Common sense didactics for common school teachers

Front matter

SENSE DIDACTICS

HENRY SABIN

Class _L_

II

PAY attention to the questions at the end of each chapter. Some of them will enable you to examine yourself as to the way in which you have read the text. Others are intended as suggestions and it will require some thought, and perhaps some research, to answer them in a manner satisfactory to yourself.

Ill

THE quotations at the close of each subject will be found very helpful if rightly read. They have been carefully selected from the highest educational authorities. From them the reader who has not ready access to a pedagogical library may learn something of the thought and style of men and women who have made themselves illustrious as writers and thinkers in their chosen fields.

IV

THE reader will notice that occasionally reference is made in the text to a preceding page. By turning back it will be found that the same subject is there treated from a somewhat different standpoint.

Chapter I The Nature And Character Of Teaching

The Open Door

None but true ladies and gentlemen should be employed as teachers.

—John A. Vincent.

What a man purposes to do, that he should learn before the doing is attempted.

—Socrates.

Of the two I prefer activity of mind and interest in the work rather than high scholarship.

— Thomas Arnold.

Teaching is telling; and he who can so tell the common things of life as to excite the child's curiosity and interest, and arouse him to self-activity of mind is an expert teacher.

—Selected.

IF WE inquire what is the secret of success in teaching, we shall find that it lies almost wholly in the spirit of the teacher. Knowledge of subject matter, skill in the use of methods, an acquaint- .

ance with the latest phases of educational ^'

thought, although very desirable, are not the only essential things. It is true that they are sometimes so regarded and are so emphasized by those who aspire to be teachers of teachers. But "teaching is telling." One man will tell a story, or preach a sermon, and nobody who hears will grasp his points or understand his conclusions; another will tell the same story, or preach a sermon from the same text, so that his listeners will eagerly take in every word and carry lasting impressions away with them. The reason is that the one tells his story as though he had no part in it; the other as though he himself were the hero: the one preaches his sermon as a matter of duty and not of heart; the other as though he himself were responsible for the salvation of every soul in the congregation.

Between those who teach with the heart and the spirit, and those who teach as a matter of duty only, there is all the difference that there is between the quick and the dead. "It is the letter which killeth; it is the spirit which maketh alive." A certain teacher was once criticized as being "educated to death." He knew enough, and more than enough, but failed as a teacher in the deadness of his instructions, in his inability to put himself in close contact with his class, and in his failure to arouse interest or awaken enthusiasm.

It is very desirable that they who aspire to be teachers in our schools should be well grounded in those y-j... definitions and principles which are at the

Hon of foundation of successful work in the school-

ternis. room. The blind should not be allowed to

lead the blind in matters of such great consequence as the education of the child.

Observe, in the first place, the clear distinction between teaching and learning. I may be able to Teaching- ^^^^^ another something which he desires to vs. learn- know, but the act of learning is his own ^^^^' individual action which no other person can

appropriate Here is involved the true relation of the teacher to the pupil The teacher cannot create, but he can awaken and stimulate the self-activities of the child's mind. What the child does for himself to-day

The Nature and Character of Teaching

II gives him power to do more for himself to-morrow. Let us study this art of teaching for a moment.

True teaching is a double process, involving at once the mind of the teacher and the mind of the taught. Anything less than this is not teaching. ^^^^^^^^^^ There must be an active cooperation between the will of the master and that of the disciple. This cooperation must be voluntary, not forced; it can be induced only where there is absolute freedom on the part of all concerned in the operation. The teacher must be free to teach in accordance with his own ideals, and the pupil must be in that receptive state which is characterized by the absence of coercion or restraint.

I do not disregard the place of authority in the schoolroom, but the nearer the exercise of teaching approaches a high standard of excellence the less need is there for any compulsion on the part of the teacher. It is only when this freedom prevails that teaching becomes a noble profession. Otherwise it is a trade, and a sorry one at that. Real teaching is not so much an informing as an awakening process. It is characterized by life and growth on the part of both the instructor and the school. Only that which is strong on the spiritual side can be made effective for the highest good of the pupil.

Ruskin says: "That which is born of evil begets evil; that which is born of valor and honor begets valor and honor." Mechanical teaching, ^ ^^^^^.^^^ the mere listening to recitations, the rigid ^f^^^^H^^^ adherence to rules and formulas, so prevalent in the schools, cannot produce or maintain life. Teaching which is saturated with life-giving energy reproduces its own spirit in the learner, and multiplies itself in many hearts.

12 Com 771 Oil Se7ise Didactics

David P. Page was not renowned for his learning; he had no diploma and no degree. Yet his book, The Theory a7id Practice of TeacJmig, has reached the hearts of more teachers than any other book ever written from an educational standpoint. Thomas Arnold was not superior to many others as a classroom instructor. It was not until after his death that his pupils discovered how indissoluble were the bands which bound them to him through the personal influence that he exerted over them. Mary Lyon, the founder of the school at Mt. Holyoke, is another example.

There have been hundreds of such, unknown to fame, who have swayed the hearts of pupils and parents as the heads of ripened grain bend to the passing breeze. Recall the teachers who have most influenced your life, whose memory remains as a coal of living fire in your heart, and you will find that they were men and women whose soul enwrapped your soul, and filled you with a burning desire to know all things.

A teacher had taught many years Hundreds of boys and girls had passed under his care. One of them, who had been a wayward boy, was heard to remark, "Something that teacher said to me once, opened my eyes to the possibilities of my life, and changed my future career in the world." And lo! the teacher, his face toward the setting sun, went on his way with a glad heart, for even while in the flesh, he had received a rich recompense for all his labors.

Baldwin says: "Teaching is the art of promoting

human growth." To be more specific, it is the art of

promoting mental, moral, and physical

defiiltion growth. Under its influence the child

advances from one stage to another in a

regular, systematic order. It is a constant, unvarying

TJic Nature and CJiaractcr of Teacliing ij

influence ministering to the wants of the child, as the sun and rain minister to the growth of the plant.

The nature of teaching is such that it must be based upon mutual confidence. If the teacher is not conscious of his own powers, he hesitates, and, through his timidity and his half-hearted zeal, fails to inspire his class to do the best work possible. On the other hand, when the pupils discover that the instructor is incompetent, or is dull, lifeless, and half-hearted in his work, they first lose confidence and then interest, and the time allotted to the class recitation is wasted.

Compayre says that a teacher must understand how

to make what he knows an instrument of intellectual

culture. Even the prattling child has his

ideal. The truest teachins^ known is that ^^'^poftcmce ... ... 1 • , ^f laeals

which searches this out and upon it endeavors

to build the child's future.

There can be no true teaching then, where there is no ideal in the mind of the teacher. This ideal, which comes to the teacher as the result of study and experience, must be clear, well-defined, and sufficiently strong to give tone to every exercise of the school.

Dr. James, in his Talks to Teachers, says: "In teaching you must work your pupil into such a state of interest in what you are going to teach him that every other object of attention is ban- Q^^otation ished from his mind; then reveal it to him James. so impressively that he will remember the occasion to his dying day; and finally fill him with a devouring curiosity to know what are the next steps in connection with the subject."

This is the culmination of true teaching: that it reaches the heart, influences the motives, controls the impulses, and promotes the growth of manliness in

H the youth. Teaching in its highest and best sense is characterized by a personality which takes fast hold of the child and creates a oneness of soul and heart between teacher and taught, so that either becomes a means of strength and help to the other.

The reason why so many teachers fail in their work is because of the absence of the teaching spirit. Many of them do not even comprehend that there is such a thing in existence. They hear lessons, they enforce order, but their teaching is steeped in the very dregs of deadness.

Somebody has said that Mark Hopkins at one end of a log and Garfield at the other, would constitute a university. That is not correct. So long as the log separated them there could be no teaching in any high sense. That would be possible only with Hopkins and Garfield sitting side by side, heart to heart, thought answering thought; the teacher quickening the pupil, and the pupil, by his eagerness to learn and know the truth, stimulating the teacher to yet greater effort. Wherever there is present a teacher with a desire to communicate and a power to awaken and stimulate, and a pupil not only willing but eager to learn, — these two constitute a school.

I hold that the growth of the teacher is one of the distinctive characteristics of real teaching. Thring says: "Like all other high arts, life must have free Growth of pi^y Qj. j-hei-e can be no true teaching." Living with the pupil; entering into his thoughts, his motives, his purposes; controlling and directing all his energies toward one end, and that end growth, — this is teaching.

Do not go to sleep over your task; put soul and brains into it. Individualize your work. At every

Tlie Nature and Character of TeacJiing 75

point bring the school into contact with the world. Fetch the pebble from the shore; pluck the leaf from the tree, the rose from the stem; gather bud and flower and fruit; go out into the highways and the hedges, into the streets and the marts of trade, in order that you may stimulate the pupils under your care to develop into live men and women. "Light up the magic lantern of common sense and common things," and thus illumine your work.

Huxley says: "It rests entirely upon the intellectual clearness and the moral worth of the individual whether the political experiment which we are tr3Mng in this country will succeed. Huxley's While education cannot give intellectual clearness or moral worth, it may cherish them and bring them to the front," To cherish and bring to the front intellectual clearness that the pupil may think exactly, and moral worth that he may act rightly, these are the ends to be earnestly sought by you in your work.

Knowledge is not always a means of discipline. A

man with a comparatively small amount of knowledge

may have a mind trained to think, judge,

remember, and reason. A man with a largfe Knowledge amount or knowledge, but without discipline pline.

to put what he knows into practice, has been compared to a would-be carpenter with a basket full of sharp tools which he has not the skill to use. Consequently, while the possession of knowledge is desirable, it does not always insure a good teacher.

Knowledge alone is not power. Only when it is applied to some useful purpose does it become of any real value to the individual or the public at large It is a part of the teacher's work so to impart knowledge i() Co mm 71 Se7ise Didactics

that the pupil may assimilate it and thus gain strength and power through its nutriment. Knowledge is generally supposed to be an accumulation of not'powei' facts. But the man who remembers the most dates in his.tory is not of necessity a superior historian; the man who has at his command all the rules and formulas in arithmetic or mathematics is not always a good mathematician. To accumulate information is one of the ends to be kept before the pupil. Every teacher should remember this, but at the same time he should not neglect the higher end which is growth, to which all knowledge should be made to minister.

Discipline is the source of power. A man with a well-disciplined mind is one who can make the bestpossible use of the knowledge he possesses. Useofdis- -pj^^ body is disciplined when, through careful exercising, each organ is able to perform its functions without weariness. One object of the school is to discipline as highly as possible both mind and body.

A noted man wrote thus of himself: "I do not make any pretense of great knowledge. What I know I have made my own by thought and study. I know it, as it were, by heart. I feel dissatisfied if at the end of the week I have not added some increment, however small, to the sum of my knowledge." Yet another writes: "I have striven all my life to make my knowledge of some service to others with whom I have come in contact. If I have done any good in the world, it is because of this effort to make my knowledge serviceable. Selfishness has seemed to me abhorrent to my nature, and so I have endeavored to school myself to the notion that through the possession of

The Nature and Character of Teachiiig ij

knowledge I may make the world better for my living in it." Knowledge and discipline combined make a man a complete master of himself.

Education is systematic development. It cannot do everything, nor can it supply that which is missing. In other words, education cannot create; it jnstruccan only unfold or draw out. While it may tioti and be true that the mind of the child differs education. from that of the adult only in the power or strength which comes with maturity, it is equally true that the mind of one child is essentially different in its faculties, and in its power to grasp, from the mind of his seatmate. Hence the skillful teacher discriminates in what may be wisely required of children during the period of school education. It is the province of instruction to furnish material; of educatio?i to work the material up, so that it may minister to growth. The mind gains strength by assimilating the knowledge furnished through instruction.

It is not my intention to attempt an original definition of education or instruction. At the end of this chapter are a few' definitions sufilicient to convey a clear idea of what is included in each term I am anxious, however, to impress upon the reader the thought that neither education nor instruction is derived entirely from books.

It used to be said that the child is sent to school to be educated. He may just as well be sent to the shoemaker's bench or the blacksmith's shop for that purpose. Life is the great educator, ffj^^^J^ and the incidents of life furnish the material for instruction, so that whether the child becomes an adept in book knowledge or skilled in the use of tools, an artist or an artisan, he is educated only when he i8 Co mm 71 Seiise Didactic s

reaches up to the full height of the opportunities which God and nature throw in his way.

He who does this does his whole duty. Emerson has this in mind when he declares: "If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse-trap than his neighbor, though he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten pathway to his den."

Good teaching looks to the future of the child, while

poor teaching is content with to-day and takes no note

of to-morrow Education is the searchlight

The child's gnablins^ the child to scan the horizon which t utuve .

limits the possibilities of his being. It is

the business of education to teach the pupil how to apply knowledge, for thus only does knowledge become power. A strong, sound body; a keen, sensitive conscience; an intellect trained to reason, to conclude, to act, — these are the parallel lines along which education must move in order to reach the greatest degree of perfection.

Study is an essential factor in the process of education. It is based upon attention, or close, persistent / I'bort thought. It is a habit which can be culti-

ance of vated and made stronger by application.

study. -pj^g teacher must know what study is, and

how to cultivate it, before he can induce others to study.

The power to master a subject and to make it his own is lost to the pupil who has not been taught how to study Do not overlook the importance of this point, both in your preparatory work and in your actual teaching.

Study is close application of the mind to the subject in hand. It is largely a habit which may be acquired

The Nature and Character of Teacliirig ig

through persistent effort. But it is a habit which follows the pupil into business life, and ministers much to his success. The clerk often has to learn how to study after he leaves school. That is, he has to withdraw within himself and exclude all outside affairs while he pays strict attention defiiied. to whatever his employer has committed to his charge. Self-interest incites him "to this He desires to retain his position, to achieve promotion, and to obtain a foothold from which he may climb to yet greater heights.

The training necessary to gain this power of application must begin with the first lesson assigned to the child in school, and it must continue to the end of school life. It is the real work of the school; something to do, something to acquire within a given time.

Rosenkranz insists that the plain distinction between work and play must be observed. "Work should never be treated as if it were play, nor play as if „ it were work." There is a marked tendency kranz's in our schools to-day to discard work — which ^'^^^' is study — and to su-bstitute in its place a kind of semistudy, which is but little better than play.

The child learns how to study by studying. He must do most of the work himself. Lewis Ransom Fiske, in Ma7i Buildings says: "For either the book or the teacher to" do the whole work is robbing the child of power. It is worth immensely more for the boy to learn how to study one thing thoroughly, than to read a dozen things in a book."

In order to study to the best advantage, there must be sufficient will-power to call in the wandering thoughts and fix them upon the lesson. In most cases of failure this is the cause. Begin with giving a

20 Commo7i Se?ise Didactics

short lesson and not too much time in which to learn

it, and then insist upon close application and study

during the allotted period.

Lessons should be proportioned in length and in

difficulty to the intellect of the child. Im- Immaturity , .^ . , • ^^ ^ ,

not a crime maturity is not a crime, ioo many teachers

make their own ability to grasp and master, the criterion by which to judge the ability of the child. Development is a slow process. It is a question whether we do not at times hasten it so much as to induce a superficial knowledge. Give the seed time to germinate. Watch patiently the beginnings, and cultivate a continuous growth. "Make haste slowly" is an excellent motto for the schoolroom. Do not think you are doing well because you are doing much.

Training is only continual practice along a given or direct line. It often precedes the real work of instruction, but when rightly and wisely directed it ^ becomes an important aid in the development of mental power. To train a child is to cause him to do certain things in the best and most natural way.

Physical training, as it leads to the formation of habits which make the child an agreeable or disagreeable member of the family or school, is by no means to be neglected. The first five years of the child's life ought to be devoted very largely to physical development. During the second five, thejnind should not be overfed. The mental diet should be carefully selected. Those methods should by all means be avoided which are calculated to make a mental or intellectual prodigy out of the little child.

While I am at times filled with wonder at the intellectual feats performed by little children in some of

The Nature and Character of Teaching 21

our schools, 1 wonder still more at the supreme folly of the teaching which permits such things. On the other hand, when the child is ten years old the foundations for scholarship should have been laid. He should have some power of application, some habit of study, and should know the pleasure which comes from conquering difficulties. He should begin to realize what work is.

Skill, as the expression of power, is the result of careful, painstaking training. Skill can best be acquired in youth. Natural or inherited ^kiii_ skill, shown by the aptitude of children for how best some particular line of work, can be much acquired. improved by practice. If allowed to fall into disuse it seems to be forgotten, and gradually to disappear as a controlling power.

In all these things let there be intelligent freedom, so that every teacher may find for himself the way to

The Open Door.

tea ching

Teaching is the art of promoting human growth. The efficient teacher understands the growing pupil and understands the subject taught. He completely adapts matter and method and leads learners to put forth their best efforts in the best ways.

—Joseph Baldwin.

All who propose to teach need to recollect that the very basis of fitness for teaching, so far as it can be gained from study, is a broad and accurate scholarship.

—David P. Page.

The term teaching, it is thus seen, is a little more comprehensive than the word instruction. An instructor, strictly speaking, is one who furnishes the mind with knowledge ; a teacher is one who furnishes the mind with knowledge, and at the same time

aims to give mental culture.

—Edward Brooks.

KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is gained by study and by observation. It is imparted by the printed page and living teacher and is gathered from a thousand different sources. "Life forces knowledge upon us," and whether he will or not man cannot escape knowledge.

—Selected.

To impart knowledge at the right time, in the best way, and in discreet measures is one test of a teacher's skill. It is a higher test if by pointing out the sources of knowledge he can lead the pupil to form habits of investigation and research such as will last him his lifetime.

—Selected.

DISCIPLINE

Discipline is the result of training and study. In physical culture it gives a man control of his muscles, so that they are obedient to his will. In mental culture it gives him control of his intellectual powers, so that he is able under all circumstances to do the best work possible. In moral training discipline gives a man such control of himself bodily and mentally that he can resist temptation, discern good from evil, and make the best choice.

—Selected.

Through discipline rather than instruction the teacher renders it possible for the child in youth and the adult in later life to raise himself to higher levels of living.

— Selected.

INSTRUCTION

The principal means employed in intellectual education is instruction. There is, in fact, no other way to develop the faculties than by exercising them. Now, intellectual exercise is study, and teaching is causing a pupil to study.

■-Compayve.

Instruction is the furnishing of the mind with knowledge. It is the process of developing knowledge in the mind of another. The term is derived from in, into, and struo, I build, meaning I build into. To instruct the mind is thus to furnish it with knowledge, to build up knowledge in the mind.

— — Edward Brooks.

Instruction is directly giving information — knowledge of facts, new ideas, and words — to the pupil. It should be done only for the purpose of stimulating the desire for more knowledge, and of furnishing material that the pupil cannot economically get for himself.

— Ruric N. Roark.

The Nature a?id Character of Teaching 2j

EDUCA TION

Education is any process or act which results in knowledge, or power, or skill. It includes not only teaching and learning, but all acts, processes and influences which occasion these results, whether as scholarship, culture, habit, or character.

—Emerson E. White.

Education is the science of human development. We cultivate plants, train animals and educate persons. Education makes the difference between the feeble infant and the strong man.

—Joseph Baldwin.

Education can only develop and form, not create. It cannot undertake to form a being into anything other than it was destined to be by the endowments originally received at the hands of nature.

Education can only develop and unfold ; it cannot create anything new.

—Rosenkranz.

Education is a living into better things.

— Grant Karr.

STUDY

Study is the attentive application of the mind to an object or subject for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of it. Study involves persistent attention, and continued or prolonged holding of the mind to the knowing of an object by acts of the will.

—Emerson E. White.

Let the mind of the pupil be studied as we^! as the quality of the recitation determined. What has been learned should become known by the teacher, but how the student proceeds in gaining knowledge should also be investigated, and guidance afforded.

— Lewis Ransom Fiske.

TRAINING

The systematic procedure of the teacher is implied in the word training. It means the continuous or periodic exercise of the faculty, with the definite purpose of strengthening it and advancing its growth.

—James Sully.

The teacher needs to observe, read, think, practice. He needs to sit at the feet of Jesus, of Aristotle, of Socrates, and of Pestalozzi, and learn methods from the masters.

—Selected.

Children may be trained so as to respond in the right way to any duty in life. If they see a misplaced article, they may, on catching sight of it, put it in its place as naturally as a dog points toward a bird for which the hunter is looking.

—Reuben Post Halleck

1. What do you understand by the expression, "the spirit of

the teacher?"

2. What is the necessity of freedom in the process of teaching? J. What does Dr. James say in his Talks to Teachers, which

is applied in this chapter?

4. What end is to be most ardently sought by the teacher in

his work?

5. Why is knowledge not always a means of discipline?

6. When only may we say that knowledge is power? _

7. When may we say a man has a well disciplined mind?

8. What is study?

g. What is it to train a child? 10. What is skill? How may it be acquired?

/. Do I know how to study?

2. What conditions are favorable to close study?

J. What treatment is best for the excessively nervous child?

4. Are my pupils wasting their time?

5. What professional progress am I making?

Chapter II The Teacher

The Master Builder

The inspiration of the school is the presence of the living teacher.

Above all, a teacher must be a scholar, and if he is to be a teacher of real power, he must be a man of wide and accurate scholarship.

~W. H. Payne.

Good methods of teaching are important, but they cannot supply the want of ability in the teacher. The Socratic method is good, but a Socrates behind the teacher's desk to ask questions is better.

— Thomas M. Balliet,

The woman who touched the hem of the Savior's garment felt at once the vivifying influences which were all the time going forth from the Great Teacher. Here we stand face to face with the greatest mystery of the teacher's art.