Self-directed Activity and Discipline.—The terms "self-directed activity" and "self-expression" must not be confounded with the idea of letting the children do as they please in any random and purposeless fashion. If one were to start out to escort a group of children to a certain hilltop, it is quite probable that some of them would run part of the way. Others would walk in twos and threes, and these would change about. They would halt to look at things that attracted their attention. The leader would halt them to observe some interesting point which they might otherwise miss. Should any of them wander from the right path the leader would call them back, and any frail child would be helped over the hard places. Yet with all this freedom the group might move steadily forward and reach the hilltop in due time.
All progress up the hill of knowledge should follow a similar plan. The teacher should have a very definite idea of the end to be attained. The children should work with a purpose, and that purpose should be of such immediate interest to them that they would be anxious to attain it. They would then work earnestly, and discipline would settle itself. Handwork projects should be sufficiently simple to allow each worker to see his way through, or at least find his way without waiting for directions at each step. Instead of a blind following of such directions the worker should at all times feel himself the master of his tools and materials and be able to make them obey his impulse and express his idea. This attitude toward work can be secured only when the work is kept quite down to the level of the child's ability and appreciation. Only by this means can we hope to establish the inspiring and strengthening "habit of success."
Introduction of New Methods.—The question arises, How shall work of this sort be adapted to a course of study which is already full and does not provide time for handwork? Handwork takes more time than bookwork, and children evolve plans but slowly. If the teacher waits for the children to evolve plans and then carry them out on their own responsibility, the quantity of work produced will be small and the quality poor compared with the results gained by other methods.
The freer method must be justified, not by its tangible results, but by its value as a means of individual development. If it is true that
"One good idea known to be thine own
Is worth a thousand gleaned from fields by others sown,"
then it follows that a small quantity of crude work may often represent greater genuine growth than a larger quantity of nicely finished work, if the latter has been accomplished by such careful dictation that individual thought on the part of the pupils was unnecessary.
Common sense is the best guide in introducing a new method of work. Any sudden transition is likely to be disastrous. Responsibility in new fields should be shifted from teacher to pupils as rapidly as they are able to carry it, but it should never be transferred in wholesale fashion. This is especially true of a class that is accustomed to wait for the teacher's permission or command in all the small details of schoolroom life, such as speaking, moving about the room, etc.
The freer methods may be introduced by either of two plans. In carrying through the first sand-table project, for example, the teacher may plan the details quite as definitely as is her custom in general work, assign each part to a particular pupil, and guide his execution of it as far as necessary. With each succeeding project more and more freedom may be granted, as the children become accustomed to community work and learn how to use the materials involved. Or, the work may be introduced by allowing two or three very trustworthy pupils to work out, quite alone, some simple project which will appeal to the entire class as very desirable. Other projects may be worked out by other pupils as they show themselves worthy of trust. Such a plan sets a premium upon independence and ability to direct one's own actions, and has a beneficial effect upon general discipline. Each individual teacher must follow the plan which best accords with her individual habits and the conditions under which she works. No rule can be rated as best under any and all circumstances.
New and Different Projects.—Teachers frequently spend time and nerve force seeking new projects supposedly to stimulate the interest of the children. Often a careful examination into the true motives back of the search would prove that it is not so much to stimulate the interest of the children as to call forth the admiration of other teachers. Because a house was built last year does not hinder the building of another this year. If the children are allowed ample freedom, the houses will not be alike. If the teacher is centering her interest in the development of the children and not in the things the children make, the projects will always be new because worked out in a new way by a different group of children. Monotony comes about through the teacher's attempt to plan out details and impose them upon the children, a process quite similar to the use of predigested foods.
Quality of Work.—Methods such as outlined above are sometimes criticized because of the crudity of the results. It is sometimes argued that the crude work establishes low standards and that better finished work of a more useful type is more desirable in school projects. Certainly everything which is done in school should be useful. School years are too precious to be wasted, in any degree, on a thing which is useless. But it is important to have a right standard for measuring the usefulness of a project. Since it is the child's interest and effort which are to be stimulated, his work must be useful from his point of view. The things that he works upon must be valuable to him personally. It is not enough for the teacher to be satisfied with the value of the subject matter. It must, as far as possible, be self-evident to the child himself.