Imagens da página
PDF
ePub

the course, have been prepared with infinite care and steadiest judgment. Songs can be sung only when the pupils have had correct and thorough training in the art of singing. The exercises precede the songs and are so effective that when the song is attacked there must be little trouble in mastering it. So many are the excellences of the course that only in an examination of the books in the series may they be enumerated. It is sufficient here to state that the course provides a musical education adequate to meet the needs of students in schools and worthy of the attention now accorded to the study of music. Excellence of the highest degree is the characteristic of the series. Ginn & Co.

The Second Reader. By Geoffrey Buckwalter. The Buckwalter Readers are taking a foremost place in the schools where reading is taught. They are founded on well-established pedagogical principles such as the following: Reading is thought getting; oral reading is thought expression; there is a distinction between learning to read and reading to learn; easy reading makes reading easy; the reading of primary pupils should be extensive rather than intensive; general rather than critical; the pupil may read without knowing or before knowing how to spell; in other words, the eye may grasp a whole word and its meaning may be comprehended before the mind learns to analyze it and the memory to retain its separate letters in their proper order. The Readers of this series are made up of choice English, and each selection is in itself interesting to the chilren. The pages are prettily illustrated. Incidentally the pupil is familiarized with much good literature. The books are graded by easy stages so that there is a continuous progress toward a complete education in this essential art of good reading. The publisher is to be congratulated on the neat and attractive appearance of the book. Parker P. Simmons, New York.

School Days in the Fifties. By William Giffin, A.M., Ph.D. This is an interesting little volume which will make excellent supplementary reading. The title page tells us it is "a true story with some untrue names of persons and places." It gives a true picture of the school life of half a century ago, showing both the strength and the weakness of the educational methods of those days. A. Flanagan Company. Price, 50 cents.

Periodical Notes

The Century promises at least seventy-five short stories throughout the coming year.-"When trial, failure and disappointment come, get what salvage you can from the wreck and begin again. If it has not been your fault, fight harder next time; if it has been your fault, charge it to experience and begin again. In every failure is wrapped up the secret of a possible success," William George Jordan in the November Delineator.-There are three capital Thanksgiving stories, and some excellent bits of Thanksgiving verse in the November Designer.-Among many other things, The Youth's Companion announces for 1907 two hundred practical papers, serviceable to young people who have their way to make in the world, helpful in their insistence on worthy ideals in every relation of life, useful in the home, particularly the regular series, "Till the Doctor Comes."-Ossian H. Lang writes in the current number of The Forum concerning the workings of the Carnegie Pension Fund for Educators.-"The Autobiography of an Only Child" is the title of a suggestive article in Everybody's for November.- The Kindergar ten Magazine and Pedagogical Digest for November contains a continuation of the admirable series of articles by Miss Harriette D. Mills upon the "Program as related to the child-his nature and needs." The illustrated Art series, by Robert Dulk, offers valuable suggestions to all teachers, and that upon Recreative Games and Plays for the Schoolroom, by Miss Marie Ruef Hofer, is a practical Harvest number. The Digest department pays special attention this month to certain agencies, such as settlements, vacation schools, etc., which supplement the work of the public schools.

Devoted to the Science, Art; Philosophy and Literature

of Education

VOL. XXVII

DECEMBER, 1906

No. 4

Some Practical Suggestions toward a Program of Ethical Teaching in Our Schools

WINTHROP D. SHELDON, GIRARD COLLEGE, PHILADELPHIA, PA.

T

I

HERE is a widespread feeling-growing into a conviction-among many educators and other thoughtful people that, however efficient our schools may be in cultivating the mental powers and in imparting knowledge, they are not made as effective as they might be and are not doing as much as they ought to do for the moral training of the young. This dissatisfaction with present conditions finds utterance in the newspaper and periodical press, on the lecture platform, in conferences for the interchange of views upon the subject, and in the increasing number of essays and books treating of moral education. And it has been accentuated by the startling disclosures of moral delinquency that have recently given a rude shock to our complacent faith in public and private honesty and rectitude, committed, as this malfeasance has been, in quarters where it was least suspected, and indicating that the lowering of moral standards in the business world had become far more prevalent than was generally realized.

In this abrupt and rough awakening to a situation both disgraceful and dangerous it is not surprising that a portion of the blame for existing moral conditions has been laid at the door of the school, as well as of the home and the church.

It is the conviction of many that the ethical function of the school has been so far overshadowed by the intellectual that the former has not received due recognition as the very heart of the mission of the school, the vital purpose for which it exists. The moral faculty, or side, of human nature it is felt needs to be educated and trained just as thoughtfully and persistently as the mental powers; and this training should proceed pari passu with that of the intellect and be co-ordinated with it. And many of the pedagogical principles and methods employed in the latter may be used to advantage in moral education as well.

It is contended that, while the daily routine of school discipline and duty is indispensable for moral as well as intellectual growth and should in nowise be undervalued or depreciated, moral education in any profound and comprehensive sense means far more than the unreasoning, mechanical cultivation of good habits through the enforcement of mere discipline and formal routine. The pupil should be carried back of the habits to the ethical principles which underlie them and give a rational basis to all right character and moral practice. And the primary aim of moral training should be to arouse and stir into steady and continuous action in the individual life the dynamic moral forces of high aspiration and motive, of duty and honor and the love of what is true and good. The moral ideas and conceptions that are but dimly outlined in the background of the child's consciousness require to be brought forward into the vivid foreground of his thought and activity and made clear and distinct to his mind, that they may become influential in the conduct of life.

It is not our purpose to argue the question here, but these are some of the considerations which have led many thoughtful persons to the conclusion that instruction in practical, applied ethics should have a definite and recognized place in school education, just as truly as any other study, and should be planned and conducted with equal care and forethought, under a deep sense of responsibility for the upbuilding of character, -not character consisting of a body of good habits merely, essential as this is, but of habits based upon and inspired and

vitalized by right principle, without which they would crumble and disintegrate in the white heat of some moral crisis.

It is the purpose of these articles to offer some hints toward such a practical program of ethical teaching, to suggest some general principles of method, and to trace the lines along which the work should be carried forward. Brief as the treatment of the subject must be, it may be suggestive and helpful to those who are trying to work out a feasible plan for themselves; and it may awaken the interest of others in an important phase of education, to which perhaps they have given little thought. After all, to be successful in character building by means of character lessons, as they may fitly be called, every teacher must solve his problem in its details for himself. In the last analysis the solution must be the expression of his own character and personality.

Our theme concerns itself with three points: first, method and spirit; second, subject-matter; and third, material for illustration.

First, as to the method and spirit of these lessons. In all ethical teaching everything depends upon the choice of method and upon the spirit which animates and inspires the teacher. If wisely managed, such lessons will afford him a way of approach to his pupils which no other lesson can give in precisely the same fashion or to the same degree, and can be made the means of a most wholesome influence upon the atmosphere of the school in matters of conduct and morals.

A definite time should be set apart for the lesson, preferably at the close of the week's work, when the moral bearings of the events and experiences of school life during the week can be gathered up into one strong and deep impression. In certain important particulars the ethical lesson should be made different from every other—from the view-point of the pupil especially. Lest he look at it in the light of an unwelcome task, no formal preparation should be required, nor should it enter into his school record. It should be so differentiated from the ordinary recitation in purpose, character, spirit, and freedom of method as to have an interest peculiarly its own, so that the pupils will look forward to it with anticipation, as

the time when work is laid aside, and when they and their teacher meet for a familiar heart-to-heart talk upon subjects fundamental to right living.

The method to be followed should in the main be conversational. To give the exercise the character or tone of lecturing or preaching would defeat the end in view. Sitting in his chair, his pupils gathered about him with as much informality as possible, the teacher should make much of question and answer in order to awaken thought and to hold their interested attention throughout. According to a well-known pedagogical principle, impression on the pupil is largely conditioned upon expression by the pupil-" no impression without expression." He must be led to think, and to express freely his own judgments. Skilful questioning will draw him out. What he has himself observed and experienced can thus be made available to throw light upon the subject in hand, to clarify confused moral conceptions, and to reinforce the points presented and bring them home to the pupil himself. In ethical teaching it is of vital moment to discover his point of view, how he looks at the matter under consideration, what is in his own mind and heart, and to get him to take a positive stand and pronounce. definite decisions upon practical questions of right and wrong, and to state the moral principles involved and the reasons and motives which he thinks should control his own actions. If the teacher does not understand his pupils, and is unable to place himself at their individual view-point, he will be quite at sea how best to present practically the topic under discussion. Hence the value to the teacher, as well as to the pupil, of the conversational method, the art of questioning, which Socrates employed with such marvelous skill and telling effect as illustrated in the Dialogues of Plato, and by means of which he made those gathered about him reveal their own inmost thoughts and feelings, using this revelation as a guide for himself in giving them instruction. Those pupils who are disposed to remain in the background, taking no part in the discussion, need especially to receive their full share of the questioning, and all should be encouraged to ask questions freely.

« AnteriorContinuar »