CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 189I BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE j« :a a. -■ .. arW38693°""' "•"™^^"'' ""'^'^ . 3 1924 031 782 778 olin,anx The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031782778 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS THE CENTURY EDUCATION SERIES Edited by CHARLES E. CHADSEY Principles of Teaching High School Pupils. By Hubert Wilbur Nutt, Ph.D., Ohio Wesleyan University. Psychology and the School. By Edward Herbert Cam- eron, Ph.D., University of Illinois. The Teacher's Technique. By Charles Elmer HoUey, Ph.D., James Millikin University. The American Elementary School. By John Louis Horn, Ed.D., Mills College. MoDEaiN Methods and the Elementary Curriculum. By Claude A. Phillips, Ph.D., University of Missouri. The Education of Exceptional Children. By John Louis Horn, Ed.D., Mills College. Educational Measurements and the Classroom Teacher. By A. R. Gilliland, Ph.D., Northwestern Uni- versity, and R. H. Jordan, Ph.D., Cornell University. Personnel Problems of the Teaching Staff. By E. E. Lewis, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools, Flint, Michigan. The Teaching of High School Subjects. By William A. Millis, President of Hanover College, and Harriett H. Millis. Content and Methods of the Industrial Arts. By Samuel J. Vaughn, Hardin Junior College, and Arthur B. Mays, University of Illinois. A Manual for School Officers. By W. N. Andersen, Ph.D., Los Angeles, Cal. Educational Statistics. By C. W. Odell, Ph.D., Univer- sity of Illinois. A First Book in Education. By Louis E. Heinmiller, Pd.D., State Normal School, Slippery Rock, Pa. Fundamentals of Secondary Education. By J. A. Clem- ent, Ph.D., University of Illinois. The Science Teacher and the Teaching of Science. By Herbert Brownell, B.S., University of Nebraska, and Frank B. Wade, B.S., Shortridge High School, Indianap- olis, Ind. Other volumes to be arranged. tlbe Centnrig 3E^^cation Serteg PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS BY MEANS OF THE fflGH SCHOOL SUBJECTS BY HUBERT WILBUR NUTT AS80CUTE PROFESSOR OF BDDCATION, OHIO WEBLBYAN rNIVERBITT NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. Copyright, 1922, by ilTJBBBT WHBUB NuTS 237 Printed in U. S. A. To ADOLESCENT BOYS AND GIRLS EVERYWHERE PREFACE The writer through some twenty years of close con- tact with secondary education as teacher, high school principal, and director of training schools, has modified materially his own ideas concerning the function of the American high school and particularly concerning the function of the various high school subjects. The chief factor in bringing about this changed attitude has been the insight into the fundamental facts of adolescent life that has come to the writer from the lives of the many adolescent boys and girls with whom he has had the pleasure of living on the most friendly terms. Out of the many confidences that have come to him as an advisor of youth has come fuUer appreciation of the crucial nature of the adolescent period and deeper sympathy for the high school boys and girls in their struggle toward maturity. Out of administrative ex- periences has come the firm conviction that the high schools of this country will in time become really Americanized. Believing that democratic citizenship can not be developed in secondary schools under the Prussian lock-step administration, and believing that intellectual life can not be developed under the aca- demic traditions that have made "lesson getting" a viii PBEFACE fetish, the writer has ventured to present this discus- sion of the Principles of Teaching High School Pupils, with the hope that the point of view may be helpful in stimulating teachers, principals, and educators in general to think more intensely about the problems of secondary teaching. The writer wishes to acknowledge the courtesy of the Houghton-Mifflin Company for permission to use certain phases of material from The Supervision of Instruction. He desires also to acknowledge his in- debtedness to Dr. B. F. Pittenger, of the University of Texas, and Dean W. S. Gray, of the University of Chicago, for critical reading of the manuscript and helpful suggestions. Hubert Wilbtjr Nutt. November 16, 1921 CONTENTS Chapter I. Introduction pao" A pedagogical need — ^Pedagogical terms should have re- stricted meanings — The reason for the title of this manu- script — The term principles defined — A further reason for the title — Where the emphasis in teaching should be — Principles enumerated — Emphasis upon human materials — Principles of teaching must be put into practice — Sum- mary — Exercises — Selected references 1 Chapter II. The Modern Conception of the High School The meaning of adolescence — ^Physical characteristics of adolescence — Psychological characteristics of adoles- cence — ^The function of the secondary school — Point of view — ^Phases of adolescent maturing — The function of the high school subjects — The general point of view — The function of English — The function of foreign language studies — ^The function of mathematics — The function of history — The function of sociology — The function of the general life of the school — ^The function of economics — The function of the biological sciences — The function of the physical sciences — The function of home economics — The function of manual arts — ^The function of fine arts — The function of physical education — ^The function of com- mercial subjects — ^Important aspects of mental maturity — ^Two important considerations — An important considera- tion for technical and professional schools — Summary — Exercises — Selected references 22 Chapter III. Method of Learning Point of view — Method defined — ^A critical point — Illus- trations of this mental procedure — The mental processes involved in the characteristic mental procedure put forth in learning — The critical point — Complete definition of method — The problem of method — ^The first step — The second step — The final step — The problem of the mental processes — Sense-perception — Sensory habits important — Sense traming — Imagination — Memory — Judgment forming — Reasoning — Other human elements — Summary — Exer- cises— -Selected references 79 X CONTENTS Chapter IV. The Motivation op Learning "o» Motivation defined— The problem— The appeal of inter- est—The appeal of usability— Vocational guidance— The appeal of personal development — The appeal of social standing— The complexity of the problem— The influence of mental health— The influence of physical health— Sum- mary — Exercises — Selected references 109 /HAPTBB V. Individual Differences Differences in training— Differences in rate of learning- Differences in maturity— Differences in sex— Types of minds— The critical point— Types of imagery— The crit- ical point — ^Preferences for forms of materials—Summary — Exercises — Selected references 123 Chapter VI. Organization op Subject-Matteb The central idea that has brought the subject-matter into existence — Relation of organization around central idea to method of learning — Content and formal materials — The inductive organization of subject-matter — ^The chief value of the inductive organization of subject-matter — The deductive organization of subject-matter — ^The rela- tion of induction to method — ^The relation of deduction to method — ^The relation of induction to deduction — The problem organization of subject-matter — The project form of organization of subject-matter — The relation of the project to the problem — The critical question — Another angle to the question — The place of the project — A practi- cal diflBculty — The relation of the project to vocational guidance — ^The relation of the project to the apprentice system of education — ^The relation of the project to the normal mental rhythm of interest — ^The organization of subject-matter for economical memorization — Memorizing by wholes instead of by parts — ^The important problem — Units of human development — ^Summary — Exercises — Se- lected references 169 Chapter VII. Devices Definition — Classification of devices — Material devices — Mental devices — Types of questions — Other general mental devices — The special mental device — ^The criteria govern- ing the selection of devices — Devices should be used with discrimination — Summary — Exercises— Selected references 190 Chapter VIII. Measurement of the Results of Teaching The starting point— Setting up goals— Evidences of de- velopment — Tests serve two purposes — The nature of a diagnosis — The critical point — A caution — The plateau of the curve and tests — ^The technique of measuring the results of teaching — Technique in giving standard tests — CONTENTS xi PAaB Negative aspects of testing — The assigning of marks — Sum- mary — Exercises — Selected references 205 Chafter IX. The Technique of Teaching Technique defined — ^The pedagogical sequence — Criteria that govern the selection of technique — Rules governing the use of technique — Technique adapted to devices — Tech- nique in asking questions — ^Technique in lecturing — Tech- nique in the use of textbooks — Technique in using supple- mentary and reference materials — Technique in dealing with subject-matter — Technique in daily lesson planning — The technique of employing the inductive problem — Tech- nique in employing the deductive problem — Technique in conducting the recitation — Technique in laboratory work — Technique in classroom management — Technique in the general management of the class — Technique and the per- sonality of the teacher — ^Technique in supervised study, in measuring the results of teaching, and in discipline — Summary— Exercises— Selected references 231 Chapter X. Supervision or the Study Habits of High School Pupils What is supervised study — The starting point — Starting the study activities of pupils — Two fundamental goals of supervised study — The teaching period — What this com- plaint means — The study assignment — Technique of super- vised study — Raise specific problems — The time element — What would happen — Supervision of study and initiative of the pupil — Supervising the study of the absent pupil — Types of subject-matter and supervised study — Summary — Exercises — Selected references 295 Chapter XI. The Problem of Conduct Stages of conduct development — Stage of external cri- teria — The stage of internal criteria — The development of the individual — Adolescence the critical stage — The prob- lem — Constructive education the road to character — Setting up social problems — Types of constructive education in behavior — ^The psychology of punishment — Moral imagina- tion — ^The interpretation of behavior — ^Technique in deal- ing with conduct — ^Summary — Exercises — Selected refer- ences 324 Index 353 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION Teachers' Colleges and all institutions offering pro- fessional training for teachers of secondary schools are finding their courses in principles of secondary educa- tion, technique of teaching secondary school subjects, high school administration, psychology of high school subjects and educational measurement as applied to the high school are attracting the serious attention of steadily increasing numbers of students. Much of this active interest is due to a demand on the part of those responsible for the administration of our high schools that candidates for teaching positions present evi- dence that professional training applying directly to secondary school work has been secured. While it is stiU true that an undue proportion of teachers in high schools depend upon academic training and ex- perience as their assets for professional recognition, the army of young people entering high school work find their prospects seriously injured if they are not well prepared both as to knowledge of their special teaching subjects and as to methods and technique of the learning and teaching processes. The author of this volume as a result of his per- sonal contact with large numbers of students preparing for high school teaching has become impressed with xiv EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION the necessity of emphasizing the learning process. He rightly conceives the chief function of the teacher as directing the student in his methods of study. A skil- ful recitation is one which functions in increased abil- ity of the student to proceed with the work in the subject. Throughout the volume he keeps this idea constantly in mind. What are the principles of teaching which make most effective the learning process? What is their application to the particular problem of the adoles- cent? In attempting to answer these questions a com- prehensive discussion of secondary education from the standpoint of the teacher actually working with the pupils is given. The analysis of the problem presented will be found helpful to the experienced teacher who wishes to check his practices from the standpoint of modem technique. As a text-book for classes in gen- eral method of high school teaching it is hoped that this volume will be found to meet a very real need. Charles E. Chadsey. PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A pedagogical need. — The teaching situation in- volves a number of fundamentally important problems. There is the problem of method, the problem of devices, the problem of technique, the problem of subject- matter organization, and so on. The efficiency of the teacher depends very largely upon the clearness with which he conceives these problems and sets each prob- lem off from every other problem involved in the teach- ing performance. The teacher must not only see each of these problems as a distinct aspect of the teaching situation, but he must also see the interrelations exist- ing between them as parts of the teaching performance as a whole. Once a really clear conception of each of these problems is secured, the general vagueness of the teacher's conception of the teaching performance as a whole will give way to a clear and well defined unity. Then the teacher can turn to any one of these prob- lems in the teaching situation and be able to place 4 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS proper emphasis upon it without obscuring the unity of the teaching performance. In fact, the more the teacher gives attention to each of these problems as individual existences, the more clearly the unity of the teaching situation will stand out in his thinking. The first step in bringing about this clarity of thinking on the part of the teacher is that of setting up clear-cut definitions of pedagogical terms. That is to say, the terms method, device, technique, etc., should be defined in the clearest possible language. Pedagogical terms should have restricted meanings. — The primary step in the securing of really clear defi- nitions of pedagogical terms is that of restricting the meaning of each term. That is to say, each peda- gogical term should be narrowed down in its meaning until it has a very specific and significant use. The term method, for example, should be narrowed down to mean merely the psychological procedure of the learner as he deals with any kind of subject-matter that is presented to his mind. The need of restricting the meaning of the term method is readily realized when one reads the typical discussions about method. Ordinarily the term is used in so broad and general a sense that diffuseness and vagueness of thinking at- tends the reading of pedagogical literature. This is especially true in the case of the novice or inexperi- enced student of education. He not infrequently be- comes so confused by the array of generalities that he is unable to conceive method as a distinct aspect of INTRODUCTION 5 teaching clearly set off from every other aspect of the teaching situation. The use of the term method in the broad general sense that is usually employed confuses it with the problems of device, technique, motivation, etc. On the other hand, the use of the term in the restricted sense suggested above sets method off very clearly from device, technique, motivation, and the other phases of the teaching performance. The terms device, tech- nique, motivation, etc., likewise need to be defined with carefully restricted meanings in order to render them of the greatest practical value to the teacher. The more carefully the meanings of these pedagogical terms are restricted, the clearer the thinking of the student of education wUl be in regard to the individual aspects of the teaching performance and also in regard to the teaching situation as a whole. Therefore, notwith- standing the fact that some eminent writers of peda- gogical literature advocate the use of these terms in the broadest possible sense, the writer urges that simplicity and narrowness of meanings in the use of pedagogical terms is the only way to make them valu- able tools of teaching. The reason for the title of this volume. — The need of restricting the meanings of pedagogical terms is not only realized by reading the general diffuse educational discussions set down in so many books, but is also very vividly realized by giving attention to the titles of pedagogical books. One of the common practices in 6 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS educational literature is to use a tenn that should be restricted to a very narrow meaning as the title of a discussion that covers a very much broader field than even the most general meaning of the term can legiti- mately cover. The term methods or methods of teaching, for example, is very commonly used as the title of a pedagogical discussion that must necessarily include vastly more than a consideration of just method, if it is to be of great service to teachers in mastering the implications of the teaching situation. Such a book, while purporting to be a discussion of methods, gives relatively little space to the treatment of genuine method. It gives a great deal of space to the discussion of devices, technique, organization of subject-matter, and many other topics, all of which are important and all of which should be very thoroughly treated in any adequate discussion of the teaching situation, and yet none of which are method or methods at all. The title of the book is a mi.snomer and con- fuses the inexperienced student of education until he is not sure as to what really constitutes method, or technique, or motivation, etc. Therefore the possi- bility of his articulating the pedagogical materials so diffusely 'presented with the practical teaching situa- tions in which they should be effective is out of the question. In fact, not only inexperienced teachers and students of education are confused by such literature, but even experienced teachers and well trained students of education undergo no little difficulty in attempting INTRODUCTION 7 to sift out this conglomeration of so-called method materials, and to classify them for practical purposes. This confusion can be avoided very readily through the selection of a term for the title of a discussion that, when defined in a narrow enough sense to render its meaning perfectly clear cut and highly significant, is still broad enough to include legitimately every topic that the author desires to present. Therefore the title of this discussion has been selected in keeping with the above argument for the restricting of the meanings of pedagogical terms, and also with the view of avoiding the confusion that arises from the use of a narrow term to designate a broader field of considerations than the term can legitimately cover. In order to comply with these two important points, the term principles, which is the key-word of the title, must be taken in the sense in which it is defined below. The term principles defined. — The sense in which the term principles is used in the title of this discus- sion and all the way through the book is that of the literal meaning of the Latin word from which the term is derived. The term principles is derived from the Latin word princeps, which means a chief or leader. This definition of the term principles, when applied in the plural to the teaching process, means that the prin- ciples of teaching are the chief or leading things that must be kept in mind and used as a guide in order to carry on the teaching performance in an intelligent and effective manner. These principles of teaching, then, 8 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS are the psychological laws of learning, important edu- cational concepts, rules of practice, and so on. In fact, whatever is vitally helpful to the teacher in pi-esenting any kind of subject-matter to the mind of the pupil may be mcluded in the body of teaching principles. This definition of the term principles is highly im- portant and should be kept clearly in mind throughout the entire discussion. This meaning of the term espe- cially should be set over against the meaning that is so commonly held for the word — namely, that a prin- ciple is always a law or a rule according to which things are to be done. The laws and rules in any field of subject-matter may be, and no doubt usually are, im- portant considerations in the study of the particular body of materials. The purposes for which the subject- matter is being employed in the education of the par- ticular group of pupils will determine this point. If the purposes for which the subject-matter is being employed determine that the laws and rules existing in the materials are important matters for considera- tion, then the laws and rules are principles in that field. The term principle, however, is not synonymous with the word law or with the word rule. It includes not only the laws and rules, when they are considered im- portant, but it also includes all other facts and factors that are of great importance according to the purposes for which the body of subject-matter is employed. There are always many other facts and factors than laws and rules that should be considered in any INTRODUCTION 9 thoroughgoing consideration of a given body of mate- rials; therefore these other facts and factors are just as truly principles as are the laws and rules, and they all should be included in the statement of principles. The term principles, then, as defined above and discussed, is restricted enough in meaning that it has a very definite and significant denotation, and at the same time it is broad enough in meaning to include legitimately every important aspect of the teaching situation that the high school teacher should master in order to become efficient in educating adolescent pupils. A further reason for the title. — The latter part of the title, "Teaching High School Pupils by Means of the High School Subjects," is used in order to help the teacher to get away from the time-honored idea in his thinking of the job of teaching as being the teaching of a subject. The successful high school teacher of to-day must think of the job of teaching in terms of what adolescent boys and girls are and what they may and ought to become by means of their study of the different fields of subject-matter that the high school subjects present. This idea will be discussed in more detail later on, but it needs to be emphasized from the very outset. The very title, "The Principles of Teach- ing High School Pupils," makes the pupils themselves the point of departure in determining what the leading things or principles are that should be mastered and used as a guide in all high school teaching. Moreover, it makes the pupils the center of emphasis in deter- 10 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS mining the value and function of each principle that is considered. Where the emphasis in teaching should be. — ^The emphasis in all teaching should be upon the learning process and not upon the subject. It is the function of the teacher to stimulate the mind of the learner to react effectively to subject-matter. When the learner fails in his efforts to master the subject-matter or fails to form the habits desired, it is the business of the teacher to determine the exact point or points at which the mental processes of the learner were in error, and to bring about correct mental procedure. In other words, then, it is what goes on in the mind of the pupil that educates him. Therefore, when we talk about educating the pupU by means of the subject, we are talking about what goes on in the mind of the learner and how it goes on as a result of dealing with the subject-matter. This idea must be kept uppermost all the time. Every teacher should come to realize that the important point in the recitation of a particular pupil is not the fact that he made an error, but that it is why he made that mistake. If the teacher can discover why the pupil made the error, then he can turn with some assurance to directing the mental processes of the learner in building up the right men- tal habits so that the error will not be apt to occur again. This idea of what goes on in the mind of the learner must be made the starting-point of every teaching principle. It is the one most fundamental INTRODUCTION 11 consideration of all the teaching principles. The other important principles concerning the teaching situa- tion are significant only as they throw light upon and aid the teacher in directing the learning perfor- mance. For example, an understanding of the psychological, physiological, and social characteristics and tendencies of adolescent boys and girls will be helpful in teaching just to the extent that such an understanding helps the teacher to know what goes on or may be expected naturally to go on in the mind of the learner under different psychic, physical, and social conditions. Again, all application of rules of conduct must be guided by the effect they will have upon the mental procedure of the learner in attempting to make proper adjustments of his relations to other individuals and to the school as an institution. The organization of subject-matter must be guided by the relation that subject-matter bears to effective learning. The selec- tion of devices and the working out of an effective body of technique must be in keeping with this idea of how they will affect the procedure of the learner. In fine, then, the mental procedure of the learner may be called the core of the teaching situation, and all other prin- ciples or considerations must be organized around this core or center. Principles enumerated. — The most important prin- ciples that should be considered by the teacher of high school pupils are as follows: 12 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS 1. The modern conception of the secondary school. This conception involves a clear understanding of: c. The meaning of adolescence. b. The function of the secondary school as an in- stitution. c. The function of the high school subjects. 2. The psychological processes involved in learning, or method. These processes include: a. The general movement of the mind in learning any kind of subject-matter. b. The specific mental processes that go on within the general mental movement as it is em- ployed in the learning of a particular body of subject-matter. 3. The motivation of learning. This involves: a. Interest. b. Dominant psychological tendencies of adoles- cence. c. Physiological characteristics and limitations. d. Sociological traits and tendencies. e. Possible results in education or development from the study of the subject. These results include the immediate results upon the ability of the learner, and the future opportunities opened up to the learner in the same or in other fields. 4. Individual differences in: a. Previous training. b. Rate of speed in learning. c. Mental maturity. d. Sex traits. e. Types of mind. /. Types of imagery. 5. The organization of subject-matter from the stand- point of: a. The central idea that has brought the body of subject-matter into existence. b. Presenting the subject-matter to pupils of high school age. This involves the choice between inductive and deductive types of organiza- INTRODUCTION 13 tion, and the proper balancing of content and formal material. c. The relation of the subject to other subjects and affairs of life. d. The psychological gradation and arrangement of material according to the mental maturity of the particular group of pupils. This in- volves the choice, between (1) problem and (2) project. e. The units or wholes that may be taken for the most effective mastering and memorizing of the facts according to the maturity of the learner. 6. Devices from the standpoint of: o. Classification for practical purposes. b. The criteria that should guide in their selection and use. 7. Measurement of the results of teaching. This involves: a. Evaluation of reactions during teaching periods. b. Employment of quizzes and examinations. c. Use of standard tests. 8. Technique of teaching from the standpoint of: a. Criteria that should determine the selection and use of the particular acts practised. b. A body of technique that is in general good. c. A body of technique that is in general bad. 9. The supervision of the study habits of high school pupils. 10. The problems of conduct or development and control of behavior of high school pupils. EMPHASIS IN TEACHER TRAINING Emphasis upon human materials. — One of the most important aspects of teacher training that should re- ceive emphasis is that of attention to the human materials with which the teacher must deal. Teachers and educators in general have given so much attention 14 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS to the acquisition of subject-matter that they tend to think more about the subjects than they do of the pupils. The study of the psychology of adolescence has usually been so much academic study of facts that are scientifically interesting, and which may throw some light upon how to help the pupils learn by means of the high school subjects. Too much attention has been given to what belongs in the development of the subjects and far too little attention has been given to what belongs in the psychic evolution of human beings. Because of this false emphasis, many people hold the idea that one who knows the facts of a subject thor- oughly knows how to use that subject as a means of educating the pupil. Rather one should say they hold that such an individual is qualified to "teach the subject," for they are not truly thinking about real, genuine education of the pupil. Then, too, if these people do undertake the study of the problems of teaching in any serious fashion, they study everything that seems to be involved in the light of how it is related to the subject. When they think and talk about methods they have their attention centered upon the subject and how they will deal with this and that body of facts. The thing that is farthest from their minds is the human element, the learner. The result of the above condition is that many people go out to teach history, English, etc., instead of going out to teach adolescent boys and girls by means of INTRODUCTION 15 history, English, etc. These people have paid the price in order to know the fields of facts called history, English, etc., but seldom do you find an individual who has paid more than a small fraction of the price neces- sary to know adolescents. The training institutions are in a large measure to blame. They have con- sistently required the prospective teacher to take thirty hours in a major subject and twenty hours in a minor subject, and then they require a minimum of fifteen hours, possibly a little more, in the study of the pro- fessional side of teaching. This is too meager an amount of time for a mastery of even the essential knowledge of psychological processes, devices, and technique of teaching, to say nothing about the mastery of the psychology of the human materials that are the vital core of education. The subject-matter set down in subjects is more or less permanent and fixed. The facts and truths of science and literature, etc., do not change. The adoles- cent youth, however, is a dynamic thing that is con- tinually exhibiting new phases and aspects of develop- ment. If it requires thirty hours of diligent study to know enough of the dead facts of history to talk intel- ligently about history as a science or about history as related to civic and political problems, then surely it must require at least thirty hours of intensive study of the psychological factors and elements incident to adolescent development in order for one to deal intel- 16 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS ligently with such complex and fluctuating human factors and elements as they grow and evolve by means of the process of education. The trouble is that people, for the most part, study about enough of the facts of adolescent psychology set down in books to get a smattering of the academic statements about adolescent beings. They know little or nothing of these psychological elements as actual existences exhibited in the flesh on every hand. Such a study of adolescent psychology renders people about as scientific and competent to teach adolescent boys and girls as the study of book statements about the facts of chemistry would render people who industri- ously pore over them scientific and competent chemists who could be trusted to go into the laboratories of industrial plants and concoct the formuli and mix the chemicals for great industrial undertakings. Would such academic chemists be given opportunity to try out their knowledge at the risk of wrecking and de- stroying property and lives? The answer is obvious. Why, then, should these would-be adolescent psycholo- gists be permitted to try out their academic knowledge of the facts of psychology at the risk of wrecking these living, growing human souls that must be understood and dealt with in such a way as to save them from themselves and for the betterment of future genera- tions? The prospective commercial chemist is required to spend a considerable period of time experimenting in INTRODUCTION 17 the laboratory under such supervision and direction as to safeguard the life of the experimenter and the property. When he has mastered the science of pre- determining and controlling chemical reactions, he may then be intrusted with the job of harnessing the laws of chemical science to some line of commercial activity. So too, then, should the prospective teacher of adoles- cents be required to spend an ample amount of time in an adolescent psychological laboratory, that is, a typical secondary school, learning under adequate supervision and direction the actions and reactions of the complex psychic elements and factors that go on in the development of every adolescent youth. Again, let us compare the would-be adolescent psy- chologist with the prospective surgeon or physician. Does anyone to-day believe that any individual can master the science of surgery or of medicine through a mere study of book statements of facts about surgery and medicine? Who would be willing to trust his life under the knife of a surgeon who had never dissected human forms in order to learn the exact location and arrangement of each minute part of the human or- ganism upon which he would operate? The answer is perfectly obvious. But is not such a would-be sur- geon just as weU prepared to operate upon the body of a human being as the would-be adolescent psy- chologist, described above, is prepared to operate upon the mind and soul of a human being who is undergoing the secondary period of existence? The answer is just 18 TEACmNG HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS as obvious in the one case as it is in the other. And the danger both to the individual victims and to society as a whole is just as great in one case as it is in the other. What, then, about the would-be physician? Who would trust him to prescribe medicine, in a case of illness, if his knowledge has been gained merely through book study? The medical man who would secure the confidence of the public to-day must serve as an interne in some recognized hospital, where he can see the effects of medicine administered by expert physicians under conditions of serious iUness. And yet, the book-trained doctor of medicine is no more apt to do serious harm to his patients than is the book-trained adolescent psychologist apt to do harm to his victims. Both are lacking in the most vital and most essential training that would reaUy fit them for their respective professions. Principles of teaching must be put into practice.— The need to-day is for more and more practical study of the actual teaching situations. This does not mean that less time should be spent in the educational laboratory studying the fapts of adolescent psychology in actual existence, and it does not mean that less time should be given to the study of theory; for, as it is, the number of hours required is too small to enable the student to master thoroughly the fundamental con- cepts of education and to become acquainted with the best literature in the educational field. But an ample INTRODUCTION 19 knowledge of theory and application of theory must be brought together and kept together through a suffi- cient length of time, so that both may be mastered and become automatic in the thinking and doing of the teacher. The same idea holds that was set forth in discussing the mastery of the human materials of secondary edu- cation; namely, that the tools of teaching can not be mastered through mere academic study of book state- ments about such tools. More and more time must be spent in working out the application to actual teaching situations. In other words, prospective teachers should spend, in addition to their academic and laboratory study of education courses, something like twenty or thirty hours in the educational laboratory, studying and applying the principles of teaching. SUMMARY Clear definition of pedagogical terms is needed to clarify thinking about the educative process. The primary step in the securing of clear pedagogical defi- nitions is that of restricting the use of pedagogical terms to very narrow and significant meanings. The title of a pedagogical discussion should be broad enough to cover legitimately every phase of discussion that is desirable to present, and at the same time it should be narrow enough to be definite. The title "Principles of Teaching High School PupUs" is in keeping with this point of view, and it also serves to place the emphasis 20 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS in all teaching upon the learner instead of upon the subject. The emphasis in all teaching should be upon the psychological processes of the learner. The large principles involved in teaching high school pupils are: modern conception of the secondary school, psychology of learning, motivation, individual differences, organ- ization of subject-matter, devices, technique, measure- ment of results of teaching, supervised study, and con- trol of behavior of pupils. The greatest emphasis in teacher training should be upon the human materials with which the teacher deals in teaching; but emphasis must also be given to the teaching tools. The prin- ciples of teaching must be ultimately mastered through putting them into practice, hence practice teaching needs more emphasis than it now receives. EXERCISES 1. Give examples of definitions of pedagogical terms that are too broad and general for practical purposes in dealing with the problems of teaching. 2. Give illustrations of book titles that are too narrow to include legitimately all of the materials that should be presented in the particular pedagogical field. 3. Give illustrations of pedagogical discussions in which the term principles is restricted in meaning to apply only to laws and rules. 4. Give illustrations from your own experience of cases in which the teacher was only teaching the subject and was not thinking primarily about teaching the pupils. 5. Give examples from experience in which the emphasis was upon other phases of the teaching situation than the mental processes of the learner. 6. Contrast the modem conception of the high school with the traditional conception of the high school. INTRODUCTION 21 7. Give illustrations of individual differences that have come under your direct observation in school. 8. Contrast the problem with the project form of organiza- tion of subject-matter. 9. Give bases upon which devices might be classified for convenience in selecting and designating them. 10. Give any other principles that might well be included in the list for high school teachers. 11. Why have the human materials with which the teacher works been so much neglected in the training of teachers? 12. Is the argument presented for the mastery of theory first, and then the mastery of skill in applying the theory, in keeping with the psychology of habit formation? SELECTED REFERENCES Bbtts, George Herbert. Class-Room Method and Man- agement. Chapter III. Opposite point of view on defin- ing pedagogical terms. Johnston and Others. The Modem High School. Chap- ter XV. Discussion of improvement of high school teachers in the service. JuDD, Charles H. Psychology of High School Subjects. Chapter I. Excellent discussion of the need of making the psychological reactions of high school pupils the basis for studying the problems of teaching. CHAPTER II THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL The modem conception of the high school. — One of the very first principles that the high school teacher should acquire is a clear understanding of the modem conception of the high school. This conception in- volves an understanding of the meaning and signifi- cance of adolescence, a realization of the function of the high school as an institution, and a fuU recognition of the function of the various high school subjects. It is only by a thorough mastery of this conception and a faithful adherence to it in his actual teaching that the high school teacher will be able to breai: away from the trammeling bonds of academic and scholastic traditions that have been the chief factors in un- Americanizing the public high schools of our country. The teacher who does not acquire the point of view of modern educational leaders will not have a proper conception of the true function and mission of the secondary teacher; hence that teacher can not do con- structive building in the great laboratory of adolescent life. The^meaning of adolescence. — The evolution of the 22 THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 23 life of a human being exhibits four periods or stages of development ; namely, childhood, adolescence, adult- hood, and senescence or old age. The period of child- hood extends from birth to about age eleven or twelve. It is the period in which the organism is laying the basis for all future development, and this is especially true of the physical aspect of growth of the nervous system. The brain mass of the human being is prac- tically full grown at the age of nine or ten, and is ready for intensive inner growth or functional develop- ment. Just about the time the brain of the child is reaching the completion of its physical growth, the organs of reproduction begin to develop with new physical significance. The awakening of these vital physical functions within the body and the swing from the physical growth of the brain tissues to their mental functioning marks the inception of adolescence or the secondary period of human existence. This secondary period of growth ends with the maturity of the repro- ductive organs and the stabilizing of the mental organ- izations of the central nervous system. This stage of development is reached at about the age of twenty or twenty-one. The individual at this age enters upon the period of adulthood and becomes fully responsible for his own existence and for contributing to the wel- fare of society as a whole. This is the period of maxi- mum physical and mental possibilities. Finally, at about sixty to seventy years of age senescence or old age sets in and the entire being begins to decline in 24 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS vigor. All growth ceases and the stored-up mental and physical reservoirs are gradually drained of their treasures. The setting up of adolescence in its relation to the other stages of human development, and the marking off definitely of its biological limitations, suggests at once the most significant aspect of its true meaning. That is to say, the period of adolescence or secondary existence is a time of great mental and physical change and readjustment. Therefore the high school, or more correctly the secondary school, presents a most dynamic situation that is teeming with manifold possibilities. In fact, the change that comes to the human being during the secondary period of his development is so very great, both physically and mentally, that it may well be called a period of rebirth. That is to say, out of the travail of adolescent stress and struggle is born the man or woman with adult powers and with a mature outlook upon life, and with the dependable attitudes of mind that bring stability of thinking and of behavior. Therefore the adolescent or secondary period of existence is perhaps the most critical of all the stages of human development. The validity of this point of view will be made clear by noting somewhat briefly the most vital changes that take place during this period. Physical characteristics of adolescence. — The most significant physical characteristic of the secondary period of growth is the fact that the higher brain THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 25 centers function at a relatively rapid rate. The cere- brum of the adolescent is a great tract of mjrriads of nerve-cells and myriads of nerve-fibers that as yet have not been linked together into very many definite groups thoroughly coordinated for the carrying on of specific mental operations. Just what the internal organization of this undifferentiated neural mass will be depends upon the experiences and training that come to the mind that is groping to be born into adult- hood. The critical need at this stage is to establish dependable points of mental anchorage to which the manifold experiences and activities of youthful life may be moored with ever strengthening cables of judgment and reasoning. The great problem of the secondary teacher is that of determining just what these points of mental anchorage may and should be for each indi- vidual, and of selecting the types of judicial and reflec- tive mental cables that will most safely bind the ex- periences and activities of each individual into co- herent, coordinated mental and moral unities. More than that, the teacher of adolescents must be a factor in determining what experiences will come to the pupils under his charge, and especially what types of mental activity will be made most prominent under his direction. A second physical characteristic that is important is that of the fluctuation of energy. The adolescent in- dividual is at times filled with an excess of energy that drives him with impelling force into the exhibition of 26 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS excessive physical activities. At other times this same individual possesses very little energy, and as a result he is extremely sluggish and averse to putting forth any sort of physical effort. This flow and ebb of energy is largely due to the physiological changes that take place during adolescence. The most important of these changes are the unusual lengthening of the bones of the body, the enormous increase in the size of the heart and in the blood pressure, and the pro- found organic changes that mark the maturing of the organs of reproduction. This fluctuation of energy, however, is also influ- enced by environment and especially by conditions of weather. That is to say, the tide of energy in the adolescent being is subject to kinesthetic and organic stimuli from within and to sensory stimulations from without. Thus it comes about that the adolescent youngster is one day a restless whirlwind of energy and activity and the next day a lazy zeph3T or a dead calm. This exhibition of so marked a change of physical front is not necessarily a diurnal rhythm. It may come within an hour or even a few minutes during the school- day. Hence one must constantly be prepared to stay and utilize the wild surges of the gale of energy or to stir the feeble breeze of lassitude into action. Again, this swing from high to low pressure may come at longer periods and each curve of the rhythm may ex- tend over some little time. That is to say, the youth may exhibit energy and work vigorously for a week, THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 27 two weeks, or even longer, and then slump into a cor- responding period, longer or shorter, in which he does very little. The critical point in this connection is that these changes in the amount of energy exhibited in so many variations are indications of certain bio- logical necessities of the individual. Therefore the problem in secondary education that is presented by this physical fact is that of capitalizing this excess energy at its flow and of not making undue demands upon the individual when his energy is at low ebb. One must become an expert diagnostician if he would deal with this problem most successfully. Another physical characteristic that should be con- sidered is that of the alternate periods of rapid and slow growth of the body. This change is especially marked by the change in height of the individual. The peda- gogical problem that is presented by this situation is that of adjusting the demands made upon the pupil for mental development during these two aspects of physical growth. The mind of the learner develops slowly during the time that his body is rapidly in- creasing its stature ; and it tends to develop at a rela- tively rapid rate of speed when his body is making little increase in its growth. This problem of adjust- ment is vitally related to the problem of adjusting to the flow and ebb of physical energy that has just been set forth. The rhythms of growth of the body, how- ever, are much more regular than are the fluctuations of the curve of vital energy that the individual 28 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS possesses.. Therefore the adjustment in educational demands made upon the adolescent should be made first to meet his growth rhythms, and second to meet the energy rhythms displayed within the periods of the growth rhythms. In this way both types of biological necessity will be met most effectively and to the best physical and mental interests of the individual. Another physical fact of adolescence is that virtually all of the coordinations that the individual will ever possess are brought to completion during this period. The control that the youth acquires over these co- ordinations is for the most part extremely awkward, ungainly, and bungling as far as his large, general coordinations are concerned, while at the same time great facility is displayed for forming certain specific finer coordinations. These facts relate themselves to two educational problems. The first problem is that of determining economically and effectively the kinds of motor skills that may be taken on during this period of development. The other problem is that of making accurate interpretations of the physical acts and efforts of the adolescent pupil. The first of these two prob- lems should be settled and provided for in making the curriculum of the secondary school. The second prob- lem is one that must be dealt with continually in the general life of the school. This problem is met with in the class-room, in the periods of intermission, in the social activities, in the athletics — in fact, in every phase of the school's operation. The critical point is to know THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 29 when the physical performance of the youth is abso- lutely sincere and faithfully done, and when it is pur- posefully bungled or made ineffective; and to judge when to take the matter firmly in hand, and when to utterly ignore the case. Much experience in meeting the various types of physical exhibitions and many painstaking analyses of individual cases form the only way in which the secondary teacher can become pro- ficient in meeting the crisps that many times arise in connection with this problem. The whole situation may be made clearer by giving some illustrations of the above points. For example, during the early years of adolescence boys and girls can hardly be trusted to handle break- able materials without coming to grief. They blunder into things, knocking them over and breaking them. They drop things that are given to them to hold, and in attempting to pick up one thing they frequently knock two or three other things over. They meet with serious accidents to their clothing on account of then- ungainly and awkward movements. When it comes to the things that the youth does through the general management of his physical being, much grief comes from the extreme awkardness with which these general movements are performed. The critical point is that the harder the awkward boy or girl tries to prevent the blunder the surer he or she is to make it. This fact explains the reluctance with which some timid pupils undertake the doing of anything in the way of 30 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS individual demonstrations before the class. The danger of failure and the fear of being misunderstood and of being criticized is felt very keenly by such pupils. On the other hand, some pupils, while very awkward, are not sensitive about it, and therefore they make their physical blunders appear to be the result of carelessness and indifference. When the teacher takes one of these pupils to task for his poor performance and insists upon a better exhibition of skill, the pupil may main- tain that he is doing his best, and when pressed to do better he is not unlikely to refuse to do the thing at all. The fact that is difficult for the teacher to under- stand is that the individual who is very dexterous in doing one kind of act that involves relatively fine coordinations is at the same time as awkward as an ox in the general management of his physical move- ments. But this is a fundamental truth of adolescence. The writer has seen a boy who was so awkward that he could hardly be trusted to handle a violin for fear he would drop it or strike it against something and break it, learn to finger the keyboard so that he could strike the strings very accurately and to make the strokes with the bow in a highly skilful manner. Another example is that of the boy who is so awkward that he falls over his own feet and yet learns to ride the bicycle readily, and even rides without the use of the handle-bars. The girl who can hardly be trusted to set the dining-table for fear she will break treasured THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 31 pieces of chinaware may play the piano or ply a needle skilfully. The facility with which adolescent pupils of fourteen and fifteen years of age take up drawing, penmanship, and other forms of handwork, although their general movements continue for a considerable length of time to be exceedingly ungainly and uncertain, is one of the peculiar characteristics of the secondary period of growth. The explanation of this fact seems to lie in the first physiological fact that the internal organiza- tion of the higher brain-centers is just beginning at the inception of adolescence, and that the ultimate control of the whole body that gives the individual poise and ease of physical movements can be secured only through the establishing of many smaller and finer sets of coordinations first, and then through the linking up of these well developed sets of organizations into the largest organization of coordination that is required for skill in the larger movements of the being. The body, in other words, is like a great complicated machine that has just been assembled and that is being readjusted through changing the size of some of its parts. The machine as a whole runs with friction. It knocks here and clatters there. It binds in one place and is too loosely joined up in another part. Gradu- ally, however, this part may be adjusted and that part may be adjusted until each separate piece of mech- 32 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS anism is perfectly lined up to do its particular part of the entire movement of the machine, and then, through the linking up and lining up of these well adjusted parts into the large organization of the machine, the lost motion, the friction, the knocks, the rattles, and all other awkward movements of the machine dis- appear. The machine functions smoothly at last, and its work as a whole is done as perfectly as was the performance of any part of the mechanism when taken by itself. Just so it is with the mechanism of the human body during the period of adolescence, so that one may truly say, from the standpoint of the physical significance of this period, that it is indeed a period of stress, struggle, and readjustment toward the final pro- duction of a thoroughly developed and highly coordi- nated adult physical being whose powers are no longer uncertain. Psychological characteristics of adolescence. — The first outstanding psychological fact or psychological characteristic of adolescence is that the mental, emo- tional, moral, and motor habit formations take .place at a relatively rapid rate, and these habit formations tend to be fairly permanent when once formed. This fact means that this is the time when the guiding ideals, the sanifying emotional backgrounds, the de- pendable moral practices, and the fundamental motor skills must be set up and crystallized if the boy or the girl is to emerge from this secondary period of develop- ment into adulthood of the kind that contributes to THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 33 the progress of civilization. This is the period of greatest possibility in the humanizing of the individual. It is the period during which the struggle between the brutish and animalistic tendencies of human beings against the spiritual and Godlike tendencies of man- kind rages the most fiercely and most decisively. Out of this secondary period come beings who are either more Godlike or more animalistic than they were in the stage of their infancy and childhood. In other words, this period marks the struggle of the soul of man to be reborn or freed from the trammel of mere animal existence. The ego — the responsible individual who seeks a new type of recognition and new avenues of existence other than mere animal appetites and activities — must now be bom, or perhaps lie dormant forever. A second dominant psychological characteristic is the manifestation and relatively rapid development of many instincts that take on new significance for the individual during this period. The most important point to keep in mind in studying these instincts, or rather the manifestations of their existence, is that the reactions of an individual to the instinctive im- pulses may be either positive or negative. Therefore, while the instincts are enumerated by designation of positive forms of reaction, the reader must think the negative forms of reaction as if they were enumerated also in a parallel opposite column. The most impor- tant instincts that take on vital new significance with 34 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS impelling power and controlling influence during adolescence are as follows: 1. Self-assertion and individuality. 2. Social recognition and prestige. 3. Attraction toward the opposite sex. 4. Rivalry and emulation. 6. Spirit of romance and love of adventiu-e. 6. Pugnacity and love of combat. 7. Acquisition of material possessions. 8. Leadership and fellowship. 9. Display and desire to attract attention. 10. Tease and desire to be teased. 11. Play of the competitive motor, intellectual, emotional, and volitional types. The struggle between the positive and negative forms of reaction to these instinctive impulses is one of the distinctive marks of adolescence, and typifies the period as one of extreme effort to make readjustments that shall further the whole round of existence of the human being. Another psychological characteristic of this period of development is that of the general uncertainty of intellectual, emotional, and moral behavior. This un- certainty of behavior is manifested in a variety of ways. The youth is doubtful in his choice of school subjects and in his selection of a future vocation. He has a tendency to follow the lines of least resistance or what seem to be the lines of least resistance. That is to say, he desires to arrive quickly; hence he takes what promises to be the shortest road. He is rash in decid- ing important matters upon very meager and insuffi- THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 35 cient information, which means that he may make a decision and then reverse his point of view ahnost immediately. Youth is in general fickle of purpose and vacillating in making voluntary decisions when he faces difficulties. Notwithstanding this fact, he at times is very stubborn and tenacious of purpose, while at other times he is meek and self-effacing. When critical situations arise, the adolescent may be either hysterical and go aU to pieces, or he may be exceedingly cool, indifferent, and self-contained. That is to say, he may be perfectly helpless in the face of the situation, or he may be a perfect daredevil who faces the crisis without the least trepidation. Another trait of the adolescent is that of the sudden- ness and unreasonableness with which he gives way to emotional explosions of anger, hate, love, jealousy, and so on. At one time he is bold, and bluffs by taking long chances on getting caught up ; and then again he shrinks away, prevaricates, conceals, whines, and tries to beg, flatter, or blarney his way through. Youth is always susceptible to suggestion to a very high degree, and possesses a vivid power of imagination that often leads him to make erratic interpretations of the con- duct and motives of others. He is always taking some trivial act as being an indication that the teacher "has it in for me" or that some schoolmate is "mad at me." All in all, one never knows just what the adolescent is going to do, when he will do it, or how he will do it. Another trait of the secondary stage of development 36 TEACHmG HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS is that of general alertness of mind and interest in the dominant qualities of things. That is to say, this is a period of intensive experience-getting; hence, mentally speaking, the youth pokes his nose into everything that goes on around him, or at least he has a general ten- dency to see and hear everything that takes place around him. He is busy rediscovering the world for himself. Along with this general mental alertness goes a philosophical turn and tendency of mind that ques- tions the validity of virtually every phase of fact and truth. The adolescent remakes the laws of the uni- verse. He either believes most absolutely and un- waveringly, or he scoffs at and disbelieves just as stead- fastly the most profound truths of all time. One of his strongest tendencies in this connection is to be religious. That is to say, he instinctively and intuitively responds to the evidences of a power beyond the ken of man, and seeks relationship with this power as the only safe- guard against the influences over which he realizes that his fellow men have no control. The mystery of his own evolution is undoubtedly one of the strongest factors in giving him this religious tendency. A final psychological characteristic of this period is that of the fluctuation of dominant interest between the mastery of theories, principles, and abstract truths, and the actual application of these theories, principles, and truths to the doing of things and to the acquiring of first-hand experiences in meeting actual situations of life. This fact presents one of the most critical THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 37 problems of all in the determining of the curricula and in the administration of the curricula of the secondary school. The adolescent pupil gets as tired of doing things as he does of learning theories, facts, etc., if he is kept at it too long. The problem is how to so dis- tribute the two types of opportunity that consistent growth with a maximum of interest will be secured. This problem is not only an acute one in the making of the curricula as a whole, but it is also critical in the arrangement of subject-matter within any given course. A careful consideration of the above psychological characteristics of adolescence will lead one to the con- clusion that the secondary period of human develop- ment is indeed a stage of extreme struggle, stress, and manifold changing, as far as the mental and moral life of the human being is concerned. Therefore one may say with assurance that this period is the most critical of all, in that it is the period that very largely deter- mines what the mental and moral backgrounds are that should be developed and crystallized during this white heat of life, when all the humanizing elements are liquid in the crucible. THE FUNCTION OF THE SECONDARY SCHOOL The point of view. — The first and fundamental idea that the writer holds is that the life of the adolescent or secondary individual is a stream into which many tributaries are pouring their various kinds and degrees 38 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS of influence and training. That is to say, the adolesr cent is not just preparing to live, but he is living his secondary life now, and this ongoing stream of life is full of significance for him in the now. . He has a point of view and outlook upon the problems of existence that to him is all-important and conclusive. The second idea in the whole point of view is that while the adolescent is living through his secondary period of existence he is also laying the basis and pre- paring himself for his adult life that is to foUow. The vital point to note, however, is that he prepares him- self most thoroughly for his adulthood by living out his adolescent life most fully and completely. There- fore, when he meets the experiences and performs the activities that most fully satisfy the physical and psychic elements and evolutions that are resident within his being during this period of stress and struggle, he comes to adulthood with the best inherit- ance and the best possible training for meeting the new responsibilities that then come to him as a legally responsible individual. A third idea in the point of view is that the secon- dary or high school is only one of the agencies that are employed in assisting the adolescent individual to live out his secondary period of existence. Therefore the secondary school must determine, first of all, just what phases of adolescent life it can contribute to more vitally and economically than can any of the other agencies that are making simultaneous contributions THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 39 to the same period of development. That is to say, the secondary school must actually come to exist for the sake of its constituency, and it must put service to human beings as individuals and as groups above everything else. The school must be willing to be a device, just a means, merely an incident, in the total life of the boy or girl who comes into the school to take advantage of educational opportunities that are not available elsewhere. If the school is willing to lose its life for the sake of the pupils, it will find a more abun- dant life in the actual enrichment of the human ele- ments that are developed and crystallized in the heart and mind of the pupil who comes under its benign in- fluence. Taking the point of view that the primary function of the secondary school is that of maturing and developing the adolescent boy and girl until they have passed through the unstable period of secondary existence, it is of the utmost importance to determine just what the lines of possible maturity may be. Phases of adolescent maturing. — The first phase of maturity that should receive definite attention and adequate provision is that of physical growth. The adolescent individual is passing through a very critical period of physical development, and he should have the kinds of physical exercise and motor training that will best insure a well developed body in stature and weight, and that will give muscular strength and thor- oughly established coordinations that are under con- trol. In other words, the organic and muscular habits 40 TEACmNG HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS of the individual should be attuned to good health and the accomplishment of some form of physical prowess and manual dexterity. The secondary school should make provision for contributing systematically to the physical well-being of its constituency. No other agency has the same favorable opportunity for doing this service that the secondary school has. What is needed, however, is not rigid requirements of every in- dividual, but exercises adapted to the needs of each in- dividual. The primary function of the school in this regard is to serve and save the individual. The second phase of maturing is that of the mental maturing of adolescent boys and girls. The mental maturing of the pupil is manifested in two ways. The first form is that which is exhibited in the ability to deal with more and more complex units of thought in interpreting the language of others, and in the ability to employ more and more extended and complex units of thought in expressing his own ideas. That is to say, the maturity of the mind is shown by the length and complexity of the unit of concept in thinking. The unit of concept in thinking has three parallel forms of existence; namely, the sentence, the paragraph, and the theme or selection. As the mind of the individual grows and matures, it becomes able to interpret accu- rately and readily more and more complex forms of sentences, more and more extended and difficult para- graphs, and more and more extended and complicated themes or selections. Likewise, the individual builds THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 41 up more and more extended and complicated forms of expression in developing his own ideas. This phase of mental maturing is developed through definite language study, and through enriched acquaintance with vital facts and experiences. The problem in this regard is for the school to select those fields of vital facts and experiences that no other agency is able to bring to the adolescent individual in any thor- oughgoing and systematic fashion. These bodies of facts and experiences should be selected first from the standpoint of their fitness for enabling the adolescents to live out their secondary lives most fully and com- pletely, and second from the standpoint of their fitness to enable the adult or post-adolescent to enter some professional or technical school to advantage, or to enter into some industrial pursuit that does not require extended special training. The second form in which the mental maturity of the individual is exhibited is that of his social reactions. As the adolescent pupil becomes more and more ma- ture, he manifests an ability to make more and more appropriate adjustments of his attitude and behavior toward other individuals and toward the various groups of individuals with whom he comes in contact both in and out of school. The social maturity of the indi- vidual is shown through ability to comprehend the fundamental social relationships growing out of group life, and both to realize his own obligations and to make proper adjustments that enable him to carry out 42 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS his responsibilities in a satisfactory manner. The func- tion of the secondary school in this regard is to help the adolescent boy and girl to realize the fundamental social relationships that are involved in the various group activities carried on in the class-room and in the general life and activities and enterprises of the school, and to build up the proper attitude of mind toward the social situations that arise. This problem involves the recognition of the adolescent social instincts and provision for bringing them to full fruition in normal, sane, and constructive ways. This service can not be rendered effectively by incidental means, but should have very adequate and definite agencies provided for insuring that this phase of mental maturity shall not be neglected or attended to in any half-hearted, hap- hazard manner. This problem will be discussed in de- tail under the chapter on the development and control of conduct or behavior. THE FUNCTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL SUBJECTS The general point of view. — The general idea in regard to the function of the high school subjects is that they should be a means to an end, and not an end in and of themselves. The vital issue is that of deter- mining the valid ends whose accomplishment may be effectively secured through the use of the high school subjects. In the light of the point of view that is herein held concerning the function of the secondary THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 43 school, one may say that the function of every subject that is brought into the high school curriculum must be to contribute definitely to some aspect of physical or mental maturing of the adolescent boy or girl. If each subject is so organized and administered that it does become an effective means to these ends, it will at the same time accomplish the further end of contributing definitely to the preparation of the indi- vidual for entering a college of liberal arts, a profes- sional school, a technical school, or to take up some vocational pursuit that does not re'quire extended tech- nical or professional training. That is to say, the primary function of the high school subjects is not to prepare the pupils for the study of advanced courses in the same field or in other fields to which the sub- jects may be considered prerequisites, but rather to make the pupils mentally mature enough so that as a result they will be thoroughly prepared for the further development that the study of advanced courses might bring to them. The main objective, then, is to bring the pupils up to as high a stage of maturity as possible by the proper adaptation of the subject-matter to meet their present ability to grow. The critical problem in this connection is that of determining clearly the mental and physical maturity to which the particular subject is supposed to contribute definitely and vitally. Another way of saying what has just been set forth is that each high school subject must exist for the sake of the pupils and not for the sake of some preconceived 44 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS traditional academic standard of so-called scholarship. The subjects must lose themselves in becoming a part of the life of the adolescent being. The goal must be units of human development or maturing, rather than units of subject-matter completed. Each so-called unit of subject-matter must have its human counterpart, for which it must always exist. The course of study should be written in terms of these human units of development, and the subject-matter materials should be subordinated to these human units, which are the real goals of education. The first step in carrying out this point of view is that of stating the function of each subject in terms of the exact contribution it will make in bringing into existence these human units of development in the life of the adolescent boy or girl. The function of English. — The chief tool of thinking is language. The only way one has of knowing that he has ideas is through the symbols by which he expresses his experiences to his own mind and to the minds of others. All forms of symbols ultimately rest upon language. That is to say, pictures, motions, objects, etc., can become symbols of ideas only when they can be translated into language that is appropriate to rep- resent their significance to the mind of the one who uses them, and also to the mind of the one who ob- serves them and interprets them as expressing the thought of the user. This being true, the most funda- mental function of language is to furnish the learner with an adequate tool with which to symbolize and THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 45 organize his increasing range of experience. That is to say, the most vital function of English is to expand the adolescent's unit of concept of thinking, both from the standpoint of interpretation and from the standpoint of expression. The term expression is here used to mean not only the actual use of oral and written speech, but also the organizing and thinking out of things in one's own mind when the thoughts thus constructed are not put into oral or written language. As has been suggested above under the discussion of the mental maturing of the adolescent, the unit of concept has three parallel forms of existence in the mind of the learner. These forms are the sentence, the paragraph, and the theme or story, or total pro- duction. There is, however, another form of the unit of concept of thinking that should be given careful attention. This form is the relation that the lan- guagp symbols bear to the ideas they are used to express. There are three types of such language relations — namely, the literal relation, the figurative relation, and the symbolical relation. The learner passes through three stages of development in the interpretation of his own experiences and in the interpretation of the ideas of others that correspond to these three types of rela- tion. He first thinks of every language symbol as having its exact literal significance. That is to say, he interprets aU language of others as literal in meaning. And he has no thoughts or ideas to express except 46 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS those that employ the literal significance or language symbols. The time comes in his development, how- ever, when he has ideas that can not be expressed ade- quately by the employment of literal speech. There- fore he invents figurative forms of language. He also hears others use similar figures of speech, and he recog- nizes the difference between this form of language and the literal form that he is accustomed to use and to hear used. As he acquires more and more experiences his ideas become so complex and his powers of dis- crimination so developed that he thinks many fine shades of meaning that can not be expressed by the use of either literal speech or by the use of simple figures of speech. Therefore he invents more and more subtle figurative forms of expression. He likewise interprets and appreciates the more complex and subtle figures of speech employed by others. This growth in interpreting and expressing the sig- nificance of his own experiences and in interpreting the significances of the forms of the expressions of the experiences of others finally culminates in the need for the use of symbolical speech. Symbolical language may be considered as the highest form of figurative speech. It is a form of expression, however, that is broader in the scope of materials used than is possible in mere language figures of speech. Ultimately some form of language lies back of every form of symbohcal expression. Painting and sculpturing are the most subtle forms of symbolical expression. The artist re- THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 47 sorts to the use of graphic representations to express shades of meaning and thought complexes that can not be adequately presented by the mere use of words. The language that gives the literal and the symbolical significance of the painting or the sculptured form is very clearly although subtly implied. The unity of the whole, however, is sensed emotionally rather than intellectually comprehended. A second important function of English is to con- tribute to the social phase of the adolescent's mental maturing. The social maturity of the individual ex- hibits three fundamental stages of growth. The first of these is that of selfish individualism. In this stage the individual is wont to think of the world as belong- ing to him, or at least as owing him a living. He is an autocrat and egotist, and expects others to give way to his selfish desires. The second stage is that of ambi- tious competition for social recognition and prestige. This stage develops more or less of the instinct of gre- gariousness, but the individual selects the groups to which he attaches himself, upon the basis of their help- fulness in the accomplishing of his own ends. The third stage is that of altruistic service through co- operation and unselfish contributions to the general welfare of all mankind. The individual seeks affilia- tion with every group that promises opportunity for service to others. He seeks to lose his individual life through living a broader life of agreeable social contact with all mankind. The great opportunity of English 48 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS is, through the medium of language, to bring this broader contact with the ideals, the emotions, and the humanizing experiences of many persons with whom the adolescent could not come in personal contact, even though they were all living. In order to capitalize this opportunity most fuUy, however, the materials of literature must be very carefully selected and graded, to meet not only this social aspect of mental maturity, but also all the other phases of the intellectual and emotional development of the adolescent pupil. If one takes this point of view as to the function of English, he can readily work out the kinds of lan- guage and literary material that will contribute most effectively to these two aspects of the development of the unit of concept of thinking at any particular stage of its growth. The critical problem is that of meas- uring accurately the range of growth in this particular phase of mental maturing that should be readily at- tained during each year of high school English work. These ranges can be determined only by very thorough and careful experimentation. Such experimentation will never be secured, however, as long as educators think of the high school English in terms of the sub- ject. The real science of English as presented through grammar, rhetoric, composition, and literature should be constructed as the counterparts of these definite aspects of mental maturing. The function of foreign language studies. — ^The most fundamental function that foreign language THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 49 •studies may serve is that of contributing very definitely to the development of the sentence unit of thinking that may be especially developed by language material of this kind. The paragraph is also developed by this sort of material if it is handled in the right way. That is to say, the foreign languages offer a splendid type of material with which to expand the ability of the indi- vidual to think the logical relationships involved in the interpretation of more and more extended and complex sentences and more and more extended and complex paragraphs. Some argue that every phase of such mental development can be secured by means of Eng- lish material alone just as thoroughly as can possibly be secured through the use of foreign languages. This argument rests upon the fundamental psychological truth that language elements and language habits are universal phases of logical relationships of ideas, and are independent of word forms, which merely sym- bolize ideas. That is to say, the part of speech, noun, verb, etc., subject and predicate, and the forms of sentence, declarative, imperative, etc., are universal elements and habits of thinking that are universal. The various forms of words that different groups of people may use to express these elements and habits of thinking are so many synonyms, which have come into existence through mere chance and accident. This argument, while psychologically true, overlooks one point that is worth consideration. This point is the fact that pupils so readily fall into the habit of 50 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS making more or less intelligent guesses as to the real meaning of a sentence or a paragraph when they read in the native tongue alone. The individual words may seem familiar, and yet the thought may be difficult of interpretation. The pupil catches the familiar ideas and constructs a thought that may seem plausible to his mind, but that may be far from accurate. Now, the foreign language material demands a more careful analysis of the relationships that are involved in mak- ing an accurate translation of the thought into familiar ideas. The pupil may guess, to be sure; but he is just as likely to guess himself into a greater difficulty as he is to guess his way through the interpretation, for he must explain his guesses ultimately by making the detailed analysis of the logical relationships involved in such interpretation. The critical issue is the devel- opment of certain little language habits and their co- ordination into larger and larger language or thought habits, until all the parts of the complex language habit of interpretation that are involved in inter- preting a very complex sentence unit function accu- rately and smoothly. The attempt to interpret a for- eign language brings out these exact smaller language habits, and shows how they must be developed first separately, and then combined into larger and larger groups, until they are finally brought together in the larger language situations. Therefore one may safely conclude that the foreign language materials are economical and convenient THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 51 means of developing the unit of concept in thinking. One may further conclude that the foreign language materials reduce the possibility of guessing to the minimum and increase the necessity of detailed accu- rate analysis to the maximum. The content of the subject-matter that is studied in the foreign language material may be unimportant, and therefore the mind of the learner is free to attend to the mastery of the language habits themselves, whereas if the content were supposed to be important and had to be learned after it was worked out into familiar terms, the pupil would be more inclined to guess at the content or to hunt for a "pony" to ride through the content. Then again, if important content is involved, the learner becomes tired of it by the time he has mouthed it over as much as will be necessary in order to master accu- rately the language habits involved. The foreign languages may serve the function of affording the means of carrying on communication with people who do not use the English language. This function contributes to the development of the social aspect of the individual's mental maturing. That is to say, his social contacts are increased and his social outlook may be broadened. He may realize through his new power of communication the possi- bility of entering broader fields of service to mankind than he could have realized without it. He may dis- cover very fine ideational land emotional materials in the new language, which will broaden his social outlook 62 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS by giving him a new concept of the universality of human philosophy and experiences. This function of foreign language is thought by some to be the most important, but for the greater number of the adoles- cent pupils who are helped in their maturing through the study of these materials the first function is by far the most important. The function of mathematics. — The mathematical subjects serve at least two functions in the education of the adolescent boy or girl. One function is that of contributing actual experiences in conceiving and real- izing quantitative values, and the other is that of contributing special forms of language with which to interpret and express quantitative ideas. That is to say, mathematical material, rightly handled, develops the unit of concept of thinking in terms of quantitative values, which are expressed in a special form of lan- guage relationships. At the same time, this material demands the checking up on the validity of the lan- guage relationships through the comparison of quanti- tative experiences and values. Therefore one might say truly that the two functions really merge into the one function of expanding the unit of concept of think- ing quantitative values as a coherent scheme or science of measuring all types of human experiences and activities. The function of algebra is chiefly that of furnishing a convenient form of language with which to manipulate very complex and extended number relationships. In THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 53 order to realize the value of this form of language, however, the pupil must face number experiences that call for interpretation of complex quantitative values. Therefore the first step in teaching the pupil by means of algebra is that of giving him number experiences and of bringing him face to face with opportunities for using number relationships. As the pupil becomes acquainted with the general truths of mathematical experiences, he recognizes the advantage of having a convenient form of symbolism with which to express these generalizations. Hence he realizes the value of the algebraic formulae and finds it worth while to mas- ter the scheme of language notations that affords him a new tool with which to carry on his thinking in con- nection with all kinds of complex mathematical ex- periences. The critical problem in determining the function of algebra is that of selecting the quantitative or mathe- matical experiences that are both possible and desirable to bring to the adolescent pupil. Once this point is settled, the selection of the algebraic vocabulary or range of formulae can be readily and accurately accom- plished. This whole problem must no doubt be solved by careful experimentation and thoroughgoing psycho- logical diagnoses of what actually goes on in the mind of the adolescent boy or girl in the way of acquiring real and vital mathematical experiences. The vital point that should never be lost sight of is that the pupil should not be set at the task of mastering the 54 TEACfflNG HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS language notations of algebraic formulae until he has need for such language as a means of manipulating his number experiences, and then he should acquire the vocabulary only as fast as he has real necessity for it. Geometry has as its chief function the building up of definite spatial concepts. Its second function is that of furnishing a convenient form of language with which to organize the pupil's expanding spatial universe. Spatial experiences are the most common and perhaps the most fundamental of human experiences as far as getting control over the physical universe is concerned. These spatial concepts are used as a means of making aU sorts of comparisons in one's attempt to express subtle shades of meaning. For example, one speaks of approaching a problem from every angle. This is a vivid way of saying that no possible data or consid- eration will be omitted in the thinking out of the solution of the problem. Such expressions as an out- standing man, a low desire, a deep-seated effect, etc., are translations of spatial experiences and concepts into representations of the more subtle mental experi- ences and organization of ideas. The very first and most fundamental spatial con- cepts are termed geography instead of geometry. When mankind faced the necessity of dealing more accurately with its spatial world than the terminology of geography enabled it to do, it invented a new form of language, known as geometry. That is to say, the science of geography was at first merely a matter of THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 55 defining directions and locating things in relation to accepted landmarks. As soon as there was need for establishing very accurate locations of important things, quantitative measurements were necessary, and mathematical geography came into existence. That is to say, man invented a new form of language with which to manipulate his spatial experiences, which were fast becoming so manifold and so extended and complex that general terms and broad guesses no longer satisfied the situation. The attempt to refine spatial concepts and to adapt language to their expres- sion built up the science of geometry. Therefore it is valid to conclude that the language of geometry is important only as it is a means of expressing definite concepts of spatial experiences. The difiicult part of the problem, in determining the contribution that geometry should make to the educa- tion of high school pupils, is that of discovering the kinds of spatial experiences and concepts that these pupils already have and also the degree to which they have defined them. That is to say, the unit of concept in manipulating spatial experiences must be accurately measured as it now exists, and then the possibility of its expansion must be determined. This possibility must be established ultimately upon an experimental basis. The language aspect of geometry can easily be adapted to meet the growing refinement of the adoles- cent's spatial experiences. The function of "combined mathematics" is to put 56 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the emphasis upon mathematical experiences and to adapt mathematical language to the present need for manipulating these experiences. That is to say, the pupU is given algebraic symbols as a means of meet- ing a particular mathematical situation, and not as a part of a coherent scheme of language notations. Like- wise the pupil is given geometrical language whenever it is the most advantageous means of expressing the mathematical relationships involved in a particular situation, and not as a part of a definite language science. Ultimately, however, the pupil may acquire a rather definite algebraic vocabulary and a fairly well defined range of geometrical symbols. The aim and the emphasis is upon the mental operations that go on within the mind of the pupil as a result of his mathe- matical experiences, rather than upon the task of manipulating the peculiar set of language symbols through all its possible notations. The function of history. — The subject-matter of history serves at least two functions in contributing to the mental maturity of the adolescent boy or girl. One function is that of furnishing an ample body of inter- esting facts about the conduct and behavior of indi- viduals and of groups of individuals in their attempts to carry on the various activities that devolve upon the citizens of a country. The second function is that of expanding the adolescent's unit of concept in think- ing out the fundamental problems of human relation- ships as they are involved in the connection of each THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 57 and every citizen with the different forms of institu- tional life through which the progress and develop- ment of civilization are brought about. That is to say, the great function of history is to contribute vitally to the social aspect of the pupil's mental maturity. The adolescent is a citizen in the making, hence he needs a broader and yet broader acquaintance, first with the actual facts of how people are behaving now in reference to the important problems of citizen- ship, and second with how people have behaved in the past in reference to these same problems. The most important function of history is that of broadening the individual's social outlook through training his mind to make accurate judgments, which are based upon an adequate body of data, concerning the significance of the acts that individuals and groups of individuals have put forth in attempting to get along together in this world. The securing of a ra- tional mental attitude and the development of reflec- tive habits of judgment-forming are vastly more valu- able than is the mere accumulation of facts. The ability to remember a sufficiently large body of facts for a sufficient length of time that will enable one to analyze their significance is necessary, however, and should not be overlooked. Therefore one of the ways in which the employment of historical material may be made to contribute to mental development is that of building up economical and effective habits of memori- zation of really important data. 58 TEACHING mGH SCHOOL PUPILS The function of civics is virtually the same as that of history. In fact, it is only a special field of social development. The adolescent pupil needs political and legal experiences of the kind that make him famihar with the actual forms of society that are organized and carried on in his immediate community, in the larger state community, and in the national community. He needs to see his own position in the scheme of social regulation of the behavior of human beings, and espe- cially to realize the obligations and rights of citizen- ship that must come to him when he reaches the legal status of adulthood. Here again the vital point is not the mere accumulation of facts, but the making of valid judgments that are based upon facts and experience. The subject-matter of civics, rightly handled, affords the opportunity of thinking in more and more complex units of thought in a limited social field. That is to say, the individual should develop a greater and greater span of judgment of a highly specialized kind. The function of sociology. — ^The chief function of sociology is that of making adolescent boys and girls acquainted with very special forms of human behavior and particular bodies of facts concerning the conditions under which various individuals and groups of indi- viduals live. A second function is that of developing the habit of making valid judgments about these special phases of human behavior and welfare. The most important point is that the present facts and the very closely related past facts concerning social con- THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 59 ditions and problems should be given great emphasis. The actual experiences of the now are the material with which to build up the unit of thinking in terms of social ideas and to expand the span of judgment- forming in terms of significant social problems. The function of elementary sociology is not to theorize about the evolution of man as a living being, nor to speculate about the development of the family as a social institution, etc., but rather to show what kind of institution the family is now under present condi- tions and to see what manner of being man now ex- hibits himself to be. That is to say, the present con- ditions of human living are the fundamental materials with which to broaden the adolescent's social horizon. The function of the general life of the school. — The teaching of the high school pupil by means of the subject-matter of sociology alone will not bring satis- factory results. The social maturity of the adolescent individual is brought about through the actual social contacts that are constantly being made in school and out of school with individuals and with various groups of individuals. That is to say, the vital subject-matter of social education is in actual living contacts with people in the now. The social instincts and impulses of the adolescent are guided and his social habits ulti- mately crystallized by what he actually does in relation to his fellows as he passes through the secondary stage of development. Therefore the general life of the school in the class-room, on the campus, in the assen»- 60 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS bly, at the athletic contests, at the debating contest, in the musical, literary, and dramatic entertainments, etc., is of the highest importance and of the most vital significance. The study of social facts that are set forth in books, and the discussion of social problems that are fundamental in the life of the whole people of our nation, may serve to make the adolescent pupil more intelligent and more observant in regard to these vital issues of citizenship. But what wiU it profit to make the pupil intelligent about the problem of divorce, for example, and at the same time fail to capitalize his actual social contacts in setting up in his mind such ideals and reverence for love and home that these things become too sacred to be lightly entered into or to be hastily cast aside? The crux of the whole problem of social education of the adolescent pupil is in what he actually lives here and now in conjunction with his fellows, and not in what subject-matter materials he reads in books of any sort. There has been much talk about socializing the curricula. The chief idea seems to be that the subject- matter of the various subjects can be written in terms of such social facts and factors, social conditions, or rather descriptions and discussions of social conditions, that the study of these bodies of subject-matter will render the individual truly social in spirit and in ability to contribute to the welfare of society as a whole. This idea has certain psychological truth behind it in regard to motivation of school work. But it does not THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 61 meet the most critical need and does not serve the most vital function of the school in bringing about real social education and development of the adolescent boy or girl. Therefore the school should provide for the carrying on of real social experiences, and it should provide for enough expert adolescent sociological- psychologists on its teaching staff, so that the manifold social materials of actual life in the class-room, in the assembly, in the intermissions, etc., shall not be allowed to be wasted or to be perverted in the formation of anti-social habits. The human elements out of which good character and good citizenship may be con- structed, or out of which the opposites may be built, must be dealt with just as systematically and just as thoroughly as must the mental elements involved in expanding the unit of concept of thinking through the study of mathematics or any other subject. That is to say, the unit of social judgment must be expanded through definite social contacts that are organized around fundamental social ideas. Every teacher has opportunity to contribute some- thing to the social education of his pupils. But the class-room teacher must give so much time and energy to bringing about the desired mental maturity by means of the special subject that he has neither the time nor the opportunity to follow up the social ten- dencies that are obvious in the behavior of his pupils during the class period. An expert adolescent psychol- ogist, however, whose job it is to do this very thing, 62 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS could have a regular schedule of class-room visitations in which he would gather the materials for his work with individual pupils and with various groups of pupils. Often, too, social situations would require the holding of individual conferences of such a character that only a woman should handle the girls and only a man the boys. Frequently, however, the problems would involve the meeting of groups that might be handled best in some instances by a woman and in other cases by a man. This might be true whether the group was a mixed group or whether it was a segregated sex group. For instance, a strictly boys' group might best be dealt with by a woman in one case and by a man in another case, and the same holds true of a strictly girls' group or with mixed groups. The critical point is that the living materials shall not be neglected. The class- room teacher can supplement the visits of the social education developer by giving him the results of his daily contact with his pupils. This will be very im- portant in connection with emergency situations and in regard to certain unusual individual cases. The co- operation between the class-room teacher and the social and moral character educator wUl contribute vitally to the type of work that each is doing most intensively. The work of the expert adolescent psychologist might be done in the smaller high schools by the prin- cipal, provided he is given the time for this in addition THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 63 to his administrative duties, instead of being required to teach a number of high school classes. The larger high schools, however, should have teachers engaged for this specific work; for the principal has too many general administrative duties to perform, and lack of time will not permit him to follow up effectively socially ripe situations and clues to individual ten- dencies. He is usually called into the play only when some emergency situation arises, and then too often the best opportunity for constructive social education of the person or persons involved has been lost. That is to say, he is called upon to cure the outcropping of a social disaffection that might have been prevented from ever coming into existence. The doctrine of preventive hygiene is just as valid in the realm of social education as it is in physical education, and it requires the same sort of definite provision on the part of the secondary school. The function of economics. — The function of eco- nomics is that of enlarging the pupU's mental horizon by giving him an acquaintance with the most practical and fundamental facts and factors concerning the production, exchange, and consumption of the com- modities that are involved in living and in living well. The adolescent is particularly interested in matters concerning material wealth. He occupies a peculiar position in respect to economic problems, and he is greatly influenced by the promises held out by this, that, and the other economic situation that seems to 64 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS offer great material opportunities. What the adoles- cent individual especially needs is insight in regard to the manipulation and control of economic conditions. That is to say, he needs to know what is actually going on in the economic phase of human activities. Then, too, his ability to make accurate judgments of more and more complex nature, in terms of the economic relationships that are vital in getting on well in the world, should be developed as his stock of mental materials increases. The function of commercial geography is virtually the same as that of economics. It contributes to the mental maturity of the adolescent pupil by enlarging his stock of actual knowledge concerning the existence of important commercial facts and factors. It like- wise contributes to some extent to the social aspect of the pupil's mental maturity by enlightening him in regard to the behavior of individuals and groups of individuals in respect to their taking advantage of the various facts and factors that figure in the carrying on of fundamental commercial activities. The function of the biological sciences. — The chief function that should be served by the biological sci- ences is that of giving the adolescent boy or girl a great wealth of sensory and ideational experiences. That is to say, these sciences should bring the high school pupil into contact with the actual existences of the biological world. Botany, for example, should make the pupil acquainted with his plant environment. THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 65 It should make him intelligent about the purposes for which these plants live and the manner in which the plants live in order to carry out these purposes. The important point is that the pupil should actually come in contact with as many forms of plant life as his environment makes possible. This contact should in- clude not merely the seeing and handling of plants as gross existence, but also seeing the essential structure and observing the life processes of at least the simpler forms of plants. The same essential experience-getting idea should hold for the functions that zoology, agriculture, and general science should serve. The pupil should be made acquainted first with his own zoological and agri- cultural environment, and later with a larger scope of animal and agricultural existences than is afforded by his immediate surroundings. Here again the important point is actual contact with both the gross existence of things and also contact with the essential structure and fundamental life processes of animals and with the important phases of agricultural activities. This contact should also include the purposes for which all of these facts and factors exist and their relations to the general welfare of humanity. Habits of judgment- forming and of careful observation and interpretation of actual experiences will necessarily be involved in carrying on the performance of experience-getting. The attention to scientific classification and the for- mulation of scientific laws should be determined by the 66 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS need felt by the learner for a more economical and con- venient means of organizing his experiences than is afforded by his ordinary vocabulary and manner of putting things. The extent to which actual wealth of experience is brought to the pupil will be the chief factor in deciding this issue. The ultimate result of wide experience is the recognition of general charac- teristics and of the setting up of definite concepts, definitions, and generalizations. Therefore if one holds to this experience-getting idea strictly, he need not be concerned about whether or not osmosis, for example, will come up in connection with the study of plants, or whether it wiU come up in the study of animals, or in some other connection. In other words, scientific prin- ciples, concepts, and definitions will be taken iato account whenever and wherever they come up in the natural course of experience-getting, and they will be given just the attention that is necessary to make them helpful to the pupil at that point in his development. The function of the physical sciences. — The chief function of the physical sciences is that of contrib- utmg to the mental maturity of the adolescent pupil through giving him wide range of experiences and contacts with physical phenomena. The accumulation of experiences will ultimately lead to the necessity for classification and organization. Then, the function of the physical sciences is to establish clear definitions and concepts that are usable in arranging experiences into such coherent schemes of organization as wUl ren- THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 67 der tiiem of practical value in employing the forces of nature to advantage. That is to say, physics, chem- istry, physical geography, and elementary geology should not be employed primarily with the idea of making the high school pupil a scientist in any of these fields. No set order of arrangement of scientific principles should be undertaken. The existence of such principles in manifold situations out in the world should be* brought to the pupil through actual contact with natural phenomena and with the various appli- ances that man has invented in his attempt to harness the forces of nature to the doing of work. Physical sciences, then, should contribute many facts and ideas to the high school pupils, but in addition to this service they should develop very definite habits of thinking in terms of the physical universe. That is to say, they should extend the pupil's unit of concept in thinking physical relationships, and they should lengthen the judgment span in dealing with more and more complex physical situations. Habits of careful and accurate observation should be developed, and the making of careful interpretations of the significance of physical phenomena, based upon an adequate amount of data. The function of home economics. — The subjects of cooking, sewing, and home-making should have as their chief function the development of definite skills and the mastery of fundamental bodies of useful knowl- edge. That is to say, the adolescent pupil should 68 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS actually perform the various operations involved in these arts until she both knows what to do and how to do it well. The school must afford ample opportunities for real experience-getting in these fields. Moreover, these experiences must be organized and made to con- tribute vitally to the acquisition of the desired skills that are so essential to the development of the modem home life. The function of the manual arts. — The firs't function that the manual arts should serve is that of giving the adolescent a wide range of experience in relation to materials, tools, and constructive operations. A second function is that the manual subjects should be made to contribute definitely to the physical development of the high school pupil, so that his general health is improved through exercise and through the physical strength that is developed by carrying on the various manual activities. The function of actual mastery of mechanical skill that may be commercialized is also a valid one, but it should not be pressed too much. Rather, let the experience-getting idea predominate, and let the matter of marketable skill be a matter of individual choice and native tendency. Opportunity for vocational training should be provided in the middle and upper years of the school. The function of the fine arts. — The fine arts should serve the function of giving the adolescent pupil a wealth of contact with the world of harmonious sounds, colors, and forms. Enrichment of experience is the THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 69 foremost idea, leaving the matter of artistic skill to the choice of the individual. Another function of these arts is that of furnishing a new form of language with which to manipulate and organize this wealth of sen- sory and emotional experiences. The nomenclature of music is a new form of language, and may be made the means of expanding the unit of concept in thinking out harmonious relationships of tone and rhythm. Draw- ing and painting are graphic forms of speech, and may serve to give the learner greater freedom of expression of his own experiences and ideas, and also give greater power of interpretation of the subtle expressions of the ideals of others. Another function of the fine arts is to give oppor- tunities for iutellectual and emotional enjoyment. That is to say, these forms of experience should de- velop ranges of appreciation and a sense of the appro- priate and beautiful in reference to the relationships of sound, color, and form. This aspect of experience- getting should include both the appreciation and en- joyment that come through interpretation of esthetic experiences, and the appreciation and enjoyment that come through the execution or creation of esthetic forms. The function of physical education. — The function of physical education should be the development of sound bodies and the building up of adequate health habits. Therefore this aspect of education of the adolescent should include physiology and hygiene, cor- 70 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS rective exercises, recreative sports and games, and com- petitive sports and games. The chief idea throughout all of these should be the giving of actual experience in health-building through physical experiences of vari- ous kinds that are adapted to the needs of individuals and the needs of groups. One important point, to be sure, is the acquisition of practical knowledge concern- ing the care of the human body and the creating of a healthful environment in which to live and enjoy life. A vital function of physical education is that of contributing to the social aspect of the mental maturity of the adolescent boy or girl. Recreative sports and games and competitive sports and games afford splen- did opportunities for giving actual social experiences and for developing moral social habits. The unit of concept in thinking out the more and more complex social relationships may be developed to a very great degree. Moreover, the setting up of proper social ideals and attitudes may be secured in a way that no other phase of school life may possibly bring out. Therefore physical education might very well include such social activities as parties and dances, which the school may carry on from time to time in response to the social needs and desires of the adolescent indi- vidual. A great deal of the actual participation of the individual in these social games and in these other social activities is necessarily physical. That is to say, the playing of games and dancing are fundamental forms of social reaction that help to give one physical THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 71 ease and poise, as well as graceful motor facilities that enable one to cooperate with others in pleasurable pastimes. The function of commercial subjects, — The com- mercial subjects serve two important functions, namely, the giving of important bodies of practical knowledge, and the developing of skills that are mar- ketable. The chief function is that of giving skills that enable the pupil to earn a living in the commercial world. The bodies of knowledge that are presented in connection with commercial lines of study are neces- sary, for the most part, and instrumental in helping the pupils to master the desired forms of skill. That is to say, the function of commercial subjects is to make the pupil a bookkeeper, a stenographer, etc. They are definitely vocational in content and practice. IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF MENTAL MATURITY Two important considerations. — One of the impor- tant psychological facts that should be kept in mind is that many individuals make very slow intellectual de- velopment in the early years of maturity just following the secondary period, and in fact may grow very slowly during the remainder of their lives. In other words, the secondary period of development brings a large number of individuals up to what is practically the level of their intellectual capabilities. This psychological fact should be given most careful 72 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS consideration by college and university, and especially by that institution that has been wont to judge the efficiency of the work done by the high schools on the record made by the graduates of these high schools during their freshman year in the higher institution. The pupU who has developed satisfactorily in the high school may have reached so near the level of his pos- sible mental maturity that he will make slow progress during his freshman year in the higher institution. Moreover, his college teachers may not be so efficient as were his high school teachers, and they may not know how to secure the highest possible growth by proper adaptation of the subject-matter that they pre- sent. The higher educational institution is presuming that its teaching staff is virtually perfect, that the conditions for growth are all ideal, and that its stand- ards of measurement are accurate and infallible, when it sends the records of its freshmen back to the various high schools. The idea that these records may be evidences of weakness and inefficiency on its own part seems not to have occurred to the higher institution. It is presuming to show the high schools the evidences of their weakness and inefficiencies. The truth may be that the high school has done wonderfully well with the pupils under its charge, and that the higher insti- tution has not builded on the foundation laid by the high school. Again, the high school may have done well and the higher institution may have done equally as well in making its courses conform to the stage of THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 73 mental maturity reached at the close of the secondary school, and yet the pupil may make little measurable progress, although he strives faithfully. That is to say, the pupil may have reached the stage where slow development is inevitable. The second consideration is the psychological fact that every individual sways back and forth between his interest in acquiring facts and theories and skills, and the employment of facts, theories, and skills in doing things. Throughout the elementary school the emphasis is upon the acquisition of facts, theories, and certain skills. The pupil is in his childhood and gen- erally obeys readily the demands made upon him by the institution. The adolescent period finds the youth equipped with a more or less comprehensive body of facts, theories, and skills, and possessed by the impulse to find self-expression in the doing of things. Through- out high school the struggle between the subjects that demand long storing-up periods and the subjects that turn things loose — that is to say, put facts, theories, and skills into practice by affording opportunities for doing things — wages hotly with varying fortunes of war. Now, this same situation exists when the high school graduate enters the higher educational institu- tion. The pupil may have endured the storing-up process in the high school fairly well, but when he enters college and finds that he must continue this process indefinitely or even through his freshman year, he balks at the task and seeks relief through an excess 74 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS of social activities, athletics, or whatever avenues of active doing are most available and most satisfying. The result is that the pupU makes no development through his classes, although he is perfectly capable of doing so to a high degree. Here again it seems fair to say that perhaps neither the high school, the higher institution, nor the individual is really at fault. This individual may have reached the point where active doing is going to claim him for a time before he will be satisfied to pass through another storing-up period of very long duration. In fact, his freshman year may be the means of satisfying him that he is best adapted to doing the things that he is now capable of doing with his present equipment. An important consideration for technical and pro- fessional schools. — The fact that the high school is so largely a period of maturing and of storing up of mental materials should receive most careful attention by the technical and professional schools. The techni- cal or professional school should confine its efforts to training people in the skills necessary to be efl&cient in its particular field. Its courses should not require the taking of subjects that merely demand storing up of facts that have no vital connection with the problems in the particular technical or professional field, either in the way of helping very materially in the mastery of the technical or professional subjects, or in the put- ting of technical or professional skills into effective practice. The degrees of mental maturity necessary THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 75 and the kinds and amounts of facts and skills that are actually prerequisites to the taking up of technical or professional lines of study should be secured before the pupil enters such a school. The technical school should be able to say just what these are, and then the educa- tional institution, or institutions that are committed to the task of maturing and developing human beings in order that they may find their capabilities and also be equipped to make the most of them, will know how to advise and to guide their pupils in the choosing of a life work. SUMMARY The modern conception of the high school is based upon the idea that the human being during his sec- ondary period of existence is virtually being born again mentally, morally, and to a certain degree physically. The adolescent being is very unstable in his reactions, and presents the greatest possibilities for education through systematic training. The function of the sec- ondary or high school is to provide for every aspect of human development in order to mature the pupil who is passing through the most critical period of his life. The fundamental phases of human maturity that should be furthered by the school are physical and mental, which includes both the intellectual and the social reactions of the pupU. The function of the various high school subjects is to furnish valid mate- rials by means of which to bring about definite degrees 76 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS of development of the two aspects of mental growth, and to promote proper physical development. One of the important aspects of mental maturity is that many human beings virtually reach the crest of their mental maturity at the close of their adolescent development, and after that time they grow very slowly. This is especially important for the higher educational institu- tion to consider in judging the causes of slow progress on the part of many of the first- and second-year students. EXERCISES 1. Give several examples from your own observations of the extreme awkwardness of adolescent pupils and the difficulties they got into as a result. 2. Give examples from experience of some of the dexterous coordinations of the finer type that adolescents so frequently possess. 3. Give two illustrations of exhibitions of each of the eleven instincts enumerated and the same number of illustrations of exhibitions of the opposites of these instincts. 4. Contrast the point of view presented under the dis- cussion of the function of the secondary school with the view of the classical educationists. 5. Give one example of evidence of different degrees of physiological maturity in an adolescent pupil. 6. Give two or more examples of evidence of different degrees of mental maturity in adolescent pupils. 7. Give two or more examples of evidences of different degrees of social mental maturity in adolescent pupils. 8. Give examples from your own experience of cases in which the high school subjects were not administered for the sake of the high school pupils. 9. Select any three of the high school subjects and stat« THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF THE HIGH SCHOOL 77 the function of each in terms of definite phases of adolescent development, going into more detail than is given in the suggestions set forth in the discussion of the preceding chapter. Id Give two or more examples from experiences of indi- viduals who developed very slowly after reaching the close of the adolescent period. 11. Give illustrations from experience of cases in which higher educational institutions have unjustly criti- cized the high school for failure of freshman in the college classes. SELECTED REFERENCES Brown, John Franklin. The American High School. Chapter II. The function of the high school stated in terms of the relation of the high school to the elementary school, to higher institutions, to the pupil, and to the state. Chapter XI. A discussion of the social life of the high school. Hall, G. S. Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Re- ligion, and Education. 2 Vols. Valuable for the presen- tation of concrete data. Inglis, Alexander. Principles of Secondary Education. Chapter II. Excellent discussion of mental traits of adolescent pupils. Jxn)D, Charles H. Psychology of High School Subjects. Chapter II to XVI, inclusive. Psychological statement of function of high school subjects. Also Chapter XVII. Psychological statement of mental maturity in terms of generalizations. King, Irving. The High School Age. Helpful discussion of adolescent life. Koos, L. V. The Junior High School. Chapter II. De- tailed discussion of the peculiar functions of the junior high school. NuTT, H. W. The Supervision of Instruction. Chapter V. Suggestive outline of traits and tendencies of secondary pupils. 78 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS Pa3kee, Samuel Chester. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Chapter II. Excellent discussion of the pur- poses of high school instruction. Pearson, Francis B. The High School Problem. Chap- ter II. Practical statement of the function of the high school. Stout, John Elbert. The High School. Chapter II. Good discussion of the factors that determine the function of the modern high school. Terman, Lewis M. The Hygiene of the School Child. Chapter II to VI, inclusive. Sets forth important con- siderations in physical education. CHAPTER III METHOD OF LEARNING Point of view. — The point of view that is taken in this discussion is that method is only one of the more important principles or considerations involved in teaching. The meaning of the term should be limited and restricted so as to set it off clearly from the other principles. This avoids confusion and will also clarify the thinking about the real problem of method. The need for this limitation of meaning of the term method is seen by an examination of pedagogical books. Most of the present literature on the subject talks about "Methods of Teaching" and under the title discusses all the various principles of teaching as "methods." Such discussions make no distinction between the psychological processes involved in learning and the devices and technique employed by the teacher. Any- thing and everything is designated as "method." The result of such general diffuse discussions is general diffuse thinking about the problems of teaching; and because of this diffuse vagueness of thinking, when people attack the teaching situation to improve it, they invariably attack some use of device or tech- nique, and think, because they succeed in discovering a 79 80 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS new device or point of technique, that they have found a new psychological law that insures a "cure-all" for the various teaching problems. Then this new device or point of technique is seized upon eagerly by educa- tional zealots and rapidly gets into practice all over the country. It runs its course and soon its day is past, for no device or point of technique can be invented that will meet aU teaching situations or even the same teaching situation all the time. The ultimate result is a lack of confidence on the part of the general public and a general tendency to discredit the wisdom and judgment of educators in deciding what the schools really need and how to secure it. The public generally concedes that school people know what they want, but they are not so sure that they know what they need to further the progress of efficient teaching. There is only one way to get out of this habit of dealing with diffuse generalities, and that is to limit the meaning of method to so definite a phase of the educar tive process that no one wiU misunderstand what is meant when the term is used. Then, when an attack is made upon method in order to improve the efficiency of teaching, the basis of such attack will be a clearly recognized defect that may have a definite remedy. The restriction that is held throughout this discussion is that the term is singular instead of plural, and that it relates to the performance of learning instead of to the performance of teaching. The definition stated below is in terms of such limitation of the term method. METHOD OF LEARNING 81 Method defined, — Method is the mental procedure of the learner in mastering any form of subject-matter that is presented to him. This statement of method excludes any possibility of mistaking any device or any form of technique for method. The mental procedure of the learner is always a psychological matter, and attention should be centered upon what goes on in the mind of the learner as he deals with the subject- matter, when one talks about method as a problem in teaching. In other words, it is method of learning, and not "methods of teaching," that constitutes the real problem of method. The above definition of method is stiU too vague and too general to do more than set forth the fundamental issue, namely, the determining of how the mind does proceed in learning. What, then, is the mental pro- cedure of the mind of the learner in mastering the subject-matter presented to it? The mind of the learner always proceeds in the following characteristic manner in its process of learning. First, it sees what- ever is presented to it as a vague whole. Second, it analyzes this vague whole into its essential parts or elements, noting the significance of each to the whole. Third, it discovers the dominant parts or elements, and reorganizes the other parts or elements around the dominant one. The mind now sees the thing as a significant or known whole instead of as the vague whole with which it started. Fourth, the mind repeats this process of analysis and synthesis until the signifi- 82 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS cance of the whole becomes habit. The learning process is then complete. This fact that the mind has not really learned a thing untU the significance or meaning of the thing has become habit is an important consideration. The teacher too frequently stops when the learner has reached the end of the third step in learning the sub- ject-matter, namely, the process of .synthesis which- ends with understanding or seeing a definite meaning for the unit or whole. This understanding or meaning must be rendered habit or it will be apt to be lost within a short time. If mere understanding or ac- quaintanceship with the subject-matter is all that is desired, then the function of the teacher is ended as soon as the process of synthesis is completed. If, how- ever, thorough mastery or control of the subject- matter is desired, then there must be opportunity for the learner to repeat the process of analysis and syn- thesis until it becomes habit. A critical point. — Another point in this connection, which is the critical one, is the psychological fact that a higher order habit is built out of lower order habits, which are each thoroughly enough formed to function effectively when the formation of the higher order habit is demanded. Therefore, when the learner is struggling to fix the significance or meaning that he has obtained through the analysis and synthesis of the subject-matter presented, he should not be called upon to recognize this same known whole in a larger unity METHOD OF LEARNIN 83 which combines this meaning with the meanings of a number of other smaller wholes whose meanings may be only vaguely known to him. In other words, do not try to perfect the lower order habit by attempting to use it in the formation of a higher order habit. Perfect each of the lower order habits first, or make permanent the meaning of each of the smaller unities first, and then combine them into the larger and more complex unity. Illustrations of this mental procedure. — 1. The learner sees an object and hears it called a "banjuke." At first he sees in a vague way that it is some kind of musical instrument. He begins to analyze it in order to understand its distinguishing characteristics and the significance of its name. He sees that the body of the instrument is round like a banjo, but much smaller and made of wood. He also notes that the neck or string-board is like that of a banjo, only much smaller. He now notices the strings, and sees that they are like the strings of the ukelele. He may, if opportunity is afforded, strike the strings and find that the tones are like those of the ukelele. He now concludes that the meaning of the word "banjuke" is a banjo-shaped musical instrument with the tones of a ukelele. 2. The learner sees a building on the campus and hears the name "Fowler Shops." He begins to analyze the vague mass of its structure, and notes that it is a two-story building, rather long, with a tower at the entrance and a one-story shed at the other end. He 84 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS notes the many windows through which machinery can be seen, the character of the building-stone, and the character of the roof. He concludes that "Fowler Shops" is a long, rangy, two-story, low-roofed stone building, marked by a tower and used for mechanical arts. 3. The learner reads the definition, "A demagogue is a person who panders to popular prejudice or seeks to inflame reasonless passions in the advancement of his personal interests." He gets a general idea of the meaning, but does not feel sure of all the words in the statement. He now analyzes the statement, noting the meaning of such words as panders, inflame, reasonless, passions, etc., as used in this sentence. He thinks of illustrations of "popular prejudice," "personal inter- ests," and so on, until he feels sure of the exact meaning of all the words and their relations to one another. He now begins to imify or make a synthesis of these mean- ings, and concludes, perhaps, that a demagogue is a person who is neither honest nor fair in his dealings with the public. 4. The learner reads the rule, "A comma should be used to set off a phrase or clause that is out of its natural position." He may know the meanings of the individual words, but is in doubt as to the meaning of "natural position," "set off," etc., as related! to a "phrase or clause." He proceeds to analyze these ex- pressions until he sees their significance. He then reorganizes the ideas found in the statement of the METHOD OF LEARNING 85 rule into the thought that the comma is used to show the relation of one part of a sentence to another by showing the order of their arrangement. The mental processes involved in the characteristic mental procedure put forth in learning. — The defini- tion of method thus far developed is still too general to be vitally applied to the problems of teaching. To know that the learner always first sees a thing as a vague whole, analyzes it into its parts, and then reor- ganizes or synthesizes it around its dominant element will be helpful in guiding the work of the teacher in the selection and organization of subject-matter. The teacher, however, must go further than this. He must inquire as to what mental processes go on in the mind of the learner that enable him to see the thing pre- sented as a whole, and what mental processes go on in making the analysis and synthesis of the thing pre- sented. For example, what mental processes are active in seeing such an object as a buUding as a whole? First of all, it is apparent that sense perception must be carried on vigorously in order actually to sense the form, the size, and the characteristic visual quali- ties of the materials out of which the building is con- structed. Memory is involved in supplying the mean- ings or significances that have been attached to similar past sensory experiences. Imagination is involved in supplying the parts of the building that are not imme- diately presented to vision. The images thus created are checked up by memory processes of association, 86 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS and judgments are formed as to their possible appro- priateness. Finally, reasoning takes place as the learner organizes his judgments to form a conclusion as to the meaning of the whole as vaguely seen. The seeing of this object, then, and becoming vaguely aware that it is a building of some kind, is the result of sense-perception, memory, imagination, judgment- forming, and reasoning. The process of analysis involves these same mental processes. Hence sense-perception, memory, imagina- tion, judgment, and reasoning may give the learner the number of wings in the building, the stories, the win- dows, the kind of entrances, etc. These same processes will be involved likewise in the synthesis or reunifica- tion of these various parts into a central meaning that may seem to be an appropriate one. One should note that at the outset of this particular learning performance sense-perception was the most active mental process involved, and that it continued in the foreground throughout the process of analysis. When, however, the learner began to unite the results of his sense-perception, reasoning began to be the most active mental process, and continued in the foreground until the conclusion was reached. Then the sense- perceived image of the object as a whole and the meaning or conclusion just reached balanced each other. The mental processes of memory, imagination, and judgment were involved all the way through, in varying degrees of intensity. These processes, how- METHOD OF LEARNING 87 ever, were intermediary auxiliary mental elements in the movement of the mind as a whole. Take, for another example, the following stanza of poetry: The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea; The plowman homeward plods his weary way. And leaves the world to darkness and to me. What are the mental processes involved in inter- preting this stanza? Sense-perception must give the learner the number of lines, the length of lines, and the individual words. Memory gives him the names of the words and their usual meanings. Imagination sug- gests other possible meanings for many of the words, and judgment decides which meanings to take. Imagi- nation also constructs a total image of the scene, and judgment decides the appropriateness of this total image as being adapted to the language employed by the writer. Reasoning gives the significance of this total image as the thought of the writer. Here again it is apparent that all of the mental processes are in- volved. There is a difference, however, in the degree of intensity with which each process is carried on. The process of sense-perception operates rather au- tomatically in giving the vague whole of the stanza and in furnishing the sensory identities of the indi- vidual words. Memory likewise performs its function almost automatically, since the vocabulary is that of familiar words. The process of imagination, however, 88 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS is highly active and dominant throughout the analysis and synthesis of the thought conveyed by the stanza. Judgment is also very active, and reasoning finally dominates the synthesis. Now, when the conclusion is reached, the processes of imagination and judgment balance over against reasoning, while sense-perception and memory are intermediary auxiliary processes in the whole movement. The critical point. — The critical point, then, is that each of the mental processes is involved in every learning situation and in every step of the universal movement of the mind, but these processes are in- volved with different degrees of intensity, according to the nature of the object presented to the learner. One of these processes may dominate the whole performance of learning in one case, and an entirely different mental element may dominate the learning in another case. Again, one process may dominate the first step in the fundamental movement of the mind in learning, another mental process may dominate the second step, and still another process may dominate the third step. Again, these processes may be about equally balanced throughout the learning performance. The recognition of the varying degrees of intensity with which these mental processes should be involved in a particular learning situation is a critical teaching problem. There- fore the application of this principle to the teaching of the various high school subjects is of vital importance. Complete definition of method. — The definition of METHOD OF LEARNING 89 method may now be stated completely enough to be considered and applied definitely as a principle of teaching. The method of learning anything is through putting forth the mental processes of sense-perception, memory, imagination, judgment-forming, and reason- ing, with varying degrees of intensity according to the nature of the object, so that the object is first seen as a vague whole, is next analyzed into its characteristic elements, is then reorganized around its dominant ele- ment or elements, and this process of analysis and syn- thesis repeated until the significance or meaning thus obtained is thereafter habitually seen as a distinct or known whole. Armed with this definition, one can attack the problem of method in any teaching situa- tion with definite assurance, and without danger of confusing "method" with "device," on the one hand, or with "technique" on the other hand. THE PROBLEM OF METHOD The foregoing definition of method as qualified through the illustrations makes very definite and spe- cific the fundamental issue in the problem of method. Using this qualified definition as a guide, the teacher can determine very definitely the learning procedure of the pupil in the study of every type and phase of subject-matter presented to him. Moreover, he will be able to judge fairly accurately the quality and eflB- ciency of the learning performance carried on by the pupil at each stage of the learning process. 90 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS The first step. — The psychological fact that the mind, ia learning, always first sees a thing as a vague whole, then analyzes it into its fundamental parts, and then reorganizes these parts into a known whole, makes clear the first step that the teacher must take in order to do effective teaching. This first step is the setting up of a definite unity or whole for the pupil to learn. The first question for the teacher to answer is, just what is it that the pupil is to learn by means of the subject-matter presented to hitn? As soon as the teacher has determined definitely in his own mind just what the pupil is to learn, then he is ready to give attention to the second step in the teaching perform- ance. The second step. — After determining the exact whole that the pupil is to learn, the teacher is ready to decide the extent to which sense-perception, imagination, memory, judgment, and reasoning wiU be involved in seeing the particular whole clearly enough for the pupil to realize his learning problem. Then the teacher can determine the extent to which each of these mental processes wiU be involved in making the required analysis and the final synthesis or known whole that is the goal of the teaching and learning performance. As soon as the teacher has decided definitely in his own thinking the extent to which these mental processes will be involved in the particular learning situation, he is ready for the final step or consideration in con- nection with the problem of method. METHOD OF LEAENING 91 The final step. — The final step for the teacher to determine, in his study of the problem of method in- volved in any particular learning performance, is that of deciding upon the devices that will be most helpful and the technique that will be most effective in stimu- lating the mind of the learner to see the whole that is to be learned, at first vaguely, and then to carry on the mental processes that are most involved in the making of a sufficiently thorough analysis, and finally in con- structing the definite and well known synthesis or whole that is the goal of the learning performance. This last consideration can not be determined intelli- gently until the first two points have been very posi- tively and accurately determined. If sense-perception is the dominating mental process in seeing the object as a whole, then certain devices and certain technique will be more effective than the devices and technique that would be most effective if imagination were the dominating mental process. Likewise, if memory is the chief mental process involved in the learning situation, then the devices and technique wiU no doubt be dif- ferent from those that would be most effective in either of the other cases, etc. THE PROBLEM OF THE MENTAL PROCESSES Not only must the teacher understand the funda- mental movement of the mind as it is exhibited in all learning performances, and not only must he know the 92 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS mental processes that dominate each step of the funda- mental movement of the mind of the learner as he deals with each subject-matter whole presented to his atten- tion, but he must know something of the efficiency of each of these mental processes in the case of each pupil whom he is teaching. That is to say, the teacher must not only know the general psychological character of sense-perception, imagination, memory, judgment- forming, and reasoning, but he must know how effi- ciently each pupil can sense-perceive, imagine, remem- ber, judge, and reason in connection with different types and phases of subject-matter. These are the specific human elements that form the real crux of every teaching situation, and they present a very difficult as wen as a very concrete problem for the teacher. This is one aspect of the human element, with which the teacher has to deal constantly, that can be studied and mastered thoroughly in a training- school or even in the public school through systematic directed observation. Skill in recognizing the charac- ter and qualities of these mental processes, as mani- fested in the learning performances of individual pupils, can be acquired only through long study and extended practice. The value, however, to the teacher of paying the price of acquiring a high degree of skill in dealing with these particular human elements is perfectly obvious. Sense-perception. — The first practical problem that confronts the teacher in regard to the sensory processes METHOD OF LEARNING 93 of his individual pupils is that of the general acuity of the sense-organs. The sensory processes of vision and audition are especially vital in the learning of most types of subject-matter. Defective vision and defec- tive audition are prevalent to a rather high degree among secondary school pupils. This fact, as shown by carefully made scientific studies of the problems of school hygiene, serves to make very emphatic the necessity for knowing the status of each pupil in regard to these fundamental sensory processes. If sense- perception of the visual or auditory type is intensively involved in a particular learning situation, and the pupil suffers a defect of vision or of audition, he is seriously handicapped in his attempt to deal with the learning situation. If the teacher does not know the degree of the pupil's sensory defect, he wiU not under- stand why the pupil does not succeed in mastering the situation to a satisfactory degree. He may charge the pupil with indifference, lack of training, or lack of ability to learn, and fail absolutely to discover the real cause of the pupil's ineflSciency. If the defect is known, the teacher can seek to find some way to have it cor- rected, or to find some means of offsetting the defect in connection with the particular situation. If nothing can be done to relieve the difficulty, the teacher can at least encourage the pupil to do the best he can in spite of the defect, and he will not make the mistake of criticizing and censuring the pupil for something for which the pupil is not responsible. 94 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS Sensory habits important. — The second practical problem that the teacher must deal with in this con- nection is that of the sensory habits of individual pupils. The pupil may have fairly good sensory acuity and yet be ineflScient in his learning because of faulty habits of practice in employing his sensory processes, or because of the lack of habits of sensory practice. For example, the pupil may have very good vision, but he may not have formed the habit of employing vision accurately and actively in observing the important visual characteristics of things that are presented to his attention. Therefore, if the particular learning sit- uation demands a certain degree of efficiency in the practice of visualizing, and the pupil does not possess the necessary skill, it may be necessary for the pupil to take special drills in the sensory practice of visualiza- tion in order to bring his skill up to a point of effi- ciency that can be capitalized in valid learning situa- tions. The teacher should have definite means of testing the pupU's habits of sensory practice in order that he may determine the effectiveness of the pupil's learning performance at each stage of the fundamental movement in learning. Such tests will enable the teacher to know where and why the learning perform- ance breaks down in cases where the sensory processes are the dominant ones. Knowing the sensory habit that is defective and knowing the degree of the defect, the teacher can interpose training to overcome the defect and to remove the handicap that must otherwise METHOD OF LEARNING 95 prove very detrimental to the pupil in his development. Sense-training. — The foregoing discussion raises the question as to whether or not many high school pupils may need special sensory training. High school pupils undoubtedly need eflficient habits of sensory practice. The question is, whether these habits can be developed best through definite drills that are devised especially for the sake of developing a satisfactory degree of skill that can be capitalized automatically in many valid learning situations, or whether these sensory habits can be developed best through the learning situations that demand the employment of such sensory habits in order for the learning to be economically and effec- tively accomplished. The psychology of habit forma- tion seems to favor the taking time off for definite drills that are adapted to securing the maximum of efficiency in the minimum of time. The opportunities, however, that are afforded by learning situations for emphasiz- ing and perfecting the skill in the employment of sen- sory habits ought not to be neglected. The use of both kinds of practice opportunities will no doubt secure the best results. The main point is that the teacher must recognize the need for such sensory training, and take active steps toward securing skUl in habits of sensory practices as rapidly as possible in the development of his individual pupils. Imagination. — The mental process of imagination is involved to a much greater degree than most high school teachers realize in the learning of almost every 96 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS type and phase of subject-matter. Even the situations that seem to be most concrete and to involve sense- perception to a very high degree very often involve the emplo3^ment of a rather high degree of imagination. This fact presents a real problem to the teacher. The pupil may be lacking in the power to employ imagina- tion effectively in the particular learning situation, or he may either have faulty habits of imagination or lack the habit of facile and accurate imagining. In either case, the pupil will be seriously handicapped in his attempts to learn. The teacher must know, in the first place, just how important the process of imagina- tion is in the particular learning situation, and second he must know both the ability of the pupil to employ imagination and his habits of employing this mental process in his learning. Then, third, the teacher must know the possibility of developing a satisfactory skiU in the pupil's imaginative practices. This means that the teacher must study each pupil intensively in order to develop his power and skill in imagination up to the point where it will be capitalized automatically in valid learning situations. The point before stated, that imagination is involved to a much greater degree in even the most concrete cases than most teachers realize, may be made more emphatic by means of one or two typical illustrations of such concrete situations. Take, for example, the study of the heart in physiology. The use of an actual heart of, say, a beef, that is dissected before the clasa METHOD OF LEARNING 97 by the teacher or that may be dissected by the pupils themselves, working individually or in pairs as the case may be, seems to present a very concrete situation and one that involves sense-perception to a very high degree. The process of sense-perception is intensively involved in acquiring accurate ideas of the external appearance of the organ, its size, and shape. As the dissecting proceeds, sense-perception is highly involved at every stage in acquiring accurate ideas of the parts as they are gradually disclosed. The understanding of the heart as a whole, and the relation of each part to every other part, can not be acquired by the process of sense-perception. The images of the parts must be constructed into a total image such as can not be sense-perceived, for not all of the parts can be sense- perceived simultaneously. When the dissection is com- pleted, the heart can not be reassembled physically, but the pupil must be able to imagine each part in its proper relation to each of the other parts and to the organ as a whole, in order really to understand the significance of each of the individual sensory experi- ences that has been brought to his mind through the process of sense-perception. The idea of the heart that he finally has, when he truly understands it as a specific organ performing a definite function in the human body, is not made up of the materials with which sense-perception has dealt during his study of the actual organ. The final idea of heart that he has i? made up of the constructive images that signify to hia 98 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS mind the relation of part to part, part to whole, and whole to part. He can now image the auricles, the valves, etc., as vividly as abstract significances, as he was able to image them as sense-perceived experiences during the first stages of the learning performance. A careful study of the foregoing example discloses the fact that the process of imagination was just as vitally and just as intensively involved all the way through the process of dissection as was the process of sense-perception. As each part was dissected and taken away from the organ, the learner could not see the next part thus disclosed in its relation to the part just taken away, except as he had the power to con- struct a clear and accurate image of the part that had just been removed and to hold it in its proper relation to the part being sense-perceived at that moment. This is a very important point. The teacher who fails to recognize the intensive demand made upon the pupil for the practice of vivid and accurate imagination in these so-called concrete cases is not apt to test the process of imagination and to make sure that the pupil is constructing the right kind of a mental product as the result of the concrete presentation of material. Moreover, he will not understand why the pupil often fails to profit by the so-called concrete study of the subject-matter, and he will not be taking steps to rem- edy the inefficiencies in imagination that were the basis of the failures. The study of plants in botany, the study of animala METHOD OF LEARNING 99 in zoology, and the study of mechanical phenomena in physics, the study of chemical reactions in chemistry, etc., all involve the employment of vivid and accurate imagination to a very great degree. In fact, all expe- rience-getting material involves imagination just as much as it involves the process of sense-perception. In other words, concrete materials are of no value except as they become the basis for the construction of mental unities through the power of imagination. The mind, in building its fabric of mental content, must be freed from the individual experiences gained through sense- perception in order to construct the universal elements of ideas and thoughts. This psychological truth is of vital importance to the teacher. The goal of teaching is not the so-called concrete experiences, but it is the universal significances of experiences. Therefore the learning performance is never really completed until the pupil is able to image the universal mental sig- nificance that lies behind the immediate experiences that are presented to his senses. One of the best tests of this fact is the kind of drawing the pupil will make if called upon to demon- strate his understanding of such an organ as the human heart. If he has not got beyond the concreteness of his sense-perceptions, he will draw a representation of the particular heart with which he worked during the study. On the other hand, if he has got to the uni- versal significance of his sense-perceptions gained during the concrete study, he will draw a representation 100 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS of the heart as an abstract entity. That is to say, he may draw it on a much larger or a much smaller scale than the actual heart that was dissected during the study, but he will have a correct representation of the relations of the different parts that are absolutely necessary to perform the definite function of that organ. He represents the universal significance of each part of the organ as he sees it through the power of imagination. The process of imagination is not only greatly in- volved in the so-called concrete situations suggested above, but it is also highly involved in the interpreta- tion of aU kinds of printed material. Accurate images of meanings appropriate to the language employed in the statement of facts and truths in every high school subject are of the most vital importance. The most matter-of-fact statement is meaningless without the construction of accurate images appropriate to its interpretation. Hence every teacher should study the relation of imagination to every learning situation, and check up the ability of every pupil to employ imagina- tion effectively, and also to test his habits of practising the power of imagination that he does possess. Imag- ination is one of the human elements with which the teacher must deal constantly, and it is an element that can not be thoroughly understood without very careful study and considerable practice in dealing with it. Memory. — The mental process of memory is so necessary in the learning of any type and phase of METHOD OF LEAENING 101 subject-matter that the teacher needs to give much attention to the power possessed by each pupil to memorize, temporarily or permanently, the detailed facts that are involved in each whole presented for study. The habits of memorizing practised by the pupil have so much to do with the efficiency of his performance that it is almost impossible to determine the native quality of his memory ability without testing thoroughly his memory habits. First of all, the teacher needs to know the kind or kinds of bonds that must be set up in the mind of the pupil for effective memoriz- ing of the particular body of material under considera- tion. Then he needs to know how each pupil goes about attempting to set up these bonds, and last of all he needs to know what are the most effective means of setting up these bonds in the mind of each particular pupil. One important problem that the teacher must keep clearly in mind is that of determining the relation of memory to the carrying on of the fundamental move- ment of the mind in learning a particular unity or whole that is set up as the goal of learning. The teacher needs to know what materials must be supplied by memory in order that the pupil may see the object as a whole. He also needs to know what materials must be supplied by memory in order that the pupil may carry on the process of analysis in a thorough- going and efficient manner. Likewise, he must know what materials are needed in making the reorganization 102 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS or synthesis of the elements developed by analysis so as to give the pupil a clearly known whole at the close of his learning performance. The teacher who does not know the relation of memory to each step of the learning performance, and who does not know the status of each pupil's power and habits of memorizing, will be unable to employ the best devices and to practise the best technique in stimulating the mind of the learner to put forth its maximum e£fort in learning. Moreover, he will not be able to take constructive steps toward improving the memory habits of his pupils, for he will not know when and where the learning per- formance has broken down because of feeble memory power or ineffective memory habits. Judgment-forming. — The making of valid, accurate judgments is involved to some degree in every type of learning situation. The problem for the teacher is that of first determining the extent to which the forming of judgments is involved in the particular learning situation, and second of discovering the habits and facility with which each pupil makes judgments. If the teacher knows rather definitely these two things, he can determine fairly accurately the point at which the learning process in the case of any pupil breaks down on account of the failure of the pupil to employ judgment intensively and validly. The teacher not only needs to know the extent to which judgment is involved in any particular learning situation and to know the habits and facility of the METHOD OF LEARNING 103 pupils in making judgments, but he also needs to know the specific character of the judgments demanded by the situation. That is to say, he needs to know whether the judgments are chiefly simple, spontaneous judgments dealing with concrete identities, or whether they are largely complex, abstract identities upon which judgments must be passed. Knowing the char- acter of the judgments required by the problem that the pupil faces, the teacher can make the best selection of devices and can adapt his technique to the securing of the best results from his teaching. Reasoning. — The mental process of reasoning or re- flective thinking is involved to some extent in every learning performance, but the range of intensity with which it is involved varies greatly, according to the types and phases of subject-matter in the different high school subjects. It is highly important for the teacher to know just to what extent reasoning is de- manded by the particular learning situation; but the most important point, perhaps, is that of knowing the habits and the efl&ciency of each pupil in carrying on reflective thinking in dealing with each particular type and phase of subject-matter that is employed in his education. The pupU may have good mental endow- ment, but be lacking in effective habits of reasoning. One of the aspects of growth and development of the pupil, from the standpoint of his mental behavior, is that of acquiring accurate and efficient habits of reflec- tive thinking. Therefore the teacher needs to become 104 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS thoroughly acquainted with the exhibitions of this particular type of human material, and to have definite and valid means at his command of measuring the intensiveness and the effectiveness with which the pupil reflects upon the data presented to him as he carries on the fundamental procedure of seeing the vague whole, of breaking it up into its essential parts, and of reorganizing these essential elements into the ultimate synthesis that is the goal of the particular learning situation. Other hviman elements. — The teacher needs to know not only the specific mental processes involved in carrying on the fundamental movement of the mind in learning, and each pupil's ability and habits in employing these mental processes, but he also needs to know each pupil's general ability and habits of atten- tion, concentration, and wiU. Every effort that the pupil puts forth in attempting to deal with any learn- ing situation is conditioned by his ability to attend to the problem in hand and to concentrate his mental processes and his mental content upon the solution of the problem. His power of concentrated attention is largely dependent upon his ability and his habits of voluntary control. And the pupil's voluntary control is determined by the character and habits of his will. Improvement in respect to these general phases of mental behavior is part of the education of the pupil ; hence the teacher must study the interrelations exist- ing between these general aspects of mental activity METHOD OF LEARNING 105 and the more specific mental processes of sense-percep- tion, imagination, memory, judgment, and reasoning as they are all brought into play in carrying on the fundamental procedure of learning. The teacher should test these general phases of the pupil's learning efficiency, and determine as accurately as possible the part they play in insuring success or in causing failure at any particular point in the learning performance of the individual pupU. SUMMARY Method is only one of the principles of teaching, and its meaning should be set off clearly from the other principles. This may be accomplished by defining method as the mental procedure of the learner in mastering any form of subject-matter presented to his mind. This mental procedure is characterized by four steps: namely, seeing the thing as a vague synthesis; analyzing it into its parts; reorganizing it around its dominant part; reiteration of this process until it becomes habit. Learning is not complete until the stage of habit is reached. Higher order habits are formed by combining lower order habits; hence the lower order habits should be thoroughly formed before the demand is made for the exercise of the higher order habit. The general movement of the mind in learning is made possible only by the carrying on of the mental processes of sense-perception, memory, imagination, 106 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS judgment-forming, and reasoning. These processes are involved in every learning situation, but they are not employed with the same degree of intensity in learning different types of subject-matter. The intensity with which these different mental processes are carried on also varies with the different steps in the general move- ment of the mind as it learns different types of subject- matter. The problem of method involves the setting up of a definite unity or whole to be learned, the determination of the extent to which the mental processes of sense- perception, imagination, memory, judgment, and rea- soning are demanded in learning the whole, and the determination of the devices and technique best adapted to stimulating these mental processes in the mind of the learner. The mental processes present not only the problem of determining the extent to which each is involved in any particular learning situation, but they also present the problem of discovering the ability and the habits of each pupil in the carrying on of each of these fundamental processes. The teacher needs to know not only the status of each pupil in regard to each of these mental processes, but he needs also to know the status of each pupil with respect to his general efficiency of attention, concentration, and voluntary control. If the teacher is thoroughly ac- quainted with these various human elements with which he has to deal constantly in teaching, he will be able to determine accurately and definitely the reasons METHOD OF LEARNING 107 why the pupil fails in his learning and to locate the exact point at which the learning procedure breaks down. EXERCISES 1. Give examples of so-called "methods" that were merely devices. 2. Give two or more examples of higher order habits and analyze out the lower order habits that should be formed first in order to combine them effectively into the higher order habits. 3. Give examples from experience of ineffective learning due to stopping at the stage of understanding. 4. Give two examples of the fundamental movement of the mind in learning some object, such as a tree. 5. Give two examples of the general movement of the mind in learning definitions or rules, etc. 6. Give an example in which the process of sense-percep- tion is dominant throughout. 7. Give an example in which memory is the dominant process in the general movement of the mind. 8. Give examples in which imagination, judgment-forming, and reasoning are respectively the dominant processes in the fundamental procedure in learning. 9. Give two or more examples to show the difference with which these various mental processes are emphasized in the steps of synthesis, analysis and reunification as employed in the learning of different types of subject-matter. 10. Give five examples of definite wholes or unities in high school subjects that might be taken as the goals of learning. 11. Give examples of learning situations in which the pupils would be seriously handicapped by defective sense- organs. 12. Give two or more illustrations of the difference between sensory acuity and effective sensory practices. 13. Give illustrations of the difference between feeble power of imagination and faulty habits of imagining. 108 TEACHING raOH SCHOOL PUPILS 14. Give examples of the difference between poor memory power and ineffective memory habits. 15. Illustrate concrete judgment and abstract judgment forming. 16. Give two or more examples of learning performances that broke down because of the general inefficiency of the pupil to give concentrated attention to the prob- lem in hand. SELECTED REFERENCES Edwaeds, a. S. Fundamental Principles of Learning and Study. An analytical study of the various aspects of learning. Freeman, Frank. N. How Children Learn. Good psycho- logical analysis of the various aspects of the learning process. JxjDD, Charles H. Psychology of High School Subjects. Chapters II to XVI. Detailed analysis and description of learning problems in the different high school subjects. Parker, Samuel C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Very complete discussion of the psychological problems involved in the problem of method. Terman, Lewis M. The Hygiene of the School Child. Chapters XIII and XIV. Important data on the prob- lem of defective audition and defective vision. CHAPTER IV THE MOTIVATION OF LEARNING Motivation defined. — The term motivation is herein used to mean the stimulation of a desire upon the part of the learner to master the subject-matter presented. School work is motivated when the pupil is impelled or moved by a definite choice to master the work. This use of the term lies outside of the consideration of what values may be employed to induce the desire. In other words, it does not matter what it is that impels the effort to learn, but it is the fact that the learner does purpose definitely to master the subject- matter that constitutes real motivation. Motivation, then, is simply moving power that insures vigorous effort to learn. The problem. — The real problem in attempting to motivate school work is that of discovering the value or values that will appeal strongly enough to stimulate the pupil to effective effort. The nature of the adoles- cent boy or girl is such that a number of values must be employed in order to secure real motivation of their school work. The value that appeals strongly to one individual may have little or no appeal for another individual. Moreover, the value tiiat appeals strongly 109 110 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS to an individual at one time may not appeal strongly at another time. The differences in appeal among different individuals and the fluctuation ol appeals for the same individual greatly complicate the problem. The teacher must be continually on the alert to catch these differences and fluctuations. The appeal of interest. — One of the appeals that has been employed in effective motivation is that of in- terest. The pupil works vigorously at the thing that is of interest to him. The term interest is used here to mean the attraction that a piece of subject-matter may have for the learner in and of itself. The pupil who is interested to the degree of intellectual fascina- tion always becomes a good student in the subject. For example, the solving of algebra problems may be interesting as a form of intellectual activity. The unfolding of a solution step by step may be very fas- cinating; hence the learner may work faithfully to solve his problems simply as an enjoyable intellectual pastime. The difficulty lies in the fact that algebra does not have such a fascination for aU pupils. There- fore many pupils must be moved by some other value than intellectual enjoyment if they are to be induced to put forth effective efforts to master the subject- matter of algebra. The critical point in regard to interest as a means of motivation is that no straining effort should be put forth to secure interest in a particular subject. In- terest, to be effective, must be natural and must exist THE MOTIVATION OF LEAENING HI because of the character of the individual's mental make-up and the nature of the subject presented. The so-called "acquired interest" or "mediated interest," as it is sometimes called, is in reality another form of motivation. The impelling power is not the intel- lectual fascination that the thing has, but rather it is the recognition on the part of the learner of the con- nection that the mastery of the subject has with some- thing that he desires to secure. Such a form of moti- vation is a very vital and effective one, but it should not be confused with the spontaneous form of interest. The natural intellectual curiosity of the adolescent pupil will be one of the chief sources of motivating his work. The coming in contact with new experiences, the comprehension of new facts, and the acquisition of new perspectives that throw the every-day world into new mental reliefs will claim and absorb the energies of the adolescent pupil, if he is brought into contact with these new materials in the right kind of a setting and under the right kind of learning conditions. The human mind must have food materials upon which to feed and grow. This necessity of the mind for food will operate as a strong motive power, however, only when the mental foods are made palatable and satis- fying. That is to say, curiosity will be impelling only when the pupil faces new subject-matter materials that are brought to him in such a way as to arouse his mental appetite. As soon as the keen edge of his intellectual appetite is blunted by satiation, the food 112 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS materials must be changed. If he is compelled to go on eating the intellectual pabulum that has become stale, curiosity no longer impels him and the motive power from that source is lost. This is one of the reasons why the high school subjects should be made experience-getting opportunities in the highest possible degree. Experience-getting arouses curiosity, and curi- osity impels one to put forth vigorous effort to discover truth. The appeal of usability. — One of the most powerful appeals that can be made to the adolescent boy or girl is the appeal of the usability of the subject-matter studied. One of the remarks that is most commonly made by the high school pupil is, "I don't see any use in studying history, Latin," etc., as the case may be. The boy who expects to be a dentist can see the value that a knowledge of chemistry may have for that pro- fession. The girl who plans to be a nurse can see the value that a knowledge of physiology and hygiene may have for that profession. The prospective mechanic can see the value of physics as an aid to mastering mechanical problems. The difficulty lies in the fact that very few adoles- cent boys and girls really know what fields they will enter as a life work. Hence the attempt to motivate the work in the high school subjects through recog- nition of the usability of the subject-matter in some particular field is a complicated undertaking. The teacher should, however, set forth as definitely as pos- THE MOTIVATION OF LEARNING 113 sible the various ways in which the subject-matter in a particular subject is valuable from the standpoint of usability. Then, as the purposes of the pupil fluctuate, the appeal of usability may be effective during what- ever periods of time the pupil holds to a definite pur- pose that the mastery of the subject may further. Vocational guidance. — One of the questions that confronts the modern high school is that of the extent to which it, as an institution, should undertake to determine the vocational future of its pupils. The very nature of the secondary period of human develop- ment renders the problem of choosing a vocation an extremely diflacult one for the majority of the ado- lescent boys and girls. Very few individuals at the adolescent age possess such marked talent in one line or have such an intense desire in one direction that they can choose, with any degree of certainty, the work for which they may be best adapted or the work in which they will ultimately find the greatest satisfac- tion. Adolescent boys and girls face the necessity of discovering themselves before they are in a position to determine the vocational roads that they may travel with any degree of assurance. Therefore an attempt to induce an early choice of a vocation and to select those high school subjects that are best adapted to preparing the pupil for the particular vocation chosen is a hazardous venture. The high school is responsible, however, for giving as much accurate information as possible concerning the 114 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS various vocations that may be chosen by the high school pupils later in their lives, and ample oppor- tunities for participating in vocational activities as a means of making intelligent choices should be afforded. When a pupil expresses a choice, he should have the information furnished him that will enable him to know accurately the road of training he must travel in order to succeed in the chosen vocation. He should also know something of the economic possibilities of the chosen vocation. This should include information as to the supply and demand of workers in the chosen field, the possible compensation, and the living stand- ards that are involved in making good in the particular vocation. Such information will enable the pupil to have a fairly intelligent perspective upon which to base his judgment in deciding as to the desirability and the advisability of selecting the particular field for his life work. Such vocational guidance as this will not lead to disastrous results. The appeal of personal development. — Another ap- peal that may be made strong with many pupils is the appeal of the value of the subject as a means of bringing about definite personal development. The pupil may be made to feel the need of intellectual growth and to desire to attain such growth. He may realize that he lacks power to think or to interpret long, complex sentences. The value of studying foreign language and of mastering the analysis of the literature of his own native language may be readily recognized THE MOTIVATION OF LEARNING 115 as the most effective means by which to develop power of interpretation. Then again, the pupil may value the subject as a mark of personal attainment. For example, the pupil may study French, Spanish, music, science, or almost any subject in the curriculum just to feel intellectually superior to those who have never studied such subjects. This may not be a very com- mendable type of appeal ; and yet, the desire to dispel ignorance and to attain some degree of intellectual refinement is certainly worth while. In other words, the desire to be educated is worthy of being stimulated and employed as a means of motivating school work. The appeal of social standing. — Another appeal that is closely related to the appeal of personal development is that of social standing or prestige. Many pupils desire to graduate from high school because they feel the pressure of social standing. They do not really know what they may do with an education, but they know that being a high school graduate is regarded as a badge of respectability. Then, too, they know that a high school diploma is a passport to social opportunities in higher educational institutions. They likewise know that their opportunities for meeting members of the opposite sex who might be socially desirable, and of ul- timately selecting mates, are greatly increased through graduating from the high school. The desire to graduate leads to the desire to secure credits in the subjects studied. Therefore the desire to obtain credit in the course may be the means of 116 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS securing motivation. Then, too, the pupil may not only desire to earn the credit, but he may also desire to make a good grade. The social appeal of rivalry and leadership may be strong and impel vigorous, efifec- tive effort to master the subjects studied. This form of motivation may be more or less unconscious in the mind of the pupU, but the teacher may be able subtly to stimulate it to effective reaction. One pupil may strive hard to make as high a grade or a higher one than some other pupil whom he regards as his inferior. Again, the desire to stand at the head of the group may stimulate the pupil to vigorous effort. Another form of social appeal is that of the desire to go with the crowd. Many an adolescent boy or girl has gone to high school because his or her fellows were going. Very often the pupil takes certain elective courses because his friends are taking these courses. The desire to stay with the group may be strong enough to be a real means of securing effective motivation of the school work, for the instinct to "belong" is very impelling in most human beings. The complexity of the problem. — The problem of the motivation of the high school subjects is greatly complicated by the psychological tendencies of adoles- cents. The vacillation of purposes has already been mentioned in the above discussion. This trait, how- ever, needs special consideration because of the diffi- culty that it injects into the situation. The psycho- logical explanation of this tendency on the part of THE MOTIVATION OF LEAENING 117 adolescent boys and girls to be absolutely unreliable in their purposes lies in the fact that their intellectual and physical powers are so largely undeveloped that they do not know what they really can do with any degree of success. As they work at this or that line of work and discover that they have ability in this or that field, or find that they have little ability in this or that particular line, their ideas change as to the desirability of specializing in the particular field. Another explanation of this tendency to vacillate in purpose is the fact that the goal set up is so far away that a glimpse of the road over which the youth must travel is enough to turn him from his purpose or to cause him to work only half-heartedly toward its achievement. The lack of proper information may have led to the setting up of his purpose in the first place. Then, when he is adequately informed as to the requirements for attaining his purpose, he feels that he is not willing to pay the price. A stUl further explanation of this trait is the fact that strong physiological and social impulses and in- stincts rise with impelling force during the period of adolescence. These forces are largely uncontrolled at first, and the very struggle to regulate them and to build them into reliable forms of behavior greatly dis- turbs the individual's mental and emotional balance. Therefore he is a prey to passing whims and fancies, and finds it difficult to follow any appeal for any great length of time. 118 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS The influence of mental health. — ^Another factor that has a greatinfluence upon the problem of motiva- tion is the mental health of the pupil. The adolescent period is one of great mental struggle. The mental poise of the individual is easily disturbed. The most trivial things very often bring tragic consequences into the conduct of the adolescent. Morbid fears and vari- ous kinds of mental apprehensions prey upon the mind of youth. Social conditions in the home, at school, and outside of home and school may be a constant source of disquieting influence. The earlier experiences of the individual may have been of such a character as to leave him with a variety of subconscious mental com- plexes that are readily stimulated and rendered all- powerful in influencing his behavior, although they may never come into his active field of attention. Other phases of mental health might be cited, but the purpose of this discussion is merely to call attention to the psychology of mental health as related to the problem of motivation. The important point is that the adequate motivation of school subjects may be largely defeated by the fac- tors of mental health. The pupil who is a prey to morbid fears may shrink from the taking of certain courses because he feels powerless to deal with the difficulties that loom up in his mind. Again, the pupil may have a strong aversion to certain types of subject- matter without being able to explain the source of his dislike for these particular things. A subconscious THE MOTIVATION OF LEARNING 119 mental state that may even be undiscoverable by the most acute observer may be the bar to proper motiva- tion of the material. Very often, no doubt, the state of mental health must be looked after before the indi- vidual is in a fit condition to be reached by any of the legitimate appeals of worth-while values. The above fact demands that teachers, supervisors, and administrators become thoroughly acquainted with the facts of adolescent psychology as they are exhibited in the actual behavior of the adolescent boy and girl. The idea is not that every educational worker shall become a mental physician, but that each and every individual who is responsible for the guidance of the pupil during his secondary period of development shall be able to discover the fact that this or that pupU is suffering from mental ill health. Then the graver cases should be referred to a competent physician who is qualified to treat the various mental conditions in- cident to adolescent development. The influence of physical health. — The pupil who is suffering from a physical handicap of any sort will be hard to reach with any form of appeal. The keen edge of ambition is quickly dulled by eye-strain, dull hear- ing, obstructed breathing, weak circulation, malnutri- tion, defective teeth, etc. The person who feels the drag of physical deficiencies soon loses the mental per- spective that is necessary to the adequate motivation of his work. The road ahead seems doubly long when one's vitality is low or the sense-organs weak and 120 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS defective. Then, too, physical health is always related to mental health, so that the one reacts upon the other and greatly complicates the problem of motivation. SUMMARY Motivation is the moving power that insures satis- factory effort upon the part of the learner in mastering subject-matter. The problem is to secure values that wiU appeal to adolescents for long enough time to awaken the desired effort. Interest is one form of motivation that is effective. The appeal of usability is always strong when it is genuine. Other appeals are personal development, social standing, and desire to go with the crowd. The problem of motivation is greatly complicated by the unstable mental charac- teristics of the adolescent pupil. The mental health of the pupil also seriously affects the problem of moti- vation, and the general conditions of physical healtii likewise influence the situation. KXERCISES 1. Give definitions of motivation from other sources that are different from the one herein stated. 2. Give examples from experience that show how values that appeal to one pupil do not appeal to another. 3. Give two or more examples from experience that show how the same values appeal to the same individual with different degrees of intensity at different times. 4. rjive five examples of spontaneous interest in high Hchool subjects. THE MOTIVATION OF LEARNING 121 5. Give five examples of acquired interest in high school subjects. 6. Give ten examples of real usability of high school sub- jects. 7. Give two or more examples from experience in which the work of the pupils was motivated through the idea of personal development. 8. Give two examples from experience in which the work of pupils was motivated through the idea of gaining social standing. 9. Give three examples from experience in which the pupils were moved to study subjects through desire to go with the crowd. 10. Give three examples from experience in which the motivation of the work of high school pupils broke down after being well started, due to the unstable mental development of the pupils. 11. Give three examples in which the problem of motiva- tion was difiicult to solve on account of the mental health of the pupils. 12. Give five examples in which the motivation of the work of pupils was rendered very difficult on account of physical ill health of the pupils. 13. Give other factors besides those enumerated in the chapter that have a serious bearing upon the problem of motivation of the work of high school pupils. 14. To what extent should the high school undertake to solve the problem of vocational guidance in looking after the welfare of its pupils? 15. What are the best devices for carrying out the under- taking set forth under the above exercise? SELECTED REFERENCES Chaeters, W. W. Methods of Teaching. Chapters VIII, IX, X. Discussion of psychological factors involved in motivation of school work. Johnston and Othebs. The Modern High School. Chap- ter XXIV. By Bloomfield, Meyek. Vocational Guid- 122 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS ance and the High School. Chapter XXV. Ruedigbb, William G. A Vocational Guidance. Pabker, Samuel C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Chapter XIV. Good discussion of interest as the basis of economical learning. Teeman, Lewis M. The Hygiene of the School Child. Chapters XVI, XVII, XVIII. Thorough discussion of mental hygiene. Wilson, H. B. and G. M. The Motivation of School Work. Good discussion and valuable concrete data taken from actual work. CHAPTER V INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Differences in training.— The range of differences in training in any high school class is usually much greater than teachers realize. The pupils in a freshman class, for example, may all have passed through the same elementary school and may have reached high school at practically the same age. Nevertheless they are not of equal training. In the first place, they come from home conditions that are widely different in the oppor- tunities that they offer for experiences and training that are truly educative. One pupil may come from a home that is a luxurious mansion artistically designed and decorated, handsomely furnished, and supplied with books, magazines, beautiful pictures, and musical instruments. This individual has opportunity to read, to hear fine music, and to learn much through spon- taneous experiences. He hears refined language, dis- cussions of important life problems, and learns genteel manners that give him poise and a dignity of bearing. Another pupil of this same group comes from a home that is very humble and almost wholly lacking in books, music, and other opportunities for spontaneous educa- tion. He hears crude language and little or no dis- 123 124 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS cussion of vital problems other than the primary ones of food and clothing. This individual spends hours in monotonous routine tasks that have long since ceased to interest or to educate him. Then there is the pupil who comes from the home that is neither luxurious nor poverty-stricken. This individual has, perhaps, a moderate opportunity to read, study music, enjoy good pictures, and in general to take on more or less of education spontaneously. He hears practical discussions of important problems in language that is simple and yet for the most part correct. He more than likely has some opportunity to work with tools and to make things on his own initiative. Not only the home life of these pupUs is greatly different, but their contact with the world outside of home and school is very different. One pupU may attend a church of magnificent grandeur. He hears instructive and inspiring sermons and feels the mag- netic influence of a highly educated minister; another pupU attends a very humble church where he hears only the very earnest yet often ignorant exhortations of an uneducated preacher; while still another pupil does not attend any church and feels no refining.jnflu- ences of religious surroundings- and services. Again, one pupil may go to hear many instructive lectures, may see good plays, may hear grand operas, etc. ; while another pupil may be wholly deprived of such edu- cative opportunities. Furthermore, one pupil may have traveled a great deal and may have come into INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 125 interesting contact with different kinds of people, industrial plants and activities, social and economic conditions in large cities, wide stretches of rural districts in different physiographic regions. He may have attended large public gatherings, witnessed great celebrations, and may have been a spectator at some spectacular historical event. Another pupil in this same class may never have traveled outside of his own county. He has seen only the usual conditions and events of commonplace life. The foregoing discussion has pointed out some of the factors that may account for a wide range of difference in the training in the members of a strictly freshman group. These same facts hold for the mem- bers of a strictly sophomore or strictly junior or strictly senior group. But not all high school classes are made up of just freshmen, or just sophomores, or just juniors, or just seniors. Many of the elective courses must necessarily be open to pupils of at least two of such class groups, and very often such courses must include individuals from three or even all of the class groups of the high school. This fact means that many high school classes must have and do contain pupils who have wide differences in the amount of high school training itself, as well as wide differences on account of the factors set forth above. One or two examples will make the significance of this point clear. Take a foreign language course, for example, begin- ning Latin. Here may be found pupils from all of the 126 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS class groups. This may be the first course in a foreign language for each member of the class; hence they may seem to have the same preparation for mastering the new language. This is not the fact, however, for there is as much as three years of difference in the amount of training that these pupils have had in dealing with their native language. If the teaching of English has been anything like what it should be, the senior is three years ahead of the freshman in the mastery of the fundamental language concepts which are common to all languages. He knows more grammar, should be a better speller, and can grasp a more complex group of ideas than can the freshman. On the other hand, he may not memorize vocabulary as readily as some under- classman gifted with a verbal memory. Take history, for another example. Here again may ► be found at least two to three grades of class groups represented. The course may be open to sophomores and juniors, or to juniors and seniors, or possibly to pupils of all three class groups. This means that some members of the class wiU be taking their first course in history in the high school, while others will be taking their second and third courses in high school history. The differences in history training alone must therefore necessarily be great, to say nothing of the differences due to the other factors of training both in and out of school. What is true of foreign language and history is also true of many of the courses in science. Elective INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 127 courses can not avoid this range of membership, no matter how well the program of classes has been planned. This range of differences in school training is not restricted to the elective courses. The required courses also are subject to more or less of the same range in membership. The sophomore class in English, for example, may contain juniors and even a sub-senior. This condition is due to the fact that frequently a pupU fails in. English while at the same time he gets along well in other courses. Presently he finds himself a junior or possibly a sub-senior in rank, and yet in the sophomore or second course in English, This type of pupU is now far ahead of the ordinary sophomore in general training. This means, too, that he has had much practice, as far as school work goes, in inter- preting and writing the English language. Other re- quired courses meet these same differences in grade rank in their membership. The fact that every high school class is made up of individuals who possess wide differences in their train- ing presents a very real and vital problem. The prac- tical factors in each case must be faced and the devices and technique employed must be adapted to sur- mounting the difficulties involved in each situation. Differences in rate of learning. — High school pupils not only come into their various classes with widely different backgrounds of experience and training, but they also come with a wide range of differences in the rates of speed with which they learn, and different rates 128 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS of reading, different rates of speed in writing, etc. This fact greatly increases the difficulty of the teacher in adapting the work in any line of study to meet the needs and abilities of the pupUs in his classes. The range of difference in the rate of learning has been found to be as great as one to three in some lines of work. The author found, in a simple test of drawing lines under the words belonging to the complete sub- jects of six sentences, that a freshman class of sixteen pupils varied in length of time from four and one half minutes to eleven minutes, or practically one to three. In the same test a sophomore class of twelve pupils varied in time from three and one half minutes to eight minutes; a junior class of twenty pupils varied in time from two to five minutes; and a senior group of fifteen pupils varied in time from three to six minutes. In a similar English test of eight sentences the variation in time was as follows: sixteen freshmen varied from eight to fifteen minutes; twelve sophomores ranged from four to eight minutes; nineteen juniors varied from six to sixteen minutes; and seventeen seniors ranged from five to twelve minutes. The above data show very clearly that the range of time for a typical high school class is at least in the ratio of one to two, and often as great as one to three, in the reading of assigned material. That is to say, if the fastest member in a class takes thirty minutes to make a reasonable canvass of the lesson, it will take the slowest pupil in the same group at least sixty minutes INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 129 and very likely ninety minutes to do the same amount of work. This fact at once presents a very obvious problem to the teacher. The first step in solving the problem should be that of making a simple test similar to the one given above, and in this way find the exact time taken by each pupil in doing the same piece of work. This kind of test is particularly helpful on account of the fact that it requires reading and inter- pretation, on the part of the pupil, similar to the reati- ing and interpretation that he must make when he reads his lesson assignment for the purpose of preparing his lesson. It is important for the teacher to know as accurately as possible just how wide differences actually exist in each class group that he teaches. The class may then be divided into two or three time groups and the assignment of subject-matter be adapted to the ability of each group. If only two or three pupils vary greatly from the mode of the group, then the teacher can provide for giving individual attention to these pupils outside of the regular class period. This will enable the teacher to give the same study assignment to the entire class, and it will enable him to keep the group progressing at approximately the same rate of speed. If every teacher will do this testing in each line of work that he is responsible for, and if other tests are devised and employed for the subjects in which this kind of test will not disclose the range of differences in the speed of learning, then the administrative officer 130 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS will have a definite basis for determining the proper distribution of the pupil's time to different numbers of classes. That is to say, the fastest pupils might very well take five or six classes and then be required to do only the amount in each class that is required of the slow or medium speed pupU, while the slowest pupils might reasonably be required to take four classes and in some instances to take only three subjects. This whole problem must be based upon the real development of the pupil along the lines of mental maturity that have been set forth in the earlier dis- cussions. It is not merely the getting over the ground of subject-matter that counts, but rather the degree of actual growth that has been attained as a result of dealing with the subject-matter. One pupil may at- tain as much real growth in mental maturity by dealing with half as much subject-matter as another pupil requires to attain the same degree of development. At the same time, however, he may require as much time to deal with the smaller amount of subject-matter as the other pupil requires for the greater amount of subject-matter. This fact needs to be decided by scientific investigation; but the possibility of such a condition existing is so reasonable that teachers should take it into account in adapting the amount of subject- matter to the individual differences of pupils according to their rates of learning. This consideration of individual differences in rate of learning has a direct bearing upon the problem of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 131 "making up" the work when the pupil has been absent. A bright pupil who learns rapidly may be able to keep up with everything that the class is doing, and yet be absent as much as half of the time, or in some cases even two thirds of the time. The teacher should take this into account, and make some provision with the consent and cooperation of the administrative officer for allowing the pupil to do this. Then the pupil will not be so apt to "cut class," as they term it, as he very frequently does when no such provision is made. He gets tired of marking time for the slower pupils to catch up, and stays out knowing that he can make it up readily before the end of the term or semester. The real problem is that of having the pupil attain the proper degree of mental maturity, or habit formation, or mental skill. He should not so much "make up" the study assignments as he should give evidence of having made the growth that the assignments were supposed to give him. That is to say, he should "make up" the mental growth that would otherwise be lost to him. This point of view is vital. The pupil is too often made to feel that he has cheated the school by being absent from class. The other pupils are made to feel that this pupil gets something for nothing, or at least that they pay a greater price for the same amount of credit, when the pupU who has been absent a great deal receives credit at the end of the course. The fundamental issue is to make the pupil feel that the 132 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS school is an opportunity, and that being in class is his best way to capitalize the opportunity. This point of view will never get across thoroughly into the minds of the adolescent boy or girl untU the school builds its course of study around units of human development that can be tested and measured accurately by means of psychological tests. This does not mean that the measurement of the mastery of fundamental bodies of facts will be abandoned, but it does mean most em- phatically that tests for facts will be restricted to the mastery of bodies of knowledge that are absolutely essential to human welfare. Even then the pupU will have no quarrel with the school, for he who can pass that sort of test wiU be given the same credit, even though he has been in school very little, as is given the pupil who has been in school every day. The usual difficulty is that the school does not ad- minister a really comprehensive test for the pupU who has been absent a good deal. The school should adapt its administration of the opportunities afforded each pupil, so that each tj^e of learner can readily see the road to travel according to his ability. Then the pupil who needs the help of the teaching period every day will not feel that he is penalized, but rather that he is given greater opportunities for accomplishing the same degree of growth that the more capable pupils could and do accomplish with less attention on the part of the school. That is to say, the slower pupil should be made to feel that he would really be deprived of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 133 advantages which he can not afford to be without if the school saw fit to run the class only as many days a week as would be necessary for the fastest pupU to make the desired degree of development. This range of individual differences in rates of learn- ing might be met in some cases by permitting the brightest and fastest pupil to carry two classes that meet during the same period. He might spend alter- nate days in these classes, or divide the time between the two classes 6y being present every day. At times a combination of these two administrative schemes might be the best way to conduct the work. What is needed, in any case, is a definite understanding on the part of the pupil as to what the types of development are that are to be gained by means of the different lines of work, and also some tangible evidences that he may use to check his progress from time to time. If this were worked out in regard to every subject and put before the pupil, the pupil would seek the opportunity to be tested rather than run away from the tests and examinations, as he so frequently does at present. One evidence of this argument may be found in the line of physical development. The pupil is glad to be weighed and to have his anthropometric measure- ments taken at any time in the course of his physical education. In fact, he seeks these tests of his progress in physical development. Why should he not be just as eager to know what his mental status is as he is to know his physical status? The answer is obvious 134 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS enough; but unfortunately we do not as yet have enough tangible goals of growth and the valid tests for measuring their attainment in connection with the different high school subjects. More can be done in this direction, however, than has been and is being done ordinarily by high school teachers and adminis- trators. Scientific investigations must ultimately give the solution of the problem, but we must accept the point of view first and then bend every energy to put it into practice. Differences in maturity. — ^The pupils in any high school class present a considerable range of maturity. The maturity of pupils varies along three lines of development, namely, chronological, anatomical, and organic. The chronological aspect of maturity is that which is presented by differences in actual mental years of development. This range of mental years, however, is based upon a recognized standard of chronological mental development. That is to say, if a pupU is fifteen years old chronologically and is perfectly nor- mal, he is fifteen years old mentally. If a pupil is fifteen years old chronologically and is graded as four- teen years old mentally, he is graded as having the mental development that a person of normal mentality would have if fourteen years old chronologically. Therefore such a pupil, although he has lived in this world fifteen years, has only made the mental growth that he should have made in fourteen years. This discussion will use the mental maturity in the sense of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 135 normal chronological mental growth of the individual. The first point, then, is the fact that pupils of different ages will be in the same class. The second point is that pupils of different chronological ages will present a rather wide range of actual mental ages. Even a group of pupils of the same chronological age will present a range of mental ages. Therefore, when the teacher has a class that is open to, say, juniors and seniors, he must necessarily face a serious problem from the standpoint of mental maturity of the pupils. He will have a range of at least two or three years of difference in mental ages, and he is likely to have as high as five or six years' difference. This will mean that the class will present rather wide differences in the unit of concept of thinking and in the judgment span. There will also be differences in the scope of attention and power of prolonged intensive attention. This will present a very difl&cult psychological problem. The pupil who finds the demand upon his scope of attention or the demands upon his power of prolonged attention too great becomes inattentive, for he soon loses out in the attempt to keep the pace. On the other hand, the pupil who is not called upon to exercise his complete scope of attention or to feel the strain of prolonged attention soon becomes inattentive be- cause he is not kept active enough. Any class of pupils presents different degrees of de- velopment of the bones of the skeleton. That is to say, the change from cartilaginous tissue to osseous 136 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS tissue is one form of physical maturity, and pupils of the same chronological age do not possess the same degree of osseous development. The degrees of dif- ference can not be determined by superficial observa- tions, but can be discovered only by X-ray pictures of the joints, particularly the joints of the hand and wrists. Such pictures have revealed ranges of from two to three years of difference in the anatomical development of pupils of the same age. The chief importance of this point for the high school teacher is that of watching carefully for the indications of rapid bodily growth of adolescents. This will be a rather rough, unscientific barometer of the anatomical de- velopment, and may be used as a fairly accurate guide in avoiding the danger of putting too much pressure upon the pupil who is growing rapidly in stature but maturing anatomically rather slowly. The loose, limber-jointed, awkward gait of the adolescent at this stage of development is unmistakable. The teacher should not expect as much from the pupil in this con- dition as he has a right to expect from the pupil who is anatomically more mature, or even of the pupU who is growing very slowly in stature between his periods of accelerated bodily growth. The mental gait of the youth at this awkward age is usually just as loose and limber as is his physical gait. His social and moral attitude and behavior exhibit much of the same general lack of firmness and control. Therefore, taking every- thing into consideration, the attitude toward their work INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 137 is perhaps the most serious difference in pupils that is brought about by the ranges of anatomical differences. This difference in attitude, however, is an evidence of a difference in general maturity of the individuals. Another difference in maturity that is presented by any high school class is the difference in the develop- ment of the vital organs of the body. The organs most affected are the organs of circulation and those of repro- duction. These undergo profound changes during the period of adolescence, and their growth affects the whole mental attitude and outlook of the individual. The pupil whose heart is enlarging rapidly can not stand the strain and pressure that a pupil can stand whose heart has become fairly stable in its develop- ment. Likewise, the pupil who is undergoing rapid development of the organs of reproduction is subject to mental confusions that the pupil who is fairly well matured sexually does not experience. Therefore the amount and the types of growth and development that should be expected of these pupils of varying ranges of organic development should be varied according to the maturity of the individuals. It should be a func- tion of the department of physical education to furnish the teachers of high school pupils with as much accu- rate data concerning both the anatomical and the organic maturity of the individuals in the various classes as is possible to secure through the best scien- tific means known to the medical world. Then the teachers can adapt their demands and their technique 138 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS of teaching to meet the needs of the different indi- viduals in their classes. Differences in sex. — The modern high school is a coeducational institution; therefore virtually every class will present the problem of adapting the work to meet the different tendencies and traits of the two sexes. The adolescent boy and girl do not have the same interests and tastes in the choice of subjects, and frequently they do not have the same interests in different phases of the same, subject. Take English, for example. The boy does not usually like the literary selections that appeal most to the girl, and vice versa. Likewise, in history the attitudes and interests of the •4wo sexes are different enough to present a problem Ap the teacher. Theboj^ usually excels in mathematics, •^hile the girl is superior in languages. The critical 'problem is that of selecting subject-matter in any field that will bring about a satisfactory degree of develop- ment of both sexes and at the same time not be unduly burdensome to either sex. Then, too, the technique pi dealing with the two sexes must be varied to meet the differences in general mental attitude and make-up of the adolescent boy and girl. The general mental qualities of the two sexes are appreciably different. This problem demands the most careful insight and the highest degree of teaching skill. The problem presented by these differences in emotional attitude on the part of the sexes is that of securing harmony in social reactions. One of the edu- INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 139 cational results that should come from coeducation is that of better understanding between the sexes. Each sex has its limitations and its peculiar characteristics. Each sex needs to acquire a sym pathetic understanding c of the limitations and peculiarit iea of ^e_ODposjte sex.*^ Therefore the working together upon subject-matter that is selected to meet this situation will enable each sex to acquire an insight into the tastes and attitudes of the other sex. This insight should bring respect, sympathy, and forbearance. If the problem is skil- fully handled, the boy, for example, will have an interest in learning why the girl has so much interest in a particular type of subject-matter, and this will lead him to a more careful study of both the subject-matter and the attitude of the girl toward it than he would otherwise give. A proper balance of subject-matter materials that appeal particularly to each sex will secure the best results. Types of minds. — Another important phase of indi- ' vidual differences is that of the difference in general mental habit and make-up. There are three distinct types of general mental habits. The first of these may be termed the encyclopedic mind. ' The chief charac- teristic of this type of mind is its ability to hold small groups of discrete facts in memory, and an almost absolute lack of ability to put these small groups together into larger unities. Such a mind seems to be like a box with a larger number of small compartments that are entirely shut off from one another. Knowl- 140 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS edge can be poured into these compartments until all are full; but the only way to extract any of this accu- mulation of knowledge is by asking isolated questions that are appropriate to each particular compartrhent. This type of mind takes facts as they come without sifting, selecting, correlating, or organizing. Every- thing is learned string measure, in unrelated and un- assimilated lumps. Frequently such a mind is marked for its unusual verbal memory. Many cases occur, however, where the individual possesses only a very ordinary power of memorization. No matter what the skUl in memorizing may be, this type of mind holds the mental materials that it accumulates in isolated and different lumps. The great weakness of this type of mind is its in- ability to construct sjmtheses or unities of facts around some central idea or concept. Problem-solving for such an individual is a matter of guessing as to what facts will meet the situation. Therefore the pupil who possesses this type of mind will always fail when he faces the test of solving problems or answering questions that require the organization of a consider- able body of facts into well defined unities. On the other hand, such a pupil will make a high mark, pro- vided he possesses a fairly facile verbal memory, when given a test that consists of questions calling for small bodies of discrete facts. That is to say, a lot of dis- crete facts can be quizzed out of his mind, but a comprehensive organization of the facts stored in his INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 141 mind can not be quizzed out of it by a problem-solving question. The chief function of the teacher in educating such a type of mind is that of training the individual to organize his accumulations of different kinds of mental material into thought unities of more and more com- plex character as the ability of the learner develops. In other words, this type of pupil must be taught to use facts instead of cramming his mind full until it is like an encyclopedia. He must be taught to sift and select facts on the basis of their usability in construct- ing complex syntheses. He must be taught to abandon the habit of guessing and of answering problem ques- tions with discrete facts that it seems to him may do. In fine, he must be taught the science and art of synthetic thinking. The second type of mind may be termed the syn- thetic mind. The chief characteristic of this type is its ability to see the large syntheses or thought unities very clearly, with a vague awareness of the details out of which these unities are constructed, and a lack of ability to analyze the syntheses into the details or logically related groups of facts that underlie them. This type of mind is usually impatient about mastering comprehensive bodies of details and does not care for the practice of analyzing thought unities into their supporting steps or elements. The pupU who possesses this type of mind tends to be a dreamer. He has big ideas and a broad, indefinite point of view, but lacks 142 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the details that would render his big ideas concrete and definite enough to be put into practice. In other words, this kind of pupil is a good theorist as long as he is permitted to think in terms of large syntheses and is not required to work out the analytical steps that would be involved in a definite proof of the mean- ing or significance of these large thought wholes. This individual invariably fails when he faces a situation in which he must give answers to questions that call for discrete facts, or when he is confronted with the neces- sity for giving the detailed steps to prove a truth that, to his mind, is perfectly obvious. The chief function of the teacher in educating this type of pupil is that of training him to form habits of careful analyses of the large thought wholes that his mind is able to grasp without seeing clearly the sup- porting details. Then, too, he must acquire the habit of mastering these supporting detailed facts to such a degree that he sees their vital connection with the cen- tral idea or significance of the whole. That is to say, this pupil must be taught to analyze what goes on in his mind that enables him to see the truth of the syntheses. He must be taught to abandon the habit of being satisfied with a vague awareness of the sup- porting details or large thought wholes and to form the habit of establishing definite analytical proofs of his conclusions. The third tj^je of mind may be termed analytic- synthetic. The distinguishing characteristic of this INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 143 type is its tendency and ability to analyze every thought whole presented to it into the supporting details and logical steps of proof, and also the tendency and abUity to organize its accumulation of discrete facts into definite syntheses or usable thought wholes. This type of pupil seldom fails, for he answers isolated questions calling for discrete facts and problem ques- tions that demand either analysis or synthesis with about equal facility. Sometimes, however, this pupU does not possess a facile verbal memory; hence he fails when asked discrete questions: but he is right at home when he is given any sort of problem-solving questions, for he usually has enough facts organized into usable thought wholes to enable him to sift them out and adapt them to the solution of the questions at hand. The critical point. — The critical point in this con- nection is the fact that education of these three types of mind must consist in the giving of different sorts of training and practice to the pupils who possess them. Therefore in dealing with subject-matter as a means of educating individuals in spite of these differences, the teacher must give a different kind of assignment for studying the same subject-matter. That is to say, what constitutes a study assignment for one pupil does not become a study assignment for another pupil who possesses a different type of mind. For example, the pupil who has an encyclopedic mind must start with the detailed facts and construct a synthesis that he at first senses only very vaguely. On the other hand, the 144 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS pupil who has a synthetic mind must start with the synthesis, which he sees quite well, and must break it up into its supporting details. The final result for each pupil is the mastery of both the synthetic and the analytical processes of thinking the thought whole to be learned ; but each pupU puts his chief effort and attention upon either the synthetic or the analytical aspect of the performance, as his case requires. This point may be made clear by taking a specific case in geometry. For example, the teacher wishes to employ the theorem, any exterior angle of a triangle is equal to the sum of the opposite interior angles, in the development of these two types of mind. The pupil of the discrete fact mind is able to see one at a time the facts involved in the proof. That is to say, he knows that the exterior angle and its adjacent in- terior angle form a straight angle, that a straight angle is equal to two right angles, that the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles, that equals subtracted from equals the remainders are equal, that things equal to the same thing are equal to each other, etc.; but he can not put these facts together into a succession of logical steps that wUl construct the syn- thetic mathematical fact that is expressed by the theorem. Therefore his assignment must be that of putting known facts together until whenever he looks at such a figure the thought of the theorem is clearly seen. That is to say, he must go over the path of construction until he habitually sees the synthetic INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 145 relationship between the exterior angle and the oppo- site interior angles of the triangle. On the other hand, the pupil who possesses a syn- thetic mind should be assigned the task of breaking the synthesis up into its supporting steps of proof. This pupil sees at once that the synthetic relationship exists, but he does not see the details that are fused in his thought processes into the unity expressed by the theorem. In other words, he senses the equality of the sum of the angles of the triangle and the sum of the exterior and adjacent interior angles, but he does not think this equality in terms of the definite mathe- matical facts, each sum being equal to two right angles, things equal to the same thing are equal to each other, equals subtracted from equals the remainders are equal, etc. Therefore he must start with the synthesis and work out the detailed mathematical analysis that will establish clearly in his thinking the analytical relation- ships that his mind fuses so readily into the synthetic relationship of the thought expressed by the theorem. Then again, this same assignment for the pupil who possesses the analytic-synthetic mind should be that of both analysis and synthesis, with equal emphasis upon each phase of the total performance — the only diEference in his assignment being that of point of attack and degree of stress upon the habits to be formed. The important point to keep in mind is that the pupils may, and no doubt do, possess all the mathe- 146 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS matical facts involved in the problem, but each pupil possesses a different general mental habit; hence each must work at the task of using the known facts as a means of establishing a new type of general mental habit that he does not possess and does not tend to practise. The assignment for each pupil should be such as to make clear to each one the exact mental result that he should work to secure. Hence, although each pupil proves the theorem, the assignment of each pupil is different, for each has a different educational result to attain through the manipulation of the mathematical data involved in setting up the steps of the proof. The function of the teacher in this case is not to teach the theorem, but to teach each pupil to form the kind of mental habit that he does not possess or that he possesses to an inadequate degree. The theorem is only a means, and is important only as it affords a ready means for the development of the two distinct types of mental habit that every pupil should develop thoroughly if he is to acquire the mental maturity that education ought to give. The point of distinc- tion between teaching the subject and teaching the pupil by means of the subject can not be emphasized too much, and this illustration shows very clearly how vastly important it is for the teacher to keep his attention upon what is going on in the mind of the pupil, and also the importance of having each pupil go over thoroughly again and again the route of syn- INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 147 thesis or analysis, or both, as the type of the pupil's mind may determine, until the needed mental habit is well established. The vital point is not that the pupil gave the proof for the theorem, but the real issue is, what did giving the proof do to the mind of the pupil in the way of establishing a mental habit and development that was not there before, and that would not be likely to be formed without the guiding hand of the teacher? Types of imagery. — Another important aspect of individual differences is that of the kinds of sensory images upon which the pupil depends in his learning. One pupil may depend very largely upon visual images in mastering any and all kinds of subject-matter ma- terials. Another may be able to learn most effectively through audition. A third pupil may learn most economically through motor images. Every pupil no doubt employs each of these forms of imagery in his learning, but he usually does not depend upon each of them to the same degree. This difference in degree of intensity with which different pupils employ these different forms of imagery presents a real problem to the teacher. Failure to recognize this fact of differ- ences in the intensive employment of imagery may lead to very serious inefficiency in teaching. The problem bears particularly upon the selection and manipulation of devices and upon the selection of technique to be used in each particular teaching situation. The pupil who depends upon visualization is seri- 148 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS ously handicapped in his learning attempts if he does not receive adequate visual stimulation. Take the learning of foreign language, for example. The visual- izer can not master the pronunciation of the words, nor can he master their forms effectively, without seeing them in written or printed existence. Such a pupil has a very difficult time in the class when the instruction is almost wholly oral and in the foreign tongue. He hears the language symbols uttered, but he can not get a significant auditory image. Give this pupil the written form along with its auditory image, and he translates from the visual into the auditory, and in this way acquires the necessary auditory imagery for oral speech. The visual imagery may also be trans- lated into the appropriate motor imagery through the writing of the words that are visualized. The visualizer has difficulty in mastering mathe- matical concepts and mathematical relationships when they are not presented to him in some kind of graphic form. He simply can not grasp the logic of the situa- tion through auditory images or through motor images unless these forms of imagery are the translations of adequate visual images. This same truth holds in the learning of history, sciences, etc. The visualizer must always have an adequate stimulation of visual imagery that he can translate into the appropriate auditory and motor forms of imagery. Even then he will not make the translations unless the auditory and motor forms of imagery are useful in giving him mastery over the INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 149 learning situation in a way that he can not attain with- out them. The pupil who is largely dependent upon visual images for his learning materials may be seriously handicapped by the fact that he possesses defective visual organs. Such a pupil will find more diflficulty in making accurate translations into the other forms of imagery. Moreover, this same pupil may be still further handicapped by the fact that he has poor habits of visualizing different kinds of language and graphic presentations. The importance of these two aspects of the pupil's sensory acuity and his sensory habits has been pointed out under the discussion of method. The point will bear emphasis, however, and the teacher should make a critical study of each pupil under his charge in order to determine the extent to which each pupil depends upon visualization to supply his learn- ing materials, and also the degree to which each pupil is handicapped by defective visual acuity and ineffec- tive habits of visualization. The pupil who depends upon auditory imagery is seriously handicapped in his learning„per-formance if he fails to receive an adequate opportunity for acquir- ing the subject-matter materials through auditory presentation. If this type of pupil is studying foreign language, for example, he is unable to build up th,e appropriate associations necessary for effective memor- izing of vocabulary by means of visual images. He must first hear the word pronounced and he must build 150 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS up auditory associations that he is able to translate readily into the correct visual form before he can deal effectively with visual forms either for purposes of interpretation or for expression. That is to say, this type of pupil must master the auditory images of the foreign words before he can translate readily the foreign materials from the printed page or translate the native language materials from the printed page. Mastery over the foreign language must necessarily involve the abUity to deal effectively with both the visual and the auditory forms of imagery, but the pupil who depends upon auditory imagery for the fundamental basis of his learning must develop facility of translation from auditory to visual imagery. Therefore he must have the kinds of practice opportunities that will enable him first to develop the auditory images appropriate to the foreign language materials, and second he must develop the appropriate visual images by associating them with the auditory images already developed. The pupil who depends upon motor imagery as the chief avenue through which to acquire subject-matter materials is always seriously handicapped in his learn- ing procedure if he does not find ample opportunity to build up effective motor images that are appropriate to the subject-matter materials presented to him. If this type of pupil is studying foreign language, he must write the forms and he must speak the words in order to develop appropriate associations of meaning with the new symbols of speech. These motor associations INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 151 are translated into the appropriate visual and auditory- images that are necessary to master in order to give him mastery over the printed page and over oral usage of the language. The point is that the motor images must precede the visual and auditory images in order for this type of pupil to learn most economically and most effectively. Therefore this type of pupil must be given ample practice in developing the appropriate forms of motor images before he is called upon to make use of the visual and auditory forms of imagery that are appropriate to the same foreign language symbols. The critical point. — The critical point for the teacher is that of determining, in the case of each pupil, just what kind of study assignment and just what kind of study practice on the part of each pupU will amply provide for each of these types of pupils. The same subject-matter materials may be assigned for study, that is to say, the same subject-matter unit may be assigned to the entire group; but the character of the instruction should be adapted to these three types of pupils. The visual-minded pupil must be instructed how to acquire facility of mastering visual images of the language materials, how to acquire faciUty of trans- lation from the visual images into the appropriate auditory and motor forms of imagery. The auditory- minded pupil must be taught how best to master audi- tory images of the foreign language symbols and how best to develop skUl in translating these images into the appropriate visual and motor images for these same 152 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS symbols. The motor-minded pupil must be guided in acquiring mastery over the motor images that are appropriate to the language forms that are to be mastered, and he must learn how to translate these forms readily into the appropriate visual and auditory forms of imagery. Therefore, while the goal of the study assignment is the same for all the pupils in the class, the study assignment is different for the three types of pupils, according to the form of imagery upon which they depend for the initial mastery of the sub- ject-matter under consideration. A teaching period can not be carried on successfully until the pupils have developed a fundamental form of imagery appropriate to the language materials being studied, and not until they have also mastered the translations from these fundamental forms of imagery into the auditory-motor, visual-motor, visual-auditory, as the case may be, for each pupil, according to whether he is visual-, or auditory-, or motor-minded. If this basis is weU established through careful study assign- ments upon which the pupils work independently, and through teaching periods in which the teacher directs the study of individual pupils and the study of the pupils grouped according to the type of imagery that is fundamental for each group, then the teaching periods from that time on can be well utilized in dealing with study of subject-matter units upon which all are ready to work effectively. The teacher can then vary his technique of handling the presentation of subject- INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 153 matter materials so that each type of imagery will be made the starting-point for each type of pupil and each translation combination wUl be carried on effectively. The situation as described in regard to foreign language is no different from that of any other high school subject. Every subject may be approached through any one of the types of imagery, but trans- lations into the other forms of imagery are necessary for complete mastery of the important facts, concepts, and mental habits involved in the study of the par- ticular field of materials. How to meet these indi- vidual differences in the employment of imagery has an immediate connection with the problem of selecting appropriate and effective devices and a most vital bearing upon the problem of selecting and practising an effective technique of class-room procedure. The above paragraph has pointed out in a suggestive way the connection between the psychology underlying the situation and the direction in which the teacher must plan in order to build upon the psychological foundation. Preferences for forms of materials. — Pupils mani- fest individual differences in their preferences for the forms in which ideas may be embodied. Some writers have classified them as idea-thinkers and thing- thinkers. This classification does not seem sound psychologically, but the practical implications back of the classification are valid. That is to say, no pupil thinks without ideas, for ideas are the materials with 154 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS which thought must deal. The real point is that pupils can not get at the ideas with which to carry on their thinking with equal facility when these ideas are embodied in different forms of existences. The so- called idea- thinker is the individual who can get at ideas readily when they are embodied in language forms. The so-called thing-thinker is the individual who can get at ideas most readily when they are embodied in forms of objects, such as machinery, buildings, natural forms of plant, animal, and other existences. That is to say, the one type of learner acquires the fundamental truths and relationships of subject-matter units most readily when these truths and relationships^are stripped of their most concrete embodiments and expressed in the most abstract form of symbolism, while the other type of learner acquires these same truths most readily when his thinking is stimulated by the concrete materials of their existence. Each type of pupil must think by means of ideas and each must crystallize his thought in abstract concepts of the truths and relationships involved in the situa- tion ; but the one pupil is helped in making his abstrac- tions by the meagerness of the embodying materials, whereas the other pupil is helped in making his abstrac- tions by the ampleness of the embodying materials. For example, the one pupil can get the mechanical principle involved in the tuning of the spark in the gas-engine best by studying the language statements of that principle. The language is sufficient to stimu- INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 155 late his power of constructive imagination to build up the relationships involved in the concepts of the prin- ciple. On the other hand, the so-called thing-thinker gets little from the language statements, but the gas- engine itself in actual existence stimulates his power of constructive imagination and he sees through the materials, so to speak, to the abstractions that are embodied in the mechanical parts of the mechanism. These individual preferences for the forms of ma- terial in which the fundamental ideas may be embodied present a serious problem for the teacher. The prob- lem is largely one of selecting appropriate devices and of practising effective technique in the class-room. SUMMARY The pupils in any high school class present several aspects of individual differences. They possess widely different backgrounds of experience and training, due to differences in home environment and general oppor- tunities for spontaneous education. This range of individual differences in a class is increased by the fact that many elective courses are open to pupils from at least two consecutive class ranks, such as junior and senior. The rate of speed with -which pupils learn varies as much as one to three and more. High school pupils in any class vary greatly in the range of mental ages, anatomical development, and organic maturity. The two sexes also present differences in mental tastes, 156 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS attitudes, and general qualities of mind. High school pupils in general exhibit three types of mind, namely, encyclopedic, synthetic, and analytic-synthetic. High school pupils also exhibit three types of mind on the basis of the chief forms of imagery upon which they depend in their learning of subject-matter materials, namely, visual-, auditory-, and motor-mindedness. Pupils have decided preferences for the forms of ma- terials through which ideas may be embodied. Some think best when dealing with language, while others think most readily when dealing with objects. All of these differences demand careful adaptation of de- mands, subject-matter, and technique of teaching. Only a thorough insight into these factors and a high degree of skill will insure the success of the high school teacher. EXERCISES 1. Describe the difference in experience and home training of two high school pupils in the same class that you taught, or were in as a pupil, or that you observed. 2. Describe an actual situation of your own experience in which a wide range of class ranks were represented in the same elective class. Describe also the diffi- culties thus presented to the teacher. Give concrete examples of what happened. 3. Each student in this group will draw lines under all the words in the complete subjects of the first ten sen- tences in Chapter VI of Judd's "Psychology of the High School Subjects." Note the exact amount of time it took you to do this. Compare this time with that of the other members of the class. What con- clusion do you draw from this range of time? INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 157 4. What tests are well enough established to enable a high school teacher to determine with some assurance the range of mental ages of his pupils? 5. Give data from the field of school hygiene that support the argument that pupils have different anatomical ages and also different organic ages. 6. Give examples from your own experience of pupils who were undergoing rapid bodily growth and the effect it had upon their school work. 7. Give examples from your own experience of pupils who exhibited great mental confusion on account of organic disturbances due to the rapid development of the reproductive organs. 8. Give several examples of the differences in interests and tastes of the two sexes in the choice of subjects and in the choice of subject-matter within certain sub- jects. 9. Give illustrations of the difference in the general men- tal qualities of adolescent boys and girls. 10. Suggest types of study and kinds of tests that might be employed by high school teachers in determining these differences in mental traits and degrees of maturity. 11. Suggest ways in which these individual differences may be taken into account and adequately provided for in the ordinary high school classes. 12. Suggest changes in the general plan of high school ad- ministration of courses that would meet these differ- ences more adequately. 13. Give two or more examples from experience of pupils who possessed the encyclopedic type of mind. 14. Give two or more examples of pupils who had the synthetic type of mind. 15. Illustrate the two types of assignment that should be made in using the same subject-matter as a means of educating these two types of mind. 16. What bearing does this difference in assignment have upon the technique of conducting the recitation? 17. Give examples from experience of pupils who are visual-, auditory-, or motor-minded. 158 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS 18. Give examples from experience of pupils who could think best when dealing with language, and pupils who could think best when dealing with objects. SELECTED REFERENCES Briggs, Thomas H. The Junior High School. Chapter V. Inglis, Alexander. Principles of Secondary Education. Chapter III. Important discussion of different aspects of differences and causes. Parkee, Samuel C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Chapter XV. Good discussion of individual capacities as related to technique in providing for them. Terman, Lewis M. The Hygiene of the School Child. Chapter VI. Evidences of differences in physical ma- turity of pupils of same age. Thorndike, E. L. Principles of Teaching. Pp. 68-104. Thorndike, E. L. Educational Psychology. Vol. III. CHAPTER VI ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER The central idea that has brought the subject- matter into existence. — Any body of subject-matter as a whole is organized around some central idea or racial need. The race, for example, felt the need of preventing and curing the ills to which the human family is heir. The attempt to satisfy this need brought about the study of the human body and the study of medicine. Therefore the subject of physi- ology is organized around the central idea of preserving human life through a knowledge of the functions of the organs of the human body and how to care for them. Medicine is organized around the idea of curing diseases. Take language for another example. The central idea is the expression and interpretation of ideas. Every phase of grammar, rhetoric, composition, and literary study centers around this racial need. The divisions and the subdivisions of a subject are determined by this central idea. The large coordinate divisions are the large outstanding principles that most adequately exhibit the existence of the central idea. The next largest divisions, that is, the chief sub- divisions, are the largest minor principles involved 159 160 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS under each of the large divisions. These groups of subdivisions are made up of those that most adequately help the large divisions to exhibit the central idea. The next group of subdivisions are the minor principles under each of the larger subdivisions that most ade- quately help the larger subdivisions to help the main divisions exhibit the central idea, and so on down to the most minute details that may be employed in the subject. Any one of the minute details of the lowest subdivisions, when taken alone, wiU exhibit the central idea to a suflScient degree to make it rightly classed as belonging in the subject. It, however, will not exhibit the central idea very adequately when compared with the degree to which the central idea is exhibited by the largest divisions of the subject. This fact explains why it is a minute minor detail instead of an out- standing large division. Commercial geography is a good subject to illustrate how a central idea governs the organization of a body of subject-matter. The central idea in this subject is the distribution of commercial elements in space. The human race felt the need of information regarding the location of the various kinds of materials and forces that enable it to carry on commercial and industrial activities. The attempt to satisfy this need brought the facts of commercial geography together into an organized form. Some of the large divisions of the subject that most adequately exhibit this central idea are the agricultural areas, mineral-producing areas, ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 161 stock-producing areas, transportation routes, etc. That is to say, each of these items represents a rather wide distribution in space. Then it is readily seen that the subdivisions under agricultural areas, such as wheat- producing areas, etc., each organizes a smaller distri- bution in space than that represented by the large division, agricultural areas. Then, the subdivisions under each of these subdivisions represent still smaller areas of distribution. Take wheat, for instance, and the subdivisions are such as winter wheat areas, spring wheat areas, and so on down to the smallest areas of distribution that it is important to know. Each suc- ceeding subdivision exhibits less and less distribution in space. On the other hand, each subdivision helps to extend the distribution in space of its immediate larger division, so that the vast area of distribution in space exhibited by each of the largest coordinate divi- sions of the subject is but the sum of all the smaller areas of distribution. Relation of organization around central idea to method of learning. — The fact that a subject is always organized around a central idea, and especially the fact that the divisions and subdivisions are determined by the extent to which they exhibit this central idea, bears an important relation to the universal method of learning. The first step in learning is to see the thing as a whole. Therefore the recognition of the central idea in a subject, and seeing the largest divisions that exhibit this idea, is the first whole that should be 162 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS brought before the learner. As this more or less vague whole is worked over, the significance of the central idea becomes clearer. The clearing up of the signifi- cance of the central idea leads to a recognition of the next lower group of subdivisions. That is to say, the process of analysis is stimulated and carried on by taking each large division in turn as a whole, and working out its largest subdivisions. Then each of these subdivisions is taken in turn as a whole and analyzed. And then each next lower subdivision is taken in turn and analyzed. This process of analysis goes on until each large division in turn has been worked down into its smaller and smaller wholes, the number constantly increasing until all of the important details are known. Then the final process of synthesis — that is, the third step in learning — begins and is carried on until the unity of the whole body of facts is clearly recognized. Practice upon this analytic- synthetic procedure renders it habit. The learner then sees the central significance of the subject as exhibited by a great body of organized details. Content and formal materials. — Every subject should be carefully organized around its central idea in such a way as to give the proper balance between content and formal subject-matter. The content ma- terial is made up of the facts that are to be used in the exact form in which they are presented. The content material is the essence, the worth-while part of the course, and it should be thoroughly learned, or ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 163 at least thoroughly gone through and understood, according to the purpose for which the course is offered. For example, the rule in algebra for factoring the difference between two squares is content material. It is important to know this fact. Again, a definition of a figure of speech in English is content material. Formal material is practice material that is not impor- tant in and of itself, but has value only as a means of exhibiting the content material in order that it may be thoroughly learned. For example, the problems in algebra that present differences between squares are not valuable to remember. The pupil does not need to remember that he solved the problem a;* — y^. He solves many such problems in order that he may habitually think and apply the rule for factoring quan- tities of that type. Likewise, the pupil in English does not remember the particular cases of synecdoche that he analyzed in order to fix in his mind the character- istics of that figure of speech. The formal material, then, is the material by means of which thorough men- tal habits are formed. The critical problem is that of determining the amount of formal or practice material that is necessary in order to insure the thorough mastery of the content material. This fact is gradually beginning to be realized by the administrators and teachers who are responsible for the making of courses of study. We are coming to see that a good many subjects have out- lined about twice as much content material as can be 164 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS thoroughly mastered in the school year. The tendency now is toward increasing the amount of formal or practice material and cutting down the amount of content material. The exact balance between content and formal material must necessarily depend upon the particular group studying the subject, and there should be provision for recognizing the individual differences in the class. One pupil may require twice as much formal material and practice as another in mastering a certain body of content subject-matter. The tenta- tive or approximate balance between the two kinds of material should be determined and indicated in the outline of the course. This tentative balancing of content and formal material should be determined by careful experimentation with typical groups of high school pupils. The ultimate guide for determining the relative amount of formal material that should follow the pre- sentation of each body of content material is that of the degree of mastery over the content that is desired. If mere acquaintance with content subject-matter is all that is desired, then a relatively meager amount of formal material wiU be sufficient to insure an intel- ligent understanding of the material. If, however, thoroughgoing habit formation is the aim, then a sufficient amount of formal material must be intro- duced to render the habit automatic enough for it to function adequately without future training. That is to say, the organization of a unit or of a half-unit of ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 165 subject-matter as a whole demands the balancing of the content and formal material in the light of the vital, specific aims of education that are to be secured through the study of the particular subject under con- sideration, but the working out of this organization demands the determining, in accordance with the men- tal maturity of the typical adolescent group for whom the course is intended, of the actual amount of content subject-matter, along with its appropriate amount of formal material, that should make up the unit or half- unit. The inductive organization of subject-matter. — The inductive organization of subject-matter is based upon the idea that the pupil will learn the content subject- matter most readily through the study of individual cases in which the content is exhibited. That is to say, the pupil discovers the content through experiencing its existence a number of times. Take, for example, the algebraic rule for factoring the difference between two squares. The pupil begins his study by factoring a number of such quantities experimentally. His at- tention is centered in each case first upon the fact that the problem presents the difference of two squares, and second upon the fact that one of the factors is always the sum of the two numbers squared and the other is always the difference of the two numbers. He soon reaches the conclusion that this is always true, and is ready to state the rule or the content that is to be learned. 166 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS The relative amount of formal material and content material is clearly emphasized by the inductive organ- ization of subject-matter. A sufficient number of formal cases must be presented to insure the discovery and clear understanding of the content. Then, if thorough mastery over the content is desired, an adequate amount of formal material must be employed after the content has been discovered and clearly set forth. The amount of formal material needed in enabling the pupil to discover the content and to come to an intelligent conclusion in regard to it may be reduced to the minimum through employing only typical cases. The pupil must be made to understand, however, when he has reached the conclusion concerning the content, that the cases are typical and that he should seek to verify his conclusion through more extended experi- ence. The amount of formal material employed after the discovery of the content should be determined by the laws of habit formation and the capabilities of the individual pupils. The chief value of the inductive organization of subject-matter. — The chief value of the inductive organization of subject-matter lies in the fact that it enables the pupil to acquire and accumulate the ex- periences that must be acquired in order to understand the content. For example, the pupil must have the mental experience of recognizing the algebraic quantity that presents the difference between two squares before ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 167 he can understand the rule for factoring this type of quantity. Moreover, he needs to have the mental experience of recognizing this particular type of quan- tity enough times to recognize the type readily. The pupil will not be likely to have had the experiences necessary to enable him readily to recognize this type of quantity by the time he reaches the point where the learning of the rule is advisable. Therefore the inductive organization of material enables the pupil to acquire the mathematical experiences that are neces- sary to an understanding of the rule for factoring them, and at the same time it introduces him to the rule. The conclusion seems valid, then, that whenever the pupil lacks the fundamental experiences that are neces- sary for the understanding of a certain content that is to be learned, the most effective and economical organization of subject-matter is that of induction. One can not say absolutely in advance whether the subject-matter in any high school subject should as a whole, or even in part, be organized inductively for most effective and economical presentation. One may conclude, however, on the basis of a number of years of experience in teaching beginning courses, such as languages and algebra, that few pupils who take these courses will have had the necessary linguistic and mathematical experiences to enable them to grasp the content upon mere statement of rules and definitions; or one may conclude that only certain phases of these courses should be organized inductively. Many of the 168 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS high school subjects are elective, and therefore are open to pupils of a rather wide range of ages and training; hence the problem of determining whether the subject- matter of such courses should be organized inductively or not is greatly complicated. About the best thing for the teacher to do in such cases is to judge as best he can to what extent any considerable number of pupils in the course is lacking in the fundamental experiences necessary to an understanding of the con- tent material that is to be learned, and upon the basis of this judgment to determine whether or not the material should be organized inductively. In any case, this type of organization is fairly safe, for the wide- awake teacher can quickly discover whether or not the pupils are meeting new experiences in the subject- matter presented or merely reviewing old experiences that seem familiar, and if resourceful, can readUy shift the form of organization when occasion demands a change for effective work. The critical point, then, in determining the validity of the inductive organization of the subject-matter in high school subjects is that of reaUy knowing what experiences the pupils in a course have had and what the effects of these experiences have been. The fact that a pupil has had a course in Latin before taking up the study of French does not assure the teacher that such a pupil has acquired and retained language ex- periences that can be capitalized. The teacher needs to know not only the quantity but ^Iso the quality of ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 169 the language experiences that have left their impress upon the pupil's mind. Even a grade mark does not enlighten one very much as to the actual results of a pupil's experiences, because it stands for too many things in general and can not adequately represent specific results. No one knows exactly what 75 per cent, or 95 per cent, in language, or in any subject for that matter, really means. Here again the conclusion seems valid that about the best way to determine the quality of the pupil's language experiences is to give him language experiences, and to be alert to discover whether they seem to be new to him or whether they seem familiar. Then, in the light of the findings, organize the subject-matter of the course. The deductive organization of subject-matter, — The deductive organization of subject-matter is that form of organization which presents the statement of the law, rule, definition, or concept as the first whole to be considered. The individual cases are then pre- sented, and the pupil looks for the verification of the generalization that has been studied. After examining a number of cases that adequately exhibit the gen- eralization, he concludes that the generalization is a valid one and feels that he understands it. Then, if thorough mastery over the generalization is sought, the verification of the existence of the generalization in individual cases must. be continued until habit is formed. The deductive organization of material starts with 170 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the content subject-matter stated in its most universal form. It then proceeds to the presentation of formal material for the purpose of practice in recognizing the existence of the generalization. The amount of formal material presented is determined by the degree of habit that is desired in mastering the material, and by the past experiences and training of the pupil. The chief value in the deductive organization of material is that it affords opportunity for capitalizing the past experiences of the pupil. Every individual, as he goes about in this world, accumulates many hap- hazard experiences, which remain more or less isolated in his mind until some demand brings them together and organizes them into a coherent scheme of thinking. Therefore the presentation of a generalization may be the means of assembling the individual's isolated ex- periences and unifying them. In fact, the individual may have had so many experiences of the right kind, and so recently, that he is able through memory to supply the data necessary for a thorough analysis of the generalization presented, and he may even form a fairly adequate habit of mental organization of these experiences as verifications of the generalization. Whenever this is the case, the deductive organization of subject-matter is the most economical form in which to present the subject. The effective employment of the deductive organiza- tion of subject-matter, then, depends upon the quantity and also the quality of the past experiences of the pupU. OEGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 171 This fact makes very imperative the necessity for knowing something fairly definite about the mental material the pupil already has that may be capitalized in mastering the generalization to be learned. The teacher who selects the deductive type of organization or arrangement of subject-matter without knowing what the mental background of the pupil is wUl not infrequently find that the attempt to analyze the state- ment of the generalization is fruitless, and he will be compelled to abandon the deductive order of arrange- ment for the inductive organization. This will usually be done at a considerable loss of time and energy. The resourceful teacher wUl always be alert to dis- cover the mental material that the pupil has, and also the quality of the mental processes that are involved in the analysis and synthesis of any body of subject- matter presented, and he will change readily from deductive organization to inductive, or from inductive to deductive, as the situation may demand. This change from the one type of organization to the other may be made so skilfully as to minimize the amount of loss due to wrong selection of the type of organiza- tion at the outset. The well trained teacher will effect this change even during the progress of a teaching period, if the situation demands such change. The relation o£ induction to method. — The induc- tive arrangement of subject-matter insiires that the first unit or whole that the pupil learns will be an indi- vidual case that embodies the generalization that is to 172 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS be learned. For example, in learning the rule for factoring the difference between two squares, the pupil starts with a typical problem such as x^ — y"^. He sees this quantity as a whole, and by analysis discovers that each term is a square and that the quantity is represented by the difference between the squares. Further analysis enables him to discover that the fac- tors are the sum and the difference of the numbers that have been squared. By synthesis he verifies the cor- rectness of this result, and now thinks the difference of the squares as produced by multiplying the sum and difference of the numbers squared. He takes up an- other individual case and goes through the same pro- cedure. He continues this process of analyzing and synthesizing individual cases until he begins to realize that he has accumulated a body of similar experiences. He now begins to attend to this body of experiences as a whole. He analyzes this whole and discovers the identical elements running through it. Then by syn- thesis he formulates the generalization, which he states in the form of a rule. The relation between the inductive arrangement and the method of learning is clear cut. The mind first takes an individual case as a whole, then another indi- vidual case as a whole, etc. ; then the body of experi- ences gained through dealing with the individual cases is taken as the whole, and finally fixes attention upon the statement of the rule as a synthetic whole. The relation of deduction to method. — The deduc- ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 173 tive arrangement of material insures that the mind of the learner will start with the statement of a general- ization as a whole. This generalization is analyzed and reorganized into a clearly understood whole. Then the learner takes an individual case as a whole that embodies the generalization, then anothei- individual case, etc., until he feels that he has attained skiU in recognizing the embodiment of the generalization. That is to say, he views his successes as a whole in dealing with individual cases, and through analysis and synthesis arrives at the conclusion that the significance of his successes taken as a whole indicates a satisfactory degree of mastery over the application of the general- ization. The relation of induction to deduction, — The induc- tive arrangement of subject-matter is just the reverse of the order in which the different types of wholes or units are taken up for consideration in the deductive arrangement. Each arrangement insures a definite series of units or wholes that are presented in a regular order. Each order of arrangement stimulates the fundamental movement of the mind of the learner and calls forth the same mental processes in mastering the materials presented. That is to say, then, induc- tion and deduction are merely different orders of arrangement of the essential units or wholes that must be considered by the learner in mastering the subject- matter presented. The problem organization of subject-matter. — 174 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS Another type of organization of subject-matter is that of arranging the materials in a series of problems. The attempt to solve the problem leads to the mastery of the fundamental facts, rules, laws, definitions, and concepts in the particular field of subject-matter. The field of United States history, for example, may be organized in the form of a series of political problems. The period of national development especially is adapted to this type of organization. Such problems as financing the government, the extent to which power should be centralized in the federal government, policies that should be determined by the states, etc., are typical of the sort of organization that is meant. The study of the solution of these problems involves the mastery of the important facts of United States history during the period of national development. The sciences may be organized very readily as series of problems. In fact, virtually every subject may be so organized. That is to say, series of conditions and questions may be formulated whose answers are prob- lematical; hence the conclusions can be reached only through working out solutions that will be reliable according to the supporting data. The project form of organization of subject-matter. — The project form of organization is the presentation of actual undertakings that are projected, that is to say, are carried forward to the achievement of the natural outcome of the undertakings. For example, the making of a library table in manual training would OEGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 175 be a project. The raising of a prize pig in agriculture would be a project. The making of a dress in domestic art would be a project. The project type of organization is diflBcult to main- tain in most of the high school subjects. Domestic science and art, agriculture and manual training, may be organized into series of projects that wiU involve the mastery of the important bodies of subject-matter in these respective fields. Even these subjects, however, present difficulties in the actual carrying out of any considerable number of worth-while projects. When it comes to such subjects as physics, chemistry, lan- guage, etc., the possible use of projects is very limited if not well-nigh impossible. The relation of the project to the problem. — A project is a situation that involves a number of prob- lems that must be solved satisfactorily in order to carry out the project successfully. Take the project of making a library table in manual training, for ex- ample. The first series of problems pertains to decid- ing the number of parts, the dimensions, the kinds of material, and the kind of finish to give it. A second series of problems pertains to determining the kinds of tools to use and how to keep them in proper condition for the piece of work. A third series of problems per- tains to the principles of construction and the skills requisite to executing them in the actual realization of the project. The critical question. — The critical question is, shall 176 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the project be the goal, or only the means that will introduce the pupil to these series of problems as the goal? That is to say, shall the pupil make a library table in order to learn how to saw, to plane, to make a mortise joint, to put on a mission finish, etc., or shall he learn to saw, plane, etc., in order that he may make a library table, if he chooses, or any other kind of object that involves the same problems? The answer seems fairly obvious, namely, that the goal of education is the mastery of problems that may be involved in many different kinds of projects. The test, however, of the efficiency of education is the degree of success with which the pupil carries out projects of life. The ultimate tests, therefore, of the real efficiency of educa- tion must come outside of the school. Some test, though, can and should be made before the pupil is passed out of his training courses. Another angle to the question. — If, then, the mas- tery of problems is set up as the goal of education, and the carrying out of projects is recognized as the most valid test of the adequacy of the attainment of the educational goal, the question arises as to whether the pupil should first be given practice in dealing with the problems just as problems until he seems to have mastered them, and then be given the test of carrying out a project involving these problems, or can he master the problems best through trying to pass the test of carrying out a project? That is to say, can a pupil in manual training make a library table that will be ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 177 commercially acceptable by doing no other sawing, planing, chiseling, etc., than that actually required in working with the materials out of which the table is actually constructed; or will he have to take time off from the project to master the various problems of planing, chiseling out a mortise, cutting a tongue, etc., before he can safely undertake to do these acts upon the valuable materials that are to be used in actual construction? Furthermore, if the purpose in making a library table is to secure a mastery over these manual and constructive problems, and if practice must be carried on with other materials not to be used in the construction of the table, say just with odds and ends of practically worthless scraps, why not carry on the study and mastery of the construction problems in- volved in manual work in this way, and for the exam- ination in the course let each pupU select and carry out a suitable project and expect the results of the project to meet the commercial standards? The answer to these questions is tied up with the problem of effective motivation. The supposition has been that a pupil wUl work more zealously to master the problems of construction if he works upon them as parts of the actual realization of some project in which he is interested. The practical fact is that many times the undertaking of a project has really discour- aged the pupil. He finds that he has so many problems to solve and has to take so much time off to master them before he can proceed that he loses interest in 178 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the project and, if permitted, he will frequently aban- don it. On this account he may be allowed to go on with the project too rapidly and he comes out with a result that is not satisfactory. An attempt to meet this situation has been made through organizing a graded series of manual projects that gradually brings about a mastery of the fundamental problems of manual construction work. The place of the project. — The project, as just stated, is the ultimate test of the adequacy of an educa- tion. Therefore an appropriate project should be introduced at whatever stage of the course the pupil is supposed to have mastered a usable body of problems. In order to secure adequate motivation in the mastery of the problems, a list of projects should be set forth and the pupil should be invited to choose the project in which he feels most interest. Then an examination of the nature of the project wUl reveal the problems that must be mastered. The pupU can be made to realize the amount of time and energy that will be involved in mastering the problems, and, if the road does not seem too long and arduous, he will attack his work with interest and vigor. Then comes the coveted opportunity, the test, the carrying out of the project. The success of this enterprise turns him toward the next list of projects with new zeal. He again selects a project, and by examination discovers the problems that must be mastered before he can hope to deal with it successfully. He sees again that the road to this OEGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 179 goal is not too long, and he attacks his work with defi- nite purpose and interest. The project, then, may be made the starting-point in motivating the work of the pupil, but it should sel- dom be the starting-point of actual work. The desire to realize the project may be made the means of realizing the kind of education that is necessary in order to satisfy the desire. Then the working with the most economical subject-matter material will go for- ward with maximum interest, vigor, and efl&ciency. That is to say, the formal material can now be used most economically and effectively in bringing about the mastery of the vital content material, the mastery of which enables the pupil to deal satisfactorily with the chosen project. This formal practice material is found, in most cases, outside of projects. If one attempts to furnish enough formal practice for mastering the prob- lems or content subject-matter by dealing with the actual projects, he must expect necessarily that the plan wiU be extremely wasteful or he must be satisfied with crude results in the completed projects. For example, if the pupil makes enough library tables to master thoroughly the problems set forth above, he must either waste much valuable material or a number of very crude tables must be accepted as completed projects. A practical difficulty. — The practical difficulty that teachers meet in attempting to use projects in connec- tion with school work is that of securing enough feas- 180 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS ible projects that the pupil will desire so earnestly to carry out that he will be willing to pay the price of mastering the problems involved. That is to say, the average adolescent individual has so little vocational bent of any sort that mere projects do not interest him. Therefore, even to set up desired projects as tests of the attainment in the high school subjects is a difficult undertaking. Moreover, it is difficult for the adoles- cent pupil to maintain his interest until the time arrives for turning him loose upon the project as the test of his attainment in the particular field of subject- matter. The relation of the project to vocational guidance. — The above discussions make the point clear that vocational guidance will be furthered most in high school through an examination of the nature of in- dustrial and professional projects, rather than through the carrying out of a limited number of actual projects. As has already been suggested in discussing the prob- lem of motivation, a course might very well be given in vocational guidance that would undertake merely to give the necessary information as to what problems must be mastered to carry out successfully the projects in mechanical engineering, dentistry, journalism, etc. The course might appropriately be named "The Nature of Industrial and Professional Projects." The relation of the project to the apprentice system of education. — The project idea in education is essen- tially the old apprentice system. The apprentice ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 181 binds himself to the employer for a period of years in order to learn the trade. His education consists in doing the things that a green hand can be trusted to do under the direction of a master workman, and in watching the skilled performance of the skilled workers as a helper. After a time he acquires enough knowl- edge of certain phases of the skilled performance and is given an opportunity to do these phases of the work under direction. Gradually he acquires more knowl- edge and the required skill to turn out a satisfactory commercial product, until finally he has mastered the trade through the actual doing of the various acts in producing a commercial output. The project idea in school work purports to do this same thing, namely, to give the pupil the necessary knowledge and skill to carry out worth-while projects through the actual carrying out of such projects in his school work. The fact that the old apprentice system broke down and gave way to trade or technical schools, which to-day secure the best results through maintain- ing a proper balance between formal training in master- ing the fundamental problems involved in the par- ticular trade and the actual doing of commercial work, — that is, the carrying out of genuine projects in the field, — should be a helpful criterion in deciding the place and value of the project in high school subjects. The educators who hope to solve most of the diffi- culties experienced in attempting to motivate the high school subjects through the use of projects should not 182 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS forget that the prospective doctor goes to a medical school for the more rapid and more thorough mastery of medicine instead of going into a doctor's office to "read medicine," as was once the practice. The poten- tial lawyer goes to a law school instead of into a law- yer's office to "read law." A future reporter goes to a school of journalism to master the newspaper game. These professional schools introduce a certain amount of actual project work or fictitious project work in their courses in order to test the mastery of theories and to give necessary skill so that the period of "starvation practice" outside of school or the period of partial apprenticeship may be shortened as much as possible. The amount of real commercial or professional service that can be carried on in these schools is necessarily limited; hence most of the vital project work must come after entrance into the commercial or professional field as a competitor in the chosen field. The relation of the project to the normal mental rhythm of interest. — The psychological fact has been set forth (in Chapter II) that the interests of an indi- vidual sway back and forth between the mastery of theory and the putting of the theory into practice. The high school pupil may be interested in the prob- lems or theoretical material in a given subject for a time, and he may work earnestly to master them. Soon, however, he tires of too much theory and craves the action of practice. The project affords the desired opportunity to test the theoretical material. For ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 183 example, the pupil in manual training may be in- terested in learning how to make different kinds of joints, in mastering the acts of sawing, planing, etc. The time soon comes when he tires of theory and for- mal practice and desires to test his mastery of the various problems studied by doing a piece of work that is commercially valuable. This is the stage at which to introduce a proper kind of project a& an examination or test of the results of the educative process that has been going on. Therefore the introduction of the right kind and the right number of projects that serve as tests of the mastery of the vital content material and balance against the tendency to too long storing up of content material, and that catch and hold the in- terest of the pupil as it sways away from theory so that it will sway back again to a desire for more theory, is of most vital importance. The organization of subject-matter for economical memorization. — The mastery of subject-matter in any field involves the memorizing of considerable data. Memorizing needs to be done for two distinct purposes. The one purpose is that of getting a. sufficient body of data before the mind of the learner to enable him to select the significant material and to learn the funda- mental facts in the particular field. Therefore in order to accomplish this purpose a great amount of tem- porary memorizing must be done. Many things need to be learned just for to-day, or this week, etc., accord- ing to the amount of time it will take for the learns 184 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS to get the necessary data in mind. As soon as the core has been sifted out of this mass of material, all the supporting data can sink into the background and further attention in memorizing be given only to making the worth-while core a permanent possession. The second purpose in memorizing is that of making important subject-matter a permanent part of the learner's mental make-up. In order to accomplish this purpose, the pupil must do a great amount of practising or drilling upon this vital material until it is thoroughly memorized. The pupil must be taught to overleam this body of material. The critical point is that the subject-matter in a course should be so organized that the pupil knows what material is to be memorized temporarily and what material is to be made a permanent possession. The organization of the course should provide for bringing together the important data that is to be permanently mastered and time given to its mastery or thorough memorization. The pupil should know what to spend arduous hours of effort upon and what to pass over rather hastily and lightly as far as memory impressions go. The pupil should not be encouraged or permitted to waste time and energy in the over- learning of temporary material. Memorizing by wholes instead of by parts. — The psychologists have demonstrated that memorizing by wholes rather than by parts is more effective and more economical. Therefore the subject-matter in each ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 185 high school subject should be organized into appro- priate wholes for economical memorizing. This point is true for both the temporary material and the per- manent material. The organization of the temporary material into appropriate wholes will enable the pupil to get the body of data before his mind readily and will facilitate the sifting out of the vital material. Proper organization of the permanent material into wholes will enable the pupil to start the habit path of permanent memorization at the very outset, and will insure the most rapid development of the habit path with each period of practice upon the whole that is being learned. The important problem. — The vital question in the arrangement of subject-matter into wholes for memor- izing is as to what constitutes a whole and what con- stitutes a part in any particular field of material. This question must be answered by a careful consideration of the nature of the subject and the purposes for which it is being taught, and by a consideration of the mental maturity and ability of the pupils who are to study the subject. As pupils become more and more mature and better trained in memorizing, subject-matter can be organized into larger and larger wholes for effective memorization. The range of individual differences likely to be found in any group of properly graded pupils should also be taken into account in this con- nection. The wholes undertaken for memorizing should not be too long for the least capable individual 186 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS nor too small for the most capable. Some pupils will necessarily be compelled to drive rather hard while/ others will need to put forth only a minimum of effort to accomplish the same piece af work. All in all, tlje problem of determining the appropriate wholes into which the subject-matter in any subject should be divided for effective learning is a complicated one. No two subjects present the same difficulties; hence the practical answer to this question must be taken up in the application of these principles to the teaching of each of the high school subjects. Units o£ human development. — The organization of subject-matter, in the light of the foregoing discussion, may become a very formal procedure unless the teacher is guided constantly by the conception that units of mental development are the goals of education. Each body of content material must correspond to a unit of intellectual grasp, and each body of formal material must correspond to a unit of mental habit power. The organization of subject-matter materials in the form of an inductive problem must have as its goal a gen- eralization that is not beyond the unit of concept with which the pupil carries on his thinking. Likewise, an organization of materials in the form of a deductive problem must not undertake to present a general truth of such complex relationships that it is not under- standable in terms of the unit of concept with which the pupil does his thinking, or so complex that it in- volves relationships beyond the pupil's power of ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 187 experience-getting. Every problem and every project organization of subject-matter materials must be in terms of the unit of concept in thinking, unit of judg- ment span, and unit of mental habit power. Memory wholes of subject-matter must be determined by the unit of mental synthesis that the pupil possesses. . This point must be kept uppermost all the time; for if the teacher loses sight of this main objective in the process of educating the pupil by means of the high school subjects, the teaching performance will become a more or less perfunctory juggling of signs and symbols and language expressions that make no educative im- pressions. The subject-matter must always be a means of promoting the welfare of the pupil, and its value must be unmistakable. The teacher should be able to make the pupil reaUze the function of every teachable unit of material that he employs in contributing to the education of the pupU. SUMMARY The organization of subject-matter should be deter- mined first by the central idea that brought the subject- matter into existence. This central idea determines the scope of the subject and its divisions and sub- divisions. This phase of organization is related to the method in the mind of the learner in mastering the subject. The subject should also be organized so as to provide for a proper balance between the content 188 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS and the formal material in the subject. For purposes of daily teaching, the subject-matter may be organized into a series of inductive problems or into a series of deductive problems. According to the nature of the subject and the maturity of the pupils, subject- matter may be organized into problems or it may be arranged into a series of projects. Subject-matter may be organized into appropriate wholes for effective memorization. EXERCISES 1. Select two high school subjects and show how the cen- tral idea that caused each of them to be brought into existence determines the divisions and subdivisions of the subjects. 2. Select two high school subjects and give illustrations to show the distinction between content and formal material in them. Examine one recent text-book in each subject chosen and determine how many pages in each book are given to content material and how many pages to formal material. 3. Select one high school subject and organize a series of three lessons in the form of an induction. Give the actual material that you would have the class study and the assignment just as you would make it for each lesson. 4. Select one high school subject and organize a series of three lessons in the form of a deduction. Give the actual material that you would have the class study and the assignment just as you would make it for each lesson. 5. What high school subjects can be employed most effec- tively in the inductive form of organization? What ones in the deductive form? 6. What high school subjects should be organized partly in the one form and partly in the other form? Show ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER 189 the various phases of these subjects that you would organize under each form. 7. What high school subjects can be employed best in the form of problems? 8. What high school subjects can be employed best in the form of projects? 9. Select one high school subject and show how the or- ganization of the subject-matter into both problems and projects may be accomplished so as to balance and guide the natural fluctuation of the pupil's in- terest from theory to practice. 10. Select two projects and give the'details of their organ- ization. 11. Give two or more illustrations of situations in which the- pupil lost interest in the project because he lacked facts or skill that required taking so much time off from the project for their mastery that he tired of the undertaking. 12. Select one high school subject and organize at least two wholes that would make memorizing more effective than the attempt to memorize the same material by parts. SELECTED REFERENCES Charters, W. W. Methods of Teaching. Chapters IV, V, VI. Good discussion of function and structure of subject- matter. Chapter XV. Discussion of psychological and logical organization of subject-matter. Foster, Herbert H. Principles of Teaching in Secondary Education. Chapter VIII. Discussion of problem form of subject-matter organization. Parker, Samuel C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Chapter IV. Particularly pp. 78-94. Excellent discus- sion of the psychological organization of subject-matter. CHAPTER VII DEVICES Definition. — A device is any means, other than the subject-matter itself, that is employed by the teacher in presenting subject-matter to the mind of the learner. This definition sets device off very distinctly from method or the psychological procedure of the learner, and from the technique of teaching. A device is some- thing that is devised or invented to suit the situation. The number of devices that may be employed in teaching any subject will depend upon the nature of the subject and the resourcefulness of the teacher. In other words, the devices of teaching may be innumer- able; hence to use the term in the plural is correct, whereas method should be used only in the singular. Classification of devices. — The classification of de- vices is necessarily an arbitrary matter, but the making of a classification will help one to see clearly the nature of devices and to understand better the criteria that should guide in their selection. The following classi- fication seems to be both practical and inclusive: 1. Material devices. a. General. b. Special. 2. Mental devices. a. General. b. Special. 190 DEVICES 191 Material devices. — A material device is one the form of which has no significance or bearing upon the subject-matter presented. A blackboard, for example, is a material device. It is a very helpful means of getting subject-matter presented to a number of pupils simultaneously. Its form, however, has no relation to any kind of subject-matter that may be presented upon it; hence it may be employed in any subject. The blackboard is also a general material device for the reason that has just been given. A projector is another example of a general material device. It may be used in any subject, and its form has no relation to any kind of subject-matter presented by means of it. A special material device is one that can be used to advantage only in particular subjects or in particular phases of the same subject. A series of lantern-slides in physiology, for example, is a special material device. These slides can not be used to much advantage in any other subject, and the material of the slides has no relation to the subject-matter presented. A relief map in geography is a special material device. The field of general material devices has been well covered by manufacturers of school apparatus and supplies. The field of special material devices has also been covered to a considerable extent. There is plenty of room, however, for the ambitious and re- sourceful teacher to devise and invent many devices in the special field. The success of the teacher will be conditioned to a considerable degree by the ability he 192 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS has in inventing effective special devices for use in teaching his particular lines of work. Mental devices. — A mental device is one that is related in form and meaning to the subject-matter being presented. Questions, for example, are mental devices. The form of the question is related to the subject-matter presented by means of the questions. That is to say, thinking the ideas involved in under- standing the questions is thinking part of the ideas involved in the answers to the questions. This fact has caused many people to think of questions as a method of teaching instead of as a device or means of teaching. The learner does not learn in a question- ing manner, but he learns by means of questions. Questions are not mental processes, but they are the means of arousing mental processes. Questions are a general mental device. That is to say, questions may be used in any and all subjects as a means of presenting subject-matter. This fact makes it important for the teacher to study carefully the different types of questions that may be employed. The teacher can then select the best types for any particular phase of subject-matter, according to the purposes for which the subject-matter is being pre- sented. Types of questions. — The most common type of question is that which calls for information. The pupil merely needs to know certain facts in order to answer the information-seeking question. A second type of DEVICES 193 question is that which raises a problem or demands an evaluation of facts. If the question is asked, Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? a mere state- ment of the man's name is all that is required. If, however, the question is asked. Why should the Indian be given full citizenship? an evaluation of certain facts must be made in order to answer the question intel- ligently. If the question is asked, How can the Indian be made a fuU citizen? a problem is raised that de- mands the consideration of many facts before a satis- factory solution can be reached. Other general mental devices. — Correlations are a general mental device. That is to say, every subject may be presented to some extent by means of its rela- tion to other subjects. The geographical fact of the location of Philadelphia is related to the historical events that happened in and around that place; hence the presentation of these historical facts may be accom- plished most effectively by employing their geograph- ical correlations. The lecture is another example of a general mental device. Many people think of the lecture as a method of teaching, but it is not a mental procedure. The lecture is a means of awakening the mental procedure of learning. Thinking the ideas involved in the lecture, however, is thinking many of the ideas involved in learning the subject-matter presented by means of the lecture; hence the lecture is a mental device. The special mental device. — A special mental device 194 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS is one that can be used to advantage only in certain subjects or in certain phases of the same subject. A mnemonic system for memorizing a particular body of facts is a special mental device. A series of de- velopmental questions adapted to a certain phase of subject-matter is a special mental device. A unique type of correlation would be a special mental device. The criteria governing the selection of devices. — The wise selection and effective use of devices involves a careful consideration of certain criteria. These cri- teria serve to keep the fundamental issue in teaching uppermost in the mind of the teacher, namely, the fact that what goes on in the mind of the learner is what educates him. That is to say, the mental processes of the learner and what is happening to the mental habits of the learner must never be forgotten in think- ing about devices. Therefore the teacher will do well to get the following suggestions clearly in mind: 1. A device should always be a helpful means to the pupil in learning the particular subject-matter pre- sented. That is to say, the device should not become a task that takes the attention of the pupU from the very facts it is supposed to help him learn. This is a most vital criterion, and every device should be very critically considered from the standpoint of actual helpfulness before it is employed by the teacher. The idea will be more clearly kept in mind if the teacher thinks of the device as a device of learning rather than a device of teaching. DEVICES 195 A second important idea in connection with this cri- terion is the fact that a device may be very helpful to one pupil and be of little or no help to another pupil. In fact, a device may be a hindrance to one pupil and a great help to another. The teacher should center his attention upon the learning process of each pupil as he attempts to use the device as an aid to learning. If he is able to analyze the mental procedure of the pupil, he wiU be able to see what part the device really plays in furthering or hindering the educative process. 2. Devices should be adapted to meet the individual needs of pupils. This criterion is related to the first one and merely emphasizes the idea that the use of any device should not become a requirement in a course. If any pupil does not find a particular device to be helpful to him in learning the things that are presented in the subject, then he should not be required to employ that device. The pupil should be willing to try out the suggested device and he should give it a fair and faithful trial; but when he has made a reasonable effort to use the device and declares that it is not helpful to him, his verdict should be accepted and different devices tried until he is helped by means of the device or devices employed. 3. Devices should be numerous enough to permit of selection on the part of the pupil or to permit of selec- tion on the part of the teacher as he discovers their helpfulness or lack of helpfulness. This criterion is related to the first two criteria, and it emphasizes the 196 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS idea that the teacher should not trust too much to the use of a few supposedly excellent devices. The teacher should be resourceful and alert to invent a wide range of devices from which spontaneous selection can be made in the face of the teaching situation. 4, Devices should not be too numerous. No pupil should be asked to employ so many varied devices that he is confused instead of helped. Likewise, the teacher should not attempt to use so many devices that he confuses the pupil by their multiplicity and rapid changes. This point demands critical judgment on the part of the teacher. He should use a sufficient number of devices to enable him to help every pupil, and yet he should avoid confusing any pupil by using so many that the pupil is more aware of the devices than he is of the things they are intended to help him to learn. 5. Devices should be economical. The chief idea in considering their economy is that of the cost in money, time, and energy in preparation and employ- ment. This idea, however, must include the considera- tion of the results that are secured through the use of the device. A stUl further point in considering economy is that of the length of time it may be used after it has been well prepared. A device that secures excellent results and that can be used for a relatively long period of time is economical, even though its first cost be comparatively high. The special apparatus used in the sciences, lantern-slides used in history. DEVICES 197 literature, sciences, etc., are good examples of really economical devices. A very important point in connection with this con- sideration of economy is that of continuing to employ good devices that are effective and economical. Many teachers clamor for this or that device because it seems to be the popular one at that particular time, and then after securing it soon cease to employ it and begin to clamor for something supposedly more up to date and modem. This idea does not mean that teachers should continue to use a device if it really ceases to be effec- tive and economical, but it does mean that expensive devices ought not to be employed for a short time and then be cast aside or neglected. For example, a certain teacher wanted a series of stereopticon views with a sufficient number of stereopticons to use the views in history classes. The entire outfit was secured, and the teacher used them enthusiastically for a short time, with excellent results. Soon, however, he became tired of managing their use, and employed them less and less frequently until finally they were not used at all. The outfit was still good and, what is more to the point, it could have been used effectively always in the teach- ing of certain periods of history. The trouble was that the device became commonplace and the teacher al- lowed its use to be neglected. 6. Devices should not be mere novelties. That is to say, they should not attract attention to themselves because of the novelty of their form or use. They 198 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS should be so helpful that their forms are lost in- the concentration of attention upon the facts that are to be learned. This does not exclude the idea that novel forms may be the best means of securing concentrated and prolonged attention upon the subject-matter that is to be learned. It does mean, however, that devices should not be employed because they entertain the pupils by their novelty. This point is one that should be studied critically in the use of visual education. The moving picture, for example, may be highly edu- cative or it may be merely a highly entertaining device that accomplishes very little in the way of genuine education. The fundamental idea just set forth is that devices should increase the interest of the learner in the sub- ject-matter that he is studying by helping him to master it more readily. The more interested the learner becomes in the subject-matter, the less atten- tion will he give to the form of devices that are employed in presenting the subject-matter. There- fore they should be effective means of making subject- matter more interesting. 7. Devices should be usable. The main idea in this connection is that they should be of such a character that they can be kept in usable condition without taking too much time and energy in order to keep them ready for use. Another idea of usability is that of the length of time they will last without losing any of their effectiveness. Devices that are always getting DEVICES 199 out of order are not usable in the sense that usability is employed here. Those that last but a short time are not usable as the term is herein used. On the other hand, those that last a long time without requir- ing much attention to keep them in effective working order are the most usable, provided that other con- siderations are equal. 8. Devices should be adapted to the subject-matter and to the goals that are to be secured through the mastery of the subject-matter. A device may be very helpful in one subject, but be of very little help when employed in another subject. The note-book is a good example of this point. The making of a note-book in science may be a help or it may be a hindrance. A note-book in history may be a very poor device and it may even be a distraction to the pupil. The teachers have been prone to catch up this and that device that they have seen employed in this and that subject and to attempt to use these devices in other subjects. The difficulty with this performance usually is that no cri- teria are set up for determining the validity of such a choice of devices. The result is that the teacher fre- quently does not realize that the failure to secure satis- factory results by means of the device is due to its not being adapted to the subject, and concludes that the pupil does not want to work or that the pupil is in- capable of doing the work satisfactorily. There is an important point involved in this con- nection, namely, that teachers should not get the idea 200 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS that the employment of any device is a means of making the course "stiffer." For example, the making of note-books in a science course does not make the course "stiffer" than it would be without their employ- ment. The traditional use of the note-book in science work, however, has tended to give the idea that unless they are required the course is of lower standard. On the other hand, the idea should hold that if any device is adapted to a subject it will enable the pupil to master that subject with less difficulty than he would otherwise experience in his study of that subject. In other words, the devices have no bearing upon the standard of the course, but they merely help to determine the readiness with which the pupil masters the subject to the degree that he meets the standards of attainment set up and secures the standard of development or education that is desired. The "stiffness," then, of a course is de- pendent upon the nature of the goals set up and the nature of the subject-matter employed, and not upon the devices or means that may be employed in dealing with subject-matter in attaining these goals. Devices should be used with discrimination. — The teacher should always use good judgment and discrim- ination in the employment of devices. The black- board, for example, has been used so much in certain subjects that the teacher takes it for granted that it is the most effective device that can be employed. Teachers in high school who deal with mathematics as a means of educating the pupil think the board is DEVICES 201 SO essential that they are lost without a large amount of blackboard space. In fact, they usually want enough to have every pupil in the class working at the board at the same time. Little do they realize how much time they waste in using the blackboard for the whole class. Teachers of languages likewise are apt to feel the loss of the blackboard very keenly. These lines of work especially demand a great amount of drill, and blackboard drill is supposed to be the most efl&cient means of conducting such drills. The result is that the teacher not infrequently keeps the whole class standing during the entire period of forty- five or fifty minutes. Standing at the board is very fatiguing and the mental alertness of the pupil is dissipated by his bad posture and physical discomfort. Moreover, the position at the board is bad for vision, since very little of the board surface is in the proper relation to the position of the eyes for easy vision. Mental confusion and errors often result from poor visualization due to the improper relation of the eyes to the surface of the blackboard and the physical strain of trying to stoop low enough or stretch high enough to write the data involved in the work. Again, many pupils have poor vision and do not see weU the material that is written upon the board. The result is that they get hazy ideas when they should be getting clear conceptions. Then, when the teacher holds them responsible for the materials and thinks that the use of the board has given every one an equal 202 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS chance to acquire the data thus presented, the pupil often fails. The teacher feels aggrieved and blames the result upon the pupil's indifference and inattention. Sometimes the teacher is harshly critical, and the pupil resents the cutting criticisms that, in his judgment, are unjust. The whole difficulty is due to the fact that the teacher used a traditional device without sharply discriminating between its supposed efficacy and the actual physical conditions and factors that invalidated the results. The critical point, then, is that the teacher should study all of the conditions and factors that will neces- sarily be involved in the use of a particular device and thus acquire the knowledge and insight that wiU enable him to use it discriminatingly. In other words, he must constantly be alert to discover the actual results that are being produced in the mind of the learner as the outcome, and intelligently adapt his technique of handling the situation to the overcoming of the defects of the conditions under which the work is being done. SUMMARY A device may be defined as any means, other than subject-matter itself, that the teacher employs in the presentation of subject-matter. The classifying of de- vices helps one to see the real nature of devices. All devices are material or mental and they are also gen- eral or special. The teacher should be guided in his DEVICES 203 selection of devices by the following criteria: helpful- ness to pupils; adaptability to individual needs; numerous enough to permit selection, but not nu- merous enough to be confusing; economy; not mere novelties; usability; adaptability to subject-matter and to goal?) to be attained. The teacher should use devices discriminatingly. EXERCISES 1. Show the distinction between subject-matter and de- vice. Why can subject-matter never be a device? 2. Make a classification of devices on different bases than those given in the chapter. 3. Give two or more illustrations of general material de- vices that were not given in the text. 4. Give two or more illustrations of special material de- vices that have already been given. 5. Give one or more illustrations of general mental devices. 6. Give one or more illustrations of special mental devices. 7. Give one or more illustrations of devices that are both material and mental. 8. Give an example from your own experience of a device that was helpful to one pupil and a hindrance to another pupil in the same class. 9. Give an example from your own experience of ineffec- tive teaching due to the lack of enough devices to permit of selection. 10. Give an example from your own experience of ineffec- tive teaching due to the employment of too many devices. 11. Give an illustration of an economical device that meets all the points set forth in the discussion. 12. Give an illustration of a device that was a mere novelty and ineffective. 13. Give an illustration of a usable device that meets all the points. 204 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS 14. Give an illustration of a device that is adapted to the subject-matter and one that is not adapted to the subject-matter. 15. Give examples from experience of the indiscriminate use of devices. SELECTED REFERENCES Betts, George Heebeht. The Recitation. Contains good discussions on devices. Hall-Quest, Alfred L. The Text-Book. Very good dis- cussion of standards for judging text-books and sugges- tions as to their use. NuTT, H. W. The Supervision of Instruction. Chapter VIII. Principles involved in selection of devices. Watts, H. J. Economy and Training of Memory. Good discussion that will help teachers in selecting devices that will aid pupils in memory work. CHAPTER VIII MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING The starting-point. — The starting-point, in the undertaking of measuring the results of teaching, should be the present status of the pupil with regard to the types of development that are to be secured by means of the subject-matter. The teacher can not determine accurately just how much he has contributed to the education of the pupil if he does not know definitely and accurately the actual educational status of the pupil at the outset of his teaching enterprise. Therefore the very first thing to do is to measure the pupil instead of assigning him a lesson. This may be done through the employment of a well planned exer- cise or series of exercises, which may be either formal or informal or both. These exercises should be so designed and used as to discover the type of mind the pupil possesses, the extent of his unit of concept in interpretation and expression, his habits and facilities for memorization of facts, and his mental equipment of concepts and facts in the field of subject-matter that is to be employed in his further education. The time necessary for accomplishing this task of 206 206 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS arriving at a definite understanding of the present edu- cational status of each pupil is comparable to the amount of time required for making an accurate meas- urement of the status of the pupil at the close of the time that the pupil is under the charge of the teacher. The course of study should be organized with this idea in mind and ample provision should be made for making this initial measurement thorough. One of the most enlightening things for the pupil would be to know his real educational status before he begins to work with material that may take him farther along the road to maturity and mental effi- ciency. The possibility of securing an effective degree of motivation would be greatly enhanced by showing the pupil the possibility of the growth that may be secured by means of the subject-matter in a particular field. Moreover, the pupil will be helped in getting the point of view that education is not merely a get- ting of lessons and passing of quizzes, but that it is a matter of furthering certain phases of his mental ma- turity by means of lessons and possibly by means of quizzes. That is to say, the pupil may be made to realize what the means of growth may be, and also to understand the valid types of evidence that show what actual growth he has made. The teacher is usually in too much of a hurry to assign lessons, and as a result overshoots the mark at the outset. This overshooting of the mark discourages many pupils and causes them to drop out of the class MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 207 unless they are arbitrarily compelled to remain in it. The teacher in this case has his eyes upon the "ground to be covered," and the time seems all too short for traveling the distance; hence he says "Let's go," and steps on the accelerator with the word "go." The important point is not just "go," but it is rather the question of "go" from where to where in terms of educational development of the pupil. The teacher should not be too severely criticized, however, if he is held responsible for the administration of a certain set course of subject-matter. He may not have much choice in the matter, but must live up to the "tradi- tions" of the old idea of "teaching the subject." The fallacy of rushing into lessons without knowing the status of the pupil first may be seen clearly by comparing the teaching situation with the situation in which the physician is called in to treat a case of physical illness. The physician takes time carefully to diagnose the case. He feels the patient's pulse; notes his respiration; looks at his tongue, throat, and eyes; takes his blood-pressure; takes his temperature; makes a blood-test; makes a urinalysis. Then, after comparing the results of all these tests and observa- tions with the characteristic symptoms of this and that disease, he makes his prescription of medicine and orders the course of nursing that, in his judgment, should be administered to restore the patient to health. Now, if he were to follow the usual procedure of the teacher, the first step in his treatment would be to 208 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS give the patient a pill, and, if he survived that one, proceed to give him a bigger and more tasteful one, or perhaps the second dose might be a capsule or a tablet. Then, after he had pilled and capsuled and tableted and dosed his patient with a certain unit or quantity of dope, he would proceed to examine the patient to see whether he was daring to continue to be ill after such generous medical treatment. The physician who followed any such course of pro- cedure would be branded at once as a "quack," merely seeking an opportunity to present his bill. He says, "Take a pill, pay my bill, and be well." If such a doctor is a "quack," what should the dispenser of mental pills be called who begins giving lesson doses without first diagnosing the condition of the patient to learn what he needs and in what form it can best be administered? Whatever name might seem appro- priate to designate the performer, such procedure on the part of the teacher is certainly an asinine per- formance. Setting up goals. — ^The next step, after measurmg and establishing the educational status of the pupil, is that of setting up goals of development toward which the pupil should progress consistently by means of the subject-matter presented in the course. If the pupil possesses the encyclopedic type of mind, the problem of growth is that of developing the power to construct thought unities out of masses of discrete facts. If the pupil possesses the synthetic type of mind, the problem MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 209 of growth is that of developing the habit of careful analysis of the large generalization with which his mind is satisfied to deal. The pupil may possess both the ability to construct thought unities out of discrete facts and the ability to break a large obvious unity down into its supporting details. In this case the pupil needs balanced training in both practices. The ques- tion is, how can the subject-matter in this particular field be made to contribute vitally to these various phases of mental growth? A second goal is that of the extended unit of concept in thinking. This goal has two aspects. The one aspect is the unit of concept in interpreting printed material. The other aspect is the unit of concept in expressing the individual's own ideas. These two aspects of this goal should be so definite and tangible that the pupU may be able to recognize the degree of growth involved in progressing toward the goal. Then the problem of how the subject-matter of the course may be so organized as to contribute definitely to the attainment of the goal can be settled with intelligence. The solution of this problem involves the setting up of the intermediary steps that must be taken in order to progress from the present status of the concept of thinking to the ultimate status desired. A third goal is that of the habit of memorizing and the facility with which it functions in the particular field of subject-matter. The pupil may need to change entirely his habit of memorizing, and he may need to 210 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS learn how to employ helpful devices that will greatly increase the efficiency of his habit in dealing with the particular body of subject-matter. Then the problem of organizing the subject-matter that should be mem- orized for any purpose and for any length of time can be definitely worked out. The setting up of the inter- mediary steps that lead toward the final attainment of the desired goal will enable the teacher to set up the appropriate units or wholes that may be most effec- tively memorized as wholes rather than by parts. A fourth goal, which is closely related to the third goal, is that of defining the exact body of facts that are worth remembering permanently. The pupU should have a clear idea of this goal at the outset, and he should be made to see the connection between the habits of memorization desired and the attainment of this goal. He should also know the kinds of tests that will help in establishing the real status of his mental attainment in mastering the facts that are worth while making a permanent possession. The absolute value of the facts so memorized can not be too greatly emphasized. Mere memory-juggling of facts is not education from the standpoint of any of the phases of maturity desired. If the pupil recognizes the value of the body of facts that are to be thoroughly mem- orized and if he really desires to memorize these facts, he wUl welcome the right kind of tests that will show him what progress he has made and what he still needs to do to secure a satisfactory result. MEASUEEMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 211 Evidences of development. — The next important step after measuring the present educational status of the pupil, and after setting up the goals toward which he is to progress by means of the subject-matter em- ployed in the particular course, is that of deciding upon the kinds of evidence that should be taken into account in determining the status of the pupil, not only at the end of the time during which the subject- matter has been dealt with, but also all along the road from the beginning to the end. The ultimate measure- ments must be made by means of the same tests that were used at the outset or by means of tests that are similar in character. That is to say, the tests that measure the unit of concept in thinking, for example, may be so comprehensive and standardized that the pupil will not be able to pass the upper ranges of the test until he has passed through experiences and train- ing to be derived from working with subject-matter materials that are expressed in sentence units of grad- ually increasing diflBiculty, and has actually reached the higher stage of maturity of the larger mental habit. Therefore the very same test materials that were used in the initial measurements may very well be employed at the end of the course. It may be better, however, to employ new sentences of the same degree of complexity and of the same kinds of structure as were employed in the original tests. The most valid evidences, then, of the growth made in the various types of maturity that really signify 212 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS education of the individual are the scores that he makes on these standardized tests. That is to say, the best kind of measurement that can be employed in determining the growth of a habit is a standardized piece of work that demands the use of the particular habit to a satisfactory degree of efficiency. If the distance between the present status of the pupil and the goal set up to be attained by the end of the course is very great, the teacher needs to employ a series of standardized pieces of work or tests that are graded according to the series of actual stages of growth or habit formation that must be passed through in order to reach the ultimate goal. If tests of this character are not in existence, they must be devised before the teacher can do any worth-while measuring of the actual education that is being secured in the mind of the pupU. There is very great need for this kind of work or test material in connection with virtually every high school subject. The danger that must be guarded against in working out standard tests is the danger of making them subject-matter tests instead of mental-maturity tests. There is a place and a need for carefully constructed subject-matter tests that will measure the mental con- tent of the pupil's mind to determine the actual stock of facts, ideas, concepts, definitions, rules, laws, and principles that he possesses ; but it requires an entirely different kind of test to determine the maturity of mental habits that must function if he is to employ MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 213 this mental content to the best advantage. Take history, for example. The pupU may by virtue of a good memory for historical data and by good habits of practice in memorizing acquire a vast store or mental content of more or less discrete historical facts; but because he lacks mental maturity of his unit of concept in thinking and has not developed his span of judg- ment, he can not employ his mental content either in the interpretation of complex political problems or in the development of constructive political theories in his own attempts to deal with large questions. In other words, a pupil may be long on mental content of facts and yet be short on mental content of mature habits of thinking, or vice versa. The function of the teacher who employs history subject-matter in the edu- cation of the pupil is to secure a balanced development of both kinds of content. Therefore in order to meas- ure the results of his teaching he must have standards that are adapted accurately to determine the status of the pupil's mind in respect to each and every type of growth and development that is specifically sought through the use of historical subject-matter. Tests serve two purposes. — The teacher has two distinct problems to solve. First, he must discover the actual status of the pupil's attainment. Second, he must discover why the pupil does not attain the stand- ards or goals of development desired. The tendency has been to employ standard tests for the purpose of discovering what is and what is not, and to stop at that 214 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS point. Little attempt has been made thus far to devise tests that will disclose the nature of the intermediary steps necessary to bring about a higher stage of devel- opment. Likewise, little has been done in the way of definite tests that measure the status of the minor steps and intermediary habits that gradually build up the higher stage of development desired. Such tests are essential in order that the teacher may determine why the pupil does not measure up to the standard, and in order that the teacher may determine the exact place along the road at which the pupil has arrived. That is to say, the teacher needs to employ tests for the purpose of diagnosing the progress of the pupil from day to day. The teacher needs to know what is going on in the mind of the pupil to-day, to-morrow, the next day, and to know in what direction the inter- mediary daily performances of the pupil are building. There is great need to-day in the high school for well devised tests that will enable the teacher to diagnose the learning performances of the pupil. There is like- wise need for well established tests for measuring the ultimate attainments of the high school pupil. The nature of a diagnosis. — The difference between employing tests as a means of diagnosis and as a means of measuring the status of attainment according to an established standard may be seen from the following illustration. The pupil in typewriting is given a speed test of the standard type. He should make a certain score to be commercially efl&cient. Suppose this score MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 215 is seventy-five words a minute. The results of the test show that he made a score of only fifty words a minute. This result shows that the pupil has not attained commercial efficiency, but it does not show why he has failed to attain the desired degree of effi- ciency. Therefore a number of tests should be em- ployed that will discover the status of the various factors that determine the success or failure of the pupil in attaining the desired goal. One very important factor in this case is that of visual acuity. The pupil may not see the words of the copy clearly, and on account of the effort involved in trying to see accurately enough to avoid making serious errors his speed in writing is greatly diminished. Tests of the pupil's visual acuity will determine readily the degree to which this factor furthers or hinders his writing skill. The testing, however, should be thor- oughly done by means of standard visual tests. Another important factor in typewriting skiU is that of the reaction time of the pupil. The pupU may be lacking in facility to respond to the stimulus of the seen words. The pupil may see the words clearly enough and without visual strain, but the time that it takes him to release the motor impulses involved in making the appropriate movements in writing the words may be so long that his writing speed is mate- rially reduced. Therefore reaction tests that are ap- propriate to the typewriting situation should be em- ployed to discover the part that the reaction time of 216 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the pupil plays in attaining or failing to attain the desired standard of speed. Another factor in typewriting skill is that of the spelling habit or efficiency of the pupil. The pupil may be so inaccurate in his spelling that he must take note of the exact form of each word instead of merely seeing the word as a whole and trusting his spelling habit to give him the correct form. That is to say, he must take time to visualize the letters of the words instead of seeing them as word unities the ideas or names of which are familiar. If the pupil has an effi- cient spelling habit for each word in the material copied, he will take less time for his work than he wiU take if his spelling habit is not reliable. The use of spelling tests wiU determine the degree to which this factor enters into the accounting for failure or success in attaining typewriting skill. Another factor in the typewriting situation is that of the degree to which the pupil has mastered the key- board of the machine. If the pupil has not thoroughly mastered the key-board, his speed may be greatly reduced because of momentary hesitations to get posi- tion or to release the correct impulse to this or that finger. There may not be any particular tests applica- ble in this case other than the usual writing exercises. The employment of these exercises as tests, and care- ful observation of the pupil's reactions as he writes regular copy and introspective analyses made by the pupil himself, should enable the teacher to determine MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 217 to a fair degree the extent to which lack of mastery over the key-board enters into the pupil's failure to attain the desired speed of writing. Another factor that has a decided effect upon the pupil's efficiency in speed of typewriting is the degree of self-consciousness that enters into the situation. The pupil may be so self-conscious under the condi- tions of taking the speed test that, as a result, he injects too much of voluntary attention to parts of the performance that should be trusted entirely to habit. That is to say, the pupil may reduce his speed in writing by inhibiting motor habits through fearing to trust them wholly and unreservedly. A number of speed tests that are taken by the pupil without his being aware of the fact that they are being taken for the purpose may be the means of establishing the extent to which the self-consciousness of the pupil hinders his skUl in typewriting. Standard tests in speed of typewriting, then, merely show the score. They measure the efficiency of the total habit of writing upon the typewriter. Other tests, which should be standardized as fully as possible, are necessary to diagnose the status of the various factors, intermediary steps, and habits that must func- tion adequately in order for the total or larger habit to be efficient. The diagnosis discovers the weak and strong factors and enables the pupil to work more in- telligently toward the mastery of the desired degree of efficiency. 218 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS A critical point. — ^The fundamental point in the problem of working out and using tests for the purpose of measuring attainment and for the purpose of diag- nosing the learning situation is that these two uses of tests should be used as balances the one against the other in determining the function and range or scope of subject-matter. That is to say, the use of tests for purposes of diagnosis will determine the actual reasons for failure to make progress. The establishment of the reasons why the pupil makes only a limited amount of progress within a certain period of time is to a degree a prognosis of the possibility of his making progress within such a period of time, such as a quar- ter, semester, or year. Once this fact has been estab- lished, the attainment that should be considered as standard can be determined and appropriate tests de- vised for measuring the ultimate results of the pupil's efforts. The goal of attainment that was supposed to be attainable by the end of a semester may need to be pushed ahead to the end of the year, and the goal that was supposed to be reached by the end of the year may need to be pushed ahead a half-year or even a whole year. For example, one might set up as a goal in French the unit of concept in interpreting and expressing com- pleix sentences that would contain all of the elements of speech that are ordinarily employed. Standard tests could then be devised and employed in deter- mining whether or not the pupil has attained the de^ MEASUEEMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 219 sired goal. The use of the standard tests, however, will not show whether or not it is possible for the pupil to attain the goal within the given period. That is to say, the score made on the standard tests is not a sufl&cient diagnosis of the learning situation. There- fore other tests must be used as a means of diagnosing the scores made and in determining what the unit of concept should be that is attainable within the given period. If the teacher always looks to the units of human maturing for guidance in setting up the goals of attainment, and if he employs tests for diagnoses as well as for standard measurements, he will not only be able to "get over the ground," but he will be able to get the ground over. A caution. — The teacher must not confuse the use of standardized tests of mental maturity with stand- ardized tests of mental skill. For example, the Courtis arithmetic tests are largely tests of speed and accu- racy in carrying on the fundamental number operations and they set the degrees of attainment that should be reached in the different grades. They do not, how- ever, measure the types of mental maturity set forth above. Such tests are highly valuable for the exact purposes for which they have been devised, but the results secured from them should not be taken as a measure of these other desired goals. The various scales that have been devised are almost, if not wholly, means of measuring skills rather than means of meas- uring degrees of mental development. None of these 220 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS tests or scales are usable for purposes of accurate diagnoses; hence they tend to fasten attention upon the teaching of subject-matter, rather than centering it upon the teaching of the pupU. The plateau of the learning curve and tests. — The work of Swift, Byran, Harter, and others has estab- lished the fact that the progress of learning reaches a plateau where no progress seems to be made for some time. Then the curve rises rather abruptly and con- tinues to rise until another plateau is reached. The use of standardized tests will determine these plateaus, but they will not disclose the nature of the acts nor the progress that is going on at the plateau level that enables the learner to make the next advance to a higher level. It is just as important, if not more im- portant, to know what is going on at the plateau level as it is to test the status of the total habit or skill. Therefore tests for purposes of diagnosis must be brought in at this point and carefully administered, in order that the minor steps that buUd into the larger or higher order habit may be carried on until the results of their mastery will function adequately. That is to say, only very accurate diagnostic tests can deter- mine why the plateau exists and what is necessary to end its existence and to raise the habit to a higher level of efficiency. The technique of measuring the results of teaching. — The problem of selecting the technique that will prove most effective in measuring the results of teach- MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 221 ing is a vital one, and involves first of all setting ofif clearly from each other the two uses of tests suggested in the foregoing discussion. That is to say, the teacher must decide when and how to employ diagnostic tests and when and how to administer standard tests. The following suggestions may be helpful in solving this problem. First of all, the teacher should abandon the time- honored custom of counting so much for class work, so much for note-book (if it is a course in which a note-book is employed as a device), so much for quizzes, and so much for examinations. The adding together of these various items and dividing by two, three, or whatever the number of items may be is not a scientific procedure in testing the results of teaching. Such a procedure means that the teacher has no defi- nite units of mental development set up as the goals to be attained by means of presenting the subject- matter of the particular course. It leaves out of con- sideration the fundamental issue, which is the deter- mining of the ultimate status of each kind of habit or mental content that the study of the subject should bring to the pupil. The important point is not how many blunders and how much struggle and stress the pupU passed through on the road from where each type of mental development was at the beginning of the course to the present status at the end of the course, but what is the exact status of each such mental habit or mental content at the end of the course. The im- 222 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS portant point is not whether the pupil has made the real growth and development that is finally measured by being in school every day or only a part of the time, whether he accomplished it in a short time or a longer time, whether he grew by means of certain devices or by other more individualistic means, but how much growth he actually has attained. If the goals have been rightly placed in the light of the progress revealed through careful diagnoses, then the only ultimate measure is the score of the pupil in the standardized performances. The results of the diagnoses or tests used for diag- nostic purposes should not be a part of the final reck- oning. Their function, as already has been pointed out, is to aid in rightly placing the goals and standards of achievement that are reasonably possible within a given period of time, and to guide the teacher in know- ing what is going on in the pupil's mind as he takes the necessary intermediary steps toward the final goal. The giving of tests for diagnostic purposes, then, is for guidance in teaching and for the enlightenment of the learner. Therefore these tests should be made fre- quently. The reactions of the pupils during the teach- ing period are, in fact, largely diagnostic material. When the pupil makes an error, the teacher needs to apply diagnostic tests to discover why the pupil made the error and how to direct the thinking of the pupil in building up a correct reaction in place of the incorrect one. The asking of questions in the development of a MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 223 problem, the use of drill materials, the employment of review, all are forms of diagnostic tests. Therefore the evaluation of the reactions of the pupil during the reci- tation or teaching periods should not be taken as a part of the final evaluation of the growth made by the pupil. It is a good point in technique to give frequent short quizzes or tests that help the teacher to check up on the development of the small habits that are to be built gradually into the larger habit or skill. The pupil, however, should know the purpose of these tests and should be made to realize how they indicate progress toward the final goal. It is likewise a good point in technique to use both oral and written tests for the purpose of diagnosing what goes on in the pupil's mind. Some pupils possess the ability to express their mental habits through oral speech, but are not able to do themselves justice when compelled to give their reactions in writing. On the other hand, many pupils can express their mental habits and reactions much more effectively by means of writing than they can by means of oral speech. The important point in regard to the giving of diag- nostic tests is that they should be carefully selected and frequently given. If this practice is followed the pupils will not be in doubt as to the development they are making day after day, and they will not have the impression, as they so frequently do, that they are getting along, or, as they put it, "passing," when they 224 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS are not really growing and developing toward the ulti- mate goal. Technique in giving standard tests. — The funda- mental point, in reference to the giving of standard or final tests for the purpose of measuring the actual status of development of any specific form of mental maturity, is that the pupil should be given a number of these tests and the average of the scores be taken as the final estimate of his standing. That is to say, the same principle should be applied here that is apphed in working out the standardized test itself. No test can be considered as a standard that is not the repre- sentative measure of a very large number of cases. Likewise, no one score should be taken as the measure of an individual, but the average of a number of scores should be computed as the representative score. This point needs especial emphasis, for there has been too great a tendency to take the results of one trial on a standard test as the ultimate measure. This has been particularly true in the giving of intelligence tests. As a result, very serious errors have been made in sending to subnormal groups pupils who should never have been taken from their regular groups. Like- wise, many pupils have been "flunked" on final exami- nations and ruthlessly denied the privilege of a second trial. Even in the case of a memory test of the mental content of facts possessed by the pupil, a number of tests should be given and averaged, instead of taking MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 225 the result of a single ten- or fifteen-question exami- nation. A second item of good technique in the giving of standardized tests is that of making the pupil thor- oughly acquainted with the nature of the tests as early as possible in the course. That is to say, the pupil should never be in doubt as to exactly what the stand- ards are that he wiU be expected to measure up to at the end of the time during which the course is taken. Even in the case of facts that are to be memorized, the pupil should know just what these facts are and just the way in which the final testing will be done. Take language, for example. If the pupil is expected to memorize a thousand words, he should have the list of one thousand words at the very beginning of the under- taking. If, in history, a hundred or two hundred or any particular number of events is to be memorized, the pupil should know at the beginning just what these events are and the exact way in which the tests will be given. It should be an open and aboveboard measure of a definite development, and nothing vital should be omitted and nothing unimportant should be injected. Moreover, there should not be differences of opinion as to what is important and what is not valu- able enough for permanent mastery. Negative aspect of testing. — One of the important aspects of testing the results of teaching is that of dis- covering what the pupil can not do. This phase of 226 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS measuring should receive very special attention in the technique of giving diagnostic tests. A pupU ought not to spend a whole semester in discovering that he can not master the intermediary steps that would enable him to pass the final standard test. If a pupil is per- mitted to spend a semester, or even a year, in working faithfully and conscientiously with any field of subject- matter, and as a result does not attain the goals set up and attained by his fellows, he should be given credit and no disgrace should be attached to his inability to profit by means of the subject-matter dealt with. How- ever, the employment of valid diagnostic tests over a limited period of time should enable such a pupil to be changed to some other line of work that might be bet- ter adapted to educating him to a desired positive de- gree. The social standing and the privilege of gradu- ating ought not to be denied the faithful, conscientious pupil who has spent a semester or a year in learning what he can not do and what developments he can not make by means of certain fields of subject-matter. Negative credit should be just as respectable as positive credit and just as acceptable in meeting the require- ments for the social function of graduation. The assigning of marks. — ^The assigning of marks or credit grades is one of the most difficult and unsatis- factory phases of measuring the results of teaching. The difficulties can be overcome largely by working out the reasonable standards or goals that all normal pupils can attain by proper reasonable effort under the MEASUEEMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 227 guidance of a skilled teacher. Then the average score of a number of trials will be the measure of attain- ment. If this average is equal to or above the goal set, then the credit should be positive and marked satis- factory. Such a plan would do away with the ranking of scores on a scale of A, B, C, D, etc., and it would discontinue the use of the probability curve in dis- tributing grades. The probability is that it is an un- safe device based upon a fallacy, as far as measuring the results of teaching in any single class is concerned. In the first place, the group is entirely too small, and in the second place it is supposed to be a selected and not a random group. Therefore no one in a class ought to be doomed to fail or be "flunked" by the em- ployment of the probability curve. Any pupil in type- writing, for example, who attains the standard speed of, say, seventy-five words a minute should be counted satisfactory, regardless of how much above the mark other pupils go in mastering the skill. That is to say, here is a standard of a practical, usable kind that is the goal, and not what one pupil does as compared with another. The standard score or norms should be the modal score or the average score of thousands of cases, and the score of any individual should be compared with this standard. SUMMARY The starting-point in undertaking to measure the results of teaching should be the status of the pupil at 228 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the beginning of the course. The more definitely this status is established at the outset, the more exactly the results of the teaching can be measured in the end. Not only the status of the pupil at the beginning should be definitely known, but also definite goals of attainment should be set up as the ultimate status to be reached by the end of the course. Definite evi- dences of development should be decided and tests de- vised for securing these evidences. Tests for two pur- poses are needed, namely, standard tests that measure attainment, and diagnostic tests that show what is lacking in the training of the pupil who does not make a satisfactory score on the standard tests. The check- ing against each other of the use of tests to determine standards of attainment and the use of tests for pur- poses of diagnosis will enable the teacher more accu- rately to set up attainable goals of development for definite periods of time and to adapt subject-matter to securing their attainment. Standard tests of mental maturity and tests of mental skill should not be confused with each other. The right use of diagnostic tests and standard tests will do away with the traditional custom of counting so much for class work, so much for quizzes, etc. The ultimate standing of the pupil should be determined by the score he makes on the standard tests. The final score that is taken as the measure of the pupil's development should be the average of a number of MEASUREMENT OF THE RESULTS OF TEACHING 229 scores made upon a number of trials on the standard tests. Pupils should become acquainted as early as possible with the nature of the standard tests and the types of development that they are supposed to attain during a course. Attention should be given to the negative findings disclosed by diagnostic tests and by standard tests. Graduation credit should be given the individual who works faithfully and by his effort discovers what he can not do effectively. The use of diagnostic and standard tests will simplify the problem of assigning marks or grades to pupils. The modal score or average score of several thousand cases should be the norm with which to compare the score of any individual. EXERCISES 1. Select any high school subject and select materials for testing the types of minds possessed by the pupils. 2. Devise means of testing the pupil's unit of concept in interpretation and expression. 3. Select materials from any high school subject that may be used to test the pupil's habits of memorization. 4. Give two illustrations of how mere memorization of facts in high school subjects does not educate the pupil. 5. Illustrate the difference between a subject-matter test and a mental-maturity test. 6. Illustrate the use of tests for purposes of diagnosis in either geometry or algebra; history or civics; one of the modern languages. 7. Take any high school subject and demonstrate the two 230 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS uses of tests in determining the amount of subject- matter to be employed in the course. 8. Illustrate the use of tests in diagnosing the psycho- logical conditions of the "plateau" in the learning curve. 9. Give two or more examples to show why the counting of so much for class work, so much for quizzes, etc., is unscientific and not a true measure of the results of teaching. 10. Give concrete cases to substantiate the point that the score made on one trial on a standard test should not be taken as the measure of the pupil's development. 11. Give several examples of cases in which graduation credit for negative results was justifiable. SELECTED REFERENCES Foster, Herbert H. Principles of Teaching in Secondary Education. Chapter XIV. Pp. 271 to 292 discuss scales and tests for high school subjects. Monroe, De Voss, and Kelly. Educational Tests and Measurements. Chapters VI and VII. Good account of tests applicable to high school subjects up to 1917. Chap- ters VIII, IX, X will be very helpful to any teacher who undertakes to work out a standard test in any subject. Parker, Samuel C. Methods of Teaching in High School Subjects. Chapter XXII. Excellent discussion of prac- tical aspects of testing work done by high school pupils. Strayer, George D. A Brief Course in the Teaching Process. Chapter XIX. Very good general discussion of the need and use of scientific measurements of educa- tional results. CHAPTER IX THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING Technique defined. — The term technique is used here to mean the acts put forth by the teacher in presenting subject-matter to the pupil. The technique of the teacher is not merely the acts themselves, but also the skUl or quality of the acts put forth in pre- senting the subject-matter to the pupU. In fact, tech- nique might very well be defined as the skill of the teacher in carrying on the acts of teaching. This idea of technique is clearly distinct from the method of learning, and is also sharply defined from the devices employed in teaching. Technique is related, however, to both the method of learning and the devices em- ployed; hence technique may be defined as the skill of the teacher in manipulating the devices so that the psychological processes carried on by the learner are stimulated to effective reactions in dealing with the subject-matter that is to be learned. The pedagogical sequence. — The teacher must first know what mental processes should be carried on within the fundamental movement of the mind in attempting to master the subject-matter presented. In the second place, the teacher must decide upon the 231 232 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS devices that will be most effective in presenting the subject-matter. Last of all, the teacher must decide what acts to put forth and the manner or quality of putting them forth in employing the devices effec- tively. This order of thinking through each teaching problem should become habit, and may very well be termed the pedagogical sequence of good teaching. This pedagogical sequence emphasizes the psychlog- ical processes of the learner as the starting-point and the basis for determining the selection of both the devices and the technique of teaching. This emphasis will be the chief factor in bringing about improvement and refinement in the process of teaching. That is to say, the ultimate improvement in teaching rests upon the refinement of the technique that is practised by the teacher. The refinement of technique, however, can be brought about only by pointing every act that the teacher puts forth in teaching to the stimulating and directing of the psychological processes that the learner must carry on in order to master the subject- matter presented. Therefore, the more the teacher gives attention first to determining definitely the men- tal processes of the learner in dealing with each phase of subject-matter presented, the more will he con- sciously select his technique in the light of the effect it will have upon the learning performance of the pupil. Criteria that govern the selection of technique. — The teacher may be greatly aided in selecting his tech- nique by setting up a series of important considerations THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 233 as a guide in determining what his practices will be. The following principles are a valid basis for such practical selection of technique. 1. Every act of technique should be selected on the basis of its direct effect upon some essential phase of the learner's performance in learning. That is to say, the technique of the teacher will be good or bad as it has a good or bad effect upon the mental processes carried on by the learner in dealing with the subject- matter presented to him. The chief basis for deter- mining the effect that any particular act of technique will be likely to have upon a particular mental process involved in the learning performance must necessarily be the experiences of the teacher in securing satisfac- tory results in similar learning situations in the partic- ular field of subject-matter. 2. Every act of technique should be selected on the basis of the naturalness with which the teacher can employ it. That is to say, a teacher can not use any act of technique effectively unless that act is natural and easy for the teacher to perform. This point does not exclude the idea that a teacher may be able, through conscious drill and faithful effort, to render acts of technique that at first are awkward and un- natural for him perfectly natural and easy. It does mean, however, that the teacher should not attempt to practise acts of technique just because he has seen some highly skilled teacher employ them, when these acts are absolutely foreign to his nature and type of 234 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS personality. The teacher should study his own nature and should know his weaknesses and limitations. Then he should form the habit of intelligent and fear- less self-criticism, and he should not undertake to practise technique that is so foreign to his nature that he is not likely ever to master it to the degree in which it becomes easy and natural. On the other hand, the teacher should not be too hasty in deciding that he can not render natural to himself practices in technique that he sees expert teachers employ effectively. He should analyze these acts of technique and the learning performance to which they seem adapted, and study the whole situa- tion carefully with a view to giving these phases of technique a thoroughgoing, unprejudiced trial. In other words, the teacher should not allow himself to become prejudiced against any particular act or set of acts of technique. On the contrary, he must keep his mind open and free to accept or reject acts of tech- nique, according to the results secured by faithful at- tempts to master them. 3. Many acts of technique should be selected ac- cording to the nature of the device employed in the particular teaching situation. Many a well selected and excellent device has failed to prove effective be- cause of the faulty technique practised in using it. The teacher must study the devices selected in each case in order to adapt his technique to the manipulation of the devices in such a way as to render their use most THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 235 effective. In other words, the technique of the teacher will be effective only as it reaches and affects the learning performance 6i the pupil through well se- lected and adapted devices. 4. The acts of technique should be selected accord- ing to the nature and maturity of the pupil or the class upon whom they are practised. An act of tech- nique may not be equally effective with all pupils in the group, and the technique that works well with one group may not work effectively with another group. An act of technique may be just the thing with fresh- men, but wholly ineffective with seniors. Again, an act of technique may be well received by girls and yet be entirely lost upon boys. The teacher must be alert to discover the reactions of the pupils and to adapt his technique to meet the varying characteristics and ten- dencies of the extreme ranges of individual differences found among adolescent boys and girls. 5. Acts of technique should be selected according to the nature of the subject-matter. The presentation of content subject-matter requires a different tech- nique from the technique that is effective in pr^enting formal material in the same subject. Likewise, the technique that proves effective in dealing with mathe- matics may not be suited to the presentation of lan- guage material; and science, history, sociology, etc., may require still different adaptations of technique to render their presentation effective. Therefore the teacher must study the relation of any particular act 236 TEACHING mOH SCHOOL PUPILS of technique to the particular body of subject-matter that is to be presented. The critical point in this connection is that of the purposes for which the subject is being taught. The technique practised must be related to these purposes in such a degree as to insure their most effective and complete realization. Hence the teacher must look through the nature of the subject to the purposes for which it is being taught, and he must adapt his tech- nique to fit the nature of the subject and to accom- plish the purposes. 6. The acts of technique should be selected accord- ing to the length of time occupied by the teaching period. A short period will require a different sort of practice from that which is best adapted for a long period. This point is also tied up with the immediate purposes of the teaching period. If the teaching period is for the purpose of review, drill, or the presentation of new material, the technique practised must be dif- ferent, even though the length of time be the same in each case. 7. Technique should be selected according to the environment of the class-room. The physical condi- tions under which the teaching is carried on may be so widely different in many cases that the technique practised in even the same subject and for the same purposes will have to be greatly modified in order to secure satisfactory results. Not only the environment THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 237 of the class-room, but also the environment of the school building and even the environment of the school site, may need the most careful consideration in de- termining the most effective technique to practise. Rules governing the use of technique. — 1. No act of technique should "ever become an end in itself. That is to say, the teacher should never have his atten- tion centered upon his technique to the extent that his chief concern is showing off his performance. In other words, it should never distract the attention of the pupil from the mastery of the subject-matter pre- sented. The learning performance of the pupil should hold the center of the stage at all times, and the tech- nique of the teacher should be inconspicuous. As a rule, the more the technique of the teacher is in evi- dence the less effective it is, and vice versa. 2. No act of technique is in itself good or bad, but each is good or bad according to the effect it produces in each particular situation. The act that is effective at one time in one situation may not be effective at another time in another situation. The teacher must constantly adapt his technique to the securing of the desired results in each teaching situation. Some acts of technique are in general good, while others are in general bad or faulty. The very fact, however, that some are generally good while others are generally bad makes it all the more necessary for the teacher to use such acts with careful discrimination, in order that the 238 TEACHING mOH SCHOOL PUPILS act that is generally good may not be used when it will not be effective, and in order that the act that is gen- erally bad may be used when it will be effective. Technique adapted to devices, — Certain devices are so much used in all teaching that some general sug- gestions concerning the technique that is in general effective with these devices may be helpful. These points should be taken merely as suggestions, how- ever, and the teacher should be alert to discover when and how to modify the technique in using these and all other devices in teaching. I. Technique in asking questions. — Every teacher will employ questions in teaching any subject. There- fore every teacher should study the art of questioning and seek to attain a high degree of skill in using this device. The first point to keep in mind is that of the "method of the learner." The teacher must first de- termine what it is that he wishes to present to the mind of the learner. Second, he must determine what kind of question to ask in order to put the subject-matter before the mind of the learner as a vague whole. Then he must decide how to break up the large question or whole into smaller questions or wholes so that the progress of analysis will be carried on effectively. Lastly, he must determine the form of the question or questions that will enable the pupil to put the answers to the detailed questions of analysis together into a synthetic answer to the one large question with which he started his learning performance. In other words, THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 239 the teacher should organize his questions on the basis of their relation to the unity presented and on the basis of their effectiveness in stimulating the mental processes of the learner in dealing with this unity. A second important point is that of the number of questions asked in the presentation of a particular unity. The number of questions must not be too small, for that may mean that the pupil deals always with such large parts of the larger unity that he can not analyze the larger unity into a sufficient number of supporting details. On the other hand, the number of questions should not be too large, for that may mean that the pupil will always be dealing with such small fragments of the larger unity that he can not construct the synthesis or larger unity out of these fragments. A third point that is closely related to the number of questions asked is that of the speed with which questions are asked. If questions are asked too rap- idly, not enough time is given for the pupil to deter- mine as to the answers. Moreover, the pupil may not even analyze the questions if they are asked too rap- idly. The pupil must have time for this analysis and for getting the problem clearly presented to his mind before he can do any intelligent thinking in the direc- tion of constructing the correct answer. Too many questions result in snap judgments, guessing at the answers, and fragmentary thinking. The number of questions and the speed with which they are asked should be determined by the purpose. If it is memory 240 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS drill, many rapid questions may be just the kind of technique that is most effective. The pupil should be expected to answer from memory, and he should be alert to speed up his memory process of recall in sup- plying the needed data spontaneously. If, however, the purpose is to develop constructive thinking about a problem, rapid questioning is apt to be confusing. The teacher needs to do careful thinking before questioning the pupil, hence he can not employ a large number of rapid-fire questions. Moreover, the pupil must have time to analyze the question and to think out the answer before another question is asked. The critical poiat in this connection is the fact that too frequently the teacher does not have clear unities of subject-matter in mind when asking questions. Hence he asks enough questions to bring the main body of facts before the mind of the pupil in relatively small fragments. The result is the asking of many questions that leave the subject-matter presented in Uttle isolated groups of facts. If these facts ever be- come fused into the construction of the significance of the unity to which they belong, it will be because some happy situation brings the right questions to the mind of the pupil and stimulates him to construct his ideas into the unity of thought that enables him to meet the situation. That is to say, a large part of the ques- tioning that is done by teachers is spontaneous and haphazard. This means that the results are ineffective learning of worth-while subject-matter. THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 241 Another important consideration in determining the technique of effective questioning is that of when the teacher should prepare his list of questions to be used in the presentation of a particular phase of subject- matter. This point is closely related to the point just set forth, that the teacher too frequently does not have in mind a clear unit of significance to which to point all his questions. The first step, then, is the setting up of this unit of meaning that is to be presented. Then the teacher must take stock of the pupil's background of experience as best he can, and decide what questions will be most helpful to the pupil in bringing his expe- rience to bear upon the solution of the large question or problem. Such a procedure demands deliberation on the part of the teacher; hence he needs to prepare a list of constructive, coordinated questions that will lead the pupil through a clear analysis and synthesis of the unit of meaning that the pupil is to learn. If the teacher practises this habit of careful preparation of his questions before he undertakes to present the problem to the pupil, he will soon become skilled in asking con- structive questions. Only a very experienced and expert teacher can ask spontaneously questions that will be adapted to the mental equipment of the pupU and also be coordinated so as to set up a unit of meaning as a more or less vague whole, lead the pupil to analyze it, and reor- ganize his answers into a synthetic answer to the large question or problem. Moreover^ the teacher who is 242 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS equipped with a carefully thought out list of questions, if alert to the teaching situation, is prepared to expand the list or to cut it down as the reactions of the pupil indicate the necessity for more minute analysis or for less minute breaking up of the large question or prob- lem. The writing out of a list of questions beforehand will not make the teacher bookish or mechanical in his presentation of subject-matter. It is the thinking of isolated groups of facts and the asking of questions that test the pupil's memory for these isolated groups of facts that make the teacher bookish. Likewise, the asking of a set of questions set down in a book at the close of a section or a chapter may or may not be a book- ish, mechanical performance. If the list of questions so compiled is a coherent analysis and synthesis of a unit of meaning, and if the teacher recognizes the unit as organized by the list of questions, the teacher will use these questions in such a way as to develop the thinking out of the significance that is embodied in the list. He wUl supplement the list or omit from it, as the constructive thinking of the pupil demands. If, however, the list of questions is constructed to demand merely the memory of facts presented in the section or chapter, as the case may be, the use of the list will be bookish and mechanical. The critical point is that the teacher must see to it that he uses questions that are organized around a unit of meaning that is significant. He must either con- THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 243 struct such a list of coordinate questions, or he must see that the lists furnished are so organized. The criti- cal facts certainly support the argument that the safest road to the development of effective and reliable tech- nique in questioning is to prepare a definite list of questions before going before the pupil to present the problem that he is to master. Another important item in the technique of ques- tioning is that of the language. The question should be stated as directly as possible and in words that are understood by the pupil. The statement must not be so complex, so involved, that the pupil at once has a difficult problem of sentence analysis to solve before he can get its significance. New or unfamiliar words should not be employed in questions, no matter how direct and simple they otherwise may be. The pupil should acquire vocabulary at other times and in other ways. Of course, this does not mean that a helpful word, although new, may not be introduced in a ques- tion, provided the teacher explains its meaning clearly and is sure that the pupil is helped rather than hin- dered by the enlargement of his vocabulary at that particular time. Another point in the technique is that of the form of the question. The idea before expressed, that no act of technique is in itself good or bad, should be kept in mind in this connection ; but certain forms of questions are in general good, while certain other forms are in 244 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS general bad. No matter what the purpose of the teacher is, as a rule the following fornas of questions are not effective : A. The question that answers itself. For example, the teacher in civics may say, "The United States is a nation; is it not?" This form of question, which indi- cates the answer, is used frequently by teachers, and leads to poor preparation and mere acquiescence in- stead of alert thinking. Moreover, it shows lack of definite constructive thinking on the part of the teacher. That is to say, he is not thinking about the learning performance as directed toward a specific goal. As a rule such a question indicates that the teacher is trying to get over so much ground or subject-matter, and has lost the vital point, which is to get subject- matter over instead of getting over subject-matter. There is a vast difference between these two proposi- tions. The teacher too frequently sees the course in a subject as so much material to be gone over. The main objective in teaching any course should be the getting of subject-matter over into the mind of the pupil in such a way as to bring about real development and mental maturity. In other words, it is the matter of keeping the "method of learning" constantly in the foreground. B. The question that can be answered by "yes" or "no." This form is used to a great extent, and many times it may be effective. This type of question, how- ever, tends to encourage guessing on the part of the THE TECHNIQUE OP TEACHING 245 pupil, and many times the teacher unconsciously gives the clue to the answer by some slight change of facial expression or by some other movement that suggests to the pupil the correct answer. The most critical point, hovvever, is the fact that such questions indicate the lack of a definite objective on the part of the teacher. The teacher who has a definite unit of sig- nificance to present to the pupil will seldom need to ask a question that calls for the answer "yes" or "no." The questions, in such a case, will be of such a charac- ter that they will demand the thinking that should go on in the pupil's mind in order for him to be able to answer "yes" or "no" intelligently. These two forms are probably the most frequently used of any of the objectionable forms. Just as they are considered to be generally bad, so the following forms are thought to be generally good. A. The question that calls for a definite piece of information, or the "factual" question. The teacher needs to know what bodies of facts the pupil really possesses in order that he may guide and direct the pupil in making use of the facts to best advantage. Therefore he must ask many questions that begin with "what," "where," "when," etc. The chief point to keep in mind is that their use should in most cases be merely the preparation for the consideration of worth-while problems that will demand the employment of the facts involved in the answers of the "factual" questions in the working out of their solutions. 246 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS B. The evaluating question. This t3^e of question usually begins with "why," "how," etc. It demands the weighing and evaluating of data for the solution of some vital problem or issue. This form of question requires reflective and constructive thinking on the part of both the teacher and the pupil. The evalu- ating question can not be formulated as easily as other forms of questions; hence especial preparation is neces- sary before the teacher undertakes the presentation of material for this purpose. This type of question is most constructive and most educative. It is related to the ultimate outcome of education; for facts, after all, are not worth much unless one is able to evaluate them in the light of their usefulness in meeting vital human needs. Therefore the evaluating questions should be the final type used in the presentation of virtually every subject in the high school. A further consideration in determining the most effective practice in the technique of questioning is that of asking the question before or after naming the pupil who is to answer the question. In general, the best effect is secured by asking the question and wait- ing a sufl&cient length of time for careful thought on the part of the pupils before naming the one who is to answer it. There are times, however, when the best effect, for the particular pupU at least, is secured by naming the pupil who is to answer and then stating the question. This is especially true in the case of slow pupils, and sometimes in the case of very timid THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 247 pupils. The timid pupil is often unable to answer a question when he is suddenly named after the question has been asked; whereas if he is named first he may recover from his confusion through giving attention to the question. This will not always be true, however, and the teacher must study the tendencies of each pupil and his individual reactions to be able to de- termine just what practice to follow. Therefore as a rule he should address questions to the class and watch individual reactions to the questions. 2. Technique in lecturing. — Every teacher uses the lecture. device to some extent; hence the technique of lecturing should be carefully worked out and thor- oughly mastered. The important point that should be kept constantly in mind is that the use of the lecture device should be an economical and effective means of stimulating the mind of the learner to carry on the general mental movement of learning. The mind first sees a thing as a whole; hence the first step in the lecture should be that of giving the class a brief sum- mary outline or sketch of the general points and or- ganization of the lecture. That is to say, get the large issue or problem before the class, so that the pupils will see the large thought whole or synthesis. The large points thus cdordinately presented become the framework upon which the supporting and clarifying details can be readily and effectively built. The second step in the lecture should be the taking up of each large point in turn, and working out the 248 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS analysis into the most minute details that are essential in making clear the significance or meaning of the large idea. It is a good rule in technique to give the class an outline of the analytical point before giving the illustrative discussion or argument that will estab- lish its coherence and relation to the larger unity. In fact, this step is really a repetition of the first step. The only real difference is that each analytical point is one of the large coordinate points of the entire lec- ture theme. This smaller unity is first analyzed and outlined into its largest coordinate points, just as the larger theme was analyzed and outlined into its largest topics or coordinate ideas, and then the explanations and supporting discussions can be built more readily and effectively upon this mental framework. The third step in the lecture should be the building in of the detailed ideas and facts that will complete the thought fabric that has been gradually woven by setting up the mental warps of large ideas and finally filling in the woof of supporting details. The lecture now takes up each of the smaller points in turn in the outline of the larger points, and amply illustrates and discusses it. The final point in technique in connec- tion with this step in lecturing should be the sum- marizing of the qualifying discussions into a brief coherent thought unity that expresses the significance of the large point or topic. The last step in the lecture should Be the giving of a summary of the smaller summaries, so that the pupils THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 249 have a clearly defined thought whole of the lecture theme, with sufficient qualifications to give it vital sig- nificance. The first statement of the theme and the analyzing down into its fundamental outline of co- ordinate ideas is presenting the skeleton of the thought being whose structure and meaning is to be learned. The other steps are, in the analogy, the building in of the fieshy parts of the whole thought being. The final summaries that culminate in the grand summary of the lecture theme are the presenting of an X-ray thought picture that gives clearly the vital significance of the skeletal unity surrounded by the fleshy details of facts and ideas. The effectiveness of the lecture may be greatly in- creased through the use of other devices, such as charts, drawings, graphs, maps, and apparatus of vari- ous kinds, according to the nature of the subject- matter under consideration. Whenever the teacher plans to use such devices, it is a good point in technique to have aU devices fully prepared and conveniently arranged for use at the proper time. When apparatus or mechanical devices of any sort are to be used, the teacher should test them near enough to the time of the lecture to know that they will work satisfactorily. Another important item in connection with the using of mechanical or physical devices during a lec- ture is that of making sure that every member of the class can see easily the data or subject-matter thus presented. This point requires careful planning be- 250 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS forehand and careful consideration of individual diffi- culties of pupils and the handicaps of the actual class- room conditions and equipments. Another item of good technique is that of always standing or sitting in a commanding position, so that every member of the class can see and hear the speaker clearly and distinctly. The teacher should consider the individual difficulties of pupils in respect to vision and audition in carrying out this point of technique. This will require attention to the modulation of the speaker's voice and careful regulation of the force of utterance according to the size of the room and the size of the class. The acoustic properties of the room should also be taken into consideration in order to secure the best results by overcoming environmental handicaps through good technique of vocalization. It is an item of good technique for the lecturer to face the entire class as much as possible and to study the individual members carefully enough to catch the various physical reactions and facial expressions that indicate attention or lack of interest on the part of the pupils. Practice in making such spontaneous analyses of the reactions of pupils will in time develop a con- siderable degree of skUl and accuracy in interpreting the responses of the different individuals in the class. Skill in this form of technique will often save the teacher from talking too much over the heads of his listeners, or from talking down to them too much and thus boring and disgusting them. Again, it will enable THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 251 the lecturer to discover the points at which some of the class may find difficulty in following the discussion. The teacher can pause, when such a condition is ap- parent, and ask for questions or give further illustra- tions of the same points. Unless this point is carefully watched, the teacher may do a great deal of talking without accomplishing worth-while results. The speaker should never forget that lecturing is merely a device and that it must constantly be adapted to meet the varying factors that enter into the teaching situ- ation. The final point in the technique of lecturing is that of instructing and guiding the pupils in the taking of notes on the lecture. The pupils should know just what the practice of the teacher will be in lecturing. This wiU enable them to take down the introductory outlines in complete form and also to take down the X-ray summaries virtually as given. The pupils are thus free to give concentrated attention to the illustra- tions and discussions that are employed to develop the coherence of the introductory outline of points and to build the summaries into a definite structure for per- manent mastery. The teacher should adapt the rate of speaking to the note-taking periods and to the purely listening periods. A Uttle team-work between teacher and class will soon develop an understanding that will render the results vastly more effective than they could otherwise be. It is often a good form of technique to require the 252 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS pupils to hand in their notes at the close of the lecture. If the teacher is giving a series of lecture discussions, this point may be modified by having the notes handed in at the end of each week, at the end of the discus- sions over a certain part of the series, or at the end of the series of lectures. The effectiveness of this prac- tice will depend upon the nature of the subject-matter being presented in the lecture, and particularly upon the maturity of the pupils and the training and prac- tice they have had in taking notes on lectures. The teacher must always remember that the notes are a device that should help the pupils in mastering the subject-matter in such a way as to develop definite habits and stages of intellectual development. There- fore the technique practised must not violate any fun- damental principles that should guide in the use of a device. That is to say, the teacher should not require the taking of notes and handing them in at stated periods as a part of the work upon which the pupils are to be graded. The notes should be a means of enabling the teacher to study the development that he is trying to secure in the pupils, but he should have tests of the final results of his teaching that are independent of any device employed in attempting to secure the results. 3. Technique in the use of text-books. — The most common device in all teaching is the text-book. The text-book is a very economical and effective device THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 253 when rightly used, but its use may be greatly abused by the unskilled teacher. A course in a subject is too often the study of a book rather than the study of a field of problems. The teacher assigns lessons out of the book instead of assigning problems and then giving the pupil information as to where he can find helpful material in the text-book. The teacher should first of all set up in his own mind the field of problems and the purposes for which they will be employed in teaching fche high school pupUs. Then he will be in a position to examine text-books critically and to determine their value as devices in aiding the pupils in their study of the problems. Then the teacher should form definite habits of examining and using text-books. The first habit should be that of examining the text- book very thoroughly before making an assignment from it. This examination should give the teacher first of all a mastery of the author's point of view and the organization of the subject-matter. This is essen- tial, for unless the teacher knows the point of view of the author he will not know whether the pupil will be helped or confused by going to the text for material on his study assignments. The teacher should not only know the author's point of view and the organization of the subject-matter materials contained in the book, but he should also evaluate carefully the materials of the book in the light of the purposes for which the field of subject-matter is being employed in teaching. 254 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS This evaluation will enable him to determine the real usability of the book as an economical and effective device. A second habit should be that of giving very definite and specific instructions to the pupils on the use of the text as an aid in preparing study assignments. This involves a consideration of the mechanics of organiza- tion that the author has employed and the best way in which to capitalize the work of the author so as to save time and energy for the pupils. An important point in this connection is the fact that frequently a text-book contains a great amount of material that is not valuable or helpful to the high school pupils. Therefore it is a good point in technique for the teacher to mark for the class at the beginning of the course, or at the beginning of the study of any large problem or division of the course, all material that is not important and that need not be considered. A third habit that the teacher should form is that of determining carefully just what use to make of the text-book during the active teaching period. The practice that is most effective will vary in the different subjects and also in the same subject, according to the purposes of the teacher, the size of the class, the other devices that are available, and the physical situation in the class-room. Just what practice is best at any time may be decided definitely by following the sug- gestions of the following principles. First, the text-book should be a means of directing THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 256 the attention of the entire class to the same problem simultaneously. Second, the text-book should be the most economical means of putting relevant material into the hands of all the members of the class simul- taneously for the solution of a problem. Third, the text may be the most economical means for verifying results that have been worked out by the class as a whole and by individual members of the group. Fourth, the text may be a source of materials for drill in the first stages of the development of a skiU. Fifth, the text may be a very efficient means of review when the purpose is to give a new point of view on problems that have been presented. That is to say, the text may be the means of getting the particular body of subject-matter readily before the pupU in order that his attention can be directed without loss of time and at no great expenditure of energy to the new point of view that is desired. If these principles can be carried out more econom- ically and effectively in some other way, then the text- book should not be employed during the recitation period. For example, in a language class where trans- lation and grammatical analysis are being emphasized, the material might aU be put upon the blackboard at the beginning of the period by having each pupil write a short part of it in its proper order. Then the books should be closed and all should give attention to each part as it is taken up for translation, working out of constructions, etc. This practice enables the teacher 256 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS to go forward with constructive study, and prevents the pupil who is unprepared from trying to make a hasty and fragmentary preparation during the process of the teaching period. The effect upon the prepara- tion of the pupil will soon be apparent, for it will induce getting ready for something to be done with the aid of the teacher, that the study for the teaching period was not expected to enable the pupil to do alone. The text-book can and should be used just as freely in the class in history, geography, science, etc., as in mathematics, language, and literature, if the pupil is working on definite problems instead of merely mem- orizing materials. The old practice of "books closed" at the beginning of every recitation was based upon the idea that the lessons were learned — that is, mem- orized — and the chief thing left to do in the "recita- tion" period was for the teacher to hear the pupils "recite" or resay their lessons. Lesson-getting was a matter of memorizing materials. There are situations in which this idea is valid, and then it should be done thoroughly. On the other hand, the study of a prob- lem or series of problems may be carried on day after day before there is anything developed worth remem- bering. Therefore the teacher should adapt his tech- nique of using text-books to the accomplishment of specific educational developments in the pupil. 4. Technique in using supplementary and reference materials. — The amount of supplementary or reference material employed in the teaching of the high school THE TECHNIQUE OP TEACHING 257 pupil should be relatively small in most of the fields of subject-matter. An intensive study of the materials presented in a good text-book will result in a more thorough mastery of the problems under consideration than will be secured through the reading of a consid- erable number of references. The chief difficulty in attempting to employ too many references is the actual physical burden of merely reading the printed material. The big problem is to induce careful thinking about the problem. The subject-matter materials assigned in a vtext-book or in any source of information should be a means of supplying mental fuel that will feed the intellectual and emotional fires. Too much mental fuel will clog the furnace of the mind just as surely as too much coal will clog the fire-box of the engine. The result is decreased combustion and great loss of energy. A little fuel thoroughly consumed is vastly better than tons of material that can not be consumed, but smoth- ers the fire into a slow smoldering of the thin edge of the mass. To whatever extent the teacher employs reference or supplementary materials, he should develop a definite technique of handling it. In the first place, reference material should be supplementary to the text, and therefore only the most reliable standard authorities and materials should be employed. In the second place, the teacher should save the time and energy of the pupil by giving very definite and specific directions that will guide the pupil in finding the materials. 258 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS These directions should include the following items. First, the pupil should be given the title of the book, author, title of the chapter, the topics, and the pages, when the reference is a book assignment. If the ref- erence is to a magazine, the title of the magazine, the year and month, the title of the article, the author, and the pages should be given. The pupil should also be given clear directions concerning the location of the reference materials in the library and the devices em- ployed by the librarian in aiding the pupil to find materials quickly. That is to say, the pupil should not be delayed, discouraged, and disgusted in attempt- ing to secure the reference materials. The more readily the pupil secures the materials and the more vitally these materials are connected with the real problem upon which the pupil is working, the more effective the ultimate results will be. Incidentally, too, the pupil will more and more get the habit of making use of such materials and wiU develop skill in using the library- facilities. An important item in this connection is that the teacher should be sure that the reference materials are available and adequate for economical use by the group to whom they are assigned. Reference material should never be assigned as mere busy work or just to make the pupU "dig." The only legitimate reason for assign- ing such materials is that they will be an effective help to the pupil in the study of a definite worth-while problem. THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 259 5. Technique in dealing with subject-matter. — The first point or factor in determining the best technique to employ in the organization of subject-matter is that of the purpose for which the subject is being employed as a means of education. According to the purpose, the subject-matter in a course may be largely content material or it may be largely formal material. A sec- ond factor is the length of time — that is, the actual number of days — the school will be in session. The purpose and the length of time will determine the range or quantity of subject-matter that may be em- ployed. The teacher should lay out as definitely as possible the difi'erent stages of accomplishment of the purpose, and then arrange the subject-matter accord- ingly. This arrangement of materials can be done best by following a definite scheme of technique such as is herein suggested. First, determine the actual number of class periods that will be possible during the length of time that the subject-matter will be employed. The teacher should take into account the holidays and regular vacation, and then make an estimate of the possible or probable number of times that the class wUl not meet on account of other school activities and enterprises. It is best in this regard to allow for a few more interruptions than will ordinarily occur. The teacher will find no serious difficulty in using the few days' leeway in case they are not taken up with general school affairs. Second, make an outline of the large coordinate 260 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS topics an(i the important sub-topics that seems to be absolutely essential to accomplish the purpose of the course. That is to say, determine the actual range of content material that it seems necessary to employ. Then decide upon the relative importance of the vari- ous coordinate and subordinate topics, and divide the outline into two divisions, each of which is to receive half of the time given to the course. This does not mean that there will be or should be the same number of topics in each division. Third, make an outline of each of these two divisions, showing the number of days or weeks that will be allotted to each topic. Then outline the formal ma- terial that will be used on each particular day that will be spent in the development of the content topics. This will complete the scheme and will furnish a defi- nite basis for making readjustments in the face of the actual teaching situations that arise in dealing with different groups of pupils. 6. Technique in dedly teaching planning. — ^The greatest value of daily teaching planning is that the teacher who faithfully practises it will acquire ability to estimate accurately what can actually be accom- plished ; also, he will develop the habit of doing what he plans to do. These two items are highly important in determining the skill and efl&ciency of the teacher. In order to secure this value the teacher should estab- lish a definite form of technique or set of habits, and he should practise them faithfully. The following THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 261 suggestions involve the fundamental principles that should be kept in mind. The first habit should be that of working out the complete details of the teaching, just as they wiU be used in the teaching period, two days before the teach- ing is to take place — that is to say, the day before the study assignment is given to the class. The point is not so much the number of days as it is the insuring that the details of the teaching as they wUl be used shall be carefully planned before the teacher makes the study assignment. The effect that the practice will have upon the efficiency of the making of the study assignment is obvious. Moreover, it is just as easy to be one day ahead as one day behind the making of the assignment in determining as to the details that will be employed. There will be times when this prac- tice must be modified, but in general it will prove to be most efficient. Second, the teacher should get the habit of setting up a definite obtainable goal to be achieved by means of each assignment. If this is not done he gets into the habit of filling in the time or of merely assigning tasks. Then the teacher can not tell the pupil who happens to be absent just what opportunities he missed and he can not tell the one who is present what he has gained by being present. As a result, the attending of a class is a matter of serving out a time sentence, and the studying of subject-matter is merely a problem of getting over so much ground. 262 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS Third, make an outline of the exact points or prob- lenas that will be assigned to the class and the specific instructions that will be given to guide the study in preparation for the teaching period. Many times the pupil does not know just what he is to do or what is the best way to go about doing it. Frequently the teacher's statements are confusing and lack coherence. The committing of instructions to written form will compel the teacher to study his instructions carefully and to reduce them to the simplest and most direct form. The teacher who follows this practice will greatly refine his pedagogical thinking, and in like measure he will develop his ability to express himself clearly. Fourth, the teacher should get the habit of esti- mating the amount of time that will be required in making the assignment and also of deciding when it should be made. The last point is largely dependent upon the maturity of the class and the nature of the problem that was assigned for the teaching period in which the new assignment will be made. Here again the importance of the suggestion that the details of the teaching be worked out at least a day before the assignment is given to the class is obvious. In fact, it really should be done two days ahead of the giving of the assignment, for that will enable the teacher to plan the time to be consumed by the giving of this particular assignment as a definite part of that day's teaching time. For example, when the teacher on THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 263 Monday assigns the problem for Tuesday, he should have in mind that a part of the time on Tuesday must be taken up with assigning the problem for Wednes- day. Now, he can not plan well for Tuesday unless he knows on Monday just what he will assign for Wednesday. Moreover, he must remember in plan- ning for Wednesday that part of the class period must be taken up with assigning the problem for Thursday. In other words, the teacher needs constantly to have a clear perspective of what is to be done two or three days later. Fifth, if the teaching plan is for a review, the teacher should mark out definite materials to be reviewed. He should work out a definite list of questions or an outline of points that will render the review thoroughly effec- tive. If the teaching is not to be entirely review, the plan should determine whether the reviewing that is done shall be given all at one time or distributed throughout the teaching period. This involves an accurate estimate of the actual number of minutes that wiU be required for the reviewing. The best practice, in this matter of concentrated or distributed review, must be determined by the nature of the subject-matter and the purpose of the teacher in making use of the review materials. Sixth, if the teaching plans for drill, the teacher should specify the particular points that are to be prac- tised. That is to say, he should know exactly what the pupil is to gain by means of the drill exercises. 264 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS Then, too, the plan should include the devices that will be employed in conducting the drill. If the teaching is not to be wholly drill, the plan should indicate the amount of time that will be devoted to drill. It should also determine whether the drill is to be carried on at one part of the teaching period or distributed throughout the period. This point must be deter- mined by the fundamental goal set up to be attained in the teaching period. Seventh, if the teaching is wholly or even in part a discussion of new subject-matter, the teacher should first of all set up a definite goal to be attained by means of the new subject-matter. If the pupil has had a previous assignment of the new subject-matter, the teaching plan should provide for a definite checking up on the preparation that he has made. The best way usually to do this is by having a definite series of questions or outline of points. The next step in the plan should provide for the development of points that the study by the pupil was not expected to give him. Here again, ordinarily the most economical practice is to employ a definite outline of points and to have spe- cific devices selected and fully prepared for use at the appropriate time. The development of these new phases of the subject-matter may involve the intro- duction of supplementary materials. When this is the case, the teaching plan should provide a definite out- line of the supplementary points, and it should also determine the exact means that will be most efficient THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 265 and available for presenting the materials. That is to say, the teacher should plan to supplement the develop- mental material by means of a lecture, mimeographed sheets of data, books, etc. A final point is that the technique of planning for the discussion of new subject- matter should include the habit of carefully estimating the time that will be required to deal with the problem in an adequate manner. 7. The technique of employing the inductive prob- lem. — The high school teacher will use to a considerable extent the form of subject-matter organization known as induction; hence he should work out a definite set of habits and practise them thoroughly. These habits should be guided by the principles suggested below. These principles are in keeping with the psychology of learning set forth under method. The first principle is that the teacher should employ the most striking and representative cases in the first study of the characteristics that belong in the general- ization that is to be learned through actual contact with individual exhibitions of its existence. This really amounts to type cases, or, as ordinary expressed, "teaching by types." The vital point is that the pupil should get a clear and vivid impression and under- standing of the essential characteristics at the outset. There should be no difficulty of understanding and no confusion in analyzing these typical cases. Next less striking or less representative cases should be studied, and then still less striking cases, until the pupil has 266 TEACHING mCH SCHOOL PUPILS met a number of cases of every degree of difficulty in analysing out the essential characteristic of the gen- eralization. A careful gradation of cases will insure constructive progress in thoroughly mastering the generalization. A second principle is that the cases should always be made to appeal as vividly as possible to both the sensory and the ideational experiences of the pupils. This is largely a matter of good judgment in selecting devices and skill in employing them. A third principle is that the teacher should always employ an adequate number of cases of every degree of difficulty of analysis, and he should be sure to secure thorough practice upon the materials until the pupils are able to analyze miscellaneous lists of cases with facility and accuracy. The critical point is that the study of individual cases should not stop with mere understanding of the generalization, but that it should continue until an efficient mental habit and skill are secured. A final principle is that the teacher should require the pupil to develop and refine the statement of the generalization that is to become habit in his thinking. This may be thoroughly accomplished by comparing his statement of the generalization that he has worked out through the study of individual cases with the statement of the same generalization that may be found in books. The critical point is that the process of refining the pupil's own statement of the generaliza- THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 267 tion will refine his thinking and insure a better mental habit than can be secured by merely accepting and memorizing the statement of some author. The teacher should not be in too much of a hurry to have the pupil memorize something. Work for clear think- ing and the memorizing will largely take care of itself. 8. Technique in employing the deductive problem. — The first point in the technique of employing the deductive form of subject-matter is that of beginning with the best possible statement of the generalization that is to be learned. The teacher should direct the pupil in working out a very thorough analysis of the statement of the generalization, so that the meaning of every word and phrase in the statement is clear and the understanding of the statement as a whole is com- plete. It is a good point in technique to employ some very striking representative individual case to aid the pupil in his analysis of the generalization. In other words, "type teaching" is valuable at this stage of mastering the significance of the generalization. The next point in technique, after securing a thorough analysis and understanding of the statement of the generalization, is to give the pupil ample oppor- tunity to apply the generalization to the identifying of individual cases. The first list of individual cases should be thoroughly typical, so that he will experience little or no difficulty in identifying them. The suc- ceeding lists of cases should be less and less typical, hence more and more difficult to identify, until every 268 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS type of case will have been presented that he will be likely ever to meet or be called upon to identify. The last point in good technique is that the teacher should employ an ample number of cases or applica- tions of the generalization and practise thoroughly upon them. Here again the vital point is that the study should not stop with understanding on the part of the pupil, but it should keep on until a definite habit of mind and a definite desirable mental skill have been developed. 9. Technique in conducting the recitation. — Good technique in conducting the recitation involves a num- ber of habits that should be thoroughly formed. The following suggestions are intended to give the impor- tant items that should be kept in mind. The teacher should form the habit of beginning and closing the recitation on time. Promptness is an important factor in efficiency and the prompt teacher will be a wholesome stimulus to his pupils. The inertia of a slow, dragging beginning of the work is difficult to overcome, and the class will tend to be dropping back to the initial pace throughout the whole period. Dragging over at the end of the period induces lack of attention and loses time instead of gaining anything worth while. This dragging overtime also fosters poor planning on the part of the teacher and confirms him in his inefficiency. The teacher should form the habit of carrying out his detailed teaching plans. This implies that these THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 269 teaching plans are well made and thoroughly adapted to accomplishing the purpose of the teaching period. This does not mean that the teacher should never deviate from the prepared plan, but it does mean that he should have a very valid reason for modifying or abandoning his detailed plan. In other words, he should be able to show how the modification of pro- cedure secured the desired results more adequately than the prepared plan might have done. The teacher should form the habit of being sure that the pupil understands the new study assignment. This item has already been discussed under the technique of daily teaching planning, but it wUl bear further emphasis. The main point here is the skill with which the carefuUy planned assignment is given to the pupil. The teacher may put an outline of points and a state- ment of instructions upon the blackboard; he may put mimeographed copies of the materials into the hands of the pupil; he may dictate the outline and the in- structions; or he may use a combination of these various devices. Whatever he does, he should make it the most economical and effective way of getting the particular assignment into the possession of the pupil. The giving of the assignment should be prompt, clear, and concise. The teacher should use good English as a model for the class. He should modulate his voice to suit the situation, and he should enunciate clearly at all times. He should not indulge in diffuse, spontaneous state- 270 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS ments that are not directed at the development of definite, worth-while results. In other words, he should not kill time through aimless speech. The teacher should correct the errors of the class in the use of English. The time and manner of the cor- rection should be determined by the type of error that is made. There are two tjrpes of errors that should receive attention. One type is the formal error that is usually due to carelessness, but that may be due to incorrect habit and lack of knowledge as to correct usage. The other type is the error of faulty sentence structure, awkward phrases, etc., due to insufficient training and to crude thinking in the subject-matter under discussion. The best time and manner for correcting the formal error is ordinarily to give immediately the correct form, which the pupil catches up and goes on with little or practically no interruption of his thinking and expres- sion. This practice is not always good, however, for some pupils are so timid and self-conscious that any interruption whatever throws them into such confusion that they lose the thought that they were attempting to express. The point is that the purpose of the cor- rection should not be to turn the attention of the pupil to the breakdown of his formal habit, but that the inefficient habit should be replaced more or less un- consciously and automatically by the correct habit. The correction of the second type of error is usually accomplished, in so far as it can be outside of a formal THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 271 English training class, through refining the thinking of the pupil in dealing with the question in hand. If rather crude thinking is all that is required or expected, then crude English may be accepted without question. If clear, concise, well articulated thinking is desired and expected, then it is good technique to direct the think- ing of the pupil until he can give a good statement of the point under consideration. The teacher should practise the habit of having the pupil do as much of the talking as possible. The tendency to do more and more of the talking or dis- cussing of the problem wUl grow upon the teacher until, without realizing it, he is consuming most of the time. The teacher must keep constantly in mind the fact that it is what goes on in the mind of the pupil that educates him. Therefore the teacher must secure as many valid responses as possible from the pupil in order that he may study what is going on in the pupil's mind. Moreover, the study habits of the pupil in preparing for the discussion of the problem under consideration wiU be seriously affected if he is given little oppor- tunity to take an active part in developing the dis- cussion. A second point in this connection is that the teacher should bring each pupil into the recitation frequently in order to give all an equal opportunity and to stimu- late interest. Equal opportunity does not mean that each pupil should be called upon the same number of times. The point is rather that each pupil should be 272 TEACHING fflGH SCHOOL PUPILS given the amount of attention that will enable him to grow as much as is possible by means of the teaching situation. One pupil may need twice or three times as much stimulation and opportunity as another; hence it is giving each of these pupils an equal oppor- tunity if one is called upon twice or three times and the other only once. This point requires careful con- sideration. The teacher who neglects to plan a definite technique for each class group is very likely to let the strongest pupil, the very one who usually needs least attention and stimulation, usurp the time, while the weaker, timid, shrinking pupil drops into the back- ground and soon becomes averse to talking at all because of non-practice. Again, the pupil who is not active in the teaching period tends to become inatten- tive and not infrequently gives his interest to other things. Many problems in management and control arise because of faulty technique in keeping all the pupils in the group active participants in the carrying on of the discussion. A third point in this problem is that the pupil should be required to talk for the benefit of the whole class. Each pupil should feel under obligation to give the other members of the class the benefit of his contri- bution to the discussion. There is nothing so con- ducive to inattention as for the pupil to "recite" to the teacher. The rest of the class feel under no obligation to listen, to judge, and to question the performance of the individual member. The whole THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 273 performance soon resolves itself into the question, "Who will be the next victim?" The pupil who is not called upon is perfectly happy, for "The teacher did not get me this time" is the way he feels about the situation. On the other hand, when each pupil talks to the group and for the group, the group can be made to feel some responsibility for what is going on, and each member will be more likely to contribute at least some active thinking to the situation. Another point in the technique of calling upon pupils to recite is that the teacher should respect the indi- vidual differences of the pupils as to their facility of expression and the speed with which they can do the particular type of work in hand. The work of each pupil is also influenced by his particular temperament and traits of individuality. All of these factors should be recognized by the teacher and dealt with in such a way as to secure the best result possible for each indi- vidual and for the group as a whole. The teacher should face the class when stating a question or discussing a point. The teacher who talks to the blackboard, into a book, out of the window, up at the ceiling, etc., can not be studying the reactions of the pupils as they listen to the question or discus- sion. The teacher who studies the reactions of his pupils wUl acquire a fairly accurate technique of inter- preting their physical indications of attention, under- standing, and interest, and the indications of inatten- tion, non-comprehension, and lack of interest. This 274 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS skill is one that renders the work of the teacher highly effective, for it enables him to adapt the language of his questions and the illustrative materials of his discussions to meet the situation. This habit or skill in technique can be acquired only through very painstaking conscious practice until the habit of alert visualization, observation, and interpretation becomes automatic. The teacher should form the habit of sticking to the lesson and not being sidetracked, especially by the keen-witted pupil who has not prepared the study assignment. Every worth-while problem has many connections with other problems, and it has many angles from which it might be considered. The ten- dency to abandon the definite line of development of the problem for interesting side excursions is very strong. The teacher should not preclude entirely the bringing in of side questions, but he should hold the discussion rather rigidly to the accomplishment of the definite end that was set up in the assignment. Im- portant, helpful, and worth-while correlations should be provided for in the plan of development. If this is done the wandering away from the valid issue can readily be reduced to the minimum and easily con- trolled. The teacher should have a definite plan for having individual pupils give special reports to the class. The purpose of such reports should be to bring a wider range of important materials to the class in a more THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 275 economical fashion than could be accomplished by having each member of the class read all of the materials. Therefore the pupil who gives a special report should employ the technique of lecturing. He should take the position of the teacher and he should give the class a definite outline of points and a dis- cussion of them, or he should give a definite body of factfi well organized and in such form that the class can take down readily the essential data. Then the class should be held responsible for this material in whatever degree it is vitally connected with the de- velopment of definite mental habits. Special reports should not be handled as busy work. They should be made to contribute definitely to the development of the individuals listening to them. In other words, special reports should have a special educative func- tion. The technique that is involved in conducting re- views was indicated rather fully under the discussion of daUy teaching planning. This plan provided for having a definite purpose, such as seeing the material from a different point of view or getting material fresh in mind as a means of developing new points or prob- lems in advance work, having a definite outline of material that is to be reviewed, and having a definite time for review. The point that should be uppermost in the carrying out of this plan is that of vigor and interest. The review should be conducted vigorously, so that the materials will be brought rapidly before 276 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the mind of the pupil. The review materials should not only be rounded up rapidly, but they shduld be connected in such a way as to be most interesting to the pupil. Then the review will always be an addi- tional step in the setting up of a definite habit of mind that renders the mental content most usable and permanent. While the review should be rapid and vigorous, it should not be hasty and lacking in em- phasis. The speed should be regulated so as to con- tribute to interest and effective emphasis of the most vital points. The technique involved in conducting drills was suggested in' some detail under the discussion of the daily teaching plan. The points may be repeated at this place for emphasis and for more complete state- ment. First of all, the teacher should have a definite habit or skill as the purpose of the drill. Moreover, this habit or skill should be one that is worth while and important. Then, the teacher should have the subject-matter well in hand before the drill is started, and the devices should be ready for immediate use. A good point of technique in conducting drill is to keep the class grouped according to the range of indi- vidual differences in speed of working. The class should be kept in one group if possible, but more effective results may be secured by dividing the class into two or even three groups as the situation may demand. The tests referred to under the discussion on individual differences showed that most classes THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 277 should be divided into not fewer than two and fre- quently into three groups, according to the speed with which they can accomplish work. Such division of the class will necessitate the most careful selection and arrangement of drill materials and a very carefully worked out plan for handling the groups simul- taneously. Exceptionally strong pupils may be made leaders of the drill groups and may increase the effi- ciency of the work very materially. If the whole teaching period is not to be taken up with driU, the teacher should have a definite time in the period for the drill, and he should have a definite amount of time for it. This does not mean that the drill should necessarily come all at one place. It may be distributed or given all at one place during the period, according to the actual amount of time that will be given to it and also according to the nature of the habit or skill that is being practised. 10. Technique in laboratory work. — The efficiency of laboratory work may be greatly increased by form- ing definite habits of laboratory management. These habits should be adapted to the purposes for which the work is being done, and the routinizing of certain details will in general save time and energy for the vital educational activities. The items suggested be- low have proved effective when thoroughly established. The first problem in laboratory management is that of looking after the physical aspect of the work. This involves: 278 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS A.. Laboratory management, which should provide for: a. Apparatus — 1. Systematically shelved in locked case? or closets. 2. Numbered in agreement with its shelf space. 3. To be checked out and charged to individual pupils. 4. To be returned by pupils to proper spaces at the end of periods and checked in, 6. Materials — 1. Systematically shelved in locked cases or closets. 2. Marked conveniently in agreement with marking of the shelf spaces. 3. To be checked out and charged to individual pupils. c. Wall charts showing by number or by alphabetical arrangement the shelving of apparatus and materials. d. Wall charts or cards showing the charges of appa- ratus and materials to individual pupils. e. Laboratory tables — 1. Systematically designated by letters. 2. Divided into definite working spaces and these spaces indicated by numbers. If tables contain drawers or locker spaces, they should be numbered in agreement with the numbers of the accompanying working spaces. If lockers are in regular cases, the working spaces at the tables and the locker spaces should bear the same numbers. ', Assignment of definite working spaces to indi- vidual pupils. A wall chart should be used to show the assignment of working spaces. Cards may also be used for the same purpose. THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 279 The second problem in laboratory technique is that of looking after the working conditions and the educa- tional materials. This aspect of the work involves: a. Assignment of experiments to individual pupils or to groups of two, three, etc., according to: 1. The nature of the experiments. 2. The adequacy of the laboratory equipment. 3. Size of the class. 6. Wall charts or cards that show the experiments as- signed, the groups to whom assigned, and the dates of assignment and completion of experiments. c. Note-book records of all experiments, which should be entered in the book during the laboratory period or made in duplicate by means of carbon sheets on note-paper and entered later. The duplicate copy of these notes should be dated by the teacher and filed for use in checking up the note-books. d. Definite time for checking out apparatus and mate- rials. e. Definite time for checking in apparatus, imused ma- terials, etc. /. Definite time for turning in notes. II. Technique in class-room management. — The general physical conditions have a decided influence upon the character and efficiency of the teaching situa- tion. Therefore the teacher should thoroughly rou- tinize the details of daily practice in looking after the class-room. A number of habits are involved as sug- gested below, and the order in which they are arranged is important. a. The teacher should form the habit of regularly 280 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS inspecting the physical conditions of the class-room, if possible before the class comes in, and of regulating as far as possible the temperature of the room, the ventilation, and the light. These items should also be kept in mind and looked after at the proper time during the progress of the teaching period. The tem- perature should vary from about 66° to 70° F., and should never remain long at any one temperature within this range. The chief problem in ventilation is to secure circulation of air currents that wiU be mild enough to avoid giving the pupils colds, and yet strong enough to enable the bodies of the pupils to keep the proper balance between heat production and heat loss. In other words, ventilation should enable the vaso- motor systems of the pupils to function adequately. The light should be controlled as nearly as possible so as to secure a uniform distribution of illumination that is neither too feeble nor too strong. Since the source of light is not constant, this point will require careful watching and manipulation of the mechanical appli- ances»employed in the class-room equipment. b. If the class-room is provided with chairs, the teacher should arrange these for suitable class grouping, and should note their condition as to dust, markings and cuttings, and mechanical defects of any sort. The prevention of confusion in seating and getting the attention of the class at the very outset is an important item, and having everything arranged before the class comes in is the best way to secure control. The preser- THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 281 vation of school property, and particularly the preven- tion of the accumulation of markings and cuttings that are so subtle and yet so forceful in their suggestions, is also a very important point. The practice of daily inspection and the removal of defacements, whenever possible, without the pupils knowing anything about it, will go far toward accomplishing the desired results. c. It is a good point in technique to note the general conditions, such as waste paper on the floor or desks, crayon on the floor, and books left carelessly lying around. If the teacher forms the habit of keeping these things cleaned up, it wUl be very helpful in securing the best attitude and spirit on the part of the pupils. An untidy room suggests lack of control and tends to produce an improper attitude toward the whole teaching situation. d. The teacher should look after maps and any other apparatus that may have been used during the previous period, and see that everything of this kind has been put into proper place and in proper condition before the next teaching period begins. This practice will aid in preserving the equipment and will also prevent confusion and distraction of attention during the teach- ing period. e. It is also a good point in technique to see that the blackboards are free from distracting stimuli of any sort. Work left on the board by the preceding class may attract the attention of the pupils during the teaching period and thus greatly decrease the efficiency 282 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS of the teacher. If the teacher wishes to keep work on the board for different teaching periods, it is a good plan to have a curtain or screen of some sort that can be readily adjusted to cut off the materials that are likely to attract undue attention. The technique of securing and holding the attention of a class is a skill greatly to be desired, and the teacher should study carefully to master every factor that enters into it. /. Another item in connection with the problem of attention is that of the teacher's desk. The condition of the teacher's desk should always be such that it will never prove a distraction to the pupils. Devices and apparatus that are not to be used in connection with the present teaching period should be kept out of sight of the pupils. The top of the teacher's desk is not a good place to store such materials because it makes them too conspicuous. Moreover, the condition of the teacher's desk will be reflected to greater or lesser degree in the attitude and habits of the teacher; hence it tends to increase or decrease the eflaciency of the teacher, g. A final item is that of noting the general physical condition of the pupils. This should be done very quickly as the pupils come in and are being seated. The particular items to note are dress and indications of physical condition. Pupils should be appropriately and adequately dressed according to the time of the year. Any attempt to create a disturbance or to at- tract undue attention by means of freakish or striking THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 283 modes of dress should be checked at its inception, and it is only by the practice of daily noting items of dress that the teacher will safeguard against possible dis- turbances. Then, from the standpoint of physical condition, the teacher should be alert to observe the pupils who have colds, seem feverish, or exhibit any indication of possible contagious disease. The teacher needs to know the general condition of each pupil's health in order to modify the demands made upon different individuals during the teaching period. The physical condition of pupils from day to day is a constantly changing factor of individual differences, and it can be met adequately only by the development of a high degree of skill in observing significant indica- tions of individual health. 12. Technique in the general management of the class. — The technique of general management of the class should provide for a number of definite plans. The most important items that should require definite planning are suggested below. o. The seating of the class should be worked out according to the size of the class; physical conditions of the room, such as light, heat, etc. ; individual needs, such as defective hearing, defective sight, etc. ; amount of moving from seats to blackboard or other changing of positions; character of the teaching period, such as a congress in history or English, debate, etc. As a rule the class should be as closely grouped as possible and in some uniform order. Pupils should be 284 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS seated so as to free them from physical discomfort due to too strong a light, too much sun, or too high a temperature from radiators and hot-air intakes. Pupils who have defective hearing should be placed near the center of the room, rather than in the very front row. The point is to place them so they will have the best opportunity to hear the discussions of every pupil as well as the discussions of the teacher. The pupils with defective vision should as a rule be placed near the front. However, far-sighted pupils will see most ad- vantageously near the rear of the room, and they will not be so apt to suffer from eyestrain. If aU of the seats in the room are not to be occupied and much blackboard work is to be done, the seats farthest from the blackboard should be left vacant and the pupils placed as advantageously as possible in the seats nearest the board. When the class is organized into a congress or a debate section, it should be grouped accordingly. If the seats are movable, they should be arranged so as to separate the different groups involved in the organization. b. The teacher must keep account of attendance; hence he should work out the best technique to practise that will insure the carrying out of the performance in the most economical way that insures accuracy. If the class is small, the teacher may be able to tell at a glance which pupils are missing. The record, as a rule, should be made at the beginning of the teaching period. The THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 285 regular seating of pupils will enable the teacher to note absences readily by means of a seating chart. This device will aid the teacher greatly in becoming acquainted with individuals in new groups of pupils. Another economical plan is that of assigning a number to each member of the class and then having the record checked by each pupil calling his own number in proper sequence, beginning with one. The teacher will call the numbers for which no one responds and note the absentees. Still another plan is for each member of the class to call his name in a predetermined alpha- betical order, the teacher calling the names of those who do not respond in proper place. Then there is the very common practice of the teacher calling the names of the class. Whatever plan is adopted, it should be administered with promptness and accuracy. c. The teacher should have the pupils put all dis- tracting stimuli out of the way at the very beginning of the teaching period. Such objects as books, pencils, papers, pens, etc., that will not be used in the progress of the teaching performance should be placed where the pupils will not be handling them. The problem of attention is involved and this point of technique will aid materially in solving it. The handling of such objects, even more or less unconsciously, will distract the attention of the pupils who do the handling, and it will also to some degree attract the attention of other pupils. Every such distraction of attention en- 286 TEACHING raGH SCHOOL PUPILS feebles the impression made upon the minds of the pupils by the subject-matter and decreases the eflGi- ciency of the learning process. d. The plan of collecting and passing papers, books, and other materials should be thoroughly routinized. The important point is economy of time and avoidance of confusion. For example, in collecting quiz papers have all papers passed across by rows from right to left, or vice versa, and then forward. The first paper should be on the bottom and each succeeding paper placed on top. Likewise, the papers from the rear row should be on the bottom and the papers of each suc- ceeding row placed on top. The teacher should keep them in this order, and the order can be reversed in returning the papers. The use of papers of uniform size, folded in a uniform manner, will save time and energy for the teacher in reading and grading them. e. If there is much passing to and from the black- board, a definite plan will save time and confusion. The assigning of a particular blackboard space to each pupil will prove helpful. If pupils are left to their own devices, they not infrequently seek the board space farthest from where they sit, and sometimes disputes arise over conflicting claims as to who shall use a certain board space. The size of the class and the available board space should be taken into account. /. The practice in calling upon pupils to take part in the discussion may be modified according to the class and the nature of the work. If pupils are permitted THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 287 to volunteer, a definite form of procedure will be helpful. The pupils might indicate their desire or willingness to contribute answers or discussions by standing in place by their seats and waiting for recog- nition by the teacher, or they may raise their hands. The teacher should be very alert and prompt in recog- nizing the pupils' expressions of willingness or desire to take part. If the teacher does not want the pupils to volunteer, he should have a definite plan for calling upon pupils that will not allow aggressive pupils to monopolize the situation. The use of name class cards may be used by the teacher with satisfactory results. This point in technique is correlated with the item given under the discussion of technique in conducting the teaching period, namely, that each pupil should be given an equal opportunity to participate in the dis- cussions. The practice followed in calling upon pupils wUl have much, if not almost everything, to do with insuring that this idea be actually carried out. g. The position of the pupU in talking is important; hence the teacher should follow definite practices, ac- cording to the size of the class and the nature of the work. If the class is fairly large, the pupil should stand while talking, in order that he may be seen and heard. Even coming to the front of the class and facing the group while talking may be excellent prac- tice both for the individual pupil and for the group. The effectiveness of this custom may entirely offset the loss of time that may seem to be due to it. In small 288 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS groups the pupil may recite just as effectively while seated as he could possibly do while standing. If standing helps a pupil to think and speak more clearly than he does when sitting, he should be permitted to stand even when the group is small. On the other hand, there may be cases when the pupil is so embar- rassed by standing before the group that he should be permitted to contribute his discussion without rising to his feet. Effectiveness of results upon individuals and upon groups is the barometer that should be watched. h. A final item in the technique of the general management of the class is that of the practice in designating the pupil who is to recite. The pupil may be called by his or her first name or he or she may be called Mr. or Miss . The teacher should deter- mine which practice is most effective for him to use in general, according to his own individuality and the naturalness with which he employs the technique selected. The practice may be varied with different groups, and also with the same group on different occasions. The use of Mr. and Miss when done in a natural manner has a wholesome sociological as well as psychological effect upon the pupil of adolescent age. The instinct for individual recognition is strong at this period, and the feeling of personal dignity and personal responsibility is deepened by the courteous use of the conventions of society. The teacher must be able, however, to employ these conventions so THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 289 naturally that he makes them express a feeling of respect and consideration for the one addressed, so that the pupil will be moved to feel and express respect in his responses. The use of first names may be made effective, too. The main factor is the personality of the teacher. The forceful, earnest, sincere teacher will impress the pupU with either form of technique, and he can employ either with equal naturalness and facility. 13. Technique and the personality of the teacher. — The technique of the teacher is greatly affected by his personality. Therefore the teacher should study those elements that have most to do with giving him stand- ing and power in the eyes of the pupils. The following items suggest the most obvious and the most effective of these elements. a. The teacher's voice is an element of personality that seriously affects his technique. That is to say, it affects the quality of his performance. The quality of the teacher's voice, and particularly its pitch and modulation, has much to do with the effect it will have upon the pupils. A shrill, high-pitched voice will be irritating and disagreeable to listen to for any length of time. Such a voice, even when well modulated, is too irritating to secure good results. An effective voice must not only possess a pleasing timbre or quality and be well pitched and modulated, but it must have the power to express sternness and even anger, enthusiasm and earnest sincerity, per- 290 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS suasion and satisfaction, and humor. That is to say, the inmost soul and heart qualities must somehow reach out through the voice in such a way that the pupils really sense the vital force of the teacher's character through audition. The voice is to a great degree the barometer of the soul. It expresses the tension, the tranquil assurance, and the indifference of heart that its possessor experiences. It betrays sham and pretense, affectation and insincerity most accu- rately. The individual who wishes to conceal his real attitude of mind and heart had best keep his mouth shut, for not so much the words that he utters as the quality of his vocalization will betray his inmost feelings. 6. The visual alertness and extent of the visual field of the teacher has an effect upon his technique. The teacher should strive to acquire the largest possible visual scope and to train his eyes in alert watchfulness and power of steady gaze that is not staring and that does not give the impression of spying. The eyes equally with the voice portray the quality and depth of the individual's feeling and attitude toward others. The quality of a glance may express approval or dis- approval, sympathy and friendliness, or criticism and hostility. The eyes are indeed the windows of the soul and character; therefore the teacher's technique will be qualified by the power that he acquires of establishing vital visual contacts with his teaching situation through his visual facilities. THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 291 c. The facial expression of the teacher is an element of personality that affects the general quality of his performance. The teacher should acquire the power of masking all emotions under a non-committal expres- sion, and also the power of expressing freely and naturally all the emotions that he genuinely feels. The affected smile should give way to a natural expression of real pleasure and satisfaction. The habitual stern and forbidding cast of countenance should lilcewise be avoided. Cultivate a sincere, optimistic habit of mind, and fashion the facial expression to portray it accu- rately and truthfully. d. The general bearing, address, and attitude of the teacher is an element of personality that qualifies everything that he does. The teacher may fairly hyp- notize his pupils with the assurance, vigor, and power of his general bearing. He may exhibit decisiveness, firmness, and no dallying, and yet be friendly, im- personal, and somehow command the respect of his pupils. The naturalness of general bodily attitudes and physical habits of posture have much to do with giving effectiveness to this element of personality. e. A final element of personality is that of dress. Clothes do not make the man, but they do suggest the character and qualities of the man. The teacher should dress in good taste and in styles that are appro- priate to the school work and to the seasons of the year. Sport styles, loud colors, low-necked waists, high, narrow-heeled shoes, etc., should not be worn in 292 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the school-room. Dress should be harmonious with the character of the individual, and should not attract undue attention to itself or appeal to any particular instinct or impulse in others. Dress should express neatness, geniality, and natural refinement of indi- viduality. 14. Technique in supervised study, in measuring the results of teaching, and in discipline. — The ele- ments of good technique in supervising the study of pupils, in measuring the results of teaching, and in developing proper behavior of adolescents are so intri- cately tied up with the other principles involved in the aspects of teaching that the discussion of these phases of technique will be given in connection with the discussions in these three fields. SUMMARY The technique of teaching includes not only the acts performed by the teacher, but also the skill with which these acts are performed. The pedagogical sequence of any teaching problem is the psychological processes of the learner, the devices employed in presenting subject-matter, and the technique or acts performed by the teacher. Technique should be selected in keeping with definite criteria. These criteria should involve a consideration of the effect upon the learner's perform- ance in learning, naturalness with which the teacher can employ the technique selected, nature of the de- vices employed, maturity of the pupil or class, nature THE TECHNIQUE OF TEACHING 293 of the subject-matter, length of teaching period, and the environment of the class-room. No act of tech- nique should be an end, and each act should be judged good or bad according to the effect produced in each situation. Special attention should be given to the technique of employing the devices of questioning, lecturing, use of text-books, and use of reference materials. Careful attention should also be given to the technique of organizing the course in a subject and to presentation of subject-matter in the form of inductive and deduc- tive problems. The teacher should develop a thorough- going technique of conducting the teaching period, whether it be a so-called regular teaching or laboratory period. He should also master an effective body of technique for management of the class-room and man- agement of the class. The personality of the teacher always greatly affects his technique. EXERCISES 1. Give two examples of technique that were not natural to the teacher employing them. 2. Give illustrations of how the length of the teaching period affects the technique of the teacher. 3. Give four examples to show that any act of technique is good or bad according to the effect produced upon the learning performance. 4. Give an illustration of each point of technique sug- gested for asking questions. 5. Give an illustration to show the validity of the tech- nique suggested for effective lecturing. 294 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS 6. Select any high school subject and illustrate how the text-book could be used effectively in the teaching period. 7. What high school subjects require little reference ma- terial? What ones require a good deal? 8. Select any high school subject and work out a daily teaching plan form that will be economical and effective. 9. Select a problem from any high school subject and il- lustrate the technique suggested for dealing with the inductive form of organization of subject-matter. 10. Select a problem from any high school subject and il- lustrate the technique suggested for dealing with the deductive form of organization of subject-matter. 11. Criticize the points of technique suggested for con- ducting the teaching period, from the standpoint of validity of each point and completeness of items. 12. Describe a particular class-room situation and suggest the technique of management that would be effective for a particular case in a particular subject. 13. Illustrate how the personality of the teacher affects his technique. SELECTED REFERENCES Bagley, William Chandler. The Educative Process. Part VI, Chapters XIX to XXII inclusive. Good dis- cussion of special phases of technique. Betts, George Herbert. Class-Room Method and Man- agement. Chapter IX. Very general discussion of tech- nique. NuTT, H. W. The Supervision of Instruction. Chapter XIII. Principles involved in the selection of technique. CHAPTER X SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS OF HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS What is supervised study? — The point of view taken in this discussion is that the definite guidance of the learning efforts put forth by the pupil is supervised study. This is the vital function that all teaching is to serve; hence every teaching period and every assign- ment given to the pupil should guide his study so as to bring about results that he could not secure as readily without the help of the teacher. This point needs emphasis, for there should be no distinction between the teaching period and the so-called super- vised study period. It is not necessary to have a double period or an extended period in order to have supervised study. It is highly essential, however, to know just how long the teaching period should be for the adolescent pupil in order to secure the maximum of results in the employment of the various fields of subject-matter. The question is, how long can and should the mind of the adolescent pupil be directed intensely, in the study of any type of problem or subject-matter, without relaxation and change to some- thing different? The answer to this question can be 295 296 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS arrived at only through very careful scientific experi- mentation carried on under thoroughly controlled conditions. The starting-point. — The starting-point in super- vised study — that is, good teaching — is the pupil. The teacher needs to know at the outset what type of mind the pupil possesses, what the status of his mind is in respect to the different kinds of mental maturity that are to be furthered through study, what the mental content of his mind is in regard to facts, concepts, etc., what his habits of reading and interpretation are, and what are his habits of memorization of important material. In other words, the starting-point of all good teaching — that is, supervision of the pupU's study — is what the pupil is now in respect to maturity and habits. This fundamental proposition, again, emphasizes the point that a careful diagnosis and measurement of each pupil is absolutely essential at the outset in order to establish a base from which to proceed consistently and constructively. The teacher might very well take a week or even two weeks to accomplish this at the beginning of the year or semester, as the case may be, before starting the pupil into the study of the par- ticular field of problems or subject-matter. If this is not done the teacher can not give to the pupil intel- ligent directions that will be pointed to his specific needs. He has no real basis for selecting devices and determining the technique that will be of greatest SXIPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 297 advantage to the pupil. The teacher must necessarily proceed upon the basis of more or less intelligent guesses and haphazard spontaneous experimentation of the try-and-fit sort. Therefore he starts out with a lesson assignment, and he is soon engrossed with "hearing lessons." Thereafter his chief concern is that the pupil shall "come up with his lesson." How the pupil makes out or manages to get the lesson is vir- tually unthought of, unless perchance it is a situation in which the pupil might borrow from some good fellow student and present false credentials. Then, indeed, the teacher is lynx-eyed to catch such subterfuges, and how smug and righteous he feels when he "spots" the "cribbed" material. Good teaching or good super- vision of the study efforts, based upon definite starting- points for growth and development, is the only way to break down and get away from these old traditional weaknesses of teaching. Starting the study activities of pupils. — The first step in starting the study activities of the pupU is to set up as clearly as possible in his thinking the ultimate results that are to come to him as a result of his efforts. Then the pupil should be made to understand as fully as possible why dealing with the particular body of subject-matter will help him to attain the goals set up. Finally, the pupil should be given as clear a conception as possible of the general procedure that will probably net him the largest gain in dealing with the subject- matter of the course. After showing the pupil where 298 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS he is headed for, what road he is to travel, and what the facilities for travel are, the teacher is ready to start the pupU on his first detailed study assignment. Two fundamental goals of supervised study. — All good teaching — that is, supervised study — ^has two great objectives. The first of these objectives is such mastery of subject-matter during the teaching period, under the personal direction of the teacher, that defi- nite results in the education or mental maturity of the learner are secured. The second objective is the de- velopment of independence on the part of the pupil, so that finally he can adequately direct his own study activities in working on any problem whatsoever. The first of these objectives has been the one most empha- sized in the supervised study practices. This emphasis has led to the double period, the lengthened period, and the divided period schedules. The investigations that have been made of the super- vised study practices show that the emphasis on per- sonal direction of the study activities of pupils has helped the weaker pupils, but has not been of so much help to the stronger ones. Likewise, it has proved helpful in some subjects and not helpful in others. The chief danger, perhaps, in the general practice is that it tends to over-emphasize the one objective and to neglect the second most vital objective. The second objective is more important than the first, for the most valuable thing that the pupil can learn is learning how to learn and forming good habits of learning. There- SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 299 fore the personal direction of supervised study should gradually give way to the more and more impersonal direction, until the pupil is virtually independent of the guidance of the teacher. The teaching period. — The fundamental aim of the teaching period should be the study of worth-while problems and the drilling upon important habits to render them perfect. The teacher should as far as possible abandon the old recitation practice of having the pupils resay what they have learned. The results of the pupil's study should furnish needed mental materials for going on with the study of problems that could not be attacked by the pupil to any advantage until he had acquired these materials. If the teaching period is to be given over to driU, the study prepara- tion should be drill on the smaller habits that wiU be involved in the larger habit upon which the drilling will be done under the immediate direction of the teacher. These smaller habits should be so automatic that the pupil can not very well go wrong in practising them upon his own responsibiUty. If teachers will make the teaching period a place for guiding the pupil into a further study of problems upon which he has worked in his own individual study, or a study of new problems the solution of which has been made possible by the study preparation of the pupil, the chief weakness of the traditional recitation wiU disappear and genuine supervision will be the order of procedure. Then the length of the period can 300 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS be determined by the ability of the pupil to carry on intensive study to advantage. Experimentation will show whether longer or shorter periods of intensive effort net the greatest development on the part of the pupil. The chief difl&culty experienced by teachers in at- tempting to supervise the study activities of the pupil has been that they have not had definite, clear-cut goals set up. A second difficulty has been a lack of thorough understanding of the psychological procedure of the learner in mastering any kind of subject-matter presented to him. The lengthening of the class period and the giving of a double period may not help much, for if the teacher is not prepared to guide the study of the pupil definitely and effectively through an ordi- nary class period, he will not do anything more definite or effective in a double period. That is to say, if the teacher does not and can not effectively supervise the study of the pupil by means of the regular recitation period, he will not be able to supervise his study effec- tively through a longer period that is divided into a so-called recitation period and a supervised study period. This is a fundamental truth, and failure to recognize it has led to enormous waste of time, energy, and money in the provisions made for supervised study in many schools. One of the common complaints made by superintendents and principals about the inaugurating of supervised study in their schools is that the teachers have not been trained to supervise SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 301 the study habits of the pupils, hence they do not utilize the time to the best advantage. What this complaint means. — The validity of this complain rests upon the very far-reaching fact that teachers are not trained to teach. They do not know how the pupil learns. They have been too largely trained to "teach subjects" and not trained to guide the psychological processes of the general mental movement as the pupil learns any and all fields of subject-matter. The teachers who could really teach did not need supervised study periods to secure satis- factory results. Likewise, to-day, as teachers do learn how to direct the study activities of the pupil definitely and effectively, they do not need double periods, but can go back to the old class period and accomplish the desired results, or they can even shorten the old reci- tation period and still secure better results than they did with the longer periods. A truly scientific teacher can do more genuine, thoroughgoing supervision of the study habits of the pupil in ordinary or even shortened teaching periods than the lesson-hearing teacher can accomplish in the so-called recitation and supervised study periods. Therefore what is needed is not some new type of training that will enable the teacher to supervise the study habits of the pupil in addition to teaching him during the recitation, but rather it is that the teacher shall be really trained to teach the adoles- cent boy and girl; for if he really teaches the pupil, he must do it by directing his mental activities and habits 302 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS in the study of definite materials that lead to definite goals. The problem of teaching and of supervision of study is one and the same; hence solving the one simultaneously solves the other. The study assignment. — The study assignment or the so-called lesson assignment is one of the chief means that the teacher can employ in supervising the study habits of the pupil. The fundamental elements of a study assignment are, first the setting up of a definite goal that the pupil can attain in a reasonable time with a reasonable amount of industry and effort; second, clear directions as to the best and the most economical and effective means of attaining the goal; third, definite criteria for determining when the goal has been reached. If the pupil is given a study as- signment of this character, he will soon get the habit of studying on his own responsibility, and also the habit of doing what is laid out for him to do. The habit of studying alone, with no other guide than the definite directions given by the teacher, will ultimately lead the pupil to independence not only in studying with merely the aid of written suggestions and direc- tions, but also independence, in setting up his own goals and in directing his own study efforts. The critical point in reference to the study assign- ment as a phase of supervised study is that the pupil's preparation, or rather the results of the pupil's study, shall be capitalized during the teaching period in doing something under the personal guidance of the teacher SUPEEVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 303 that he can not do effectively by his own individual efforts, even with the written directions and sugges- tions. If the teacher fails to capitalize the results of the study assignment during the regular teaching period, the pupU will soon stop carrying such assign- ments out in any sort of effective and thoroughgoing manner. On the other hand, when the pupil realizes that the study assignments prepare him for learning during the teaching period, he will see what he loses by not carrying out the assignments faithfully. When he realizes the loss incurred in not studying, he will get the habit, not of getting lessons, but of studying and learning. This will be the case most assuredly if the goals are reasonably attainable, if the directions are very clear and concise, and if there is a definite means of knowing when the goals have been reached. The traditional amount of time that the high school pupil is supposed to spend in "getting his lesson" is one hour. The testimony of school-teachers is that the average amount of time actually spent is from fifteen to thirty minutes. One of the chief reasons for this difference between tradition and practice is that much of the time the pupU does not know exactly what he is driving toward, he does not know how to drive effectively toward the supposed goal, and he of course has no idea as to when he has arrived. This being the case, it is not to be wondered at that the pupil spends fifteen minutes in meandering around over the lesson and feels at the end of that time that 304 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS he has the lesson. This feeling is no doubt based upon the fact that he does not know what more to do; hence he is under the impression that he has arrived. Technique of supervised study. — The technique of supervised study should be selected in keeping with the fundamental movement of the mind in learning, and also in accordance with the specific mental processes that go on within the fundamental movement of the mind as it deals with different tj^es and phases of subject-matter. The essential principles of technique that should guide the practices of the teacher in assign- ing problems that are to be studied by the pupil on his own responsibility, and in assigning problems that are to be studied under the immediate personal direction of the teacher, are identical. Therefore these prin- ciples should be carefully thought out and made habit in the thinking and doing of the teacher. Raise specific problems. — The first step in the supervision of the study activities of either a class group of pupils or of an individual is to raise some specific problem or problems and set up very clearly and definitely in the mind the exact goals that are to be attained through study. This step corresponds to the first step in method of learning — ^namely, seeing the thing as a whole. The study assignment should enable the pupil to see each problem as a more or less vague whole and to set up as a purpose the mastery of the problem through thorough analysis and reunifica- tion, so that it will be seen as a clearly understood or SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 305 known whole. The pupil now knows what is to be learned and the first step in learning it has already been taken. This first step having been taken posi- tively and definitely, the road toward the goal of learning in any particular case is opened up, and the pupU is ready to travel it by means of a series of directions given in a study assignment by the teacher that will guide him when studying alone, or by means of suggestions given by the teacher in person at ap- propriate intervals as they pursue the study of the problem. The critical point in this first step of enabling the learner to see a definite problem as a whole is that of knowing just what specific mental processes — that is, sense-perception, memory, imagination, judgment, and reasoning — must be employed intensively in order to get the problem clearly enough defined in the think- ing of the pupil, so that he wiU be able to proceed in his study by means of well adapted directions. A certain degree of analysis is always involved in seeing anything as a whole, and the teacher must make the study assignment in such a way that the learner sees the whole and analyzes it far enough to realize the problem and the possibility of solving it. Therefore the teacher must be sure that the whole is not too vague and indefinite on the one hand, and not too well defined or analyzed on the other; for if it is analyzed out too far in the assignment, the learner has little to develop by his own study. The teacher, then, must 306 TEACHING fflGH SCHOOL PUPILS determine accurately whether memory or imagination or sense-perception or judgment-forming or reasoning will be the mental process most involved in setting up the study whole, or whether some combination of these processes will be clearly involved. This point must be determined very largely by the nature of the problem and the maturity of the pupil, for these two items wiU determine the degree of analysis that must be made in order to set up the problem as a whole and to define the goal toward which the study of the problem is to take the learner. The second step in supervising the study activities of the pupU is that of suggesting relevant subject- matter that will aid in the solution of the problem or problems set up in the study assignment. First of all, this step should make clear the kinds of subject-matter that are relevant and helpful. Second, the source from which the relevant subject-matter can readily be se- cured should be clearly understood. The pupil will now have a definite problem or whole set up as a goal, and he will have the subject-matter materials with which to solve the problem at hand. He is now in a position to attack the solution of the problem definitely and systematically. The vital point in this second step is that the essen- tial subject-matter materials shall be accessible and readily secured by the pupil, and that the pupil shall be made to realize the connection between the subject- matter materials and the goals of study. This latter SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 307 point is highly important, for its realization will secure an intelligent study of subject-matter as related to the attainment of a goal that lies beyond the materials themselves, instead of a more or less blind studying and memorizing of subject-matter as a lesson. The third step in the supervision of study is to suggest and direct the mental activities of the pupil in the sifting and selecting of relevant facts. This step involves the psychology of the method of learning, and everything that the teacher does should be pointed especially to directing the pupil in carrying on the processes of analysis and synthesis. The study ac- tivities of the pupil should enable him to discover the essential facts involved in the solution of the problem set up and to organize these facts into a coherent unity or solution. These processes of analysis and synthesis will involve certain specific mental processes, according to the nature of the problem. These processes may demand a good deal of temporary memorizing of materials in order to work out thoroughly all the essen- tial details and to reunify them around the core or central idea that is the real significance of the problem. Imagination may be employed intensively or it may be little employed. Judgment-forming and reasoning may be very highly needed in analyzing out the essen- tial facts and relationships and in reorganizing them around the dominant idea or significance of the whole. The function of the teacher in directing the processes of analysis and synthesis in the study activities is to 308 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS give suggestions and directions that wUl aid the pupil in making the necessary judgments, carry on the reasoning, construct clear images, and economically memorize, temporarily or permanently as the case may demand, the facts and relationships that go to make up an effective solution of the problem. The degree to which the teacher can do this successfully by means of a study assignment will depend upon the nature of the problem and the maturity of the pupil. If the problem involves a good deal of temporary memorizing in order to make valid judgments in either the analysis or the synthesis, the pupil may very well carry on the necessary study activities during a study period in which he works independently of the teacher, except that he follows the directions given by the teacher in making the assignment. Then, when the pupil comes into the teaching period, the teacher may direct in person the further study activities of the pupil, so that he makes the judgments, constructs the images, and carries on the reasoning that results in the development of a definite solution of the problem set up for study. If, however, very little memorizing is involved, but the chief mental processes involved in carrying on the study are judgment, reasoning, and imagination, the teacher may need to direct personally most of the first attempts of the pupil in working out the analysis and synthesis of the unity or problem under consideration. The individual differences of pupils are vitally in- volved in the third step in supervision of study activi- SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 309 ties. Therefore the teacher needs to know the particu- lar type of mind possessed by each pupil and each one's particular weaknesses. The teacher may need to have a number of personal conferences with the pupils in order to discover these particular weaknesses. This may be accomplished through personal direction of all the study activities of all the pupils during the teach- ing periods. As the teacher becomes acquainted with the types of minds and particular weaknesses of pupils, such as poor memory, feeble imagination, limited con- cept of thinking, narrow judgment span, etc., he may begin to give study assignments that the pupils can carry out effectively on their own responsibility. This shift from all direction of study activities through personal oversight to partial direction, through series of suggestions given at the time of making the study assignment, will enable the teacher to accomplish more in the development of definite units of maturity by dealing with more subject-matter well organized and adapted to the particular pupils being taught. The study of the pupils on their own responsibility may be so guided and directed that results of their efforts will enable the teacher to carry them further into the study of the problem during the teaching period. When this stage of development in the technique of super- vising the study activities is reached, genuine vital supervision of study is going on in all of the teacher's work with the pupils. The fourth step in directing the study of the pupil 310 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS is that of suggesting the means of testing and verifying results. The pupil needs to know when he has reached the desired goals set up in the study assignment. The kinds of tests and checks that may be employed by the pupil in determining whether or not he has accom- plished the ends set up in the study assignment will vary according to the nature of the problem and the subject-matter involved in its solution. The tests and checks in mathematics, for example, are different from the tests and checks that may be employed in lan- guage or in science. The tests and checks in mathe- matics, however, are no more definite and tangible than are the tests and checks in other fields of problems. Every type of problem has some kind of valid check as to the correctness of the solution of the problem. The critical point in this step is that the teacher shall so direct the study activities of the pupil that he will necessarily make the testing and verifying of the results a part of the learning performance. In fact, the testing and checking is an integral part of the study of any problem. Therefore the mastery of any sort of problem whatsoever is not complete until the learner can demonstrate the validity of his solution by means of a vital test or check. The forming of the habit of thoroughly testing and checking the results of the study activities is one of the most important goals of supervised study, and in fact of all education. The pupil who does not form this habit is content with merely putting forth effort in study, or more accu- SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 311 rately, perhaps, he is satisfied with putting in time in going over his lessons. Such a pupil can not be very- ambitious or enthusiastic over his work, for he does not know what he really is accomplishing by his study efforts. The teacher also needs to form this habit of testing and verifying the results of the study activities of the pupil. The teacher who does not give the pupil valid means of testing and checking the results of his study activities will be content with giving him tasks to per- form instead of giving him worth-while goals of growth and development to attain through definite study activities. In other words, such a teacher will give lesson assignments that will keep the pupil busy in- stead of study assignments that will secure a definite result in the way of habit formation or acquisition of valuable facts. It is a lamentable fact that a large number of lesson assignments in high school are noth- ing more nor less than busy work for the pupil. Busy- work lesson-assigning teachers usually exhibit a great development of industry in carrying on their work, but they never make their pupils enthusiastic students. The time element. — One of the traditional bugbears of the study habits of the pupil is the time he is sup- posed to put upon the preparation of a lesson. "The traditional time is one hour a lesson. The supposition is that it will take the pupil an hour to prepare enough subject-matter material to last him through the tradi- tional recitation period ; hence if he does not spend an 312 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS hour in preparation, he will run out of anything to resay to the teacher when the teacher conducts the reciting performance. Then, too, the teacher must have enough subject-matter materials prepared by the pupil to avoid the embarrassment of running out of ammunition before the sham battle is over. The result of this tradition of requiring the high school pupil to spend an hour in the preparation of each lesson is that the teacher falls into the habit of measuring out subject-matter doses in terms of time sentences that the pupil is to serve as a penalty for taking the course. Hence he devises every means pos- sible for clamping on the ball and chain, and then watches eagle-eyed for those daring souls who may slip the shackles at the end of a half-hour or even after fifteen minutes of supposed study. The teacher who falls into the habit of imposing time-serving tasks upon the pupil and in hearing him resay his lessons fre- quently develops the attitude of mind that makes him resentful against the pupil who slips his bonds. That is to say, he regards the pupil who fails to serve his time sentence faithfully as an offender against the teacher's dignity and authority. This frame of mind sometimes develops to the point where the teacher does not want the pupil who has broken bounds to appear in the resaying performance. This attitude on the part of the teacher creates an anomalous situation in the case of an offending pupil. If the pupU stays out of class he is considered as "cutting," and the SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 313 teacher of the foregoing tjrpe always resents the ab- sence of a pupil when he thinks it is a voluntary- absence or "cut." But if the pupil has not served his time sentence in preparing his lesson the teacher does not want him in class ; hence he forces a "cut" upon the pupil. The remedy for such an inconsistent point of view is that of setting up definite worth-while attainable goals of growth and development that the pupil can recog- nize as being valid, and then making study assignments for the pupil to carry on alone that will enable him to continue his study of the problem during the teaching period. This will encourage the pupil to be present during the teaching period in order to make the most of the teacher's personal directions and skill in direct- ing the study activities. Moreover, this practice will encourage the pupil to do the things suggested by the teacher in giving the study assignment. This will be true especially if the teacher gives the pupil valid tests and checks that will enable him to know when he has accomplished the desired result, instead of merely put- ting in time and getting over the lesson. The important point is that the pupil should form the habit of doing a definite thing to the best of his ability. The pupil who spends fifteen minutes work- ing definitely to accomplish a perfectly tangible result and succeeds in doing the job well in that time is vastly better off than the one who spends an hour getting a lesson to recite, or in going over the subject-matter 314 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS materials that have no particular connection with any- thing vital in his thinking. The habit of definite achievement is educative and the actual amount of time spent in such achievements should be a variable. Set up the definite goal, and be sure that it is humanly- possible of attainment within a reasonable length of time for every pupil in the group to which the study assignment is given. In other words, let the time element be a secondary matter, except that the maxi- mum must be within reason. What would happen? — ^The teacher who has the attitude and point of view set forth above should visualize the ultimate results of such a system of penal servitude. Suppose every pupil could be compelled to put in one hour in the study preparation of each lesson assigned to him. And suppose, further, that he put in each such study hour working with intensive concen- tration. Then suppose still further that the pupil gives most concentrated attention and effort during the "recitation." What would the result be? This program of procedure would mean at least eight hours of the most intensive mental effort and concentration out of every twenty-four hours for five days in the week. According to scientific studies that have been made, this amount of time spent in intensive or even in a moderately concentrated mental effort would be the equivalent of sixteen hours of manual labor. That is to say, eight hours' mental work would consume as much energy and drain the vital resources of the body SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 315 to the same degree that sixteen hours of manual labor would do. This being true, the ultimate result is obvious. One can see clearly that sixteen hours a day of manual labor for an adolescent boy or girl would be killing. Such work, however, would not be as killing or as dangerous to the present and future well-being of the adolescent as would eight hours of intensive mental effort. This scientific fact, coupled with the psychological fact that the adolescent pupU is in a state of unstable equilibrium, makes the conclusion perfectly clear that if adolescent boys and girls in general tried to follow out faithfully and religiously such an exacting program of study and recitation, which is founded wholly upon the traditions of "teaching the subject," the hospitals, the insane asylums, and the cemeteries of this country would be whoUy inadequate to meet the demands that would be made upon them. Such a regime is against the fundamental proposition that secondary education should help adolescent boys and girls to live in the now in such a manner as to develop adult beings with sound bodies, mature, reliable minds, and desirable social atti- tudes. The rational thing to do is to kill the tradition instead of killing the adolescent pupils. Supervision of study and initiative of the pupil. — The objection has been made against supervision of study, or rather against too much supervision of study, that it tends to destroy the initiative of the pupil. The thought seems to be that the supervision of study 316 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS may result in making the pupil more dependent and weaker in ability to attack problems alone and to solve them through his own efforts. This idea grows out of a failure to analyze the psychology of initiative. The term initiative literally means to go into. The usual definition of the word, however, is going into a thing alone and without the help or suggestion of any other individual. That is to say, the individual who starts something, who acts first in a situation, who is first to think of what to do or how to do it, is supposed to have initiative. Therefore the argument is that the teacher may give so many suggestions and directions that the pupil has little opportunity to think for himself. The result is that the pupil forms the habit of waiting for some one to start him in his work. The real situation psychologically is that the pupil must form certain habits that will automatically func- tion whenever he faces a problem situation before he can go into things alone and without aid or suggestions from another individual. He can not exhibit the so- called initiative without having first developed the basis for meeting spontaneous situations. The super- vision of study rightly directed will develop initiative instead of hampering it; for real supervision of study will develop the very habits that one must possess in order to attack problems on his own responsibility. The setting up of definite goals or problems, the sifting and selecting of relevant facts, and the testing of results are the fundamental habits involved in initia- SUPEEVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 317 tive. The work of the teacher is to direct the study- efforts of the pupil in such a way that these habits become permanent in the procedure of the pupil in all study. As these habits grow and become efficient, the teacher naturally modifies and reduces his directions and suggestions to the minimum in making study assignments, and he also modifies his suggestions to the minimum in personally directing the study activities of the pupils. The pupil always has opportunity to exercise initia- tive in interpreting and applying the directions and suggestions of the teacher. He can not gain anything from the services of the teacher unless he goes into the study assignment thoroughly. Therefore the pupil always has directed initiative in following out the study directions and suggestions. If he exercises this directed initiative, he soon acquires such habits of attack and solution of definite problems that he will not be lacking in spontaneous initiative when thrown upon his own resources. Directed initiative has devel- oped the resources necessary for spontaneous initiative. Supervising the study of the absent pupil. — The setting up of definite goals of habit formation and of mental acquisitions in the way of facts, definitions, concepts, etc., and the devising of definite tests for measuring accurately these units of mental maturity, simplifies the problem of what to do about the work of the absent pupil. The pupil himself can be made to see what he really misses or what he fails to develop by 318 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS being absent. The problem for the pupil is that of securing the desired development in habits and mental equipment. The problem of the teacher is that of directing the study of the pupil so that he will be able to make the desired growth and be able to measure up to a satisfactory test of such growth. The pupil does not in any true sense make up work, but he really makes personal growth of the desired sort. The critical point in this problem is that the pupil should not be given make-up subject-matter assign- ments that are nothing more nor less than mere tasks set in order to fulfil the letter of the law. The dealing with subject-matter should insure growth of a specific type. If the pupil already possesses such growth, he has no need to make up anything. If he does not possess such growth and he is not given a study assign- ment that will help him to attain it, he has not been benefited by the so-called make-up work. This problem of supervising the study activities of the absent pupil goes back to the fundamental propo- sition of giving each individual an equal opportunity to be educated. The pupil who has less growth to make than others does not need to deal with as much subject-matter and he does not need to be under the personal direction of the teacher as much as do other pupils who have not the same maturity of definite mental habits and equipment. Whenever the goals of education are made definite enough for the pupil to recognize them, he will realize that teaching periods SUPEEVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 319 and personal help of the teacher are opportunities and not merely requirements that must be met to make a passing grade. Moreover, he will appreciate and wel- come these facilities that wiU enable him to attain the definite units of mental maturity. Types of subject-matter and supervised study. — The balance between study assignments that the pupil is to carry out alone and the study that can be most effectively carried on under the immediate personal direction of the teacher may be largely determined through a proper utilization of content material and formal or practice material. The taking up of new phases of content subject-matter can usually be done most effectively under the personal direction and guidance of the teacher. When the content material has been sufficiently mastered to enable the pupil to employ formal material in order to complete the learn- ing and render it habit, study assignments can be made that will enable him to deal with the formal material in an effective manner. Some of the practising and drilling upon habit formation should be done under the personal direction of the teacher in order to avoid serious errors and waste of time. For the most part, however, the real drilling can be carried on safely by the pupil. This is especially true where the teacher provides the pupil with definite tests and checks to enable him to determine the results of his efforts and the status of his own development in regard to any particular unit of mental maturity. 320 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS The critical point is that the teacher should not take time for personally directing the study activities of the pupil if these study activities can be carried on just as well by the pupil working alone. The teacher's time during the teaching period, that is, the personally directed study period, should be devoted to helping the pupil to do things that he can not do efficiently by himself. Therefore the teacher should not be an in- spector who sees that the pupil has obeyed instructions, nor an overseer who stands over the pupil merely to see that he works at the job. The teacher should be a help and an opportunity that the pupil learns to capi- talize in working out his own educational salvation. This function of being a helper will bear most fruit if the teacher manages his teaching periods largely in developing valid content material and utilizes his study assignments chiefly for rendering permanent and auto- matic habits already well started. SUMMARY Supervised study is definite guidance of the learning efforts put forth by the pupil. The starting-point is the pupil; hence the teacher needs to know the pupil's type of mind, his unit of concept in thinking, his mental content of facts and concepts, and his habits of memorization. The first step in directing the study activities of the pupil is to set up definite goals to be attained through study. These goals should be at- tained through study under the personal direction of SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 321 the teacher and through independent study. One of the chief objectives of supervised study is to make the pupil independent of the teacher. The teaching period should be utilized for the study of worth-while prob- lems. Teachers do not need a new type of training, but they do need to know how to teach the pupil so he will learn effectively; then their teaching will become the best sort of supervised study. The study assignment is one of the chief means of guiding the study habits of pupils. The technique of supervised study involves the raising of specific problems, suggesting relevant subject-matter, suggesting means of sifting out and selecting relevant facts, and suggesting the means of testing and verifying the results. The tradition of requiring an hour in study prepara- tion of a lesson should give way to the habit of attain- ing a definite, tangible result within a reasonable time. Fifteen minutes spent in attaining a definite goal is better than an hour spent in fulfilling the letter of the law without attaining a specific end. Adolescent pupils could not stand the mental strain long if they actually spent an hour in intensive study on every lesson assignment and an additional hour of intensive atten- tion and mental effort for every period of teaching. Supervision of the study activities develops the power of independent study or initiative. The super-; vision of the study activities of the pupil who has been absent should be directed to securing definite growth 322 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS and development and not to "making up" work. The amount of personal direction of the study activities of the pupil is largely determined by the kind of subject- matter being employed. Content material requires more personal direction than does formal or practice material. EXERCISES 1. Find as many definitions of supervised study as pos- sible and contrast with the one herein presented. 2. Give five examples from your own experience that show the lack of definiteness in teaching. 3. Give two illustrations of the point that an efficient teacher can accomplish more in a shorter period of time than the usual recitation period than many teachers can accomplish in the double supervised study period. 4. Give two examples from experience of ineffective super- vision of study by means of double periods. 5. Give three illustrations of how the lesson or study as- signment may be a very effective means of guiding the study habits of the pupil. 6. Give two typical illustrations of good technique in supervised study as suggested in the chapter. 7. Give three illustrations of how the individual differ- ences of pupils is involved in the technique of super- vised study. 8. Give two illustrations of the bad results of attempting to administer the traditional idea of requiring an hour of study preparation of every lesson. 9. Give illustrations of definite good habit results obtained by setting up reasonable work goals instead of a time goal. 10. Give examples of disastrous results for conscientious pupils who tried to live up to the traditional time sentence. SUPERVISION OF THE STUDY HABITS 323 11. Give two illustrations of how directed initiative may- lead to spontaneous independent initiative. 12. Select any high school subject and work out a plan for directing the study activities of a pupil who has been absent for two or three days in succession. SELECTED REFERENCES Breed, Fkedebick S. Measured Results of Supervised Study, in School Review, March and April, 1919. Gives experimental data and valuable conclusions. Foster, Herbert H. Principles of Teaching in Secondary Education. Chapter XII. Good general discussion of the study problem. Hall-Quest, Alfred L. Supervised Study. Excellent dis- cussion of principles, practices, and good account of ex- perimental data. JuDD, Charles H. Psychology of High School Subjects. Chapter XVIII. Excellent discussion of the large psy- chological problems involved in teaching high school pupils to study. McMuRRY, Frank. How to Study and Teaching How to Study. A stimulating and helpful general discussion of the whole problem. Nutt, H. W. The Supervision of Instruction. Chapter XII, p. 2. Brief discussion of principles involved in directing the study of pupils. Parker, Samuel C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Chapter XVI. Good discussion of the practical phases of the problem. Sandwick, Richard L. How to Study and What to Study. Discussion of what to study especially helpful to pupils. Watts, H. J. Economy and Training of Memory. Excel- lent summary of rules. Whipple, G. M. How to Study Effectively. Excellent discussion of principles and good summary of rules. CHAPTER XI THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT Stages of conduct development. — The history of the human family discloses two distinct stages of char- acter or conduct development — the external criteria stage, and the internal criteria stage. These two stages of character development are marked by two distinct philosophies of life. The history of the race in the development of behavior is repeated in the history of each individual of the human family. Every human being who lives to adulthood exhibits the two stages of conduct in obedience to external criteria, and con- duct in obedience to internal criteria. Likewise, each individual is dominated by the same two philosophies of life that parallel these two stages of conduct devel- opment. Therefore any rational attempt to develop conduct or character must be based upon these his- torical and psychological truths. Stage of external criteria. — ^When the human race was passing through the stage of external criteria it had to have laws and positive commands telling it what it should not do. This was the time of the ten com- mandments written on tables of stone. It was the 324 THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 325 period when the people bowed to a "Thus saith the Lord." The human race had to learn obedience to law and authority, and human conduct and character were measured in terms of implicit obedience to the external mandates. The philosophy of this stage of external criteria is based upon the idea of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." Any offense or disobedience must be punished by some external means similar to or related to the offense and of a comparable degree of severity. Therefore the offender must be "beaten with stripes," his body must be bruised, or some dreaded physical suffering must be meted out to him. Members of the human family must be obedient to the external criteria of behavior or they must pay the external penalties. The fundamental psychology of this stage of behav- ior is that of fear. Obedience was a matter of fearing the penalty. The command "Thou shalt not" carried with it the menace of the penalty that must be suffered by the offender. The essence of moral education was to put the "fear of God" into the hearts of mankind. The individuals who feared the Lord most and obeyed his commandments most faithfully stood highest in moral behavior. The important point in this stage of fear and obe- dience to external laws and command was that the responsibility for directing and controlling human be- havior was outside the individuals themselves. The one who made the laws and issued the commands was 326 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS the one to see that the members of the human family feared and obeyed. The ruler was to set up all laws and to put them into full effect. He was the one to execute the laws and to administer the penalties for disobedience. On the other hand, the individuals of the race were to obey. They were not held responsible for the Tightness of the law, but were responsible only for those acts that were covered by some law or command. The stage of internal criteria. — The human race through obedience to external law finally reached a stage of moral development that enabled it to see the reasons why the law was right. The race now realized the values that were embodied in the laws and com- mands. That is to say, the criteria began to be within the hearts and minds of human beings. The external law was merely an expression of the internal concep- tions of values and right relationships between man and man and between man and God. Thus it was through fear and obedience that the human family reached the status of adult moral responsibility. This idea is expressed in the saying "The law was the schoolmaster to bring you to Christ." The philosophy of this stage of internal criteria is based upon the idea that each individual shall work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, but not fear of some penalty that will be inflicted by an irate ruler, rather a fear of failure to realize and to know the right and to do it because it is right. Therefore the one who THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 327 misses his way is to be dealt with mercifully and pointed to the right way. Justice is to be tempered with mercy and love, in order that the erring one may find the road to right living that is based upon knowl- edge of values and faith in the eternal love, mercy, and goodness of the Creator. The fundamental psychology of this stage of internal criteria is that of love. The one who loves the Lord does his will, and he does it because he recognizes the great altruistic relationships that are covered by the will of God. The law is now enshrined within the hearts of men, and they obey the law through love of what obeying it brings to mankind and to themselves. The only fear that is felt at this stage is the fear of failing to render service, and not the fear of some pen- alty for disobedience. The obedience that is rendered is obedience to love in the heart and to the desire to do good, and not the obedience to external law or mandate. The important point in this stage of internal criteria is that the individual assumes responsibility for his decisions and for his behavior. He no longer looks to mere laws as telling him what to do and what not to do, but he evaluates the various factors in the situation and makes independent decisions that enable him to mal?e appropriate adjustments to cases that are not exactly covered by the external law set up. The development of the individual. — ^Each indi- vidual exhibits these stages of criteria in his develop- 328 TEACHING mOH SCHOOL PUPILS ment from childhood to maturity. The period of child- hood is a period of obedience to external law and' specific commands as to what shall be done and what shall not be done. The child learns through fear and disagreeable experiences to obey the will of those who are older and more powerful. He is not able to set up in his own thinking the reasons why one act is consid- ered wrong. He does understand, however, the injunc- tion, "Thou shalt not"; hence he looks to external laws to tell him what to do and what not to do. The child is not held responsible for creating stand- ards of behavior, but he is held responsible for obeying standards set up by law. Adult society assumes the responsibility for setting up the standards of behavior for the child and also the responsibility of compelling the child to obey the standards. Therefore the child is made to feel to some degree that getting caught is the main crime. And the child likewise is made to feel that acts not specifically covered by statement of external law are legitimate performances and that no penalty should follow the doing of such acts. The chief prob- lem of the child, then, is to keep within the law. That is to say, it is concerned with knowing what the "thou shalt nots" are. , The adult — that is, the mentally adult individual — exhibits the stage of the internal criteria of behavior. He weighs the various facts and factors in the situation and decides what is right and what is wrong. He obeys law, too, but he obeys because of his appreciation and THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 329 understanding of the standard set up by the law rather than through a feeling that he must obey because it is the law. He feels responsible for helping to create the standard and also for helping to make it effective by obedience to it. That is to say, he feels the responsi- bility of directing his own behavior in keeping with recognized standards. It is this attitude of personal responsibility for both the creating of standards of behavior and living up to them that makes life and property safe in any community. This feeling of indi- vidual responsibility is society's protective insurance against danger and depredations. The police and other officers of the law are the agencies for dealing with the emergencies that arise. They are protective to a cer- tain degree, but they would be absolutely helpless with- out the preventive agencies of right attitude and per- sonal responsibility assumed by the majority of people. Adolescence the critical stage. — The individual does not change abruptly from childhood to adulthood. He passes through a period during which he is part chUd and part adult in his understanding and point of view concerning the setting up of law and the obeying of established standards. The adolescent period that hnks childhood with adulthood is a period during which the criteria of behavior are partly external and partly in- ternal most of the time. The adolescent is groping toward adulthood and is struggling mightily to be bom again, or rather to be born into full maturity of physi- cal, mental, and moral powers. This struggle is marked 330 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS by many exhibitions of childish behavior and also by many manifestations of adult behavior. This fact greatly complicates the problem; for he can not be treated wholly as a child, nor can he be treated wholly as an adult. He must be dealt with in such a way as to enable him to realize the weakness of his childish be- havior and to win the right to be accorded full adult consideration. The problem. — The critical problem, then, in the development of the adolescent pupil toward maturity of conduct is that of making him realize the social problems and the social significance of these problems as they arise in the school activities. The pupil must be made to realize that the problems of conduct are his own individual problems, and that he who would re- ceive recognition as a mature citizen and be his own boss must demonstrate his ability to evaluate the facts and factors in his social situations, and not only to set up appropriate standards for his own behavior but also to hold himself responsible to live up to these standards. The problem, then, is one of constructive education. Therefore the adolescent pupil needs more and more opportunity for determining what he should do and less and less of the "thou shalt not." The point must be kept clearly in mind at all times that the goal to be attained in the development of the conduct of the adolescent boy and girl is that of rendering them citi- zens who are not concerned about keeping within the THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 331 law, but who are vitally concerned about keeping the law within. Constructive education the road to character. — The point of view herein maintained is that the de- velopment of conduct or character is a matter of edu- cation. The adolescent boy and girl must set up definite social problems in regard to the adjustments necessary to promulgate satisfactory relations with other individuals and with groups of individuals. The solution of these social problems wUl bring social mental maturity and reliable habits of behavior. Therefore a definite plan for setting up social problems of more and more complex character should be pro- vided in the secondary school. The critical point is that the pupil should not be expected to master the fundamental principles that underlie the establishment of satisfactory social rela- tions without facing similar problems a number of times and thoroughly analyzing these problems. The same laws of learning are involved in studying a prob- lem in human relationships that are involved in study- ing problems in mathematics or problems in science or problems in any other field. The teacher of mathe- matics does not expect that one explanation of a theo- rem in geometry will give the pupil thorough mastery over the principles that are involved in its solution. Much less even does he expect that one analysis of the theorem will give the pupil mastery over the applica- 332 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS tion of the theorem to the solution of practical prob- lems. Moreover, the teacher of any field of academic problems does not expect one hundred per cent, mas- tery of the particular field of problems on the part of any pupU, and he expects a considerable range of de- grees of mastery on the part of a class group, and some J)upils are expected to fail even though they try faithfully to learn by means of the particular field of problems. This point of view should be taken in regard to the mastery of social problems of actual school life. The teacher should not expect any pupil to attain one hun- dred per cent, mastery over the problems of conduct; nor should he expect any less range of degree of mas- tery of these problems of behavior from a class than he expects from the same class in the mastery of any particular field of subject-matter problems. Moreover, he should expect that some pupils will fail to master many of these conduct problems, even though they try ever so faithfully to master them and to gain thorough control over their behavior. The crux of the whole matter is that the develop- ment of conduct involves practice in applying the prin- ciples of social relationships just as truly as drill and practice are involved in making growth by means of mathematical problems or by means of any other kind of subject-matter problems. Errors must be expected and many wrong judgments made in attacking the solution of these problems of living agreeably with THE PKOBLEM OF CONDUCT 333 other people. The pupil must acquire many social experiences and must organize these experiences into valid unities based upon significant social ideas and ideals. This can not be done by means of a few social contacts and a few critical situations. Only through a great wealth of social contacts and a large number of critical situations can the individual sift out and set up permanent ideas and ideals that will forever constitute reliable internal criteria to guide his behavior. Setting up social problems. — The most important point in the issue of setting up social problems is that the pupil himself should recognize and fully realize the nature of the problems and the necessity of their solu- tion. This point involves certain factors that must not be forgotten in dealing with social situations in the secondary school. One of these factors is that of actual conditions. The essential consideration in connection with the factor of conditions is that conditions must become very unsatisfactory in many instances before the pupil recognizes the seriousness of the problem to the degree that he will feel that something ought to be done about it. This is the way, exactly, that society as a whole is awakened to action in regard to setting up proper ideas and ideals to guide the behavior of its members. National prohibition, for example, was not possible until the conditions resulting from the use of liquor became so bad that they could no longer be tolerated. Some day the cigarette evil will create conditions that 334 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS will be so unsatisfactory that the nation will act in ridding itself of the nuisance. Likewise, then, groups of pupils in the secondary school must face conditions that are so unsatisfactory that they will be roused to action in solving the situation. They then will set up appropriate standards of behavior to guide in eradi- cating the evils and in setting up proper social rela- tions. In other words, pupils must experience unsatis- factory conditions in their social contacts before they can build up a mental and emotional background of idealism that will lead to appropriate reactions and positive action in bringing about desirable changes. This factor is a vital one, for it is the essential foun- dation of moral education that makes the difference between a "Thus saith the Lord" and "Work out your own salvation." It is the ground of opportunity upon which the pupil becomes responsible for "laying down the law" instead of having the law laid down to him. Conditions that are disagreeable and unsatisfactory constitute the furnace in which the irons of life adjust- ments are brought to white heat, so that they may be welded into strong standards conforming to worthy ideals. The pupil must feel that he himself, for the most part, creates and is himself responsible for the conditions pertaining in the school activities. Then his experiences in actual contact with these conditions may awaken such a feeling of dissatisfaction, when condi- tions are not conducive to constructive education, that THE PEOBLEM OF CONDUCT 335 he will assume the responsibility of bringing about necessary changes. Types of constructive education in behavior. — The whole problem of developing democratic citizenship involves two types of constructive education. The first type is that of systematic study of social problems pertaining to the carrying on of the school activities. The pupil should have regular instruction that wiU keep him busy with the job of finding out what condi- tions are desirable and how to secure these conditions. The pupil commits many thoughtless acts and mak^s many mistakes and blunders in conduct, simply be- cause he has not studied the science and art of living agreeably and helpfully with his fellows. The greatest defense against such thoughtless and even ignorant errors in behavior is to make the problems of school life a part of the curriculum in order that the pupU may receive the benefit of living his social problems through in connection with thinking them through. That is to say, he must live out his thinking and also think out his living. The other type of constructive education is that of making each individual case of unsatisfactory behavior a means of bringing the individual face to face with the vital social issues involved and require him to assume responsibility for correctly solving the problem. The systematic study of social problems should give the pupil the theoretical background of principles that 336 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS underlie the setting up of appropriate interrelations between individuals and between groups of individuals. The actual living out of social relations brings to each individual the spontaneous practical problems of mak- ing appropriate social adjustments. Each such indi- vidual problem or case of misbehavior gives the pupil practice ia applying the social principles to an actual concrete case. DrUl or practice in working out a correct and satisfactory answer to his problems of behavior is just as essential as drill and practice in mathematics. The pupil is not expected to acquire thorough mastery over the scientific principles of mathematics, or to acquire skill in applying these prin- ciples to the solution of practical problems without a great amount of drill and practice. Therefore the pupil should not be expected to master the social science of setting up appropriate relations with others or to acquire skill in putting these social principles into effective operation in his own conduct without ample opportunity to study and to solve the problems that arise in his actual behavior. The great function of the teacher, then, in directing the behavior of the adolescent boy and girl is not to issue edicts of "thou shalt not" and "thou shalt," but to raise questions and to suggest data that may help the pupil to see the real problem and to bring his knowledge of social principles to bear upon the solution of the problem. The vital issue here, as in every case whatsoever in which the pupil is in error, is not that THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 337 the pupil made the error, but it is the question of why he made the error. The teacher should aid the pupil in analyzing his behavior in order to help him to discover what he needs to build up in his content of knowledge, what he needs in the way of habit formation, that will insure against a repetition of the error. That is to say, the teacher should make a psychological analysis of the pupil's conduct in each particular case when an error has been made, just as she should do in mathe- matics or in any other subject that is being employed in the education of the individual. The chief difficulty is that the teacher is too prone to center attention upon the performance of the pupil. This tendency is noted in connection with dealing with all types of subject-matter. The teacher too frequently fails to realize that the overt act of the pupil, whether it be an error in solving a social problem or an error in language, is only a symptom or an index to what is going on within the mind of the pupU. Therefore the teacher invariably treats the symptom instead of get- ting at the defects that lie beyond the symptom. Be- cause the teacher has this point of view he usually undertakes to correct the symptom, when he should be looking to the giving of a course of constructive treat- ment that would remove the malady itself. Treat the internal conditions and the symptom naturally dis- appears. The teacher does the same thing in respect to language errors or mathematical errors, etc. He corrects the overt act or the symptom, and too fre- 338 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS quently leaves the mental malady for which the symp- tom was only an index, a clue, entirely untouched. The psychology of punishment. — The old order dis- regarded the psychological factors that determine the real punishment of the individual who is struggling to keep the law within instead of keeping within the law. The idea of an eye for an eye as a fitting penalty for having committed a fault overlooked the psychological truth that genuine mental suffering comes through realization of the significance of what one has done and not through bruising of the flesh or through mental lashings of sarcasm, indignation, accusation, social dis- grace, etc. A few examples will make this point clear. A bridge-tender swung the bridge at the wrong moment and caused a passenger train to be precipi- tated into the river. Virtually no one escaped from the wreck alive. The man was arrested, tried, and convicted of criminal negligence or carelessness, and a fine and prison sentence imposed. The attempt upon the part of society to punish the offender in this way was absolutely futile. He cared nothing about the fine or the imprisonment, but his realization that through careless performance of duty he had broken his trust and had reaUy slain his fellow men came home to him with stunning reality as he looked upon the results of his carelessness. This realization lived in his heart night and day. It was the real prisoner and could not be freed from the man's innermost thoughts and feel- THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 339 ings. The result of this constant reminder of his act drove him insane, and his body very soon had to be taken from the prison to which it had been committed and placed in an insane hospital. There he continued to live over and over in his mind the scene of the disaster, and the morbidness of his remorse was ex- pressed in the words, "Oh, if I only had not!" This refrain he repeated over and over almost constantly. Who could conceive of a greater punishment than he was doomed to suffer, not because of any judgment passed upon him by society, but because of his own realization of the real significance of what he had done? In another instance a man while under the influence of liquor shot and killed a man who had been his friend for many years. When he came to his senses and realized through the testimony of witnesses at the trial that he had really taken the life of his friend, he was overwhelmed with grief. He was sent to prison on a long-term sentence, but was soon paroled on good behavior. He returned to his home town and resumed his former trade. But he was a broken man. His per- sonal testimony was that the prison meant nothing to him, for it mattered little where his body was or what was done with it, but he said, "Night and day I see the face of my friend whom I killed, and realize that I am helpless to undo the deed." His life was one continual hell of mental agony, none of which was produced by 340 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS anything done to him by society, but all of it due to his own realization of the significance of his deed. On the other hand is a case in which the offender was convicted and imprisoned for stealing a horse. This individual suffered the inconveniences of having his program of life restricted. He did not realize, how- ever, the real significance of his act as a principle in human conduct. Therefore he suffered no real punish- ment. He felt no agony of mind or compunction of feeling at all. He was perfectly indifferent and com- placent. He finally secured a parole on good behavior; but his freedom was short-lived, for he stole another horse and was again sent to prison to serve a full sentence. Society may have protected itself by sending this man to prison, but it failed to punish him and it failed to correct his thinking in regard to serious social problems. StiU another case may be cited of an individual who was accused of embezzlement, tried, convicted, and sent to prison. This individual protested his innocence and refused to accept the judgment of society as a penalty for an offense that he claimed never to have committed. He suffered inconvenience and more or less of physical discomfort because of his imprison- ment, but he was not punished by any realization in his own thinking of having committed a wrong. Examples of these various types of actual situations could be multiplied innumerably. They all illustrate the one outstanding psychological truth, namely, that THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 341 real punishment comes through realizing the signifi- cance of one's deeds and realizing why the results are wrong and unsatisfactory because they are the outward expressions of a social principle that is not ideal. Therefore the point should be emphasized again and again that the function of the teacher is to help the pupil solve each situation in such a way that the pupil sets up in his own thinking the proper realization of the significance of his conduct as embodying wrong social principles. Then the pupil will be really and truly sorry and his inmost feelings wiU be all the pun- ishment possible to mete out to him. Any other attempt to punish must be temporary and transient in effect, as compared with this mental thorn of realiza- tion that he must carry in his heart continually. Moral imagination. — One of the most important factors in developing a full realization of the signifi- cance of conduct is that of moral imagination. The individual who can not construct a vivid picture or image of the possible results of conduct prior to the performance itself will not be liable to realize the full significance of any act that he performs, for no act is significant except as it is related to other things that do not always appear in the immediate time of the act itself. The act must be associated with any number of other things, and this can be done only by the power of constructive moral imagination. Therefore one of the functions of the teacher should be to analyze the extent and character of the pupil's moral imagination 342 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS and to seek through the concrete cases of behavior that are unsatisfactory to develop the power and prac- tice of constructive moral imagination. In other words, the teacher should capitalize misbehavior as the great- est opportunity for doing vital work in the develop- ment of conduct. The critical point is that the pupil must not only possess the power of constructive moral imagination, but he must employ it in a sane way habitually so that he will not always be doing things for which he should apologize. The development of a reliable habit of moral imagination is the goal of moral imagination. The individual who allows his powers of moral imagi- nation to run riot, to run in aU sorts of fanciful, bizarre imaginings, will not be a dependable member of soci- ety. Such an individual will be as likely to commit errors of omission that are equally as detrimental to society as the errors of actual performances that he lives out. Therefore the individual must have ample opportunity to practise his moral imagination in con- nection with concrete cases of his own behavior and also in connection with concrete cases of behavior of the groups and of other individuals, for one of the fundamental laws of habit formation is that any per- formance must be carried on validly a number of times in order to set up and fully establish a habit path that will operate automatically in the face of the appropri- ate situation and stimulus. THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 343 The interpretation of behavior. — ^The teacher can not deal intelligently and effectively with the indi- vidual and group cases of behavior unless he is able accurately to interpret the various psychological and sociological factors that are involved in the various situations. He must know with some degree of assur- ance just what has gone on and is going on in the minds and hearts of the pupils who perform the acts that are not satisfactory. The interpretation, there- fore, involves a careful consideration of a number of facts and factors, and diagnostic tests are needed in this connection just as surely as they are needed in connection with any other phase of educational testing and measuring. The fundamental point for the teacher to keep in mind is that he should make the study of moral prob- lems just as impersonal as he does the study of mathe- matical or any other sort of subject-matter problems. The teacher should never take any act of the pupil as an affront to his personal dignity. The dealing with a problem of conduct should never be a mere clash of personalities. Personalities should be lost in the con- sideration of vital principles that are permanent and abiding. The manner of dealing with conduct should never manifest a spirit of vindictiveness. The teacher must be broad-minded enough to forget self and to study impersonally the status of the pupil's mind and to make the pupil realize the real issue. This is the 344 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS only way that he can hope to arouse the right kind of moral imagination in the thinking of the pupil and to set up a permanent habit of appropriate behavior. The surest way to disarm the pupil, even if his act seems to be aimed at the teacher as an insult or per- sonal affront, is to ignore it from that standpoint, and to put the vital moral issues before the offender, and thus help the pupil to see what he is doing to himse]f. The teacher too often feels that he must vindicate him- self, that he must "get even" with the offender. Little does he realize, when he assumes this attitude, that in order to "get even" he must commit a similar act him- self and thus violate the vital moral principles of good conduct. The wholesome influence is to make the pupil realize that one does not want to get even, that one will not be dragged into a petty clash of personali- ties, but that one will insist upon keeping to the per- manent and abiding issues that have been set up as social ideals. The diagnostic tests employed by the teacher in interpreting the behavior of the adolescent pupil should involve a thorough consideration of the psychol- ogy of suggestion. Every individual is influenced to a great degree by suggestions of different types, but the adolescent is particularly susceptible to suggestions of the physiological, instinctive, and ideational types. Physiological stimuli, instinctive impulses, and spon- taneous ideas tend to be irresistible; hence these im- pelling forces will be the dominating influences under- THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 345 lying very much of adolescent behavior. The particu- lar type of suggestion that is dominant in any particu- lar case of unsatisfactory conduct must be discovered before the case can be dealt with in a constructive manner. In order to make such accurate interpreta- tions of behavior that these various psychological fac- tors may be discovered definitely, the teacher must study the reactions of adolescent pupils in the re- sponses that they make to their social situations. Then, in the light of carefully conducted studies of this kind, the teacher should work out a thorough- going body of technique that will enable him to deal with individual and group cases effectively. Technique in dealing with conduct. — A. Make the attitude of the pupil the center of attention and strive to direct the thinking of the pupil in such a way as to help him realize the social significance of his act. The pupU must come to a different attitude toward the social problem involved in his conduct if he is to profit by moral education. B. Never parade the conduct of the pupU before the school and never administer a moral educational measure publicly as an example to the rest of the pupils. Give the pupil an opportunity to work out his conduct problems through private personal confer- ences. Make the pupil feel the helpfulness of con- structive suggestions and advice just as in dealing with a problem in mathematics or language or any other subject. 346 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS C. The teacher in the class-room, assembly hall, etc., should make the pupil feel that his presence and sympathetic watchfulness is just as helpful in over- coming weaknesses of conduct as it is in overcoming difficulties in other lessons. The watchfulness of the teacher should never take on the semblance of spying or policing. The attitude of the teacher's alertness must express a friendly cooperation and confidence in the integrity of the pupil. D. The misconduct of the pupil should not be re- garded as a crime any more than making an error in a geometry problem or in a language construction should be regarded as an offense against the instruc- tion given by the teacher. The fact that the pupil makes errors in dealing with any field of problems is what makes a teacher necessary. Therefore the com- mitting of an error of conduct presents the best oppor- tunity for doing constructive, vital work in moral edu- cation. Keep the idea uppermost that to make the undesirable desirable and the unlovely lovely is the function of training in conduct. In other words, take the point of view expressed by the Great Teacher in the saying: "I am come to seek and to save that which was lost." E. Create clear conceptions in the minds of the pupils as to what constitutes helpful social standards of conduct in group life and what the conditions of good order and work really are under the school surroundings. Direct the pupils in setting up their THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 347 individual relationships to these standards and con- ditions. F. Direct the thinking of the pupil to his own responsibility in working out his program of behavior. Make him face the issue of his particular acts and require him to answer why he should or should not do such and such acts. Help him to realize that he should take himself to task and that he should direct his conduct in such a way as to make it contribute to the welfare of society instead of expecting the teacher to watch him and to assume the responsibility for his behavior. G. Set up the problems of group life clearly, and help the group to realize its responsibility toward its members as well as its responsibility toward the large social group of community or state. Discriminate carefully between problems that the group should solve in regard to the conduct of individual members of the group and the problems of individual conduct that each individual should solve for himself. Strive to create an appropriate group consciousness of moral re- sponsibility in regard to social problems. H. Rules and regulations should be worked out by the group. This procedure will insure a clear under- standing as to the function that each regulation is to serve in promoting the welfare of the group and the welfare of the individual. This procedure wiU also go far toward developing the group consciousness of moral responsibility suggested above. 348 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS I. When several pupils have violated a rule or regu- lation in a sei'ious way, deal with them individually instead of attempting to take up the problem with all of them at the same time. The personal conference is the best means of gaining the confidence of the indi- vidual and of making him feel that he can be trusted to face the moral issue fairly and squarely. J. The teacher should be alert in observing the conduct of pupils and he should be accurate in his interpretations of their acts. Suggestion is a very powerful factor in determining behavior; hence the teacher should watch carefully the trend of the con- duct of individuals and of groups and should start strong counter-suggestions that will prevent much un- desirable behavior. K. Promptness of decision and action in dealing with conduct problems is most effective. L. The attitude of the teacher should express self- confidence and assurance as to the outcome of his procedure. The teacher should carry himself with appropriate dignity and firmness in the face of critical conduct situations. M. The teacher should not be supersensitive and not easily upset by aggravating occurrences. The teacher should view the problems of conduct in an impartial manner and not take the acts as being aimed at his personal authority or dignity. THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 349 SUMMARY The history of the human family exhibits two stages of character development — namely, the stage of exter- nal criteria and the stage of internal criteria — in its moral education. These two stages of conduct develop- ment are dominated by two distinct philosophies of morality. The one is the philosophy of obedience through fear, while the other is the philosophy of love. The first stage and the first philosophy dominates childhood. The second stage and the second philos- ophy dominates adult life. Both stages and both philosophies are present during adolescence and the great problem is to render the second stage and philos- ophy dominant. Constructive education is the road to character- building, and a study of actual social situations in their own lives is necessary to give the pupils an under- standing of the significance of social ideals. Pupils must be made to feel responsible for changing unsatis- factory conditions. Teachers should look upon every act of misbehavior as an opportunity for constructive education; hence he should study the psychological and sociological factors involved in each piece of con- duct. He should never look upon the conduct of the pupil as an affront to his personal dignity. The pun- ishment for any offense must ultimately rest in the individual's realization of the significance of his act. 350 TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL PUPILS EXERCISES 1. Give three illustrations from history of the first stage of conduct development and the philosophy that dominates it. 2. Give three illustrations from history of the second stage of conduct development and the philosophy that dominates it. 3. Give five examples from experience of the conduct of children that exhibit the first stage and its philosophy. 4. Give five examples from experience of the conduct of adults that exhibit the second stage and its phi- losophy. 5. Give three examples from experience of the conduct of adolescents that exhibit the first stage and phi- losophy. 6. Give five examples from experience of the conduct of adolescents that exhibit the second stage and phi- losophy. 7. Give two examples from experience of situations that became so unsatisfactory that the high school pupils themselves realized their responsibility and acted effectively in remedying affairs. 8. Give five examples of social problems that can be studied systematically by high school pupils. 9. Give five examples from experience of adolescent be- havior that were not dealt with impersonally and in keeping with the principles set forth in this discussion. 10. Give five examples from experience of adolescent be- havior that were dealt with as impersonal social problems. 11. Give three examples from experience of cases in which the offenders were severely punished through realiza- tion of the significance of their acts. 12. Give three examples from experience of cases in which the state tried to punish individuals, but failed be- cause the offenders did not realize the social signifi- cance of their acts. THE PROBLEM OF CONDUCT 351 SELECTED REFERENCES Bagley, William Chandler. School Discipline. Excel- lent detailed discussion of the modem point of view and the practical aspects of the problem. Betts, George Herbert. Class-Room Method and Man- agement. Chapter XII. General discussion of the prob- lem of discipline. Calvin, Stephen S. An Introduction to High School Teaching. Chapters IV, V, VI. Good discussion of forms of control and function of punishment. Ntjtt, H. W. The Supervision of Instruction. Chapter XV. A Philosophy of School Discipline. Pp. 223 to 225. INDEX Absent pupil, supervision of the study of, 317-19. Adolescence, meaning of, 22-4; physical characteristics of, 24-32; psychological charac- teristics of, 32-7; phases of maturing in, 39-42; the crit- ical stage, 329-30. "Adolescence : Its Psychology and its Relations to Physiol- ogy, Anthropology, Sociol- ogy, Sex, Religion, and Edu- cation," G. S. Hall, 77. "American High School, The," John Franklin Brown, 77. Apprentice system of education, relation of the project to, 180-2. Bagley, William Chandler, "The Educative Process," 294; "School Discipline," 351. Behavior, types of constructive education in, 335-8; interpre- tation of, 343-5. Betts, George Herbert, "Class- Room Method and Manage- ment," 21, 294, 351; "The Recitation," 204. Biological sciences, function of, as high school subjects, 64-6. Breed, IVederick S., "Measured Results of Supervised Study," in School Review, 323. "Brief Course in the Teaching Process, A," George D. Strayer, 230. Briggs, Thomas H., "The Junior High School," 158. Brown, John Franklin, "The American High School," 77. Calvin, Stephen S., "An Intro- duction to High School Teaching," 351. Central idea, relation of organi- zation around, to method of learning, 161-2. Charters, W. W., "Methods of Teaching," 121, 189. Civics, function of, as high school subject, 58. Class, technique in general man- agement of, 283-9. Class-room management, tech- nique in, 279-83. "Class-Room Method and Man- agement," George Herbert Betts, 21, 294, 351. Commercial subjects, function of, in high school, 71. Conduct, see Problem of Con- duct. Conduct, technique in dealing with, 345-8. Conduct development, stages of, 324 ; stage of external criteria, 324-6; stage of internal cri- teria, 326-7. Constructive education, the road to character, 331-3; in beha- vior, types of, 335-8. Courtis arithmetic tests, 219. Deduction, relation of, to method, 172-3; relation of induction to, 173. Deductive organization of sub- ject-matter, 169-71. 353 354 INDEX Deductive problem, technique of employing, 267-8. Development, evidences of, 211- 13. Devices, 190 et seq.; definition, 190; classification, 190; ma- terial devices, 191-2; mental devices, 192; types of ques- tions, 192-3; other general mental devices, 193-4; cri- teria governing selection of, 194-200; should be used with discrimination, 200-2 ; tech- nique adapted to, 238. Discipline, technique in, 292. Economics, function of, as high school subject, 63-4. "Economy and Training of Mem- ory," H. J. Watts, 204, 323. "Educational Psychology," E. L. Thomdike, 158. "Educational Tests and Measure- ments," Monroe, De Voss, and Kelly, 230. "Educative Process, The," Wil- liam Chandler Bagley, 294. Edwards, A. S., "Fundamental Principles of Learning and Study," 108. English, function of, as high school subject, 44-8. Fine arts, function of, as high school subjects, 68-9. Foreign language studies, func- tion of, as high school sub- jects, 48-52. Foster, Herbert H., "Principles of Teaching in Secondary Edu- cation," 189, 230, 323. "Fowler Shops," 83. Freeman, Frank N., "How Chil- dren Learn," 108. "Fundamental Principles of Learning and Study," A. S. Edwards, 108. General life of the school, fimo- tion of, in the high school, 59-63. Goals, setting up of, 208-10. Hall, G. S., "Adolescence: Its Psychology and its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Reli- gion, and Education," 77. Hall-Quest, Alfred I., "The Text- Book," 204; "Supervised Study," 323. High school, modem conception of the, 22; function of the secondary school, 37-42 ; func- tion of subjects, 42 et seq.; general point of view, 42^; English, 44-8; foreign lan- guage studies, 48-52; mathe- matics, 52-6; history, 56-7; civics, 58; sociology, 58-9; general life of the school, 59- 63; economics, 63-4; biologi- cal sciences, 64-6; physical sciences, 66-7; home econom- ics, 67-8; the manual arts, 68; the fine arts, 68-9; phys- ical education, 69-71; com- mercial subjects, 71; impor- tant aspects of mental ma- turity, 71 et seq.; an impor- tant consideration for tech- nical and professional schools, 74 Gt S60 "High School Age, The," Irving King, 77. "High School Problem, The," Francis B. Pearson, 78. High school pupils, supervision of the study habits of, 295 "High School, The," John Elbert Stout, 78. History, function of, as high school subject, 56-7. Home economics, function of, as high school subjects, 67-8. "How Children Learn," Frank N. Freeman, 108. INDEX 355 "How to Study and Teaching How to Study," Frank Mc- Murry, 323. "How to Study and What to Study," Richard L. Sandwick, 323 "How to Study Effectively," G. M. Whipple, 323. Human development, units of, 186-7. Human materials, emphasis upon, 13-18. "Hygiene of the School Child," Lewis M. Terman, 78, 108, 122, 158. Imagery, types of, 147-53. Imagination, 95-100; moral, 341- 2. Individual, development of the, 327-9. Individual differences, 123 et seq.; in training, 123-7; in rate of learning, 127-34; in maturity, 134-8; in sex, 138-9; types of minds, 139-43; the critical point, 143-7, 151-3; types of imagery, 147-51; preferences for forms of materials, 153-5. Induction, relation of, to method, 171-2; relation of deduction to, 173. Inductive organization of sub- ject-matter, 166-9. Inductive problem, technique of employing, 265-7. Inglis, Alexander, "Principles of Secondary Education," 77, 158. Interest, appeal to, 110-12. Interpretation of behavior, 343-5. "Introduction to High School Teaching, An," Stephen S. Calvin, 351. Johnston, (?), and others, "The Modem High School," 21, 121. Judd, Charles H., "Psychology of High School Subjects," 21, 77, 108, 323. Judgment forming, 102-3. "Junior High School, The," Thomas H. Briggs, 158. "Junior High School, The," L. V. Koos, 77. King, Irving, "The High School Age," 77. Koos, L. v., "The Junior High School," 77. Laboratory work, technique in, 277-9. Learning, method of, 79 et seq.; point of view, 79-80; method defined, 81-2; a critical point, 82-3; illustrations of mental procedure, 83-5 ; mental proc- esses involved, 85-8; the crit- ical point, 88; complete defi- nition of method, 88-9; the problem of method, 89-91; the problem of the mental processes, 91 et seq.; sense perception, 92-3 ; sensory habits important, 94; sense training, 95; imagination, 95- 100; memory, 100-2; judg- ment forming, 102-3; reason- ing, 103-4; other human ele- ments, 104-5. Learning, the motivation of, 109 et seq.; the problem, 109-10; the appeal to interest, 110- 12; the appeal to usability, 112-13; vocational guidance, 113-14; the appeal to person- al development, 114-15; the appeal to social standing, 115-16; complexity of the problem, 116-17; influence of mental health, 118-19; influ- ence of physical health, 119- 20. Learning curve, plateau of, and tests, 220. Lecturing, technique in, 247-52. 356 INDEX McMurry, Frank, "How to Study and Teaching How to Study," 323. Manual arts, function of, as high school subjects, 68. Marks, assigning, 226-7. Material devices, 191-2. Materials, preferences for forms of, 153-5. Mathematics, function of, as high school subject, 52-6. Maturity, differences in, 134-8. "Measured Results of Supervised Study," in School Review, Frederick S. Breed, 323. Measuring the results of teach- ing, technique in, 292. Memorizing by wholes instead of parts, 184-5. Memory, 100-2. Mental devices, 192-4. Mental health, influence of, in motivation, 118-19. Mental maturity, important as- pects of, 71 et seq. Mental processes, problem of the, 91 et seq. Method, complete definition of, 88-9; the problem of, 89 et seq.; relation of induction to, 171-2; relation of deduction to, 172-3. Method of learning, see Learn- ing, Method of. "Methods of Teaching," W. W. Charters, 121, 189. "Methods of Teaching in High Schools," Samuel Chester Parker, 78, 108, 122, 158, 189, 230 323 Minds, types of, 139-43. "Modem High School, The," Johnston and others, 21, 121. Monroe, De Voss, and Kelly, "Educational Tests and Measurements," 230. Moral imagination, 341-2. Motivation of learning, see Learning, Motivation of. "Motivation of School Work, The," H. B. and G. M. Wil- son, 122. Need, a pedagogical, 3-4. Nutt, H. W., "The Supervision of Instruction," 77, 204, 294, 323, 351. Overstudy, result of, 314-5. Parker, Samuel Chester, "Meth- ods of Teaching in High Schools," 78, 108, 122, 158, 189, 230, 323. Pearson, Francis B., "The High School Problem," 78. Pedagogical need, a, 3-4. Pedagogical sequence, the, in re- gard to technique, 231-2. Pedagogical terms, should have restricted meanings, 4-5; clear definition necessary, 19. Personal development, appeal to, 114-15. Personality of the teacher, tech- nique and the, 289-92. Physical characteristics of adoles- cence, 24-32. Physical education, function of, as high school subject, 69-71. Physical health, influence of, in motivation, 119-20. Physical sciences, function of, as high school subjects, 66-7. Preferences for forms of mate- rials, 153-5. Principles in teaching enumer- ated, 11-13; must be put into practice, 18-19. "Principles of Secondary Educst- tion," Alexander Inglis, 77, 158. "Principles of Teaching," E. L. Thorndike, 158. "Principles of Teaching in Sec- ondary Education," Herbert H. Foster, 189, 230, 323. Problem of conduct, the, 324 et seq.; stages of conduct de- velopment, 324; stage of ex- INDEX 357 ternal criteria, 324-6; stage of internal criteria, 326-7; development of the individ- ual, 327-9; adolescence .the critical stage, ,329-30; the problem, 330-1; constructive education the road to char- acter, 331-3; setting up social problems, 333-5; types of constructive education in be- havior, 335-8; psychology of punishment, 338-41 ; moral imagination, 341-2; interpre- tation of behavior, 343-5; technique in dealing with conduct, 345-8. Problem organization of subject- matter, 173-4. Project, relation of, to the prob- lem, 175; place of the, 178-9; relation to vocational guid- ance, 180; relation to the ap- prentice system, 180-2; rela- tion to the normal mental rhythm of interest, 182-4. Project organization of subject- matter, 174-5. Psychological characteristics of adolescence, 32-7. "Psychology of High School Sub- jects," Charies H. Judd, 21, 77, 108, 323. Punishment, psychology of, 338- 41. Questions, technique in asking, 238-47. Rate of learning, differences in, 127-34. Reasoning, 103-4. Recitation, technique in conduct- ing, 268-77. 'Recitation, The," George Her- bert Betts, 204. Reference materials, technique in using, 256-8. Results of teaching, measure- ment of the results of, 205 et seq.; the starting-point, 205-8; setting up goals, 208- 10; evidences of develop- ment, 211-13; tests serve two purposes, 213-14; the na- ture of a diagnosis, 214-17; a critical point, 218-19; a caution, 219-20; plateau of the learning curve and tests, 220; technique of measuring the results of teaching, 220- 23; technique in giving standard tests, 224-5; nega- tive aspect of testing, 225-6; assigning of marks, 226-7; technique in, 292. Sandwick, Richard L., "How to Study and What to Study," 323. "School Discipline," William Chandler Bagley, 351. Secondary school, function of, 37 et seq.; the point of view, 37-9; phases of adolescent maturing, 39-42. Sense-perception, 923. Sense-training, 95. Sensory habits important, 94. Sex, differences in, 138-9. Social problems, setting up of, 333-5. Social standing, appeal to, 115-16. Sociology, function of, as high school subject, 58-9. Standard tests, technique in giv- ing, 224-5. Stout, John Elbert, "The High School," 78. Strayer, George D., "A Brief Course in the Teaching Proc- ess," 230. Study activities of pupils, start- ing the, 297-8. Study assignment, the, 302-4. Study habits of high school pu- pils, supervision of, see Su- pervision of Study Habits of High School Pupils. Subject-matter, organization of, 159 et seq.; central idea, 159- 358 INDEX 61; relation of organization around central idea to meth- od of learning, 161-2; con- tent and formal materials, 162-6; chief value of induc- tive organization, 166-9; de- ductive organization, 169-71 ; relation of induction to method, 171-2; relation of deduction to method, 172-3; relation of induction to de- duction, 173; problem organ- ization of, 173-4; project form of organization of, 174- 5; relation of project to the problem, 175: critical ques- tion, 175-6; another angle, 176-8; place of the project, 178-9; a practical difficulty, 179-80; relation of project to the apprentice system of ed- ucation, 180-2; relation of project to normal mental rhythm of interest, 182-3 ; or- ganization of, for economical memorization, 183-4; memor- izing by wholes instead of by parts, 184-5; the impor- tant problem, 185-6; units of human development, 186-7; technique in dealing with, 259-60; types of, and super- vised study, 319-20. Supervised study, technique in, 292. "Supervised Study," Alfred L. Hall-Quest, 323. 'Supervision of Instruction, The," H. W. Nutt, 77, 204, 294, 323, 351. Supervision of study habits of high school pupils, 295 et seq.; what is supervised study? 295-6; the starting point, 296-7; starting the study activities, of pupilp, 297-8 ; two fundamental goals of supervised study, 298-9; the teaching period, 299-301 ; complaint of lack of training of teachers for, 300-2; the study assignment, 302-4; technique of, 304; raise spe- cific problems, 304-11; the time element, 311-14; result of oyerstudy, 314-15; super- vision of study and initiative of the pupil, 315-17; super- vising the study of the ab- sent pupil, 317-19; types of subject matter and super- vised study, 319-20. Supplementary and reference ma- terials, technique in using, 256-8. Teacher, technique and the per- sonality of the, 289-92. Teacher training, emphasis upon human materials in, 13-18. Teaching, where the emphasis in, should be, 10-11; principles in, enumerated, 11-13; prin- ciples must be put into prac- tice, 18-19; measurement of the results of, 205 et seq.; technique of, 231 et seq. Teaching planning, technique in daily, 260-5. Technical and professional schools, an important consid- eration for, in relation to the high school, 74-5. Technique, of measuring the re- sults of teaching, 220-4; in giving standard tests, 224-5; of supervised study, 304; in dealing with conduct, 345-8. Technique of teaching, 231 et seq.; defined, 231; the peda- gogical sequence, 231-2; cri- teria that govern the selec- tion of, 232-7; rules govern- ing the use of, 237-8 ; adapted to devices, 238; in asking questions, 238-47; in lectur- ing, 247-52; in the use of text-books, 252-6; in using supplementary and reference materials, 256-8; in dealing INDEX 359 with subject-matter, 259-60; in daily teaching planning, 260-5; of employing the in- ductive problem, 265-7; in employing the deductive problem, 267-8; in conduct- ing the recitation, 268-77; in laboratory work, 277-9; in class-room management, 279- 83; in the general manage- ment of the class, 283-9; and the personality of the teach- er, 289-92; in supervised study, in measuring the re- sults of teaching, and in dis- cipline, 292. Terman, Lewis M., "The Hygiene of the School Child," 78, 108, 122, 158. Terms, pedagogical, should have restricted meanings, 4-5. Tests, serve two purposes, 213-4; nature of a diagnosis, 214; plateau of the learning curve and, 220; diagnostic and standard, 220 et seq.; nega- tive aspect of, 225-6. "Text-Book, The," Alfred I. Hall- Quest, 204. Text-books, technique in the use of, 252-6. Thomdike, E. L., "Principles of Teaching," 158; "Educational Psychology," 158. Title of this volume, reason for, 5-9; further reason for, 9-10. Training, differences in, 123-7. Types of imagery, 147-53. Types of minds, 139-43. Types of subject matter and su- pervised study, 319-20. Units of human development, 186-7. Usability, appeal to, 112-13. Vocational guidance, 113-14; re- lation of the project to, 180. Watts, H. J., "Economy and Training of Memory," 204, 323. Whipple, G. M., "How to Study Effectively," 323. Wilson, H. B. and G. M., "The Motivation of School Work." 122. ■■■'!'l!l'". iiiwa;!..'! I'lfrf