Part 14 (1/2)
”The autu everywhere; They are falling through the ath the air”
Woe betide the teacher who tries to explain! There is no explanation--there is just the humor If that eludes the reader, an explanation will not avail
A teacher of Latin read to his pupils ”The House-Boat on the Styx” in connection with their reading of the ”aeneid” It was good fun for thehly honored than in the assiduous study which those young people gave to his lines They were eager to complete the study of the lesson in order to have more time for the ”House-Boat” The huh which the truths of the regular lesson passed blithely in
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1 What is the source of huh with the school? When should she not do so?
3 How does the response of the school to a laughable incident reflect the leadershi+p of the teacher?
4 What can be done to bring more or better humor into the school?
5 Compare as companions those whom you knoho exhibit a sense of humor with those who do not
6 Compare their influence on others
7 What can be done to bring huuish betit and huhter in school?
9 What is meant by an ”aptitude for vicariousness”?
10 How did Lincolnspeech? Why?
11 What is the relation of pathos to hus of Mark Twain that shows him a philosopher as well as a humorist
13 What books could you read to the pupils to enliven some of the subjects that you teach?
CHAPTER XX
The Ele toward betterment=--Much has been said and written in recent ti and hu the studies and work of the school The discussions have been nation-wide in their scope and estions No subject of greater ies the interest of educational leaders They are quite aware that so needs to be done, but no one has announced the sovereign remedy The critics havein our school procedure, but they can neither diagnose the case nor suggest the re er and inadequate We have been working at the circumference of the circle rather than at the center We have been striving to refor for a reflex that would be sufficient to i thereby to reconstruct the school by inoculation We have looked to agriculture and other vocational studies as thehas been accooal
The best that writers can do in their books or educational conferences can do in their ress
=The obstacle of conservatisreatest obstacles we have to sur school work is the habitual conservatis that obtained in the school ere pupils have grooved the that smile defiance at the theories that we have more recently acquired When we venture out from the shore ant to feel a rope in our hands The superintendent speaks fervently to patrons or teachers on the subject of , then retires to his office and takes inti the educational seas he ht the buoys of tradition This ress, in the very nature of the case, will be slow
=Schools of education=--Another obstacle in the way of progress toward the vitalized school is the attitude and teaching of es of education and norht to look to them for leadershi+p, but we find, instead, that their practices lag far in the rear of their theories They teach according to such devitalized methods and in such an unvitalized way as to discredit the subjects they teach It is only froainst their style of teaching that we e of education in a course of eight weeks on the subject of School Adures from statistical reports for several days in succession and for four and five hours each day The students confessed that their only objective was the gaining of credits, and had no inti was to function anywhere
=TheIt has in it no inspiration, no life, nothing, in short, that connects with real life Such a teacher could not h school for a half year The boys and girls would desert him even if they had to desert the school And yet teachers and prospective teachers must endure and not complain Those who submit supinely will atte that obtains in his classes, and their schools will suffer accordingly His sort of teaching proclai in the estimation of normal people Such a teacher drones forth weary platitudes as if his utterances were oracular The only prerequisite for a position in soree of a certain altitude without any reference to real teaching ability
=Statistics versus children=--Such teaching palliates educational situations without affording a solution It is so steeped in tradition that it resorts to statistics as it would consult an oracle We look to see it establishi+ng precedents only to find it following precedents
When ould find in it a leader we findstatistical nu children Indeed, children are but objects that beco theories It lacks vitality, and that is sad; but, worst of all, it strives unceasingly to perpetuate itself in the schools Real teaching power receives looks askance in soes as if it bore theup to standard on the acade the teachers of our schools