In order to determine what a teacher is really doing in any given subject we visit her class-room during a number of recitation periods in that subject. High school teachers are usually willing to stand or fall upon what they do from day to day during the time in which they have full control of the children in the subject or subjects they teach. When the efficiency of their work is judged almost wholly upon how they plan, manage, and conduct a recitation, it certainly behooves them to spend considerable time in thinking out how they can use the recitation period to the best advantage of all concerned in it. To make this thinking the most productive it must be about things conducive to securing definite and measurable results. The purpose of this discussion is to suggest some definite methods of procedure which a teacher may profitably employ in her attempts to improve the technique of her high school history recitations. In the order of their consideration these are: principles governing, fundamental qualities, controlling aims; standards for judging, conditions necessary, management, assignment of the new lesson, forms, the history question, teacher-pupil activity, suggestions and directions for conducting, and direction for observing. Each of these is discussed with reference to its special application to a recitation in high school history.

PRINCIPLES GOVERNING.

There are certain general principles governing every recitation which has any claim to merit. They are the principles of unity, of proportion, and of coherence. Each of these should be mastered by the teacher and applied to her history recitation, just as they are applied in art anywhere. Teaching is an art as well as a science. No teacher will ever acquire a high degree of artistic skill until she deliberately sets about applying the ordinary principles of art to what she is doing. These principles will not appear in her recitation without conscious striving for them. In other words, if the teacher is ever to become an artist in the matter of planning, managing and conducting a recitation in history, she must first master the principles of unity, proportion and coherence, and learn their application to her daily work.

The very nature of the subject-matter of history makes it more difficult to secure unity in a recitation upon historical material than upon material in some other subjects like mathematics or Latin. While the teacher or a pupil is doing the necessary formal work at the board in an algebra exercise, the class as a whole may think out the various steps and processes, The history teacher has few opportunities for such unified thinking. She may have a pupil relate an incident or tell a story, but she is never certain just what the remainder of the class is thinking while this is going on. Yet, even if there are not the opportu

nities for applying the principle of unity in history teaching as in some other subjects, the teacher can deliberately plan certain unifying exercises. Her lesson plan will usually center around one movement or a certain phase of a movement; she will have all the class read the same presentation of the material upon which her lesson is based; if illustrative source extracts are used, the unifying way is to have a copy for each member of the class a less satisfactory but more practicable way is for the teacher or some pupil to read the extract while the class attentively and thoughtfully follows. These are but a few of the ways of applying the principle of unity. The class should understand the necessity of this principle and give its co-operation in applying it.

In applying the principle of proportion, the history teacher has a unique opportunity to teach emphasis and proper perspective. Suppose she plans to spend three weeks in teaching the French Revolution. Before the first lesson is assigned she will have the work for the whole period carefully planned in compliance with the principle of proportion which she wishes to apply. If she desires to test her skill in applying this principle in her daily work, she will ask the pupils to write a resume of the period upon its completion. If she finds her pupils emphasizing the facts and phases which she felt most important when planning and teaching the subject, she may rest assured that some success has been attained in the application of the principle of proportion.

One of the pressing present-day problems in high school history is the application of the principle of proportion to the whole field of history. Until the proper proportion has been settled by general agreement, the individual teacher will have to continue to emphasize particular and general fields of history in her own way and according to her own ideas. The point that seems worth making in this connection is that a history teacher must determine far in advance the essentials of a movement or a period which she plans to teach, and then carefully test her success in applying her principles. She may be wrong in her emphasis, but she is certainly succeeding as long as she is doing what she planned to do.

The principle of coherence is more difficult to apply in a single recitation than either of the foregoing. In order to secure its daily application, the teacher will have to make sure that it is embodied in her plans for a series of lessons. Plans for teaching the Reformation will include a lesson or two on its antecedents. If she gives due regard to the principle of cause and effect in planning and teaching a single lesson, she will at the same time be applying the principle of coherence to both her plan and its presentation; if she consciously works for the application of this principle in her daily work, the pupils will unconsciously apply it in theirs-thus resulting in papers and recitations which will gladden the heart of the English teacher, who daily wishes for pupils who unconsciously apply what she has so faithfully taught. History, above all other subjects, offers the opportunity for the students to use what they have learned in English; but unless the history teacher deliberately plans for such an application, the efforts of the most painstaking instructor in English will not attain results that will reach far beyond her own class room.

FUNDAMENTAL QUALITIES.

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There are certain fundamental qualities of teaching exercise that a history teacher must always keep in mind, if she attains other than mediocre results. These are clearness, force, and fine adaptation. The boy that said furlough was a "mule" is a fine example of the need of clearness. This same boy attempted to prove that he was right by citing the picture of a soldier on a mule with the following label below: "Going Home on a Furlough."

The need of clearness is brought home to the teacher every time she reads a set of test papers. In these she finds words used incorrectly, facts wrongly applied, and all sorts of historical monstrosities. The history teacher must plan a multitude of schemes to test the clearness of her own and the text-book's presentation of a subject. The very nature of the subject matter makes this imperative. Pupils must be given every possible opportunity to express in their own way what they have gleaned from various sources. It is only by such a method of procedure that a teacher can feel sure that her presentation of the subject contains the quality of clearness.

The qualities of force and fine adaptation are difficult to secure and more difficult to measure. It is certainly worth while for a high school teacher to strive to make her teaching forceful. Many of the unmeasurable results of her work depend upon this quality. Few lasting impressions are ever made by a teacher whose recitations are continuously lacking in it. A dead history recitation is certainly to be avoided. A study so teeming with life must be forcefully presented. By conscious striving an unforceful history teacher may in time acquire considerable skill in injecting force into her recitations.

Fine adaptation is a necessary prerequisite to the two foregoing qualities. If what I am teaching is not adapted to age, interest and capacity of those I am teaching, it will certainly be difficult to make it either clear or forceful. The great problem of adapting history to children in both the elementary and secondary schools is far from a satisfactory solution. It still remains for the individual teacher to take the material outlined in a course of study or a text-book and adapt it to those she is teaching. She can be materially aided in this matter, if both syllabus and text strive to select and discuss only the topics and movement which are adaptable to the pupils for whom they are intended.

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CONTROLLING AIMS.

History teachers are often accused of doing indefinite teaching. This criticism has resulted in some wholesome efforts to make their work more definite. This is accomplished by setting up specific aims for a series of lessons or even a single lesson. If a teacher sets out to teach the American Revolution with a very definite aim in mind and tests her results strictly according to this aim, she will escape the criticism of indefiniteness so common and so just nowadays.

Besides the controlling aim that the teacher has in mind in teaching any phase of history, there are certain specific aims common to all recitation. These she will do well to master and follow rather religiously. They are no other than the common ones of testing, teaching and drill, Whatever else she does with the assignment made the day before, the history teacher must certainly test the pupil's preparation of what she has assigned them; and, since knowledge

of history and historical movements will always re

main one of the legitimate aims of all history teaching, she will need to test the actual knowledge her pupils are acquiring as they proceed along the historical way. If she is unacquainted with the class, she will need to spend much time in testing methods of study, since it is only by this means that she can be

able to locate improper methods and supplant them with proper ones. In this testing period of the recitation she should be able to diagnose the cause of both general and individual failures. She can also test her own skill in applying the principles and qualities advocated above. Such a test will often bring disappointments, but will in the end work for the good of all concerned.

The history teacher's real skill is best seen in how well she is able to do the second general aim or purpose of the recitation listed above. In the teaching phase of the class exercise she finds an opportunity to do what in reality she is paid to do. To teach. does not necessarily mean to do all the reciting. This may be advisable occasionally, but not often. Among other things, high school history teaching means giving the pupils opportunities to express themselves concerning things they have read, correcting wrong impressions wherever they exist, helping pupils master and organize related historical facts, giving additional information which the teacher has acquired through reading and travel, having at hand at the opportune time illustrative materials to make abstract and general statements concrete and full of meaning, developing certain principles underlying history study, and inspiring pupils to better efforts not only in history, but in all phases of their work both in and out of school.

In spite of the fact that she runs the risk of being dry and formal, the history teacher must spend some time in actual drill work. Before this.can be profitably done she will need to have definitely in mind the phases of the work which she hopes to make automatic. Too much is often attempted along this line with the accompanying results of permanently ac

the work for the daily recitation must be so definite that no one can fail to understand and meet them; and finally, the maps, charts, reference books, and all other class room equipment must be as familiar to the pupils as to the teacher. Few will question the validity of these statements. Their application is sure to result in tangible rewards.

Besides applying the foregoing principle of ordinary business management, the history teacher will have to master some of the technique of historyrecitation management. By this is meant that she will have to learn to utilize at the proper time and in the proper place all the resources at her command. A special report has been planned to illuminate a certain point in the lesson. Able manipulation brings this forth at the opportune time. An illustrative source extract is to be read when a definite point in the recitation is reached. Efficient direction sees to it that this source is at hand and read. A certain picture, sketch, chart, or what not is to be used at a point in the lessons. Skilled management has these at hand and uses them at the appropriate time and place. To scientifically and effectively manage a history recitation is not the work of a neophyte. Skill in it comes only through much experience and careful attention to all phases of the process.

ASSIGNMENT OF THE LESSON.

One of the most important things that a teacher does in any given history recitation is the assignment of the work upon which the next one is to be based. Just when and how this is to be done and the amount of time devoted to it are matters that the teacher must settle for herself. It is likely safe to assume that few history teachers spend too much time in assigning the lesson; and that fewer still make the assignment too specific, especially for younger pupils. Considerable time and a rich store of schemes are required to make a history assignment sufficiently specific, clearly comprehensive and adequately appealing. The following is a list of some things that a history teacher might do in assigning a lessonthe specific thing will, of course, always be determined by the character and advancement of the class: Call attention to the most important points in the advanced lessons; outline the lesson for the pupils; explain difficult points in the new lesson; give leading questions; show pupils how to make their own outlines; suggest definite references, pictures, and maps for study; develop the outline of the advanced lesson with the aid of the class; place the difficult words on the blackboard and pronounce them; read the advanced lesson over with the pupils, noting the large topics, and asking them to prepare the new lesson according to the outline thus made; simply outline enough of the lesson to show the pupil how to study it, and leave the remainder for them to do; assign by topics with little discussion or explanation; and give a list of topics with general references, and citations to special references, indicating at the same time the relative importance of the topics. It is often desirable with beginners in high school history to read the lesson over with them one day and ask

them to recite upon it the following day. Good general rules to follow are: set definite problem for mastery; give definite instructions as to what to learn and where and how to acquire it; and never pass to the work of the recitation proper until all clearly understand just what is desired for the succeeding period.

FORMS.

Some five years ago, Mr. Walter Libby, after visiting a great many high school history recitations in the capacity of a high school inspector, summarized them under the following forms:

1. Combination of the recitation and oral method. The emphasis in this case was on the recitation method. The teacher questioned the class sharply on the material prepared, and when necessary filled in with extra material, her own statements being a link in the development of the lesson. There was no digression or lack of continuity. The line of cause and effect held things together. Coherence was much in evidence.

2. A combination of the recitation and oral method with the emphasis on the latter. In this form of the recitation the text-book material was not emphasized. The teacher did most of the talking, using much illustrative material to make her points clear. Enough questions were asked merely to get the subject introduced.

3. Topical recitation. This sort of a recitation was conducted by means of special reports by the pupils on especially assigned topics. The text-book was little used.

4. The study recitation. Here the pupils worked with books open, wrote reports, drew pictures, made maps, read in reference books, and other things characteristic of the laboratory method, of which, indeed, this form of recitation is an application.

5. Inductive recitation. An outline was given for this type of recitation. The pupils recited on the material suggested in the outline. The material was often rearranged and supplemented. Relations were carefully worked out and generalizations made. All facts on a point were brought forward and carefully interpreted.

6. Test recitation. In this form the teacher asked question after question. She gave no information. The story of the book was reconstructed bit by bit. The information was piece-meal. It was simply a test of memory with no development. A superabundance of memory questions..

7. Text-book recitation. Here both the teacher and pupils had the text open. It seemed to be used mostly by unprepared teachers. It was absolutely lifeless and demanded little on the part of anyone.

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While Mr. Libby has given us an excellent summary of the different forms of the high school history recitation, yet there seem to be two rather important, but likely rather uncommon ones, that he did not see. These are what one might call the individual recitation and the recitation wholly in charge

6" Forms of High School Recitation," in "Education," XXVIII, 601 ff.

of the class. The writer has used the first very extensively in both elementary and high school history classes. For example, in teaching the Crusades, the Reformation, the French Revolution, and similar topics, it was understood in the beginning that each member of the class would be required to formulate in his own words a connected discussion of these topics and recite the same to the satisfaction of the instructor. The class as a whole was dismissed while these individual recitations were going on and set to work on some advanced problem.

The second form, which Mr. Libby evidently did not see, is described by Miss Lotta Clark in her article on "A Good Way to Teach History." Here one finds the socialized recitation pure and simple. All the assigning, conducting and reciting the work was done by the pupils the teacher keeping herself in the background all the while, yet at the same time remaining an unconscious director of all the operations of the class period.

THE HISTORY QUESTION.

There are three things connected with the question as a means of attaining efficiency in, high school history instruction, to which the teacher should continually give her attention. These are the quality, number and kind of questions she is daily using. Certain essential qualities of good history questions should always be uppermost when a teacher is formulating them. If a history question stimulates reflection, is adapted to the pupils' experience, and calls forth a well-rounded thought clearly and logically expressed, it certainly has some elements of superior quality. In order to make sure that her questions will contain these desirable qualities, a history teacher must embody in her plan for the day six or eight thought-provoking questions, calling for discrimination and associations, based on facts contained in the lesson.

Just how many questions to ask during a fortyminute history period is difficult to determine. The form of the recitation determines this. In an inductive type the teacher will certainly ask more questions than in a topical one. Some idea of how many questions history teachers should ask might be obtained from the number they are really asking. Miss Stevens, in gathering material for her study of the question, visited some twenty history recitations, and actually counted the number of questions asked during a forty-minute period. She found the following, each number standing for the number of questions asked during one recitation: 41, 142, 125, 94, 64, 90, 60, 53, 61, 97, 47, 66, 93, 61, 76, 88, 80, 128, 68, and 90. Few teachers will dissent from the opinion that in the majority of these cases too many questions were asked, if each one actually conformed to all the foregoing qualities of a good question.

If attention is directed to the kind of questions the foregoing history teachers asked, one finds an answer to the query of why they asked so many. Both Miss 7 "School Review," XVII, 255 ff.

Stevens and Mr. Taft gave some attention to the kind of questions a few history teachers actually ask. In eleven history recitations visited, these investigators found the following, the first number in each pair standing for the total number of questions asked and the second for the number of memory questions: 41, 29; 66,60; 90,75; 94, 74; 125, 87; 142, 103; 85, 85; 82,70; 82,50; 68,60; 87, 72.9 The fact that the number of memory questions was considerably higher in the history recitation than in some others, led Miss Stevens to remark that no other object in the curriculum adheres to the text-book so closely for content, organization and method as history; and that no other subject confines itself so steadfastly to facts.10

Mr. Taft 11 tabulated material on the following kinds of questions: questions suggesting the answer, thought questions, double, triple and more than three questions, memory, and natural questions. He found considerable use of answer-suggesting, but very little of the natural and thought-provoking question. Both his and Miss Stevens findings seem to indicate that some teachers are giving but little attention to the mastery of the art of questioning as a phase of teaching technique.

TEACHER-PUPIL ACTIVITY.

The problem of the proper distribution of the time of a recitation period in history between the pupils and the teacher is yet among the many unstandardized phases of high school history teaching. Any answer to the inquiry will be based on the type of the recitation in question. If the lecture method is used, the teacher will of necessity consume most all of the time; if the social co-operation type, as reported by Miss Clark, is utilized she will be kept in the background, consuming little or no time. Since these are extreme types, it remains to be determined what the legitimate proportion in an ordinarily conducted history recitation should be.

A partial answer to the question at issue may be found in present practices. How much of the time of a history recitation are teachers actually consuming, and how much are they permitting their pupils to consume? Few attempts have been made to answer these queries. Both of the studies to which reference has already been made contain some material along this line. Measured by the number of spoken words, determined by stenographic reports of eleven history recitations, Miss Stevens and Mr. Taft 12 found the following percentages of teacherpupil activity-the first number in each pair expressing the per cent. of teacher-activity in a recitation, and the second the per cent. of pupil-activity in the same recitation: 80, 20; 57, 42; 59, 41;75, 25; 62,38; 58, 42; 67, 33; 49, 51, 54, 46; 62, 38;58, 42.

The interesting fact about the history recitations represented in the foregoing tabulation is that in but one case was the per cent. of pupil-activity greater

Stevens, op. cit.. 47; Taft, op. cit., 147. 10 Op. cit., 48. 11 Op. cit., 147.

12 Op. cit.. Stevens, p. 22; Taft, p. 147.