to be supplemented by questions and answers. Very rarely will a pupil
recite upon any important topic with such accuracy and completeness
that nothing more needs to be said concerning it. Hence, after the
pupil has completed his topical discussion, the teacher can round out
the subject, impress the more important points, or correct wrong
impressions, by a few questions to be answered either by the pupil who
has had the discussion or by the remainder of the class.
The topical method gives the teacher the best opportunity to teach the
pupils how to study. It is safe to say that most pupils consider that
they "have their lesson" when they understand it, or think they can
remember it. But if the child is to be taught expression, as well as
given knowledge, it is evident that this is not enough. Not only
should a pupil be sure that he understands his lesson and can remember
it, but also he should think how best to express it in the recitation.
The teacher can help the class in this when assigning the topics by
showing the pupils how to pick out the main points of the topics, and
arrange them in order for discussion. This is, of course, really
training in analysis--a power that all pupils need to cultivate.
_b. The question of standards in topical recitations._--The success of
the topical method will depend much on the teacher's standards of
thoroughness applied to its use. Children, particularly of the lower
grades, have not yet developed much grasp of mind, and consequently
are not able to judge when they have sufficiently covered a topic
given them for recitation. They are likely to think that if they stand
up and say _something_ about the topic, this is sufficient.
It is at this point that the teacher needs to exercise great care. The
child must not be discouraged by harsh criticism, but neither must an
incomplete recitation be accepted as a complete one. The teacher must
judge carefully how full a discussion should be expected from a child
of the given age, taking into account the treatment of the topic in
the pupil's textbook. Then by questions, further discussion by other
pupils, kindly criticisms, and helpful suggestions, the standard
should be placed as high as the class can attain. Nor is it to be
forgotten that the standard is to be a constantly advancing one.
6. _The lecture, or supplemental method_
The lecture method is rather too formal a name for the method in which
the teacher talks to the class instead of asking them to recite. He
may either take the entire period in a lecture, or talk, or he may
only supplement now and then the answers or topical recitations of the
pupils. This method is almost exclusively used in many universities
and colleges, but is not suited for extensive use in more elementary
schools.
_a. How the lecture method is to be used._--While the lecture method
should be employed sparingly in the elementary school, yet it is most
valuable to supplement other methods. First, in introducing a class to
a new subject or section of work, it is frequently desirable that the
teacher should take a part or the whole of a recitation period to
explain the nature of the work or to interest the pupils in it. For
example: In taking up the discovery of America, the teacher can create
interest by telling the class of the wonderful events going on in
Europe during the fifteenth century, of the life of Columbus as a boy,
of the ships then in use, comparing them with our present steamships,
etc. Similarly for almost every new section taken up in any study.
The lecture method is also useful in supplementing the recitations of
the pupils. The teacher's knowledge must be much broader than the
textbook; and a little explanation added, an incident told, or an
application of the lesson made will often do much to broaden the
pupil's knowledge of the subject, and will at the same time lend
interest to the recitation, besides increasing respect for the
teacher's education. There is nothing more deadening to the recitation
than a mechanical plodding through the questions and answers of a
textbook without any explanation or amplification, and often without
much comprehension on the part of the class. The teacher who has
nothing of his own to add is incapable of _teaching_ in the true sense
of the word. At best he can only _test_ as to the preparation from the
textbook.
_b. Dangers from the lecture method._--While we justly condemn the
teacher who has nothing of his own to add to the recitation, we must
not forget that there is a danger on the other side. Ask any
assemblage of teachers how many think that, in general, their own
teachers used to talk too much in the recitation, thereby monopolizing
the time, and two thirds will blame their former teachers for
over-using the lecture method. Most people, when they are sure of an
audience, like to talk, and probably teachers are no exception to the
rule.
The teacher who is full of information and enthusiasm for the
recitation is led by this very fact into temptation. Some point in the
lesson suggests an interesting story or illustration, or some
additional bit of information, and the teacher starts to tell it to
the class. He becomes himself so interested in it that the lesson is
forgotten and the class period ended long before the story is
completed. This may do occasionally; but, once it becomes a habit, it
is fatal to good teaching. The recitation as prepared by the class
should be the chief interest of the class period. The teacher must
learn to supplement without monopolizing.
7. _The written recitation_
The written recitation can hardly be called a method, since it can be
itself applied to any or all of the methods of reciting. Like all
other methods, the written recitation has its strong points of
excellence and also its dangers.
_a. The use of the written recitation._--The written recitation is
especially useful in cases where all of the class should recite upon
all of the lesson. It is easy to see that by having each of a class of
ten answer ten questions, a far larger amount of answering is done in
the aggregate than if only one could answer at a time, as in oral
recitation.
There are certain kinds of knowledge that are seldom used except in
writing. For example, we are never called upon to spell or to use
letter forms, business forms, punctuation marks, etc., except in
writing. It is safe to say that matter of such kinds should usually be
taught by having it written.
The written recitation also leads to accuracy and precision of thought
and expression. We all formulate more carefully what we write than
what we speak.
The written recitation also gives an opportunity for training in
verbal expression. Every person needs to be able to express himself
easily and forcibly in writing. But this requires much practice, and
there is no better practice than in formulating in writing the
thoughts of the daily lessons.
_b. Dangers in the use of the written method._--Valuable as the
written method is, there are certain cautions to be observed in its
use.
This method does not ordinarily possess the interest and spontaneity
of the oral recitation. There is no opportunity for the teacher to
supplement with points brought in. Misconceptions are not cleared up
in the minds of the pupils, at least during that recitation period,
unless the written papers are read at once. Usually time does not
permit this. Many children do not like to write, and hence find the
lesson tiresome, especially if continued for a whole class period.
The amount of writing required of children may be too great. Few
pupils can write long at a time without eye-strain, muscle cramp, and
bad bodily positions. Where this is the case, over-fatigue results if
the amount of written work required is large. It is not unusual to
find schools in which children are required to spend almost half of
their school hours in some form of written work. This is a serious
mistake both educationally and from the standpoint of health.
There is also still another side of the matter to consider. One of the
great advantages of written work is that the pupil may have his errors
shown him, so that he may reflect upon them and correct them. But not
infrequently, where the amount of written work is too large, the
errors are not carefully corrected by the teacher, and not corrected
at all by the pupil. This is why many pupils will keep on making the
same error time after time on their papers. The correction has not
sufficiently impressed them.
All written work, with perhaps rare exceptions, should be carefully
gone over by the teacher, and all serious or oft-repeated errors
corrected by the pupils who make them. Not infrequently may children
be seen to glance over a paper upon which the teacher has put precious
time and some red ink in making corrections, and then crumple the
paper and throw it into the waste basket. Sometimes this is done in
sheer carelessness, and sometimes in petulance because of the many
corrections. This is all a loss of time and opportunity. The teacher
should have tact enough to show the pupils that corrections are made
on their papers for their benefit, and not as a punishment. And then
the pupils should take the trouble to correct the errors, that they
may not occur again. Better a thousand times correct carefully an old
paper than write a new one containing the same errors.
III
THE ART OF QUESTIONING
1. _The importance of good questioning_
Skill in the art of questioning lies at the basis of all good
teaching. When we were children it looked so easy for the teacher to
sit and ask the questions which we were expected to answer. When we
become teachers we find that it is much harder to ask the questions
than to answer them. For to question well, one must not only know the
subject thoroughly, but must also constantly interpret the mind of the
pupil to discover what question next to ask, and whether he is
mastering what we are teaching him.
Good questioning stimulates thought, leads to inquiry, and results in
understanding and mastery. Poor questioning leaves the mental powers
unawakened, cripples thought, and results in inefficiency and lack of
mastery.
2. _Need of fundamental principles_
Good questioning is dependent upon the teacher's having a firm command
of a few essential principles which apply to all questioning used in
teaching. The teacher's constant self-criticism in the light of these
will greatly improve his control of discussion in the class room.
3. _The principle of freedom from textbooks_
The questions of the recitation must of course deal with the matter of
the textbook and be directly suggested by it. Yet there are two
dangers to be avoided in this connection: (1) Questions should not
follow the language of the text, and (2) the teacher should not be
dependent on the textbook to suggest the question itself or to
determine the correctness of the answer.
The teacher who has not the lesson well prepared, or who is mentally
lazy, has a constant temptation to ask questions in the words of the
book. This is much easier than to know the subject and the textbook
both well enough to formulate original, appropriate questions. An
illustration of what is meant is found in the following account of a
recitation conducted from "Montgomery's American History," the lesson
being on the landing of the Pilgrims (pp. 77, 78):--
Q. On a morning late in November, what did the Pilgrims do?
A. They sighted Cape Cod.
Q. Two days later, where did the Mayflower come to anchor?
A. In Provincetown Harbor.
Q. While the Mayflower remained at anchor, what did Captain
Standish and a boatload of men do?
A. They went out to explore.
Q. On the shore of Plymouth harbor what is there lying?
A. A granite bowlder.
It is seen that each of these questions follows the words of the text,
and that the answer but completes the sentence of which the question
is a part. Questions of this kind only suggest to the memory the
statement of the text, and do not cause the pupil to use his own
thought in realizing the actual event. Hence they arouse little
interest and leave little impression. They train the verbal memory,
but leave imagination, thought, and understanding untouched. How much
better such questions as these:--
When did the Pilgrims first sight land?
What land did they see?
What was its appearance?
Have you ever seen a stretch of shore like this one?
Why did not the Pilgrims land at this point?
Where did they finally anchor?
What measures did they take to see whether this was a
suitable place to land?
Why is the name "Plymouth Rock" so famous in American
history?
These questions cover just the same ground as the ones above, but they
suggest living pictures and actual events rather than the language of
the textbook.
The unprepared or lazy teacher is also in danger of relying on the
textbook for his questions even when he does not formulate them in the
language of the printed page. Not infrequently teachers conduct the
whole of a recitation with the text open before them, hardly taking
their eyes from the book, and seeming to have no inspiration or
questions not immediately gleaned from the page before them. In
extreme cases of unpreparedness they may even have to test the
correctness of the answers given by the class by reference to the
text. Of course this is all the highest degree of inefficiency. It
should not be called teaching at all, for no one can teach another
that which he does not himself possess as a part of his own mental
equipment. Nothing can be more deadening to a class than to see a
teacher, whom they look upon as their intellectual leader, floundering
in such a vain attempt to teach something that he does not himself
know.
The eyes and the mind of the teacher must both be free in the
recitation--the eyes to look interest and encouragement into the eyes
of the class, the mind to marshal the points of the lesson and watch
the effects of their presentation on the minds of the pupils. A
recitation at its best consists of an animated and interesting
conversation between teacher and class. And no conversation can be
live and interesting when one of its participants has mind and eyes
riveted to a book; for conversation involves an interchange of
expression, of spirit, and of personality as well as of words.
It is not meant that a teacher must never have a textbook open before
him during a recitation. Often it is not only desirable, but necessary
that he should do so; but only for suggestion and reference, and never
to supply questions and test answers.
It is certainly much better to have the textbook before one than to
teach the lesson after a disconnected and haphazard fashion from lack
of familiarity with its points. An excellent substitute for the text,
however, is an outline, or plan of the lesson embodying the main
points, illustrations, and applications to be made. Such an outline
will save the teacher from wandering too far afield in the
discussions, will insure unity in the lesson, and make certain that
important points shall not be overlooked.
A desirable rule for the teacher to set for himself would be so to
prepare for the recitation by mastery of the subject, and by lesson
plan or outline, _that he does not need to have the textbook open
before him when the pupils do not also have their books open_. The
teacher who will heroically meet this standard will soon find growing
in himself a feeling of mastery of his subjects and of joy in his
teaching.
4. _The principle of unity or continuity in questions_
Questions should be so planned that they develop or bring out the
unity of the lesson. It is possible for questions to be so haphazard
and disconnected that the pupil receives the impression of a series of
unrelated facts, rather than a unified and related subject. In good
questioning, one question naturally grows out of another, so that the
series develops step by step the truth contained in the lesson, and
brings it to the mind of the child as a complete whole.
This means that the teacher must know the whole subject so thoroughly
that the right questions come to him easily and naturally, and in the
right order to bring out the successive steps of the lesson in their
logical relations.
The difference between a related series of questions and an unrelated
is shown in two lists which follow. Both deal with the same
subject-matter, a physiology lesson on respiration. The questions of
the first list are not themselves faulty, but there is no continuity
among them; one does not grow out of another so as to "develop" the
subject in the minds of the class.
What change takes place in the air while in the lungs?
What change takes place in the blood while in the lungs?
How many cubic inches of air will the lungs contain?
How much of this cannot be expelled by breathing out?
How many times do we naturally breathe in a minute?
What are some of the effects of breathing impure air?
How is the oxygen carried by the blood?
What is animal heat?
What is the temperature of the body?
These questions were all answered fairly well by the class, but the
answers contained only so many bits of isolated information, and the
pupils did not understand the subject after they had recited upon it.
Another teacher asked the following questions:
Why must the body have air to breathe?
Of what use is oxygen in the body?
Where does this oxidization, or burning up of worn-out
cells, take place?
But how is the oxygen carried to every part of the body and
brought into contact with the tissues?
Where do the corpuscles of the blood get their loads of
oxygen?
What gas do they give up in exchange for the oxygen?
Where do they get the carbon dioxide?
How does air entering the lungs differ from air leaving
them?
What corresponding change takes place in the blood while it
is in the lungs?
Explain how the change is effected in each case.
Suppose we breathe air that contains too little oxygen, what
will be the effect on the corpuscles?
What will be the effect on oxidization in the tissues?
And what is the effect of poor oxidization on physical
vitality?
On mental vitality?
The class that answered these questions not only had the information
belonging to each separate question, but also understood the lesson as
a whole, because each question grew out of the ones that preceded it,
thus making the recitation a unified whole.
5. _The principle of clearness_
Questions must be made clear, so that their meaning may be understood.
This is not always an easy task, and the teacher frequently misses
being wholly clear. This is evidenced by the fact that often when a
pupil fails to answer a question asked in one way, he can answer it
easily when the wording is changed. This means that the difficulty for
the pupil existed in the question, and not in the answer.
Clearness in questioning involves three factors: (1) Freedom from
ambiguity or obscurity of wording; (2) adaptation to the age and
understanding of the pupil; (3) reasonable brevity.
_a. Freedom from ambiguity or obscurity of wording._--This is
fundamentally a matter of the use of good English. It requires such a
choice and arrangement of words and clauses that there can be no doubt
as to the meaning to be conveyed. Assuming a fair command of the
language and care in its use, the basis of clearness at this point is
thorough mastery of the subject-matter of the questions, so that the
teacher himself understands clearly just what he means to ask.
The following illustrations show some questions that are faulty from
the standpoint of obscurity of meaning:--
What caused Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863?
(Not clear whether question means why did he issue the Emancipation
Proclamation at all, or why did he issue it in 1863 instead of at some
other time.)
What are the effects of attention to a moving object? (Not clear
whether question means effects on the person attending or the effect
which the moving of an object has in making itself seen.)
Who chased whom down what valley?
Why has a cat fur and a duck feathers?
_b. Adaptation to the age and understanding of the child._--Questions
that are perfectly clear to an adult may be hazy or incomprehensible
to a child because he does not understand the terms used in the
question, or because it deals with matters beyond his grasp. The
teacher must keep within the vocabulary of the child in formulating
his questions. Where it is necessary or desirable to introduce new
words into questions, care must be taken that the child knows fully
the meaning of the new terms. A teacher asked a class in elementary
physiology, "What measures would you take to resuscitate a person
asphyxiated with carbon dioxide?" The class all looked blank. No one
seemed to know what to do. It chanced that the superintendent was
visiting the school, and he said to the teacher, "Let me try." Then he
asked the class, "What would you do for a person who had been
smothered by breathing coal gas?" The class brightened up, and every
hand was raised indicating readiness to answer the question.
Another teacher bewildered his class by asking, "Which phenomena of
the fratricidal strife in the American Republic were most
determinative of the ultimate fate of the nation?" No one knew. Had he
asked his question in plain terms, no doubt the class could have
answered it.
In an elementary history class, a teacher propounded this question:
"What American institutions have been founded on the principle of
social democracy?" Not only the terms of the question, but the thought
also is beyond the comprehension of children. Such questions are not
only useless as a means of testing, teaching, or drilling, but serve
to confuse and discourage the child, and cause him to lose interest in
school.
_c. Brevity._--No matter how well a question is worded, or how well it
is adapted to the age and capacity of the pupil, it may fail in
clearness because it is too long and disjointed, or because it deals
with too many points. Far better break a complicated question up into
several simple ones, concerning whose meaning there can be no doubt.
A teacher who had not yet mastered the art of questioning asked his
physiology class a question somewhat like this: "Do you consider it
advisable, taking into account the fact that none of the vital
processes go on as vigorously during sleep as during the waking hours
(you remember that the breathing and the pulse are less rapid and the
temperature of the body also lower), to eat just before retiring at
night, especially if one is very tired and exhausted--a condition
which still further lowers the vitality and hence decreases the powers
of digestion and assimilation, and would your answer be different if
it is understood that the food taken is to be light and easily
digested?"
It is needless to say that the class found themselves lost in the maze
of conditions and parenthetical expressions and did not attempt an
answer. The question contains material for a dozen different
questions, and probably the class could have answered them all had
they been properly asked.
6. _The principle of definiteness_
Questions should be definite, so that they can have but one meaning.
It is possible to ask a question so that its general meaning is clear
enough, but so that its _precise_ meaning is in doubt. Such questions
leave the pupil puzzled, and usually lead to indirectness or guessing
in the answer. Failure to make questions definite, so that they can
have but one meaning is responsible for much of the difference of
opinion on disputed questions.