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diff --git a/old/52292-0.txt b/old/52292-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index effea8b..0000000 --- a/old/52292-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5227 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Report of the Committee of Fifteen, by -W. T. Harris and A. S. Draper and H. S. Tarbell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Report of the Committee of Fifteen - Read at the Cleveland Meeting of the Department of - Superintendence, February 19-21, 1884 With the Debate - -Author: W. T. Harris - A. S. Draper - H. S. Tarbell - -Release Date: June 10, 2016 [EBook #52292] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF FIFTEEN *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor, Wayne Hammond and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE - OF FIFTEEN BY - W. T. HARRIS, LL. D., A. S. - DRAPER, LL. D., AND H. S. - TARBELL READ AT THE - CLEVELAND MEETING OF - THE DEPARTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENCE, - FEBRUARY - 19-21, 1895, WITH - THE DEBATE - - [Illustration] - - - PUBLISHED BY THE NEW ENGLAND PUBLISHING - COMPANY BOSTON - MDCCCXCV - - - - -CORRELATION OF STUDIES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. - -BY W. T. HARRIS, LL. D. - - -The undersigned Committee agrees upon the following report, each member -reserving for himself the expression of his individual divergence from -the opinion of the majority, by a statement appended to his signature, -enumerating the points to which exception is taken and the grounds for -them. - - -I. CORRELATION OF STUDIES. - -Your Committee understands by correlation of studies:-- - - -_1. Logical order of topics and branches._ - -First, the arrangement of topics in proper sequence in the course of -study, in such a manner that each branch develops in an order suited -to the natural and easy progress of the child, and so that each step -is taken at the proper time to help his advance to the next step in -the same branch, or to the next steps in other related branches of the -course of study. - - -_2. Symmetrical whole of studies in the world of human learning._ - -Second, the adjustment of the branches of study in such a manner that -the whole course at any given time represents all the great divisions -of human learning, as far as is possible at the stage of maturity at -which the pupil has arrived, and that each allied group of studies -is represented by some one of its branches best adapted for the epoch -in question; it being implied that there is an equivalence of studies -to a greater or less degree within each group, and that each branch -of human learning should be represented by some equivalent study; so -that, while no great division is left unrepresented, no group shall -have superfluous representatives, and thereby debar other groups from a -proper representation. - - -_3. Psychological symmetry--the whole mind._ - -Third, the selection and arrangement of the branches and topics within -each branch, considered psychologically, with a view to afford the best -exercise of the faculties of the mind, and to secure the unfolding of -those faculties in their natural order, so that no one faculty is so -overcultivated or so neglected as to produce abnormal or one-sided -mental development. - - -_4. Correlation of pupil’s course of study with the world in which he -lives--his spiritual and natural environment._ - -Fourth and chiefly, your Committee understands by correlation of -studies the selection and arrangement in orderly sequence of such -objects of study as shall give the child an insight into the world -that he lives in, and a command over its resources such as is obtained -by a helpful co-operation with one’s fellows. In a word, the chief -consideration to which all others are to be subordinated, in the -opinion of your Committee, is this requirement of the civilization -into which the child is born, as determining not only what he shall -study in school, but what habits and customs he shall be taught in -the family before the school age arrives; as well as that he shall -acquire a skilled acquaintance with some one of a definite series of -trades, professions, or vocations in the years that follow school; -and, furthermore, that this question of the relation of the pupil to -his civilization determines what political duties he shall assume and -what religious faith and spiritual aspirations shall be adopted for the -conduct of his life. - -To make more clear their reasons for the preference here expressed -for the objective and practical basis of selection of topics for the -course of study rather than the subjective basis so long favored by -educational writers, your Committee would describe the psychological -basis, already mentioned, as being merely formal in its character, -relating only to the exercise of the so-called mental faculties. - -It would furnish a training of spiritual powers analogous to the -gymnastic training of the muscles of the body. Gymnastics may develop -strength and agility without leading to any skill in trades or useful -employment. So an abstract psychological training may develop the will, -the intellect, the imagination, or the memory, but without leading to -an exercise of acquired power in the interests of civilization. The -game of chess would furnish a good course of study for the discipline -of the powers of attention and calculation of abstract combinations, -but it would give its possessor little or no knowledge of man or -nature. The psychological ideal which has prevailed to a large extent -in education has, in the old phrenology, and in the recent studies -in physiological psychology, sometimes given place to a biological -ideal. Instead of the view of mind as made up of faculties like will, -intellect, imagination, and emotion, conceived to be all necessary to -the soul, if developed in harmony with one another, the concept of -nerves or brain-tracts is used as the ultimate regulative principle -to determine the selection and arrangement of studies. Each part -of the brain is supposed to have its claim on the attention of the -educator, and that study is thought to be the most valuable which -employs normally the larger number of brain-tracts. This view reaches -an extreme in the direction of formal, as opposed to objective or -practical grounds for selecting a course of study. While the old -psychology with its mental faculties concentrated its attention on -the mental processes and neglected the world of existing objects and -relations upon which those processes were directed, physiological -psychology tends to confine its attention to the physical part of the -process, the organic changes in the brain cells and their functions. - -Your Committee is of the opinion that psychology of both kinds, -physiological and introspective, can hold only a subordinate place in -the settlement of questions relating to the correlation of studies. The -branches to be studied, and the extent to which they are studied, will -be determined mainly by the demands of one’s civilization. These will -prescribe what is most useful to make the individual acquainted with -physical nature and with human nature so as to fit him as an individual -to perform his duties in the several institutions--family, civil -society, the state, and the Church. But next after this, psychology -will furnish important considerations that will largely determine the -methods of instruction, the order of taking up the several topics so as -to adapt the school work to the growth of the pupil’s capacity, and the -amount of work so as not to overtax his powers by too much, or arrest -the development of strength by too little. A vast number of subordinate -details belonging to the pathology of education, such as the hygienic -features of school architecture and furniture, programmes, the length -of study hours and of class exercises, recreation, and bodily -reactions against mental effort, will be finally settled by scientific -experiment in the department of physiological psychology. - -Inasmuch as your Committee is limited to the consideration of the -correlation of studies in the elementary school, it has considered -the question of the course of study in general only in so far as this -has been found necessary in discussing the grounds for the selection -of studies for the period of school education occupying the eight -years from six to fourteen years, or the school period between the -kindergarten on the one hand and the secondary school on the other. It -has not been possible to avoid some inquiry into the true distinction -between secondary and elementary studies, since one of the most -important questions forced upon the attention of your Committee is -that of the abridgment of the elementary course of study from eight or -more years to seven or even six years, and the corresponding increase -of the time devoted to studies usually assigned to the high school and -supposed to belong to the secondary course of study for some intrinsic -reason. - - -II. THE COURSE OF STUDY--EDUCATIONAL VALUES. - -Your Committee would report that it has discussed in detail the several -branches of study that have found a place in the curriculum of the -elementary school, with a view to discover their educational value for -developing and training the faculties of the mind, and more especially -for correlating the pupil with his spiritual and natural environment in -the world in which he lives. - - -_A. Language studies._ - -There is first to be noted the prominent place of language study -that takes the form of reading, penmanship, and grammar in the first -eight years’ work of the school. It is claimed for the partiality -shown to these studies that it is justified by the fact that language -is the instrument that makes possible human social organization. It -enables each person to communicate his individual experience to his -fellows and thus permits each to profit by the experience of all. The -written and printed forms of speech preserve human knowledge and make -progress in civilization possible. The conclusion is reached that -learning to read and write should be the leading study of the pupil in -his first four years of school. Reading and writing are not so much -ends in themselves as means for the acquirement of all other human -learning. This consideration alone would be sufficient to justify their -actual place in the work of the elementary school. But these branches -require of the learner a difficult process of analysis. The pupil must -identify the separate words in the sentence he uses, and in the next -place must recognize the separate sounds in each word. It requires a -considerable effort for the child or the savage to analyze his sentence -into its constituent words, and a still greater effort to discriminate -its elementary sounds. Reading, writing, and spelling in their most -elementary form, therefore, constitute a severe training in mental -analysis for the child of six to ten years of age. We are told that it -is far more disciplinary to the mind than any species of observation of -differences among material things, because of the fact that the word -has a twofold character--addressed to external sense as spoken sound to -the ear, or as written and printed words to the eye--but containing a -meaning or sense addressed to the understanding and only to be seized -by introspection. The pupil must call up the corresponding idea by -thought, memory, and imagination, or else the word will cease to be a -word and remain only a sound or character. - -On the other hand, observation of things and movements does not -necessarily involve this twofold act of analysis, introspective -and objective, but only the latter--the objective analysis. It is -granted that we all have frequent occasion to condemn poor methods of -instruction as teaching words rather than things. But we admit that we -mean empty sounds or characters rather than true words. Our suggestions -for the correct method of teaching amount in this case simply to laying -stress on the meaning of the word, and to setting the teaching process -on the road of analysis of content rather than form. In the case of -words used to store up external observation the teacher is told to -repeat and make alive again the act of observation by which the word -obtained its original meaning. In the case of a word expressing a -relation between facts or events, the pupil is to be taken step by -step through the process of reflection by which the idea was built up. -Since the word, spoken and written, is the sole instrument by which -reason can fix, preserve, and communicate both the data of sense and -the relations discovered between them by reflection, no new method -in education has been able to supplant in the school the branches, -reading and penmanship. But the real improvements in method have led -teachers to lay greater and greater stress on the internal factor of -the word, on its meaning, and have in manifold ways shown how to repeat -the original experiences that gave the meaning to concrete words, and -the original comparisons and logical deductions by which the ideas of -relations and causal processes arose in the mind and required abstract -words to preserve and communicate them. - -It has been claimed that it would be better to have first a basis of -knowledge of things, and secondarily and subsequently a knowledge of -words. But it has been replied to this, that the progress of the -child in learning to talk indicates his ascent out of mere impressions -into the possession of true knowledge. For he names objects only after -he has made some synthesis of his impressions and has formed general -ideas. He recognizes the same object under different circumstances of -time and place, and also recognizes other objects belonging to the same -class by and with names. Hence the use of the word indicates a higher -degree of self-activity--the stage of mere impressions without words -or signs being a comparatively passive state of mind. What we mean by -things first and words afterward, is, therefore, not the apprehension -of objects by passive impressions so much as the active investigation -and experimenting which come after words are used, and the higher forms -of analysis are called into being by that invention of reason known as -language, which, as before said, is a synthesis of thing and thought, -of outward sign and inward signification. - -Rational investigation cannot precede the invention of language any -more than blacksmithing can precede the invention of hammers, anvils, -and pincers. For language is the necessary tool of thought used in the -conduct of the analysis and synthesis of investigation. - -Your Committee would sum up these considerations by saying that -language rightfully forms the centre of instruction in the elementary -school, but that progress in methods of teaching is to be made, as -hitherto, chiefly by laying more stress on the internal side of the -word, its meaning; using better graded steps to build up the chain of -experience or the train of thought that the word expresses. - -The first three years’ work of the child is occupied mainly with the -mastery of the printed and written forms of the words of his colloquial -vocabulary; words that he is already familiar enough with as sounds -addressed to the ear. He has to become familiar with the new forms -addressed to the eye, and it would be an unwise method to require -him to learn many new words at the same time that he is learning to -recognize his old words in their new shape. But as soon as he has -acquired some facility in reading what is printed in the colloquial -style, he may go on to selections from standard authors. The literary -selections should be graded, and are graded in almost all series of -readers used in our elementary schools, in such a way as to bring those -containing the fewest words outside of the colloquial vocabulary into -the lower books of the series, and increasing the difficulties, step by -step, as the pupil grows in maturity. The selections are literary works -of art possessing the required organic unity and a proper reflection -of this unity in the details, as good works of art must do. But they -portray situations of the soul, or scenes of life, or elaborated -reflections, of which the child can obtain some grasp through his -capacity to feel and think, although in scope and compass they far -surpass his range. They are adapted, therefore, to lead him out of and -beyond himself, as spiritual guides. - -Literary style employs, besides words common to the colloquial -vocabulary, words used in a semi-technical sense expressive of fine -shades of thought and emotion. The literary work of art furnishes a -happy expression for some situation of the soul, or some train of -reflection hitherto unutterable in an adequate manner. If the pupil -learns this literary production, he finds himself powerfully helped -to understand both himself and his fellow-men. The most practical -knowledge of all, it will be admitted, is a knowledge of human -nature--a knowledge that enables one to combine with his fellow-men, -and to share with them the physical and spiritual wealth of the race. -Of this high character as humanizing or civilizing, are the favorite -works of literature found in the school readers, about one hundred and -fifty English and American writers being drawn upon for the material. -Such are Shakespeare’s speeches of Brutus and Mark Antony, Hamlet’s -and Macbeth’s soliloquies, Milton’s L’Allegro and Il Penseroso, Gray’s -Elegy, Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade and Ode on the Death of -the Duke of Wellington, Byron’s Waterloo, Irving’s Rip Van Winkle, -Webster’s Reply to Hayne, The Trial of Knapp, and Bunker Hill oration, -Scott’s Lochinvar, Marmion, and Roderick Dhu, Bryant’s Thanatopsis, -Longfellow’s Psalm of Life, Paul Revere, and the Bridge, O’Hara’s -Bivouac of the Dead, Campbell’s Hohenlinden, Collins’ How Sleep the -Brave, Wolfe’s Burial of Sir John Moore, and other fine prose and -poetry from Addison, Emerson, Franklin, The Bible, Hawthorne, Walter -Scott, Goldsmith, Wordsworth, Swift, Milton, Cooper, Whittier, Lowell, -and the rest. The reading and study of fine selections in prose and -verse furnish the chief æsthetic training of the elementary school. -But this should be re-enforced by some study of photographic or other -reproductions of the world’s great masterpieces of architecture, -sculpture, and painting. The frequent sight of these reproductions is -good; the attempt to copy or sketch them with the pencil is better; -best of all is an æsthetic lesson on their composition, attempting to -describe in words the idea of the whole that gives the work its organic -unity, and the devices adopted by the artist to reflect this idea in -the details and re-enforce its strength. The æsthetic taste of teacher -and pupil can be cultivated by such exercises, and once set on the road -of development, this taste may improve through life. - -A third phase of language study in the elementary school is formal -grammar. The works of literary art in the readers, re-enforced as they -ought to be by supplementary reading at home of the whole works from -which the selections for the school readers are made, will educate -the child in the use of a higher and better English style. Technical -grammar never can do this. Only familiarity with fine English works -will insure one a good and correct style. But grammar is the science of -language, and as the first of the seven liberal arts it has long held -sway in school as the disciplinary study _par excellence_. A survey -of its educational value, subjective and objective, usually produces -the conviction that it is to retain the first place in the future. Its -chief objective advantage is, that it shows the structure of language, -and the logical forms of subject, predicate, and modifier, thus -revealing the essential nature of thought itself, the most important -of all objects, because it is self-object. On the subjective or -psychological side, grammar demonstrates its title to the first place -by its use as a discipline in subtle analysis, in logical division -and classification, in the art of questioning, and in the mental -accomplishment of making exact definitions. Nor is this an empty, -formal discipline, for its subject-matter, language, is a product of -the reason of a people, not as individuals, but as a social whole, and -the vocabulary holds in its store of words the generalized experience -of that people, including sensuous observation and reflection, feeling -and emotion, instinct and volition. - -No formal labor on a great objective field is ever lost wholly, -since at the very least it has the merit of familiarizing the pupil -with the contents of some one extensive province that borders on -his life, and with which he must come into correlation; but it is -easy for any special formal discipline, when continued too long, to -paralyze or arrest growth at that stage. The overcultivation of the -verbal memory tends to arrest the growth of critical attention and -reflection. Memory of accessory details too, so much prized in the -school, is also cultivated often at the expense of an insight into the -organizing principle of the whole and the casual nexus that binds the -parts. So, too, the study of quantity, if carried to excess, may warp -the mind into a habit of neglecting quality in its observation and -reflection. As there is no subsumption in the quantitative judgment, -but only dead equality or inequality (A is equal to or greater or less -than B), there is a tendency to atrophy in the faculty of concrete -syllogistic reasoning on the part of the person devoted exclusively -to mathematics. For the normal syllogism uses judgments wherein the -subject is subsumed under the predicate (This is a rose--the individual -rose is subsumed under the class rose; Socrates is a man, etc.). Such -reasoning concerns individuals in two aspects, first as concrete wholes -and secondly as members of higher totalities or classes--species and -genera. Thus, too, grammar, rich as it is in its contents, is only a -formal discipline as respects the scientific, historic, or literary -contents of language, and is indifferent to them. A training for four -or five years in parsing and grammatical analysis practiced on literary -works of art (Milton, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Scott) is a training of -the pupil into habits of indifference toward and neglect of the genius -displayed in the literary work of art, and into habits of impertinent -and trifling attention to elements employed as material or texture, -and a corresponding neglect of the structural form, which alone is -the work of the artist. A parallel to this would be the mason’s habit -of noticing only the brick and mortar, or the stone and cement, in -his inspection of the architecture, say of Sir Christopher Wren. A -child overtrained to analyze and classify shades of color--examples of -this one finds occasionally in a primary school whose specialty is -“objective teaching”--might in later life visit an art gallery and make -an inventory of colors without getting even a glimpse of a painting as -a work of art. Such overstudy and misuse of grammar as one finds in the -elementary school, it is feared, exists to some extent in secondary -schools and even in colleges, in the work of mastering the classic -authors. - -Your Committee is unanimous in the conviction that formal grammar -should not be allowed to usurp the place of a study of the literary -work of art in accordance with literary method. The child can be -gradually trained to see the technical “motives” of a poem or prose -work of art and to enjoy the æsthetic inventions of the artist. The -analysis of a work of art should discover the idea that gives it -organic unity; the collision and the complication resulting; the -solution and _dénouement_. Of course these things must be reached -in the elementary school without even a mention of their technical -terms. The subject of the piece is brought out; its reflection in the -conditions of the time and place to heighten interest by showing its -importance; its second and stronger reflection in the several details -of its conflict and struggle; its reflection in the _dénouement_ -wherein its struggle ends in victory or defeat and the ethical or -rational interests are vindicated,--and the results move outward, -returning to the environment again in ever-widening circles,--something -resembling this is to be found in every work of art, and there are -salient features which can be briefly but profitably made subject of -comment in familiar language with even the youngest pupils. There -is an ethical and an æsthetical content to each work of art. It is -profitable to point out both of these in the interest of the child’s -growing insight into human nature. The ethical should, however, be kept -in subordination to the æsthetical, but for the sake of the supreme -interests of the ethical itself. Otherwise the study of a work of art -degenerates into a goody goody performance, and its effects on the -child are to cause a reaction against the moral. The child protects -his inner individuality against effacement through external authority -by taking an attitude of rebellion against stories with an appended -moral. Herein the superiority of the æsthetical in literary art is -to be seen. For the ethical motive is concealed by the poet, and the -hero is painted with all his brittle individualism and self-seeking. -His passions and his selfishness, gilded by fine traits of bravery and -noble manners, interest the youth, interest us all. The established -social and moral order seems to the ambitious hero to be an obstacle -to the unfolding of the charms of individuality. The deed of violence -gets done, and the Nemesis is aroused. Now his deed comes back on -the individual doer, and our sympathy turns against him and we -rejoice in his fall. Thus the æsthetical unity contains within it the -ethical unity. The lesson of the great poet or novelist is taken to -heart, whereas the ethical announcement by itself might have failed, -especially with the most self-active and aspiring of the pupils. -Aristotle pointed out in his Poetics this advantage of the æsthetic -unity, which Plato in his Republic seems to have missed. Tragedy purges -us of our passions, to use Aristotle’s expression, because we identify -our own wrong inclinations with those of the hero, and by sympathy we -suffer with him and see our intended deed returned upon us with tragic -effect, and are thereby cured. - -Your Committee has dwelt upon the æsthetic side of literature in this -explicit manner because they believe that the general tendency in -elementary schools is to neglect the literary art for the literary -formalities which concern the mechanical material rather than the -spiritual form. Those formal studies should not be discontinued, but -subordinated to the higher study of literature. - -Your Committee reserves the subject of language lessons, composition -writing, and what relates to the child’s expression of ideas in -writing, for consideration under Part 3 of this Report, treating of -programme. - - -_B. Arithmetic._ - -Side by side with language study is the study of mathematics in the -schools, claiming the second place in importance of all studies. It -has been pointed out that mathematics concerns the laws of time and -space--their structural form, so to speak--and hence that it formulates -the logical conditions of all matter both in rest and in motion. Be -this as it may, the high position of mathematics as the science of -all quantity is universally acknowledged. The elementary branch of -mathematics is arithmetic, and this is studied in the primary and -grammar schools from six to eight years, or even longer. The relation -of arithmetic to the whole field of mathematics has been stated (by -Comte, Howison, and others) to be that of the final step in a process -of calculation, in which results are stated numerically. There are -branches that develop or derive quantitative functions: say geometry -for spatial forms, and mechanics for movement and rest and the forces -producing them. Other branches transform these quantitative functions -into such forms as may be calculated in actual numbers; namely, -algebra in its common or lower form, and in its higher form as the -differential and integral calculus, and the calculus of variations. -Arithmetic evaluates or finds the numerical value for the functions -thus deduced and transformed. The educational value of arithmetic -is thus indicated both as concerns its psychological side and -its objective practical uses in correlating man with the world of -nature. In this latter respect as furnishing the key to the outer -world in so far as the objects of the latter are a matter of direct -enumeration,--capable of being counted,--it is the first great step -in the conquest of nature. It is the first tool of thought that man -invents in the work of emancipating himself from thraldom to external -forces. For by the command of number he learns to divide and conquer. -He can proportion one force to another, and concentrate against an -obstacle precisely what is needed to overcome it. Number also makes -possible all the other sciences of nature which depend on exact -measurement and exact record of phenomena as to the following items: -order of succession, date, duration, locality, environment, extent -of sphere of influence, number of manifestations, number of cases of -intermittence. All these can be defined accurately only by means of -number. The educational value of a branch of study that furnishes the -indispensable first step toward all science of nature is obvious. But -psychologically its importance further appears in this, that it begins -with an important step in analysis; namely, the detachment of the idea -of quantity from the concrete whole, which includes quality as well as -quantity. To count, one drops the qualitative and considers only the -quantitative aspect. So long as the individual differences (which are -qualitative in so far as they distinguish one object from another) are -considered, the objects cannot be counted together. When counted, the -distinctions are dropped out of sight as indifferent. As counting is -the fundamental operation of arithmetic, and all other arithmetical -operations are simply devices for speed by using remembered countings -instead of going through the detailed work again each time, the hint -is furnished the teacher for the first lessons in arithmetic. This -hint has been generally followed out and the child set at work at -first upon the counting of objects so much alike that the qualitative -difference is not suggested to him. He constructs gradually his tables -of addition, subtraction, and multiplication, and fixes them in his -memory. Then he takes his next higher step; namely, the apprehension -of the fraction. This is an expressed ratio of two numbers, and -therefore a much more complex thought than he has met with in dealing -with the simple numbers. In thinking five-sixths, he first thinks five -and then six, and holding these two in mind thinks the result of the -first modified by the second. Here are three steps instead of one, -and the result is not a simple number, but an inference resting on an -unperformed operation. This psychological analysis shows the reason -for the embarrassment of the child on his entrance upon the study of -fractions and the other operations that imply ratio. The teacher finds -all his resources in the way of method drawn upon to invent steps and -half steps, to aid the pupil to make continuous progress here. All -these devices of method consist in steps by which the pupil descends -to the simple number and returns to the complex. He turns one of the -terms into a qualitative unit, and thus is enabled to use the other -as a simple number. The pupil takes the denominator, for example, and -makes clear his conception of one-sixth as his qualitative unit, then -five-sixths is as clear to him as five oxen. But he has to repeat -this return from ratio to simple numbers in each of the elementary -operations--addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and -in the reduction of fractions--and finds the road long and tedious at -best. In the case of decimal fractions the psychological process is -more complex still; for the pupil has given him one of the terms, the -numerator, from which he must mentally deduce the denominator from -the position of the decimal point. This doubles the work of reading -and recognizing the fractional number. But it makes addition and -subtraction of fractions nearly as easy as that of simple numbers and -assists also in multiplication of fractions. But division of decimals -is a much more complex operation than that of common fractions. - -The want of a psychological analysis of these processes has led many -good teachers to attempt decimal fractions with their pupils before -taking up common fractions. In the end they have been forced to make -introductory steps to aid the pupil, and in these steps to introduce -the theory of the common fraction. They have by this refuted their own -theory. - -Besides (_a_) simple numbers and the four operations with them, (_b_) -fractions common and decimal, there is (_c_) a third step in number; -namely, the theory of powers and roots. It is a further step in ratio; -namely, the relation of a simple number to itself as power and root. -The mass of material which fills the arithmetic used in the elementary -school consists of two kinds of examples: first, those wherein there -is a direct application of simple numbers, fractions, and powers; -and secondly, the class of examples involving operations in reaching -numerical solutions through indirect data and consequently involving -more or less transformation of functions. Of this character is most -of the so-called higher arithmetic and such problems in the text-book -used in the elementary schools as have, not inappropriately, been -called (by General Francis A. Walker in his criticism on common-school -arithmetic) numerical “conundrums.” Their difficulty is not found in -the strictly arithmetical part of the process of the solution (the -third phase above described), but rather in the transformation of -the quantitative function given into the function that can readily -be calculated numerically. The transformation of functions belongs -strictly to algebra. Teachers who love arithmetic, and who have -themselves success in working out the so-called numerical conundrums, -defend with much earnestness the current practice which uses so much -time for arithmetic. They see in it a valuable training for ingenuity -and logical analysis, and believe that the industry which discovers -arithmetical ways of transforming the functions given in such problems -into plain numerical operations of adding, subtracting, multiplying, -or dividing is well bestowed. On the other hand, the critics of this -practice contend that there should be no merely formal drill in school -for its own sake, and that there should be, always, a substantial -content to be gained. They contend that the work of the pupil in -transforming quantitative functions by arithmetical methods is wasted, -because the pupil needs a more adequate expression than number for -this purpose; that this has been discovered in algebra, which enables -him to perform with ease such quantitative transformations as puzzle -the pupil in arithmetic. They hold, therefore, that arithmetic pure -and simple should be abridged and elementary algebra introduced after -the numerical operations in powers, fractions, and simple numbers -have been mastered, together with their applications to the tables of -weights and measures and to percentage and interest. In the seventh -year of the elementary course there would be taught equations of the -first degree and the solution of arithmetical problems that fall under -proportion, or the so-called “rule of three,” together with other -problems containing complicated conditions--those in partnership, for -example. In the eighth year quadratic equations could be learned, and -other problems of higher arithmetic solved in a more satisfactory -manner than by numerical methods. It is contended that this earlier -introduction of algebra, with a sparing use of letters for known -quantities, would secure far more mathematical progress than is -obtained at present on the part of all pupils, and that it would enable -many pupils to go on into secondary and higher education who are now -kept back on the plea of lack of preparation in arithmetic, the real -difficulty in many cases being a lack of ability to solve algebraic -problems by an inferior method. - -Your Committee would report that the practice of teaching two lessons -daily in arithmetic, one styled “mental,” or “intellectual,” and the -other “written” arithmetic (because its exercises are written out with -pencil or pen), is still continued in many schools. By this device the -pupil is made to give twice as much time to arithmetic as to any other -branch. It is contended by the opponents of this practice, with some -show of reason, that two lessons a day in the study of quantity have a -tendency to give the mind a bent or set in the direction of thinking -quantitatively, with a corresponding neglect of the power to observe, -and to reflect upon, qualitative and causal aspects. For mathematics -does not take account of causes, but only of equality and difference in -magnitude. It is further objected that the attempt to secure what is -called thoroughness in the branches taught in the elementary schools -is often carried too far; in fact, to such an extent as to produce -arrested development (a sort of mental paralysis) in the mechanical and -formal stages of growth. The mind, in that case, loses its appetite for -higher methods and wider generalizations. The law of apperception, we -are told, proves that temporary methods of solving problems should not -be so thoroughly mastered as to be used involuntarily, or as a matter -of unconscious habit, for the reason that a higher and more adequate -method of solution will then be found more difficult to acquire. The -more thoroughly a method is learned, the more it becomes part of the -mind, and the greater the repugnance of the mind toward a new method. -For this reason, parents and teachers discourage young children from -the practice of counting on the fingers, believing that it will cause -much trouble later to root out this vicious habit and replace it -by purely mental processes. Teachers should be careful, especially -with precocious children, not to continue too long in the use of a -process that is becoming mechanical; for it is already growing into -a second nature, and becoming a part of the unconscious apperceptive -process by which the mind reacts against the environment, recognizes -its presence, and explains it to itself. The child that has been -overtrained in arithmetic reacts apperceptively against his environment -chiefly by noticing its numerical relations--he counts and adds; his -other apperceptive reactions being feeble, he neglects qualities and -causal relations. Another child who has been drilled in recognizing -colors apperceives the shades of color to the neglect of all else. A -third child, excessively trained in form studies by the constant use -of geometric solids, and much practice in looking for the fundamental -geometric forms lying at the basis of the multifarious objects that -exist in the world, will, as a matter of course, apperceive geometric -forms, ignoring the other phases of objects. - -It is, certainly, an advance on immediate sense-perception to be able -to separate or analyze the concrete, whole impression, and consider the -quantity apart by itself. But if arrested mental growth takes place -here, the result is deplorable. That such arrest may be caused by too -exclusive training in recognizing numerical relations is beyond a -doubt. - -Your Committee believes that, with the right methods, and a wise use -of time in preparing the arithmetic lesson in and out of school, five -years are sufficient for the study of mere arithmetic--the five years -beginning with the second school year and ending with the close of -the sixth year; and that the seventh and eighth years should be given -to the algebraic method of dealing with those problems that involve -difficulties in the transformation of quantitative indirect functions -into numerical or direct quantitative data. - -Your Committee, however, does not wish to be understood as recommending -the transfer of algebra, as it is understood and taught in most -secondary schools, to the seventh year, or even to the eighth year of -the elementary school. The algebra course in the secondary school, as -taught to the pupils in their fifteenth year of age, very properly -begins with severe exercises, with a view to discipline the pupil -in analyzing complex literate expressions at sight, and to make him -able to recognize at once the factors that are contained in such -combinations of quantities. The proposed seventh-grade algebra must -use letters for the unknown quantities and retain the numerical form -of the known quantities, using letters for these very rarely, except -to exhibit the general form of solution, or what, if stated in words, -becomes a so-called “rule” in arithmetic. This species of algebra -has the character of an introduction or transitional step to algebra -proper. The latter should be taught thoroughly in the secondary school. -Formerly it was a common practice to teach elementary algebra of -this sort in the preparatory schools, and reserve for the college a -study of algebra proper. But in this case there was often a neglect -of sufficient practice in factoring literate quantities, and, as a -consequence, the pupil suffered embarrassment in his more advanced -mathematics; for example, in analytical geometry, the differential -calculus, and mechanics. The proposition of your Committee is intended -to remedy the two evils already named: first, to aid the pupils in the -elementary school to solve, by a higher method, the more difficult -problems that now find place in advanced arithmetic; and secondly, -to prepare the pupil for a thorough course in pure algebra in the -secondary school. - -Your Committee is of the opinion that the so-called mental arithmetic -should be made to alternate with written arithmetic for two years, and -that there should not be two daily lessons in this subject. - - -_C. Geography._ - -The leading branch of the seven liberal arts was grammar, being the -first of the _Trivium_ (grammar, rhetoric, and logic). Arithmetic, -however, led the second division, the _Quadrivium_ (arithmetic, -geometry, music, and astronomy). We have glanced at the reasons for -the place of grammar as leading the humane studies, as well as for -the place of arithmetic as leading the nature studies. Following -arithmetic, as the second study in importance among the branches that -correlate man to nature, is geography. It is interesting to note -that the old quadrivium of the Middle Ages included geography, under -the title of geometry, as the branch following arithmetic in the -enumeration; the subject-matter of their so-called “geometry” being -chiefly an abridgment of Pliny’s geography, to which were added a few -definitions of geometric forms, something like the primary course in -geometric solids in our elementary schools. So long as there has been -elementary education there has been something of geography included. -The Greek education laid stress on teaching the second book of Homer, -containing the Catalogue of the Ships and a brief mention of the -geography and history of all the Greek tribes that took part in the -Trojan War. History remains unseparated from geography and geometry -in the Middle Ages. Geography has preserved this comprehensiveness of -meaning as a branch of the study in the elementary schools down to the -present day. After arithmetic, which treats of the abstract or general -conditions of material existence, comes geography with a practical -study of man’s material _habitat_, and its relations to him. It is not -a simple science by itself, like botany, or geology, or astronomy, -but a collection of sciences levied upon to describe the earth as the -dwelling-place of man and to explain something of its more prominent -features. About one-fourth of the material relates strictly to the -geography, about one-half to the inhabitants, their manners, customs, -institutions, industries, productions, and the remaining one-fourth -to items drawn from the sciences of mineralogy, meteorology, botany, -zoölogy, and astronomy. This predominance of the human feature in a -study ostensibly relating to physical nature, your Committee considers -necessary and entirely justifiable. The child commences with what -is nearest to his interests, and proceeds gradually toward what is -remote and to be studied for its own sake. It is, therefore, a mistake -to suppose that the first phase of geography presented to the child -should be the process of continent formation. He must begin with the -natural difference of climate, and lands, and waters, and obstacles -that separate peoples, and study the methods by which man strives to -equalize or overcome these differences by industry and commerce, to -unite all places and all people, and make it possible for each to -share in the productions of all. The industrial and commercial idea -is, therefore, the first central idea in the study of geography in -the elementary schools. It leads directly to the natural elements of -difference in climate, soil, and productions, and also to those in -race, religion, political status, and occupations of the inhabitants, -with a view to explain the grounds and reasons for this counter-process -of civilization which struggles to overcome the differences. Next -comes the deeper inquiry into the process of continent formation, -the physical struggle between the process of upheaving or upbuilding -of continents and that of their obliteration by air and water; the -explanation of the mountains, valleys, and plains, the islands, -volcanic action, the winds, the rain-distribution. But the study -of cities, their location, the purposes they serve as collecting, -manufacturing, and distributing centres, leads most directly to the -immediate purpose of geography in the elementary school. From this -beginning, and holding to it as a permanent interest, the inquiry into -causes and conditions proceeds concentrically to the sources of the raw -materials, the methods of their production, and the climatic, geologic, -and other reasons that explain their location and their growth. - -In recent years, especially through the scientific study of physical -geography, the processes that go to the formation of climate, soil, and -general configuration of land masses have been accurately determined, -and the methods of teaching so simplified that it is possible to lead -out from the central idea mentioned to the physical explanations of the -elements of geographical difference quite early in the course of study. -Setting out from the idea of the use made of the earth by civilization, -the pupil in the fifth and sixth years of his schooling (at the age of -eleven or twelve) may extend his inquiries quite profitably as far as -the physical explanations of land-shapes and climates. In the seventh -and eighth year of school much more may be done in this direction. -But it is believed that the distinctively human interest connected -with geography in the first years of its study should not yield to the -purely scientific one of physical processes until the pupil has taken -up the study of history. - -The educational value of geography, as it is and has been in elementary -schools, is obviously very great. It makes possible something like -accuracy in the picturing of distant places and events, and removes -a large tract of mere superstition from the mind. In the days of -newspaper reading one’s stock of geographical information is in -constant requisition. A war on the opposite side of the globe is -followed with more interest in this year than a war near our own -borders before the era of the telegraph. The general knowledge of the -locations and boundaries of nations, of their status in civilization, -and their natural advantages for contributing to the world market, is -of great use to the citizen in forming correct ideas from his daily -reading. - -The educational value of geography is even more apparent if we admit -the claims of those who argue that the present epoch is the beginning -of an era in which public opinion is organized into a ruling force by -the agency of periodicals and books. Certainly neither the newspaper -nor the book can influence an illiterate people; they can do little to -form opinions where the readers have no knowledge of geography. - -As to the psychological value of geography little need be said. It -exercises in manifold ways the memory of forms and the imagination; it -brings into exercise the thinking power, in tracing back toward unity -the various series of causes. What educative value there is in geology, -meteorology, zoölogy, ethnology, economics, history, and politics -is to be found in the more profound study of geography, and, to a -proportionate extent, in the study of its merest elements. - -Your Committee is of the opinion that there has been a vast -improvement in the methods of instruction in this branch in recent -years, due, in large measure, to the geographical societies of this -and other countries. At first there prevailed what might be named -sailor geography. The pupil was compelled to memorize all the capes -and headlands, bays and harbors, mouths of rivers, islands, sounds, -and straits around the world. He enlivened this, to some extent, by -brief mention of the curiosities and oddities in the way of cataracts, -water-gaps, caves, strange animals, public buildings, picturesque -costumes, national exaggerations, and such matters as would furnish -good themes for sailors’ yarns. Little or nothing was taught to give -unity to the isolated details furnished in endless number. It was -an improvement on this when the method of memorizing capital cities -and political boundaries succeeded. With this came the era of map -drawing. The study of watersheds and commercial routes, of industrial -productions and centres of manufacture and commerce, has been adopted -in the better class of schools. Instruction in geography is growing -better by the constant introduction of new devices to make plain and -intelligible the determining influence of physical causes in producing -the elements of difference and the counter-process of industry and -commerce by which each difference is rendered of use to the whole -world, and each locality made a participator in the productions of all. - - -_D. History._ - -The next study, ranked in order of value, for the elementary school is -history. But, as will be seen, the value of history, both practically -and psychologically, is less in the beginning and greater at the -end than geography. For it relates to the institutions of men, and -especially to the political state and its evolution. While biography -narrates the career of the individual, civil history records the -careers of nations. The nation has been compared to the individual -by persons interested in the educational value of history. Man has -two selves, they say, the individual self, and the collective self -of the organized state or nation. The study of history is, then, the -study of this larger, corporate, social and civil self. The importance -of this idea is thus brought out more clearly in its educational -significance. For to learn this civil self is to learn the substantial -condition which makes possible the existence of civilized man in all -his other social combinations--the family, the Church, and the manifold -associated activities of civil society. For the state protects these -combinations from destruction by violence. It defines the limits -of individual and associated effort, within which each endeavor -re-enforces the endeavors of all, and it uses the strength of the whole -nation to prevent such actions as pass beyond these safe limits and -tend to collision with the normal action of the other individuals and -social units. Hobbes called the state a Leviathan, to emphasize its -stupendous individuality and organized self-activity. Without this, -he said, man lives in a state of “constant war, fear, poverty, filth, -ignorance, and wretchedness; within the state dwell peace, security, -riches, science, and happiness.” The state is the collective man who -“makes possible the rational development of the individual man, like a -mortal God, subduing his caprice and passion and compelling obedience -to law, developing the ideas of justice, virtue, and religion, creating -property and ownership, nurture and education.” The education of the -child into a knowledge of this higher self begins early within the -nurture of the family. The child sees a policeman or some town officer, -some public building, a court house or a jail; he sees or hears of an -act of violence, a case of robbery or murder followed by arrest of the -guilty. The omnipresent higher self, which has been invisible hitherto, -now becomes visible to him in its symbols and still more in its acts. - -History in school, it is contended, should be the special branch for -education in the duties of citizenship. There is ground for this claim. -History gives a sense of belonging to a higher social unity which -possesses the right of absolute control over person and property in -the interest of the safety of the whole. This, of course, is the basis -of citizenship; the individual must feel this or see this solidarity -of the state and recognize its supreme authority. But history shows -the collisions of nations, and the victory of one political ideal -accompanied by the defeat of another. History reveals an evolution -of forms of government that are better and better adapted to permit -individual freedom, and the participation of all citizens in the -administration of the government itself. - -People who make their own government have a special interest in the -spectacle of political evolution as exhibited in history. But it -must be admitted that this evolution has not been well presented -by popular historians. Take, for instance, the familiar example of -old-time pedagogy, wherein the Roman republic was conceived as a -freer government than the Roman empire that followed it, by persons -apparently misled by the ideas of representative self-government -associated with the word _republic_. It was the beginning of a new -epoch when this illusion was dispelled, and the college student became -aware of the true Roman meaning of _republic_, namely, the supremacy -of an oligarchy on the Tiber that ruled distant provinces in Spain, -Gaul, Asia Minor, Germany, and Africa, for its selfish ends and with -an ever-increasing arrogance. The people at home in Rome, not having -a share in the campaigns on the borderland, did not appreciate the -qualities of the great leaders who, like Cæsar, subdued the nations by -forbearance, magnanimity, trust, and the recognition of a sphere of -freedom secured to the conquered by the Roman civil laws, which were -rigidly enforced by the conqueror, as much as by the violence of arms. -The change from republic to empire meant the final subordination of -this tyrannical Roman oligarchy, and the recognition of the rights of -the provinces to Roman freedom. This illustration shows how easily a -poor teaching of history may pervert its good influence or purpose into -a bad one. For the Roman monarchy under the empire secured a degree -of freedom never before attained under the republic, in spite of the -election of such tyrants as Nero and Caligula to the imperial purple. -The civil service went on as usual administering the affairs of distant -countries, educating them in Roman jurisprudence, and cultivating a -love for accumulating private property. Those countries had before -lived communistically after the style of the tribe or at best of the -village community. Roman private property in land gave an impulse -to the development of free individuality such as had always been -impossible under the social stage of development known as the village -community. - -To teach history properly is to dispel this shallow illusion which -flatters individualism, and to open the eyes of the pupil to the true -nature of freedom, namely, the freedom through obedience to just laws -enforced by a strong government. - -Your Committee has made this apparent digression for the sake of a more -explicit statement of its conviction of the importance of teaching -history in a different spirit from that of abstract freedom, which -sometimes means anarchy, although they admit the possibility of an -opposite extreme, the danger of too little stress on the progressive -element in the growth of nations, and its manifestation in new and -better political devices for representing all citizens without -weakening the central power. - -That the history of one’s own nation is to be taught in the elementary -school seems fixed by common consent. United States history includes -first a sketch of the epoch of discoveries and next of the epoch of -colonization. This, fortunately, suits the pedagogic requirements. For -the child loves to approach the stern realities of a firmly established -civilization through its stages of growth by means of individual -enterprise. Here is the use of biography as introduction to history. -It treats of exceptional individuals whose lives bring them in one -way or another into national or even world-historical relations. They -throw light on the nature and necessity of governments, and are in turn -illuminated by the light thrown back on them by the institutions which -they promote or hinder. The era of semi-private adventure with which -American history begins is admirably adapted for study by the pupil -in the elementary stage of his education. So, too, the next epoch, -that of colonization. The pioneer is a degree nearer to civilization -than is the explorer and discoverer. In the colonial history the pupil -interests himself in the enterprise of aspiring individualities, in -their conquest over obstacles of climate and soil; their conflicts with -the aboriginal population; their choice of land for settlement; the -growth of their cities; above all, their several attempts and final -success in forming a constitution securing local self-government. An -epoch of growing interrelation of the colonies succeeds, a tendency -to union on a large scale due to the effect of European wars which -involved England, France, and other countries, and affected the -relations of their colonies in America. This epoch, too, abounds -in heroic personalities, like Wolfe, Montcalm, and Washington, and -perilous adventures, especially in the Indian warfare. - -The fourth epoch is the Revolution, by which the colonies through -joint effort secured their independence and afterward their union as -a nation. The subject grows rapidly more complex, and tasks severely -the powers of the pupils in the eighth year of the elementary school. -The formation of the Constitution, and a brief study of the salient -features of the Constitution itself, conclude the study of the portion -of the history of the United States that is sufficiently remote to -be treated after the manner of an educational classic. Everything -up to this point stands out in strong individual outlines, and is -admirably fitted for that elementary course of study. Beyond this -point, the War of 1812 and the War of the Rebellion, together with the -political events that led to it, are matters of memory with the present -generation of parents and grandparents, and are, consequently, not so -well fitted for intensive study in school as the already classic period -of our history. But these later and latest epochs may be, and will be, -read at home not only in the text-book on history used in the schools, -but also in the numerous sketches that appear in newspapers, magazines, -and in more pretentious shapes. In the intensive study which should -be undertaken of the classic period of our history, the pupil may be -taught the method appropriate to historical investigation, the many -points of view from which each event ought to be considered. He should -learn to discriminate between the theatrical show of events and the -solid influences that move underneath as ethical causes. Although he -is too immature for very far-reaching reflections, he must be helped -to see the causal processes of history. Armed with this discipline in -historic methods, the pupil will do all of his miscellaneous reading -and thinking in this province with more adequate intellectual reaction -than was possible before the intensive study carried on in school. - -The study of the outlines of the Constitution, for ten or fifteen weeks -in the final year of the elementary school, has been found of great -educational value. Properly taught, it fixes the idea of the essential -three-foldness of the constitution of a free government and the -necessary independence of each constituent power, whether legislative, -judicial, or executive. This and some idea of the manner and mode of -filling the official places in these three departments, and of the -character of the duties with which each department is charged, lay -foundations for an intelligent citizenship. - -Besides this intensive study of the history of the United States in the -seventh and eighth years, your Committee would recommend oral lessons -on the salient points of general history, taking a full hour of sixty -minutes weekly--and preferably all at one time--for the sake of the -more systematic treatment of the subject of the lesson and the deeper -impression made on the mind of the pupil. - - -_E. Other branches._ - -Your Committee has reviewed the staple branches of the elementary -course of study in the light of their educational scope and -significance. Grammar, literature, arithmetic, geography, and history -are the five branches upon which the disciplinary work of the -elementary school is concentrated. Inasmuch as reading is the first -of the scholastic arts, it is interesting to note that the whole -elementary course may be described as an extension of the process -of learning the art of reading. First comes the mastering of the -colloquial vocabulary in printed and script forms. Next come five -incursions into the special vocabularies required (_a_) in literature -to express the fine shades of emotion and the more subtle distinctions -of thought, (_b_) the technique of arithmetic, (_c_) of geography, -(_d_) of grammar, (_e_) of history. - -In the serious work of mastering these several technical vocabularies -the pupil is assigned daily tasks that he must prepare by independent -study. The class exercise or recitation is taken up with examining -and criticising the pupil’s oral statements of what he has learned, -especial care being taken to secure the pupil’s explanation of it in -his own words. This requires paraphrases and definitions of the new -words and phrases used in technical and literary senses, with a view -to insure the addition to the mind of the new ideas corresponding -to the new words. The misunderstandings are corrected and the pupil -set on the way to use more critical alertness in the preparation of -his succeeding lessons. The pupil learns as much by the recitations -of his fellow-pupils as he learns from the teacher, but not the same -things. He sees in the imperfect statements of his classmates that they -apprehended the lesson with different presuppositions and consequently -have seen some phases of the subject that escaped his observation, -while they in turn have missed points which he had noticed quite -readily. These different points of view become more or less his own, -and he may be said to grow by adding to his own mind the minds of -others. - -It is clear that there are other branches of instruction that may lay -claim to a place in the course of study in the elementary school; for -example, the various branches of natural science, vocal music, manual -training, physical culture, drawing, etc. - -Here the question of another method of instruction is suggested. -There are lessons that require previous preparation by the pupil -himself--there are also lessons that may be taken up without such -preparation and conducted by the teacher, who leads the exercise and -furnishes a large part of the information to be learned, enlisting -the aid of members of the class for the purpose of bringing home -the new material to their actual experience. Besides these, there -are mechanical exercises for purposes of training, such as drawing, -penmanship, and calisthenics. - -In the first place, there is industrial and æsthetic drawing, which -should have a place in all elementary school work. By it is secured the -training of the hand and eye. Then, too, drawing helps in all the other -branches that require illustration. Moreover, if used in the study of -the great works of art in the way hereinbefore mentioned, it helps to -cultivate the taste and prepares the future workman for a more useful -and lucrative career, inasmuch as superior taste commands higher wages -in the finishing of all goods. - -Natural science claims a place in the elementary school not so much -as a disciplinary study side by side with grammar, arithmetic, and -history, as a training in habits of observation and in the use of -the technique by which such sciences are expounded. With a knowledge -of the technical terms and some training in the methods of original -investigation employed in the sciences, the pupil broadens his views -of the world and greatly increases his capacity to acquire new -knowledge. For the pupil who is unacquainted with the technique of -science has to pass without mental profit the numerous scientific -allusions and items of information which more and more abound in all -our literature, whether of an ephemeral or a permanent character. -In an age whose proudest boast is the progress of science in all -domains, there should be in the elementary school, from the first, a -course in the elements of the sciences. And this is quite possible; for -each science possesses some phases that lie very near to the child’s -life. These familiar topics furnish the doors through which the child -enters the various special departments. Science, it is claimed, is -nothing if not systematic. Indeed, science itself may be defined as -the interpretation of each fact through all other facts of a kindred -nature. Admitting that this is so, it is no less true that pedagogic -method begins with the fragmentary knowledge possessed by the pupil -and proceeds to organize it and build it out systematically in all -directions. Hence any science may be taken up best on the side nearest -the experience of the pupil and the investigation continued until the -other parts are reached. Thus the pedagogical order is not always -the logical or scientific order. In this respect it agrees with the -order of discovery, which is usually something quite different from -the logical order; for that is the last thing discovered. The natural -sciences have two general divisions: one relating to inorganic matter, -as physics and chemistry, and one relating to organic, as botany and -zoölogy. There should be a spiral course in natural science, commencing -each branch with the most interesting phases to the child. A first -course should be given in botany, zoölogy, and physics, so as to treat -of the structure and uses of familiar plants and animals, and the -explanation of physical phenomena as seen in the child’s playthings, -domestic machines, etc. A second course, covering the same subjects, -but laying more stress on classification and functions, will build on -to the knowledge already acquired from the former lessons and from -his recently acquired experience. A third course of weekly lessons, -conducted by the teacher as before in a conversational style, with -experiments and with a comparison of the facts of observation already -in the possession of the children, will go far to helping them to an -acquisition of the results of natural science. Those of the children -specially gifted for observation in some one or more departments of -nature will be stimulated and encouraged to make the most of their -gifts. - -In the opinion of your committee, there should be set apart a full hour -each week for drawing and the same amount for oral lessons in natural -science. - -The oral lessons in history have already been mentioned. The spiral -course, found useful in natural science because of the rapid change in -capacity of comprehension by the pupil from his sixth to his fourteenth -year, will also be best for the history course, which will begin with -biographical adventures of interest to the child, and possessing an -important historical bearing. These will proceed from the native -land first to England, the parent country, and then to the classic -civilizations (Greece and Rome being, so to speak, the grandparent -countries of the American colonies). These successive courses of oral -lessons adapted respectively to the child’s capacity will do much to -make the child well informed on this topic. Oral lessons should never -be mere lectures, but more like Socratic dialogues, building up a -systematic knowledge partly from what is already known, partly by new -investigations, and partly by comparison of authorities. - -The best argument in favor of weekly oral lessons in natural science -and general history is the actual experiences of teachers who have for -some time used the plan. It has been found that the lessons in botany, -zoölogy, and physics give the pupil much aid in learning his geography, -and other lessons relating to nature, while the history lessons -assist very much his comprehension of literature, and add interest to -geography. - -It is understood by your Committee that the lessons in physiology -and hygiene (with special reference to the effects of stimulants and -narcotics) required by State laws should be included in this oral -course in natural science. Manual training, so far as the theory and -use of the tools for working in wood and iron are concerned, has just -claims on the elementary school for a reason similar to that which -admits natural science. From science have proceeded useful inventions -for the aid of all manner of manufactures and transportation. The child -of to-day lives in a world where machinery is constantly at his hand. A -course of training in wood- and iron-work, together with experimental -knowledge of physics or natural philosophy, makes it easy for him to -learn the management of such machines. Sewing and cookery have not -the same, but stronger claims for a place in school. One-half day in -each week for one-half a year each in the seventh and eighth grades -will suffice for manual training, the sewing and cookery being studied -by the girls, and the wood- and iron-work by the boys. It should be -mentioned, however, that the advocates of manual training in iron- and -wood-work recommend these branches for secondary schools, because of -the greater maturity of body, and the less likelihood to acquire wrong -habits of manipulation, in the third period of four years of school. - -Vocal music has long since obtained a well-established place in all -elementary schools. The labors of two generations of special teachers -have reduced the steps of instruction to such simplicity that whole -classes may make as regular progress in reading music as in reading -literature. - -In regard to physical culture your Committee is agreed that there -should be some form of special daily exercises amounting in the -aggregate to one hour each week, the same to include the main features -of calisthenics, and German, Swedish, or American systems of physical -training, but not to be regarded as a substitute for the old-fashioned -recess, established to permit the free exercise of the pupils in the -open air. Systematic physical training has for its object rather the -will training than recreation, and this must not be forgotten. To go -from a hard lesson to a series of calisthenic exercises is to go from -one kind of will training to another. Exhaustion of the will should be -followed by the caprice and wild freedom of the recess. But systematic -physical exercise has its sufficient reason in its aid to a graceful -use of the limbs, its development of muscles that are left unused or -rudimentary unless called forth by special training, and for the help -it gives to the teacher in the way of school discipline. - -Your Committee would mention in this connection instruction in -morals and manners, which ought to be given in a brief series of -lessons each year with a view to build up in the mind a theory of the -conventionalities of polite and pure-minded society. If these lessons -are made too long or too numerous, they are apt to become offensive to -the child’s mind. It is of course understood by your Committee that the -substantial moral training of the school is performed by the discipline -rather than by the instruction in ethical theory. The child is trained -to be regular and punctual, and to restrain his desire to talk and -whisper--in these things gaining self-control day by day. The essence -of moral behavior is self-control. The school teaches good behavior. -The intercourse of a pupil with his fellows without evil words or -violent actions is insisted on and secured. The higher moral qualities -of truth-telling and sincerity are taught in every class exercise that -lays stress on accuracy of statement. - -Your Committee has already discussed the importance of teaching -something of algebraic processes in the seventh and eighth grades with -the view to obtaining better methods of solving problems in advanced -arithmetic; a majority of your Committee are of the opinion that formal -English grammar should be discontinued in the eighth year, and the -study of some foreign language, preferably that of Latin, substituted. -The educational effect on an English-speaking pupil of taking up a -language which, like Latin, uses inflections instead of prepositions, -and which further differs from English by the order in which its words -are arranged in the sentence, is quite marked, and a year of Latin -places a pupil by a wide interval out of the range of the pupil who has -continued English grammar without taking up Latin. But the effect of -the year’s study of Latin increases the youth’s power of apperception -in very many directions by reason of the fact that so much of the -English vocabulary used in technical vocabularies, like those of -geography, grammar, history, and literature, is from a Latin source, -and besides there are so many traces in the form and substance of human -learning of the hundreds of years when Latin was the only tongue in -which observation and reflection could be expressed. - -Your Committee refers to the programme given later in this report for -the details of co-ordinating these several branches already recommended. - - -_The difference between elementary and secondary studies._ - -In recommending the introduction of algebraic processes in the seventh -and eighth years--as well as in the recommendation just now made to -introduce Latin in the eighth year of the elementary course--your -Committee has come face to face with the question of the intrinsic -difference between elementary and secondary studies. - -Custom has placed algebra, geometry, the history of English literature, -and Latin in the rank of secondary studies; also general history, -physical geography, and the elements of physics and chemistry. In -a secondary course of four years trigonometry may be added to the -mathematics; some of the sciences whose elements are used in physical -geography may be taken up separately in special treatises, as geology, -botany, and physiology. There may be also a study of whole works of -English authors, as Shakespeare, Milton, and Scott. Greek is also -begun in the second or third year of the secondary course. This is the -custom in most public high schools. But in private secondary schools -Latin is begun earlier, and so, too, Greek, algebra, and geometry. -Sometimes geometry is taken up before algebra, as is the custom in -German schools. These arrangements are based partly on tradition, -partly on the requirements of higher institutions for admission, and -partly on the ground that the intrinsic difficulties in these studies -have fixed their places in the course of study. Of those who claim -that there is an intrinsic reason for the selection and order of these -studies, some base their conclusions on experience in conducting pupils -through them, others on psychological grounds. The latter contend, for -example, that algebra deals with general forms of calculation, while -arithmetic deals with the particular instances of calculation. Whatever -deals with the particular instance is relatively elementary, whatever -deals with the general form is relatively secondary. In the expression -a + b = c algebra indicates the form of all addition. This arithmetic -cannot do, except in the form of a verbal rule describing the steps -of the operation: its examples are all special instances falling -under the general form given in algebra. If, therefore, arithmetic -is an elementary branch, algebra is relatively to it a secondary -branch. So, too, geometry, though not directly based on arithmetic, -has to presuppose an acquaintance with it when it reduces spatial -functions into numerical forms, as, for example, in the measurement -of surfaces and solids, and in ascertaining the ratio of the -circumference to the radius, and of the hypothenuse to the two other -sides of the right-angled triangle. Geometry, moreover, deals with -necessary relations; its demonstrations reach universal and necessary -conclusions, holding good not merely in such material shapes as we -have met with in actual experience, but with all examples possible, -past, present, or future. Such knowledge transcending experience is -intrinsically secondary as compared with the first acquaintance with -geometric shapes in concrete examples. - -In the case of geometry it is claimed by some that what is called -“inventional geometry” may be properly introduced into the elementary -grades. By this some mean the practice with blocks in the shape of -geometric solids, and the construction of different figures from the -same; others mean the rediscovery by the pupil for himself of the -necessary relations demonstrated by Euclid. The former--exercises of -construction with blocks--are well enough in the kindergarten, where -they assist in learning number, as well as in the analysis of material -forms. But its educational value is small for pupils advanced into -the use of books. The original discovery of Euclid’s demonstrations, -on the other hand, belongs more properly to higher education than -to elementary. In the geometrical text-books, recently introduced -into secondary schools, there is so much of original demonstration -required that the teacher is greatly embarrassed on account of the -differences in native capacity for mathematics that develop among -the pupils of the same class in solving the problems of invention. A -few gifted pupils delight in the inventions, and develop rapidly in -power, while the majority of the class use too much time over them, -and thus rob the other branches of the course of study, or else fall -into the bad practice of getting help from others in the preparation -of their lessons. A few in every class fall hopelessly behind and -are discouraged. The result is an attempt on the part of the teacher -to correct the evil by requiring a more thorough training in the -mathematical studies preceding, and the consequent delay of secondary -pupils in the lower grades of the course in order to bring up their -“inventional geometry.” Many, discouraged, fail to go on; many more -fail to reach higher studies because unable to get over the barrier -unnecessarily placed before them by teachers who desire that no pupils -except natural geometricians shall enter into higher studies. - -Physical geography in its scientific form is very properly made a part -of the secondary course of study. The pupil in his ninth year of work -can profitably acquire the scientific technique of geology, botany, -zoölogy, meteorology, and ethnology, and in the following years take -up those sciences separately and push them further, using the method -of actual investigation. The subject-matter of physical geography is -of very high interest to the pupil who has studied geography in the -elementary grades after an approved method. It takes up the proximate -grounds and causes for the elements of difference on the earth’s -surface, already become familiar to him through his elementary studies, -and pushes them back into deeper, simpler, and more satisfactory -principles. This study performs the work also of correlating the -sciences that relate to organic nature by showing their respective -uses to man. From the glimpses which the pupil gets of mineralogy, -geology, botany, zoölogy, ethnology, and meteorology in their necessary -connection as geographic conditions he sees the scope and grand -significance of those separate inquiries. A thirst is aroused in him to -pursue his researches into their domains. He sees, too, the borderlands -in which new discoveries may be made by the enterprising explorer. - -Physics, including what was called until recently “natural -philosophy,” after Newton’s _Principia_ (_Philosophiæ naturalis -principia mathematica_), implies more knowledge of mathematics -for its thorough discussion than the secondary pupil is likely to -possess. In fact, the study of this branch in college thirty years -ago was crippled by the same cause. It should follow the completion -of analytical geometry. Notwithstanding this, a very profitable study -of this subject may be made in the second year of the high school or -preparatory school, although the formulas can then be understood in -so far as they imply elementary algebra only. The pupil does not get -the most exact notions of the quantitative laws that rule matter in -its states of motion and equilibrium, but he does see the action of -forces as qualitative elements of phenomena, and understand quite -well the mechanical inventions by which men subdue them for his use -and safety. Even in the elementary grades the pupil can seize very -many of these qualitative aspects and learn the explanation of the -mechanical phenomena of nature, and other applications of the same -principles in invention, as, for example, gravitation in falling -bodies: its measurement by the scales; the part it plays in the pump, -the barometer, the pendulum; cohesion in mud, clay, glue, paste, -mortar, cement, etc.; capillary attraction in lamp-wicks, sponges, -sugar, the sap in plants; the applications of lifting by the lever, -pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw; heat in the sun, combustion, -friction, steam, thermometer, conduction, clothing, cooking, etc.; -the phenomena of light, electricity, magnetism, and the explanation -of such mechanical devices as spectacles, telescopes, microscopes, -prisms, photographic cameras, electric tension in bodies, lightning, -mariner’s compass, horseshoe magnet, the telegraph, the dynamo. This -partially qualitative study of forces and mechanical inventions has -the educational effect of enlightening the pupil, and emancipating him -from the network of superstition that surrounds him in the child world, -partly of necessity and partly by reason of the illiterate adults -that he sometimes meets with in the persons of nurses, servants, and -tradespeople, whose occupations have more attraction for him than those -of cultured people. The fairy world is a world of magic, of immediate -interventions of supernatural spiritual beings, and while this is -proper enough for the child up to the time of the school, and in a -lessening degree for some time after, it is only negative and harmful -in adult manhood and womanhood. It produces arrested development of -powers of observation and reflection in reference to phenomena, and -stops the growth of the soul at the infantine stage of development. -Neither is this infantine stage of wonder and magic more religious -than the stage of disillusion through the study of mathematics and -physics. It is the arrest of religious development, also, at the stage -of fetichism. The highest religion, that of pure Christianity, sees -in the world infinite mediations, all for the purpose of developing -independent individuality; the perfection of human souls not only in -one kind of piety, namely, that of the heart, but in the piety of the -intellect that beholds truth, the piety of the will that does good -deeds wisely, the piety of the senses that sees the beautiful and -realizes it in works of art. This is the Christian idea of divine -Providence as contrasted with the heathen idea of that Providence, -and the study of natural philosophy is an essential educational -requisite in its attainment, although a negative means. Of course -there is danger of replacing the spiritual idea of the divine by the -dynamical or mechanical idea, and thus arresting the mind at the stage -of pantheism instead of fetichism. But this danger can be avoided by -further education through secondary into higher education, whose entire -spirit and method are comparative and philosophical in the best sense -of the term. For higher education seems to have as its province the -correlation of the several branches of human learning in the unity -of the spiritual view furnished by religion to our civilization. By -it one learns to see each branch, each science or art or discipline, -in the light of all the others. This higher or comparative view is -essential to any completeness of education, for it alone prevents -the one-sidedness of hobbies, or “fads,” as they are called in the -slang of the day. It prevents also the bad effects that flow from the -influence of what are termed “self-educated men,” who for the most part -carry up with them elementary methods of study, or at best, secondary -methods, which accentuate the facts and relations of natural and -spiritual phenomena, but do not deal with their higher correlations. -The comparative method cannot, in fact, be well introduced until the -student is somewhat advanced, and has already completed his elementary -course of study dealing with the immediate aspects of the world, and -his secondary course dealing with the separate formal and dynamical -aspects that lie next in order behind the facts of first observation. -Higher education in a measure unifies these separate formal and dynamic -aspects, corrects their one-sidedness, and prevents the danger of what -is so often noted in the self-educated men who unduly exaggerate some -one of the subordinate aspects of the world and make it a sort of first -principle. - -Here your Committee finds in its way the question of the use of the -full scientific method in the teaching of science in the elementary -school. The true method has been called the method of investigation, -but that method as used by the child is only a sad caricature of the -method used by the mature scientific man, who has long since passed -through the fragmentary observation and reflection that prevail in the -period of childhood, as well as the tendencies to exaggeration of the -importance of one or another branch of knowledge at the expense of -the higher unity that correlates all; an exaggeration that manifests -itself in the possession and use of a hobby. The ideal scientific man -has freed himself from obstacles of this kind, whether psychological -or objective. What astronomical observers call the subjective -coefficient must be ascertained and eliminated from the record that -shows beginnings, endings, and rates. There is a possibility of perfect -specialization in a scientific observer only after the elementary and -secondary attitudes of mind have been outgrown. An attempt to force the -child into the full scientific method by specialization would cause -an arrest of his development in the other branches of human learning -outside of his specialty. He could not properly inventory the data of -his own special sphere unless he knew how to recognize the defining -limits or boundaries that separate his province from its neighbors. The -early days of science abounded in examples of confusion of provinces -in the inventories of their data. It is difficult, even now, to decide -where physics and chemistry leave off, and biology begins. - -Your Committee does not attempt to state the exact proportion in which -the child, at his various degrees of advancement, may be able to -dispense with the guiding influence of teacher and text-book in his -investigations, but they protest strongly against the illusion under -which certain zealous advocates of the early introduction of scientific -method seem to labor. They ignore in their zeal the deduction that is -to be made for the guiding hand of the teacher, who silently furnishes -to the child the experience that he lacks, and quietly directs his -special attention to this or to that phase, and prevents him from -hasty or false generalization as well as from undue exaggeration of -single facts or principles. Here the teacher adds the needed scientific -outlook which the child lacks, but which the mature scientist possesses -for himself. - -It is contended by some that the scientific frame of mind is adapted -only to science, but not to art, literature, and religion, which -have something essential that science does not reach; not because of -the incompleteness of the sciences themselves, but because of the -attitude of the mind assumed in the observation of nature. In analytic -investigation there is isolation of parts one from another, with a view -to find the sources of the influences which produce the phenomena shown -in the object. The mind brings everything to the test of this idea. -Every phenomenon that exists comes from beyond itself, and analysis -will be able to trace the source. - -Now, this frame of mind, which insists on a foreign origin of all -that goes to constitute an object, debars itself in advance from the -province of religion, art, and literature as well as of philosophy. -For self-determination, personal activity, is the first principle -assumed by religion, and it is tacitly assumed by art and literature, -Classic and Christian. The very definition of philosophy implies this, -for it is the attempt to explain the world by the assumption of a -first principle, and to show that all classes of objects imply that -principle as ultimate presupposition. According to this view it is -important not to attempt to hasten the use of a strictly scientific -method on the part of the child. In his first years he is acquiring -the results of civilization rather as an outfit of habits, usages, and -traditions than as a scientific discovery. He cannot be expected to -stand over against the culture of his time, and challenge one and all -of its conventionalities to justify themselves before his reason. His -reason is too weak. He is rather in the imitation stage of mind than in -that of criticism. He will not reach the comparative or critical method -until the era of higher education. - -However this may be, it is clear that the educational value of science -and its method is a very important question, and that on it depends the -settlement of the question where specialization may begin. To commence -the use of the real scientific method would imply a radical change also -in methods from the beginning. This may be realized by considering the -hold which even the kindergarten retains upon symbolism and upon art -and literature. But in the opinion of a majority of your Committee -natural science itself should be approached, in the earliest years of -the elementary school, rather in the form of results with glimpses into -the methods by which these results were reached. In the last two years -(the seventh and eighth) there may be some strictness of scientific -form and an exhibition of the method of discovery. The pupil, too, may -to some extent put this method in practice himself. In the secondary -school there should be some laboratory work. But the pupil cannot -be expected to acquire for himself fully the scientific method of -dealing with nature until the second part of higher education--its -post-graduate work. Nevertheless this good should be kept in view from -the first year of the elementary school, and there should be a gradual -and continual approach to it. - -In the study of general history appears another branch of the secondary -course. History of the native land is assumed to be an elementary -study. History of the world is certainly a step further away from -the experience of the child. It is held by some teachers to be in -accordance with proper method to begin with the foreign relations -of one’s native land and to work outward to the world-history. The -European relations involved in the discovery and colonization of -America furnish the only explanation to a multitude of questions that -the pupil has started in the elementary school. He should move outward -from what he has already learned, by the study of a new concentric -circle of grounds and reasons, according to this view. This, however, -is not the usual course taken. On beginning secondary history the -pupil is set back face to face with the period of tradition, just -when historic traces first make their appearance. He is, by this -arrangement, broken off from the part of history that he has become -acquainted with, and made to grapple with that period which has no -relation to his previous investigations. It is to be said, however, -that general history lays stress on the religious thread of connection, -though less now than formerly. The world history is a conception of the -great Christian thinker, St. Augustine, who held that the world and its -history is a sort of antiphonic hymn, in which God reads his counsels, -and the earth and man read the responses. He induced Orosius, his -pupil, to sketch a general history in the spirit of his view. It was -natural that the Old Testament histories, and especially the chapters -of Genesis, should furnish the most striking part of its contents. This -general history was connected with religion, and brought closer to -the experience of the individual than the history of his own people. -To commence history with the Garden of Eden, the Fall of Man, and the -Noachian Deluge was to begin with what was most familiar to all minds, -and most instructive, because it concerned most nearly the conduct of -life. Thus religion furnished the apperceptive material by which the -early portions of history were recognized, classified, and made a part -of experience. - -Now that studies in archæology, especially those in the Nile and -Euphrates valleys, are changing the chronologies and the records of -early times and adding new records of the past, bringing to light -national movements and collisions of peoples, together with data -by which to determine the status of their industrial civilization, -their religious ideas, and the form of their literature and art, the -concentric arrangement of all this material around the history of the -chosen people as a nucleus is no longer possible. The question has -arisen, therefore, whether general history should not be rearranged -for the secondary school, and made to connect with American history -for apperceptive material rather than with Old Testament history. To -this it has been replied with force that the idea of a world history, -as St. Augustine conceived it, is the noblest educative ideal ever -connected with the subject of history. Future versions of general -history will not desert this standpoint, we are told, even if they take -as their basis that of ethnology and anthropology, for these, too, will -exhibit a plan in human history--an educative principle that leads -nations toward freedom and science, because the Creator of nature has -made it, in its fundamental constitution, an evolution or progressive -development of individuality. Thus the idea of divine Providence is -retained, though made more comprehensive by bringing the whole content -of natural laws within his will as his method of work. - -These considerations, we are reminded by the partisans of humanity -studies, point back to the educative value of history as corrective of -the one-sidedness of the method of science. Science seeks explanation -in the mechanical conditions of, and impulses received from, the -environment, while history keeps its gaze fixed on human purposes, and -studies the genesis of national actions through the previous stages of -feelings, convictions, and conscious ideas. In history the pupil has -for his object self-activity, reaction against environment, instead of -mechanism, or activity through another. - -The history of English literature is another study of the secondary -school. It is very properly placed beyond the elementary school, for -as taught it consists largely of the biographies of men of letters. -The pupils who have not yet learned any great work of literature -should not be pestered with literary biography, for at that stage -the greatness of the men of letters cannot be seen. Plutarch makes -great biographies because he shows heroic struggles and great deeds. -The heroism of artists and poets consists in sacrificing all for -the sake of their creations. The majority of them come off sadly -at the hands of the biographer, for the reason that the very sides -of their lives are described which they had slighted and neglected -for the sake of the Muses. The prophets of Israel did not live in -city palaces, but in caves; they did not wear fine raiment, nor feed -sumptuously, nor conform to the codes of polite society. They were no -courtiers when they approached the king. They neglected all the other -institutions--family, productive industry, and state--for the sake of -one, the Church, and even that not the established ceremonial of the -people, but a higher and more direct communing with Jehovah. So with -artists and men of letters, it is more or less the case, that the -institutional side of their lives is neglected, or unsymmetrical, or if -this is not the case, it will be found prosaic and uneventful, throwing -no light on their matchless productions. - -For these reasons, should not the present use of literary biography -as it exists in secondary schools, and is gradually making its way -into elementary schools, be discouraged, and the time now given to it -devoted to the study of literary works of art? It will be admitted -that the exposure of the foibles of artists has an immoral tendency on -youth: for example, one affects to be a poet, and justifies laxity and -self-indulgence through the example of Byron. Those who support this -view hold that we should not dignify the immoral and defective side of -life by making it a branch of study in school. - - -_Correlation by synthesis of studies._ - -Your Committee would mention another sense in which the expression -correlation of studies is sometimes used. It is held by advocates of -an artificial centre of the course of study. They use, for example, -De Foe’s Robinson Crusoe for a reading exercise, and connect with -it the lessons in geography and arithmetic. It has been pointed out -by critics of this method that there is always danger of covering -up the literary features of the reading matter under accessories of -mathematics and natural science. If the material for other branches -is to be sought for in connection with the literary exercise, it will -distract the attention from the poetic unity. On the other hand, -arithmetic and geography cannot be unfolded freely and comprehensively -if they are to wait on the opportunities afforded in a poem or novel -for their development. A correlation of this kind, instead of being -a deeper correlation, such as is found in all parts of human learning -by the studies of the college and university, is rather a shallow and -uninteresting kind of correlation, that reminds one of the system of -mnemonics, or artificial memory, which neglects the association of -facts and events with their causes and the history of their evolution, -and looks for unessential quips, puns, or accidental suggestions with a -view to strengthening the memory. The effect of this is to weaken the -power of systematic thinking which deals with essential relations, and -substitute for it a chaotic memory that ties together things through -false and seeming relations, not of the things and events, but of the -words that denote them. - -The correlation of geography and arithmetic and history in and through -the unity of a work of fiction is at best an artificial correlation, -which will stand in the way of the true objective correlation. It is -a temporary scaffolding made for school purposes. Instruction should -avoid such temporary structures as much as possible, and when used -they should be only used for the day, and not for the year, because of -the danger of building up an apperceptive centre in the child’s mind -that will not harmonize with the true apperceptive centre required by -the civilization. The story of Robinson Crusoe has intense interest -to the child as a lesson in sociology, showing him the helplessness -of isolated man and the re-enforcement that comes to him through -society. It shows the importance of the division of labor. All children -should read this book in the later years of the elementary course, -and a few profitable discussions may be had in school regarding its -significance. But De Foe painted in it only the side of adventure that -he found in his countrymen in his epoch, England after the defeat -of the Armada having taken up a career of conquest on the seas, -ending by colonization and a world commerce. The liking for adventure -continues to this day among all Anglo-Saxon peoples, and beyond other -nationalities there is in English-speaking populations a delight in -building up civilization from the very foundation. This is only, -however, one phase of the Anglo-Saxon mind. Consequently the history of -Crusoe is not a proper centre for a year’s study in school. It omits -cities, governments, the world commerce, the international process, -the Church, the newspaper and book from view, and they are not even -reflected in it. - -Your Committee would call attention in this connection to the -importance of the pedagogical principle of analysis and isolation as -preceding synthesis and correlation. There should be rigid isolation -of the elements of each branch for the purpose of getting a clear -conception of what is individual and peculiar in a special province -of learning. Otherwise one will not gain from each its special -contribution to the whole. That there is some danger from the kind of -correlation that essays to teach all branches in each will be apparent -from this point of view. - - -III. THE SCHOOL PROGRAMME. - -In order to find a place in the elementary school for the several -branches recommended in this report, it will be necessary to use -economically the time allotted for the school term, which is about two -hundred days, exclusive of vacations and holidays. Five days per week -and five hours of actual school work or a little less per day, after -excluding recesses for recreation, give about twenty-five hours per -week. There should be, as far as possible, alternation of study-hours -and recitations (the word recitation being used in the United States -for class exercise or lesson conducted by the teacher and requiring the -critical attention of the entire class). Those studies requiring the -clearest thought should be taken up, as a usual thing, in the morning -session, say arithmetic the second half hour of the morning and grammar -the half-hour next succeeding the morning recess for recreation in the -open air. By some who are anxious to prevent study at home, or at least -to control its amount it is thought advisable to place the arithmetic -lesson after the grammar lesson, so that the study learned at home -will be grammar instead of arithmetic. It is found by experience that -if mathematical problems are taken home for solution two bad habits -arise; namely, in one case, the pupil gets assistance from his parents -or others, and thereby loses to some extent his own power of overcoming -difficulties by brave and persistent attacks unaided by others; the -other evil is a habit of consuming long hours in the preparation of a -lesson that should be prepared in thirty minutes, if all the powers of -mind are fresh and at command. An average child may spend three hours -in the preparation of an arithmetic lesson. Indeed, in repeated efforts -to solve one of the so-called “conundrums,” a whole family may spend -the entire evening. One of the unpleasant results of the next day is -that the teacher who conducts the lesson never knows the exact capacity -and rate of progress of his pupils; in the recitation he probes the -knowledge and preparation of the pupil, plus an unknown amount of -preparatory work borrowed from parents and others. He even increases -the length of the lessons, and requires more work at home, when the -amount already exceeds the unaided capacity of the pupil. - -The lessons should be arranged so as to bring in such exercises as -furnish relief from intellectual tension between others that make -large demands on the thinking powers. Such exercises as singing and -calisthenics, writing and drawing, also reading, are of the nature of a -relief from those recitations that tax the memory, critical alertness, -and introspection, like arithmetic, grammar, and history. - -Your Committee has not been able to agree on the question whether -pupils who leave school early should have a course of study different -from the course of those who are to continue on into secondary -and higher work. It is contended, on the one hand, that those who -leave early should have a more practical course, and that they -should dispense with those studies that seem to be in the nature of -preparatory work for secondary and higher education. Such studies as -algebra and Latin, for example, should not be taken up unless the -pupil expects to pursue the same for a sufficient time to complete the -secondary course. It is replied, on the other hand, that it is best to -have one course for all, because any school education is at best but an -initiation for the pupil into the art of learning, and that wherever -he leaves off in his school course he should continue, by the aid of -the public library and home study, in the work of mastering science -and literature. It is further contended that a brief course in higher -studies, like Latin and algebra, instead of being useless, is of more -value than any elementary studies that might replace them. The first -ten lessons in algebra give the pupil the fundamental idea of the -general expression of arithmetical solutions by means of letters and -other symbols. Six months’ study of it gives him the power to use the -method in stating the manifold conditions of a problem in partnership, -or in ascertaining a value that depends on several transformations of -the data given. It is claimed, indeed, that the first few lessons in -any branch are relatively of more educational value than an equal -number of subsequent lessons, because the fundamental ideas and -principles of the new study are placed at the beginning. In Latin, -for instance, the pupil learns in his first week’s study the, to him, -strange phenomenon of a language that performs by inflections what -his own language performs by the use of prepositions and auxiliaries. -He is still more surprised to find that the order of words in a -sentence is altogether different in Roman usage from that to which he -is accustomed. He further begins to recognize in the Latin words many -roots or stems which are employed to denote immediate sensuous objects, -while they have been adopted into his English tongue to signify fine -shades of distinction in thought or feeling. By these three things his -powers of observation in matters of language are armed, as it were, -with new faculties. Nothing that he has hitherto learned in grammar -is so radical and far-reaching as what he learns in his first week’s -study of Latin. The Latin arrangement of words in a sentence indicates -a different order of mental arrangement in the process of apprehension -and expression of thought. This arrangement is rendered possible by -declensions. This amounts to attaching prepositions to the ends of the -words, which they thus convert into adjectival or adverbial modifiers; -whereas the separate prepositions of the English must indicate by -their position in the sentence their grammatical relation. These -observations, and the new insight into the etymology of English words -having a Latin derivation, are of the nature of mental seeds which will -grow and bear fruit throughout life in the better command of one’s -native tongue. All this will come from a very brief time devoted to -Latin in school. - - -_Amount of time for each branch._ - -Your Committee recommends that an hour of sixty minutes each week be -assigned in the programme for each of the following subjects throughout -the eight years: physical culture, vocal music, oral lessons in natural -science (hygiene to be included among the topics under this head), oral -lessons in biography and general history, and that the same amount of -time each week shall be devoted to drawing from the second year to the -eighth inclusive; to manual training during the seventh and eighth -years so as to include sewing and cookery for the girls, and work in -wood and iron for the boys. - -Your Committee recommends that reading be given at least one lesson -each day for the entire eight years, it being understood, however, -that there shall be two or more lessons each day in reading in the -first and second years, in which the recitation is necessarily very -short, because of the inability of the pupil to give continued close -attention, and because he has little power of applying himself to -the work of preparing lessons by himself. In the first three years -the reading should be limited to pieces in the colloquial style, but -selections from the classics of the language in prose and in poetry -shall be read to the pupil from time to time, and discussions made -of such features of the selections read as may interest the pupils. -After the third year your Committee believes that the reading lesson -should be given to selections from classic authors of English, and -that the work of the recitation should be divided between (_a_) the -elocution, (_b_) the grammatical peculiarities of the language, -including spelling, definitions, syntactical construction, punctuation, -and figures of prosody, and (_c_) the literary contents, including the -main and accessory ideas, the emotions painted, the deeds described, -the devices of style to produce a strong impression on the reader. -Your Committee wishes to lay emphasis on the importance of the last -item,--that of literary study,--which should consume more and more of -the time of the recitation from grade to grade in the period from the -fourth to the eighth year. In the fourth year and previously the first -item--that of elocution, to secure distinct enunciation and correct -pronunciation--should be most prominent. In the fifth and sixth years -the second item--that of spelling, defining, and punctuation--should -predominate slightly over the other two items. In the years from the -fifth to the eighth there should be some reading of entire stories, -such as Gulliver’s Travels, Robinson Crusoe, Rip Van Winkle, The -Lady of the Lake, Hiawatha, and similar stories adapted in style and -subject-matter to the capacity of the pupils. An hour should be devoted -each week to conversations on the salient points of the story, its -literary and ethical bearings. - -Your Committee agrees in the opinion that in teaching language care -should be taken that the pupil practices much in writing exercises -and original compositions. At first the pupil will use only his -colloquial vocabulary, but as he gains command of the technical -vocabularies of geography, arithmetic, and history, and learns the -higher literary vocabulary of his language, he will extend his use of -words accordingly. Daily from the first year the child will prepare -some lesson or portion of a lesson in writing. Your Committee has -included under the head of oral grammar (from the first to the middle -of the fifth year) one phase of this written work devoted to the study -of the literary form and the technicalities of composition in such -exercises as letter writing, written reviews of the several branches -studied, reports of the oral lessons in natural science and history, -paraphrases of the poems and prose literature of the readers, and -finally compositions or written essays on suitable themes assigned -by the teacher, but selected from the fields of knowledge studied in -school. Care should be taken to criticise all paraphrases of poetry in -respect to the good or bad taste shown in the choice of words; parodies -should never be permitted. - -It is thought by your Committee that the old style of composition -writing was too formal. It was kept too far away from the other work of -the pupil. Instead of giving a written account of what he had learned -in arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, and natural science, -the pupil attempted artificial descriptions and reflections on such -subjects as “Spring,” “Happiness,” “Perseverance,” “Friendship,” or -something else outside of the line of his school studies. - -Your Committee has already expressed its opinion that a good English -style is not to be acquired by the study of grammar so much as by -familiarity with great masterpieces of literature. We especially -recommend that pupils who have taken up the fourth and fifth readers, -containing the selections from great authors, should often be required -to make written paraphrases of prose or poetic models of style, using -their own vocabulary to express the thoughts so far as possible, and -borrowing the _recherché_ words and phrases of the author, where their -own resources fail them. In this way the pupil learns to see what the -great author has done to enrich the language and to furnish adequate -means of expression for what could not be presented in words before, or -at least not in so happy a manner. - -Your Committee believes that every recitation is, in one aspect of it, -an attempt to express the thoughts and information of the lesson in the -pupil’s own words, and thus an initial exercise in composition. The -regular weekly written review of the important topics in the several -branches studied is a more elaborate exercise in composition, the pupil -endeavoring to collect what he knows and to state it systematically -and in proper language. The punctuation, spelling, syntax, penmanship, -choice of words, and style should not, it is true, be made a matter -of criticism in connection with the other lessons, but only in the -language lesson proper. But the pupil will learn language, all the -same, by the written and oral recitations. The oral grammar lessons, -from the first year to the middle of the fifth year, should deal -chiefly with the use of language, gradually introducing the grammatical -technique as it is needed to describe accurately the correct forms and -the usages violated. - -Your Committee believes that there is some danger of wasting the time -of the pupil in these oral and written language lessons in the first -four years by confining the work of the pupil to the expression of -ordinary commonplace ideas not related to the subjects of his other -lessons, especially when the expression is confined to the colloquial -vocabulary. Such training has been severely and justly condemned as -teaching what is called prating or gabbling, rather than a noble use -of English speech. It is clear that the pupil should have a dignified -and worthy subject of composition, and what is so good for his purpose -as the themes he has tried to master in his regular lessons? The -reading lessons will give matter for literary style, the geography for -scientific style, and the arithmetic for a business style; for all -styles should be learned. - -Your Committee recommends that selected lists of words difficult to -spell be made from the reading lessons and mastered by frequent writing -and oral spelling during the fourth, fifth, and sixth years. - -Your Committee recommends that the use of a text-book in grammar -begin with the second half of the fifth year, and continue until the -beginning of the study of Latin in the eighth grade, and that one daily -lesson of twenty-five or thirty minutes be devoted to it. - -For Latin we recommend one daily lesson of thirty minutes for the -eighth year. For arithmetic we recommend number work from the first -year to the eighth, one lesson each day, but the use of the text-book -in number should not, in our opinion, begin until the first quarter -of the third year. We recommend that the applications of elementary -algebra to arithmetic, as hereinbefore explained, be substituted for -pure arithmetic in the seventh and eighth years, a daily lesson being -given. - -Your Committee recommends that penmanship as a separate branch be -taught in the first six years at least three lessons per week. - -Geography, in the opinion of your Committee, should begin with oral -lessons in the second year, and with a text-book in the third quarter -of the third year, and be continued to the close of the sixth year with -one lesson each day, and in the seventh and eighth years with three -lessons per week. - -History of the United States with the use of a text-book, your -Committee recommends for the seventh and the first half of the eighth -year, one lesson each day; the Constitution of the United States for -the third quarter of the eighth year. - -The following schedule will show the number of lessons per week for -each quarter of each year:-- - - Reading. Eight years, with daily lessons. - - Penmanship. Six years, ten lessons per week for first two - years, five for third and fourth, and three for fifth and sixth. - - Spelling Lists. Fourth, fifth, and sixth years, four lessons - per week. - - Grammar. Oral, with composition or dictation, first year to - middle of fifth year, text-book from middle of fifth year to - close of seventh year, five lessons per week. (Composition - writing should be included under this head. But the written - examinations on the several branches should be counted under - the head of composition work.) - - Latin or French or German. Eighth year, five lessons per week. - - Arithmetic. Oral first and second year, text-book third to - sixth year, five lessons per week. - - Algebra. Seventh and eighth years, five lessons per week. - - Geography. Oral lessons second year to middle of third year, - text-book from middle of third year, five lessons weekly to - seventh year, and three lessons to close of eighth. - - Natural Science and Hygiene. Sixty minutes per week, eight - years. - - History of United States. Five hours per week seventh year and - first half of eighth year. - - Constitution of United States. Third quarter in the eighth year. - - General History and Biography. Oral lessons, sixty minutes a - week, eight years. - - Physical Culture. Sixty minutes a week, eight years. - - Vocal Music. Sixty minutes a week, eight years. - - Drawing. Sixty minutes a week, eight years. - - Manual Training, Sewing, and Cooking. One-half day each week in - seventh and eighth years. - -Your Committee recommends recitations of fifteen minutes in length in -the first and second years, of twenty minutes in length in the third -and fourth years, of twenty-five minutes in the fifth and sixth years, -and of thirty minutes in the seventh and eighth. - -The results of this programme show for the first and second years -twenty lessons a week of fifteen minutes each, besides seven other -exercises occupying an average of twelve minutes apiece each day; the -total amount of time occupied in the continuous attention of the -recitation or class exercises being twelve hours, or an average of two -hours and twenty-four minutes per day. - -For the third year twenty lessons a week of twenty minutes each, and -five general exercises taking up five hours a week, or an average of -one hour per day, giving an average time per day of two hours and -twenty minutes for class recitations or exercises. - -In the fourth the recitations increase to twenty-four (by reason of -four extra lessons in spelling) and the time occupied in recitations -and exercises to thirteen hours and an average per day of two hours -thirty-six minutes. - - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------- - BRANCHES. | _1st | _2d | _3d | _4th | _5th | _6th | _7th | _8th - | year_ | year_ | year_ | year_ | year_ | year_ | year_ | year_ - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------- - Reading | 10 lessons a | 5 lessons a week - | week - | - --------------+-------------- --+-----------------+-----------------+------------------- - Writing | 10 lessons a | 5 lessons a | 3 lessons a | - | week | week | week | - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------+------------------- - Spelling | | | | 4 lessons a week | - lists | | | | | - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------+--------+---------- - English | Oral, with composition lessons | 5 lessons a week | - Grammar | | with text-book | - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---+---+--------+--------+---------- - Latin | | | | | | | | 5 lessons - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------- - Arithmetic |Oral, 60 minutes | 5 lessons a week with text-book | | - |a week | | | - --------------+-----------------|--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------- - Algebra | | | | | | | 5 lessons a - | | | | | | | week - --------------+--------+--------+----+---+--------+--------+--------+------------------- - Geography | Oral, 60 minutes a | [1]5 lessons a week with | 3 lessons a - | week | text-book | week - --------------+----------------------+------------------------------+------------------- - Natural | - Science | Sixty minutes a week - +Hygiene | - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------------+---- - U. S. | | | | | | | 5 lessons a | - History | | | | | | | week | - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------- - U. S. | | | | | | | | |[1]5 - Constitution | | | | | | | | |ls - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----+---- - General | Oral, sixty minutes a week - History | - --------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Physical | Sixty minutes a week - Culture | - --------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Vocal Music | Sixty minutes a week - | divided into 4 lessons - --------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Drawing | Sixty minutes a week - | - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+------------------- - Man’l Train. | | | | | | | One-half day - or Sewing + | | | | | | | each week - Cookery | | | | | | | - ==================+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+====== - Number of | 20 + 7 | 20 + 7 | 20 + 5 | 24 + 5 | 27 + 5 | 27 + 5 | 23 + 6 | 23 + 6 - Lessons | daily | daily | daily | daily | daily | daily | daily | daily - | exer. | exer. | exer. | exer. | exer. | exer. | exer. | exer. - ==============+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========== - Total Hours | 12 | 12 | 11⅔ | 13 | 16¼ | 16¼ | 17½ | 17½ - of Recitat’ns | | | | | | | | - ==============+========+========+========+========+========+========+========+========== - Length of | 15 min | 15 min | 20 min | 20 min | 25 min | 25 min | 30 min | 30 min - Recitations | | | | | | | | - --------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+---------- - - [1] Begins in second half year. - -In the fifth and sixth years the number of recitations increases to -twenty-seven per week, owing to the addition of formal grammar, and the -total number of hours required for all is 16¼ per week, or an average -of 3¼ per day. - -In the seventh and eighth years the number of lessons decreases to -twenty-three, history being added, penmanship and special lessons in -spelling discontinued, the time devoted to geography reduced to three -lessons a week. But the recitation is increased to thirty minutes in -length. Manual training occupies a half-day, or 2½ hours, each week. -The total is 19 hours per week, or 3¾ per day. - -The foregoing tabular exhibit shows all of these particulars. - - -IV. METHODS AND ORGANIZATION. - -Your Committee is agreed that the time devoted to the elementary school -work should not be reduced from eight years, but they have recommended, -as hereinbefore stated, that in the seventh and eighth years a modified -form of algebra be introduced in place of advanced arithmetic, and -that in the eighth year English grammar yield place to Latin. This -makes, in their opinion, a proper transition to the studies of the -secondary school and is calculated to assist the pupil materially in -his preparation for that work. Hitherto, the change from the work of -the elementary school has been too abrupt, the pupil beginning three -formal studies at once, namely, algebra, physical geography, and Latin. - -Your Committee has found it necessary to discuss the question of -methods of teaching in numerous instances, while considering the -question of educational values and programmes, because the value and -time of beginning of the several branches depend so largely on the -method of teaching. - -The following recommendations, however, remain for this part of their -report:-- - -They would recommend that the specialization of teachers’ work should -not be attempted before the seventh or eighth year of the elementary -school and in not more than one or two studies then. In the secondary -school it is expected that a teacher will teach one, or at most, two -branches. In the elementary school, for at least six years, it is -better, on the whole, to have each teacher instruct his pupils in all -the branches that they study, for the reason that only in this way can -he hold an even pressure on the requirements of work, correlating it in -such a manner that no one study absorbs undue attention. In this way -the pupils prepare all their lessons under the direct supervision of -the same teacher and by their recitations show what defects of methods -of study there have been in the preparation. - -The ethical training is much more successful under this plan, because -the personal influence of a teacher is much greater when he or she -knows minutely the entire scope of the school work. In the case of the -special teacher the responsibility is divided and the opportunities of -special acquaintance with character and habits diminished. - -With one teacher, who supervises the study and hears all the -recitations, that there is a much better opportunity to cultivate -the two kinds of attention. The teacher divides his pupils into two -classes and hears one recite while the other class prepares for the -next lesson. The pupils reciting are required to pay strict attention -to the one of their number who is explaining the point assigned him -by the teacher--they are to be on the alert to notice any mistakes of -statement or omissions of important data, they are at the same time -to pay close attention to the remarks of the teacher. This is one kind -of attention, which may be called associated critical attention. The -pupils engaged in the preparation of the next lesson are busy, each -one by himself, studying the book and mastering its facts and ideas, -and comparing them one with another, and making the effort to become -oblivious of their fellow-pupils, the recitation going on, and the -teacher. This is another kind of attention, which is not associated, -but an individual effort to master for one’s self without aid a -prescribed task and to resist all distracting influences. These two -disciplines in attention are the best formal training that the school -affords. - -Your Committee has already mentioned a species of faulty correlation -wherein the attempt is made to study all branches in each, misapplying -Jacotot’s maxim, “all is in all” (_tout est dans tout_). - -A frequent error of this kind is the practice of making every -recitation a language lesson, and interrupting the arithmetic, -geography, history, literature, or whatever it may be, by calling the -pupil’s attention abruptly to something in his forms of expression, -his pronunciation, or to some faulty use of English; thus turning -the entire system of school work into a series of grammar exercises -and weakening the power of continuous thought on the objective -contents of the several branches, by creating a pernicious habit of -self-consciousness in the matter of verbal expression. While your -Committee would not venture to say that there should not be some degree -of attention to the verbal expression in all lessons, it is of the -opinion that it should be limited to criticism of the recitation for -its want of technical accuracy. The technical words in each branch -should be discussed until the pupil is familiar with their full force. -The faulty English should be criticised as showing confusion of -thought or memory, and should be corrected in this sense. But solecisms -of speech should be silently noted by the teacher for discussion in the -regular language lesson. - -The question of promotion of pupils has occupied from time to time -very much attention. Your Committee believes that in many systems -of elementary schools there is injury done by too much formality in -ascertaining whether the pupils of a given class have completed the -work up to a given arbitrarily fixed point, and are ready to take up -the next apportionment of the work. In the early days of city school -systems, when the office of superintendent was first created, it was -thought necessary to divide up the graded course of study into years -of work, and to hold stated annual examinations to ascertain how many -pupils could be promoted to the next grade or year’s work. All that -failed at this examination were set back at the beginning of the year’s -work to spend another year in reviewing it. This was to meet the -convenience of the superintendent, who, it was said, could not hold -examinations to suit the wants of individuals or particular classes. -From this arrangement there naturally resulted a great deal of what is -called “marking time.” Pupils who had nearly completed the work of the -year were placed with pupils who had been till now a year’s interval -below them. Discouragement and demoralization at the thought of taking -up again a course of lessons learned once before caused many pupils to -leave school prematurely. - -This evil has been remedied in nearly one-half of the cities by -promoting pupils whenever they have completed the work of a grade. The -constant tendency of classification to become imperfect by reason of -the difference in rates of advancement of the several pupils owing to -disparity in ages, degree of maturity, temperament, and health, makes -frequenter classification necessary. This is easily accomplished by -promoting the few pupils who distance the majority of their classmates -into the next class above, separated as it is, or ought to be, by an -interval of less than half a year. The bright pupils thus promoted have -to struggle to make up the ground covered in the interval between the -two classes, but they are nearly always able to accomplish this, and -generally will in two years’ time need another promotion from class to -class. - -The procrustean character of the old city systems has been removed by -this device. - -There remain for mention some other evils besides bad systems of -promotion due to defects of organization. The school buildings are -often with superstitious care kept apart exclusively for particular -grades of pupils. The central building erected for high school -purposes, though only half filled, is not made to relieve the -neighboring grammar school, crowded to such a degree that it cannot -receive the classes which ought to be promoted from the primary -schools. It has happened in such cases that this superstition prevailed -so far that the pupils in the primary school building were kept at work -on studies already finished, because they could not be transferred to -the grammar school. - -In all good school systems the pupils take up new work when they have -completed the old, and the bright pupils are transferred to higher -classes when they have so far distanced their fellows that the amount -of work fixed for the average ability of the class does not give them -enough to do. - -In conclusion, your Committee would state, by way of explanation, that -it has been led into many digressions, in illustrating the details of -its recommendations in this report, through its desire to make clear -the grounds on which it has based its conclusions and through the hope -that such details will call out a still more thorough-going discussion -of the educational values of branches proposed for elementary schools, -and of the methods by which those branches may be successfully taught. - -With a view to increase the interest in this subject, your Committee -recommends the publication of selected passages from the papers sent -in by invited auxiliary committees and by volunteers, many of these -containing valuable suggestions not mentioned in this report. - - - - -Organization for City School Systems. - -BY PRESIDENT ANDREW S. DRAPER. - - [This is the report of a sub-committee of the Fifteen, of which - President Draper of the University of Illinois is chairman.] - - -It is understood that the committee is to treat of city school systems, -which are so large that persons chosen by the people to manage them, -and serving without pay, cannot be expected to transact all the -business of the system in person, nor to have personal knowledge of all -business transactions, and which are so large that one person employed -to supervise the instruction cannot be assumed to personally manage or -direct all of the details thereof, but must, in each case, act under -plans of organization and administration established by law and through -assistants or representatives. - -The end for which a school system exists is the _instruction of the -children_, attaching to the word instruction the meaning it attains -in the mind of a well-educated person, if not in the mind of an -educational expert. - -To secure this end, no plan of organization alone will suffice. Nothing -can take the place of a sincere desire for good schools, of a fair -knowledge of what good schools are, and what will make them, of a -public spirit and a moral sense on the part of the people, which are -spontaneous, or which can be appealed to with confidence. Fortunately, -the interest which the people have in their own children is so large, -and the anxiety of the community for public order and security is so -great, that public sentiment may ordinarily be relied upon, or may be -aroused to action, to choose proper representatives and take proper -measures for the administration of the schools. If, in any case, this -is not so, there is little hope of efficient schools. Wherever it _is_ -so, it alone will not suffice, but proper organization may become the -instrument of public sentiment, and develop schools which will be -equal to the needs of all, and become the safeguards of citizenship. -Efficient schools can be secured only by providing suitable buildings -and appliances, and by keeping them in proper order on the one hand, -and, on the other hand, by employing, organizing, aiding, and directing -teachers, so that the instruction shall have life and power to -accomplish the great end for which schools are maintained. - -The circumstances of the case naturally and quickly separate the duties -of administration into two great departments, one which manages the -business affairs, and the other which supervises the instruction. The -business affairs of the school system may be transacted by any citizens -of common honesty, correct purposes, and of good business experience -and sagacity. The instruction will be ineffective and abnormally -expensive unless put upon a scientific educational basis and supervised -by competent educational experts. - -There will be a waste of money and effort and a lack of results, unless -the authorities of these two departments are sympathetic with each -other; that is, unless, on the one hand, the business management is -sound, is appreciative of good teaching, looks upon it as a scientific -and professional employment, and is alert to sustain it; and unless, on -the other hand, the instructors are competent and self-respecting, know -what good business management is, are glad to uphold it, and are able -to respect those who are charged with responsibility for it. - -To secure efficiency in these departments, there must be adequate -authority and quick public accountability. The problem is not merely -to secure some good schoolhouses, but good schoolhouses wherever -needed, and to avoid the use of all houses which are not suitable -for use; it is not to get some good teaching, but to prevent all bad -teaching, and to advance all the teaching to the highest possible point -of special training, professional spirit, and of life-giving power. All -of the business matters must be entrusted to competent business hands -and managed upon sound business principles; and all of the instruction -must be put upon a professional basis. To insure this, there must be -deliberation and wisdom in determining policy, and then the power to do -what is determined upon must be present and capable of exercise, and -the responsibility for the proper exercise of the power must, in each -case, be individual and immediate. - -It is imperative that we discriminate between the legislative and -executive action in organizing and administering the schools. The -influences which enter into legislative action, looking to the -general organization and work of the schools, must necessarily and -fundamentally flow directly from the people and be widely spread. The -greater the number of people, in proportion to the entire population, -who can be led to take a positive interest and an active part in -securing good schools, the better will the schools be, provided the -people can secure the complete execution of their purposes and plans. -But experience has clearly shown that many causes intervene to prevent -the complete execution of such plans, that all the natural enemies -of sound administration scent plenty of plunder and are especially -active here, that good school administration requires much strength of -character, much business experience, much technical knowledge, and can -be only measurably satisfactory when the responsibility is adequate, -and the penalties for maladministration are severe. Decentralization in -making the plan and determining what shall be done, and centralization -in executing the plan and in doing what is to be done, are, perhaps, -equally important. - -It should be remembered that the character of the school work of a city -is not merely a matter of local interest, and that the maintenance of -the schools does not rest merely or mainly upon local authority. The -people of the municipality, acting, and ordinarily glad to act, but, in -any event, being obliged to act, under and pursuant to the law which -has been ordained by the sovereign authority of the state, establish -and maintain schools. They must have the taxing power which the state -alone possesses in order to enable them to proceed at all. They must -regard the directions which the state sees fit to give as to the -essential character of the schools, when it exercises in their behalf, -or when it delegates to them the power of taxation. - -The plan should be flexible for good, while inflexible for evil. -Meeting essential requirements, the people of the municipality may well -be empowered to proceed as much farther as they will in elaborating a -system of schools. The higher the plane of average intelligence, and -the more generally and the more directly the people act in deciding -what shall be done, and the greater the facility and completeness -with which the intelligence of the city is able to secure the proper -execution of its plans by officers appointed for that purpose, the more -elaborate and the more efficient will be the schools, and this should, -of course, be provided for. - -It is idle to suggest that centering executive functions is unwisely -taking power away from the people. The people cannot execute plans -themselves. The authority to do it must necessarily be delegated. The -question simply is, “Shall it be given to a number of persons, and if -so, to how many? Or to only one?” This question is to be decided by -experience, and it is, of course, true that experience has not been -uniform. But it is doubtless true that the general experience of -the communities of the country has shown that where purely executive -functions are conferred upon a number of persons jointly, they yield -to antagonistic influences and shift the responsibility from one to -another; and that centering the responsibility for the proper discharge -of executive duties upon a single person, who gets the credit of good -work and must bear the disgrace or penalty of bad work, and who can -quickly be held accountable for misdeeds and inefficiency, has secured -the fullest execution of public plans and the largest results. To call -this “centralization,” with the meaning which commonly attaches to the -word, is inaccurate. Instead of removing the power from the people, -it is keeping the power closer to the people, and making it possible -for the citizen in his individual capacity and for organized bodies -of citizens to secure the execution of plans according to the purpose -and intent with which those plans were made. Indeed, it is safe to -say that experience has shown that this is _the only way_ in which to -prevent the frequent thwarting of the popular will and the defiance of -individuals whose interests are ignored or whose rights are invaded. - -But all the people of a city whose population is numbered by hundreds -of thousands or millions cannot meet in a legislative assemblage to -formulate plans. They cannot gather in mass meetings, and, if they -could, mass meetings cannot deliberate. Even their legislative action -must flow, not from a primary, but from a representative assembly. - -What shall such a representative legislative body be called? How shall -it be chosen? Of how many members shall it be composed? And what shall -be its powers? These and other similar questions are all important -and must be determined by the law-making power of the state. The -sentiments of the city, as expressed through the local organizations, -and particularly the newspapers, must, of course, have much weight -with the legislature if there is anything like unanimity or any very -strong preponderance of opinion in the city, for the plan for which -a community expresses a preference will surely be likely to operate -most effectually in that community. But the local sentiment is not -conclusive. When divided, it is no guide at all. The legislature is -to take all the circumstances into consideration, take the world’s -experience for its guide, and, acting under its responsibilities, it -must exercise its high powers in ways which will build up a system of -schools in the city likely to articulate with the state educational -system and become the effective instrument of developing the -intelligence and training the character of the children of the city up -to the ideals of the state. - -The name of the legislative branch of the school government is not -material, and the one to which the people are accustomed may well -continue to be employed. There is no name more appropriate than the -“Board of Education.” - -The manner of selecting or appointing the members of this legislative -body may turn somewhat upon the circumstances of the city. We are -strongly of the opinion that in view of the well-known difficulty about -securing the attendance of the most interested and intelligent electors -at school elections, as well as because of the apparent impossibility -of freeing school elections from political or municipal issues, the -better manner of elections is by appointment. If the members of the -board are appointed, the mayor of the city is likely to be the official -to whom the power of appointment may most safely be entrusted. The -mayor is not suggested because his office should sustain any relation -to the school system, but in spite of the fact that it does not and -should not. The school system should be _absolutely emancipated -from partisan politics, and completely dissociated from municipal -business_. But we think the appointments should be made by some one -person, rather than by a board. The mayor is representative of the -whole city and all its interests. While not chosen with any reference -to the interests of the schools, he may be assumed to have information -as to the fitness of citizens for particular responsibilities, and -to be desirous of promoting the educational interests of the people. -If he is given the power of appointment, he should be particularly -enjoined by law to consider the fitness of individuals alone and pay no -regard to party affiliations, unless it be to particularly see to it -that no one political party has an overwhelming preponderance in the -board. The mayor very commonly feels constrained, under the pressure -of party expediency, to make so many questionable appointments, that -he is only too glad, and particularly so when enjoined by the law, to -make very acceptable appointments of members of school boards, in order -that he may gratify the better sentiment of the city. We are confident -that the problem of getting a representative board of education is -not so difficult as many think, if the board is not permitted to -make patronage of work and salaried positions at the disposal of the -public-school system. Under such circumstances, and more and more so -as we have approached such circumstances, appointment in the way we -suggest has produced the best school boards in the larger cities of the -country. - -The members of school boards should be representative of the whole -population and of all their common educational interests, and should -not be chosen to represent any ward or subdivision of the territory, -or any party or element in the political, religious, or social life -thereof. Where this principle is not enforced, the members will feel -bound to gain what advantage they can for the district or interests -they represent; bitter contests will ensue, and the common interests -will suffer. - -Attempts to eliminate partisanship from school administration, -by arraying an equal number of partisans against each other in -school boards, do not, at best, lead to an ideal organization. In -some instances they have proved fairly successful; in others, very -mischievous. The true course is to insist that all who have any -share in the management of the schools shall divest themselves of -partisanship, whether political or religious, in such management, and -give themselves wholly to the high interests entrusted to them. If -it be said that this cannot be realized, it may be answered, without -admitting it, that even if that were so, it would be no reason why -the friends of the schools should not assert the sound principle and -secure its enforcement as far as possible. We must certainly give no -countenance to make-shifts, which experience has shown to be misleading -and expensive. The right must prevail in the end, and the earlier and -more strongly it is contended for, the sooner it will prevail. - -Relatively small boards are preferable to large ones. In a city of less -than a half-million of inhabitants, the number should not exceed nine, -and might well not exceed five. In the very largest cities it might be -enlarged to fifteen. - -The term for which members are appointed should be a reasonably long -one, say, five years. - -We think it an excellent plan to provide for two branches and sets of -powers in the board of education; the one to have the veto power, or, -at least, to act as a check upon the acts of the other. This may be -accomplished by creating the office of school director and charging -the incumbent with executive duties on the business side of the -administration, and by giving him the veto power over the acts of the -other branch of the board, which may be called the “School Council.” -Beyond the care and conservation which is ensured by two sets of powers -acting against each other, it has the advantage of giving the chief -executive officer of the system just as high and good a title as that -of members of the board, it is likely to secure a more representative -man, and gives him larger prerogatives in the discharge of his -executive duties and better standing among the people, particularly -among the employees and teachers associated with the public-school -system. - -If this plan is adopted, the school director should be required to -give his entire time to the duties of his position, and be properly -compensated therefor. He should be the custodian of all property and -should appoint all assistants, janitors, and workmen, authorized by the -board, for the care of the same. He should give bond, with sufficient -sureties and penalties, for the faithful and proper discharge of all -his duties. He should be authorized by law to expend funds, within a -fixed limit, for repairs, appliances, and help, without the action of -the board. All contracts should be made by him, and should run in his -name, and he should be charged with the responsibility of seeing that -they are faithfully and completely executed. All contracts involving -more than a limited and fixed sum of money should be let upon bids -to be advertised for and opened in public. He should have a seat in -the board of education; should not vote, but should have the power to -veto, either absolutely or conditionally, any of the acts of the board, -through a written communication. This officer and the school council -should together constitute the board of education. - -The board of education should be vested with legislative functions -only, and be required to act wholly through formal and recorded -resolutions. It should determine and direct the general policy of the -school system. Within reasonable limits, as to amount, it should be -given power, in its discretion, to levy whatever moneys may be needed -for school purposes. It should control the expenditure of all moneys -beyond a fixed and limited amount, which may safely and advantageously -be left to the discretion of the chief executive business officer. -It should authorize, by general resolutions, the appointment of -necessary officers and employees in the business department, and -the superintendent, assistants, and teachers in the department of -instruction, but it should be allowed to make no appointments other -than its own clerk. With this necessary exception, single officers -should be charged with responsibility for all appointments. - -This plan, not in all, but in essential particulars, has been on trial -in the city of Cleveland for nearly three years, and has worked with -very general acceptability. - -If this plan is adopted, the chief executive officer of the system -is already provided for and his duties have already been indicated. -Otherwise it will be necessary for the board to appoint such an -officer. In that event, the law should declare him independent, confer -upon him adequate authority for the performance of executive duties, -and charge him with responsibility. But we know of no statutory -language capable of making an officer appointed by a board, and -dependent upon the same board for supplies, independent in fact of the -personal wishes of the members of that board. And right here is where -the troubles rush in to discredit and damage the school system. - -We now come to the subject of paramount importance in making a plan -for the school government in a great city, namely, the character of -the teaching force and the quality of the instruction. A city school -system may be able to withstand some abuses on the business side of its -administration and continue to perform its functions with measurable -success, but wrongs against the instruction must, in a little time, -prove fatal. The strongest language is none too strong here. The -safety of the republic, the security of American citizenship, are at -stake. Government by the people has no more dangerous pitfall in its -road than this, that in the mighty cities of the land the comfortable -and intelligent masses, who are discriminating more and more closely -about the education of their children, shall become dissatisfied with -the social status of the teachers and the quality of the teaching in -the common schools. In that event they will educate their children at -their own expense, and the public schools will become only good enough -for those who can afford no better. The only way to avert this is by -maintaining the instruction upon a purely scientific and professional -footing. This is entirely practicable, but it involves much care and -expense in training teachers, the absolute elimination of favoritism -from appointments, the security of the right to advancement after -appointment, on the basis of merit, and a general leadership which -is kindly, helpful, and stimulating to individuals, which can secure -harmonious coöperation from all the members, and lends energy and -inspiration to the whole body. - -This cannot be secured if there is any lack of authority, and -experience amply proves that it will not be secured if there is any -division of responsibility. The whole matter of instruction must -be placed in the hands of a superintendent of instruction, with -independent powers and adequate authority, who is charged with full -responsibility. - -The danger of inconsiderate or improper action by one vested with -such powers is, of course, possible, but it is remote. Regardless of -the legal powers with which he may be individually vested, he is in -fact and in law a part of a large system. He must act through others, -and in the presence of multitudes. There is great publicity about all -he does. When a single officer carries such responsibility, he is at -the focus of all eyes. There are the strongest incentives to right -action. He cannot act wrongfully without it is known, at least to many -persons. If he is required to act under and pursuant to a plan, the -details of which have been announced, and of which we shall speak in -a moment, a wrongful act will be known to the world, and he must bear -the responsibility of it, and the danger of maladministration is almost -eliminated. - -Moreover, we must consider the alternative. It is not in doubt. All -who have had any contact with the subject are familiar with it. It is -administration by boards or committees, the members of which are not -competent to manage professional matters and develop an expert teaching -force. Though necessarily inexperienced, they frequently assume the -knowledge of the most experienced. They over-ride and degrade a -superintendent, when they have the power to do so, until he becomes -their mere factotum. For the sake of harmony and the continuance of -his position, he concedes, surrenders, and acquiesces in their acts, -while the continually increasing teaching force becomes weaker and -weaker, and the work poorer and poorer. If he refuses to do this, they -precipitate an open rupture, and turn him out of his position. Then -they cloud the issues and shift the responsibility from one to another. -There are exceptions, of course, but they do not change the rule. - -It will be unprofitable to mince words about this all-important matter. -If the course of study for the public schools of a great city is to -be determined by laymen, it will not be suited to the needs of a -community. If teachers are to be appointed by boards or committees, -the members of which are particularly sensitive to the desires of -people who have votes or influence, looseness of action is inevitable, -and unworthy considerations will frequently prevail. If the action -of a board or committee be conditioned upon the recommendation of a -superintendent, the plan will not suffice. No one person is stronger -than the system of which he is a part. Such a plan results in contests -between the board and the superintendents, and such a contest is -obviously an unequal one. There is little doubt of the outcome. In -recommending for the appointment of teachers, the personal wishes of -members of the board, in particular cases, will have to be acquiesced -in. If a teacher, no matter how unfit, cannot be dropped from the list -without the approval of a board or committee after they have heard -from her friends and sympathizers, she will remain indefinitely in the -service. This means a low tone in the teaching force and desolation in -the work of the schools. If the superintendent accepts the situation, -he becomes less and less capable of developing a professional teaching -service. If he refuses to accept it, he is very likely to meet -humiliation; dismissal is practically inevitable. - -The superintendent of instruction should be charged with no duty save -the supervision of the instruction, but should be charged with the -responsibility of making that professional and scientific, and should -be given the position and authority to accomplish that end. - -If the board of education is constituted upon the old plan, he must -be chosen by the board. If it is constituted upon the Cleveland plan, -he may be appointed by the school director, with the approval of -two-thirds or three-fourths of the council. The latter plan seems -preferable, for it centralizes the main responsibility of this -important appointment in a single individual. In either case, the law -and the sentiment of the city should direct that the appointee shall be -a person liberally educated, professionally trained; one who knows what -good teaching is, but is also experienced in administration, in touch -with public affairs, and in sympathy with popular feeling. - -The term of the superintendent of instruction should be from five -to ten years, and until a successor is appointed. In our judgment, -it should be determinate, so that there may be a time of public -examination, but it should be sufficiently long to enable one to lay -foundations and show results, without being carried under by the -prejudices which always follow the first operation of efficient or -drastic plans. The salary should be fixed by law, and not subject to -change in the middle of a term or except by law. - -For reasons already suggested, the superintendent, once appointed, -should have power to appoint, from an eligible list, all assistants and -teachers authorized by the board, and unlimited authority to assign -them to their respective positions, and reassign them or remove them -from the force at his discretion. - -To secure a position upon the eligible list from which appointments -may be made, a candidate, if without experience, should be required -to complete the full four years’ course of the city high schools, -or its equivalent, and in addition thereto pass the examination of -the board of examiners, and complete at least a year’s course of -professional training in a city normal training school under the -direction of the superintendent. If the candidate has had, say, three -years of successful experience as a teacher, he should be eligible -to appointment by passing an examination held by a general examining -board. This board may be appointed by the board of education, but -should examine none but graduates of the high school and training -school, unless specially requested so to do by the superintendent of -instruction. The number admitted to the training schools should be -limited, and the examinations should be gauged to the prospective needs -of the elementary schools for new teachers. The supply of new teachers -may well be largely, but should not be wholly, drawn from this local -source. The force will gain fresh vitality by some appointments of good -and experienced teachers from outside. - -The work of putting a large teaching force upon a professional basis, -of making the teaching scientific and capable of arousing mind to -action, is so difficult that a layman can scarcely appreciate it. -It has hardly been commenced, it has only been made possible, when -the avenues of approach to the service have been closed against the -unqualified and unworthy. After that the supervision must be close -and general, as well as sympathetic and decisive. The superintendent -must have expert assistants enough to learn the characteristics and -measure the work of every member of the force. They must help and -encourage, advise and direct, according to the circumstances of each -case. The work must be reduced to a system and the workers brought into -harmonious relations. Each room must show neatness and life, and the -whole force must show ardor and enthusiasm. By directing the reading, -by encouraging an interchange of visits, by organizing clubs for -self-improvement, by frequent class and grade and general meetings, the -professional spirit may be aroused and the work energized. - -Those who show teaching power, versatility, amiability, reliability, -steadiness, and growth must be rewarded with the highest positions: -those who lack fibre, who have no energy, who are incapable of -enthusiasm, who will not work agreeably with their associates, must -go upon the retired list. Directness and openness must be encouraged. -Attempts to invoke social, political, religious, or other outside -influences to secure preferment must operate to close the door to -advancement. In general and in particular, bad teaching must be -prevented. In every room a firm and kindly management must prevail -and good teaching must be apparent. All must work along common lines -which will ensure general and essential ends. Until a teacher can do -this and can be relied upon to do it, she must be helped and directed: -when it is manifest that she cannot or will not do it, she must be -dismissed; when she does show that she can do it and wants to do -it, she must be left to exercise her own judgment and originality -and do it in her own way. In the schoolroom the teacher must be -secure against interference. In all the affairs of the school her -judgment must be trusted to the utmost limit of safety. Then judgment -will strengthen, and self-respect and public respect will grow. The -qualities which develop in the teacher will develop in the school. -To develop these qualities with any degree of uniformity, in a large -teaching force, requires steady and uniform treatment through a long -course of years under superintendence which is professional, strong, -just, and courageous, which has ample assistance and authority, which -is worthy of public confidence, and knows how to marshal facts, -present arguments, and appeal to the intelligence and integrity of the -community with success. - -It is the business of the plan of organization to secure such -superintendence. It cannot be secured through an ordinary board -of education operating on the old plan. It is well known what the -influences are which are everywhere prevalent and must inevitably -prevent it. It may be secured in the law, and it must be secured there, -or it will not be secured at all. - -In concluding this portion of the report, the committee indicates -briefly the principles which must necessarily be observed in framing a -plan of organization and government in a large city school system. - -_First._--The affairs of the schools should not be mixed up with -partisan contents or municipal business. - -_Second._--There should be a sharp distinction between legislative -functions and executive duties. - -_Third._--Legislative functions should be clearly fixed by statute and -be exercised by a relatively small board, each member of which board -is representative of the whole city. This board, within statutory -limitations, should determine the policy of the system, levy taxes, -and control the expenditures. It should make no appointments. Every -act should be by a recorded resolution. It is preferable that this -board be created by appointment rather than election, and that it be -constituted of two branches acting against each other. - -_Fourth._--Administration should be separated into two great -independent departments, one of which manages the business interests -and the other of which supervises the instruction. Each of these should -be wholly directed by a single official, who is vested with ample -authority and charged with full responsibility for sound administration. - -_Fifth._--The chief executive officer on the business side should be -charged with the care of all property, and with the duty of keeping -it in suitable condition; he should provide all necessary furnishings -and appliances; he should make all agreements and see that they are -properly performed; he should appoint all assistants, janitors, and -workmen. In a word, he should do all that the law contemplates, and -all that the board authorizes, concerning the business affairs of the -school system, and when anything goes wrong, he should answer for it. -He may be appointed by the board, but we think it preferable that he -be chosen in the same way the members of the board are chosen, and be -given a veto upon the acts of the board. - -_Sixth._--The chief executive officer of the department of instruction -should be given a long term, and may be appointed by the board. If -the board is constituted of two branches, he should be nominated by -the business executive and confirmed by the legislative branch. Once -appointed, he should be independent. He should appoint all authorized -assistants and teachers from an eligible list, to be constituted as -provided by law. He should assign to duties and discontinue services -for cause at his discretion. He should determine all matters relating -to instruction. He should be charged with the responsibility of -developing a professional and enthusiastic teaching force and of -making all the teaching scientific and forceful. He must perfect the -organization of his department, and make and carry out plans to -accomplish this. If he cannot do this in a reasonable time, he should -be superseded by one who can. - -The government of a vast city school system comes to have an autonomy -which is largely its own, and almost independent of direction or -restraint. The volume of business which this government transacts is -represented only by millions of dollars; it calls not only for the -highest sagacity and the ripest experience, but also for much special -information relating to school property and school affairs. Even -more important than this is the fact that this government controls -and determines the educational policy of the city and carries on the -instruction of tens or hundreds of thousands of children, and this -instruction is of little value, and perhaps vicious, unless it is -professional and scientific. This government is representative. All -citizens are compelled to support it, and all have large interests -which it is bound to promote. Every parent has rights which it is the -duty of this school government to protect and enforce. When government -exacts our support of public education, when it comes into our homes -and takes our children into its custody and instructs them according -to its will, we acquire a right which is as exalted as any right of -property, or of person, or of conscience can be, and that is the -right to know that the environment is healthful, that the management -is kindly and ennobling, and that the instruction is rational and -scientific. It is needless to say to what extent these interests are -impeded or blocked, or how commonly these rights of citizenship and of -parentage are denied or defied, or how helpless the individual is who -seeks their enforcement, under the system of school government which -has heretofore obtained in some of the great cities of the country. -This is not surprising. It is only the logical result of the rapid -growth of cities, of a marvelous advance in knowledge of what is needed -in the schools, of the antagonism of selfish interests, by which -all public administration, and particularly school administration, -is encompassed, and of the lack of plan and system, the confusion of -powers, the absence of individual responsibility, in the government -of a system of schools. By the census of 1890 there are seven cities -in the United States each with a population greater than any one of -sixteen states. The aggregate population of twelve cities exceeds -the aggregate population of twenty states. Government for education -certainly requires as strong and responsible an organization as -government for any other purpose. These great centres of population, -with their vast and complex educational problems, have passed the -stage when government by the time-honored commission will suffice. No -popular government ever determined the policy and administered the -affairs of such large bodies of people successfully, ever transacted -such a vast volume of business satisfactorily, ever promoted high -and beneficent ends, ever afforded protection to the rights of each -individual of the great multitude, unless in its plan of organization -there was an organic separation of executive, legislative, and -judicial functions and powers. All the circumstances of the case -and the uniform experience of the world forbid our expecting any -substantial solution of the problem we are considering until it is -well settled in the sentiments of the people that the school systems -of the greatest cities are only a part of the school systems of -the states of which these cities form a part, and are subject to -the legislative authority thereof; until there is a plan of school -government in each city which differentiates executive acts from -legislative functions; which emancipates the legislative branch of -that government from the influence of pelf-seekers; which fixes upon -individuals the responsibility for executive acts, either performed or -omitted; which gives to the intelligence of the community the power to -influence legislation and exact perfect and complete execution; which -gives every citizen whose interests are ignored, or whose rights are -invaded, a place for complaint and redress; and which puts the business -interests upon a business footing, the teaching upon an expert basis, -and gives to the instruction that protection and encouragement which is -vital to the development of all professional and scientific work. - - - - -On the Training of Teachers. - -BY SUPERINTENDENT H. S. TARBELL, PROVIDENCE. - -[Report of the Fifteen. Read at the Cleveland meeting of the Department -of Superintendence, February 19, 1895.] - - -This report treats of the training of elementary and secondary -teachers, considering first that training which should precede teaching -in elementary schools. By elementary schools are meant the primary and -grammar departments of graded schools, and ungraded or rural schools. - -That teachers are “born, not made,” has been so fully the world’s -thought until the present century that a study of subjects, without -any study of principles or methods of teaching, has been deemed quite -sufficient. Modern educational thought and modern practice, in all -sections where excellent schools are found, confirm the belief that -there is a profound philosophy on which educational methods are based, -and that careful study of this philosophy and its application under -expert guidance are essential to making fit the man born to teach. - - -_Conditions for professional training--age and attainments._ - -It is a widely prevalent doctrine, to which the customs of our best -schools conform, that teachers of elementary schools should have a -secondary or high school education, and that teachers of high schools -should have a collegiate education. Your committee believe that these -are the minimum acquirements that can generally be accepted, that -the scholarship, culture, and power gained by four years of study in -advance of the pupils are not too much to be rightfully demanded, and -that as a rule no one ought to become a teacher who has not the age -and attainments presupposed in the possessor of a high-school diploma. -There are differences in high schools, it is true, and a high-school -diploma is not a fixed standard of attainment; but in these United -States it is one of the most definite and uniform standards that we -possess, and varies less than college degrees vary or than elementary -schools and local standards of culture vary. - -It is, of course, implied in the foregoing remarks that the high school -from which the candidate comes is known to be a reputable school, and -that its diploma is proof of the completion of a good four-years’ -course in a creditable manner. If these conditions do not exist, -careful examination is the only recourse. - -If this condition, high-school graduation or proof by examination of -equivalent scholarship, be accepted, the questions of the age and -attainment to be reached before entering upon professional study and -training are already settled. But if a more definite statement be -desired, then it may be said that the candidate for admission to a -normal or training school should be eighteen years of age and should -have studied English, mathematics, and science to the extent usually -pursued in high schools, should be able to write readily, correctly, -and methodically upon topics within the teacher’s necessary range -of thought and conversation, and should have studied, for two or -more years, at least one language besides English. Skill in music -and drawing is desirable, particularly ability to sketch readily and -effectively. - - -_Training schools._ - -The training of teachers may be done in normal schools, normal classes -in academies and high schools, and in city training schools. To all -these the general term “training schools” will be applied. Those -instructed in these schools will be called pupils while engaged in -professional study, and pupil-teachers or teachers-in-training while -in practice-teaching preparatory to graduation. Teachers whose work -is to be observed by pupil-teachers will be called model-teachers; -teachers in charge of pupil-teachers during their practice work will -be called critic-teachers. In some institutions model-teachers and -critic-teachers are the same persons. The studies usually pursued -in academies and high schools will be termed academic, and those -post-academic studies to be pursued before or during practice-teaching -as a preparation therefor will be termed professional. - - -_Academic studies._ - -Whether academic studies have any legitimate place in a normal or -training school is a question much debated. It cannot be supposed that -your committee can settle in a paragraph a question upon which many -essays have been written, many speeches delivered, and over which much -controversy has been waged. - -If training schools are to be distinguished from other secondary -schools, they must do a work not done in other schools. So far as they -teach common branches of study, they are doing what other schools are -doing, and have small excuse for existence; but it may be granted that -methods can practically be taught only as to subjects, that the study -done in professional schools may so treat of the subjects of study, -not as objects to be required, but as objects to be presented, that -their treatment shall be wholly professional. - -One who is to teach a subject needs to know it as a whole, made up of -related and subordinate parts, and hence must study it by a method -that will give this knowledge. It is not necessary to press the -argument that many pupils enter normal and training schools with such -slight preparation as to require instruction in academic subjects. The -college with a preparatory department is, as a rule, an institution of -distinctly lower grade than one without such a department. Academic -work in normal schools that is of the nature of preparation for -professional work lowers the standard and perhaps the usefulness of -such a school; but academic work done as a means of illustrating or -enforcing professional truth has its place in a professional school as -in effect a part of the professional work. Professional study differs -widely from academic study. In the one, a science is studied in its -relation to the studying mind; in the other, in reference to its -principles and applications. The aim of one kind of study is power to -apply; of the other, power to present. The tendency of the one is to -bring the learner into sympathy with the natural world, of the other -with the child world. How much broader becomes the teacher who takes -both the academic and the professional view! He who learns that he -may know and he who learns that he may teach are standing in quite -different mental attitudes. One works for knowledge of subject-matter, -the other that his knowledge may have due organization, that he may -bring to consciousness the apperceiving ideas by means of which matter -and method may be suitably conjoined. - -How to study is knowledge indispensable to knowing how to teach. The -method of teaching can best be illustrated by teaching. The attitude -of a pupil in a training school must be that of a learner whose mental -stores are expanding, who faces the great world of knowledge with the -purpose to survey a portion of it. If we insist upon a sufficient -preparation for admission, the question of what studies to pursue, and -especially the controversy between professional and academic work, will -be mainly settled. - - -_Professional work._ - -Professional training comprises two parts: (_a_) The science of -teaching, and (_b_) the art of teaching. - -In the _science of teaching_ are included: (1) Psychology as a basis -for principles and methods; (2) Methodology as a guide to instruction; -(3) School economy, which adjusts the conditions of work; and (4) -History of education, which gives breadth of view. - -The _art of teaching_ is best gained: (1) by observation of good -teaching; (2) by practice-teaching under criticism. - - -_Relative time._ - -The existence and importance of each of these elements in the training -of teachers are generally acknowledged. Their order and proportionate -treatment give rise to differences of opinion. Some would omit the -practice work entirely, launching the young teacher upon independent -work directly from her pupilage in theory. Others, and much the greater -number, advise some preparation in the form of guided experience before -the training be considered complete. These vary greatly in their -estimate of the proportionate time to be given to practice during -training. The answers to the question “What proportion?” which your -committee has received range from one-sixteenth to two-thirds as -the proportion of time to be given to practice. The greater number, -however, advocate a division of time about equal between theory and -practice. - -The normal schools incline to the smallest proportion for -practice-teaching, the city training-schools to the largest. It should -be borne in mind, however, that city training-schools are a close -continuation, usually, of high schools, and that the high-school -courses give a more uniform and probably a more adequate preparation -than the students entering normal schools have usually had. Their -facilities for practice-teaching are much greater than normal schools -can secure, and for this reason also practice is made relatively more -important. As to the relative merits of city training-schools and -normal schools, your committee does not desire to express an opinion; -the conditions of education demand the existence of both, and both -are necessities of educational advancement. It is important to add, -however, that in the judgment of your committee not less than half of -the time spent under training by the apprentice-teacher should be given -to observation and practice, and that this practice in its conditions -should be as similar as possible to the work she will later be required -to do independently. - - -_Science of teaching--psychology._ - -The laws of apperception teach that one is ready to apprehend new -truth most readily when he has already established a considerable and -well-arranged body of ideas thereon. - -Suggestion, observation, and reflection are each most fruitful when -a foundation of antecedent knowledge has been provided. Hence your -committee recommends that early in their course of study teachers -in training assume as true the well-known facts of psychology and -the essential principles of education, and make their later study -and practice in the light of these principles. These principles thus -become the norm of educational thought, and their truth is continually -demonstrated by subsequent experience. From this time theory and -practice should proceed together in mutual aid and support. - -Most fundamental and important of the professional studies which -ought to be pursued by one intending to teach is psychology. This -study should be pursued at two periods of the training-school course, -the beginning and the end, and its principles should be appealed to -daily when not formally studied. The method of study should be both -deductive and inductive. The terminology should be early learned -from a suitable text-book, and significance given to the terms by -introspection, observation, and analysis. Power of introspection should -be gained, guidance in observation should be given, and confirmation -of psychological principles should be sought on every hand. The habit -of thinking analytically and psychologically should be formed by every -teacher. At the close of the course a more profound and more completely -inductive study of physiological psychology should be made. In this -way, a tendency to investigate should be encouraged or created. - - -_Study of children._ - -Modern educational thought emphasizes the opinion that the child, not -the subject of study, is the guide to the teacher’s efforts. To know -the child is of paramount importance. How to know the child must be -an important item of instruction to the teacher in training. The child -must be studied as to his physical, mental, and moral condition. Is he -in good health? Are his senses of sight and hearing normal, or in what -degree abnormal? What is his temperament? Which of his faculties seem -weak or dormant? Is he eye-minded or ear-minded? What are his powers of -attention? What are his likes and dislikes? How far is his moral nature -developed, and what are its tendencies? By what tests can the degree of -difference between bright and dull children be estimated? - -To study effectively and observingly these and similar questions -respecting children is a high art. No common-sense power of discerning -human nature is sufficient; though common sense and sympathy go a -long way in such study. Weighing, measuring, elaborate investigation -requiring apparatus and laboratory methods, are for experts, not -teachers in training. Above all, it must ever be remembered that the -child is to be studied as a personality and not as an object to be -weighed or analyzed. - - -_Methodology._ - -A part of the work under this head must be a study of the mental and -moral effects of different methods of teaching and examination, the -relative value of individual and class instruction at different periods -of school life and in the study of different branches. The art of -questioning is to be studied in its foundation principles and by the -illustration of the best examples. Some review of the branches which -are to be taught may be made, making the teacher’s knowledge of them -ready and distinct as to the relations of the several parts of the -subject to one another and of the whole to kindred subjects. These -and many such subjects should be discussed in the class in pedagogy, -investigation should be begun, and the lines on which it can be -followed should be distinctly laid down. - -The laws of psychology, or the capabilities and methods of -mind-activity, are themselves the fundamental laws of teaching, which -is the act of exciting normal and profitable mind-action. Beyond -these fundamental laws, the principles of education are to be derived -inductively. These inductions when brought to test will be found to be -rational inferences from psychological laws and thus founded upon and -explained by them. - - -_School economy._ - -School economy, though a factor of great importance in the teacher’s -training, can be best studied by the teacher of some maturity and -experience, and is of more value in the equipment of secondary than -of elementary teachers. Only its outlines and fundamental principles -should be studied in the ordinary training-school. - - -_History of education._ - -Breadth of mind consists in the power to view facts and opinions from -the standpoints of others. It is this truth which makes the study of -history in a full, appreciative way so influential in giving mental -breadth. This general advantage the history of education has in still -larger degree, because our interest in the views and experiences of -those engaged like us in training the young enables us to enter more -fully into their thoughts and purposes than we could into those of -the warrior or ruler. From the efforts of the man we imagine his -surroundings, which, we contrast with our own. To the abstract element -of theoretical truth is added the warm human interest we feel in the -hero, the generous partisan of truth. The history of education is -particularly full of examples of noble purpose, advanced thought, and -moral heroism. It is inspiring to fill our minds with these human -ideals. We read in the success of the unpractical Pestalozzi the award -made to self-sacrifice, sympathy, and enthusiasm expended in giving -application to a vital truth. - -But with enthusiasm for ideals history gives us caution, warns us -against the moving of the pendulum, and gives us points of departure -from which to measure progress. It gives us courage to attack difficult -problems. It shows which the abiding problems are--those that can be -solved only by waiting, and not tossed aside by a supreme effort. It -shows us the progress of the race, the changing ideals of the perfect -man, and the means by which men have sought to realize these ideals. -We can from its study better answer the question, What is education, -what may it accomplish, and how may its ideals be realized? It gives -the evolution of the present and explains anomalies in our work. And -yet the history of education is not a subject to be treated extensively -in a training school. All but the outlines may better be reserved for -later professional reading. - - -_Training in teaching._ - -Training to teach requires (1) schools for observation, and (2) schools -for practice. - -Of necessity, these schools must be separate in purpose and in -organization. A practice-school cannot be a model school. The -pupil-teachers should have the opportunity to observe the best -models of the teaching art; and the manner, methods, and devices of -the model-teacher should be noted, discussed, and referred to the -foundation principles on which they rest. Allowable modifications of -this observed work may be suggested by the pupil-teacher and approved -by the teacher in charge. - -There should be selected certain of the best teachers in regular -school work, whom the pupil-teachers may be sent to observe. The -pupil-teachers should take no part in the school work nor cause any -change therein. They should, however, be told in advance by the -teacher what purpose she seeks to accomplish. This excites expectation -and brings into consciousness the apperceiving ideas by which the -suggestions of the exercise, as they develop, may be seized and -assimilated. - -At first these visits should be made in company with their teacher -of methods, and the work of a single class in one subject should be -first observed. After such visits the teacher of methods in the given -subject should discuss with the pupil-teachers the work observed. -The pupil-teachers should first describe the work they have seen and -specify the excellences noted, and tell why these thing are commendable -and upon what laws of teaching they are based. Next, the pupil-teachers -should question the teacher of methods as to the cause, purpose, or -influence of things noted, and matters of doubtful propriety--if -there be such--should be considered. Then the teacher in turn should -question her pupil-teachers as to matters that seem to have escaped -their notice, as to the motive of the model-teacher, as to the reason -for the order of treatment, or form of question, wherein lay the merit -of her method, the secret of her power. When pupil-teachers have made -such observations several times, with several teachers, and in several -subjects, the broader investigation may be made as to the organization -of one of the model rooms, its daily programme of recitations and of -study, the methods of discipline, the relations between pupils and -teacher, the “school spirit,” the school movements, and class progress. -This work should be done before teaching groups or classes of pupils is -attempted, and should form an occasional exercise during the period of -practice-teaching as a matter of relief and inspiration. If an artist -requires the suggestive help of a good example that stirs his own -originality, why should not a teacher? - - -_The practice-school._ - -During the course in methodology certain steps preparatory to -practice-teaching may be taken. 1. The pupil-teacher may analyze the -topic to be taught, noting essentials and incidentals, seeking the -connections of the subject with the mental possessions of the pupils -to be considered and the sequences from these points of contact to the -knowledge to be gained under instruction. 2. Next, plans of lessons may -be prepared and series of questions for teaching the given subjects. -3. Giving lessons to fellow pupil-teachers leads to familiarity with -the mechanism of class work, such as calling, directing, and dismissing -classes, gives the beginner ease and self-confidence, leads to careful -preparation of lessons, gives skill in asking questions, and in the use -of apparatus. - -The practice-teaching should be in another school, preferably in a -different building, and should commence with group-teaching in a -recitation-room apart from the schoolroom. Actual teaching of small -groups of children gives opportunity for the study of the child-mind -in its efforts at reception and assimilation of new ideas, and -shows the modifications in lesson plans that must be made to adapt -the subject-matter to the child’s tastes and activities. But the -independent charge for a considerable time of a schoolroom with a full -quota of pupils, the pupil-teacher and the children being much of -the time the sole occupants of the room,--in short, the realization -of ordinary school conditions, with the opportunity to go for advice -to a friendly critic, is the most valuable practice; and no practice -short of this can be considered of great value except as preparation -for this chief form of preparatory practice. All this work should have -its due proportion only, or evil may result. For example, lesson plans -tend to formalism, to self-conceit, to work in few and narrow lines, -to study of subjects rather than of pupils; lessons to fellow-pupils -make one self-conscious, hinder the growth of enthusiasm in work, and -are entirely barren if carried beyond a very few exercises; teaching -groups of children for considerable time unfits the teacher for the -double burden of discipline and instruction, to bear both of which -simultaneously and easily is the teacher’s greatest difficulty and most -essential power. - -A critic-teacher should be appointed to the oversight of two such -pupil-teachers, each in charge of a schoolroom. The critic may also -supervise one or more teachers practicing for brief periods daily with -groups of children. - -The pupil-teachers are now to emphasize practice rather than theory, -to work under the direction of one who regards the interests of the -children quite as much as those of the teacher-in-training. The critic -must admit the principles of education and general methods taught by -the teacher of methodology, but she may have her own devices and even -special methods that need not be those of the teacher of methodology. -No harm will come to the teachers-in-training if they learn that -principles must be assented to by all, but that methods may bear the -stamp of the personality of the teacher; that all things must be -considered from the point of view of their effect upon the pupils; the -critic maintaining the claims of the children, the teacher of methods -conforming to the laws of mind and the science of the subjects taught. -The critics must teach for their pupil-teachers and show in action the -justness of their suggestions. In this sense they are model-teachers as -well as critics. - -The critic should, at the close of school, meet her pupil-teachers -for a report of their experiences through the day: What they have -attempted, how they have tried to do it, why they did so, and -what success they gained. Advice as to overcoming difficulties, -encouragement under trial, caution if need be, help for the work of -to-morrow, occupy the hour. Above all, the critic should be a true -friend, a womanly and cultivated woman, and an inspiring companion, -whose presence is helpful to work and improving to personality. - - -_Length of training-school course._ - -There are three elements which determine the time to be spent in a -training school--the time given to academic studies, the time given -to professional studies, and the time given to practice. The sum of -these periods will be the time required for the training course. Taking -these in the inverse order, let us consider how much time is required -for practice work with pupils. The time given to lesson outlines and -practice with fellow pupil-teachers may be considered a part of the -professional study rather than of practice-teaching. The period of -practice with pupils must not be too short, whether we consider the -interests of the pupils or of the teachers-in-training. An effort is -usually made to counteract the effect upon the children of a succession -of crude efforts of teachers beginning practice by strengthening the -teaching and supervision through the employment of a considerable -number of model and supervisory teachers, and by dividing the pupils -into small groups, so that much individual work can be done. These -arrangements, while useful for their purpose, destroy to a considerable -degree the usual conditions under which school work is to be done, and -tend to render the teachers-in-training formal and imitative. - -The practice room should be, as far as may be, the ordinary school, -with the difficulties and responsibilities that will be met later. -The responsibility for order, discipline, progress, records, reports, -communication with parents and school authorities, must fall fully upon -the young teacher, who has a friendly assistant to whom she can go for -advice in the person of a wise and experienced critic, not constantly -at hand, but constantly within reach. - -Between the critic and the teacher-in-training there should exist -the most cordial and familiar relations. These relations are based -on the one hand upon an appreciation of wisdom and kindness, on the -other, upon an appreciation of sincerity and effort. The growth of -such relations, and the fruitage which follows their growth, require -time. A half-year is not too long to be allotted for them. During this -half-year experience, self-confidence and growth in power have been -gained; but the pupil-teacher is still not ready to be set aside to -work out her own destiny. At this point she is just ready for marked -advance, which should be helped and guided. To remain longer with her -critic friend may cause imitation rather than independence, may lead to -contentment and cessation of growth. She should now be transferred to -the care of a second critic of a different personality, but of equal -merit. The new critic is bound by her duty and her ambition to see -that the first half year’s advancement is maintained in the second. -The pupil-teacher finds that excellence is not all upon one model. -The value of individuality impresses her. She gains a view of solid -principles wrapped in diverse characteristics. Her own individuality -rises to new importance, and the elements of a growth not at once to be -checked start up within her. For the care of the second critic a second -half year must be allowed, which extends the practice work with pupils -through an entire school year. For the theoretical work a year is by -general experience proven sufficient. The ideal training course is, -then, one of two years’ length. - -Provision for the extended practice which is here recommended can -be made only by city training-schools and by normal schools having -connection with the schools of a city. To set apart a building of -several rooms as a school of practice will answer the purpose only -when there are very few teachers in training. In order to give each -pupil-teacher a year of practice the number of practice rooms must -equal the number of teachers to be graduated annually from the -training-school, be the number ten, fifty, or five hundred. In any -considerable city a school for practice will not suffice; many schools -for practice must be secured. This can be done by selecting one -excellent teacher in each of a sufficient number of school buildings, -and making her a critic-teacher, giving her charge of two schoolrooms, -in each of which is placed a pupil-teacher for training. - -This insures that the training shall be done as nearly as may be under -ordinary conditions, brings the pupil-teachers at once into the general -body of teachers, makes the corps of critics a leaven of zeal, and -good teaching scattered among the schools. This body of critics will -uplift the schools. More capable in the beginning than the average -teacher, led to professional study, ambitious for the best things, they -make greater progress than they otherwise would do, and are sufficient -in themselves to inspire the general body of teachers. For the sake -of the pupil-teachers, and the children, too, this plan is best. Its -economy also will readily be apparent. This plan has been tried for -several years in the schools of Providence, with results fully equal to -those herein claimed. - - -_Tests of success._ - -The tests of success in practice-teaching are in the main those to be -applied to all teaching. Do her pupils grow more honest, industrious, -polite? Do they admire their teacher? Does she secure obedience and -industry only while demanding it, or has she influence that reaches -beyond her presence? Do her pupils think well and talk well? As to -the teacher herself: Has she sympathy and tact, self-reliance and -originality, breadth and intensity? Is she systematic, direct, and -business-like? Is she courteous, neat in person and in work? Has -she discernment of character and a just standard of requirement and -attainment? - -These are some of the questions one must answer before he pronounces -any teacher a success or a failure. - -Admission to a training school assumes that the pupil has good health, -good scholarship, good sense, good ability, and devotion to the work -of teaching. If all these continue to be exhibited in satisfactory -degree and the pupil goes through the prescribed course of study -and practice, the diploma of the school should naturally mark the -completion of this work. If it appears on acquaintance that a serious -mistake has been made in estimating any of these elements, then, so -soon as the mistake is fairly apparent and is probably a permanent -condition, the pupil should be requested to withdraw from the work. -This is not a case where the wheat and the tares should grow together -until the harvest at graduation day or the examination preceding it. -With such a foundation continually maintained, it is the duty of the -school to conquer success for each pupil. - -Teaching does not require genius. Indeed, genius, in the sense of -erratic ability, is out of place in the teacher’s chair. Most good -teachers at this close of the nineteenth century are made, not -born; made from good material well fashioned. There is, however, a -possibility that some idiosyncrasy of character, not readily discovered -until the test is made, may rise between the prospective teacher and -her pupils, making her influence over them small or harmful. Such a -defect, if it exist, will appear during the practice-teaching, and the -critic will discover it. This defect, on its first discovery, should be -plainly pointed out to the teacher-in-training and her efforts should -be joined with those of the critic in its removal. - -If this effort be a failure and the defect be one likely to harm the -pupils hereafter to be taught, then the teacher-in-training should be -informed and requested to withdraw from the school. There should be -no test at the close of the school course to determine fitness for -graduation. Graduation should find the teacher serious in view of her -responsibilities, hopeful because she has learned how success is to be -attained, inspired with the belief that growth in herself and in her -pupils is the great demand and the great reward. - - -_Training of teachers for secondary schools._ - -Perhaps one-sixth of the great body of public school teachers in the -United States are engaged in secondary work and in supervision. These -are the leading teachers. They give educational tone to communities, as -well as inspiration to the body of teachers. - -It is of great importance that they be imbued with the professional -spirit springing from sound professional culture. The very difficult -and responsible positions that they fill demand ripe scholarship, more -than ordinary ability, and an intimate knowledge of the period of -adolescence, which Rousseau so aptly styles the second birth. - -The elementary schools provide for the education of the masses. Our -secondary schools educate our social and business leaders. The careers -of our college graduates, who mainly fill the important places in -professional and political life, are determined largely by the years -of secondary training. The college or university gives expansion and -finish, the secondary school gives character and direction. - -It should not be forgotten that the superintendents of public schools -are largely taken from the ranks of secondary teachers, and that the -scholarship, qualities, and training required for the one class are -nearly equivalent to that demanded for the other. - -Our high schools, too, are the source of supply for teachers in -elementary schools. Hence the pedagogic influences exerted in the high -school should lead to excellence in elementary teaching. - -The superintendent who with long foresight looks to the improvement -of his schools will labor earnestly to improve and especially to -professionalize the teaching in his high school. The management which -makes the high school an independent portion of the school system, -merely attached and loftily superior, which limits the supervision and -influence of the superintendent to the primary and grammar grades, is -short-sighted and destructive. - -There ought also to be a place and a plan for the training of teachers -for normal schools. The great body of normal and training schools -in the United States are secondary schools. Those who are to teach -in these schools need broad scholarship, thorough understanding of -educational problems, and trained experience. To put into these schools -teachers whose scholarship is that of the secondary school and whose -training is that of the elementary is to narrow and depress, rather -than broaden and elevate. - -If college graduates are put directly into teaching without special -study and training, they will teach as they have been taught. The -methods of college professors are not in all cases the best, and, if -they were, high school pupils are not to be taught nor disciplined as -college students are. High school teaching and discipline can be that -neither of the grammar school nor of the college, but is _sui generis_. -To recognize this truth and the special differences is vital to -success. This recognition comes only from much experience at great loss -and partial failure, or by happy intuition not usually to be expected, -or by definite instruction and directed practice. Success in teaching -depends upon conformity to principles, and these principles are not a -part of the mental equipment of every educated person. - -These considerations and others are the occasion of a growing -conviction, widespread in this land, that secondary teachers should be -trained for their work even more carefully than elementary teachers are -trained. This conviction is manifested in the efforts to secure normal -schools adapted to training teachers for secondary schools, notably -in Massachusetts and New York, and in the numerous professorships of -pedagogy established in rapidly increasing numbers in our colleges and -universities. - -The training of teachers for secondary schools is in several essential -respects the same as that for teachers of elementary schools. Both -demand scholarship, theory, and practice. The degree of scholarship -required for secondary teachers is by common consent fixed at a -collegiate education. No one--with rare exceptions--should be employed -to teach in a high school who has not this fundamental preparation. - -It is not necessary to enter in detail into the work of theoretical -instruction for secondary teachers. The able men at the head of -institutions and departments designed for such work neither need nor -desire advice upon this matter. And yet for the purposes of this -report it may be allowable to point out a plan for the organization of -a~secondary training school. - -Let it be supposed that two essentials have been found in one locality, -(1) a college or university having a department of pedagogy and a -department of post-graduate work; (2) a high school, academy, or -preparatory school whose managers are willing to employ and pay a -number of graduate students to teach under direction for a portion of -each day. These two conditions being met, we will suppose that pedagogy -is offered as an elective to the college seniors. - -Two years of instruction in the science and art of teaching are to be -provided; one, mostly theory with some practice, elective during the -senior year; the other, mostly practice with some theory, elective for -one year as post-graduate work. - -During the senior year is to be studied:-- - - -_The science of teaching._ - -The elements of this science are:-- - -I. Psychology in its physiological, apperceptive, and experimental -features. The period of adolescence here assumes the prominence that -childhood has in the psychological study preparatory to teaching in -lower schools. This is the period of beginnings, the beginning of a -more ambitious and generous life, a life having the future wrapped up -in it; a transition period, of mental storm and stress, in which egoism -gives way to altruism, romance has charm, and the social, moral, and -religious feelings bud and bloom. To guide youth at this formative -stage, in which an active fermentation occurs that may give wine or -vinegar according to conditions, requires a deep and sympathetic -nature, and that knowledge of the changing life which supplies guidance -wise and adequate. - -II. Methodology: A discussion of the principles of education and of the -methods of teaching the studies of the secondary schools. - -III. School economy should be studied in a much wider and more thorough -way than is required for elementary teachers. The school systems of -Germany, France, England, and the leading systems of the United States -should also be studied. - -IV. History of education, the tracing of modern doctrine back to its -sources; those streams of influence now flowing and those that have -disappeared in the sands of the centuries. - -V. The philosophy of education as a division of an all-involving -philosophy of life and thought in which unity is found. - - -_The art of teaching._ - -This includes observation and practice. The observation should include -the work of different grades and of different localities, with minute -and searching comparison and reports upon special topics. How does -excellent primary work differ from excellent grammar grade work? How -do the standards of excellence differ between grammar grades and -high school grades? Between high school and college work? What are -the arguments for and against co-education in secondary schools, as -determined by experience? What are the upper and lower limits of -secondary education as determined by the nature of the pupil’s efforts? - -In the college class in pedagogy much more than in the elementary -normal school can the class itself be made to afford a means of -practice to its members. Quizzes may be conducted by students upon the -chapters of the books read or the lectures of the professors. These -exercises may have for their object review, or improved statement, -or enlarged inference and application, and they afford an ample -opportunity to cultivate the art of questioning, skill in which is the -teacher’s most essential accomplishment. - -The head of the department of pedagogy will, of course, present the -essential methods of teaching, and the heads of other departments may -lecture on methods pertaining to their subject of study; or secondary -teachers of known success may still better present the methods now -approved in the several departments of secondary work. - - -_Post-graduate year._ - -To those graduates who have elected pedagogy in their senior year may -be offered the opportunity of further study in this department, with -such other post-graduate work as taste and opportunity permit. From -those selecting advanced work in pedagogy the board in charge of the -affiliated secondary school should elect as many teachers for its -school as are needed, employing them for two-thirds time at one-half -the usual pay for teachers without experience. Under the professor of -pedagogy of the college, the principal, and the heads of departments -of the school these student-teachers should do their work, receiving -advice, criticism, and illustration as occasion requires. The time -for which they are employed would provide for two hours of class work -and about one hour of clerical work or study while in charge of a -schoolroom. These student-teachers should be given abundant opportunity -for the charge of pupils while reciting or studying, at recess and -dismissals, and should have all the responsibilities of members of the -faculty of this school. Their work should be inspected as frequently -as may be by the heads of the departments in which they teach, by -the principal of the school, and by the professor of pedagogy. These -appointments would be virtually fellowships with an opportunity for -most profitable experience. - -In the afternoon of each day these students should attend to college -work and especially to instruction from the professor in pedagogy, who -could meet them occasionally with the heads of the departments under -whose direction they are working. - -On Saturdays a seminary of two hours’ duration might be held, conducted -by the professor of pedagogy and attended by the student-teachers -and the more ambitious teachers of experience in the vicinity. These -seminaries would, doubtless, be of great profit to both classes of -participants, and the greater to each because of the other. (Such -a training school for secondary teachers in connection with Brown -University and the Providence high school is contemplated for the -coming year.) - -It will not be needful to specify further the advantages to the -student-teachers. The arrangement likewise affords advantage to the -affiliated school, especially in the breadth of view this work would -afford to the heads of departments, the intense desire it would beget -in them for professional skill, the number of perplexing problems which -it would force them to attempt the solution of. - -The visits of the professor of pedagogy, and the constant comparison -he would make between actual and ideal conditions, would lead him to -seek the improvement, not only of the students in practice, but of the -school as a whole. - -When several earnest and capable people unite in a mutual effort to -improve themselves and their work, all the essential conditions of -progress are present. - - HORACE S. TARBELL, Chairman, - Superintendent of Schools, Providence, R. I. - - EDWARD BROOKS, - Superintendent of Schools, Philadelphia, Pa. - - THOMAS M. BALLIET, - Superintendent of Schools, Springfield, Mass. - - NEWTON C. DOUGHERTY, - Superintendent of Schools, Peoria, Ill. - - OSCAR H. COOPER, - Superintendent of Schools, Galveston, Tex. - - - - -Dissent from Dr. Harris’ Report. - -BY JAMES M. GREENWOOD, OF KANSAS CITY. - - -I dissent from the majority report of the Committee in regard to the -following points:-- - - -_Arithmetic_ - -1. AS TO FRACTIONS: In teaching arithmetic there does not exist any -greater difficulty in getting small children to grasp the nature of -the fraction as such than in getting them to grasp the idea of the -simpler whole numbers. It is true that the fractions ½, ⅓, ¼, etc., as -symbols, are a little more complex than are the single digits; but as -to the real meaning, when once the fractional idea has been properly -developed by the teacher and the significance of the idea apprehended -by the pupil, it is as easily understood as any other simple truth. -Children get the idea of half, third, or quarter of many things long -before they enter school, and they will as readily learn to add, -subtract, multiply, and divide fractions as they will whole numbers. In -using fractions they will draw diagrams and pictures representing the -processes of work as quickly and easily as they illustrate similar work -with integers. It is, of course, assumed that the teacher knows how to -teach arithmetic to children, or rather, how to teach the children how -to teach themselves. There is really no valid argument why children in -the second, third, and fourth years in school should not master the -fundamental operations in fractions. Not only this, they will put the -more common fractions into the technique of percentage, and do this -as well in the second and third grades as at any other time in their -future progress. There is only one new idea involved in this operation, -and that consists in giving an additional term--per cent.--to the -fractional symbol. When one number is a part of another, it may be -regarded as a fractional part or as such a per cent. of it. A great -deal of percentage is thus learned by the pupils early in the course. -Children are not hurt by learning. Standing still and lost motion kill. - -Every recitation should reach the full swing of the learner’s mind, -including all his acquisitions on any given topic. But if the teaching -of fractions be deferred, as it usually is in most schools, the time -may be materially shortened by teaching addition and subtraction of -fractions together. This is simple enough if different fractions having -common denominators are used at first, such as 6/2 + 5/2 = ?, and 6/2 - -5/2 = ? Then the next step, after sufficient drill on this case, is to -take two fractions (simple) of different units of value, as ½ + ⅓ = ?, -and ½ - ⅓ = ? Multiplication and division may be treated similarly. - -In decimals, the pupil is really confronted by a simpler form of -fractions than the varied forms of common fractions. - -Devices and illustrations of a material kind are necessary to build up -in the pupil’s mind at the beginning a clear concept of a tenth, etc., -etc., and then to show that one-tenth written as a decimal is only a -shorthand way of writing 1/10 as a common fraction, and so on. He sees -very soon that the decimal is only a shorthand common fraction, and -this notion he must hold to. This is the vital point in decimals. The -idea that they can be changed into common fractions and the reverse -at will establishes the fact in the pupil’s mind that they are common -fractions and not uncommon ones. Fixing the decimal point will, in a -short time, take care of itself. - -In teaching arithmetic the steps are: (1) developing the subject till -each pupil gets a clear conception of it; (2) necessary drill to fix -the process; (3) connecting the subject with all that has preceded it; -(4) its applications; (5) the pupil’s ability to sum up clearly and -concisely what he has learned. - -2. AS TO ABRIDGMENT: Under this head, I hold that a course in -arithmetic, including simple numbers, fractions, tables of weights -and measures, percentage, and interest, and numerical operations in -powers, does not fit a pupil to begin the study of algebra. That while -he may carry the book under his arm to the schoolroom, he is too poorly -equipped to make headway on this subject, and instead of finishing up -algebra in a reasonable length of time, he is kept too long at it, with -a strong probability of his becoming disgusted with it. - -There are subjects, however, in the common school arithmetic that may -be dropped out with great advantage, to wit, all but the simplest -exercises in compound interest, foreign exchange, all foreign -moneys (except reference tables of values), annuities, alligation, -progression; and the entire subjects of percentage and interest should -be condensed into about twenty pages. - -Cancellation, factoring, proportion, evolution, and involution should -be retained. Cancellation and factoring should be strongly emphasized, -owing to their immense value in shortening work in arithmetic, algebra, -and in more advanced subjects. Some drill in the Metric System should -not be omitted. - -3. AS TO MENTAL ARITHMETIC: Till the end of the fourth year the pupil -does not need a text-book of mental arithmetic. So far his work -in arithmetic should be about equally divided between written and -mental. At the beginning of the fifth year, in addition to his written -arithmetic, he should begin a mental arithmetic and continue it three -years, reciting at least four mental arithmetic lessons each week. The -length of the recitation should be twenty minutes. A pupil well drilled -in mental arithmetic at the end of the seventh year, if the school age -begins at six, is far better prepared to study algebra than the one who -has not had such a drill. There are a few problems in arithmetic that -can be solved more easily by algebra than by the ordinary processes of -arithmetic, but there are many numerical problems in equations of the -first degree that can be more easily handled by mental arithmetic than -by algebra. To attack arithmetical problems by algebra is very much -like using a tremendous lever to lift a feather. Those who have found a -great stumbling-block in arithmetical “conundrums” have, if the inside -facts were known, been looking in the wrong direction. A deficiency of -“number-brain-cells” will afford an adequate explanation. - -4. REARRANGEMENT OF SUBJECTS: There should be a rearrangement of the -topics in arithmetic so that one subject naturally leads up to the -next. As an illustration, it is easily seen that whole numbers and -fractions can be treated together, and that with U. S. money, when the -dime is reached, is the proper time to begin decimals, and that when -a “square” in surface measure first comes up, the next step is the -square of a number as well as its square root, and that solid measure -logically lands the learner among cubes and cube-roots. When he learns -that 1728 cubic inches make one cubic foot he is prepared to find the -edge of the cube. What is meant here is pointing the way to the next -above. All depends upon the teacher’s ability to lead the pupil to see -conditions and relations. My contention is that truth, so far as one is -capable of taking hold of it when it is properly presented, is always a -simple affair. - -5. AS TO ALGEBRA: If algebra be commenced at the middle of the seventh -year, let the pupil go at it in earnest, and keep at it till he has -mastered it. Here the best opportunities will be afforded him to -connect his algebraic knowledge to his arithmetical knowledge. He -builds the one on top of the other. The skillful teacher always insists -that the learner shall establish and maintain this relationship between -the two subjects. To switch around the other way appears to me to be -the same as to omit certain exercises in the common algebra, because -they are more briefly and elegantly treated in the calculus. It is -admitted that a higher branch of mathematics often throws much light -on the lower branches, but these side-lights should be employed for -the purpose of leading the learner onward to broader generalizations. -Unless one sees the lower clearly, the higher is obscure. Build solidly -the foundation on arithmetic--written and mental--and the higher -branches will be more easily mastered and time saved. - - -_History of the United States._ - -In teaching this branch in the public schools, there does not appear, -so far as I can see, any substantial reason why the pupils should not -study and recite the history of the Rebellion in the same manner that -they do the Revolutionary War. The pupils discuss the late war and -the causes that led to it with an impartiality of feeling that speaks -more for their good sense and clear judgment than any other way by -which their knowledge can be tested. They may not get hold of all the -causes involved in that conflict, but they get enough to understand -the motives which caused the armies to fight so heroically, and why -the people, both North and South, staked everything on the issue. Just -as the men who faced each other for four years and met so often in a -death grapple will sit down now and quietly talk over their trials, -sufferings, and conflicts, so do their children talk over these same -stirring scenes. They, too, so far as my experience extends, are -singularly free from bitterness and prejudice. It is certainly a period -of history that they should study. - - -_The spelling-book._ - -In addition to the “spelling-lists,” I would supplement with a good -spelling-book. So far, no “word-list,” however well selected, has -supplied the place of a spelling-book. All those schools that threw -out the spelling-book and undertook to teach spelling incidentally or -by word-lists failed, and for the same reason that grammar, arithmetic, -geography, and other branches cannot be taught incidentally as the -pupil or the class reads Robinson Crusoe, or any similar work. It is an -independent study and as such should be pursued. - - -BY CHARLES B. GILBERT, OF ST. PAUL. - -While affixing my signature to the report of this Committee, as -expressing substantial agreement with most of its leading propositions, -I beg leave also to indicate my dissent from certain of its -recommendations and to suggest certain additions which, in my judgment, -the report requires. - -1. There are other forms of true correlation which should be included -with the four mentioned in the first part of the report and which -should be as clearly and fully treated as are these four. - -The first is that form of correlation which is popularly understood -by the name, and which is also called by some writers concentration, -co-ordination, unification, and alludes in general to a division of -studies into content and form; by content meaning that upon which it is -fitting that the mind of the child should dwell, and by form the means -or modes of expression by which thoughts are communicated. Or, it may -be thus expressed: The true content of education is (1), philosophy or -the knowledge of man as to his motives and hidden springs of action -indicated in history and literature, and (2) science, the knowledge -of nature, and its manifestations and laws. Its form is art, which -is the deliberate, purposeful, and effective expression to others of -that which has been produced within man by contact with other men and -with nature, and is commonly referred to as divided into various arts, -such as reading, writing, drawing, making, and modeling. The relation -of content and form is that of principle and subordinate, the latter -receiving its chief value from the former. In a true education they -are so presented to the mind of the child that he instinctively and -unconsciously grasps this relation and is thereby lifted into a higher -plane of thinking and living than if the various arts are taught, as -they too commonly are, without reference to a noble content. This -relation of form to content is vaguely referred to in the report, but -nowhere definitely treated. It seems to me that it is a true form of -correlation, and, as such, deserves special and definite treatment. -Moreover, it is at present much in the minds of the teachers of this -country, often in forms that are misleading and harmful. The fact that -it adds the important element of interest to the dry details of common -school life makes it especially attractive to progressive and earnest -teachers, and this Committee should recognize its importance and make -such an utterance upon it as will guide the average teacher to a clear -comprehension of its meaning and to a wise use of it in the schoolroom. - -Second, there is a still higher form of correlation which is definitely -referred to later in the report as that “of the several branches of -human learning in the unity of the spiritual view furnished by religion -to our civilization.” This in the report is assigned absolutely to the -province of higher education. While I do not wish to dissent wholly -from this view, since it is doubtless true that this higher unity -cannot be comprehensively stated for the use of a child, yet a wise -teacher can so present subjects to even a young child that a sense of -the unity of all knowledge will, to a certain degree, be unconsciously -developed in his mind. In regard to certain of the great divisions -of human knowledge, this relation is so evident that they cannot be -properly presented at all unless the relation be made clear. Such -studies are history and geography. - -2. The recommendations upon the subject of language should be broadened -to cover the production of good English by the child himself, with the -suggestion of suitable topics and proper methods. This report confines -itself to the absorptive side of education and ignores that development -of power over nature, man, and self, which comes from free exercise -of faculties and free expression of thought. The study of language as -something for the child to use himself, the great means by which he is -to assert his place in civilization, and exert his influence for good, -is nowhere referred to except in the vaguest way. This statement in -regard to language applies almost equally well to drawing, and here is -made evident the importance of the form of correlation to which I have -just referred. The proper material for the training of the child in -expression is that which is furnished by the study of man and nature. -His mind being filled with high themes, he asserts his individuality, -expresses himself in regard to them, and thereby gains at once both a -closer and clearer comprehension of what he has studied, and also the -power by which he may become a factor in his generation. - -3. I would wish to omit the word “weekly” where it occurs in the -discussion of the subjects of general history and science, unless it be -understood to mean that an amount of time in the school year equivalent -to sixty minutes weekly be given to each of these subjects. It is often -better to condense these studies into certain portions of the year, -giving more time to them each week, and using them as the basis, to -a certain degree, of language work. I believe that, especially with -young children, clearer concepts are produced by such connected study, -pursued for fewer weeks, than by lessons seven days apart. - -4. In my judgment manual training should not be limited to the seventh -and eighth grades, but should begin in the kindergarten with the -simple study of form from objects and the reproduction in paper of the -objects presented, and should extend, in a series of carefully graded -lessons, through all the grades, leaving, however, the heavier tools, -such as the plane, for the seventh and eighth grades. By these means an -interest is kept up in the various human industries, sympathy for all -labor is created, and a certain degree of skill is developed; moreover, -the interest of the pupils in their school is greatly enhanced. Manual -training has often proved the magnet by which boys at the restless age -have been kept in school instead of leaving for some gainful occupation. - -5. I desire to suggest that geometry may be so taught as to be a better -mathematical study than algebra to succeed or accompany arithmetic -in the seventh and eighth grades. I do not refer particularly to -inventional geometry, to which the Committee accords a slighting -attention, but to constructive geometry and the simplest propositions -in demonstrative geometry, thus involving the comprehension of the -elementary geometric forms and their more obvious relations. This study -may be made of special interest in connection with manual training and -drawing, while it presents fewer difficulties to the immature mind than -the abstractions of algebra, since it connects more directly with the -concrete, by which its presentation may often be aided. - -6. While agreeing fully with the majority of the Committee that the -full scientific method should not be applied to the study of elementary -science by young children, yet I am compelled to favor more of -experimentation and observation by the child, and less of telling by -the teacher than the report would seem to favor. - -7. I would go farther than the majority of the Committee, and insist -that, except in rare cases, there should be no specialization of the -teaching force below the high school, and that even in the first years -of the high school, so far as possible, specialization should be -subordinated to a general care of the child’s welfare and oversight of -his methods of study, which are impossible when a corps of teachers -give instruction, each in one subject, and see the student only during -the hour of recitation. - -8. While in the main I agree with the bald statements under the head -“Correlation by synthesis of studies,” since reference is made to -only a very artificial mode of synthesis not at all in vogue in this -country, I must dissent emphatically from this portion of the report -as by inference condemning a most important department of correlation, -to which I have referred earlier. The doctrine of concentration is not -necessarily artificial; rather it refers to the higher unity, of which -this Committee has spoken in glowing terms as belonging to the province -of higher education. It also includes the division of the school -curriculum into content and form, which this Committee inferentially -adopts in its treatment of language. I do not believe, any more than -do the majority of the Committee, that the entire course of study can -be literally and exactly centred about a single subject, nor do I -believe in any artificial correlation; but there is a natural relation -of all knowledges, which this Committee admits in various places, and -which is the basis of a proper synthesis of studies, according to the -psychological principle of apperception. - -9. If by the term “oral,” as applied to lessons in biography and in -natural science, the Committee means, as the word would imply, that -the instruction is to be given in the form of lectures by the teacher, -I cannot in full agree with the Committee’s conclusions. As I have -already stated, in natural science the work should be largely that of -observation, and in history and biography, while in the very lowest -grades the teachers should tell the children stories, as soon as it -is possible the desired information should be obtained by the student -through reading. To this end the reading lesson in school should be -properly correlated with his other studies, and he should be advised -as to his home reading. The information thus obtained should be the -subject of conversation in the class, and should furnish the material -for much of the written language work of the children. - -10. I must dissent emphatically and entirely from that portion of the -report which recommends that a text-book in grammar be introduced into -the fifth year of the child’s school life. It is a question in my mind -whether it would not be better if the text-book were not introduced -into the grades below the high school at all. Certainly it should not -appear before the seventh year. Such knowledge of grammar as will -familiarize the child with the structure of the sentence, the basis of -all language and as will enable him to use correctly forms of speech -which the necessities of expression require, should be given orally by -the teacher in connection with the child’s written work, when needed; -but against the introduction of a text-book upon grammar, the most -abstruse of all the subjects of the school curriculum, when the pupil -is not more than ten years old, I must protest. Instead of that, the -child should devote much time, some every day, to writing upon proper -themes in the best English he can command, furnishing occasion to the -teacher to correct such errors as he may make, and acquiring by use -acquaintance with the correct forms of grammar. If, as will doubtless -be the case in most cities, local conditions render the introduction of -Latin into the eighth grade inadvisable, this study of grammar may be -made in that grade somewhat more intensive. - -11. If by a text-book in geography is meant that which is commonly -understood by the term, and not simply geographical reading matter, in -my judgment, it should not be introduced earlier than the fifth year. - -These suggestions and expressions of dissent, if approved by the -Committee, would necessitate some change in the programme submitted, -the most important of which would be the making room for the production -of English in the grades. This could be provided in the first and -second grades by taking some of the time devoted to penmanship and -doing the work partly in connection with the reading classes. In the -third and fourth grades it should take some of the time devoted to -penmanship and should be studied also in connection with geography and -reading, and in the fifth and sixth grades it should take all of the -time given to grammar. - -I regret to be compelled to express dissent upon so many points, but -as most of them appear to me vital and as the differences appear to be -not merely superficial but fundamental, affecting and affected by one’s -entire educational creed, I cannot do otherwise. To most of the report -I most gladly give my assent and approval. - - -BY L. H. JONES, OF CLEVELAND. - -I agree most heartily with the main features of the foregoing report -of the sub-committee on correlation of studies. It is so admirable in -its analysis of subjects and in its statement of comparative education -values, and so suggestive in its practical applications to teaching, -that I regret to find myself appearing in any way to dissent from its -conclusions. Indeed, my principal objection is not against anything -contained in the report (unless it be against a possible inference -which might be drawn at one point), but it refers rather to what seems -to me to be an omission. - -In addition to all the forms of correlation recommended in the -report, it seems to me possible to make a correlation of subjects in -a programme in such way that the selection of subject-matter may be -to some extent from all fields of knowledge. These selections should -be such as are related to one another so as to be mutually helpful -in acquisition. They should be the main features of knowledge in the -different departments. - -These different departments from which the chosen subjects should be -taken must be fundamental ones and must be sufficiently numerous to -represent universal culture. The report itself indicates conclusively -what these are. - -Reference is made in the report to various attempts that have been made -to correlate subjects of study. - -A very just criticism is made upon that attempt at correlation by the -use of the story of Robinson Crusoe as a centre of correlation. It is -distinctly pointed out in the report that the experiences of Robinson -Crusoe are lacking in many of the elements of universal culture, and -in many elements of education needed to adjust the individual properly -to the civilization of our time and country. It is equally evident -that the attempt to make this story the centre of correlation leads -directly to trivial exercises in other subjects in order to make them -“correlate” with Robinson Crusoe. It is also shown in the report that -it naturally leads to fragmentary knowledge of many subjects very much -inferior to that clear, logically connected knowledge of a subject -which may be had by pursuing it without reference to correlating it -with all others. - -It is at this point that in my judgment a wrong inference is permitted -by the report. - -It does not, as it seems to me, follow that because correlation based -on Robinson Crusoe is a failure, all correlations having the same -general purpose will necessarily prove failures. For my own part, -I do not believe that correlation needs any “centre,” outside the -child and its natural activities. If, however, it seems wiser to give -special prominence to any given field of acquisition, it should, -in my judgment, be accorded to language and its closely related -subjects--reading, spelling, writing, composing, study of literature, -etc., etc. Indeed, language as a mode of expression is organically -related to thinking, in all fields of knowledge, as form is related to -content. A “system” or “programme” of correlation on this basis would -seek for fundamental ideas in all the leading branches and make them -themes of thought and occasions of language exercises. The selections -would omit all trivialities in all subjects, and would not attempt to -correlate for the mere sake of correlation; but would seek to correlate -wherever by such correlation kindred themes may be made to illuminate -one another. To illustrate, concrete problems in arithmetic would be -sought that would clearly develop and illustrate mathematical ideas -and their application; but in a secondary way these problems would be -sought for in the various departments of concrete knowledge--geography, -history, physics, chemistry, astronomy, meteorology, political, -industrial, or domestic economy. But none of these themes would be so -relied upon for problems as to compel one to choose unreasonable or -trivial relations on which to base them. The problems themselves should -represent true and important facts and relations of the other subjects -as surely and rigidly as they should involve correct mathematical -principles; and all such exercises should be rightly related to the -child’s education in language. - -In like manner, when a child is engaged in nature study of any kind, -some valuable problems in mathematics may be found rightly related -both to the subject directly in hand and the child’s natural progress -in arithmetic. Also many of the lessons in nature study are directly -related to some of the finest literature ever produced, in which -analogies of nature are made the means of expression for the finest and -most delicate of the human experiences. When the child has mastered -the physical facts on which the literary inspiration is based is the -true time to give him the advantage of the study of such literature. -These ideas are not only rightly related to one another, but to the -mind itself. It is, so to speak, the nascent moment when the mind can -easily and fully master what might else remain an impenetrable mystery; -and all because subjects and occasion have come into happy conjunction. - -This is not the place in which to attempt any elaboration of such a -system of correlation. But I feel that its absence from the report may -make many persons feel that the latter is so far incomplete. - - -BY WILLIAM H. MAXWELL, OF BROOKLYN. - -With the main lines of thought in this report I find myself in -agreement. With many of its details, however, I am not in accord. -I regret to have to express my dissent from its conclusions in the -following particulars:-- - -1. The report makes too little of the uses of grammar as supplying -canons of criticism which enable the pupil to correct his own English, -and as furnishing a key (grammatical analysis) that gives him the power -to see the meaning of obscure or involved sentences. - -2. For the study of literature, complete works are to be preferred to -the selections found in school readers. - -3. That species of language exercise known as paraphrasing I regard as -harmful. - -4. The study of number should not be omitted from the first year in -school. Practice in the primary operations of arithmetic should not -be omitted from the seventh and eighth years. The quadratic equation -should be reserved for the high school. - -5. The foreign language introduced into the elementary school course -should be a modern language--French or German. Latin should be reserved -for those who have time and opportunity to master its literature. - -6. In the general programme of studies, the school day is cut up into -too many short periods. The tendency of such a programme as that in the -text would be to destroy repose of mind and render reflection almost an -impossibility. - -7. I desire to express my agreement with the opinions stated in -Sections 2, 3, 6, and 9 of Mr. Gilbert’s dissenting opinion; and, in -the main, with what Mr. Jones says on the correlation of studies. - - - - -Dissent from Dr. Draper’s Report. - -BY EDWIN P. SEAVER, BOSTON. - - -I find myself in general accord with the doctrines of the report. There -is only one feature of it from which I feel obliged to dissent, and -that is an important though not necessarily a vital one. I refer to the -office of school director. I see no need of such an officer elected -by the people, and I do see the danger of his becoming a part of the -political organization for the dispensation of patronage. - -All power and authority in school affairs should reside ultimately -in the board of education, consisting of not more than eight persons -appointed by the mayor of the city, to hold office four years, two -members retiring annually and eligible for reappointment once and no -more. This board should appoint as its chief officer a superintendent -of instruction, whose tenure should be during good behavior and -efficiency, and whose powers and duties should be to a large extent -defined by statute law, and not wholly or chiefly by the regulations -of the board of education. The superintendent of instruction should -have a seat and voice but not a vote in the board of education. The -board of education should also appoint a business agent, and define his -powers and duties in relation to all matters of buildings, repairs, and -supplies, substantially as set forth in the report in relation to the -school director. - -All teachers should be appointed and annually reappointed or -recommended by the superintendent of instruction, until after a -sufficient probation they are appointed on a tenure during good -behavior and efficiency. - -All matters relating to courses of study, text-books, and examinations -should be left to the superintendent and his assistants, constituting a -body of professional experts who should be regarded as alone competent -to deal with such matters, and should be held accountable therefor to -the board of education only in a general way, and not in particular -details. - - -BY ALBERT G. LANE, CHICAGO. - -I concur in the recommendations of the sub-committee on the -Organization of City School Systems as summarized in the concluding -portion of the report, omitting in item THIRD the words, “And that -it be constituted of two branches acting against each other.” Omit -FIFTH, “But we think it preferable that he be chosen in the same way -that members of the board are chosen and be given veto power upon the -acts of the board.” I recommend that the veto power be given to the -president of the board. - - - - -Discussion on Report of Dr. Harris. - - -FRANK M. MCMURRY, _Franklin School, Buffalo_: My remarks have no -reference to the dissenting opinions, but will be confined to the -correlation in the main body of the report. So far, we have listened -to the definition of correlation; my remarks refer to that, and to its -influence on the course of study. - -The address by Miss Arnold last night referred to correlation. That -lecture is not in accord with the report of five in regard to this -subject. We have been using two synonyms for correlation--coördination -and concentration. Many persons have gotten their definition through -their ideas of concentration. People have in mind, as I understand it, -mainly the relation of studies to one another. Let me give one or two -samples in addition to last night’s suggestions. Let me refer to Egypt. -The geography will naturally take the Nile, the drawing will take up -cardboard work, etc., the pupil will deal with the pyramid and the -triangle in mathematics, and with language work in the whole subject. I -give that as a simple illustration of concentration. - -I turn to the part of the report where they take up correlation by -synthesis of studies; that, as I understand it, was the thought in the -mind of Miss Arnold, and it is what is in my own mind. They take up the -subject of Robinson Crusoe. I think they should look into it further, -but it is not my purpose to defend Robinson Crusoe. They have taken -the story of Robinson Crusoe as a type and they have condemned that as -a type. We may think they aim mainly at the story of Robinson Crusoe -alone, but they say, “Your committee would call attention in this -connection to the importance of the pedagogical principle of analysis -and isolation as preceding synthesis and correlation. There should -be rigid isolation of the elements of each branch for the purpose of -getting a clear perception of what is individual and peculiar in a -special province of learning.” - -They warn us against having studies closely tied together. They do -not realize, as it seems to me, that the chief fault of our present -studies is that they do not support each other. The report is opposed -from principle to this kind of correlation. They refer later to -this matter in these words: “Your committee has already mentioned a -species of faulty correlation wherein the attempt is made to study -all the branches in each, misapplying Jacotot’s maxim, ‘all is in -all.’” Farther than that, they show a large lack of sympathy with this -point. They have no allusion to the fact that the different sciences -have a relationship with one another. By their omissions, as well as -their positive statements, they show their opposing attitude toward -correlation. - -They talk about having a proper sequence in the studies,--they do not -insist upon it from principle. They say, “The most practical knowledge -of all, it will be admitted, is a knowledge of human nature,--a -knowledge that enables one to combine with his fellow-men and to share -with them the physical and spiritual wealth of the race. Of this -high character as humanizing or civilizing are the favorite works of -literature found in the school readers, about one hundred and fifty -English and American writers being drawn upon for the material.” In -other words, they are in sympathy with the text-book readers. In -enforcing that point further, “In the first three years the reading -should be limited to pieces in the colloquial style, but selections -from the classics of the language in prose and poetry shall be read -to the pupil from time to time.” “In the years from the fifth to -the eighth there should be some reading of entire stories, such as -Gulliver’s Travels, Robinson Crusoe,” and so forth. - -As I understand it, we should have wholes in literature from the -beginning. There are sixty pages in this report, only two of them refer -to the subject of concentration, and they condemn that subject from -principle. They show that they do not, from principle, favor the idea -of connected thought. That is my first point--opposition to the whole -matter. [Applause.] - -The next point is, What do they discuss? [Laughter.] They have four -points in their definition of correlation. The fourth point is the -chief subject. “Your committee understands by correlation of studies -the selection and arrangement in order of sequence of such objects of -study as shall give the child an insight into the world that he lives -in, and a command over his resources such as is obtained by healthful -coöperation with one’s fellows. In a word, the chief consideration -to which all others are to be subordinated, in the opinion of your -committee, is this requirement of the civilization into which the -child is born as determining what he shall study in school.” There is -the old idea of study, in which, from the adult standpoint, we decide -that what the child will use as a man shall constitute his course. We -have had the three R’s and we have tended to kill the children. The -new education is based on child study, apperception, and interest. We -have reached the conclusion that knowledge is not primarily for the -sake of knowledge, but for use, and the only condition under which the -ideas will be active is that they shall appeal to the child and shall -fit his nature. Child study, interest, and apperception demand that -the chief factor shall be the nature of the child--that is not the -attitude of this committee of five. “Your committee is of the opinion -that psychology of both kinds, physiological and introspective, can -hold only a subordinate place in the settlement of questions relating -to the correlation of studies. The branches to be studied and the -extent to which they are studied will be determined mainly by the -demands of one’s civilization.” Psychology, in a plain statement, “will -largely determine the methods of instruction, the order of taking up -the several topics so as to adapt the school work to the growth of the -pupil’s capacity.” In other words, the committee have failed to be -influenced as to a course of study by other considerations than the -demands of civilization. They state plainly that psychology shall be a -subordinate matter in determining curriculum. The fact is to be seen -in their course of study. Reading, nature study, and history are the -principal subjects, but in the minds of the committee the principal -subjects are reading, writing, etc., for the first three years. I do -not believe it. In the first three years, reading pieces; in other -words, the first three years do not deal primarily in rich ideas. -One objection to Robinson Crusoe--“It omits cities, governments, the -world commerce, the international process, the church, the newspaper, -and book from view.” They are not in sympathy with the child. I would -choose Robinson Crusoe because it does not deal with subjects which are -outside the child’s interest. - - * * * * * - -F. W. PARKER, _Cook County Normal, Chicago_: When I moved, two years -ago, the appointment of this committee, I had in mind the careful -study of the whole matter of correlation that teachers in this country -should get from the highest sources the doctrine and the highest -criticism,--that a report should be presented which should follow the -greatest report upon education in this century,--the report of the -Committee of Ten. I have not had time to study this report and can, -therefore, say very little upon it. These subjects should be studied -with the greatest care. It seems to me that there are some general -criticisms which may be made in the brief time at my command. - -We cannot doubt that these gentlemen have made the most careful study -of the doctrine of Herbert and of his disciples,--Ziller, Stoy, and -Rein; they have also had their eye upon the distinguished students -of this doctrine in this country. The failure of this report is that -they haven’t even given us the fundamental doctrine of Herbert. There -is no doubt that the Herbartian doctrine and all other doctrines of -concentration are ignored in their fundamental essentials. That is what -this committee has left out--it is the old story, the play of Hamlet -with Hamlet left out, or to put it a little more mildly, Hamlet kicked -out. It seems that this doctrine is the only doctrine which furnishes -a grand working hypothesis to the teachers of the world. It should be -examined most carefully, and what cannot bear the closest criticism -should be rejected. The five, with the dissent of the Western men, have -not deemed it worthy of this attention and have rejected it _in toto_. - -Poor old Robinson Crusoe bears the brunt, notwithstanding our esteemed -friends of the Normal University, who wish to interest the children -in something. Sometimes we go into schools where there is not much -interest, especially in spelling and grammar. I leave the defense of -Robinson Crusoe to Mr. McMurry. - -The other reference is to language. “It is not wise to stop a child to -correct his mistakes in grammar”! “The development of language cannot -be organically related to the development of thought”! It is one of -the fundamental principles, if I understand it, that the development -of thought should have as a necessity the evolution of language. This, -says the report, cannot be done; grammar must be developed by itself -and language by itself. If I am incorrect, I beg to be excused. I can -only refer to a few features of this report in the tabulated programme. -A course of study is absolutely necessary, but it should be marked -“for this day only.” We take the subject of reading twice every day -for the first two years, once a day for the next six years. Reading -is thinking, it should be educated thinking. We cannot do thinking -without the subjects to be learned--as geography and science. Science, -according to the programme, is to be taught by oral lessons. The world -is round, but children cannot reason. Would it not be well to go into -the laboratory to see whether the children cannot reason? The child, -by force of his nature, must reason--must find out these things. I -am quoting from John Dewey. But we are told in this report that the -subject of science, at least a few things in these subjects, must be -told him first. I never knew a case of the kind, but it may be. - -Now, I would say to this committee of five, have your reading the best -literature,--there should be nothing but literature. Should we not -have literature from the beginning? is the question we are asking. It -seems to be the case that this report leaves very little to ask. The -child spends all his time in reading--reading what? Can the child learn -to get thought in reading? Some of us think he can. Is it not well to -follow here the scientific method and find out whether the child can -learn to read beautifully and well? The same of writing. I see the -millions bowed down for years to the copy books. Is there no way out? -Is there no relief? Is it possible for the child to learn to write as -he learns to talk, or must he be bound to the desk? [Time] - -I would simply say that this report should be entitled to the greatest -respect. I shall go home and study it carefully and prayerfully. I move -that a committee of fifteen be appointed to revise this report. [Great -applause] - - * * * * * - -PRESIDENT CHARLES DE GARMO, _Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania_: -Fellow-teachers: Those who are to discuss this question this morning -are placed under a great embarrassment. The report should have been -distributed before this meeting. That it has not been, I learn is not -the fault of the officers of the department. [Applause] - -We might infer from what we have heard that the report is valueless. -This is by no means the case. It is an estimate of educational values. -Under the subject of language, I quote, “A survey of its educational -value, subjective and objective, usually produces the conviction that -it is to retain the first place.” Under arithmetic, “Side by side with -language study is the study of mathematics in the school, claiming the -second place in importance.” Under geography, “The educational value of -geography, as it is and has been in elementary schools, is obviously -very great. The educational value of geography is even more apparent -if we admit the claims of those who argue that the present epoch is -the beginning of an era.” As a critique of educational values the -report is a very important one. I would like to call your attention -to the correlation of the pupil to his environment. That, I think, -is an important matter. They have departed, at least in principle, -from that old formal discipline alone; this individual to be fitted -for life must master his environment. The committee have examined the -various studies as to their value, and that, I think, is a grand thing. -I cannot see at all that it is a correlation of studies. It has been -said in your hearing that the throwing of light by studies on each -other was disregarded. The report presents a very different idea of -the correlation of studies. The second address of last evening--by Miss -Arnold--has been referred to as an illustration of bringing the studies -together so that one throws light upon another. I think the idea that -there is no need of reform will be reinforced by this report; that the -report will have a reactionary effect upon those who think that way. -The committee have denied that we need any reform, or have implied -that we have the reform already. It seems that the name given to this -report should be taken off and the heading “An essay on educational -values” substituted instead. It is true that this committee have, at -the beginning, laid down a principle that would make a correlation. The -text is here, but the discussion is lacking. So far as I have read, -I have found but little in the report which shows what the sequence -of studies should be. There is a hint in arithmetic where it says, -“Common fractions should come before decimals.” Is this attempt at the -correlation of studies anything more than a series of tunnels through -the educational fields with switch connections, so that if we start -in at one end we are switched to this or that without any view of the -whole journey? We may light these tunnels with electricity, perhaps, -but, after all, we are spending eight years underground, switching from -one tunnel to another. Now the other alternative is to go out into -the world, out into the sunshine, and follow highways so clear that a -child can examine all that is about them. It is possible to relate one -subject to the other so that when it is dark the child, even if he has -not the sun to lighten his eyes, can at least have some stars of hope -above him. - - * * * * * - -PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT: From the course the discussion has taken, -it has seemed to me that Dr. Harris should say a word at this point and -read some additional parts of the report. - -W. T. HARRIS, _Commissioner of Education_: I must set myself right -on Herbart. The report does not allude to Herbart anywhere except in -respectful terms. The criticism of the use of Robinson Crusoe does -not attribute its mistakes to the Herbartians. Perhaps they would not -recognize it as a true statement of their method. To make Herbart -of use in pedagogy we must to some extent ignore his philosophy. -His usefulness in education is proportioned to his uselessness as a -philosopher. What can we do with a philosopher who omits the will -from the three departments of the mind and retains only intellect and -feeling? Herbart was obliged to explain how man comes to act without -the will. He explains that desire can be aroused by interest in -such a way that action will follow. With this great defect, however, -Herbart is valuable in education. His doctrine of apperception does -not need any correction. His doctrine of interest, however, needs some -limitation, because the idea of the will and the idea of duty are -omitted from his system. He must make up by the idea of desire and -the idea of interest. I am surprised that the claim is made here that -the report does not treat the subject assigned to it. Correlation of -studies is assumed to mean concentration of studies. There is no such -definition to the word “correlation” in any dictionary; only four or -five obscure books in the English language give the word correlation -the meaning of concentration. I was told of this sense of the word -correlation, but did not believe for a moment that it had been the -intention of the department of superintendents, in appointing a -committee on this subject, to have a report on the Herbartian idea of -concentration. - - * * * * * - -CHARLES MCMURRY, _State Normal University, Normal, Ill._: In one of -your statements read: “Your committee would call attention in this -connection to the importance of the pedagogical principle of analysis -and isolation as preceding synthesis and correlation.” Now, as I -understand it, this is what this committee has attempted to report. -Now, he says that this precedes synthesis or correlation. I would like -to know if there is any dictionary or number of dictionaries to make -correlation mean what this says--the analysis and isolation of subjects -of study. - -I have been very much afraid that Dr. Harris would take refuge in the -discussion of the subject of the will in which he distinguishes Herbart -from others. The exclusion of the will is held as far as Herbart is -concerned of moral education. Now I wish to say that Herbart has laid -down more and better educational principles than any other philosopher. - -The more difficult thing is not exactly the best thing for the child in -the first and second grades. There was an old theory among the Latins -that if the child could be made to go through the difficulties of a -Latin speech, it would prepare him for the difficult things to follow. -Now, we wish to have life and not dead formalism. I believe that a -thoughtful study of this report will convince any one who is interested -in children that it is formal, and is a production of this old idea, -based upon language as the foundation of all education. - - * * * * * - -PRESIDENT W. H. HERVEY, _Teachers’ College, New York_: I find myself -drawn in two directions on this question. I fain would cleave to -everything that has been said this morning as containing the truth. -I believe that, so far as this report and these remarks confine -themselves to educational principles, any one of us may agree most -heartily. Only where they descend to particular applications are -we at variance. We always are at variance when we descend from the -clouds, but that is no objection to the clouds. Now, I take it there -are arrayed before us the two opposing camps,--the Hegelian and the -Herbartian. What does the Hegelian say? In order that you may know the -world you must turn your back upon yourself and lose yourself; you -lose your life that you may save it. Yon leave your home plate, go -to the second base, then to the third base, and you make a home run. -That is a true type of all development. What, on the other hand, is -the standpoint of the Herbartian? What we know depends upon what we -have known. And that is true. And what we can do, according to this -philosophy, depends upon the interest, the kinetic energy. About this -matter of will, we have the Calvinistic theology set over against the -Unitarian. Hegel’s Lord was a man of war. Herbart brings us to view the -New Jerusalem. He shows us the church, not militant, but triumphant. -Herbart distinguishes the good from the evil and makes it impossible -for a man to do a wrong deed or to think a wrong thought, and that, -I take it, is even a higher attainment than the Hegelian philosophy -has thought of. Any one who develops the will by the man-of-war idea -will have a sorry will upon his hands. There is, with the young child, -certainly, a synthesis, a correlation, a development of taste where -the analysis is suppressed and unconscious; and yet, my friends, if -you attempt to educate a boy in the upper grammar grades or the high -school according to the same principles as the primary grades, you make -a sorry muss of it. If we would pass from the state of the child to the -state of the man, it is necessary for us to go through the dry bones of -analysis. - - * * * * * - -DR. B. A. HINSDALE, _University of Michigan, Ann Arbor_: There are two -things which I wish very briefly to touch. First, I do not understand -Dr. Harris, in speaking of Herbart and the will, to leave the subject -in the form in which Dr. McMurry understood that matter. I understand -that Herbart does not base morals open the will, but rather upon the -feeling and the desires. Now, whether the will or the desires furnish -a proper basis is a question I do not wish to discuss. Certainly, when -any one says that the Doctor declared that Herbart does not take the -question of morals into account he makes a mistake. I understand him -to say that Herbart does not place morals upon the proper foundation. -In regard to courses of study, there is no such thing as considering -this question apart from criteria. Now, what are our criteria to be? -That I do not propose to discuss, but where are we to seek for our -criteria? For myself, I have been in the habit of discussing that -subject in this way. These are to be found, in the first place, in -the constitution of the human soul, and second, in the facts that -constitute the environment of men. I do not say which is below the -other. I do say that a serious mistake will be made by that pedagogist -who leaves out either of these or gives either a very inferior -position. As to how either presupposes the other, that is a very -important question, but I cannot discuss it at more length. - -Now as to the process of isolation--the first process of knowledge is -to isolate things. We have certainly been taught that the first process -of the mind is not a synthetic, but an analytic process. Every person -coming into this hall took a view of it as a whole, and then began to -isolate this thing from that, and then this process, after a time, -ceased. But that there is to be no synthesis is a proposition which I -do not understand to be in this report. - -When a child comes to school you may divide the subjects which occupy -his attention into two groups. The first are the elementary school -arts,--as the improving of speech, the studies of reading, writing, -drawing, and numerical calculations, if he has never entered upon -these. They are not studies, they are the arts of the elementary -school. We teach them, not for their own sake, but that they may be -used as instruments. [Time called by the chairman, and extended by vote -of the house.] - -I wish, in the first instance, to express my sense of gratification. I -felt that I was leaving the matter in a very imperfect form. - -Now, I had said all that I care to say about the arts in the elementary -schools. There are the studies, I mean the real studies, those we study -for the purpose of getting out of them all that there is in them. Now, -there is a discussion as to the relation in which the two classes of -studies shall stand at the beginning. Now, the old idea was, that -some of the first time in school should be devoted to these arts, and -the studies were permitted to fall into the background, or perhaps -fall clear out. Now, if I understand some of the pedagogists, their -idea is to put the beginner at the real thing, or perhaps I should -say to keep him at the real thing, that the arts should be acquired -during the studies. Now, the question occurs to me, whether, in the -elementary schools, these arts can ever be successfully taught when we -are pretending to teach something else? I must say that if the object -were to have a pupil advance the greatest distance for the first three -months or six months, you had better say nothing about the arts at all. -But we put him at the arts, knowing that when we put these gifts into -his hands we are giving him an instrument of power that he will be able -to use throughout his whole life. [Applause.] - -Now, the question of concentration, so-called, is involved in this -matter. I want to ask the question, and I would discuss it if I had a -quarter of an hour,--I want to ask the question, how far it is possible -to do two things in an intense manner at the same time. When I was -superintendent of schools, a gentleman picked off the table a so-called -physiological reader, and, looking at the title page, said, “For one, -I could never teach physiology as a subject and reading as an art at -the same time. The physiology is not and it cannot be made a proper -material for a school reading book; a proper school reading book cannot -be made a good physiology.” Yet I believe in concentration, if it -means letting one subject assist and enforce another. I hope none of -the brethren will become so enthusiastic as to assume that the whole -round of information can be brought under the teaching of one subject. -[Applause.] - - * * * * * - -DR. E. E. WHITE, _Columbus, O._: I have a little hesitation in speaking -on this question, where I am only a learner. I am anxious to know what -my young friends mean. I hope I shall get the correlation of their -ideas in time. [Laughter.] - -As it seems to me, correlation, as a distinctive method, assumes to do -more than it is possible for a method to accomplish. In my judgment, -there is no one method of education, whether it be Herbartian or -otherwise. To assume that a human soul is to be exclusively educated -by the Herbartian method is a great assumption. I do not believe that -we are to supplement and supplant now all that has been known in the -education of the young based on the psychology which the defenders of -this method are willing to discard. There are many of its methods we -are willing to accept, but the Herbartian pedagogy is based on the -Herbartian psychology, and if you discard that, you have no system of -pedagogy, but you have many elements which you can utilize. Now, we -make a mistake when we assume that there is only one method by which -the young man in college and the children can be educated. The lady -who spoke last night, Miss Arnold, had not such an idea. Now there is -a blending in the primary grades which is not possible in the upper -grades. That is emphasized completely in what we call the special -courses in colleges. That blending may be on mere surface relations -which will be discarded as soon as we pass above the primary grades. -While we may concede that this is possible in one exercise, it is not -possible in higher instruction. Our methods change, so let as not be -too sweeping, too confident in our terms. Further, I think that Dr. -Harris is entirely right in the position he has taken as to the meaning -of coördination or correlation. He uses the term correlation, not only -in its scientific, but in its recognized pedagogic sense. Concentration -is a different process, and should receive separate consideration. -May I add that the views I recently presented under what is called -concentration seem to make class instruction impossible. They lead -clearly to the one conclusion, that every child should be taught as an -individual, by himself, and this means that all class instruction is -to be given up. Individual instruction can alone meet the conditions -assumed to be essential by concentration, as explained. What does this -involve? - -There have been many scholars since the Flood,--scholars who have -honored learning and widened its domain. How were they produced? Not -by any one method, and certainly not by “concentration.” These hosts -of scholars cannot be accounted for on any such assumption, for they -were produced under very unlike systems of elementary training. The -history of school education shows that we are not shut up to a diet of -pedagogic hash on the one hand, or one of baked beans on the other. -There is clearly no one universal method or process in education by -which alone a human soul is to be brought to power. - - * * * * * - -DR. NICHOLAS MURRY BUTLER, _Columbia College, New York_: This is an -interesting and exciting field of battle; it has not been a Bull Run, -and it is manifestly not an Appomattox. But let us be fair, and let us -discuss the question that is presented by this report. I shall spend no -time in eulogizing this report. I do say that such a report, presented -at this time, dealing with this specific topic in these words, is -little less than a misrepresentation. - -Such a document as this, presented at this particular time in the -history of our educational development, and supposed to deal with -the practical problem of the correlation of studies, is extremely -unfortunate. This discussion has made it plain that there is among -us a difference of opinion as to what the term “correlation of -studies” means. This report interprets it to mean the correlation -between the studies of the school curriculum and the intellectual -environment of the pupil. Certainly that is not what the term is taken -to mean in our current educational literature and in our current -educational discussions. It has been claimed on this platform that -those who use the phrase “correlation of studies,” in reference to -the interdependence of school subjects one with another, are making a -strained and improper use of the word. This criticism is not correct. -The highest authority that we have, the “Century Dictionary,” gives -as a definition of correlation, “the act of bringing into orderly -connection or reciprocal relation.” It recites a passage from the -great work of Grove, who first made this term familiar in English -scientific literature, in illustration of the meaning of correlation. -This is precisely the sense in which the word is used by Dr. McMurry -and others, and it is precisely the sense in which we expect to find it -used in this report. Therefore, I say I am disappointed, and grievously -disappointed, that we have in these pages only a passing reference -to the real problem of correlation or concentration as it is before -American teachers at the present moment. - -I can find no fault with the use of the word selected by the Committee, -but I do complain that they have not treated the problem, whatever -name they choose to give to it, that we asked them to solve. Instead -of that, they have given us a splendid and learned discussion -of educational values, an analysis of the history of the school -curriculum, and an elaborate defence of the _status quo_. It is -apparent to me, therefore, that this report faces backward and forward. -I Bay this despite the fact that it suggests and argues for more than -one important innovation in the curriculum. - -For one hundred years, ever since the time of Pestalozzi, we have been -trying to extract the curriculum from a philosophical discussion of -this sort, but we have not succeeded in satisfying ourselves wholly. -We have made great advance, and for that advance we in America are -indebted more largely to Dr. Harris than to any other single person, -living or dead. He has taught us to understand why certain specific -branches of knowledge are selected for a place in the curriculum, -and now we ask him to tell us how they are to be correlated, or -coördinated, or concentrated, in practice, to meet the new demands that -are made upon the school, and we get no answer in this report. - -The curriculum that this report recommends to us, and the methods that -it outlines, are arrived by an analysis made from the adult point of -view. Are we, then, to understand that child study is to be given -no hearing? Are we shut up to formal analysis as the sole method in -evolving a practical school plan? The newer education answers this -question directly in the negative. It is putting the child in the place -of honor and asking him to tell us what his nature demands and in what -order it demands it. Dr. White has said that the legitimate result -of this newer movement is individualism in teaching. I agree with him -absolutely. We hope that the time will come when the individuality -of every child will be respected. We want to rescue each child from -the thraldom to which the formalism of the schoolroom has subjected -him. For the sake of system we are reducing fifty, sixty, or seventy -individual children in a schoolroom to a common denominator. It is -true that there is no universal educational method, and that the -Herbartians are as little likely as the Hegelians to provide us with a -rule that shall know so exception. But in the point of view that they -take, based upon the doctrine of apperception and upon the doctrine oi -interest, they are absolutely right, and it is not what we expected -from a committee of this kind to find this entire movement turned out -of court without a hearing. Personally I am a slavish adherent of no -school of thought and wear the badge of none, but I do say that we -should not be prevented from giving to this great Herbartian movement -prolonged and sympathetic examination. Why is it that we find the -question of the correlation or the concentration of studies forced upon -us at all? Certainly the normal child-mind sees the world about it as -a correlated and concentrated whole. It is the adults and philosophers -who have made the analysis that has resulted in separating what to the -child is connected; so that, after all, the advocates of correlation -are simply endeavoring to put the subjects of study back where they -found them and to treat the curriculum from the child’s point of view. -The adult is able to distinguish a physical fact from a chemical fact, -a geographical fact from an historical fact, an arithmetical fact from -an algebraical fact, but the child is not. He views them all simply -as facts, and originally they are all on the same plane with regard -to his intelligence. We must, therefore, seek the real unity that -underlies the curriculum, and not proceed by making first an artificial -separation of studies, and then a doubly artificial synthesis of them. - -A preceding speaker has sharply criticised the psychology of Herbart. -It is undoubtedly true that we cannot accept Herbart’s psychology as -a satisfactory explanation of mental life. But it is not necessary -that we should do so in order to secure the benefit of the educational -theory and the educational practice that bears Herbart’s name. - - * * * * * - -SUPERINTENDENT S. T. DUTTON, _Brookline, Mass._: About all has been -said that needs to be said now. It seems to me that the question takes -this form--the same God that made the child made the world about him. -The purpose of those who mean to work out something better is to find -how the child should be taught. My friends, we do not recognize the -value of this report. Dr. Harris said very distinctly that the course -of study in point should include the whole round of human knowledge. -Now, there are two things that have helped me in this matter. My view -is singularly different from Dr. White’s. If correlation makes the -kindergarten what it is, it seems to me that it should go on. It seems -to me that, in a certain way, this is true in the first year, in the -second, etc. - -This cross section brings in so many things we find imposed upon the -schools that certain confusion and certain difficulties have been found -in working out the Herbartian plan. The only way is the working out of -these principles. If that is not done, we shall have reaction. I am not -afraid that this work shall be retarded because of this report. Every -teacher ought to understand this discussion of educational values. It -ought to help us; it will help us. If this report is not complete, it -will be completed in the good works of teachers in all this country. -[The chair here announced that Colonel Parker and Dr. Harris would be -asked to close the debate.] - - * * * * * - -COLONEL PARKER: Shall we study this question with open and unprejudiced -minds? I am not a Herbartian. I simply ask the most careful study of -all these questions and systems. There was a time when method seemed -to be incarnated. Now, in regard to this report and the eminent -philosopher who wrote it, I would not say one word except of the -most profound respect. I am never going even to make a pun before a -teachers’ meeting hereafter. When Dr. Harris says I do not believe in -grammar, he should say that I do not believe in certain methods. I -respect butterflies and grubs, but I respect language. When Dr. White -says that certain things are plain by concentration, he says what I -know nothing about. Herbart said of Pestalozzi that his great merit -did not consist in his method and his means, but in his sublime zeal. -He who faces this question of education faces infinity. I protest -against unfair statement as to discipleship, following leader, and so -forth, I acknowledge that I make such statements myself, but I hope -to do better. When Dr. White speaks of the great giants, we have but -to look at him and know it is true. But do we ever question what has -been lost? We are facing the great problems of the twentieth century, -and the present methods of teaching are not equal to their solution. -Under God, let us find the truth and follow it. Let us have the means -of knowing what each teacher and each superintendent is doing for the -child. Let us not lay down a great educational doctrine and say that -it is sufficient. The Sermon on the Mount is sufficient for nineteen -centuries; but what we want is an application of Hegel, of Herbart, and -of the wisdom of all other philosophers to the problems of the future. -All hail the future! - - * * * * * - -DR. W. T. HARRIS: I wish to add one remark as to the meaning of -correlation. I would call attention to its etymology, which makes it a -bringing into relation of what is coördinate. I knew of the Herbartian -idea of concentration of studies, but I was not familiar with the use -of the word “correlation” in the same sense as concentration. I have -given an example in discussing the methods of teaching geography of -the application of the deeper doctrine of concentration. I have shown -that we should start with the child and proceed in two directions, one -towards the elements of difference in order to explain the obstacles -which man has to overcome. On the other side, we should go towards the -subjects of human industry, invention, and commerce, and learn the -method by which man overcomes the “elements of difference.” Geography -for the child should begin in the centre and move outward towards these -extremes, including at every step a human side and a natural side. This -is not a philosophical study of correlation, Hegelian or otherwise, -although it has been called so in this debate, but a scientific study -of the educational value of the branches of the course of study. I -began it in 1870. Now, in a scientific study one does not allow his -feelings of attraction or repulsion to cloud his reason. He assumes -an unprejudiced attitude towards the object that he studies. Child -study, as it is pursued by Dr. Stanley Hall, is pursued with this true -scientific spirit. But child study is not the only thing in education, -nor can education be founded on child study alone. The child is here -to be correlated with the world. The educator must study the world and -study the child, and correlate the one to the other. That is to say, he -must bring the child into a knowledge of the world and a mastery of its -appliances. The report, of course, assumes the value of child study, -and in all the numerous places where attention is called to the danger -of producing arrested development the results of child study are drawn -upon; but, on the other hand, if you have a knowledge of the child, -and do not have a knowledge of the significance of the branches of -study and the way in which they unlock the world of reality, you cannot -correlate the child with the world. - - -[Transcriber's Note: - -Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.] - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Report of the Committee of Fifteen, by -W. T. Harris and A. S. Draper and H. S. 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