m LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Chap. Copyright Ko...._.l Shelf....LBjOfv5 Jsba UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. '•t',,; Jy< iU^: f^^!' ^. *'■ '■ \-:T-''Z:'^.' ^ STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY BY Professor of F»Er>A«OGY in i'he Korthkrn Indiana Normal School. M. E. BOtJARTE, PUBLISHER. VALPARAISO. INDIANA. iseo. TWO COPIES RECEIVED, Library of Congrofii, Offlaa of tba FEB 3 - 1900 Regl>tar of Copyrlfj^hf^ L 6/0^5 M3^ 5:^>7B7 COPYRIGHT 1890. BV GEO. W. >rEET. PREFACE. It is fully appreciated that there are many books written during- the present times for which there not only is no demand, but for which there is no excuse. The present little volume is not born of any desire to produce a book on pedagogy better than any yet writ- ten. It is, however, prompted by a desire to choose from the field of pedagogical science material well adapted to a special class of students, with which the writer has to deal in his daily teaching. The field of pedagogy is so large that material must be selected from it for those students who are just beginning the study of pedagogy. So it has been the aim in this little volume to select from this broad field and organize such material as is best adapted to students beginning this line of work. At the same time material has been selected whose study, it is believed, will be of substantial worth to teachers in giving them an insight into the nature of the teach- er's profession as well as knowledge valuable for guidance in teaching. While simplicity has been aimed at as much as possible, no effort has been made to avoid the most fundamental problems of pedagogy. rV PREFACE. This book is prepared for the special purpose of use as a text- book in my own classes. Much which is the result of the most recent investi^aticms along pedagogical lines is here arranged in a teachable and convenient form. Thus the study is brought up to date. An effort lias been made to show where the pres- ent studies articulate with psychology, child-study and methods. G. W. N. CONTENTS, Introduction, - ix.-x. CHAPTER I. The School, ------ 11-21 The Beginniuo- Point, - - - - 11 The Nature ot the School, - - - - 11 Oi'igin of the School. - - - - 11 Differentiation of Institutions, . - - 15 Ditt'erentiation in the School, - - - l(j The Elements of the School. - - - - IH The Pupil; The Teacher: The Curriculum. - 19 The Organization— the Law of Unity. - - 20 Law; Urfity, . . . - - 20 Further Material for Study, - - - - 21 CHAPTER II. The Work the School Has to Do, - 22-33 The Problem, . . . . - 22 The Problem Answered, - - - - 22 Complete Living; Rational Freedom: Harmony of Intense Individual Life, etc.: Strong Moral Character, . . . - 22-25 Importance of Right View, - - - 2(i What the Primary Aim of Education Is Not, - 28 What the Primary Aim of Education Is, - 29 CHAPTER III. The Physical NATUiiE of the Child, 34-51 Importance of Its Study, - 34 Food, - - 3fi Clothing, . - . - 38 School-room Conditions, - - 41 Ventilation; Temperature; Lighting: Seating Cleanliness, - 41-4(5 The Sense Organs, - 47 Hearing: Seeing. - 4(»-:)l VI CONTKM'S. CHAPTER IV. The Spiritual Nature op the Child, 52-66 An Attribute, ----- ."i^ Consciousness, - - - - - r)2 Attention, ------ 53 Apperception, ------ ,");") Self-Activit}', - - . - - ;"»(> Iterativeness, - - - - - - -Ti Rhythm, ------ 58 Activities of the Mind. ----- 59 Knowing;, - - - - .59 Knowing, Discriminating and Unifying: All Knowing Indirect. - - - til Feeling, - - - . - - (il Love; Hate: Indifference, - - - 4 Meaning of the Term, - - - - 79 Origin of the Curriculum, - - - 80 The (irowth in the Curriculum. - - 82 A Kational Curriculum, - - - - 85 Till' I'ui-posc of the Educating I'l'occss. • • 85 'V, CONTENTS. VII Manner of Api^lying the Test, - - - 86 Difficulty of'Task: The First Step, - 87 The Order of Importance of These Lines, 87 The Rational Order of Education, - - 89 The Second Step, . . . . 89 Value of Knowledge getting-, - - 90 Thoughts Necessary to a Systematic Study, etc., 91 Disciplinary Value Not Antagonistic, etc.. - 91 Direct Self-preservation, - - - - 9;^ Indirect Self-preservation. - - - 95 The Rearing of a Family. . - - . 9(^ Man's Duties in Social Institutions, - ■ 98 Spending Leisure Time, .... jqo Most Valuable Knowledge, - - - 101 Religious Aspect of Science, - - - 102 Child-study and the Curriculum, - - 102 Changes Suggested by Child Psychology, - 103 CHAPTER VII. The Teacher. - - . . . 105-133 Importance of the Teacher, - - - 105 Duties of the Teacher, c - ■ - - loii Governing; Teaching,' - - - 10(1-108 Characteristics of the Teacher, - - - - 109 Necessary Characteristics, - - - 109 Strong Moral Character, - - 109 Knowledge of Right and Wrong; Trutli- fulness; Honesty; Justness; Habits of Activity; Self-control, - 111-115 Scholarship, .... 110^ i/Professional Preparation, - - 117 - A Knowledge of the Laws of Life; Pur- pose of Education: Knowledge of Methods; Practice in the Art of Teach- ing, - - . . 117-12(3 Energetic Student Habits, - - 126 Daily Preparation, - - - 128 Love of Occupation, - - - 128 Sympathy, - - - - 129 Desirable Characteristics, - - - 131 Good Health, Natural Aptitude, Personal Magnetism, Mastery of Circumstances. 131-i;5;j CHAPTER VIII. The Management op the School, - 134-160 The School an Organization, - . - l.U VITT CONTENTS. The Fundamental Law, - - - 13") Source of the Law; Phases of the Law, 13()-1.*{7 In Organism; Between Teacher and Learner; Between Learner's Real and Ideal Self, - - - 138-145 Unifying- Conditions, - - - 145 In the Organism as a Whole; Between Teacher and Pupils, - - . - 146-148 Personal Contact; Comfoi't of Teacher and Pupils, - - - - 148-151 Minimizing Diverting Influences, - - 151 Between the Pupil's Real and Ideal Self. - 154 Pure Motives: Incentives: Social Influences, 154-158 Broken Unity, ----- 158 Restoration of Unity, - - - 158 School Punishments, - - - 159 CHAPTER IX. The Process in the Teaching Act, — Method, 161-183 The Teaching Act, ... - 161 Process in It - - - - - 161 Nature of Method; Definition of: Classes, 162-163 The Learner's Method: The Teacher's Method: Method as a Physical Process, 163-177 Comparison of Teacher's and Pupil's Method, 177 Two Views of Method: Factors Determining Method, - - - - 178-183 CHAPTER X. The Recitation, ----- 184-198 Nature of, - - - - " - 184 Purpose of, - - - " 1^4 To Bring the Pupil's and Teacher's Mind in Touch: To Test the Pupil's Preparation; Sup- plementing Knowledge; Giving Right Methods of Study: Encouraging, Inspiring, and Stimu- lating: ■ - - - - 185-187 The Law of, - - - 188 Teacher's Preparation for, - - 190 Manner of Conducting, - - - - 192 .Vssignments, - - ■ ' ' 197 ( :ommon Errors in Conducting, - - - 198 INTRODUCTION, Pedof/of/]/. — This word is sometimes thought to name some particular school subject, the study of which will enable those who wish to teach school to do their work better than they could do it without such study. It is thought by some who have given it no special attention to name a subject as definite, with regard to the truths it teaches, as arithmetic, grammar, or physiology. Such, however, is a wrong conception of the meaning of the term peclagogi/, as well as a wrong conception of the nature of the subject. Pedagogy is a term which names a group of subjects that have to do with both the science and art of education, and is not properly to be thought as naming any particular subject. The word pedagofm is derived from the Latin word paedagogus, which meant a boy-leader, or a child-leader. Prom its original meaning it appears that it should mean something that has to do with leading children from a condition in which their un- preparedness for living is the greatest to one of worthy manhood and womanhood. And this is the correct use of the term, for it indicates the nature of the subject. Used in this sense pedagogy names a group of subjects which are called professional sub- X INTRODUCTION. jects. That is to say, thoy are subjects which teachers should study with the special view of be- coming more skillful in the art of teaching-. Peda- gogy thus embraces pi^iicIiohHin, cliilil-.slndii, me/ hods, history of education, and phi/o.soplii/ of educatiort. Guyau a French educational writer speaks as follows concerning the natui-e of pedagogy: "Peda- gogy might be defined as the art of adapting new generations to those conditions of life which are the most intensive and fruitful for the individual and the species." This definitiim emphasizes the art phase of i^edagogy, but it also has an important science phase. It will thus a])pear that the tield of study which offers itself to us as teachers is a broad one, and one from which materials especially suited to our pur- pose must be chosen. It further appears that to be- come to any great extent prc^ticient in the study of pedagogy will require time. Educational ideals have grown till it is no longer believed that one or two terms in pedagogy is to be regarded as a panacea for all educational ills. This becomes evident when we think that to know pedagogy to any great extent is to know psychology, child study, methods, history of education, and philosophy of education. CHAPTER I. THE SCHOOL. Tlie Beginning Point. — From the view-point of the teacher all study of pedagogy centers around and is connected with the school. The term pedagogy is so closely connected with the school, and they have been associated together to such an extent that this term always suggests the school in some of its various phases. For this reason pedagogy has come to be regarded as a strictly professional line of work. A more or less extended study of it is the teacher's dis- tinctly professional preparation. So as a starting place in the study of pedagogy, it seems eminently fitting to begin with the school as a whole, since it is the institution in which the pupil and teacher meet in the educating process. The Nature of the School. — Among the ancients the school was a place of leisure, but it can scarcely be called that now. The school is an organization, but it gives us little or no help to know this unless the idea of the organization is well understood. The study of the human body as a typical ex- ample of an organization, or organism, will reveal pretty well the thought sought for here. A some- 12 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. what careful study will show the following points are here to be found: 1. A complex whole, 2. The whole made up of individual parts. 3. The parts have a harmonious working rela- tion. 4. The parts all work for one common end. 5. The whole is self-acting and self-adjusting. The body considered as a whole is a one thing, but it is complex and not simple or homogeneous. The in- dividual parts in this case are the organs of the body, — the hands, the feet, the skin, the heart, the stomach, etc. All these organs work so as to help one another. Thus the hands help to care for the feet; the feet help to carry the hands from place to place; the feet and hands help to secure food to nourish the skin, heart and stomach as well as themselves; the stomach helps to digest the food, and the heart pumps the blood enriched by the digested food to all parts of the body. All these parts do their work in such a way that, while each one does its own particular work well, it in no way hinders any other part, but also facilitates its work. If any part should work against any other part for a time, the organism would become impaired; if continued, it means the destruction of the organism by breaking down the unity of parts. The common end for which all the parts here work is the life of the body as a whole, which is, also, the life of each part. In tlie case of the human body it is worth note tliat it, STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 13 when out of order, tends to adjust itself, and naturally in most cases actually does adjust itself; also, that it is self -active. That is, it has the power of originating its own activity — the power of causing itself to act. This analysis of the human body as an example of an organization reveals to us the essential ideas in any organization as we wish in our work to think it. It will prove beneficial to the student to take other examples of the organization and analyze them with the purpose of finding the essential ideas in an organization. For example, the maple tree, the gera- nium, and the family are good types for analysis. Then, v/hen we say the school is an organization, we are saying it is a collection of individual j^arts, self-adjusting and self-acting, working harmoniously together for one common end. Thus the pupils, the teacher, the school curriculum, the school officers, the patrons, etc., are the individual parts; and the one common end toward which they are harmoniously working is the freedom of the pupils physically, in- teUectuaUy, )i of Insfitntlona. — There was a time in primitive society during the childhood of the race when only one of these fundamental instituti(ms of civilization Avas in existence. This institution was the family. It then had much work to do. It had to protect the children from enemies, both wild beasts and man, to furnish food, clothing and shelter. It had to educate the children in so far as they were educated; to furnish religious ser\dces, and provide means of enjoyment for leisure hours. With these manifold duties to perform the family could not be expected to do any of them very weU, and we know that was true. The protection furnished was poor; the food, clothing, and shelter were poor; the religion was crude and oftentimes immoral; the education of the children was neglected, and the pleasures were gross and degrading. It could not be any other way under those conditions. It may seem strange that it is so, but history teaches us that there was first a felt-need for the organization, the church, after the family. And when there is a strong felt-need for anything, the thing is thus produced that will satisfy this need. It will help the student to think out illustrations of this. So after the family came the church as the first institu- ti(m differentiated from the family. It states it truly 16 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. to say the church had its origin in the idea that it as an institution could furnish gratification for man's religious impulses better than the family could. If this had not been true, the church would have had no reason for coming into existence. The next institution differentiated was doubtless the school. It grew out of the idea that it could edu- cate the children better than could be done by the family or the church, or by both. So the school had its origin in the thought that it as an institution could do the work of educating the children better than any other instituti(m. This was the idea that created it, and it is the sole purpose of the school to realize this idea. It is the function of everything to realize the idea that created it, and the school accords to this law. Ilhistration. — It may be truly said that the idea which created the cotton-gin was the idea of some machine to separate the cotton fiber from the seed. And it is the purpose or function of the cotton-gin to realize this idea; that is, to do the work of separating the cotton fiber from the seed. This we know it does weU, and the fact that it does it well is what has kept the cotton-gin in existence. The origin of the state, ))usiness life, and society may be accounted for in the same way; that is, they arose in the process of differentiation of the institu- tions. It is, however, our purpose here to study the origin of the school only. Diffcroifidfio)! in the School. — The first scliool was, STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 17 doubtless, a very simple and primitive affair. It probably consisted of a few students congregated under the shade of some primitive tree to receive in- struction from one who occupied the jDlace of teacher. It is within the memory of men living that the school was very simple. The house was a log cabin, the curriculum was reading, writing, spelling, and arith- metic. The country school was Common school. High school. Academy, Normal school. Technical school, College and University. But from this simple begin- ning by differentiation our schools have become quite complex and elaborate. There has been differentia- tion at any rate along four lines; in the school as a whole, in the work of the teacher, in the curriculum, and in grading. Once there was nothing but the Common schools, but now there are High schools, Normal schools. Colleges, Universities, etc., each with its own special work to do. Once a teacher taught every thing in a school course, but now there is a special teacher for each subject. The curriculum once consisting of reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic is now changed by differentiation to one consisting of the mathematical group, the language group, the history group, the science group and the art group, a quite complex and extensive affair. And lastly differentiation has brought about grading in our schools. The teacher in the first schools taught aU grades. This is now changed, for the tendency is toward but one or two grades for a teacher. 18 STUDIES JN I'EDACJOGY. This differentiation in all lines means progress. It means a saving of time and energy. It is just as true in the school as in any kind of life that divisicm of labor means progress. I//Ksfr<(ti<»i. — Suppose the farmer, in addition to producing farm products, had to make his own machinery, grind his wheat and corn for flour and meal, tan the skins and make his boots and shoes, do his own carpenter work, saw his lumber, produce cotton, wool and flax, weave it into cloth for clothing, be his own doctor, dentist, lawyer, teacher, and preacher, none of these could be done so well as they are now when this labor is divided up among many persons. Time and energy would be lacking to do so many kinds of work well. Also, there is not only more energy to put on any one kind of work when labor is differentiated, but any one doing just one or two lines of work becomes more skillful than he could become when doing many kinds of work, and, accord- ingly, will do his work much better. The origin of the school thus made pretty clear in the study of the differentiation of instituticms, the next point that invites our study is the elements of the school. Tlie EJeinentH of tJie School. — It has been said that the school is a complex whole; that is, a whole made up of many parts, or elements. These elements may be divided into two classes, and these classes may consistently be named; STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 19 1. Necessary elements. 2. Supplementary elements. The necessary elements are those without which the school can not exist. The school is for the pupil, and without the pupil there can be no school. So the pupil is the first and most imi^ortant of the necessary elements of the school. The pupil makes necessary a teacher. While a school can not exist without the pupil, no more can it exist without the teacher. The school finds the idea that created it in the process of fulfillment in the teaching act. But to have the teach- ing act requires the teacher. So the teacher is to be named as another one of the necessary elements of the school. Wliile the mind of the pupil is the thing to be taught always, it can not be taught without some subject or subjects for it to exercise upon. So a third element, the subjects of the school course, is, also, an absolute necessity. The term used to desig- nate the school subjects, — reading, writing, spelling, geography, history, etc., — taken as a whole, is the .schooJ curricuhnii. With these three elements, the pupU, the teacher, and the curriculum a school may exist. Take away any one or more and the school can not exist. Almost every school possesses other elements that contribute to the efficiency of the work the school has to do, but which are not absolutely neces- sary to the existence of the school. These are the elements that have been called supplementary ele- 20 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. merits. Tlioy are the school ofticials, the jMrents, and the material equipments. The school ofifiicers are the directors, trustees, members of the school boards, superintendents of county, city, and state, the com- missioners of educatitm, and, in a sense, the legisla- tors, g-overnors, and president. The material equip- ments are school houses, school furniture, labora- tories, library, apparatus, and school jDremises. Both these classes of elements may exist, how- ever, and there still be nt) school. In order that there may be a school these elements, whether necessary or supplementary, few or many, must be in harmony with the law of the organization. This laio is the Imv of unity. In order to understand this statement well, two words in it need special study. These are the words, /(I70 and vnity. Law. — A law is a truth that belongs to a large number of particular cases. Thus it is a law that plants require sunshine, moisture, and air for their growth. This is a truth that belongs to a large num- ber of individual jilants, and these are the particular cases. It will helj^ the student to think out other illustrations of law. Unity. — This means cmeness in thought and i)ur- pose here. It means harmony in work. It is the harmonious working relation in the organism. Thus thor(> is unity between student and teacher when they ])()lli wvr worlcing with the sani(> thought in mind to accoiiiplisli the sanu> end. There is unity between STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 21 parent and teacher when they are agreed as to the end to be attained in school work, and are also agreed as to the means of reaching the desired end. This law of unity is the fundamental law of the school. With the law of unity intact the school moves forward without a jar towards the accomplishment of its work — the education of the pupil. With the law broken there is discord and friction. The teacher, the student, the parent, or the school oflicers may break the law of the school — the law of unity. When any one does so, he breaks a rule of the school; for the rules of the school are but different phases of the law of unity. He who breaks the law of unity in the school either intentionally or unintentionally is a sinner. He has committed an educational sin. Further Materkd for Study. — After studying the school as an institution, it remains to us to study the work the school has to do; and, also, to study carefully the necessary elements of the school together with the organization. These will be studied in succeed- ing chapters. The purpose of the school is one with the end or object of education; so a study of this leads to a study of the nature and purpose of education. The nature and purpose of education will constitute the subject- matter of study in the next chapter. CHAPTER II. THE WORK THE SCHOOL HAS TO DO. Tlic Problem. — The work the school has to do is to educate the pupil. But what is it to educate the pupil':' What sort of condition is the pupil to be in when he is educated? Wliat is the meaning of what is called an education? These are some of the ques- tions that suggest themselves at the outset of the study. The real problem sums itself up in the prob- lem of the purpose of the school, and since the pur- pose of the school is one with the purpose of educa- tion, the problem is, the object to be reached in the educating- process. That is to say, the question we have to answ^er is. What is the aim of education? Tlie Problem Ansivered. — There is scarcely an edu- cational writer of note who has not dealt with this problem and who has not answered it in a way satis- factory to himself, to say the least. It will be help- ful to consider some of these answers to this all imjjortant question. Co)n/)/€te Llvimj. — Mr. Herbert Spencer, doubt- less the greatest living thinker, says the aim of edu- cation is complete Uv'dkj. This, when analyzed, means treating the body right; treating the mind right; managing one's affairs right; rearing a family right; STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 23 behaving right as a citizen; and spending one's leisure time right. This seems a broad and comprehensive view of the aim of education. There seems to be no kind of human activity in hfe that this view of the aim of education does not touch. Granting that this is the true aim of education, then instruction in our schools, if in harmony with this aim, must give the pupil knowledge that will guide him in these six kinds of activities. There must be knowledge gained that will furnish guidance in treating the body right; in treating the mind right; in managing one's affairs right; in rearing a family right; in behaving right as a citizen; in spending one's leisure time right. The schools in their present condition fall far short of realizing this comprehensive aim. There is scarcely anything in many of our school courses that has as its specific purpose to furnish knowledge that will give guidance in treating the mind right. And again the school course is almost entirely devoid of any work that will give knowledge to furnish guidance in rearing a family. Doubtless much in the school courses has such a remote connection with knowledge that gives guidance in any of the six lines of human activity indicated, that the time spent upon it could be spent ten times more profitably some other way. That is to say, in the light of the above purpose of education we have not a ratio^uil school curriculum yet. This point will be treated at length, howev^er, in Chapter VI. under the head of the school ctirrlcuUuu. 24 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY, lUiliondl Freedom. — Mr. Arnold Tompkins holds that the aim of education is rational freedom. Rational freedom means ' ' the power to choose and live in the highest good. " This means freedom to choose and do that which will in every instance lift one to a higher plane of life in contradistinction to doing as one pleases regardless of the effect it has upon himself and his fellow-men. Some fancy their freedom taken away from them when they are prohibited from doing those things which by degrees bind veritable shack- les of slavery upon them. This in the light of rational freedom is not freedom but bondage. IlhistraUon. — A man claims his freedom gives him the right to partake of intoxicating drink to the extent that he becomes drunken. He raises a cry and hue, if one says the law against drunkenness should be enforced, and says his freedom is re- stricted. His freedom is not restricted, but the license to make a slave of himself is the thing upon which the restriction falls. If he were free, he would know the evil effects of intemperance, and would choose to be temperate, and would have the force of character to realize his choice. So it appears that rational freedom really reduces itself to a synonym for the ability to live completely. ffar)no)iy of l)iferif' will, to the end of sc'riii)ul()us honesty and integrity, of strong moral character, and of whatever else makes the even current of life run full and strong. The i>()et Holmes voices the idealized purpose in education in, "Build thee more stately mansions, () my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past I Let each new temple, nobler than the last. Shut thee from heaven with a dome m6re vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving- thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea." By way of emphasis it may be said that education comprehends intellectual shrewdness, but not with- out the power of right direction. The educated man is scrupulously honest and upright in every way. He is the one who sees the Universal Spirit back of all things, of which nature, life and thought are the manifestations. He knows his highest destiny is reached by putting himself in harmony with the laws of life, and living the universal life of the spirit. He sees his life as a complexity of physical, intellectual, ccsthetic, social, moral and religious aspects, and knows the purpose of education is the harmonious development of these capacities. It was noticed in Chapter I. that the necessary elements of the school are the pupil, the teacher, and the curriculum. Havinc: studied the nature of the STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 33 school and the Avork it has to do, it remains for us to study the necessary elements of the school, and the school organization. The first and most imj^ortant of the necessary elements is the child. And the child iDresents himself to us as both a physical being and a spiritual being. It is with the physical nature of the child that the next chapter will deal. CHAPTER III. THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. liiij>fni(iiii-c ()/ /f.s Slndij. — When one looks around him and sih's how few men and women he can find in middle or later life who are thoroughly well, he begins to appreciate the need of a better understanding of the laws of life by teachers, parents, and all other persons. This knowdedge of the laws of life is needed by every teacher that he may do something toward the })hysical educati(m of the children under his con- trol. The time has come when most teachers recog- nize the fact that physical education is a need in the school. If any one doubts the need of physical edu- cation, 'let him consider the natural pain, the weari- ness, the gloom, the waste of time and mcmey entailed loy bad health. Let him also consider how greatly ill-health hinders the discharge of all duties, makes business often impossible, and always more difficult; produces an irritability fatal to the right manage- ment of children; puts the functicm of citizenshi]i out of the questi(m, and makes amusement a bor(\ It seems pretty clear that physical sins, ])artly our fore- fathers' and partly our owm, which pi-oduce this ill- health, deduct more from complete living than any- STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 35 thing else, and to a great extent make life a failure and a burden instead of a benefaction and a pleasure. ' "To all of which add the fact, that life, besides thus being immensely deteriorated, is also cut short. It is not true, as we commonly suppose, that a dis- order or a disease from which we have recovered leaves us as before. No disturbance of the normal course of the functions can pass away and leave things exactly as they were. In all cases a perma- nent damage is done, not immediately appreciable, it may be, but still there; and along with other such items which Nature in her strict account-keeping never drops; will tell against us to the inevitable shortening of our days. Through the accumulation of small injuries it is that constitutions are commonly undermined, and break down long before their time. And if we call to mind how far the average duration of life falls below the possible duration, we see how immense is the loss. Wlien to the numerous partial deductions which bad health entails, we add this great final deduction, it results that ordinarily more than one-half of life is thrown away. ' ' The above taken largely from Herbert Spencer places weU before us the need of better physical edu- cation. But an exhaustive discussion of the physical nature of the pupil is out of the question here how- ever valuable the knowledge may be. But some points helpful to the student and teacher in school work may be discussed. 36 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. Food. — It is well known that there is a ])revailinjj^ idea current that children should not be allowed to eat much animal food. It is thought by many per- sons that a vegetable diet is the one most suitable for children, and many good people join in with this belief without thinking very much whether it is true or not, or if true, why it is true. The thing for the parent and teacher to lind out is what the truths of modern science show" when applied to this question. Since we must make the discussion short here, we may say that the truths of modern science do not show that a vegetable diet is the best for children. On the other hand, it can be plainly shown by apply- ing the light of scientilic truth to this question that an exclusive vegetable diet is not the best for children or any other normal human being. This belief that a vegetable dietary is best for children "is a dogma re- peated and received without proof." The verdict of science is exactly opposite to the popular opinion on this question. These tw^o reasons are given in support of the vegetable dietary theory: 1. The health of the child is better promoted by a vegetable dietary. 2. The child whose dietary is vegetable has a better disposi- tion than the one whose food is largely animal. Let us notice each of these briefly. The main- tenance of the health of the child demands food for three things: 1. To make up for the waste of the body. 2. To supply fuel to keej) uj) tlie temperature STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 37 of the body. 3. To furnish material for building up new tissue — for growth. Now, since sufficient nutri- ment must be furnished to meet these three de- mands, if health be subserved, the question is, shall they be met by furnishing a large quantity of weak food, or by furnishing a moderate quantity of rich food? The health demands further an economy of digestion, and science again helps us by showing that health is not j^reserved by imposing upon diges- tion large quantities of dilute food. Again it is well known that those persons or animals that live on vegetable diet have large abdomens, flabby muscles, and too little energy. With respect to the second reason urged, it may be said that it has never been scientifically proved that an animal diet gives children bad dispositions. The verdict of science is again against this. The Esquimau and the Laplander are both easy-going sort of fellows that can scarcely be provoked into a fight, yet they and their ancestors for ages have lived almost wholly on meat. It is well known that good feeding gives animals good dispositions. The opinion that animal food makes children irritable, and hard to get along with, lacks convincing proof. "That nation proverbially known as 'beef -eaters' has pro- duced the greatest literature of all time. " It can not be too strongly impressed upon parents and teachers that children's education de- mands from all points of view plenty of wholesome, 38 STUDI1':S IN PEDAGOGY. nutritious food. Children have often been ]mnished for restlessness caused by a hunger that would not let them be still, and for which the only remedy was a good, wholesome meal. Clofhin//. — There are some ideas in regard to clothing more or less generally held that are equally untrue with those held concerning food, and which are the source of much evil, and human misery. The child needs clothing to protect him from cold, heat, and contact with substances that might injure him. This is the primary purpose of clothing, and to this end all consideraticms should look. "The common noti(m about 'hardening' children is a grievous de- lusion. Children are not unfrequently 'hardened' out of the world; and those who survive, permanently suffer either in growth or constitution. " This is true because a permanent quantity of heat is necessary to the health and growth of the body. Now if this quantity of heat is lessened for any considerable time because of a lack of clothing or because of ex- posure, the health will be impaired, and retarded or stunted grow^th wiU result. If the constitution is not strong enough to bear the loss of heat, the result will V>e disease, sickness, and premature death. However, if the c(mstitution be strong enough to bear the loss of heat due to scanty clothing, no further in- jury many result than stunted growth. "This truth is dis])]ayed alike in animals and man. The Sh(>tland ])ony bears greater inclemencies STUDIES IN PEDAC40CY. 39 than the horses of the soutli, but is dwarfed. High- land sheep and cattle, living in a colder climate, are stunted in comparison with English breeds. In both the arctic and antarctic regions the human race falls much below its ordinary height: the Laplander and Esquimau are very short: and the Terra del Puegians, who go naked in a cold latitude, are described by Darwin as so stunted and hideous, that cme can hardly make one's self believe they are fellow- creatures." Leibeg says: "Our clothing is, in reference to the temperature of the body, merely an equivalent for a certain amcmnt of food." The only safe rule is as follows: children must wear clothes sufficient in quantity and quality to protect the body from an abiding sensation of cold, however slight. Again, children are compelled to wear clothing which makes them uncomfortable in the extreme in order to conform to fashion. "Discomfort more or less great, is inflicted; frequent disorders are en- tailed; growth is checked or stamina undermined; premature death not uncommonly caused; and all because it is thought needful to make frocks " which are fashionable. It can not be too strongly empha- sized that while clothing should not be in excess, it should always be sufficient in quantity and quality to prevent any abiding feeling of cold. It should be made of some good non-C(mductive material, and strons: enough to stand the wear and tear of childish 40 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. sports with little damage, and its color should be well adapted to use and exposure. But wiiat is the pedagogical bearing of food and clothing. Two thoughts here suggest themselves. 1. Excellent opportunities often present themselves to the teacher of bringing this fact, that the child's education demands plenty of wholesome, nutritious food, and plenty of clothing of the right quality, be- fore parents and jjeople at large. There is oppor- tunity here for a great improvement in conditions which affect the education of the children, and it is the duty of each teacher to do all he can to improve these conditions. The teacher must understand and be impressed with the importance of these questions to do effectively his part toward bringing about better conditions. 2. The teacher who understands the re- lation of food and clothing to education will not expect the same quality or quantity of work from the poorly fed and poorly clothed child that he will expect from his more fortunate companions. Not all children can be treated alike in teaching. The teaching must C(m- form to the needs of the child. The needs for no two children are the same. The knowledge of the rela- tion of the food and clothing question to education wiU give the teacher more charity, and a more sympa- thetic insight in teaching those children who are poorly fed and clothed. And this question of charity and sympathetic insight is of tremendous importance t<^ the cliildi'en. STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 41 School-roo)ti Ckynditions. — There are several points concerning the condition of the school-room that are properly to be discussed in pedagogy work; and be- cause of their relation to the child's physical being, it, from one view-point, is proper to discuss them here. These points are: 1. Ventilation. 2. Temper- ature. 3. Lighting. 4. Seating. 5. Cleanliness. ]^e}ifi/ation. — The general well-being of the physi- cal nature depends upcm the quantity and quality of the blood. If the blood be not properly aerated, the whole organism suffers at once from the effect of the blood upon it. There is fatigue, drowsiness, stupor, headache, and a general lack of interest and vivacity. These conditions continued will lead to bad colds, catarrh, pneumonia, tuberculosis and death. From the point of the physical welfare of the child, the question of ventilation is of the highest importance. It is not an uncommon thing to find seventy-five per cent, of the students of a school room suffering with colds at the same time, the teacher often-times at- tributing this ccmdition of things to circumstances over which he has no control, when probably he is to blame for it largely in neglecting proper ventilation. The child's success in life will depend to such a large extent upon his physical excellence that it becomes of tremendous importance to the teacher to do his part in giving him a sound body. It is not the purpose to discuss the technique of ventilation in this place. There are two things which 42 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. must be efficiently provided for, however. First, plenty of pure, fresh air must be admitted to the school-room at all times. Secondly, it must be ad- mitted to the school-room in such a way that the children and teacher may not at any time be exposed to currents and draughts. Currents and draughts are the source of colds, sore throat, earache, neuralgia and catarrh. The two following points should be emphasized, too: 1. Air may be cold and at the same time be impure and unfit to breathe. This is a truth that janitors in a great many instances seem entirely incapable of getting into their heads. Who has not had the exasperating experience of sitting at church or at some other public gathering suffering intensely from cold and bad air at the same time. "2. It is every teacher's highest duty to acquaint himself with the technique of ventilation to the end that he may ventilate properly both his school-room and his living rooms. Teni/ierafi/ir. — No school-room is conducive to health, which is either too warm or too cold. If too cold it will bring on a sensation of chilliness that is not only extremely uncomfortable but dangerous to the health. All the evils that result from clothing deficient in quantity and quality may likewise be brought on by sitting, working and living in an atmosphere of too low temperature. Colds, sore throat, neuralgia, earache, catarrh, pneumonia, tuber- culosis, stunted c lloor. The abominable habit that students and even teachers have of expecto- rating upon the school house floor is not under any STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 47 circumstances to be tolerated. It should be held as a criminal offense. "The reason for this care is that dust and dirt in a school-room is a serious sanitary evil. Dust of itself is an irritant to the eyes and the air passages. Dust is known to be a bearer of disease germs. Tuberculosis is certainly transmitted thus, and it is very probable that many other infectious diseases are spread in the same way. An infectious inflamation t)f the eyes is sometimes very prevalent in schools, and it is believed that the germs of this dis- ease are spread by means of the dust in school-rooms as well as in other ways. " This dust evil could be re- duced if all school houses had hard wood floors and were kept well oiled; if they were well swept daily at the close of the afternocm session after all the students had left them. The windows should be thrown wide open, and the floor sprinkled with damp saM'dust be- fore sweeping. The teacher who is thoroughly in earnest with respect to the question of cleanliness will not be afraid to take the broom and duster and set things to rights even though the janitor does slight his work somewhat. As a rule one can tell a great deal about the quality of a teacher by the clean- liness of his school- room. The Sense Organs. — The senses are those func- tions of the soul which are concerned in giving us the most elementary knowledge and feeling appropriate to objects in the external world. The sense organs are those organs whose function is to bring stimulus 48 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. in such a relation to our nervous systems that the mind will respond with a corresponding activity. The senses are divided into: 1. General, or organic. 2. Special. Of the special senses the best authorities now recognize seven, as follows : 1. Taste. 2. Smell. 8. Touch. 4. Temperature sense. 5. Muscular sense. 6. Hearing. 7. Sight. The general, or organic sense, is the sense that gives us a knowledge of the general well-being or ill-being of the body and has no particular sense organ. Hunger, thirst and fatigue are sensations obtained through the general sense. The special senses are those senses that give us a knowledge mainly of objects around us and have special sense organs. The sense organs are of the highest imi^ortance in that through them the child first awakens to con- scious life. Without the sense organs the mind wT)uld never grow. It could remain nothing more than a bundle of capacities. Without the sense organs all intellectual growth as well as all pleasure of living would be denied one. Since the sense organs are of the highest import- ance in education, their health and growth become from a pedagogical view-point (me of the most prac- tical questions with which the teacher has to deal. All the special sense organs as well as the general sense organs are subject to pathologic conditions that may demand constant attention, but in this short chapter cm the "Physical Being " (mly two can be STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 49 dealt with to any extent. These are: 1. The sense organ of hearmg. 2. The sense organ of sight. Heariiuj. — Diseases of the ear are always hable to produce partial or entire deafness. Too few people realize what a sad misfortune partial or entire deaf- ness is, and how many people are more or less deaf. "Authorities estimate that from fifty to sixty per cent, of the children are more or less defective in hearing. It is also claimed that by judicious treat- ment the percentage can be reduced to fifteen or twenty. " " There are too many partially deaf people in every community. Every such one is badly handi- capped in his business and social relations. How many men lose good positions because of defective hearing I How many sad and fatal accidents are due to the same cause! The new education can do no better service to the oncoming generations than to preserve and perfect this sense in the children. The clear understanding of language is depend- ent upon the ability to hear well. Often the deepest meaning and the finest shades of thought are lost because an accent, a subvocal, or a little slur of the voice escapes notice. A child is thought dull or stupid who could not be otherwise, for he seldom hears anything that is said at home or in the school- room. I visited a class room not long since, and found that pupils in the rear were craning their necks to see the diagrams on the board and hear the ex- planations given. Some soon gave up in despair and 50 STUDIES IN PEDAGO(iY. settled down in a listless way to await the end of the recitation. Inquiry developed the fact that nearly one-third of them heard little of any recitation. Under such circumstances what could be expected of them?" Every teacher should test the hearing of his students and seat them accordingly. The following is an easy method of testing: "The pupil is placed at one end of the school-room with his back turned toward the teacher, w^ho dictates in a clear, but not loud voice, while the scholar writes. The teacher should begin by standing at the farther end of the room. If, at that distance, the pupil has any diffi- culty in hearing, the teacher gradually approaches until the pupil understands perfectly, which will be shown by his writing the dictated matter correctly and without hesitation. According to the distance at which the scholar hears readily, he is ranked and placed in the school-room. If, for instance, he hears at a distance of fifteen feet only, he is placed within that distance from the teacher's desk." See lit (I . — Myopia has already been discussed as a school disease. Pew persons, teachers included, are aware of the number of cases of headache, and nervousness caused by myopic eyes. "There seems to be no remedy for these defects save in glasses properly fitted. It is quite commwing, but always from a cause without STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 57 itself. In a similar manner any sort of machine acts. A plant acts in growing by taking its food from the soil and air and making it into itself; and a horse acts by taking food and changing it into horse flesh; and, also, by moving from place to place, he acts. The action of the plant and the horse originate from within while the action of the machine is caused from without. The horse and the plant possess self- activity and the machine does not. The mind pos- sesses this ability to originate its own activities, and is thus said to be self -active. The following is prob- ably as good definition as can be given for self -activity : Self-activiiy is that attribute of mind by lohich tlie mind causes itself to act. It is helpful to know that the mind possesses the ability to cause its own activities; but it is more help- ful to the teacher to know that the mind grows by its own activity, and groios most ivhen exercised to the maocimum healthful activity. This attribute of self- activity is perhaps more frequently violated in teach- ing than any other law of the mind. Iterativeness. — When the muscles of the arm and fingers perform the movements in making any character in writing for the first time, the activity is done with difliculty and very unskilfully, but the next attempt is made with more ease and success. Each repeated act makes the performance more easily and skilfully accomplished. Now what was it that re- mained with the muscles after each activity that 58 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. Cciiised tlieiii to perform the acta£j:aiii with more case? This we can only answer by saying it is a tendency left in the muscles. By tendency is meant a disposi- tion to perform some activity. Thus we say the plumule of a plant has a tendency to grow upward, and the radix has a tendency to grow downward. We fold a piece of paper, and then say it has a tend- ency to fold in the same place again, and this is what is meant by the attribute of iterativeness. The fol- lowing is the formal definition for it: Iterafiveitess is that attribute of iiii)al Iji/ irhicJi it tends to <(ct a(/ai)i. as it has acted. Bhyt/iiii. — When the word, rhythm, is spoken, the average person probably thinks of poetry and music. But rhythm is an attribute that belongs to almost everything in the world. Every leaf, flower, and blade of grass possesses rhythm. Rhythm in its broadest sense is a tliin.g, the de pet rti ire from that thi)if/, and a return to it. The following is rhythmical: "The day is cold and dark and dreary: It rains and the wind is never weary." In this there is the sound symbolized by eari/ in the word, dreary. This is the thing, and "It rains, and the wind is never w" is the departure from it. The return to the thing is eanj in the word, weary. In tlie ma})le leaf rhythm is manifested by a- porticm ns(>-])('i'('f|)ti()ii. 1st Sla^c I Mciiior.v. f I mMtiiiuil ion. L'nil Sliiijc ( '()uci'|it ion. .1 luif^llU'llt. Ili'iisoiiiiiy'. SvsU'iiiatizatinii. iJi'il Sla}4(^ I Intuition, or Insi^^lil /'ii fjiosc of ('iii. It iimst not l)r iiiulcr- stood tliat tli('r(> can l)t' an act (if Uiiowinu' in wliicli llicrc is no otJH'r mental acti\itv invoKcd; nor can llicr(> l)c st^nsc perception, jud^'nieiit or reasoning;' in W'hicli no oilier mental ac1i\it,\' is in\(»l\ cd. Tlu' mind acts as a unit, and one complete mental acti\it\' in- \(il\t's e\'er\' other. It can not he emphasized too stroii'^'ly (hid (Oii/coiiijiirlt nioilal (idiri/i/ has iiiro/rcd ill il vrvrii ol/icr. 'V\\r\ are tJioiii^'hl of as sc]>ara.1(>, Just as one can think i^f the form and \\(>iuht of a lahlo as separate. 'This is done merel\' for t he [Ml rpose td" help in studw Tluis there is kno\\in<4', ft>elini;' and willing;' in every mental acti\ ily. Sense iitrcrii/ioii. We tj'et know ledi;'e of the ex- teiaial world throuj^h what are called the special sensi's. 'rii(\\' are s(>\(M1 in luimher, as follows: I. 'roiich. l!. 'I\>mperat are senst>. ;>. M iiscida r stMise. I. Tasto. f). Smell, (i. Ili'arini;-. 7. Sii;-ht. Sens(»- ptM-ception is this aclixitv of the mind inu'cttiiii;' a. STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. GU kn<)\\i(Hli;-(> of objocts tliroiij^'b the senses. But to ^et a clcarci- knowle(l.iit> of sense-perception, wo iiiiist understand the sensation. This we will now study. The Sensniion. — In physiology we learn that there are nerve fibers which carry impulses to nerve centers, and also those which carry impulses away from nerve centers. Those which carry impulses to nerve centers are called (iffcrent fibers; those which carry impulses away from nci-ve centers are called efferent fibers. When some moticm comes in contact with the outer endin^? of an afferent nerve fiber, an impulse is set up there. This impulse is carried along the nerve fibre and to the brain setting u]) a change in the brain. Then there is a change in the mind corresponding to the change in the brain, and a state of consciousness arises from this change in the mind. This state of ccmsciousness is tlu^ sensati(m. The sensation is in no part physical, but is a wholly mental thing. It is a state of consciousness. An analysis shows the following stei)s leading u]) to the sensation: 1. Stimulus or stimuli. 2. Change in outer nerve ending. 8. Transmission of imi)ulse. 4. Change in brain. 5. Corres})(mding change in mind. The sixth step is the sensaticm itself; that is, a state of consciousness. It is noticeable that four of these ste]is ar(^ physical, and the one just bc^fore the 70 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. actual sensation is mental. Just how the fourth, the physical, passes over into the tifth, the mental, no one knows. So far as human intelligence is concerned, it is a mystery. We know pretty well, however, that there is a mental change corresponding to the change in the brain. We are now in a position to give the following definition for sensati(m: A soisafion is a state of co)isciousness arising from a c/ia)i{/e in )iiind cor- responding to a change in, the brain caused Ijij some ex- ternal stiniuJus. Sensations are the material the mind works up into know^ledge of external objects. They are anala- gous to the threads that are woven into cloth; the cloth is analagous to the knowledge, and the weaving process is analagous to sense-perception. Thus sense-perception is the process of getting meaning from the sensations. We are now able to give the following definition for it: Sense-i)erception is the mental process of interpreting the contbined sensations ap2)ropriate to some external object. The product of the act of sense-perception is called a percept. A percept is an idea appropriate to a particular, material, ex- ternal object present in time and space, and never present to the mind before. Memory. — Every experience the mind has leaves a tendency for the mind to act as it acted in that ex- perience. This tendency for the mind to act again as it has acted is called retention in psychology. Thus we learn a definiticm of a noun to-da}^, and to-morrow STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 71 arc able to give it when called upon; we say we re- tained it. But where was it in the meantime'? It only remained with the mind as a tendency. That is to say, the mind keeps the ability to act as it acted when the definition for the noun was learned. When the mind acts an exj^erience it has before acted the process is usually called reacting. These two ideas, retention and reacting, enter into memory. But there must also be another idea. When the mind reacts an experience, if it is a process of remembering, it must be aware that the present experience is one it has had before. The process of seeing that the present ex- perience is not a new one, but one the mind has had before is caUed identifying. The present experience is identified with the past experience. This act of identifying is the third idea in memory. We are now in a position to give the following definition for memory: Memory is the miners process in retaining, reacting, and identifying past mental experiences. The identifying element in memory is the emphasized element. Without it, the act could not be called one of memory. It would only be an act of sense-percep- tion. Tlie Law of Memory. — There is but one law of memory, and it is as follows: If two or more tilings are held together in consciousness at the same time or in immediate succession, and one is afterivard presented, it is the tendency for tlie others to come into consciousness. This process of holding two or more things together 7^ STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. in consciousness at the same time or in immediate succession is just what is meant by associati(m in psychology. It is to be noticed that in the law of memory things once thought only tend to come into consciousness again. They will surely be remem- bered if the association is strong enough. The strength of the association depends upon the follow- ing laws : 1. Those things which are held together in con- sciousness the most often are the most strongly associated. 2. Those things which are held together in con- sciousness with the highest degree of healthful mental energy are the most strongly associated. 3. Those things which are held together in con- sciousness the most free from entangling relations are the most strongly associated. 4. All associations grow w^eak with time unless reacted. Imagination. — The mind has the ability of form- ing an idea, and then of putting this idea in a partic- ular mental picture or image. If one tells you to shut your eyes and look at the following described apple with the mind's eye, the process, if you see it, is one of imagining: A large red apple, three inches in di- ameter, almost spherical, with a rotten spot as big as your thumb nail on one side, and a worm-hole on the other side just above the middle toward the stem end, is lying on a platter sitting (m a stand in the center STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 73 of a room. Form the picture, and you are imagining. The pictures formed by the imagination may be almost like objects which have been seen or they may be highly idealized. In every case the imagination de- pends upon the memory for the material tor its ima- ges. The Ancients imaged a huge dog with three immense heads, whose body bristled with snakes in the place of hairs, and whose barks resembled peals of thunder, as the guardian of Hades. There are no new elements here. They had seen dogs, heads, and snakes, and had heard peals of thunder. The only new thing is the new combination. What is true of this case is true of all. Imagination is dependent on sense-perception and memory. The following is a good definition for imagination: Imagination is the mental process of embodning an idea in a particular form or image. Conception. — -Sense-perception, memory, and im- agination aU deal with particular ideas. Conception, too, deals with an idea, but not a particular idea. It deals with what is called a general idea, or a general notion. But what is a general idea, or notion? If one should set out to examine triangles, he would find that every triangle is: 1. A figure. 2. Bounded by three lines. 3. Having just three angles. He would, also, find that each one has several attributes not found in all the others, and that each one has some attributes not found in any of the others. These last two kinds of attributes are necessary to the tri- 74 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. angles, but do not enter into the general idea of the triangle. The general idea, triangle, is made up of "1," "2 "and "3." That is to say, it is made up of those attributes that could be found in any triangle. The definition for a general idea is: A general idea, or notion, is an idea appropriate to those attributes pos- sessed in common by each object of a class of objects. The terms — general idea, general )u)tion, and concept — all have the same meaning. This should be remembered. The process in which general ideas are formed is con- ception. The following is a good definition: Concep- tion is the process in ivhich the viind foryns an idea ap>- propriate to the combined attributes possessed in common by each object of a class of otjjects. Method of Forming Concepts. — In actual life the method of forming concepts is as follows: First, a person sees an object of a class for the first time and gets a sort of concept containing many attributes not possessed by all the objects of the class; secondly, he sees other objects of the class and thus begins to drop from the concept the unnecessary attributes: this process of eliminaticm is continued until just those attributes to be found in each object of the class remain. Illustration. — The first man seen by a child may be one with white skin, black hair, and blue eyes. The ccmcei^t of man for the child now contains the attributes, wiiite skin, black hair, and blue eyes. Later on by seeing other men he drops off these STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 75 attributes one by one, since they do not belong to all men. The Logical Steps. — The mind moves forward logically in conception in the following steps: 1. The mind acts an activity appropriate to some particular object by thinking several of its attributes. 2. The mind repeats this process with other similar objects. 3. The mind compares and contrasts these ob- jects. 4. The mind selects and holds in consciousness the common attributes and drops from consciousness to some extent the uncommon attributes. 5. The mind generalizes in extending the com- mon attributes of the particulars examined to all ob- jects of the class. 6. The mind asserts the general idea. 7. The mind thinks the name of the general idea. Judginent. — The mind gets particular ideas through sense-perception, and general ideas through conception. In judgment the mind grasps and emphasizes the relation between ideas. For example, the mind of man had the idea coal, and the idea fuel for ages before it ever grasped the relation between those ideas. When at last it did, it asserted that coal is a fuel. This process of grasping the relation be- tween the idea, coal, and the idea, fuel, and asserting it was the mind's process of judging. Judgment may be defined as follows: Judgment in the poiver bij 76 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. irhich the )iiiii(1 r/ rasps flic reldfio)/ hcfircen ideas a)al asserts it. Every judgment is expressed in a sentence, or proposition, if expressed at all. Thus the sentence is the symbol of the judgment. The sentence bears the relation to the judgment of the symbol to the thing symbolized. And the judgment bears the rela- tion to the sentence of the thing symbolized to the symbol. Every judgment has three elements. They are called the psj/eJiica/ suhjeef, the pst/ehira/ predicate, and the psyehical copula. The act of judging is a triple activity of mind; that is, a one act made up of three. The following are the steps: 1. The mind grasps an object as an undifferenti- ated whole. 2. The mind isolates some attribute of this object. 3. The mind asserts the relation between the object and the isolated attribute. Beasoriiitfi. — In judgment the mind emphasizes the relation between ideas. In reasoning it empha- sizes the relation among judgments. In every act of reasoning there are three judgments involved, so re- lated that the last is reached because of its relation to the other two. The formula of reasoning is this: A equals Z; B equals Z; therefore A equals B. The definition for reasoning is as follows: Beasoniiaj is the mental process of reackinci a jiidcptioit l)ecai(se of its relation to two jyrecedinf) judrpnents. STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 77 The sentence was found to be the symbol of the judgment. In a Hke manner the symbol of reason- ing is called the .'^yl/of/isni. The foUowing is a defini- tion for the syllogism: T/ie s{///ogisni w the formal ex- pression of the ((ct of reasonhif/, consisting of three prop- ositions, the last of whkh is a conclusion from the other tioo. The following is an example of the syllogism: All animals possess voluntary motion; This object is an animal; Therefore, this object possesses voluntary motion. The first two propositions in the syllogism are called the premises; one is the major premise, and the other is the minor premise. The third proposition is called the conclusion. The major premise is usually stated first, though not always. The three propositions of the syllogism may be arranged in different ways making what are known as the figures of the syllogism. There are three of these figures as follows : First figure: All animals possess voluntary motion; This object is an animal; This object possesses voluntary motion. Second figure: All animals possess voluntary motion; This object possesses voluntary motion; This object is an animal. 78 . STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. Third figure: This object is an animal: This object possesses voluntary motion: Animals possess voluntary motion. ('lasses of Reamiiing . — There are as many classes of reasoning as there are figures of the syllogism. They are called deductioti, kJenfiflcdtioii, and induction. The first figure of the syllogism is the symbol of de- duction; the second figure is the symbol of identifica- tion, and the third figure is the symbol of induction. In deduction the mind goes from a general truth to some particular truth; in identificati(m the mind goes from a general truth to the classificati STUDIES IN I>EDAGOGY. as absolute ignorance of all other things would not bring death so quickly, it seems evident those activi- ties spent in direct self-preservation and that knowl- edge w^hich furnishes guidance for these activities are of foremost importance. The activities spent in indirect self-preservation are next in importance. These are the activities put forth in securing food, clothing, and shelter. That these activities come before those put forth in rear- ing a family may be seen from the fact that self- maintenance makes possible those activities employed in rearing a family. Without self-maintenance there could be no family life. So those activities employed in indirect self-preservation are second to none but those needful in direct self-preservation. No social life would be possible without the family. The family is the most fundamental social institution, and the rearing of children alone makes possible the state, church, etc. Those activities then employed in bringing up children are more important than those employed in maintaining the social rela- tion in the institutions. Again the goodness of society as a whole depends upon the individuals which make it, and the quality of the individuals de- pends largely upon the family training. Therefore the welfare of the family underlies the welfare of society. The next in importance are those activities put forth in fulfilling duties in society. This is true, be- STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 89 cause the various forms of pleasurable activities which fill up our leisure hours presuppose social in- stitutions. No great degree of development of these pleasurable occupations is possible without well established social institutions. The national Order of Education. — From the fore- going, the following is seen to be the rational order of education: 1. That education which prepares for direct self-preservation. 2. That education which prepares for indirect self-preservation. 3. That edu- cation wiiich prepares for parenthood, and the bring- ing up of a family. 4. That education which prepares for fulfilling one's duty in the social institutions. 5. That education which prepares for spending right one's leisure time. Wliile there may be particular exceptions and modifications of this order in the lives of individuals, yet there remains these broadly marked divisions, and they subordinate one another substantially as indicated. The Second Step in Applying the Test. — Not all knowledge is of equal value to the human race. Some may have a vital bearing on all human life for all time; some may touch only the lives of a few for but a brief period of time; and some again may be so remotely related to human life as to have almost no bearing upon it. Spencer has accordingly classified knowl- edge as follows : 1. Knowledge of intrinsic value. 2, Knowledge of quasi-intrinsic value. 3. Knowledge of conventional value. Knowledge of intrinsic value is 90 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. that knowledge which bears 111)011 tlie Hfe of all man- kind throughout all time. The knowledge that chlorine is a disinfectant, that tuberculosis is a disease caused by a microbe, that every thought or feeling one has burns away some of his brain sub- stance, and scientific knowledge in general, is knowl- edge of intrinsic value. These truths will have a bearing on human conduct for all time. The extra knowledge of our language which the study of Greek and Latin gives us is knowledge of quasi-intrinsic value. It is of value to a part of humanity for a part of time, but is not of value to all mankind for all time. Knowledge of conventicmal value is simply fashionable knowledge. Much of Greek and Latin, and some parts of history, and neighborhood gossip well illus- trate knowledge of conventional value. Much that is taught in the subjects menticmed scarcely has the re- motest bearing upon human activities. It is fashion- able to learn such things, and so people go on study- ing them without ever having thought out clearly what bearing they have on human life. So, in esti- mating knowledge, in general, that of intrinsic value takes precedence of that of quasi-intrinsic or conven- ti(mal value. Value of Kriowledge-getting. — The process of get- ting knowledge is valuable from two view-points. The knowledge obtained furnishes guidance inhuman conduct, and the mind is exercised in the act of acquirement. The mind develops by exercise. That STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 91 is to say, the mind learns to think well by exercise in thinking. Thus the exercise of the mind to the end of development and strength is what is called mental discipline. So acquirement of any kind has two values: 1. A useful knowledge value. 2. A discipli- nary value. Thoughts Necessary to a Systeinatic Study of a Cur- 7'iculum. — There are the following general thoughts to be kept in mind in the study of the school curricu- lum: 1. Life is divided into several lines of activity of successively decreasing importance. Do the sub- jects of the school curriculum give knowledge which will furnish guidance in some or all of these lines of activity^ 2. Knowledge is of three kinds according to its worth, — (1) knowledge of intrinsic value; (2) knowledge of quasi-intrinsic value; (3) knowledge of conventional value. Is the knowledge given by the study of the various subjects of the school curriculum of intrinsic, quasi-intrinsic, or conventional value? 3. Acquirement of all kinds has two values, — (1) a use- ful knowledge value; (2) a disciplinary value. Do the various subjects of the school curriculum as taught give much useful knowledge and good discipline; or do some give good discipline and knowledge of little worth, and others give knowledge of much more worth, but furnish poor discipline? Discipllnanj Value Not Antagonistic to the Value as Useful Knoivledge. — There somehow seems to be a thought current to a greater or less extent, that some 92 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. subjects are needed in the schoc^l curriculum because they have an excellent disciplinary value, even though their study does not give knowledge of much use in guiding one in right living; and another phase of the same thought is, that some subjects are needed in the school course because of the useful knowledge their pursuit gives, even though their study does not furnish mental discipline. This thought in its two phases has, without doubt, entered too largely into the considerations in making school curricula in the past. We may well ask ourselves the following ques- ti(ms: Is it not possible that those subjects the pur- suit of which will give knowledge the most useful for guidance in correct living are the very same ones the pursuit of which will give the best disciplined Are there not enough subjects to make up a good curricu- lum which are among the very best as disciplinary subjects, and yet whose pursuit will furnish the knowledge most helpful for guidance in right living? Is not human life too short and human energy too limited to study some subjects for discii)line alone and others for knowledge alone? In the solution of any educational i)r(>l)lem hints usually may be had from nature. Everywhere in nature we find capacities developed by performing the functions which it is their office to loerform, and not through some exercise artificially arranged to tit them for the performance of these duties. The hunter acquires the discipline which makes him a STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 93 successful hunter only by the pursuit of game. The highest development of a power always results from the exercise in the work which the c(mditions of life require of it. The acquisiti(m which gives knowledge the most valuable for guidance in right living must, according to the law of the "Economy of Nature," at the same time furnish the very best discipline. Dr. Arnold Tompkins says, in substance, the follow- ing on this point: This making discipline almost the entire object in teaching "is responsible for a sort of mediseval dialectics and fruitless beating of the air in teaching which passes as superfine method. It is Fichte's idealism and subjectivity run mad." Direct Self- preHer vat ion. — The knowledge that gives guidance in these lines of human activities, too important to be left to be taught in school. Nature has taken into her own hands to teach. She is teach- ing the child his daily lessons in direct self-preserva- tion by means of the falls, bruises, scratches, cuts, burns, and pains which befall him every day in his early life. Mother Nature teaches the lesson weh that when one of the laws of life is violated, pain and misery are the inevitable result. But not being aware of all the safeguards which Nature has fur- nished us, we often violate her laws. What subjects have we in the school curriculum whose pursuit will furnish knowledge for guidance in these activitiesV The answer to this question is, that we have physi- ology and hygiene. The pursuit of these subjects 94 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. gives us the knowledge that our physical sensations and desires, — cold, heat, fatigue, hunger, thirst, etc., — are promptings which, if obeyed, would, to a large extent, provide for direct self-preservation. But so great an ignorance is there even yet of the laws of life that men do not appreciate fully enough that the sen- saticms are the natural guides in direct self-preserva- tion. Physiology and hygiene have it as their Held of work to teach a better general knowledge of the laws of physical life and a fuller appreciation of the neces- sity and momentous importance of their obedience. Surely no one will doubt the value of physiology and hygiene in the school curriculum who, "not to dwell on the natural pain, the weariness, the gloom, the waste of time and money thus entailed," will "only consider how greatly ill-health hinders the dis- charge of all duties, makes business often impossible, and always more difficult; produces an irritability fatal to the right management of children; puts the function of citizenship out of the question; and makes amusement ;i bore. Is it not clear that the physical sins, partly our forefathers' and partly our own, which produce this ill-health, deduct more from com- plete living than any thing else, and to a great extent make life a failure and a burden instead of a benefac- tion and a pleasure?" And it may further be added to this that the average length of human life is, by th(^ violatiim of the laws of life, largely cut short. Thus we come to see the dignified position of STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 95 physiology and hygiene in the school curriculum. This is very important for every teacher to see and feel to the end that he may teach these sciences con- scientiously and well. Indirect Self-'iireservatioii. — The knowledge which furnishes guidance in indirect self-preservation is that which helps in making a living. Every one rec- ognizes the importance of this: and, indeed, by too many persons it is regarded as the main end and ob- ject of education. While every one is willing to agree that knowledge which furnishes guidance in acquir- ing a livelihood is of high importance, yet few have systematically thought out just M^hat knowledge will do this best. In order to study this question to the best advantage, it is necessary to notice the main things men are employed in, and to this we turn. Wliat Things Men are Employed in. — The main lines of work in which men who are working for a livelihood are employed are as follow^s: 1. The pro- duction of commodities. 2. The preparation of com- modities. 3. The distributi(m of commodities. By the production of commodities is meant the produc- tion of corn, wheat, hay, oats, beef, pork, coal, iron, wool, flax, poultry, fruit, lumber, leather, silk, cotton, Unen, liemp, and a large number of other similar things. The preparation of commodities refers mainly to their manufacture; as the manufacture of machinery, food, clothing, etc. Distribution refers to sending such things to the points of consumption. 90 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. Now, the question may well be asked, What knowl- edge gives the greatest guidance in these things? It is evident that commodities could not be distributed without a knowledge of reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic. Distributi(m requires railroads, canals, bridges, docks, the dredging of rivers; loco- motives, cars, steamboats, and steam-ships. But the knowledge which guides in the construction of these is a knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and mechanics. That knowdedge which guides in the preparation of commodities is, again, a knowledge of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and mechanics. That knowledge which gives guidance in the produc- tion of these various things again is a knowledge of chemistry, j^hysics, geology, zoology, botany, and bacteriology. In short, the knowledge which has guided in the development of the production, prepara- tion, and distribution of commodities is primarily science: and secondarily, mathematics, reading, writ- ing, and spelling. Thus we see those subjects whose study furnishes knowledge that gives guidance in both direct and indirect self-preservation are almost wholly scloice. The Rearing of a Family. — One is led to wonder, when he thinks of our school curricula, wdiether this division of human activities is to be considered of so little imi)ortance that no knowledge is needed to furnish guidance for them. On this point Herbert Spencer says: "If by some strange chance not a STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 97 vestige of us descended to the remote future save a pile of our school-books or some college examination papers, we may imagine how puzzled an antiquary of the period would be on finding in them no indication that the learners were ever likely to be parents. 'This must have been the curriculum for their celibates, ' we may fancy him concluding. 'I perceive here an elaborate preparation for many things: especially for reading the books of extinct nations and co-existing nations — from which indeed it seems that these people had very little worth reading in their own tongue; but I find no reference whatever to the bringing up of children. They could not have been so absurd as to omit all training for this gravest of responsibilities. Evidently then, this was the school course of one of their monastic orders." However, there are in the school curriculum physiology and hygiene whose pursuit will give knowledge which furnishes guidance in bringing up children so far as the laws of their physical beings are concerned. But not enough emphasis is placed upon these subjects. The value of the knowledge furnished by their study has not yet been fully appreciated. On this point again we quote Spencer: "To tens of thousands that are killed, add hundreds of thousands that survive with feeble constituti(ms, and millions that grow up with constitutions not as strong as they should be; and you will have some idea of the curse inflicted on their offspring by parents ignorant of the laws of life. " 98 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. The child not only has a physical nature, but he also has a moral and mental nature. For guidance in the moral and mental training of children there is next to nothing in our school curricula whose study gives the requisite knowledge. Psychology and child- study are the subjects whose pursuit gives the knowl- edge valuable for guidance in these activities. But few schools have these subjects in their curricula at present, and probably will not for a good number of years yet. "Be this as it may, however, here are the indisputable facts: that the development of children in mind and body rigorously obeys certain laws; that unless these laws are in some degree conformed to by parents, death is inevitable; that unless they are in a great degree conformed to, there must result serious physical and mental defects: and that only when they are completely conformed to, can a perfect maturity be reached. " Man's Duties in Social Institufions. — When one asks himself what subjects there are in the school curriculum the pursuit of which furnishes knowledge valuable for guidance in social duties, his mind turns to history. For it has been asserted over and over again that the study of history is to make good citizens. But when one stops to think whether history really does very much toward making good citizens, as usually taught, it does not seem very clear. It is safe to say that if history were properly taught, it would give a large stock of knowledge valu- STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 99 able in furnishing guidance not only in citizenship, but in the other institutions of society. But in order that it may give this guidance, history must not be taught as a "record of events;" neither must it be taught as isolated events, nor must the entire time be spent on tlie state as an institution of society. To accomplish this desired result history must be re- garded as the strnr/gle of the race in its efforts towards hif/her life. This struggle must be seen to have been one in all the institutions of society, — the family, the school, the church, industrial life, and the state. It must be seen, too, that in human action there is a seed-time, a period of growth, and a fruitage as truly as in the vegetable world. But as history is often taught it certainly is not worth much for guidance in man's social activities. Literature, if rightly taught, is a good subject to furnish guidance in this line of human activities. The interpretation of both history and literature requires a knowledge of psychology. If one knew absolutely nothing about the human mind, he could not interpret history or literature at aU. And cer- tainly one who has an organized, systematic knowl- edge of psychology will interpret better than he who has but a fragmentary, unorganized knowledge of psychology. Spencer speaks as follows on this point: "Without an acquaintance with the general truths of biology and psychology, rational interpretation of social phenomena is impossible." And again, "all loo STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. social phenomena are phenomena of life — are the most complex manifestations of life — are ultimately dependent (m the laws of life — and can be understood only when the laws of life are understood. " Thus, then, we see that for the regulation of this fourth division of human activities, we are, as before, de- pendent on science. Spending Leisure Time. — Wliile "life should be full of earnest work," and "all labcn- is noble and holy," yet a life with no leisure is drudgery, and is not most to be desired. All should have some leisure time, and should know how to spend it. This time should be spent in the enjoyment of Nature, in the enjoyment of literature, and in the enjoyment of fine arts, — Architecture, Sculpture, Music, Painting, and Poetry. The subjects whose pursuit will furnish knowledge valuable to guide one in the enjoyment of nature are, of course, those subjects which treat of Nature. That is to say, they are the natural science subjects; botany, zoology, geology, astronomy, chem- istry, and physics. That subject which gives knowl- edge valuable for guidance in enjoying literature is directly the school subject, literature. And to this sh(juld be added psychology, which aids largely in the interpretation of literature. Music, now in many school courses, is the subject which gives ability to enjoy music. In the average school curriculum there is nothing which directly prepares one to enjoy architecture, sculpture, and painting. For the en- STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. lOl joyment of poetry literature, as a subject, and psy- chology prepare as. From this study of the school curriculum one wonders why so much time in many schools is sjDent on Latin and Greek. It is difficult to show how the study of Latin and Greek will give knowledge valu- able to any large extent for guidance in living. In fact, they have not much claim to a place in a school curriculum because of the valuable knowledge their pursuit furnishes. Their claim to a place in the school curriculum rests upon the idea that they are good disciplinary studies. But we have seen in previous study that it never pays best to study a thing merely for discipline when the world is so full of subject-matter the mastery of which gives the best discipline and valuable knowledge, too. Most Valuable Knoivledge. — The whole study of the school curriculum points to the fact that those sub- jects whose study gives the most valuable knowledge for guidance in living constitute the group called science. Science has liberated humanity from the bondage of superstition. Science has tunneled mountains, bridged rivers, and spanned continents. Science has harnessed waterfalls that they may do man's bidding. Science has made the lightning to minister to man's wants. Science has prevented plagues, stamped out zymotic diseases, and made it possible for man to inhabit every part of the earth. In short, science has been the vitalizing force which 102 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. has raised the Anglo-Saxon race from mediasvcil bar- barism to the civilization at the close of this, the nine- teenth century. Science more than all other things has wrought these changes in family, church, state, and industrial life. Religious Aspect of Science. — The following from Herbert Spencer on the religious aspect of science is worthy of careful attention from every teacher: "It (science) alone can give us true conceptions of our- selves and our relation to the mysteries of existence. At the same time that it shows all which can be known, it shows us the limits beyond which we can know nothing. Not by dogmatic assertions does it teach the impossibility of comprehending the ulti- mate cause of things; but it leads us clearly to recog- nize this impossibility by bringing us in every direc- tion to boundaries we can not cross. It realizes to us in a way which nothing else can, the littleness of human intelligence in the face of that which trans- cends intelligence. While towards the traditions and authorities of men its attitude may be proud, before the impenetrable veil which hides the Absolute its attitude is humble — a true pride and a true humility. " "Only the genuine man of science, we say, can truly know how utterly beyond, not only human knowledge, but human conception, is the Universal Power of which Nature, and Life, and Thought are manifesta- tions. " (Jhild-Studii (1)1(1 the ('Krvicvhini. — We will not lose STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY, 103 sight of the fact that we started out to see whether our school curriculum is a rational one or not. And in pursuit of a solution of this problem we have found out what subjects are the most valuable for study. But there is another phase of this subject to be studied before we can decide whether or not the school curriculum is a rational one. The question is, Are the subjects in the school course taught at the time in the child 's life when they are best adapted to his stage of development? No one would say a school curriculum is rational that provides the study of logic, psychology, or calculus for the child of eight. In the solution of this problem child-study helps us. Much systematic, painstaking, and exact study has recently been given to children. To many people it seems absurd that anything very new or very re- remarkable should just now be found out about children. And many oppose it, or like to speak of it in a disparaging manner. But this opposition proves nothing conclusively, for students of history know that every advance in science has met similar opposi- tion. For instance, the opposition to astronomy. Changes in Curriculum Suggested by Child Psychol- ogy. — "Our increasing knowledge of the child's mind, his muscular and nervous system, and his sx3ecial senses points indubitably to the ccmclusion that reading and writing, are subjects which do not belong to the early years of school life, but to a later period, and that other subjects now studied later are 104 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. better adapted to this early stage of development. Wliat is thus indicated of reading and writing may be affirmed also of drawing and arithmetic:" The physiological and psychological reasons for the above statement can not be discussed here. Suffice it to say that the study of these things early in school life produces nervous diseases, and arrested develop- ment; also, diseases of the eye, particularly, myopia. There is, too, a great loss of time and energy, and bad mental habits are formed. Child-study undoubtedly points to the fact that nattire studij, oral Jilatorii, and story, and free activity of the larger movements of the body should constitute the curriculum for about the first four years of the child's school life, and that reading, writing, spelling, dramng and arithmetic should come later. So the answer derived from our study is, that we certainly have not, as yet, a rational school curricu- lum. CHAPTER VII. THE TEACHER. Importance of the Teacher. — While from the stand- point of the work the school has to do the learner is the most important element in the school, there certainly is reason for regarding the teacher the most important element of the school from another view- point. It is true that the school exists for the learner, and without him there would be no teacher, school house, curriculum, or school oflicers. The de- velopment in the child's life is the end to be attained, and all parts and processes in school work are means to this end. The end is always more important than the means in all rational processes. So, in a sense, the teacher stands in the relation to the student of means to end. But when we look at the teacher as the element in the school upon which its success or failure so largely depends, that is, from the view- point of the school performing its work, the teacher seems the most important element of the school. There is much truth in the statement, "As the teacher is, so will be the school." He is the life- giving element in the school. If the teacher is pro- perly qualified, loves his work, and has a sympathetic 106 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. insight into the hves of his pupils, hardly anything can make a failure of his school. Dutienofthe Teacher. — The duties of the teacher are, indeed, many. He must poke the fire, sweep the floor, keep proper ventilation, oversee the care of school grounds, and vigilantly watch school property; tie up cut fingers, doctor bruised heads and limbs, soothe the sorrows of some and rejoice in the joy of others; encourage the brave, generous and true; frown upon the cowardly, selfish and deceitful. He must assign lessons, hear recitations, correct the wayward, and encourage the good of all kinds. From this inventory of the teacher's duties it seems at first sight as if we can get nothing but chaos. A little thought, though, will show that these duties may be grouped into two classes: 1. His duties in keeping the organization running with the least possible fric- ti(m, — governing. l\ His duties in leading the child into those experiences which will constantly make for truth and righteousness, — teaching. (h)veruhui. — A mistake the teacher often makes in school is in thinking he is a legislator as well as an executive. He thinks this and so acts that the students think it. No worse mistake than this can be made in school government. Instead of the teacher's thinking that he is a legislator and that laws of the school originate in him, he should under- stand that the laws of the school are inherent in the organism itself. The pupils siioulcl be led by the STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 107 conduct of the teacher to appreciate this fact, in so far as they are able, also. The teacher is governor in that it is his duty to caU attention to the laws of the school, explain them, and execute them. This ques- tion will receive a fuller discussion in a succeeding chapter. Teaching.— The teacher's duties in teaching are both positive and negative. From the positive side he is to guide the child in the development of ah that is good in his nature, and in the acquisition of knowl- edge which wiU furnish guidance in right living. While the child is born with capacities for becoming good, he has also capacities for becoming bad. "The child inherits not only the good proclivities and pro- pensities of his long line of ancestors, but he inherits also bad feelings and emotions. His heart is not altogether a good heart; it overflows not only in good- ness but also at times more or less frequent, in selfishness, rancor, bitterness, cowardliness: in short in excesses and defects of various kinds. " So, from the negative side the teacher will find it his duty to ehminate the evil tendencies from the child's nature. Positive Duties. — Every experience the child has affects him more or less permanently. Those experi- ences which hinder the development of the better self may be said to have a negative value. So, the teacher's positive duties are to arouse the experiences in the life of the child which constantly lift him to a higher plane of living. Such experiences are along 108 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. six lines, — physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social, moral, and religious. And this is what it means to teach, considered from the positive side. That is to say, to teach is to arouse those experiences — physi- cal, intellectual, SBsthetic, social, moral and religious — in the life of the learner to the end that he may con- tinuously grow into a higher life. Negative Duties. — But the teacher must not lose sight of the fact that the tendencies, propensities and proclivities for wrong doing born in the child, in- herited from his long line of ancestry must be elimi- nated. Some teachers make a mistake by thinking the child is naturally good. Rousseau made this very mistake in his education of Emile. The child is a young savage, and the savage characteristics are to be eliminated from his life. But these characteris- tics can not be effectively suppressed in the life of the child by simply attempting to root them out without supplying their place with something. That is to say, education can not be alone negative or not even largely negative. The only safe plan is to eliminate the bad by building up the good in its place. No teacher or parent will succeed well in educating his children who everlastingly has his eye fixed on the things which the children ought not to do. He must supply the good to take the place of the bad. In teaching, as well as in algebra, a good way to get rid of the undesirable element is to eliminate by substi- tution. An element must not be removed and a vacuum left. STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 109 Characteristics of the Teacher. — In studying the characteristics of a teacher one is impressed, at the start, with the fact that there are some qualities the teacher must have, if he teaches at all, and that there are others desirable which not aU can possess. Of the first class scholarship is an example, and of the second class good health and fine native ability are examples. The first class of attributes of the teacher we may call necessary attributes; the second may be called snjyplemenlary. Without the first set the teacher must be a failure. The second set, while not absolutely necessary to the success of the teacher, are desirable and facilitate the ease with which suc- cess is attained. Necessary Characteristics. — As said above, these are absolutely necessary to any marked degree of success on the part of the teacher, and are as follows: 1. Strong moral character. 2. Scholarship. 3. Pro- fessional preparation. 4. Energetic, student's habits. 5. The habit of daily preparation. 6. Love of occupa- tion. 7. Sympathy with child-life. These will be studied somewhat in detaU. Strong Moral Character. — About 1650 Comenius said, in substance, "The teacher should be an ex- example, in person and conduct, of what he requires of his pupils." Comenius said a great may true things, but he never said a truer thing than this. And it is just as true to-day as it was when it was first said. It is sincerely to be hoped that we all believe 110 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. Iroiii our study of the purpose of education, that a high type of moral manhood and womanhood is the end to be sought in all school work, and that all the »j, rest of the school and school processes stand in the relati(m of means to this as the end. And since we are better understanding the power of suggestion, we begin to realize what an influence on the life of children the example of the teacher has. Slovenly habits of thought, slovenly habits of dress; slang, impure English, profanity, by -words; smoking, chew- ing tobacco, dishonesty, injustice and selfishness all imjDress the life of the child and tend to reproduce themselves in him. No teacher who uses tobacco — smokes or chews — is careless of his English, or in any way shows himself cowardly or dishonest can be as good a man as he would be without those traits, and since anything which detracts from manhood detracts from the teacher, it is equally true that he can not be as good a teacher as he would be without those characteristics. But while all of us can agree as to the desirability of strong moral character for the teacher, to talk of it in the abstract without knowing very definitely what it means is not sufficiently helpful. An analysis will show that, at the least, the following elements enter into moral character: 1. A knowledge of right and wrong. 2. Truthfulness. 8. Honesty. 4. Justness. ."). Habits of activity. 0. S(>lf-conti-o]. Each of these will be studied briefly. STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. Ill K)unr/e(If/e of Bight cokJ Wnmr/. — It will be recalled that this very point was studied in a previous chapter, and the conclusion was reached that in order for one to have strong moral character he must have ability to think out the right and wrong in human activity. A man's motive may be good and the activity prompted by that motive be very bad. To say that a man may have strong moral character and be at the same time ignorant of the laws of common living and every-day actions is to place a premium on ignorance. It is certainly a doctrine that will result in much evil to hold that an act is good provided it is done with good intenti(ms, notwithstanding much human misery and unhappiness result from it. Truthfi(lnes.s. — It seems so evident that truthful- ness is an element of morality that it needs no study to show it. There is a phase of this jioint which enters largely into school work. Teachers have feared to say "I don't know," lest pupils would lose confidence in their ability. It does not follow that if the teacher honestly acknowledges he does not know, when it is the case, the pupils will lose c(mtidence in his ability. If it did have to be so, it would still be a question of whether it is preferable for students to lose confidence in one's ability, or to lose confidence in one's truthfulness. But students are reasonable. They do not expect that the teacher will never make a mistake, nor that he will kncnv the correct answer to every question that comes up. They further know 112 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. that tliey have no right to expect so much, but they also know that they have a right to expect the teacher to be perfectly truthful. Honestij. — Honesty and truthfulness seem much the same thing, as elements of character. They, however, emphasize different phases of moral char acter. Truthfulness refers to the representation of things as they are, and so refers to one's represent- ing things thus. H(mesty refers to uprightness in the actions of one person to another. In honesty questions of advantage and disadvantage are involved. There are many ways in which a teacher's honesty is involved in school work. The student's instinct for truth and honesty will assert itself to the extent that he will appreciate those qualities in a teacher. And pupils are quick to detect these as well as the oppo- site. "It is a great misfortune for a child to be under the influence of a teacher who deceives patrons and visitors as to the real attainments of pupils; who trains his pupils to seem to know what they do not know — as in public examinations, so called; who assigns false reasons for his acts; who pretends not to be w^atching pupils that he may 'catch them in mis- chief;' who makes promises that he does not intend to keep, or, what is about as bad, forgets to keep; who pretends to know that of which he is ignorant; who marks i:)upils in the absence of knowledge; or who, in other ways, departs from the truth. In truthful- STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 113 ness, the teacher can not be a sign-board. He must himself go the way he points. " Justness. — In school work, justice does not mean that all students must be treated alike. It is a tradi- tional maxim of school which has worked much evil, that all students must be treated alike. This usually refers to corrections and rewards. Now, scarcely any one would think that in the act of teaching all are to be taught in just the same way, but somehow in the matter of corrections and rewards the idea is more or less prevalent that all students are to be treated in the same way. In the matter of being just individual difference of children must be taken into consideration as well as in the teaching act. A little thought here will call to the mind of every student and teacher numerous illustrations of this point. It requires some firmness on the part of the teacher to be just. The teacher may err from the side of kindness, or from a hypercritical spirit. Too often the teacher because of kindness, I think, fails to have the student see just what his recitation or paper is worth. A paper graded on the scale of a hundred is marked seventy-five per cent, when justice would show it to be worth thirty or forty per cent. A recitation worth nothing is smoothed over and patched up by the teacher tiU the pupil is de- ceived into believing that he has done something creditable. Justice may at times seem severe, but its very severity is educative in a high degree. 114 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. Justice after a period of growth always brings a fruitage much to be desired. The profession is in need of teachers with courage to give the children credit for just what they merit, no more and no less. Habits of Activity. — No one can be a sluggard and be a moral man. Morality means activity. There are some jjeople who think that if one simply does no harm he is entitled to be called good. That is to say, some hold that activity is not a necessary element of goodness in man. A little study here, however, shows the fallacy of this doctrine. If one asks him- self the question, "Wlien is my lead pencil good?" or "What is a good knife?" and stops to think out the answer, he will find that he will soon reach the con- clusion that the lead pencil or knife is good that does its work well. That is, goodness refers to the ability or adaptability of a thing to do its work. And this is the meaning those very persons who hold this peculiar view regarding goodness have concerning all things except man. How men are an exception to this general truth is not clear. Also, if a man who does nothing either good or bad and thus does no harm,- is good, the question, "Wlmtis he good for?" suggests at once the answer, "good-for-nothing." It can not be made too strong that, under normal cir- cumstances, a strong moral character means a life of intense activity. The teaching professicm has no need of teachers who Und nothing to do after 4:(K> p. M. and before 8:30 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY, 115 A. M. And least of all have the growing lives of the children need for such teachers. Self-control. — It seems unnecessary to emphasize the fact that self-control is an element of morality. A brief study of the lines of self-control is, however, in order. Though scientifically control is usually classified as (1) physical; (2) prudential, and (3) moral, for our purpose it maybe thought of as: 1. Control of the appetites. 2. Control of one's actions. 3. Control of one 's language. No person who lets his appetites go without re- straint can be a moral person. "No heart is so pure, no soul is so noble, that physical appetite long un- restrained does not corrupt. Every mother has it in her power to form the tastes and appetites of her children. They are always /ormecZ, but the process of re-forming is frequently a heart-breaking failure." Now, the teacher may have an influence in this /o>"m- infl of tastes, but not until he has correctly formed his own. Many a teacher has lost his opportunities for doing good in a school by lack of ability to act calmly and reasonably under trying circumstances. A successful teacher must guard his actions not only under trying circumstances, but all the time, even under the most usual circumstances. Controlling one's language is certainly an ele- ment in moral character under any consideration, but the control of the teacher's language is an element of great impcn-tance in successful teaching. A word of 116 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. encouragement here, a kind word there; a word of approval for this effort, a word of disapproval for lack of effort; a mild, pleasing tone at all times; such, other things equal, are am(mg the most important elements that go to make the ideal teacher. Sarcasm, irony, blustering, boisterous tcmes keyed to a high pitch are among the most disorganizing attributes a teacher can possess. Scholarship. — That a teacher must possess scholarship in order to teach at all is unquestioned. No one can teach what he does not know, and it is just as true that no one can teach ive/l what he does not know well. Nothing gives more confidence to the teacher, and nothing is more inspiring to the pupils than to know that he is master of his subject. It is a deplorable condition of things that compels teachers to teach subjects about which they know barely enough to make a grade for license. To teach well a subject a teacher should know it first and last and all the way between. A school subject is a group of facts, these facts having a relation among themselves peculiar to that subject alone. The teacher who knows his subject will not only see these facts, but he will see the rela- tion of these facts to each other and to the subject as a whole. With such a knowledge of his subject the teacher sees the end from the beginning, is able to distinguish the important from the unim])()rtant, and to organize his work. A lack of scholarshi}) makes STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 117 the teacher a slave to a text-book, instead of being as he should be a source of self-directiveness in the sub- ject. Other things equal, the teacher who knows his subject well will certainly do superior teaching-. Professional Preijaratkm. — Professional prepara- tion from the teacher's view-point means a mastery to a greater or less extent of those subjects that wih furnish the teacher guidance in his actual work in the school-room. Everyone who enters the profes- sions of medicine or law recognizes the need of study which will give guidance in his special work. That is to say, special preparation is required for profes- sional work. This is not less true in the teacher's work than in the other professions. A brief study will show that a teacher's professional preparation consists in general of the following: 1. A knowledge of the laws of life. 2. A knowledge of the purpose of education. 3. A knowledge of methods. 4. Practice in the art of teaching. Each of these wiU be studied to some extent. A Knoivledge of the Laws of Life.— The life of the ' child presents itself to the teacher in two phases,— physical and spiritual. The teacher learns the laws of the child's physical hfe in the pursuit of physiology } and hygiene. And the subject which treats of the child's mental hfe is psychology. So this brings us to the discussion of the question. Must the success- ful teacher know physiology, hygiene and psychol- 118 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. ogyv We can study this question in two ways. First, we can depend upon our owii ability to think it out; and secondly, we can study what our educational thinkers have thought about it. What Our Study Shown. — If we will remember that the educational process is both a jihysical and spiritual one, but always a living process whose suc- cess is to be measured in terms of the child's life, we will be in the right attitude of mind to study the question. If a teacher knew absolutely nothing of the laws of life, he could not teach school a day, an hour, or even a minute. He could not tell whether beef or arsenic would be food; whether a child would be comfortable in an atmosphere at freezing point or at the boiling point: whether he would be more comfort- able sitting down, running, or standing o\\ his head; nor could he decide on any physiological or hygienic question concerning the child's welfare. Neither could he tell how, when, or why to teach any point of knowledge. He would not know w^hether to begin the study of geometry, logic, or reading with the child of six or Avith the child of sixteen. Without some knowledge of the laws of life, the teacher could not (1) provide a suitable course of study; (2) arrange his school into classes; (3) assign lessons suited to his pupils; (4) interpret his pupil's behavior; (.")) know whether his pupils grasp the topics of the lesson. In short, he could not teach at all. Then to teach school STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 119 at all a teacher must know something of physiology, hygiene, and psychology. Every teacher of course knows something of these subjects, but it is worth while to stop long enough to examine into the condi- tion of much of this knowledge. It will be found in most instances to be fragmentary, chaotic and un- scientitic. Now, the question is whether this frag- mentary, unscientific knowledge of j^hysiology, hygi- ene, and psychology will be more helpful to the teacher in teaching than a systematic, scientific knowledge of these subjects. Every one knows some- thing of science, the knowledge having been picked up in fragments from experience, but it is not this kind of knowledge that has caused the progress of the world. The knowledge which has caused civilization to move forward with such strides in the present century has been that w4iich was systematic and scientific, not the fragmentary and unscientific kind. Thus the question we started out to study has reduced itself to the following: First, a teacher must have* some knowledge of psychology, physiology and hygi- ene to teach at all. Secondly, the teacher through experience may acquire a fragmentary, chaotic, un- scientific knowledge partly right and partly wrong, always superficial, of these subjects. Thirdly, the teacher may acquire through careful study a scien- tific knowledge of these subjects. Fourthly, scientific knowledge is the world over the kind most valuable for guidance. Surely no one is so obtuse as to claim that 120 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. a superficial, fragmentary knowledge of psychology, such as everyone has, is better for guidance in teach- ing than a thorough systematic knowledge of the sub- ject. Then since a teacher must have one of the two kinds, common sense teaches which is the better. So, our study leads us to answer the question. Must the successful teacher know psychology':* in the affir- mative. He certainly must. What Educators Think of the Question. — There are two classes of quasi teachers who oppose the study of psychology as a part of a teacher's preparation to teach school. Those of the first class are the ones who, it seems to me, see psychology as a speculative, metaphysical study of those things about which no one can do more than speculate or conjecture — what goes by the name of metaphysics in contradistinction to psychology. This class sees nothing in the study of psychology but discipline, because to them there is no such thing as educational psychology. There are but few of this class, the most of them having died of old age. Those of the second class know little or no real psychology, and so oppose it, because to acknowledge its usefulness is to acknowledge a criti- cism on themselves. With this second class, the wish has been father to the thought. It is absolutely certain that his knowledge of psychology never yet helped that teacher who knew no psychology, to teach. The rapid strides with which pedagogical work STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 121 has been coming into schools of every kind is evidence of what is being thought on this subject. Every normal school, private and public, every college and university now has its pedagogical department. And this state of things is very recent. Now, psychology is the basis upon which the whole superstructure of pedagogy stands. Teacher's examinations almost everywhere now demand a knowledge of professional subjects. TJiouf/hts of the Thinkers.— W]]lmmT. Harris says: "If the teacher knows nothing of psychology as a science, he must copy in detail the methods of others, and rely on his general knowledge of human nature derived from experience. Like all uneducated work- men, he may succeed after a sort by following tradi- tion unaided by science, but he will not develop be- yond a narrow degree of perfection in details. He will have no insight into the general relations of his work. He can not safely deviate from routine, nor venture to criticise his own work or the work of others. If he has learned good models, he may pass for a good teacher; if he has learned bad ones, he is unable to perceive their defects. \ Possessing no scientific knowledge of the mind he cannot lift him- self above the details of his art to the principles which govern them, and become himself an original source of directive energy. Some knowledge of the mind every successful teacher must have, although 122 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. in so many cases it is unsystematic, and conse- quently unscientific. " The same author says of child-study, which is a kind of psychology: "Child-study in this way (by experimental study of children) will furnish us more valuable information for the conduct of our schools than any other fields of investigation have yet done. " Herbert Spencer, the greatest English philoso- pher, says: "Grant that the phenomena of intelli- gence conform to laws; grant that the evolution of intelligence in a child also conforms to laws; and it follows inevitably that education can be rightly guided only by a knowledge of these laws. To sup- pose that you can properly regulate this process of forming and accumulating ideas, without understand- ing the nature of the process, is absurd. How widely, then, must teaching as it is, differ from teach- ing as it should be; when hardly any parents, and but few teachers, know anything about psychology." 'The development of children in mind and body rigor- ously obeys certain laws; unless these laws are in some degree conformed to by parents, death is inevi- table; unless they are in a great degree conformed to, there must result serious physical and mental de- fects; and only when they are completely cimformed to, can a perfect maturity be reached.' Prof. William James, after telling teachers not to expect too much from psychology, says: "But, if the use of psychological principles thus be negative STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 123 rather than positive, it does not follow that it may not be of great use, all the same. It certainly narrows the path for experiments and trials. We know in advance, if we are psychologists, that certain methods will be wrong, so our psychology saves from mis- takes. It makes us, moreover, more clear as to what we are about. We gain confidence in respect to any method which we are using as soon as we believe that it has theory as well as practice at its back. Most of all, it fructifies our independence, and it reanimates our interest, to see our subject at two different angles,— to get a stereoscopic view, so to speak, of the youthful organism who is our enemy, and, whUe handhng him with all our concrete tact and divina- tion, to be able, at the same time, to represent to our- selves the curious inner elements of his mental machine. Such a complete knowledge as this of the pupil, at once intuitive and analytic, is surely the knowledge at which every teacher ought to aim." Without multiplying quotations, let it be sufd- cient to say there is scarcely an educator of note or reputation among civilized peoples who does not speak in the same general way on this subject. A knowledge of psychology is absolutely no guarantee of a good teacher, but it is certainly as true that no one can be a highly successful teacher without a knowledge of psychology. ^Purpose of Education.— The nature of the purpose of education has been studied before, but it remains 124 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. to study why the teacher should have as nearly cor- rect views as possible of the things to be accom- plished by the educating process. Since the purpose of education is one with the purpose of life, the ques- tion to be studied is the importance of the correct view of the purpose of living. One may possibly wear his religion on Sundays, and put it off on week days. But his view of the object to be accomplished by education will show itself in all he does. Every act in the school-room will be affected by it. If he has wrong views of the object of the educating process, every assignment will be tinged by it; every recitation will be colored thereby; every correction or direction will be steeped in these false ideas. If he has the right ideas of life and education they will manifest themselves in all his school work. If he has no definite ideas of education and life, his work will be purposeless, scattering, dis- organized and fragmentary. A clear, fervent pur- pose will draw the teacher's work toward its accom- plishment as surely as the magnet attracts the parti- cles of steel. It can not be made too strong that every teacher should have the true purpose of educa- tion so well fixed in his life that it may become, in truth, a part of him. \ Knoioledge of Methods. — The term nietliod is em- ployed in two senses by educators. Popularly, it means the manipulation of means external to the life of the child in the i3r()cess of teaching. Scientifically, STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 125 it means the activities of the student's mind in the process of learning. In either sense the teacher must know method. For to know method in the first sense is to know w4iat means to use in teaching, and how" to use them, and to know method in the second sense is to know the mental steps the student's mind takes in learning any point of knowledge. It has been held by some that if the teacher knows his subject w^ell he can teach it well. This, however, is not true. Nothing is commoner in teach- ing than persons who know their subjects well, but wiio teach poorly. Dr. Groszman says on this point: "The professional training of teachers is not gener- ally high. Many people still entertain the idea that to know a subject is a guarantee of the ability to teach it. Nor is it easy to demonstrate the fallacy of this notion to those w4io are ignorant of the laws that govern the wa^rkings of the human mind. " A little thought will show that to know, first, the means to be used; secondly, how" to use them; and thirdly, the activities of the child 's mind in the pro- cess of learning any subject is of equal importance in successful teaching with knowing well the subject. This point wiU receive a full study in chapter nine. /. Practice in the Art of Teaching. — One becomes skillful in doing anything by practice only. Thus (me becomes skillful in Meriting by practice in writ- ing; skillful in riding a bicycle by riding; skillful in ball-playing by playing ball, This is a principle that 126 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. holds true in the acquirement of any art. And since teaching is an art the principle applies to it. So a teacher to become skillful must have practice in the art of teaching. This joractice may be obtained in two ways. First, by teaching as a student-teacher under the direction of a skillful training-teacher in what are knowm as training schools. Secondly, by teaching in one's own school without having had any practice before, and thus acquiring the skill by ex- perience without direction by a training-teacher. It is evident that learning to teach by the latter w^ay is pretty hard on the pupils which the teacher practices upon. It is too much a matter of experiment, and is very like a physician's learning to practice medicine by experimenting upon his patient. But everywhere the innocent little children in our schools are the victims of such experimenting. If it is a deplorable set of conditions that compels persons to teach who have merely enough knowledge of the subjects to secure license, it is certainly not a less deplorable set of conditions that compels teachers to experiment thus with the innocent lives of our children. ^' Knerfieiic Student Habits. — The living teacher must be a constant worker. He wiU ever keep before him a higher degree of excellence in all lines of work toward which he will constantly strive. A teacher never reaches a place in his school work where he can safely rest on the oars and drift. There is absolutely no way to have a thorough, fresh knowledge of the STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 127 subject taught; to keep in mind the best educational methods and other ideals than by constant industri- ous student habits. Everything that lives pro- gresses, and nothing progresses more rapidly than the science and art of education. One as a teacher simply can not rely upon his past preparation to guide him safely and successfully through in teach- ing. He must keep up with the educational progress or he win bean "old fogy" and a "fossil" sooner than he is aware. The educational w^orld demands thoughtful, progressive teachers. "To reach the port of heaven, w^e must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, — but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. " Dr. Groszman says on this point: "Not every scholar is necessarily a teacher, but every teacher must be a scholar. By the latter I mean he must possess the scientific spirit— that spirit which is con- cerned not alone in the accumulation of a vast number of facts, but also, and mainly, in the inteUigent use of those at hand. He must, on his own account, aspire to knowledge such as will expand his own personality and widen the horizon of his interests, in order that he may be able to personate, to his pupils, if only in a modest way, the incorruptible dignity and the salu- tary influence of true science. If the teacher's interests be confined to the four wahs of his school- room, he runs the risk of becoming narrow, and self- complacent, petty and nagging. He must be con- 12H STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. versant with the great problems of his age, so that he may keep steadily before him the great aim of all educational effort. " Dailij Preparation. — No teacher ever knows a sub- ject so weU as to be able to teacli it to the best advant- age without making daily preparation. This is true because no lesson is ever taught at any two times under the same set of circumstances. Students to whom the lessons are to be taught will vary in capacity and other particulars. So each lesson must be prepared with the view of teaching it to the particular class one has, if the very best teaching is to be done. A teacher who teaches without daily ]>re])aration shows staleness in his work; his teaching lacking all that freshness, vigor, and interest born of seeing something new in the subject. This is true, because going over the same thing again and again without seeing anything new of necessity grows m(mot(mous and uninteresting, while on the other hand no cme ever knows a subject so well but that he can see something new in it by his study in daily preparation. Again, for most teachers it is the only remedy for avoiding the evils that flow from a meager laiowledge of the subjects. The teacher who will succeed best will be the I1<:S IN PEDAGOGY. 165 means the self. And the self means one's original capacity to know, to feel, and to will, ])lus the effect of exjjeriences on this power. 4. Method is the process by w^hich the mind of the learner goes from its real condition to an ideal condition. One's real condition is his condition just as he is at any time. His ideal conditise.- -Purpose in reality is beginning and end in every process. The purpose as idea — the begin- ning — moves forward in the process to its realization — the end. The purpose exists in the teacher's mind, but it is to be realized in the life of the learner. The purpose is the effect the mastery of the subject- matter should have on the life of the child. In actual STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 169 teaching the teacher is to go from the subject-matter by way of comparison of the effect the thinking the subject-matter has on his own mind to its effect on the child's life, which is the purpose. That is to say, there is no way to tell the purpose of the subject- matter except from the effect its mastery produces on the child's life. The course of study — the subject- matter — is usually provided for the teacher. So the teacher must start with the subject-matter and find out the purpose in teaching it. Much depends in the teaching act upon how w^ell the teacher does this. If the teacher has definitely in mind just what he wants to do in the lesson he will be drawn steadily and con- stantly toward its accomplishment. A definite pur- pose saves time, economizes energy, emphasizes the important, organizes, and prevents aimless w^ander- ing. It will be seen that in teaching any lesson there are two phases of the purpose: (1) to give knowledge valuable for guidance in living; (2) to give mental dis- cipline; that is, to furnish a mental gymnastic to the end that the mind may grow^ strong by exercising it. Basis. — This is the learner's nearest related knowledge to the new points to be taught, and upon which the teacher may build in teaching the new point. Basis is an important point in teaching. Many errors are made in teaching because the learner has not basis for learning the new point, or because the teacher does not see the basis. Teaching in harmony 170 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. with the principle underlying basis, the mind natur- ally goes to the unknonin from the nearest related known, means a progressive development of a subject, each step becoming basis for the step succeeding it. There are many violations of basis in teaching, as often done. Illustration. — If the lesson to be taught is that 5-)-4 — 9, the child must know the number 5 and the number 4 as basis before he could learn that 5+4 = 9. If the teacher should attempt to teach this lesson without having taught the numbers 5 and 4 he would meet with the difficulty of insufficient basis. Again, if a teacher attempts to teach the noun to a class without the class having a detinite knowledge of an object, he will most surely meet a difficulty in the basis. The teacher to teach well must see and choose definitely his basis. Steps. — Steps are more or less complete move- ments of the mind. They are mental things and in the teaching act are in the life of the learner. They are the advances of the mind in mastering the separate points of the lesson to be learned. Or in a more general sense they are the advances of the mind in mastering the various phases of a subject. Illustration. — If the lesson to be taught were that 17 — 8 = 9, the steps would be: 1. The advance of the mind in rethinking the number 17; 2. The advance of the mind in rethinking the number 8; 3. The advance of the miud in thinkino: the number 9 as remainder. STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 171 Again, if the lesson were, to teach the definition of the triangle, after examining several triangles, the steps would be: 1. The advance of the mind in think- ing that a triangle is a figure. 2. The advance of the mind in thinking a triangle has three sides. 3. The advance of the mind in thinking a triangle has three angles. 4. The advance of the mind in synthesizing these points in the definition, A triangle is a figure having three sides and three angles. To know the steps the mind takes in working out any new lesson is a matter of much importance to the teacher. He must know something of the steps or he can not teach at all; and, other things equal, the more clearly the teacher has thought the steps, the better will he teach the lesson. Devices. — The devices are the various things used by the teacher to lead the mind of the learner to think and feel in the manner desired. A synonym for de- vices is the term means. Devices, or means, consti- tute a very important factor in teaching. There is opportunity for the exercise of rare judgment, tact and skill in the selection of devices. When it is understood that questions, text-books, and reference books, maps, globes, and school apparatus in general; blocks, sticks, etc., are devices in teaching, something of their importance in school work becomes evident. Devices are so important that among many, method means nothing more than the manipulation of devices. However important they are it must not be lost sight 172 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. of that they are always determined in the light of the mental process they are to induce. They are means to an end, and in nature the end is always more im- l^ortant than the means. Met hod as a Phi/.sicc/ Process. — It is, perhaps, using the term method in its most popular significance to think of it as meaning some physical process external to the life of the learner. That is to say, it is using the term in the sense in which most jDersons com- monly use it in speaking and writing. This idea of method is the one usually held by persons who have not made any careful study of what the term really ought to mean. There is a sort of indefinite- ness in the minds of most of such persons as to just what they do mean by method. Hc^wever, upon ex- amination it win be found usually that the idea that method is the manner of doing some physical thing prevails, though even this is held in mind more or less vaguely. From thinking of method in this sense we have the following terms: "Object Method," "Ccmcert Method," "Consecutive Method," "Pro- miscuous Method, " " Socratic Method, " and "Labo- ratory Method. " These all refer to the manipulation of objects, questions, and answers in the teaching act, and so are to be studied briefly under method as a physical process. The Object Method. — By this is meant a handling of objects by teacher and pupils in the process of STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 173 learning. It i.s a good line of work, if used judi- ciously. It has its proper place in teaching number work, primary geography, and primary language. The Concert Jfethod. --The concert method means having students to answer questions, read and speak simultaneously in the recitati(m. There is much that may be said against C(mcert work, but very little to be said for it. It is objectionable because it (1) violates the law of self activity; (2) stifles individual effort and individual responsibihty; (3) does not bring out clear, definite answers or thinking: and (4) leads to confusion, disorder, and chaotic class work. There may possibly be instances in which concert work may be used advantageously, but as a rule it should be avoided. The Conseciftive Method. — The consecutive method of asking and answering in the recitation means beginning at some point, the head of the class, or at the name beginning with a, and proceeding in some regular order back to the point of starting. In pro- ceeding in recitation this way the students know pretty weh wiien the "turn " of each one comes. This method, like the preceding one, has many things against it, but little to recommend it. It is objection- able because it leads to (1) habits of inattention: (2) disorder and disorganization of the class: (3) habits of idleness; and (4) bad methods of study. However good a student may be, if, when he has answered a question, he know^s to a certainty that he 174 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. will not be called upon again for some time, the tendency is for him to relax his attention. If the student is not a good (me, the tendency in this kind of work is for him to become worse, and since he is not called upon to attend closely he is prone to do some- thing else, thereby causing disorder and disorganiza- tion. Idleness in the class is a direct result of inat- tention, and bad habits of study result from the student's being able to prepare just those points in the lesson which he has reckoned will come to him. Proiinscitou}^ Wor/c. — The promiscuous method of asking questions and receiving answers refers to dis- tributing the questions and receiving answers from students promiscuously. No student knows to whom the answer to the question will fall. This method un- like the two preceding has much to be said for it and little or nothing against it. It is desirable because (1) it fosters habits of attention and concentraticm; (^) it is flexible and gives the teacher the best opportuni- ties for meeting the needs of individual students; (3) it fosters habits of order and organization in the class work; and (4) it tends to industrious habits and right methods of study. By the use of the promiscuous method students are held constantly to attending to the question under consideration, to the careful prep- aration of the lesson as a whole, and to order and unity in the class. As a rule, the promiscuous method is certainly the best for class work. Catechetic Metliod. — This is, in its original form, STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 175 not much used any more, and so needs very little said about it. According to this method the question was written in the text-book and just after the question was the answer to it. The student's business was to read the question, and then commit to memory the answer. In the recitation the teacher with text-book in hand read the question and the student gave, in the words of the text, the answer. Such a manner of conducting a recitation has nothing to recommend it and so needs no further study. Lecture Method. — The lecture method refers to teaching by means of talks or lectures. This method, perhaps, has its advantages and disadvantages. It is certainly not adapted to all kinds of school work, and probably not adapted to any kind of school work if used exclusively. There are, however, some phases of school work which may be profitably taught by talks, or lectures. To elementary school work the lecture method is not at all adapted, and but very poorly adapted to secondary school work. In the first eight years of the child's school life he must be taught differently than by this method. That stays with the child which he has an opportunity to see, hear, and think about. This, however, is not to be construed to mean that oral teaching should not be done in primary history, primary geography, nature work, etc. If the lecture method has any legitimate place in school work, it is in college and university work. However it may seem theoretically, it re- 176 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. mains as a fact that those thin^^s which are digged out by the student, recited upon in the class, and dis- cussed by questions and answers are the things which in the end stay with him and do him good. Certainly the lecture method in the average teacher's scliool work is, to say the least, to be used sparingly, and with much caution when used at all. llic Socniilr Method. — This method takes its name from Socrates a Greek philosopher and teacher born 469 B. C. It is sometimes called the developing method. It proceeds by the employment of subtle questi(ms to lead the student to think what it is de- sired for him to think without telling him anything. "The Socratic method, more or less perfectly under- stood, has had great influence upon professional pedagogy. In many schools for the professional training of teachers, and in many schools in charge of teachers professionally trained, systematic ques- tioning of this sort is looked upon as ideal teaching; and there is no lack of conscientious endeavor to pre- pare for use in recitation, series of questions which shall lead the child's mind to take the logical steps which given occasion requires. One who doubts the value of such systematic questioning may usually be (converted by hearing a single typical recitation C(m- ducted by a master of the art. The power of such a recitation to touch, move, chasten, and direct the soul is so evident, that if Socrates and Plato had taught us nothing but how to do such work their fame as STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 177 teachers would be justified." It is noteworthy that the "Socratic Method" is diametrically opposed to the "Lecture Method. " The Laboratorii Method: — This is also often called the "Scientific Method," and it means a procedure in which the student is lead to investigate and think for himself. It is opposed to taking things on mere authority without investigation, and to the text-book method. It proceeds by leading the student to deal with the actual material of study rather than to deal with what some (me has said about it. In botany, studied in this way, the student deals with plants; in zoology, with animals: in grammar, with sentences and parts of sentences. This method has much to recommend it. 1. It fosters habits of free inquiry and free investigation. 2. It is the mind's natural way of learning. H. It makes the student self- directive and self-helpful. 4. It fixes with the student right methods of study. 5. It gives the student a critical attitude of mind. All these are very desirable characteristics for a student to have. CoviparUon of Tecicher's and PnpiVs Method. — These two methods are alike as follows: 1. They are both spiritual processes. 2. The mind of the learner and the mind of the teacher in general go through the same process in thinking the thing to be learned. 8. Both the teacher and the joupil keep in mind to some extent the purpose of the process in the teaching act. These two methods are different as follows: 1. 17H STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. The teacher, in addition to thinking the truths to be learned, must think the learner's thinking of them. 2. The teacher must think out the means or devices to be used in leading the learner to think the desired points of truth. 3. While both the teacher and the pupil keep in mind the purpose, the teacher sees it definitely, or should do so, while the pupil only sees it vaguely. The teacher's method thus includes more than the learner's. Two Vieivs of Method. — The foregoing study sug- gests to us that there are two views of method. It is unfortunate that educational writers hold these two views, as considerable confusion prevails because of this fact. One class of educators, those who have studied method least, mean by method simply the physical process in the act of teaching. A second class, those who have been special students of method, mean by method the triple process in the act of teaching. Comparison of the Tiro Vieivs. — In our study of method we may call these two views respectively the popular vieio and the special view. The popular view will thus designate method as the manipulation of ex- ternal means, or devices, and the special \iew will designate method as the triple process. Thinking of method according to the ]Dopular view constantly places the mind's emphasis upon something external to the life of the learner. This has in the past led to much that was bad in teaching STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 179 and is still doing so. The teacher loses sight thus of the fact that it is in the learner's life that the educat- ing process is to be carried on. He is prone to make the manipulating, the text-book, or some petty scheme of teaching an end instead of a means. Every question that arises concerning teaching must be settled in the light of the effect upon the life of the learner. The ultimate question is. How does it affect the life of the learner? The process in which the mind of the learner masters the new point of knowl- edge is the point of prime importance in the teaching act and the thing always to be emphasized in the study of the act of teaching. The popular view of method leads to almost helpless confusion. Every- one holding this view who happens to use some differ- ent device, or means, in teaching calls it his method and gives it a name. Since there is an almost in- finite number of devices which may be used, there thus arises an almost infinite number of methods, which no teacher can or desires to keep informed upon. This leads to a hopelessly chaotic condition of things in the study of method. The popular view of method has led to much disparagement of the study of method among persons who should be friendly to its study. These are often- times persons who are very good thinkers, but who have not given special study to method. It is a com- mon remark among this class of teachers, that one may study method in a subject at the expense of ISO STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. a knowledge of that subject. The depreciating re- marks made about method, which arise from the popular view of method, are a source of much harm to the profession of teaching. This is true, because many persons who would make a careful study of method and would receive the benefit that must come to the teacher thereby, are kept from beginning the study by this disparaging attitude on the part of some teachers. It may be safely said that there is need for no one thing among teachers more than an intensely professional spirit. It seems strange that some teachers take pleasure in saying depreciating things about method work. It is, however, probably to be explained from a misconception of method. I have never yet heard the first person speak depreci- atingly of method, who has been a student of the sub- ject. The special view may be proven to be the better view. This is the argument: A thing is good ac- cordingly as it realizes the purpose which brought it into existence. Method as a subject came into ex- istence to supply the want for something the study of which would help the teacher to do better work in his daily teaching. Accordingly, that thing whose study helps the teacher most is the best. It has already been shown that the study of method as a triple process is more helpful to the teacher than the study of method as the manner of mani])ulating some STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 181 external means or devices. Therefore, the special view is the better view of method. No Danger in Too Much Study. — It is not difficult to see that there is no danger of a teacher's devoting too much time to the study of method when one takes the proper view of method. The teacher can not study the process through which the mind goes in mastering any point of knowledge until he has the knowledge himself. For instance, the teacher can not see the mental steps the mind of the learner takes in learning the definition of an adjective without knowing the definition of an adjective himself. To know the method in teaching the definition of an adjective is to know two things: 1. The definition of an adjective. 2. The process the mind naturally em- ploys in learning the definiticm of an adjective. No teacher can rationally and well teach the adjective who does not know these two things. Further Illustration. — In the teaching of history this point becomes quite evident. The teacher who knows method in history knows these two things: 1. The events of mankind in their relation to the struggle of the race for freedom. That is to say, he must know history. 2. The natural processes of the mind in learning history. No teacher can teach history at all without a knowledge of the first, and it is equally clear to any person who will think, that no one can teach history weU without a knowledge of the second. So this question resolves itself into the following: 182 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. it is not possible for a teacher to study method too much, unless it is possible for a teacher to know too much about his subjects and to know too well the mind's natural process in learning those subjects. Factors Deter mhi 'nxj Method. — Nearly twenty years ago one of our foremost educators said, 'The law in the mind and the thought in the thing studied de- termine the method.' This statement can not well be improved upon. And it reveals the two factors which determine method. They are (1) the law in the mind; (2) the thought in the thing studied. It is to be noticed that it is the law of the mind; that is, the general truths of mental activity — the forms of activity common to all minds. Each mind has indi- vidual traits, but in general, all minds act in the same way. The laws of mind are the forms of activity common to all minds. Each thing is the embodiment of thought. That is to say, each thing expresses thought. Longfellow's " Evangeline, " the ink-stand, the maple tree is each the embodiment of thought. Ultistration. — Holding in mind that method is the mind's process of learning, we can readily see that the process is different in learning different things, or largely the same in learning things much alike. The activity the mind puts forth in learning the defi- nition for the noun is very different from that put forth in getting the thought and feeling from Tenny- son's " Bugle Song. " One cause of the difference is, that there is a great difference in the thought em- STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 183 bodied in the two things. This illustrates that the thought in the thing studied is a factor in determin- ing the method. Again, a child of six could not under any set of circumstances solve a difficult geometry problem because it would violate the laws of the mind. He could on the other hand learn that the printed word liat represents the idea hat. Thus in this case the law of the mind would determine the method. The whole study of method should emphasize the truth that the essential thing in teaching is opening up the way for the realization of the child 's inherent possibilities. "Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise From outward things, what e'er you may believe There is an inmost center in us all. Where truth abides in fulness, and around. Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in, ****** And to know Rather consists in opening- out a way Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape. Than in effecting entry for a light Supposed to be without." CHAPTER X. THE REC;iTATION. The Nature of 1 lie Recitation. — The word recitatiou is of Latin origin and literally means a reading aloud. As the term is used now somewhat of the literal meaning may be found in it. It is commonly thought of now as the school process in w^hich the student re- thinks what he has learned previously and communi- cates this to the teacher and his fellow students. This is not all there is in the recitation, but it con- stitutes a considerable part of the process. In addi- ticm to the student's process of rethinking and com- municating to the teacher what he has jDreviously learned, there are in the recitation the suggestions, tests, directicms and encouragement by the teacher. The recitaticm is the crowning jorocess of the school organization. It is here more than any other place that the miracle of learning is stimulated. Good recitations are the test of good school work. Purposes of tlic Recitation. — The purposes of the recitation are as follows: 1. To furnish a place of meeting where the mind of the learner and the mind of the teacher may come into living touch under the most favorable conditions. 2. To test the learner on STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 185 his preparation and understanding of the subject- matter of the lesson. 8. To supplement the knowl- edge of the subject-matter the student has gained in his preparation. 4. To give an insight into right methods of study. 5. To approve, encourage, in- spire, and stimulate the student in his work. It is worth while to take up each of these purposes for a brief study in order that they may be more clearly understood, and may be emphasized. Vital Contact of PupiVs and Teachers Minds. — In order that instruction may be most effective the act of teaching must be done under the most favorable circumstances. For it is in the act of teaching that the life of the teacher comes into closest touch with the life of the pupil. That these conditions may be most favorable the class should recite in a separate room from that in which the school is seated. Since this is not possible in so many schools, the next best thing is to have the pupils to occupy a position in the room as nearly isolated from the other students as can be. Separate recitation rooms are the best, for there the most favorable conditions exist for bringing the mind of the learner in touch with the mind of the teacher in the teaching act. Testing on Preparation of Lesson. — Good teaching requires that some definite thing be demanded daily of the learner. And the requirement of tests on preparation and knowledge of what is demanded is imperative. The responsibility of getting up before 186 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. the class and making recitations is a constant spur to the student in his work. Remissness in study always results from assigning lessons upon which students never recite. There is no surer way to in- duce bad habits of study than to assign lessons and then not test the students as to their preparation and knowledge of these lessons. And this is true of all students. The responsibility of preparation is brought home to the student in no other way so well as in the class room at recitation. Every one knows how prone he is to neglect work he has planned be- cause of lack of a definite responsibility. The testing to be most helpful must be accurate, critical and just. Students are often deceived into thinking they have prepared their lessons when they have not, because the testing is not well done in the recitation. If a student neglects to prepare his lesson, he should be brought face to face with his ignorance caused there- by. Sii{>j)/eiiienting the Kiioioledge of the Lesson. — It is not t(j be expected that the student will at aU times completely master the subject-matter of the lesson. Points more or less vague will be cleared up by the recitations of other students or by illustrations of the teacher. Points the student has not been able to work out will often become clear to him upon asking him questions which lead to their solution. And again there are points which the student can get from no other source than from the teacher. These STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 187 the teacher should give directly to the student, and save time and guessing on the part of the student. One purpose of the recitation certainly is to sup- plement the knowledge the student gets from his preparation. Giving an Insif/hf [nto the Eight Metliods of Study. — It often happens that students are willing to pre- pare their lessons, but they do not know how to study. The teacher has opportunity in two ways to show the students how to study. First, by his re- quirements in the daily recitation work. If the student is constantly held accurately to the careful preparation of each point assigned, he will soon come to understand what it means to prepare a lesson: and from what is w^orked out on the separate points, he will see what is expected to be done with each point. Secondly, the teacher may actually and directly dis- cuss how to proceed in the preparation of the lessons. This the teacher must do from time to time. Approving, Encouraging, Inspiring and Stiinulat- ing. — Young people and old are of ten-times bettered by a word of approval. The teacher's opjjortunity for approving of that worthy of approval, and dis- approving of that not worthy of approbation is a means in his hands of working much good. Teachers are too ready to disapprove of the bad and let the meri- torious pass by as if unnoticed. Every child is capable of something worthy, and should be made to feel so. There is certainly a place in the recitation 186 STtJDiES IN PEDAGOGY. for approval, encouragement, and inspiration. The teacher who can so teach that his pupils will be in- spired to study his subjects after leaving school, in the pursuit for truth and righteousness is a success- ful teacher. The Law of the Recifation. — The law of the recita- tion is the same as the law of the school; that is, the law of unity. Without any unity between teacher and pupils the recitation could not be, but it often actually exists with various degrees of unity. When the minds of all the students are following the mind of the teacher as the recitation progresses there is ideal unity. To approach this condition of things is always to be sought; and, other things equal, the recitation will be successful in the degree to which this is attained. Either teacher or pupils may break the law of unity in recitation. Wliispering, while not wrong in itself, is a positive sin when engaged in during the recitation. And if sin is the transgression of law, he who whispers during the recitation is a sinner, for he has broken the law. It is to be deplored that there is any teacher in the land who can not see his way clear to setting the stamp of disapproval on whispering in school. It is absolutely indefensible. But there are many ways of breaking unity in the recitation. The teacher may break the unity by conducting the reci- tation in such a way that there can not by any possi- bility be unity. The following quotation will illus- trate: "Here is a picture taken from life: School- STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 189 room of two grades (seventh and eighth), of about twenty pupils each. Good teacher, as the world goes; lesson in denominate numbers by the seventh grade. Teacher directs one boy to pass to the board and solve the first problem; another the second; and so on till the ten problems are used. Then, commenc- ing again with the first problem, re-assigns the ten problems severally to the next ten pupils. A few pupils remain without w^ork, and these are given selected problems to work at the desks, the board all being occupied. The teacher now steps back to talk to the visitor while waiting developments. Things always develop rapidly under such circumstances; and soon the teacher is needed by a girl working at her desk, where teacher and pupil discuss the prob- lem. Note here that it is all right for teacher and pupil to talk during the recitation, because the teacher makes the rules: two pupils must not talk; except to help each other, as they say. And this they soon do, for the bright girl points the way to the dull boy. The lirst boy has done his sum; and, rather than waste time, punches the lire, which is already too hot. Another bright lad cultivates the fantasy and freehand drawing; while some laggards toil on, with and without help, hopeless, and despairing of victory before time is called. The first boy explains to those who have done their work, while others toil pn. Fill out the picture at your leisure. In all it 190 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. was a splendid display of self-activity, free thought, and free speech. What would the teacher have gained if he had re- quired all the problems to be put in neat form of pro- cess on slates or note-books; so that at the recitation he might have done something like this : called on the class as a whole for the first step in the problem, permitting one to speak for the class; then have said, ' Take the step, ' calling on one to speak for the class again; and thus moving rapidly till all problems were solvedy" The law of unity in the recitati(m demands short recitation periods. When the minds of the students become fatigued to any great extent, it is impossible to maintain the unity. Forty minutes is probably long enough for any recitation period and in the case of young pupils it should be much less, its length depending upon the development of the student. The Teacher's Preparation for lli.e RecMaUon. — No teacher can do his best work without making daily preparation for his recitation. This preparati(m by the teacher is called lesson planniuxi. And by less(m planning is meant the process on the part of the teacher of working through each lesson a short time previous to teaching it, to the end of teaching it well. In short, it is the teacher's immediate preparation for teaching each lesson. Daily lesson planning is an absolute necessity to the teacher who will do the best teaching of which he is capable. No teacher STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 191 should ever go before his class to teach a lesson without having studied it through for this particular recitation. This may seem too much of a require- ment to some teachers, since it will of necessity demand many sacrifices by them. To those who object on this ground, it may be said that the lives of the children demand just this sacrifice and more, and that those who are unwilling to give it should re- linquish their claims as teachers to those who are willing. Also, according to the law of the survival of the fittest these very teachers in the struggle for ex- cellency will be pushed to the rear that their places may be occupied by those more worthy. The teacher having planned his lesson, comes to the recitation full of expectation and interest to see if all things will work out as thought out when planning. And according to the law of sympathy a good way to interest children in working is for the teacher to manifest intense interest. This is but one of the many benefits that come to the teacher from lesson planning. But the teacher's intentions may be excellent, and yet he may not succeed well because he has no systematic way of planning his lessons. In other words the teacher may see the necessity of lesson planning, but may not know how to plan a lesson. It will be remembered that under the head of " The Teacher's Method,'" our study showed that in the teach- ing act the teacher must think through (1) the sub- 192 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. ject-matter: (2) the purpose; (3) the basis; (4) the steps; and (5) the devices. Lesson planning syste- matically done means thinking: out as accurately as possible just these five things before attempting to teach a lesson. Some teachers say they can depend upon the in- spiration of the moment in teaching. But the worst failures as teachers are those who attempt to depend upon the inspiration of the moment and find that the moment comes and goes without the inspiration. In- spiration is not a thing so easily got as to come along to help out the teacher who has not prepared himself for his recitation. Manner of Conducting the Becitdtion. — The manner of conducting the recitation is a very important point in teaching, for upon it depends to a large extent the teacher's success or failure. The teacher who has a mild pleasant way of leading his students in recita- tion inspires them with confidence, respect and love, while the loud, boisterous, spasmodic teacher fails in securing those very necessary attitudes of his pupils' minds. Recitations should be both oral and written. The oral should doubtless predominate, but written recitati(ms are also very necessary. This is true because the pupils will be called upon in life both in and out of school to communicate their thought and feeling in both oral and written discourse. To know is good, but not sufiicient. It was said a long tinu' STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 193 ago that he who does not know is an ignoramus, but he who knows, and can not communicate what he knows and feels is a dumb statue. Certainly recita- tions should be conducted both orally and in writing, the oral recitation predominating. All of the following ways of manipulating ques- tions and answers have been used in recitation work: (1) concert work; (2) consecutive; (3) promiscuous; (4) catechetic; (5) Socratic; (6) lecture. These have been called methods of conducting the recitation. This is using method according to the popular view. It is worth while to study briefly each one of these methods of conducting the recitation. Concert Work. — Concert work has reference to the students' answering questions, reading, etc., simul- taneously. There is much to say against it, but very little to be said for it. It is objectional because it (1) violates the law of self -activity; (2) stifles individual effort and individual responsibility; (3) does not bring out clear, definite answers or thinking; and (4) leads to habits of confusion, disorder, and chaos in class work. There may be instances in which it can be used to advantage, but, as a rule, answering ques- tions, reading, etc., simultaneously by the students is to be avoided. Consecutive Work: — The consecutive method of asking and answering in the recitation means begin- ning at some starting point, the head of the class, or fit the name beginning with A, and proceeding in l^-i STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. some regular order back to the point of starting. In proceeding in recitation this way the students know pretty well when the "turn" of each one comes. This method like the preceding one has much to be said against it, but not much to be said in its favor. It is objectionable because it leads to (1 ) habits of in- attention; (2) disorder and disorganization of the class: (8) habits of idleness; and (4) bad methods of study. However good a student may be, if, when he has answered a question, he knows to a certainty that he will not be called upon again for some time, the tendency is for him to relax his attention. If the student is not a good one, the tendency in this kind of work is for him to become worse; and since he is not caUed upon to attend closely he is prone to do something else, thereby causing disorder and dis- organization. Idleness in the class is a direct result of inattention, and bad habits of study result from the student's being able to prepare just those points in the lesson which he has reckoned will come to him. Promi.scvoys Work. — The promiscuous method of asking questions and receiving answers refers to dis- tributing the questions and receiving answers from students promiscuously. No student knows to whom the answering of the question will fall. This method unlike the two preceding has much to be said for it and little t)r nothing to be said against it. It is de- sirable because (1) it fosters habits of attention and concentration; (2) it is llexible and giv(>s the teacher STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 195 the best opportunities of meeting the needs of indi- vidual students; (3) it fosters habits of order and organization in the class work; and (4) it tends to in- industrious habits, and right methods of study. By the use of the promiscuous method all students are held constantly to attending to the question under consideration, to the careful preparation of the lesson as a whole, and to order and unity in the class. As a rule the promiscuous method is certainly the best for class work. Catechetic Method. — This is, in its original form, not much used any more, and so needs very little said about it. According to this method the question was written in the text-book and just following it, the answer. The student's business was to read the question, and then commit to memory the answer. In the recitation the teacher with text-book in hand read the question and the student gave in the words of the text, the answer. Such a manner of conduct- ing a recitation has nothing to recommend it and so needs no further study. Lecture Method. — The lecture method refers to teaching by means of talks or lectures. This method perhaps has its advantages and disadvantages. It is certainly not adapted to all kinds of school work, and probably not adapted to any kind of school work, if used exclusively. There are, however, some phases of school work which may be profitably taught by talks, or lectures followed by questions on them. To 196 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. elementary school work the lecture method is not at all adapted, and but very poorly adapted to secondary school work. In the first eight years of the child's school life he must be taught differently than by this method. That stays with the child which he has an opportunity to see, hear, and think about. This, however, is not to be construed to mean that oral teaching should not be done in primary history, pri- mary geography, nature work, etc. If the lecture method has any legitimate place in school work, it is in coUege and university work. However it may seem theoretically, it remains as a fact that those things which are digged out by the student, recited upon in the class, and discussed by questions and answers are the things which in the end stay with him and do him good. Certainly the lecture method in the average teacher's school work is, to say the least, to be used sparingly, and with much caution, if used at all. The Socratic Method. — This method takes its name from Socrates, a Greek philosopher and teacher, born 469 B. C. It is sometimes called the developing method. It proceeds by the emi3loyment of subtle questions to lead the student to think what it is de- sired for him to think, without telling him anything. "The Socratic method, more or less perfectly under- stood, has had great influence upon professional peda- gogy. In many schools for the p]-(^fessional training of teachers and 'in many 'schools in charge of teach- STUblfeS IN PEDAGOGY. 197 ers professionally trained, systematic questioning of this sort is looked upon as ideal teaching; and there is no lack of conscientious endeavor to prepare for use in recitation, series of questions which shall lead the child's mind to take the logical steps which given occasion requires. One who doubts the value of such systematic questioning may usually be converted by hearing a single typical recitation conducted by a master of the art. The power of such a recitation to touch, move, chasten, and direct the soul is so evi- dent, that if Socrates and Plato had taught us noth- ing but how to do such work their fame as teachers would be justified. " It is noteworthy that the So- cratic method is diametrically opposed to the lecture method. Assignments. — While assignments are properly to be regarded as devices in teaching, and while devices have already been studied, they are so important in teaching that we are justified in studying them as a separate topic. There is no other device in the hands of the teacher that can be used so effectively as as- signments. Clear, definite, logical assignments bring clear, definite, logical thinking. On the other hand bad assignments bring bad recitations and lead to bad habits of thinking. As a rule a teacher will get just about as good recitations as are good his assign- ments. The teacher by skillful assignments can lead his pupils to think almost anything he wants them to think. Most of us can remember when the teacher li)H STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. said as the assignment, "Take the next lesson." And it is no trouble also to remember that we did not know liow to take it, when to take it, or where to take it, and that we were no better after taking than be- fore taking. The most powerful means in the hands of the teacher for making his work a success are the assignments. (bmmon ErrovH in Conduct itu/ the Becitatlon. — The following are some of the most prevalent errors which teachers are i^rone to fall into and which teachers should studiously avoid: 1. Giving assignments not sufticiently definite. -. Permitting students to wan- der from the question. 3. Repeating questions be- fore giving students time to answer. 4. Repeating the answer. .">. Galling on the student before asking the question, ti. Td/king too nivch. 7. Not holding the attention of the whole class. 8. Galling too much upim the bright students for recitation.