A brief course in the teaching process

by George D. Strayer

GEOGRAPHY—FIFTH GRADE

Detailed Plan for a Series of Lessons

Topic:—

Pittsburg as a trade center.

Materials:—

Pictures, maps, sand table, specimens of iron ore, coal, coke, limestone, reference books, railroad folders.

Aim:—

To show how natural advantages have determined the location and growth of Pittsburg; to show the direction and extent of manufacturing and commerce in Pittsburg.

Preparation:—

1. Study of coal mine, iron mine, blast furnace.

2. Relation of iron mines to coal mines.

3. Location of Pittsburg—

(a) in coal region.

(b) at junction of rivers which form the Ohio River.

Presentation:—

(Following closely McMurry’s Special Method in Geography.)

1. Advantages of Pittsburg for iron and steel manufacturing. Illustrate with sand map.

(a) Coal region—rivers bring coal to Pittsburg.

(b) Iron region near.

Much iron ore brought from Lake Superior region via Great Lakes, by railroad from Lake Erie.

In manufacture of steel more coal is used than iron ore; it pays to bring iron ore to coal.

(c) Manufactured products—steel rails, armor plate, pig iron.

(d) Rank of Pittsburg in regard to manufacture of iron and steel. Pittsburg makes 10 per cent of all iron and steel goods made in the United States.

2. Neighboring manufacturing towns.

(a) Names—Allegheny, Carnegie, Homestead, Braddock, etc.

(b) How do their manufactures compare with those of Pittsburg in kind? in quantity? in value?

3. Coke ovens.

Uses of coke.

Kind of coal used; where obtained.

Amount of it put into each oven.

Length of burning.

By-products.

Drawing out and cooling.

Extent of ovens.

Effect on landscape.

4. Blast furnaces.

5. Other manufactures.

(a) Oil refining.

Where oil comes from.

How it is pumped, carried, stored.

Value of pipe lines.

How is oil brought to Baltimore?

Effect of oil tanks on landscape.

Processes of refining.

Dangers.

Uses.

By-products.

(b) Glass making.

Kinds of glass made.

Materials used.

Where found.

6. Transportation by water. Illustrate with sand map.

(a) Need for means of transportation: of raw material to Pittsburg; of manufactured products from Pittsburg.

(b) Rivers.

The Allegheny and Monongahela bring raw materials to Pittsburg.

The Ohio carries raw materials and manufactured products away from Pittsburg.

No tracks or roadbed to be laid for river,—river always ready; Ohio deep enough for large barges; swiftness of current due to nature of slopes.

Coal and iron carried by river as far as New Orleans.

7. Railroad center.

(a) Sections of country not reached by waterways. How products are transported to those parts?

(b) Need of railroads for people who travel to and from Pittsburg.

(c) Chief directions in which railroads lead from Pittsburg. What roads lead from Baltimore to Pittsburg? From New York to Pittsburg?

(d) What supplies are brought by railroad besides those needed in manufacturing?

8. Aspects of the city of Pittsburg:—

Wealth—opportunities for getting, for spending.

Education—what special class of schools likely to develop.

Smoke and dirt—due to nature of manufactures.

Seat Work:—

Illustrative drawings.

Maps showing coal and iron regions, course of rivers.

Related language work.

Reference reading.

CHAPTER XVII
THE TEACHER IN RELATION TO SUPERVISION

Teachers are generally responsible in some measure to one or more supervisory officers. Those who control the schools believe that better work will be done because of the supervision which is provided. It may not be out of place, therefore, in a book devoted to the problems of the teacher to consider the relation to supervision and to those who supervise her work.

The fundamental purpose of supervision, whether of schools or of other activities, is increased efficiency of all who participate in the work. Supervisors are worthy of the name only when they do their best to increase the efficiency of every teacher with whom they come in contact. Happily, this attitude of helpfulness characterizes most of those who are known as principals, primary or grammar-grade supervisors, subject supervisors, assistant and associate superintendents, and superintendents of schools. It may be that because of the great number of teachers employed in a system of schools some of these officers can have little direct relationship with individual teachers; but in the organization of the schools, by means of regulations, courses of study and the like, or through those who come directly in contact with teachers, these men and women seek to help each teacher to do better work. It is important that all teachers realize clearly the significance of the supervisor’s work, and that she avail herself of the help and coöperation which is thus provided.

One of the functions of the supervisor is to criticize the work which is being done by individual teachers. It is especially difficult for some teachers to appreciate the purpose of such criticism, or to avail themselves of the aid which is offered in this form. Let us examine the different kinds of criticism which one may expect to receive, and try to discover how to get the most out of this instrument of supervision.

There are supervisors whose criticism is occasionally purely negative. They come into the room, observe some of the work, and remark, either at the time or later, that the work was good, or that it was poor. It does not help one much, except in a feeling of good will toward the supervisor, when told that work is well done; nor is it very significant for future work that one’s efforts have been condemned. When the supervisor indulges in this type of criticism, the teacher has a right to ask him for the reasons which lead him to praise or to condemn. If excellent work is to be repeated, then the elements which have made for success should be pointed out. One may try to repeat good work and fail miserably because the elements in the excellent work which made for success have been overlooked in the second effort. Likewise failure may occur, even though it has been stamped as poor work, because the teacher fails to see the essential weakness of her effort.

Most supervisors are able to find strength of some sort in the work of every teacher. It may be worth while for the teacher at times to ask for a discussion of the strong points in her work. This constructive appreciative criticism may help her to receive with open mind the destructive criticism which may be needed to bring about the elimination of weakness. Any teacher should welcome the criticism which frankly points out the deficiencies of her work and suggests the remedies which should be applied. We all want to do our best work. Unfortunately we cannot always see our teaching in true perspective. The supervisor who comes in from the outside, as it were, with a wide range of experience in teaching and in observing teachers can often give the suggestion which will make work, not only more efficient, but also more pleasant.

It is a good rule for both supervisor and teacher to wait until the end of the day or even for two or three days after the visit before the criticism is given. Snap judgments are apt to be wrong on both sides. The supervisor needs time to analyze the situation carefully in order to pick out the elements in the situation which are most significant and to overlook that which is trivial. The teacher will often be able to analyze her own work and to point out its defects, if time is given her to think it over. If the teacher can discover her own inefficiency, and if she is willing to talk frankly with the supervisor concerning these difficulties, the work of criticism will give satisfaction to both. A teacher has a right to ask for an appointment with a supervisor for the discussion of her work. Supervisors are, as a rule, only too willing to grant such a request.

Criticism has not fulfilled its mission, if it stops with discovering to the teacher her strength and her weakness together with the analysis of the situation which enables her to repeat successes and avoid failures. A wide-awake teacher will be looking and asking for suggestions concerning new kinds of work. Suggestive criticism opens up the way for growth by giving the teacher the encouragement and help which are needed to undertake the new or unusual type of work. Many of the best teachers might have remained in the less efficient group, had it not been for the help and inspiration which was imparted by a wise supervisor.

School exhibits are another means sometimes employed by the supervisory force to increase school efficiency. Here, again, the teacher should realize that the purpose of the supervisor is not to burden her with work, but rather to offer the help which may come from an exchange of experiences. The school exhibit which is most worth while does not require any special preparation of material on the part of the teacher. The work regularly done by children without corrections or refinement constitutes a true exhibit of the results secured. Any other kind of an exhibit is merely a test of the teacher’s ingenuity, her skill in masquerading under the names of her children.

When a genuine exhibit of children’s work is brought together, it affords to teachers and supervisors alike a wealth of suggestion and help. The writer remembers visiting an exhibit of drawing and constructive work in one of our large cities. The supervisors of this work were in charge at regular hours each week. A very large number of teachers came to see what was being done by other teachers in their grade. A special feature of the exhibit was an abundance of suggestions for the work of the next week provided by the supervisors and taken from the work of previous years. The consultation between supervisors and teachers concerning the work exhibited, and with reference to the work both past and yet to be done, was free from restraint and often lasted ten, fifteen, or even twenty minutes. Needless to say, the results achieved in drawing and constructive work in this city were far above the average. Similar exhibits of work in English composition, arithmetic, some phases of the work in literature, nature study, history, and geography are possible and cannot fail to help the teacher who is anxious to improve her work.

Visiting the work of other teachers has one advantage not possessed by the exhibit: it is possible to see not only the result but also the methods which are employed in securing the product. A good supervisor should be able to tell teachers where to go to see the kind of work which is most helpful. Any teacher should welcome the opportunity to see the work of a teacher who is strong where she is weak. Random visiting is not worth much. What counts is a visit to a teacher who has some help to offer, in order to satisfy a real need. Often the most profitable visiting can be done within the system in which the teacher works. Not infrequently the greatest help can be secured from another teacher in the same building. Whenever or wherever a teacher visits, the important thing is to look for the strong points in the work. The teacher who goes for help will not be disappointed; the one who looks for defects, who is hypercritical, will not profit by the time used.

After a visit to a teacher whose work is known by the supervisor, a conference may be held, or a report given by the visiting teacher. If the visit is worth making, it is worth some further consideration. It will help the teacher to talk over the visit with the supervisor with particular reference to her own work. The elements of strength in the work of the teacher visited can thus be determined, and the modifications in the work of the visitor desired by the supervisor be made definite.

Examinations have from time immemorial been used by supervisors to determine the success of school work. Teachers not infrequently seem to feel that they are an unnecessary hardship imposed without sufficient justification, whether teacher or pupils are considered. Let us inquire what examinations should mean to the teacher. First of all, it may be worth while to remember that the command of some knowledge, and the ability to use it when demanded, should form a part of the equipment of children who are being educated. It is well at times to stop and discover how much children know, and what facility they show in using their knowledge. It is a shock sometimes to discover that a room full of enthusiastic, well-behaved children do not know their multiplication tables, cannot add, subtract, or divide without making many mistakes, cannot write an acceptable paragraph because of mistakes in form which they should have mastered long ago, do not know on which side of the Ohio River to locate the state of Ohio; but that is just what is apt to happen in a school where examinations are never given.

Success or failure in an examination should not be all-important to children, nor should it lead to undue praise or condemnation of teachers. The wise teacher will try to find in the results of the examination evidence of the deficiencies of her teaching. In the light of the work done by the children she can tell where she can depend upon their knowledge, what part of the work needs to be reviewed, which children need special help. An examination should be a taking of stock which will enable teacher and pupil to do more and better work, because each is acquainted with the needs of the situation better than before.

Teachers’ meetings are worth just about what each individual teacher is willing to put into them. The teacher who comes to a meeting with her problems, willing to acknowledge that she needs help, and anxious to get it will not find these gatherings dull or uninteresting. If the meeting is organized for study, as is done in connection with reading circle work, the meeting can be transformed from a perfunctory recitation of the ideas of the book into a live professional discussion, by the activity of two or three earnest teachers. If the meetings are not good, individuals are at fault; if these teachers become active, if they try to make the most out of these discussions, their attitude will change.

One of the best types of teachers’ meetings is centered round the actual teaching of children by a member of the group, to be followed by discussion of the work done. There is no more certain way to grow professionally than to be willing to demonstrate your theory by practice, or to discuss the work which is done by other members of the group. In several of our cities these lessons, taught sometimes by the supervisors and at other times by the teachers themselves, have become a regular feature of the year’s work. The teacher who is most anxious to grow will be the first to avail herself of the opportunity to teach such a lesson. Supervisors sometimes hesitate to suggest this kind of a program for teachers’ meetings, because teachers are so unwilling to do their part in making the work a success. It is a poor professional spirit which is not strong enough to lead a teacher to accept the criticism of her fellow teachers, when she knows that therein lies the possibility of growth. Any group of teachers who will voluntarily participate in such work will find that the teachers’ meeting, instead of being a bore, will come to be looked upon as the brightest spot in the whole week, because of the help and inspiration which is derived from the hour’s work.

Institutes were once looked upon as places where teachers came to be entertained, or, possibly, to be inspired. There was a time when the best institutes were conducted on the “pouring in” plan. A lecturer, or several lecturers, dispensed the truth, and teachers sat in their places, supposedly drinking deep draughts from these fountains of wisdom. It is strange that all of the theory of teaching which was dispensed did not suggest that the manner of conducting the institute was wrong. In our best institutes to-day teachers participate in discussion, study and recite from books, undertake the revision or organization of courses of study in coöperation with their supervisors; in short, the institute has become a school for professional study. In such an institute, as in teachers’ meetings, those who come with real problems, anxious to get help, find the week or two all too short. A group of teachers anxious to grow professionally can, in most cases, secure the coöperation of supervisors in transforming an institute which is organized on the old basis.

If a teacher’s supervisors are not helping her, it may be well to inquire whose fault it is. The teacher who meets the supervisor halfway, the one who invites criticism, who avails herself of the help and suggestion which may come from exhibits, visiting, teachers’ meetings, and institutes will, in all probability, grow strong enough to help others. She may in her turn be called upon to accept the responsibilities, the trials, and the joys of a supervisor.[29]

For Collateral Reading

The Seventh Yearbook of the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education.

Exercises.

1. What is the purpose of supervision?

2. Give illustrations of work done by the supervisors whom you have found most helpful.

3. Name the types of criticism. Give illustrations of each type from your own experience.

4. What is wrong with the teacher who resents adverse criticism?

5. Why wait a day or two after the supervisor has visited you before asking for criticism on your work?

6. If the supervisor does not volunteer criticism, what would you do?

7. Have you ever attended a school exhibit which has helped you in your work? What kind of work should be sent to the exhibit? Why insist upon a continuous exhibit rather than one that lasts only a week?

8. How can you hope to get the most out of a day’s visiting? What help would you expect from the supervisor?

9. Of what value are examinations to you?

10. When a teacher says that she can get nothing from the teachers’ meetings, what is wrong?

11. What help would you expect to get from the observation and discussion of actual class teaching? Have you ever taught a class for observers?

12. What suggestions would you make for the improvement of your institute? Do you think changes could be made if teachers wanted to gain the most possible during the week or more devoted to the institute?

13. What is wrong in a situation where teachers complain that their supervisors are hard taskmasters?

14. If supervision is to make for professional growth, what contribution must the teacher make?

15. How do you explain the attitude of the teacher who says she wants no supervision?

CHAPTER XVIII
THE TEACHER IN RELATION TO THE COURSE OF STUDY

Teachers sometimes look upon the course of study merely as a demand made by those in control of the school system for a large amount of work to be accomplished. The course of study indicates that certain topics in English, arithmetic, nature study, geography, history, industrial arts, and the other subjects of the curriculum are assigned to the grade, and the teacher expects that her pupils will be examined on this work at stated times during the year in order to determine the efficiency of her work and the fitness of the children for promotion. From this point of view, the course of study is an ever present taskmaster, always urging that more work be accomplished. Let us inquire whether this is in reality the meaning of the course of study to the teacher.

In the first place, all will admit that in any system of schools it is necessary to determine somewhat definitely the work to be done by a given grade. If such provision were not made, it would be impossible to transfer children from one school to another, and very difficult for the supervisory force to render help to large numbers of teachers. Then, too, there is an order in the development of subjects, which is necessary both from the standpoint of the subject and from the point of view of the child who is to gain the experience which the subject offers.

It is true that a course of study which is made to fit all of the children of a great city or state must be interpreted liberally, if good teaching is to be done. To this end, our best courses of study demand that a minimum amount of work be done by all teachers, and suggest alternative and optional work to meet the needs of children whose experiences are varied, and whose needs are correspondingly different. In any progressive school system, the capable teacher has opportunity to vary the material presented under the head of the various subjects in such a manner as will satisfy the interests and the problems of the group of children for whose growth she is responsible.

A good course of study will save the teacher much time and energy by the organization of material which it presents. In many of our larger cities a volume of from fifty to two hundred pages has been prepared for each subject. These manuals suggest the order in which it has been found by experience that the topics can best be presented. In many cases a helpful analysis of each large topic from the point of view of presenting it to children is included. Besides this organization of material, references which will prove helpful to the teacher, both from the standpoint of subject matter and of method, are included in our best courses of study. In many cases suggestions for teaching, elaborated at times into complete lesson plans, are given.

In the making of the course of study, the teacher should welcome any opportunity to contribute her knowledge concerning the availability of material or the methods to be used in her grade. Any good course of study should be the joint product of at least three classes of people: the expert in the subject, the expert in supervision and administration of schools, and the expert teacher. The subject matter expert is needed to pass upon the material from the standpoint of fact and from the point of view of one who sees the beginnings of a subject in relation to the whole field. The supervisor has to provide for the proper relation of the different subjects, determines the amount of time to be devoted to the subject, and the general method of procedure in teaching the subject. The teacher needs to advise as to the practicability of the whole scheme. She has in mind a particular group of children with certain experiences, interests, and abilities, and her judgment is probably safer than either of the others as to the availability of any particular topic or phase of the subject. In addition to this service, any group of teachers can give most significant help with respect to the methods which have proved most helpful. Indeed, our courses of study could be made much more helpful if teachers were only asked to give suggestions concerning the organization of material and methods of teaching, which they are so well equipped to offer by reason of their experience in teaching the subject to children. Happily, the practice of inviting the coöperation of teachers in making the course of study is becoming more common in our cities. Any capable teacher who is anxious to participate in the organization of the curriculum will find opportunity to make her contribution.

Possibly there are teachers who, because of the very excellence of the courses of study provided, feel that all that is required for them is to follow blindly the directions given. Instead of considering the course of study as a hard taskmaster, they look upon it as a crutch upon which they lean heavily. For these teachers there is little need for preparation. The course of study and the textbooks have solved the problems of teaching. Let us inquire just what the curriculum of our schools stands for before attempting to decide just what relation the teacher bears to it.

A course of study is not so much knowledge to be poured in. Rather it represents possible experiences for which children may have need, experiences which will aid them in the solution of their problems and make possible for them the realization of their purposes. How did all of this knowledge come to be preserved, and how did it happen to be arranged in groups labeled by certain names? Men have preserved from time to time, by handing down by word of mouth or by records made on stone, wood, skin, paper, or other surfaces, knowledge which they have found useful in meeting the problems which confront them. For convenience of reference this knowledge has come to be grouped, and to each group a name has been applied. If we could only remember how we came to have this body of knowledge, how it happened to be thought worth while to preserve the experiences which when grouped together we know as subjects, it might make us a little more judicious in our attempt to acquaint children with their inheritance.

Our schools have all too frequently acted upon the principle that children could assimilate the school subjects without reference to their past experience or their present needs. It has been common to say, teach so much of this or that subject, just as if the child mind was a receptacle to be filled. The difficulty of this attitude toward school subjects is twofold: first, the children fail to gain any appreciation of the experiences involved; and, second, they fail to gain from the process the power of independent thought, or the spirit of investigation which it is the purpose of education to impart.

The doctrine of formal discipline, as commonly interpreted, has been largely responsible for our wrong idea of the meaning of subjects of study. The idea that any study, especially if it proved disagreeable to the pupil, and had no definite relationship either to his past experiences or present needs, would mean most for his education, has not yet entirely disappeared. Aside from the psychological fallacy involved, that ability to do one kind of work would spread or be available for all other kinds of mental activity which we call by the same general name, the devotees of the doctrine ignored the fact that the maximum of activity or hard mental work could be secured only under the stimulus of genuine interest.[30]

Possibly the introduction of the industrial arts[31] and the more rational approach which they demand, may serve to illustrate the method to be used in teaching other subjects. In cooking, for example, we would hardly expect to have a child begin by engaging in an exercise in beating eggs without reference to any problem which required this activity. If children are to learn something of wood and its use in our industries, we commonly expect them to gain some knowledge of the processes involved in the course of the construction of furniture for the playhouse, a flower box for the window, a sled, a checkerboard, or some other interesting project. It is true that the industrial arts lend themselves more readily to the dominant interests of children to do and to make than do most school subjects. If these activities, which are essentially the activities characteristic of our modern civilization, be used to best advantage, they will offer many opportunities for making significant the other subjects.

Any considerable participation in the processes which are fundamental to the great industries cannot fail to arouse an interest in the source of materials, the development of the industry, and a desire to express one’s self with reference to the work which is being done. From the interest in the source of materials grows naturally the work in nature study and geography. The development of the industry takes us back even to the time of primitive man, and history becomes significant. The handling of materials in construction suggests the need of measurement, and arithmetic is provided for. In all of this work there will be a demand for communication, the necessity to learn what others have recorded in books, and the wish to express one’s own experience in oral and written speech. The experiences of people like ourselves, as idealized in literature, will make its appeal in spite of the worst our teaching can do. It is not maintained that all subject matter groups itself naturally around industrial activities, and that these activities should, therefore, form the center of the curriculum; rather, it is sought to emphasize the relationships to the real needs of children and the possibility of utilizing these genuine motives in the teaching of school subjects.

We teach the subjects of the curriculum in order that children may understand their environment, be adjusted to it, and, as President Butler puts it, come into possession of their spiritual inheritance. Out of the work which is done, these same children should gain power to adapt themselves to new conditions and should be equipped to render service in the progress which is yet to be made in our society. Now one’s adjustment to the present environment must be an adjustment to his environment, a solution of his problems as they at present exist. Future adaptability is conditioned by the experience which one has had in making such adjustments. The ability to contribute to the progress in which each should participate is dependent, not so much upon the number of facts one possesses, as upon the attitude of investigation which characterizes him, the respect for truth, and ability to think straight which have been developed by his education. From whatever point of view we approach the problem of teaching our subjects, the answer is the same: meet present situations, solve present real, vital problems, make subject matter meet the needs of the children you are teaching. This analysis of the curriculum makes apparent the important part to be played by the teacher in making available the experiences which the school subjects are organized to present.

The courses of study may present much that is helpful in the organization of material, the suggestions for teaching may be gathered from the experience of many teachers, and still the great problem of making these subjects vital to children remains as the work of every teacher. Motives which grow out of the experience which children have already had must be sought. The material to be presented will be significant in the experience of these children only when they approach it in order to satisfy their real needs. Aside from the possibility of finding in one of the subjects, as, for example, the industrial arts, a motive for other work, the school situation itself presents many opportunities for discovering real needs to children.

The school festival, school parties for parents, fairs and sales, the general assembly, excursions, gardening or other industrial activity, plays and games, have in the hands of skillful teachers provided a compelling motive for a great variety of school work. The author would not deny the power of intellectual interest, but he knows, as does every other teacher, that with children in the elementary school this motive is only gradually developed. The teacher who is alert to find some real need for the computations of arithmetic; who gives a genuine opportunity for oral or written expression; who appeals to the desire to use the knowledge gained in history and geography by means of the historical festival, the article in the school paper, and the like, as well as to the curiosity of the child; who allows children to make real things which satisfy their individual or collective needs in the industrial arts,—is the teacher who is teaching school subjects in the way that will mean most in the education of her pupils.

The demand that the teacher vitalize the curriculum does not lose sight of the necessity for drill, or of the demand that children know, as a result of their education. As a matter of fact, the more vital the experiences, the more apparent it becomes to both teacher and pupil that the fixing of knowledge or the acquiring of skill is a necessary condition of present efficiency and of future progress. The children who have the most genuine need for the multiplication table will be the first to learn it. If you are to read to a whole school and want to have them enjoy with you the selection which you are to interpret, you will have the best possible reason for good expression. History means something, if you really need to know the history of a period in order to reproduce accurately its language, manners, dress, and the like in your festival. The mistake which at times has been made by enthusiastic teachers of neglecting the drill side of the work, has not been due to any difficulty which the situation presented from the standpoint of the children who are engaged in meaningful activities.

The teacher may not expect all children to gain equally in command of the experiences represented by the course of study. For her there must literally be courses of study for each subject, in that she must adapt her work in so far as is possible to individual needs. The office of teacher may well be exalted, for it is the teacher who must, because of her insight, provide for the needs of each child committed to her care, and in rendering this service provide society with its greatest asset, a truly educated human being.

For Collateral Reading

S. T. Dutton and D. Snedden, Administration of Public Education in the United States, Chapter XVIII.

Exercises.

The selections from courses of study are quoted by Dr. C. W. Stone in his monograph on Arithmetic Abilities and Some Factors Determining them. In Dr. Stone’s study the pupils in twenty-six schools or school systems were tested. One of the problems raised had reference to the excellence of the course of study. The selections quoted represent a variety in excellence such as one will find in the courses of study prepared in any subject.

Study these selections from the following points of view:—

1. Do any of them give too little information to the teacher concerning the work required in the grade?

2. Do any of them restrict the work of the teacher unduly?

3. Which do you consider the best course of study?

4. Are any of these statements so complete as to relieve the teacher of the necessity of reorganizing the work for her own class?

5. How would you modify any of these courses of study in order to make it more valuable to teachers?

6. Indicate possible maximum, minimum, and optional work in the third-grade work in arithmetic.