Instruction in the grades, values and methods; a text-book for normal students and young teachers

Preface

This little book is the outgrowth of a series of lectures delivered to groups of teachers — candidates for Supervising Principals' certificates at the annual, examinations in Philadelphia — and is published in response to their urgent request.

Throughout the book the reader will find that value as determining aim is regarded as inseparable from a philosophic treatment of method. The constant necessity of considering values and aims, which I have never tired of proclaiming, has made this work rather different from the ordinary treatise on method. It is, however, the recognition of this point of view which has lifted, or will lift, teaching from a trade to a profession. Every live teacher must, if only occasionally, catch a glimpse of the blue sky of educational ideate through the narrow, barred windows of tradition. Although I have carried out the relationship of aim and method in considerable detail, and have applied it to most of the curricular subjects, I cannot but feel that such repetition is justified by the vital importance of this view-point.

I have omitted the treatment of the important subjects of physical and manual training, music, drawing, sewing, and cooking, which as a rule are either taught or supervised by specialists ; and have confined myself

PREFACE VI

to the discussion of those subjects, largely traditional, in which the teacher is expected to work out her own salvation. All the methods advocated in this book find their justification in the fact that they have been successfully used, either by me or by teachers whose work and results have come under my direct observation.

I shall not attempt to acknowledge my indebtedness to other writers on education. In fact, I could not, if I would. The ideas herein expressed are, now at least, so absolutely my own, that even though I may be only their foster father, I cannot distinguish them from my own offspring. This much I can safely say, that no view set forth in this book is written simply because it conforms to somebody's theory. Neither has newness, as such, been a part of my aim. I have merely attempted to collect, in an orderly fashion, such parts of my educational experience and reflection as I thought would be helpful to teachers and normal school students. I trust that, if the reviewer is moved to exclaim with Lessing, "This book contains much that is good and much that is new, ' ' he will not supplement it with the caustic comment that the good is not new and the new is not good.

IV Reading 37

V Oral Expression 58

VI Spelling 83

VII Written Language . 102

VIII Grammar 129

IX Arithmetic 160

X Geography 191

XI History 224

XII Physiology 256

Introduction

No apology is needed for a new book on Method. That there is real progress in this subject is shown by the fact that some books quickly become "out of date" and "behind the times."

Tradition still holds partial sway, however, and exerts a two-fold influence : first, in determining Subject Matter; second, in regard to Method per se. It thus contributes its share to four results, namely:

Worthless matter ill-taught, Worthless matter well-taught, Valuable matter poorly taught, Valuable matter well-taught,

the last only being the consummation devoutly desired by all faithful teachers.

The aim of a book of this character should be to furnish a criterion for educational values, and inspiration for right methods. In regard to the former, the author well realizes the fact that the educational summum bonum depends upon our attitude toward that larger science of life — ethics.

In this book the attempt will be made to ascertain the most generally accepted views on the various subjects, although here and there the reader will discover certain radical departures from existing traditions, as embodied in present-day courses of study.

X INTRODUCTION

So great is the variety of opinion, however, in regard to educational values that the author, in lecturing to classes of teachers, has often found the most difficult part of his work to consist in determining the what, the subject matter, as well as the how or method on account of the vagueness or neglect of the aim.

An illustration may make this clearer. In teaching mode and tense in grammar, methods would vary considerably, according as we adopted as our aim (a) improvement of spoken and written language, (b) preparation for the study of foreign languages, (c) training of memory. Under (a) emphasis would be laid upon matters like the proper use of the future tense; upon the auxiliaries will, shall, may, can; the subjunctive forms; etc. Under (b) drill in conjugation and the development of a helpful preparatory terminology would be emphasized. Under (c) some special way of using the subject-matter to train the memory might be devised.

It is hoped that the importance of definite aim will find a permanent, prominent place in the teacher's actual practice. The most useful habit of mind for a teacher is that of constant self-questioning, as: "What is the use of this?" "Will it make a better man or woman of this child?" "Will it enable him to pass an examination?" "Will it make him healthier?" etc., etc.

Although this is an age of specialization, still teaching is teaching, and very much the same psychological principles apply to all subjects of instruction. What these are will be pointed out in a general way

INTRODUCTION XI

in a subsequent chapter. It frequently happens, however, that a teacher may secure excellent results in one subject, and indifferent or poor results in some other. The tendency to introduce departmental teaching in the elementary schools is to some extent a recognition of this diversity of talent and interest among teachers. Where, however, as in most elementary schools, the teacher must give instruction in all subjects, it becomes exceedingly important that she should have a thorough knowledge of subject-matter, and also that she have guidance in method in those subjects where she seems lacking in ability and interest. It is hoped that this book may to some extent enliven topics, formerly viewed as dull, and suggest real method in place of lifeless routine.

No teacher should limit her knowledge of subject-matter or method to the work of the grade which she happens to be teaching. This more than anything else takes the life out of work. Ruts do save some from the ditches, but the educational roads are broad and fair, and both ruts and ditches may be avoided. In the industrial world, it is possible for a man to be a proficient workman, with no knowledge whatever of the relation of his work to other operations in the same establishment. Such piece-workers cannot possibly live in their work. Their real life must be crowded into the comparatively short period outside of their working hours. 1 Teaching must

1 The organization, compactness, and specialization of industrial systems have a dangerous as well as a helpful aspect when made a standard of comparison with educational insti-

Xll INTRODUCTION

never approximate this condition. Of all vocations in the world, teaching is the one where the workman must live in his work. Anything else spells failure. Every teacher should have a general view of the relation of education to life. More specifically she should come into intimate contact with the work of every grade. From this point of view, especially, it is hoped that all parts of this book will be found helpful to teachers whatever their grade.

Let it be said at once that no set of rules or devices can possibly relieve the teacher of the necessity for watchful eyes, keen ears, quick brain, and responsive heart. The contempt for pedagogical training manifested by some of the older teachers — those born teachers, who, being fittest, have survived — is due to their keen perception of the unearnest self-sufficiency of the book-made pedagogue. They might be justified in quoting to the latter: "And the God you took from a printed book be with you, Tomlinson." As in discipline, so in instruction, a good method at one time may be bad at another time ; or the best way to teach John may not be equally good for Henry, nor for the same John at different times. A rule is general in nature. This means that it is applicable in the great majority of cases. But the recognition of the comparatively few cases where a rule is not applicable, and the proper modifications of the rule, which will adapt it to special situations, measure the tact and ability of the teacher.

tutions. What constitutes true economy in these latter is very hard to define.

VALUES AND METHODS

PART I— INTRODUCTORY

Chapter I Values

Explanatory. — Were this book intended as a philosophical discussion of pedagogy, it would be necessary in this place to devote considerable space to the so-called ethical aim of education. The author's purpose, however, is by no means theoretic or academic, but narrowly practical, as proof of which, philosophical digressions will be eschewed throughout. In general, we may agree with the statement that the aim of education is social efficiency. No thorough-going analysis of the concept of social efficiency will be attempted here, but just so much description of the ideal as seems necessary to the understanding of method.

Mental Discipline. — It has been the custom of educators, from time immemorial, to speak of the value of this or that study as "mental discipline." It has been thought that various powers or faculties could be trained or strengthened as the result of some specific exercise, so as to function better in general. For example, the "grit" developed in a football game was thought to give to the individual a courageous attitude toward the divers situations arising in the battle of life. The accuracy and insight required in translating a passage of Latin were credited with a tremendous effect upon the development of accuracy and insight in general. In the above sentences the past tense has been used, as though nobody nowadays accepted these views. This is not so. Formal discipline — as it is called — has rooted itself so firmly even in our every-day speech that no single generation of psychologists can hope to eradicate it. Moreover, in this popular notion, there is so much real truth that the scientific unraveling of the tangle becomes especially difficult. Passing over the controversial aspects of the question, the following would seem to be a fair summing up of the situation at this time: — The disciplinary value of various subjects in the curriculum has been greatly exaggerated. As a rule, so-called mental training amounts to no more than the development of the natural interest attendant on systematized knowledge. The botanist has not, on the whole, better powers of observation than the dressmaker. The one observes well in a field or garden, the other in the field of fashion or at an evening function. Where there is interest and mental organization in any particular subject, there will be better observation, memory, imagination. No game requires more concentration and foresight than chess. Yet chess players are not, as a rule, a peculiarly provident class. We must not think of the mind as a collection

VALUES 6

of faculties, each capable of individual training, but rather as a group of apperceptive systems; mental training depending on the interrelation and organization of these systems.

The study of one subject may, of course, assist in the mastery of another, depending upon the resemblance between them. To one who has mastered Latin, the study of the Romance languages is comparatively easy. So a chauffeur should have but little trouble in learning to run a motor boat. But in neither case does this amount to mental training as generally understood. Additions are simply made to a system of ideas already existing. Nor does a method or device for text-book study constitute mental training. Such method or device may be exceedingly helpful, however, because much of the ordinary curricular school work is dependent on text-book study. When we come to the ethical or quasi-ethical qualities, such as courage, perseverance, neatness, accuracy, the problem of formal discipline assumes a new aspect. No amount of psychological experimentation will disabuse the ordinary teacher 's mind of her belief in the ethical value of school work. Ethical value there certainly is, but it may not be left to itself ; it must be fostered. There is a value, and a considerable value, in one's sticking to a perverse mathematical problem until it is solved. But this value inheres, not in the mere sticking to the problem, but in the formation of an ideal of perseverance. Here is the teacher's opportunity — a lively moral text. If a child is obliged to solve again a long problem on account of a careless error, disgust with school work is as likely a result as increased accuracy. All depends on how the teacher handles the situation. Our answer, then, to the question: ''What disciplinary value has subject X ?" would depend upon its resemblance to other subjects which would probably be studied later, or — and this is the more important consideration — upon the extent to which it furnished opportunities for the development of conscious ideals.

Utility. — The utilitarian aim of education seems too obvious to require any extended treatment. It amounts to the indirect self-preservation of Spencer's Complete Living. It has been called the "bread and butter aim," and various other uncomplimentary names. Nevertheless, in an increasingly economic age such as ours, utility, even in a narrow sense, must justify our every movement. The rapid development of industrial and vocational education in recent times shows how important utility is to the general public, and how frequently values are reckoned in dollars and cents. There was a modern philosophy in the facetioos response to the highwayman's "Money or your life!" "Take my life! I need my money to live with!"

Conventional Aim. — There are many things which we learn, not because they are narrowly utilitarian, nor for any supposed mental value, but simply because everybody else learns them. What our parents have learned, we should learn, and thus tradition continues to grip our curricula. The educational body is choked with vestigial organs. The surgical excision must

VALUES 5

needs be delicate and often painful, but some excision is necessary. This conventional value of studies assumes greater proportions in the secondary than in the elementary school. Although we cannot disregard it altogether, there is no doubt that the conventional aim is responsible for a tremendous economic waste in education.

Health. — Modern school education is recognizing more and more the importance of physical well-being. Not only is health regarded as an end in itself, but also as an indispensable condition of happiness and efficiency. The architecture and equipment of modern school buildings show the increasing recognition of health in the everbroadening scope of education. Specific instruction in gymnastics and supervised play indicate this recognition most concretely. Medical inspection and school nurses must now be included in every up-to-date school system. Physiology, hygiene, and cooking, directly, and various other curricular subjects indirectly help to build up proper physical habits and ideals.

Happiness. — "Without attempting the difficult task of defining happiness, we may take it for granted that it is a most important worldly aim. The genial heartglow of benevolence, the pleasure of listening to good music, of reading good books, the gratification of a clear conscience, are all highly desirable forms of the mental life. This has been called the sentimental or emotional value of education, but the term does not seem exactly appropriate. Utilitarianism in education is sometimes used to include happiness as well as the "bread-and-butter aim" above described. The present vocational tendency does not emphasize happiness sufficiently, nor does it seem to discern the true relation between contentment and worldly possessions. For the great mass of mankind the vocation tends to become drudgery. How to employ one 's leisure is a problem of the highest importance. "What shall I do?" is perhaps the most vital question which the laborer puts to himself at the close of a day's work. Much depends on the answer to such questions as "What books shall I read?" "What music shall I hear?" "To what theater shall I go?" It is the employment of his leisure which may make or mar the man. Education must therefore strive to furnish a rational measuring stick for pleasures. In literature, art, and the drama the creation of rational standards must be attempted, so that some appreciation of the noble and beautiful may be achieved. The educator must repudiate Spencer's shallow argument that since the fine arts occupy the leisure part of life, they should be allotted only the leisure part of education. For the ordinary unskilled workman, leisure is life ; work, mere existence.

Morality. — According to Herbart, all subjects have a moral value, and properly interpreted this is undoubtedly true. Were this an academic thesis, I should certainly have included the pursuit of happiness in the present paragraph. Instead, I am restricting the term morality to a more or less clearly defined set of virtues, all of which are often grouped

VALUES 7

together under the head of duty or conscience ; for instance, truthfulness, justice, generosity, purity, faithfulness, patriotism. When, in the course of this book, I have occasion to speak of the moral value of a subject, I shall have special reference to one or more of these specific virtues. As we shall see in the next chapter, all education worthy of the name must justify itself by its inculcation of morality in the deepest sense.

Preparation. — There are some subjects or portions of subjects which are of little or no value in themselves, but which form a necessary preparation for the study of some other subject. I shall use the term propaedeutic to describe this value. Propaedeutic or preparatory work may sometimes occupy considerable time, and be relatively complete in itself, or it may be parenthetical in character, holding together the really important parts of a subject — the connective tissue of education, as it were. In a broad sense, all school education is propaedeutic, constituting a preparation for life.

Relation of the Values. — Although treated separately for convenience, we must not overlook the great overlapping of these various aims or values. For example, usefulness generally has value for happiness. Many hold that true contentment can result only from morality. Again, it is pleasant to know those things which we are expected to know. Besides, there is the useful side — a reputation for knowing the things we are expected to know will gain us influential friends. There is thus formed a complicated network — all of which, however, may be included under social efficiency.

Again, the value of any kind of knowledge or proficiency is relative. Proficiency in baseball has chiefly happiness value for the college boy, but strictly utilitarian value for the professional ball player. Knowledge of the function of a carburetor has merely conventional value to the poor bricklayer who can only afford to talk "automobile," but decidedly utilitarian value to the fortunate one who operates his own car. Conversely, whatever knowledge of laying bricks the latter possesses is entirely conventional, while that of the former is utilitarian.

Chapter II

Explanation. — It is customary to include a course in psychology in the curriculum of normal schools, and in spite of various adverse criticisms, the commonsense of education favors the study of this science. In this chapter no attempt will be made to give an exhaustive or even a comprehensive view of psychology. My purpose is rather to fix with some degree of definiteness the terminology which I shall employ in this book and to emphasize those portions of mental science which seem to me to have a direct bearing upon method. It may not be amiss to state what to most should be patent, that no amount of psychological knowledge can make a teacher. The thoughtful teacher, however, will find that a grasp of fundamental psychological conceptions will aid her considerably. It will serve as a searchlight to illuminate her experiences, revealing frequently the cause of success and the reasons for failure. So far as the teacher is concerned, psychology is to education as physiology is to hygiene. It is not necessary for the ordinary health-seeking mortal to know the exact microscopic constitution of the retina in order to preserve his eye-sight; nor is it necessary for the teacher to wade through an exhaustive analysis of attention to know that pupils must be attentive in order to learn.

Kinds of Knowledge. — We may, for convenience, divide knowledge into three classes, viz., subjective, objective, and ejective. 1 Subjective knowledge is knowledge of one's own mental states. The exhilaration of an ocean breeze, a slight headache and eye strain, represent elements of subjective experience as I write these words. I use the term objective knowledge to designate all knowledge gained through the senses. The external world is objective to me. In a philosophical sense, of course, all objective knowledge is also subjective to the individual observer. A gull winging its flight above me, the swish of the waves, the paper on which I am writing, are all elements of my objective knowledge. By ejective knowledge, I mean all knowledge that is absolutely ''thrown out of" my own consciousness. I infer the feelings and ideas of other living creatures by their actions and words. I have no direct knowledge of their mental states. We gain subjective knowledge by introspection, objective knowledge by observation, and ejective knowledge by inference. These three methods — introspection, observation, and inference are all essential to a knowledge of mind.

Importance of Ejective Knowledge. — The older psychologists depended almost entirely upon introspection. This made their psychological work narrow and unscientific. In modern times, scientific methods,

i This useful term, I believe, was first used in this sense by Clifford.

particularly experimentation and statistics, have practically revolutionized the study of this subject. Even to-day, however, psychologists find it extremely difficult to make due allowance for individual differences. It is hard to get another person's viewpoint, to estimate his feelings and ideas. We constantly project ourselves into the minds of others. The difficulties attending ejective knowledge are increased many fold where there are great differences of age, of race, or of sex ; and when we attempt to comprehend the minds of lower animals, we may well stand aghast

These difficulties may be illustrated by the odd workings of sympathy, which, as its etymology implies, involves the attempt to gain ejective knowledge. The young father of an infant is frequently much distressed by the crying of his offspring. Much of the parent 's perturbation is due to his inability to prevent the projection of his own consciousness into the mind of the child. Inevitably he reasons that the pain or agony causing the infantile outburst is as intense as would be required to cause a similar outburst in him. This peculiar working of sympathy often goes so far as to cause feeling for the lifeless corpses about to be laid in the cold earth. If the emotional life of fish has merited all the feminine sympathy spent upon them, horrible, indeed, must be their sufferings.

However, in spite of the difficulties and uncertainties of ejective knowledge — due largely to the inevitable projection of self — all human beings are constantly endeavoring to employ it. Teachers especially are required to gauge the mentality of their pupils.

There is not a lesson which does not necessitate an appraisal of the mental response of the class, and it is largely this ejective uncertainty which makes selfaetivity so important in pedagogy.

Sensation, Perception, and Apperception. — A scientific classification of the sensations would be out of place here, nor is it particularly important for the teacher. Sensation is to psychology what the atom is to chemistry — a hypothetical entity of merely theoretical significance. A sensation, to be of value, must be apperceived; that is, it must be made a part of some more or less elaborate group of ideas. This apperception may range from our hazy ideas of time and place when first awakened from sleep, to the clear understanding of a mathematical problem upon which we have concentrated our attention. An elaborate group of ideas is often called an apperceptive system. Intelligence is proportioned to the number, perfection, and interrelationships of apperceptive systems. A well ordered mind approximates a well organized army with its battalions, companies, etc., in proper subordination, while over all stands the commander-inchief. Perception is but another name for that kind of apperception through which we gain objective knowledge. The muscular sense, and the senses of sight, touch, and hearing, are the principal channels of perception.

Attention. — Attention is dependent upon an important fact of mental life; that all parts of consciousness are not equally clear or intense at the same time. For education, attention is the most important concept of psychology, as all knowledge depends upon clearness of mental view. The slightest introspection will readily reveal the characteristics of attentive consciousness. The state of mind receiving attention becomes clear, distinct, vivid, and, what is of greatest importance, significant; that is, it calls up and fuses with various related ideas. The significance or ' ' meaningf ulness, " resulting from attention is but a form of apperception. In fact, attention and apperception are two aspects of the same mental condition. When we say attention, we refer particularly to the process, whereas apperception refers rather to the product, the whole mental state. The fuller the idea group, the keener the comprehension and the easier the retention. If we compare the mind to a hotel, we may say that the mental states receiving attention are the permanent boarders, and the others are mere transient guests.

In the light of what has just been said about apperceptive systems, a new significance is given to the query: "To how many things can we attend at once?" It comes down to a consideration of what we mean by one thing. The child who has learned the surface and drainage of a continent as two interrelated facts naturally groups them. In fact, in attending to them, he is in reality attending to but one thing. E pluribus unum is the real maxim of intellectual education. What we call intellectual power shows itself particularly here. To Newton, the movement of the heavenly bodies and the facts of terrestrial gravitation became one thing. So Napoleon and

Mozart — each in his own field — grasped tremendous unities where the ordinary mind would be lost in a maze of unrelated detail.

We may remark, in passing, that what teachers call inattention is generally different from the state of listlessness to which psychologists apply the term. In the class room the inattentive pupil is he who is very intent upon something else. Pedagogical inattention is thus rather an ethical than a psychological condition. The pupil is inattentive to what he should attend to.

A distinction is often made between attention with effort, and free or disinterested attention. The former is called voluntary and the latter non-voluntary attention. Uncontrollable attention to some sudden sight, sound, etc., may be called involuntary attention.

Representative Consciousness. — All mental development depends upon the power of retention. Every percept or mental state leaves a physiological modification which may or may not cause its recall. "We give the name idea to recalled mental states or percepts. The term image is also frequently used. If the idea or image closely resembles its original, and is thought of as belonging to some definite past time, we are said to remember. This is memory. When the ideas are not definitely localized in the past, or are combined in various new ways, we call the process imagination. The recall of ideas, whether in memory or imagination, depends upon certain conditions, which have been generalized by psychologists into the "Laws of Association." The most important of these laws are those of contiguity and similarity: An idea A tends to call up the idea B if it has occurred at the same time with it in past experience or if it resembles B. (Contrast would be a special case of similarity.) Moreover, the recall of the idea B would depend upon the frequency, recency, intensity, and degree of organization or apperception of its connection with A. The pleasant or unpleasant consequences of ideas and acts are potent influences in determining associations positively or negatively. Of these secondary considerations, frequency and degree of organization are the most important. The influence of recency is potent, but for a short time only, as any one who has crammed for an examination can testify. Intensity as a force for recall is more important. The efficiency of interest as a factor of instruction depends largely upon its intensification of ideas.

In popular language, imagination is often confused with fancy. Psychologically considered, imagination is any form of mental combination, and thus bears a vital relation to all acquisition of knowledge. All learning from verbal description illustrates imaginative activity. It is here particularly that the teacher must constantly test the pupils. Pictures will be found a tremendous aid to imaginative activity, as they bring before the pupils simultaneously what verbal descriptions give only piecemeal and seriatim. Training the imagination is not a matter of negative control, but depends rather on a well stored and well organized mind. The habit or ideal of testing imaginative results should be constantly fostered. Childish flights of fancy do not show, as is popularly supposed, that children have stronger imaginations than adults, but serve rather to indicate the absence of the inhibitive influence of organized knowledge.

Creative Imagination and Originality. — By creative imagination is meant not the creation of something absolutely new, but rather a combination of old materials — ideas or images — in a new way. When this combining or grouping is determined by criteria or standards possessed by the individual himself the work of imagination may be called original. From this point of view, sincerity or self-realization lies at the basis of all true art. The child who takes a conventionalized flower or leaf form, and develops it under the guidance of a controlling decorative idea of his own is to that extent an artist. Utility and truth, as well as beauty, guide imaginative activity. The inventor and mathematican employ imagination quite as much as the sculptor or romancer. Any real training of imagination must therefore include the building up of good standards of the Greek trinity — the Good, the Beautiful, and the True.