ten-year-old can understand; the distinction between a period and the five-minute recess is easy. But "No communication between pupils that disturbs the work of the class" will be beyond him. Mr. A. C. Benson relates that a boy who was rebuked for putting a dormouse down the neck of a very easy-going master asked, in all good faith," But how was I to know that he drew the line at a dormouse?" Rules which vary in complex ways with attendant circumstances or with the motive for the act are unsuitable for young children and for the duller older children. Moral as well as intellectual progress should be made step by step along clear pathways. (11: 186) Consistent, decisive enforcing of rules. In securing obedience to rules, two important factors are consistency and decision on the part of the teacher. The influence of lack of consistency is illustrated by teachers and parents who are always threatening but never executing. They announce that certain consequences will follow upon certain acts, but they are not consistent in carrying out their statements. Pupils very soon learn that they are likely to escape the consequences in many cases, and are willing to take the chances or to gamble on the issue. The influence of lack of decision is illustrated by the remark often made by a distracted mother when she says to her child, "I don't know what I will do to you if you don't behave yourself." No doubt teachers often find themselves in the same uncertain condition, but it does not improve matters to let the pupils know it. If possible, take the time which may be necessary to determine upon the best course of action and then proceed to carry out your decision. Regard all offenses as against the group, not the teacher. The final feature of maintaining good order which we shall consider is that each offense should be regarded by pupils and teacher as essentially an offense against the class or group whose progress is interfered with. A simple example is found in the case of the first-grade child who is noisily playing with something while the teacher is telling an interesting story. The teacher's remark, "We shall have to wait until Mary is ready to listen," is a good opener to put the situation in the right light. It avoids the notion that the misbehavior is an offense against the teacher or that it centers in a personal conflict between the latter and the offender. Regarding the offense as against the group enables the teacher to deal with it in a purely objective impersonal manner. This will save much emotional storm and stress that entails an unfortunate waste of nervous energy for both pupils and teacher and temporarily impairs their efficiency. Furthermore, it stresses the attitude of regard for community rights and welfare, which is one of the essential factors in moral training. Conclusion. This will conclude our discussion of economizing time and energy through effective routine in classroom management. Our point of departure for the discussion was a comparison of the classroom with democratic social conditions. We found that in democratic America citizens are required to be strictly obedient to the representative government, and that effective conduct of American business depends upon the application of principles of scientific business management. Paralleling this social situation in the school involves coöperation, order and obedience on the part of the pupils, and careful routine provision for the first day, for the seating, assembling, and passing of pupils, for monitorial assistance by pupils in handling materials, and for proper lighting and ventilation. With desirable habits established in all these matters, much of the time and energy of teachers and pupils is conserved for attaining the broader aims of teaching, health, harmless enjoyment, good will, and social service. In the next two chapters we shall study the principles determining the selection and arrangement of subject matter to attain these ends. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES The references marked with an asterisk are especially recommended to beginners. General discussion. * 1. BAGLEY, W. C. Classroom Management, its Principles and Technique. (The Macmillan Company, 1907.) Excellent and practical. Chaps. i-viii should be read by all beginning teachers. 2. JAMES, WILLIAM. * (a) Talks to Teachers. (Henry Holt and Company, 1899.) Chap. viii, on the Laws of Habit. (b) Principles of Psychology, Vol. I, chap. iv. One of the most influential chapters on behavior. By America's greatest psychologist. 3. THORNDIKE, E. L. Education for Initiative and Originality. Teachers College Record, November, 1916, Vol. XVII, pp. 405–416. A great psychologist discusses balance between routine and originality. * 3 a. WHITE, E. E. School Management. (American Book Company, 1893.) Full of concrete examples. By a school superintendent of wide experience. Easy, delightful style. Historical. 4. PARKER, S. C. History of Modern Elementary Education. (Ginn and Company, 1912.) Chap. v, on improvements in classroom management. 5. QUICK, R. H. Educational Reformers. (D. Appleton and Company, 1890.) Pp. 60-62, on Jesuit Discipline. Kindergarten and primary grades. *6. KELLY, MYRA. Little Citizens, the Humors of School Life. (Doubleday, Page & Co., 1904.) Humorous stories of a beginning teacher in a first-grade on the East Side in New York. 7. PALMER, LUELLA A. Some Reconstructive Movements within the Kindergarten. The Psychological Clinic, June, 1913, Vol. VII, PP. 97-107. *8. TEMPLE, ALICE. Survey of the Kindergartens of Richmond, Indiana. (The University of Chicago Press, 1917.) Describes a kindergarten system as it is and as it should be. Practical discussions in simple common-sense language, contrasting strongly with the philosophical wordiness of so many kindergarten publications. Discipline. —*9. BAGLEY, W. C. School Discipline. (The Macmillan Company, 1914.) Excellent concrete treatment. Simple language. 10. MOREHOUSE, FRANCES M. The Discipline of the School. (D. C. Heath & Co., 1914.) Scan the whole book rapidly and read the later practical chapters carefully. Quoted incidentally. 11. THORNDIKE, E. L. Teaching. (A. G. Seiler, 1905.) Principles of CHAPTER IV SELECTING SUBJECT MATTER SOCIAL AND RElative ValueS; SCIENTIFIC BASIS Main points of the chapter. 1. The subject matter taught in schools should change as social needs change. 2. The most striking examples of such changes historically are the following: a. Changes from oral to silent reading necessitated by increased reading matter, speed of intercommunication, and almost universal ability to read in America. b. Changes in arithmetical content to parallel changes in business procedure. c. Development of civic-moral teaching to replace religiousmoral teaching eliminated from American elementary schools by sectarians. d. Use in kindergartens of modern city activities to replace the activities of a German village of 1837. 3. Social needs vary not only historically but between different communities to-day, and subject matter in different schools should vary accordingly. 4. The adaptation of subject matter to meet varying social needs is an example of the social point of view represented by Spencer and Dewey. 5. Variations in the relative social values of topics should be carefully determined by scientific investigations. 6. Such investigations of the writing vocabularies of children and adults have reduced the number of spelling words taught from 10,000 to 4500. 7. To be scientific, such an investigation must be mathematically precise, objective, completely described so it can be verified, made by an expert, and impartial. Relation to preceding chapters. In the two preceding chapters we developed two fundamental points of view which should be coördinated and kept in mind as the bases of progressive efficient teaching. The first emphasized the broadening purposes of elementary-school teaching in training for health, harmless enjoyment, good will, and social service. The second point of view emphasized the application of principles of effective business management to classroom activity in order to achieve progressive ideals economically and effectively. Having gained an idea of the purposes that elementary teachers should strive to achieve, and of the fundamental principles of administration that should prevail in the classroom, we come to our third main topic; namely, the selection of the subject matter that is to be used in achieving the broad aims of education. We shall discuss this topic under the following headings: I. Adapting subject matter to varying social needs. III. Characteristics of scientific procedure in selecting subject matter. I. ADAPTING SUBJECT MATTER TO VARYING SOCIAL NEEDS Adapting subject matter to varying social needs continues social point of view. - We reached many of our conclusions in the preceding chapters by studying social life outside the school in order to determine what the schools should do. For example, we found American life characterized by (1) democratic representative government, (2) intricate interdependence resulting from the specialization of industry and the subdivision of labor, (3) scientific business management. For each of these we discussed corresponding features of schooling. Similarly, we shall open the discussion of subject matter from the social standpoint and, for concreteness, |