The Recitation Part 6

Command of the subject-matter of the recitation depends, _first_ on the teacher's general mastery of the branch, and, _second_, on being freshly prepared upon it. It behooves every young teacher, therefore, to strive for mastery as he teaches.

But no matter how good the preliminary preparation, this cannot take the place of the fresh daily review, which gives the mind a new readiness and grasp on the subject. Let the teachers who feel that their recitations are slow and dull, seek the cause first of all in their own lack of preparation in one of the two lines mentioned.

_b. The teacher's att.i.tude toward his work._--If the teacher looks upon teaching as a mechanical process; if he looks on the recitation as "hearing the cla.s.s recite"; if he realizes nothing of the opportunities and responsibilities connected with teaching children, then he can command little interest and no enthusiasm. If, on the other hand, teaching is to the teacher a joy; if he loves to watch the minds of children unfold; if he rejoices in his opportunities and responsibilities as a teacher, then he is sure to develop an interest which will soon intensify with enthusiasm.

_c. The teacher's health._--All have experienced the mental depression and lack of interest in things which comes from over-fatigue. The most interesting occupation palls on us when we are f.a.gged, or when our vitality is low from derangement of health. A case of indigestion may sweep us out of our usual cheery mood into a mood of discouragement and pessimism. Frayed nerves and an ill-nourished or exhausted brain are fatal to enthusiasm.

Teaching is found to be a very trying occupation on the general health, and particularly on the nervous system. Many girls break down or develop a chronic nervous trouble in a few years in the schoolroom.

The combined work and worry prove too much for their strength; and not infrequently, also, the teacher who boards and carries a cold luncheon to school fails to secure the right kind of food. This is especially true in the rural schools. Farmers have enough to eat, but often the food suitable for men engaged in heavy manual labor is wholly unsuited for one who works with the brain and does not have a large amount of out-door exercise.

Nor do teachers always secure enough pure air. The air of schoolrooms is usually vitiated to such a degree that one on coming in from the out-door air can detect a foul odor. But the air of a room ceases to be fit to breathe long before an odor can be detected from its impurities.

These are some of the chief factors which are proving so fatal to the health of many of our teachers, and to interest and enthusiasm on the part of the teacher in his work. Both for the sake of his health and his work, every teacher should seek to control these three factors as far as possible. Strain and worry and wear of nerves can be greatly lessened by careful planning of work, by good organization and careful management, and by exercise of the will to prohibit worry over matters large or small when worry will not help solve them. The teacher can in some degree determine what food he will eat, even if it means a change of boarding-place. And surely every teacher can control the supply of fresh air for the schoolroom and his bedroom, and this is perhaps the most important of all.

_d. Experience._--The young teacher, without experience, may from sheer embarra.s.sment and lack of mastery fail to show the enthusiasm which he feels, for embarra.s.sment of any kind and enthusiasm do not thrive well together. But if the teacher is really fundamentally interested in his teaching, the enthusiasm will soon come. And better a thousand times the young teacher who is earnestly fighting for freedom and mastery in the recitation, than the old teacher who has grown wearied of the routine and has made out of the recitation a machine process.

3. _Well-mastered lessons_

Probably the worst of all drawbacks to good recitations is poorly prepared lessons. One of the greatest criticisms to which our educational system is open is that teachers try to teach and pupils try to recite lessons which are badly or indifferently prepared by both. There is nothing more stupefying to the mind, or more fatal to interest in school work than the halting, stumbling, ineffective recitations heard in many schools. Teachers who try to teach lessons with which they are not thoroughly familiar are but blind leaders of the blind, and both they and their pupils are sure to fall into the ditch.

_a. Preparation by the teacher._--The teacher is the key to the situation. If he himself lacks in preparation, he can neither lead nor compel his pupils to the preparation of their lessons. He sets the standard. A stream does not rise higher than its source.

The teacher's preparation has two different aspects: (1) The general fundamental knowledge of the subject as a whole obtained by previous study; and (2) the daily preparation by study, thought, or reading for the recitation.

In general it is safe to say that teachers enter upon their vocation without sufficient education. Our certificate requirements are low, and many enter upon teaching with little or no more schooling than that obtained in the schools where they begin teaching. Of course this is radically wrong, but it is the fault of our school system and not of the teacher. It behooves teachers entering upon their work with this scanty preparation to recognize their limitations, however, and to do their best to remedy them. Low grade of certificate, low standings in any branches, or the teacher's own consciousness of lack of mastery should be sufficient to send the sincere and earnest teacher to school again, even if this must be to summer schools instead of longer sessions. This sacrifice will not only pay abundantly in higher salary, but also in greater teaching power and in the sense of greater mastery and personal growth.

But no amount of preparation in a branch will relieve a teacher of the necessity of daily preparation for the recitation. Dr. Arnold expressed this thought when he said: "I prefer that my pupils shall drink from a running stream, rather than from a stagnant pool." In order that one may develop a line of thought easily it must be _fresh_ in his mind; it is not enough that he has once known it well. One of the master teachers of our country, a university professor who is recognized as a great authority in his chosen subject, Latin, recently said to a group of Latin teachers: "I have taught Cicero for twenty years, until I know it by heart. But yet, every day, one hour before the time for my Cicero cla.s.s, I go to my study and spend an hour with Cicero, just to get into the spirit of it. I would not dare to meet my cla.s.s without this."

It is true that the teacher with twenty cla.s.ses a day cannot spend an hour on the preparation of each lesson. But most of the lessons will not require so much--sometimes the preparation will be the making of an outline or plan, sometimes reading the lesson over to freshen the mind upon it, sometimes only thinking the lesson through, for its plan and topics. It may at times, however, mean hard and serious study to master the difficult points and their presentation. But whatever it means, the conscientious and growing teacher will go to the lesson prepared to teach it in such a way as to inspire to high standards and mastery on the part of the pupils.

_b. Preparation by the cla.s.s._--But in addition to the well-prepared teacher, there must also be a well-prepared cla.s.s. The teacher cannot make bricks without straw. Every failure to recite when called upon is a dead weight upon the progress of the recitation; and each failure makes it easier for the next one to fail with impunity, or at least without disgrace. It therefore behooves the teacher who would have inspiring recitations to lead the pupils to a high standard of preparation.

The pupil's preparation of the lesson should include two distinct lines: (1) Mastery of the facts, thought, or meaning of the lesson; and (2) thought or plans how best to express the lesson in the recitation. Most pupils think they "have their lesson" when they have memorized it or come to understand it. They must also be made to see that an important part of their preparation lies in _the ability to tell well what they have learned_.

4. _High standards in the recitation_

There is no more potent force than public opinion to compel to high achievement or restrain from unworthy acts. A school in which the standards of preparation and recitation are low presents a difficult problem for the teacher in the recitation. In some schools pupils who are diffident about reciting, or who do not care to take the trouble, shake their heads in refusal almost before they hear the question in full. Others sit in stolid silence when called upon, and make no response of any kind. In still other cases the cla.s.s smile or giggle when several have been called upon and have failed to recite, thus taking the failure as a joke.

Of course such a lack of standards proclaims the previous teaching to have been weak and bungling. It shows the effects of a teacher without standards or skill. But the immediate question is how to remedy such an evil situation when one finds it existing in a school.

It is probable that low standards come as often from work that is too difficult or too great in amount as from any other source. If the child fails to understand the lesson, or has not had time to master it, he cannot recite, however much he may desire to. All that is left for him is to decline when called upon. He may be chagrined at first over his failure; but if failure follows failure, he soon ceases to care when unable to recite. The remedy suggests itself at once; a.s.sign lessons that are within the child's ability, and also within the time available for their preparation. Then _insist that the work be done and the recitation be made_.

If the failure comes from laziness, lack of study, indulgence in mischief, or any such cause, the remedy will be a different one. But a remedy must be devised and applied. No school can run successfully without good standards well maintained for the recitation. The teacher who feels that the standards of the school are too low in this particular should never be satisfied until the cause for such a condition is discovered, and worthy standards inst.i.tuted. This will be one of the hardest tests upon the teacher's ingenuity and skill.

The public opinion of the school must be brought to take the recitation seriously. It must not be a cause for levity when several pupils fail. Failure must come to be looked forward to with apprehension, and looked back upon with humiliation. And all this must be done without scolding and bickering. It must be done with great patience and good nature, but it must be done. The teacher must himself have a high standard of excellence, and must persistently impress this upon his cla.s.s. Here again the ideals of the teacher are contagious.

5. _A spirit of cooperation_

Much depends on the spirit with which cla.s.s and teacher enter upon the recitation. If the spirit of cooperation is lacking; if the relations between teacher and pupils are strained or not cordial; if the cla.s.s look upon the recitation as a kind of game in which the teacher tries to corner and catch the cla.s.s, and the cla.s.s try to avoid being cornered and caught, then the recitation is certain to be a failure.

Under skillful teaching the pupils should come to look forward to the recitation with pleasure and antic.i.p.ation. It should be a time when teacher and cla.s.s work together in whole-hearted, enthusiastic effort, with the common aim of bringing the cla.s.s to master more fully the matter of the lesson. There should be no feeling that the teacher has one aim and the cla.s.s another aim, or that their interests are in any way antagonistic; no feeling that the teacher's highest ambition is to catch pupils in errors, and the pupil's highest achievement to avoid being caught. There should be no attempt at bluffing, or covering up errors or points not understood.

Probably the greatest factor in establis.h.i.+ng and maintaining a spirit of cooperation between teacher and cla.s.s is a deep-seated and sympathetic desire on the part of the teacher to be helpful. If his att.i.tude is that of a friend and co-worker, and his criticisms and corrections are all made in the spirit of helping to a better understanding rather than in the spirit of fault-finding, this will go far toward establis.h.i.+ng a spirit of cooperation in the cla.s.s.

This does not mean that the teacher shall be weak, and let mistakes or failures go by unnoticed. Weak teachers are never liked or respected.

It only means that the teacher, in making corrections or calling attention to failures, shall manifest the spirit of a helper and not of a faultfinder. It means that no matter how many times a teacher may have to correct or even punish a pupil, his att.i.tude toward the pupil will still be cordial and friendly. There are many persons who cannot correct a fault without having some enmity arise toward the one corrected. But what the teacher needs is to be able to correct, rebuke or punish, and at the same time keep the heart warm toward the wrongdoer. This will not only secure better results from the corrections, but will also foster the spirit of helpfulness and cooperation between teacher and school.

Finally, the cla.s.s should be brought to see that the school is _their_ school, and not the teacher's school or the board's school. They should realize that failure or low achievement is their loss, and not the teacher's loss. They should feel that their interests and those of the teacher, the board, and the taxpayers who support the school are all _common interests_, and that only as the pupils do their part will the interests of all be conserved.

V

THE a.s.sIGNMENT OF THE LESSON

1. _The importance of proper a.s.signment_

Upon the proper a.s.signment of the lesson depends much of the success of the recitation, and also much of the pupils' progress in learning how to study. The a.s.signment of the lesson thus becomes one of the most important duties of the recitation period. Too many times this is left until the very close of the cla.s.s hour, when there is no time left for proper a.s.signment, and the teacher can only say, "Take the next four pages," or "Work out the next twenty problems."

2. _Good a.s.signment and teaching the art of study_

We forget that children do not understand how to go to work at the lesson as we know how. The result is that they come back to the next recitation listless and uninterested, with the lesson not prepared.

Or, it may happen that the less timid ones, when they come to study the lesson, call upon the teacher to show them how to go to work. The teacher has then to take time needed for other things to show different individuals what should have been presented to the entire cla.s.s when the lesson was a.s.signed. Such a method is comparable with giving a set of tools into the hands of novices who do not know how to use them, and then, without any instruction in the use of the tools, expecting them to turn out good work, without loss of time.

Little children are unfamiliar with books,--with the paragraphs, outlines, divisions, and subdivisions of a subject. They hardly know how to "gather thought" from a printed page, and yet we expect them to "get their lesson" without being shown how to go at it. Much time is lost in this way, and many children are discouraged in their work and caused to dislike going to school.

The Germans far excel us in this feature of their school work. No cla.s.s of German children are ever sent to their seats with the simple direction to take so many pages in advance. Teacher and cla.s.s together go over the next lesson, the teacher calling the attention of the cla.s.s to the points of the lesson, asking them to hunt out subdivisions, etc., and instructing them how to prepare the lesson.

And the cla.s.s, having this necessary help, are able to prepare their lesson better and recite it better than the American children of the same age.

3. _The teacher's preparation for a.s.signment_

There are three chief reasons why teachers do not give more attention to the a.s.signment of the lesson: (1) Lack of time, (2) failure themselves to prepare the lesson in advance so as to be able to a.s.sign it, and (3) lack of understanding of proper methods of study.

Lack of time is not an adequate excuse for failure properly to a.s.sign the lesson. If there is but fifteen minutes for the recitation, all the more reason why this time should be used to the best advantage for the pupils. If one third of this time should be taken for the a.s.signment of the next lesson (and this is usually not too large a proportion in elementary cla.s.ses), then this much time should be taken. And, besides, if the lesson is well a.s.signed, so that it is better understood and prepared by the cla.s.s, more can be accomplished in ten minutes of actual reciting than in fifteen under the old method.

It may sometimes be advisable to a.s.sign the advance lesson at the beginning of the recitation, but usually it is better to wait until the close; for then the connection between the present lesson and the next can better be brought out.

Failure to look ahead in the textbook and become familiar with the next lesson renders it impossible properly to make the a.s.signment. The teacher must know the scope of the lesson, its chief points, and the main difficulties it will present to the cla.s.s. How often teachers are obliged to say to an unprepared cla.s.s: "I did not realize how hard that lesson was, or I would not have a.s.signed so much"; or, "That lesson was longer than I intended." All of which is a confession that the teacher was unprepared to make the a.s.signment properly. It is true that the teacher is very busy and has many lessons to prepare; but, on the other hand, the teacher who keeps a day ahead of the cla.s.s in his preparation will find that it abundantly pays in the greater mastery of his subject and the time saved in reviewing it preparatory to the recitation. This is not time lost, it is time saved.

The young teacher's lack of knowledge of the principles underlying the art of study is a more serious matter, and a difficulty harder to overcome. Every teacher should make a special study of the psychology of attention and interest. He should also come to know how the mind naturally approaches any new subject, first securing a _synthetic_ or bird's-eye view of it as a whole; how next it _a.n.a.lyzes_ it into its elements; and how finally it thinks them together, or _synthesizes_ them, into a new and better-understood whole.