends. This kind of incentive is most desirable in the school. The teacher should foster it, and should do nothing or say nothing to make one portion of the school think ill of any member. If a pujDil is conscious of having lost the respect and confidence of his mates, one strong in- centive in his case is gone, and the whole school is the sufierer thereb}'. The more loyal the members of a class are to each other the more they esteem the school. Dean Briggs, of Harvard University, speaking on Discipline, at a recent meeting, says : " In every school there should be an effort from the start to make a youth imbibe that wonderful tonic called school spirit, to make him feel that from the moment he enters a school he has become forever a part of it, one of its makers, and that throughout his life, wherever he goes, he takes with him, dragging or exalting it, as the case may be, the name of his school. Once again a deep loyalty, and the problem of discipline is gone." ^^. Interest in school work. Another legitimate and powerful incentive is love for the work we are doing and interest in it. The convict in the prison who is compelled to do uninteresting work day after day finds School Incentives 107 no incentive in it. Sad it is that, under the present sys- tem of division of labor, multitudes of men and women find little interest in their work except that it furnishes them a livelihood and supports the home, which is, it must be admitted, an important incentive. But a strong incentive in life and in service is vocational inter- est, founded upon the intrinsic nature of the work done, the attractiveness of it, the variety of its processes, and the beauty and worth of the product. The world will never be satisfied until such interest attaches to all labor. In the modern school-house there is eveiy oppoi-tu- nity to make work interesting, and thus to evoke a high order of effort. The greatest change from the old edu- cation to the new has consisted in transferring the em- phasis from the questions of order and discipline to those of fruitful and inspiring work. Give children enough to do of what they like to do, and idleness and wrong-doing are banished. Handwork and art are incentives in themselves. Says Dr. John Dewey : " There are certain reasons for believing that the type of interest along with these oc- cupations is of a thoroughly healthy, permanent, and really educative sort ; and that by giving a larger place to occupations, we find an excellent, perhaps the very best way of making an appeal to the child's spontane- ous interest, and j^et have, at the same time, some guar- antee that we are not dealing with what is merely pleas- ure-giving, exciting, and transient." The skill of the teacher in making work various, not too difficult, and well organized helps to utilize this incentive of interest, and make it more steady and con- tinuous. 108 School Management 4. Partnership and profit-sharing. The few busi- ness establishments in this country that have adopted the principle of profit-sharing, and distribute to all, even the humblest employees, a certain portion of what is gained, have prospered immensely. They have been free from strikes and have been able to count upon their employees for the most cheerful and unreserviug service. The school afibrds considerable opportunity for employing this incentive. We have already alluded in the previous chapter to School City plans of govern- ment. This form of incentive appears to work well there. There are many ways in which the pupils may share in the management of the school beyond the mere questions of good government. The room is to be kept in order. The walls are to be decorated. Visitors are to be courteously received and entertained. Pupils are to bring to the school their choicest books, pictures, and toys for the pleasure of others. An excursion is to be j)lanned. A debating society to be organized An athletic club is to be supported. Every single pupil in the room should be on some committee or should be a member of some organization. He should feel a degree of responsibility for what is done, and should share in the satisfaction and credit which follow good work of any sort. 5. Consciousness of doing right. This is a sort of blanket provision and is submitted as a concession to those who are accustomed to formulate the subject of incentives under the head of various abstract moral qualities. The pleasure of doing right is undoubtedly a real pleasure. It is associated more or less with all those incentives which we have classified as natural and School Ince?2tives 109 legitimate. It is doubted if the conduct or endeavors of pupils, especially the very young, are controlled by the question of right and wrong, but the satisfaction which everyone receives from right doing, while it may be more or less unconscious, is still a growing incentive, and in maturer life may become the dominating one. The classification of incentives which we have given is believed to be candid and just. The reasons for re- jectiug those which are artificial and for intensifpng and strengthening those that are natural have been frankly stated. It is most encouraging to believe that American schools are progressing rapidly in the direc- tion of higher incentives, for in this way the school may more easily become the ally of the home and the church, and may do its perfect work in training the young to seek with all their heart the good, the beauti- ful, and the true. In closing this topic it is interesting to note that the most advanced theories of pedagogy are not at variance with the dictates of himianity and common-sense. We are able to reduce the problem of school government to much simpler terms than formerly, because we can view it through the lens of real life, and a Ufe that is strongly tinctured by philanthropy. There is a vast difference, however, between a school for children and that most humane and admirably managed reformatory for youths at Elmira. A recent writer, describing that institution, places at the head of a list of incentives which operate there as remedies for crime, "the desire to get out." There have been schools, and doubtless there are some to-day, where the desire to get out lias been a dominant and ever-present one ; but in numberless schools there 110 ScJwol Management are now to be seen pnpils so happy, so loyal, so enthu- siastic iu their work, that the thought of getting out seldom enters their minds. School management has at- tained a high standard of perfection when every child has been reached, when the school in its sentiments and purpose is a unit, and all desire to stay in. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. The relation of leadership to moral training. 2. Add to the list of objectionable incentives given. 3. The relation of moral progress to incentives. 4. What incentives are most helpful in character training ? 5. Why is interest a good incentive ? 6. The satisfaction of well-doing. CHAPTER IX THE CURRICULUM 1. — Making the Curriculum. Next in importance to the personality of the teacher and a knowledge of the child is the selection and ar- rangement of materials for instraction. The quality of daily life in the school is clearly dependent upon the course of study from which the teacher must get his guiding points. If this has been prepared with intelli- gence and oflfers broad, fruitful, and interesting work, the teacher has the opportunity of making a good school. If, on the other hand, the prescribed course is narrow, poorly arranged, and lacking in suggestiveness and richness, even the best teacher will be seriously handicapped. The only palliative is the privilege, stated or implied, that the teacher may use the curricu- lum any way he pleases. Dr. W. T. Harris has formulated the axiom that the course of study should present at all points a cross-sec- tion of human knowledge and experience. This should not be taken too literally, for it does not mean that at every stage all parts of knowledge should have equal place, or that they should be treated with equal fulness. It does, however, point to the idea that all sides of the child's nature are to be considered at every stage in his 111 112 School Management education ; that no power is to become atrophied from disuse, and that his interests are to be very influential as a guide to his teachers. For ilhistration : Art has made a place for itself at every point in the curriculum, but it is the art suited to that particular age, deter- mined by what the child can express by means of pencil or brush, and what he can appreciate and enjoy in the way of art objects. There must be very careful adapta- tion based upon the experience of many people who have made observations in this field. This is a practi- cal kind of child-study, and it is through the compari- son of data collected by different persons that we get the perfect adaptation desired. Think of the attempts to prepare courses of study in music ! If there is an educational quagmire anywhere it may be found here. The cause is that directors of music, with very limited experience with young children, make a scheme which seems to them logical and is so in a technical sense. It is not psychological, however, because it fails to interest the child in music; it often causes him to hate it. The best authorities in this matter are those elementary teachers who have made discoveries in methods of musical instruction and whose children are delighted not only to sing, but to know something about the steps in musical notation. The special teacher or director is in this, as in any other subject, the one to gather these bits of experience and give them unified, progressive, and consistent form. Perhaps the best illustration of the progress which has been made in adapting materials of thought and study to the capacity and interest of children is seen in reading-books. We may go back less than a century The Curriculum 113 and find that the reading-book for higher classes con- tained largely abstract and ethical instruction, with here and there a piece containing information. There was little which we would call literature to-day. For young children the attempt was made to dilute and simplify these same ethical ideas, and the matter thus produced, it seems to us, was quite inane, not to say ludicrous. Children's literature to-day is indeed like a garden full of beauty and attractiveness. In the same way, if we were to examine the material needed to reach every growing taste and aptitude, we should find that much has been accomplished in the at- tempt to have breadth without prolixity and confusion. The occasional grumbling to be heard to the effect that too many things are taught is not usually well-founded. The fault is in the selection, arrangement, and method of interpretation of the curriculum. Too often it is the lack of tact and good judgment on the part of the teacher. Here, then, we have a very practical part of school man- agement. The making of the curriculum cannot be as- sumed by an outside person entirely, be it a county board or a city superintendent. Every teacher is inter- ested in it, for he has much at stake. The cumculum must manifestly be a joint product. It should be a progressive, growing thing, and even at its best should always be the servant of the teacher and never his mas- ter. Let us now attempt to formulate some of the most important considerations to be kept in mind while making a curriculum. 1. The social aim should dominate. It should not be a catalogue of facts or even of investigations, but should be a plan for social experience, involving action, experi- 114 School Management ment, doing, constructiDg, inventing, comparing, ob- servation, and research. It should bo human in its trend, and should lead pupils to see and understand men and things as they are, and to know something of the means and processes that have made them so. As Dr. Butler has pointed out,* self-activity and evolution are great words in education and in life. They should guide us in framing a curriculum. The development of the child and the satisfaction of his needs are funda- mental ideas. Healthful industry and social co-opera- tion are watchwords of the new education. If the full force of the industrial idea is brought to bear in making the curriculum the schools wall come to have a new tone. There will be no break from the kindergarten to the primary school. It will not be necessary to set off one or two periods a week for handwork. There will be more or less handwork, but some handwork will be pretty nearly continuous. 2. The course of study should have some local signifi- cance. Different sections of the country have varying climate, productions, and industries. Cities and towns often have a distinctive field for their manufactures. The studies of the school should open the minds of the pupils to what is going on around them. If the place is a railroad centre they should know something about the traffic which is provided for. If it is a port of entry some place should be given to the consideration of im- ports, the conditions causing such importations, and the uses which they serve. Each section has its own historic coloring, and it is right that the children should be imbued with the tra- * "The Meaning of Education." The Curriculum 115 ditions and spirit of their own town, county, or State. The history of the Civil War, designed for all sec- tions, should be entirely fair in presenting the particu- lar kind of patriotism which operated respectively in the North and South. The fauna and flora of every locality should appear in the school curriculum. It has also come to be felt that courses for rural schools should present a field of study appropriate to agricult- ural pursuits. The arithmetic should not deal wholly with buying and selling, but with the many quantitative problems of the soil, of stock-raising, of supply and de- mand, of yield and profit. The nature study should enter into the chemistry of soils and the particular in- gredients required for difi'erent crops, fertilizers and the relative value of farm products, stock-feeding, etc. All these things may have high educational value, and at the same time make school-work more useful and helpful in fostering the productive life of the community. 3. The law of association must be respected. There must be as much natural correlation as possible. This is economical ; it is also consistent with the doctrine of interest. There should be threads of correlation mak- ing the work of each week, each month, and each term more or less a unit. Geography, however scientific it may be, is still a background for history. "We do not know any portion of the earth thoroughly until we see what human life it has produced and how people and environment have reacted upon each other. Reading, drawing, and language come to the aid of every other subject. The child needs them and so we supply the need. Both in grammar and secondary schools this principle is too much neglected. Departmental teach- 116 School Management ing does not favor correlation unless special provision is made whereby teachers of subjects confer together and agree to correlate. 4. The course should have continuity. Care should be taken that the child's interests should be consulted, rather than the teacher's. Some of the courses con- structed upon the evolutionary culture epoch basis have not been tested long enough to substantiate their claim to primacy. Nothing could be more interesting to the adult mind than to trace the progress of mankind through its several stages of culture. There is proba- bly no objection to arranging a course of study for primary schools upou this plan, provided those ideal forms of life and activity are followed which are possi- ble with children. A strictly logical course is apt to fail in meeting the needs of the young, so that this kind of continuity cannot be arbitrarily enforced. Each subject has its natural unfolding, and there is an order of subjects which experience has found to be fea- sible. For the sake of correlation, however, it is often wise to break an historical or even a geographical se- quence. It would be folly to teach literature in the common schools according to a chronological scheme. Usually the reading may be selected with reference to illuminating and enriching the other subjects, although there are many exceptions to this nile. There are mas- terpieces of literature so full of inspiration and beauty that a teacher will wish to use them independently and freely for the sake not only of what they teach, but for the tone they give to the school. 5. The course of study should be prepared by the superintendent assisted by his principals. The princi- The Curriculum 117 pals in turn should gather from their teachers as many suggestions as possible, dictated by their experience, and should make the best possible use of them. The reasons for this plan have already been suggested. If all have a part, and realize that they have a part, in framing the curriculum, there will be a sense of pro- prietorship and approval which is needed to make it a success. Presumably there will be new experience and new suggestions so that a revision is needed at least once in two years. In this way interest is kept alive, mistakes are corrected, the work of new teachers is recognized, and so there is no stagnation. 6. It should be flexible. While the course as a skele- ton should be quite binding, it should be fi-amed so that in minor details considerable freedom is left to the teacher. In Chapter IV., on grading and promotion, we have advocated supplementary topics so that abler pupils may always be employed in a more intensive study of the subject. In planning a curriculum some attention should be given to this feature, although for the most part the teacher himself must organize and carry out this idea. Although a course of study for a town or city may be used in all schools, it should be understood that both in a quantitative and a qualitative sense some schools can do more than others. In this sense, therefore, the course must be flexible, and principals and teachers are to administer it in accordance with their environment and the degi'ee of home culture which the children bring with them. 7. There may be rotation. To avoid overcrowding, 118 School Management it is justifiable to omit a given subject for a year or half- year. This practice in some quarters has been called ** rotation of crops." Is there any good reason why arithmetic should command so much time every year of the child's life ? Might not geography alternate with nature study for a half-year, and could not even music and drawing, in their technical phases at least, have their turn ? This suggests that educators need to be open-minded and ready to reconsider any questions aifecting the life, health, and nurture of children, even though they have to discard old practices. 2. — Using the Curriculum. The value of anything consists in the way it is used. Any machine, if not properly understood, is often of very little service. This is especially true of such ed- ucational means as a curriculum, which, in itself, is a dead thing, and must be clothed before it has meaning and value. The teacher must put energy and life into it, in order to make it yield its proper fruit. Edu- cation is a vital process, and is largely accomplished by one living soul acting upon another. The Committee of twelve on niral schools introduces a sample course of study as follows : " The course of study is the measur- ing-rod or scale to determine at what point in the ele- mentary course a pupil's work has arrived. It should not be used as the procrustean bed on which to stretch the work of the school in order to give uniformity." This may be taken as the attitude of educators gener- ally in regard to the function of the course of study as restricting the teacher. Courage and enterprise on the IVie CuiTiciiliim 119 part of principals and teachers are needed in order that every curriculum may be interpreted in the spirit of the words above quoted. There are various ways iri which a course of study may be used successfully. 1. There should be a comprehension of the whole scheme. Every teacher belonging to a school system should read with care the whole curriculum, giving at- tention to the order of topics in the several subjects and the various opportunities for correlation which are manifest. In the more essential subjects of geogi'aphy, history, and science it would seem wise for every teacher, even the kindergartner, to have a good working knowledge of each subject from beginning to end. This woiild mean some work for several years, possibly, but it could be pursued in such an interesting manner as to afford much satisfaction. This is one way in which the teacher would be able to approach the ideal suggested in Chapter III. 2. The teacher should explore thoroughly the particu- lar field in which he is working. By no other means can he know what the curi'iculum offers, and the best way to select material for daily use. For example : If the teacher is to deal with Indian life he would want to read the best authorities, and visit museums where he can study at first hand Indian clothing, implements, and methods of domestic life. With the aid of pupils quite a collection of materials can be made, and so a respec- table Indian museum can be formed. Supposing the teacher has to cover some portion of American history, there is opened a wide field for study and reading. Not only history, but oratory, poetry, and historical fiction 120 School Management are to be included. lu short, every teacher should be- come, to a good extent, a specialist in that portion of the curriculum assigned to ftim, in whatever grade it may be. 3. Not only in making but in using the curriculum there should be selection and elimination. The teacher, having a better knowledge of his own domain than those who framed the course of study, is permitted both to add and to subtract. He will use this privilege in such a way as to meet the requirements of his own class with- out going too far from the general plan. Some courses offer twice as much as a teacher can expect to teach well. He must assume the right to use some discretion here. 4. A good means of economy in teaching is the use of types. Those should be selected which are repre- sentative of a large class of facts and which are rich in illustration of the characteristics of that class. In teaching cities, Lowell, Rochester, MinneapoHs, Kansas City, Atlanta, Memphis, and Los Angeles would serve as types of a considerable number of cities having the same or similar natural advantages, as well as like com- mercial and industrial interests. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Chicago are sui generis, and may be taught vdth special attention to those feat- ures for which they have an exclusive claim. The same principle applies in nature study, in biography, and the study of institutions. It may also be applied in litera- ture, architecture, sculpture, and painting. It may be made a means of organizing in the mind clearly defined standards, as well as a working nomenclature. This is closely related to correlation, for through intensive The Curriculum 121 study of men and things we can trace more thoroughly the relations which the child bears to the industrial life of the village or city in which he lives, or to the farm where he gets, possibly, the better part of his educa- tion. The writer has never been able to discover the slightest contradiction between that correlation which binds one piece of knowledge to another and those manifold relationships which connect the child with his environment and through an acquaintance of which he gains self-realization. Dr. Charles McMm-ry * declares that : " Correlation at once discards the idea of encyclo- paedic knowledge as an aim of school education. It puts a higher estimate upon related ideas and a lower one upon that of complete or encyclopaedic information. All the cardinal branches of education, indeed, shall be taught in the school ; but only the essential, the typi- cal, will be selected, and an- exhaustive knowledge of any subject is out of the question. Correlation will put a constant check upon over-accumulation of facts, and will rather seek to strengthen an idea by association with familiar things than to add a new fact to it." 5. The best teachers keep a plan and progress book. This is a significant means of using the course of study skilfully. After gaining a full knowledge of the field it is well to place in a blank-book a plan of teaching for a week or a month. This may be amplified and worked out in detail for each day's teaching. Mr. Burtis C. Ma- gee t writes upon the subject of plan-books as follows : "It is seen more clearly that they ofi'er, when well * "-Elements of General Methoil." f "Plaa and Progress Books," in School Work for June, 1902. 122 School Management done, a method of preparation of the lessons, a means of giving content to the grades, and of dovetailing the subjects to one another, that would scarcely be accom- plished as well by other means. The great danger to be avoided in an-anging a system of plan-books is to prevent an unreasonable amount of clerical labor, and of research, from falling upon class teachers. After a set of plans and prospectuses have once been arranged, however, the labor of their preparation is reduced to a minimum. " Experience shows that young teachers meet with their chief difficulty in instruction and consequent difficulty in discipline from lack of systematic and progressive outline and plan work. To such a teacher a daily plan book prepared with some detail is a great help. Such a book may be examined by the principal daily, or at frequent intervals, and suggestions and dii'ections may be made therein by the principal. It affords an oppor- tunity for the teacher and the principal to meet on the common ground of a concrete difficulty whenever one occui's. Much time and energy is likely to be saved by this means, which otherwise might be devoted to matters upon which the teacher needed no assistance." What has been said about the course of study belongs to that middle ground which separates the teacher from the actual work of teaching. If there were no course ' of study, and in many cases it would be quite as well if there were none, the teacher's relation to the child would be short-circuited, and the instruction would be at first hand, but when teachers are acting under commission by a central authority it becomes very necessary to keep in mind the suggestions we have made. There are many TJic Curriculum 123 other things which will occur to a person of experience as bearing upon this matter. It has not been the pur- pose here to exhaust the subject, but simply to indicate the general importance of the freedom of the teacher and the use by him of sound discretion and fine adapta- tion. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. The essential purpose of the curriculum. 2. What progress has been made in adapting material to young children ? 3. In what sense are the activities of the school social? 4. Should agriculture be studied, and why? 5. The limits of correlation and continuity. 6. How should the curriculum be made ? 7. The advantages of rotation in subjects. 8. Selection and elimination. 9. How can types be used ? 10. Value of plan and progress books. CHAPTER X THE DAILY PROGRAMME In deciding what constitutes a good school programme we must correlate much that has been suggested in former chapters. To be consistent and not violate our purpose to make the school a good type of social life, wherein the individual personality is the object of culture, we must permit nothing to come into the daily programme which does not favor health and cheerful activity. There must be no undue strain or fatigue. Pupils must be asked to do only what they can do without fretting or worry. In short, the day, from beginning to end, must present a picture of well-ordered living and accomplishment. How clearly the teacher's good sense and skill are reflected in the daily trans- actions of the school ! What need of foresight, of calm deliberation, sustained by enthusiastic and energetic direction of work 1 The writer can think of school- rooms where there is always quiet, steady work, where the teacher speaks in pleasant, natural tones, and the pupils respond in the same manner. There is also in mind more than one instance where there was lack of plan or preparation, where the school-room seemed to be in a state of upheaval and chaos, and where, in some cases, there was no hope of betterment. The making of the daily programme requires the best 124 The Daily Programme 125 possible suggestions from superintendents and prin- cipals worked out in detail by the teachers and adapted to the needs of their own classes. A strictly uniform programme for a system of town schools, or even for a large graded school, savors too much of the despatching of trains, or the manoeuvres of a military post. 1. — Tlie Prorjramme a Cross-section of the School. As the curriculum is in some senses a cross-section of human knowledge, so the daily programme is a cross- section of school life. If we visit a school for an entire day we see a representative exhibit of the school in its environment, the teacher, the pupils, the things they do, and the life they lead. We get a pretty distinct im- pression of the spirit that animates the members of the school and find that our estimate of its merits is in- fluenced very much by the interest and heartiness, as well as the harmony, shown in the various school rela- tions. We see with what degree of pleasure pupils enter school in the morning, and in what condition they pass to their homes at night. These two items are of im- mense importance. We observe Avhether there is a good distribution of their time for study, for recitation, for recreation, and play. We take note of the ventilation and cleanliness of the room, as well as the good taste shown in the arrangement of furniture, the display of work, decoration, etc. Any lack of definiteness and un- derstanding between teacher and pupil about the kind and amount of work to be done, or any hitching or con- fusion in the progress of the programme is offensive to the critical observer. 126 School Management 2. — TJie Opening of School. One can often form a good opinion of the merit of a school by what takes place during the first ten or fifteen minutes in the morning. It is unfortunate that visitors are sometimes present in the school-room while the pupils are coming in and that the teacher arrives only a few moments before nine o'clock. I say it is unfortunate. It might not be so in every case, but it would sometimes reveal a condition in the school which would not be to the credit of the teacher. If the pupils came in noisily and were rough and discourteous in their conduct it would be a bad beginning of the day, and would preju- dice the mind of the visitor unfavorably. It is not well to prevent all social intercourse of pupils while in the school-room. Courteous greeting and conversation when they enter the room is a good element, but for a few moments before nine o'clock there should be quiet and an opportunity to get things in readiness for the day's work. It does not seem just to make pupils tardy who are in their seats by nine o'clock, no matter what signals are given before that time for quiet study. In a former chapter reference has been made to the value of the opening exercises when properly conducted. As a part of the daily programme these exercises have a distinct and special value. When it is permitted to have a devotional exercise there should be reading by teacher of a portion of Scripture, without comment, followed by the Lord's Prayer and the singing of an appropriate sacred song. It seems very unfortunate that there should ever be an objection to an exercise so universal in its character. The Daily Programme 127 In communities where objections are made to such an exercise, it is still feasible to have selections of choice literature of ethical import read by the teacher, or bet- ter still, recited by the jDupils, with appropriate singing. There are many ways of varying the opening exercise in order to make it more interesting and instructive, but, as a rule, ten minutes are long enough to serve the purpose intended. No one will deny that a school is a better school where the opening is attended by good or- der and lessons of inspiration and helpfulness. 3. — Tlie Length of Sessions. It is difficult in educational work to specify the abso- lutely best thing because of the many varying conditions under which work is done. At the present time most public schools have a session extending from 9 a.m. to 11.30 A.M. for young children, and not later than 12 noon for older classes. There is also an after- noon session of at least one hour and a half. The majority of high schools have one session, varying in length from four to five houi-s, with an intermission of about one-half hour for lunch. Most private schools, both elementary and secondary, and a few public schools, have one session of from four to five hours, with not less than one-half hour for lunch. The writer believes that in those communities where a very large proportion of the people are well-to-do and wish to provide for their children outside instruction in music, dancing, physical training, or to give them out-of-door exercise during the entire year in riding, rowing, games, or athletics, the schools can be administered with one session in a way 128 School Management to serve nearly all interests. lu Brookline, Mass., the session for grammar and high schools is from 8.30 to 1.30, with an intermission of a half -hour for lunch, and with gymnasium and games at some other time during the session. The success of this plan depends upon the care given to the lunch period, and the extent to which jrapils who cannot go home are provided either at school or from home with a palatable lunch. It permits teachers who live at a distance to come and perform their day's work, do what is necessary in the school-room for the next day's work, and then go home at an hour somewhat earlier than is possible under the two-session plan. But there are marked advantages in having morning and afternoon sessions in public schools. This plan permits children to have their mid-day meal with their parents at the hour most convenient in the houses of Avorking-people. It distributes the work over the larger l^ortion of the day, and in this respect, as well as in the regularity of meals, is thought to be more hygienic. The influence of the school is more extended over that class of children who, when not in school, are on the street. It also makes it possible to have more study in the school and less at home, which is always desirable. The Horace Mann School of the Teachers College of New York, a private day-school numbering a thousand boys and girls, has in its elementary department a ses- sion extending from nine to one. There are fifteen min- utes for lunch about midway of the sessions. In the high school the hours are from nine until two, with an intermission of forty minutes for lunch. In this school there is only a limited opportunity for study periods, The Daily Programme 129 and above the second grade some little work is required at home, increasing in amount through the successive grades. Inasmuch as many of the pupils come from a long distance, and the parents wish to have them with them during a portion of the afternoon, these hours seem to be the best that could be devised. There is hand- work in every grade, and practically every day. There are also physical exercises daily. These, with careful ar- rangement of the progi'amme in reference to relief through change, and by skilled teaching and management, make the scheme effective, if not ideal. This instance is cited to show that, after all, it is not so much the length of the school-hours as it is a judicious use of the time and the efficiency of the instruction that determines the merit of the programme. 4. — Tlie Number of Classes. In graded schools it is not difficult to provide for all necessary classes, unless there has been adopted and put in operation in its extreme form some system of in- dividual teaching or iBne grading which, however good it may be in theory, does considerable harm to the school as a whole. In ungi'aded schools the problem is more serious. It has, however, been found possible to grade the rural elementary school upon a three-class basis in such a way as to give ample time, not only for the conduct of recita- tions, but for the seat- work and study periods as well. For example, if the school is divided into three divis- ions in English, numbered A, B, C, and a half-hour is assigned to that subject, the teacher would devote 130 School Management eight minutes to the A division, and then assign them ■written work at their desks. He would give a some- what longer period to the B division, and then assign them some seat-work. There would be a still longer period for the C, or lowest division, which would need the most instruction. The same plan would be pursued in reading ; the A and B divisions having a period for oral reading and a somewhat longer one for silent read- ing. A similar method could be followed in the other subjects, although the writer believes that in handwork the whole school could be engaged at the same time, and, in most cases, could do the same kind of work, as in basketry, modelling, or painting. The programme for the rural school conducted upon this scheme, with proper attention to recreative games and gymnastics, may be made as highly professional as in a graded school. 5. — Study, Recitation, and Recreation. Here we have three elements of almost equal im- portance. The doctrine of self-activity requires us to train pupils to study, and in no place can this be done as well as in the school-room, by the teacher. The recitation, also, is essential, but may be longer or shorter according to circumstances. Kecitations are often too long. Both teachers and pupils lose the power of close attention ; interest wanes, and the result is often painful to witness. There must also be recreative exercises as well as relief through change of work. Attention to this matter is imperative in primary classes, and should not be neglected anywhere. Those lessons which involve the greatest effort should The Daihj Programvie 131 come earliest in the day. There is decided difference of opinion as to which subjects are the hardest, and, as a matter of fact, it is likely that M'ith some teachers one subject is most difficult and with others a different sub- ject causes the most fatigue. The consensus of opinion seems to be that mathematics and gj-mnastics, if vigor- ously taken, are the most tiring. Some experiments have shown that drawing and music are especially weary- ing. As said before, doubtless the method of teaching has much to do with these particular effects. It is sug- gested that the teacher, by studying closely the indi- viduals of his school, can determine which are best for the early part of the day and which for the latter. The remaining exercises would naturally fall between. All pupils should have some time for quiet study daily. Between periods of intense study and recitations there should be a brief time for moving about the rooms, looking at new books and pictures, songs and games, or whatever the teacher may think to be the most help- ful at the time. He will learn much from his pupils as to the best forms of recreative relief. These breaks in the tedium of the school programme are not merely for the sake of hygiene, but for the aid they give to good order, pleasure in work, and social culture. 6. — Work and Fatigiie. It is self-evident that good, faithful work, here as else- where, must produce fatigue. There is nothing in the idea of fatigue alarming or to be avoided It is doubt- ful if anything good in the world could be accomplished without it. Children who are not permitted to Avork up 132 School Management to the point of fatigue are in clanger of becoming weak and effeminate. When hard work begins there is a beginning of fatigue, which increases up to a certain point, then often ceases. The point at which it ceases is known as the intellectual second breath. This is really the danger-point. Nature here seems to cease her warning through a sense of fatigue, and the worker may go on insensible to weariness until quite exhausted. It is thought that working under the second breath is in many cases beneficial, if not too long continued. If often indulged it causes the worker, especially if 3'oung, permanent and irreparable injury. Here we see the bearing of what has just been said about the necessity of periods of recreation in connection with periods of fatigue and weariness. The former is the legitimate attendant upon hard work. Weariness may be caused by lack of interest and monotony. " Fatigue results from the loss of energy at our dis- posal; its amount is measured by the reduction in our power to work. The feeling of weariness, on the other hand, may result from the monotony of routine without at all being accompanied by any material loss of energy. A child at play may become fatigued, but never weary of his activity ; a boy engaged at work in which he takes no interest may become so weary in fifteen minutes that he can accomplish nothing." * These words suggest an interesting inquiry, good at any time and full of interest to the growing teacher. When children begin to be restless, inattentive, and disinterested the teacher may well look into the source of the trouble. Has the air become foul ? Is the room too warm ? Has the last * Herman T. Lukcns, Educational Review., March, ]898, page 247. The Daily Programme 133 exercise been continued too long, or has it been too monotonous ? Have the pupils been sitting for a long time without relief ? Has the teacher been out of sorts and irritable ? — a condition which is reflected in the pupils. Some such catechism as this should run through the mind of the teacher, and he should at once undertake to apply some one of the many remedies which may suggest themselves. It may be a brief run out-of-doors, or a short intermission in the room, or a song, game, or story. Sometimes a change to some more interesting work is sufficient to check weariness and restore a cheerful atmosphere. It is also apparent that in the performance of inter- esting work there is more or less fatigue of which the pupils may or may not be conscious. If there are pupils in the room who for any reason are not strong the teacher should see that they do not continue their work too long. In fact, it may be necessary at times to take away work from pupils who are known to be ambitious beyond their strength. Such care on the part of the teacher will be greatly appreciated by the parents. 7. — Gymnastics and Games. "UTiat kind of gymnastics are best ? This question is raised in order to suggest a caution. There are two or three parties on the subject of physical education, and, to the practical educator, it often appears that the ex- ponents of any particular school are too opinionated and dogmatic. There are splendid features about every system, and the claims made for them are based upon sound principles of psycholog}' and health. The writer, 134 School Management for instance, is a strong believer in the validity of Swe- dish gymnastics as a basis of physical training in the schools, but he has seen this system applied "with such strenuousness as to make pupils and teachers dislike it and lose all sense of interest and pleasure. He has seen other teachers who have made their classes enthusiastic. He believes that an eclectic scheme of exercises, com- bining the best features of the Swedish, the German, and the Delsarte methods, is more suitable for American chil- dren. Teachers are cautioned, therefore, against accept- ing the stern mandate that gymnastics should never be accompanied by music. Rhythm and grace of move- ment are most desirable elements, and even dancing is likely to become more and more a school exercise. Here, then, is the need of a broad, intelligent view, and an unwillingness to surrender that view to any parti- san who, however skilful in his specialty, may do vio- lence to the general theory of what the modern school should be. It should not be necessary to urge the importance of some physical exercises each day. The plea so often heard that there is no time is not valid, for the follow- ing reasons : 1. It is very often possible to make a better and more economic use of the curriculum by a skilful selection, grouping, and correlating of subjects, 2. There may be a more careful preparation of the lessons so that a teacher wastes no time or energy either for himself or for the pupils. 3. Considerable economy can be effected by arranging the daily programme as has been suggested. The exer- cises that follow each other should be in sharp contrast, The Daily Programme 135 so that the mind of the learner works under a different tension, or in a different way. 4. Physical education properly applied in its correc- tive, developing, and recreative forms results in a saving of time and energy. The best form of physical culture for children in the primary and intermediate classes is undoubtedly such free play and games as can be supervised by the teacher either in the school-room or out-of-doors. The latter is always preferred. This implies that every teacher should not only know games, but should love to play them with her children. The writer has seen a school revived and transformed when the teacher began to lead and direct the games of the class out-of-doors. It is safe to say that this is not a common occurrence. It is earnestly commended as a subject for consideration in teachers' meetings and conventions. It suggests a new use of the playground, and new opportunities for co- operation and social combination. Another fine oppor- tunity presents itself to primary teachers in the dramatic aptitudes of children, and the possibility of using this propensity in connection with stories of chivalry, such poems as " Hiawatha," and tales of Indians and pioneers. The preparation of costumes and implements in connec- tion with these dramatic representations is a good feat- ure of historical training for the young. Mr. George E. Johnson, while superintendent of schools in Andover, Mass., experimented considerably to ascertain what games are best for out-of-doors and in the school-room. He has suggested the following, and no doubt the list could be considerably increased.* * American Physical Education Review, June, 1901, page 163. 136 School Management 8. — Out-of-door Games. Games of Chase. — Tag. Drop the handkerchief. Cat and mouse. Hunt and tag. Witch in jar. Grocery store. Tame fox and chickens. Tom Tiddler's ground. Blind-man's-butf. Birds. Maihnan. Hopping bases. Hill Dill. Last couple out. Three deep. Cross tag. Racing. — Potato-race. Hoop-race. Dashes. Eelay- race. Jumping-seat race. Hurling and Throicing. — Tossing ball. Tossing bean- bag. Dead ball. Tossing bean-bags through hole, into a box or circle, or through a hoop. School-ball. Dodge- ball. Throwing at target. Eing toss. Pass ball. Ten- pins. Egg hat. Balloon-ball. Grace hoops. Contests. — Basket-ball. Base-ball. Foot-ball. Cricket. Jumping. — Jump rope. High jump. Broad jump. Kunniug jump. Pole jump. Vaulting. Hunting. — Hide in sight. Hunt eraser. I spy. Hare and hounds. Dual Contests. — Push from ring. Hold stick on floor. Twisting sticks. Hand-wrestle. Elbow-wrestle. Wrest- ling — Eough-and-tumble, Side-hold, Collar-and-elbow, Back hug. Cock-fighting. Eider ball. Boxing. Tug- of-war. Drawing even. London Bridge. Battle square. Keep-ball. Balloon-ball. Marching and Miscellaneous. — Eussian file. Going to Jerusalem. Spin the platter. Hop-scotch. Follow the leader. Thread the needle. The Daily Programme 187 9. — School-room Games. Contests. — Stick on floor. Haud-wrestling (either hand). Twisting sticks. Wrestling (only on mats). Running. — Potato-race, individual or by sides. Eelay- race. Tag (through mark). Hunt and tag. Ball Games. — Balloon-ball. Keep-ball. Hurling or TJiroicing. — Bean-bags into circle, or the board or hoop. Pitching rings — pretty exercise using arms instead of sticks ; rings may easily be made by children from rattan. Jumping. — Over pointer. Miscellaneous. — Jumping seats. Free play. Eings, balls, floor-walls. A small book entitled " One Hundred Games," pub- lished by the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics, contains many others. 10. — Tlie Automatic Element. While the writer deprecates reducing to mechanism those portions of the school life in which judgment and spontaneity should have full play, it is evident that a great many details connected with the movements of classes, the distribution of materials, the collection and care of work, should be made nearly automatic. A rea- sonable amount of system in such details in reality ministers to freedom. It conduces to the same kind of economy as those personal hubits of which we have so many, and those conventionalities of life which make things go so smoothly and tend to promote a good understanding. The method which an individual fol- 138 School Management lows day after day in dressing and undressing, eating, writing, or Avalkiug, makes life less a burden, and sets the mind of the individual free for larger and higher things. So it is in the school. If such matters as the distribu- tion of pens, pencils, copy-books, papers, and readers become self-regulating, teacher and pupils are set free for more important things, to say nothing of the avoid- ance of noise and confusion. Pupils enjoy being asked to act as assistants for a week or a month, in what may be called the school housekeeping, and in the performance of these duties get a desirable form of training. 11. — Planning and Adaptation. Enough has been said concerning the daily programme to show that it is largely a matter of planning and adapta- tion of means to end. Every teacher should be allowed to make such slight changes in her daily plans as will meet the conditions caused by the weather and other variables. In spring and autumn, the well-arranged out- of-door excursions for the purposes of nature study, his- tory, or geogi-aphy, may be made very valuable. Many teachers shrink from this duty as it involves a different kind of control, and more skilful management. The work of each day should be so carefully conceived as to go on smoothly, and no slight thing should be per- mitted to change a programme. As it is desirable that children come happily to school, it is no less important that each day's work be finished in the time assigned to it, and that pupils go to their homes without too much wea- riness, full of pleasant recollections of the day, and with only such home tasks before them as can be performed The Daily Programme 139 in a reasonable time. The recreation of the child out of school is an important element in his education, and should not be overlooked by the teacher. The detention of pupils after school, either for pun- ishment or lessons, is to be avoided. Nothing discounts the teacher and the school so much as that continuous after-school session, which shows that bad habits are being formed, and that the boys and girls of that class are not being held up to the modern standard of promp- titude, faithfulness, and despatch. If the work of each day is forceful, well-rounded, and complete, there is strength and courage for the next, and so the days move on in proud, joyous succession. TOPICAL REVIEW 1 . Why is the daily programme important ? 2. The significance of the opening exercise. 3. The hours of daily session. 4. The grading of the rural school. 5. Relief and recreation in the programme. 6. Fatigue in its educative bearings, 7. To what extent are gymnastics and games intellectual and ethical in their influence? 8. What activities may be made self-regulating ? 9. In what spirit and in what condition should pupils go home at night ? CHAPTER XI THE RECITATION The deepest interests of the school are focused in the recitation. It is here that the mind is strengthened, that knowledge is broadened, that character is formed. In the light of the new education, the recitation enlists all the powers of the teacher and the pupil. It is the su- preme moment of effort, when nothing but the best that teachers and pupils are capable of doing ought to be permitted. All that we have found to be true relative to the breadth of culture of the teacher, his judgment and his skill, and the ph3'sical condition of the school-room, should be kept in mind as pertinent to this particular topic. As the orator or the preacher draws upon the stored-up energies of a lifetime, and brings all his powers to the service of a single hour, so the teacher must come to the recitation period with reserve strength and enthusiasm. Unless the preacher is unusually elo- quent, a short sermon is often more fruitful than a long one ; so it sometimes happens that the recitation may be shortened to advantage for the sake of avoiding dul- ness, especially when the teacher feels that he has ex- pended his best force. The shortened recitation gives more time for study, which is always desirable. 140 The Recitation 141 1. — Tlie Doctrine of Interest. While character is the end of all teaching, interest is both means and end. While we are greatly indebted to Herbart and his disciples for their exposition of the doc- trine of interest, and while they have helped to give the subject the proper place in pedagogy, it is not really new. All educational writers from the time of Plato have recognized interest as the condition of good teach- ing, and the atmosphere which pervades true living ; for the principle is applicable to all life and all the ac- tivities of men. We do better and more cheerfully what we love to do. The interest which impels us to action may be, first, a desire for the thing to be achieved ; or, second, the pleasui'e found in the process. The boy desires to build a toy barn in which he is to house his wooden horses and cattle. The little girl would pro- vide for her doll the proper articles of clothiug. In both cases there is the thought and the ideal, so in- tensely captivating, of the result to be attained. There is also pleasure and excitement connected with every step which leads to that result. It is worth while to notice in passing that the child's pleasure is greatest when the nurse or the parent renders the least assistance that is necessary to enable the child to do, be it ever so crudely, the work required. Here we see the principle of self-activity asserting itself, and interest its chief partner in the business. What an infinite amount of light this sheds upon the work of the primary school ! The formal recitation does not appear there. It is a place of ceaseless activity, guided and aided by the teacher only so far as may be 142 School Management necessary to help the children achieve by their own ef- forts. To secure a maximum of self- direction is the rule, and to permit rough, crude work in drawing or construction, for the sake of the larger interest and the added strength which follow. The general theory, therefore, is that all activities, in- cluding the recitation, are to furnish rich and abounding interest. The teacher, by his deftness and skill, is to make the journey along which the student travels as attractive as possible. There has been considerable discussion as to whether or no the modern school, with its interesting work and happy children, makes things too easy, and hence fails to develop perseverance and pertinacity. Professor Charles McMurry says : * " Many schoolmasters and book-makers have been so enamored of the doctrine of hardship and distress in learning, that they have deemed it one of their highest functions to invent artificial difficulties, there not being sufficient of these in the natural course of school aflfairs. One of the Ger- man writers, as quoted by Paulsen, says that one of the peculiar merits in the study of Latin, as taught in his time, was that it was extremely difficult, so much so, in- deed, that the boy in his later life would never find such difficulties to meet, and, if he had mastered his Latin, it was certain he could master any lesser difficulties that he would later encounter. " But anyone who has considered the vast stretch and variety of studies opening up before every child, and of the great number of inherent and unavoidable difficul- ties which beset his course in every study, will abandon * " Elements of General Method," page 151. The Recitation 143 forever the idea of inventing educational hardships and conundrums." It seems that anyone who urges this view cannot have studied his own life, and analyzed the motives and influ- ences that have inspired him to action. The very hardest tasks of peace and war to which men have had to address themselves have been charged with interest, and have been carried through with enthusiasm. As new generations of teachers come into the field, we are likely to hear less of this argument. It seems hardly necessary to say that the teacher him- self is often the source of interest. Professor DeGarmo declares* that " Interest often follows the teacher. A pleasing personality, a happy method of presentation, will frequently secure an interest on the part of the student which is active as long as it lasts. It is not un- common to find teachers who make any subject that they teach interesting. Such teachers are highly prized, for they bring student and study into the happiest con- tact, thus presenting each body of ideas in such a way that it has the best possible chance of becoming vivid. In many cases, however, the interest awakened is due, not to the study itself, but to the one who teaches it. In another grade, under another teacher, it becomes tedious, so that, unless it is contributory to some other body of ideas that is vivid, the study is likely to prove unprofitable." "We see, therefore, that the general bearing of interest must be kept in mind at every point. The lesson may be carefully prepared and may be taught in accordance with the rules, but if the teacher lacks a pleasing man- * "Interest and Education," page 65. 144 School Management ner, interest may fail. Ou the other hand, a teacher may be a charming person with an enthusiastic manner, and yet fail because of insufficient knowledge or un- skilled method. 2. — Preparation by Teacher, The first thought of the teacher should be concerning the objects to be served by the recitation, and the second, the best means of securing those ends. Among the ends to be sought through the recitation are : 1. To broaden and strengthen the life interests of the child. — There can bo no larger purpose than this, and in seeking the lesser ends the larger should never be overlooked. For example, it is highly important that a history lesson should give mental training and add something to the student's knowledge. But it is still more to be desired that by means of the lesson he adds to his sympathetic interest in human progress, and in the men and women who have lived and fought for principles. 2. Adequate knowledge. — Every lesson should con- tain a few clear and definite truths. These are to be made vivid, and by illustration and repetition are to be impressed upon the minds of the class. 3. To cultivate expression. — By this we do not mean the utterance of what has been committed to memory; but rather such expression as springs from the thought of the pupUs under the stimulus of questions and con- versation. 4. To secure co-operation. — The competitive system, which is fostered by marks and prizes, and which gives The Recitation 145 all the applause to brilliant performance, is ethically wrong. Selfishness is the reigning evil of the world. The school must do something to check it. The recita- tion offers such an opportunity. Let praise be given to anyone who contributes anything, however small, to the interest of the hour. Let it be considered discourteous to raise the hand, to snap the fingers, or to make any other demonstration while a pupil is endeavoring to speak. Let the slow pupils have their opportunity. Let the abler ones assist, and thus experience the pleas- ure of helping others. Let the spirit of co-operation prevail. 5. To arouse and discipline the mind. — This purpose will restrain the teacher from too much lecturing and talking, and will make him carefully prepare his ques- tions which are to occasion a sort of mental gymnastic. 6. To develop executive ability. — More and more the school-room is becoming a laboratory. Teaching is to be real. This fact is best illustrated by schools like Hampton and Tuskegee, but it applies everywhere. The recitation is to summon to action all the senses as well as the motor powers. Apparatus is to be used. Illustrations are to be dra^ii upon the blackboard. Pictures and specimens are to be exhibited. The stere- opticon is to be called into service. Maps and charts are to be made. Thus the teacher's preparation for the lesson will take into account the various services which the pupil may render in helping to make the recitation what it should be. 146 School Management 3. — Plans of Lessons. With a full and definite conception of the objects to be obtained, the teacher will next consider some of the means to be used. The vnse teacher will make written notes which will serve the same purpose as the lawyer's brief, and will indicate the means to be used in the reci- tation. Some of these are : 1. A statement of the order of topics. These should be arranged, not only in a sequence which is natural, but correlations and cross-references should be sug- gested. 2. Proper questions should be thought out. The principle of apperception should govern this part of the work, and some deference should be given to the order suggested by the five formal steps, to which reference will be made in another chapter. Great care should be taken in the selection of questions. The best rule for this is, that every question should call for the expres- sion of a thought along the trunk-line of the lesson. The relations of cause and effect should be kept in mind. Skill in questioning goes far to make the recita- tion educative. 3. The plan should include a list of the apparatus and illustrative material which is to be used. The teacher should see that this is ready and at hand. Nothing so endangers the success of the recitation as to have to find materials, or to have to send pupils into another part of the building for them, while the work is in progress. The Recitation 147 4. — 3Iethod. It is generally agreed that there is no such thing as the method in teaching a lesson. Every good teacher will observe sound general principles, and his method will be the putting of himself into the work. Every great teacher, whether it be Pestalozzi or Thomas Ar- nold, has an individuality which gives a unique charac- ter to his teaching. Some of the best teachers of to-day are without normal training. They have such intuition and tact that they are called natural teachers. There are a few simple rules of method which are sometimes forgotten by good teachers : 1. The voice should be natural and conversational. The cultivation of sharp, shrill tones is too often imi- tated by the pupils, and the effect is disagreeable. In speaking in subdued, mellow tones the teacher econo- mizes his own strength, and commands a higher degi'ee of attention from his pupils. 2. In all questioning the teacher should address the entire class, unless some individual is upon the floor. When the question is asked before the pupil is called, the minds of all aro alert and expectant ; in other words, the whole class is working. This applies in all class ex- ercises. To permit pupils to read or spell around in turn encourages idleness. After the pupil has performed his part he settles into such a state of mental inertia that be often loses his place and so is unable to recite promptly. The test of good teaching is seen in the extent to which the teacher holds the entire class to the work in hand. If, when a question is asked, every hand comes up, there is evidence of supreme excellence. All 148 School Management oral and test work in number, and review work in his- tory and geography, should be done with such care and with such deference to the actual abilities of the class that every question may receive a ready response from a large majority. When, as is sometimes the case in re- view work, only two or three respond, there is proof of inferior work. Good teaching implies a kind of leader- ship that brings pupils up to the mark, and makes them ready to think and to do. 3. The teacher must avoid sarcasm or insinuations of any sort. I have known those who have been sarcastic for so many years that it is difficult for them to refrain from using that weapon upon the slightest provocation. Nothing is so killing to that confidence and frankness which pupils should feel. To be held up to public ridi- cule when one makes a mistake or forgets his lesson leaves a sting behind that sometimes makes him hate both the subject and the teacher. There can be no ideal school where the teacher fails in being courteous and kind even to those who do poorly. There may be a call for plain-speaking, but let it be the truth and nothing more. Wit and humor are excellent helps in teaching, and a good hearty laugh is desirable, but no teacher should make fun at the expense of an individual pupil. 4. A good teacher will avoid telling anything that can be drawn from the pupils. This rule will restrain a tendency which some have to lecture or to explain too much. 5. A lesson must not become discursive. Pupils with little knowledge of the lesson are quite ready to side-track the teacher, and the teacher sometimes leads The Recitation 149 the class far astray from the main path. The writer remembers hearing a teacher beginning the lesson with an intermediate class upon the discovery of America. First came the fact that the father of Columbus was a wool merchant, then that wool came from a sheep and is made into cloth and various other useful articles, while the sheep furnishes mutton, which serves for food, so that both food and clothing come from the sheep, etc. It happened that the class knew more about sheep than about Columbus, so there was a stampede in that direction. The desire to correlate weakens rather than strengthens teaching when it leads the mind in every direction except toward the main point of the lesson. 5. — Teaching Devices. If there has been a tendency in recent times to mini- mize the importance of method, this has not been true of devices. The teacher possessing originality and enterprise will have some new device nearly every day which helps to increase interest. There are prob- ably ten ways in which a spelling lesson may be taught, by using which this exercise is relieved of its monotony. There are many ways of using the blackboard in which the aid of pupils can be enlisted ; for example, when a particularly good answer is given, a pupil may be permitted to write both question and answer on the board. Not only should pupils be permitted to ques- tion the teacher before the recitation is over, but he should also be allowed to question the class. This device works well in reviewing geography and history. 150 School Management The pupils sliould always be allowed to prepare a list of questions which to their minds will bring out the best that a topic contains. The best primary teachers are fertile in devices for teaching numbers, reading, and "writing. Even in the secondary school the teacher in Latin, Greek, and mathematics will vary his plan of procedui-e from day to day, so that the work is never wearisome. 6. — Illustrative Material. We have already referred to the importance of having everything in readiness. Teaching is not vital unless accompanied by concrete illustrations. Thus, in history, the photograph of a great warrior or statesman, or the scene of some great event or battle is helpful. Nearly every historic event has been idealized in literature, and a particular passage of prose or poetry which is needed should be at hand. This is a natural and proper form of correlation. The stereopticon furnishes the very best means of mak- ing geography, history, and literature vivid. Every gram- mar and high school should have one. In many to\\Tis and cities a supply of lantern slides is kept at a central point, and these are fiu-nished to the several schools upon request. If, for example, a series of lessons has been given upon the geography of southern Europe or upon the history of Greece or Eome, there is the finest opportunity possible of making these lessons of lasting interest by throwing upon the screen pictures of those immortal scenes and works of art which have inspired the world. Anyone who has observed the intense in- terest and pleasure in which children view these plot- The Recitation 151 ures will have no doubt of their value as an aid to teaching. Nothing need be said here of the importance of real things in all nature and science teaching, including physiology and anatomy, neither is it necessary to em- phasize again the value of out-of-door work in physical geography. Experts and makers of text-books say little about this. But every live teacher knows that the more learning becomes an experience, and the more all the powers of a child are employed in that experience, the better. 7. — The Assignment of Lessons. Sufficient time should be taken at the end of each recitation to assign definitely and clearly the next lesson. For often the recitation is continued until the last mo- ment, and the directions for the next day's work are given too hurriedly. When pupils come to study the lesson they are in doubt as to just what is required. They sometimes sit down at home and spend the evening in anxiety and tears, and discover the next day that they had attempted to do what the teacher did not ex- pect from them. The writer once worked in a secondary school where the master insisted that one-fourth of the recitation hour should be used in giving out the next lesson. He himself taught Greek, and went over the lesson, pointing out the things of special importance, giving hints as to peculiar constructions and historical references. When his students came to their study period they knew exactly what was expected. Much discomfort, both in the school and the home, could be obviated if all teachers accepted this caution. 152 School Management There are certain times in tLe year, at the beginning of the autumn term, and toward the end of the spring, when pupils are unable to do their best work. Then the lessons should be shorter and the teacher should be more considerate. It is also a mistake to assign long lessons for a day immediately following a holiday. Pupils will always appreciate a little leniency at such times, and will more than make up the loss by their fidelity at other times. 8. — Preparation by Pupils. In another chapter something more wall be said con- cerning study periods at home and in school. It is enough now to emphasize again the point that each day's work should be complete and that pupils should do faithfully the work at the time intended, thus avoid- ing those arrearages which are such a drag upon the life of the school, as well as upon the individual. A habit of promptitude must be formed in the performance of tasks, and the teacher must esteem this as of equal im- portance to any benefit that may come from the lesson itself. The value, and the necessity, of punctuality and promptitude in our modern life are self-evident. Life is intense and rapid, and the person w^ho wins must be able to summon his energies and respond at the mo- ment ; so the school has a new function growing out of modern conditions, making it imperative to train chil- dren to think and to act quickly and promptly, and not to put off for a single moment what can be done now. The Recitation 158 TOPICAL REVIEW 1. The function of the recitation. 2. How self-activity develops interest. 3. The art of teaching as a source of interest. 4. What social factors are in the recitation? 5. How may the recitation serve the ends of mental training ? 6. Other uses of the recitation. 7. How may a good lesson plan be made ? 8. The limitations of method. 9. Questioning as related to attention, xo. The killing effect of sarcasm. 11. The recitation should have unity. 12. The value of devices and illustrative material. 13. The assignment of lessons. CHAPTER XII THE RECITATION {Continued) Having considered the preparation for the recitation by teacher and pupils and the general spirit of co- operation that characterizes good class work, we pass now to a discussion of the more formal aspect of teach- ing, namely, the successive steps by which we may best reach the goal of the recitation. 1. — The Goal of Instruction. In order to bring cleai'ly to mind the nature of the immediate aim of the recitation, let us recall a few concrete illustrations. A familiar topic in the study of the American Revolution is the cause that led to the open resistance of the colonies. In treating this topic the skiKul teacher will utilize many familiar incidents of the pre-Revolutionary period in such a way as to call up a vivid picture of some of the dramatic events. It is not, however, in the details of this picture that the chief value of the recitation lies. The aim is to go back of the details and to teach some general truth, such as the tendency of Americans and other Anglo-Saxon peoples to resist by extreme measures every eflfort to levy taxes upon them by a government in which they have no voice. This is an idea that the pupils will be 154 The Recitation 155 called upon constantly to apply, not only in the future study of the Revolutionary War, but in the study of the literature and history of other periods and other peoples. It is just the possibility of application to a large number of particular cases that constitutes the great value and significance of such an idea as the cen- tral thought for a recitation. Similarly, a recitation dealing with the climate and location of New York City, with the neighboring rivers and other routes of trade, and with the resources and products of tributary cities and countries, will have as its central aim to teach how New York, as a type of a great trade centre, has attained its commercial emi- nence. Here, again, it will be seen that the real aim of the recitation lies beyond the series of details presented, and is found in a general truth that gives the key to the understanding of a large number of facts concerning commercial centres. Again, behind particular problems involving the buy- ing and selling of grain or lumber will be seen some general truth in the form of a rule of arithmetical opera- tion or a principle of commercial transaction. The mastery of this rule or principle and its application in further investigation are the true reasons for directing the attention of pupils to such problems. Examples might be multiplied, but we may assume without further discussion that the immediate aim of every recitation is to teach a general truth and its ap- plication to concrete problems. Such a statement of the immediate aim of instruction is, of course, indepentl- ent of the view one may take of the ultimate or deeper aim of education. For, obviously, whatever this final 156 School Management purpose may be, there will be some body of general truths that will be considered essential, and these truths will have value just to the extent to which they may be applied to actual human needs. %—The Prohlem of Method. The problem of method, then, may be briefly stated thus : How in a recitation may we proceed most effec- tively to lead pupils to grasp and apply a general truth? An obvious and, at first sight, a satisfactory solution of this problem is to present the general truth directly to the pupils in the form of a rule, definition, or maxim, and when this has been mastered, to give opportunity for its application to concrete instances. This is, in fact, the method very frequently followed, and it was formerly much more common in school work than now. A rule for the calculation of square root, for example, is given to be memorized, and this is followed by a number of problems to which the rule is to be applied. Or defini- tions of flood-plain and isthmus are to be mastered out- right, and the application is often found, if at all, in naming and locating examples of these land forms through the study of text-books and maps. Experience has shown, however, that, simple and direct as this method of approaching general truths seems, it does not accomplish satisfactorily the purpose for which it is intended. It seems to be a fundamental law of the human mind that general truths are not only discovered, but understood and appreciated as well, through the study of a number of particular instances to which the The Recitation 157 general truth applies. Individual trees must be seen before the general idea " tree " is apprehended. Vari- ous generous acts must be seen and admired before the general idea of generosity as an admirable quality is grasped. To present the general truth before the particular instances is, therefore, to reverse the natural order of the mind's activity, and is in that sense unscientific. Before concrete examples and illustrations have been presented pupils are likely wholly to misunderstand or to under- stand only vaguely the statement of a general truth. Furthermore, it is natural that pupils should approach without any warmth of interest a general truth that they are not prepared to understand. The important advantage of the pupil's best interest is accordingly lost when such an attempt at a short cut is made. So that, while it might seem possible to economize time and energy by proceeding directly to a general truth, such procedure in reality defeats its own purpose. It is clear, then, that we can avoid a serious danger of method and provide for a clear understanding of a gen- eral truth and for interest in it, by presenting in ad- vance a number of appropriate particular instances in which the general truth is illustrated. But here again a difficulty presents itself. To revert to an illustration already used, the details of the American resistance to the Stamp Act and to the tea tax are probably as unfa- miliar to the pupils as the general truth that Anglo- Saxon peoples strongly object to being taxed by a gov- ernment in which they are not represented. How, then, are we to approach an unfamiliar general truth by means of particular instances that are themselves unfamiliar? 158 School Management The answer to this question is twofold. In the first place, particulars are usually easier to understand than generalizations. It is relatively a simple matter for pupils to form an accurate idea of the Stamp Act, the tea tax, and the closing of American ports; to picture the ways in which the colonists first showed their dis- apijroval of these acts, and to understand why the con- tinuation of these objectionable acts finally aroused the Americans to armed resistance. It is relatively difficult for children, before they are acquainted with some such facts, to grasp the idea that taxation without represen- tation is tyranny. But in the second place, we must answer that there is a real and serious difficulty in the presentation of unfamiliar facts, however concrete they may be. A complete method of instruction must, therefore, point out the solution of this difficulty. We may get a clue to this solution by reflecting for a moment upon the way in which we constantly deal with unfamiliar objects and ideas. 3. — Apperception. It is a matter of common experience that different persons observing the same object may get very differ- ent impressions. A trained botanist, meeting for the first time a rare species of PMehodium, at once notices the large fronds, broadly ovate in outline, wdth nine lanceolate spreading divisions. A housekeeper, in search of material for the adornment of her drawing- room, sees in the same fern something that meets mod- erately well the requirements of her scheme of decora- tion, though she observes that the leaves are somewhat The Recitation 159 too stiff and yellow for her purpose. The city boy, whose range of experience with respect to plant life is limited to a few struggling potted flowers and the shrubs and trees of a small park, interprets the fern as a kind of bush somewhat smaller and a good deal more strag- gly than those he has seen before ; while a little child is amazed and delighted with what appears to him to be a wonderful bunch of green feathers. In each one of these cases the person has interpreted the new object in accordance with his interests and his previous experiences. The object is the same in every case, but the meaning of the object varies greatly ac- cording to the knowledge of other objects with which the new one may be compared and related. Something like this occurs whenever a person encounters an unfa- miliar object or idea. There is a tendency to classify the new thing, to associate it with similar things already known, to bring it out of its isolation into its proper relations with other things. It is a general law of mental activity that experience is widened and enriched by this process of assimilating newly presented material and incorporating it into the body of knowledge already organized. This is a simple statement of the law of apperception, concerning which so much has been said and written during recent years under the impulse due to Herbart and his followers. Professor James has pointed out that there is really nothing more in the law of apperception than in the long familiar law of association as expounded by psy- chologists and that much confusion of thought has resulted from the eflforts of certain educational writers to surround the idea of apperception with a sort of 160 School Management mystic potency that can solve all of the teacher's diffi- culties. It is true, however, that, simple and commonplace as the idea of apperception is, there has been and still is a marked tendency for teachers to ignore its bearing on the problems of method. Arithmetic is often taught as if its processes had no vital connection with the every- day concerns of the pupils ; geography as if it had only a remote bearing, if any, upon the immediate and famil- iar surroundings ; history as if it began and ended in times and places out of all relation to present interests and problems. 4. — Summary of Principles. To sum up the discussion thus far, we have seen, first, that the aim of the recitation is to develop a general truth and to provide for its practical application ; sec- ond, that the most effective approach to a general truth is through properly chosen particular cases that illus- trate it ; and third, that these particular cases, so far as they are unfamiliar, can be understood and interpreted only by means of related knowledge already in the pos- session of the pupils. Every coniplete recitation will, then, conform to the requirements just stated. This, of course, does not ap- ply to every class exercise that occupies a " period " of the day's work, for such an exercise often constitutes only a part of the complete recitation. The general truth may, in some cases, be reached only after a series of exercises extending over several days or even weeks, but for our present purpose all of these exercises are The Recitation 161 considered as parts of a single recitation. The five formal steps of instruction as expounded by Herbart and his followers are simply an application and ampli- fication of the three principles above stated. "We may now make a very brief statement concerning each of the five steps. 5. — Herbart's Five Formal Steps. 1. Pkeparation. — "We have seen that new ideas are interpreted or apperceived by means of related ideas already familiar. The pupils of a class approach the new ideas entering into the subject-matter of a recita- tion with a great variety of experience gained in school and out, some of it clear, and well classified, some ill- defined and scattered. The teacher must, of course, meet his pupils on their own ground. To attempt any- thing else means certain failure. The first step toward the goal of the recitation, there- fore, is to prepare the minds of the pupils to receive and understand the new thought. By means of discus- sion, question, suggestion, and direct statement of facts, the appropriate familiar ideas must be recalled vividly to the minds of the pupils. There is danger in this step of the recitation of fail- ing to centre all of the ideas upon a definite point and of leading thus to confusion rather than to clearness. This danger may be avoided by stating at the outset in simple, definite language the aim of the recitation. Anything that does not bear upon this aim can then be ruled out and the preparatory matter can be shai'ply focussed upon the central thought. This step may frequently be made very brief , often, 162 School Management however, the greater part of the time devoted to the en- tire recitation may be required. Sometimes a brief re- view of the results of a previous recitation may be the best preparation for advanced work ; at other times it may be necessary to cover a wide and varied field of experi- ence in order to bring the pupils to a point from which they can attack the new ideas to advantage. Reference to the beginning of the present chapter will furnish an illustration of the first step in construction. In the first paragraph there is a statement of the aim as the treatment of " the successive steps by which we may best reach the goal of the recitation." The next four paragraphs are a preparation in the form of a statement of facts concerning recitations on familiar topics in his- tory, geography, and arithmetic. 2. Presentation. — When the preparation has been completed, the way is open for the second step of in- struction, and the great advantage of the preparatory step should now show itself in the ease and rapidity with which the pupils can receive and assimilate the new facts. Here, as in the first step, the initial aim furnishes a standard for the admission or rejection of subject-mat- ter. The purpose of the new matter presented is to lead up quickly and by as close sequence as possible to the general idea that is in view. Nothing that does not contribute distinctly to this aim will properly be ad- mitted. The form in which the presentation of new matter may best be made will vary with circumstances. In general, however, there are two ways in which the presentation may be made, namely, the method of direct presentation The Recitation 163 and the so-called developing method. According to the first method, the new facts are given outright to the pu- pils either by means of text-books or through lectures. This is the method of presentation that is at present most widely used, but while perhaps the easier and ap- parently more effective method, it is open to serious ob- jections. The appeal of this method is likely to be far more to the verbal memory than to the real understand- ing of pupils. Interest and spontaneity may easily be stifled by too constant or too close adherence to this method of direct presentation. The developing method aims to get the new facts be- fore the pupils mainly through conversation and discus- sion on the part of teacher and pupils. Instead of learning outright the answers to the main problems in- volved in a lesson, the pupils are active in anticipating so far as possible the problems and in solving them on their own initiative. While the developing method has the obvious advantage of securing the active participa- tion of the pupils in the development of the thought and consequently a fresher and fuller interest, it also has its limitations. There are many facts that it would be folly to expect pupils to anticipate. Attempts to de- velop such facts usually result in mere guessing, which is, of course, worse than valueless. The conclusion would seem to be that the developing method may well be used to a much greater extent than it usually is, but that it must often be supplemented by the direct presentation of facts through text-books and by the teacher's words. If the study of text-books is preceded by class discussion of the topic under consid- eration, many of the dangers of either method by itself 164 School Management may be avoided, the text-book aiBfording a sort of sum- mary of what has been partly anticipated in the discus- sion. 3. CoMPAEisoN. — After the preparation and the pres- entation of new subject-matter, we are ready to make use of the facts presented in approaching the general truth that we have had in view. To recall a former ex- ample, having brought vividly before the pupils the con- crete events leading up to the Revolutionary War, we direct attention to the elements of difference and simi- larity among the various events. The Stamp Act, the tea tax, and the trade laws difiered in some resj^ects, but they were alike in that they were designed to raise revenue for England and were imposed by a Parliament in which the colonies had no voice. In other words, we compare the facts presented in order to discover what is the essential truth in all of them. The weak- ness of much teaching otherwise effective may be found in a failure to go behind the details, for unless the con- crete facts are compared and focussed, it is probable that no clear and lasting view of the general trutli under- lying them Avill be gained. Comparison, then, is the bridge that spans the gap between the ]-)articulars pre- sented in the second step and the general truth toward which the aim is directed. 4. Generalization. — Following the comparison of the facts presented and the discovery of the elements com- mon and essential to all of them, comes the task of stating in concise and accurate form the general truth that has been reached. This is by no means always a simple or superfluous matter, as one may readily realize by considering how difficult it often is to state briefly The Recitation 1G5 and comprehensively the central thought of a story, lecture, or essay. It is usually well to have the gen- eral truth stated in the first instance, in the words of the pupils, however crude such statements may be. It is only in this way that we can be sure that the pupils have hold of the truth itself, and not merely of the sounding words. It may be desirable afterward to in- troduce a statement in the form of a definition or rule, or a maxim, such as " Taxation without representation is tyranny." 5. Application. — When a clear view of an important general truth has been gained, there still remains the final and perhaps most important step of instruction. A general truth so long as it remains isolated is insig- nificant. It is only when it is applied in conduct or in interpreting the concrete interests of human life that it possesses real value. The general truth that lay at the bottom of the events immediately preceding the Ameri- can Revolution is made vital only when it is applied in such a way as to give clearer insight into the meaning of our own institutions or into the spirit of democracy in general. It is not always easy to find immediate application for the general truths to which instruction leads. In- deed, it is clear that an adequate idea of the practical bearing of general truths is a matter not of a day or a year but of a lifetime. Nevertheless, it must be remem- bered that the real test of power is the ability to use knowledge, and that just so far as possible provision should bo made for the immediate application of general tiiiths. Each one of the school subjects offers opportunities 166 School Management for the application of general truths learned in the others. The daily lives of the pupils are filled with problems, the solution of which involves the application of the very truths that instruction is or should be de- signed to impress. The daily events in the political and social world can be understood and appreciated only when viewed in the light of general truths. It may be doubted, then, whether a general truth that does not find its appropriate field of application among important current interests has a rightful place in a scheme of education. In the appendix there is a number of plans for reci- tations which illustrate the application of the principles set forth in this chapter. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. Relationship between the moral and intellectual aims of the recitation. 2. Method in the adaptation of truth to particular minds. 3. Instances of apperception in daily life. 4. The relation of apperception to interest. 5. To what extent do the formal steps suggest a universal method? CHAPTER Xm TRAINING PUPILS TO STUDY We hear on every hand a complaint that the modern child is not taught to study. This criticism is so uni- versal that one sometimes wonders if it is not due to the complaining habit, which affects all workers who seek high standards and are hampered by all kinds of limitations. When a class is promoted to a higher grade in the grammar school or high school their teachers find the pupils lacking in the power of attention and applica- tion. Many are unable to state clearly and distinctly what they have gathered from the text-book. There is a certain flabbiness and weakness of mind, as well as evidence of scattered interests, which are most discour- aging to their new teachers, and which suggest the idea that something has been wrong in their previous train- ing. It is often noticed, as the weeks pass, that pupils impress their teachers more favorably. This is prob- ably due rather to a better acquaintance than to any marked development of ability to study. It will be seen at once that training pupils to study is a fundamental process. Nothing that the teacher can do is more essential to iutellectual growth and strength. It means putting the child in possession of the tools with which be is to work, and guiding him to a right use 167 168 School Management of tliem, or it is like arming him with the weapons with which he is to fight life's intellectual battles, and inspir- ing him with courage and skill. It is well, therefore, to address ourselves to the practical questions, first, what are the difl&culties to be overcome ? second, how may the desired power be secured ? 1. — Some Difficulties in Learning to Study. 1. Interests of children are too much scattered. We are speaking now of life in some of the large towns and cities. There is too much going on. There are many enterprises and forms of activity which awaken interest and stimulate many grades of thinking. The varied life of the street, the bustle and hurry of people at the railway stations, docks, and markets, billboards announ- cing marvellous entertainments, military and civic dis- plays, holidays just past and those expected, multi- plicity of books and magazines — all these and many more events with their pleasures and excitements cause the child to be interested in a great variety of things. The school has a harder task than it did when life was simple and the interests of the community were f ocussed largely in the church and the school. 2. The distractions of variety. Both the home life and the school life being many-sided and various tends to distraction. By study, we usually mean the acquisi- tion of truth from the printed page. This means con- centration of thought and vividness of imagination. It is apparent that where the child lives in the midst of real things, many of which attract and interest him, it is harder to secure that continuous and intense application Training Pupils to Study 169 to the printed page which is implied in fruitful study. If a military band passes the^chool everyone is alert and listening, and it takes some minutes for the school to again become attentive to the work in hand ; but this illustrates what is happening all the time outside of the school, so that young minds are diverted and often ab- sorbed by current happenings and events. It is true that many of these outside occurrences are educative, and may be used by the skilful teacher as a means of training pupils to thought and expression, which are really the basic elements in all study. 3. School duties become wearisome. Children at- tend school from nine to ten months in the year. There is usually more or less pressure. In many cases out-of- door life is neglected. Children soon tire of confine- ment, and that kind of weariness, which in a former chapter we distinguished from fatigue, often makes the school hours seem monotonous and dreary. If a child dislikes his teacher or is discouraged in his studies, or if he is undergoing a process of prodding at home be- cause his monthly reports are not flattering, this weari- ness increases and it becomes still harder for him to apply his mind to the task in hand. 4. Physical conditions may be unfavorable. Bad air, poor light, and an unwholesome school-room are always baneful in their effects upon study. The same thing occurs when the room is too hot or too cold. If the pupils themselves are poorly fed, or are suffering from loss of sleep, or from any indisposition, their attempts to study will be more or less unsuccessful. 5. What has already been said in a former chapter about definitely assigning lessons points to a mistake 170 School Management so often made that it is worth while to refer to it again. Pupils cannot be expected to study well unless the way has been pointed out to them, so that they know where the task begins and where it ends. Any person, young or old, likes to see the goal toward which he is working. A task that has no end in view is always depressing. 6. Poor teaching. It is of little use to expect that degree of interest and loyalty required for diligent study when the teacher is simply a machine, and lacks the vital element. All the emphasis that we have given to the recitation is useless unless the pupil, acting under some legitimate incentive, has entered into his work with interest and zeal. These, then, are a few of the obstacles which a teacher must face in any attempt to cultivate the study habit. Let us now inquire what methods are likely to be most efficacious in overcoming these obstacles. 2. — Methods of Seeding Application and Concentration. 1. Cultivate thought and expression. The work should begin in the primary grades. Pupils should be trained to see things clearly and to state accurately what they have seen. In number work, in nature study, as well as in the use of pictures, there is the opportunity of developing the power of consecutive and prolonged attention, as well as of complete and definite statement. This is the beginning of mental strength. Unless children can see and state what they have seen and ex- perienced, what hope is there that they will be able to glean thought from the printed page and clothe it in their own language ? Training Pupils to Study 171 A second step is to make the reading lessons serve the end of learning to study. Just as soon as pupils can read silently stories containing half a dozen sentences they should be often asked to read silently, close the book, and give the thought in their own language. This practice should be continued through the grades. In some of the very best schools silent reading and oral reproduction are made the principal exercise in the read- ing lesson. Pupils by practice acquire remarkable" quickness in sifting out the ideas in a paragraph and equal facility in voicing them, 2. Study with the pupils. If a class especially needs it, the teacher in assigning the lesson in geography or history may take up the advance lesson by paragraphs, in precisely the manner indicated above. The aim is simply to crack the nut and get out the meat as quickly as possible. Pursuing this plan, with some slight ex- planations or questions by the teacher, a class will easily dispose of a page of matter which otherwise might baffle and discourage them. While it is true that modern teaching seeks an acquaintance w4th things, and strives to promote experience, yet the wisdom of the world is locked up in books, and one of the great ends of education must be to acquire the mastery of the key which will unlock any room in this great store- house. 3. Supervise the study periods. The teacher who asks his pupils to study, and then proceeds to write letters or make up his reports, is not only losing an op- portunity, but is violating his trust. He should be at the service of his pupils, passing around from one to the other, giving the needed word of advice or encourage- 172 School Management nient, makiug sure that all the conditions for earnest work are as favorable as possible. All study without recitation would, of course, be as faulty as all recitation and no study. Careful oversight of each individual in his daily work in connection with the methods already suggested have been found quite successful in counter- acting the effects of outside distractions and dissipations. 4. Demand a proper amount of home study. The greatest care should be taken in assigning the home tasks. What we have said about the need of definite- ness and fulness of explanation on the part of the teacher has special pertinence here. It should be kept in mind that homes are not usually well supplied with reference books and it is often difficult for pupils to have a quiet room to themselves. That kind of home work should be assigned which does not require the use of a library, and which is best adapted to home con- ditions. It is better to have pupils do a moderate amount of work well than to be burdened and discouraged and to have the idea prevail in the home that the teacher is a sort of natural enemy and disturber of the peace. 5. Hold pupils responsible. After a teacher has left no stone unturned in teaching pupils to study he must hold them rigidly responsible for the best use of their time. Not only must there bo oral tests, such as occur with the daily recitation, but brief written tests should be given frequently, for in no other way can the mind be so well trained to formulate whatever ideas have been acquired. They give facility in the use of the mother-tongue and act as an incentive to faithful study. Being a matter of almost daily occurrence they are the cause of no special worry. Training Pupils to Study 173 6. Kegard the law of apperception. This law may be regarded as a genuine truth which is larger and deeper than any of the devices we have suggested. The suc- cess in each new step in learning depends upon the thoroughness with which the previous steps have been taken and the degi'ee of interest and concentration with which this knowledge has been welded together. If a series of nature lessons has been given with such en- thusiasm as to create an appetite for more, and if these lessons have been presented so progressively as to fit together and make a consistent body of knowledge, each forward step will be taken with delight, both by teachers and pupils. The new lesson is partly learned by reason of the firm grasp which the mind has of what has already been learned. It makes the process of study easier, therefore, to have assigned as a lesson that portion of truth which may be readily and quickly apperceived and joined to the previous lessons. All our past exi^erience is our capital, which we invest in new enterprises, and so make additions to our wealth. Where to invest and when to invest, and how much, calls for the guidance of a far-sighted and experienced person, who is our teacher. These are a few of the suggestions that will occur to every thoughtful teacher who desires to have her pupils study efibctively. It is encouraging to know that in using such devices and in overcoming the obstacles which we have indicated, the power of attention is being developed and the conscious will is more and more at the service of the learner. The interest he feels assumes a higher and more mature form. He is held to his task not merely by the attractiveness of the 174) School Management lesson material and the desire to gain tlie approval of his teacher, but because of the pleasure of surmounting difficulty and of winning the victory. Again, a pupil who learns to study and can dig at his lessons even when there is a noise in the street or peo- ple are inconsiderately talking in the same room is ac- quiring a habit of concentration, a conscious strength for the problems of life, which are priceless possessions. How clearly it is seen that every activity of the school has its moral as well as its intellectual side. How manifest it is that, after all, knowledge is second- ary and that in learning to study, the pupil is not really engaged in a hunt after facts, but is gaining power of untold value. He is learning to realize himself and to organize his moral and intellectual forces for the great battles of life. TOPICAL REVIEW I . What is it to study ? a. How may parents assist the teachers ? 3. Means of preventing weariness. 4. The difference between voluntary and involuntary attention. 5. The teaching that commands attention. 6. The value of quietness. 7. How early may students be taught the value of apperception? CHAPTER XrV REVIEWS AND EXAMINATIONS In the use of reviews and examinations we should be governed by the same motives and aims we have fol- lowed in training pupils to study. All school work is broadly educative. We must not let down an instant our high standard of character building. As a review is simply a lesson made longer because it is partly repeti- tion, so every examination is simply an extension of the recitation idea and must be conducted upon the same principles. The pupil must not be overtaxed or wor- ried ; he must not be put under temptation to act dis- honestly ; he must not be permitted to neglect his daily work in the hope that by cramming he may pass an examination and so maintain his standing. Let us candidly and frankly consider the more salient phases of this subject. 1. — The Valiie of Thoroughness. Keeping in mind the law of apperception, we see how desirable it is that lesson truths should be clearly pre- sented and understood and should also, as far as is pos- sible, be welded together into a compact whole. The review of a series of lessons, or of an entire subject, is a good means of making the class see the body of truth in better perspective. The relation of the parts to the 176 176 School Management whole are more clearly discerned, and causal relations stand out more prominently. Many teachers err in failing to carr}- on from day to day a review which requires a few minutes of the reci- tation time. Such a review is like the rear-guard of an army. It gathers up the straggling points, so that when the end of the term is reached no time has to be spent in making sure that the class has a good grasp of the field they have traversed. The writer has known more than one teacher who, while having a review, following not many Aveeks behind the advance, had also during the last half of the term a re-review which proceeded rapidly and overtook both review and advance at the end of the term. In all review work emphasis is given to ideals that are large and important. Minute and un- essential matters are avoided. This saves time and helps the pupil to discriminate betw^een great and small, essential and non-essential. Much stress is laid upon principles, rules, and pivotal events. A few great names, dates, and controlling ideas, through this proc- ess of repetition, become fixed in the mind and can be recalled at will. The child has little occasion to thank his teacher unless he puts him in possession of great central truths in every department of knowledge in such a way that he can count them among his assets. 2. — Oral and Written Tests. In the preceding chapter we have shown the value of tests as a means of making the pupils responsible for the use of the study period. We wish now to indicate their place as a means of revealing to the teacher what the individuals of a class actually know. Reviews and Examinations 177 Some years ago oral tests were largely discarded for written examinations. As is often the ease, the pendu- lum probably swung too far. It is quite unusual now for a teacher to put her class under the fire of review questions for a whole hour. It would be well were it possible to recover to some extent what has been lost. The old-time teacher possessed power and skill in questioning which may well be envied. In an oral test where one question follows another, pupils being per- mitted to respond by raising the hand, the teacher dis- covers who have a ready command of the subject. The answers given indicate not only how well his own work has been done, but how faithfully his jDupils have worked. Such oral interrogation of the class seems to be a natural accompaniment of the review work. Then, too, the oral test has the advantage of the written one in that it relieves the class of the almost ceaseless use of pen and pencil, which has become characteristic of our schools, and calls for a higher degree of promptitude than does the written test. Another advantage comes from the fact that when the exercise is concluded the teacher's work is done, and he is not compelled to examine a lot of pa- pers, thus taxing his eyes and his brain when he should be gaining rest or recreation. These sugges- tions touching the value of oral tests bring to our mind the thought that in passing from the old education to the new we are ever in danger of abandoning devices which have intrinsic worth, and we are reminded that progress consists not so much in finding new ways of doing things as in making a better and more intelligent use of things that ave counted old- 178 School Management 3. — Educative Examinations. In Chapter VI. we have discussed the relation of ex- aminations to rewards, prizes, and promotions. We have shown that if they are too formal, and come at stated times, and if the standing in class and the pro- motion of pupils is dependent upon them, they become, in many cases, harmful and unhygienic. Dr White referred to this subject in forcible language as fol- lows : * " The tendency of teachers to use a coming examina- tion as a whip or spur to urge their pupils to greater application is one of the most serious obstacles to be overcome in the use of the system. A reliance on such help is a misfortune for the teacher and a wrong to the pupil. It ought to be recognized as a school crime for a teacher thus to allude to an examination. It should be permitted to come unheralded." It may be assumed that the above statement, coming from a person of wide experience and large wisdom, is not an exaggeration. Examinations may be given a limited importance in determining the promotion of pupils without harm, but the evils which attend the promotions made upon an examination standard are serious. We must now recognize very fully the merits of examinations given as a means of cultivating intel- lectual strength. Like oral and written tests, examina- tions should be incidental and unannounced, and their sole aim should be to reinforce the teaching and to de- velop the pupil. When, as in these modern days, so much of the learning is outside of text-books, and pupils *" Elements of Pedagogy," page 204, Reviews and Exanmiations 179 in an elementary way are engaged iu investigation and research, the examination serves many useful purposes. 4. — Advantages to Pupils. 1. It calls for a longer, more sustained effoi*t than the ordinary recitation or test. While an examination an hour or an hour and a half long may cause fatigue, it is only in rare instances that evil results follow. It is rather beneficial to the young person to summon his energies and marshal his forces for a greater and more strenuous effort than usual. 2. The examination is a stronger reminder than the recitation or brief test of individual responsibility. A pupil will perchance remember while pursuing his studies that an examination may come the next day, or the next week, and thus be impelled to make provision for that occasion. He will be prompted to arrange and organize his knowledge so that he can use it when the day of testing arrives. He will not be absent from school on flimsy pretexts, because he knows that each day's knowledge means a link in the chain which is to hold him upon examination day. 3. The examination gives valuable training in lan- guage. Pupils should be expected to put their work in as good form as possible. This is entirely feasible when the examination is not used for some ulterior purpose. As an educative means it should represent the best a pupil can do in matter of fact, forms of statement, quality of penmanship, sentence-maldug, paragraphing, spelling, and punctuation. 4. The examination, if wisely given, affords excellent 180 School Management training of the pupil's judgment. The topics and ques- tions assigned will naturally cover considerable area, and will leave room, on the pupil's part, for the exercise of discrimination and selection. Thus he will get prac- tice in philosophical thinking and reasoning, and this will become more and more true as he advances through the grades. The higher he gets the more the examination should bo a test of his reasoning rather than of his memory. The school that does not place a high estimate upon common sense and sound judgment, as shown in examination papers, needs to be reformed. 5. — Advantages to the Teacher. 1. Examinations, like oral and written tests, are an economical means of finding out what a class knows, and to what extent its members can use what they have ac- quired. 2. A set of examination papers will often serve to a teacher the purpose of a mirror in which he sees himself as a factor in the education of his pupils. He will know whether he has undertaken too much, and whether fundamental truths have been driven home. In other words, by examining his pupils he is testing his own work, and is learning how to make his teaching more interesting and effective. 3. The examination of a large class often reveals com- mon weaknesses and lapses of judgment. The teacher can go over these errors with the whole class, and can thus accomplish at a single stroke what under other conditions would require much labor. 4. When parents have too high an opinion of the Reviews and Examinations 181 ability of their own cbildreu, a set of examination papers is often useful in showing the relative ability of the child in question as compared with others. Such tangible evidence of the child's actual standing can be used by the teacher when difficult questions arise about promotion. 6. — Suggestions to Teachers. 1. Make tests and examinations both oral and writ- ten. Oral tests bring the teacher nearer to the pupil and enable him to make his questions perfectly clear. He can pursue a line of questioning that will unfold the subject more logically and fully than is possible in the written test. Thus unity and clearness in sub- ject-matter are secured. Written examinations oflfer uniform comlitious to all, and from their results the teacher can gauge more accurately the relative ability of his pupils. 2. While examinations in the lower grades are largely upon matters of fact, in the higher grades they should call increasingly for a knowledge of princij^les, rules, causes and eifects, relations and correlations. The power to draw conclusions, state principles, and to generalize should be well developed during the grammar school stage. 3. Examinations should not be so long as to weary pupils greatly or to become excessively distasteful. In intermediate grades from one-half to three-quarters of an hour, in the higher grammar grades one hour, and in the high school an hour and a half should be maximum limits. One examination should not follow closely upon an- 182 School Management other. Too often at the eucl of the term, or of the year, when pupils are not in the best physical condition, a series of examinations lasting for several days is given, contrary to the laws of hygiene and the advice of physi- cians. Abandon the idea of using examinations for promotion, or for prizes, and there is little, if any, need of this objectionable feature. 4. Have pupils frequently correct their own papers after teachers have pointed out the main truths which the examination was intended to teach. This saves the teacher, and is an excellent discipline for the pupils. 5. Do not tell the class when the examination is to occur. Let each day's work be done so thoroughly that they are never taken off their guard when the test is given. In every-day life the demand comes frequently for the performance of some special duty. The ability to render service at short notice is worth cultivating in early life. It has been a matter of much concern to educators and other thoughtful people that the larger Eastern colleges insist upon difficult entrance examinations. This can be partially excused by reason of the fact that some inferior secondary schools cannot be trusted to certificate their candidates, and that other schools of higher standing prefer to have their pupils examined. Nevertheless, there is a principle at stake here that is violated whenever a superior institution sets examina- tions for the one that feeds it. This principle is that outside parties are quite sure to do injustice both to teachers and pupils of any school where they impose rigid examinations. The instruction is likely to be narrowed and more attention is given to cramming than Reviews and Examinations 183 to educating. I will leave this subject by quoting some pertinent remarks by Dr. James E. Eussell : * " Examinations must have a place in every scheme of instruction. Instruction can proceed only when the extent and quality of the learner's knowledge is defi- nitely understood. Every recitation, every review, is such an examination ; further examinations of a formal sort are often desirable for the sake both of the teacher and of the pupil. But such examinations are given by teachers within the school or school system and pri- marily for the purpose of instruction. Examinations by those outside the school, especially when given for the purpose of determining a pupil's ability to undertake an entirely new course of instruction, have no educational value /or the pupil which cannot be secured equally well in some less reprehensible way. Such examinations, however, are practically necessary when intellectual attainment is not the only aim of school instruction, and both necessary and inevitable when that instruction is inefficient. Outside examinations are imperative whenever the secondary schools are unable or unwilling to assume the responsibility of meeting the require- ments for admission to colleges and universities. Until a norm of secondary instruction is established and generally recognized, college entrance examinations cannot be dispensed with. The sole object of this paper is to show that such examinations have no espe- cial educational value for those who are examined ; they do have a distinct value in om- school system and must be retained until some better plan is found for keep- ing weak schools up to grade and for the elimination of * School Review^ January, 1903, page 53. •181 School Management bad teachiug. The scheme of college entrance exami- nations is altogether a matter of temporary expediency. It tests merely the candidate's store of learning and to some extent his ability to use that learning ; it does not measure his intellectual desires, his moral strength, or his {esthetic taste. Meanwhile it is our duty to find some way of assuring the intellectual ability which students must have on admission to college and at the same time of encouraging the preparatory schools to emphasize in their course of training the manly virtues and the liberal cultui-e which all men need in life." TOPICAL REVIEW 1. What limitations are to be placed upon thoroughness? 2. The psychological argument for reviews. 3. Compare the states of mind accompanying written and oral tests. 4. The examination as an incentive. 5. The moral issues involved in examinations. 6. Plans for reducing the paper work of teachers. ^6HbOL GARDENS, PLAYGROUNDS, AND VACATION SCHOOLS To the great mass of children in our large cities vacation time calls up associations very different from those so eagerly anticipated by the fortunate ones who spend the summer months at the sea-shore, among the mountains, or on country estates. Instead of green fields, invigorating breezes, and shady groves, the children who remain in the cities have as their fortune noisy streets, sultry air, and occasionally a vacant lot. Crowded, poorly ventilated tenements are well-nigh uninhabitable during the periods of excessive heat. Parks are available as playgrounds for only an insignif- icant number of the vast multitude of children. Thou- sands must therefore swarm daily in the streets, leading aimless lives of enforced idleness, enticing one another into mischief, vice, and petty crime. Most games cannot be carried on in the crowded thoroughfares without seriously obstructing traffic and endangering the lives of the children. The police are thus often compelled to interfere with the efforts of children to engage in innocent enjoyment. Officers of the law come to be regarded as natural and arbitrary enemies ; evasion of the law and the destruction of property as the normal outlet for energy and ambition. 185 186 School Management It is evident that vacation months spent under these unwholesome conditions are worse than wasted. The eftect upon the physical and moral development of the children must be far-reaching and disastrous. Habits of smoking, thieving, and gambling develop without even the hinderances offered during school time ; lawless adventure, craftiness, and dishonesty are encouraged by the very necessities of the otherwise unoccupied time; and a full quarter of the whole amount of time available for the training of the boys and girls passes by unutilized. The idle and crafty boy will most certainly prove to be the father of the dissolute and criminal man. There is a strong call here for a return to nature ; for contact with the earth and its creatures, with flowers and trees ; for free life in the open fields ; for whole- some activity of a kind that will do something to enrich the starved lives of the children, that will contribute materially to the equij^ment of the youth for the stern struggle that they soon must face, that will strongly emphasize the idea of sober, industrious, and law-abiding citizenship. It is one of the notable signs of the tendency of educational thought and practice that so much attention has been given during recent years to the solution of some of the problems arising out of the social conditions just described. There is a growing conviction that every school should meet, in a very direct and practical way, the social demands of the community in which it is located. Among the most conspicuous ways in which this conviction has expressed itself is the establishing of school gardens, playgrounds, and vacation schools. School Gai'deiis and Playgi^ounds 187 1. — School Gardens. First in point of time, though not so directly in response to the vacation needs of city children, was the opening of school gardens. For almost fifty years school gardens have been recognized in Europe as an important and almost necessary means of instruction. Austria, Sweden, and Germany were the first to intro- duce gardens as the most practical form of agricultural nature study, and their example was quickly followed by most of the leading European nations. It was not until 1891 that Boston took the lead in the school-garden movement in this country by utilizing a small plot of ground in connection with one of the grammar schools for the raising of native wild flowers. A few years later this same school added another small plot for the cultivation of vegetables. Since this beginning, twelve years ago, more than fifty cities in the United States have made some provision for school gardens. 2. — Educative Factors. The special need of garden work in the congested districts of large cities lies in the very limited o^^por- tunity that the children of these districts have for direct knowledge of some of the commonest natural phenomena. But aside from this special need, there is a peculiar value to such work that applies to all children, whatever their locality. This value lies in the close connection that is almost necessarily made between theory and practice in this form of activity. A pupil 188 School Management must not only be able to describe the difference between weeds and vegetables, but lie must actually decide the difference in a practical way if be is to have a successful garden. So also he must apply the test of practice to his knowledge of the character and preparation of soil, of the time of year best suited to planting, of the habits of insects and other forms of animal life injurious or beneficial to his garden plants. These are only a few of the great number of topics that grow out of the practical requirements of successful garden work. Much school work is being criticised, perhaps justly so, on the ground that it fails to make full provision for just this sort of application for theoretical work. In almost every human concern outside the school there is constant demand for a relatively large amount of practice, as opposed to mere reflective study that does not end in application. There is, therefore, strong social sanction for a close and vital union between theoretical and practical work. Another urgent reason for seeking a constant outlet for thought in action is found in the interest of children, which is rarely satisfied unless opportunity is given for the expression of ideas in definite, concrete, constructive form. The school garden meets both the social and the psychological require- ments, by furnishing a centre of activity that pro- vides direct and full motive for an important body of knowledge about nature. It is evident that, without some such centre of active interest, the study of natural phenomena must be relatively isolated, formal, and dead. School Gardens and Playgrounds 189 3. — Equipment. The cost of equipment for school gardens is, of course, almost wholly a matter of laud values. In some parts of the large cities the cost of land is such as to be almost prohibitory. A part of the school-yard is in some cases set apart for garden purposes. Where vacant lots are available in the neighborhood of a school, the use of the land may be secured even if the laud is not purchased. In some cities plots in the public parks have been granted to the school, and in at least one case a small garden has been opened on the roof of the school- building. Where none of these ways of securing the ground necessary for a garden are open there remains the expedient of using window-boxes, by means of which many of the advantages of gardens may be provided. When ground space will allow, it is highly desirable that each pupil be assigned his own garden-plot. The sense of ownership and of individual responsibility that results from such an assignment always proves to be a powerful and educative influence. The results of mistakes and neglect are written large by the hand of Nature herself, and even the most backward pupils cannot fail to learn her lessons. 4. — Playgrounds and Play-ceMfres. Playgrounds and play-centres were originally not the outgrowth of educational but of purely social interest. The first playgrounds that were opened in our large cities were under the auspices of social settlements and other societies having distinctly humanitarian or phil- 190 School Management antliropic aims. To those in constant and intimate touch Avith the conditions that prevail in tlie crowded districts of most Large cities, it was evident that through hick of opportunity for healthful, spontaneous play childhood in these regions was being robbed of its chief joy. That the systematic provision for such activity has become more and more closely identified with the public schools of our cities is evidence of the enlarging view of the meaning of education, and consequently of the function of the school as a social institution. A single instance will illustrate the great need in the large cities of recreation centres other than the public parks. The city of Chicago is unusually well provided with parks of large area, and with connecting boule- vards. Yet in this city there are 600,000 to 700,000 people who live more than a mile from any park. It is ordinarily imj^racticable for a large city to provide extensive parks in numbers sufficient to make them readily accessible from all parts of the city. The only alternative is to find small recreation centres, properly distributed over the entire area, and, as every school- building as a rule has some form of playground, either in a yard, in the basement, or on the roof, it seems quite natural that the persons interested in providing vacation playgrounds for children should have looked to the school-grounds to supply the need. The equipment of the playgrounds varies somewhat with the size and location. Where the space is con- tracted, as in the case of the basement aud roof play- grounds, the equipment consists of sand-bins, build- ing-blocks, jumping-ropes, Indian clubs, dumb-bells, bean-bags, balls, rubber quoits, ring-toss apparatus, and, School Gay-dens cmd Playgrounds 191 occasionally, basket-ball and hand-ball courts. In addi. tion to such equipment as this there are provided, in the large open-air playgrounds, swings, seesaws, climb- ing ropes and ladders, hoops, wheelbarrows and shovels, horizontal and parallel bars, and other apparatus suit- able for an outdoor gymnasium. In some of the larger grounds provision is made for running games, such as prisoner's base ; and in some cases hammocks are pro- vided, where mothers who come to the grounds with their children may put their babies to sleep in the fresh air. It is an interesting commentary on the knowledge that a large proportion of city children have of co-oper- ative forms of play, that the swings are by far the most popular form of apparatus in the playgrounds, and that many of the children at first are utterly unable to take part in the games requiring co-operation. Unless the most careful supervision is given, the older children push the younger ones aside from the swings and keep possession for an unlimited time. Expert supervision of the playground is necessary not only to preserve order and to protect the younger children from the imposition of the older, but to teach the children how to play. Many children are almost wholly without initiative. Others, while possessed of strong initiative and energy, are ignorant of all except the most crude and rough games. The successful direc- tion of playgrounds probably calls, therefore, for as much skill and knowledge of children as any other form of educational work. The so-called play-centres are very similar in equip- ment and administration to the playgrounds, the main 192 School Management distiDction being that the play-centres arc open in the evening instead of during the daytime. The forms of activity are, accordingly, more restrained than those of the playgrounds, and there is often a place set apart for reading and quiet games. A noteworthy feature of the recreation centres con- trolled by the school department of New York City is the recreation piers. These piers are built as upper decks of a number of the regular commercial docks be- longing to the city. These upper floors offer cool and attractive retreats from the sultry streets in summer. They are open both day and evening under appropriate supervision. Bands of music add to the attractiveness of these centres during the summer evenings. The directors of playgrounds and play-centres almost imiformly agree in reporting that the danger of ex- treme unruliness and of wanton destraction of property is very slight, and that the assistance of the police is rarely needed. The same spirit that commonly shows itself in the riotous proceedings of street gangs finds expression, when opportunity is given, in athletic teams and other wholesome forms of co-operation. 5. — Reasons for Vacation ScJiools. Vacation schools, like the playgrounds, owe their origin to an interest not primarily educational in the narrow sense, but social and philanthropic. The schools grew out of a desire to provide, for the older children especially, some form of activity that should give zest and pleasure to the vacation months, and, at the same time, yield results more distinctly educative than the playgrounds were thought to do. School Gardens and Playgrounds 193 6. — Aims. With but few exceptions, the movement for vacation schools in almost all of the large cities of the United States has been inaugurated by women's clubs and fed- erations. In almost every case, too, the desire has been to maintain the schools as object-lessons until the de- partment of public education could be induced to take up the work as a regular part of its system. In several cities — notably in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia — this desire of the originators has been fully realized. In other cities, as in Chicago and Pittsburg, the use at least of the public-school equipment has been obtained, though the direct responsibility for the work of the vacation schools remains with the women's clubs. 1 .—3Ietliods. The same general plan of work has been followed by all of these schools. Briefly stated, the plan excludes the use of books and provides for a maximum amount of hand-work, for direct observation of objects studied, and for numerous excursions, or, more briefly still, the plan is to provide all opportunity for seeing and doing. Among the forms of activity most frequently found in the schools are whittling, paper-folding, and card- board construction ; drawing, painting, and designing ; singing, marching, and gymnastics ; chair caning, bas- ketry, bench work, fret-sawing, and Venetian iron-work ; sewing, cooking, weaving, embroider}^ crocheting, mil- linery, and dress-making. Excursions to parks and coun- try are made the occasion for djrect observation and 194 School Management study of nature and for spontaneous and unobstructed play in the open air. In some cities these excursions have been made the correlating centre for almost all of tlie M'ork of the vacation schools. In others the excur- sions have been regarded as pleasure trips without much direct bearing upon the educational activity of the schools. In most cases, however, the excursions have been a happy combination of serious study and invig- orating outing. The details of organization and of administration re- quire as careful attention in vacation schools as in the traditional schools of the regular session. The experi- ment of conducting the schools without a corps of ad- ministrative officers, depending Tipon a head teacher in each school to perform the duties of principal, has been tried. Where the number and size of the schools have been large, such experiments have not been successful. Most of the problems that arise in the administration of other schools are found here, and, in addition to these, special problems due to the fact that this work is still in the early experimental stage. Probably in no other field of public education has there been a more conscious attempt to adapt the work of the school to the practical requirements of specific social conditions than in the vacation-school move- ment. Here the school has ignored its own traditions, has surmounted its natural conservativism, and has sought to understand the needs of an important part of the community and to adapt itself to the single purpose of supplying those needs. The explanation of the unusual directness and freedom of adaptation to social demands is not hard to find. In School Gardens and Playgrounds 195 the first place, the fact that the schools were to be held during vacation time, when recreation was presumably a controlling motive, suggested that the work should be difierent in character from that of the common school. The influence of the traditional school being thus neu- tralized, the vacation school was free to consider prima- rily the requirements of the social groups from which the pupils were drawn. In the second place, the lead- ers in the movement for vacation schools were persons not directly engaged in school work, whose main inter- est and sympathy centred in problems of social well- being. Third, the opening of vacation schools, as has already been pointed out, was originally conceived not as an educational movement, strictl}' speaking, at all, but as a means of social betterment. Even if the leaders had come from the ranks of professional educa- tors, therefore, there would have been reason to expect that the chief consideration would be given to social needs rather than to educational traditions. 8. — Results. There are two conspicuous results of the experiments in vacation schools that have an important relation not only to the future development of this field of work it- self, but to the solution of some of the pressing problems of general education. First, the commanding place given to constructive activity suggests the relatively small use that is made in the common schools of one of the strongest impulses native to children. It may be that this kind of activity has been over-em]ihasized in the va- cation schools ; but this very emphasis has developed 196 School Management many possibilities in such work not previously realized, and has thus opened the way to a much wider outlet for children's motor impulses than has heretofore been util- ized. The strong hold that constructive work has upon the interest of children has been strikingly illustrated ; for though attendance upon the vacation schools is purely voluntary, the children have been eager to be present and to follow the work to the end. The prog- ress made by the children is frequently described as " remarkable " or " incredible," and, judging from the reports of teachers and supervisors, the difficulties of discipline apparently do not exist in any appreciable degree. Second, the value and the practicability of school ex- cursions have been illustrated and confirmed. Groups of children varying in numbers from twenty to two thousand have been repeatedly taken on excursions without serious accident. The educational value of excursions has long been recognized and widely util- ized in European countries. It is not unlikely that in this country the vacation schools will bring vividly before teachers the valuable possibilities of this neg- lected means of instruction. We may say, then, that the vacation schools so far have not only succeeded amply in their immediate purpose, but that they are giving impulse in important directions to the general educa- tional movement. School Gardens and Playgrounds 197 TOPICAL REVIEW 1. The school garden as an ideal form of nature study. 2. What opportunities does the school garden furnish for physical and manual training ? 3. Its relative value in city and country. 4. The advantages of directed play. 5. Should swimming be taught at public expense ? 6. How may the vacation school supplement and strengthen the day-school ? 7. How may it aid and elevate the home ? CHAPTER XVI THE SCHOOL AND THE COMMUNITY The school no longer stands apart from other forms of community life. The schoolmaster is no longer iso- lated. His interests and work must be of the broadest nature, and the school must be closely allied to every form of effort which is apj)lied for the enlightenment and betterment of the, people. The change from the conception that the school has a definite and restricted work to do in training to the use of certain school arts and in giving the elements of knowledge, to the new idea that the school has social functions, that it is to be a fountain of inspiration to all thinking and all work, that it is interested not only in the child daring his school life, but in the adult who toils and makes sacrifices that his child may remain in school, has been as gradual as it has been positive. It would be possible to explain how this change has come about, but the object here is to make practical suggestions in vieAV of conditions as they are, rather than to explain all the causes which have made the present situation what it is. It is obvious that in this country the aim is to make all people as intelligent, as upright, as industrious, and as law-abiding as possible. It is manifest also that a very large majority of men and women are forced out of school at an early age into 198 The School and the Community 199 pursuits which are more or less monotonous, and which have in themselves very limited opportunities for de- velopment. To offset this discouraging aspect of human society as it is to-day, we see a variety of forces, educa- tive and' cultural, growing up in our communities, which are capable of wielding a mighty influence for the intel- lectual and moral good of the people if given proper leadership. "We have, therefore, two great problems touching the social function of the school : 1. How may the school call to its aid, and organize for educational ends, the culture forces in the commu- nity? 2. How may the school become a social centre ex- tending its influence and power to the adult life of the community, so that education becomes a life process, and the work of levelling up, so essential to the great- ness of a republic, is in full and continuous operation? In this chapter let us consider what the school, through its oflScers, teachers, and active coworkers, may do in developing and organizing as many agencies as possible of an educational sort, so that latent and un- used talents are brought into service, so that men and women of education and leisure may co-operate, and persons of wealth may see opportunities for an unselfish use of their money; and finally that there may be in the community a unified and altruistic public spirit which is the finest product of our modern civilization. The question arises at once. What are the educational resources which may be summoned to the aid of the school? For convenience they may be di^dded into three classes: 1. Churches, homes, and libraries. 2. Newspapers, magazines, museums, government, indus- 200 School Management try, and the drama. 3. Those latent and unseen sensi- bilities and aptitudes of the people which make them responsive and capable of being quickened into new life. But someone will say : "My school is in a remotB village, or is solitary upon a New England hill, or a Western prairie — what can be done, then, in the way of enlisting culture forces ? " The reply is that the princi- ple back of the propositions is capable of universal appli- cation. There are few schools in our country that can- not relate themselves to nearly all of these culture elements, even though they are but slightly developed. The undertaking is difficult, but is all the more interest- ing and professional on that account. It is just as im- portant that the rural school should seek co-ordination with other forces as that the city school should do it, and throughout this whole discussion we must keep this thought in mind. Let us see now what definite, practical conclusions can be reached. 1. — The School and the Church. Let it be assumed at the outset that the church is en- gaged in educative work. Religion and morality should go hand in hand. Whatever character is found in the church is the joint product of the home, the school, and the community life. The church adds the higher thought, teaches the blessedness of faith and hope, and gives an ideal significance to human progress and at- tainment. Sectarian religion has little to do with the more vital functions of the church's mission, so it is easy for the chui'ch and school to combine in spirit and pur- The School and the Community 201 pose without infringing upon any particular belief. All essential truth belongs as much to the school as it does to the church. Clergymen and schoolmasters should often consult together concerning the moral welfare of the young, and the best means of promoting righteous- ness. Such conferences will do much to dispel bigotry and to awaken a common consciousness of common needs. The results of this co-operation will be reflect- ed in the school, in the pulpit, and in the homes of the community, and will open the way for a more tolerant, generous, and humane feeling among the people. The fact that the modern church has become highly differentiated along educational lines, and is employing the methods of the class-room and the social settle- ment, shows that there is current a changed conception of pure and undefiled religion. It certainly cannot be difficult for the school and the church to come into alli- ance at the present time. If the schoolmaster or the clergyman is arrogant, and harbors the thought that his cloth can justly claim a monopoly in any field, there is evidence that he is belated in his progress, and is out of harmony with the times. Teachers need to be much in the church, and preachers need to be in the schools; thus the one will helpfully react upon the other, and many parallel lines of work will be found. 2. — The School and the Home. We have many times referred to the relations of teachers and parents. They are co-ordinate and com- plementary. The teacher should know the parents of his children, sympathize with them in their ambitions, 202 School Management and learn from them many things that will help him in the school. As far as possible, home life and school life should be adjusted to each other, with an entire absence of irritation or antagonism of any sort. The teacher should invariably show respect for the par- ent, and the parent for the teacher ; thus the child may be expected to have increased confidence in both. Par- ents should be interested in what children are doing in school. This implies that the school should be freely open to parents. The teachers, on the other hand, should be interested in what the children are doing in their homes, and this means that the homes should be wide open to the teachers. Teachers should invite sug- gestions from the parents. If any work is to be under- taken in the way of making schools more hygienic and attractive, parents should be asked to serve on commit- tees which attempt this work. In the State of Maine an interesting movement has been carried on for several years under the general supervision of Mr. W. W. Stet- son, Superintendent of Public Instruction. School im- provement leagues have been formed, whose purpose has been : 1. To improve school grounds and buildings. 2. To furnish suitable reading matter for pupils and people. 3. To provide works of art for school-rooms. There are three kinds of leagues, designated as local, town, and State leagues. The membership in these leagues has included teachers, pupils, and citizens. This suggests the wisdom of having parents and teachers work together for every good cause. Many wholesome features of these improvement leagues are too evident to need emphasis, and the results as reported are most gratifying. It has been a matter of general observation The School and the Covununity 203 that where the home and the school are in harmony and work together there are happy results, not merely in scholarship, but in those moral and social qualities which make life worth living. It is in place to urge here the value of public days or hours when the entire school is thrown open, and parents and citizens are invited to be the guests of teachers and pupils. But the pleasure and beauty of these school receptions are often marred by an almost vicious tendency to make the exercises too formal and too much like a show. To give the best impression and accomplish the most good the school should be in its normal condition, and go on with its regular order of ex- ercises, the only difference being that the several recita- tions are shortened in order that something of every kind of school work may be shown. This prompt and rapid succession of reading, spelling, arithmetic, geog- raphy, history, physical exercises, singing, and memory selections is vastly more entertaining and valuable to parents than an artificial j^rogramme of declamations and songs, during which the teacher sits in the corner, and the people present get no adequate notion of what the school is doing from day to day. Kindred to the ''pub- lic day " is the school exhibit, which may be held at the same time or not, as circumstances determine. Here, also, should be seen the natural, proper, and legitimate work of the school. It is more important that it should be an honest and typical representation than that it should be vast in its extent, or made up of startling and imusual features. Both public days and exhibits do more than any other means to acquaint the community with the aims and life of the school. They tend to 204 School Management arouse the pride and loyalty of the citizens, and often lead to more generous appropriations for school ex- penses. The writer knows of several instances where men of wealth were so impressed with Avhat they saw in the schools that they made generous contributions for books, works of art, and other valuable aids. School exhibits are also educative, as they enlist the pupils in many activities which develop responsibility and execu- tive power. 3. — The ScJiool and the Library. If there is a public library the principals and teachers will naturally desire the fullest information as to what it offers, and in what way its resources can be brought into service as an adjunct to the school. There is the possi- bility of having one or more reading-rooms open to pupils of different grades, with the most desirable books for ref- erence and reading, and supervised by a school librarian, who is responsible not only for the way in which the books are used, but also for the conduct of the pupils. There is also the plan of having a large number of books bearing upon any given subject delivered at the school upon the order of the teacher, and kept in use until a new supply is required. The privilege afforded to teachers by most libraries of taking an entire class directly to the shelves, so that the members become familiar with the books available on that subject, and may draw them out for individual use, is invaluable. Many large city libraries have not only established branches in the schools, but have organized a system of distribution and of supplementary reading. Local conditions vary great- The School and the Community 205 ly, and it is important that teachers become strongly imbued with the value of the library in whatever form it may exist, and become pioneers if necessary in working out devices which are most feasible. In case there is no town library, the school should have one, and however small and humble its be- ginnings, it will be sure to grow. Pupils and parents will make contributions, a school concert or public lect- ure will be arranged, and its proceeds devoted to the library. Soon the school will have a nucleus of good books which will be a fountain of life and inspiration to the older pupils. The ideal class-room library would be filled with books bearing directly upon the subject- matter of the grade, and placed upon open shelves within easy reach of the pupils, who would have per- mission to take out volumes any time when they could make good use of them. Pupils who have this daily and hourly opportunity for study and research are in a different class from those who are restricted to the required text-books. It is clear that all of these methods of bringing young people into contact with good books, and teaching them how to use them, are intended not merely to serve the young during their school life, but to establish those habits of reading and that taste for good literature which last for a lifetime, and which enable working people to rise above drudgery, and find solace and inspiration. The battle now going on for shorter hours and higher wages points to a larger need for good reading. 206 School Management 4. — The School and the Museum. Let us meet any objection that the museum is only for the city by the statement that in every community there are objects of natural and historic interest, which if brought together would be of immense interest to both young and old. It is an age of travel, and every traveller brings back with him articles significant of the products, industries, and customs of the people he has visited. An instance is recalled, when in a country village, a few years ago, some enterprising person suggested the idea of a temporary museum, to which all the citizens should be invited to contribute as a means of raising money for a local charity. The results were surj^rising. What was brought together presented vivid pictures of local his- tory long forgotten, and methods of domestic life and husbandry of which the younger generation knew noth- ing. Had the village possessed some public building in which a room could be devoted to a permanent loan collection, an historical society could have been organ- ized to take charge of it, and a desirable educational means Avould have been established. Let it, then, be assumed that in every community there ought to be n growing collection to which people interested in doing good might make contributions. There is no end of work which classes from the schools can do in well-or- ganized museums. Classes in botany find collections of woods, fibres, cereals ; those in zoology have the oppor- tunity of examining shells, birds, and animals, arranged to show the orders and families ; so with classes in eth- nology, geology, and history. Teachers should first The School and the Community 207 have a somewhat familiar acquaintance with the re- sources of the museum, and should closely connect their teaching with what can be actually seen and examined. The American Museum of Natural History, in New York, and the Field Columbian Museum, in Chicago, are good examples of what may be done for the educa- tion of the people, either by the municipality or by public-spirited donors. If nothing better offers itself, the school may organize a small museum of its own. By entering into corre- spondence with other schools where climate and pro- ductions differ, an interesting collection may be made by gradual exchange. The necessary correspondence, labelling, and installing of exhibits may be largely car- ried on by pupils. 5. — The School and the Neivspaper. There has been a difference of opinion about the news- paper and its educative province. There can be no doubt, however, that the school needs the support of the public press, for no influence is more potent where intel- ligence and conscience are supreme. If editors and news- paper men can be enlisted in the service of the schools there will be found no more valuable allies than they. More and more the newspaper in its tone, spirit, and matter will be such as to make it admissible to the school- room. No history is more important than present history. No world movements are greater or more full of instruc- tion than those of the present time. The good newspaper reflects the world's life and activity in its manifold forms, and if read along with other text-books adds immense 208 School Management interest and makes teaching real. The fact that some newspapers are bad and unfit to be thus used only argues that the young should be made acquainted with the best papers and should be taught to use them in the right way. 6. — The School and Indvstry. There has been a decided awakening in this direction of late. It is now thought as proper to take a class to a saw-mill, a stone quarry, a cotton factory, or a foundry as to a laboratory or a recitation-room. The industries of the neighborhood become standards by which the world's work, of various sorts is estimated and judged. Every community has its peculiar economic problems gi'owing out of its natural resources, means of transportation, climate, soil, etc., which make it possible to carry on an intensive and typical line of study. Professor E. P. Halleck gives a concrete instance of the way in which social economic power may be developed by the study of the more common industries. "A boy was asked how many horseshoe nails a black- smith would need in the course of a year. The only de- tails furnished were that this blacksmith was the only one in a little town of three hundred, and that he drew his custom from that and from an agricultural district of four square miles. The boy took an imaginary town and determined the probable occupation of every one of the inhabitants. Next he plotted on paper the four square miles, fixing the woods, hills, and streams, the farm acreage, the kind of crops raised, the number of horses needed, Then he talked with blacksmiths, and The School and the Community 209 found that they were human. He blew the bellows, listened to the meny anvil chorus, stroked the noses of the horses, and found that they liked sympathy. He was a surprised boy to learn that if he worked up his own arithmetical problems, they had something to do with real practical human life." * The late Colonel Parker was a strong advocate of the same idea, and believed not only that agriculture should be brought into the schools of both city and country, but that the farmer and teacher should work together. He said : " The tremendous advantage of a rational course of work in country schools is that it would make a strong, binding union of the home and the school, the farm methods and the school methods. It would bring the farm into the school, and project the school into the farm. It would give parent and teacher one motive, in the carrying out of which both could heartily join. The parent would appreciate and judge fairly the work of the school, the teacher would honor, dignify, and ele- vate the work of the farm. Farmer and housewife would be ready to discuss the methods of the farm and liousekeeping in the school. Children, parents, and teacher could meet at stated periods and hold discus- sions in the direction of their highest interests. One of the best meetings I ever attended was a imion of grang- ers and teachers in Oceana County, Michigan. One hour was devoted to a discussion of how to raise potatoes, and the next was given to the education of children." f * Proceedings of the National Education Association, 1901. t "The Farm as a Centre of Interest." Keport of Committee of Twelve, 1895. 210 • School Management Dr. David Eiigeue Smith, of the Teachers College, New York City, has shown how arithmetic, which has been the most unsocial and unrelated of all subjects, may be used to arouse the child's interest in the quantitative side of practical life. His thought as stated is as follows : " The problems of present arithmetic might well be of two kinds : First, those dealing with the quantitative side of matters of local interest, as to the cost of blast- ing rock for a cellar in New York City, the quantity and cost of a mile of asphalt pavement in Buffalo, the quantity of water necessary for irrigating for a season an acre of laud in Colorado, and the cost and the quantity of materials necessary for fattening a herd of twenty-five cattle on an Ohio farm ; second, those dealing with the quantitative side of matters of general interest, as the Pennsylvania Railroad system, an ocean steamship, the comparative cost of the transportation of ore from Lake Superior to Pittsburg by rail and by water, the amount of freight carried on the Mississippi compared with that carried by the Illinois Central Railroad which parallels it, a great department store, the labor and money saved by the cotton-gin and by other inventions concerning cotton productions, the sugar-cane and beet-sugar in- dustries compared, and dairying and ranching. Since nearly all the arithmetical processes are mastered by the end of the fifth year at school, the last three years of mathematics in the grades might be spent almost en- tirely in the study of important industries and other matters on the quantitative side, as mining, banking, investments, manufacture of clothing, government rev- enue, commission business, gardening and farming, the cost of paving, of water, and of gas in different cities, T'he School and the Covimnnity 211 the comparative cost of gas and electric light, compari- son of the steel industry in this country and in Eng- land, or the comparison of the growth of certain cities here and abroad." * 7. — The School aiid Government. This part of the subject can be disposed of quickly. The means by which we are governed are ever in opera- tion, and the young should be taught to follow with in- terest all kinds of public work and service which is done by State, count}', town, or city. The town meeting, court of common council, the work performed by the depart- ment of roads, the police, lights, sanitation, and justice should receive enough attention to make the child familiar with their workings and fully conscious of his relationship to them. Wholesome respect for the authority of the state is in itself an educative influence. Sound patriotism is based upon it, and the words "our country" mean little with- out an appreciation of that system of law and order which ensures safety, security, and peace to the citizen. It is seen that the school is planted in the midst of other strong educative forces. By reason of its intrinsic nature and scope it should be a leader and a sort of unifying influence in the community. As it allies itself to the church, the library, the museum, and other means of culture it multiplies its own strength, and establishes a fraternit}' of moral influences which gives character and tone to the entire neighborhood. ♦ Teachers College Record^ March, 1903. 212 School Management TOPICAL REVIEW 1. Why should the school combine with other forces? 2. Such combinations everywhere possible. 3. New activities of the church and their significance. 4. How home and school may work together. 5. Means of interesting parents and citizens. 6. The benefits and dangers of the reading habit. 7. The uses of the newspaper in the school-room. 8. Educative lessons from industries. CHAPTER XVII THE SCHOOL AS A SOCIAL CENTRE Dr. Dewey * names four specific elements wbicli bear uj^on the school as a social centre. 1. The efiiciency and ease Avith which people are brought together through transportation, cheap litera- ture, aud centralized industry. 2. The weakening of the bonds of social discipline and control as represented by the home, the church, custom, and tradition. 3. Education is much more closely identified with life. All people are at school because all science and all industry are closely connected, and what we call practical life is replete with lessons and experiences which tend to educate. 4. Change and progress are so rapid that education for all who intend to be successful must be continuous. Doubtless the most fruitful suggestions in regard to the propriety of opening school-houses, and making them meeting-places for the people, were prompted by the successful work of social settlements. This form of work, which started as a philanthropy, has taken on many educative phases, until the best organized social settlements are quasi-schools for the people. Tliey * "The School as a Social Centre." Proceedings of the Nutioual Education Asaociation, 11)02, page 873. 213 214 School Management teach those arts which minister to household comfort and thrift, and arouse an interest in good books and pictures. Thus the homes are reached, and life is made more tolerable for those who are otherwise miserable and "wretched. Moreover, the element of recreation and entertain- ment has been prominent in all settlement work, so that there has been something to enjoy, and the days of hard toil have been brightened by music, dramatic entertain- ments, and interesting lectures. Games and sports have also been provided. Thus social settlements have be- come centres of life and light in the neighborhood, and in a simple, natural, and constructive way homes have been improved and a higher order of neighborly inter- course has been promoted. The public school is not a social settlement, and can never fulfil the functions of one. It would not be wise for school ofl&cials and teachers to press this idea so far as to divert school funds from their legitimate purpose, or to amplify school expenses on the social side to such an extent as to create a popular reaction in the minds of heavy taxpayers. The Speyer School of the Teachers College, New York, now housed in a new five-story building, is the first at- tempt to illustrate how the purposes of the school and the social settlement can be combined. This building contains two reading-rooms, one for children and one for adults, on either side of the main entrance. These are open day and evening, and are under the super- vision of a coiupetent person, who assists the readers in finding such books and magazines as may be most help- ful to them. The School as a Social Centre 215 On the first floor in the rear is a large kindergarten room, which not only receives the young children of the neighborhood during the day, but serves as a meeting- place for the Mothers' Club, which is a popular and useful feature. The basement floor and the rear yard provide a spacious gymnasium, which is open at all hours of the day and evening for school-children, for young women, and young men respectively. On the same floor are baths and dressing-rooms. Beside the class-rooms, which occupy two floors, there are labora- tories for wood- working, domestic art and science, which are also in constant use. On the fifth floor is a suite of apartments and additional rooms for the principal and resident workers. The roof provides space for playground and garden. This school, if properly managed, will illustrate both what can be done and what cannot be done in a public school. It will be found that the expenses for adminis- tration and instruction will be large if efficient work is accomplished. The practical question is, under what circumstances and in what way can the public schools be kept open and be made centres of social and intellect- ual culture. 1. — Uniform Practice not Desirable. Many experiments will be needed to work out this problem. Inasmuch as conditions vary in diflerent com- munities, and in different portions of the same commu- nity, experiments will naturally be tried along quite dif- ferent lines. In well-to-do sections, where the home life is ideal, or nearly so, it would bo absurd to open the 216 School Management school-Louses for adults, except in the case of parents' meetings and education societies, to which reference ■will be made later. There should be, however, evening classes for young men and young women whose school training has been limited or who need special instruc- tion for the sake of their vocation. On the other hand, in the slum sections of our cities the settlement idea ought to be quite fully developed in the school. Special arrangements should be made for janitor service, directors, and teachers who would be present on certain evenings of the week, and possibly a certain portion of Sunday, for the supervision of classes and clubs, and the physical, moral, intellectual, and in- dustrial activities which are most needed. Here is cer- tainly a rich opportunity for levelling up people by means of a more systematic and complete use of the school plant. Between these extremes of social condition, the sev- eral school neighborhoods of town or city will present various conditions and needs requiring wise adaptation and adjustment. 2. — The Principle of ScJiool Extension. The idea underlying all these new forms of educa- tional work is so sound and vital that it is likely to make headway rapidly. It is the office of educators to work out the plan tentatively, and to keep the public so well informed as to its motives and methods that there may be no set-back. The idea that education is a life process, and must therefore be continuous, commends itself to every open-minded person, and there is abroad The School as a Social Centre 217 to-day enough of altruism, sentiment, and feeling to sus- tain scliool authorities in all reasonable attempts to make school property and equipment more serviceable to the people at large. 3. — Free Lectures. New York City has given a fine object-lesson to the world of the value of the popular lecture as a form of school extension. There are in every community men and women who have something of interest to commu- nicate. Professional men, manufacturers, journalists, artists, and travellers are glad to prepare one or more lectures and repeat them at different centres without compensation. They only need to be asked and to be properly impressed with the value of the seiTice they are rendering. There is an enormous amount of talent going to waste, that might be used in this way. As far as possible these lectures should be given in the school- houses. They should be of a popular character, they should be opened to adults as well as to all the older children of the schools. In some cases they may be correlated with the studies of the older classes. The work of organizing the lectures, advertising, etc., could be undertaken by volunteer committees, aided and directed by the teachers. In this way the sole expense would be for the lighting of the school-houses and advertising. No school-board would hesitate to give this amount of financial support. It is better to inaugurate the plan of opening the school-houses to the people by means of lectures, concerts, and evening classes, and let other more strictly social and recreative features make head- 218 School Management way gradually accordiug as public sentiment is ready to approve and sustain them. 4. — Playgrounds. The proposition to open playgi'ounds at proper hours, not only for the use of pupils, but for other young people of the neighborhood, is only reasonable and just, and is bound to be universally accepted. In a former chapter we have shown how school-committees and city govern- ments may exercise wise foresight in anticipating the future growth of the city by securing ample tracts of land for school- sites and playgrounds. 6. — Parents' Associations. Another legitimate form of community organization which naturally requires the use of the school-house is the parents' association. By this we mean something more than the sporadic mothers' meeting or parents' meeting, which simply furnishes the opportunity for the kindergartner, the teacher, or the principal to in- struct parents concerning the ideals and methods of the school and through a better acquaintance to secui'e co- operation. The parents' association in its best form has a sim- ple organization and is managed by committees, whose membership contains both teachers and parents. Reg- ular meetings are held when educational questions are discussed. In these discussions there should be the fullest opportunity for opinions and even criticism upon existing methods. Nothing is better than frank statement, for it often happens that misapprehensions The School as a Social Centre 219 can be removed and parents who have been sceptical can be made enthusiastic supporters of the new educa- tion. Occasionally the children should be permitted to come with their parents, and should render some pro- gramme, literary or musical, which they themselves have arranged. The social hour which concludes such an evening, when parents, children, and teachers mix to- gether in a free and friendly manner, is its rarest feature. 6. — Education Societies. This type of organization distinctly favors the idea of the school as a centre of social and intellectual effort. It is broader than the ordinary parents' association, as it assumes that education is the great fundamental inter- est of mankind and that all citizens may be brought into some kind of co-operation for the sake of elevating community life. There might be successful education societies in every town and city in the country, pro- vided educators had faith in the outcome and courage to embark in such an enterprise. The writer does not know of a single instance of failure, except where the school officers and teachers who should have been most earnest and energetic have been conspicuous for their timidity and apathy. It would seem unwise to ask a community to lay an additional tax for the carrj^ing on of educational and social work out of school hours when educational sentiment is at such a low ebb that there is neither cohesion nor co-operation. It is recalled that in one or two cases where attempts have been made to 220 Scliool Management organize an education society, the representatives of the schools were frightened and helped to kill the proj- ect because of an evident tendency manifested at the initial meeting to criticise existing methods. A little effort and tact would have led the society into such rich and promising fields of influence and work that there would have been little time or disposi- tion to interfere with details. Experience in the forma- tion of education societies has taught several things. 1. The ideals of general education in their broader sense are so commanding that the best men and women may be enlisted and leadership may to a great degree be transferred fi'om the school to persons of social and intelligent prominence. Educators may suggest, advise, and work, but there are others who if given prominent positions in the society can make it most effective for good. 2. The society should be democratic, the annual fees very moderate, and the regular meetings should not be so frequent as to impose heavy burdens. Four or five meetings each year have been found sufficient to give character and strength to the work. 3. There should be selected for each regular meeting some broad, fruitful subject which directs attention not so much to the school, its defects and excellences, as to those phases of education outside, some of which we have discussed in the preceding chapter. A society recently formed in New York City, called " The Bound Table," has announced the following as some of the subjects worth discussing in the near future : " Ethical Life in School and College," " The Proper End of Education in a Democracy," " Ai*t as an The School as a Social Centre 221 Educational Influence and Discipline," " The Relation of Formal Education to Success in Life," "What May the School Expect from the Home," " The Old-fash- ioned Parent and the New-fashioned Education," " Education According to Social Grade and Expecta- tion," " The Use and Abuse of Psychology for Teach- ers," "What Knowledge is of Most Worth?" "The Problem of the Well-to-do Boy," " The Ideal Use of Libraries by the People," " Educational Lessons from Our Reformatories," "The Contribution of Pedagogy to the Teacher's Profession," "Existing Agencies for the Education of the People," "Civics-Teaching for Young People," "Literature for Young People," "The Utili- zation of the Summer Vacation in the Educational Scheme." While the discussion should be opened by one or two very competent persons, there should always be the fullest opportunity for the members to participate. Persons thus taking part may be profitably limited to five minutes, and they should not be permitted to wan- der far from the question in hand. 4. A social hour should follow the discussion, and every effort should be made to promote acquaintance and good-fellowship. It has happened in several in- stances that the education society has furnished the sole opportunity for clergyman, lawyer, doctor, business man, and teacher to meet on common ground, with no distinctions of creed or profession. 5. The society should appoint committees to carry on various lines of educational work, whose membership is made up of men and women especially fitted for the department to which they are assigned. Some of the 222 School Management objects to which committees may devote themselves are child study, art, music, science, physical training, school libraries, portfolio and home hygiene. Each sub-com- mittee should report at the annual meeting of the society upon its activities for the year. The executive commit- tee, including the otiicers of the society, should arrange for the reg^ilar meetings, and should see that the sub- committees are encouraged to do the work assigned them. It has been found that under the right leadership men and women take up this work with enthusiasm. In- directly the work of the teacher is dignified and made more interesting, social ban-iers are removed, and a more democratic and wholesome spirit pervades the entire community. The chief olijects of the education society may be summarized as follows : 1. To develop unity and co-operation in the institu- tional life of the community. 2. To promote a broader knowledge of the science of education and a better imderstanding of school methods. 3. To bring teachers and parents together, and thus to unite the school and the home. 4. To strengthen and improve such culture forces as music, the fine arts, the drama, the library, and ath- letics, so that the thousands who are enslaved a good part of each day to monotonous and deadening toil may fill their leisure hours with stimulating and uplifting occupation. 5. To lift the schools out of politics, not by sporadic, oratorical appeals, but by a rational and sustained efi'ort through which voters may become committed to what is true and unselfish. The School as a Social Centre 223 7. — School Decoration. It is hardly necessary to go deeply into this subject. Art teaching in the schools has done much to form the taste of the younger generation, and teachers can usually call to their assistance persons of culture and art intelligence to aid in beautifying school-rooms. There can be no question that beautiful coloring and artistic arrangement help to make the environment more refining and impart ideas of good taste to children. Where it is possible to place in the corridors and school- rooms copies of the masterpieces in painting and sculp- ture, the school becomes still more attractive and in- spiring. It is surprising how easy it has been to secure donations of money for this purpose. Where parents' associations and education societies have existed the best results have been secured. Too little attempt has been made to correlate pictures and casts with the subject-matter of the grade in which they are placed or with the age and advancement of the pupils. This is an interesting field and invites pains- taking study and care. In a few cases in school-rooms pursuing American history the subjects are connected with the grade work. In another instance Great Britain is well represented and the pictui-es are related to the English history. Works of art will naturally be somewhat above the plane of the pupil's thought and imagination, but ho will grow toward them year by year as he is brought under their influence, and they will have a place in his thought, his dreams, and his quiet hours of meditation. 224 School Management A few good examples of art well framed and placed are far better than a promiscuous collection of cheaper pictures. It is bad form to have too many scraps, draw- ings, clippings, and bric-a-brac exposed upon the walls. Too many homes present the appearance of a junk-shop rather than a place controlled by good taste and artistic arrangement. The school should set a high standard in this respect, and combine with exquisite cleanliness and neatness such choice artistic adornment as will defy criticism. It might at first appear that this subject of school decoration is out of place in our thought of a school as a social centre, but in reality it will be found to perform the function of both cause and effect. The more attrac- tive our school-houses are made the more readiness there will be to open them to the people, and the more homelike and attractive they will appear. On the other hand, the greater the sense of proprietorship the people have in the school as a meeting-place w^here they may cultivate the higher nature and find recreation and stimulus, the more eager they will be to sustain the school authorities in making the school-house and its surroundings a true educational home for young and old. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. What conditions in city life call for the open school-house ? 2. Methods of organizing classes for adults. 3. The justification of school extension at public expense. 4. Pedagogy for parents. 5. What educational ideals are attractive to nearly all people ? 6. Importance of keeping out bad pictures. 7. The unconscious influence of good pictures. CHAPTER XVIU AFFILIATED INTERESTS We have already seen liow the school has extended its boundaries in many directions. We have seen also that the principle of self-activity leads us to loosen the bonds of formal discipline and throw an increasing responsibility upon the student. With the growth of the broader view of the school which makes individual self-control and social adaptation instead of mere knowl- edge the chief aim, there have grown up various affili- ated activities. These offer such an opportunity for the training of the body, mind, and spirit together, and are so productive of manly and womanly qualities that they cannot be omitted from a treatise on school man- agement. It is unnecessary to make an argument to prove that athletic, literary, and musical clubs are a natural and proper part of the school life, for they express not merely a spontaneous and healthy desire and tendency of the young in their mental and moral growth, but also a distinct need of education on the social side. Let us consider, in some detail, the spe- cial functions which each of these forms of supple- mentary work is fitted to perform. 225 226 School Management 1. — Athletics. Under tins head may be included organized games and sports, such as foot-ball, base-ball, and basket-ball, as have become almost universal. Witli these also must be included those athletic games which develojD individ- ual students in running, vaulting, throwing, etc. These games and sports, which had their first development in our colleges, have made their way doAvnward through the several grades of high and grammar schools, and are so impressive and captivating to the younger children that even the primary pupils have their nines and teams. School-officers and observers give large credit to these various forms of activity, not only for Avhat they do for physical health, but for their value in developing the higher qualities of self-denial, obedience, loyalty, and sportsmanlike generosity. Young people in the adoles- cent stage possess an exuberance of energy, which if not utilized often oversteps the bounds of reason and control, and makes trouble for the oflfender as well as for others. Dr. Luther Gulick has shown that the most popular forms of athletics are accompanied by an interest which gives them a higher place in education than any formal and systematic scheme of gymnastics. In other words, modern sports are vitally connected with the old psychic interests of the race, and are therefore valuable because they satisfy an old and natural apti- tude. His conclusions are : " 1. There are relations between certain muscular contractions with definite emotional states, as well as the converse. " 2. That we inherit, also, tendencies toward other Affiliated Interests 227 muscular co-ordinations that have been of great racial utility. " 3. That both these co-ordinations of muscle are ac- quired by the individual with great ease and joy. " 4. That these racially old co-ordinations are basal in neural, rational, and moral development. " 5. That athletic sports and games are chiefly com- posed of racially old elements. "6. Hence, physical training should pay great atten- tion to phylogenetic muscular history, and chiefly em- phasize racially old co-ordiuations and interests." * It is evident that school authorities cannot entirely surrender the care and direction of athletics to the school body. There are several things to be kept con- stantly in mind : 1. The problem should receive broad treatment. The best possible provision should be made for play- grounds, both for girls and boys, and an indoor gymna- sium which can be used for basket-ball and other sports during the winter. 2. The organization and control of the various ath- letic interests should be lodged as fully as possible in the hands of the students, but the teaching force should be represented in the management, and should control absolutely the times and places for training ; competi- tive games with outside teams, in respect to when and where, and how many ; the making of such rules as will prohibit those who are negligent in their other school duties from playing on the several teams ; and the methods of raising and spending money. 3. Athletics should be more highly differentiated. * American Physical Education Review.^ June, 1892, page 65. 228 School Management This is a pressing need. Provision should be made for the girls in a playground that is properly screened from the public by fences or hedges, so that they can play in gymnasium suits. The ideal American game has not yet been invented. That will call for a much larger number of participants, so that the majority of the school will no longer have to be mere spectators. Ten thousand people witnessing a ball-game is inspiring, but the benefits seem to be restricted to the few who do the playing. There should either be a larger number of teams or the invention of a national game which calls for a larger number of players. 4. The school should hold itself responsible for not allowing athletics to be overdone. The school physician or the director of physical training, or both, should have an active oversight of all sports and games, which should be regarded as a regular part of the school life, and not something outside of it. This seems to be the present tendency and is a healthy one. The more prin- cipals and teachers are present when practice is going on, and the more they give their influence to encourage the better features of games, the more will results ac- cord with that high standard to which the American school is committed. 2. — Literary Societies. These are a legacy to our secondary and grammar schools from the old academies. They are not as en- thusiastically supported as are athletic games. This may be due in part to the changed curriculum, which calls for a larger amount of literary study and theme writing. Affiliated Interests 229 But here, as in athletics, there is a field for student ac- tivity which in its possibilities of self-realization and achievement surpasses the class-room. Here also wise and skilful leadership is needed. 1. The school literary society should be open to all, and should be democratic. In a large school there should be enough societies to practically absorb all the members. The tendency to form secret organizations in a school is not healthful if it interferes with the larger movement of which we are speaking. There can be no objection to a group of students meeting together for any purpose, social or intellectual, provided they keep their affairs secret. But the moment they begin to ad- vertise or to make any public demonstration they be- come unsocial and excite jealous criticism. 2. The literary societies of the school should cover a wide field and give an opportunity for talent to express itself in a larger and freer way than is possible in the class-room. In some cases the society takes the form of a debating club. It is well to have debating as an incidental kind of work in a society which affords opportunity for original composition, declamation, short lectures, and music. No one can question the value of training young people to make practical use of their attainments in rhetoric or English, through written and oral speech. Teachers should be members ex officio of these societies, and should strive in every possible way to have tliem do those things which will be most creditable to the school and most helpful to its members. 230 School Management S,-^The School Paper. The publication of a weekly or monthly paper is quite common in our best schools. These papers show a Avide range in the excellence of their form and contents. Some are too ambitious and savor some- what of yellow journalism. Others are too sombre and stilted, and suggest the formal method of the class- room. The school paper should be a free and natural development of the best ideas and thoughts of the whole school. It should stand midway between the life of the school and the world outside, and should reflect both as accurately as possible. Especially should it represent loyally and justly such news about the daily workings of the school as will be helpful in the homes as well as in the community. Brief articles upon the work done in music, art, manual training, science, and history will be of interest and value, as pupils who do not take these subjects will have a broader idea of what the school is doing. The board of editors should be relatively large and well organized into groups, so that the entire field may be covered without entailing too gi-eat labor upon indi- viduals. Teachers should not only give oversight and censorship, if necessary, to the paper, but should see to it that the business side is carried on honorably and efficiently, and that all obligations are promptly met. The papers which come from other schools, by way of exchanges, should be placed where they can be seen and read by all the pupils. Affiliated Interests 231 4. — Musical Clubs. Schools and homes should work together in calling forth those tastes and inclinations, which give to many lives their highest significance. Love of music is partly natural, and partly acquired. The school should culti- vate music, not merely for the good of the indi\'idual pupil, but for its own sake. The glee club, the school orchestra, or mandolin club, if well sustained and brought to a good degree of cultivation, is a delightful feature, and not only affords pleasure and profit to its members, but has a good influence upon the whole school. Above all, it opens a special door of oj^por- tunity to those who have unusual tastes and aspirations in that direction, and in many cases has given wings to genius. The school that possesses music is able on public occasions to express itself to its patrons and citi- zens in a manner that is at once pleasing and effective. It is not necessary to speak of the other clubs that have been found useful in supplementing the school. There are now in successful operation natural history clubs, historical societies, French and German clubs. The school should interest itself not only to foster these various forms of afiiliated life, but should see that the community provides those culture opportunities which answer to them. For example, the members of the school glee club should graduate into a town choral society, where they may find the opportunity of study- ing and performing the works of the great masters. Those especially interested in history should find in the community some well-organized scheme for gathering 232 School Management up and husbandiug such talent. This is quite in line with what has been said in a previous chapter about invoking the aid of culture forces for the education of the people. 5. — The Summer Camp. The summer camp is an idealized form of the vaca- tion school. It has not yet reached its highest develop- ment. So far it has been regarded as an exclusive and somewhat expensive luxury, available only to the chil- dren of the well-to-do. It is worth considering whether such camps might be conducted at public expense for a short season, thus giving the older pupils in the gram- mar schools, boys especially, that unique experience which brings them close to nature, and permits them for a short time to live with their teachers, as it were, in a home where there is the fullest opportunity for mutual confidence, courtesy, self-reliance, and co-op- eration. This kind of contact gives the principal and his teachers an insight into a boj^'s real character and worth, and tends to strengthen greatly their hold and increase their influence. 6. — The Alumni Association. If the school is to take account not merely of its pupils, but of all those who have been under its influ- ence, it will endeavor to organize its old pupils in a way that shall be mutually advantageous. The boy or the girl whose school life is over is often cast adrift. The home ties are not strong enough to prevent or ofi'set the temptations of the city. The alumni association Affiliated Interests 283 should take such active interest in the new graduates as to provide in a measure for their intellectual and social needs. There should be occasional meetings through the year, and un annual meeting when all the former pupils are gathered together, old associations are revived, and the hand of friendship is extended in such a way as to make all feel that they have fellowship with others, who are striving to live honestly and nobly. Here is the culmination of the educational ideal, to wit, that a higher friendship shall dominate the community life and make men and women willing and eager to help each other, knowing that the wealth, prosperity, and good name of the community are dependent upon a imified public spirit as well as upon mutual confidence and regard. TOPICAL REVIEW X. Why are student organizations to be encouraged ? 2. The psychological factors in athletics. 3. Athletics for girls. 4. Has the modern teaching of English weakened interest in literary work ? 5. How can musical interest be increased ? 6. The true relations of the alumni to the schooL CHAPTER XIX SUPERVISION It is not the intention of the writer to go deeply into the question of school supervision. Many of its prob- lems are political and economic, and have little to do with the work of the school. It is pro})osed, however, in this concluding chapter to treat those relations which superintendents, principals, and supervisors sustain to each other and to teachers, and to point out some prin- ciples and methods which experience has shown to be sound. All that has been written in this volume may be re- garded as the true subject-matter of supervision. It has been shown that certain things need to be done, that teachers are to be trained continuously, that the school plant is to be kept in order, that the course of stud}'', programme, recitations, and examinations are all to be constructed and carried on in a truly educative spirit, and that the school in its various forms of activity is to minister to the ideal life. However earnest and skilful teachers may be, there is no hope that these high aims will be reached unless there is one strong controlling mind which communicates its spirit and policy to all the workers, and by fine tact and efficient leadership draws them into partnership and co-operation. 234 Supervision 235 1. — The Superintendent, In the small rural school the teacher usually has the largest amount of freedom, and to a good degree frames his own policy. In a small community where all the children attend one graded school the guiding hand is usually that of the principal, who exercises in his relation to the school-board some of the ordinary func- tions of the superintendent. In the larger community possessing a small group of schools, or in the large city system, it is the superintendent who impresses himself upon the school-board, shapes their opinions and ac- tions, communicates to principals and teachers the general policy, and in every possible way endeavors to have this policy successfully carried out. The superintendent should have a cultivated mind, a fairly good knowledge of men and things, and his per- sonal character should be above reproach. He should also possess a good knowledge of the history and theory of education, and should have mature judgment upon the many practical questions with which he has to deal. He should rejoice in his profession, should love his daily work, and in every possible way should seek to elevate and ennoble the service which he and his asso- ciates are called to perform. 2. — Need of a Definite Policy. Nothing is so good for a school system, or is regarded with more favor by the public, than a superintendent who has ideas for which he is willing to stand or fall ; 236 School Management things in which he believes and which seem to him especially pertinent to the situation. Every community has its own local needs and peculiarities. A superin- tendent should be quick to recognize these. He should not be too stubborn nor too hasty in announcing his policy. It is sometimes just as well to go around a difficulty as to run against it. It is well, also, to gauge one's own rate of speed in introducing new features. It is much easier to make progress when the superintend- ent has taken the public into his confidence, and has given them some idea of what he would like to accom- plish. The columns of the local newspaper can be used for this purpose. Parents' meetings, public days, and other occasions will afford the opportunity for statiug and restating the most important needs of the local schools, and thus creating an intelligent public senti- ment. No matter if a few array themselves in opposi- tion, provided there is a good healthy majority in favor of improvement. The superintendent with a policy deeply rooted in moral ideas, who is more highly charged with educa- tional and patriotic sentiment than with demands for large expenditure, is quite sure to carry the people with him. It is easier to secure appropiations for beautiful school-sites and fine buildings when there are high moral and educational motives moving the public mind and conscience. 3. — Relation to the School-Board. The superintendent must convince the board of the wisdom of his policy. He will leave no stone unturned to bring the board to his point of view. If he cannot do Supervision 237 this absolutely lie will at least establish a working basis and go forward hoping and believing that his policy will ultimately prevail. A modem tendency in school admin- istration, and one to be encouraged, is the plan of giving the superintendent almost entire freedom in affairs that are strictly educational, while the board exercises legisla- tive functions merely. Even where the authority is thus highly centralized in the superintendent, the writer be- lieves that the school-board should be kept as fully informed as possible, and should feel a sympathetic and approving interest in all that is done. In every instance where there has been a schism between superintendent and board the situation has become intolerable and the tenure of office of the superintendent has been short. While it is necessary in our large cities to have the selection of teachers, the framing of the courses of study, and the supervision of instruction placed in the hands of experts, it is necessary for the superintendent and his board to hold common ground and stand to- gether in all measures looking to progress and reform. 4. — Relation to the Community. Some who have written upon school administration have implied that if a superintendent is elected by a non-partisan board for a long term and is given some- what independent powers, he need consult no one, and may be as autocratic as he pleases. There could be no greater fallacy. In a democratic country like ours there is no public official, be it the President of the United States, the governor of a State, a member of Congress, or an alderman, who is not directly responsible to the 238 School Management people for his acts. The people so understand it and will not consent to a dififerent understanding. A super- intendent of schools by endeavoring to take the appoint- ment of teachers out of politics and freeing the schools from incompetency will invariably be sustained by the best elements. If he attempts revolutionary measures, independently of the board and regardless of public sentiment, he is sure to reap a harvest of opposition and trouble. It is far better as a faithful servant of the community to evoke their support and aid by pointing out the main lines of the new policy. Showing one's hand has been found to work well. The public officer who does it is usually sustained by the press, which al- ways has to be reckoned with. 5. — Relation to Principals and Teachers. Here, after all, the superintendent has his finest op- portunity. To develop unity of plan and to impart the spirit, at least, of his desires and aspirations to the whole teaching force without curtailing their freedom or crushing out individual initiative, requires the skilled tactician. That general policy to which we have re- ferred must be interpreted and made clear to principals and teachers. How important the teachers' meeting is for this purpose we have previously shown. If a super- intendent cannot call his principals into council, and win their confidence and loyalty, his policy and his work will measurably fail. He will be misquoted and misun- derstood in the various schools, and where there ought to be genuine frankness and open-handed co-operation there is hypocritic pretence and evasion. Some super- Supervision 239 intendents never know how disloyal their teachers are and how distinctly traceable this condition is to the principals. So I say again, a superintendent must have a strong and closely knit body of followers in his prin- cipals, a body-guard, as it were, who are as loyal as if they had sworn to die in his defence. As he expects them to deal honorably and candidly with him, so he will be careful to do them full justice in public and in pri- vate, and to give them that sujiport which they in turn are to give their teachers. Having established this relation with the principal, it becomes easy for the superintendent to enter the class-room, and to lend a hand in any work that may be in progress. He will take note of everything, and esteem nothing trivial or unimportant. His suggestions, and he should always be ready to make them, will fit into and harmonize with those of the principal, and the teacher will never be perplexed by the feeling that he has two masters to serve and two policies to carry out. The presence of a superintendent in a school-room should not cause alarm or disturbance of any sort. It is important that he should know what the normal life of the school is, and so therefore he will hesitate to in- terrupt or ask for a change of programme. As he has superior opportunities to see the best work as he goes from school to school, it should be one of his functions to disseminate these best methods and devices, and thus secure a high general average of school work. Whether a superintendent should ever conduct a reci- tation in the presence of the teacher is a question which he only can settle in the light of time, place, and circumstances. In nine cases out of ten he will teach 240 School Management more poorly than the class teacher. If he realizes this and bases his claim for the privilege of teaching upon a desire to know the pupils better, no serious harm is likely to be done. I doubt if a superintendent is likely to improve instruction by undertaking to give model lessons. The wise superintendent will heed what has been said in a former chapter about the danger of too much uniformit}', and the value of lettiug each school have some ideals of its own which are suited to the conditions in which it is placed. A school in the slums may do just as efficient work as one located in the Back Bay of Boston, but it will naturally have different aims and will do its Avork in a somewhat different way. This fact should influence the superintendent whenever he is tempted to set a uniform examination or make a com- parison of statistics respecting attendance, tardiness, or results in scholarship. A school whose personnel in the lower grades consists largely of foreigners with little, if any, knowledge of English, whose homes are in the worst of tenement-houses, must be strongly indus- trial, moral, and social in its training. These children, who have back of them many generations of poverty and filth, must be taught to be clean, industrious, honest, and thrifty, while they are at the same time acquiring the use of the mother-tongue. In the Back Bay school, whose children come from homes of opulence, where good breeding and refinement are the family inheri- tance, the school may devote itself more unreservedly to scholarship. The superintendent who regards each school as having an individuality of its own, with unique opportunities and a special mission, will best Supervision 241 serve the community and reflect the greatest credit upon his profession. Every school should be encouraged to make some experiments, and so there will be newness of life and some contribution to progress in which all may share. Finally, while the superintendent should be thor- oughly business-like and painstaking in all material in- terests of the schools, he should find a better use of his time than in keeping accounts and compiling statistics. The interests of all the children of the commimity are in his hands, including their health, moral and mental culture. He must be a close student and must keep abreast of the times in the science of education if he is to instruct and inspire the teaching staff. 6. — The Principal. No other person in the school system can do so much good at first hand. He can plant the seed and see it grow up to maturity. I have in mind at this moment several men w^ho have presided over the same schools until children of the third generation are under their care. Their names are household words in every home. They are the best known men in the whole neighbor- liood, and exert more influence than any number of clergymen who may happen to be in those parts for a brief season. Whether a principal be young or old, he is a privi- leged person. He can both teach and supervise. He can know the pupils and call them by name. He is a welcome visitor in the homes and can form many friend- ships good for a lifetime. He can gradually make the 242 School Management school and its surroundings attractive and homelike. He can exert a good influence upon the young, not only in the school but elsewhere, and may cultivate such local pride and such a love for the school as will re- strain his pupils from Avrong-doing. The priucij^al finds his greatest opportunity in guid- ing and supporting his teachers. They have many bur- dens to carry, and often suffer from bad conditions. Dr. Bumham, of Clark University, on the basis of a large number of reports from teachers, has summarized these conditions as follows : Poor ventilation, poor Kght, coal-gas, poor drinking water, improper heating, damp- ness, working by gas-light, dust, cold halls, cold floors, noisy streets, smoke, nearness to railroads, swamps, cesspools, out-houses, etc. Among the bad conditions incidental to instruction : Too many papers to be cor- rected, visitors, overwork, too large classes, no rest, long periods and sessions, heavy responsibilities, nervous strain, quantitative requirements, too much supervision by superintendents. The principal must be conscious of all these evils and must use his utmost skill in over- coming them. He must help his teachers by sympathiz- ing with them, by sharing their burdens, and by giving them every possible encouragement. The natural tendency w^hich people have to organize on a uniform pattern may be carried to excess by the principal as well as by the superintendent. Some por- tions of a garden will produce more than some other portions. The office of the gardener is to have every plant attain the best growth possible under the circum- stances. Variety is good in the school, ^t is well for the pupil in passing from grade to grade to find some- Supervision 243 thing new and interesting wliicli he has not met with before. Thus individual teachers are to be encouraged by the principal to be fresh and original in their methods, so that every school-room has something unique compelling the interest and admiration of the visitor. The school is much less formal than it has been, and the value placed upon motor training calls for great ingenuity in devising hand-work through which the child can express himself and gain knowledge and experience concerning things and processes. In fur- thering this newer development the principal has a field of endless opportunity. He is no longer a court of justice or a dispenser of discipline, but rather a director of enterprises and industries. The three R's, instead of becoming less important, have become more so, because they are brought into vital connection with what the child loves to do and think about. The principal must not only be in earnest in working out a newer and more vital education, but he must be able to explain what he is doing to his patrons and make them intelligent believers in the new reffime. He must indoctrinate his teachers also in this gospel, so that they may be not merely disciples but apostles. Where there is no school physician the principal should assume this office and should know enough of the ordinary diseases of children to detect any suspi- cious symptoms and do all in his power to prevent contagion. Every school has its weak and backward pupils, and possibly some who are more or less de- fective. If the principal does not discover these cases and make Some provision for their proper treatment they are likely to be neglected and prove an endless 244 School Management source of irritation aud annoyance to the teacher. Underneath the exterior of children there are many secrets which if known and understood by the principal would lead to more individual attention and prevent those unhappy conditions too often caused by ignorant and unjust treatment. 7. — T]ie Conclusion of the Whole Matter. It is clearly seen that the term school management covers a long list of functions and requirements in which supervising officers and teachers are equally inter- ested. What we had to say about supervision was reserved to a final chapter in order that the whole field might be surveyed and the teacher given his rightful position. If any school in city or country amounts to anything, it is because there is a teacher there whose living, working presence is felt by every pupil. Too little supervision is better than too much, and the great- est teachers the world has ever seen had no supervision whatever. The new ideals of efficiency to which reference was made in the first chapter presuppose a wider field of influence for the school. It has been shown how school management may operate along these new lines. Some will contend that the school should work more narrowly and intensively, but it is of little use to turn back the hands of progress. The new and generally received definitions of education call for something larger and better than is generally seen at present. The hygienic, industrial, and social obligations of the school are all comparatively new. The alphabet upon which their Supervision 245 nomenclature Is constructed has hardly yet been learned. Fortunately, in turning our attention to these new inquiries we are able to slough off and discard some things that were once made very prominent in school organization. Without being revolutionary the hope is entertained that these pages may tend to minimize organization as such, throw a stronger emphasis upon the scientific nurture and development of the individual life, and bring the school into a closer alliance with every movement which seeks the betterment and the happiness of the people. TOPICAL REVIEW 1. Supervision is coextensive with all school work. 2. What training is needed for the superintendent ? 3. In what sense may he be co-ordinate with the school board ? 4. Reasons for educating the people to high standards. 5. How may superintendent and principal both supervise with- out causing friction? 6. Should a principal teach classes ? 7. In what sense have the ideals of school management under- gone recent changes ? APPENDIX APPENDIX OUTLINES OF LESSONS These outlines are intended to illustrate certain fun- damental principles which are presented in Chapters XI. and XII. on the " Recitation." There is such richness of content in every lesson that interest is sure to abound, providing the teaching is good. Breadth of knowledge and fertility of device must be present or the teaching amounts to nothing. The five formal steps can be traced in each lesson, or series of lessons, although they are less distinctly marked in some than in others. It is evident that the teacher's preparation is a vital element. All that he has read and experienced, as well as the results of travel and reflection, enter into the teacher's outfit and make the daily preparation the easier. A HISTORY LESSON FOR PUPILS OF THE HIGHEST GRADE subject: magna charta Aim for Teacher. — To lead the pupils to see how the great idea of tlie interdependence and well-being of all classes of men were deniiiudcd by Magna Charta. 249 250 School Management Pupils* Aim. — To find out the debt of the American Constitution to the Magna Charta. Preparation. — Meaning of subject words. Of what other charters have we ever heard ? Charters of William I., Henry I., and charters granted American colonies. Why is this one called " the great*' ? Before beginning the study of our subject, let us have a summary of the chief events of the reign in which it came into existence. Summary. — John's undignified name " Lackland/* given him by his father, was made a reality by his three fatal quarrels. First, he quarrelled with the King of France, his overlord refusing to come to France, and answer the charges made against him by the Norman barons. By this refusal he was declared traitor, and sentenced to forfeit all his lands on the Continent. His resistance availed little, for the war that followed deprived him of all land north of the Loire. Second, he quarrelled with Pope Innocent III., who had ordered a delegation of monks to elect Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury. John refused to alloAv Lang- ton to land in England, and bore the Pope's interdict and even his excommunication with scorn. To bring the king to terms, the Pope ordered the King of France to seize England's throne. Thoroughly fright- ened, John hurried to submit, not only receiving Stephen Langton, but paying $G4,000 yearly to the Pope for the privilege of keeping his crown. Third, he quarrelled with his own barons, the chief men of influence in England. He had refused to allow the Church to fill its ofiices or enjoy its revenues. He had ex- torted large sums from the barons. He had compelled Outlines of Lessons 251 merchants to pay large sums of money to carry on business in peace. He had sent to prison men on make-believe charges, and kept them there. He had unjustly claimed large sums from poor men, and had seized their carts and tools so they could not earn their living. Presentation. — Material needed • A facsimile copy of Magna Charta and one of the United States Constitu- tion. A set of English histories containing Magna Charta in English. A set of American histories containing the Constitution. Method of Presentation.— What classes of society had suffered by John's misrule ? Who undertook the task of reform ? Who was their leader ? Where was first meeting held ? What model charter did Laugton there present ? After the king's crestfallen return from Bouvines, where did the second meeting take place ? Can you justify the result of this second meeting, viz., they solemnly swore before the high altar that they would make the king grant the new charter or they would declare war against him ? Result. — At Easter these same barons met the king at Oxford, and told him what they wanted. Seeing that he could not evade them, John said, "Let the day be the 15th of June and the place Ilunnymede.'* At that date and place did the king set his seal to Magna Charta. What was the meaning of the king's angry cry, " They have set five-and-twenty kings over me." Now let us turn to the document itself : How many provisions does it contain ? It redressed the grievances of the Church, then of the 252 School Management barons and their tenants, then of citizens and tradesmen, then of villeins and serfs. Three were of tremendous importance to every man in the land : 1. No freeman shall be imprisoned except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. 2. Justice shall neither be sold, denied, nor delayed. 3. All taxes, except the feudal dues, shall be imposed only by the consent of the national council. Comparison. — Magna Charta is England's first great document of constitutional government. What is that of the United States ? When was the Constitution drawn up ? When was it accepted by the States ? Who were some of the signers ? How do the two documents compare in size ? Number of articles ? What articles in the Constitution deal with the same subjects as Magna Charta ? Under what circum- stances was the Constitution drawn up ? What new issues, not provided for in Magna Charta, did we have to meet ? What was exactly stated in the Constitution that was only implied in Magna Charta ? (Habeas corpus.) For what classes of society did the barons work in Magna Charta ? For what classes did the f ramers of the Constitution work ? Generalization. — Give a summary of the facts of Magna Charta, and a comparison of its provisions with those of the Constitution. What facts of Magna Charta have proved of surpassing worth to Englishmen everywhere for five and a half centuries ? Application. — Magna Charta expressed the attempt of men to ameliorate the lot of their fellow-beings at a time when the different classes of society were separated by almost inconceivable barriers. In our pride in our own land, what must we remember that we owe to Magna Charta ? Outlines of Lessons 253 This great hnman idea of brotherhood was long ago recognized by the law-makers in Magna Charta. " Then let us pray, that come it may As come it will for a^ that. That sense and worth o'er a' the earth May bear the gree, and a' that ; For a' that, and a' that. It's coming yet for a' that That man to man, the warld o*er, Shall brothers be, for a' that." A LITEEATUKE LESSON FOR HIGHER GRADE PUPILS THE SOLITARY REAPER BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Behold her, single in the field. Yon solitary Highland Lass ! Eeaping and singing by herself ; Stop here, or gently pass ! Alone she cuts and binds the grain. And sings a melancholy strain ; listen ! for the Vale profound Is overflowing with the sound. No nightingale did ever chaunt More welcome notes to weary bands Of travellers in some shady haunt Among Arabian sands : A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard In spring-time from a Cuckoo-bird, Breaking the silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebrides. 254 School Management Will no one tell me what she sings? Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow For old, nnhappy, far-off things And battles long ago : Or is it some more hnmble lay. Familiar matter of to-day? Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain. That has been, and may be again ? Whate'er the theme, the maiden sang As if her song could have no ending ; I saw her singing at her work And o'er the sickle bending ; — I listened, motionless and still ; And, as I mounted up the hill. The music in my heart I bore. Long after it was heard no more. Preparation. — Aims : 1. The first aim in the teaching of this poem is an ethical one. It is to awaken in chil- dren an ideal of service through the common task (the reaping), and arouse the appreciation of the reaper's un- conscious service in inspiring the poet by the beauty of the air of the song. 2. To widen the children's horizon by an interest in these foreign lands, viz., the lake country of England, Wordsworth's home ; the Highlands of Scotland, the reaper's home ; the far-off Hebrides ; the sandy Arabia. 3. To increase a knowledge and love of natural objects : the vale, the hill, the lonely field, the nightingale, the cuckoo. 4. To teach the use of beautiful words : thrilling, soli- tary, profound, plaintive, humble, familiar, mounted. 5. To train the power of logical thinking, by carefully Outlines of Lessons 255 questioning the poem to discover the truth, apparent and underlying. Also the power of discriminating apprecia- tion, by requiring children to answer questions in the words of the poem. 6. To train the memory by learning the four stanzas by heart. Special Preparation. — Material Needed : Pictures or photographs of the Highlands in the region of Loch Lo- mond near the scene of the poem, to give pupils interest in the home of the reaper. In order that the pupils may enter into the spirit of the poem they must know something of the poet and his home. The lesson may be begun by showing to the class photo- graphs of the Vale of Grasmere, where Wordsworth drew great draughts of inspiration for his own service to men ; another of his home, Dove Cottage ; a bit of Lake Winde- mere, where the lake and its guardian hills still wear their beauty, as if conscious of the poet's boyhood love. They should see the photograph, also, of the little Church of St. Oswald, and the yew-tree in the yard where sleeps the great interpreter of nature beside the Rotha, which still obeys unweariedly the charge — " Sing him thy best, for few or none Hear thy voice right, now he is gone." Presentation. — 1. Why was the poet interested in the Scottish Highlands ? (Early visit there.) Why does he call the reaper " Lass " ? In how many expressions in the first stanza does he make ns feel the force of ''solitary " in the title ? How are we made to feel the loneliness of the grain-field? To whom is the poet talking in the fourth line? What does it show you of his great courtesy ? 256 School Management How do you feel the dignity of the labor of the maiden? Why does ''Vale profound " mean so much more than if he had said "deep valley" ? 2. Why does the poet compare the maiden's song to the nightingale's instead of to his favorite skylark ? What does tlie dignified spelling of "chaunt" suggest to you ? What reminds you in this second stanza that the poet is away from his own laud ? Do you see how the loneliness of the song in the valley suggests the cuckoo's visit to the lonely Hebrides rather than to smiling, happy England ? The girl's work of reaping and binding the grain could be comprehended at sight, but the plaintive music awakened a questioning response in the poet's heart. Perhaps the maiden was singing the story of the brave skipper. Sir Patrick Spens, who obeyed the king's orders to sail to Nor- way, and whose good ship on the return voyage was splin- tered on Scotland's shore, with the loss of every noble knight and every broad piece of gold. Perhaps she re- membered Scotland's ill-fated battle of Culloden, where the Scottish heather was dyed a deeper red with the blood of those brave friends of bonnie Prince Charlie. What might have been the " natural sorrow, loss, or pain"? Still bending over her sickle, the maiden sang the song in harmony with the sound of the waves on the shore of her native land. Her grain would add to the store of the little family at home. The song kindled the soul of the poet, and through him men catch the inspiration that service is beautiful. Generalization. — Summanj of the Poem: The beauty of humble service. The song that still overflows all the world of the poet's readers. Outlines of Lessons 257 The value of the service depends upon the spirit in which it is rendered. Application. — The maiden showed joy in her work, al- though her life had known sadness. This ethical lesson cannot be pressed home, but the children's interest in the poem may be deepened and they may respond to it more readily if the facts of the poets are wrought into a written paper upon an allied subject, such as — 1. A Visit to the Cottage Home of the Solitary Reaper. 2. Harvest Time in the Highlands, Told by a Brother of the Solitary Eeaper. A SEEIES OF LESSONS IN GEOGKAPHY VIENNA, THE CHIEF GATE CITY OF EUKOPE These lessons on Vienna are planned for the first in a series on several European cities, to be given in the seventh or eighth grades to illustrate the influence of geographical environment, and the control of man on such environment. Vienna has been chosen to begin the series because of its striking geographical position, and because, though one of the oldest cities of Europe, it is to-day one of the most mod' eru and brilliant. In the study of Europe, which should precede these les- sons, the attention of the pupils should be called in a general way to some of the natural conditions leading to the location and growth of towns and villages. For ex- ample, the convergence of the Alpine passes on the north- * Teacher i8 referred for material on these lessons to Die Geo- graphische Lage von Wien, hy A. Pcnck, published by IIolzcl, Vienna; Ver Doden der Siadt Wien, by Ed. Suess ; and Baedeker's Austria, 258 School Management ■west corner of Italy explains the location of Milan and Turin ; the confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine is the raison d'etre of Coblentz ; the fine roadstead where Plym- outh is located was the nearest English harbor to the Spanish Main, and guarded the entrance to the channel ; and the great bend of the Loire brought Paris nearer the fertile Limagne, and was the point where the roads from the interior provinces converged upon Paris. The pupils should also be led to see how natural condi- tions sometimes militate against the continued prosperity of a city. Pisa, once a seaport at the mouth of the Arno, now with its river choked with silt, and Bruges, formerly a populous city three miles from its seaport, and now stranded seven miles inland by the advance of the shore line, may be given as illustrations of cities out-distanced in their com- petition for trade and wealth by their more fortunate neighbors, and visited to-day by the traveller chiefly be- cause of the interest in a past life which their old streets and buildings excite. For the lessons on Vienna each pupil has an atlas con- taining good physical maps of Europe and its countries. The map of Austria contains a small inset map of the im- mediate environs of Vienna of which use will be made. On the wall is a map of the present city, with the old town and the newly incorporated villages marked so as to be easily distinguished. The teacher may begin the lesson by asking a child to name some of the natural conditions which have led to the settlement and growth of towns, and to use as illustrations the cities and towns of Europe. Then may be asked the reasons why such towns as Pisa, Bruges, Ravenna, etc., once towns of importance, should have sunk into insig- nificance. The class is then ready for the statement of the new work about to be undertaken and its purpose ; that Outlines of Lessons 259 they are to begin this work with Vienna, a city which has existed upward of two thousand years; and that they are to endeavor to discover why it has not followed the fate of these languishing cities, but is to-day one of the great cap- itals of Europe. The Teaching of the Lesson. — As the key to the history of Vienna is its geograpliic position, let us study its location. Turn to the physical map of Europe and look at the great highland mass which stretches from the Carpathians to the Pyrenees. What two parts of Europe does this great wall separate ? Name any breaks in this wall by which people from the cold, cloudy North could enter the warm, sunny South. (Children name Rhone Valley, Alpine passes of the Simplon, St. Bernard, St. Gotthard, etc.) Notice that at Vienna the most massive part of this wall is sud- denly broken. "With what mountains does the wall begin again ? Look at this broad gateway that opens in the mountain wall. Between what parts of Europe does it make intercourse easy ? What city lies here ? Turn now to the map of Austria and look at the roads which diverge from this gate. Let us take that to the south first. Trace the line where the Alps suddenly fall off into the Plain of Hungary. What is the direction of this line ? Trace it to the Adriatic. What mountains lie between the Plain of Hungary and the sea ? What indications do you find that they can be crossed with little difficulty ? Once on the shores of the Adriatic, wliat fruitful countries of Europe can be easily readied ? Trace tlie road that ex- ists to-day between Vienna and Trieste. What natural features guide its position ? Where does it leave the plain and enter the highland ? Why ? This Semmering Pass was the first Alpine pass to be crossed by the rail- SCO School Management road. It is a beautiful ride, and wonderful feats of engi- neering were accomplished in its construction. The old high-road is a favorite with bicyclists, and hundreds of wheelmen pour out of Vienna as soon as the schools close in the summer to ride through the Styrian mountains and the Semmering. AVhat city in Italy is the junction for the lines to Trieste and Venice ? Look now for the broader, easier road which leads from Vienna to the southeast. To what great inland sea does this valley lead ? To what two continents does the sea belong ? Which part of it is Asiatic ? Tell about the size of the Danube and its branches between Vienna and the Black Sea. What influence has this broad river and its branches had upon the entrance of Eastern peoples into Europe ? Name any who came into Europe by this river valley. The Romans early saw the importance of barring the gate at Vienna against their barbarian foes to the east, and established a camp here in the first century. Later, in the days of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who died here, it became an important military outpost. After the decay of the Roman power, what dangers would threaten the people of middle Europe because of the unguarded gate ? In the fifth century the Huns, a fierce people from the steppes of central and western Asia, poured into Europe through this gate and well-nigh destroyed Vienna. Later, the city sulfered fearful sieges at the hands of the Turks but it survived these disasters and rose each time like the PhcEnix upon the ashes of the old city. In which general direction do the roads already traced lead from Vienna ? Which would you call a continental highway? Turn to the map of Europe and examine the country north of Vienna. What highland abuts on the Danube from the north ? What influence does it have on easy communica- Outlines of Lessons 261 tion between Germany and the South ? See how like a rampart it stands before the great gate ! What branch of the Danube makes an opening in this highland ? Trace the road along tliis river on the map of Austria. AVhat rivers of Germany are easily reached by means of the March ? What does the Moravian Gate tell of the ease by which the divide between the Oder and the March can be crossed? How is the Valley of the Elbe brought into communication with the Danube ? From early times amber was brought from the shores of the Baltic to the people on the middle Danube and in the Po Valley. Point out the "amber highway." Name the rivers crossed and followed and countries traversed. As the middle Danube formed a boundary to the Roman Em- pire, there must have been considerable traffic up and down stream. Salt was an important commodity. Where was it mined? To what places distributed ? One of the oldest streets in Vienna is called Salzgries, salt-exchange, thus testifying to the importance of the traffic. IIow many lines of travel cross where Vienna stands ? Take an outline map, locate the city, and sketch in these three main highways. Mark important points on the roads. Look at the map of Europe again and trace the Danube to its source. Describe routes of travel between the Danube and Paris, the Danube and the Rhine countries. Is com- munication easy or difficult between these parts of Europe ? Show how the Danube plays the part of a great street be- tween eastern and western Europe ; between western Europe and the Orient ; between middle Europe and Italy. What part did the Danube play in the crusades ? It was at the castle of Diirrenstein, just west of Vienna on the Danube, that the faithful Blondel discovered his master, Richard the Lion-hearted, who was imprisoned here on his way home from Jerusalem. 262 ScJiool Management What a wonderful location Vienna has at the junction of all these crosswuys ! Contrast its location with that of Pisa. In what ways is that of Vienna more favorable to the permanence of a large city. How does it compare with the location of Venice ? Bruges ? Do you recall a city of the United States that will bear comparison with Vienna in its location and in the effect which this location has had upon its growth ? What similarities do yon find between Pittsburg and Vienna ? What river of the United States answers to the Danube ? To the March ? What nations early saw the importance of fortifying this " Gateway of the West " against the enemy ? Trace all the roads which converge toward and diverge from both these gate cities. Name some important places from which they start and to which they go. Draw a sketch map of the Vienna gate with its continental crossways. Give the reasons for the establishment at Vienna of a Roman camp. Why should it have grown to be important enough as a military outpost to be visited by the em- peror ? Find out, if you can, what he was doing there ? How came the city to be demolished by the Huns ? Dur- ing one of the sieges by the Turks neighboring nations rallied to the defence of Vienna and delivered the city. State why you think they were impelled to do this. Examine the small inset map for the exact location of Vienna. Describe its location. What is the character of the Danube here ? What difficulties beset navigation ? What dangers threaten the city ? What might be done to control the wandering course of the stream and to lessen danger from floods ? This the Viennese have done ; the river has been canalized, much marshy land reclaimed, and many old arms filled up. In whicli direction is the city spreading ? All these little villages are now a part of Greater Vienna and the streets radiate from the old town Outlines of Lessons 2G3 out to the hills. What crossways does the city face ? From which direction has the greatest danger come ? Do you think it likely that Vienna will continue to hold her own as an important capital of Europe ? Write your reason. Find out as many reasons as you can why the chief city of your State is located where it is. LESSONS IN PHYSICS IN LECTUEE FORM TOPIC : EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HEAT Principle. — Solids, liquids, and gases expand when heated and contract when cooled. Aim. — To illustrate the above principle, in order that it may become firmly fixed in the mind of the pupil, and to show the vast importance of many of its applications to the affairs of daily life. Experiment. — 1. Provide yourself with two large screw-eyes, one of which will just pass through the other. Screw the shaft of each into a wooden handle. Show the class that the smaller screw-eye may be readily made to pass through the other, {a) Heat the smaller for some time in the flame of an alcohol lamp or a Bunsen burner, and again attempt to pass it through the opening of the larger. Ask the pupils to make a note of the results. {!)) When the temperature has fallen to its former level, immerse the larger screw-eye in ice-water. Leave it there for some time. Then attempt the passage of the smaller piece as before. Ask the pupils to make a note of what happened and to draw a conclusion from the facts observed. 2. Fill an air-thermometer nearly full of colored water. 264 School Management so that the upper surface of the liquid rises to a point about half-way up the stem. Immerse the bulb in ice- water. Kepeat in water a§ hot as your hands can bear. Ask the pupils to note results and draw conclusions. Try various liquids. Make a note of the one in which the observed change is the greatest. 3. Introduce a thread of mercury into the capillary stem of an air- thermometer in such a manner that its inner end shall stand about half-way down the tube, (a) Encircle the bulb with your warm hands, {h) Place the bulb in cold water, (c) Breathe upon it. {d) Cover it with a wet cloth and then blow upon it. Observations ? Conclusions ? Discussion. — Develop the following facts by a series of skilful questions : 1. The general principle. 2. Solids expand the least, gases the most. 3. This principle may be made use of in various ways for construction of thermometers. Mercury is the most convenient material for this purpose, although alcohol, platinum, and air are better suited for certain special cases. Applications. — Fitting of tires to carriage-wheels. Shrinking of jackets upon government ordnances. Making of steam-tight joints in boiler-plates by means of red-hot rivets. Manufacturing of thermometers — mercury, alcohol, metal, air. Consequences. — Winds, ocean currents, cracks in chimneys, fractures of rocks under alternate heating and cooling of summer and winter. Allowances necessary in manufacture of bridges, steam-boilers, etc., for the **come and go." Home Work. — Library — Coefficients by Expansion. Thermometers, Pyrometers, Disintegration of Rocks. Outlines of Lessons 265 topic: capillarity The rise of a liquid in a tube of small bore when the liquid wets it. Aim. — To arouse interest in the study of natural phenomena, stimulate the reasoning powers, and direct at- tention to an interesting application of a well-known prin- ciple to affairs of daily life. Preparation. — Half fill a tumbler with water colored red by a bit of aniline dye. Secure a half dozen glass tubes of capillary bore, the largest not over a millimetre in internal diameter, and rinse thoroughly in clear water. Experiment. — Dip one end of each pipe in turn into the colored liquid, keeping the tube in an upright posi- tion, and ask the pupils to observe what happens, taking especial pains to provide that all may be able to see clearly everything that goes on. Discussion. — Develop the following facts by a series of questions skilfully engineered with a view to enlisting tbe hearty co-operation of every member of the class. 1. The height to which the liquid rises is dependent upon the bore of the tube, so that the smaller the bore the greater is the action, and vice versa. 2. Similar phenomena may be noted when a lump of loaf-sugar is placed upon a drop of water, a damp sponge is used to wipe up a wet table, a blotter is employed to re- move superfluous ink, or a wick is provided to feed the flame of a kerosene lamp. Generalization. — The statement holds true that, in general, liquids rise in tubes of small bore when they wet them to a height dependent upon the bore of the tube, so that the smaller the tube the greater the rise. Practical Application. — The wooden posts that stand 26G School Management upon a veranda platform supporting the roof above usually begin to show signs of decay first around the base where the post rests upon the platform. This is due to the fact that the rain-water creeps into the narrow crevice and is drawn up into the pores of the wood by capillary action, much as the sap ascends the tree, and rots the wood. This effect is guarded against by placing an iron shoe mounted upon four iron balls, like casters, under the post to enlarge the space beneath and thus destroy the capillary action. Home Work. — Place one end of a towel in a bowl of water, suspend the other one from a nail above, and note how long it takes for the water to wet the entire towel. Library Work. — Look up Capillarity, Imbibition, Eise of Sap in Plants, How Plants get Water from the Soil, The Meniscus of Mercury in a Thermometer, The Decay of Eave Troughs and Wooden Joints in Outdoor Structures, The Depression of Liquid in a Tube when the Liquid does not Wet the Tube. A LESSON FOR THE LABORATORY TOPIC : ARCHIMIDES'S PRINCIPLE A body immersed in a liquid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the liquid displaced. Purpose. — Training in manipulation of apparatus. Development of doctrine of errors. Illustration of an important principle in physics. Apparatus. — A solid that will sink in water; an over- flow can ; a catch-bucket ; a spring-balance ; thread. Experiment. — (a) Weigh the solid in air. {h) Weigh it, suspended by the thread, entirely immersed in water, (c) Compute the loss of weight, {d) Fill the overflow can Outlines of Lesson,^ 267 full of water, catch what overflows through the pipe and throw it away, (e) Place the bucket under the spout of the overflow can, carefully lower the solid down into the latter and catch the overflow in the bucket. (/") Weigh the overflow. Compare the apparent loss of weight of the solid with the weight of the overflow, i.e., the displaced water. Conclusion ? If results do not come out as you think they should state what you regard as the most im- portant sources of errors. Hints : If the spring-balance is not held directly on a level with the eye an error parallax will be introduced. Great care should be taken that the various parts of the balance do not cramp each other. The overflow can may continue to drip too long. Discussion. — State clearly your method in manipula- tion of apparatus. Compute your percentage of error, and report. Tell what you regard as the largest source of error, and suggest, if you can, some means of reducing this to a minimum. State in a single complete sentence the principle of Archimedes. Applications. — This principle is used in the launching of ships, the rise of balloons, the raising of ships from the bottom of the sea by means of submerged corks, etc. Library Work. — Archimedes and the Story of Hiero's Crown, Pontoon Bridges, Balloons, Cartesian Diver, Buoy- ancy, Equilibrium of Floating Bodies. 268 School Management A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF THE BUSINESS ACTIVITIES CENTRING AROUND AVHEAT- RAISING The main purpose in this plan is to illustrate the five formal steps of the recitation, and at the same time to show how the study of arithmetic may be focnssed upon problems that deal Avith real human interests. In other words, the problems are such as not only to afford practice in arithmetical processes, but also to yield results that have significance on their own account. No attempt has been made to exhaust the possibilities of the general topic. It would be easy to add problems on transportation, bread-making in the home and at the bak- ery, wholesale and retail grocery trade, and other commer- cial activities based upon wheat-raising. Statement of Aim. — Let us find out what kinds of business depend upon wheat-raising, and what the profits are in some of them. Preparation. — What are some of the most common and important uses of wheat to men ? Trace the steps by which wheat finally reaches you in the form of bread on your table. Presentation. — A farmer in Minnesota who raised 360 acres of wheat this year (1903) reports that his land yielded fifteen bushels of wheat per acre, and that he sold his crop in July for 75 cents a bushel. He reports also that the cost per acre of raising and marketing his wheat was as follows : Seed wheat (1^ bushels), $1.00; plough- ing, $1.00 ; sowing, 65 cents; harvesting and stacking, 11.75 ; threshing and marketing, $1.50. According to this report, what was this farmer's profit on his wheat crop ? [11,944.] Outlines of Lessons 269 Many farmers in Minnesota rent land upon which to raise wheat. Good wheat land rents for §3.50 an acre per year. What would this farmer's profit have been if he had rented his land ? [$784.] How does this profit compare in amount with the profit of the farmer who owns his land ? How does it compare with the rent [81,1G0] paid for the land ? A milling company near Minneapolis gives the follow- ing statement regarding one week's business in July, 1003 : *' Our mill grinds 600 barrels of flour a day (that is, for a twenty-four hour run). We paid for wheat during the week from 90 cents to 93 cents per bushel. Our average was 91 cents for No. 1 Northern spring wheat per bushel of 60 pounds. " It takes 4^ bushels of wheat in our mill to manufacture a barrel of flour, weighing 196 pounds. Besides the flour produced, there are 25 pounds of shorts, 47 pounds of bran, and 2 pounds of invisible waste. " We received for the bran $14 per ton in bulk ; for the shorts, $16 per ton ; and for flour, $4.50 per barrel, in half- and quarter-barrel cotton sacks, at the mill. Our sacks cost us i\ cents each for the quarters, and 6^ cents each for the halves. ** We employ twenty-six people. This includes the mill men, manager, book-keeper, and other assistants. " Our profit for the week was $347.66. This is our net profit, after paying all wages, interest, insurance, taxes, and other expenses." From this study of the milling company, find how many bushels of wheat were ground each day. [2,700 bush- els.] How many pounds of wheat are ground to make a barrel of flour ? [270 pounds.] Find the total amount of flour, bran, and shorts ])roduced by the mill in one week. What was the total amount received for the products of 270 School Management one week ? [$18,104.40.] Deducting the net profit, what was the total expense ? [$17,756.74.] To whom did this amount go ? How do yon account for the difference between the amount received by the farmer (75 cents per bushel) and the amount paid for wheat by the milling company (91 cents per bushel) ? [Transportation, storage, and profits of middlemen.] AVhy was the milling company willing to pay the large dealers a higher price than that at which the farmer sold his wheat ? [It is a great convenience to have the grain collected, transported, and stored until it is needed.] In Chicago the large dealers in wheat and other kinds of grain have formed what is called the Board of Trade. The members meet every day in an immense hall to buy and sell grain and some other kinds of provisions, among themselves or for other dealers. [Other details may be added to give vividness to the idea.] In January, 1903, Harris & Thompson, a firm of dealers in the Board of Trade, bought of J. "W. Elson 200,000 bushels of wheat at 76| cents a bushel. "What was the total value of the wheat ? [$153,000.] The wheat Avas to be delivered in the following May. [Tliis is called dealing in ''May wheat."] Harris & Thompson paid 10^ down [margin] and agreed to pay the balance when the wheat was delivered in May. If the price of wheat in May should be higher than 76^ cents a bushel, who would reap the advantage ? What would you say Harris & Thompson expected to occur to the price of wheat between January and May ? "What did Elson expect ? [A dealer who buys because he expects the price to advance is called a " bull " ; one who sells because he expects the price to decline is called a " bear."] In May the price of wheat had advanced to 78^ cents Outlines of Lessons 271 a bushel, and Harris & Thompson at once sold all the wheat they had bought of Elson. Find the profit of Harris & Thompson. [$4,000. J Suppose the price of wheat had gone down to 75^ cents a bushel, what would iiave been the loss to Harris & Thompson ? [$2,000.] In what sense did Elson gain or lose in each case ? Comparison. — How long would the farm of 360 acres supply the mill with wheat for grinding ? [2 days.] How many such farms would be necessary to keep the flour-mill running constantly ? What was the profit of the mill on the flour produced from the amount of wheat raised by the farmer? [$115.88.] How does the profit of the mill for one week compare with the profit of the farmer for the en- tire year ? [About one-fifth.] At this rate, how would the annual profit of the mill compare with that of the farmer ? [About ten times as great.] How do you account for this great difference in profit ? [The miller handles 150 times as much wheat as the farmer.] How does the amount of wheat handled by Harris & Thompson in their one trade with Elson compare with that handled in a year by the farmer and in five months by the milling company ? How do the profits compare ? Generalization. — From the results of these compari- sons, what would you say is one of the large influences in determining the amount of profit in business ? [The scale on which the business is carried on.] Large profit is usually the result of a large amount of business. Application. — What besides business ability is needed to carry on a large business ? [Capital.] How is capital accumulated ? [By saving.] What advantage, then, is there in making a practice of saving a part of one's income or profit ? [Further application may be found in a study of the 272 School Management t>' volume of business and the profits of some of the large railroad companies and of the great industrial corporations. The financial statements of many of these appear regularly in the daily papers of large cities.] LESSON ON THE STAMP ACT (as a type of the causes of the revolutionary war) Statement of Aim. — Let us consider how England proposed to tax the American colonies and what came of it. Preparation. — What territory had England lately added to her American possessions ? [Canada and the eastern Mississippi Valley.] How had this territory been acquired? [By war with France.] To what extent had this war been carried on in the interest of the colonies ? What part had the colonies taken in it ? What are some of the things that make the cost of war very great ? What reasons can you give why England might reasonably have expected the colonies to bear part of the cost of the French and Indian War ? What further ex- pense would arise in providing for the defence of the colonies and of the new territory ? How do governments get the money to pay the cost of wars, public buildings, and other necessary things ? Who pays the expenses of the schools, of the fire department, and of other departments in your city ? How did the United States raise money to pay the expenses of the Span- ish War? [Taxes on bank checks, telegrams, and legal documents; and extra taxes on beer and other things.] Do Outlines of Lessom? 273 yoa remember the stamps that were used ? [Show some of the documentary stamps.] Did we object to buying and using these stamps ? Why not ? Presentation. — In what different ways might England have secured money from the colonies ? The first plan proposed by Parliament in 1765 was a gtamp tax very similar to that adopted by the United States after the Spanish War. [Show pictures of the stamps.] According to the Stamp Act passed by Parliament these stamps, costing all the way from a half-penny (one cent) to ten pounds (fifty dollars), were to be placed on all im- portant law and business documents, on newspapers and other printed matter. [Have extracts from the Stamp Act read in class.] What are the advantages of raising money by the use of stamps ? Why, probably, did Parliament take this means of getting money from the colonies rather than depend upon voluntary contributions voted by the colonial as- semblies as she had done before ? Why should some mem- bers of Parliament strongly oppose the Stamp Act ? [Read Barre's speech in Parliament.] Were the Americans as truly Englishmen as if they had been living in England ? What reasons might they give, then, for being indignant at the enactment of the Stamp Act ? In what ways could they show their indignation publicly ? [Assign for reading selections from the speeches of James Otis, Samuel Adams, and Patrick Henry, and an account of the Stamp Act Congress.] Why should a stronger effect be produced by a complaint made to England by a congress of representatives of several colonies than one made by the various colonies separately ? State briefly the principal rights that the Americans in- sisted upon and the chief grievances of which they com- plained. [There is an excellent opportunity to introduce 274 School Management dramatic action here and to secure a vital review of the main ideas by having the pupils represent in their own way the Stamp Act Congress, introducing the " Dechara- tion of Rights and Grievances," arguing the points, and finally signing the Declaration.] Why did the people of the colonies say that Parliament did not represent them ? Who did represent them ? In what ways could the colonies resist the Stamp Act ? [Assign for reading accounts of the " Sons of Liberty,** destruction of stamps, and non-importation agreements.] Why were the Americans called "Sons of Liberty"? How could the non-importation agreements injure Eng- land ? What class of men in England would they affect most seriously ? Why should the merchants and manu- facturers of England object to the Stamp Act ? What influence would their objections, added to the indignation expressed by the colonies, be apt to have on Parliament ? [Assign for reading reprinted extracts from Boston and London papers giving an account of the repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766.] A few months after repealing the Stamp Act, Parliament passed an act declaring that it had the right to tax the colonies **in all cases whatsoever." For what reasons probably did Parliament pass this act ? What does the passing of this act show us concerning the real feeling between Parliament and the colonies ? Comparison. — Were the colonies related to England at all as the various States are related to the United States ? If the colonies had no objection to the amotint of money that they would have to pay for stamps, why should they not have been as willing to use the stamps as we are to use postage-stamps or the Spanish AVar stamps ? If you were a member of a club or society but were not allowed to vote or take any active part in its meetings, what objections OutUnes of Lessons 275 might you raise to some things the society might vote to do? Generalization. — As a member of the clnb or society, how would you state your objection in the briefest possible way ? Can you state the complaint of the colonies in a similar way ? Their statement of the case was that they complained of " taxation without representation." Application. — [One of the main fields for the applica- tion of this general truth is in the further study of the causes of the Eevolutionary War.] Is a person truly represented when he votes for a man for any office, knowing little or nothing about his char- acter or his opinions ? Why do many men value so slightly the privilege to which their forefathers in the colonies attached such great importance ? What can a man do to make sure that he is properly represented in his own government ? [Take an active interest in the nomi- nation and election of officers.] 276 School Management BIBLIOGKAPHY 1. Phtsical Conditions and Sanitation : Modern American School Buildings Briggs. Ventilation of School Buildings Morrison. Bibliography of School Hygiene Burnham. Health and Education Kingsley. School Hygiene Newsholm. Outlines of School Hygiene Burnham. Ventilation and Heating Billings. Methods for the Determination of Organic Matter in Air Bergen. The Hygiene of the Eye Cohn. The Hearing of Children Chrisman. The Growth of the Brain Donaldson. Health at School Considered in its Mental, Moral, and Physical Aspects Dukes. Report of Committee on Hygiene in Education. Hoose. Sanitary Conditions for School-houses Marble. Seating of Pupils in the Public Schools Scudder, Sanity of Mind Lincoln. School Sanitation and Decoration Burrage and Bailey. School Hygiene Kotlemann. The Nervous System of the Child Warner. Dust and its Dangers Prudden. Physical Nature of the Child Rowe. The Study of Children and their School Train- ing Warner. School Hygiene Shaw. 2. Organization and Government : School Management White. School Management Tompkins. Grading of Schools Shearer. Art of School Management Baldwin. Teaching and Organization with Special Ref- erenc« to Secondary Schools Barnett Bihliograpliy 277 Common Sense in Education and Teaching. . .Barnett. Principles and Methods of Teaching Boyer. Lectures on Pedagogy Compayre. Essentials of Method De Garmo, Talks on Pedagogics Parker. The Art of Teaching Salmon. Teaching and Study of Elementary Mathe- matics Smith. Education and School Thring. Theory and Practice of Teaching Thring. Talks to Teachers on Psychology James. Apperception Lange. Report of the Educational Commission (Chicago). Report of the Committees of Fifteen on Ele- mentary Studies American Book Co. Report of the Committee of Twelve on ) Secretary of X. E. Rural Schools j A., Winona, Minn. Methods of Education in the United States. . .Zimmern. Education in the United States Boone. The Making of Character MacCunn. School Management and Methods of Instruc- tion Collar and Crook. The Making of Citizens Hughes. Individuality and the Moral Aim in American Education Mark. 3. Curriculum and Programme : Report of the Committee of Fifteen Harris. School Management and School Methods. . . .Baldwin. Schools and Studies Hinsdale. Educational Reform Eliot. German Higher Schools Russell. Teachers College Resord (New York) . The Elemenlary School Teacher. Education by Plays and Games Jobnion. 4. Stttdt, Recitation, and Examinations : Lectures on Teaching Fitch. Principles and Practice of Teaching Johonnot. Apperception Lange. 278 School Management Essentials iu Method De Garmo. Individual Teaching, Educational Review. . . .Search. Theory and Practice of Teaching Page. New Manual of Method Garlick. Art of Teaching Salmon, Educational Aims and Methods Fitch. The Teaching and Study of Elementary Mathematics Smith. Elements of General Method McMurry. Interest and Education De Garmo. The Principles and Practice of Teaching and Class Management Landon. Introduction to the Herbartian Principles of Teaching Dodd. The Method of the Recitation McMurry. Outlines of Pedagogics Rein. 6. The Social Aim : The School and Society Dewey. The Meaning of Education Butler. Social Phases of Education in the School and the Home Dutton. Educational Reform Eliot. Educational Aims and Values Hanus. The Social Mind and Education "Vincent. American Municipal Progress Zcublin. Education and the Larger Life Henderson. 6. Supervision : School Supervision Pickard. Principles of Education Greenwood. Report of the Educational Commission (Chicago). School Management Tompkins. American Public Schools Swett. School Management White. *^ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. SEP 1 1991 315 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY lllilllllli ll llll I iillli ill i n AA 001 098 473 o SOUTHERN BR/ U^JWFBS^^TY Of CA LlSRARV,