Part 8 (1/2)

said he, ”you have only--to look at the cloth, and--and--to run your fingers over it,--thus You will perceive at once the difference between one piece and another” It seems never to have occurred to hiht in the same circumstances be quite different froe to one uninitiated, he must pause to analyze it; he must separate, classify, and name those several qualities of the cloth of which his senses took cognizance; he ator perceived by his senses the saet on co-teller of a bank be called upon to explain how it is that he knows at a glance a counterfeit bill froenuine one, and in nine cases out of ten he will succeed no better than the clothand explaining e do, are distinct, separable, and usually very different processes

Siht be drawn froenius in alible account of how they achieve their results The mental habits best suited for achieveh, so celebrated for his ible account of his plans He had arrived at his conclusions with unerring certainty, but he was so little accusto his ownto make them plain to others He saw the points himself with perfect clearness, but he had no power to make others see them To all objections to his plans, he could only say, ”Silly, silly, that's silly” It was much the sauished for action and achievement Patrick Henry would doubtless have made but a third-rate teacher of elocution, and old Homer but an indifferent lecturer on the art of poetry

To acquire knowledge ourselves, then, and to put others in possession of e have acquired, are not only distinct intellectual processes, but they are quite unlike In the foro out towards the objects to be known, as in the case of the cloth er over the bales of cloth But in the case of one atte to teach, several additional processes are needed, besides that of collecting knowledge He e and classify properly the contents of his intellectual storehouse He must then examine his own mind, his intellectual e came in upon himself He must lastly study the h what channels the knowledge may best reach them The teacher s, that is, he may not always have a theory of his own art But the art itself he s to be taught; he e; he must thirdly study himself; he must lastly study his pupil He is a teacher at all only so far as he does at least these four things

In a Nore of the subject is presupposed The object of the Norramra by itself, and quite apart froht It underlies every branch of knowledge, and every trade and profession The theologian, the uist, the learned professor, no less than the teacher of the primary school, or of the Sabbath-school, all need this supplee and skill, in which consists the very essence of teaching This knowledge of how to teach is not acquired by ht It is a study by itself A man may read familiarly the _Mechanique Celeste_, and yet not kno to teach the multiplication table He may read Arabic or Sanskrit, and not kno to teach a child the alphabet of his ue The Sabbath-school teacher may dip deep into biblical lore, he may ransack the commentaries, and may become, as many Sabbath-school teachers are, truly learned in Bible knowledge, and yet be utterly incompetent to teach a class of children He can no e in the minds of his youthful auditory, than the -piece can hit a bird upon the wing

The art of teaching is the one indispensable qualification of the teacher Without this, whatever else he may be, he is no teacher How may this art be acquired? In the first place, reat many other arts and trades,--in a hap-hazard sort of way They have so, by guess and by instinct, and through ood teachers, they hardly kno To rescue the art from this condition of uncertainty and chance, is the object of the Normal School In such a school, the main object of the pupil is to learn how to make others knohat he hihts and studies is turned into this channel

Studying how to teach, with an experimental class to practise on, for how rapidly, under such conditions, the faculty of teaching is developed; how fertile thepractical expedients, when once the attention is roused and fixed upon the precise object to be attained, and the idea of what teaching really is, fairly has possession of the mind For this purpose every well-ordered Noranization, a Model School, to serve the double purpose of a school of observation and practice

Thus, after these pupil-teachers are once faht, and after they have beco, as a science, it is surprising how soon, with even a little of this practice-teaching, they acquire the art If the faculty of teaching is in them at all, a very few experimental lessons, under the eye of an experienced teacher, will develop it

The fact of possessing within one's self this gift, or power of teaching, sometimes breaks upon the possessor hihtful discovery The good teacher does not indeed stop here He goes on to ireatest single achievement is when he takes the first step,--when he first learns to teach at all The pupil of a Norains there a start and an impulse, which carry him forward the rest of his life A very little judicious experi redeems hundreds of candidates from utter and hopeless incoery into keen, hopeful and productive labor

XXV

PRACTICE-TEACHING

One feature of a Noruishes it especially froiven to its uidance and criticis is done in a Model School, maintained for this purpose in connection with the main school Such is the theory

But serious difficulties are encountered in carrying the plan into practical effect, and these difficulties are so great as in some instances to have led to the entire abandonment of the plan, while very rarely have the conductors of Normal schools been able to realize results in this matter commensurate with their wishes or with their views of as desirable and right

So: Parents who send their children to the Model School object to have their children taught to any considerable extent bylittle or no acquaintance with the Normal pupils sent to teach under their supervision, do not feel that entire freedo the perforularities produced by these practice-teachings have a tendency to impair the discipline of the classes in the Model School

For these and other reasons which I need not dwell upon, I at least have always been obliged to be so that was done in the institution under my care, and have never felt quite satisfied as to the result At the beginning of the year 1867, I deter a considerable portion of the practice-teaching done in the Nor its place in the syste an unrivalled opportunity for observation, and to so the opportunity for practice by including the Normal School in its operations has been ree of freedo the most marked and decisive results They enter into it with more zest than into any other exercise of the class, and derive from it in some instances as ether

Some detailed account of the method may perhaps be of interest to other laborers in the same field The method is substantially the sah and Normal School of Philadelphia, from which indeed I borrowed the idea

Once a week Ithe na week, and the classes and lessons which they are severally to teach The practice-pupils are thus enabled to prepare themselves fully for the exercise It is an indispensable condition in all these exercises that the lesson be given without the use of the book When a pupil enters a roo with him only his crayon and pointer, and is expected to assu the pupils recite, correcting their ra supplementary infor in all respects as if he were the regular teacher The regular teacherin silence, and at the close of the day writes out a full and detailed criticisives the pupil an average for it, the ether with the teaching averages, are read next day by the Principal to the pupil in the presence of the class to which he belongs, with additional co that may be involved in the criticisms

An essential element of success in this schehly faithful in the work of criticis practitioners, not with harshness, but with unsparing truthfulness and wise discri under such conditions cannot fail to have a powerful effect The pupils are stimulated by it to put forth the very best efforts of which they are capable, and the talent which they often develop is a surprise equally to theive an idea of this practice-teaching, and especially of the criticis a few of the actual criticis the last year I feel sure they will interest teachers and perhaps the public

Inthese extracts, I suppress, of course, the names of the parties

NOTES ON PRACTICE-TEACHING

Miss ---- gave the C class a lesson in Elocution She was ani the vocal exercises, but she pitched her voice too high The sa Many of the criticish to be heard by the whole class One of the ladies, in giving a sketch of Shakspeare, said ”his principal works _was_ 'Much Ado About Nothing,' 'Merchant of Venice,' etc;” but the error passed unnoticed by pupils and teacher

Miss ---- herself, said ”Hah, the worst readers in the class receiving 8 and 9

Teaching average 85