Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education

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PRECAUTIONS

It is evident from the above considerations, that certain precautions
should be observed in deciding upon the particular subject-matter to be
included in each lesson topic.

1. A just balance should be maintained between the difficulty of each
lesson unit and the ability of the class. Matter that is too easy
requires no effort in its mastery and hence is uninteresting. Matter
that is too difficult discourages effort, and is, therefore, equally
uninteresting. It should be sufficiently easy for every pupil to master,
and sufficiently difficult to require real effort.

2. The amount of matter included should be carefully adjusted to the
length of time taken for the lesson and to the attainments of the class.
If too much is attempted, there will be insufficient time for adequate
drill and review, and hence there will be lack of thoroughness. If too
little is attempted, time will be wasted in needless repetition.

3. Each unit of instruction in any subject should, in general, grow out
of the preceding unit taken in that subject, and be closely connected
with it. It is in this way that a pupil's interest is aroused for the
new problem and his knowledge becomes organized. Neglect in this regard
results in the possession of disconnected and unsystematized facts.

Each lesson should contain one or more central facts around which the
other facts are grouped. This permits easy organization of the material
of the lesson, and ensures its retention by the pupils. Further, the
pupils are by this means trained to discriminate between the essential
and the non-essential.

CHAPTER XVII

LESSON TYPES

=The Developing Lesson.=--In the various lesson plans already
considered, the aim has always appeared as an attempt to direct the
learning process so that the pupil may both build up a new experience
and also gain such control over it as will enable him to turn it to
practical use. Because in all such lessons the teacher is supposed to
direct the pupils through the four steps of the learning process in such
a way that they discover for themselves some important new experience,
or develop it out of their own present knowledge, the lessons are spoken
of as developing lessons. Moreover, the two parts of the lesson in which
the new experience is especially gained by the pupils, namely the
selecting and relating processes, are often spoken of as a single step
and called the step of _development,_ the lesson then being treated
under four heads: Problem, preparation, development, and application.

=Auxiliary Lessons.=--It is evident, however, that there may be lessons
in which this direct attempt to have the pupils build up some wholly new
experience through a regularly controlled learning process, will not
appear as the chief purpose of the lesson. In the previous consideration
of the deductive lesson, it was pointed out that this type may be used
to give a further mastery of general rules previously learned, rather
than a knowledge of particular examples. Such would be the case in an
ordinary parsing and analysis lesson in grammar. Here the primary
purpose is, evidently, not to give the pupils a grammatical knowledge
of the particular words and sentences which are being parsed and
analysed, but rather to give them better control of certain general
rules of language which they have partially mastered in previous
lessons. So also a lesson in writing may seek, not to teach the form of
some new letter, but to give skill in writing a letter form which the
pupils have already learned. In an exercise in addition of fractions,
also, the aim is not so much to have the pupil know these particular
questions, as to have him gain a more complete control of the previously
learned rule. In other lessons the pupils may be left to secure new
knowledge largely for themselves, and the recitation be devoted to
testing whether they have been able to accomplish this successfully. In
still other lessons the teacher may merely outline a certain topic or
certain topics, preparatory to such independent study by the pupils.

The following outlines will explain and exemplify these auxiliary lesson
types.

THE STUDY LESSON

=Purpose of Study Lesson.=--The purpose of the Study Lesson is the
mastery by the pupils of a stated portion of the text-book. Ultimately,
however it is the cultivation of the power of gleaning information from
the printed page, of selecting essential features, and of arranging
these in their proper relationships.

The main difficulty in connection with the study lesson is the
adaptation of the matter to the interests of the pupils. This difficulty
is sometimes due to their inability to interpret the language of the
book, and to the difficulty of their distinguishing the salient features
from the non-essential. The trouble in this regard is accentuated when
they approach the lesson with an inadequate preparation of mind.

The study lesson falls naturally into two parts, the assignment and the
seat work.

=The Assignment.=--The object of the assignment is to put the pupils in
an attitude of inquiry toward the new matter. It corresponds to the
conception of the problem and the step of preparation in the development
lesson. The most successful assignment is one in which the interest of
the pupils is aroused to such a pitch that they are anxious to read more
about the subject. In general it will consist of a recall of those
ideas, or a statement of those facts upon which the interpretation of
the new matter depends. Most of the unsuccessful study lessons are due
to insufficient care in the assignment. Often pupils are told to read so
many pages of the book, without any preliminary preparation and without
any idea of what facts they are to learn. Under such conditions, the
result is usually a very slight interest in the lesson, and consequently
an unsatisfactory grasp of it.

=Examples of Assignment.=--A few examples will serve to illustrate what
is meant by an adequate assignment. When a new reading lesson is to be
prepared, the assignment should include the pronunciation and meaning of
the different words, and a general understanding of the passage to be
read. For a new spelling lesson, the assignment should include the
pronunciation and meaning of the words, and any special difficulties
that may appear in them. In assigning a history lesson on, say, the
Capture of Quebec, the teacher should discuss with the class the
position of Quebec, the difficulties that would present themselves to a
besieging army, the character and personal appearance of Wolfe (making
him stand out as vividly as possible), and the position seized by the
British army, illustrating as far as possible by maps and diagrams.
Then the class will be in a mental attitude to read with interest the
dramatic story of the taking of the fortress. If the pupils were about
to study the geography of British Columbia, the teacher might, in the
assignment, ask them to note from the map of Canada the position of the
province and the direction of the mountain ranges; to infer the
character and direction of the rivers and their value for navigation; to
infer the nature of the climate, knowing the direction of the prevailing
winds; to infer the character of the chief industries, knowing the
physical features and climate. With these facts in mind the class will
be able to read intelligently what the text-book says about British
Columbia.

=The Seat Work.=--However good the assignment may be, there is always a
danger that there will be much waste of time in connection with the seat
work. The tendency to mind-wandering is always so great that the time
devoted to the preparation of lessons at seats may to a large extent be
lost, unless special precautions are taken in that regard. Unfortunately
every lesson cannot be made so enthralling that the pupil's mind is kept
upon it in spite of distractions. To prevent this possible waste of
time, suggestions have already been made in another connection (page 112
above). These will bear repetition here. Questions upon the matter to be
studied might be placed on the black-board and pupils asked to prepare
answers for these. The difficulty with this plan is, that, unless the
questions are carefully thought out by the teacher, the pupils may get
from their reading only a few disconnected facts instead of organized
knowledge. The pupils might be asked to prepare lists of questions for
themselves, and the one who had the best list might be permitted to put
his questions to the rest of the class. The difficulty here is that
most pupils have a tendency to question about what is unimportant and
to neglect the important. In the higher classes, the pupils might be
required to make a topical outline of the lesson studied. This requires
considerable analytic ability, and the results at first are likely to be
disappointing. However, it is an ability worth striving for. The
individual who can readily outline what he has read has mastered the art
of reading.

=Use of Study Lessons.=--There is a danger that the study lesson may be
used too much or too little. In an ungraded school containing many
classes, the teacher may be tempted to rely solely upon the study lesson
as a means of intellectual advancement. Used exclusively it becomes
monotonous, and the pupils grow weary of the constant effort required.
On the other hand, in the graded school, where a teacher has charge of
only one class, there will be a tendency to depend entirely on the oral
presentation of lessons, to the exclusion of the text-book altogether.
The result is that pupils do not cultivate the power to obtain knowledge
from books. The study lesson should alternate with the oral lesson, so
that monotony may be avoided, and the pupils will reap the undoubted
benefits of both methods.

THE RECITATION LESSON

=Purpose of the Recitation Lesson.=--The recitation lesson is the
complement of the study lesson. Its purpose is to test the pupil's grasp
of the facts he has read during the study period. Incidentally the
teacher clears up difficulties and corrects misconceptions on the part
of the pupil. The facts of the text-book may be amplified from the
teacher's stock of information. Abstract facts may be illustrated in a
concrete way. The important facts may be emphasized and the unimportant
ones lightly passed over. The ultimate aim of the recitation lesson is
to add something to the pupil's power of interpreting and organizing
facts.

=Precautions.=--Some precautions are to be noted in connection with the
recitation lesson. (1) Care must be exercised that the pupils are not
reciting mere words that have no solid basis of ideas. Young children
are particularly expert at verbalizing. (2) Care must also be taken that
the pupils have not merely scrappy information, but have the ideas
thoroughly organized. (3) The teacher must know the facts to be recited
well enough to be independent of the text-book during the recitation. To
conduct the lesson with an open book before him is a confession of
weakness on the part of the teacher.

CONDUCTING THE RECITATION LESSON

There are two methods of conducting the recitation lesson, namely, the
question and answer method and the topical method.

=A. The Question and Answer Method.=--This is the easier method for the
pupil, as he is called upon to answer only in a brief form detailed
questions asked by the teacher. The onus of the analysis of the lesson
rests largely upon the teacher. He must ask the questions in a proper
sequence so that, if the answers of the pupils were written out, they
would form a connected account of the matter. He must be able to detect
from the pupils' answers whether they have real knowledge or are merely
masquerading with words. To be able to question well is one of the most
valuable accomplishments that a teacher can possess. The whole problem
of the art of questioning will be considered in the next Chapter.

=B. The Topical Method.=--The topical recitation consists in the pupil's
reporting the facts of the study lesson with a minimum of questioning on
the part of the teacher. Two advantages are apparent: (1) It gives the
pupil an excellent training in organizing his materials, and (2) it
develops his language power. It is to be feared that the topical
recitation is not so frequently used as its value warrants. The reason
is probably that it is a difficult method to follow. Poor results are
usually secured at first, teachers grow discouraged, they stop trying
it, and thereafter put their whole faith in the question and answer
recitation. This is unfortunate, for however good the latter may be, it
is greatly inferior to the topical recitation in helping the pupil to
institute relations among his facts, and in improving his power to use
his mother-tongue effectively. Successful topical recitations can be
secured only at the price of long, patient, and persistent effort. The
teacher can gradually work towards them from detailed questions to
questions requiring the combination of a few sentences in answer, and
thence to the complete outline. In almost every lesson the pupils may be
called upon to summarize some topic after it has been gone over by means
of detailed questions. In such answers the pupils may reasonably be
expected to state the facts in their proper connection and in good
language form. In reviews, also, in such subjects as history and
geography, the pupils should be frequently called upon to recite
topically.

THE DRILL LESSON

=Purpose of Drill Lesson.=--The Drill Lesson involves the repetition of
matter in the same form as it was originally learned, in order to fix it
in the mind so firmly that its recall will eventually become automatic.
In other words, the function of this type of lesson is habit-formation.
It is necessary in those subjects that are more or less mechanical in
nature, and that can be reduced to the plane of habit. The field of the
drill lesson will, therefore, be largely restricted to spelling,
writing, language, and the mechanical phases of art and arithmetic.

=The Method.=--As the purpose of the drill lesson is the formation of
habit, the method will involve the application of the principles that
lie at the basis of habit-formation. These are, (1) attention to the
thing to be done so as to obtain a vivid picture or a clear
understanding of it, and (2) repetition with attention. For instance, if
the writing lesson is the formation of the capital E, the class will
examine carefully a model form, note the parts of which it is composed,
the relative size and position of the parts, how they are connected,
etc. Then will follow the repetition of the form by the pupils, each
time with careful attention to the method of making it, comparison with
the model, and the noting of defects in their work. This will continue
until the letter can be made correctly without attention, that is, until
the method of making it has been reduced to a habit. If the lesson is on
the spelling of difficult words, the first step will be to observe the
pronunciation of each, the division into syllables, the difficult part
of the word, and the order of the letters. Then the word will be
repeated attentively until it can be spelled without effort. In a
language lesson on the correct use, say, of "lie" and "lay," the pupils
will first be called upon to observe the forms of each, "lie, lay, lain,
lying," and "lay, laid, laying"--as used in sentences on the
black-board, and the meaning of each group--"lie" meaning "to recline"
and "lay" meaning "to place." The pupils will then repeat attentively
the correct forms of the words in sentences, until they finally reach
the stage when they unconsciously use the words correctly, or as habits
of speech. The same principles apply in learning the addition and
multiplication tables, and the tables of weights and measures in
arithmetic; in the memorization of gems of poetry and prose; in the
learning of dates, lists of events, and important provisions of acts in
history; and in the memorization of lists of places and products in
geography, where this is desirable. In all the cases mentioned, it must
not be supposed that a single drill lesson will be sufficient for the
fixing of the desired knowledge or skill. Before instant and unconscious
reaction can be depended upon, repetition will be needed at intervals
for some time.

=Danger in Mere Repetition.=--In connection with the repetition
necessary in the second stage of the drill lesson, an important
precaution should be noted. It is impossible for anybody to repeat
anything _attentively_ many times in succession unless there is some new
element noted in each repetition. When there is no longer a new element,
the repetition becomes mechanical, and hence comparatively useless so
far as acquisition of knowledge or even habit is concerned. To ask a
pupil who has difficulty with a combination in addition, or a product in
multiplication, or the spelling of a word, to repeat it many times in
succession, may be not only waste of time, but even worse, because a
tendency toward mind-wandering may be encouraged. The practice of
requiring pupils to write out new words, or words that have been
mis-spelled in the dictation lesson, five, ten, or twenty times
successively, cannot be too strongly condemned. The attention cannot
possibly be concentrated upon the work beyond two or three repetitions,
and the fact that pupils frequently make mistakes two or three words
down the column and repeat this mistake to the end, is sufficient proof
of the mechanical nature of the process. The little boy who had
difficulty with the use of "went" and "gone," and was commanded by his
teacher to write "I have gone" a hundred times on his slate, illustrates
this principle exactly. He had been left to finish his task alone and,
after writing "I have gone" faithfully forty or fifty times, grew tired
of the monotony of the process. Turning the slate over, he wrote on the
other side, "I have went home" and left it on the desk for the teacher's
approval.

=How to Overcome Dangers.=--To avoid this difficulty, some device must
be adopted to secure attention to each repetition until the knowledge is
firmly fixed. For instance, instead of asking the pupil many times one
after the other, what seven times six are, it would be better to
introduce other combinations and come back frequently to seven times
six. In that way the pupil would have to attend to it every time it came
up. Similarly, in learning to spell a troublesome word like "separate,"
the best plan would be to mix it up with other words and come back to it
often. Repetition is always necessary in the drill lesson, but it should
always be _repetition with attention_.

THE REVIEW LESSON

=Purpose of Review Lesson.=--As the name implies, a review is a new view
of old knowledge. While the drill lesson repeats the matter in the same
form as it was originally learned, the review lesson repeats the matter
from another standpoint or in new relations. The function of the review
lesson is the organization of the material of a series of lessons into
an inter-connected whole, and incidentally the fixing of these facts in
the mind by the additional repetitions.

=Kinds of Review.=--Almost every lesson gives opportunities for
incidental reviews. The step of preparation recalls old ideas in new
connections, and may be properly considered a review. A lesson on the
"gerund" in grammar would require a recall of the various relations in
which a noun may stand, and the various ways in which a verb may be
completed. It is quite probable that the pupils have never before
brought these facts together in an organized way. Similarly, the step of
expression affords opportunity for review. The solution of problems in
simple interest confronts the pupils with new situations in which this
principle can be applied. The reproduction of the matter of the history
lesson requires the selection of the important facts from the mass of
details given and the placing of these in their proper relationship to
one another.

But besides the incidental reviews which form a part of nearly all
lessons, there must be lessons which are purely reviews. Without these,
the pupil, because of insufficient repetition, would rapidly forget the
facts he had once learned or would never really know the facts at all,
because he had not seen them in all their connections. There are two
methods of conducting these reviews: (1) by means of the topical
outline, (2) by means of the method of comparison.

THE TOPICAL REVIEW

=Purpose of Topical Outlines.=--By this method the pupil gets a
bird's-eye view of a whole field. In learning the matter originally, his
attention was largely concentrated upon the individual facts, and it is
quite probable that he has since lost sight of some of the threads of
unity running through them. The topical outline will bring these into
prominence. It will enable the pupil to keep in his mind the most
important headings of a subject, the sub-headings, and the individual
facts coming under these. Whatever may be said against the practice of
memorizing topical outlines, it must be acknowledged that unless it is
done the pupil's knowledge of the subject is likely to be very hazy,
indefinite, and disconnected.

=Illustrations from History.=--As an illustration of the review lesson
by means of the topical outline, take the history of the Hudson's Bay
Company. If the pupil has followed the order of the text-book, he has
probably learned this subject in pieces--a bit here, another some pages
later, and still another a few chapters farther on. In the multiplicity
of other events, he has probably missed the connections among the facts,
and a topical review will be necessary to establish these. He may be
required to go through his history text-book, reading all the parts
relating to the Hudson's Bay Company. He will thus get a grasp of the
relationships among the facts, and this will be made firmer if an
outline such as the following is worked out with the assistance of the
teacher.

THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY

I. EARLY HISTORY:

1. Groseilliers and Radisson interest Prince Rupert in
possibilities of trade in North-Western Canada. Two vessels fitted
out for Hudson's Bay. Report favourable.

2. Charter granted Hudson's Bay Company by Charles II, 1670.

3. Forts Nelson, Albany, Rupert, and Hayes attacked and captured by
DeTroyes and D'Iberville, 1686. Restored by Treaty of Utrecht,
1713.

II. NATURE OF FUR-TRADE:

1. Furs gathered by Indians in winter.

2. Conveyed to forts in summer, after incredible difficulties.

3. Ceremonies on arrival of Indians at forts.

4. Articles exchanged for furs at first showy and worthless, but
later more useful and valuable, for example, guns, hatchets,
powder, shot, blankets, etc.

III. RIVALS OF HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY:

1. Coureurs-de-bois.

2. Scottish traders--ranged from Michilimackinac to Saskatchewan.
H.B. Co. built Cumberland House on Saskatchewan to compete for
interior trade.

3. North-West Company, 1783-4--at first friendly to H.B. Co., but
later bitter enemies.

IV. THE SELKIRK SETTLEMENT:

1. _Establishment._--Lord Selkirk, a Scottish philanthropist, and a
shareholder in the Hudson's Bay Co., purchased from the Company
70,000 square miles of land around Red River for Scotch colonies,
1811. About three hundred settlers came within three years. Miles
Macdonell at head of the colony.

2. _Trouble with North-West Company._--

(_a_) Suspicion of N.W. Co. that colony was established by H.B. Co.
to compete for fur trade.

(_b_) Proclamation of Macdonell that food should not be taken out
of settlement. Attack on colony by Metis Indians encouraged by N.W.
Co. Withdrawal of colonists to Lake Winnipeg.

(_c_) Return with reinforcements under Semple. Skirmish at Seven
Oaks, 1816. Semple with twenty others killed.

(_d_) Selkirk's descent upon Fort William. Arrest of several
Nor'Westers. Colony at Red River restored.

(_e_) Nor'Westers acquitted of murder of Semple. Selkirk convicted
and heavily fined for acts of violence. Selkirk withdrew from
Canada in disappointment and disgust.

3. _Later Progress._--

(_a_) Hardships of pioneer life like those of Ontario.

(_b_) A series of disasters--grasshoppers, floods.

(_c_) Prosperity finally came.

(_d_) Government at first administered by governor of H.B. Co.,
later assisted by Council of fourteen members.

V. AMALGAMATION OF RIVAL COMPANIES:

1. _Union._--

After withdrawal of Selkirk, the H.B. Co. and the N.W. Co. united
in 1821, under name of former.

2. _Subsequent Progress._--

(_a_) Governor Sir George Simpson extended posts westward to
Pacific.

(_b_) Through his energy Britain was able to retain possession of
Western Canada in spite of aggression of United States and Russia.

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