A CONCRETE REPORT

TO THE EDUCATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL

FOR
CRIPPLED CHILDREN

Mrs. W. Murray Crane, Chairman.

"A Report on the Laboratory Method of Individual
as Carried on in the Academic Department"

October 1, 1919

Miss Helen Parkhurst, Director of Education at the Child Education
Foundation in New York City, asked this department to undertake to work out
a special system in education based on the Laboratory Method of Individual
Instruction. During her career as a teacher she formulated the plans for
this special system in education, and it is to this school that she has given
the honor of making this system a practical one.

The work was undertaken September 8, 1919.

**AIM OF THE WORK:** To allow each child to progress in his graded studies as rapidly as his mental ability will allow; to teach a child to study; to concentrate; to develop a sense of personal responsibility toward his education; to become more honorable in his plans for study; to consider the teacher as a guide and helper rather than an instructor or driver; to gain in power to reach out for new truths after the first necessary ones have been given him; to regard education as a delight and also as an absolutely necessary adjunct to advancement.

**ENROLLMENT BY GRADES:** All boys from the fourth to the ninth grade are eligible for this method. The following boys are enrolled in our department:

Grade 4 - 0
" 5 - 0
" 6 - 4
Junior High I - 3
" III - 7

**HOURS:** The hours for study are from 9-12 in the morning, with a recess if necessary from 10:30 - 10:45.

**OUTSIDE STUDY:** The only hours allowed for outside study are from 7:30 to 8:30 in the evening. It was found necessary to limit the time for outside study because of the health of the boy. His enthusiasm for this chance to progress carried him far beyond the limits of a normal amount of study.

**TEACHERS:** At present one teacher is sufficient for this number of boys, but as boys are enrolled, specialists in each subject are to be recommended.

**TEXT BOOKS:** Modern dependable text-books are used, but in time special text-books should be devised which will be especially adapted to this method. It is found that fewer text-books will be needed, for all boys are not using the same books at the same time. For instance, in a class of seven pupils four books are a large allotment in a subject. The money saved in this way can be used in purchasing reference books in each subject, thereby giving the pupil opportunity to view the subject from many angles.

**PLAN OF ASSIGNMENTS:** Each study for each grade is divided into ten monthly assignments covering the year's work in that grade, i.e., a pupil receives a card on which he finds his assignment in each study for September. Each card refers to a detailed assignment subdivided into four weeks. It was found that a pupil had more enthusiasm for four weekly assignments than one long one. He may choose whatever subject he chooses. He may either concentrate on one subject, cover his month's assignment in that subject and receive his examination, or he may study each subject for a short time each day and be ready for all his examinations at one time. Every pupil has to pass an examination in each study for September before he can be given his October assignment, although he does not have to wait for October before beginning October's portion of work.

A teacher should first divide the year's work into ten sections, each section covering a month of the school year. Unless she does this she will find that, unconsciously, she will give too long assignments at first and thereby discourage the child. The only fair way is to make a monthly assignment for the average normal child. In each room should be posted a large chart of the year's assignment in all grades, This should be placed in the schoolroom in September. Then each monthly assignment should be posted on a large chart each month covering the work of all the grades. Each pupil should have posted convenient for his use the assignment on which he is working. All examinations for the year should be in such form that each pupil can take his examinations whenever he says he is ready for them. Each pupil has a notebook for each study. These notebooks should be examined each week and checked by the teacher. A chart is kept of the rate of each pupil's advancement. He will be very much interested in it himself and it will serve as one of his records. All examinations should be filed and report cards sent regularly to the parents.

**TIME LIMIT:** A pupil may advance as fast as he is able. He may be very keen mentally and can cover a month's assignment in three weeks or less. On the other hand he may be one of the laggards in our schools, although normal mentally, and he may require a month and a half, or perhaps two months to accomplish his assignment, but whatever he accomplishes, he has the satisfaction of knowing that he is doing his work thoroughly and with the pleasure which comes from really discovering a truth for himself.

It is to be expected that bright pupils will accomplish a year's work in eight months or less.

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**METHOD OF INSTRUCTION:** Each pupil works at his desk uninterruptedly as long as he desires on his chosen subject. When he feels that a new phase of the subject arises and he has not enough knowledge to cope with it, he comes to his teacher for help. Often a word or two of help will be enough, for it is a wonderful thing to see how soon pupils gain power to solve problems by themselves. At this time the schoolroom represents a laboratory, each pupil discovering new truths for himself. One may be studying the wall map for his geography, another testing his schoolmate on a certain question in history, another absorbed for two hours or more in some standard work in literature, which he never before had the opportunity to read uninterruptedly. Still others are taking the examinations for the month, and it is surprising what one month can do towards giving a boy the power to concentrate on the subject at hand.

In order not to lose the group idea entirely, class recitations are held in each subject for each grade every two weeks. These can be in the form of conferences where each pupil is given the privilege of contributing his share of interesting facts that he has gleaned from the subjects studied. It seems admissible now, not to have conferences in September, but in October when the majority of the boys are ready to review September's work. This question of class recitation can only be decided after several months of trial.

**PASSING MARK:** The passing mark is 70%. At first the pupils seemed content to just pass at 72% or 73%. In fact it was a little discouraging to find them apparently content with just a passing mark. Then one after another, whose mark in a study was around 70%, asked to take this same examination again. He was allowed to do so. Usually he passed at 60%. Then if he felt he could do a better piece of work he tried again. Some boys tried four times before they were satisfied with 96% or 98%. This without any suggestion or hint from the teacher. The same examination was taken in each case. More of a boy's latent characteristics were discovered by this fact than he or the teacher had ever imagined possible.

**DISCIPLINE:** The question of discipline in the schoolroom seems settled. There is no need for punishment for various acts of disobedience because there is no time for disobedience. Each pupil is so absorbed in his work and so ambitious to get ahead that he has no time for unwise performances. Of course there are a few suggestions as to law and order which are given by the teacher, and these have to be observed, but otherwise the boy is free to live in the schoolroom as best aids him in his work.

**OPINION OF THE PUPILS:** At the close of the first two weeks each pupil was asked to write what he thought of the new system. Every pupil, without exception, was satisfied with it. The following quotations speak for themselves:

1. "We do not have to wait for the rest of the class."

2. "I know we can go ahead very fast, and I, for one, hope we can work outside of school hours."

3. "I think I have learned about twice as much in all studies the past week as I know before. I know more about mathematics than I ever did before."

4. "You can get through your school life much faster and still have more knowledge than you would have with the old system."

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5. "I like the new way. In the old way we had to stay back in some studies for some boys, now we can go ahead".

6. "Now I have to think a lot about my work, before I never did much thinking."

7. "I think I learn a lot more by writing it down in the note book. I seem to remember it now."

8. "We don't waste time now, we can go ahead from one lesson to the next without waiting for anyone."

9. "We can sit in our seats and do nothing, but if our work is not done we will have to do the same assignment next time."

10. "I like it better because you depend mostly on your own ability instead of the teacher's."

**CONCLUSION:** This method is founded on a sound educational principle, and with the proper experimentation it can be made a practical and workable system.

Respectfully submitted,

Rita K. Hall,

Principal

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