Class-room method and management

Preface

The many books now available on the teaching of various school subjects agree in two important particulars. First, each differs from all the others in everything that goes to make a book : in standpoint, mode of treatment, terms used, and practical outcome. No thread of unity leads their diverse points of view to focalize on a common problem. Second, helpful as many of these texts are, no one of them undertakes any thoroughgoing organization of the central factors involved in a fundamental system of method. The result is that we have many "methods," but come perilously near having no method of teaching.

The present work sets itself the rather ambitious task of seeking out and organizing the underlying principles that govern all good method. For method can be placed on a rational basis. In its broader aspects it rests on perfectly definite and simple principles. These principles can be clearly defined. They are easily grasped and may be intelligently applied to the teaching of any subject. Not content with a theoretical statement of the general principles of method, the treatment carries them across to the work of the class room and applies them definitely and concretely to the teaching of the common-school subjects.

Part I, which is devoted to general method, discusses the four cardinal elements which comprise method. These are (1) the determination of aim; (2) the selection of material; (3) the organisation of subject-matter for instruction; (4) presentation, or the technique of instruction. The first question that any teacher must ask is, what is my aim, what results do I seek to accomplish in the mind and experience of the child through the subject I teach? The second question is, what material will best accomplish this aim? The next

PREFACE

is, how can I best organize this particular material to accomplish the aim set up ? And finally, how through instruction can I best present this material to make it effective ? These are the four questions that must be answered for every subject. They are the questions that underlie all rational method when broadly conceived.

The aim of education, and hence or any subject in the curriculum, is to be defined in terms (1) of fruitful knowledge, (2) right attitudes, (3) applied skills. Hence the question for each subject becomes how to select, organize and present such material as will result in the desired knowledge, attitudes and skills. The answer to this problem for any particular subject constitutes its method. From this point of view method becomes very definite and concrete, and its application to school-room practise very immediate and specific.

Part II builds on the foundations already laid and outlines the method of the elementary subjects. In each case it asks the question (1) what is the aim of this branch — what fruitful knowledge, what helpful attitudes, what applied skills should it give the child; (2) what particular subject-matter must be used to accomplish these aims; (3) how shall I organize and teach this material to reach the desired aim. In answering these questions there has been an attempt to avoid mere dogmatism and to use the best current points of view in education.

Part HI deals briefly with the problems of class-room management. Teaching implies control of the conditions under which instruction is given. Not to be a good manager is to defeat the best of teaching method. Good class-room management will supply favorable conditions (1) for teaching and learning, and (2) for promoting the development of

character.

G. H. B.

PART ONE: FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES I Method in Education 1

The importance of method — Is method possible — Its function — Method not yet standardized; hence manyconflicting methods — The process of standardizing method — Foundation principles — The new demand for better methods — Method and supervision — The functional view of method — The child and not the subject-matter to determine method — Logical and psychological method — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

II Method and the Point of View ....... 10

Teacher's point of view central in determining method — Teaching the child versus teaching the subject-matter — Each subject an instrument for effecting desired changes in the child; hence subject-matter a means and not an end — Making the student over into the teacher — Means change of emphasis from material to pupil — Method conceives child as primary and material as secondary — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

III What Method Is . 19

The nature of method — Its four factors — The part played by aim — Aim sets the goal and determines the material — The part played by material; must fit the aim — Technique of instruction to be adapted to aim — What determines the aim in education — Conflicting values — The newer definition of culture — Culture and utility — The efficiency aim — Three fundamental requirements of education : knowledge, attitude and skills — What knowledge is required by present-day needs — The place of attitudes in education — The place of skills — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

IV The Knowledge Side of Education 35

What does the educated person of to-day need to know? — Tests of fruitful knowledge — Knowledge of tools or symbols — Knowledge of the self — Knowledge of physical nature — Knowledge of human nature — Knowledge of history — Knowledge of industry, science and invention — Knowledge of forms of expression — Knowledge of avocations — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

V Training to Right Attitudes 51

Meaning of term — Attitude as important as knowledge — The outcome of attitude — Setting up standards of Value — Cultivation of interests and tastes — Ideals of conduct and achievement — The cultivation of habits — Tastes and appreciations — How attitudes are developed — Relation to knowledge and achievement — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

VI Developing Skills 67

Meaning of the term — Applied skills the end of all education — How skills are obtained — Developing physical skills — Mental skills — Social skills — Skill in leadership— Moral skills — The developing of moral control — Standards of moral action — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

VII The Subject-Matter of Education 79

Present readjustment of subject-matter — New importance ascribed to kind of material studied — The breakdown of the disciplinary concept of education — Modern increase in material for the curriculum — Relieving the overcrowded curriculum — Directions taken by present-day reconstruction — Determining the material by the aim — The principle involved — Subject-matter determined by age, capacity and interest — Adapting material to the learner — Securing the point of contact in teaching — Elimination of the unfit from text-books — Selecting ' the material through stress and neglect — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

VIII The Organization of Subject-Matter 100

The place of organization in method — Two types of organization — Fallacy involved in logical organization for children — Logical method dominates most older texts — The psychological organization of subject-matter — This follows demands of the child in place of the subject-matter — The relation of organization to attitude and motive — The order of subjects in the curriculum — The order of material within each subject — The organization of each day's lesson — Meeting-point of the logical and the psychological — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

IX The Technique of Instruction 113

After aim, material and organization comes technique — Factors depending on the teacher — The intellectual quality — The quality of human sympathy — The teacher's educational equipment — Commanding interest and attention — The influence of attitudes in the school room — Moral effects of cooperation — Making use of the inductive — The method of the recitation — The use of questions and answers — The art of good questioning — The topical method — The supplemental method — The laboratory method — Combining methods — Tests of a good recitation — Response as a test — The contagion of inattention — Eliminating distractions — Maintaining standards — Danger points in instruction — The quality of definiteness — Avoiding dead levels — The rut of routine — Incomplete mastery — Chapter summary — Questions and problems.

PART TWO: METHOD OF THE COMMON BRANCHES X Reading and Literature 132

Reading the most important of school subjects — Results sought — The knowledge aim — Attitudes to be cultivated — Skills to be trained — Standardized tests for determining skill — Skill in oral expression — What to teach as subject-matter — The content of elementary reading material — Adapting material to age and interest — First-grade reading material — Second-grade material — Third-grade material — Fourth-grade material — Fifth- and sixth-grade material — Seventh- and eighth-grade material — Starting the beginners— Prevention and cure of bad reading habits — Dramatization — Leading to appreciation and enjoyment — Appealing to imagination — Oral and silent reading — Reading for home work — Training the memory — Questions and problems — References.

XI Spelling 165

Unsatisfactory status of spelling — The spelling aim — Knowledge required in spelling — The cultivation of spelling attitudes — Skills to be attained — The Ayres spelling test — What shall we teach in spelling? — The one thousand commonest words — The one hundred spelling "demons" — What to omit in spelling — How to teach spelling — Teaching new words —

Emphasizing hard words — Personal and class lists — Oral and written spelling — Column and context spelling — Drill in difficult elements — Spelling rules — Futility of spelling contests — Questions and problems — References.

XII Language 188

Language as a measure of culture — Aims sought through language teaching — Knowledge required — Attitudes to be developed — Skills sought — Material for language instruction — Finding material in the child's activities — Use of stories and pictures — Letter-writing — The treatment of common errors — The place of grammar — First-grade material — Second-grade material — Third- and fourth-grade material — Fifth- and sixth-grade material — Seventh- and eighth-grade material — Securing expression through language teaching — Extending the vocabulary — The socialized recitation — Good speech clubs — Original expression — Questions and problems — References.

XIII Arithmetic 217

The traditional place of arithmetic — Its aim — Arithmetical knowledge required — Attitudes and interests to be developed — The training of skills — Use of standardized tests for measuring skill — What to teach in arithmetic — First-grade material — Second-grade material — Third-grade material — Fourth-grade material — Fifth- and sixth-grade material — Seventh- and eighth-grade material — Eliminating the useless and obsolete — What to omit — Organizing and presenting arithmetic — The use of the concrete — Training to thought work — The use of drills and reviews — Inductive teaching in number — Standards of success — Suggestions for arithmetic teaching — Questions and problems — References.

XIV Geography .239

Nature of geography — Its aim — Knowledge sought — Attitudes and interests to be developed — Skills to be trained — What should a seventh-grade child know in geography — What to teach in geography — Firstand second-grade material — Third-grade material — Fourth- and fifth-grade material — Sixth- and seventh-grade material — What to leave out— Organization and presentation — Standards for the geography recitation— The teacher's preparation for geography — Teaching children to study— The use of problems — Training to use of the map— Developing imagination — Questions and problems — References.

CHAPTER

XV History

PAGE

Importance of history study — Aim sought — Necessary knowledge — Attitudes and interests — Applied skills — The subject-matter to be taught — First- and second-grade material — Third- and fourth-grade material — Fifth- and sixth-grade material — Seventhand eighth-grade material — What to omit in history — Organizing and presenting material — Creating an atmosphere of reality — Dramatizing — Training the pupils to think — The correlations of history — Questions and problems — References.

XVI Civics

Why American children should study civics — The aim of teaching civics — Types of knowledge required — Cultivation of civic attitudes and ideals — The practise of citizenship — What to teach in elementary civics — Practical sources of material — Immediate civic relations — Community interests — Laws that all should know and obey — Civics and health — What the government does for its citizens — What citizens should do in return — Good and bad citizens — The machinery of government — The units of government — Elimination of obsolete and useless material — How to teach civics — Teaching civics at Gary — Civics through the life of the school — Questions and problems — References.

XVII Physiology and Hygiene 290

Unsatisfactory results — What should be accomplished — Fruitful knowledge — The development of attitudes and ideals — Training to practical skills — Subject-matter to be taught — Central emphasis on hygiene and practise — Elimination of unsuitable material — Motivating the study — Class-room demonstrations — Experiments to be used — Use of dramatization — Questions and problems — References.

XVIII Penmanship 308

Amount of time given to penmanship — The aim — Knowledge required — Attitudes — Skills — Conducting the writing hour — Models and incentives — Individual teaching — The use of standardized scales for determining skill — Materials — Questions and problems — >. References.

XIX Agriculture 318

Aim sought — The knowledge required — Interests to be developed — Applied skills to be trained — Material for the elementary grades — Seventh- and eighth-grade material — What to omit — Organizing and presenting the material — Home project work — Agricultural demonstrations — Play contests — The making of collections — Use of note-books — Junior extension work — Questions and problems — References.

XX Home Economics 335

Why home economics should be taught — The result sought — Knowledge required — Attitudes to be developed — Skills to be trained — Subject-matter for the earlier grades — Seventh- and eighth-grade material — Connecting subject with home work — Laboratory work in the rural schools — Equipment required — Practical results — Problem work — Questions and Problems — References.

PART THREE: CLASS-ROOM MANAGEMENT XXI Management and the Recitation . . . . . . 349

The place of good management — Measures of good class-room management — All class-room activities to advance the aim — Securing self-control — The spirit of the class room — Influence of building and equipment — Influence of community spirit — Influence of leadership — The personal factor in management — Decision and poise of character — Uniformity of demands — Futility of scolding — Class-room routine — Routine and habit — Routine as a measure of the teacher — Physical conditions in the class room — Questions and problems — References. *

XXII Class-room Management and Moral Conduct . . 364

Character the aim of all education — The treatment of misdemeanors — Classification of misdemeanors — The value of confession — Accusation versus confession — Shall children tell on one another? — The place of punishment — Impulsive punishment — Retributive punishment — Deterrent punishment — Educative punishment — Corporal punishment — Delayed punishments — The place of incentives — Competition as an incentive — The question of prizes — Management of examinations — Exemption from examinations — Examinations and worry — Utilizing examinations in teaching — Examinations and honesty — Questions and problems — References.

Index 383

Part One: Foundation Principles CHAPTER I

METHOD in education — but is there such a thing as method? Or are there of necessity as many "methods" as there are teachers? Must not each of us have his own method and make it different from the method of any one else ? Must there not be as many different methods as there are subjects to teach, each subject demanding its own special method after its kind? Must I not employ as great a number of methods as I have children in my class, adapting my method to the mind and grasp of each child ? And does not all this so complicate the question of method that it resolves itself into a hopeless tangle to which we can find neither head nor tail? — So why waste time on the subject!

The Importance of Method

We shall hope to find answers to these questions as the text goes on. But the very fact that such questions naturally arise and that they seem to imply a negation of method suggests the need of a thoroughgoing study of the principles underlying it. For we can not thus put the problem of method lightly aside. Nor must we evade it because it appears difficult. The question of method is fundamental in any scheme of education. It lies at the basis of all good teaching. Its validity measures the worth of instruction, and its excellence conditions the result of effort expended by the pupils in learning. Not to employ good method in the class room is in large degree to render futile all other school facilities, however good and complete.

The function of method. — This is true because method finds its function at the most crucial point of the entire process of education — where the teacher meets the child face to face in the business of teaching and learning. Method motivates and guides all our instruction. It selects material and determines emphasis. It adapts what we teach to the learner's mind and seeks the adequate incentives to effort. It underlies the whole question of aim and the means of its attainment in teaching. And it is for these things that we erect school buildings, provide courses of study and maintain schools.

It is probably not too much to say, therefore, that our final measure as teachers is best determined by our ability to conceive and use the fundamental principles of method. If we were all able to employ as good method in our instruction as is now known through the researches of psychology and the science of education, it is likely that fully one-half the pupil's time might be saved, or his progress doubled. This means, if the estimate be true, that it is within our power, through the use of good method, to double the efficiency of our educational system!

Method Not Standardized

In spite of the fundamental importance of method it is yet in a crude state. In few if any fields of instruction has method been standardised; that is to say, there is no general agreement on the question, either as to theory or practise. Nor does this apply to new fields of instruction alone, but also to subjects such as language and mathematics, which have been in the curriculum for centuries. On no other phase of educational theory or practise is there so little agreement and so much difference of opinion as on method. Equally successful teachers use very different methods, while those of vastly different degrees of efficiency may be employing the same method. In fact there are not a few skeptics who scoff at the whole question of method. Some go so far as to say that what one knows himself he can teach to others, without troubling himself about any details of method. But thoughtful teachers know better than this, and those who make such claims are usually the best refutation of their own false position.

Many conflicting methods. — The feeling on the part of teachers that method, even if still in a nebulous stage, is of primary importance has brought about the invention of many diverse "methods" in almost every field of instruction. Witness all the transformations in method from Comenius down to Montessori. So-called methods spring up like mushrooms overnight to flourish for a season, and then fall away to be heard of no more. Who has not been bewildered and perchance puzzled by the conflicting arguments for rival methods for the teaching of language, nature study, number, or what not ! And who has not seen the methods advanced so successfully and defended so valiantly this year superseded next year, or next decade, by other methods as promising, but as short-lived ! One has but to recall certain famous "methods" greatly in vogue a few years ago, but now to be found only in the scrap-heap of educational theories, to understand the ephemeral nature of many of the methods that have been invented.

The trouble has been that most of these so-called methods have lacked a foundation of psychological and educational principles, and so have failed in the test of use. They have been founded on the sand of mere personal opinion or individual aptitude and could not stand the storms of criticism or even the more moderate strain of general service in the class room. They have lacked vitality and permanence because they did not successfully meet the needs of the child.

Can Method Be Standardised

Is there, then, no such thing as method, but only an eternal succession of short-lived "methods" ? Must we all go at our instruction more or less blindly, depending on an empirical cut-and-try process to discover what is valuable and what is futile in our teaching? Can we reach no common ground of agreement in instruction simply because there is none ? Must the science and philosophy of education admit that this, the most fundamental of all questions in teaching, is, for the present at least, beyond the reach of help or guidance ? Are there no principles whose validity and value have been tested and upon which we may build a more permanent and trustworthy structure of method than has yet appeared? Must all our progress in teaching be won anew by each novice at the expense of the children he teaches? Is there no hope of standardizing method?

Standardizing method. — Method can never be standardized in the sense of making it an iron-clad set of rules or a fixed mode of procedure in teaching to be obediently followed by all alike. The infinitely diverse personalities of both teachers and pupils, and the many aspects and varieties of subject-matter to be taught make this wholly impossible. Yet there are certain fundamental principles upon which effective and valid method can be built. And these are entirely susceptible of discovery and analysis.

The standardizing of method will therefore depend on the discovery and application of a proved set of guiding principles, rather than on agreement as to any set of minor details. While there can be no such thing as a method to be adopted and used in precisely the same fashion by all teachers, there are reasonably definite laws upon which every teacher can base his instruction. iVnd, knowing these principles and laws, we can each apply them to our particular subject and class. While latitude must always be left for the individuality of the teacher, and while as far as details go there will of necessity be as many different modes of teaching a subject as there are teachers, yet there is a matrix of true method out of which all methods should grow.

Foundation principles of method. — The principles of method, lying, as will be shown later, deep in the needs and demands of society on the one hand and in the nature of the learner on the other, are broad enough to include all the fields or subjects of instruction. Their range and scope are sufficient to embrace all ages and stages of learning from the kindergarten to the university. The principles of method, once formulated into a usable program may, therefore, be of service to all teachers, no matter what their field, or the stage of advancement of their pupils.

But we must understand from the first that no system of method can be devised to take the place of insight and effort on the part of the teacher. Far from being a ready-made device capable of being put into use without our understanding its structure or intent, true method is rather a means by which we more skilfully use our own powers of interpretation, thought and skill in teaching. Instead of taking from us the necessity for initiative, method rightly conceived, opens the way for individuality and invention; instead of being a limitation, it becomes a condition of freedom. Not a piece of self-operating machinery, therefore,

6 fcLASS-ROOM METHOD AND MANAGEMENT

but an instrument of instruction created by our own intelligence and guided by our mastery is what we seek through method.

The Teacher's Knowledge of Method

It is the teachers business to know the principles of method. The industrial world has discarded blundering empiricism as a means of reaching results. The methods and processes used in the production and distribution of wealth are guided by carefully determined scientific laws and formulas. Nothing in either of these fields is left to chance or accidental success. Efficiency and the elimination of waste are the watchwords of commercial activities. Business, commerce and industry have quit guessing and gone to finding out.

Scientific spirit demands better method.— Indications that this same spirit is entering our system of education are not lacking. But only a beginning has been made in determining our educational procedure by scientific laws now available. As teachers we need more fully to realize that preparation for teaching involves more than a mastery of the field of knowledge to be taught. We need to see that teaching requires not only a knowledge of the matter of instruction, but also of its technique, that is, of its method.

Nor is the obligation at this point less upon the administrators of education — the superintendents, principals and supervisors — than upon the teachers. Under our present educational organization it will be impossible, at least within any reasonable time, to have all teachers professionally trained. But all who supervise or administer education should be professionally educated. Supervision has heretofore devoted itself very largely to the oversight of fiscal and physical matters and to problems of organization and control. Superintendents have been chiefly business managers. There has been comparatively little supervision of teaching; and teaching, as already shown, is the crux of the whole educational process, the point at which our schools finally succeed or fail. The educational supervision of the future must therefore extend to matters of method; it must be able to advise, counsel and help the teacher in the actual work of instruction. The obligation that this point of view places on the administrator is obvious ; he must be a master of method, as well as of the business and organization phases of education.

The Functional Viezv of Method

While the analysis of the elements entering into method will be made in detail in a later chapter, it will be serviceable to consider at this place the view-point from which to approach the subject.

Method measured by what it will do. — We may look on almost any concept, either (1) from the point of view of its structure or (2) of its function. We may concern ourselves with how a thing is made, or with what it does. The criterion for the judging of method is the functional — what will the method do in advancing the learning of the pupil.

The failure of many of the attempts at formulating methods have been due to conceiving it from the wrong point of view. Method has too often become an end in itself instead of a means. The inventor of a "method" has looked on his creation with pride and said, "See what a beautiful piece of educational machinery! Note its structure. See how perfect its adjustment, part to part. How smoothly the joints fit! How well it is fitted to the subject-matter which it sets forth."

But lo! the beautiful piece of educational mechanism is soon laid aside and heard of no more. Where is the trouble ? Was not the mechanism well devised; did not the joints fit; were not the parts admirably adjusted? Yes, all this was very true, and yet the method proved futile; for it was built on plans and specifications that had in mind a certain structure — a bit of mechanism calculated to accommodate some section of subject-matter. The maker of the method had not conceived his method as a means of fitting into the needs and demands of the children who were to learn the matter. He had fixed his thought on the mechanism instead of on the working of his creation — on its structure rather than its function. This is all to say that the inventor took a logical instead of a psychological point of view of method. He was concerned with the arrangement of material rather than with the activities and needs of growing minds.

The needs of children in their learning determine the method. — The requirements of the learner and not of the material are the basis of all true method. Method must be primarily psychological instead of logical or mechanical. Indeed method was defined by Froebel as the psychologizing of subject-matter. The question then becomes, not how can a given amount of material be arranged in its logical divisions and sections to show the relations of a finished whole, but how can this vital subject-matter be organized and presented so as to afford the learner the most natural mode of approach to its mastery? What method shall I take to stimulate and guide the child in the unfolding of his powers and the gaining of the knowledge and attitudes required in his living? How can I teach children instead of teaching arithmetic, grammar or Latin?

The practical outcome of the difference between the logical and the psychological type of method will be further discussed in a later chapter.

Summarizing, we are obliged to conclude that, though the question of method presents many difficulties, it must be solved if teaching is to keep pace with other professions ; that, while method is so far but little standardized, it can nevertheless be standardized under broad fundamental laws and principles ; that the failure to work out permanent and fruitful methods for the various school subjects has come from neglect of these fundamental laws and principles, and not from insuperable difficulties in the problem itself; and finally, that no teacher is prepared to teach and no superintendent to direct who does not have a working mastery of the principles of educational method.