College Teaching Part 40

It grows out of the biological discussion of instinct, heredity, etc.

Included in the subject of memory is that of a.s.sociation. Following this come imagination, imitation, training of the senses, apperception, formal discipline, feeling, volition, motor training, induction, etc. Periods of mental development and the specific topics of childhood and adolescence should receive definite consideration, though more exhaustive treatment should be reserved for a distinct course in child study. The genetic point of view should be emphasized throughout.

While the number of students registered for educational psychology is not large, the numbers that are in reality pursuing this branch are increasing. Fortunately, the "psychology for teachers" and "applied psychology" of a score of years ago are giving way to a kind of educational psychology that is much more vital. Men like Judd and Thorndike are formulating a psychology of the different branches of study and of the teaching processes involved that will enable the teacher to see the connection between the psychological laws and the processes to be learned. This sort of work has been made possible by the work of Hall and his followers in studying the child and the adolescent from the standpoint of growth periods and the types of activity suited to each period. Educational psychology is therefore represented richly in principles of education, genetic psychology, mental development, child study, and adolescence, as well as in the courses labeled "Educational Psychology."

=Social aspects of education=

Twelve years ago courses on social phases of education were probably not offered anywhere, as they are not listed in my tabulation at that time. Today they appear in some form or other in almost every department of education. In Columbia the work is given as "Educational Sociology." The departments of sociology also emphasize various phases of educational problems. Courses on vocational education, industrial education, and vocational guidance all emphasize the same idea. The introduction of these courses means that the merely disciplinary aim of education is fast giving way to that of adjustment and utility.

Educational means are (1) to enable the child to live happily and to develop normally, and (2) to furnish a kind of training which will enable him to serve society to the utmost advantage. In the courses on educational sociology, there should be an attempt to help the student feel that the highest aim of education is not individualistic, but social. The purpose is to fit the individual for cooperation, developing agencies of life that shall be mutually advantageous, for democratic society seeks the highest welfare of all its members through the cooperation and contribution of each of its members. It teaches us not only the rights and privileges of society but also its duties and obligations.

The best individual development also comes only through the social interaction of minds, and consequently various phases of social psychology must receive consideration. Various forms of cooperative effort which enlist the interest of children at various stages of development should be studied. Inasmuch as educators should link school and home, typical ill.u.s.trations of the manifold means of relating the school and society should be studied, so that the teacher will not be without knowledge of their possibilities.

=The child the center=

Throughout the country there is evidence that the curricula in education departments have for their central object a scientific knowledge of the child, and the better adaptation of educational means to the development of the potentialities possessed by the child. This idea is evidenced by the fact that the foundation courses are psychology, principles of education, child study, educational psychology. The fact that the history of education is still so largely given as a relatively beginning course shows that the new idea has not gained complete acceptance. Many specialized courses in child study are offered, among them being such courses as the "Psychology of Childhood," "Childhood and Adolescence," "Psychopathic, r.e.t.a.r.ded, and Mentally Deficient Children," "Genetic Psychology," "The Anthropological Study of Children," "The Physical Nature of the Child." At the University of Pittsburgh a school of childhood has been established which will combine in theory and practice the best ideals in the kindergarten, the modern primary school, and the Montessori system. Clark University has had for some years its Children's Inst.i.tute, which attempts to a.s.semble the best literature on childhood and the best materials of instruction in childhood. Many of the courses in educational tests and measurements center around the study of the child.

=Methods of teaching the subject=

Naturally, methods of teaching the subject vary exceedingly in the different inst.i.tutions. Each instructor to a large extent follows his own individual inclinations. Probably the great majority pursue the lecture method to a considerable extent. The lectures are generally accompanied by readings either from some textbook or from collateral readings.

The writer has personally pursued the combination method. For years before his own book on _Principles of Education_ was completed the subject was presented in lecture form, and accompanied by library readings. Even now, with a textbook at hand, each new topic is outlined in an informal development lecture. Definite a.s.signments are made from the text, and from collateral readings, which include additional texts, periodical literature, and selected chapters from various educational books. After students have had an opportunity to read copiously and to think out special problems, an attempt is made to discuss the entire topic orally. That is possible and very fruitful in cla.s.ses of the right size,--not over thirty. In large cla.s.ses numbering from sixty to one hundred or more, the oral discussion is not profitable unless the instructor is very skilled in conducting the discussion. The questions should never be for the purpose of merely securing answers perfectly obvious to all in the cla.s.s. The questions should seek to unfold new phases of the subject. Difficult points should be considered, new contributions should be made by the students and the instructor, and all should feel that it is really an enlargement, a broadening, and a deepening of ideas gained through the lectures and the a.s.signed readings. Very frequently individual students should be a.s.signed special topics for report. A good deal of care must be exercised in this connection, for unless the material is a real contribution and is presented effectively, the rest of the students become wearied. If possible, the instructor should know exactly what points are to be brought out, and the approximate amount of time to be occupied.

Throughout, an attempt is made to make the work as concrete as possible, and to show its relation to matters pertaining to the schoolroom, the home, and the everyday conduct of the students themselves. Each topic is treated with considerable thoroughness and detail. No endeavor is made to secure an absolutely systematic and ultra-logical system. The charge of being logically unsystematic and incomplete would not be resented. There is no desire for a system. As in the elementary stages of any subject, the first requisite is a body of fundamental facts. There is time enough later to evolve an all-inclusive and all-exclusive system. I am not aware that even the "doctors" have yet fully settled this question. The psychological order is the one sought. What is intelligible, full of living interest, and of largest probable importance in the life and work of the student teacher are the criteria applied in the selection of materials. The student verdict is given much weight in deciding.

A rather successful plan of providing an adequate number of duplicates of books much used has been developed by the writer at the State University of Iowa and at the University of Washington. In all courses in which no single suitable text is found the students are asked to contribute a small sum, from twenty-five to fifty cents, for the purpose of purchasing duplicates. These books are placed on the reserve shelf, and this makes it possible for large cla.s.ses to be accommodated with a relatively small number of books. Ordinarily there should be one book for every four or five students, if all are expected to read the same a.s.signment. If options are allowed, the proportion of books may be reduced. The books become the property of the inst.i.tution, and a fine library of duplicate sets rapidly acc.u.mulates. In about five years about fifteen hundred volumes have been secured in this way at the University of Washington. Valuable pamphlet material and reprints of important articles also are collected and kept in filing boxes.

FREDERICK E. BOLTON _University of Washington_

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. ARTICLES ON TEACHING OF EDUCATIONAL THEORY

BOLTON, FREDERICK E. The Relation of the Department of Education to Other Departments in Colleges and Universities. _Journal of Pedagogy_, Vol. XIX, Nos. 2, 3, December, 1906, March, 1907.

---- Curricula in University Departments of Education. _School and Society_, December 11, 1915, pages 829-841.

JUDD, CHARLES H. The Department of Education in American Universities.

_School Review_, Vol. 17, November, 1909.

HOLLISTER, HORACE A. Courses in Education Best Adapted to the Needs of High School Teachers and High School Princ.i.p.als. _School and Home Education_, April, 1917.

2. BOOKS ON THE GENERAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PHASES OF EDUCATION

BAGLEY, WILLIAM C. _The Educative Process._ The Macmillan Company, 1907. 358 pages.

---- _Educational Values._ The Macmillan Company, 1911. 267 pages.

BOLTON, FREDERICK E. _Principles of Education._ Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910. 790 pages.

BUTLER, NICHOLAS MURRAY. _The Meaning of Education, and Other Essays._ The Macmillan Company, 1915. 386 pages. Revised Edition.

CUBBERLEY, ELLWOOD P. _Changing Conceptions of Education._ Houghton Mifflin Company, 1909. 70 pages.

DAVENPORT, EUGENE. _Education for Efficiency._ D. C. Heath & Company, 1909. 184 pages.

DEWEY, JOHN. _Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education._ Macmillan, 1916. 434 pages.

FREEMAN, FRANK N. _Experimental Education._ Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916. 220 pages.

---- _Psychology of the Common Branches._ Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916. 275 pages.

---- _How Children Learn._ Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917. 322 pages.

GORDON, KATE. _Educational Psychology._ Henry Holt & Co., 1917. 294 pages.

GROSZMANN, M. P. E. _Some Fundamental Verities in Education._ Richard Badger, 1916. 118 pages.

GUYER, MICHAEL. _Being Well-Born._ Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1916. 374 pages.

HALL, G. S. _Educational Problems._ D. Appleton & Co., 1911. 2 volumes, 710 pages and 714 pages.

HECK, W. H. _Mental Discipline and Educational Values._ John Lane & Co., 1911. 208 pages.

HENDERSON, CHARLES H. _Education and the Larger Life._ Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912. 386 pages.

---- _What Is It to be Educated?_ Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914. 462 pages.

HENDERSON, ERNEST N. _A Textbook on the Principles of Education._ The Macmillan Company, 1910. 593 pages.

HORNE, HERMAN H. _The Philosophy of Education._ The Macmillan Company, 1904. 295 pages.

---- _The Psychological Principles of Education._ The Macmillan Company, 1906. 435 pages.

KLAPPER, PAUL. _Principles of Educational Practice._ D. Appleton & Co., 1912. 485 pages.

MOORE, ERNEST C. _What is Education?_ Ginn and Co., 1915. 357 pages.

O'SHEA, M. VINCENT. _Dynamic Factors in Education._ The Macmillan Company, 1906. 321 pages.

---- _Education as Adjustment._ Longmans, Green & Co., 1903. 348 pages.

---- _Linguistic Development and Education._ The Macmillan Company, 1907. 247 pages.

PYLE, WILLIAM H. _The Science of Human Nature._ Silver, Burdett & Co., 1917. 229 pages.

---- _The Outlines of Educational Psychology._ Warwick & York, 1911.

276 pages.

RUEDIGER, WILLIAM C. _Principles of Education._ Houghton Mifflin Company, 1910. 305 pages.