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D. -- a Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <style type="text/css"> - -a { - text-decoration: none} - -#coverpage { - text-align: center; - margin: 2em auto} - -body { - padding: 4px; - margin: auto 10%} - -p { - text-align: justify} - -.medium { - font-size: medium} - -.x-large { - font-size: x-large} - -.table { - display: table; - margin: auto} - -h1, h2 .page-break { - page-break-before: always} - -h1, h2, h3, h4 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - font-weight: normal; - clear: both; - margin: 2em auto 1em auto} - -.hang { - margin: 0; - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 2em} - -hr { - border-top: 4px double #8c8b8b;} - -hr.tb { - width: 45%; margin: 2em 27.5%; clear: both} - -table { - margin: auto} - -.index td { - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 2em} - -.index .i2 { - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 3em} - -.tdr { - text-align: right;} - -.tdc { - text-align: center;} - -.bbox { - border-collapse: collapse; - border: solid 2px;} - -.bbox td { - padding: 2px 4px 2px 2px; - border: solid 1px;} - -.copy { - font-size: small; - text-align: center} - -.smcap { - font-variant: small-caps;} - -/* Images */ -img { - border: none; - max-width: 100%} - -.figcenter { - clear: both; - margin: auto; - text-align: center;} - -.figcenter p { - margin: 0.5em 2em;} - -/* Footnotes */ -.footnote { - margin: 1em 2em; - border: 1px solid #004200} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: x-small; - line-height: .1em; - text-decoration: none; - white-space: nowrap /* keeps footnote on same line as referenced text */} - -.footnote p:first-child { - text-indent: -2.5em} - -.footnote p { - padding-left: 2.5em} - -.label { - width: 2em; - display: inline-block; - text-align: right; - text-decoration: none} - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote { - background-color: #E6E6FA; - border: silver solid 1px; - color: black; - margin: 2em auto 5em auto; - padding: 1em} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - color: silver; - position: absolute; - right: 1em; - font-size: small; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -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.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div id="coverpage"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span></p> - -<h1> -REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE -OF FIFTEEN<br /> -<img src="images/title1.jpg" alt="" /><br /> -<span class="medium">BY</span><br /> -<span class="table x-large">W. T. HARRIS, LL. D.,<br /> -A. S. DRAPER, LL. D.,<br /> -AND H. S. TARBELL</span> -<img src="images/title1.jpg" alt="" /><br /> -<span class="table medium">READ AT THE -CLEVELAND MEETING OF -THE DEPARTMENT OF SUPERINTENDENCE, -FEBRUARY -19-21, 1895, WITH -THE DEBATE</span><br /> - -<img src="images/title2.jpg" alt="" /><br /> -</h1> - -<p class="copy"> -PUBLISHED BY THE NEW ENGLAND PUBLISHING<br /> -COMPANY <img src="images/title3.jpg" alt="" /> BOSTON<br /> -MDCCCXCV -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span></p> - -<table class="index"> - <tr> - <td colspan="3"><h2>Autogenerated TOC.</h2></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdr">Page</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"><a href="#CORRELATION_OF_STUDIES_IN_ELEMENTARY_SCHOOLS">CORRELATION OF STUDIES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="i2 tdr">I.</td> - <td><a href="#CORRELATION_OF_STUDIES">CORRELATION OF STUDIES.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="i2 tdr">II.</td> - <td><a href="#THE_COURSE_OF_STUDY_EDUCATIONAL_VALUES">THE COURSE OF STUDY—EDUCATIONAL VALUES.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="i2 tdr">III.</td> - <td><a href="#THE_SCHOOL_PROGRAMME"> THE SCHOOL PROGRAMME.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">57</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="i2 tdr">IV.</td> - <td><a href="#METHODS_AND_ORGANIZATION">METHODS AND ORGANIZATION.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">69</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"><a href="#Organization_for_City_School_Systems">Organization for City School Systems.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">75</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"><a href="#On_the_Training_of_Teachers">On the Training of Teachers.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">95</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"><a href="#Dissent_from_Dr_Harris_Report">Dissent from Dr. Harris’ Report.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">120</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2"><a href="#Discussion_on_Report_of_Dr_Harris">Discussion on Report of Dr. Harris.</a></td> - <td class="tdr">134</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<h2 id="CORRELATION_OF_STUDIES_IN_ELEMENTARY_SCHOOLS">CORRELATION OF STUDIES IN -ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.<br /> - -<span class="medium">BY W. T. HARRIS, LL. D.</span></h2> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h3 id="CORRELATION_OF_STUDIES">I. CORRELATION OF STUDIES.</h3> - -<p>Your Committee understands by correlation of -studies:—</p> - -<h4><i>1. Logical order of topics and branches.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>2. Symmetrical whole of studies in the world of human -learning.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> -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.</p> - -<h4><i>3. Psychological symmetry—the whole mind.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>4. Correlation of pupil’s course of study with the world -in which he lives—his spiritual and natural -environment.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> -reactions against mental effort, will be finally settled -by scientific experiment in the department of physiological -psychology.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h3 id="THE_COURSE_OF_STUDY_EDUCATIONAL_VALUES">II. THE COURSE OF STUDY—EDUCATIONAL VALUES.</h3> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>A. Language studies.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span> -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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> -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.</p> - -<p>A third phase of language study in the elementary -school is formal grammar. The works of literary art -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> -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 -<i>par excellence</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<i>dénouement</i>. 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 <i>dénouement</i> 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>B. Arithmetic.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Besides (<i>a</i>) simple numbers and the four operations -with them, (<i>b</i>) fractions common and decimal, -there is (<i>c</i>) 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>C. Geography.</i></h4> - -<p>The leading branch of the seven liberal arts was -grammar, being the first of the <i>Trivium</i> (grammar, -rhetoric, and logic). Arithmetic, however, led the second -division, the <i>Quadrivium</i> (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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> -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 <i>habitat</i>, 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Your Committee is of the opinion that there has -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> -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.</p> - -<h4><i>D. History.</i></h4> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>republic</i>. 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 <i>republic</i>, 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>E. Other branches.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> -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 -(<i>a</i>) in literature to express the fine shades of -emotion and the more subtle distinctions of thought, -(<i>b</i>) the technique of arithmetic, (<i>c</i>) of geography, (<i>d</i>) -of grammar, (<i>e</i>) of history.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> -the history lessons assist very much his comprehension -of literature, and add interest to geography.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>In regard to physical culture your Committee is -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Your Committee refers to the programme given -later in this report for the details of co-ordinating -these several branches already recommended.</p> - -<h4><i>The difference between elementary and secondary studies.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -of the intrinsic difference between elementary and -secondary studies.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span> -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.</p> - -<p>Physics, including what was called until recently -“natural philosophy,” after Newton’s <i>Principia</i> (<i>Philosophiæ -naturalis principia mathematica</i>), 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Your Committee does not attempt to state the exact -proportion in which the child, at his various degrees -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> -school, and there should be a gradual and -continual approach to it.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Correlation by synthesis of studies.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h3 id="THE_SCHOOL_PROGRAMME">III. THE SCHOOL PROGRAMME.</h3> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -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.</p> - -<p>The lessons should be arranged so as to bring in -such exercises as furnish relief from intellectual tension -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span> -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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span></p> - -<h4><i>Amount of time for each branch.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 (<i>a</i>) the elocution, (<i>b</i>) the grammatical -peculiarities of the language, including spelling, definitions, -syntactical construction, punctuation, and figures -of prosody, and (<i>c</i>) the literary contents, including the -main and accessory ideas, the emotions painted, the -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>recherché</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Your Committee recommends that the use of a text-book -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Your Committee recommends that penmanship as a -separate branch be taught in the first six years at least -three lessons per week.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The following schedule will show the number of lessons -per week for each quarter of each year:—</p> - -<blockquote class="hang"> - -<p>Reading. Eight years, with daily lessons.</p> - -<p>Penmanship. Six years, ten lessons per week for first two -years, five for third and fourth, and three for fifth and -sixth.</p> - -<p>Spelling Lists. Fourth, fifth, and sixth years, four lessons -per week. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span></p> - -<p>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.)</p> - -<p>Latin or French or German. Eighth year, five lessons per -week.</p> - -<p>Arithmetic. Oral first and second year, text-book third to -sixth year, five lessons per week.</p> - -<p>Algebra. Seventh and eighth years, five lessons per week.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Natural Science and Hygiene. Sixty minutes per week, -eight years.</p> - -<p>History of United States. Five hours per week seventh -year and first half of eighth year.</p> - -<p>Constitution of United States. Third quarter in the eighth -year.</p> - -<p>General History and Biography. Oral lessons, sixty minutes -a week, eight years.</p> - -<p>Physical Culture. Sixty minutes a week, eight years.</p> - -<p>Vocal Music. Sixty minutes a week, eight years.</p> - -<p>Drawing. Sixty minutes a week, eight years.</p> - -<p>Manual Training, Sewing, and Cooking. One-half day each -week in seventh and eighth years.</p></blockquote> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> -the recitation or class exercises being twelve hours, or -an average of two hours and twenty-four minutes per -day.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span></p> - -<table class="page-break tdc bbox"> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Branches.</span></td> - <td><i>1st<br />year</i></td> - <td><i>2d<br />year</i></td> - <td colspan="2"><i>3d<br />year</i></td> - <td><i>4th<br />year</i></td> - <td colspan="2"><i>5th<br />year</i></td> - <td><i>6th<br />year</i></td> - <td><i>7th<br />year</i></td> - <td colspan="2"><i>8th<br />year</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Reading</td> - <td colspan="2">10 lessons a week</td> - <td colspan="9">5 lessons a week</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Writing</td> - <td colspan="2">10 lessons a week</td> - <td colspan="3">5 lessons a week</td> - <td colspan="3">3 lessons a week</td> - <td colspan="3"></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Spelling lists</td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td colspan="4">4 lessons a week</td> - <td colspan="3"></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>English<br />Grammar</td> - <td colspan="6">Oral, with composition lessons</td> - <td colspan="3">5 lessons a week</td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Latin</td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2">5 lessons</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Arithmetic</td> - <td colspan="2">Oral, 60 minutes</td> - <td colspan="6">5 lessons a week with text-book</td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Algebra</td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="3">5 lessons a week</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Geography</td> - <td colspan="3">Oral, 60 minutes a week</td> - <td colspan="5"><a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a>5 lessons a week with text-book</td> - <td colspan="3">3 lessons a week</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Natural<br />Science<br />+Hygiene</td> - <td colspan="11">Sixty minutes a week</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>U. S. History</td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2">5 lessons a week</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>U. S. Constitution</td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a>5<br />ls</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>General History</td> - <td colspan="11">Oral, sixty minutes a week</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Physical<br />Culture</td> - <td colspan="11">Sixty minutes a week</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Vocal Music</td> - <td colspan="11">Sixty minutes a week<br /> divided into 4 lessons</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Drawing</td> - <td colspan="11">Sixty minutes a week</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Man’l Train.<br />or Sewing+<br />Cookery</td> - <td></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="2"></td> - <td></td> - <td colspan="3">One-half day<br />each week</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Number of<br />Lessons</td> - <td>20 + 7<br />daily<br />exer.</td> - <td>20 + 7<br />daily<br />exer.</td> - <td colspan="2">20 + 5<br />daily<br />exer.</td> - <td>24 + 5<br />daily<br />exer.</td> - <td colspan="2">27 + 5<br />daily<br />exer.</td> - <td>27 + 5<br />daily<br />exer.</td> - <td>23 + 6<br />daily<br />exer.</td> - <td colspan="2">23 + 6<br />daily<br />exer.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Total Hours of<br />Recitat’ns</td> - <td>12</td> - <td>12</td> - <td colspan="2">11⅔</td> - <td>13</td> - <td colspan="2">16¼</td> - <td>16¼</td> - <td>17½</td> - <td colspan="2">17½</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Length of<br />Recitations</td> - <td>15 min</td> - <td>15 min</td> - <td colspan="2">20 min</td> - <td>20 min</td> - <td colspan="2">25 min</td> - <td>25 min</td> - <td>30 min</td> - <td colspan="2">30 min</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">1</a> -Begins in second half year.</p></div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The foregoing tabular exhibit shows all of these particulars.</p> - -<h3 id="METHODS_AND_ORGANIZATION">IV. METHODS AND ORGANIZATION.</h3> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -of beginning of the several branches depend so largely -on the method of teaching.</p> - -<p>The following recommendations, however, remain -for this part of their report:—</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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” (<i>tout est dans tout</i>).</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> -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.</p> - -<p>The procrustean character of the old city systems -has been removed by this device.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span></p> - -<h2 id="Organization_for_City_School_Systems">Organization for City School Systems.<br /> - -<span class="medium">BY PRESIDENT ANDREW S. DRAPER.</span></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>[This is the report of a sub-committee of the Fifteen, of which President -Draper of the University of Illinois is chairman.]</p></blockquote> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The end for which a school system exists is the <i>instruction -of the children</i>, 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -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 <i>is</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>To secure efficiency in these departments, there must -be adequate authority and quick public accountability. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -the plan and in doing what is to be done, are, perhaps, -equally important.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span> -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 <i>the only -way</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>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 <i>absolutely emancipated from -partisan politics, and completely dissociated from municipal -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> -business</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The term for which members are appointed should be -a reasonably long one, say, five years.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><i>First.</i>—The affairs of the schools should not be mixed -up with partisan contents or municipal business.</p> - -<p><i>Second.</i>—There should be a sharp distinction between -legislative functions and executive duties.</p> - -<p><i>Third.</i>—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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> -rather than election, and that it be constituted of two -branches acting against each other.</p> - -<p><i>Fourth.</i>—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.</p> - -<p><i>Fifth.</i>—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.</p> - -<p><i>Sixth.</i>—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, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> -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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span></p> - -<h2 id="On_the_Training_of_Teachers">On the Training of Teachers.<br /> - -<span class="medium">BY SUPERINTENDENT H. S. TARBELL, PROVIDENCE.</span></h2> - -<blockquote> -<p>[Report of the Fifteen. Read at the Cleveland meeting of -the Department of Superintendence, February 19, 1895.]</p></blockquote> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Conditions for professional training—age and -attainments.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span></p> - -<h4><i>Training schools.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Academic studies.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Professional work.</i></h4> - -<p>Professional training comprises two parts: (<i>a</i>) -The science of teaching, and (<i>b</i>) the art of teaching.</p> - -<p>In the <i>science of teaching</i> 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.</p> - -<p>The <i>art of teaching</i> is best gained: (1) by observation -of good teaching; (2) by practice-teaching under -criticism.</p> - -<h4><i>Relative time.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Science of teaching—psychology.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Suggestion, observation, and reflection are each -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Study of children.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> -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?</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Methodology.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>School economy.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>History of education.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Training in teaching.</i></h4> - -<p>Training to teach requires (1) schools for observation, -and (2) schools for practice.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> -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?</p> - -<h4><i>The practice-school.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Length of training-school course.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> -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.</p> - -<h4><i>Tests of success.</i></h4> - -<p>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?</p> - -<p>These are some of the questions one must answer -before he pronounces any teacher a success or a -failure.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> -and in her pupils is the great demand and the -great reward.</p> - -<h4><i>Training of teachers for secondary schools.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>The superintendent who with long foresight looks -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>sui generis</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>These considerations and others are the occasion of -a growing conviction, widespread in this land, that -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> -other, mostly practice with some theory, elective for -one year as post-graduate work.</p> - -<p>During the senior year is to be studied:—</p> - -<h4><i>The science of teaching.</i></h4> - -<p>The elements of this science are:—</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>II. Methodology: A discussion of the principles -of education and of the methods of teaching the -studies of the secondary schools.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>V. The philosophy of education as a division of -an all-involving philosophy of life and thought in -which unity is found. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span></p> - -<h4><i>The art of teaching.</i></h4> - -<p>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?</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>Post-graduate year.</i></h4> - -<p>To those graduates who have elected pedagogy in -their senior year may be offered the opportunity of -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> -secondary teachers in connection with Brown University -and the Providence high school is contemplated -for the coming year.)</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p class="table tdc"> -<span class="smcap">Horace S. Tarbell</span>, Chairman,<br /> -Superintendent of Schools, Providence, R. I.<br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Edward Brooks</span>,<br /> -Superintendent of Schools, Philadelphia, Pa.<br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Thomas M. Balliet</span>,<br /> -Superintendent of Schools, Springfield, Mass.<br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Newton C. Dougherty</span>,<br /> -Superintendent of Schools, Peoria, Ill.<br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Oscar H. Cooper</span>,<br /> -Superintendent of Schools, Galveston, Tex.<br /> -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span></p> - -<h2 id="Dissent_from_Dr_Harris_Report">Dissent from Dr. Harris’ Report.<br /> - -<span class="medium">BY JAMES M. GREENWOOD, OF KANSAS CITY.</span></h2> - -<blockquote> - -<p>I dissent from the majority report of the Committee in regard -to the following points:—</p></blockquote> - -<h4><i>Arithmetic</i></h4> - -<p>1. <span class="smcap">As to fractions</span>: 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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span></p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>In decimals, the pupil is really confronted by a simpler form -of fractions than the varied forms of common fractions.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>2. <span class="smcap">As to abridgment</span>: 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> -and interest should be condensed into about twenty pages.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>3. <span class="smcap">As to mental arithmetic</span>: 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.</p> - -<p>4. <span class="smcap">Rearrangement of subjects</span>: 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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span></p> - -<p>5. <span class="smcap">As to algebra</span>: 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.</p> - -<h4><i>History of the United States.</i></h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4><i>The spelling-book.</i></h4> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span> -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.</p> - -<h4>BY CHARLES B. GILBERT, OF ST. PAUL.</h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> -studied, and also the power by which he may become a factor -in his generation.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> -favor more of experimentation and observation by the child, -and less of telling by the teacher than the report would seem -to favor.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>I regret to be compelled to express dissent upon so many -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span> -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.</p> - -<h4>BY L. H. JONES, OF CLEVELAND.</h4> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Reference is made in the report to various attempts that have -been made to correlate subjects of study.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> -subject which may be had by pursuing it without reference to -correlating it with all others.</p> - -<p>It is at this point that in my judgment a wrong inference is -permitted by the report.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<h4>BY WILLIAM H. MAXWELL, OF BROOKLYN.</h4> - -<p>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:—</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>2. For the study of literature, complete works are to be preferred -to the selections found in school readers.</p> - -<p>3. That species of language exercise known as paraphrasing -I regard as harmful.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span></p> - -<h2 id="Dissent_from_Dr_Drapers_Report">Dissent from Dr. Draper’s Report.<br /> - -<span class="medium">BY EDWIN P. SEAVER, BOSTON.</span></h2> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span></p> - -<h4>BY ALBERT G. LANE, CHICAGO.</h4> - -<p>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 <small>THIRD</small> the -words, “And that it be constituted of two branches acting -against each other.” Omit <small>FIFTH</small>, “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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span></p> - -<h2 id="Discussion_on_Report_of_Dr_Harris">Discussion on Report of Dr. Harris.</h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Frank M. McMurry</span>, <i>Franklin School, Buffalo</i>: 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.]</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> -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.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">F. W. Parker</span>, <i>Cook County Normal, Chicago</i>: 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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span></p> - -<p>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 <i>in toto</i>.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Now, I would say to this committee of five, have your reading -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span> -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]</p> - -<p>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]</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">President Charles De Garmo</span>, <i>Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania</i>: -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]</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> -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.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">President of the Department</span>: 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.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">W. T. Harris</span>, <i>Commissioner of Education</i>: 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> -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.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">Charles McMurry</span>, <i>State Normal University, Normal, Ill.</i>: -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">President W. H. Hervey</span>, <i>Teachers’ College, New York</i>: I -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> -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.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dr. B. A. Hinsdale</span>, <i>University of Michigan, Ann Arbor</i>: -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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.]</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> -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.]</p> - -<p>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.]</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dr. E. E. White</span>, <i>Columbus, O.</i>: 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.]</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> -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?</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Nicholas Murry Butler</span>, <i>Columbia College, New -York</i>: 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>status quo</i>. 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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. -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">Superintendent S. T. Dutton</span>, <i>Brookline, Mass.</i>: 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.]</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">Colonel Parker</span>: 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 -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span> -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!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p><span class="smcap">Dr. W. T. Harris</span>: 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.</p> - -<div class="transnote"> - -<h3>Transcriber's Note:</h3> - -<p>Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.</p> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -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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