his scheme is right, and that his lesson is certain to succeed. This and the preceding chapters may, indeed, be regarded as a further aid to teachers in search of schemes for Lesson Notes, since emphasis has been laid throughout on the necessity of system, sequence, and appropriate technical terms in the whole business of Method.

Hence, it is the more necessary for the present writer to indicate the danger involved by any shallow imitation of the moulds into which Lesson Notes are thrown. Such Steps are, in the first place, of value as a necessary part of the study of Method, when exhibited in a text-book such as this. They are of value, further, to a young teacher when beginning to prepare his lessons, for in the first stages of this art he needs to imitate a model pretty closely, just as the beginner imitates in any other art; and teachers when beginning are advised to try and imitate pretty closely the models, thinking out the sequence of the Steps in each Section. Further, if the Steps prove themselves, after careful study and experiment by other teachers, to be based on sound experience, they may very properly be copied again and again, and be improved by the process. This has been the case with the

work of the Herbartians, and the Theorie der Formalen Stufen seems likely to take a permanent place as a type for the construction of lessons in certain branches.1

But the danger of abuse is great. The " Steps are full of pitfalls: they are only valid so far as they conform to the actual state of mind of the pupils for whom the lessons are prepared; and a teacher who relies on them as a substitute for his own investigation of the needs of his class soon finds 1 See p. 334, above

himself in a quagmire. Hence the absolute necessity of the simple rule laid down above-no one can begin safely to prepare notes of lessons otherwise than by making acquaintance with the class which he is to teach, and writing down, as fully and exactly as he can, exactly what he thinks will take place. From this starting-point "Steps" will evolve: articulation will become clearer every time: Rules will evolve or general ideas will rise to the surface: Application will be demanded ad rem.

This warning is especially necessary when the teacher bears in mind the complexity introduced by the interlacing of one branch with another (see p. 367, above). The teacher is doing so many things at once: he is instructing in History, but, at the same time, he is training his pupils in the art of reading and composition: this last brings up defects in elocution or spelling. Further, a beginner, who plans the whole work of a Section beforehand on some scheme, runs the danger of having to reconstruct the whole set of notes again before he is half-way through! He must, of course, have some clear idea in his own mind as to how the work will proceed (see Chap. XIII, p. 310, above), but he should not rigidly adhere to this if he finds that his pupils cannot follow. The Aim which comes out in the First Step does not commit the class to proceeding along a road which proves impassable.

(2) After a teacher has gained experience by writing such a series of detailed Notes for a Course of Study-notes such as are written now in some Seminars and Training Colleges under the direction of lecturers-he is able in the future to do his work efficiently with memoranda of а much briefer character. The young physician will take very elaborate notes at times of a patient whom he is

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studying, but when older, a few brief lines will serve him where a page would have been needed formerly so with the teacher. But it is always advisable to make these memoranda in diary form, i.e. to enter the date, and to make some record for each lesson. A separate Note Book should be kept for each Course of Study: the first pages (written on one side only) would be occupied with a sketch of the Syllabus, and then follows the diary, slight or full, as the case may be. This has the advantage of supplying a convenient place for the entry of any exceptional matter. A new way of working out a Section or illustrating a topic, a new idea of any kind, may turn up-often during the course of a lesson it may in this way be entered at once in the right place, and can be found when wanted. Even this amount of work needs time: the pressure of other duties is as much responsible for the neglect of Method among teachers as is the indifference to the subject which also prevails. But it is something gained if the teacher is able to arrange a system by which he can utilise to the best advantage the scanty time at his disposal: a teacher of very moderate abilities will thus succeed where men of more brilliant gifts fail. "Incompetency," it has been said, "is the gift of heaven, but business habits may be cultivated!"

If the labour of preparing Lesson Notes appear to be great, practice will make it more easy-in this as in all other exercise. And in one respect the teacher's reward is certain: he will gain, with every experience of the kind, an increase of intellectual interest in his calling. The "grind" of teaching is at times painful : outsiders are accustomed to pity the teacher because his life is spent among immature minds, working week by week the same pump.

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handle at the school-desk. Dreary, indeed, is the employment-the dullest and sorriest of trades -if it degenerates into "gerund-grinding" and giving" of lessons; especially, too, if the man as he advances in years finds his sympathies less and less satisfied by the social outlook of a school society. But if he treats his work as professional; if every new Course of Study, every new Section, presents a new scientific problem; if every new pupil and new class renews his intellectual strength for a fresh inquiry into aims and principles, then, indeed, he finds that the old saw, Ars longa, vita brevis, is as true of Education as of every other field for human activity and intelligence.

Note on Chaps. XII.-XV.-The reader may observe the effort made by the author, in planning these chapters, to follow the order of Preparation, Presentation, Formulation.

SECTION V

CHAPTER XVI

A FEW HINTS ON CLASS MANAGEMENT

§ 1. THE Management of a class is not a matter which demands elaborate treatment upon a basis of theory. It belongs to the practical, business department of a teacher's work, and success depends upon common-sense, directed by experience among children, and a careful observation of good management by other teachers. The theory which a teacher

requires is not a set of "principles " related to psychology and ethics, but practical rules. These rules may, indeed, be referred back to first principles, but it is simpler to assume the theory, while emphasising the practical reasons for the rules. Hence, the present chapter may be regarded as a supplement to the whole volume: offering hints which may be of service to young teachers, but not exacting the same careful study as was claimed in earlier chapters.

Questions of management differ greatly in different types of school. We have already come across the difficulty (Chap. XIII, § 2) created in teaching when classes of fifty, sixty, or more have to be handled by one teacher. We shall direct our

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