treatment of the subject; special method as against general
method ; with probably less attention given to details and
the simplification of processes.
The third difYerence or that due to the nature of the chil-
dren to be instructed may be summed up in the difference
between the child and the adolescent. The secondary
teacher must study the nature of the adolescent as the ele-
mentary teacher studies the nature of the child. Each
should have a general knowledge of both fields, but the one
must be especially familiar with the psychology of child-
hood, and the other with the psychology of adolescence.
The method of the professional training of teachers will
naturally be adjusted so as to fit the student most appropri-
ately for the field into which he is to enter.
To express the matter in another way, all
THE DIFFER- differences to be observed in the methods of
ENCES IN
METHOD DUE TO ^"^ profcssioual training of elementary and of
DIFFERENCES sccondary teachers must rest ultimately in the
BETWEEN nature of the child. If there is sufhcient differ-
CHILDHOOD . , , 1 1 , 1 1 -ij
»,«„ vr^TTTu ence m the nature and outlook of the child
AND YOUTH
from that of the adolescent or adult to necessi-
tate a different way of approach, and a different method of
instruction, then there should be a difference made in the
preparation of elementary and secondary teachers. But if
the child does not differ materially in his general nature
230 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [230
from the adolescent, then it is unnecessary to lay stress
upon any difference to be made in the preparation of
teachers. Prospective primary teachers may continue with
equal propriety in the same professional studies and in the
same classes with prospective high school teachers.
We are still too ignorant of the true psychology of child-
hood and of youth to answer this question finally or even
definitely. But the study of children has gone far enough,
in late years, to assist us in forming intelligent judgments.
These studies indicate that there is a marked difference be-
tween the child and the youth, a difference so great as to
necessitate a wholly different manner of approach. We
have endeavored to express this difference in a form for
comparison, but we realize the difficulty of drawing hard-
and-fast lines that will truly represent growing individuality,
and have given the characterization that follows simply as a
suggestion and as an approximation to truth.
231] ELEMENT A R Y AND SECOND AR Y TEA CHERS
Predominant Elements at Different Periods
231
Child.
1. Sensation, feeling, doing.
2. Sensory, self-consciousness, i. e.,
play-activity, in which means and
end are one — not separated.
3. Vegetative stage, receptive, reten-
tive, expressive.
4. Physical activity foremost.
5. Imitative, especially in the field of
concrete images and events (un-
conscious imitation), symbolizes.
6. Impulsive, vacillating, attention
changeable.
7. Will weak, somewhat passive.
8. Talkative, frank, open.
9. Obedient, submitting to authority.
10. Dependent, confiding, appreciates
definite answers.
11. Gathering facts, looking out.
12. Lives in the present, an objective
life, memory and imagination
deal with the outside world — ex-
ternalities.
13. Planning for the present; the chief
interest ends with the thing itself.
14. Animal instincts, sensation and
simple feeling, largely selfish or
self-centered.
Youth.
1. Judgment, emotion, willing.
2. Motor self- consciousness, i. e.,
games and work in which means
and end are separate and distinct.
3. Intellectual stage, interested in re-
lations, classifying, harmonizing,
unifying.
4. Psychic activity foremost.
5. Higher form of imitation, imitating
acts and ideals (conscious imita-
tion) constructive.
6. Thoughtful, more stable, greater
concentration of attention.
7. Will strong, persistent, active.
8. Inhibitive, evasive, often morbid.
9. Self-assertive, fretting under re-
straint, desiring greater freedom.
10. Becoming independent, self-reliant,
secretive, doubting,desiring proof,
prefers suggestive answers.
11. Relating, classifying facts, intro-
spective, reflective.
12. Looking to the future, a subjective
life, memories assimulations se-
quential, richer and more lasting,
imagination deals with events in
which the invidual plays an im-
portant role.
13. Planning for the future, desire of
conquest; chief interest not in
things, but in their origin and
reason for being.
14. Emotional life prominent, sympa-
thy, love, admiration, devotion,
worship, esteem; hatred, jealousy,
disrespect, contempt; truth, good-
ness, beauty, virtue; probably al-
truistic.
232
TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS
[232
There are in the above table some repetitions and over-
lappings which were made necessary in order to facilitate
comparison. Other differences might have been added, but
probably a sufficient number have been given to make clear
the point under consideration.
The place where childhood ends and youth begins is a
continuous rather than a clearly marked line, and yet the
characterization given above represents with fair accuracy the
great differences in the nature of the child on the one hand,
and the youth on the other.
WHAT SHALL BK
THE NATURE
OF THE
INSTRUCTION? youth?
What does this suggest regarding the meth-
ods of instruction for the child and for the
I. A
Child,
formative stage, in which the
work of the teacher is chiefly one
of instruction, 1. e., the orderly
and systematic imparting of
knowledge.
The teaching should be direct,
adapted to the needs and interests
of the child.
Discipline is very different; kind
but firm, insistent and uniform,
habituating to right action, in
part natural punishments, duties
made plain and imperative, obe-
dience made a matter of course.
Youth.
The stage of orientation, in which
the work of the teacher is more
one of guidance or assistance in
new discoveries and investiga-
tions.
The teaching should be indirect and
suggestive, adapted to the needs
and interests of the adolescent.
Firm and just, govern by reason and
indirection, typical cases of con-
duct presented as examples of
right action, punishments made
more a matter of honor, the
method more rational, advisory
and suggestive, obedience made
the most reasonable as well as the
most desirable course.
Many more points might be added concerning the differ-
ent methods of instruction or approach, some of which are
even more marked than those already given. But enough
have been presented to call forth the question, what then
233] ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY TEACHERS 233
should be the difference in the training of teachers for ele-
mentary and secondary instruction? Supplementary to
what has already been said upon this point, let us add the
following regarding the preparation of elementary and sec-
ondary teachers.
Elementary Teacher.
1. Less extended scholarship, more
practice, readier and richer
knowledge of the common school
branches.
2. More attention given to general
methods of teaching the elemen-
tary subjects.
3. Methods more empiric, concrete and
stable, more guidance for the
teacher.
4. More attention given to details and
and to devices, greater skill in im-
parting knowledge, i. e., the period
of mechanics and memory, the
years in which the child is to be-
come familiar with the tools
(forms) of thought.
5. The elementary teacher must become
familiar with the physiology and
psychology of childhood.
Secondary Teacher.
1. Greater scholarship, less practice,
deeper and richer knowledge of an
allied group of high school sub-
jects.
2. More attention given to general
principles and the special methods
of teaching the allied high school
subjects.
3. Methods more scientific, historical
and varying (individualistic"),
more stress placed on theory and
the understanding.
4. More attention to the generalization
and classification of material,
greater skill in arousing slumber-
ing (budding) humanity, and in-
spiring students toward loftier
ideals.
5. The secondary teacher must be fa-
miliar with physiology and
psychology of adolescence.
MEANING OF
Education has been defined as the process
of mental development, or the adjustment of
EDUCATION ... r ' J
the individual to his environment. But a more
complete though somewhat awkward definition is the follow-
ing : Education is the process of the reconstruction and
utilization of experiences by means of which the individual
is brought into sympathetic relation with, and given ever-
increasing control of, his environment. With this definition
before us, teaching becomes the intelligent guidance in this
2 34 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [234
adaptation ; teaching then is, in the truest as well as the
broadest sense, character building. To be efficient and vital
the teaching must be adapted at all points to the interests,
the nature, and the immediate needs of the child who is to
be influenced by it. The pupil must feel at every point that
what he is doing is worth while. In order to put into
operation such teaching, it is necessary to make a specific
difference in the methods of the preparation of elementary
and of secondary teachers.
The material for mental development nat-
urally covers two fields : the great commercial
THOUGHT •' °
and industrial subjects — the objective or scien-
tific world ; the great literary and culture subjects — the sub-
jective or humanistic world. The one administers most to
man's material wants, the other, to his spiritual.
In early school life the child is more interested in the ob-
jective world — nature, things, and natural objects. These
furnish the key by means of which he becomes familiar with
the symbols and forms (tools) of thought.
In secondary education he is better prepared for, if not
more interested in, the humanistic world — history, language,
literature, and begins to lay the foundation for broad culture
and scientific research.
In higher education he naturally limits the field of his
activity, selecting one or more subjects from either the sci-
entific or humanistic field. He brings to bear upon them
the searchlight of his experiences, and makes them the
foundation for further investigations and philosophic thought,
the relating and unifying of all experiences.
The mental development of the individual
STAGES OF covers three important periods: the early
MENTAL . *■ . , . ,
DEVELOPMENT ^ormativc period, extending from birth to
puberty; the period of orientation or mental
adjustment, extending from the beginning of puberty to
235] ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY TEACHERS 335
probably 18; the period of manhood, specialization, and
professional life.
The first period is covered by elementary, foundation
studies; formative disciplinary work; general information
concretely represented. The second is covered by the high
school studies; less of form, more of content; a period of
relating, adjusting and classifying knowledge ; a period of
orientation and transition from that of the acquisition of
knowledge through instruction to that of the acquisition of
knowledge by original research and investigation. The
third period is covered by the last years of the college, and
the special professional schools. It is the work of specializ-
ing for a vocation.
The instructional method, which is best
DIFFERENT adapted to the education of children, and the
METHODS OF ..,..-
INSTRUCTION laboratory method, or method of scientific re-
search, more suitable for the work of advanced
students, have but little in common. They represent the
two extremes in the methods of teaching. The high school,
representing the transition period, possesses some features
belonging to each.
In the elementary school all subjects yield to the instruc-
tional method, i. e., the method through which the teacher
brings together, in an orderly and systematic arrangement,
all the essential material on the subject in the form most
easy of acquisition by the learner. In the high school some
of the subjects are formative, or disciplinary, and require the
instructional method, while other subjects are more a matter
of content, mental adjustment, individual effort and dis-
covery, and yield more readily to the laboratory or scientific
method, a method in which the student is placed under
greater responsibility and given greater freedom for inde-
pendent action.
The secondary teacher, therefore, must be a master of
236 TRAINING OF SECOND A R Y TEA CHERS [236
both methods. He must be skilled in imparting knowledge
when dealing with those subjects, or parts of subjects, in
which the material is largely a fixed quantity, with which the
student must become familiar. But he must also be a stu-
dent, master of the tools and the method of research, and
capable of interesting and intelligently guiding his students
in independent action and original investigations.
Shall there be separate schools for elementary and second-
ary teachers?
Will the difference in the method of preparation of ele-
mentary and secondary teachers require that the professional
training be given in separate institutions?
This question is easier to propose than to answer. Under
favorable conditions, such as exist at Teachers College
Columbia University, probably all the training, both acad-
emic and professional, can be given to best advantage in one
institution. This would require in many studies separate
classes, but not separate institutions.
In colleges and universities, where it is possible to have a
large and thoroughly equipped school of education, there
are many advantages in preparing teachers for all grades of
the public school service. It is certainly much more eco-
nomical than to have the work of the different grades given
in different institutions, and the association of students work-
ing along somewhat different lines has a broadening and
beneficial effect. But there are only a few institutions that
have met the above requirements regarding a school of edu-
cation. Most universities have only a department of educa-
tion, limited in equipment to one or two instructors. In
such institutions the proper preparation of teachers for all
grades is impossible, and it becomes simply a question as to
what work can be done to best advantage. This question has
been decided in several universities in favor of the training of
secondary teaehers, other interests remaining subsidiary.
2 3 7 1 ELEMENT AR V AND SECONDAR Y TEA CHERS 237
Are not normal schools institutions properly
THE MISSION equipped for the preparation of teachers for all
OF NORMAL t UV U 1 1 :>
SCHOOLS grades of public school work?
The severest criticism that has been raised
against normal schools has been along the line of the shal-
lowness, confidence, self-assurance, and egotism of the teach-
ers they send forth. This criticism has weight only with
such institutions as endeavor, with meager equipment, to
prepare teachers for all grades of public education, from the
kindergarten to the university.
In the judgment of the writer no institutions have been,
nor are, of greater service to the public welfare than the
normal schools of the United States. They have been an
inspiration to the teaching profession everywhere, and have
created a public demand for more efficient teachers. Many
an educator of world-wide fame is wont to attribute the in-
spiration which led to his success to his early normal school
training. Their strong points far outnumber their weak
ones. However, as now constituted, the true mission of the
normal school begins and ends with the training of element-
ary teachers.
Not that normal school professors are insufficiently quali-
fied to give the training most appropriate for secondary
teachers, for in many instances the normal school instructors
have had equal if not stronger preparation than the best col-
lege professors. It is no uncommon occurrence for college
professors to be called to normal school chairs and vice
versa. But the normal schools under their present equip-
ment can not serve both fields well, and it is simply a matter
of what they can do best. This question has been decided
for them a priori, partly on account of the great need for
efficient elementary teachers, partly on account of environ-
ment and their nearness to the people, and partly on
account of the age and academic qualifications of the
238 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [238
majority of their students, which unfit them for entrance upon
the professional training most suitable for secondary teachers.
To the question, " Do you consider it a part of the work
of the normal school to prepare teachers for secondary edu-
cation?" "ji per cent, of the normal school principals
answered in the affirmative, and 28 per cent, in the negative.
This shows that a large preponderance of the normal school
principals, in the 108 state normal schools reporting, feel
that it is a part of their duty to make provision in the in-
struction for the special training of secondary teachers.
In one-half of these institutions special provisions are
made for college and university graduates. These provi-
sions consist for the most part in a shortened course, usually
one year in length, of purely professional study and no
academic requirements. The college graduates, when there
are any, recite in their professional studies along with the
regular normal students. The reports indicate that but few
college graduates take advantage of these courses. Out of
25 institutions reporting in 1 899-1 900, there were only 52
college graduates in attendance, being an average of about
two for each school. A few institutions reported as many
as five or six, but many more reported none. One writer
says, "Yes, we make special provision for college graduates,
but to no purpose. We have never had more than two col-
lege graduates in attendance in any one year, and more
often none."
Another principal says, " We have a course designed
especially to meet the wants of college and university grad-
uates. But in the whole history of this school, not to ex-
ceed two or three college graduates have taken advantage
of the opportunity afforded."
The following counter question was sub-
MISSION OF .
DEPARTMENTS mittcd to profcssors of education in colleges
OF EDUCATION and universities: "Do you consider the pro-
239] ELEMENT A RY AND SECONDAR Y TEA CIIERS 239
fessional preparation of elementary teachers a proper func-
tion of departments of education in colleges and universities,
or can that training be given to better advantage in normal
schools as now constituted? "
There were fifty-two replies. As ^^:ill be seen, the ques-
tion is divided into two parts. In answer to the first part,
42 per cent, of the professors of education were of the
opinion that the professional preparation of teachers for
elementary schools is a proper function of departments of
education in colleges and universities, while 58 per cent,
hold a contrary view. In regard to the second part of the
question, 74 per cent, of the college professors believe that
the professional training of elementary teachers can be given
to better advantage in normal schools as now constituted,
while 26 per cent, are of the opinion that such training
could be given to better advantage in colleges and univer-
sities.
A few of these institutions, as Chicago University and
Teachers College Columbia University, are thoroughly
equipped and well adapted for the training of teachers for
all grades of public school work. But the great majority of
these colleges and universities are as limited in their equip-
ment for the training of teachers on the one hand as the
state normal schools are on the other, and in many cases
they are far more limited.
Many persons are of the opinion that the elementary
teacher should have the same or equivalent academic train-
ing to that required of the secondary teacher; hence the
importance of providing for their complete preparation in
colleges and universities. It is thought that the environ-
ment of the university would be more broadening and ele-
vating in its tone; that elementary students would gain
much in their social contact with more advanced students
which would be strengthening to them in their teaching ;
240 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [24O
and that there would be a certain unity and continuity in the
work, if teachers for ail grades of education were trained in
the same school, that would be both helpful and economical.
In accord with the last thought many state normal school
men feel that such a-n institution is already to be found in
the state normal school; an institution dedicated to the
special purpose of preparing public school teachers. They
feel that the professional preparation of secondary teachers
would be taken up more seriously, and given more efficiently
if ofifered in normal schools rather than in colleges.
On the other hand, there are many normal school princi-
pals and college professors who feel that as a practical prob-
lem the work should be divided, the normal schools giving
special attention to the training of elementary teachers, and
the colleges providing for the training of secondary teachers.
During the school year of 1 899-1900 there
were over fifteen million children enrolled in the
STATISTICS
common schools of the United States. These
were taught by 421,000 teachers. In the same year there
were 630,000 secondary students, 519,000 of whom were in
the public high schools. These secondary students were
taught by 30,000 secondary teachers, 20,000 of whom were
in the public high schools. This indicates that the division
between elementary and secondary teachers in the United
States is in proportion of about fifteen elementary teachers
to one secondary teacher.
In the same school year the 172 state normal schools
graduated 9,000 students. Judging from the best informa-
tion obtainable, these probably found employment in the
public schools in the proportion of ten elementary to one
secondary teacher, a ratio which is slightly in favor of
secondary positions. Or, to be more exact, the writer ob-
tained data from 27 state normal schools, showing the actual
employment of 1,560 of their graduates for the year 1899.
24l] ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY TEACHERS 24I
Of these normal school graduates 141, or about 9 per cent.,
found employment as teachers in the secondary schools ; the
rest were employed as elementary teachers. This repre-
sents a proportion of about eleven to one in favor of element-
ary teachers, which is probably near the correct ratio for the
year 1899. In comparison with the whole number of teach-
ers required in public schools, it is still slightly in favor of
secondary employment, /'. e., the actual need for elementary
and secondary teachers is in the ratio of about fifteen to one,
while normal school graduates find employment as element-
ary and secondary teachers in about the ratio of ten or eleven
to one. Some schools represent a much larger per cent, of
graduates who find positions as secondary teachers, while
other institutions have fewer or none of their graduates thus
employed.
In a large majority of the states, public normal school
students receive, on graduation, a teacher's certificate, which
entitles the holder to teach in any of the public elementary
or secondary schools of the state without further examina-
tion. This probably accounts, in part, for the large number
of normal graduates who find positions as secondary teachers.
It would be interesting if we had the data for comparison
showing the school positions that are obtained by university
graduates, especially by such graduates as have made special
preparation for teaching. Unfortunately, such information is
not at hand, but the nearest approach to it is the result
obtained from the University of Nebraska. Since the estab-
lishment of the university teacher's certificate, in 1897, the
proportion has been in the ratio of about eight to one in favor
of secondary positions. This may or may not be the true
relation. However, excluding such schools as Teachers
College, Columbia University, in which special attention is
given to the preparation of elementary as well as secondary
teachers, it is probably not far from the true relation.
242 TRAINING OF SECONDARY TEACHERS [242
In other words, under present conditions, the public