Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education Part 15

3. _Later Progress._--

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

(_b_) A series of disasters--gra.s.shoppers, floods.

(_c_) Prosperity finally came.

(_d_) Government at first administered by governor of H.B. Co., later a.s.sisted 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.

VI. RELINQUISHMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS:

1. Canadian Government claimed that the rule of the Company hindered development of Western Canada because it was interested only in trade.

2. _Agreement with Canadian Government._--

(_a_) Company sold Prince Rupert's Land and gave up its trade monopoly.

(_b_) In return.--

(i) Received 300,000.

(ii) Retained one twentieth of land south of the Saskatchewan.

(iii) Retained its posts and trading privileges.

3. Company still exists as a trading organization with many posts in the West and large stores in many cities.

VII. SERVICES OF H.B. CO. TO CANADA AND THE EMPIRE:

1. Opened up a valuable trade in Western Canada.

2. Explored and opened up the West for settlement.

3. Retained for Britain the territory west of Rockies when it was in danger of falling into other hands.

The subjects of the Public and Separate School Course where topical reviews are most necessary are history and geography.

THE COMPARATIVE REVIEW

A thing always stands out most vividly in the mind when the relations of similarity and difference are perceived between it and other things.

When we compare and contrast two things, certain features of each that would otherwise escape our attention are brought to light. We get a clearer idea of both the rabbit and the squirrel when we compare their various characteristics. Great Britain and Germany are each better understood geographically, when we set up comparisons between them; Pitt and Walpole stand out more clearly as statesmen when we compare and contrast them. One of the most effective forms of review is that in which the relations of likeness and difference are set up between subjects that have already been studied. For instance, the geographical features of Manitoba and British Columbia may be effectively reviewed by inst.i.tuting comparisons between them in regard to (1) position and size, (2) physical features, (3) climate, (4) industries, (5) products, (6) commercial centres. The careers of Walpole and Pitt might be reviewed by comparing and contrasting them with regard to (1) circ.u.mstances under which each became Prime Minister, (2) domestic policy, (3) foreign policy, (4) circ.u.mstances surrounding the resignation of each, (5) personal character.

Whatever form the review lesson may take, the teacher should always keep in mind its two main purposes, namely, (1) the organization of knowledge which comes through the apprehension of new relationships, and (2) the deeper impression of facts on the mind which comes through attentive repet.i.tion.

CHAPTER XVIII

QUESTIONING

=Importance.=--As a teaching device, questioning must always occupy a place of the highest importance. While it may not be always true that good questioning is synonymous with good teaching, there can be no doubt that the good teacher must have, as one of his qualifications, the ability to question well. A good question is a problem to solve. A stimulating problem arouses and directs mental activity. Well-directed mental activity is the prime requisite of all learning and one of the ends which all effective teaching endeavours to realize. Questioning is one of the best means of securing that desirable activity of mind without which intellectual progress is impossible. The teacher who would master the technique of his art must study to attain skill in questioning.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE GOOD QUESTIONER

=A. Knowledge of Subject and of Mind.=--The most obvious essentials are familiarity with the subject-matter and a knowledge of the mental processes of the child. Without the first, the questions will be pointless, haphazard, and unsystematic; without the second, they will be ill-adjusted to the interests and attainments of the pupils. A thorough knowledge of the facts of the lesson and a keen insight into the workings of the child mind are indispensable.

=B. a.n.a.lytic Ability.=--As an accompaniment of the first of these qualifications, the good questioner must have a.n.a.lytic ability. The material of the lesson must be a.n.a.lysed into its elements and the relations of these must be clearly perceived if it is to be effectively presented to the pupils. The teacher must further have the power to discriminate between the important and the unimportant. The ability to seize upon the essential features and to give due prominence to these is one of the most valuable accomplishments a teacher can have.

=C. Knowledge of Pupils' Experiences.=--As an accompaniment of the second qualification, the good questioner must have a knowledge of the previous experience and of the capacities of the pupils. Good teaching consists largely in the skilful adjustment of the new to the old. The teacher must ascertain what the pupils already know, what their interests are, and what matter they may reasonably be expected to apprehend, if he is to have them a.s.similate properly the facts of the lesson. He must further show sympathy and tact in order to inspire the pupils to their best effort. He must be able to detect unerringly the symptoms of inattention, listlessness, and misbehaviour, and by a well-directed question to bring back the wandering attention to the subject in hand.

=Faults in Questioning.=--There are two serious weaknesses that many young teachers exhibit, namely, questioning when they ought to tell and telling when they ought to question. To tell pupils what they might easily discover for themselves is to deprive them of the joy of conquest and to miss an opportunity of exercising and strengthening their mental powers. On the other hand, to question upon matter which the pupils cannot reasonably be expected to know or discover is to discourage effort and encourage guessing. To know just when to question and when to tell requires considerable discrimination and insight on the part of the teacher.

PURPOSES OF QUESTIONING

Questioning has three main purposes, namely:

1. To determine the limits of the pupil's present knowledge in order that the teacher may have a definite basis upon which to build the new material;

2. To direct the pupil's thought along a prescribed channel to a definite end, to lead him to make discoveries and form conclusions on his own account;

3. To ascertain how far he has grasped the meaning of the new material that has been presented.

=A. Preparatory.=--The first of these purposes may be designated as preparatory. Here the teacher clears the ground for the presentation of the new matter by recalling the old related facts necessary to the interpretation of the new. In thus sounding the depths of the pupil's previous knowledge, the teacher should usually ask questions that demand fairly long answers instead of those which may be answered briefly. The onus of the recall should be placed largely upon the pupil. The teacher will do comparatively little talking; the pupil will do much.

=B. Developing.=--The second purpose may be described as developing. The pupil is led step by step to a conclusion. Each question grows naturally out of the preceding question, the responsibility for this logical connection falling upon the teacher. The pupil has before him a certain set of conditions, and he is asked to infer the logical result of such conditions. He forms inferences, makes new discoveries, sets up new relationships, and formulates definitions and laws. It should be noted that this form of questioning gives no entirely new information to the pupil. It merely cla.s.sifies and organizes what is already in his mind in a more or less indistinct and nebulous form. New information cannot be questioned out of a pupil; it must be given to him directly.

=C. Recapitulation.=--The third purpose of questioning may be described as recapitulatory. The pupil is asked to reproduce what he has learned during the progress of the lesson. At convenient intervals during the presentation and at the close, he should be asked to summarize in a connected manner the main points already covered. Thus the teacher tests the pupil's comprehension of the facts of the lesson. The pupil, on his side, as a result of such reproduction, has the facts more clearly fixed in his mind. As in the first stage of the lesson, the answers should be of considerable length, logically connected, and expressed in good language. The responsibility for this is again thrown largely upon the pupil. He does most of the talking; the teacher does little.

=How Employed in Lesson.=--It will thus be recognized that questioning is employed for different purposes at the three different stages of the lesson. At the opening of the lesson it prepares the mind of the pupil for what is to follow. During the presentation it leads the pupil to form his own inferences. At the close of the lesson it tests his grasp of the facts and gives these greater clearness and fixity in his mind.

The first and third might both be designated as _testing_ purposes, and the second _training_.

SOCRATIC QUESTIONING