An Analysis of General Method of Teaching

Author

Annie Mae McNair, Prairie View A&M College

Date of Award

8-1958

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Degree Discipline

Education

Abstract

It will be seen from the outset of any discussion about method that it is impossible to think about it without considering the subject matter involved. What we propose teaching and methods employed should be correlative. Method may be distinguished from subject matter for the purposes of thinking by considering it as a way of doing something, a manner of behaving.¹ It is a means to an end, and in proportion that the end in view is a definitely acceptable one to the individual concerned in the performance of the activity the effort to discover the best way will be stressed.

General method should furnish the foundation upon which the frame work of special methods is to rest and the effectiveness of the special methods so constructed will depend to a great extent upon the validity of the general methods from which the beginnings were made.

Method, let us repeat, is a way of behaving; we may need to acquire more effective modes of conduct in which case the methods learned will serve the temporary ends, but always we are forced back to the question of what our way of behaving means in terms of the larger objectives in life. It is deep-rooted in psychology and philosophy and involves not only the "what" and the "how," but also the "why."

There seems to be a general belief that method is associated with at least four factors. These factors are: (1) the aim, or function, of the subject-matter, defined in terms of the result sought in the development of the child; (2) the material to be selected with reference to this aim and placed before the learner for his mastery; (3) the preparing or organizing of the subject-matter to adapt it to the mind of the child; and (4) the technique of instruction or presentation.

The major purpose of this investigation was to analyze the general method of teaching in a select group of small elementary and secondary schools in Texas.

Subordinate purposes were: (1) to determine those goals which are used in the general method of teaching; (2) to find out those techniques which are used in the general method of teaching; (3) to determine what kind of devices are used; (4) to find out the nature of the material used; and (5) to evaluate the process used in the general method of teaching.

¹Ned Harland Dearborn, Introduction to Teaching (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1925), pp. 284-289.

Committee Chair/Advisor

Herman T. Jones

Publisher

Prairie View A&M College

Rights

Date of Digitization

10-15-2021

Contributing Institution

John B Coleman Library

City of Publication

Prairie View

MIME Type

Application/PDF

Recommended Citation

McNair, A. M. (1958). An Analysis of General Method of Teaching. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.pvamu.edu/pvamu-theses/538