The confusion of counsels in the ranks of its protagonists kept even the best prepared teachers from doing effective work. Those who had recommended that civics be taught as a part of history played into the hands of school officials who were only too glad to tack it on to another subject, so as to avoid taking away time from other subjects in the school curricula.
In such a position the teaching of the sub ject usually became nothing more than a study of constitutional history and such knowledge of actual government as was obtained by the pupil could only be had by cramming the subject just before an examination. Even with the best of prepared teachers the subject under such cir cumstances inevitably became one of the study of machinery rather than of the functions of government.
It was largely to remedy such a condition of affairs that the study of community civics was introduced. Through this medium the pupil was to look about him, find out for him self what the government was doing for him and through that means approach the study of the agency of machinery of governmental activ ity. This method of study led to the considera tion of municipal activities first and then quite naturally to the work of the State and Federal governments.
This brought to the subject an interest on the part of pupils that they had never before had. They visited local governmental agencies, executive, legislative, judicial; witnessed the numerous industrial, charitable, educational and social activities of their local government; kept note and scrap books; took a keen interest in current events on which they were quizzed; had debates on political issues; subscribed and read the daily newspapers and weekly or monthly periodicals; listened to talks by public officials; took part in mock conventions and so on.
Actual experience showed that many of these methods could not be carried out in all centres and in others they were pushed to extremes. The sordid nature of a police court in a large city was not the best introduction to judicial institutions, and moreover political officers soon got tired of having a veritable mob of school children of all ages swarming wer their buildings and offices. While only a few teachers were doing it, it was well enough, but when it became a daily or weekly, or even monthly, practice, for many it became distasteful.
There has been, therefore, a reaction from the extremes of this system even by its advo cates, but as a method of instruction it has aroused interest. The time consumed and its
interference with the work of other teachers were not the least objections.
The time given in class to the subject in elementary schools where it is best taught is combined with language study, geography and history, in the first four grades, while in the fifth and sixth grades 20 minutes a week arc given to a separate study of it; in the seventh grade 40 minutes and in the eighth grade 60. In the best high schools five periods a week of 45 minutes for 20 weeks or three periods a week for 40 weeks are given to the subject. Sometimes it is taught parallel with the United States history and at others it follows.
The methods of instruction in colleges and schools have been undergoing great improve ment in recent years though civics is far from being generally well taught in the schools. The improvement has generally come in those schools where the object of the teacher has been to get away from the dry résumé of offi cers and official duties to a study of functions. These have been studied by the use of current newspapers and periodicals, public documents and official notices, visits to legislative assem blies and courts, and in the employment of a great variety of means to interest the pupil to the living organization of governmental f unctions.
In many schools the classes and whole school have been organized into •School Cities') or 'School States* and the pupils given a share in the government of the school. All of these methods along with many others have served to vitalize the study of the subject and to make for a good training in citizenship.
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