13. If a pupil reproduces accurately a line of reasoning recorded in his book, has he necessarily thought through the situation for himself?
14. What do the following paragraphs mean to a class of pupils from twelve to fourteen years of age? Have they definite images? Do they fully understand what the author means?
“The Puritans.—The New England colonies were founded by English Puritans who left England because they could not do as they wished in the home land. All Puritans were agreed in wishing for a freer government than they had had in England under the Stuart kings, and in state matters were really the liberals of their time. In religious matters, however, they were not all of one mind. Some of them wished to make only a few changes in the church. These were called Non-Conformists. Others wished to make so many changes in religion that they could not stay in the English State Church. These were called Separatists. The settlers of Plymouth were Separatists; the settlers of Boston and neighboring towns were Non-Conformists.”
“Unlike the poor humble Pilgrims were the founders of Massachusetts. They were men of wealth and social position, as, for instance, John Winthrop and Sir Richard Saltonstall. They left comfortable homes in England to found a Puritan state in America. They got a tract of land extending from the Merrimac to the Charles, and westward across the continent. Hundreds of colonists came over in the year 1629-1630. They settled Boston, Salem, and neighboring towns. In the next ten years thousands more joined them. From the beginning Massachusetts was strong and prosperous. Among so many people there were some who did not get on well with the rulers of the colony.”[15]
Professor Johnson asks, “Do the children see or feel anything but words? Do they see Puritans? Do they see anything that the Puritans might change or any reason for changing it? Do they see anything that happened in America?... But what do the words actually tell about the circumstances of the Puritans?... Can any one think that such statements really convey information about the Puritans to one who is being introduced to them for the first time?”[16]
CHAPTER XI
QUESTIONING
In all teaching much depends upon the skill with which the teacher stimulates and guides the class by means of the questions which she asks. Occasionally one finds a teacher who seems to think that the sole purpose of questioning is to test the knowledge of her pupils. She asks hundreds of questions which can be answered merely by an appeal to the memory. This sort of testing is valuable for review, but it does not necessitate thought. When a teacher habitually asks these fact questions, the children respond by trying to remember the words or the facts given in their books.
A type of question still less worthy is the direct question,—the one that can be answered by yes or no. The teacher who asks, “Is Albany on the Hudson River?” does not expect the children to think. If they are fairly bright, they will probably guess from her inflection whether the answer is yes or no. In any event, after one guess has been made there is only one alternative, and the pupil who answers second often deceives both the teacher and himself into thinking that he really knew the answer. The question which suggests an alternative is in effect the same as a direct question with its alternative answer of yes and no. “Does the earth turn on its axis from east to west or from west to east?” is no better than to ask, “Does the earth turn on its axis from west to east?” Indeed, the alternative question in the example given is worse than the direct form, since it suggests a wrong answer which may make sufficient impression to confuse the pupils when the question arises again.