152 . THE NA TU RE-STUD Y KE VIE W ,3 : 5-M ay, ,907 



Without discipline the most carefull}^ planned trip is likely 

 to come to nought, while a well-disciplined class in the field can 

 hardly fail to learn enough worth the trip even from a lesson 

 without a plan, provided the teacher have an interest in the sub- 

 ject. The progressive teacher will welcome the nature-study 

 excursion as another opportunity for strengthening her powers 

 of discipline. It is the teacher who is always shrinking from 

 new problems in discipline who always finds discipline most 

 difficult. It is by no means an easy task to lay down rules for 

 making discipline easy, for in this so much depends on the 

 personality of the teacher. The study of the individual child 

 has, I believe, done more than anything else to strengthen the 

 teachers' power to control her pupils ; not the study of children 

 as they are in school but the study of them when they are their 

 real selves. Nowhere else, unless it be in their games, are 

 children so much themselves as on the field trip ; for with com- 

 petent leadership they become so engrossed in the subject that 

 they forget to be otherwise than natural. If the teacher has a 

 lively interest in the subject and each time has the excursion 

 well planned, she will find her power of discipline becoming 

 stronger with each succeeding trip. 



The necessity for interference in discipline diminishes with 

 decrease in numbers. It is often possible and many times 

 desirable to divide the class up into small groups, sometimes 

 into pairs. This plan is especially recommended for bird wOrk 

 and has been put to a practical test through some months by 

 Mr. Stebbins, the principal of our grammar room. It is not 

 practicable below fourth grade. Considerable variety may be 

 utilized in dividing up the groups. Pupils may, for instance, 

 sometimes be allowed to choose their own partners; but it is 

 usually better for the teacher to select the partners, choosing in 

 such a way that the stronger students accompany the weaker, 

 the reason for which is plainly evident. The teacher also takes a 

 small group with her and each time a different group until a 

 round of the class has been made. In group work pupils are 

 thrown largely on their own resources and they profit by the 

 work just to the extent that they assume responsibility in the 

 matter. They are made to feel the necessity of looking more 

 sharply for distinguishing marks and are compelled to rely 

 wholly upon their ovv^n powers of description. It is well to 



