LS-,'X%S LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 775 652 -.. n^. Character Building in Our Schools The University of Wisconsin University Extension Division a:>\<^ Character Building in our Schools MR. F. J. GOULD, demonstrator for tlie Englisli Moral Education League, and the foremost liv- ing expert in the field of moral instruction in the elementary school, has arranged, upon the solici- tation of American friends, to spend the school year 1913-1914 in this country. The desirability or even necessity of introducing moral instruction into the schools is now vs^idely recognized. Little, however, has actually been done, because the teachers feel them- selves unprepared for the work. To meet this need, Mr. Gould has agreed to place his services at the dis- posal of such communities as may desire them, in dem- onstrating to American elementary school teachers the methods of moral instruction which have been applied with great success in a large number of English cities. Mr. Gould will spend a week in each city to which he is invited. By means of a group of fifteen or twenty school children, brought together for the purpose, he will show the teachers, by actual demonstrations, how classes in this subject should be conducted. The chil- dren are placed on the stage with their backs to the audience, and are taught precisely as they would be in a school room. After the demonstration, Mr. Gould explains his methods to his auditors, states the princi- ples underlying them, and answers questions. The topics dealt with are such as duty to parents, self-con- trol, courtesy, kindness, truthfulness, honesty, obedi- ence to law, justice, and international peace. The method employed is, broadly speaking, that of story telling; but it includes a number of features which give it a very distinctive character. It is presented with a charm which makes it a delight even to those who are not teachers, and with a pedagogical skill that gives it value for any subject of instruction what- ever. Mr. F. J. Gould Mr. Gould's visit to a city will represent something more than a passing "flash in the pan." He has writ- ten a series of manuals of moral instruction which present in detail the material for an elementary school course. He has brought together several collections of stories for use in such classes. And he is the author of a work, Moral Instruction, its Theory and Practice, just published by Longmans, Green and Co. Accord- ingly the teacher, having once become acquainted with his methods and caught his spirit, will find herself supplied with abundant material and detailed sugges- tions in the way of methods for carrying on the work by herself with her class. Those who prefer to use some of the excellent manuals for the elementary schools prepared by American writers, will find Mr. Gould's demonstrations equally helpful, since he does not come to recommend any special scheme, but rather to show, in living and practical modes of teaching, how lessons should be constructed, and in what spirit they should be imparted. Mr. Gould has spent the greater part of his life as a teacher in the elementary schools. Since 1910 he has been demonstrator for the English Moral Education League. He has given model lessons in most of the cities and training schools in England, with the result that moral instruction has been introduced into the school systems of a large number of English cities. He made a brief visit to the United States in the sum- mer of 1911, and gave demonstrations before a small number of audiences interested in education. He has just returned from a two months' visit in India, whither he went at the invitation of the Bombay gov- ernment, and where he gave demonstrations in more than twenty Indian cities. He comes to this country under the auspices of the English Moral Education League, an organization com- posed of some of the most eminent men in educational and public life in Great Britain. Further information about the nature of his work, his itinerary, terms, etc., may be obtained by applying to the University Exten- sion Division of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The following estimates of Mr. Gould's work may be of interest. "Mr. Gould is regarded as the best exponent in Eng- land of the direct method of moral instruction. He has a verj' interesting and winning style of teaching. He presents his matter in such a way as to produce ex- cellent results on the class he teaches; he has also the power of clearly expounding his principles so that teachers are able to make an intelligent application of them in their ordinary work. I have no doubt that he will find very great favour with the teachers of America." — John Adams, Professor of Education, Uni- versity of London. "Mr. Gould is a teacher of marvelous technical skill; and while he teaches morals in a most effective way, it is of great value to a teacher to witness his teaching, regardless of the subject, simply to get a high ideal of what skilful class room instruction ought to mean." — Thomas M. Balliet, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Peda- gogy, Xew York University. "To whom it may concern : — I heard a number of the demonstrations in morals given by Mr. F. J. Gould at Madison, ^Yisconsin, during the summer session of 1911. I was much impressed by him, both as a teacher and as a man. I believe his demonstrations of how to give moral lessons would be of great value to Ameri- can teachers generalh', and I should be very glad if he could visit this country again and bring his work more widely into contact with cur public school teach- ers and officers." — Irving King, Professor of Education, University of Iowa. "Mr. Gould's method is, I think, on the whole the most constructive, systematic and well-wrought plan I know of teaching moral lessons to children of the grammar school grades. His central contribution is an exemplification of the possibility of making definite, progressive thinking interesting and impressive to chil- dren as young as ten to fourteen years." — Mrs. Ella Lyman Cabot, Member of the Massachusetts Board of Education. j-JBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 775 652