RECOMMENDATIONS. OF THE COMMITTEE OF COLLEGE TEACHERS OF EDUCATION. The committee offers for consideration and discussion the following recommendations (the word "Divided" indicates lack of unanimity of opinion in committee on point concerned): 1. That the term practice-teaching be discarded. The word practice-teaching carries to the mind of the public the idea that pupils are being practiced upon. This idea is resented by many, and the continued use of the term is apt to stigmatize our work. At least one high-school principal has already refused to permit the word practice-teacher to be used within his school for the reasons here suggested. (Divided.) 2. That the term practical work (instead of practice-teaching) be accepted as the blanket expression to cover all the different stages in the classroom experience of the candidate. (Divided; Prof. Mead recommends the term laboratory work.) 3. That the following terms be construed somewhat as follows: Practical work, to include observation, experimentation, apprentice work, supervised or directed teaching. Observation, to define that phase of practical or laboratory work which involves purposeful study, under direction and supervision, of the work of experienced teachers. Apprentice teaching, to define a phase of practical work that generally precedes directed teaching where the student is called upon to serve as an apprentice in performing with the teacher all the duties of the class hour, such as correcting papers, keeping attendance and reports, looking after health standards, making an assignment, teaching a small part of the period, securing control of the class while taking attendance. (Divided. Profs. Meriam, Dorcas.) Supervised teaching or directed teaching to define actual teaching under direction.' 4. (a) That one hour of practical or laboratory work per day per semester be regarded as a desirable unit for credit. (b) That this unit of practice should include observation, apprentice work, and directed teaching. (Divided. Prof. Mead suggests that each phase, observation, etc., be credited separately upon the above basis.) 1 The recommendations concerning terminology, by society action at the Detroit meeting, were placed in the hands of the society's committee on terminology. (c) That this experience be divided so as to include work in two high-school subjects, or different years in one subject, rather than to be continued with one subject and one group of pupils for the entire time. (Divided. Prof. Meriam would require teaching in one subject.) It is considered desirable for teacher in training to become familiar with first-year and with fourth-year pupils, with elementary work in a subject (mathematics for example) and with advanced work in the same subject. 5. That the giving of demonstration lessons be encouraged wherever possible in order that observation work may be enriched. (Divided. Prof. Meriam opposed.) 6. That a type of practical or laboratory work for teachers of experience be developed differing in nature from that of inexperienced teachers, this work to include: (a) Observation of demonstration lessons in order that they may have an opportunity to see the new technique of teaching with materials that meet the present demands of society. (b) Solving of problems connected with subject matter and method, (c) Some teaching to try out experiments with subject matter or method, (d) Supervision of the work of inexperienced teachers. 7. That both university-controlled high schools and the public high school be used wherever possible in the training of student teachers. “Own” school (a) because conditions can be controlled according to standards desired by the university, (b) because demonstration lessons for observation can readily be arranged, (c) because experiments with course of study and method can be carried on. In other words, the peculiar function of a university-controlled school is that of demonstration and experimentation. It should not necessarily be a "model" school. Public high school because conditions are such as student teacher will have to face in actual teaching. An "own" school adjusts environment to the student; a public school compels a student to adjust himself to his environment. 8. That supervision of student teaching be closely controlled by university departments of education in order to insure certain definite prerequisites in the selection of student teachers, as, for example, 1. Quantity and quality of work in content subjects. 2. Quantity and quality of work in education. Courses in education to include at least educational psychology, general methods, and special method. 3. The moral status of the candidate. 4. The physical status of the candidate-and as corollary to the above, the judicious elimination of those who by reasons of health, education, or temperament, are unfit for the teaching profession. CONCLUSIONS. In conclusion, the committee on practice teaching for secondary teachers, appointed at the 1915 meeting of the Society of College Teachers of Education, has made a partial survey of the methods of administering the practice teaching of prospective secondary school teachers employed in college departments and schools of education. This survey has made clear three facts: 1. That methods of procedure vary greatly in the several institutions; 2. That guiding principles of procedure are not clearly defined; 3. That the problem of the administration of supervision of practice teaching is but a part of the larger general problem of the training of prospective secondary-school teachers and should be considered as a part of the major problem. The general problem of the training of prospective secondary school teachers includes such important factors as: I. The province of departments of education in college or university: 1. The delimitation of the legitimate fields of the normal school and the college department of education, especially with reference to the training of prospective high-school and junior high-school teachers. 2. The relation of the department of education to other departments of the college or university. 3. The relation of the department of education to the State board of education, etc., especially with reference to certificates. II. Training preliminary to admission to practice teaching: 2. Desirable training in educational theory; III. The administration of practice teaching: 1. The place and use of the university-controlled school; 2. The use of local public secondary schools; 3. Selection of the student-teacher; 4. Desirable length of the practice work period of experience; 5. Its time relation to other college work. IV. The supervision of practice work: 1. Adequate supervisory force; 2. "Subject" supervisors from other departments of the college; 3. The use of experienced teachers, principals, or superintendents who may be members of the graduate student body; 4. Minimum essentials of adequate supervision. V. Credits for practical work, recommendations, placing teachers, etc.: 1. Time and subject credit for practical work; 2. Cooperation with school boards, etc., for certificate credit, etc. 3. The basis for recommendation for positions, especially the assumption of such function by "subject" departments and individual instructors, other than in education. 4. Methods employed in placing teachers. Cooperation of institutions in this work. 5. Methods of "follow up" in the case of teachers placed. The present study lies wholly within the scope of No. III of these general problems. Recognizing the importance of knowledge concerning all of these factors and the development of more or less standardized methods of procedure in all, the present committee recommends: 1. That the Society of College Teachers of Education through its executive committee appoint a committee of 10 to complete the study of the entire problem of training secondary-school teachers, to consider existing conditions, and to make recommendations designed to improve all of our methods of training prospective secondary-school teachers. The committee reported at the Kansas City meeting of the Department of Superintendence, National Education Association, February 26, 1917, that several colleges had added practice teaching to the professional training course; that several institutions have increased their facilities and some are reorganizing their work; and that several special studies of problems involved have been made during the year. METHODS OF RATING WORK OF PRACTICE TEACHERS. The methods of rating the work of practice teachers will be more fully investigated during the coming year. At present some few facts are evident. First, some institutions record a rating as "Satisfactory" or "Unsatisfactory." This rating is made and recorded at the end of the period of practice teaching. This mode of rating tends to appear in cooperative systems in which the supervision and rating are done by public-school teachers with little training for such work. Second, other institutions use their regular letter-grade system of rating and make a single rating and report at the end of the period of practice. Third, a system like that in use at Indiana University appears occasionally. It consists of making several different ratings during the period of practice, and a final summary rating at the end of the period of practice. Fourth, some institutions are developing analytical systems of rating. These are somewhat like a score-card system, each point being rated by some consistent plan and at the end of the period of practice a summary rating is made. They sometimes involve the weighting of the different points included. The best example is that developed by Sprague (Ped. Sem., March, 1917, pp. 72-80). 76 |