Modern methods for teachers; a twentieth century hand-book for American teachers, normal schools, and teachers' reading circles

Preface

Modern methods of teaching are an evolution, a development whose roots reach back into the distant past of Greece and Rome and farther, too. Until the art of printing by movable type was invented by Gutenberg in 1456, teaching was mainly oral. Authoritative statement on the part of the teacher and mechanical repetition on the part of the pupil were the most convenient steps of the teaching process. When this process was reinforced by interrogation, it was more to test the memory than to exercise the understanding ; for, in those despotic centuries, self-assertion, individuality, originality in thinking, were crimes against established institutions.

Although Pythagoras, the philosopher of Crotona, was a Greek, and therefore the promise of redemption for individuality in thought, he had failed to emancipate himself from Orientalism in his methods.

Socrates was the first Greek teacher who proposed to make his disciples think for themselves. The method which he employed did not begin with statements on the part of himself and end with repetition on the part of his disciples. On the contrary, he began with what the learner knew, ascertaining this through questions. Then, by means of other questions, he would force the person questioned to think the necessary consequence of earlier admissions. After that, earlier and later conclusions were compared. In this way he would force the person questioned either to contradict himself at last or to reach conclusions that could not be refuted. In so far as Socrates paved the learner's way by causing him to think the new through the old, his method was the promise of modem apperception; in so far as he taught principles through comparison of experi-

4 PREFACE

ences, his metliod was inductive. It is also true that Socrates had the captivating personality so desirable in teachers, but even he, if we may judge from the evidence at hand, did not have so much as the slightest inkling of the intricate complications of instruction as a consequence of native instincts, motor correlations, habit, adolescence, and the rest. Comparatively slight as Socratic innovations were, the world which he somewhat shaped could not follow him, and more than twenty centuries passed before the Oriental spirit lost its final hold on Western methods.

In the meantime, not to speak of the Roman Quintilian's keen anticipation, a greater than Pythagoras and Socrates had come and gone — Jesus Christ. What has since become ideal in the methods of instruction was divinely illustrated in the methods used by Christ. The most delicate application of the principles of apperceptive correlations in assignments and lessons was easy for him who " knew man and needed not that anyone should tell him." Divinely cognizant of all that biology and genetic psychology have lately helped us see, he could appeal unerringly to the child's initiative in selecting stimuli and directing responses. Assuming, as he seems to have done, that education is the promotion of that natural evolution of man which fits him for his destinies as shaped by his needs and foreshadowed by his capabilities, he selected courses and methods unerringly. Christ's methods of teaching ushered the world into its modern forms, but not at once. Before his methods could become universally acceptable the world had to acquire at least some likeness to Christ in mental attitude toward man and life and nature.

It was not until the self-emancipating and philanthropic spirit of the sixteenth century religious Reformation had swept over Europe that methods of teaching began to be reformed and perfected in earnest. From that time on, through such Christ-like men as Comenius, Pestalozzi, and Froebel, until now, man and nature have been subjected

PREFACE 5

to the processes of science. With the final coming of biology and genetic psychology, the methods of the educational reformers have gradually assumed their modern shapes.

The bridge has been broken behind us; we could not return to the past if we would, and we would not if we could; for the modern teacher, like modern method, is an evolution. The modern teacher is the product of the centuries of progress behind him, — the heir of the past it is true, but the child of the complex, ever-shifting, intense present. We can hardly guess what this heir of all the ages will make of the future.

Trusting that his efforts may be helpful, the writer dedicates this little book on modern methods to modern teachers. Respectfully,

Charles C. Boyee.

Keystone State Normal Schooi*, Kutztown, Pa.

Part I Principles Of Teaching

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Nature of Education 11-23

Adolescence, 15; assignment of tasks, 17; books, 14, 20; childhood, 13; definition of education, 15; difference in capability, 11; emancipation in education, 19, 50; epochs of development, 20; habit, 12; infancy, 13; intellectual education, 23; manhood, 13; moral education, 23; physical education, 22; play, 16; promoting natural development, 14; race-claims in education, 14; school aims, 12; self -activity in education, 16; species of education, 22; stimuli in education, 17; supervision in education, 17; ultimate objects of education, 14; work, 16; youth, 13.

II. Mind 24-26

Mental operations, 24; thinking, 24; feeling, 25; will, 26.

Principles of Culture. — Correlation of faculties, 28; exercise 27; limits of development, 29; ripening times for faculties, 29.

III. Knowledge , 31-43

Correlation of sciences, 41; courses of study, 42-43; deduction, 33; facts and principles, 38-40; ideas, 36-38; induction, 32; knowledge, 31-36; mathematics, 34; mental sciences, 35; natural sciences, 34; observation, 32; psychology of science, 31; science, 33; science and philosophy, 41; sciences classified, 34; syllogisms, 33.

IV. Principles of Instruction 44-52

Adaptation of lessons, 44; complete instruction, 51; emancipative instruction, 50; interesting lessons, 46; needed lessons, 47; right methods, 48; right faculties, 49; right use of faculties, 49; special instruction, 50; succession of lessons, 45.

8 CONTENTS

Chapter I Page

I. Mental Culture v i 55-68

Attention, 66-68; imagination, 58-60; memory, 56-58; perception, 55; sensibility, 62-64; thought, 60-62; will, 64-66.

II. Physical Culture 69-80

Adaptations, 71; athletics, 77-79; correlation of muscles, 72; courses of physical culture, 73-75; epochs, 72; fatigue, 76; history of physical culture, 79; home exercises, 79; indoor exercises, 74; natural development of the body, 73; physiology of physical culture, 69-70; play-ground exercises, 74; preparations for recitations, 75; recitations, 76; school-room exercises, 73-74; value of physical culture, 77-79; volimtary muscles, 69.

Part III Methods Of Instruction

I. Object Lessons 83-99

III. Writing 121-135

IV. Spelling 136-158

V. Composition 159-177

VL Grammar 178-203

VII. Arithmetic 204-234

VTIL Geography 234-254

IX. History 254-265

X. Drawing 266-281

XL Manual Training 282-295

XII. Agriculture 296-310

XIII. Physiology 311-317

XIV. Singing 318-331

Appendix

Reference-books fob Collateral Reading 333

Index 341

Part I Principles Of Teaching

Facts are stepping-stones to principles. To know the laws of matter and of mind is to understand the past and to see the future. Results can then be produced or avoided, almost as we please, as soon as we also know how to set the necessary causes into motion. Such " knowledge is power," indeed. Such truth sets us free by making man the master both of himself and of the forces in the universe.

CHAPTER I THE NATURE OF EDUCATION

Capability in General

The normal child is endowed with capabilities of body and mind that make him very promising " raw material " for the modern teacher.

Body. — Subject, of course, to the limits of individuality as shaped by parentage and environment, even the ordinary child is capable of wonderful development in health and strength, or skill of hand and foot. The results obtained in special schools for physical culture, manual training, and the like, are striking illustrations of the physical perfections of which boys and girls are capable.

Mind. — Although the mental possibilities of different individuals are very different, ranging as they do from deficiency to genius (Thorndike 68, Rosenkranz 107), and although mental greatness in some spheres of mental action depends upon such physical perfections as health and strength ("Biography of Great Men"), nevertheless the development of which the average mind is capable is simply amazing. A great multitude of boys and girls are able to master not only high school and college courses but the harder courses of the university, and every now and then a real philosopher appears in the rank and file. These facts, when interpreted, mean that the average individual in our schools can be taught to think mathematics, science, language, art, etc.

Instinct, emotion, and habit have very much to do with mental possibilities and probabilities. Such instincts as curiosity, play, imitation, motor expression, and competition, serve as powerful incentives to the necessary exercise of human capabilities. Many of the hearths choicest emotions, such as joy, love, and hope, ally themselves with and reinforce the instincts as incentives.

Probably the most hopeful and at the same time the most dangerous tendency in human development is the tendency to do again, as if by inner impulse, what we have repeatedly been doing (James' " Talks to Teachers," pages 45-63).

Habit. — The tendency to repeat, by acquired impulse, what we have repeatedly been doing physically or mentally, is called " habit,'' from the Latin " habeo," I have, or possess. All customary acts of the body and the mind, such as modes of speech or thought, rapidly become habits. With an impressive start, with caution against lapses, and with brave persistence in eager pursuit of high ideals, almost any beneficial habit, such as truthfulness, can be perfected, and almost any injurious habit, such as impulsiveness, can be conquered. Among the results which invariably arise in connection with the repetitions which produce a habit are ease, speed, skill, momentum, regularity, and interest, in the order just submitted. After a certain amount of practice the correct pronunciation of an English word, for example, becomes easy, i.e., the word is pronounced with less effort. More practice brings speed, i.e., it shortens the time of the act in question. With additional practice comes the power to pronounce the word not only quickly but well. By and by the correct pronunciation of the word becomes an acquired impulse, a second nature. And then this second nature asserts itself as regularly as a clock. Finally that which was hard and awkward and ugly at first becomes a real pleasure. (James' " Talks to Teachers," 64-78.)

The General Principles of Education

The natural development of man, coupled with lifers limitations, manifestly determines all obligations and the principles that govern us in performing these obligations.

The Natural Development of Man. — The development of any human being from infancy to maturity resembles very much the development of the race from infancy to its maturity. The stages of development for both are infancy, childhood, youth, and maturity. (1) The savage is the infant of a race, struggling for physical existence and tribal foothold. He must hunt and fish for food, he must fight the beasts about him and has human foes. The weaker tribe must often perish in the conflict with the stronger one. The corresponding period in the life of individuals is also physical, formative, and preparatory. The food process is fundamental, and the struggle with cold and heat and sicknesses and perils often ends in tragedy. (2) The second or childhood stage in racial developments is a physical extension coupled with institutional beginnings. Home-life, social life, government, religion, etc., become somewhat organized. Personal childhood is a race-like extension, the senses and locomotive powers ripening rapidly, coupled with hungry mental life and rapid civilization. (3) A young nation is a racial youth. This youth of a race becomes self-conscious, attains to self-government, and reconstructs its institutional life. Personal youth is a revolution: self-hood begins to assert its claims, ideals undergo tremendous changes, and individuality ripens and expands veiy rapidly. (4) Unless inhibited, nationality ripens into imperialism. In this stage the nation assumes the responsibility of imparting its acquisitions to humanity, ambitiously projects itself into international affairs, and undertakes to shape centuries. The fully ripened individual resembles this ripened nationality. The man who remains too small to impart the riches of a ripened life to the world and to the century of which he is a part is hardly fully man. In short, the race-line is the life-line of its individuals. The thought is very fundamental.

The Obligations of Education. — The race-line should he hrohen and shortened in personal development, (1) The claims of the body-life of children deserve profound attention and respect. These are the claims of the race upon its individuals. Education should not depart too violently from the race-claims of the body-life of children, nor should it crowd the mental life too rapidly upon the body-claims. The child should not be railroaded too rapidly out of his world of things into a world of books. (2) When, however, the body has had a fair chance to get a good start in all its functions and its parts, there should be a rapid extension of the mental life into all tlie heritage of the race to which the child belongs. In this second stage of life, let us say between the age of ten and sixteen, the race-line should be purposely shortened by books, schools, etc., but without violating body-claims. It is nonsense in a life so short as ours to expect boys and girls to repeat slavishly and slowly the steps of the centuries in science, literature, art, etc. The richer the racial heritage, the greater are the responsibilities of the nation to its boys and girls. Then, too, the environment of the young should be utilized to redeem them from the grip of evil ancestry. When evil ancestry projects itself through generations, as it does, transplantation from inferior to superior environment will modify consumption, conquer certain forms of insanity, and overcome heredity in morals. To attempt less than this for individuals is to fall short of possibilities and to bring nations into disrepute. Moreover, worthy individuality, or worthy personal difference, should be allowed to triumph over race-uniformity. The remarkable differences in our capabilities suggest difference of mission and destiny. Those who are responsible have no right to ignore these suggestions. (3) We should reverence the pause that often ushers in adolescence. This is Nature's imperative. A multitude of boys and girls are buried alive on the threshold of adolescence by teachers who do not understand the race-claims on early youth. (4) The revolutionary reconstruction of adolescence, or youth, should be reverently, wisely supervised. In this period God has given us the opportunity as teachers to save boys and girls from the moral tragedy of completely broken race-claims. It is here that we may help to shape the personality of boys and girls by keeping hold of their confidence long enough to give them a Pisgah view of life beyond the school. This guardianship over the self-expansion and the self-extension of a young life is the most imperative dictate of reason.

Definition of Education. — As a consequence of the shortness of time to which the process of education must be confined, we can not hope to develop all the capabilities with which nature has endowed us. Moreover, local and temporal necessities largely determine which capabilities should be developed. Accordingly, although allowance must be made for these limitations, ideally (I) education is that promotion of the natural evolution of man tvhich fits him for his destiyiies as shaped by his needs and foreshadowed by his capabilities.

The term " education " is derived from the Latin e, out, duco, I lead, and tioyi, the act of. In education, as in civilization, there must be somebody who selects stimuli in the light of ideals, and urges proteges by means of these stimuli to act along the lines of destiny, thus preventing the consequences of blind obedience to impulse and caprice. (See O'Shea's "Education as Adjustment," and Spencer's " Education.")

Certain pertinent questions arise from this general statement of the problem of education. To what extent does education depend upon the pupil himself? Why is a teacher needed ? What are the ultimate objects of education? What species of education are possible? The important truths involved in the ansv^ers to these questions are termed Principles, from the Latin word princepSj meaning leader ; and, because these principles resolve themselves into special principles, they are also called General, from the Latin genus, meaning a larger class capable of subdivisions.

Self = Activity. — The interest which the pupil takes in his lessons, the attention which he pays to instruction, the efforts which he makes to master set tasks, especially the setting up of tasks with distant ends in view and their accomplishment, — all forms of self-help in education are conveniently termed self-activity. The highest form of self -activity consists of efforts purposely put forth to attain ideals. Capacity for such self-activity sharply distinguishes normal man from other animals. The normal child unknowingly begins his own education in play, but must knowingly complete it in work.

Play. — ^In play the essential motive is the pleasure which it affords, as in skating or croquet. But the full worth of play is not to be measured by the pleasure which it affords. Play, as Froebel so clearly perceived, develops individuality, or self-assertion, through its essential freedom of action ; and, as the instinctive exercise of body-parts and mental capabilities at their ripening times, play greatly promotes health, growth, and strength both of body and of mind.

WoEK. — In work the essential motive is not the pleasure which it may or may not afford, but some ulterior object such as duty or utility, as in thinking hard or chopping wood. Because work eliminates caprice from action, and subordinates pleasure to duty or utility, it is the necessary complement to play in the development of a perfect individuality. While entertainment, change of occupation, leisure, and the like, preserve spontaneity of individuality and " keep the bow from snapping " in the strenuosity of modem school life, work in the shape of reasonable compulsions, such as hard studies and necessary rules, is indispensable as discipline for real life.

Summing up, we may say that (II) self-activity in the form of play and work, or their equivalents, is the basis of education.

Supervision. — At first, and in many instances for a long time, pupils can not estimate their present powers accurately nor foresee just what they should become by and by ; they do not know what to do, why, nor how. This being the case, they will waste their energies, lose their way, and may give up in despair or confusion. For these reasons pupils need the supervision of somebody who knows them individually, the supervision of somebody with correct ideals, who is authorized to decide what should be done, somebody who shall provide the needed stimuli, direct the responses, remove limitations, and thus in due time enable them to get on without him. In short, (III) effective supervision is the necessary supplement of self-activity in education. Just how the modern teacher endeavors to accomplish his tasks, is to be explained in the paragraphs that follow.

Assignments. — Among the items to be considered in assignments to pupils are the difficulty of the task to be performed, the present ability of the pupils, their probable mental attitude toward the task assigned, the teacher's ability to find the stimuli needed to win the active consent of pupils in question, the amount of time at the disposal of pupils in the preparation of tasks assigned, the local environment of the study periods, the possibilities of the recitation periods, the probable effects which the responses required of pupils in the performance of assigned tasks will have on their individual development, and the suitability of the assignments themselves as means to ends in the larger processes of education.

^ Stimuli. — For younger pupils, as child study shows, 2 motor-expression is the most effective stimulus. In other words, the child instinctively loves to do something, to act his ideas, to express with his body, hands, feet, or tongue, what he thinks, feels, and wills. Branches like reading, drawing, writing, spelling, singing, and the like, become very fascinating to children through appeals to this instinct because we thus add a play-quality to work. Illustrations, too, are interesting for the same reason, and also because, as we shall see in Chapter III, the abstract can be understood only through the concrete. To motor-expression and illustrations as stimuli for younger pupils we must add imitation and competition, both of them often serving as stimuli to motor-expression and supplementing play-pleasure, as we see in class work. In as much as the instincts of imitation and competition serve important purposes all through life, the teacher should not only use these instincts as school incentives, but also strive to make the former intelligent and the latter unselfish. With proper precautions the love of esteem becomes a powerful school incentive. In many boys and girls the moral sense ripens early, and serves as an effective stimulus.

When the reasoning instinct begins to monopolize the pupil's mind, as it normally does in early adolescence, books as well as things become fascinating, but like work and play the two should not be separated very far. When love of books ripens slowly and late, we may look for other abnormal delays in development. Early adolescence, accordingly, is usually the best epoch in life for branches like arithmetic, grammar, languages, and the like. In this period ripening individuality is somewhat equivalent to pugnacity, for which reason the conquest of difficulties becomes very attractive. The modern teacher will not overlook this opportunity.

However, what most pupils need most as a stimulus is a teacher. The mere fact that pupils are expected to report to the teacher in the recitation serves as a stimulus.

The effect is magnified by the fact that in the recitation his mind unites with theirs in lesson attacks. The sympathetic, lovable, and really superior teacher, is an incomparable stimulus.

Emancipation". — The great purpose of modern teachers is to emancipate the pupil, i.e., to help the pupil to help himself more and more until he needs no more help from others in his own development. The j)upil must therefore be put into the best possible physical condition, obstructions which are really insurmountable to him must be removed, he must learn to think by means of books and how to use his mental capabilities, and in the crises of his natural development his personality must be shaped by superior personality.

In view of the intimate relations of the body and the mind, the pupil's general health should be promoted; special care should be taken of his eyes, ears, nose, and throat; in his study hours he should be protected from distractions and annoyances in surroundings; that time of the day in which it is easiest to command the kind of attention we most need in the recitation of any branch is, of course, to be used for that recitation; and the school room should be made a physical delight (Kirkpa trick's "Fundamentals of Child Study").

When the learner comes to a " dead halt " in a lesson, the modern way to remove obstructions, i.e., to help the pupil help himself, is to pave the way for him by means of reviews, suggestive illustrations, pertinent questions, hints, etc., rather than by doing for him what we could get him to do for himself. This procedure is technically called apperception, as we shall learn more fully in Chapter V, and is always more professional than direct instruction except in such cases where apperceptive instruction is either impossible or an unreasonable waste of time. (See Quick's "Educational Eeformers," page 224, and Hinsdale's " Art of Study," page 226.)

It takes long to teach the pupil to read, i.e.^ to think bj means of books, but the more effectively this task is accomplished the more complete is the pupil's educational emancipation. This ability enables him to think between recitations, at home, and after he must leave school; it becomes possible for him to think the thoughts of the masters, and thus to make himself an heir of the ages in science, language, literature, philosophy, etc. From this view-point supplementary reading books and school libraries become startlingly important. Through judicious " supplementary readers '' reading usually becomes a pleasure and through school libraries a habit. After that the " graduate " is more likely to collect a home library and to consult public libraries in his post-graduate life. To emancipate the pupil in science studies, such as biology, we must not only teach him to think by means of books but by means of experiments. He must be taught to find the materials needed in experiments, how to study specimens, how to discover likeness or law by comparing specimens, how to record discovered facts and conclusions, and how to apply the results to useful purposes in life. If in addition to the power to read and investigate for himself the pupil also acquires enough motor education for his practical needs, his educational emancipation is pretty complete.

There are well defined epochs in the normal development of boys and girls, as we shall learn more fully in Chapter II. The teaching process must be more or less specially adapted to each of these natural epochs, while the abnormal developments and monopolies more or less frequently ushered in with these epochs make the teaching process very hard. The modern teacher must not only be " on the lookout " for these epochs and the possible surprises coming with them, but he must be fully prepared to do the right thing at the right time. He must deal very patiently, for example, with defectives, dullards, and delinquents. He must make a special study of every adolescent, i.e._, of every pupil in the later ^^ teens." When he finds '^ adolescent pause " he must wait on ISTature in his school requirements, and when he finds " adolescent stress," i.e. J a pugnacious or rebellious individuality, he must try his utmost to command respect through superior training and to dominate over such individuality only by superior personality and inspiring ideals. The teacher who can adapt himself to these epoch difficulties will have large graduating classes. (See ^^ Hall's Adolescence," Vol. II, page 554.)

Briefly stated (IV) the pupiVs emancipation must he gradually effected through the stimulations and instructions of superiors. And the superiority must, of course, be commensurate with the tasks involved.

Ultimate Objects and Proximate Aims. — The ultimate or final purposes of education will, of course, determine proximate or nearer aims.

From the strong desire to be happy now and hereafter and the startling multitude of God's provisions for such happiness (see Liibbock's " Pleasures of Life "), we infer that happiness is one of the attributes of the life complete which God has planned for us.

God, as moral science and experience teach, has made it possible for man to know the right from the wrong, and to choose for ourselves in life. From this, and from God's holiness, as we learn of it in E'ature and Holy Writ, we must infer that He will hold us responsible. This inference is confirmed by the fact that we can not be truly happy unless we try to be truly good, and still more by the well-nigh universal faith in immortality. Thus goodness is to be an attribute of life complete.

The world in which we live makes it necessary for the great majority of men and women to do something or other for a living, to contribute something to the sustenance of those who can not help themselves, and something to the betterment of the world at large. We must try to fit ourselves for various occupations, trades, positions, and professions. Those who fail in these requirements fall behind in life's rugged ways, become a burden to society, or perchance, betray the holy ties that bind them to loved ones and to society at large — the community, the church, the state. Thus usefulness in some shape or other is to be an attribute of the life complete (see Dewey's '^ School and Society").

If education is an evolutionary, i.e., a completing process, as defined on page 15, the ultimate objects of education must evidently be identical with the ends of life complete as planned for us by God. Accordingly, (V) tJie ultimate objects of education are happiness^ goodness, and usefuhiess. Any system of education that ignores these purposes either in its processes or consequences is, to say the least, very incomplete.

School Aims. — The special aims of education — school aims, as we may call them — must, of course, be subordinate to the final aims as means to ends. All those forms of physical and mental development, or culture, which help us live completely are among the worthy school aims. Some of these are health of body and mind, strength enough to work hard with mind and body, skill enough in mechanical or artistic manipulations, a multitude of good habits and worthy interests. With culture must be combined, if possible, such knowledge of nature, God, and man, as serves the ends of life as planned by God (see Thorndike's " Principles of Education," pages 3-6, and the K E. A. Keport of 1903, pages 46-54).

Species of Education". — The number of man's powers and the ends to be kept in view in the cultivation of these powers, determine the possible species of education.

Physical education has to do with the body; it aims to make the body a fit abode and instrument of the mind. As a means to these ends a training in physiology, physical culture, and mechanic arts is indispensable.

Intellectual education has to do with the thinking and knowing powers of the mind; it aims to develop these powers into fit instruments of life. As a means to this end, both general and special courses of study are necessary.

Moral education has to do with building character, i.e., with will training into subordination to ideals of utility, beauty, duty, and religion. The corresponding sub-species of moral education are termed practical, aesthetic, ethical, and religious. As means to these ends of moral education the pupil needs to be trained in the useful arts and sciences, in aesthetics and the fine arts, in personal and social virtues, and in religion. Religion as a most effective stimulus in moral education, and because it brings the soul into personal relations with God, is the highest form of education. All species of moral education begin with intellect, and the corresponding emotions, or mental feelings, thus waked up solicit the will. And all these activities combined into conduct constitute the moral life of man (see Rosenkranz's " Philosophy of Education," and MacCunn's " The Making of Character '').