The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1912-05-30

'ion' Inc teXt-pook, lndeed, IS the east
est solution of the problem of educating
children IN mass. 1t makes possible the
systematic assignment of seat work bv
/ providing each pupil with the same task.
1t also relieves the teacher verv largely
OF the task of mapping out her own
! course and keeps instruction to defnite
line. Still on the other hand thew have
tendency to make for lower standards
of scholarship in the teaching profession
than would be possible if every teacher
were responsible for direct instruction.
The textbook frequently tells too much
! and leaves very little latitude for the
discovery of truth by the pupil
textbooks may be roughly divided in
to three classes: 1st, readers; End, manu-
ais or hand books, such as arithmetics
and grammar texts which provide a
minimum amount of facts and principles
with maximum of exercises or problems
to be worked out by the pupils; Bird.
textbooks proper, such as biographies,
histories and physiologies in which the
chief aim is the logical and systematic
setting forth of facts and principles.
Some of the difficulties of textbook
instruction which must be overcome are
that the pupil must have some motive
for attacking the printed page, or some
interest in its contents, if he is to give it
the attention that is necessary for the
assimilation of the matter presented.
Not all the material presented in text
books is intrinsically interesting to every
pupil; the textbook may employ terms
the meanings of which are not familiar
to the pupils; and the reading of the text
will not hold attention SO we'll as would
the oral presentation of the same matter
Attention is rhythmic process, pre-
sentlng periods or phases which are de-
scrlbed as rise, dominance and decline.
Those rhythms follow one another very
rapidly, whether the pupils are listening
to oral instruction or preparing lessons
from textbook"
The textbook lesson normally falls
into three parts: the assignment; the
study period; and the recitation. Of
these the first is the most important
from the standpoint of the teacher. The
assignment should fulfill two functions:
LIST it should clear up insuperable or rela-
lively insuperable difficulties in the. way
of form. These may consist of difficult
words, obscure passages, and difficult or
unusual constructions. How far the
teacher should go in this direction is
matter of judgment in each specific case.
In all assignments there should be more
or less ''give- and take" between teacher
and pupils if the pupils are to follow the
development attentively. The second
function of the assignment is even more
in portant than the first 1t is to develop
in the pupil either an interest in the sub
ject-matter of the text, Or motive for
attacking the text aggressively In this
connection the first task is to make clear
the relation between the Forthcoming
lesson and those that have preceded, =
connect the new and the old If this is
not done, the text may be comparatively
meaningless to the pupil and his assimi-
lation Of the content will, of course, be
impossible. AS matter of fact, the
assignment of any textbook lesson in
which a new principle is brought out may
involve an inductive oral development
covering, perhaps, an entire period.
This is clearly seen in the teaching of
arithmetic and grammar. In taking up
any new principle, the proper procedure
is inductive development, involving the
preparation, the presentation, the gen.
eralization and the application. l must
not take the time to discuss these steps
or to take time to outline typical lesson
, for assignment.
In general, it may be concluded that
much of the time which young people
waste in attempting to ''get lessons"
out of textbooks could be saved and
turned to educative use if the lessons
were skillfully and properly assigned.
! The natural result is that the teacher
who does not teach in the assignment is
forced to teach in the recitation. He
must go over the lesson at that time,
clearing up the points that should have
been cleared up before the pupils attack
! ed the text. Under these conditions,
pupils soon come to know that, if they
! do not master the text, the teacher will
tant stimulus to effort-the idea of re-
sponsibility for results-is eliminated. 1t
! is this condition that makes textbook
work on the whole so inadequate. With
a careful assignment, however, pupils
| can be held rigidly responsible for the
mastery of the text, and the recitation
( becomes word with a meaning.
/ The application of the pupils in their
period of seat work tests the efficiency
i of the assignment. One of the surest
induces of teachers ability is the dill
; gence of the study class. The prime test
: of a teacher is not the manner in which
he conducts recitation, but the growth
! that his pupils make in ability to work
efficiently withouc supervision
When the pupil first begins to use text
books, it is well to furnish study cues
| lions that will aid him during the study
period to pick out the salient points treat
| ed in the text. These should be gradually
| changed as the pupil becomes more
| familiar with the use of textbooks till
the questions are simply study topics.
The work of the recitation should test
both the efficiency of the study period
and the efficiency of the assignment. In
order to be most effective, it should be
dominated by this fundamental precept:
"Hold the pupil rigidly responsible in
the recitation for whatever tasks were
set before him in the assignment. I'm
| less this principle is adhered to strictly,
the most skillful assignments and the
most artful devices for the study period
will be waste of time and energy.
! One of the tests of teachers eff.
cheney in the upper grades is the freedom
of his recitation work from pumping
questions. In many recitations one
! will hear series Of questions like the
following: Who discovered America?
When? Of what country was Columbus
a native? What country aided him in
discovering America? What difficulty
did he have with his sailors? etc.
Each of these questions can be answer
| ed by single word or bv brief sentence,