Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 85.djvu/59

Rh number of pages in a text-book we shall find that the actual accomplishments measured in material mastered will be greater, that school work will be done with far greater zest, and, what is more valuable, that the pupils will have acquired methods of study which will greatly increase their efficiency in the more advanced work of later years. It is this method of teaching instead of hearing recitations which, more than any other single cause, characterizes the work of the German schools and makes possible the greater accomplishment during the period of secondary education.

Our present school day and year could be considerably lengthened with great gain in efficiency and without danger of overtaxing the pupil's strength. Much recreational and occupational activity has been added to the work of the school without any corresponding addition to the time spent in school. With the greater variety and interest secured by improved methods of teaching, and with much less work assigned for home study, a longer day would add greatly to the pupil's attainment in a given number of weeks. If, in addition, the long period of vacation with its accompanying dissipation of the results already secured, could be reduced, it is not unreasonable to expect that three years would be sufficient for the accomplishment of what is now done in four. The large number of pupils who now voluntarily attend vacation schools in our large cities suggests the conclusion that many students would welcome such an extension of the school year.

To summarize this discussion briefly. Waste in our elementary and secondary education is due chiefly to: (1) a lack of coordination between the separate parts of our school organization; (2) to the lack of training of teachers; and (3) to the short tenure of position of teachers. A remedy may be sought in: (1) a readjustment of our school organization; (2) in the elimination of unnecessary reviews and repetitions; (3) in improved methods of instruction; (4) by furnishing substantial incentive to better work on the part of the pupils; (5) and by lengthening the amount of time given to instruction during the school year.

Any effective treatment of the problem will depend upon the recognition of the fact that we are dealing with a unified process extending through the entire period of elementary and secondary education. The problem can be solved only when teachers employed at every point in the process, including the instructors in the early years of the college course, devote serious attention, not merely to the small sphere of their immediate activity, but to the materials and method of the entire period involved.