TABLE OF CONTENTS
| CHAPTER I | |
| The Aim of Education | |
| PAGES | |
| Education measured by differences brought about in individuals—Various statements of the aim—The individualistic point of view has been emphasized—The social aim of education—Aim realized in various types of education—Various teaching processes contribute to the realization of the aim—Test of the teacher’s work the present realization of the aim | [1-11] |
| CHAPTER II | |
| The Factors Conditioning the Teaching Process | |
| Success in realizing the aim of education depends upon a clear realization of the conditioning factors—The increased responsibility of the school—The necessity for knowledge of the home life of children—The instinctive equipment of children—Play—Constructiveness— Imitation—Emulation—Pugnacity—Curiosity—Ownership—The social instinct—Wonder—The importance of interest in instruction—The danger of divided interest—Interest as means and as end—Heredity—Individual differences | [12-31] |
| CHAPTER III | |
| The Teaching Process | |
| Teaching a process of controlling adjustments—Types of adjustment—The common element in these situations, satisfaction—Types of attention corresponding to types of adjustment—Passive, active, and secondary passive attention—Illustrations of the types of attention—The problem of securing continued attention—The importance of the problem in teaching | [32-40] |
| CHAPTER IV | |
| The Drill Lesson | |
| The necessity for drill—The question of motive—Clear ideas of the habit to be formed essential—Repetition with attention essential in drill work—Attention held by initial motive, by varying the procedure, by placing time limits, and by appealing to emulation—Necessity for accuracy in practice—The periods elapsing between repetitions or series of repetitions should be gradually lengthened—Danger of the cramming method—In a series of responses to be made automatic each member of the series must be included—Drill especially on work that presents peculiar difficulty | [41-50] |
| CHAPTER V | |
| The Inductive Lesson | |
| The importance of thinking—Preparation should end with statement of the problem by children—The gathering of data the work of pupils in so far as is possible—Suggestions for conducting excursions—The hypothesis in relation to comparison and abstraction—Not everything can be developed—Respect for the expert to be developed—Danger of helping children too much—The steps of the process cannot be sharply differentiated—Teaching by types | [51-69] |
| CHAPTER VI | |
| The Deductive Lesson | |
| The complete process of thought involves both induction and deduction—The frequency of deductive thinking—The teacher in relation to the thinking of children—Reflection—The problem as essential in deductive as in inductive thinking—The search for the principle or law which explains—The meaning of inference—The importance of verification | [70-77] |
| CHAPTER VII | |
| The Lesson for Appreciation | |
| Education should enable one to enjoy life—Power of appreciation should be developed in our schools—Necessity for power of appreciation on the part of the teacher—The relation of command of technique involved in creation to power of appreciation—The necessity for a right emotional attitude on part of children at the beginning of such an exercise—Expression of feeling should not be forced—The teacher as interpreter—Creative work by children—Appreciation in fields other than those involving the æsthetic emotions | [78-85] |
| CHAPTER VIII | |
| The Study Lesson | |
| The importance of independent work—Children must become conscious of the methods which can be most efficiently employed—Statement of problem essential for study—Assignments—Children must be taught how to collect data—Taking notes—Critical attitude developed—Reflection—The importance of the habit of verification—Teaching children to memorize by wholes—Importance of thought in memory work—Children can be taught how to form habits | [86-100] |
| CHAPTER IX | |
| Review or Examination Lesson | |
| An examination involves a review—A review a summary and a new view—Value of reviews—An abstract or topical outline a good review—A review by application—The only real test of the teacher’s work found in children’s everyday action—Examinations as a test of the success of teaching—The needs for scales of measurement | [101-106] |
| CHAPTER X | |
| The Recitation Lesson | |
| The weakness of this type of exercise as commonly conducted—The topical recitation—The value of outlines prepared by pupils—Pupils should learn how to use books—The danger of being satisfied with words—Provision for supplementing the text—Danger of accepting vague or incoherent answers—The danger in developing an ultra-individualistic attitude—The recitation lesson not comparable in importance to other types of exercises discussed | [107-113] |
| CHAPTER XI | |
| Questioning | |
| The importance of good questions—Types of questions—A lack of scope a common fault in questions—Careful planning necessary—The novelty of the form in which the question is put important—The method of shock—The technique of questioning—The mistake of asking questions in a definite order, of repeating questions, of repeating answers—Questioning by pupils—Importance of writing pivotal questions to be used in the recitation | [114-128] |
| CHAPTER XII | |
| Social Phases of the Recitation | |
| Social aim of education realized in the classroom—Motives commonly operating in schools—Children naturally work together—Changes in school work demanded by the aim of education—Illustrations of coöperation in schools—Opportunity in manual work for group work—Plan for individual contribution in all subjects—All kinds of school exercises may lend themselves to the development of the social spirit—Need for more purposeful work for children—The social motive important in stimulating intellectual activity | [129-138] |
| CHAPTER XIII | |
| The Physical Welfare of Children | |
| The importance of physical efficiency—The teacher should know something of the standards of lighting, heating, and ventilating—Right habits of posture under the control of teachers—The schoolroom and infectious diseases—The teacher’s responsibility for discovering defects of sight, hearing, and the like—The teacher and the movement for better health conditions in the community—The teacher’s right to health | [139-144] |
| CHAPTER XIV | |
| Moral Training | |
| Intellectual and moral training cannot be separated—School conditions offer advantages for moral training—Increased responsibility of schools for moral training—Individual differences, due to heredity, environment, and age important in moral training—Physical condition and morality—Direct and indirect method of moral instruction—Morality and taste—Importance of calling for an exercise of the moral judgment—The reform of the wrong doer—The influence of the teacher | [145-156] |
| CHAPTER XV | |
| Class Management | |
| Class management as a means and as an end—Conditions under which management should result in habit—Situations which demand self-control—Pupil participation in school government—The daily program—Group instruction—Children should be individualized—Individual instruction will not make children equal in ability nor in accomplishment—Management in relation to teaching | [157-166] |
| CHAPTER XVI | |
| Lesson Plans | |
| Necessity for planning work—Teacher’s lack of interest in work often repeated—Change in subject matter—Preparation, not inspiration, counts in teaching—Importance of good questions, illustrations and illustrative material, reference material, plans for constructive work—The elements in a good plan—Organization—Pivotal questions—Provision for summaries—Assignment | [167-223] |
| CHAPTER XVII | |
| The Teacher in Relation to Supervision | |
| The purpose of supervision—Criticism, its various types—When to discuss work with supervisors—School exhibits—Visiting within and outside of the system in which one works—Examinations and supervision—The function of teachers’ meetings—Institutes, the better type—Supervision and growth | [224-231] |
| CHAPTER XVIII | |
| The Teacher in Relation to the Course of Study | |
| The course of study as a taskmaster—The real purpose of the course of study—Provisions for minimum, alternative, and optional work—How the course of study may help the teacher—The teacher’s contribution to the making of the course of study—The interpretation of the course of study to children—The doctrine of formal discipline—The vitalization of the curriculum | [232-246] |
| CHAPTER XIX | |
| Measuring Results in Education | |
| Efficiency demands that we evaluate our results—Progress by the method of trial and success—Reasons why scientific work in education has progressed slowly—Results already achieved in measuring the results of our practice—Education means change, and these changes are measurable—Lack of adequate units of measurement not an argument against measurement—The steps in scientific investigation—The teacher in relation to scientific work in education—The school a laboratory | [247-265] |
A BRIEF COURSE IN THE
TEACHING PROCESS
CHAPTER I
THE AIM OF EDUCATION
Education is worth just the difference it makes in the activities of the individual who has been educated. The question is not how many books did we compel the child to read; how much does he know of arithmetic, geography, history, music, art, and the like: but rather what use does he make of this knowledge; how is he different from the person who does not possess this information; and, still more important, are these differences in his activity desirable from the point of view of the group in which he lives. It is important, then, that we should consider, before we discuss the function of teacher in bringing about changes in children, the ends which it is desirable to attain.
The aim of education has been variously stated. In the popular mind the aim of education is usually interpreted in terms of knowledge, or the ability to make a living. The theorists have been more apt to define the purpose of education in terms of the development of the abilities of the individual, of growth, of culture, or of morality. It might be interesting to examine each of the aims which has been advanced in some detail. It may be as significant to note the element common to all.
It is safe to assume that the advocates of each statement of aim believed that their conception was broad enough to insure success for the individual educated in accordance with the particular ideal embodied in their statement of purpose. No aim would be at all acceptable which did not take account of the society in which the individual must work. The education in a tribal society, which consisted in learning how to protect one’s self and to provide for one’s physical needs, the acquaintance with tribal ceremonies and tribal lore, quite as truly as our modern education, fitted the individual to get on in life. The individualistic point of view has been constantly emphasized. It has been a case of earning a living for one’s self, of getting culture for the satisfaction that it might bring, of acquiring knowledge for the sake of the advancement which was thus made possible, of moral growth for the sake of individual salvation. More recently it has been common to state the aim of education in terms of social efficiency. It is the purpose of this discussion of aim to examine this concept in order to make clear its significance.
When society reaches that stage of development in which progress is definitely sought and planned for, the stage of conscious evolution, it is not enough that the individual be educated simply so that he may attain his own selfish ends. Each individual is a part of the organic whole, and in his functioning it is the good of the whole which is of paramount importance. The aim of education must, then, be broad enough to include both the welfare of the individual and the good of society. Is there any real opposition between these ends? If we think most of all of the welfare of the whole organism, must we sacrifice the interests of the constituent parts?