. # The Normal School Quarterly Series 8 October, 1909 Number S3 THE LESSON A STUDY IN THE ART OF TEACHING ' By { MANFRED J. HOLMES How does the medow-flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free Down to its root, and in that freedom bold; And so the grandeur of the forest tree Comes not by casting in a formal mold. But from its own divine vitality. —Wordsworth Entered August 18, 1902, at Normal, Illinois, as second-class matter under Act of Congress of July 16, 1894 PUBLISHT BY THE ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY, NORMAL, ILLINOIS MOliMAL SCHOOL QUARTERLY Publisht by the Illinois State Normal University. Normal, Illinois Series S October, 1909 Na.mber 33 T H E LESSON A STUDY IN THE ART OF TEACHING A truer and more vital conception of the lesson needed . — What constitutes a lesson? During the past three years this ques- tion has been submitted to nearly a thousand normal- school students. Perhaps the scholarship attainment of these stu- dents represented on an average an equivalent of high- school graduation. About one-fifth of them had teach- ing experience varying from a few months to several years. There were many different answers, but the overwhelming majority can be reduced to one, namely, “A lesson is what is assignd to the pupil to learn or do;” or otherwise ex- prest, a lesson is a portion of subject-matter for a pupil to learn or some task requird of him by the teacher. This represents the prevailing popular notion of what constitutes a lesson, and the great majority of teachers are included among those who hold this view. Turning to the writers on pedagogy we find no general agreement regarding the extent and meaning of the term “lesson.” Instedof a scientific concept designated by a gen- erally accepted term, we find variety and confusion. For example, some speak of an assignment “lesson,” a study “lesson,” a recitation “lesson;” while one form of lesson is designated, not by the word “lesson” at all, but by the term “study-recitation.” Other writers use the word “recita- tion.” to designate the entire process of one form of lesson, a usage that does not largely coincide with American experi- The spellings recommended by the Simplified Spelling Board are used in the pub- lications of the Illinois State Normal University. 2 The Normal School Quarterly ence. In fact, pedagogical literature shows that but few of the writers have made any serious attempt to work out and present an adequate, scientific conception of what consti- tutes a lesson. Both these notions, the popular and the quasi- scientific, are incomplete, do not locate emphasis on the essential nature and meaning of the lesson, and cause confusion in thinking and in the use of terms. This situation is an unfortunate one for the young teacher who is trying to acquire the un- derlying principles and practical ideals of her art. The les- son, as one of these fundamental concepts, is the very hart and core, the characteristic form and essence of the entire school process; and it should be a major function of any course in the elements of pedagogy to give an adequate, ra- tional notion of the educational significance, the nature, and the typical forms of the lesson. Such a concept is as funda- mentally important to the teacher as is an understanding of the chemistry and physiology of nutrition to the dietitian. It should serve as a rational and scientifically valid guide in planning for and directing the learning activities, and in maintaining conditions favorable to the successful outcome of every lesson experience. Imitativ teaching is non-pro- gressiv, blind to its own meaning, and can never attain mas tery of the art. Teaching that precedes according to rational principles is progressiv, is capable of self-criticism, and can reach the highest possible attainment in the teaching art. This study of what constitutes a lesson aims to contribute a basic factor to rational procedure in teaching. General preliminary definition . — Like all fundamental concepts in teaching, the notion “lesson” should be derived from the nature and the needs of the learner and the nature of the subject-matter. A little thinking after getting the attention on the right set of facts makes it clear that all ra- tional activity is made up of a succession of experiences like this: one becomes conscious of a want to satisfy or an ideal to realize; it may be a small and trivial matter or it may be large and important; it may be base or it may be noble; it may be physical and sensuous or it may be spiritual and of the high- est refinement; it may be selfish or generous. The telling 2 he Lesson 3 fact is that one has such a want or such an ideal, and either from spontaneous or deliberativ choice the appropriate motor tendency is set free to satisfy the want or realize the ideal. If the resulting activity is efficient the end is attaind, and one is then redy for another such experience, ad infinitum. Such units of experience furnish the natural basis for a true conception of the nature and process of the school lesson in terms of the pupil’s experience, and our preliminary definition may be stated thus: A lesson is an experience loliich starts with the idea of an end considerd necessary or desirable to well-being , and moves thru the self-activity of the learner to results in some kind of ed- ucational values. These values may be knowledge, power and skill in thinking and doing, interest, personal and social worth, or some other legitimate educational value. The great work of the teacher, as teacher, consists in selecting and preparing for these lesson experiences, stimu- lating and guiding the learning activities, and maintain- ing conditions necessary to profitable outcome of the ex- perience. Therefore a clear conception of the standard types of lesson becomes a first necessity in preparing to teach. Two types of lesson will be discust here: first, the usual form which begins with an assignment, moves forward in the pupil's study, and ends in the third stage, the recitation. This assignment-study-recitation lesson may be appropriately named by abridging the long compound to “assignment- lesson.” Secondly, that form in which the study and reci- tation are united in one and the same time period, the teacher setting up the aim for the pupils, stimulating and guiding the learning activity, and getting expression of results. This is the “study-recitation lesson.” Only a concise out- line of the more important features of these lesson types is here attempted. THE ASSIGNMENT-LESSON I. The assignment. — This is generally the weakest place in the whole teaching process. Probably to poor assign- ments are due more waste and failure in the pupil’s study and more unprofitable work in the recitation stage of the lesson than to any other one cause. A teacher’s power and 4 The Normal Sdiool Quarterly skill are shown as much in his method of assigning lessons as in the instruction exercises he conducts. But to be able to make a good assignment, one must know just what it is in itself and in its vital relation to the whole lesson experi- ence. What constitutes the essential features of a good assign- ment? When can it best be made? What determins its length? How is a teacher to know whether he is making a successful assignment? 1. The assignment should give a clear idea, of the lesson aim in terms of the subject-matter to be learnd, or in terms of what the pupil is to do. This is a prime requisit. Many a pupil is doomd to a sad waste of time, to worry, tofadure, to dislike of subject and may be of school, by indefinit as- signments. 2. One may have a perfectly clear idea of an end to be attaind, yet active effort for reaching the end may not be called forth. The second essential of an assignment is the stimulation of desire, curiosity, interest, regarding the aim. The pupil must feel the aim is ivorth getting, else no helthful, adequate activity can be aroused to get it. A natural, helth- ful, and strong motiv to attain the end set up depends upon this feeling or judgment of value of the aim in a school les- son just as in any other rational life activity. 3. But a clear idea of the aim and the keenest sense of its value will not insure successful results of the pupil’s study. He needs to know how to go to work, that is, by what means he can accomplish the task assignd. The third essential of a good assignment, therefore, is a clear idea of the means to be used in attaining the aim. Materials to be used, objects or specimens to be studied, references to be red, maps to be consulted, methods of going at the work should be clearly enough designated to enable the pupil to go ahed intelligently without worry or waste of time. Otherwise he has just grounds for holding the teacher responsible for his poor work or failure. 4. An assignment should be attainable. It should be adapted to the general ability and preparation of the pupil, and to the time available for study. It is easy for the teacher The Lesson 5 to assume that the pupil or the class is redy for the next portion of subject-matter whatever it may be, if the present lesson has been well learnd. But one is soon cured of such a delusion if she faithfully prepares herself on the subject- matter before she assigns it to her class. By a comparison of her own experience in thought mastery of the subject- matter with the probable experience her pupils will have, she will frequently find difficulties that she cannot expect the pupils to overcome alone without some suggestions or warnings or possibly, at times, some advance explanations. The teacher who is both wise and thoughtful will avoid making assignments that cannot be masterd within the regu- lar time available for study. Every teacher should require the maximum amount of excellent work that can be reason- ably expected within a given time; but to give work that cannot possibly be done within the time that can legitimately be devoted to it is a vulgar pedagogical blunder, and is fol- lowed by a train of evils that tend to defeat the valuable purposes of a regular study program. 5. An assignment should be logical. Many lessons call for special care in this respect. A careful indication of the chief points in a unit of subject-matter is not sufficient. It is often necessary to point out the logical connection or thought relation of these topics. It is equally important at times to point out the logical relation between the present assignment and other lessons. With this provision of a well-made assignment the pupil will be able to get the thought in its logical continuity and unity insted of in iso- lated, unrelated fragments. Such study conditions also in- sure enjoyable as well as successful effort. When can the assignment be made to best advantage? With the little children of the primary grades the directions and materials for the work or study period must be given just before the beginning of that period. But later the as- signment will be made at the beginning or the end of the recitation period. Which is the better place? Assigning at the beginning insures ample time to do this important piece of work well. This avoids the danger and mischief of an indefinit and fragmentary assignment that a teacher hustles to make when the recitation work continues to the 6 The Normal School Quarterly very close of the period. But a serious disadvantage is in- volvd with the advantage of ample time by assigning at the beginning of the period. Each advance lesson is usually a continuation of the preceding experience, and its success depends upon a satisfactory mastery of the preceding assign- ment. When such relation exists between the old and the new, the pupil can appreciate the advance assignment and will be redy for successful study when he sees such assign- ment in its relation to the ideas he alredy has. Now, no teacher is wise enough to know how well or how poorly her pupils have learnd the current lesson until she has dis- co verd that fact in the recitation; therefore the only place at which she can be sure she is making the thought connec- tion between the new and the old lesson is after the old les- son is discust. She must provide some warning device that will enable her to take sufficient time for making a good as- signment at the end of the recitation period. With classes of college grade it may be more practicable than in ele- mentary grades to make the assignment at the beginning of the recitation hour. Other minor arguments showing relativ advantages and disadvantages of assigning at the beginning or at the close of the recitation period need not be considerd here. How can a teacher make an assignment that is neither too long nor too short, but just right? This can be done happily if she has well in mind two main things that de- terminthe length of the assignment; (1) the general capabil- ity of her pupils and their special preparation for under- standing or doing the advance work; (2) the time and means available for study. The amount of subject-matter to be coverd within a given time, however important that may be at times, should never be a primary consideration in de- termining the length of assignments when the other two factors have a claim for consideration. This matter of length of assignment becomes a moral as well as a pedagogi- cal concern when the pupils are under the instruction of more than one teacher. Grinding boys and girls between the pressure of unreasonable requirements is sheer brutal- ity. The Lesson 7 The evils of too short an assignment are hardly less mischievous. The amount of work requird must command the respect of the pupil, and furnish plenty of profitable work for him during the time he should devote to it. Some- times there are pupils who are so far above the average ability of the class that they can prepare an assignment that is proper for the class as a whole and have time left. What shall be done with such time? There are three chief ways by which a teacher may solve this problem. (1) If such pupil needs more than the allotted time for preparing some other subject in which he is not so proficient, he should use time gaind in one study period to make good his deficiency in the other. (2) The teacher may give such pupil special topics in addition to the general class assignment. Thus, he will be getting a broader and richer mastery of the subject, and will have the stimulating and helthful experience of making a distinct individual contribution to the life of the class. (3) The pupil may use time thus gaind to pursue some special interest or bent — literary, historical, manual, or scientific. The third way of using the surplus time is highly commend- able; but no pupil should have this privilege until the as- signd lesson is actually and thoroly prepared. TI. The pupiVs study . — This second stage of the assign- ment lesson has been and still is a very sick place in the school process. It has been the subject of much study during the last five or six years. Several articles and at least two books* have resulted from the attempts to find out just what has been the matter and how the weak places may be made strong. The investigators assert that much of the pupil’s study time is not given to ernest effort, and much of the effort that is ernest is ineffectiv because the pupil does not know how to study or because the teacher does not create and maintain conditions necessary to successful study. The first step in the practical solution of this study problem for each teacher is to get clearly in mind just what are the essential values and purposes of the pupil’s study. We may enumerate the most essential of these. *F. M. McMurry’s “IIoiv to Study." Houghton Mifflin Co., Chicago and New York. Lida B. Earhart’s "Teaching Children how to Study." Houghton Mifflin Co. 8 The Normal School Quarterly 1. The primary value and purpose of the pupil's study is a mastery of the assignment. All other values depend upon this and are incidental to it. It is not to be inferd, however, that the mastery of the assignment is an end in itself from the teacher’s point of view. It may be such so far as the pupil is conscious of results, but it is thru a proper method of study and mastery of the assignment that the essential educational values arise. 2. The pupil’s study should promote self-dependence^ and self -guidance in getting knowledge and in other activities. One rational justification of the study period is that it gets the learner by himself to do something that it is his business and duty to do without constant oversight and direction. Even if it were practically possible to follow the study- recitation plan of German elementary instruction, we would not do it in America because it tends too strongly toward making pupils dependent upon the teacher for constant thought guidance. 3. It should promote good mental habits. Some of these are concentration of attention, selection of essentials for proper distribution of emphasis, thinking the necessary re- lation of things and the proper sequence of ideas, correct and effectiv methods of study, the habit of tracing thought relations and using one’s knowledge to get more knowledge and guide action. Thru the mastery of the assignment should come these disciplins of mind as well as an addition to one’s apperceptiv power for still more advanced thought experiences and practical action. 4. Good moral and social habits should be promoted by the pupil’s study. There is no place in the whole school process that is better for the cultivation of certain personal and social virtues. Here the pupil is by himself with serious business to attend to, a duty to perform. Simple honesty, self-respect, personal honor all depend upon loyalty to a properidealof doing business, and fidelity to a sense of duty. The study period offers one of the best opportunities for the cultivation of strict honesty. On the social side, the virtue of justis, and consideration for others’ rights, can be promoted. No pupil should allow himself to violate the right of a school- The Lesson 9 mate by disturbing him unless some serious emergency makes it necessary. Inhibition and self-control in accordance with personal ideals and social relations are as essential as initia- tiv at a time when positiv moral action is cald for. But in order that the study period may yield these precious educational results the teacher must clearly see them as legitimate and necessary outcome of this stage of the lesson experience; this understanding of what the pupil’s study should do should be reinforced by deep and abiding conviction that the success of teacher and pupil depends upon getting such results; and finally she needs to un- derstand how to secure and maintain conditions favorable to the highest success of the pupil’s study. What are the essential conditions upon which the suc- cess of the pupil’s study depends? The teacher may think these under three groups; (1) the physical, which includes the bodily condition of the pupil and the physical environ- ment; (2) the mental; and (3) the social. Of course the con- ditions necessary to successful study are likewise essential to excellent work in every phase of the school process and to a wholesome, vigorous, and happy tone of school life in general. There is no exact method of mesuring the relation be- tween general bodily conditions and working power; but everybody knows that one’s capacity for amount and quality of work, either physical or mental, varies with general helth, the amount of working energy available, and with the amount of bodily pain or discomfort. It is important to bear in mind that this holds true of children even more than with older persons whose maturer will power, practical judgment, and sense of responsibility may go far to offset unfavorable bodily conditions. What can the teacher do to secure and maintain these general bodily conditions so important to the best results of study? Most of the out-of-school factors that make for fav- orable or unfavorable bodily conditions are not under the teacher’s control. But she can do much. She should faith- fully protect the children from drafts, from temperatures too high or too low in cold wether, from unreasonable ex- 10 The Normal School Quarterly posure; she should be vigilant in preventing over-fatigue from either work or play ; recreation periods properly used will maintain normal vigor and freshness for work without exhausting. Beyond these things the teacher can detect in- cipient colds or other physical trouble and give the neces- sary advice to pupil or parent for prompt and proper care. This may often prevent days of half- wasted effort by a half- sick pupil, disturbance of the whole school, or loss by ab- sence. By a little foresight the teacher can gard against un- necessary interruptions and disturbing noises. She can also secure hygienic seating for helth and comfort, maintain clenly conditions, and do something to make the surround- ings plesant and beautiful. Poor study is often due to subnormal conditions of sight, hearing, or motor control. These subnormalities should be detected promptly by the teacher and brought appropriately to the attention of the parents. Sometimes proper seating will give a pupil with subnormal vision or hearing just the advantage he needs in order to do effectiv work. Control of the physical environment is strictly the teacher’s business, and is entirely possible in a properly constructed and well-equipt bilding. But even in a poor bild- ing with no special scientific provision for ventilation, heat- ing, and lighting an intelligent and faithful teacher will find a way to maintain these primary conditions of helth and work. With the excellent manuals available on school hygiene and management no teacher can be held giltless who does not inform herself as to what are proper school- room conditions, and how to create and control them. The maintenance of favorable physical conditions is only a means to secure the best mental conditions for the full- est possible attainment of the values that should be de- rived from the pupil’s study. What are these essential mental conditions? 1. A clear idea of the lesson aim and the means by which such aim can be attaind is the first mental requisit. This condition will be met if the assignment is effectiv. If a teacher is in dout as to whether some pupil has faild to get the assignment clearly, it is a good plan to ask such pupil to The Lesson 11 state what he understands the assignment to be. This gives the opportunity to amend or repeat if necessary. 2. Everybody knows that in every department of life a right mental attitude toward work is necessary to splendid effort and excellent results. The pupil needs to see the aim of the lesson as something worth working for. This feeling or judgment of value is interest] and with a lively interest the necessary attention will be enlisted. It is an ideally happy school situation if the pupil’s sense of value of the lesson is found in the attainment and possession of the aim for its own sake. But it is often necessary and proper that the attainment of a lesson aim be merely a means of get- ting some other value. 3. Yet no life of effort is so elysian that all is balmy breeze and flowery fragrance. Every child of man must learn that grim determination is as necessary on the road of life as is the inspiration of exalted impulse. The agony of Gethsemene is as true to life as the transfiguration of Her- mon. As the pupil passes from tender childhood to vigor- ous youth he should gradually increase in power to bring an invincible determination to bear upon performing a piece of work that is obviously the necessary and proper thing at a given time. So a determination to get the lesson is the third mental condition favorable to successful study. 4. Belief in the attainability of the end is another mental condition necessary to successful attack and completion of any undertaking. If the assignment has observd the law of adaptation and the law of apperception, this fourth men- tal condition will be assured. Successful study depends upon right social conditions. The teacher can do much to propagate a wholesome social atmosphere in the school life. All the social decencies and amenities should obtain in the schoolroom as in the parlor. But thru the teacher’s social attitude should be reveald a genuin interest in each pupil’s welfare, and a true considera- tion of each personality. Timidity, suspicion, indifference, and even a chronic tendency to set one’s self in opposition to the social order in general may be remedied by the kind, just, reasonable, and generous spirit of the teacher. It 12 The Normal School Quarterly should be rememberd that in all relations of management, government, and casual intercourse, the law of social reci- procity operates. One gets what he gives. “Give love, and love to the heart will flow A strength in your utmost need Have faith, and a score of hearts will show Their faith in your word and deed.” Mutual confidence and respect, goodwill , mutual apprecia- tion, personal consideration, and a spirit of helpful servis give the sound social foundation for helthful and happy ef- fort in school. Care should be taken to secure a right allotment of the study time for each subject. The daily program should show both the study and the recitation periods; and the pupils should learn by experience the value of following faithfully a regular program of study. III. The recitation. — The third stage of the assignment- lesson brings pupils and teacher together again in the recitation. The original and literal meaning of the word “recitation” was a word-for-word repetition of what the pupil had memorized; but its present meaning is vastly enricht by the character and extent of the activities it now desig- nates. Today the true type of recitation is the very hart- core, the circulatory and nervous plexus of the school life. Here we have the final stage of the lesson experience in which the processes of mental nutrition, assimilation, and stim- ulation are resulting in the higher products of feeling and thought- life with their appropriate functional forms of ac- tivity, either actual or potential. Every recitation exercise should be an event or a definit preparation for a real event in the educational experience of the pupil. To make the recitation yield its true values to the utmost the teacher should have a clear and inspiring idea of what this stage of the lesson should accomplish. What are the chief values and purposes of the recitation? 1. The recitation starts with two assumptions: (1) that an assignment has been made, and (2) that the pupils have studied the assignment and masterd it to the best of their ability. Logically, then, the first function of the recitation is to discover the degree and character ofthepupiVs mastery of the assignment. This ought not to be cald a test. That view The Lesson 13 of it brings the pupil to the exercise with a wrong mental attitude. The pupil should come to the recitation with a feeling that it is his opportunity to report the results of his study, to compare his results with those of his classmates, to correct and revise his thought when necessary, and to extend his knowledge of the subject or acquire further skill in doing something. When the grammar grades are reacht, if not before, the recitation should be a place of stimulating companionship in which the company has serious business on hand and holds it- self responsible for definit and profitable results. The teacher, of course, will be the stimulator, guide, and mod- erator; he will distribute opportunity equally, and precede according to the discoveries he makes regarding the mastery of the assignment. 2. If it is found that pupils have faild to think out clearly the meaning and relation of ideas and facts the lesson deals with, (and this is likely to be true in every lesson), then the first vital creativ function of the recitation is to stimulate and guide the pupils' thought to a clear and logical organization of the suhject-matter . Holding pupils to thought- standards of this character soon teaches them that verbal memorizing, however perfect and complete, does not indi- cate any true mastery of educational value. This kind of recitation work reacts favorably upon the learner’s methods and ideals of study. 3. Should the pupils’ reports contain error or a too narrow view of the topic, the recitation serves to correct the errors and add to the knowledge acquired in study. It is often a nice problem in the teaching art to tell whether it is best in a given case for the teacher to lead the pupil to see and correct his own error, whether the teacher should cor- rect it, or whether some other pupil in the class should do the correcting. 4. A fourth valuable purpose of the recitation is to teach right methods of study, that is, of thinking, and to establish proper ideals of excellence in work. 5. The recitation is the place of all places where the teacher may acquire a knowledge of the individual traits and 14 The Normal School Quarterly needs of his pupils. Thought traits, social traits, language power and habits, physical condition, etc., with their cor- responding needs may all be noted. Then thru watchful care weak places should be made strong, courseness refined, deficiencies made good, and life made glad and increasing- ly efficient. 6. To cultivate correct and effectiv language expression is another important function of the recitation. Thinking and language are practically inseparable. The final stage of a creativ thought- process is to formulate the thought in appro- priate language. Isolated words, grammatical fragments, and even sentences that do not reveal any logical sequence or thought unity must be taken as evidence that the pupil has not graspt the thought clearly or completely, or that he has some very bad language habits. If the first alternativ holds, the remedy is to lead him to think clearly, then to use correct language in expressing his thought. It is futil for a teacher to keep correcting a pupil’s language errors unless the pupil is interested in his own im- provement. The psychology of removing an habitual error and establishing the correct form or usage presents three stages: (1) the person in error must be made conscious of his error; (2) he must learn what the correct form or usage is; and (8) he must practis the correct language until it becomes habitual. 7. Of course every recitation should thoughtfully lay the foundation for the next lesson and for later work of the class. This implies that the teacher must know what the next lesson is to be, and the content of the course of study; and when she feels she is teaching some definit thing for a definit use, effectiv work is almost certain. Some of the pedagogical laws underlying a successful lesson process should serve the teacher as a practical guide. The law of aim . — Every rational act requires a clear and valuable aim to insure its success. The laiv of interest . — Rational activity necessary to the attainment of a given aim can be aroused only by the knowl- edge or belief that the aim is worth getting. The laiu of adaptation in teaching . — Instruction is success- The Lesson 15 ful only when adapted to the capability and preparation of the learner. The law of apperception . — The meaning of new impres- sions or ideas can be interpreted only as they become related to old ideas. If the meaning and force of these laws sink deep and become activ ideals in the teacher’s mind, every lesson will be better than it otherwise could possibly be. THE STUDY-RECITATION LESSON This form of the lesson (defined on page 8) is the appropriate form to be used with little children before they can use books or do any real study by themselves. It is used a great deal by our best American elementary teachers up to the fourth grade, altho the daily program provides for a distinct study period in some subjects long before the fourth year. It seems to be practically the sole form of the lesson in the German elementary schools until much longer. The best American teachers use it to some extent all thru the elementary grades and in the high school; and it is a growing conviction that its use can be extended to great advantage. The first advantage of the study-recitation lesson is that it trains pupils how to study. They should be led to acquire right methods of study and standards of excellence in all their work as soon as possible and should never be allowd to let these deteriorate. Secondly, no time is fritterd away by the pupil’s inability to go ahed alone or by a dilly-dally attitude toward his work. The teacher sets up some definit, attractiv aim at each suc- cessiv stage in the lesson process, stimulates and guides the learning activity by the most effectiv and direct route to definit results. As often as her judgment dictates she can test results of this teaching-learning exercise by questions and reproduction exercises. Owing to the continuous and effectiv use of time and energy, a third value arises. Much more work is done within a given period. The German elementary school gains nearly two years on us, largely because of the use of this form of lesson. 16 The Normal School Quarterly One possibly serious danger or disadvantage inheres in this kind of teaching. A long and too continuous use of it is likely to make the learner dependent on the teacher for initiativ and guidance. This may be no objection for child- ren of a monarchical government, but it would tend to defeat one of the most fundamental purposes in the education of a self-governing people. Our danger, however, is found in not using the study-recitation lesson enough to get its maxi- mum values without suffering from any of its possible evils. Another purpose of the study- recitation lesson in Ameri- can schools is to teach how to use the textbook. Much of the deplord loss in our study periods is due to the fact that pupils cannot read a book; that is, they cannot get the thought and give it organization in their own thinking. Here the grammar-grade and the high-school teachers can make a much-needed contribution to the training of their pupils. No dout there are occasions when a college class would legitimately profit by a study-recitation. A recitation period spent now and then in this kind of work in the intermediate, grammar, and high-school grades would be the wisest and most profitable use of the time, not for that period alone but because of its favorable influence upon the better character and greater amount of work the pupils would be able to do in their study period. f Illinois State Reformatory Print