Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-07-24
EFFORTS TO IMPROVE
QUALITY of INSTRUCTION

Before Judging instruction. it is ne
cessary to know the principles under
lying good instruction.
The strength of any school system
depends, in large measure, upon the
quality of the work done by individual
teachers. 1t is not uncommon to judge
the work of an individual teacher or
of a school system in terms of certain
aims, purposes or ideals of eduea-
ton"
If we accept the school as a bust
ness enterprise, we place upon it re-
sponsibilities similar and in proper
ton to those placed upon any other
business.
Various statements have been given
of the aims of education. Some of
these are: A preparation for complete
living and helping the individual to
live his life in best relation TO his fell
lows. However we state it, the fact
remains that the school is a place
where children live six hours a day,
five days week, and from thirty-six
to forty weeks a year.
Childhood is the period of forming
habits and ideals. The responsibility
of the school is to so direct these hab-
its and ideals that the output will pay
for the time and labor expended No
factory would consider itself efficient
If it turned out in usuable form only
one-half or three fourth of the ma
teral that went into it. Yet, from the
bushes world we constantly get criti-
cisms that pupils leave the elementary
school and cannot do the fundamentals
of arithmetic, cannot spell common
words, cannot write a decent letter,
and so on through the entire list of
subjects. Reading, spelling language
and arithmetic are taught in every
school. Why are pupils unable to ap-
ply school knowledge outside? The
court records show that ideals of con-
duct function far below par in society.
Obedience to authority has always
characterized public schools Why
does this training not carry over into
life outside of school?
This situation has led students of
education to seek the causes behind
school has been a thing apart from
the home, from the life outside. The
arithmetic, the spelling, the language,
training of the school has not been
the arithmetic, the spelling, the Ian
guage of the business world The
control exercised in school represent
ed the teachers will and not the
child's sense of right and honor. The
trouble lies not in the subjects taught.
for reading, writing, arithmetic, spell
ing and language must always form a
bulk of school instruction, but the de-
feet is in the methods of teaching.
knowledge of right methods of
work is more important than knowl-
edge of subject matter. The ideal con-
dition is the latter gained through the
former
What are right methods of work?
Those that consider the child's physi-
cal needs, that provide for his mental
growth, that afford chance for his
moral development.
The child is bundle of nervous en-
ergy. He wants to be doing some
thing, not sitting still. II the school
takes account of this fact, the sched-
ule of classes will be so arranged that
a seat-work period is followed by a
recitation or work at the blackboard.
Dramatizing will form part of the
reading and language work and so
use this surplus energy to good pur-
pose. Rest exercises and music wise
ly chosen to fit in with other work will
find place on the program. In short,
he will learn by doing just as people
in real life do.
Mental growth doesn't come through
repeating facts. A parrot can do that.
1t comes through having a problem
\ to solve, however simple it may be,
getting together such facts as he can
| that bear on the question, and decid-
| ing which of those will be of most
/ help, arranging them to fit the case,
| and lastly, deciding whether his prob