A brief course in the teaching process

by George D. Strayer

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.