This book is the result of eight years of experimentation. In 1909 the Department of Education of The University of Chicago abandoned the practice of requiring courses in the History of Education and Psychology as introductory courses for students preparing to become teachers. For these courses it substituted one in Introduction to Education and one in Methods of Teaching. This move was due to the conviction that students need to be introduced to the problems of the school in a direct, concrete way, and that the first courses should constantly keep in mind the lack of perspective which characterizes the teacher-in-training.
In the years that have elapsed since 1909 the conviction has gained almost universal acceptance in normal schools and colleges of education that the History of Education is not a suitable introductory course. Psychology has grown in the direction of a scientific discussion of methodology, and the demand for a general introductory discussion of educational problems from a scientific point of view has often been expressed by teachers in normal schools and colleges. In this period the writer has had frequent opportunity to try out various methods of presenting such an introductory course. The results of this experience are presented in this volume, which is designed as a textbook for students in normal schools and colleges in the first stages of their professional study.
The teacher who uses this book can expand the course to double the length here outlined by introducing schoolroom observation and supplementary reading. The questions and references offered at the end of each chapter and the references in the footnotes are intended to facilitate such further work. A set of questions is given in the Appendix as a guide to classroom observation.
The obligations which the author has incurred in the preparation of the book are numerous. Almost every member of the Department of Education of The University of Chicago has at some time or other given the course to a division of students, and all have contributed suggestions and criticisms with regard to the organization of material. Special obligations should be noted in this connection to Professors J. F. Bobbitt, S. C. Parker, F. N. Freeman, H. O. Rugg, and W. S. Gray. To Professor E. H. Cameron the author is under obligation for suggestions made after reading the manuscript. To the authors and publishers whose works have been drawn upon for extensive and numerous quotations, special thanks are due for courteous permission to use their material. Finally, it is to the students who have from year to year passed through this course that the largest obligation should be acknowledged because of the suggestions which their reactions have given to the writer.
C. H. J.
Chicago, Illinois
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| [CHAPTER I]. EXTENDING THE PUPIL’S VIEW OF THE SCHOOL | 1 |
| The pupil’s view limited. Conservatism in the community as a naturalconsequence. Demand for a broad scientific study. Beginnings ofthe science of education. Effectiveness of studies of retardation.A study of high-school courses. An experimental analysis of a fundamentalsubject. A study of the relation of education to generalsocial life. The scientific study of educational problems. Exercisesand readings. | |
| [CHAPTER II]. SCHOOLS OF OTHER COUNTRIESAND OF OTHER TIMES | 14 |
| The comparative and historical methods. The American textbookmethod of teaching. Independence of thought based on reading.European schools caste schools, American schools truly public. Influenceof European schools on the educational system of this country.Report of the visiting committee of Taunton in 1801. Adoptionof the German model. Results of the adoption of the Germanexample. The reorganization of American schools. Origin of thehigh school. Education of girls. Higher education free. Americanpublic schools secular. The school system and its domination of theteacher. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER III]. EDUCATION AS A PUBLIC NECESSITY | 32 |
| The primitive attitude one of neglect. Compulsory education. Compulsionof communities. Later stages of compulsory legislation.American education to 1850. Compulsory attendance. Obstaclesto enforcement of compulsory attendance. Newer legislation recognizingcomplexity of problems of attendance. Supervision a necessarycorollary to compulsion. Higher education and public control.Public control adequate only when directed by science. Fiscalproblem typical. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER IV]. INVESTING PUBLIC MONEY IN ANEW GENERATION | 46 |
| The cost of educating an individual. Total school expenditures inthe United States. Cost a determining consideration in school organization.Relation of school expenditures to other public expenses.Urgent demands for economy and efficiency. Expenditures in relationto wealth. Costs of different levels of education. Costs ofdifferent subjects of instruction. Costs of classes of different sizes.Salaries. Books and supplies. The meaning of financial organizationand educational accounting. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER V]. DELEGATING RESPONSIBILITY FORCARRYING ON SCHOOLS | 63 |
| Class instruction given over to the teacher. Supervision. Sketch ofdevelopment of a school system. The community slow to delegateschool control. Limits of authority and responsibility not clear. Statementby a public educating association. What is a representativeboard of education? The functions of a board of education. How agood board gets the work done. Making the machine work smoothly.Report of committee of superintendents. Obsolete administrationsystem. Status of superintendency varies. District control discardedsystem of school administration. An effective substitute to be discovered.Dangers of this period of adjustment. Organization underscientific principles. Control of school work through tests. A studyof the building needs of a city. The errors of democracy. Exercisesand readings. | |
| [CHAPTER VI]. THE SCHOOL BUILDING | 78 |
| The building as an evidence of a community’s educational views.Contrasts in plans of rural schools. Contrasts in urban elementaryschools. A high-school building of the early type. The hygiene oflighting. The hygiene of ventilation and heating. Hygienic equipment.Relation of equipment to the course of study. Modern schoolconstruction and costs. The Gary plan for distributing pupils andenlarging the scope of school work. Requirements to be met whenthe Gary plan is adopted. The construction of consolidated schools.Comparative statistics. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER VII]. GROUPING PUPILS IN CLASSES | 96 |
| Transition to problems of internal organization. Economy a firstmotive for grouping. Social influence an important motive. Groupingin the one-room school. Courses of instruction in relation to theproblem of grouping. New problems of grouping in large schools.Fundamentally different views on the curriculum. The ungradedclass in graded schools. Cases where failures show the urgency ofthe grading problem. Efforts to adjust instruction to pupils. Readjustmentsof the curriculum. Problems of grouping in high school.Illegitimate reasons for promoting pupils. Experiments and studieswhich aim to supply both individual instruction and class instruction.Arrangement of the materials of instruction. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER VIII]. THE TRADITIONAL CURRICULUMAND ITS REORGANIZATION | 113 |
| Importance of a study of the curriculum. The specialized curriculumof higher schools. Problems of generalizing a specializedcurriculum. Traditional character of mathematics courses in highschools. Suggestions of new subjects. Present-day social demands.Traditional neglect of industrial education on the part of the public.The demand for revision of the curriculum. Summary. Exercisesand readings. | |
| [CHAPTER IX]. SPECIALIZED EDUCATION VERSUSGENERAL EDUCATION | 127 |
| Present-day wavering between specialized and general training. Thetheory of separate schools for different classes of people. Statementof principles. Public demand for a new curriculum. Commercialcourses in high schools. Agricultural high schools. Part-timecourses. Various types of trade schools. The Manhattan TradeSchool, New York City. Practical applications as parts of academiccourses. Studies of social activities. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER X]. EXTENSION OF SCHOOL ACTIVITIES | 141 |
| A general social movement. Credit for home activities. Bulletinfor teachers: home credits. Relation of home work to traditionalschool work. After-school classes and vacation classes. Continuationclasses for adults. Demonstrations as means of economic andsocial improvement. Entertainment as part of the educational program.Associations aimed directly at the improvement of schools.Correspondence schools. Principles required to systematize educationalactivities. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XI]. PRINCIPLES INFLUENCING THEORGANIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM | 156 |
| Necessity of practical decisions in spite of confusion. The doctrineof discipline. The doctrine of natural education in the form of thedoctrine of freedom. Concentration and interest. Popular attitudetoward discipline. Examples of discipline and freedom. Naturaleducation and recognition of individual differences. Natural educationas training for life. Training in the methods of knowledge andgeneral training. Examples of views on formal training. Prominenceof curriculum in determining quality of instruction. Bases forjudging curriculum and syllabi. Formal discipline and transfer oftraining. Relation of subjects to maturity of pupils. Summary.Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XII]. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES | 170 |
| Adaptation of curriculum to individual pupils. Low grades of intelligence.Differentiated courses. Tests of general intelligence.Exceptionally bright pupils. Sex differences. Differences in industrialopportunity for the sexes and corresponding demands for training.Household arts as extras. Demand for new courses for girls.Individual differences which appear during training. Democraticrecognition of individual differences. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XIII]. PERIODICITY IN THE PUPIL’SDEVELOPMENT | 184 |
| Recognition of periodicity in present organization. The meaning ofinfancy. The period before entering school. The primary periodone of social imitation. The period of individualism. Early adolescenceas a period of social consciousness. The new schooladapted to adolescence. Later adolescence a period of specialization.The reorganized school system. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XIV]. SYSTEMATIC STUDIES OF THECURRICULUM | 197 |
| The curriculum based on authority versus the living curriculum.Older subjects products of long selection. Social needs and thecurriculum. Systematic studies as devices for facilitating evolutionof the curriculum. A study of representative adults. A study ofcurrent references. A study of the mistakes of pupils. Prerequisitesfor higher courses. Administrative studies. Need of broad,coöperative studies. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XV]. STANDARDIZATION | 212 |
| Tests and measurements of products. Earlier standards based onopinion. Objective and exact standards. Beginnings of the movement.Handwriting scales. Speed as a correlate of quality. Standards,personal and impersonal. Social standards versus imposedstandards. Comparison through exact measurement. Records as abasis of standardization. Studies of oral reading. Studies dealingwith other subjects. Mechanical aspects the first to be standardized.Standardization and the science of education. Exercises andreadings. | |
| [CHAPTER XVI]. METHODS | 229 |
| Meaning of the term “method.” Meaning of the term “device.”Personal methods and devices. Supposed conflict between methodsand subject-matter. Two examples of modern methods. Objectteaching. Laboratory method in physics. Spread of the laboratoryidea. Reaction against the question and answer method. Inefficientmethods of study. Organizing a school for supervised study. Organizingsubject-matter for supervised study. Experiments in method.Method as a subject of scientific tests. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XVII]. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT | 242 |
| Intellectual progress and social conditions. Social training general.Types of social organization. Social control through anticipation.Organization of routine. Punishments and rewards. Larger socialorganization. Attempts to classify unruly members of the socialgroup. Impersonal discipline. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XVIII]. SELECTED ADMINISTRATIVEPROBLEMS | 254 |
| Programs and marks. The total school day. The class period.Physiological fatigue. Conditions like fatigue. Practical preceptsbased on study of fatigue. Administrative considerations controllinglength of the class period. Adjustment of work within the period.Adjustment of credits. The problem of grading. Experiments withgrading systems. The study of marks as an introduction to a studyof the school system. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XIX]. PLAY | 266 |
| Motives for cultivation of physical powers. Earlier attitude towardplay. Play as natural behavior. Periods in the development of play.Play as natural education. Social necessity of recreation. Play asphysical education. The school and play. Surveys of children’splay in cities. Systematizing instruction in play. Survey of recreationalfacilities. Play as part of the regular school program. Slowspread of modern attitude toward play. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XX]. HEALTH SUPERVISION | 279 |
| The relation of health to school work. Treatment of pathologicalcases. School luncheons. Control of home feeding. Public attentionto nutrition of children. Control of contagion. The schoolhealth department. Difficulties of introducing health instruction.Health as a subject of instruction and as a mode of life. Exercisesand readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XXI]. SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION | 289 |
| Evolution of the demand for supervision. The principal. Othersupervisory officers. Lack of public appreciation of central problems.Managerial training in relation to democracy. The purposeof the present discussion. Studies of the community. Selectionand management of teachers. Standardization by measurement ofresults. An example of public recognition of the need of efficiencymeasurements. Scientific studies and central supervision. Scientificsupervision. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XXII]. THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION | 299 |
| Scientific methods of studying schools. Definition through enumerationof methods. The history of educational theory and practice.Courses in psychology. Educational psychology. Statistical studies.The experimental method. Extension of use of psychologicalmethods. Studies of retardation. School experiments and laboratorystudies. Examples throughout earlier chapters. Studies ofadministrative problems. Method of comparison. Records necessaryto scientific study. Subdivisions of the science of education.Rapid expansion of the science of education. Definition of thescience of education. Exercises and readings. | |
| [CHAPTER XXIII]. PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OFTEACHERS | 308 |
| Increasing demand for professional training. American normalschools. American demands on secondary-school teachers. Germantraining of secondary-school teachers. New courses in colleges anduniversities for secondary-school teachers. The requirements of astandardizing association. The California requirements the mostadvanced in the United States. Continuation training of schoolofficers. Specialized training for administration. Contributions tothe science of education. Exercises and readings. | |
| [APPENDIX] | 321 |
| [INDEX] | 327 |