loud; that is, while turning the answer over in mind the teacher repeats it automatically, at the same time getting ready for the question that is to be based upon the repeated answer. This also tends to give the discussion a somewhat more continuous appearance, since the waits which usually occur while the teacher thinks up the next question are filled by his automatic repetition of the preceding answer. To avoid the danger of encouraging the students to be inattentive. to the one who is answering, however, the teacher should refrain from repeating the answers. In rapid routine questioning the waits are or should be eliminated by the speed of the process, while in reflective questioning and thinking the waiting and pondering by both pupils and teacher are appropriate if all are seriously concerned with the problem in hand. Yes-or-no questions to be avoided unless reflective attitudes prevail. It is sometimes stated that questions which can be answered by yes or no should be avoided. Like many of the other conventional rules concerning questioning, this rule is based upon the general conception that questioning is used only to test a student's knowledge, and upon situations in which the teacher is trying to trap the student and the student is skirmishing to avoid being caught. In reflective questioning and discussion in high-school and college classes the yes-or-no question is very commonly used effectively if accompanied by the question, Why? or by the direction, Give reasons for your answer." For examples turn to pages 172 and 210 and examine the questions quoted there from the textbook on economics, in which the instruction is given largely through questions. Many of the questions quoted are yes-or-no questions, but I think the general verdict would be that the effect of the questions is to stimulate a reflective consideration of the meaning of the topics under discussion; namely, of wealth and of the influence of specialization.

९९

Conclusion of discussion of questioning. In our brief consideration of the technique of questioning we emphasized as

a fundamental fact the necessity of thorough preparation and alertness on the part of the teacher who expects to carry on effective questioning in such complicated social situations as rapid or thoughtful recitations present. To succeed, he needs clear thinking, a keen sense of relative values, and skill in expressing questions. The recitation should be regarded as primarily a place for group thought, and many of the details of the technique of questioning should be determined by this attitude. The pace should be adapted to the type of mental activity which is desired, and all practices which place a premium upon inattention should be avoided. Under this head come a multitude of specific precepts which thoughtful teachers should review occasionally and apply to their practice.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

1. BAGLEY, W. C. The Educative Process. (The Macmillan Company, 1905.) Pp. 320, 323-327, 334.

2. CHARTERS, W. W. Methods of Teaching. (Row, Peterson, & Co., 1912.) Pp. 296-313. A chapter on questioning.

3. DE GARMO, C. Interest in Education. (The Macmillan Company, 1902.) Pp. 179–204. Long, detailed chapter on questioning.

4. STEVENS, ROMIETT. The Question as a Measure of Efficiency in Instruction. (Teachers College, 1912.) An excellent descriptive and critical study of current practices.

5. STRAYER, G. D. The Teaching Process. (The Macmillan Company, 1911.) Pp. 114-128. A chapter on questioning.

6. YAMADA, SASCHICHI. A study of questioning. Pedagogical Seminary, June, 1913, Vol. XX, pp. 129–186. Bibliography, pp. 181–183. Quoted incidentally in the chapter. High-School Pupils How to Study. Vol. XX, pp. 505-515.

7. BRESLICH, E. R. Teaching School Review, October, 1912,

CHAPTER XXI

PRACTICE TEACHING AND LESSON-PLANNING

Main points of the chapter. 1. Practice teaching should be carefully administered to secure large profit from a small amount of practice.

2. The general principles of practice should be applied. The most important of these are the following:

a. It is desirable to secure a correct start; hence careful planning is necessary.

b. Distributed practice is better than concentrated practice. 3. Carefully written lesson plans should provide for the separate mastery of subject matter and method.

4. A carefully organized brief is a most important factor in mastering and organizing subject matter.

5. The writing out of pivotal questions is an important step in the method plan.

6. Thoroughly organized routine and mimeographed or printed directions facilitate the very difficult process of supervising practice teaching.

Practice teaching with adolescent pupils to be provided. In order that prospective teachers may be trained to think of teaching in terms of sound principles of method, it is highly desirable that some practice teaching under expert supervision should be provided for students in colleges and normal schools who expect to teach in high schools. There is very little provision in America for such practice at the present time (1914), but it is being organized in a number of universities, and in a few decades we may expect to see much more adequate facilities. In normal schools, practice teaching is provided on a large scale for prospective elementary-school

teachers, and the same type of arrangement should be made in liberal-arts colleges and universities for prospective highschool teachers. Most practice schools for such teachers should probably be organized to enroll pupils from about twelve to eighteen years of age, that is, during the period that is coming to be recognized as the proper period for secondary or adolescent education.

Prerequisites include training in subject matter and in education. Owing to the limited facilities for high-school practice teaching that will probably always prevail, and to the desirability of administering the teaching as efficiently as possible, it should be restricted to college seniors who meet certain prerequisites. These should include several college courses in the subject to be taught, one of which is a course in the teaching of the subject that has been accompanied by observation in the high school. The prerequisites should also include certain courses in the department of education. Every practice teacher should be under strict supervision and should not be permitted to undertake to teach a series of lessons until it is clear that he is thoroughly prepared not only in general but also for the particular series of lessons and particular class that he is to teach. A class of high-school students is not material with which an irresponsible, unprepared individualist should be permitted to experiment. As indicated in the chapter on classroom management, there is ample scope for the expression of spontaneity, individuality, and reasoning within a well-controlled, routinized system (see above, pp. 27–31).

Emphasize judgment aspects more than routine aspects. In connection with practice teaching we may utilize to advantage Bagley's distinction between the routine and judgment aspects of teaching, as we have already done in connection with classroom management (see pp. 26-27). The routine aspects that is, the recurring and relatively unvarying details of management are very important in securing economy

of time and effort, but they can easily be mastered in a relatively short time by the teacher who has had his attention focused on the necessity of so doing. The judgment aspects are those teaching processes which are peculiarly concerned with directing the various types of learning so that they will proceed most economically and effectively. In contrast with the routine aspects the judgment aspects in practice teaching present a most varied and complicated series of ideas and principles of method to be mastered theoretically and to be used practically in the development of habits of teaching. It becomes evident from this contrast that the routine aspects could be mastered with comparative ease by a beginning teacher, although it might take several months to make the routine practices habitual. On the other hand, efficient application of the principles of learning in the instruction of various types of students calls for much greater skill and resourcefulness and requires a much longer period for mastery. This contrast should determine the relative emphasis in the organization of practice teaching. In the routine aspects the practice teacher should be given a correct start, as in any other kind of practice, but in the supervision the critic should not stress this phase to the neglect of the judgment aspects, which present a much larger range of possibilities with which to familiarize the prospective teacher. The emphasis should fall rather upon the methods of selecting, organizing, and presenting subject matter, of organizing proper practices in learning, of securing spontaneous interest and concentration of attention, and of supervising study suggestively without too much assisting, and upon methods of asking questions and actually conducting recitations of various types.

Apply general principles of practice. Assure a correct start. The general principles of practice set forth in Chapter VIII should be applied to practice in teaching as far as practicable. The first principle that applies is the importance of securing a correct start. As far as possible the student should