A brief course in the teaching process

by George D. Strayer

CHAPTER X
THE RECITATION LESSON

The recitation lesson as commonly conducted consists in having children tell what they have read in their textbooks. Sometimes the teacher accepts or even demands that the pupils recite by repeating the words of the book. Better teaching requires rather that they render the thought of the author in their own language. In this chapter we shall discuss some of the worthy ends which may be accomplished by such an exercise, some of the common deficiencies in work of this type, and the modifications which are advisable in the light of the principles already enunciated.

The recitation lesson commonly tests the pupil’s memory for facts. The questions asked and answered serve to reveal to the teacher the knowledge or lack of it on the part of the pupil. In a way this testing also gives the teacher some idea of the amount of work done by the pupil. The great weakness of work of this kind is found in the tendency to demand and to accept words, the rehearsing of facts unrelated and unorganized. Of course this need not be true, since it is entirely within the power of the teacher to frame her questions in such a way that the pupil’s grasp on the whole topic rather than his memory for isolated facts is tested.

The recitation which tests the pupil’s ability to present in orderly fashion the substance of the thought found in the sections assigned in the book for study is of genuine value. The topical recitation affords an opportunity to develop on the part of children the ability to stand on their feet and speak to a question for some minutes. And it may be suggested in this connection that we should develop more power of this sort than is commonly found in our schools. The ability to express one’s self adequately on the topic under consideration will always make for effectiveness in social life. It would be well to test the progress of our pupils from grade to grade by their ability to speak more effectively and for a longer period as they advance through the school, on some topic connected with their school work.

When pupils are required not simply to recite on some topic which is presented for their consideration, but are required to furnish their own outline and to recite on the basis of their own organization of the selections which they have read, the recitation may become a valuable exercise in thinking. The success of work of this kind will depend upon the definiteness with which the problem or aim of the work has been provided. It will not require much thought simply to follow the paragraph headings or marginal notes of the author and to present the organization as a basis for recitation. If, however, a problem has been suggested the solution of which may be found in the pages assigned for study, then the recitation may test the pupil’s power to analyze and organize the material which the book provides. And this is the only test of a thorough mastery of the book. We do not read to find out everything that an author says. Our needs may demand a very different ordering of facts, we may use facts in entirely new relations, and may ignore much that was essential from a different point of view. Children have read their textbooks thoroughly when they have derived from these texts the facts or ideas which are essential in the solution of their problem, the satisfaction of the aim which they hope to realize.

This ability to use to best advantage a book is a very valuable accomplishment. When the recitation lesson accomplishes this result, it justifies its use. Too frequently we find adults who seem to feel that they must try to gather all of the knowledge and must try to follow none other than the author’s point of view in their reading. These persons read one book, and, as a result, believe one theory. It seems not to disturb them greatly that the next book they read takes the opposite point of view and that they range themselves on that side of the question. Books are, or at least ought to be, our servants, not our masters, and in the handling of books in his regular school work the child ought to come to realize their true function. There is no greater proof of a lack of thought than the ready acceptance of whatever one finds in print.

There is great danger in the use of textbooks that children and teachers will become satisfied with words, that they will come to think that the repetition of the formula of the textbook is proof of knowledge. Textbooks are all too often merely books of texts. They have been made frequently enough by those who possess a very wide knowledge of the field in which they write; and by some strange process of thought they have apparently reached the conclusion that the way to make a subject simple is to condense it. Many of our most used textbooks are merely summaries or outlines of the subject treated. They lack richness of detail, and state conclusions instead of furnishing a large number of experiences, from which one may, through processes of logical thought, derive the generalizations of the subject. Take, for example, most of the textbooks in history for elementary schools, and read carefully upon any topic selected at random, and then ask yourself just what these words mean to twelve-year-old children; or, better still, ask these children who repeat so glibly the words or reproduce the statements of the book just what they mean by the words they use. Try to discover whether they have any adequate knowledge of facts, or any command of images, which would make possible the generalizations which they give as a result of the process of thought. Remember that a textbook is not logical for children because it has been logically arranged by the scholar. The test is rather to be found in the pupil’s ability to reproduce in his own thinking the steps which have made possible the conclusions of the author.

Any wide-awake teacher can make her work more interesting and more significant for children, if she will carefully provide for the enrichment of the text. The sources from which data can be gathered, regardless of the subject under consideration, are almost without number. Especially to be recommended are the standard works in the subjects. It will be interesting to discover that children would rather read Parkman than to study the text in which some less competent person has endeavored to tell his story in a few paragraphs which mean absolutely nothing to the child. The magazines which publish articles of wide social interest will furnish much helpful material. There is no school that may not greatly enrich its work by an appeal to the actual experiences of the children and by carefully directed observations and experiments. We need our textbooks as a summary, as a convenient condensed outline, or as books of reference; but we must provide as best we can other books of reference which will furnish the details which are impossible in the limited number of pages allowed to the text. In every room of every school a library of books, pamphlets, magazine articles, and illustrative material should be found, and every teacher should expect to increase this collection and to improve its quality as the years go by.