Evening star., 1937-01-20
Drilling Is
Not Always
Effective
Instructions Must
Often Be More
Individual.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

WE OF the schools keep making
the same mistake and getting
to the same dead end again and
again. We we're taught that repeti-
ton was at once a method and
cure for learning lessons that were
new or fixing old lessons in the
mind. Did a child forget? Have him
say the thing a hundred times, and
he must remember. Did he fail? Give
him the same lesson today, tomor-
row and forever after until he got it.
Usually he who failed got the extra
attention, extra drill, extra hours in
school at the same task set in the
same way. The drill would cure him.
and the drill left him duller than be-
fore Then we drilled him some more.
BY and by he ran away from us.
Drill is effective in a certain fixed
limit. 1t strengthens the recall OF
facts that have been learned. But
please note that the facts had been
learned. If the pupil failed to learn
the lesson, the drill could not help
him, now could it? Repeating over
and over something one does not un-
derstand, something that ones mind
does not open to admit, can't aid un-
derstanding or memory. 1t can and
does weary the failing child to ex-
haustion and drives him to despair.
Teach, but don't drill, the failing
child. But suppose he cannot learn?
Teach him. The fact that he has
failed to learn by the usual methods
suggests that one take to unusual
methods There is little time to waste
in teaching, so the next thing to do
Is to try to find why this child does
not learn the routine way and how
he can be placed mentally in the
attitude that will permit him to
learn.
Children want to learn. I cannot
say this too often or too impressively.
Children long to learn as other chill
dren learn. Once they can be placed
in the attitude where learning is pos
sible they are happy as children really
ought to be. To find what the failing
learn and able to learn we have the
psychologist examine him, explain
his condition and tell the teacher
what to do and how to do it.
Some children cannot learn to read
in the usual way. Have them ex-
amined and try to discover what way
Is to be used to teach them. Few
children, very few indeed compared
to the number who think they can
not learn to read, are in the schools
There is usually a way to be found to
overcome the reading failure, and
the sooner the work begins the better.
It does not take an experienced first
year teacher very long to pick out
the reading failures and send them
to the specialist for examination.
There are all sorts Of school fall
ures. Arithmetic, grammar, penman-
ship, history, English-all have their
victims. Drill will not help the most
of them. Analysis of their difficult
ties, special methods applied to their
peculiar types Of mind, will help them.
Every school needs the teachers, the
specialists and the equipment that
their failing children demand for their
success.
Drill Is an essential step In the
learning process, but drill is not a
cure for school failures. We know
what the cure is, and We ought to set
about using it promptly. We are do
ing better, but We have to do far more
before it makes a dent on the school
failures throughout the country.
(Copyright, 1879