UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 educational 
 
 EDITED BY HENRY SUZZALLO 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE 
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF 
 TEACHING 
 
 BY 
 
 C. R. MAXWELL 
 
 SUPERVISOR TRAINING SCHOOL, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL 
 WHITEWATER, WISCONSIN 
 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO 
 
 runcreibf prced CatnbritJjje
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY C. R. MAXWELL 
 
 ALL RIGHTS KBSBRVBD 
 
 tb Kftertte $rM 
 
 CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
 V . S . A
 
 Education 
 Library 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION v 
 
 PREFACE ri 
 
 I. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM i 
 
 II. THE PURPOSE OF OBSERVATION ... 9 
 
 III. THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION .... 19 
 
 IV. THE TEACHER 33 
 
 V. THE PUPILS 44 
 
 VI. THE LESSON PROCEDURE 51 
 
 VII. THE DEVELOPMENT LESSON y . . . .66 
 
 VIII. THE DRILL LESSON ^/ 73 
 
 IX. THE REVIEW LESSON */ , . 78 
 
 X. THE LESSON FOR APPRECIATION ,/. . 84 
 
 XI. QUESTIONING 91 
 
 XII. CLASS MANAGEMENT 102 
 
 XIII. THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE SCHOOL- 
 ROOM 107 
 
 OUTLINE 117
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 A SMALL manual on the observation of teaching 
 will be welcomed by all those in the profession of 
 education who are responsible for the inspection 
 and the improvement of the teacher's classroom 
 work. Superintendents, special supervisors, prin- 
 cipals, and training-school teachers will be glad to 
 have a convenient treatise which will offer some 
 direct aid to the conscious appreciation of good 
 and poor teaching. 
 
 As things are at present, the observation of 
 teaching is an activity pursued without much 
 system. It is conducted without adequate pre- 
 liminary or immediate intelligence, and the judg- 
 ments to which it leads are not subsequently 
 subjected to much critical thought. All this care- 
 lessness must be corrected if we are to have a 
 stable method of improving the practice of teach- 
 ing, one free from dependence on personal in- 
 tuitions and chance impressions. 
 
 Of late we have made some very conspicuous 
 scientific advances within the field of supervision. 
 The profession has evolved standard tests of 
 v
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 efficiency in many subjects, and developed more 
 or less accurate statistical means of measuring 
 student achievement under given forms of in- 
 struction. Yet no amount of zeal for scientific 
 educational judgments can blind us to the fact 
 that practically all these recent contributions to 
 the science of ascertaining efficiency are long- 
 range methods. However accurate these may be 
 within the restricted fields they reveal, they are 
 never an adequate substitute for the intimate 
 personal observations of a competent supervisor 
 who lives in the classroom and scans the whole of 
 the educative life found there. Indeed, our con- 
 temporaneous measurements reveal inefficiency 
 pointedly and accurately, but seldom do they 
 diagnose the causes and suggest the remedies. 
 They require supplementation on the part of the 
 wholesome and sane supervisor. 
 
 Classroom observation must be systematic 
 rather than impressionistic if it is to be valuable. 
 Even educational officers of unusual power rely 
 too largely upon what they may happen to see in 
 the classroom, and what they may happen to see 
 is determined in very great degree by the partic- 
 ular educational doctrines and interests they may 
 happen to have in mind at the moment. The 
 antidote is to be found in an increase of thought- 
 vi
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 fulness preliminary to the actual visiting of class- 
 rooms, in the use of comprehensive classifications 
 of facts to be observed, and in the development of 
 a critique of observations. 
 
 The need of an adequate preliminary theory of 
 observation is clearly brought out the first time 
 that a normal school student is sent to observe a 
 lesson in the demonstration school. He scarcely 
 knows upon what to focus his attention. He re- 
 turns to the class in theory with a mind confused 
 with detail, and he has no method of telling what 
 he has observed save that of ordinary narration 
 and description. In consequence, what he recites 
 is without pedagogical significance. Too fre- 
 quently such a condition remains uncorrected for 
 a long period, and the time given to observation 
 is practically wasted. The presentation of an 
 outline of facts to be observed, with some dis- 
 cussion of the same, at once gives definiteness 
 to subsequent observations. If the instructor 
 shows the additional wisdom of restricting the 
 beginner to a small number of factors, the ob- 
 servations of the student observer begin to be 
 valuable. 
 
 Even the mature and experienced school prin- 
 cipal finds that a systematic plan of inspecting his 
 school has great advantages. Ordinarily he is a 
 vii
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 casual visitor. His moments of freedom from 
 office duties are likely to cover the same periods of 
 each day. The classrooms nearest his office are 
 likewise favored. He scarcely realizes that he is 
 not covering all the ground. In addition, like 
 every other mortal, he thinks of certain considera- 
 tions more often than others ; these he watches, the 
 others he fails to stress. A half-hour's review of a 
 chart or outline of factors to be observed at once 
 redeems him from one-sidedness. He proceeds to 
 watch ventilation, the voice of the teacher, or the 
 social spirit of the classroom items which he 
 has overlooked for a month. 
 
 His work will be improved still more if he re- 
 solves to specialize on certain phases for a given 
 period, passing on to others in turn. His in- 
 spection may be made by subjects for a time, then 
 by grades, later by aspects not ordinarily sug- 
 gested by grade and subject classifications. He 
 will be surprised to note how much keener he 
 becomes in his casual observations once he has 
 followed some systematic and specialized method 
 of observation. 
 
 The manual here presented will suggest in a 
 comprehensive way the factors which are to be 
 observed in the classroom. It affords the basis 
 for much careful and systematic work useful 
 
 * 
 
 vui
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 alike to both experienced and inexperienced ob- 
 servers. Its written aids to observation which 
 follow the more detailed chapters will be a con- 
 crete and direct help, particularly to beginners.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 OBSERVATION of teaching is considered an inte- 
 gral part of the professional work in most train- 
 ing-schools for teachers. Few definite outlines on 
 the subject are available, consequently the work 
 varies from carefully organized courses to desul- 
 tory observation by students who are without 
 specific plans or purposes. 
 
 This manual has been an outgrowth of the 
 work in a course in observation of teaching, and 
 while in no way exhaustive, the outline aims to 
 present in a very brief form the most pertinent 
 problems. The manual is designed for the use of 
 students in training, for the use of teachers who 
 are desirous of analyzing the various elements 
 in the teaching process, and for the use of other 
 persons who are interested in the observation of 
 teachers at work. 
 
 C. R. M. 
 
 WHITEWATER WISCONSIN 
 May
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF 
 TEACHING 
 
 I 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 
 
 MUCH of our knowledge rests on observation. It 
 is one of the necessary elements in the study of 
 any science, and it is also a requisite in the pre- 
 liminary preparation for the practice of an art. 
 Its value in the study of the natural sciences has 
 long been recognized, and its use is beginning to 
 be extended in the investigation of the sciences 
 of the mind. We appreciate the dangers of rely- 
 ing on the testimony of the senses, but this error 
 is usually caused by lack of skill on the part of 
 the observer, by carelessness in considering the 
 essential elements, or through failure to realize 
 how fallacies may arise. 
 
 Skill in observation, as in any art, is acquired 
 by practice. Observation of mental phenomena, 
 to be of value, must be exact and accurate. It 
 requires patient endeavor on the part of a student 
 to understand the means employed by a skillful 
 i
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 teacher to realize the ends he wishes to attain in 
 any class exercise. The observation of children, 
 in order to note their reaction to mental stimuli, 
 is valuable to one who is to enter upon the work 
 of teaching. The opportunity offered for obser- 
 vation of children in the institutions devoted to 
 the training of teachers indicates the importance 
 of the problem. 
 
 In an investigation of the professional work 
 that is given in the normal schools of this coun- 
 try, the writer finds that courses in what is com- 
 monly called pedagogy have two aspects; one, 
 the theoretical and the other the practical. The 
 former is called by many different names owing 
 to the lack of a definite and consistent terminol- 
 ogy in our discussion of educational topics. It is 
 given under the guise of Theory of Education, 
 Principles of Education or of Teaching, General 
 Methods, etc. No doubt the subject-matter, 
 method of approach, and the point of view may 
 be quite the same in each, but the names are not 
 indicative of this fact. Again, the subject-matter 
 of two courses called by the same name may be 
 found to be quite different in their nature. The 
 other aspect, the practical, seems to be more def- 
 inite in its terminology, as when we speak of 
 observation and practice teaching we have defi- 
 
 2
 
 THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 
 
 nitely in mind what is being attempted, although 
 the means utilized for this attempt may be some- 
 what different. 
 
 Of these two elements, practice teaching is 
 more nearly standardized than is observation, 
 but even here a great variation exists in methods 
 of carrying on the work. The general plan, how- 
 ever, is to have a small group of children taught 
 by a student in one subject, under the close su- 
 pervision of a critic teacher. The length of time 
 that a student teaches varies from ten weeks to 
 one year. 
 
 The results of this investigation show consider- 
 able agreement as to aims and purposes of obser- 
 vation; the methods utilized for realizing them 
 vary greatly. In some cases observation is con- 
 ducted in organized classes following a definitely 
 outlined plan, while in others it is promiscuous 
 and desultory observation by individual stu- 
 dents, following no definite outline. The first 
 type of observation furnishes an opportunity for 
 a student to become acquainted with the type of 
 work he is preparing to do. It presents to him 
 the situation in which he may see pedagogical 
 principles applied, and it furnishes an ideal that 
 may be reached by thoroughly trained, experi- 
 enced persons; that is, if the right type of teach- 
 
 3
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 ing obtains in the classrooms observed. The 
 second type of observation should have little 
 place in any institution. The student who visits 
 a class without a definite problem conscious in 
 his mind rarely sees what it is hoped that he may. 
 Often his attention is focused on the relatively 
 unimportant and thus his observation may be a 
 hindrance rather than a help. If the work has not 
 sufficient content to be organized or outlined as 
 are other subjects of study, it should be relegated 
 to the scrap-heap with other obsolete subjects. 
 Observation must justify its place in the cur- 
 riculum of the professional school because it 
 meets a particular need, because it fills a real 
 want, because it makes a contribution to the 
 training of teachers. Unorganized observation 
 holds the place in educational theory that excur- 
 sions occupied a few years ago in the teaching of 
 geography and nature-study. It was popular to 
 take classes on excursions to factories and manu- 
 facturing plants, or on field trips, to see land and 
 water formations, birds and trees, in the hope 
 that something might be assimilated that would 
 be of educational value. When a justification 
 other than a pleasure jaunt was demanded, the 
 advocates found themselves in a predicament. 
 The result has been that we are conducting ex- 
 4
 
 THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 
 
 cursions to-day, but before we embark on them, 
 we realize that our plans must be definite, con- 
 crete, and worthy. 
 
 Before entering upon practice teaching, the 
 student should be equipped with all the knowl- 
 edge, both theoretical and practical, that is at 
 the command of the institution in which he is 
 trained. In practice teaching the student will 
 tend to acquire the tone of voice, the poise, the 
 habits of action in conducting the routine of the 
 school, that will persist in his later work. We 
 should strive, therefore, to inculcate the desirable 
 habits at the very beginning of the work. It is a 
 well-known fact that teachers trained along the- 
 oretical lines may be cognizant of the principles 
 underlying effective teaching, but yet revert to 
 methods employed by teachers under whom they 
 acquired the knowledge of the subjects they 
 themselves are attempting to teach. Our problem 
 is to relate theory to practice so that theory will 
 function in controlling and guiding practice. 
 
 A teacher in training usually has courses in 
 psychology, methods, child-study, which treat of 
 the instincts and interests of children, and the 
 characteristics of mental and physical develop- 
 ment. These courses make a study of children 
 and of subject-matter from a theoretical stand- 
 
 5
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 point. The fundamental facts that are common 
 to all children can well be given in this way, but a 
 theoretical and abstract discussion of child nature 
 will not present concretely to the prospective 
 teacher, the living, virile, red-blooded, energetic, 
 resourceful child, that we know and love. Chil- 
 dren are the material with which the teacher 
 lives, and to understand and appreciate them, 
 he must view them at first hand. Froebel gained 
 his knowledge of the sacredness of child life, not 
 from treatises about children, but by living with 
 them. We no longer give textbook courses in 
 science. A school that would teach physics, 
 chemistry, or biology from a textbook without 
 making use of the laboratory to explain and 
 make real the phenomena that classes are study- 
 ing, would soon fail to get support from the pub- 
 lic. In our schoolrooms, we have available the 
 best type of laboratory, and it should be as im- 
 portant an adjunct to our courses in educational 
 theory as is the physics laboratory to the lecture- 
 room in that subject. This is a place where the 
 arguments of economy cannot be offered as an 
 excuse for its absence. Separation of educational 
 theory and schoolroom procedure has existed be- 
 cause the people who have exploited theory have 
 had, in many cases, little knowledge of child life, 
 6
 
 THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 
 
 and the teachers of children have had no funda- 
 mental theories in regard to their work. 
 
 The apprenticeship system is faulty in that it 
 does not give and develop principles that may be 
 applied in changing situations, as there is little 
 attempt to analyze the process. It is efficient in 
 that it demonstrates, objectively, what is to be 
 done and how to do it. To overcome the evils and 
 to retain the good of this system, we are begin- 
 ning to appreciate, both in the trades and in the 
 professions, that it is desirable to learn the theory 
 of the art or craft before entering upon inde- 
 pendent practice. 
 
 The teacher needs theory that. establishes an 
 ideal. He needs to observe a skilled teacher to 
 appreciate the relation of the ideal to the prac- 
 tical, and finally, when both aspects of the prin- 
 ciples are clearly in the consciousness of the pro- 
 spective teacher, he is ready to take charge of a 
 school. If he is unable to make the adjustment, 
 if his theory does not function in his teaching, if 
 he cannot think through the subject-matter in 
 terms of the students he is to teach, a further 
 apprenticeship in observation of a skilled teacher 
 is needed before independent practice should be 
 permitted. 
 
 In his preparation for surgery, the student is 
 
 7
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 given an opportunity and required to attend 
 many clinics where he observes the skilled oper- 
 ator. To supplement his training in the medical 
 school, the young surgeon joins the staff of the 
 hospital in order that he may have further ad- 
 vantages in observation before practicing his art 
 independently. He serves his apprenticeship in 
 observing those skilled in the art he wishes to 
 practice, so that the physical lif e of his patients 
 may not be jeopardized. Is it not just as essential 
 that the mental life be given as much considera- 
 tion as the physical? If so, it would seem that a 
 carefully outlined course in observation should 
 be an integral part of a teacher's training.
 
 II 
 
 THE PURPOSE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 WE observe the performance of an act, either to 
 appreciate the skill of the performer, or to gain a 
 more complete understanding of his methods in 
 order that we may be able to use them ourselves. 
 Our pleasure in observing the skilled acrobat, 
 professional baseball pitcher, or sleight-of-hand 
 performer, is due to the satisfaction we derive 
 from seeing one who is master of the technique 
 of the art he practices. Our attitude toward an 
 exhibition of one of these arts just mentioned is 
 quite different from that of a person who is en- 
 deavoring to become proficient in this art him- 
 self. We are interested in the act itself, and not 
 in the means by which the actor has been able 
 to accomplish his end or act. The novice in the 
 art gives his attention to every movement of 
 the skilled performer, endeavoring to discover the 
 exact relation that one part bears to another, the 
 value of each part in the total act, and the con- 
 servation of energy in the whole process. On the 
 other hand, he is keenly observant of the loss of 
 
 9
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 energy due to utilizing means that do not assist 
 in the performance. 
 
 There is the same pleasure hi watching a skill- 
 ful teacher at work that there is in observing a 
 skillful performer in any walk of life. Owing to 
 the organization of our schools, their isolation 
 and the few really great teachers that we have, 
 one rarely thinks of the school as a place where 
 skilled craftsmen are at work. Because of the 
 nature of the work, and the detrimental influence 
 on the pupils, the school will never be a suitable 
 place for enjoying the exhibition of the art of a 
 skilled workman, any more than will the great 
 surgical clinics. The work of the teacher will be 
 observed for the purpose of showing the novice in 
 a concrete way desirable ideals in the practice of 
 his art. 
 
 The skill of the teacher must be even greater 
 than the skill of the worker in other vocations. 
 The worker in all crafts is reasonably sure of the 
 response he will receive, as the material on which 
 he works is incapable of assuming a variety of 
 forms. The problem of the teacher is much more 
 complex, as he is confronted by a group of chil- 
 dren whose mental content is anything but uni- 
 form. Here we find the precocious child, the 
 indifferent, the indolent, the slow, the deficient, 
 10
 
 THE PURPOSE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 the products of diverse hereditary influences and 
 environmental conditions. It requires a master 
 mind to analyze the elements in such a situation 
 and to anticipate the manifold possible responses. 
 Fortunately, children have more common expe- 
 riences, and the range in their ability is more 
 nearly the same than a cursory glance would 
 indicate, otherwise the task of teaching children 
 in classes would be well-nigh hopeless. 
 
 The attitude of an observer toward a teacher's 
 work is affected by his purpose. One may visit a 
 school to judge the effectiveness of the proced- 
 ure, to commend ithe desirable characteristics, to 
 criticize and suggest means that would be more 
 effective, to endeavor to find in the conduct of 
 the work ideas that could be utilized elsewhere, 
 or to see the mode of activity and the methods 
 employed by a skillful teacher. These different 
 attitudes are assumed by superintendents, princi- 
 pals, supervisors, teachers, and students in train- 
 ing. Superintendents, when not acting as super- 
 visors, usually visit a school with the attitude of 
 a judge to estimate the worth of the teaching. 
 Principals and supervisors should view the work 
 with the attitude of a helpful adviser who sees 
 the situation in its wider relationship. The 
 teacher who visits another should do so with an 
 ii
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 open mind, endeavoring to find suggestions that 
 will be helpful, and the student in training should 
 have consciously in mind the relation between 
 theory and practice. Each group is on the alert 
 to see skillful teaching, and the questions they 
 ask themselves as to the effectiveness of the 
 instruction should be practically the same. 
 
 The first group, the supervisor, the superin- 
 tendent, or the principal, visits a class to see 
 wherein a teacher is teaching in accordance with 
 correct pedagogical principles, to note wherein 
 he is sincere, enthusiastic, well prepared, con- 
 siderate of the children, sympathetic, well poised, 
 firm. He notes the points in which that teacher 
 is strong, where the source of his greatest possi- 
 bilities lies, what his undeveloped potentialities 
 are, and he considers ways and means whereby 
 the teacher's ambition and aspirations may be 
 aroused to realize his possibilities. The super- 
 visor must be judged by his ability to develop 
 and inspire his teachers and not merely by his 
 knowledge of the factors that are involved in 
 good teaching. The supervisor's function as an 
 inspector has been emphasized to such a degree 
 that many supervisors are content to be inspec- 
 tors of the teachers and classes they have in 
 charge. They are satisfied with their labors when 
 12
 
 THE PURPOSE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 they have passed judgment as to whether or not 
 the teaching meets with the standards they have 
 established. The investigations that have been 
 made of the work of such school officials lead one 
 to question the general prevalence of any stand- 
 ards for measuring the efficiency of teachers, but 
 taking for granted that norms are used in measur- 
 ing efficiency, the teacher's work is not improved 
 by inspection. 
 
 The manager of a department store does not 
 dismiss a salesman even though his sales are 
 not what it has been anticipated they would be 
 in that department, until he suggests ways and 
 means whereby that clerk may be made more 
 efficient. The building contractor does not dis- 
 charge his masons because they have not laid 
 their bricks with sufficient rapidity, but rather 
 he suggests ways and means by which more may 
 be accomplished with the same expenditure of 
 energy. If his workmen are unable to act on sug- 
 gestions to secure the desired results, then, and 
 not until then, does he seek others. Should not 
 the administrative officers in our schools be as 
 anxious to bring to the attention of their teachers 
 the principles of scientific management as have 
 been the administrative officers in other lines of 
 endeavor? The supervisor should have a definite 
 
 13
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 idea of the purpose of education, he should have 
 a clear conception of the purpose of the school 
 under his charge, and he should have distinctly 
 in mind the essential elements that he ought to 
 find in each recitation he visits. Supervisors 
 under these conditions are a help to their teach- 
 ers, because they are in a position to point out 
 both the excellent and the poor qualities in the 
 recitation. The teacher in such a situation will 
 be able to use this criticism in improving his 
 work, for he can be made to see that his efforts 
 have been at variance with the standards of the 
 system of which he is a part. Unfortunately, 
 teachers are frequently either complimented or 
 criticized without being given the basis for either 
 judgment. Teachers desire their work analyzed 
 and welcome a frank discussion with one who is 
 prepared to assist them in their work. 
 
 The second group interested in observation are 
 teachers in the field. They feel they can gain 
 inspiration and assistance from observing their 
 fellow teachers who are confronted by the same 
 problems that beset them. The fact that a 
 teacher may be benefited by such visits, is recog- 
 nized both by school officials and by laymen. 
 Consequently, we find many cities granting 
 teachers a certain number of days each year for 
 
 14
 
 THE PURPOSE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 the purpose of visiting schools. The teacher is 
 granted his salary for these days, and they are 
 usually called "Visitation Days." The teacher is 
 benefited, no doubt, for he has had a change of 
 scene, he has met new people, and the social in- 
 tercourse has been stimulating, but the amount 
 of good that accrues to the system of which he is 
 a part, and to the children in his charge, is ques- 
 tionable. If he is a teacher capable of outlining 
 the problems he wishes to investigate, and if he 
 uses his initiative in adapting results to his own 
 use, such a visit will be profitable. However, if 
 much good is to accrue to a teacher from visit- 
 ing other teachers, and observing their work, he 
 must, previous to such visits, have definitely in 
 mind points upon which he needs assistance. 
 
 In observing a lesson, one must not be satisfied 
 in getting an impression of the lesson as a whole, 
 nor be content until every part of the lesson has 
 been analyzed, to see whether or not it measures 
 up to standards in accordance with correct peda- 
 gogical principles. A teacher who lacks this latter 
 qualification may see devices that appeal be- 
 cause of apparent results when they are incorrect 
 in principle, and the apparent results may be in- 
 adequate. Many fads in education are due pri- 
 marily to the lack of a critical attitude of school 
 
 15
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 officials and teachers. The vertical system of 
 handwriting and the spiral treatment of arith- 
 metic are examples of undigested thinking on the 
 part of school people. 
 
 The third group of observers that is, teach- 
 ers in training is the most important. The 
 child is the hope of our civilization, and if we 
 can train his teacher aright, we are tapping the 
 stream at its source. This group observes a 
 teacher to see theory made real or vital. Teachers 
 in training should see model lessons taught by 
 exceptionally strong, resourceful teachers; they 
 should appreciate essential elements in good 
 teaching because of their courses in psychology 
 and education. Such model lessons observed 
 should be measured by the standards evolved in 
 these basic subjects. A student is better able to 
 apply a principle of psychology in his own teach- 
 ing if he has seen it function in the work of a 
 teacher he observes. The young surgeon receives 
 theoretical instruction in ligaturing an artery, 
 but it is not considered that this instruction is 
 adequate. It is necessary for him to see compe- 
 tent surgeons perform the act before he is ex- 
 pected to do it himself. In the profession of 
 teaching we are too prone to take for granted, if 
 we tell a novice how a class should be handled, 
 16
 
 THE PURPOSE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 that he will be able to execute in accordance with 
 our ideal. We forget the gap between theory and 
 practice, between the ideal and the end accom- 
 plished, between thinking how and doing. This 
 class of observers, like the other two classes dis- 
 cussed, needs a carefully outlined plan with defi- 
 nite, specific questions that are to be asked and 
 answered about the recitation. It is the part of 
 the teacher to get the right perspective, to be 
 cognizant of relative values, to become conscious 
 of the great field of opportunity open to him. 
 
 The previous discussion has been based upon 
 the hypothesis that observation is one of the 
 essential factors in the process of teaching. The 
 position has been taken that a teacher's work is 
 observed by his superiors in order that helpful 
 suggestions may be given, in order that he may 
 be able to render more efficient service. We have 
 assumed that teachers observe the work of fellow 
 teachers to get suggestions and to see devices that 
 may be adopted and modified to improve their 
 own work. It has been taken for granted that 
 students in training-schools should be required 
 to observe skillful teachers so that theory may be 
 exemplified in practice. The person who observes 
 for the purpose of getting suggestions needs an 
 insight that can recognize the vital elements, the 
 17
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 relative worth, the originality, the initiative, and 
 the sympathetic cooperation between teachers 
 and pupils in every phase of school life. The 
 teacher who observes fellow craftsmen needs the 
 insight that enables him to accept, adapt, and 
 adjust the correct principles that will furnish aid 
 in solving new problems. The student in training 
 needs the insight that will enable him to acquire 
 such knowledge as will give command of the 
 technique of class instruction.
 
 Ill 
 
 THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 THE worth of observation of fellow craftsmen to 
 one who is to practice an art must be judged by 
 its influence on his attitude, ideals, and activity. 
 For an adequate appreciation of the problem 
 confronting him, it is necessary to analyze the 
 important basic elements of a craft, to investigate 
 whether or not these elements can be seen, and 
 whether they can be viewed in a perspective that 
 will furnish a means for employing this experi- 
 ence in his own practice. The value of observa- 
 tion to the teacher will depend on his ability to 
 utilize in his own teaching the essential factors 
 that he has witnessed elsewhere. If we take for 
 granted such ability, it is only necessary to point 
 out the indispensable principles available to jus- 
 tify its worth. 
 
 To present the teacher with the actual situa- 
 tion he will meet upon entering the service of the 
 public schools, we shall need to have him observe 
 the typical schoolroom, which will be something 
 like the following: A group of about forty chil- 
 
 19
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 dren is divided into two classes taught by one 
 teacher, usually a woman; the physical features, 
 seating, lighting, heating, and ventilation, are 
 passable; considerable blackboard space is avail- 
 able, and illustrative material, maps, globes, 
 charts, etc., is provided; while one class recites, 
 the other prepares the lesson to be recited imme- 
 diately; sometimes, between recitation periods, 
 the teacher spends a few moments answering 
 desultory questions. This, in brief, is the general 
 type of situation in which our prospective teach- 
 ers will be placed. In many instances, the condi- 
 tions mentioned would be rather ideal. In a few 
 instances one will find them even better. These 
 conditions are not ideal, nor do they present the 
 right model that we should wish imitated by our 
 teachers; but they are facts that cannot be ig- 
 nored by institutions that are training teachers 
 for service in public schools. The teacher needs 
 to understand and appreciate the conditions that 
 he will meet in his first contact with his life-work, 
 and he is improperly and inefficiently trained if 
 all his observation has been of models that are in 
 no way a replica of existing situations. Many 
 training-schools are guilty of presenting to their 
 students a hollow imitation of the actual thing, 
 impressing upon them its forms without realizing 
 20
 
 THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 that the aid they are receiving will be as service- 
 able as an evening gown in a berry patch. Some 
 of our schools, realizing the futility of such train- 
 ing as has been given in the past, are now pro- 
 viding facilities that one finds in a good public 
 school. In this way students meet a typical en- 
 vironment that will be of assistance to them in 
 interpreting public school conditions. 
 
 A course in observation that is an integral part 
 of a teacher's training furnishes a standard of 
 excellent work in an objective way. A model is 
 then available that may be used by a teacher in 
 measuring his own work. The importance of a 
 model to imitate is appreciated in all phases of 
 mental life. The child instinctively tends to per- 
 form the acts he has observed performed by 
 another. The acts that are novel attract his 
 attention, and these are the ones he first en- 
 deavors to make his own. The problem in train- 
 ing children is to get the child to copy and 
 emulate the model that furnishes the desired 
 ideal. It may seem a narrow conception of edu- 
 cation to hold that teachers should acquire a part 
 of the technique of teaching through imitation, 
 and it would be a hopeless outlook for the future 
 generations if a large amount of educational the- 
 ory should be formulated in this way. Neverthe- 
 
 21
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 less, certain ideals will be better impressed on 
 most pupils by observing correct models. We 
 know that teachers without professional training 
 invariably teach as they were taught. The model 
 imitated is usually the last or the most popular 
 instructor. Sometimes it is a teacher who had a 
 personality that appealed strongly to the student 
 without any reference to his skill as a teacher. It 
 is a well-known fact that teachers with profes- 
 sional training revert, at times, to methods used 
 in their earlier instruction, which violated correct 
 pedagogical procedure. This fact is an indication 
 that example is a powerful influence in shaping or 
 moulding the work of a teacher. It points to the 
 fact that observation of schoolroom work on the 
 part of students in training should not be hap- 
 hazard, but should be continued for a sufficiently 
 long period so that correct models will be inter- 
 preted in the light of educational principles. 
 
 The craftsman in other lines of human en- 
 deavor in his period of apprenticeship studies the 
 work of the masters of the art which he hopes to 
 practice. The great painters who have taught 
 the technique of their art have first presented the 
 fundamental principles, but before the series of 
 lessons was closed, the student saw many demon- 
 strations of the artist's work. The sculptor dem- 
 22
 
 THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 onstrates in his studio the method by which he 
 secures his results. In the practical arts based 
 upon a minimum of theory, the student is trained 
 through doing, having first observed how the 
 thing is done. Since observation is an important 
 factor in most arts, should it be made an excep- 
 tion in teaching? It is sometimes held that prep- 
 aration for teaching does not require training 
 in observation as every aspirant for a teacher's 
 position has been taught, and he needs merely to 
 recall the procedure of his earjy ^experience. It 
 would be just as plausible to say that because 
 a boy has run races during his childhood, he is 
 prepared to take part in a Marathon race. 
 
 The model classes that a teacher will see during 
 his period of training will be the standard by 
 which he will judge his own work. A model lesson 
 is theory objectified. It is just as important for 
 a young teacher to see the theories, which have 
 been presented to him, objectified, as it is for the 
 child in the primary grades to have objects avail- 
 able when he is being taught the fundamental 
 facts in arithmetic. The model lessons, which 
 the student sees taught by experienced and skill- 
 ful teachers, are ideal in that they are teyond the 
 accomplishment of the novice, but valuable for 
 the reason that they represent a standard capable 
 
 23
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 of accomplishment by an ambitious teacher. 
 This will mean that the teacher who conducts 
 classes for the purpose of demonstrating methods 
 of presenting subject-matter must be both skill- 
 ful and resourceful skillful because the tech- 
 nique is being taken as a model which will be 
 influential in forming the habits of his class, and 
 resourceful in that he must be able to take ad- 
 vantage of new and unexpected situations that 
 cannot be anticipated. 
 
 ' One of the problems that confronts the teacher 
 is the proper organization of subject-matter, and 
 the observation of a teacher skillful along this 
 line should be of great value to a novice. Teach- 
 ers trained in the higher institutions of learning 
 tend to teach children subject-matter organized 
 in the manner in which it was taught to them. 
 The inexperienced teachers in our high schools, 
 fresh from the university, are teaching courses in 
 English, history, etc., with the same organization 
 that was used in these courses in their university. 
 Our elementary schools are not affected in this 
 respect to such a degree, but even here instances 
 are not rare where the material taught is not 
 adapted to the needs and abilities' of the child. 
 The organization of subject-matter is relative to 
 the child that we are to teach. We have the sci- 
 24
 
 THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 entific or logical organization that does not take 
 into consideration the experience of the learner. 
 McMurry indicates the place of logical organiza- 
 tion of subject-matter by saying: "Attention is 
 called to these facts here in order to suggest that, 
 while the scientific and logical bases of organiza- 
 tion are in common use, neither of them is ade- 
 quate as the main basis of organization for a 
 young student who is studying a subject for 
 the first time. ... It must be admitted that they 
 are of great assistance in securing thoroughness 
 of comprehension by their revelation of the re- 
 lations existing among facts, and also that they 
 classify facts in a convenient way for finding 
 them later; but they are of greatest use to the 
 advanced student who is already supplied with 
 motive and with standards for judging worth 
 and who has proper habits of study already 
 formed; they can well follow, but they should not 
 supplant the psychological basis." l 
 
 Owing to lack of experience with children, most 
 young teachers follow the scientific or logical 
 organization of subject-matter. It is necessary 
 that a teacher have his material organized before 
 he attempts to teach it. One of the prerequisites 
 for students in professional schools for teachers 
 
 1 How to Study, p. 97. 
 25
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 preliminary to teaching should be to have defi- 
 nite problems assigned in arranging subject-mat- 
 ter suitable for children. The student needs to 
 observe children both in and out of school, to 
 note their interests, capacities, and needs. The 
 teacher gets the child's point of view by reviewing 
 in retrospect his own childhood and by studying 
 the children under his charge. The teacher who 
 observes children closely will say that they are 
 pragmatic in their attitude toward knowledge. 
 The child will study our shade trees from the 
 standpoint of the enjoyment and value they are 
 to us in the summer time, but he is not interested 
 in the structure, the relation of various parts to 
 each other, that is, the scientific classifications. 
 In geography the child is not so much interested 
 in man's response to his physical environment 
 as he is in comparing his life with the life of the 
 people, particularly that of children in other 
 lands. The organization of the subject-matter 
 that appeals to him and holds his interest will not 
 be the organization of the scientific geographer, 
 but it will meet the needs of the undeveloped 
 child. The subjects that are dominantly content 
 subjects lend themselves readily to organization 
 that appeals to children in their immaturity. 
 The formal subjects also give a teacher an op- 
 26
 
 THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 portunity to consider constructive organization 
 from the standpoint of motive. The teacher who 
 appreciates the importance of the proper organi- 
 zation of subject-matter has a conception that 
 will be an invaluable aid to him in his work. This 
 means, however, that he will know the type of 
 material that best lends itself to development; 
 the portion that he must emphasize, in order that 
 its relationship to other fields of knowledge may 
 be seen; the phase of the work that will help 
 children to enjoy the beautiful in nature and in 
 art; and he will need to make provision for that 
 part of the subject, which to be useful must be 
 habituated. If the children grasp the significance 
 of the material, note the essential points, see its 
 relationship to other facts, and realize that when 
 organized and classified it is of future service, 
 then we can feel that we have succeeded in our 
 aim. Are teachers considering the importance of 
 leaving with the pupils in their charge a body of 
 organized knowledge, classified according to rela- 
 tive values, specific aims, and present and future 
 needs? 
 
 The classroom is the best and only place for the 
 teacher to study the responses of children when 
 they are being taught. Owing to the faulty or- 
 ganization of our schools, we may not see the 
 27
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 free, spontaneous, joyful expression of child life 
 that we see in other environments, but we see 
 here organized activities that represent the will 
 and purpose of the school. This is the plane on 
 which the children will be met later and, there- 
 fore, most attention will be given to studying 
 them in this environment. The normal class- 
 room is also the best place to study the different 
 types of children. In a random distribution such 
 as we have in our public schools, we shall find the 
 dull and the bright, the slow and the quick, the 
 backward and the precocious, the strong and the 
 weak, the retarded and the accelerated. The 
 novice needs to see the slow child in the class to 
 appreciate his needs: a theoretical treatise on the 
 topic does not do justice to the problem. Again, 
 the novice is often surprised to note how a skillful 
 teacher adapts the subject-matter to the major- 
 ity of the class. It is necessary, however, to call 
 attention to the fact that a few members of the 
 class are capable of assimilating more than is 
 expected of the majority of their fellows, and that 
 about an equal percentage will need special atten- 
 tion if they are to comprehend fully the signifi- 
 cance of the lesson. It is important for the ob- 
 server to note what methods the teacher employs 
 with these two groups, in order that they may be 
 28
 
 THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 given proper consideration. Elimination of waste 
 in education will mean that the groups at both 
 ends of the normal distribution will be provided 
 for in separate classes, but we need to realize that 
 there is no hard and fast line of demarcation be- 
 tween any of these classifications. The dull and 
 the bright pupils grade insensibly into each other. 
 The scales that are being tested and used will 
 be of service, in that we shall have norms that 
 represent standards of accomplishment. In this 
 way, we shall be able to note what differences 
 exist in a definite ratio. 
 
 A classroom presents the opportunity to see 
 theoretical principles made real and vital. Much 
 of our teaching is abstract, lacking realness and 
 hence not serviceable in controlling values. We 
 state that the interest of all pupils should be 
 aroused in the lesson under consideration. If this 
 interest is not immediate, we should secure it by 
 relating the facts to some value or need which the 
 children feel. We may see that such an interest 
 may be fostered in the number facts in arithmetic 
 through the use of number in plays and games, 
 that spelling may be motivated by utilizing the 
 desire that the children may have to spell cor- 
 rectly the words they wish to use in writing a 
 letter to a friend, that correct forms in language 
 29
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 may be inculcated by making use of the desire 
 the pupils may have to emulate the standard set 
 by the teacher. The way in which such illustra- 
 tions can be made real, concrete, and objective is 
 to see a teacher work them out with a class. They 
 will then become significant in the experience 
 of the observer. It may not be possible for the 
 novice to execute a similar plan, but he will have 
 in mind a much clearer ideal of a process that has 
 been demonstrated. Again, consider the prin- 
 ciple that all pupils shall be active in the recita- 
 tion. How can the manner of accomplishing this 
 aim be better emphasized than by watching a 
 skillful teacher? In many of the professional 
 courses which teachers pursue, the method of 
 presentation is mostly by lecture, and while the 
 instructor is active the students are for the most 
 part in a passive attitude, taking notes in a des- 
 ultory way. To counteract such an influence, 
 stimulating models where pupils are thinking 
 vigorously all the time are needed as a corrective 
 to insure effective teaching later. 
 
 We are beginning to give more attention to the 
 social aspect of the school. Professor Dewey has 
 made the school conscious of its functions; con- 
 scious that it is not an isolated portion of experi- 
 ence, but that it represents a real life situation. 
 
 30
 
 THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 The classroom is a good index of the social life of 
 the school. If the teacher is a dictator governing 
 his class by the authority vested in him as a 
 teacher, it will manifest itself in the mechanical 
 responses in the classroom. On the other hand, if 
 the teacher is an integral part of the group, work- 
 ing with the children toward a common end and 
 considered by them as an inspiring leader, the 
 responses will be spontaneously made, childlike 
 expressions. Under the former ideal of the school, 
 where the teacher was the autocratic ruler, indi- 
 viduality was repressed, initiative was destroyed, 
 and independent thinking was a crime. The 
 model pupil was not the one who conformed to 
 the conscience of the group, but the one who 
 could and would obey without question the man- 
 dates of the teacher. Under the newer conception 
 of the school the pupil is guided by motives that 
 find their meaning in the social conscience of the 
 entire group. Is it necessary for us to ask which 
 type of training best fits the pupil to take his 
 place in the wider social environment outside the 
 school? 
 
 Observation of teaching will present many 
 problems of significance both to the novice and 
 to the one who has practiced the art. To both, it 
 will give an opportunity to view the organization
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 of the content of the whole school curriculum. It 
 will furnish the means for discovering the adap- 
 tation of subject-matter which a skillful instruc- 
 tor makes to meet the needs of the undeveloped 
 student. It will demonstrate in a concrete way 
 the conception of the relation between theory and 
 practice. It will, when administered adequately, 
 give a true picture of what is possible of accom- 
 plishment in a good schoolroom.
 
 IV 
 
 THE TEACHER 
 
 THE tribute which Garfield paid to Mark Hop- 
 kins is a conspicuous illustration of the influence 
 of a powerful personality. Our continued em- 
 phasis on methods and devices that will be a 
 panacea for all our educational ills sometimes 
 blinds us to the importance of the teacher as the 
 most potent factor in the educational process. 
 "Personality " is an illusive term, and it connotes 
 different ideas to different people. One may say 
 that Miss B has a pleasing personality and he 
 may mean several different things. However, in 
 any case, he means certain attributes that are 
 applicable to the person in question, but they are 
 usually complex. He may mean that Miss B has 
 a sweet, winsome face, that her features are cast 
 in such a mould that she presents a pleasing ap- 
 pearance, that she has good manners, is refined 
 and cultivated, that her voice is soft, low, and 
 sweet, her enthusiasm contagious, that she is 
 sincere and wholesome, that her character is such 
 that makes an appeal, or that her general appear- 
 
 33
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 ance attracts and holds the attention of any one 
 who sees her. One may mean all these things and 
 more. Or he may mean only one certain aspect 
 in making the statement that her personality 
 is pleasing. Probably to most people personality 
 means merely good looks, beauty of form and 
 feature, and the unfortunate condition in the 
 teaching profession is that many teachers are 
 selected on this basis alone. An attractive face 
 may hold the attention for a moment, but if there 
 is not a sterling character underneath, the at- 
 tractiveness is no great asset. 
 
 The test of the personality of the teacher is 
 his influence on the children he teaches. If he in- 
 spires the children so that they will perform their 
 school tasks cheerfully and well, live in happy 
 association with their fellows, and feel that school 
 is a place where they may express themselves in 
 a natural manner, then his score in personality 
 should be high. Any teacher who wins the affec- 
 tion of the child is beautiful to that child. We 
 may be biased in our judgment of a person in 
 meeting him casually, depending somewhat on 
 our attitude at that time. It is impossible to tell 
 the true character of a person by casual acquaint- 
 ance. We can learn by observing the influence of 
 a teacher on a group of children, and children are 
 34
 
 THE TEACHER 
 
 as sensitive as an adult. They readily detect in- 
 sincerity, carelessness, timidity, egotism, affecta- 
 tion, lack of sympathy, and inefficiency in their 
 teachers. The teacher who can impress the posi- 
 tive virtues on the children so that they will be 
 manifested in life outside of the schoolroom is the 
 teacher who should be scored highest in person- 
 ality. In judging the personality of the teacher 
 we observe, we should note the relation between 
 the teacher and pupils, the respect they have for 
 each other, their cooperation, their unity of aim, 
 and the mastery of the tasks they have under- 
 taken together. 
 
 "The outward and visible sign of an inward 
 and spiritual grace" is manifested through the 
 teacher's appearance, voice, and manner. To 
 have the right influence, he should be possessed of 
 good physique, in good health, without any no- 
 ticeable deformity, should be businesslike, and 
 dressed in appropriate taste, and not in the garb 
 that fashion might require of its devotees, but in 
 the dress that the conventional American feels is 
 suitable for business hours. 
 
 A teacher with a pleasing, clear-toned, well- 
 modulated voice possesses an invaluable instru- 
 ment of control. I recall a teacher who could 
 always bring his class to immediate attention 
 
 35
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 merely through the modulation of his voice, and 
 the testimony of his pupils was that they en- 
 joyed not the substance of what was said, but 
 the music of his speech. A harsh, strident, high 
 voice has a tendency to upset a class, making the 
 keenly sensitive children irritable, noisy, and dis- 
 orderly. Our training schools for teachers place 
 too little emphasis upon voice culture. 
 
 The manner of a person is usually an index of 
 his station in lif e, and the teacher expresses in an 
 outward way his opinion of himself. His attitude 
 toward his work tends to beget a like attitude on 
 the part of his class. The vigorous, well-poised, 
 enthusiastic, confident teacher gains/the respect 
 and confidence of those he teaches^ whereas the 
 teacher who is timid, vacillating, and ^nervous 
 usually fails to get active cooperation. Some- 
 times the casual observer may be misled by con- 
 sidering bluster as vigor, egotism as resourceful- 
 ness, and stolidity as self-control. The list of 
 adjectives under manner are suggestive, and the 
 observer should note others that would be suit- 
 able in describing a person. 
 
 Many people think that the teacher's person- 
 ality is the sole factor in determining his worth to 
 the community. As has been said, this is a very 
 illusive term, and after the personal characteris- 
 36
 
 THE TEACHER 1 ' 
 
 tics have been considered, we should proceed to an 
 analysis of the work to see what factors contrib- 
 ute to success. The personal characteristics may 
 be wholly desirable, but if there is no dynamic 
 force, if the teaching efficiency is low, the person 
 would fail to become a vital factor either in the 
 school or community and hence not be desirable 
 as an instructor. The great influence of a teacher 
 is in his work in the classroom as this, after all, is 
 his particular sphere, and it is for his skill in this 
 position that he is employed. There are prerequi- 
 sites that the profession should demand for those 
 entering it, such as a good character, intellectual 
 capacity, preliminary training, etc. They should 
 be considered fundamental, but beyond these the 
 most important is skill in the classroom. The 
 teacher needs to be an aggressive force in any 
 class he teaches whether it be in the primary 
 grades, in the university, or in any of the inter- 
 mediary groups. Some teachers interpret ag- 
 gressiveness as meaning to take the initiative 
 on all occasions, repressing the pupils whenever 
 originality manifests itself. The teacher of power 
 is quick to seize any evidences of originality and 
 direct them to constructive educational ends. 
 We have little respect for the person who is un- 
 able to perform the task for which he purports to 
 
 37
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 be prepared. This is as true of teaching as of the 
 performance of an acrobat. 
 
 Unfortunately, there is a type of teacher in the 
 schools, that follows the line of least resistance, 
 that does what he finds easiest to do, that follows 
 mechanical routine, that could not deviate from 
 this fixed orbit any more than could the mechani- 
 cal toy. The springs of his being seem to be cast in 
 an inflexible mould as is the spring that controls 
 the motions of the toy. He teaches as well this 
 year as last, but will teach no better next year 
 than he did two years ago; in fact, he gradually 
 deteriorates with age as he does not have within 
 himself the power to be rejuvenated. It is this 
 static teacher who is the millstone about the neck 
 of our educational system. These are the people 
 who should be discovered in our training school, 
 and guided into some other profession, where 
 their talents will be of more service to the State. 
 In analyzing our teachers in respect to their 
 teaching power, we find a larger group neither 
 among the dynamic nor static group, but among 
 a group that, for lack of a better term, we may 
 call mediocre. If carefully supervised and di- 
 rected, these teachers get fair results. When 
 problems are suggested they see their signifi- 
 cance; when a new situation presents itself they 
 38
 
 THE TEACHER 
 
 are able to recognize familiar factors, and to meet 
 it by relating it to previous experience. They 
 are not people we would choose to furnish an ideal 
 solution to a problem, but we are, nevertheless, 
 assured that they will not go very far astray. 
 They do not see new problems that require great 
 initiative, that require great resourcefulness, or 
 that require independence in thinking, but they 
 are able to aid in working out theories which are 
 elaborated by other people with greater construc- 
 tive ability. This is the type that we need to 
 reckon with as the predominating element in our 
 schools, as in all phases of life they comprise by 
 far the largest group. Our aim should be to in- 
 crease the number in the higher mode, to elim- 
 inate all in the lower. It is desirable to do this in 
 all phases of our civilization, but it is especially 
 necessary in the group that is differentiated to 
 take charge of the training of our future citizens. 
 The caliber of our teachers is, however, much in 
 advance of our ideals of social service, and our 
 opportunity for a superior product in the profes- 
 sion will come only through raising our general 
 ideas of social efficiency. 
 
 The importance of the school as a social insti- 
 tution is coming to be realized. With an increas- 
 ing emphasis on this phase of the school's duty, 
 
 39
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 the teacher's problems of necessity increase in 
 importance. His influence both on his pupils and 
 in the community must be investigated in order 
 to give a just estimate of the worth of his serv- 
 ices. If the school is to exert the most desirable 
 influence on its students, a spirit of cooperation 
 must exist. The students must feel that the 
 school exists for the development of the social 
 group. They must have respect for authority, 
 but this authority must be the will of the social 
 group rather than the arbitrary wish of an indi- 
 vidual. Discipline will be administered from this 
 standpoint. A person who does not conform to 
 the group consciousness must be made to feel 
 that he is out of harmony with the purpose that 
 prevails. The ideals should be those of social 
 service, and he is of greatest service who makes 
 the greatest contribution. This does not pre- 
 clude the ideal of personal efficiency, as personal 
 efficiency finds its interpretation only through 
 participation with the others of his group. The 
 relation of the parents to the school will reflect 
 to a great degree the ideals of the teachers in 
 service. Again, the attitude of the parents will be 
 reflected in the work in the schools. The teacher 
 should endeavor to have the patrons feel that the 
 school and home are institutions in a larger social 
 40
 
 THE TEACHER 
 
 whole; that each has its specific tasks to perform; 
 that each must be conscious of its relation to the 
 other, and that through this relation both gain 
 added meaning. This will mean that the school 
 will be interested in all civic movements; that it 
 is not always to be a follower or leader, but that 
 it plays its own part and takes its place in all 
 active movement for social betterment. This con- 
 ception of the teacher's duty is from the ideal- 
 istic standpoint, yet our schools will never exert 
 their just influence until teachers are conscious 
 of the problem. The efficiency of the teacher 
 should be judged from this point of view as well 
 as from the standpoint of personality or teaching 
 power. 
 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 THE TEACHER 
 
 I. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 i. Appearance. 
 
 a. Dress: appropriate, neat, attractive. 
 
 b. Businesslike. 
 
 c. Facial characteristics. 
 
 d. Physique: deformities. 
 2. Voice. 
 
 a. Pleasing. 
 
 b. Well modulated. 
 
 41
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 c. Harsh, strident, high. 
 
 d. Distinct, clear. 
 
 e. Commands respect. 
 
 3. Manner. 
 
 a. Vigorous. 
 
 b. Well poised. 
 
 c. Confident. 
 
 d. Enthusiastic. 
 
 e. Self-control. 
 /. Sympathetic. 
 g. Tactful. 
 
 h. Quiet. 
 
 i. Resourceful. 
 
 4. Health. 
 
 a. Robust. 
 
 b. Poor as evidenced by: 
 
 (1) Nervousness. 
 
 (2) Lack of energy. 
 
 (3) Indifference. 
 
 lU. TEACHING ABILITY. 
 
 1. Mastery of subject-matter. 
 
 2. Selection of subject-matter. 
 
 3. Analysis of subject-matter. 
 
 4. Skill in arousing thought. > 
 
 5. Skill in formation of habits. 
 
 6. Skill in assignment. 
 
 7. Skill in questioning. 
 
 8. Discipline. 
 
 9. Careful planning. 
 
 10. Sufficient preparation. 
 
 11. Attention to language. 
 
 12. Attention to individual differences of pupils. 
 
 13. Results. 
 
 42
 
 THE TEACHER 
 
 III. SOCIAL EFFICIENCY. 
 
 1. Influence on pupils. 
 
 a. Spirit of cooperation, consideration. 
 
 b. Order, how secured? 
 
 c. Ideals. 
 
 2. Influence in community. 
 
 a. Relation to parents. 
 
 b. Relation to civic movements. 
 
 IV. PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDE. 
 
 1. Interest in work. 
 
 2. Interest in pupils. 
 
 3. Cooperation with colleagues. 
 
 4. Ability to make use of criticism.
 
 V 
 
 THE PUPILS 
 
 IN our preliminary discussion we mentioned the 
 importance of seeing children at work. By study- 
 ing them at first hand, one appreciates their abil- 
 ities, attitudes, and interests more clearly than 
 when he considers these traits in an abstract way. 
 Many elements influence the work and conduct 
 of a group of students, and we need to consider 
 specific points upon which attention should be 
 focused in visiting a classroom. 
 
 A study of the psychology of childhood will 
 show that children of different ages must be ap- 
 pealed to in different ways. Translated to the 
 classroom this means that the problem of teach- 
 ing^ children changes with their advancement in 
 school. An obvious question will be whether or 
 not methods employed are suitable for a partic- 
 ular grade. In the primary grades, the children 
 are confiding, impulsive, and lacking in social 
 restraint; their attention fluctuates easily, and 
 they soon become fatigued. As they advance in 
 the grades, the power of self-direction should in- 
 
 44
 
 THE PUPILS 
 
 crease. Concentration on a problem for a longer 
 period of time should be expected, greater power 
 of self-restraint should be demanded, increased 
 ability to work with abstract ideas should be 
 anticipated, and less emphasis should be placed 
 on sense material. A dogmatic attitude is out of 
 place with the child at any age. Appeal should be 
 made at all times to the rational nature. 
 
 A casual observer frequently is unduly in- 
 fluenced by the appearance of a class. It cannot 
 be used as a basis for conclusions that are valid. 
 However, appearance indicates, to a great ex- 
 tent, social status, nativity, age, etc. In ex- 
 treme cases it is an index of intellectual caliber. 
 Racial characteristics condition to a certain 
 degree the response that one may exact from a 
 group. The response that one gets from a viva- 
 cious type from southern Europe will be quite 
 different from that of the well-poised American 
 child. The appearance of the individuals in the 
 group will need to be considered by one who ob- 
 serves a recitation; he needs to be careful that 
 he is not making inferences that would not be 
 justified by a careful study. 
 
 The number in a class has a marked influence 
 on the effectiveness of the teaching. A class of 
 fifteen or twenty presents possibilities impos- 
 
 45
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 sible of accomplishments with one three times as 
 large. In topical work only a limited number of 
 students will be able to make contributions to the 
 class recitation, and even if the mode of procedure 
 is by question and answer it will be impossible 
 to call on all members of a large class. The prob- 
 lem of holding all pupils responsible for the ma- 
 terial presented in a large class requires careful 
 planning. To large classes, teachers are prone to 
 present subject-matter hi lecture form, and this 
 method is not conducive to the best thought on 
 the part of the members of a class. It is also 
 more difficult to create an ideal social situation 
 when the class is large. If to take an active part 
 is an essential element in securing the best re- 
 sults, a small class has the advantage. It is the 
 give and take among students that makes class 
 teaching more profitable. We do not know the 
 size of a class which presents ideal conditions for 
 the highest development of each member; the 
 best opinion would seem to hold that fewer than 
 twelve or more than twenty-five students in 
 a class is undesirable for each to receive the at- 
 tention that he should. This is a problem for 
 experimental study, and until we have such data 
 teachers must adjust themselves as best they may 
 to situations in which they are placed. 
 46
 
 THE PUPILS 
 
 A close examination of a class is required if one 
 is to discover the sub- or super-normal. The 
 average teacher is able to discover those individ- 
 uals at both extremes; he is unable to make a 
 valid judgment of the individuals near the border 
 line. The present-day trend in educational prog- 
 ress indicates that we may hope for definite intel- 
 ligence tests that will be of value to teachers, but 
 the tests that have thus far been elaborated are 
 imperfect, and much more constructive work will 
 be necessary before the results of such tests can 
 be considered as final evidence in the majority 
 of cases. At the present time, the results in con- 
 ventional school work are used as a means for 
 testing the intelligence of the individuals in a 
 class, however faulty this method may be. 
 
 Many cities are attacking the problem through 
 the ungraded room, but the basis of selection is 
 so unscientific that the achievements are much 
 less than they would be if the plan could be bet- 
 ter administered. The movement is valuable, be- 
 cause it has aroused the public to an appreciation 
 of the problem of giving to the child who is not 
 normal a type of education that will be condu- 
 cive to his highest development. 
 
 The response that one finds in a classroom 
 furnishes one of the best means of judging the 
 
 47
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 efficacy of the methods of instruction. These 
 responses show also, to a large degree, the mental 
 characteristics of the class. We can observe the 
 slow, the weak, and the strong; those students 
 who are working independently of the teacher 
 in advance of the class; those who are finding 
 the work ^.difficult; those who are hopelessly in 
 the ', rear; those who are following, through their 
 ability to lean upon others; and those who have 
 ability but who are indifferent to the work of 
 the class. The alert teacher diagnoses these cases 
 and gives the best remedy in her power. For 
 many, it means the repetition of the work; it 
 should mean, in most instances, a special class. 
 The problem of retardation is receiving consid- 
 erable attention in most school systems, and the 
 ungraded room is the means most frequently 
 utilized to cope with the problem. A class may be 
 composed of normal children but, due to faulty 
 teaching, only a limited number are taking part. 
 A teacher who is working to secure independence 
 from her class will not be satisfied unless prac- 
 tically all members are actually interested in the 
 subject under discussion. The successful teacher 
 will be alert to discover whether the child is tak- 
 ing part to clarify his own thinking or to satisfy 
 the demands of the teacher. The whole class will 
 48
 
 THE PUPILS 
 
 be taught that the fundamental problems should 
 be to clarify and enlarge their knowledge of any 
 topic under discussion. 
 
 The attitude of the class toward the teacher is 
 a good index of the social efficiency of the school. 
 Children may show a spirit of insubordination 
 if the teacher has an individualistic attitude 
 toward his work; yet a teacher who has a fund 
 of sympathy, tact, and broad understanding of 
 child life will secure obedience, respect, and good- 
 will even from a class of children who have the 
 influence of a bad environment outside the in- 
 stitution. The attitude of the children in the 
 room and on the school grounds will give a casual 
 observer a fairly good basis for drawing conclu- 
 sions as to the social atmosphere that prevails. 
 Both the teacher and the community should be 
 conscious of this fact. 
 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 THE PUPILS 
 
 I. GRADE. 
 
 II. NUMBER IN CLASS. 
 
 III. APPEARANCE. 
 
 1. Nativity. 
 
 2. Apparent age. 
 
 49
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 3. Well clothed. 
 
 4. Well nourished. 
 
 5. Neat or unkempt. 
 
 IV. TYPES. 
 
 1. Number apparently normal. 
 
 2. Number apparently above average ability. 
 
 3. Number sub-normal. 
 
 V. RESPONSES. 
 
 1. Characteristics. 
 
 a. Slow. 
 
 b. Weak. 
 
 c. Strong. 
 
 d. Impulsive. 
 
 2. Number apparently interested. 
 
 3. Number actively interested. 
 
 4. Number the teacher questioned. 
 
 5. Number asking questions. 
 
 6. Number participating of their own volition. 
 
 7. Number taking no part. 
 
 8. Purpose. 
 
 a. To satisfy teacher. 
 
 ft. To clarify own thinking. 
 
 VI. ATTITUDE. 
 
 1. Well mannered. 
 
 2. Obedient, quiet. 
 
 3. Disorderly, disobedient, noisy, rude. 
 
 4. Individualistic. 
 
 5. Social spirit.
 
 VI 
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 BOTH laymen and teachers think of each day's 
 work in the schoolroom in terms of lessons. The 
 emphasis of the word "lesson" restricts and con- 
 fines our thinking in regard to the broader aspect 
 of the function of the school. We shall use it, 
 however, in this discussion as it connotes a def- 
 inite mode of procedure in the minds of people 
 when we are discussing the work of the school. 
 We shall think of it as the series of reactions that 
 one witnesses when he visits a class. On the one 
 hand we have in mind the teacher and on the 
 other, the pupils and their relation both to the 
 teacher and to each other in getting control of 
 the new experience that is being considered. This 
 procedure will be analyzed from the standpoint 
 of purpose, the means employed hi reaching the 
 desired goal, and the results obtained. 
 
 In our teaching we wish either to broaden the 
 student's outlook through the presentation of new 
 material, to habituate knowledge already pre- 
 sented, to reorganize knowledge or experience
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 from a new point of view or in larger wholes, or to 
 arouse desirable emotional reactions. Each type 
 of lesson has a certain technique that demands 
 consideration in a critical investigation of the 
 teaching process. In a lesson period one may find 
 more than one type, but the lesson as a whole 
 should be dominated by a conscious purpose. 
 For example, the purpose of a lesson in arith- 
 metic may be the development of the meaning of 
 per cent and yet a part of the day's work may well 
 be a drill on fractional equivalents. Again, one 
 may wish to teach the appreciation of the poem 
 "The Night before Christmas" to a second-grade 
 class, and the plan of presentation will be the 
 development of the broader conception here pre- 
 sented with the child's previous experience of 
 Christmas and his idea of Santa Claus. 
 
 Lessons should be analyzed first as to purpose, 
 second as to the type made use of to gain control 
 of this particular subject-matter, and third as to 
 the elements that we should find in a properly 
 presented lesson of the given type, the particular 
 pouits of excellence, the place wherein it was 
 inadequate, and the means that could have been 
 employed to make it more efficacious. This last 
 point needs especial emphasis, as too little at- 
 tention is given to a constructive view of lessons 
 52
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 observed. A student who has been trained to 
 make constructive criticisms is in a better posi- 
 tion to consider his own work with the same at- 
 titude of mind. 
 
 The lesson types are analyzed in slightly dif- 
 ferent ways by writers on this subject; it would 
 seem that practically all types of instruction are 
 formulated when we consider development, in- 
 ductive, deductive, informal; drill; appreciation; 
 and review. Several writers include the recita- 
 tion and study lesson as distinct types, but if we 
 analyze the process carefully, we shall find that 
 these two are rather, as Bagley says, "exercises 
 involved in the technique of using textbooks." 
 
 In all recitations the teacher who secures re- 
 sults in the day's work is guided by a conscious 
 aim, a specific purpose that serves to unify and 
 concentrate the effort of the class. It would seem 
 that this point is so obvious that it would scarcely 
 be necessary to mention it; after one has ob- 
 served much teaching, noting the aimless pro- 
 cedure of much of it, he will find that constant 
 reiteration of this point is in order. 
 
 The teacher needs not only to have the specific 
 purpose of the lesson in the foreground of his own 
 consciousness, but he must also view it from the 
 standpoint of the class. He must put himself, for 
 
 53
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 the time being, in the position of the learner who 
 is confronted by the conditions of the present 
 situation. It is not always the person with the 
 broadest understanding of a certain field of knowl- 
 edge who is the most efficient teacher in this field, 
 as oftentimes this may be a handicap. It is the 
 teacher who has himself met the problems in 
 securing control of knowledge that best appre- 
 ciates the point of view of the one who first ap- 
 proaches that field. We realize that a teacher who 
 has struggled to acquire a language at the age of 
 the people whom he is teaching, other things be- 
 ing equal, will be the most proficient teacher of 
 languages. Many times the teacher may have a 
 clearly conscious purpose and fail to realize it 
 because this purpose is not conscious to his class. 
 They may be running in the dark, striking unfore- 
 seen obstacles, for the lack of sufficient light. 
 
 A clear, definite, concrete aim serves as a focus 
 for holding attention, as a standard for the selec- 
 tion and rejection of pertinent subject-matter, 
 as a check for evaluating results. In observing 
 a lesson, no matter what its purpose, the observer 
 should be cognizant of the teacher's purpose, as 
 exemplified either through an explicit statement 
 or through a procedure which shows without a 
 doubt a clear, consistent aim. 
 54
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 One's success in teaching is conditioned by his 
 preparation. Occasionally there is a person who 
 seems to see a situation intuitively; the great 
 mass of mankind achieves through patient, ardu- 
 ous effort. A teacher must plan carefully, seeing 
 all difficulties that confront the learner. He must 
 view them with the attitude of the one who first 
 approaches the new obstacles. He must devise 
 the most economical means of overcoming the 
 handicap that confronts the layman. No matter 
 what the type of lesson is being taught, a suitable 
 approach is necessary. The approach or prep- 
 aration will depend upon the teacher's purpose, 
 and we need to be cognizant of this fact, in ob- 
 serving the teacher at work. This will be men- 
 tioned under different types of lessons, but it is 
 so important that it should be considered as a 
 factor in every recitation. 
 
 The basis for presenting new experiences, 
 habituating facts, or securing emotional reaction 
 is found in the relation that they bear to other 
 modes of experiences. The need for the control 
 of this new material must be felt it the desired 
 results are to accrue. The elements that will be 
 of assistance in interpreting the new experiences 
 should be analyzed so that aimless effort is not 
 expended. The preparation must be adequate and 
 
 55
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 enough amplification of the related matter must 
 be made to intelligently understand the relation- 
 ship. Much of the work in preparation is done 
 haphazardly, but if the lesson is to be seen as a 
 unified whole, it is just as necessary that the work 
 be logically done in the approach as in the pres- 
 entation. 
 
 The presentation, like the approach, will be 
 conditioned by the purpose of the teacher. A 
 drill lesson needs to be presented quite differently 
 from a lesson for appreciation; the development 
 lesson quite differently from a lesson for review. 
 A teacher may be an excellent person to habitu- 
 ate facts, but inefficient in arousing the necessary 
 emotional tone in properly presenting a lesson 
 for appreciation. Teachers do not always realize 
 their shortcomings in this respect, and it is the 
 duty of the supervisor to discuss and point them 
 out. 
 
 The approach should provide for motive that 
 will function in the presentation, but the teacher 
 should be conscious as to whether or not it is 
 functioning throughout the lesson. The impor- 
 tance of motive on the part of the pupils is rec- 
 ognized by most teachers. Dr. Frank McMurry 
 has dignified motive by including it as one of the 
 four standards he used in evaluating the quality 
 v 56
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 of instruction in his investigation of the New 
 York City schools. He made the following state- 
 ment: "Instruction cannot, therefore, rest satis- 
 fied with cold facts alone. Its quality is to be 
 measured partly by its provision for growth in 
 motive. One object of teaching a pupil how to 
 keep the skin healthy should be to arouse in him 
 a desire to obey the laws of health. One object of 
 teaching him to play games should be to make 
 him want to learn more games, even throughout 
 life." l A teacher should investigate his work to 
 find whether or not his pupils have this attitude 
 toward school work. 
 
 Instruction that does not call forth the inde- 
 pendence of pupils fails in its purpose if self-di- 
 rection is considered a desirable outcome of school 
 procedure. Teachers are oftentimes prone to feel 
 that so long as authority and responsibility for re- 
 sults rest with them, the class is the passive agent 
 to be moulded as they desire. If we believe that 
 the mind develops through its own activity, the 
 opportunity for self-expression must be given. One 
 of the best classes the writer ever visited was one 
 where the teacher was acting in the capacity of 
 referee and the class felt the responsibility for 
 carrying on the work. Recently a student re- 
 
 1 Standards for Instruction, p. 2. 
 
 57
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 marked, "I get the most out of Miss A.'s class 
 because she takes for granted that we have the 
 ability to carry on the work ourselves." This 
 is the goal toward which we should constantly 
 strive. 
 
 Presentation without attention is a labor of 
 Sisyphus. Attention of a class does not neces- 
 sarily mean a desirable presentation, but unless 
 it is secured we may be certain that one of the 
 essential requisites is lacking. The methods of 
 securing the attention should be noted; the means 
 employed in holding it should be investigated; 
 and the educational influence should be evaluated. 
 The failure to secure it should be discovered, and 
 the ways that this lack could have been remedied 
 should be ascertained. 
 
 Children enjoy working their own problems. 
 The two-year-old child prefers to build his own 
 block house rather than have it done for him. He 
 will ask you not to supply the word in the nurs- 
 ery rhyme that he has forgotten temporarily, yet 
 how few teachers act on the assumption that 
 children are capable of, or delight in, exercising 
 this power. Many times when they do, they fail 
 to give problems that are within the experience 
 of the children they are teaching. The recitation 
 should offer opportunities for clear thinking; the 
 58
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 problem must of necessity be within the experi- 
 ence of those taught. 
 
 Logically organized material is often presented, 
 but it lacks significance because it does not make 
 the right appeal. Again, results are left in an un- 
 organized mass because no specific purpose domi- 
 nates the procedure or because the importance of 
 organization is not understood. Material that is 
 presented demands organization, not necessarily 
 the organization of the trained scientist, but from 
 the point of view of meeting the needs of a par- 
 ticular class. The organization of material on the 
 maple tree would not be the same in a class in 
 nature-study in the normal school that one would 
 find in a fourth-grade class; each organization will 
 be equally valuable if adapted to the develop- 
 ment of the topic in accordance with the needs 
 of each class. * 
 
 A consideration of relative values bears a close 
 relation to organization. If we are not interested 
 in arranging facts, ideas, or principles, in accord- 
 ance with definite standards, all material will be 
 on the same level. If we aim to classify our 
 knowledge in a proper sequence, we must give 
 attention to values. Some of the subject-matter 
 in each recitation is vital because of its broad 
 significance and representative character, while 
 
 59
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 much is merely detail. In life situations it is neces- 
 sary to be constantly cognizant of relative worth, 
 and the ability to recognize it is a desirable trait 
 that should be fostered. 
 
 Many opportunities are given in the conduct of 
 a recitation to make the work clearer through the 
 use of illustrative material. This may be sup- 
 plementing the material with some other of a like 
 nature which is more representative; it may mean 
 the use of experience from other sources which 
 will make clearer the point at issue; or it may 
 mean the use of concrete material which brings 
 ou in a striking way qualities that cannot be 
 grasped through an abstract presentation. Prac- 
 tically all schoolrooms are equipped with black- 
 boards, sand tables, maps, objects, etc.; rarely 
 are they used to best advantage. In most in- 
 stances a wide enough use is not made of these 
 valuable adjuncts, while in other cases their use 
 adds to the dependence of the class. In observing 
 the presentation of a lesson, the use of this ma- 
 terial should be carefully investigated and any 
 criticisms noted. 
 
 When the presentation of a lesson is finished, 
 
 one should trace the entire course, noting wherein 
 
 the preparation was adequate, in what respects 
 
 faulty, in what ways it lacked definiteness, and 
 
 60
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 what provision was made for a proper motive; 
 how the pupils' desire for self -direction was util- 
 ized; what means were employed for holding at- 
 tention and what point of view was the basis for 
 the organization of the material; how material 
 was classified as to relative values and what 
 means were employed to make it concrete. 
 
 The assignment is one of the most neglected 
 factors in instruction, due largely to the failure 
 on the part of the teachers to appreciate its sig- 
 nificance. It has been the tendency for so long 
 a time to view the recitation as a place where 
 knowledge is tested that the assignment has 
 meant merely telling the student his task. The 
 newer conception of the study recitation has 
 brought into greater prominence the importance 
 of proper analysis of the work to be done. From 
 this point of view a typical assignment, "Take the 
 next four pages, read from the middle of page 
 thirty-five to the top of page forty, work all the 
 examples on the next two pages," would have no 
 place. The assignment ought, first, to present the 
 problem that is next to receive attention; second, 
 to furnish the motive for pursuing the task; third, 
 to clarify the insurmountable difficulties per- 
 taining thereto; and fourth, to show continuity 
 of the plan in the subject under consideration. 
 61
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 If we accept the purpose of the assignment, we 
 should grant that it ought to be an organic part 
 of the day's lesson. It is this relation that gives 
 it meaning. The proper time to make the assign- 
 ment will depend upon the nature of the subject; 
 at times it may be well to give it either at the 
 beginning or the close of the recitation, but the 
 most vital assignments usually come through the 
 problems that are raised during the development 
 of the lesson, and then a few moments are taken 
 at the close to summarize the problems which 
 need further investigation. The amount of time 
 in relation to the whole lesson will be governed 
 by its nature. No arbitrary time limit can be 
 fixed. Enough time, however, should be given to 
 bring clearly to the consciousness of the class the 
 essential elements that require further investi- 
 gation. The assignment that is confined wholly 
 to the textbook rarely provides a live, vital mo- 
 tive. This does not mean the textbook should be 
 discarded, but rather that a judicious use of it 
 must be made. It is the teacher's duty to impart 
 the assignment so that it will be understood by the 
 whole class. The test of the understanding cannot 
 be made by the observer whose visits are not con- 
 secutive, as the development of the lesson from the 
 assignment will contain the-proof of its adequacy. 
 62
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 I. TYPES OF LESSONS. 
 
 1. Development. 
 
 2. Drill. 
 
 3. Review. 
 
 4. Appreciation. 
 
 II. AIM. 
 
 x. Teacher's. 
 
 a. Suitable for this subject and for this par- 
 ticular class of pupils. 
 
 b. Clear and definite. 
 
 c. Lesson an outgrowth. 
 
 d. Realized. 
 a. Pupils'. 
 
 a. Appreciation of teacher's aim by pupils 
 
 as it applied to their own situation, 
 ft. Represent a vital problem. 
 
 c. Secure their attention. 
 
 d. Hold their attention. 
 
 III. APPROACH. 
 
 1. Related to the previous lesson. 
 
 2. Revival of past experience. 
 
 3. Furnish the setting for new material. 
 
 4. Purposeful, definite, logical. 
 
 5. Good proportion to rest of lesson. 
 
 IV. PRESENTATION. 
 
 1. Justifiable for type of lesson taught. 
 
 2. Require initiative on part of members of class. 
 
 63
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 3. Hold the attention. 
 
 4. Appeal to instinctive tendencies. 
 
 5. Pupils respond. 
 
 6. Members of class required to think. 
 
 7. Teaching formal, or mechanical, and did it 
 clear up difficulties. 
 
 8. Appreciation of relative values. 
 
 9. Use of the material in future situations im- 
 plied. 
 
 10. Individual or group work. 
 
 n. Attention to individual differences. 
 
 12. Motive. 
 
 a. Intrinsic or derived. 
 
 b. Real or artificial. 
 
 c. Function throughout the entire period. 
 
 13. Material organized. 
 
 a. In relation to the preparation. 
 
 b. Final summary. 
 
 14. Use made of illustrative material, such as 
 material brought in by pupils, museum speci- 
 mens, etc. 
 
 15. Use made of the blackboard, sand table, and 
 the children's constructive impulses. 
 
 V. ASSIGNMENT. 
 
 1. The relation to the day's lesson. 
 
 2. Time given. 
 
 3. When given. 
 
 a. At the beginning. 
 
 b. At the close. 
 
 c. Or an outgrowth of the recitation as it 
 proceeded. 
 
 4. Textbook or problem assignment. 
 
 5. Adequate for pupils to work independently. 
 
 64
 
 THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 6. Understood by the members of the class. 
 
 7. Evidence in class that previous assignments had 
 not been understood. 
 
 8. Inculcation of good habits of study.
 
 VII 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT LESSON 
 
 THE development lesson has received more conr 
 sideration from writers on methods of teaching 
 than has any other type of teaching exercise. 
 The writers on education who were influenced by 
 the educational theories of Herbart made a great 
 contribution to educational practice by making 
 conscious the value of developmental instruction. 
 These theories made the inductive type of devel- 
 opment prominent and the implication of this idea 
 failed to be understood. Hence many errors were 
 made in the name of logical development. A 
 reaction from the extreme position that every- 
 thing should be developed inductively combined 
 with a keener analysis of the teaching process has 
 placed the development lesson in its true rela- 
 tionship. The formal steps of the inductive 
 method while improving teaching have in many 
 cases tended to make it more narrow. One of the 
 best statements we have of the place of the formal 
 steps is given by Dewey: "It may be said that 
 just because the order is logical, it represents the 
 66
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT LESSON 
 
 survey of subject-matter made by one who already 
 understands it, not the path of progress followed 
 by a mind that is learning. The former may 
 describe a uniform, straight-away course, the 
 latter must be a series of tacks of zigzag move- 
 ments back and forth. In short, the formal steps 
 indicate the points that should be covered by the 
 teacher in preparing to conduct a recitation^ by,t 
 should not prescribe the actual course of teach- 
 ing." *^ 
 
 The teacher's skill in outlining effective tools 
 in instruction will be demonstrated by the 
 methods used in developing particular lessons. 
 A certain lesson in geography may be treated 
 inductively while hi another lesson in this same 
 subject, the procedure should be deductive. For 
 example, in the study of wheat in the United 
 States, it may be economical to develop the factor 
 essential to its growth inductively, but when the 
 production of wheat in Russia is considered, the 
 principles already developed in the study of wheat 
 in the United States will be the most economical 
 mode of treatment. 
 
 In the inductive lesson the problem needs care- 
 ful statement. The pupil needs to know the 
 situation that concerns him. His experiences that 
 
 1 Haw We Think, p. 204.
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 would bear upon it need to be aroused. He should 
 feel that the solution will be worth while, of some 
 value when the result is obtained. The data 
 used must be representative and adequate. The 
 teacher must guard against presenting data that 
 require little thought on the part of the pupil, and 
 again, must be alert to see that sufficient ma- 
 terial is given to furnish an incentive for con- 
 tinued effort. This is the point where develop- 
 mental teaching presents the most difficulties. 
 A teacher who has consciously in mind the devel- 
 opment of a generalization may tend to present 
 material that requires too little initiative on 
 the part of the class, while the teacher who has 
 thought of the development of independence on 
 the part of the class may err in failing to give 
 sufficient data to reach a conclusion that will be 
 apprehended. 
 
 The deductive development lesson has re- 
 ceived less attention relatively than the induc- 
 tive. It is complementary to the inductive, for 
 the complete development of an idea or principle 
 includes both aspects. The principle that multi- 
 plying the numerator of a fraction multiplies the 
 fraction cannot be considered thoroughly under- 
 stood until it can be applied to any fraction. In 
 the deductive lesson, the problem needs careful 
 68
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT LESSON 
 
 statement. The pupil needs to realize that he is 
 confronted by a situation that demands investi- 
 gation. He should feel that he has a basis for his 
 own experience but that considerable effort will 
 be required to answer questions satisfactorily. 
 He should consider his data hi the light of the 
 principles at his command, make his inference 
 and verify it. The teacher's duty is to see that 
 the principles necessary for the solution have been 
 rationalized, that the inferences made are valid, 
 and that they are thoroughly tested. 
 
 When we have developed a type in accordance 
 with the principles previously developed, we 
 may find it necessary to redevelop a portion of 
 the generalization with which we are working. 
 Cancellation based on the principle that com- 
 mon factors can be taken out of both terms with- 
 out affecting the value was being taught to a 
 class in fifth-grade arithmetic; a part of the 
 class had difficulty with the idea of the common 
 factors and this was redeveloped inductively. 
 Again, there are few lessons taught inductively 
 which do not depend in part on known generaliza- 
 tions. 
 
 In his Methods of Teaching Charters discusses 
 another type of development. He says: "For 
 want of a better word, we use the term 'informal' 
 69
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 to indicate those developments in which no con- 
 scious use is made of explicit principles." 1 As 
 said above, it is a matter of course that both in- 
 duction and deduction are implicit in every les- 
 son, but in a great number of lessons we do not 
 refer to them explicitly. This idea has rarely been 
 conscious in the minds of writers who have dis- 
 cussed the development lesson, but when one 
 visits classroom work, observes development les- 
 sons taught, and analyzes the method of pro- 
 cedure, he will find that the larger number of 
 development lessons are of this type. Again, 
 quoting from Charters, "In literature at least we 
 cannot always develop lessons either inductively 
 or deductively, likewise in much of the work of the 
 early grades, principles are not formulated. We 
 must be willing to allow generalization to grow 
 in part unconsciously." 2 This statement should 
 be extended to include other subjects because 
 there are very few subjects in the curriculum 
 which are taught in this way. Nevertheless, they 
 should be taught so that the generalization may 
 grow rather than be formulated. 
 
 The development lesson is one of the most dif- 
 ficult school exercises for the observer to analyze. 
 
 1 Methods of Teaching, p. 191. * Op. cit., p. 192. 
 
 70
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT LESSON 
 
 This is due to its different aspects, to the fact that 
 only segments are seen if the observer does not 
 make consecutive visits, to the fact that few 
 teachers are skilled in its use and also to the fact 
 that it needs evaluation in reference to the sub- 
 ject-matter under discussion. 
 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT LESSON 
 
 I. AIM. (See outline under Lesson.) 
 
 II. TYPE OF METHOD. 
 i. Inductive. 
 
 a. Problem. 
 
 (1) Specific. 
 
 (2) Desirable type of treatment. ^ 
 
 (3) Adequate. 
 
 b. Data. 
 
 (1) Concrete or abstract. 
 
 (2) Selection representative. 
 
 (3) Critical examination. 
 
 (4) Significance of comparison. 
 
 (5) Past experience utilized. 
 
 (6) Logical organization. 
 
 (7) Sufficient for generalization. 
 
 c. Generalization. 
 
 (1) First stated by whom. 
 
 (2) Complete final statement. 
 
 (3) Appreciation by a few or all the 
 class. 
 
 71
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 d. Application. 
 
 (1) Adequate. 
 
 (2) Representative. 
 
 (3) Aim to habituate or rationalize. 
 
 (4) Provision made for further applica- 
 tion. 
 
 2. Deductive. 
 
 a. Data. 
 
 (1) Source. 
 
 (2) Kind. 
 
 b. Principles. 
 
 (1) Selection made by teacher or pupils. 
 
 (2) Process of selection. 
 
 (3) Logical reasoning. 
 
 (4) Points of failure of pupils. 
 C. Inference. 
 
 - (i) Clear. 
 
 (2) Justifiable. 
 
 (3) Who made it, teacher or pupil. 
 d. Verification. 
 
 (1) Tested adequately. 
 
 (2) Process repeated. 
 
 3. Informal. 
 
 a. Problem. 
 
 b. Data. 
 
 c. Development. 
 
 d. Advantages over formal type.
 
 VIII 
 
 THE DRILL LESSON 
 
 MUCH of our knowledge to be serviceable must 
 be reduced to an automatic basis. Facts that are 
 constantly appearing in various phases of our 
 experience in the same form are most valuable 
 when immediately recognized. In writing, one is 
 greatly handicapped in expressing his thought if 
 he must pause to attend to the spelling of the 
 words he uses. In oral language one is handi- 
 capped if he must stop to consider the conven- 
 tional forms of speech. In everyday experience 
 in numbers, one needs to be both rapid and ac- 
 curate in the fundamentals of arithmetic. There 
 are elements in practically every situation in life 
 that should be habituated if efficient action is to 
 follow. 
 
 If people do not question the necessity of the 
 value of being equipped with a sufficient number 
 of habits to meet the exigencies of everyday life, 
 they frequently raise the question as to the best 
 method of securing the proper habituation. The 
 argument is made by many that the time for 
 
 73
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 proper habituation is when the situation where it 
 is needed arises. The other point of view is that 
 the habits should be formed before the situation 
 in which it is necessary arises. The beginning of 
 the process of habituation should be found in a 
 case of need, but rarely does this method continue 
 to function throughout the entire process. To 
 become facile in a process and to acquire skill 
 in its application requires much emphasis. The 
 necessary emphasis is secured through drill. 
 
 One of the essential elements in drill is proper 
 motivation. It is a difficult problem to secure 
 motives that will appeal to a student so that 
 he will continue his task until it is thoroughly 
 mastered, particularly when such mastery means 
 repetition in unvarying form. There is less waste 
 of time and effort under proper motivation, but 
 the situation that demands an automatic re- 
 sponse must be mastered, whatever its cost. The 
 teacher's efficiency will be judged by his attain- 
 ment of his aim in the shortest period of time. 
 This condition is best achieved by motives that 
 function throughout the process; many situations 
 will arise where it is difficult, if not impossible, 
 to secure such motives. 
 
 The devices that the teacher uses to hold the 
 attention are worthy of careful attention by the 
 74
 
 THE DRILL LESSON 
 
 observer. The device must be simple, suited to 
 the class, based on accurate psychological prin- 
 ciples, administered without waste, and discon- 
 tinued before it becomes monotonous. Many 
 devices are so elaborated that a waste of time 
 ensues when used. Again, they are sometimes so 
 artificial that they are not representative of the 
 true situation. Both extremes should be avoided 
 in selection of devices. It is essential to have 
 maximum attention in the process, and the de- 
 vice should be considered from this angle. 
 
 Habituation is frequently incomplete because 
 drill ceases too soon. The first impression should 
 be clear and, logical with careful presentation, 
 for the first impression is essential in retention. 
 The first impression must be followed by many 
 repetitions if retention is to be lasting. Drill 
 should be continued until the desired skill at any 
 stage of development is acquired. It should not 
 be continued, however, beyond this point as it 
 means a waste of time and energy. It should be 
 remembered that the ratio of retention to time is 
 an inverse one and that drill will need to follow 
 closely the presentation if the greatest conserva- 
 tion is to accrue. Some words in a spelling list 
 require three times as much effort as others, while 
 in arithmetic, all teachers know that some com- 
 
 75
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 binations require more attention than others. 
 The ability that a teacher shows in this phase of 
 work will be a good indication of his ability to 
 analyze his problems. 
 
 A drill exercise is not an easy teaching exercise. 
 It requires a teacher who is alert, vigorous, re- 
 sourceful. It requires a careful analysis of the 
 subject-matter, emphasizing the parts that pre- 
 sent the greatest difficulty, giving less considera- 
 tion to those which are relatively unimportant. 
 It requires an insight into the psychology of at- 
 tention and fatigue; the proper selection of de- 
 vices that secure the maximum attention and a 
 knowledge when the continuance of drill will be 
 ineffective. 
 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 THE DRILL LESSON 
 
 I. AIM. (See outline on Lesson.) 
 
 II. MOTIVE. 
 
 1. Motives available for this lesson. 
 
 2. Motives utilized. 
 
 3. Intrinsic or derived. 
 
 4. Desirable. 
 
 5. Function throughout the lesson. 
 
 76
 
 THE DRILL LESSON 
 
 III. DEVICES. 
 
 1. Purpose for which used. 
 
 2. Simple and concrete. 
 
 3. Justifiable. 
 
 4. Suggest other devices that you would have em- 
 ployed. 
 
 IV. PRESENTATION. 
 
 1. Connection with former lessons. 
 
 2. Adequate basis for drill. 
 
 3. Suitability of material. 
 
 4. Length of period. 
 
 5. Portion of lesson given to fixing the facts by 
 repetition, by application. 
 
 6. Attention given to helping children with 
 special difficulties. 
 
 7. Attention given to correction of errors. 
 
 8. Concrete material used for what purpose. 
 
 9. Which group received more attention, the 
 strong or the weak. 
 
 10. Were new facts presented. If so, for what 
 purpose. 
 
 11. Provision for future application. 
 
 12. High degree of skill expected.
 
 IX 
 
 THE REVIEW LESSON 
 
 THE purpose of the review lesson needs to be 
 conscious in the mind of an observer if he is to 
 profit by consideration of a lesson of this type. 
 Ordinarily, we find teachers confusing drill and 
 review. The confusion is caused by a failure to 
 analyze carefully the two processes. Drill, as we 
 have discussed previously, is given for the purpose 
 of making automatic the elements in knowledge 
 when the fact rather than the process is the neces- 
 sary element. Review is for the purpose of getting 
 a new viewpoint, seeing the valleys through which 
 we have passed from a higher elevation than we 
 have previously attained. It means reorganiza- 
 tion on a larger scope than our first endeavor; it 
 means grouping subsidiary points about a cen- 
 tral one that comprises all the relations which 
 could not be seen until the subject-matter has 
 been considered in its entirety. Knowledge is of 
 use to the student when it is organized, and re- 
 view fails H it does not clarify, amplify, and re- 
 construct our old organization. 
 
 78
 
 THE REVIEW LESSON 
 
 We hold facts in mind through the number and 
 quality of their associations, and review fails if 
 associations that we wish on a final view are not 
 intensified. The proper organization of subject- 
 matter is important, and we may have either the 
 logical, organized from the standpoint of the sub- 
 ject-matter itself, without respect to the needs 
 of the students, or we may have the psychologi- 
 cal, which represents the organization of subject- 
 matter from the standpoint of needs, purposes, 
 and aims. The final organization of the review 
 lesson should be the organization of the subject- 
 matter that will be of most value to the student 
 in his later experience. 
 
 The method of treatment may be topical, 
 question and answer, or textbook. The topical 
 treatment gives the best opportunity for testing 
 proper organization. In the organization of the 
 topics, important elements receive their neces- 
 sary emphasis, while details have their rightful 
 place in the relation to facts. The test of one's 
 understanding will be his ability to show rela- 
 tionship among ideas. The person who has no 
 command of a given unit of subject-matter will 
 tend to have facts of unequal value assume the 
 same proportion. Hills will be as high as moun- 
 tains, and the ant heap may be the residing place 
 
 79
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 of a behemoth. The topical recitation affords an 
 opportunity for class discussion and elaboration, 
 an important element in good instruction. Con- 
 ceptions are clarified in this way, when this would 
 not be the case through dogmatic statements by 
 teacher or pupil. 
 
 The question and answer method will find a 
 place in all types of instruction, but a minimum 
 use of this plan should be made in a review les- 
 son. Teacher and students will need to ask ques- 
 tions to secure additional information, to secure 
 tests for the validity of statements, or to test 
 knowledge of facts. The standard for judging the 
 value of questions in a review exercise will be 
 measured by the value of a question as a means 
 of organizing material. 
 
 The larger number of lessons that we see taught 
 in our school are recitations from textbooks. It 
 is by no means the ideal type; if conducted with 
 care and judgment, it is of estimable value. One 
 function of the school should be to teach the 
 students how to get information from books, 
 and the judicious use of textbooks furnishes the 
 best means that the teacher has at his command. 
 If the textbook is used as the sole criterion, the 
 pupil will gain an exaggerated idea of the im- 
 portance of a textbook and his initiative, inde- 
 80
 
 THE REVIEW LESSON 
 
 pendence, and originality will be atrophied. The 
 textbook is the condensed organization of topics, 
 and should be used in this sense, and not as an 
 exhaustive treatise of any subject. The organiza- 
 tion represents a general attitude that the author 
 has in mind to meet many different situations. 
 The teacher should have his students approach 
 each topic with a specific arm in view, and the 
 organization of his subject-matter should be such 
 as to realize this definite purpose. The organiza- 
 tion of the material in the text should not be ac- 
 cepted unless the organization happens to fit the 
 particular need. It should be used rather as a 
 means to aid in the solution of the problems on 
 which the class is working. If this attitude is 
 assumed, one will not have a slavish attitude to- 
 ward the text, nor will he have the attitude that 
 the text is worthless, but rather the judicious 
 attitude of mind will be inculcated, i.e., the selec- 
 tion and rejection of pertinent material for his 
 purpose. If the text gives a condensed organiza- 
 tion of a topic, it is necessary that much ampli- 
 fication be done. Material should be collected 
 from all sources that are available and within 
 the experience of the class. When this viewpoint 
 is taken toward the textbook, the review of any 
 topic will not depend upon the organization of 
 81
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 any text, but it will give a body of knowledge that 
 will be serviceable in other phases of experience 
 where the viewpoint is more often different than 
 alike. 
 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 THE REVIEW LESSON 
 
 I. ATM. (See outline under Lesson.) 
 
 n. PURPOSE. 
 
 1. To reorganize knowledge previously presented. 
 
 2. To emphasize material previously taught. 
 
 3. To secure relationship among ideas. 
 
 4. Evidence of confusion with drill. 
 
 HI. ORGANIZATION OF SUBJECT-MATTER. 
 i. Logical. 
 
 a. In accordance with the organization of 
 
 the subject. 
 a. Psychological. 
 
 a. In accordance with the needs of the pupils. 
 
 IV. METHOD OF TREATMENT. 
 
 1. Topical. 
 
 a. Adequate. 
 
 b. Representative. 
 
 c. Criticized by the class. 
 
 d. Amount of time given to each topic. 
 
 2. Question and Answer. 
 
 a. In detail. 
 
 b. Proper organization result. 
 
 c. Class show mastery of material. 
 
 82
 
 THE REVIEW LESSON 
 
 Textbook. 
 
 a. Organization of author accepted. 
 
 b. Independent attitude assumed. 
 
 c. Amplification of text.
 
 X 
 
 THE LESSON FOR APPRECIATION 
 
 HEYWOOD, in his book on the Lesson in Apprecia- 
 tion, says the idea of the lesson in appreciation 
 has been of rapid and quite recent growth and 
 no single individual can be held responsible for 
 its inception. One who examines the writings of 
 those who have discussed this lesson will soon 
 be convinced of the truth of the assertion. The 
 eagerness with which teachers have sought in- 
 formation on the subject indicates that it is an 
 idea that has been half conscious in the minds 
 of many people. It is just as important to arouse 
 desirable emotional attitudes as it is to implant 
 habits of right conduct. The former being the 
 purpose of the lesson in appreciation makes this 
 exercise as justifiable as other school procedure. 
 The writers on this subject mention three as- 
 pects intellectual, social, aesthetic. Those who 
 emphasize the first phase consider any material 
 valuable that makes appeal to our intellect as a 
 system of perfect knowledge; thus, we find the 
 mathematician has this attitude toward the field 
 84
 
 THE LESSON FOR APPRECIATION 
 
 of knowledge in which his interests lie. The at- 
 titude of the devotee of pure science is another 
 illustration of similar nature. Science makes its 
 appeal to him not because of its relationship to 
 human welfare, not because of the value of its 
 application in solving problems outside his par- 
 ticular realm, but because of its intellectual ap- 
 peal. The value of the pursuit of knowledge for 
 its own sake is being questioned to-day; never- 
 theless, there is a group to whom the purely in- 
 tellectual makes a strong appeal. 
 
 The second phase, the social, makes conscious 
 the ideals, the aspirations, and desires of the in- 
 dividual in his relation to the social group of 
 which he is a part. The necessity for this type of 
 appreciation is receiving increased recognition. 
 This attitude is depicted in literature, in geog- 
 raphy, in history, and in fact in all subjects that 
 are based on or get their meaning from human 
 life. The fifth-grade class that wrote the dialogue 
 that supposedly took place at the meeting of the 
 Pilgrim Fathers prior to the Boston Tea-Party, 
 designed the costumes that the different patriots 
 might have worn at this time, and took the parts 
 of the various patriots, were in an attitude to 
 appreciate the significance of this incidentin the 
 history of our country. The desired outcome is 
 
 85
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 that the individual shall appreciate the social 
 situation in order that he may be a contributing 
 member of the social group. 
 
 The third phase is the one that most people 
 consider when the lesson in appreciation is men- 
 tioned. The purpose is to arouse emotions in the 
 presence of the beautiful in art, music, or litera- 
 ture. Properly to appreciate and to secure the 
 desired reaction from a great picture, an inspir- 
 ing piece of music, or from a noble poem, neces- 
 sitates an emotional tone. A cold intellectual 
 state may serve to analyze the different elements, 
 but the entire being will not be suffused with the 
 glow that comes when the emotions are aroused. 
 The actor, the orator, and the preacher have long 
 realized the necessity of arousing the emotions 
 of their audiences if they are to get a suitable 
 response; the teacher has been slow to recog- 
 nize the fundamental principle underlying such 
 a procedure. Subjects such as music, or litera- 
 ture, are frequently considered to be the only ones 
 in which where the emotional setting is valuable, 
 but many other school exercises offer admirable 
 opportunities for arousing emotions, before the 
 material can be adequately assimilated. 
 
 The teaching of a lesson in appreciation de- 
 mands both skill and imagination on the part of 
 86
 
 THE LESSON FOR APPRECIATION 
 
 the teacher. In the preparation for a lesson, it is 
 essential to first prepare the class emotionally. 
 The emotions that are aroused will, of course, 
 depend upon the subject taught. If it is a master- 
 piece of art, the fundamental principles underly- 
 ing the work may need some elaboration. If it is 
 a piece of music, there must be sufficient training 
 of the ear to give a basis for the interpretation 
 of the selection. The question often arises as to 
 whether teaching should be direct or indirect. 
 Should the beautiful picture or beautiful music 
 be left to make its own appeal, or should there 
 be an interpretation by one who is more skilled 
 in the technique of the art? If we believed in the 
 indirect being sufficient, there would be little 
 justification for this type of lesson, but most 
 people will agree with Heywood when he says: 
 "Pictures hanging silently in the classroom or 
 music played without comments or discussion 
 have not much influence of any kind upon taste 
 or character. If, indeed, they have exerted a very 
 large influence, the aesthetic outlook from mod- 
 ern nations would be gloomy in the extreme; for, 
 presumably bad pictures and bad music would 
 then also be tremendously influential on taste 
 and character, and the sights of our ugly streets 
 and the banal music of our halls would be caus- 
 
 87
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 ing, every day, a fatal deterioration in taste." l 
 The significance of the material is appreciated 
 through the explanation of an interpreter, but, on 
 the other hand, the class must be actively think- 
 ing of the subject in hand. It is difficult for 
 teachers to find the golden mean where technique 
 is sufficiently utilized to explain and interpret 
 the masterpiece. Some teachers emphasize tech- 
 nique to such a degree that the exercise is purely 
 formal and there is not the emotional reaction 
 that is the end point in the exercise. It is used as 
 an end in itself, and their class is acquiring the 
 mechanics without substance. A person may be 
 trained in music so that his sensibilities are stirred 
 by a false note, but the grandeur of the selection 
 as a whole has little appreciable meaning. On the 
 other hand, we find some advocates of appre- 
 ciation holding that technique has no place; that 
 the persons without any technical knowledge of 
 painting will gain as great an inspiration from 
 a masterpiece as will one who is skilled in the 
 art. This point of view is as faulty as the 
 other, where technique is considered the prime 
 element. 
 
 The expression of appreciation is often misin- 
 terpreted; words are accepted as a substitute for 
 1 Lesson in Appreciation, p. 196. 
 
 88
 
 THE LESSON FOR APPRECIATION 
 
 an emotional reaction. A class that can glibly 
 imitate terms used by a teacher is oftentimes con- 
 sidered the one that has appreciated most deeply. 
 Words of tentimes show how superficially the ap- 
 peal has been made. The child who has said lit- 
 tle about his appreciation of a great painting, but 
 who gazes frequently in a contemplative way 
 after the lesson has been given, has imbibed a 
 much deeper meaning than the one who has glibly 
 told why he likes it though he later never gives 
 it a passing thought. 
 
 The lesson in appreciation should have the ex- 
 cellent points that one ought to find in a good 
 development lesson. The teacher should have a 
 definite purpose. He should know clearly what 
 he proposes to accomplish. The children should 
 be prepared adequately for the exercise. In this 
 exercise, appreciation means largely the arousal 
 of the emotions so that the material presented 
 will be properly interpreted. The presentation 
 should be clear and definite, giving sufficient 
 opportunity for the children to use their own ini- 
 tiative. Technique should be used for explana- 
 tion and interpretation and not as an end in it- 
 self. The value of the exercise should be judged 
 by the influence that it has upon the group; by 
 outward expression in conduct in the presence 
 89
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 of the beautiful in nature or in art, not through 
 extravagant expression in words. 
 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 THE LESSON FOR APPRECIATION 
 
 I. AIM. (See outline under Lesson.) 
 
 II. PREPARATION. 
 
 1. Emotional preparation of the class for this 
 lesson. 
 
 2. Method of arousing these emotions. 
 
 3. Evidence of overstimulation. 
 
 4. Evidence of strain. 
 
 5. Appeal: intellectual, social, aesthetic. 
 
 HI. PRESENTATION. 
 
 1. Initiative taken by the teacher, or was she act- 
 ing as interpreter? 
 
 2. Significance of material appreciated by the 
 class. 
 
 3. Technique overemphasized. 
 
 o. Used for explanation. 
 b. Used as an end in itself. 
 
 4. Type of development formal or informal. 
 
 5. Attention on direct appreciation or on indirect 
 appeal. 
 
 IV. CONCLUSION. 
 
 1. Form of expression of appreciation by the class. 
 
 2. Appreciation the end point or by-product of the 
 lesson. 
 
 3. Evidence of enjoyment.
 
 XI 
 
 QUESTIONING 
 
 THE question, as a means of imparting knowl- 
 edge, has been a subject of considerable interest 
 to educators since the days of Socrates. Since 
 it is such an important factor, we are at first 
 thought at a loss to know why teachers ask so 
 many poor questions; when we consciously en- 
 deavor to frame several good questions that have 
 a logical relation on any topic, we find that it 
 requires clear thinking, careful planning, and con- 
 siderable skill. 
 
 We may tell our students in the theory and 
 art of teaching that questions should arouse 
 and stimulate thought; how many heed the ad- 
 monition, how many in their own class practice 
 the doctrine they preach? If, during a large part 
 of their school life, our prospective teachers had 
 been exposed to questions that required clear, 
 consistent thinking to be answered properly, our 
 problem of questioning would not be so serious. 
 
 A question focuses the attention to the prob- 
 lem under consideration. The question is the 
 means of bringing the specific problem to con-
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 sciousness, whether it is a mere fact, a state of 
 feeling, or a process of reasoning. It is a command 
 that requires all available forces to be directed to 
 the strategic position in the lines. A specific prob- 
 lem holds attention and gives a means about 
 which relevant material may be grouped. A 
 question that does not furnish a center for fo- 
 cusing the attention of a class has no place in 
 instruction, and in observing a recitation, this 
 point should be conscious in the minds of ob- 
 servers in testing the validity of the questions. 
 It is unnecessary to discuss the psychology of 
 attention and interest, yet any factor that chal- 
 lenges the attention will foster interest. This 
 does not mean that interest will continue be- 
 cause questions are asked, but it does mean that 
 the teacher has an instrument in the questions, 
 by which the work may be brought to the pupil, 
 so that he realizes that it is his problem. When 
 a child has no particular interest in a situation 
 because he fails to see the relation to his own 
 problem or needs, skillful questioning on the part 
 of the teacher is usually the most potent means 
 by which he sees the relation to his own experi- 
 ence. When the questions in any recitation fail 
 to arouse or hold the attention of a class, the 
 recitation fails of its purpose. 
 92
 
 QUESTIONING 
 
 Good questions secure vigorous responses from 
 pupils through contribution or by additional 
 questions. If the recitation is to test the knowl- 
 edge, the response will, of course, be conditioned 
 by the excellence of the earlier teaching. If the 
 teaching has been faulty and the questions suit- 
 able, a response in the form of other questions 
 will be secured. By his questions, the teacher 
 stimulates the indifferent, the timid, the slow, 
 and represses the impulsive, superficial child. 
 
 Independence in thinking may be encouraged 
 by skillful questioning. A child who is naturally 
 dependent, if constantly confronted by questions 
 that require him to use his own intellect, his own 
 experience in answering them, will, after a time, 
 see that he has the power, the ability, the means 
 within himself to solve his own problems. A 
 teacher who will ask a class of children in a sugar- 
 beet section how maple sugar is made, without 
 having carefully taught the different methods of 
 sugar-making, does not contribute to this end, 
 but rather undermines this quality. The one who 
 has, however, related the process to the one they 
 already know through a series of skillful questions 
 is encouraging the use of their own experience, 
 without which it is almost impossible to develop 
 independence. Skillful questions that encourage 
 
 93
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 the right type of response and that foster ques- 
 tions from the class will help to clarify knowl- 
 edge. They indicate where and how misconcep- 
 tions have arisen; what portions of the lesson 
 have not been properly developed; in what way 
 misunderstandings have arisen; whether indi- 
 viduals or the class as a whole have not been 
 thinking clearly. If our questions serve to bring 
 out deficiencies in the way of thinking as well as 
 deficiency in knowledge, our methods of instruc- 
 tion will improve. 
 
 The purpose of the recitation should determine 
 the type of question that should predominate, 
 although one should expect to find other types. 
 Some questions are found which have little place 
 in instruction, and it is necessary to consider 
 them so that we may know what prominence 
 is given to material that should be eliminated. 
 Questions of fact are oftentimes contrasted 
 with questions of thought to the detriment 
 of the former; when we do this we are not 
 thinking clearly of the function of each. If our 
 purpose is to drill or to test knowledge, we 
 must ask questions that will elicit the exact re- 
 sponse which shows whether or not the person 
 questioned has the requisite knowledge. If we 
 wish to find out whether or not a person knows 
 94
 
 QUESTIONING 
 
 the name of the President of the United States, 
 we should ask a question that gets the direct 
 response rather than one that arouses a process 
 of reflective thought. One phase of a teacher's 
 duty is to test the knowledge that his class has 
 of the topic under discussion. 
 
 Few people will object to the statement that 
 the thought question is one of the most impor- 
 tant tools in instruction. Most life situations de- 
 mand the exercise of the rational powers of the 
 individual who meets it successfully. Therefore, 
 the school needs to cultivate and develop such 
 ability. The teacher's question should require the 
 pupil to consider the data involved, analyze it 
 into constituent elements, reject the irrelevant, 
 choose that which bears on the problem, and give 
 a statement of its solution. Thought questions 
 need to be carefully framed. They should bear 
 specifically on a definite problem. The data for 
 the solution should be available to the one ques- 
 tioned. Many thought questions are of no value 
 as they are based on broad generalization beyond 
 the capacity and understanding of the pupils in 
 our schools. 
 
 The topical question gives an opportunity for 
 the teacher to discover the ability of a pupil to 
 reorganize material in a logical manner. Many 
 
 95
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 topical questions test only the pupil's ability to 
 reproduce material from a textbook; it should 
 go much beyond this, as the test of the assimi- 
 lation of a topic in any subject is the power 
 of reorganizing it from a different point of view. 
 We are usually surprised when we investigate 
 carefully the limited character of the work in this 
 respect in our recitations. In the upper grades 
 of the elementary school and in high school we 
 usually find that a pupil's resources are exhausted 
 after he has talked for a minute on the topical 
 question that has been given him. This is not 
 due to the fact that he has not the ability. It is 
 due to the faulty methods of questioning. 
 
 More questions that appeal to the emotions 
 should be given. A situation is rarely appreciated 
 unless one places himself in the attitude, as 
 nearly as possible, of the person whom he is con- 
 sidering. When children are studying the Boston 
 Tea-Party, its meaning will be much clearer to 
 them if they are asked such questions as: How 
 do you think the patriots felt who attended the 
 meeting? What would be their attitude in ad- 
 dressing the assembly? Show how you think they 
 walked on their way to the harbor. Questions of 
 this type will tend to arouse the interest to a 
 much greater degree than questions of fact or 
 96
 
 QUESTIONING 
 
 those that merely arouse the intellectual appre- 
 ciation of the situation. The teacher who ques- 
 tions a statement of this character should test it 
 before rejecting the idea. 
 
 The purpose to which the question is put should 
 to a great degree determine the type. If we wish 
 to test knowledge that a student has of a subject, 
 we usually ask a question of fact. If we wish to 
 supplement the material of a textbook, that is, if 
 we wish to find out whether or not the wider re- 
 lationship of the subject under discussion is ap- 
 preciated, we should ordinarily ask a thought 
 question. If we wish the student to organize the 
 subject-matter of a recitation, we should ask a 
 question that demands a topical answer. If we 
 wish to quicken the feelings, stimulate the emo- 
 tions, a question that arouses the desired emotion 
 would be the one to demand attention. 
 
 Unfortunately, many questions of a recitation 
 have little or no purpose. They are wholly ir- 
 relevant, useful only to fill in the gap while the 
 teacher is getting the thread of the organiza- 
 tion himself, but such conditions are due usu- 
 ally to lack of preparation and they may be 
 rejected. Efficiency of instruction from the point 
 of view of the question should be judged by 
 the absence of the irrelevant question and the 
 
 97
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 judicious use of the type in harmony with the 
 purpose. 
 
 The mode of asking questions has an impor- 
 tance that is often overlooked. A class is do- 
 ing effective work when all members are think- 
 ing vigorously during the entire recitation. The 
 method of questioning that challenges the atten- 
 tion of all members of a class should be the one 
 utilized. The questions that are asked promis- 
 cuously, calling the name of the pupil after the 
 question has been given, command the attention 
 of every one. When the class does not know who 
 will be held responsible for the answer, every one 
 needs to be alert to the situation, and cognizant of 
 its significance. The objection that some mem- 
 bers of the class will be called on very frequently 
 and that others will be neglected is sometimes 
 raised to this method of questioning. Many times 
 we do note that a few pupils who respond readily 
 receive the major amount of attention, due to 
 the fact that the teacher has no definite order of 
 procedure in mind; this is easily remedied by 
 having the names on cards and shuffling the pack 
 each time after all pupils have been called for a 
 contribution. The mechanical method of calling 
 on pupils in regular order makes recitations dull 
 and lifeless, and only the person without imagina- 
 98
 
 QUESTIONING 
 
 tion will proceed in such course. It is unneces- 
 sary to discuss the reasons why this is not a good 
 policy from a psychological point of view. 
 
 Many times we are prone to believe that chil- 
 dren possess knowledge when they give glib re- 
 sponses in unison, but this is no indication that 
 a very large number of the class possess much 
 of the information that is so easily given. The 
 folly of this method was discovered in the work 
 of Lancaster and Bell. When we wish to tune the 
 ear of the children to the correct enunciation of 
 a word it may at times be wise to have the re- 
 sponse given in unison. The rote singing in the 
 primary grades calls for work of this kind. When- 
 ever correct impression of form is the requisite 
 element, or when one wishes to secure harmony 
 of action as a unit, then concert work is in place. 
 One needs to be on the alert to see that when in- 
 dependence of action is necessary that concert 
 work has no place. 
 
 The number of questions asked in a recitation 
 period by the teacher, as a usual rule, is far too 
 great. However, this would be anticipated when 
 direct questions or questions of choice predomi- 
 nate. It requires very little time or effort to say 
 yes or no. A teacher must be saying something 
 to keep the children from indulging in profitable 
 
 99
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 slumber. The writer visited a class in history 
 recently, where the teacher was asking questions 
 at the rate of six per minute. This is not an ex- 
 traordinary case, and can be duplicated if a per- 
 son holds a watch on the teacher during the class 
 period. There is not much opportunity for stu- 
 dents to think when they are subject to such rapid- 
 fire questioning. 
 
 An observer should give careful attention to 
 the questions asked in the recitation. He should 
 be cognizant of the fact that questions are an 
 index of the efficiency of the teacher. The factors 
 in questioning should be kept clearly in mind. 
 The purpose of the recitation should be analyzed, 
 and the questioning should be evaluated from 
 this point of view. A teacher who is developing 
 material would be accomplishing little if a great 
 majority of his questions were those of fact, and 
 the one who is testing the results of teaching a 
 topic would be equally open to criticism if many 
 emotional questions had place. Questioning is 
 an art that is accomplished by persistent, strenu- 
 ous effort, and the teacher who is master of this 
 art is a desirable model. 
 
 100
 
 QUESTIONING 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 QUESTIONING 
 
 I. VALUE OF QUESTION. 
 
 1. Focus attention on problem. 
 
 2. Foster interest. 
 
 3. Encourage response from pupils. 
 
 4. Encourage independence in thinking. 
 
 5. Clearer thought. 
 
 6. Correct misapprehension. 
 
 II. TYPE OF QUESTION. 
 
 1. Fact. 
 
 2. Alternative. > 
 
 3. Direct. 
 
 4. Leading. 
 
 5. Thought. 
 
 6. Topical. 
 
 7. Emotional. 
 
 III. USE OF QUESTION. 
 
 1. Test of knowledge. 
 
 2. Supplement text. 
 
 3. Organization. 
 
 4. Appreciation. 
 
 5. Stimulation. 
 
 6. Irrelevant. 
 
 IV. MODE OF QUESTIONING. 
 
 i. Promiscuous. 
 a. Regular order. 
 3. Concert. 
 
 V. NUMBER OF QUESTIONS. 
 
 1. Relation to type. 
 
 2. Approximate number asked. ;
 
 XII 
 
 GLASS MANAGEMENT 
 
 A TEACHER may have a desirable personality, 
 may be skillful in presenting subject-matter, may 
 have at his command all aids known to a modern 
 schoolmaster, and may be housed in a building 
 that is the last word in school architecture; he 
 may fail to be one hundred per cent efficient 
 because of his poor methods of management. 
 Efficiency is the watchword of the modern world 
 in which we are living, applied to all classes of 
 workers from the humblest street sweeper to the 
 president of the great transcontinental railway 
 line. The coal heaver and the bricklayer are able 
 to perform much more labor at a less cost of 
 energy than formerly through a scientific investi- 
 gation of their work, through the elimination of 
 unnecessary movements, through mechanizing 
 routine, and through having materials so easily 
 accessible that there is no waste motion. If 
 scientific management has increased the efficiency 
 of workers in other fields, through the elimina- 
 tion of waste energy, should not teachers be 
 102
 
 CLASS MANAGEMENT 
 
 cognizant of the advantages thus gained and 
 conduct their work accordingly? 
 
 Many factors in school management can be 
 relegated to the realm of mechanical routine. 
 Activities that are performed at a specified time 
 each day, that have always the same specific 
 purpose, that by their very nature would pro- 
 vide no opportunity for individual initiative, 
 should be carefully considered and the most 
 mechanical means of procedure should be dis- 
 covered. We find certain elements in this cate- 
 gory, such as the passing of classes, passing of 
 class to the board, distributing supplies, fire 
 drills, etc. It requires careful discrimination in 
 the type of activity, as teachers sometimes have 
 a habitual routine for activities that ought never 
 to be on this basis, for example, calling on pupils, 
 conducting morning exercises, etc. The perform- 
 ance of any task that demands the will of the 
 group acting as a unit should be reduced to the 
 basis of routine, and tasks that give opportunity 
 for individual initiative should never be placed on 
 this basis. 
 
 The discipline of a school is conditioned by 
 
 good management. If the teacher is skillful in 
 
 managing his class, the problem of discipline 
 
 means that all pupils are conscious of the purpose 
 
 103
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 of the school, that all are working to attain this 
 end; it means harmony of action, respect for the 
 rights of others, cooperation in community tasks, 
 and interest in the part the individual plays. If 
 this is not the attitude in a school, the reason for 
 its failure should be investigated and the means 
 that the teacher uses to overcome the obstacles 
 in the way should be noted. 
 
 A teacher who is a careless housekeeper rarely 
 has the most potent influence on those instructed. 
 We know the moral influence of a well-kept 
 home, and this is as applicable in the school. The 
 failure of a teacher to be a careful housekeeper is 
 obvious in a casual survey, for one cannot cover 
 the evidence of an untidy room, poorly kept sup- 
 plementary material, torn books, broken furni- 
 ture, and marred desks. An orderly, well-kept 
 room is indicative of the habits of the one who is 
 in charge. 
 
 A large amount of time is wasted in our school- 
 rooms. No institution, unless it is the church, is 
 so prodigal of time. There is an historic reason 
 why this is the case, but it is no reason for its 
 continuance in modern civilization. The school is 
 bound to be judged by its products, by the habits 
 it inculcates in those it trains, and by their effi- 
 ciency in the world of men and affairs. When 
 104
 
 CLASS MANAGEMENT 
 
 the cry is "Efficiency "in the business world, the 
 school cannot afford to ignore this conception in 
 its own organization. In viewing the conduct of 
 a school, we should note where time is wasted. A 
 few places where time can be economized are 
 mentioned in the outline; one should also note 
 means employed that conserve energy, facilitate 
 rapid movement, and profitably utilize otherwise 
 wasted time. 
 
 The program is another evidence of a teacher's 
 efficiency in management. The program rep- 
 resents the teacher's systematic plan for con- 
 ducting the day's work, and it is a good indica- 
 tion as to his knowledge of both the nature of the 
 subjects and the psychology of fatigue; that is, if 
 the teacher is given the responsibility for con- 
 structing his program. A program that places in 
 succession the subjects that require much work 
 with the hands would be undesirable. Again, a 
 program that requires intense mental application 
 for a long period of time is faulty. It has been 
 found that short periods of drill at more frequent 
 intervals are more efficacious than long periods 
 less frequent; one should note this provision in 
 looking at a program. 
 
 105
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 CLASS MANAGEMENT 
 
 * I. ROUTINE FACTORS. 
 
 1. The passing of classes at recess, dismissal, etc. 
 
 2. The passing of class to board. 
 
 3. The passing of supplies. 
 
 4. Other matters of routine. 
 
 5. Emphasis on this factor. 
 
 6. Situations that ought not to be on this basis. 
 
 n. DISCIPLINE. 
 
 1. Attitude of the children. 
 
 2. Disorder. Attention given to it. 
 
 3. Methods of securing order. 
 
 4. Standards of conduct. 
 
 m. HOUSEKEEPING. 
 
 1. Condition of the room. 
 
 2. Location of material. 
 
 3. Condition of material. 
 
 IV. WASTE IN MANAGEMENT. 
 
 1. The accessibility of needed material. 
 
 2. Preparation for using supplementary material. 
 
 3. Time wasted calling classes. 
 
 4. Time wasted due to failure to mechanize routine. 
 
 5. Time wasted due to lack of preparation. 
 
 V. PROGRAM. 
 
 1. A systematic plan for the entire day. 
 
 2. Order of subjects. 
 
 3. Apportionment of time. 
 
 4. Study periods. 
 
 5. Recreation periods. 
 
 6. Program rigidly followed. 1
 
 XIII 
 
 THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE 
 SCHOOLROOM 
 
 WHEN one visits a classroom, the element that 
 commands attention next to pupils and teacher 
 is the physical features, the hygienic conditions, 
 the sanitary arrangements of the building. How- 
 ever, the importance of this factor is rarely ap- 
 preciated. The science of school architecture, 
 decoration, and sanitation is in its infancy. Until 
 recently little thought has been given to the con- 
 struction of school building either from a prac- 
 tical or an aesthetic point of view. The architect 
 who could plan a comfortable dwelling-house was 
 considered wholly competent to direct the con- 
 struction of a school building, and the results of 
 this are the monstrosities that we find in many 
 cities, labeled school buildings. It is a healthful 
 sign to find reputable architects specializing in 
 school construction. People are beginning to ap- 
 preciate the fact that school buildings should be 
 artistic and practical; that they are measures of 
 the community's ideals; that they should be the 
 107
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 center of public life; that they should be utilized 
 during all the working hours and not merely dur- 
 ing a brief period in the middle of the day. Stand- 
 ard units are being developed for the construc- 
 tion of school buildings and schoolrooms, and 
 teachers should be familiar with these units. 
 When a room is entered, they should have a 
 standard in mind in order that they may be able 
 to judge intelligently the conditions of the room 
 in respect to light, heat, ventilation, seating, 
 decoration, equipment, and accessories. It is not 
 the purpose here to discuss minutely the stand- 
 ards that should be followed in the construction 
 of buildings and rooms; the purpose is rather to 
 make the problem conscious in the minds of peo- 
 ple visiting schools. There is considerable litera- 
 ture on school hygiene which should be familiar 
 to all teachers. 
 
 Many of the physical features of a schoolroom 
 are beyond the control of the teacher. When the 
 problem is carefully analyzed, however, it is seen 
 that many of them may be remedied, if not 
 changed. The teacher has no control over the 
 length, breadth, or height of his room, neither has 
 he over the window space, but if the light is de- 
 ficient it is within his power to have the shades 
 adjusted and seats so arranged that the light 
 108
 
 THE SCHOOLROOM 
 
 is most advantageously distributed. How often 
 are teachers prone to complain of poorly lighted 
 rooms without using the means under their con- 
 trol to better conditions. Only recently have 
 buildings been erected to furnish light that is 
 adequately distributed over the entire space. In 
 some buildings teachers through concerted effort 
 have been able to have changes made, but as yet 
 there is a woeful lack of attention given to this 
 important factor. 
 
 Schoolrooms both with and without mechani- 
 cal systems of ventilation are frequently poorly 
 ventilated because in those with good systems 
 the windows are opened, and in those without, 
 the windows are kept closed. If ventilation must 
 be by the direct method, teachers should devise 
 a plan whereby the air can be constantly changed; 
 if by a mechanical system, they should under- 
 stand the principle of its construction in order 
 that they may not do anything to interfere with 
 its efficiency. Most engineers in school buildings 
 where the ventilating system is adequate com- 
 plain about the lack of cooperation on the part 
 of teachers, due to their ignorance as to the work- 
 ing of the system. Teachers in training need to 
 be taught the essential facts in regard to venti- 
 lation in order that they may understand that 
 109
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 raising a window may be a handicap as well as a 
 help to the proper ventilation of a schoolroom. 
 
 -Adjustable desks are helping to lessen the 
 problem of proper position, but, like opportu- 
 nities, it carries responsibilities. In the days of 
 wooden benches, none of which fitted any pupils, 
 the teacher had no problem in seating; when 
 the desks can be adjusted to each pupil, the 
 teacher must be constantly on the alert to see 
 that each child has a seat properly adjusted. 
 Rapid growth on the part of the child will mean 
 two or three adjustments of his seat during a 
 school year, so that although the adjustments 
 are perfect in September they may not be in 
 June. Attention should be given not only to the 
 adjustment of the height, but also to the adjust- 
 ment of the relation of seat and desk. Most 
 authorities at the present time seem to agree that 
 they should be at two inch minus. 
 
 Schoolroom decoration furnishes an opportu- 
 nity for a teacher to develop the aesthetic sense of 
 his pupils. The finish of the woodwork is usually 
 fixed by authority other than the teacher, but 
 pictures, hangings, and artistic arrangements of 
 these transform a barren, desolate, unadorned 
 schoolroom into an attractive, bright, homelike 
 place. It is interesting to note the pleasing effects 
 no
 
 THE SCHOOLROOM 
 
 that some teachers are able to secure with simple, 
 inexpensive material. The influence of the teacher 
 is often portrayed by the appearance of his room. 
 The furnishings of the room bear a mute testi- 
 mony to the character of the citizenship of the 
 city or district. Were this appreciated in many of 
 our American communities, it would mean more 
 artistic school buildings. The moral atmosphere 
 is oftentimes affected by the physical surround- 
 ings. Filthy desks, floors, coat-rooms, and toilets 
 are debasing in their influence. The defaced con- 
 dition of many school buildings encourages van- 
 dalism, destroys respect for public property, and 
 makes it difficult to inculcate desirable standards 
 of conduct. A boy or girl who is surrounded by 
 such conditions does not have a great incentive 
 to be neat and orderly about his person or in his 
 work. The pernicious influence of the vulgar and 
 obscene material inscribed about many school 
 buildings is known to most experienced teachers. 
 The ideals of a school can often be measured 
 by the equipment that is furnished. Maps, 
 globes, blackboards are as essential to proper 
 instruction as are a teacher and a textbook. In 
 cities where children are required to provide their 
 own textbooks, there is oftentimes a woeful lack 
 of supplementary and illustrative material. It 
 in
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 seems at times as though the cities that furnish 
 free textbooks are more cognizant of the neces- 
 sity of supplementary aids. However, it would 
 be unjust to make this statement as a generaliza- 
 tion. A teacher in visiting a school should have 
 clearly in mind the equipment that is necessary 
 for the most effective work, and this should be 
 used as one of the elements in forming his entire 
 judgment. 
 
 The accessories of a schoolroom are important 
 factors in furnishing proper conditions for the 
 most effective work. The coat-room should be eas- 
 ily accessible from the room, but from no other 
 source, in order that it can be under the immedi- 
 ate supervision of the teacher. It should be prop- 
 erly ventilated and sufficiently spacious so that 
 each child has his own place hi which to put his 
 belongings. In our modern schools the common 
 drinking cup has been abolished. This has been 
 due as often to state laws as to the desire of the 
 community to have proper sanitary conditions. 
 In our modern school buildings sanitary toilets 
 are found, and under efficient administration 
 they are kept sanitary. Lunch-rooms are pro- 
 vided in many schools where conditions do not 
 make it feasible for the pupils to return home for 
 the noonday meal. This is rare in elementary 
 112
 
 THE SCHOOLROOM 
 
 schools in cities, but is very essential in nearly 
 all country and high schools. 
 
 There is no excuse whatever for finding a school 
 building unclean. No matter if the building does 
 not provide adequate light, heat, or ventilation; 
 no matter if it has seats that cannot be adjusted; 
 no matter if no attention has been given to aes- 
 thetic effects; no matter if the equipment is in- 
 adequate this is no justification for filth. It 
 costs very little to keep clean, and there are no 
 factors more conducive to good health than clean- 
 liness and ventilation. A school should be se- 
 verely criticized if it does not have a sufficient 
 force of janitors to keep it clean. 
 
 OUTLINE AID TO OBSERVATION 
 
 THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE 
 SCHOOLROOM 
 
 I. BUILDING. 
 
 1. Type. 
 
 2. Age. 
 
 3. Site. 
 
 4. Entrances. 
 
 5. Materials of construction. 
 
 6. Stairways. 
 
 7. Corridors. 
 
 8. Number of rooms. 
 
 "3
 
 THE OBSERVATION OF TEACHING 
 
 II. ROOMS. 
 
 1. Size. 
 
 a. Length. 
 
 b. Breadth. 
 
 c. Height. 
 
 d. Relation to standard proportion. 
 
 2. Light. 
 
 a. Number of windows. 
 
 b. Location of windows. 
 
 c. Proportion of window area to floor area. 
 
 d. Kind and color of window shades. 
 
 e. Provision for artificial light. 
 /. Criticisms on condition. 
 
 3. Seats. 
 
 a. Number. 
 
 b. Type. 
 
 (1) Adjustable or non-adjustable. 
 
 (2) Stationary or movable. 
 
 (3) Adjusted to pupils. 
 
 c. Width and number of aisles. 
 
 d . Arrangement in respect to light. 
 
 e. Condition. 
 
 HI. HEAT. 
 
 1. Kind. 
 
 2. Amount how determined. 
 
 3. Regulation. 
 
 IV. VENTILATION. 
 
 1. Means. 
 
 2. Size and position of intake and outlet. 
 
 3. Why adequate or inadequate. 
 
 4. Apparent condition of air. ^ 
 
 114
 
 THE SCHOOLROOM 
 
 V. DECORATION. 
 
 1. Kind of woodwork. 
 
 2. Finish of woodwork. 
 
 3. Color of walls and ceiling. 
 
 4. Pictures and statuary. 
 
 5. Attempts to make room homelike. 
 
 VI. CLEANLINESS. 
 
 1. Floors. 
 
 2. Desks. 
 
 3. Blackboard. 
 
 4. Erasers. 
 
 5. Books. 
 
 6. Walls. 
 
 7. Halls. 
 
 VII. EQUIPMENT. 
 
 1. Cabinets. 
 
 2. Blackboards. 
 
 3. Maps, globes, etc. 
 
 4. Chairs. 
 
 5. Illustrative material; e.g., specimens, books, 
 etc. 
 
 VIII. ACCESSORIES. 
 
 1. Coat-rooms. 
 
 2. Toilets. 
 
 3. Drinking-water. 
 
 4. Lunch-room. 
 
 5. Location of each in respect to schoolrooms. 
 
 6. Desirability of location.
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 I. THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM 
 
 1. Knowledge rests on skilled observation i 
 
 2. Observation as practical professional study 3 
 
 3. The need for thoughtful and well-organized ob- 
 servation 4 
 
 4. Relation of observation of practice to theoretical 
 study 6 
 
 II. THE PURPOSE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 1. Interest in the observation of skill 9 
 
 2. The complexity of teaching skill 10 
 
 3. The attitude of the observer n 
 
 a. The supervisor 12 
 
 b. The visiting teacher 14 
 
 c. The teacher in training 16 
 
 III. THE VALUE OF OBSERVATION 
 
 1. Observation reveals the actual teaching situa- 
 tion 19 
 
 2. It furnishes an objective basis for imitation. ... 21 
 
 3. It offers a standard for self -judgment 23 
 
 4. It provides concrete examples of the proper psy- 
 chological organization of subject-matter 24 
 
 5. Observation reveals the actual responses of chil- 
 dren 27 
 
 6. It shows how theoretical principles are realized 29 
 
 7. It focuses attention on the social forces at work 
 
 in the school life 1 31 
 
 117
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 IV. THE TEACHER 
 
 1. Personal characteristics 33 
 
 2. Teaching ability. 37 
 
 3. Social efficiency 40 
 
 4. Outline aid to observation 41 
 
 V. THE PUPILS 
 
 1. Adaptation to age and grade 44 
 
 2. What the appearance of a class indicates 45 
 
 3. Numbers and efficiency 46 
 
 4. Types and their responses 47 
 
 5. Attitude toward the teacher 49 
 
 6. Outline aid to observation 49 
 
 VI. THE LESSON PROCEDURE 
 
 1. Aims in teaching 51 
 
 2. The analysis of lesson types 53 
 
 3. The approach 55 
 
 4. The presentation 56 
 
 5. The assignment 61 
 
 6. Outline aid to observation 63 
 
 VII. THE DEVELOPMENT LESSON 
 
 1. The character of the development lesson 66 
 
 2. The inductive type 67 
 
 3. The deductive type 68 
 
 4. The informal type 69 
 
 5. Outline aid to observation 71 
 
 VIII. THE DRILL LESSON 
 
 1. The purpose of drill 73 
 
 2. Motivation 74 
 
 1x8
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 3. Devices 74 
 
 4. Presentation 75 
 
 5. Outline aid to observation 76 
 
 IX. THE REVIEW LESSON 
 
 1. The purpose of the review 78 
 
 2. Final organization as a standard in review 79 
 
 3. Typical methods of review 79 
 
 4. Outline aid to observation 82 
 
 X. THE LESSON FOR APPRECIATION 
 
 1. The purpose of the appreciation lesson 84 
 
 2. Intellectual appreciations 84 
 
 3. Social appreciations 85 
 
 4. ./Esthetic appreciations 86 
 
 5. Essentials in method 87 
 
 6. Outline aid to observation 90 
 
 XI. QUESTIONING 
 
 1. The value of good questioning 91 
 
 2. The various uses of questioning 94 
 
 3. The modes of questioning 98 
 
 4. Outline aid to observation 101 
 
 XII. CLASS MANAGEMENT 
 
 1. The realm of school management 102 
 
 2. Effective management conditions discipline 103 
 
 3. Standards of good housekeeping 104 
 
 4. Waste in management 104 
 
 5. The school program and schedule 105 
 
 6. Outline aid to observation . . 106 
 
 119
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 XIII. THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE 
 SCHOOLROOM 
 
 1. The growing importance of school construction, 
 sanitation, and decoration 107 
 
 2. Elements within the control of the teacher 108 
 
 3- Light 108 
 
 4. Ventilation 109 
 
 5. Adjustable seats and desks no 
 
 6. Decoration no 
 
 7. Equipment in 
 
 8. Accessories 112 
 
 9. Cleanliness 113 
 
 10. Outline aid to observation 113 
 
 ~
 
 DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 BJt:cT 
 
 *PP18 1933 EDUCATION 
 
 NOV si 
 
 APR ? 9 1935 
 1 1939 
 
 2 4 1939 
 
 MAR 41959 
 
 JAN 4 196* 
 
 W 17 
 JUN 24 1964 
 
 Form L-9-15m-7,'31 
 
 TO FtNE IF NOT RETURNED T<1 
 
 ML * IS 
 
 MAR 1 9 1972 
 
 JAN 1 * 1976 
 
 9 U 
 
 ^rtflSTuMN 
 
 AN 7 jgso 
 1982 
 
 fD/PSy, 
 
 ' - J 
 < 
 
 JUN 2 8 1982 
 
 JAN 2 
 
 10 '82 -12 PM 
 , 
 ED/PSYCH LIB.
 
 Educatioa 
 Library 
 
 LB 
 
 1731 
 
 UCLA-ED/PSYCH Library 
 
 LB 1731 M45 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 001028510 4 
 
 . 
 LIBRARY