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GENERAL METHODS OF TEACHING

IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

PART I. FUNDAMENTAL POINTS

OF VIEW

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION TO ARTISTIC TEACHING

Purpose. The purpose of this book is to introduce prospective elementary-school teachers to the principles which underlie good teaching.

An elementary discussion of established ideas. It is assumed that the readers know little about teaching; hence the discussions are quite elementary in character. The author is not presenting new educational ideas, but is endeavoring to make established ideas clear to beginners. It is assumed, however, that the readers are high-school graduates who are probably pursuing courses in normal schools, hence it is expected that they will be able to understand discussions which are no more difficult than the courses in history, civics, or science offered in high schools.

Discussion relates to ordinary city-school teaching.— The kind of teaching situations which the author has in mind in the discussions are ordinary, fairly well-graded rooms in city or town schools with about forty children in a room. It is assumed that there is fairly good equipment; for example, sets of supplementary readers, cards for drill work, materials for constructive activities and for games, wall maps, possibly globes, etc. It is assumed that the prospective teachers are aiming to become specialists in kindergarten or primary teaching or in teaching in the fourth, fifth, or sixth grades.

Teachers may become growing, enthusiastic artists. It is assumed, further, that the readers are sincerely interested in improving as teachers and becoming real artists in their field, for teaching may be practiced as a fine art similar to that of an actor, musician, painter, or writer. As the teacher masters the principles, methods, tools, and devices of teaching, she may strive for finer and finer effects in the same way that an artist does. In her earlier teaching she may be satisfied to gain practice and skill in some of the cruder points of teaching, such as avoiding waste of time, securing good discipline, and having most of the children understand what is studied. But after one or two years of experience she may strive for finer effects and begin to differentiate her pupils carefully, to understand the capacities, needs, and progress of each individual, and to secure zest and interest in all work. Some teachers are so much interested in improvement of this type that they spend several years developing their technique in one grade or series of grades, —for example, in the kindergarten or the primary grades, -and find a never-ending field of artistic improvement in such specialized teaching, just as one painter might spend his life studying and practicing the painting of landscapes, while another paints only portraits. The artist-teacher, moreover, has especially interesting material to work with, namely, the plastic and varied personalities of her pupils.

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City systems and normal schools provide for specialization in grade teaching. Educators, as a rule, realize the large possibilities of such specialized technique and improved teaching within a single grade. As a consequence, in city systems, at the present time, expert primary teachers are paid as high salaries as upper-grade teachers, and are not promoted " to the upper grades, as was formerly the practice. Similarly, in the better normal schools the training courses are specialized so that students are trained for kindergarten-primary teaching or for upper-grade teaching. (1)

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Don't be discouraged by the unusual pictures. Scattered through the text are about fifteen pictures illustrating certain features of the work in a very well-equipped, well-staffed private elementary school, particularly the use of sandtable construction projects and dramatic projects to vitalize the teaching of history and geography. Very commonly such pictures call forth the comment, "Oh, you can't do such work in the public schools." This is not always true, since some of the most progressive public schools are now so well equipped, staffed, and supervised that they are doing some of the same type of work as that shown in the pictures. For example, it is a comparatively simple matter for a public-school fourth grade to represent the seven hills of Rome in a sand-pan as shown on page 184 or for an upper grade to present the morning exercise shown in the frontispiece. The class depicted in the latter were studying the westward movement in United States history, from Daniel Boone to the settlement of the Pacific coast. During their drawing periods each pupil drew a picture representing some phase of this pioneering movement. In their regular history periods they told the class about their pictures, and then repeated the performance for the benefit of the school assembled for morning exercises. The value of such training in vitalizing history and in developing skill in graphic and oral expression is obvious. Naturally, such teaching calls for more resourcefulness and skill on the part of the teacher than does merely hearing recitations from textbooks. This fact need not discourage the beginning teacher, however, but rather encourage her to look forward to the day when, having mastered the easier routine features of teaching, she may undertake some of the more difficult tasks suggested by the pictures. In order, at this point, to get a concrete notion of some of the opportunities for such teaching, the reader might find it interesting to look at all the pictures.

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