May 9, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



735 



candidate should pursue advanced work in 

 botany and zoology. 



Such a course may Avell be made to lead 

 up to the conferring of degrees coordinate 

 with those of law and medical schools and 

 equal to them in significance. 



What the Teacher of Botany in Secondary 

 Schools should be Prepared to do: Dr. 

 A. J. Grout, Boys' High School, Brook- 

 lyn. 



Ideals in Teaching: Professor A. D. Moe- 



RiLL, Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y. 



In the modern teaching of natural his- 

 tory one of the first ideals to hold sway was 

 taxonomy, then, the study of types, and, 

 later, the investigation of physiological pro- 

 cesses. At present no single ideal is in 

 vogue. Along with these more or less 

 clearly conceived general ideals there have 

 grown up minor ideals which often are of 

 an extra-scientific nature. Trimming the 

 principles of biology to meet the exigencies 

 of a set examination is a spectacle often 

 seen in our midst. 



In elementary work the pupil is of much 

 greater importance than the subject, but 

 many teachers think more of the symmet- 

 rical presentation of their subject than of 

 creating in the minds of their pupils a 

 liking for science. A similar blindness to 

 proper methods leads other teachers to dull 

 all the interest of discovery by giving pre- 

 liminary lectures and demonstrations which 

 make the laboratory period one of uninter- 

 esting verification. 



The ideal best calculated to help the 

 young pupil to break away from the domin- 

 ating authority of books is the one that 

 leads him into the paths of nature so that 

 he comes upon the truths himself. 



Well-directed work in biology develops 

 individuality and independence in judg- 

 ment. The example of one earnest, inter- 

 ested and independent stiident in a class is 

 not less successful than that of the in- 



structor in bringing indifferent workers 

 into line. 



The Training of a Science Teacher for Sec- 

 ondary Schools: Professor N. A. Harvey, 



Chicago Normal School. 



A teacher of science in a high school 

 ought to know: (1) His subject, (2) the 

 psychological movements involved in learn- 

 ing the subject, (3) the principles and the 

 art of teaching. 



Without knowledge of the subject mat- 

 ter, as complete as possible, no substantial 

 progress can be made. But the teacher 

 must not pursue one line of research to 

 such a degree as to become one-sided, lest 

 he attempt to drill his pupils in the methods 

 of the trained investigator. 



If the teacher would avoid the use of 

 men's methods in trying to develop child- 

 ren's minds he must have more than a 

 theoretical knoMdedge of the general laws 

 of mental action. He must bring the mind 

 of the child into the presence of truth in 

 such a way that its activity mil be aroused 

 and growth will result. 



Under the prevailing limitations, the 

 normal schools do not properly train teach- 

 ers for the high schools. Neither do col- 

 leges and universities offer an ideal prep- 

 aration for the science teacher. The 

 latter are occupied too exclusively with the 

 idea of storing up knowledge, with little or 

 no consideration of the psychology of the 

 process. 



There are three alternatives for securing 

 better trained teachers : ( 1 ) Normal schools 

 may modify their courses to meet the de- 

 mands for high school teachers; (2) uni- 

 versities may change courses in pedagogy 

 by introducing practice in teaching; (3) 

 the science teacher may get the knowledge 

 of his specialty in the university and his 

 pedagogical training in the normal school. 

 Henry R. Linville, 

 Chairman. 

 DeWitt Clinton High School, New York. 



