the definitely defective children have been removed from public schools there will remain children whose selfish and nonsocial instincts are so strong that they will constantly present problems of discipline unless firm conditions of control are established by the teacher. With such firm conditions of control, such children are kept in restraint and the time and energy of the group are not wasted. Without such control, the social waste of the time and nervous energy of teachers and pupils is enormous. For this reason the methods of controlling nonsocial, difficult disciplinary cases deserve special study by teachers. The problem is so complex, however, that we cannot treat it here. Instead, we recommend that it be carefully studied in references 9 and 10 given on page 83. With these more difficult disciplinary problems left for intensive outside study, we shall turn to some of the more general problems of maintaining good order.

Ordinary discipline. Through proper routine avoid oppor tunities for disorder. One of the most effective practices in securing good order is to avoid opportunities for disorder. Some of the most important steps to this end involve merely carrying out the directions for routinizing classroom activities described earlier in the chapter. If the first day is begun with a businesslike spirit, if there are certain definite tasks to be accomplished concerning which there is a clear mutual understanding between teacher and pupils, if the latter are seated to the best advantage, if materials are so placed as to obviate wasteful movements, conflicts, and confusion, if the ventilating and lighting are so arranged as to contribute to vitality and comfort instead of fatigue, annoyance, and irritability, if all these matters are properly provided for, then many opportunities for disorder are eliminated.

Teacher's attitude a determining factor; authority, dignified reserve, and friendliness. One of the most obvious facts in the maintenance of good order is the influence of the teacher's attitude toward the class, particularly during

the first few weeks and months. One of the most important questions in this connection concerns the proper balance to strike between friendliness and dignified reserve in order to preserve thorough respect by the children for their teacher's authority. Excellent suggestions along this line are contained in the following statement by a member of the Jesuit order, which has spent centuries of study upon problems of discipline:

The master in charge of the boys, especially in playtime, in his first intercourse with them has no greater snare in his way than taking his power for granted and trusting to the strength of his will and his knowledge of the world, especially as he is at first lulled into security by the deferential manner of his pupils.

That master who goes off with such ease from the very first, to whom the carrying out of all the rules seems the simplest thing in the world, who in the very first hour he is with them has already made himself liked, almost popular with his pupils, who shows no more anxiety about his work than he must show to keep his character for good sense-that master is indeed to be pitied; he is most likely a lost man. He will soon have to choose one of two things: either to shut his eyes and put up with all the irregularities he thought he had done away with or to break with a past that he would wish forgotten and engage in open conflict with the boys who are inclined to set him at defiance. These cases are, we trust, rare. But many believe with a kind of rash ignorance, and in spite of the warnings of experience, that the good feelings of their pupils will work together to maintain their authority. They have been told that this authority should be mild and endeared by acts of kindness. So they set about crowning the edifice without making sure of the foundations, and, taking the title of authority for its possession, they spend all their efforts in lightening a yoke of which no one really bears the weight.

In point of fact the first steps often determine the whole course. For this reason you will attach extreme importance to what I am now going to advise :

The chief characteristic in your conduct toward the boys during the first few weeks should be an extreme reserve. However far

you go in this, you can hardly overdo it. So your first attitude is clearly defined.

You have everything to observe the individual character of each boy and the general tendencies and feelings of the whole body. But be sure of one thing, viz. that you are observed also and a careful study is made of both your strong points and your weak. Your way of speaking and of giving orders, the tone of your voice, your gestures, disclose your character, your tastes, your failings, to a hundred boys on the alert to pounce upon them. One is summed up long before one has the least notion of it. Try, then, to remain impenetrable. You should never give up your reserve till you are master of the situation.

For the rest, let there be no affectation about you. Don't attempt to put on a severe manner; answer politely and simply your pupils' questions, but let it be in few words, and avoid conversation. All depends on that. Let there be no chatting with them in these early days. You cannot be too cautious in this respect. Boys have such a polite, such a taking way with them in drawing out information about your impressions, your tastes, your antecedents; don't attempt the diplomat; don't match your skill against theirs. You cannot chat without coming out of your shell, so to speak. Instead of this, you must puzzle them by your reserve and drive them to this admission : We don't know what to make of our new master."

Do I advise you, then, to be on the defensive throughout the whole year and like a stranger among your pupils? No! a thousand times, No! It is just to make their relations with you simple, confiding, I might say cordial, without the least danger to your authority, that I endeavor to raise this authority at first beyond the reach of assault. (5: 60-62)

Wholesome social atmosphere includes order and obedience to authority. I have had many classes of teachers discuss the above quotation, and the conclusion of the majority has always been that "dignified reserve" is one of the best terms we can find to designate the appropriate attitude for a teacher to take toward a class, especially when this is coupled with a sincere and friendly interest in the progress

of each pupil. Certainly it is a desirable attitude in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, where the children are especially quick to take advantage of a susceptible teacher. Even in the kindergarten, authority and obedience may be established by somewhat similar means, as shown in the following description by Miss Temple of certain kindergartens which she observed:

The social atmosphere in [these] kindergartens is very wholesome. The children are obedient, orderly, courteous, and very considerate of one another for children so young. The teachers have won the confidence and affection of the children through a sympathetic and respectful attitude toward them and through their own sincerity and earnestness. (8 5)

:

The coexistence of the several terms in this quotation is worth noting, obedient, orderly, courteous, considerate, confidence, affection, sympathy, respect, sincerity, earnestness, wholesome social atmosphere. They suggest an ideal picture of a well-disciplined situation. While the terms "authority" and "dignified reserve" sound somewhat harsher, they are perfectly consistent with the other terms listed and probably equally descriptive of the situation observed.

Disorderly primary grades make troublesome pupils for later grades. As a rule, poor order below the third grade is not regarded as seriously as after that grade, although it entails just as large waste and results in very troublesome habits for later teachers to overcome. If a second-grade room behaves like the one described on page 56 above, the harm is not so apparent as it would be from similar behavior in the middle grades, where it would interfere more obviously and seriously with the studying and progress of pupils. The large amount of activity which has been introduced into primary grades recently in the form of plays and games, construction and expression, has made it difficult for some teachers to distinguish between mere activity and disorder on the part

of the children. Consequently, a disorderly room is often mistaken for one in which children are being educated through activity. As a matter of fact, the children are really developing habits of lack of self-control which will seriously hamper their later progress in school. This fact appears very prominent in some of the so-called "model" schools of the country, where the children in the middle grades behave as little imps, utterly lacking in self-control. That this is not a necessary condition is suggested by the kindergarten situation described above, in which the children were "obedient, orderly, courteous, and considerate." If kindergarten children can acquire such habits, certainly firstgrade and second-grade children can also. With such habits, the discipline in the middle grades where children tend to write notes," throw spitballs, and do sneaky things generally, ought to be made easier instead of being made more difficult by the disregard for authority and group interests which results from unrestrained freedom and spontaneity in the primary grades.

Simple rules desirable; abstract rules ineffective. — As the children progress through the grades, they should become habituated to certain standards or rules of behavior which should determine their conduct. Even in the kindergarten, simple rules are effective, such as the following: "Raise your hand when you want something or need help, "During the story hour, when seated on the floor, keep your hands off other children." In some kindergartens after such special rules have been learned and habituated, even the more general rule "Do not bother your neighbors might be made effective. The difficulties involved in such general rules, however, are suggested by Thorndike in the following quotation :

Avoid making rules involving distinctions which the pupils cannot make. "No communication between pupils without especial permission except in the five-minute recesses between periods," a