A new school management

Preface

Possibly no feature of the vocation of teaching gives the young teacher greater solicitude as he anticipates his future work than that of successfully managing his school. To do this requires judgment, skill, and tact, together with as complete a knowledge of the art of school management as he is able to acquire. The teacher's knowledge of subject-matter and of general pedagogy may be comprehensive, and his skill in the details of method may be excellent, and yet a complete failure may follow because of his inability to manage children and properly to conduct a school. Hence, the teacher who has failed to equip himself in this field jeopardizes his success and invites disaster.

This book is intended chiefly for students in normal schools and training classes, and for young teachers who have been unable to avail themselves of the privileges of a course in a professional school, but who are compelled to prepare themselves independently for the work of teaching. Hence, I have endeavored to be very explicit, and to employ many concrete illustrations drawn from a long experience in teaching. Doubtless experienced teachers also will find profit in a study of these pages ; not so much from a presentation of new material as from a treatment which attempts to determine the underlying principles. Very often teachers have followed practices — good or bad — without knowing why they have done so. Their pedaiv PREFACE.

gogical practices would be far more effective if they were to be sure of the ground on which they stand. There is a great difference between following a correct practice through accident or because others have been known to follow it successfully, and in following a practice that is based on sound principles. Therefore teachers of long experience may be helped to conform the management of their schools to sound educational doctrine. Reading circles and teachers' clubs also will find an abundance of material for discussion. The leading practical questions concerning the internal direction of the school are presented for their consideration.

It is very likely that many of the discussions presented will be criticised as commonplace. But that which has become commonplace to the initiated is novel to the beginner. After carefully considering every discussion offered, I can think of none that I would not have welcomed as a young teacher had such been offered to me — unless it be some of the subjects that no one will denominate as commonplace. Many of the experiences here related were gained at the expense of my pupils, and, at the same time, at great cost to me. I would save other young teachers from the errors which I made ; hence the freedom with which these experiences are detailed.

But it will be seen that there is also a theory — a philosophical basis — to every theme treated throughout the book, which, I hope, is apparent to all. Therefore less attention is paid to devices and plans of managing a school than to principles. With certain principles to guide him, the teacher will be able to form his own plans and employ devices suited to particular situations and adapted to his own individuality.

PREFACE. V

The experiences here presented are the results of many years of school-work in almost every field of pedagogical activity. That work began in a district school with seventy-five pupils of every degree of advancement, and in ages ranging from five to twenty-one years — a most advantageous place in which to gain experience and acquire skill in the management of children. This was succeeded by varied positions as principal and superintendent. Finally, it has been my privilege to present year after year the subject of school management to hundreds of students in the normal school. In this latter work the purpose has been to give the most practical and concrete presentation of the subject so that the young teachers may gain confidence in their ability to conduct and control a school, andj at the same time, possess a correct theory of school management. The needs of a teacher in charge of a mixed school are held prominently in view throughout this book, although teachers in graded schools also will find help through the experiences and principles presented.

A work on school management should consider the character of the teacher, school discipline, good order, proper habits, correct morals, relation of the school to the community, as well as other matters connected with the internal affairs of the school, such as promotion, classification of the school, the daily program, school incentives, the conducting of the recitations, relation between principals and assistants, school hygiene, etc. In a word, it should, as its name implies, deal with the working of the school rather than with methods, courses of study, or the philosophy of education. This is the view that is held in this treatise.

It should be mentioned that some of the topics considered in my ** Foundations of Education," as well as some

VI PREFACE.

of the illustrations employed there, are used in this book. If any apology for this is necessary, I may say that some of the chapters in *' Foundations " have a direct bearing upon school management and therefore could not be omitted from this book. Where the illustrations given in the earlier book were needed in this, I have not hesitated to employ them. It is hoped that the reader of both will not find a sameness in the discussions, or that the repetitions are unprofitable.

It affords me great pleasure in this connection to express my thanks to Superintendent J. W. Carr of Anderson, Ind., for his permission to use his course in moral instruction in the Appendix ; to Miss Kate D. Stout and Professor Frank H. Scobey of the Trenton Normal School, to Superintendent John Enright of Freehold, N.J., and to Hon. Charles J. Baxter, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Trenton, N.J., for most valuable advice concerning various chapters ; and also to Dr. Elias F. Carr, another colleague in the Trenton Normal School, for most painstaking, searching, and judicious criticisms of the whole work. To many others who ] / correspondence, conversation, or advice have encouraged and assisted me in the preparation of this book, I hereby express my grateful appreciation.

L. SEELEY.

State Normal School, Trenton, NJ.

Chapter I. Page

The Personality of the Teacher i

I. Introduction. 2. The State and Education. 3. High calling of the teacher. 4. Qualities that teachers should possess,

CHAPTER n.

Preparation and Responsibility of the Teacher 12

I. Academic training. 2. Professional training. 3. Responsibility of the teacher, (a) for personal example, (b) for physical well-being of pupils, (c) for their moral training, (d) for their intellectual growth, (e) general responsibility. 4. Rewards of the teacher, (a) salary, (b) improvement of his pupils, (c) their success in life, (d) consciousness of duty done.

CHAPTER HI.

Preparation for Opening School 25

I. Securing a position, (a) by correspondence, (b) by personal application, (c) by teachers' bureaus, (d) the contract. 2. Entering the field, (a) secure boarding-place, (b) study schoolroom and appliances, (c) listen to no tattling.

CHAPTER IV.

I. Gathering at the school. 2. Opening school. 3. Securing names. 4. Seating. 5. Follow the prepared schedule of work. 6. Employment. 7. Recapitulation.

CHAPTER V.

I. The tentative program. 2. Daily lessons. 3. The recess. 4. The one-session plan. 5. Number of daily recitations. 6. Seat-work. 7. Recapitulation.

vii

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

PAGE

I. The city school. 2. The country school. 3. Grading in German country schools. 4. Advantages of the mixed school.

5. Advantages of the graded school. 6. The transportation of pupils. 7. How to grade. 8. A three-grade scheme.

CHAPTER VII.

School Government 65

I. Discipline a means to an end. 2. Obedience. 3. Nagging, 4. Aims at good habits. 5. Rules and how to make them.

6. Appeal to honor as a means of discipline. 7. Use of monitors. 8. Keeping control. 9. A rational relation between teachers and pupils.

CHAPTER VIII.

I. Definition of punishment. 2. Principles governing punishment. 3. Kinds of punishment, (a) reproof, (b) isolation, (c) withdrawal of privileges, (d) withdrawal of confidence, (e) consult parents, (f) suspension, (g) expulsion, (h) corporal punishment.

CHAPTER IX.

The Treatment of School Evils loi

I. Carelessness. 2. Laziness. 3. Tardiness. 4. Irregularity in attendance. 5, Tale-bearing. 6. Whispering, 7. Lying. 8. Cheating. 9. Stealing. 10. Impudence. 11. Rebellion.

CHAPTER X.

I, Neatness, 2, Accuracy, 3. Silence. 4. Industry. 5. Truthfulness. 6. Regard for duty. 7. Politeness.

CHAPTER XL School Morals . 138

I. Character of the teacher. 2, Importance of moral instruction, 3. How to teach morals, (a) utilize school interests, (b) the physical side of the child's life, (c) keep employed, (d) use of daily incidents, (e) use of environment, (f) select lessons from literature and history, (g) morals at recess, (h) children to be helpful.

CONTENTS. ix

CHAPTER XII.

PAGE

I. Young teachers need help. 2, Never use sarcasm. 3. Avoid threatening and scolding. 4. Be truthful. 5. Do not be too quick in condemning a chil4. 6. When to give and when to withhold assistance. 7. Treatment of the dullard. 8. Do not see too much mischief. 9. You are dealing with an immortal being.

CHAPTER XIII.

I. Emulation. 2. Class rank. 3. Prizes. 4. Marking, (a) purpose of marking, (b) method suggested. 5. The highest incentive.

CHAPTER XIV.

I. History of. 2. Object of. 3. Frequency of. 4. Importance of teacher's judgment. 5. Means of determining fitness.

CHAPTER XV.

I. Definition of examination. 2. Characteristics of an examination. 3. Educational value of the examination. 4. Character of.

5. Tests. 6. Reviews.

CHAPTER XVI.

I. Use of the term. 2. Assigning the lesson. 3. How to study. 4. The art of questioning. 5. Necessity of attention.

6. Arousing interest. 7. Use of the blackboard. 8. Drill. 9. Steps of the recitation, (a) preparation, (b) presentation, (c) association, (d) recapitulation, (e) application.

CHAPTER XVII.

I. Recent tendencies. 2. Need of general culture. 3. Advantages of specialization. 4. Specialization below the high school. 5. The group plan. 6. Specialization in the high school. 7. Different high-school courses.

X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVIII.

PAGE

I. To his pupils. 2. To the parents, 3. Parents' meetings. 4. To the community. 5. To the school board. 6. To his profession, (a) a good preparation, (b) support pedagogical literature, (c) teachers' associations, (d) professional etiquette. 7. To his successor. 8. To himself, (a) his health, (b) his growth.

CHAPTER XIX.

The Mutual Relations of Superintendent, Principal, and Teacher 261

I. The superintendent, (a) executive duties, (b) as a supervisor, (c) his visiting schools, (d) his leadership, (e) teachers' meetings, (f) reports from teachers, (g) relation to parents, (h) relation to children. 2. The principal. 3. The teachers.

CHAPTER XX.

I. General remarks. 2. The school-grounds, (a) new grounds, (b) improvement of old ones. 3. The buildings. 4. Out-buildings.

CHAPTER XXL

I. Arrangement of. 2. Size and shape of schoolrooms. 3. Seating. 4. Windows, shades, etc. 5. The blackboards. 6. Cloak-rooms. 7. Heating and ventilation. 8. Ventilation of old buildings. 9. Storeroom.

Appendix

Moral Instruction 311

Course in the Anderson, Ind., Public Schools.

NEW SCHOOL MANAGEMENT.

CHAPTER I.

THE PERSONALITY OF THE TEACHER.

"As the teacher is, so is the school." The greatest work that can engage the thought and invite the activity of man is the education of the young. Upon the solution of this problem, in its broadest sense, depends the future welfare of the individual, the home, the community, the nation, the world. If man is to reach the highest state of personal happiness and usefulness, as well as to contribute his greatest possible service to mankind, he must be properly educated. If the home is to be a " paradise on earth," where husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, mutually help and strengthen one another, it will be because education, obtained somewhere and somehow, has laid the foundations. If the community is to be moral and religious ; if there is to be a high sense of intellectual and social responsibility ; if pure living, noble ideals, honest enterprise, and the advancement of civilization, are to be encouraged and fostered, there must be a sound and correct educational sentiment. If the evils and dangers of political " bossism " and corrupt civil government are to be eliminated ; if we are to escape the destruction that has befallen other attempts at free government ; if our republic is to stand, we must raise the standard of intelligence and morality through universal education. An absolute monarchy may sustain itself by means of its standing armies, but a free government can survive only when its citizens, upon whom its stability rests, are intelligent and pure.

The school-teacher is the "high priest of the future." Upon him, more than upon any one else, rests the responsibility of education. Hence his is the greatest work that can engage the attention of man.

In the early history of the race, education was conducted by the parents in the home. What the father did, the son learned to do. In the primitive life, when men lived in tents, obtained food and clothing from the chase or from their herds, which they drove from valley to mountain-side for pasture ; and where the sum of knowledge was included in ability to defend themselves, to care for their flocks, to take from Nature's generous bounties what she freely offered, the father could easily impart to his son all that he needed to know. To strike tent, to elude or successfully to cope with an enemy, to care for the herds, to prepare their flesh for food, and their skins for clothing and shelter, to bring down game, constituted the education of every boy, and the father needed no help in teaching his son. He " learned to do by doing," a pedagogical principle which modern educators are attempting to apply. But when the world became more populous, when division of labor was necessary, when the demands of civilization multiplied so that man did not have so much leisure, and when the child had to be taught other things than his father's occupation, teachers were needed. These were furnished for many centuries from the priesthood, whose work was dominated by the Church, and is still in many countries.

THE PERSONALITY OF THE TEACHER. j

The State and Education. — As the State more and ^ore assumes the duty of providing education for all, there is a tendency to recognize teaching as an independent profession, which, under the State, must take upon itself the responsibility of education. If the future citizen is to be patriotic, loyal, law-abiding, progressive, ambitious, intelligent, pure, moral, possessed of lofty ideals, zealous of good works, responsive to the demands of duty, conscientious, it will be because of the inspiration he receives from his teacher. Therefore, to no profession, and to no class of men, is committed so high a mission as is committed to the school-teacher.

High Calling of the Teacher. — No one should enter upon this work without an appreciation of its great opportunity, without a sense of the responsibility involved as a leader and instructor of young children. Every teacher ought to prefer his to every other calling, ought to have the spirit of Froebel, who, in speaking of his first experience in the schoolroom, said : " It seemed as if I had found something I had never known, but always longed for, always missed ; as if my life had at last discovered its native element. I felt as happy as the fish in the water, the bird in the air." Or that of Pestalozzi, who could not be flattered by offers of political preferment, but summed up his soul's longing by the words, " I want to be a schoolmaster." Or of Thomas Arnold in his work with the boys of Rugby ; or of Francis W. Parker, who has been described as a statesman, a philosopher, an evangelist, a soldier, and a martyr. ^ With the example, inspiration, and spirit of such great teachers before him, the young man or woman may well ask the question, '* Do I possess the qualities that one must have to be a worthy teacher ? " No one should enter upon the profession of teaching, without first asking this question.

Qualities that the Teacher Should Possess. — i. He

mttst be gemdnej whole-souled, honest, manly, triLe. — I use the pronoun in the generic sense — a womc,in teacher must possess these qualities as truly as a man. If the teacher is lacking in the qualities that belong to genuine manhood, it will not be long before the many watchful eyes that are constantly fixed upon him will discover that fact. Children cannot be deceived in this respect. There may be lack of approved method, there may be dearth of knowledge, there may even be weak discipline, but none of these is so fatal as a lack of honest manliness. All other deficiencies can be corrected, but if genuine character is lacking in a man, he should never seek to be a school-teacher. The fearful effects of a teacher wanting in genuine moral uprightness, who must come into daily contact with young lives, cannot be estimated. A manly teacher will lift his pupils towards high ideals of manhood. It was the genuineness of Thomas Arnold, rather than his methods of instruction, that made such a profound impression upon the boys of Rugby, and sent them out to be the moral and political leaders of England since Arnold's time. One hears little about the curriculum or the methods of instruction employed, but a great deal about Thomas Arnold, Rugby's great and beloved head-master. Some one has said : " It will be told in after-days how there was once a heavenborn head-master, by name Thomas Arnold, who, ruling at Rugby, taught the boys to be good Christians, true gentlemen, and be merry, mischievous boys still." ** How can I hear what you say, when what you are is continually

THE PERSONALITY OF THE TEACHER. J

thundering in my ears?" says Emerson. Mary Lyon's ideal of education found expression in a consecrated Christian womanhood, and it is said that *' so completely did the ideal of her own life become the ideal of their lives, that most of the girls went out as Christian women. Wherever they went they 'carried this spirit. Wherever they taught they set up a new Mount Holyoke, a Christian seminary. Wherever they married they set up a Christian home."

Well says Lowell that "the spirit of the teacher is more than his method, and that person is the most valuable in the schoolroom who fills it with sweet reasonableness." Felix Adler remarks : " The personality of the master of the school is the chief factor of moral influence in it."

This manly spirit will show itself also in the teacher's attitude towards his colaborers. It will prevent him from undermining or defaming others, from seeking to displace them, from being envious of their success. How much the teaching profession is in need of the loyal, hearty, sympathetic co-operation of its members ! It ought to be impossible to find a teacher who will consent to supplant another on any terms or under any circumstances. Only when a position is vacant, or it is definitely decided that it is to become vacant, should a teacher allow himself to be a candidate for the place. This will command the respect of school boards and of the community ; it will raise teachers in public esteem ; it will ultimately advance salaries, and it will prevent injustice being done to worthy fellow-workers. Some years ago a gentleman visited my school, and in course of conversation said to me : " There is a rumor abroad that you do not intend to remain here after the close of this year. Is that true.?" I replied that it was. " Have you any objection to my applying for the position ? " he asked. I informed him that I had none. This was true courtesy, and I never forgot it. No one possessing the genuine, manly character so essential in one to whom is committed such a sacred responsibility as that of forming the characters of young children could be guilty of impairing the usefulness or injuring the prospects of another engaged in the same work.

In another chapter (p. 241), while discussing the teacher's duty to his profession, I shall show by concrete illustrations how a failure to live up to this principle reacts upon the one who perpetrates the wrong, and gives him the just deserts of his meanness.

2. He WLtLst possess patience^ sympathy, and love for cJiild^^eii. — The teacher's work is not a bed of roses ; there are trials many, discouragements, difficulties of daily occurrence, and things that disturb the equanimity of the most patient. This work would be intolerable to one lacking the divine gift of patience. It is not that the children are vicious ; most of them are good. If they are not good, it is because their past environment or training has been bad. But they are mischievous, restless, full of life, and they often find it hard to submit to the necessary requirements of school discipline. Here is where the necessity for patience is manifest. Even when the children are vicious, supreme patience may overcome this evil and win them to right conduct. An impatient teacher only aggravates the evil and arouses a spirit of antagonism and rebellion. Every teacher will do well to study the life of the Great Teacher, who, *'when He was reviled, reviled not again," and who showed a spirit of sublimest patience under the malicious treatment of His enemies such as the

THE PERSONALITY OF THE TEACHER. ^

world has elsewhere never witnessed. Even with His beloved disciples how often did He exercise infinite patience !

The teacher must also possess love for children. '' I hate children, and would never teach a day if I were not obliged to," said a teacher, when her superintendent criticised her treatment of the pupils. Such a person ought never to be a teacher. There must be a love for childhood, a sympathy with its interests, a spirit that can enter heartily and sincerely into its joys and sorrows. I do not mean by this that the teacher should "gush" over children, — nothing ultimately disgusts them more than that, — but a genuine, natural sympathy that brings heart in touch with heart. Possessing this, the teacher will not only be able to reach the inner life, the best and noblest, that which is the character of the child, but through this he will reach the intellectual as well as the other sides of the child's development. This love for children, seeking to do them good, and finding pleasure in their society, must be innate and spontaneous. The person who lacks these qualities should never attempt to be a teacher.

3. He should possess a happy disposition. — I have seen teachers whose forbidding countenance, whose sour disposition, whose hard and rigid manner, whose acerbic characteristics, chilled the very atmosphere around them, and imbittered the life of all who came in contact with them. Never enough sunshine could come through the windows on even the brightest days to make their schoolroom cheerful, and woe to the unfortunate pupils when the sky was overclouded ! Instead of sympathy for the sorrows of childhood, joy in its happiness, patience with the erring, helpful cheer for those in difficulty, stimulating encouragement for the discouraged, there were sarcasm, querulous criticism, fault-finding, and bitterness. What parent would knowingly commit a loved and loving child for five hours a day to the care of such a teacher ? Whatever be the qualities of a teacher, one who lacks ** sunshine in the soul," who does not possess the "milk of human kindness," should never be allowed to teach. There are days in the schoolroom that "try men's souls," dark, forbidding, cloudy, heavy, without a gleam of sunshine, when teachers must bring to bear the power to rise above external conditions, and radiate cheerfulness from the abundance of gladness and good- will in their own hearts.

There is a great deal of common sense as well as educational philosophy in the attitude of the superintendent who insisted that the qualities of disposition that make young women sought for as wives, the attractive, winning, happy charm about girls that leads the opposite sex to seek them, are the characteristics that he required in his teachers. Hence, he said: "I do not want teachers that can never get married." By this he does not mean that he desires to lose his teachers by marriage, but that he wants those who possess a happy disposition. With such an endowment, there is nothing in school-life that should darken or imbitter the teacher's life. Indeed, the atmosphere of the schoolroom and the contact with innocent young life should write benevolence on the brow and kindness in the heart, so that the teacher's face should grow lovelier and his heart more tender as the years go by. Such was the effect upon Pestalozzi, upon Thomas Arnold, upon Norman A. Calkins, upon Dr. E. A. Sheldon, and such will be the effect upon every teacher who carries a sunny disposition

THE PERSONALITY OF THE TEACHER. g

into the schoolroom. The very smile of such a teacher is a blessing and a benediction to all who come under his influence.

4. He must be free from any physical impediment that would interfere with his usefulness. — Every person who enters upon a course of preparation for teaching should undergo a physical examination, to determine his ability to stand the arduous strain of the teacher's life. For teaching is arduous, requiring good health and a strong body. Not that the teacher is selected for brawn as in the olden time, when the large boys felt called upon to challenge the schoolmaster's physical strength, in order to test his fitness to keep the school, but because he needs good health to enable him to discharge his duties without worry or weakness. Physical health is essential, so that there may be the cheerfulness, the vivacity, the fertility of resource both in method and in discipline, the maintenance of interest, and the complete mastery of all school details. The teacher should possess reserve strength to rise above the petty annoyances that are sure to come, and to preserve a perfect equanimity of temper and manner. The genial disposition, which we have already shown to be essential, is hard to maintain when the body is weak or diseased. Strength of body gives consciousness of power, both in preserving order and in imparting instruction.

The State invests capital in the training of teachers, and therefore has a right to expect a reasonable term of service. More important than this, the person who invests far more than the State — his capital, time, energy — has a right to expect a sufficient term of service adequately to recompense him for the outlay ; and if his health is such as to preclude the possibility of this, he should be informed lO A NEW SCHOOL MANAGEMENT,

of the fact, and advised to choose some other vocation. It is very sad fop one who has thus prepared himself for a hfe-work, perhaps by great sacrifices, to find that the expenditure has been in vain, because of a breakdown in health. Therefore great care should be taken by those in authority to ascertain the physical condition of all candidates for normal-school work. Kindness is shown not only to them, but justice is done to the children who may be their pupils and whom the State is bound to protect.

5 . He must be capable of thinking and speaking clearly and logically. — Doubtless defects in this respect may be largely remedied by training, but there are some persons so sadly lacking in these qualities that no amount of training can overcome the fault. Not that a person must be loquacious in order to become a teacher, — the work of the teacher has a tendency to make him talkative, — but one who is diffident or hesitating in either thought, speech, or action is not likely to succeed in this field. The power to express one's self accurately and clearly is vital to the teacher. One must be able not only to see a truth clearly, but also must possess the power to impart it to others. Logical power, clearness of conception, will enable one to grasp the essentials and make them stand out vividly that the pupils will be able to seize and hold the lesson. This power is most important to one who would become a teacher.

6. He must be an altruist. — It has been said that " to be a successful teacher needs first of all a heart yearning for the good of others. Let us consider one of the methods employed by the Great Teacher, the model of every one who would achieve success." The Word tells us of Him that "He went about doing good." His ministry did not

THE PERSONALITY OF THE TEACHER. n

shrink from most menial offices; and His final sacrijEice, that ,of his own life, was sublimely complete — '^ He gave His life for others." It was the noblest example of altruism in the history of the world. No person should seek to be a teacher whose motive is selfish. There is nothing in the vocation to invite a person of such a spirit, but there is everything to invite one who seeks the welfare of his fellow-men. No profession offers so wide a field for the practice of true benevolence, such an opportunity to be a blessing to mankind, such a scope for the exercise of the spirit of the Divine Master, so broad and fertile a means for doing good, as that of teaching.