the results of the project method of teaching. She did this by using the project method in supervision.

6. COLLINGS, Ellsworth, An Experiment With a Project Curriculum (Macmillan, 1923). Contains numerous examples

of projects.

7. COURSAULT, J. H., The Principles of Education (Silver Burdett, 1920). An excellent discussion of how purposes are made.

8. FRASIER AND ARMENTROUT, An Introduction to Education, "The Project Method of Teaching," p. 131; "The Making of Lesson Plans," p. 140.

9. Hosic, James F., "An Outline of the Problem Project Method," The English Journal, Vol. 7, November, 1918, pp. 599-603. A good summary.

10. HOTCHKISS, E. A., Project Method in Classroom Work (Ginn, 1924). A brief statement of the laws of learning, a definition of the project, and descriptions with evaluations of successful projects taken from classroom practice. 11. KILPATRICK, W. H., "The Project Method," Teachers College Bulletin, Tenth Series, No. 3. The best authoritative statement of the project method.

12. KILPATRICK, BAGLEY, BONSER, HOSIC, and HATCH, "Danger and Difficulties of the Project Method and How to Overcome Them A Symposium," Teachers College Record, Vol. 23, September, 1921.

13. KRACKOWIZER, Alice M., Projects in the Primary Grades (Lippincott, 1924). Concrete suggestions and types of activities involved in the project method of teaching. 14. LULL, H. G., "Project Problem Instruction," School and Home Education, Vol. 38, December, 1918.

15. MCFARLAND, Blanche Bulifant, "A Project in Supervision," Journal of Educational Method, Vol. 3, October, 1923, p. 48. A clear presentation of how a supervisor used the project method herself to guide her teachers to use it with their pupils.

16. MCMURRY, C. A., Teaching by Projects (Macmillan, 1920). Excellent discussion of specific projects.

17. NUTT, H. W., The Supervision of Instruction (Houghton Mifflin, 1920). There is a good chapter on directed teaching which includes a discussion of lesson-planning.

18. STRAYER, G. D., A Brief Course in the Teaching Process (Macmillan, 1912). A chapter on lesson plans.

19. WELLING and CALKING, Social and Industrial Studies for Elementary Grades (Lippincott, 1924). A wealth of concrete material organized through its use in the classroom, dealing with food, clothing, shelter, implements, and records. Very helpful in planning class problems for study.

20. WILSON, G. M., "Teaching Levels, Teaching Technique, and the Project,” Journal of Elementary Method, Vol. 2, pp. 323, 385. A critical analysis of the appropriateness of the term project for various educational activities with concrete illustrations of the author's understanding of the term.

CHAPTER X

FAILURES AND SUCCESSES

The study of the experiences of others helpful. In the discussions that preceded this chapter we laid down most of the fundamental principles that should govern the conference procedure. Many concrete situations were reported. For the most part, however, attention was focused upon the general principles of supervision to be derived from a study of such cases. But there arise in supervision many teaching problems, each presenting new and unsolved difficulties. In many ways each case is a law unto itself. "What to say" and "how to say it" will vary from situation to situation. In this sense each supervisory problem is individual. After years of experience one learns to place each new problem in its proper category and to proceed with reasonable assurance of success. It is only by trial and error processes, fraught with frequent failure and disappointment, that one evolves a working procedure. This process, however, can be greatly shortened by the study of the experiences of others.

It is the purpose of this chapter to bring together in concrete form the experiences of supervisors successful in dealing with difficult, everyday, supervisory problems. The cases reported are those that have actually arisen in the regular routine of school work, and the solutions are those judged to have succeeded. The cases have been gathered from supervisors of varied experience and from widely scattered localities. The material is of interest

not only because of the specific solutions suggested but also because of original data indicative of prevailing standards of supervision. The material may be taken prima facie and studied for whatever values it has in offering solutions to difficult problems in supervision, or it may be made the basis of a critical analysis of supervisory practices. Although the list of studies is not exhaustive, the studies are typical of those recurring in the average school system and should be suggestive to experienced and inexperienced supervisors alike.

1. Adjusting the Misfit Teacher

Case. This case involves a very attractive twenty-yearold girl teaching her first school. She was graduated from a normal school and later from the state university. Her scholarship was average. At the opening of the school year she was assigned to an elementary school to fill a temporary vacancy made by the resignation of a failing teacher. She taught for one week (a difficult position), became ill, and was out of school until the first of October. On October 1 she was assigned to a permanent position as relief teacher in another elementary school. She was given a scattered program, including literature, reading, and play classes. She failed. The children did everything imaginable. There was no attention. Every one talked at once. A common expression among the children was, "I ain't got that.” Books were thrown about the room. The teacher was colorless and lifeless. There was no planning or awareness of problems. She had very little to say, and had no interest in improvement. The central office was notified and the principal asked for her dismissal.

A representative visited the teacher in November and a second representative December 4. The teacher was asked to come to the office for assistance. She did not

come at once but did later. A visiting critic was sent out twice, who taught for her, discussed teaching procedure, and suggested that she see the supervisor. This she did only after being repeatedly urged to do so. As a last resort the teacher was transferred to another elementary school with a recommendation that she be dismissed.

Solution. In analyzing this case the following facts were brought out. The girl had met with a very grave personal disappointment during the last weeks at the university. Added to this came failure in certain subjects which were not completed until the summer term. Furthermore, this was her first position of responsibility, and she did not realize the dangers to be encountered in bridging the gap from training school to regular classroom teaching.

The children were just those of good American homes, but the teacher was at a disadvantage because her predecessor had been of unusual merit. Unfortunately, the classroom was next door to the principal's office. The teacher was always conscious of the fact that the principal could hear, and never felt quite free to speak to the pupils as she would have liked. The pupils slipped from her control the very first day. The principal did not give assistance and, as a matter of fact, did not appear until it was too late to help. The children even continued their festivities in the principal's presence. The teacher did not feel that if the necessary steps were taken she was likely to get support from the principal, and she soon assumed an attitude of impertinence and disrespect for the principal.

Then came the assignment to a new school. Before her arrival at the new school she held several conferences on her own initiative with the supervisor, first on December 7 and second on January 11. Just before taking the