CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. CRAFTSMANSHIP IN TEACHING 1

II. OPTIMISM IN TEACHING 23

III. HOW MAY WE PROMOTE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE TEACHING FORCE? 43

IV. THE TEST OF EFFICIENCY IN SUPERVISION 63

V. THE SUPERVISOR AND THE TEACHER 77

VI. EDUCATION AND UTILITY 96

VII. THE SCIENTIFIC SPIRIT IN EDUCATION 123

VIII. THE POSSIBILITY OF TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 144

IX. A PLEA FOR THE DEFINITE IN EDUCATION 164

X. SCIENCE AS RELATED TO THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE 191

XI. THE NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD DRILL 204

XII. THE IDEAL TEACHER 229

CRAFTSMANSHIP IN TEACHING

~I~

CRAFTSMANSHIP IN TEACHING[1]

I

"In the laboratory of life, each newcomer repeats the old
experiments, and laughs and weeps for himself. We will be
explorers, though all the highways have their guideposts and every
bypath is mapped. Helen of Troy will not deter us, nor the wounds
of Caesar frighten, nor the voice of the king crying 'Vanity!' from
his throne dismay. What wonder that the stars that once sang for
joy are dumb and the constellations go down in
silence."--ARTHUR SHERBURNE HARDY: _The Wind of Destiny_.

We tend, I think, to look upon the advice that we give to young people
as something that shall disillusionize them. The cynic of forty sneers
at what he terms the platitudes of commencement addresses. He knows
life. He has been behind the curtains. He has looked upon the other side
of the scenery,--the side that is just framework and bare canvas. He has
seen the ugly machinery that shifts the stage setting--the stage setting
which appears so impressive when viewed from the front. He has seen the
rouge on the cheeks that seem to blush with the bloom of youth and
beauty and innocence, and has caught the cold glint in the eyes that,
from the distance, seem to languish with tenderness and love. Why, he
asks, should we create an illusion that must thus be rudely dispelled?
Why revamp and refurbish the old platitudes and dole them out each
succ