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Munafa ebook

Munafa ebook

Read Ebook: The training of teachers in the United States of America by Bramwell Amy Blanche Hughes H Millicent Roberts R D Author Of Introduction Etc

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Ebook has 404 lines and 34368 words, and 9 pages

school hygiene; school organization; child-study; methods.

Educational classics and aesthetics.

Systems of Education:--European, American, National, State, County, City, District.

Opportunities are given for visiting schools in the city, and observing teachers and children, but no practice department is connected with the University.

At Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York, systematic instruction in pedagogy is given as a part of the Department of Philosophy. There is a professor of pedagogy, who gives courses of lectures on:--Institutes of Education; School Systems and Organization; Logic and Methodology; History of Education. Simple problems for experimental investigation in the psychological laboratory are discussed. Pedagogical conferences, somewhat on the lines of the German "Conferenz," are arranged, for criticism of school reports and plans of teaching various subjects; and seminaries of pedagogy and psychology have been instituted for laboratory work and original research. Beyond these strictly professional courses, there are courses in English, mathematics, Latin, etc., with direct reference to those who wish to become teachers in these subjects. Attendances at such courses counts towards a "Teachers' Certificate." The "Teachers' Certificate" is given to graduates of Cornell University, who have successfully pursued the first course on the Science and Art of Teaching, or that portion of it which relates to the general theory of education; and have also attained marked proficiency in a course of five hours' advanced work per week, for two years, in each subject for which the "Teachers' Certificate" is given.

At Syracuse University, New York, pedagogy is an elective subject during the third terms of the third and fourth university year, for those who take the philosophical course. There are also Normal Courses given by the university professors in their various subjects.

The introduction of pedagogy as a definite branch of the philosophical department at Harvard University, is perhaps one of the most important movements in the progress and development of the Science of Teaching in America. In establishing its course, "adapted to the purpose of teachers and persons intending to become teachers," Harvard has made recognition of the fact that something more than pure scholarship is needed to produce the successful teacher or professor. Accordingly, it has established two departments of training:--

i. Strictly professional courses in educational theory, history of educational theories and practice, lectures on the management of public schools and academies, and on the curriculum of the public schools; and a seminary course for advanced students.

ii. Other courses in methods, in connection with actual university instruction in the different parts of the curriculum.

Connected with the lectures on methods, and the organization and management of public schools, is the systematic inspection of designated schools by students, and a detailed report on some phase of school life observed there. Each student is required to make a comparative study of the teaching of a chosen subject, in all the grades of at least two schools; or he may make a study of supervision and discipline in two schools. Students must also make a comparative study of not less than three city school systems, of three State school systems, and of the school system of England, France, and Germany. This work of inspecting and reporting is considered a very important part of the pedagogical course.

The courses in methods, given by the professors of different college departments, are conducted by means of lectures and conferences in connection with Greek, Latin, English, German, French, history, mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, geology and geography. Most of these "Teachers' Courses" require attendance at some other college course in the same subject, where the professor illustrates his own method. In a few cases, attendance at lessons in the specified subjects, in schools near the University, is required.

The courses in pedagogy have, until the present year, been closed to all but graduates. Lately, however, the regulations have been changed, and pedagogical work may now count towards a degree.

There is no opportunity given to the Harvard pedagogical students for actual teaching; but the connection brought about between the college department and the secondary schools, by the constant attendance of students in the school-rooms of the neighbourhood, may possibly develop into a system wherein trained students may act as substitutes in these schools. Quite apart, however, from this possible future connection, there is even now an important practical relationship between Harvard University and some of the secondary schools--viz., that of supervision. In establishing a system of examination of the teaching in such schools as make application, Harvard has acknowledged the important principle that chief among the functions of an university is that of directing and stimulating secondary education.

The Department of Education at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, is a branch of the Department of Psychology. While doing much to advance the cause of the professional training of teachers, it does not strictly adapt its courses to the wants of the future secondary teacher. The fact that Clark University, unlike any other University in the United States, exists solely for the purpose of research, and admits only graduates as its students, determines that the pedagogical work shall also have a special character, well marked off from that of any other university. The department is purely one of higher pedagogy. Its aim is stated to be twofold:--

i. To give instruction and training to those who are preparing to be professors of pedagogy, superintendents, or teachers in higher institutions.

ii. To make scientific contributions to education.

The work pursued is in six courses, with an additional seminary course. These are:--

i. Present status and problems of higher education in America and Europe.

ii. Outline of systematic psychology.

iii. Organization of schools in Europe. Typical schools and typical foundations.

iv. School hygiene.

v. Educational reforms.

vi. Motor education of children, involving the study of writing and drawing, manual training, play, and gymnastics.

Among the other departments of psychology, there are many of great interest to the student of higher pedagogy.

Some of these are:--

i. History of psychology.

ii. Experimental psychology.

iii. Anthropology .

iv. Ethics .

v. Feeling .

vi. Neurology .

It is to the contribution of new scientific facts to the educational world that Clark University chiefly devotes itself, and in doing this valuable work it has shown itself quite willing to acknowledge the results of observation and experiment of a very different kind from its own--viz., that of parents and teachers in the home and school. The records of the observation of children made by the students of the Worcester Normal School are given to Dr. Stanley Hall to be used in any way that may help true scientific research on the subject. It is evident that results gain by approaching the same problems from the practical and scientific standpoints, will be much more secure than they could be otherwise, and will supply valuable contributions to the educational world.

Among the most distinctively American educational institutions are Summer Schools for Teachers. They are meetings organized during the long summer vacations by private individuals, or in connection with some University Normal or Training School, for the help and stimulation of teachers who have otherwise no opportunity for training.

The exact character of the work of a school is dependent entirely upon the educational aims and methods of the principal of the school, and the purpose for which teachers give up three or four weeks of their holiday to attend a Summer School may be different in different cases. The teachers of country schools, inadequately prepared for their work of teaching, often attend the Summer School in their county, in order to gain a State training certificate of a higher grade than that which they already possess; while teachers in city schools, most of whom have been trained in Normal Schools, attend a Summer School like that of Colonel Parker, at Englewood, to get stimulation for future work, and to pursue, in addition, a systematic study of pedagogy. Graduates, who are teaching in schools and academies during the year, often attend a Summer School in connection with an University, in order to pursue further study in various branches. The Summer Schools I visited at Benton Harbour, Englewood, Chautauqua, and the Summer School of Cornell University, illustrate the different lines of work mentioned.

At Benton Harbour, a small town on the shores of Lake Michigan, a Summer School was held for four weeks, and was attended by about fifty teachers of the rural districts of Michigan, who came to prepare for a third-grade Teachers' Certificate of the State of Michigan. Lessons were given in ordinary school subjects, pedagogy and drill from half-past seven in the morning until three or four o'clock in the afternoon. I spent three or four days at this school, heard daily lessons in psychology, physical culture, civil government, English, elocution, and other subjects, and saw the working of the school generally. The teaching in all subjects was very elementary, as little previous knowledge could be assumed.

Daily work began with exercises in which the whole school took part. The singing of a hymn afforded an opportunity for a singing lesson being given to the whole school, the principal acting as instructor. Then came the reading of Holy Scripture, or of selections from literature, and a short discourse by the principal, after which students were called upon to give quotations from the works of famous men and women, or to recite short poems which had been previously prepared. At the end of these public exercises, the students were required to dismiss according to word of command, to turn, march to music, and to drill as a class of children would have been required to do. This was intended to teach the students how to dismiss and drill a school or class.

Lessons in psychology were given by the principal. The treatment of the subject was necessarily very elementary, and, indeed, superficial. I noticed that the teacher constantly digressed on practical points, and seemed to know exactly when digression would be of advantage to his pupils.

Daily lessons on "Experiments" were also given. These were talks on some of the most elementary principles of science, and easy experiments showing how such principles might be illustrated in class. Capillary attraction was illustrated in a lesson I heard, and its bearing on everyday life was shown. Pupils were required to come out of their seats, and to arrange simple apparatus before the class. As they were quite unaccustomed to manipulate even the simplest materials, they seemed to find considerable difficulty even in drawing out glass tubing and clamping together glass plates.

The feature of the school, perhaps, the most interesting, was the anxiety shown by these rural teachers to lose no opportunity for improvement, and the keenness with which they followed their daily lessons. Some of them were so untrained as to find great difficulty in following the word of command during drill, but these, who were painfully conscious of their defects, made rapid progress even in a week's time. Summer Schools like that of Benton Harbour may give real help to the ill-prepared and untrained country teachers, in increasing their knowledge, and widening their interests. They offer advantages to those who have no opportunity for training, but their conditions are such as to prevent their becoming an adequate substitute for it. Indeed, their very existence acknowledges the fact that country teachers have no opportunities for preparation, and in itself sanctions a certain amount of superficiality.

The principal object of Colonel Parker's Summer School, held in previous years at Chautauqua, New York, but this year at Englewood, Chicago, is to stimulate teachers of all kinds, and to suggest lines of work to be developed by them during the year. Attracted by the name and work of Colonel Parker, more than 200 teachers, superintendents of schools, and persons interested in education, came from nearly all the States of the Union to attend the Summer School at Englewood. Most of the ordinary school staff of the Cook County Normal School at Englewood acted as teachers in the Summer School, and Colonel Parker himself gave daily lectures in psychology. Daily lessons were also given in the teaching of science, language, and reading, "number" or arithmetic, music, drawing, and also in voice culture, Sloyd, physical culture, blackboard drawing, and other subjects advantageous to the teacher. The methods of teaching taught in the Normal School at Englewood were explained and exemplified in the Summer School, and Kindergarten and primary classes attached to the Normal School were taught during the weeks in which the Summer School was held, in order to show the practical application of the methods discussed. The students selected their courses of study. All, however, were expected to attend the psychology lectures. The classes in methods of teaching science, methods of laboratory work, methods of teaching language and reading, and methods of teaching "number" or arithmetic, were the most largely attended. Very keen interest was also taken in the blackboard drawing.

The work in methods of science was carried on by lectures, laboratory work by students, and field work. An important feature of the science lectures was the attention paid to methods of meteorological observation. Blank charts, to show the daily range and variation of temperature and air-pressure, were filled in by the students; United States Weather Bureau maps were studied; the origin and course of storms in the United States were followed. The relation of science to other subjects, number, reading, modelling, painting, drawing, writing, language, was brought out in the lectures, all the instruction being such as to suggest methods of actually dealing with the subjects before a class of children. The laboratory work was especially suggestive. The Summer School pupils did individual experimental work, and had the same instruction and treatment as a class of children would have had. The practical science course for the Summer School was:

Making a magnetic needle.

Heat. Conductivity of Metals.

" Expansion of Metals.

" Determination of boiling-point of fresh and salt-water.

" Expansion of liquids and air.

" Chemical change.

Pressure of air. Pump and syphon.

Mechanical constituents of soil .

" " " .

Physical properties of soils .

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