such practices of pupils as preparing only such portions of
the lesson as they expect to be required to recite. They cite
in proof of this criticism the well-kno^-n practice of many
children of skillfully estimating the probable time when
they will be called upon to recite and then relaxing their
attention or turning their thoughts to other and, to them,
more interesting matters as soon as their turns have passed.
This custom, it is argued, in addition to being a waste of
the pupil's time, is a positive injury to his moral sense.
These and similar criticisms serve to call attention to the
grave defects in the recitation plan as it is usually conducted,
and also to the many abuses of this important feature of
school work. Such misuse of the recitation is much more
common than might at first be supposed. For example, the
custom of caUing upon the bright pupils to the neglect of
the less ready reciters is surprisingly prevalent, even among
conscientious teachers. Dr. Strayer, of Teachers College,
New York, in discussing this phase of the abuse of the reci-
tation, gives as a result of his personal investigation that
often from one fourth to two thirds of a class were not called
upon at all during a recitation period, and that generally
three fourths or more of the questions were addressed to a
very small number of the children in the class. He suggests
that if teachers would keep a record for a few days of the
number of questions assigned to each child, the result
would surprise them and at the same time would help to
THE RECITATION 183
explain the lack of interest and the backwardness of many
pupils. /
The recitation an established feature of school work.' No
matter how great are the abuses of the recitation, it has
become so firmly established as a feature of the day's work
in the American school that it cannot be abolished. No
amount of adverse criticism and discussion can change this
fact. Whether it does or does not meet the needs of mod-
ern educational conditions, there is no other exercise that
would adequately take its place; and therefore it cannot
be set aside altogether. Granting that the criticisms of the
recitation as usually conducted in our schools are fully justi-
fied, if it must remain notwithstanding these defects and
abuses, the question which concerns the educator is what is to
be done with it. If it does not fulfill the educational require-
ments of the day, how can it be made to do so? Although it
has many defects, it has its advantages as well, or it would
not remain in spite of these defects as a fixed feature of the
school program. It has been called by a noted educator,
" the gateway of opportunity for both teacher and pupil."
It is therefore the duty of the teacher to discover and im-
prove the opportunities which it offers. He should make it
the period when, through his close contact with his pupils,
he may give careful attention to the workings of the indi-
vidual child's mind and to particular difficulties and needs.
It would then enable him to render his pupils that assistance
in their acquisition of knowledge and in the moulding of
their character which they are sent to school to obtain.
Recitation idea modified and extended. Many educators,
who have given much study to the question of the recita-
tion and recognize the seriousness of the defects which are
pointed out by the critics, are urging such changes and
modifications in the manner of conducting it as will make
it, what it should be, the most hclplful period of the school
184 THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING
day to the child. They would change it from a testing exer-
cise, when the child's success in memorizing and repeating
certain facts is determined by means of skillful catch ques-
tions, to a period when pupil and teacher would be brought
into closer and more helpful relation by studying together.
The recitation would then become a teaching rather than
a testing period, when the teacher out of his wide knowl-
edge and experience could supplement the text with help-
ful information, illustrations, and applications to the ex-
perience and knowledge of the pupil. It would afiPord an
opportunity for teaching children how to study, instruction
that is much needed for the reason that comparatively few
really know how to study an assigned lesson definitely and
effectively. G. Stanley Hall gives it as his experience that
three fourths of the time spent by a boy of twelve in trying
to master a hard lesson out of a book is time thrown away.
This thoughtful educator says that, " one fourth of the
time may be spent in desperate and conscientious effort;
but that the remainder of the time is dawdled away think-
ing of the last game of ball or longing for the next game of
tag."
The German plan of recitation. Some educators would
model the recitation in our schools after the German plan
of the study recitation, where the teacher studies with the
children. With this method less use is made of textbooks,
the laboratory method being used with all subjects. This
plan is of necessity followed to a great extent in our own
schools, in the lower grades, where children cannot read
and therefore cannot prepare a lesson from a book. The ad-
vocates of the German method would continue this recita-
tion plan into the higher grades. They affirm in support of
their theory that by such a method the child's perceptive
and reasoning powers are exercised and that his faculties
are employed in forming new concepts rather than in re-
THE RECITATION 185
producing to the satisfaction of the teacher the ones already
acquired. At the same time the teacher's attention is di-
rected toward the mental activity of the child and in deter-
mining how to help him to overcome his difficulties or to get
a clearer conception of the lesson being studied. As proof
that the study recitation is the most rational method, the
friends of this plan point to the surprisingly short time in
which children in the primary grades learn the difficult
subjects of reading, spelling, numbers, and other branches
of study before they have learned to use a printed text.
Importance of the recitation. Many teachers regard the
recitation as the most imix)rtant feature of the school plan.
Some educators go so far as to assert that all considerations
about the schoolhouse, such as lighting, heating, the course
of study, the branches studied, and all other matters are
subordinate to the recitation. This may seem somewhat
to exaggerate its importance; but when one considers that it
offers the teacher the opportunity, not merely to impart
knowledge, but to train the young mind in correct habits
of thought and study, to mould character, to inspire high
ideals and lofty aspirations, it becomes apparent that its
educative possibiUties cannot be overestimated. For this
enlarged conception of the recitation to be realized, it must
include far more than merely " hearing the lesson," than
testing a child's memory of the facts which he has obtained
from the printed page. It must include in its purpose most
of the ideals of teaching for which the school stands.
Whether the teacher and pupils are conscious or not of
the fact, the recitation exerts a decided influence over tlie
latter's formation of school habits. According to the man-
ner in which the recitation is conducted, it will develop in
the learner right or wTong habits of study, of thinking, of
reciting, or of expressing ideas upon an assigned topic. If
it is conducted in such a way as to realize true educational
186 THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING
results it will develop new and larger interests, and it will
arouse the mental activity of the child and incite him to
greater effort in a definite and well-directed manner. More-
over, it will enrich his mind with much valuable information
and many character-building ideas not found in the text-
book. Finally, the recitation when properly conducted fur-
nishes the most natural opportunity for the teacher to come
into vital touch with his pupils and thus influence their
character building; in short to mould them intellectually
and morally.
Importance of proper aim in the recitation. In every les-
son to be taught and every recitation to be conducted, there
should be a definite and proper aim if the teacher expects
to realize from the recitation any result that will justify the
time and effort expended in it. It is not sufficient that there
be an aim; it must be the right aim. Doubtless in every
recitation, no matter how poor, there is some kind of an
aim, some particular concept to be developed, some truth
to be estabUshed, or some other definite thing to be ac-
comphshed. It does not necessarily follow, however, that
the aim or purpose is the best or even a suitable one for that
particular recitation. It may be too large an aim for the
material used, or it may be too deep or profound for the
comprehension of the pupils. It may be too simple, or it
may be too complex. It may be the wrong aim, or it may
be altogether foreign to the subject being treated. The gen-
eral purpose of a recitation should apply directly to the les-
son being taught. It should follow logically or should grow
out of the previous lesson or study of the subject, and it
should be consistent with the plan of work in the particular
branch of study.
The objects of the recitation. The distinct objects of the
recitation are more varied and comprehensive than the
majority of teachers realize. If the real function of the rcci-
THE RECITATION 187
tation lesson and the educative opportunities which it
affords were better understood by teachers in general, it
would be more universally made the most valuable, as well
as the most prominent feature of our educational system.
Educators have given much thought to the subject of the
recitation lesson and to determining the definite objects to
be attained by it. Many, realizing the importance of the
recitation in the theory and practice of education, have de-
voted the most careful endeavor to finding out how the best
results may be obtained during the i)eriod allotted to it
in the school plan. Some of the conclusions which have
thus been reached may be helpful and suggestive at this
point.
Dr. Hinsdale enumerates the principal objects of the
recitation as —
^ 1. To give pupils an opportunity to report what they have
learned of the lesson that has been assigned.
2. To allow the teacher to discover and correct the pupil's igno-
rance of the lesson.
8. To enable the teacher to expand or add to the pupil's knowl-
edge of the lesson or subject, by means of a more thorough
discussion of the knowledge which the pupils have them-
selves acquired, and by producing new knowledge.
4. To enable the teacher to prepare the way for the next lesson
and recitation. . . . Mention must also be made of the assign-
ment of the next lesson, such explanation as it may call for,
and any special knowledge which the pupils may need in the
ensuing study lesson.
5. To enable the teacher to observe the way in which the pupils
do their work, and to correct them when necessary; in other
words to give the teacher the opportunity to see that, along
with knowledge, the pupils are also getting the art of study.
6. To enable the members of the class to compare their knowl-
edge and ideas, to bring their views of the lesson together,
to supplement one another's knowledge, — in a word, to enter
into that legitimate emulation without which a good school is
impossible.
188 THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING
Dr. Harris gives the following recitation aims in addi-
tion to those named by Dr. Hinsdale : —
1. To cultivate the close and continuous attention on the part
of the pupils.
2. To inspire self-activity, power of independent study and keen
insight.
3. To help the pupils to overcome harmful individual peculiari-
ties.
4. To teach the pupils the great advantage of. helpful coopera-
tion with others.
* To quote further would be practically to repeat the ob-
jects of the recitation as they are defined by these two emi-
nent educators, for most authorities agree in the main that
these are the essential aims of a good recitation. No fur-
ther comment or explanation is required than the simple
statement of them, for they are self-explanatory and so
evidently the general aims of every recitation in which there
is real teaching that no argument for them is needed. In
order, however, that the recitation may yield these desir-
able results in good measure, the teacher must make the
attainment of these objects his definite aim in making the
plans and preparation for each recitation lesson. At first
the teacher who has never consciously made these aims the
definite purpose of his teaching, should deliberately en-
deavor to apply them in every recitation-lesson which he
conducts. Gradually and almost unconsciously he will ac-
quire the habit of considering these objects when making his
lesson plans and will select his material and his method of
treatment accordingly. In reality his having these defi-
nite aims in mind when making the preparation for a reci-
tation should make the task less difficult, as they serve as
guides in the preparation and in the management of the
lesson. It is the more important that the teacher have a
definite aim in his teaching instead of groping blindly, for
THE RECITATION 189
the reason that no one can expect to be a true educator,
unless he works under the guidance of a clearly defined
purpose for the attainment of certain desired results.
Importance of teaching pupils how to study. One of the
most important duties of the teacher is that of helping
pupils to learn how to study. The necessity for this is self-
evident; for no matter how carefully the teacher may have
selected and assigned the lesson in the book, the pupils ^v^ll
derive little benefit from it unless they have acquired the
art of study. It has been stated that the recitation fur-
nishes the opportunity to the teacher to find out whether
the pupil is acquiring the art of study, and whether he is
gaining the power to study and prepare an assigned lesson
or to perform a designated task. Note that the purpose of
the teacher is to test the pupil's power to do. The concern
is not so much the number of facts which the child can
hold in his memory until the recitation period; but rather
his eflFort and power as directed toward a definite object.
Hence the results should be looked for in the pupil himself,
and not in the amount of information gained. At the end
of the recitation or series of recitations the teacher should
be able to determine, by the results as seen in the pupils
themselves, whether their ability to do an assigned piece of
work has or has not increased.
In order that the teacher's judgment when he is estimating
the results of the pupil's effort may be reliable and just, he
should take into account not only the information element,
but the time element as well. In other words, he should
consider the time required by different pupils to accomplish
a definite amount of work and to secure definite results. It
must be remarked here that the time element cannot be
judged apart and independently from such considerations
as the conditions under which the work is performed and
the character and quaUty of the preparation. A poor reel-
190 THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING
tation does not always mean a lack of interest or a lack of
effort on the part of the pupil. On the contrary, there may
be real interest and conscientious effort with but imperfect
results in actual knowledge gained, because of improper
assignment, lack of help from the teacher, or some other
wrong condition.
The complaint that children are not taught to study is
heard on every side. Dr. Hinsdale goes so far as to state
that the art of study is nowhere adequately taught, for the
reason that the average teacher does not know how to teach
the art well. He further declares that one of the most seri-
ous wastes in education is the misdirected and wasted effort
in the schoolroom. Many educators aflBrm that fully one
half of the time devoted to study in the schools is employed
to little or no purpose, and some believe that even a larger
portion of the child's study time is practically wasted. Such
statements from those who have given the matter lifelong
attention should cause teachers to examine their own fail-
ures to teach this important art and lead them to make a
determined effort to remedy this defect in their teaching.
Certainly no better use of the subject-matter of the texts
than this could be made, and no higher aim for the recita-
tion lesson could be suggested than to endeavor to give pupils
clear ideas of how to study and to help them to form the
habit of applying these ideas in acquiring knowledge.
The recitation adapted to the pupils. The instruction and
all the exercises of the recitation should be adapted to the
age and the development of the pupils. The importance of
this is evident, and yet many teachers do not give the matter
serious consideration, if indeed they think of it at all. The
word " adapt " implies thought of the child and for the
child. It also suggests thouglit of the material to be pre-
sented to the child and the manner in which it should be
presented in order to insure the desired results. It further
THE RECITATION 191
implies taking this material and fitting it together in such
a way as to bring all of its elements into harmonious rela-
tionships. In order to properly adapt the subject and the
teaching to the pupils, there are several matters to which
the teacher must give careful attention. He must take into
consideration the particular circumstances and the age of
the child as well as ability and needs. His attitude toward
his pupils must be one of interest and sympathy. And
finally, he must bring to the solution of each particular
problem his best thought and effort. The importance of
properly adapting instruction to the condition and needs
of the child is the more apparent when we consider that to
him it means true growth and happiness and even more. It
means real culture and true character building.
Teachers do not always adapt the subject-matter and
the teaching to the condition and needs of their pupils. Un-
fortunately many of them are not adapters at all, but merely
adopters. An adopter is a phonograph teacher, one who
gives out mechanically the words and ideas which he has
gathered. Such a teacher does not vitalize his words with
his owa thought and experience and thus make them living
messages out of his own heart and life. Therefore he does
not touch and influence the lives of his pupils. His teach-
ing is lifeless and dead, and hence cannot make an appeal
to the child or call forth a desirable response.
Order in the recitation. A good recitation, in addition to
having a right aim and being properly adapted to the pu-
pils has another important requisite. The topics presented
and the instruction given must follow in the proper order.
The frequent failure of teachers to give sufficient and careful
attention to the matter of the sequential order of presen-
tation in the recitation results in one of the greatest educa-
tional losses of the schools. On the other hand, this essen-
tial condition for a good recitation, when secured, makes
192 THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING
the learning process easier and hence the efforts of the
teacher more effective. It also enables pupils to acquire
the power of clear, logical, and sequential thinking; a re-
sult of greater significance and of more lasting benefit than
the actual knowledge gained.
This matter of the proper order of presentation and de-
velopment in the recitation requires particular emphasis
for the reason that it is so often neglected. In the words of
a well-known educator, the question, " What is the next
proper thing to do? is one of the most important and most
momentous that the teacher can ask himself." Moreover,
it is the question that the teacher should ask himself and
endeavor to answer correctly in every recitation conducted
during the day. Nor is this a question that must be an-
swered only in the schoolroom and in the recitation; it is
one that is met in every vocation and in all the relations of
life. Every thoughtful person is being continually con-
fronted with the question, " What ought I to do next? "
Any careless haphazard answer will not satisfy conditions
and bring desired results; for the answer to this question
must be, not merely a next thing to do but the proper next
thing. The ability to see things in their proper relations is
acquired by degrees, and the habit of considering things in
their correct sequence, their cause and result relations, must
be formed early in life.
The recitation, by furnishing the opportunity for culti-
vating this habit, becomes of more consequence than merely
an occasion for acquiring knowledge or mastering some
particular branch of learning. It is to be deplored that in
so many cases the teacher is satisfied with doing a next
thing without considering whether it is the outgrowth of
what has preceded it. If he would always bear in mind that
the child learns new facts by proceeding from the known to
the related unknown, he would not make the mistake of
THE RECITATION 193
presenting new facts and ideas that are not closely related
to the knowledge which the child already possesses. Dr.
Hinsdale, in his Art of Study, says, " To ask a child to learn
a lesson that is not connected with a former lesson and es-
pecially the last one, is like asking him to jump to the top
of a rock that is above his head." Naturally, for a teacher
to be able to understand in just what order related topics
bearing on the same general subject should be presented,
he must have full information upon the subject, so that he
can see it in its completeness and understand the relation
of the parts to one another. It is an essential quahfication
of a great teacher that he be able to do this and to put facts
together in proper seciuence so as to make the recitation
truly cfFective in its teaching and satisfactory in its results.
Length of the recitation. The length of time to be given
to a recitation is a consideration of much importance. Some
of the elements that enter into this question are the age of
the pupils, the nature of the subject of study, the entire
length of time to be given to the particular branch, the
quantity of the subject-matter to be learned in the allotted
time, and the amount of work to be done by the pupils in
other branches during the same time. A table which gives
an apportionment of time for the common branches usually
taught in every school is given for consideration. To teach-
ers who have not had the opportunity to study this ques-
tion and to make such a table for themselves the one here
given may be helpful. It was arranged for use in an excel-
lent system of schools and made the basis for the program
of recitations in all the grades of that school. It represents
a serious study of this problem, and it approximates the gen-
eral practice in the best American schools.
A careful examination of this table will enable one to
answer definitely many of the questions that arise regard-
ing the length of time to be devoted to the various
194 THE PROFESSION OF TEACHING
branches of study in the grades. Note that all of the follow-
ing questions can be answered by reference to this table.
1. Which subjects in the grades should receive the most time?
2. How much time should be given to phonics?
3. In what grades should work in phonics be given formally?
4. How much time should be given to spelling?
5. Should nature work (biology) be given in all the grades?
6. How much time should be given to this subject in each grade?
7. How much home work should be required in the fifth grade?
8. How much home work should be required in each grade?
9. How much time should be given to study?
10. In what grade should manual training or other constructive
work begin?
11. How much time should be allotted to it?
Recitation allotments must suit individual conditions. A
careful examination of the table on the opposite page, by
means of the suggested questions and similar ones, will give
the teacher information that will enable him to arrange a
program for recitation and study periods that will suit con-
ditions in his own school and give the correct distribution of
time and the proper balance to his work. It is possible that
in certain schools there may be conditions that would make
it necessary to change the time allotted to some of the sub-