Systematic methodology, designed to rationalize and harmonize teaching processes

Preface

This book is intended for that great and growing body of earnest teachers and students of education who believe that there is an underlying philosophy of teaching. It contains little that will interest such as are in search of ready-made materials and attractive devices for use in the class-room, to relieve the teacher from the labor of thoughtful preparation.

The author has aimed to furnish a systematic treatment of the problems of teaching. He does not claim that it is an exhaustive treatment, but he believes it to be one without contradictions, and with sufficient emphasis upon essentials to make those who master it, and who possess the elements of a proper personality, able to teach with an intelligent regard for the rationale of their art.

To those who are not inclined to pursue the study of the problems of teaching into the realm of their application, but who are striving to master the various phases of the philosophy of education, from the standpoint both of the learner and of the truth to be employed, Parts I and II are commended.

Those who desire to turn aside from a consideration of the mind, as treated in the various psychologies, and to devote their time to a more direct study of the problems that arise in presenting the different branches of the curriculum, will find these dealt with, in both their broader and their more specific aspects, in Parts II and III.

A. T. S.

Mansfield, Pa., 1900.

Contents

Page

PART I. Nature and Development of the Mental Faculties. Chapter

I. General Treatment 17

II. Self-consciousness 23

III. Perception 25

IV. Memory 29

Direct Aids to the Cultivation of Memory 37

V. Imagination 39

Kinds of Imagination 41

Dangers of the Imagination . 44

Practical Aids Recommended 47

Directions for Cultivating the Imagination 49

VI. Thought 51

Aids to the Development of Thought 55

VII. The Feelings, or Sensibilities 60

Methods of Cultivating the Feelings 64

VIII. THE Will 72

IX. Attention 88

PART II. General Philosophy of Method

X. The Notion, or Concept 97

Definition and Description Distinguished 104

Content and Extent of Notions 105

Variation of Content and Extent of Notions 108

XI. Distinctions of Method Based upon the Truths of

THE Concept iii

The Four Methods Distinguished 114

Order of Use of Contrasted Methods 124

Special Processes in Teaching Facts and Art 134

Facts 135

Arts 136

The Concrete and the Abstract in Teaching 139

XII. THE Actual Realities of School Subjects 144

4 CONTENTS.

PART III. Applied Methodology. Page

XIII. Reading 174

Primary Reading 176

Word Method 188

Advanced Reading 200

XIV. Language Lessons 213

Scope of the Work 216

Set of Graduated Exercises 223

XV. English Grammar 226

Purpose 229

Method 233

XVI. Spelling 255

Plans for Studying Spelling 258

XVII. History 260

Historic Facts 266

Philosophy of History 281

XVIII. Literature 283

XIX. Geography 292

Introductory Geography 294

Systematic Geography 306

Text-book Course

Commercial Geography 317

Physical Geography 317

XX. Nature Study

XXI. Arithmetic 324

Course from One to Ten 332

Course with Numbers above Ten 340

XXII. Special Arts

Writing 353

Drawing 3^6

Vocal Music 358

Introduction

Works on teaching abound in which are to be found many and varied recommendations in method, most of which do not rise above the dignity of reasonable devices. As these schemes have been drawn from the experience and observation of successful teachers ; as they have been composed of the plans that have "worked" well for the accompUshment of their several ends; and as these ends have been as varied as the mental attitudes of the persons who aimed at them, we have been forced to receive in the name of '' Methods " a great mass of inconsistent and sometimes even contradictory items without a show of either unity or completeness. All this has tended to throw the subject of pedagogy into disfavor, and has caused men to hold up to ridicule every effort at systematization even before it is examined.

Still it is the writer's belief that when those who practice the art of teaching learn the conditions involved in it, pedagogy will be found to submit to as great a degree of order as will any of the other applied sciences. He believes also that these conditions can be as fully known as can the conditions for the application of any science which has to do with men in all the variety which they present, due to differing impulses, opinions, motives, etc. And further, he holds that we do now know enough of the principles involved and of the secrets of their application, to render this subject sj^stematic and reasonable, not only in the principles to be announced, but also in the schemes for their application to the several subjects of the school curriculum ; and that generalizations in method applicable to one school subject need not be violated forthwith in others, on the ground that the subjects have nothing in common and hence need not be treated as similar.

Two main lines of investigation are necessary in order to render our knowledge of methods rational. We must first study the human mind, not necessarily in its completeness, but sufficiently to bring to light its absolute needs in the act of learning ; but, because the human mind is complex, it will be found necessary to treat its several capacities separately, discussing their nature and the means by which they unfold. In the second place, the nature of truth needs to be investigated in order to determine the conditions under which the human mind can comprehend it ; and, as the school branches are varied and appear to many to be totally dissimilar, they need to be harmonized and to have their fundamental similarities emphasized. Although these two phases of the study are clearly distinguishable in thought, and we can easily tell when reference is being made to the mind and when it is being made to truth as embraced in the subjects of study, no attempt will be made to keep them distinct throughout the treatment. Whenever it is believed that the discussion of the main question of pedagogy can be clarified by reference, in the same section, to both the truth and the mind which must apprehend it, they will be combined.

To render this entire discussion more complete and systematic, we must see to it that terms are used throughout with consistency ; we must be careful that no recommendations are given in one connection and violated in another ; and we must make clear to the reader that, instead of geography, reading, grammar, arithmetic, etc., being taught by methods peculiar to each and totally diffei'ent from each other, they all obey certain welldefined fundamental laws applicable to truth in general. They are, therefore, taught alike, their seeming differences being due merely to variations in the application of the law made necessary by the detailed differences in the matters with which we deal. Only when the lastnamed truth is comprehended can our teaching be made masterful and our appreciation of method become thorough. Till then the highest plane we can reach in school work is that of successful imitators, without a reasonable ground for the acceptance or rejection of any method or device that may be thrust upon our attention. He who teaches well because he was born with a capacity for doing things in this department well, may become a successful teacher, but he alone can become an artistic teacher who comprehends the rationale of his art, and then learns how to perform skillfully the things he knows.

It is an aim of this work to make clear to the reader that all the school studies which have to do with a body of truth to be comprehended are capable of being taught after the same comprehensive plan ; that this plan is determined by the requirements of the nature of the truth itself and of the mind which would master it; and that the varieties of so-called " methods " of learning are simply variations of the one comprehensive plan, made necessary by the fact that the truth embraced in one branch of learning is different in kind from that presented in another. Or, more specifically expressed, it is this : generalizations of a given order are to be comprehended only in the light of the appropriate individuals embraced within them. Here we have our one comprehensive plan, or principle of learning. This plan, and not some contrary one, is determined by the necessities of our thinking and by the fact that, in the world of things about which we study, only individuals exist, while generalizations are merely contrivances of man, wrought out for his convenience in mastering the truths concerning this world of real but individual things. The inductive method of teaching formal grammar and the observational method of presenting the subject of introductory geography, are simply two different applications of the above-mentioned fundamental principle of learning, made different by the fact that the data in grammar call for an exercise of thought apart from perception, while the data of introductory geography call for an exercise of thought in perception. Or, again, recognizing the uniformity of mental procedure from a unit or whole to its constituent parts, in the effort at mastery of a single thing, the analytic method of systematic geography, the sentence method in primary reading, and the method which would use a problem in arithmetic, to be analyzed as the preparatory step for the comprehension of an arithmetical rule, are all found to be but so many different forms under which the one comprehensive law is expressed. The only difficulty in the way of thus applying the above law of analytic mental procedure is found to be that of determining what is the tinit of study in the several school branches, and hence, where is the point of departure in their systematic mastery. Because this thought is important, and perhaps not without its difficulties, it will receive extended treatment in a separate place and be frequently repeated in its proper connection.

It is another aim of this work to make clear to the learner that there are many school subjects which do not consist of a body of truth to be comprehended, but rather of an art to be acquired (as writing, drawing, vocal expression, etc.), or of a body of materials to be simply stored in the mind (as spelling, the simple facts of history, — in so far as they need to be committed to memory, — the multipHcation table and other tables which, upon being comprehended, must be so fixed as to be ready for service, etc.). Neither of the above kinds of studies can be subjected to the treatment required in the case of truth that is to be comprehended, but they must be given a treatment peculiar to their nature. They call for a different form of exercise of the mind, and are not to be thought of as illustrating any of the laws of mental activity required in the mastery of a body of truth. Directions will be given for the learner's help in dealing with such subjects ; though, when they occur as parts of a more comprehensive subject, as the multiplication table in arithmetic, they will be incidentally considered as side issues, rather than in distinct chapters.

Certain terms have already been used, and will be very freely used throughout these pages, and it seems important that we should have at this time a definite statement of their meanings. They are principle, method, and device.

A principle in pedagogy is a fundamental truth which is to serve as the basis of method in the teaching art. These principles are formulated from what we know of the human mind and of the fund of truth with which humanity is to be educated. We know nothing of the essence of mind as we know nothing of the essence of matter. Phenomena alone are open to our study. What mind or matter does we may know, but not what either is. When we have discovered the necessary sequences in the actions of human beings, we have learned the principles of human nature — '' the constitutional propensities common to the human species." In so far as these are now known, they may be made to serve as the bases of our various methods of teaching. These principles of the human mind may have differing degrees of generality in their application. Thus, the principle that the mind develops only through its own activity is one of wider application than the principle that the memory is made most wisely strong by being habituated to act according to the rational laws of association. The former of these includes the latter, while, at the same time, it refers to the other faculties or capacities of the human mind as well.

INTRODUCTION. I I

A method in pedagogy is a rational plan or series of steps for effecting results in teaching. According to Kant, *' Method is procedure according to principles." A method of teaching, then, is procedure in teaching according to the principles of teaching. Whoever regards methods as blind and a study of methods as blinding must be thinking only of an improper study of methods. If viewed in the light of their underlying principles — and this is the only intelligent form of study of methods — they will not destroy individuality nor in any way prevent growth. On the other hand, an intelligent study of methods of teaching, or of any other art, will prevent the narrowness inseparable from the possession of but one idea. Methods, like principles, may have varying degrees of breadth in their application. Thus we have the analytic method of study, which consists in taking units of study and disintegrating them to find the parts or elements of which they are composed. This may be done with a problem, a sentence, a myth, or a social custom. On the other hand, we have the sentence method of studying primary reading, which consists in presenting the sentence at the outset in reading and then proceeding to a consideration of its component parts, — words, and the letters and sounds of which they are composed. This is seen to be simply the analytic method limited in its application to a special department of study, that of primary reading.

A device in pedagogy is simply a contrivance for applying a certain method. It shows the teacher's inventive skill in the provision he makes for the needs of individual pupils. To borrow simply the devices of another would tend to destroy a teacher's individuality ; but to comprehend the methods, which may be the common possession of all teachers, makes possible a fertility of expedients or devices, without at any time violating the underlying principles of a true pedagogy. The only way to give assurance that one will not resort to winning but irrational and conflicting devices is to educate him thoroughly in the principles and methods of his art.

*' Method is a way of reaching a given end by a series of acts which tend to secure it " ; device refers rather to a single action. We may teach primary reading according to the sentence method, but as a device we may use either the blackboard or a chart. We may teach geography by the analytic method, but whether we shall use a globe, a wall map, or a book in a given lesson is a choice of devices.

In order to make this distinction still clearer, and thus prepare the way for an intelligent study of both the general and the special methods which are to follow, let me express it differently.

1. Generalizations of a given order can be comprehended only in the light of the individuals embraced within them.

2. Words, which are the symbols of things, can become significant only in the light of the things which they symbolize.

3. In teaching, the actual reality of each subject of study should be brought directly before the mind of the learner for the exercise of his powers.

4. Since single things are the only real existences in a world of things, we should proceed, in our study of the

INTRODUCTION. t3

single thing, from the unit, as presented, to its several component parts — or analytically.

5. In the attempt to make generalizations we should proceed from the individual things as presented to us in nature, to their comparative consideration — or inductively.

6. In applying these methods the teacher may use any one of many devices. He may have the children bring to the schoolroom the things to be studied, or he may take the children for a walk over the country ; he may provide a separate specimen to be handled by each child, or he may have but one specimen to be used by himself, etc.

The first and second statements may be considered as very general principles, the first based on the nature of the mind and the second on the nature of things. The third is a more specific principle, based upon the first two, and stated with more direct reference to its serving as a guide to teaching. As no thought movement is yet indicated, we have no method. But in the fourth statement is set forth the analytic method, which is applicable to the study of individual things ; while in the fifth is set forth the inductive method, which is applicable to the study of generalizations. Both of these are based upon the preceding principles. In the sixth statement reference is made to devices for workins: according to the above methods. Devices, as well as methods, are rational only when their use is in obedience to the truth of the underlying principles.

One other line of thought should be taken up in order to render this outlook sufficiently full for its purpose.

Pedagogy is in large part a derived science. The being to be educated is dual in his nature, — composed of body and mind. Pedagogy must, therefore, borrow principles from physiology and psychology. But while psychology will furnish us the principles derived from mental activities in general, two other sciences have been developed from the study of man's mental, as distinguished from his bodily, nature. Man is susceptible of moral growth, and, therefore, pedagogy must borrow from ethics. Human thinking has its laws very widely formulated in the science of logic, and hence pedagogy must borrow from that source. But, in each one of these, man may be regarded as an isolated personality, while, indeed, he is a social creature. A man in the midst of men is a very different being from a man in isolation. Entirely alone he is abnormal ; it requires society to make possible his best growth. As a fish is created to live in water, so man is created to live in society. This, added to the fact that teaching is done through systems of schools, requires pedagogy to borrow from sociology and the various sciences of government.

But, on the other hand, pedagogy has a wide field in which it is an independent science. The relative values of school subjects, the action of examinations, the effects of co-education, are some of the questions for pedagogy alone to solve.

It is the recognition of this derived nature of so much of pedagogy that enables one to justify a deductive procedure like that employed in this work. The generalizations thus employed at the outset are results of the foundation sciences on which we build. Nor does the fact that pedagogy is in part an independent science disturb this position, for the average teacher is not expected to become an educational scientist. Expert investigators are making these studies, and the results of their inquiries are set forth in books on methods, to the end that practical teachers may, by obeying them, become artists.

Chapter I. General Treatment

The term "mental faculty " needs a word of explanation before entering upon the conventional list of faculties and the means of cultivating each. The objection is often made that, when one speaks of the faculties of the mind, he teaches that the mind is divided into separate parts, and that each part, called a faculty, acts independently of the other parts. Let it be remembered, then, that the whole mind, or better, simply the mind, is active in whatever form mental activity is taking place ; and that we give to it the different faculty names to indicate the forms of mental activity which predominate in the several instances. By a faculty, then, we mean simply the soul's capacity or ability to do a distinct kind of work. We may be said, therefore, to have as many mental faculties as there are distinct kinds of work that the mind can perform. A clear analogy may be found in popular usage. If a man is trained to do a certain quality of work in wood, we call him a carpenter ; if this same man is trained to do work in paint, we call him a painter ; if he is trained to do work in stone, we call him a stone mason. Now, evidently, the man, and not a part of him, is carpenter ; the man, and not a portion of him, is painter ; the man, and not a section of him, is stone mason. This man has the capacity to do three kinds of work, and in each instance we give him the name derived from the kind of work in which he is engaged. Following this analogy, we may safely assert that the mind has as many faculties as there are distinct kinds of work revealed to the consciousness of man. Examining himself, then, each man finds that he possesses the ability to get truth, or to knoiv ; this capacity is called the intellect. Further examination reveals to man the fact that he has the capacity to experience pleasures and pains, or to have feelings ; this capacity is called the sensibility. Finally he finds ttiat there is within him the ability of self -direction, or of action directed to some chosen end ; this capacity is called the will.

Instead of treating the culture of these three broader capacities of the mind, we can gain our ends better by extending the analysis and then studying the means of cultivating each of the sub-divisions — also called faculties — somewhat in detail. Man finds upon examination that he has the power to get truth from things that are present to his mind at the time he studies them. Such knowledge is called presentative knowledge. If this power is exercised in looking within his own mind and learning what is taking place there, it is called inner perception, or self-consciousness. If this power of getting truth from things at first hand is exercised upon

GENERAL TREATMENT. 1 9

things external to the mind, it is called perception. The avenues through which we can learn directly about a world of things are the senses, — sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Perception is, then, the soul's capacity for getting knowledge of external things immediately through the medium of the senses.

Self-consciousness reveals to man a capacity for getting ideas of things when those things are absent from him. Such knowledge is called representative knowledge. If these items of knowledge are made to appear in the forms in which they were originally acquired, and are then recognized as old acquaintances, it is called remembered knowledge, and the capacity for so acting is called memory. It is not necessary, however, that our knowledge should reappear and remain in the forms in which it was acquired. We have the ability to take these old items and to put them together into new wholes, thus producing mental pictures different from anything we have ever perceived, and perhaps unlike anything that exists in the world of realities. The power of creating such mental pictures is called imagination.

Each of the above powers has to do with individual things considered simply as individuals, and the product is a mental image of a single thing. The element of generalization or of classification has not yet appeared in the analysis. Self-examination, however, reveals to us an ability to take these products of perception, memory and imagination, and, by comparing them, to derive certain higher and more general forms of knowledge than can be secured through the study of isolated individual things. This process of comparing, sorting, and arranging the products of the lower faculties we call thinking, and the power we possess of doing this we call thought. The knowledge thus secured is called elaborative knowledge. Psychologists usually distinguish three stages of thinking. There is, first, the formation of the general notion, or concept. The concept is the mental content we have, answering to a class of things, and it is represented in language by common names, such as mountain, boy, animal, square. The power we possess to form such general notions is called conception. So much pedagogical significance attaches to the formation of concepts that we shall devote to it a separate chapter under the heading, ''The Notion, or Concept."

The next stage of thinking consists in a comparison of concepts. This process of comparing concepts is called judging, and the product thus reached is called a judgment. In language the judgment is represented by a declarative sentence called a proposition. Take the thought expressed by the sentence. Knowledge is power. Here the two concepts are knowledge and power. These are compared and their relation of agreement is expressed by ''is." This act of comparing is called judging, and the product reached (the judgment) is expressed by the proposition. Knowledge is power. The faculty of comparing ideas or concepts is called judgment.

The last stage of thinking consists in a comparison of judgments. This process of comparing judgments is called reasoning, and the power of comparing judgments is the power of reason. In language the process of reasoning is represented by a combination of propositions called a syllogism. Syllogistic reasoning consists in so

GENERAL TREATMENT. 21

comparing two related judgments as to discover a third. The propositions from which we argue are called the premises. The one at which we arrive in thought is called the conclusion.

Example of a syllogism : —

All men are fallible. (Major premise.) All kings are men. (Minor premise.) Therefore, All kings are fallible. (Conclusion.) " The essence of the process consists in gathering the truth that is contained in the premises when joined together, and carrying it with us into the conclusion, where it is embodied in a new proposition or assertion. We extract out of the premises all the information which is useful for the purpose in view — and this is the whole which reasoning accomplishes."

It is believed that such a detailed analysis of the sensibility and of the will can add nothing to the value of the present work, so it will not be done. Tabulating our results, then, so that the relations of the several parts can be more readily apprehended, we have the following : —

Faculties of the human mind :

I. Intellect.

1. Self-consciousness. ) These furnish presentative

2. Perception. ) knowledge.

3. Memory. ) These deal with represen-

4. Imagination. ) tative knowledge.

5. Thought. I ^^'^ ^'""^^ elaborative

) knowledge.

{a) Conception. {b) Judgment. {c) Reason.

II. Sensibility.

III. Will.

Detailed directions will be given to aid in the more complete understanding, and in the cultivation, of each of these faculties. No attempt will be made to add such directions as are considered impracticable in modern school work.

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. 23

Chapter II. Self-consciousness

This power that a mind possesses of knowing itself may vary through many stages, from simply being aware of what takes place within us, up to that more profound realization of self, which results from thinking intently upon the nature of our being and the dominating purposes of our lives. This higher and more reflective type of self-consciousness is not to be looked for in the very young, and, if found there, can be taken as an almost certain indication of an abnormal state of mind. We should expect little children to be naturally heedless, and, since they are usually impulsive, to be rather incautious. But while this is the condition in which we may expect to find children, it is not what we should strive to cultivate within them. Their heedlessness and indifference must be gradually forced to give way to caution ; and their impulsive actions must be supplanted by actions which are the outgrowth of a wise forethought and especially of a careful self-examination. Even Rousseau's declaration, *' I would rather require a child ten years of age to be five feet tall than to be judicious," must be taken only as an indication of what we may expect to find in children, not of what we are to aim at in their education. What can we do, then, to develop within pupils, as they advance, this reflective type of §elf -consciousness ?

1. Lead the child, by an occasional reminder, to consider the effect of his actions upon others.

2. Aid him to examine the purity and elevation of the motives that prompt his conduct.

3. Get him to make note of the various kinds of activity that he finds have the power to correct his mental disorders, such as anger, fear, hatred, etc.

4. Lead him, through subsequent reflection upon actual experiences, to note how certain states of mind prejudice his thought either for or against men and measures. The memory will be found an indispensable aid in this matter.

5. Have him study himself for the purpose of discovering the nature of his likes and dislikes, the kind of subject (memory, observation, reasoning) that he can most easily acquire, his customary disposition (whether thoughtful, impulsive, kind, envious, etc.), his habit of will (whether decided or vacillating, etc.).