studies. In general, service under such circumstances would become drudgery to him, and it would be unprofitable for the school. It is not possible to stand still intellectually, and merely going over the daily lessons with a class will not prevent mental stagnation. The teacher who has reached his limit, who has developed as far as it seems probable that he ever will, cannot long be retained in a good position. One's interest in his subject, his desire to become a superior instructor, and his ambition to stand well in his profession, should stimulate him to as much private study as he can find time for. If he has only a Bachelor's degree, it will be well for him, under the momentum with which he comes to his first years of teaching, to go on with his studies with the hope of receiving a higher degree. But whether he has in mind a degree or not, he will accomplish much more if these studies are carried on under the direction of the faculty of a graduate school, to whom he has to make report of progress.

The objection may be raised that teaching leaves no time for study and investigation beyond what is necessary for the daily routine; but by carefully planning your work, and learning to do it rapidly, and by turning to a good purpose some of the minutes and hours generally spent in idleness or in some kinds of diversion that are more than half idleness, you will find that you have time to accomplish almost anything you wish, if you are in earnest. Besides, there is the long vacation, a part of which may profitably be devoted to study. As Benson puts it: "It is clear that as a rule

the principal reason which keeps a man from reading, writing, private work of any kind, in a busy life, is not that he is too busy, but that he does not really want to do it." 1

A live teacher's preparation is not finished as long as he remains in active service. He is learning every year something new about his subject, and understands better how to present it so as to impress it upon his pupils; and when in later years he looks back upon his work, one deep regret is that he could not have begun when in his strength, with the knowledge of things and the knowledge of young men which he now has.

1 Benson, The Schoolmaster, New York, 1908, pp. 108 and 109.

CHAPTER V

INSTRUCTION

The main purpose, intellectual growth. Teaching pupils how to study. The teacher should forget himself and think only of his pupils. Honest and independent work. Enthusiasm and interest in gaining knowledge and power. The old required courses and modern elective courses. The need of small divisions in secondary schools. The few students of unusual talent. Temptation to substitute "lectures" for drill exercises. Pupils not to be allowed to shirk disagreeable tasks. The recitation. Drill masters. How to secure and hold the attention. The recitation an important event. Method of conducting a recitation. Dr. Taylor's Method of Classical Study. Laziness and dullness. Special privileges. Prizes and awards. Attempting to conceal ignorance. Acknowledge mistakes.

WHEN you meet a class in the recitation room at the beginning of the year, this question will naturally present itself: "What is to be the purpose of my work with these boys in this course?" The task before you seems plain. They will come to you day by day during the school year; you will assign the lessons, hear the recitations, explaining as far as is necessary what is not already clear, and will take care that they do their work thoroughly and honestly. At the end of the year they should have a good knowledge of your subject and be able to pass a creditable examination on it for advancement to a higher grade, or for gradua

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tion, or for admission to some other institution. If they do this, you will feel that your work with them has been satisfactory, and it will be so regarded by the authorities to whom you are responsible.

But however important and useful the knowledge gained from your course may be, the acquisition of this knowledge is not the only result, nor the chief result, that ought to come from their year of study with you. The question for you to consider is not merely what your pupils can do at the end of this year, but also what they will be able to do ten or twenty years hence. A private tutor could in a few weeks cram them on a year's work for an examination in which they would pass, without the development of any of their mental powers. What they acquire this year is of far less consequence than the method by which they acquire it.

We expect the boy to do his classroom exercises as well as he would if each were an end in itself, but these exercises are valuable chiefly because they are the means by which his intellectual growth is to be gained. When he has finished his course of study covering many years, he should have much information that will be useful to him, but he will need something besides information and something more than the ability to pass an examination on what he has been taught by an instructor. He will then be called upon to make investigations of his own, to take up entirely new problems and new subjects and master them readily. It is of the utmost importance, therefore, that in his daily tasks he

be so taught and drilled that he may be steadily gaining the power upon which his success in life will to a great extent depend. The man who is satisfied to remain always a subordinate is well enough educated for his position when he has acquired the knowledge and skill necessary for his work; but the men who, under teachers, or by their own unaided effort, have gained by constant training such control of all their powers that they can use them up to their limit when they will, these will be the leaders.

Most boys need to be taught how to study. Some learn this lesson very late, and many never learn it at all. They dawdle over their lessons and make needless mistakes. They should be taught how to save time by planning their work in advance, how to begin the solution of a new problem at the right end, and should be required to have a clear knowledge of the meaning of the words they use. They should be made to appreciate the necessity of frequent reviews for things that are to be learned by heart, and the importance of laying a good foundation for a piece of work by first mastering the things that are fundamental. They should be drilled to think quickly, and at the same time accurately, to concentrate their attention on one subject, and to develop a memory on which they can depend. They will need these acquisitions when they start in for themselves, and after years spent in study they ought not to have to gain them by additional years of experience in the actual business of life.

The aim of the teacher should be to show his pupils