THE DRILL LESSON
Many responses of thought and action must be reduced to an automatic
basis. It is the function of the drill lesson to accomplish this
result. In some schools this type of work has been overemphasized,
while in others it has been neglected. It is a mistake to spend the
whole of a child’s time and energy drilling him upon that which
some one else has thought. He must think for himself while a child,
if he is to show intellectual strength as a man. And it is just as
much a mistake to believe that the greatest progress in thought or
action can be achieved without careful attention to the formation
of desirable habits. Probably there is little need to-day to argue
against this conception of teaching, which makes the teacher simply
and solely a drill master. Our respect for the native tendencies
and for the experiences of children, our emphasis upon doing, our
belief that the best preparation for future efficiency is to be
found in present childish efficiency, all refute any such narrow
view of the educative process. There is, however, in some quarters a
danger that this insistence upon thinking and doing may be construed
to mean that drill work is no longer necessary. There are children
who are terribly handicapped in their later work because they have
not learned to spell common words, to write a legible hand, to give
without hesitation the addition combinations, to reproduce the
multiplication tables, to use without much thought the processes
commonly employed in arithmetic work. They find difficulty in
reading, because they lack that knowledge of phonetics which would
make easy the recognition of unfamiliar words in their reading;
they stumble in geography, fail in music, lack ability to comprehend
their work in nature study or history, all because facts essential
to further progress, once presented and understood, were not reduced
to an automatic basis by carefully conducted drill exercises. If it
is clear that much of the knowledge which children acquire must be
reduced to the basis of habit, we may next inquire just how this
drill work is to be related to the other part of the school work.
_Question of motive_: In the formation of habits not provided for by
native tendencies to react, the occasion for making the adjustment
is, as in the case of our thinking, the recognition of a need. Our
first attempts to talk or to use our limbs were due solely to the
compelling force of instinct, but later we learned a foreign language
or achieved success in the high jump because we had a definite aim in
mind. So far as the teacher is concerned with habit formation, she
can hope to utilize instinctive tendencies, but may not depend upon
them alone to secure the result. A motive must be provided for the
work. The stronger this incentive, the greater will be the attention
given to the work in hand and the sooner will the desired result
be secured. Very much of the drill work which is done is well-nigh
futile because it is imposed upon children. They do not see its
significance, and feel little interest in the accomplishment of the
results demanded.
Ideally, drill lessons should come when the children see that their
future progress is conditioned by successful formation of the habits
involved. And this is not so impossible of accomplishment as might
appear at first sight. If the material given to children to read in
the first grade is of such a nature that they really care to read it,
they are very quick to see that word drill, and later phonetic drill,
will help them to secure the end desired. Of course the reply may be
made: “What is the use of bothering one’s self with this attempt to
make a rational appeal to children? They will be completely satisfied
if you simply keep them at it. It is a game for them. They enjoy it
simply because they delight in accomplishment.” One might reply to
such a statement by calling to mind the fact that the school exists
to develop rationality. You may be perfectly sure that frequently
enough the children, and later the men and women, will be driven or
led without any appeal to reason. It will undoubtedly be true that we
shall have to appeal to motives other than rational; but surely this
appeal to reason should be made, and, if our education is successful,
should be increasingly potent as we advance from grade to grade.
Even when a rational motive has been made the point of departure, we
shall have to use many devices to keep alive the child’s original
intention. But let us frankly admit, both to ourselves and to the
children, that these subsidiary aims are merely aids in helping us
to achieve the more worthy aim. If such a standard of motive were
applied throughout our work, we should probably find it necessary to
postpone certain activities which we insist upon for no reason which
a child can understand, until there was some real use for the habit
to be formed. We might even find ourselves compelled to eliminate
much which finds no application in real life. The occasion for drill
is found in the demand for automatic control of thought or action,
and much of the later success of the children in thinking and doing
will be conditioned by the quality of the work done in these drill
exercises.
_Knowing what to do_: A clear idea of the result to be accomplished
is, of course, involved in the notion or aim as it has been discussed
above. The importance of this element in habit formation cannot be
overemphasized. It may seem superfluous to call attention to the
fact that every child should have a clear idea of what is to be done
before the drill work begins; but it sometimes happens that the
teacher takes too much for granted. Children stumble and fail, or do
nothing at all, simply because they do not know what it is all about.
It would seem impossible that any group of pupils should be asked to
commit to memory anything which they did not understand, and yet we
are constantly reminded by their later interpretations that they have
not understood. Such logical organization is not always possible,
nor, indeed, even desirable, as, for example, in learning addition
combinations. In such a case the value of the habit is largely due
to the fact that we no longer attempt to rationalize the process
nor attempt to fix it in a logical series. But whether the task be
the memorizing of a poem, the learning of addition combinations,
the formation of the habit of neatness, or the gaining of skill in
handling a saw, it is essential that the child know just what is to
be done and that he be provided with an adequate motive for doing it.
_Repetition with attention_: After a child knows what to do, has
the right idea, and the greatest possible motive for doing has been
provided, the teacher’s problem consists in keeping alive the desire
to achieve the result while the process of repetition is going on.
A child learns to spell a word not simply because he repeats the
letters or writes them in the correct order a hundred times. We
all have knowledge of cases in which this sort of repetition has
seemingly resulted in no advancement. The most economical method of
learning to spell requires that the maximum of attention be given
while the letters are repeated. The story of the boy who, after he
had written after school the phrase “I have gone” a hundred times,
wrote at the bottom of his paper for the information of the teacher,
who had left the room, “I have went home,” is a case in point. The
trouble with this boy was not that he had not repeated the correct
form often enough, but that he had not attended to it. He had failed
to realize the significance of what he was doing. Doubtless his
attention, instead of being fixed on the work in hand, was more
largely given to the game of baseball his companions were playing,
or to the prospect of the delights of the swimming pool. Much of the
concert work that one hears shows a lack of attention on the part
of the larger part of the class except in so far as is necessary
to follow the leaders. Such work is undoubtedly helpful to those
who lead, but it is of little use to the others who take part. It
is a very good plan to test concert work by listening closely to
distinguish those who are carrying the burden, have them stop, and
measure the success of the work by the result which can then be had.
_Means of holding attention_: No matter how strong the motive with
which we start, any one of us will grow weary when the task imposed
requires many repetitions. It is even more difficult for children to
keep their attention fixed for any considerable length of time. We
must, therefore, plan carefully to conduct the drill in such a way
that the maximum of attention may be secured. Among the devices which
are employed, one of the most important is variation in procedure.
Suppose, for example, we wish to spend ten minutes in drilling
children on addition combinations. The best results will not be
secured by spending the whole time in either oral or written work.
Probably the maximum of attention and consequently of result could be
secured by dividing the period into three parts: one devoted to oral
work, holding every one responsible for every answer; one to written
work on a series of problems provided on number cards or mimeographed
sheets; and one to work of the same sort placed on the blackboard.
Of course there is nothing peculiarly good in the order of exercises
suggested above, beyond the fact that they give variety. The next day
the teacher would want to change the order or to introduce a new type
of exercise.
Another means of securing the maximum of attention is to place a
time limit. Have the children see how many problems they can solve,
how many stanzas they can commit to memory, or how many words they
can learn to spell in a period of ten minutes. It makes a very great
difference whether the teacher says “work on this task for ten
minutes,” or “see how much you can get done in ten minutes.”
This leads us to consider a third means commonly employed to secure
earnest work, the appeal to emulation. The desire of a pupil to do as
well as other members of his class, or the desire of a class to equal
the record of another class of the same grade, will do much to keep
attention fixed on the work. Neither the devices mentioned nor any
others will avail unless the teacher is wide-awake and alert herself.
The greatest single reason for lack of interest and attention on the
part of the class is found in the indifference and lack of energy
on the part of the teacher. It is useless to expect vigorous action
on the part of pupils, when the teacher is half asleep or otherwise
either physically or mentally incapacitated for good work. It is
possible at times for a teacher to arouse her own flagging interest
by just such appeals as have been suggested above as applying to
children.
_Necessity for accuracy in practice_: Our nervous system is so
constructed that to do anything once leaves a tendency to do the same
thing the same way when next we are placed in a similar situation. It
is bad to allow careless work or random guessing, not simply because
the result in this one case may be wrong, but more especially because
the tendency to the wrong reaction is there and must be overcome
before the correct action can be fixed as a habit. If a child, the
day after he has studied the word _foreign_, has occasion to write
the word and does not know how to spell it, it is a mistake to permit
the word to be written incorrectly. It would be better to have the
child discover for himself or find out from the teacher the correct
form before attempting to write the word. It is well to insist on
the necessity for absolute accuracy. Better by far discontinue the
drill while every one is still fresh enough to give close attention
to the work in hand and while the responses are accurate, than to
make the serious mistake of allowing the work to be done carelessly
or to flatter one’s self that approximately accurate results are good
enough. Better be sure that in the drill work on the multiplication
table to-day the children have invariably given the correct response
when we have asked them how many are six times three and six times
four, than to have attempted to teach the whole table with the
knowledge that one fourth of the answers have been wrong. We should
not be misled; the child who gave us a wrong answer is not simply
wrong this time, but, what for us is more important, will tend to be
wrong ever after. We have more than doubled the task we set out to
accomplish. We must now get rid of the tendency to give the wrong
answer, and then teach the correct one. In our later consideration of
the moral life of the child, we shall have occasion again to point
out the significance of this principle.
_The periods elapsing between repetitions or series of repetitions
should be gradually lengthened_: The fixing of a habit so that it
shall always thereafter be available to determine our thought or
action requires that we do more than arrive at a point where the
response can be readily secured in a given situation. The word which
your pupils spell so readily, the table which they recite so glibly,
the poem which they have so completely mastered, will apparently
have completely disappeared next week or next month. Of course the
work you have done is not without effect. It will be easier to learn
the word, table, or poem again. But the child should command these
results for which we labored _now_. There is a body of knowledge, a
group of actions, which ought to be available automatically at any
time. If we are to succeed in fixing this body of habits, if they are
to be made permanently available, we must recognize the fact that
when we have first secured the result desired we have only begun the
process. The boy who recites Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address without any
mistakes to-day has made a good beginning; but if that address is
worth remembering always, he must recite it several times during the
next week, and go over it again next month, next term, and next year.
There will come a time, depending upon his native retentiveness and
upon his method of memorizing, when it will no longer be necessary
to repeat it for the sake of fixing the address in memory. It will
not take a great deal of time to recall that which we believe we have
fixed permanently last week or last month, and by doing this we shall
add greatly to the probability of possible recall a year or ten years
from now, and incidentally discover, much to our surprise, how much
has already escaped.
Teachers often unconsciously follow the cramming method in their
attempt to have children advance rapidly; and, as is always the case
when this method is employed, what has apparently been learned is
soon forgotten. Fortunately for all concerned, many of the responses
which need to be reduced to an automatic basis are demanded over and
over again as the child progresses from grade to grade, and are thus
provided for. But much that is now lost could be retained, and each
succeeding teacher could accomplish more than is now customary, if
only this principle of habit formation were commonly observed.
_In the case of a series of responses to be made automatic, be
careful to include each member of the series_: Much of our work is
weak because it lacks system. If we are engaged in teaching addition
combinations, we should be absolutely certain that we have taught
every possible combination. If we want to be sure that children know
how to write numbers up to one million, we must have given them
drill on all of the possible difficulties. If children are always
to respond correctly when problems involving two steps in reasoning
are presented, we must have been careful to provide for the purpose
of drill all of the combinations of situations involving addition,
multiplication, subtraction, and division which can occur. For any
other similar field, the same care must be exercised.
_The greater part of the time should be spent in drilling upon that
part of the work which presents special difficulty._ There is no use
in spending one’s time equally on all of the words included in any
list. Some of them can probably be spelled with little or no drill,
while others may require very careful study and many repetitions.
In any other field the same situation will be found. Many of the
responses desired will be reduced to the basis of habit readily, and
a few will require continued attention. It is the function of the
teacher to discover these special difficulties as soon as possible,
to clear up any obscurity in ideas which may stand in the way, and
then to drill with special reference to these special cases.
Briefly summarized, it is the function of the teacher in guiding
pupils in the formation of habits to see to it that they have the
correct idea of the thing to be done; to secure the maximum of motive
and to maintain the maximum of attention during the process; to guard
against carelessness and lapses by insisting upon the accuracy or the
adequacy of the responses; to provide occasion for repetitions from
time to time with gradually lengthened intervals; to be careful not
to omit any of a group or series of responses equally important; to
spend the greater part of the time and energy of both herself and
pupils upon those cases which present special difficulty.
FOR COLLATERAL READING
W. C. Bagley, _The Educative Process_, Chapter XXII.
S. H. Rowe, _Habit Formation and the Science of Teaching_, Chapter
XIII.
_Exercises._
1. Name the subjects or parts of subjects in which drill work is
essential.
2. What was there of value in the old-fashioned method of choosing
sides and “spelling down”?
3. Name some of the devices which you have used in drill work, and
justify their use.
4. What argument can you advance for postponing the beginning of
writing lessons until the middle of the first year or later?
5. Which would be better: to present the multiplication table in
regular series (3 × 1 = 3; 3 × 2 = 6; 3 × 3 = 9, etc.), or in some
other order? (3 × 5 = 15; 3 × 2 = 6; 3 × 7 = 21; 3 × 4 = 12, etc.)
6. If a boy was writing a composition and wanted to use a word that
he did not know how to spell, what would you expect him to do?
7. What are the objections to learning rules of spelling?
8. In a drill lesson in arithmetic, which would you consider the
better: to have the children work as individuals for the highest
score, or to divide them into groups and have one group try to do
better than the other?
9. Criticize the following lesson, as a fourth-grade exercise in
spelling. The teacher placed the following list of words on the
board, and told the pupils to study them.
believe conduct have
forget agriculture manufacture
store plow wagon
cultivate harness exports
crops dairy freight
drought fertilizer transport
depot wheat
10. A teacher who spent a large part of her time having the class
recite the multiplication tables in concert was distressed to
find that a majority of the class did not know the tables when
examination time came. What was the explanation?
11. In a school where the children had a forty-minute period for
a writing lesson, the results during the last ten minutes were
invariably poorer than during the first quarter of the period. How
could you hope to change the result?
12. In some schools the teachers always spend two weeks before
the examination period in review of the term’s work. Why are such
reviews necessary in some cases, while children do just as well in
examinations in other schools which do not have this review period?
13. A teacher taught children that they could always tell how much
nine times any number was by subtracting one from that number for
the tens place, then adding a number which will make nine for the
units place (_e.g._ 5 × 9 = ? 5 - 1 = 4 (tens); 4 + 5 = 9. ∴ 5 is
the number of units, and 5 × 9 = 45). Is this a good way to teach
this table?
14. How can you know when it is wise to discontinue drill work?
15. Do you think it necessary to plan for a drill lesson?
16. Could you plan your work so that your pupils will know at
the end of the year all of the poems you have taught during the
previous eight or ten months?