Tools for Educators
A short article on the
value of technology in education
If you find this material useful, you may also want to check out several of
our print publications -- Click
on Success: A Practical Guide to Technology Planning and Lesson Plan Design
and Planning into Practice:
Resources for planning, implementing, and integrating instructional technology.
Both contain considerably more detailed information on the topics covered in
The Value of Technology In Education
At this late date in the 20th Century, educators are well-used to hearing about
the promise that technology brings for "revolutionizing" the way teachers
teach and students learn. To even the casual observer, this promise would seem
to flow from an ever-growing awareness on the part of the general public to
the integration of technology into daily life. The popular media deluges us
with images of telecommunications-related change in the way that we live and
communicate - from ordering groceries on-line to sending faxes from the beach
- while ever-so-subtly integrating the now-ubiquitous WorldWideWeb address into
advertisements everywhere. On an even more basic level, few of us would expect
handwritten, or even typed, correspondence from a "professional" business
or company. We simply expect that communications will be produced electronically.
In short, technology tools, and the resources available through the use of these
tools are indeed seamlessly integrated into our daily life.
65 percent of all U.S. schools are connected in some fashion to the Internet
(QED, 1997). Virtually every school has at least one computer, and on the average
in 1996, there is one in-school computer for every 10 students in the country
(QED, 1997). Outside of schools, one-third of all U.S. households have a personal
computer, with that many more planning to buy one within the next year. (Microsoft,
1996) Of course, these statistics mean nothing if teachers are not using computers
and other available technology in ways that support improved teaching and learning.
Research, as well as practical experience tells us that indeed, many teachers
do not have the basic skills, training, or time to effectively use technology
to positively impact their students. How does technology impact education?
While it is possible to use technology to support traditionally passive, didactic,
instructional methods, most researchers see technology's greatest promise in
the way in which it serves to engage students in an active learning environment.
When placed in the hands of a student who is charged with solving meaningful,
real-world problems, the computer becomes a powerful tool for gathering, manipulating,
synthesizing, presenting information. Simply put, technology supports a constructivist
view of education. (Collins, 1991 and NCREL, 1995) Viewing the concepts of constructivst
education and engaged learning in the context of school structure, it can be
seen that technology has a powerful role in facilitating, and in some cases
inspiring, the restructuring of education. (Shiengold, 1991)
Still, we have heard all of this before. District and state educational technology
plans continuously point out the value of technology as a tool for reform. State
curriculum frameworks refer to technology tools as they indicate the content
objectives these tools are supposed to support. Technology manufacturers tout
the value their products have in the classroom. But when it comes right down
to it, how does a teacher take a simple tool - such as a word processor
- and make this technology educational ? We can rather easily understand
how a content-rich piece of technology - such as a laserdisc or a multimedia
CD-ROM encyclopedia - can be used for instruction, but how does a tool with
no inherent content get used in a way that positively impacts student learning?
Given the prevalence of these relatively simple technology tools - the word
processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation manager - teachers need to have
some guidance in making these tools educational.
Applications such as word processors, database management systems, and spreadsheets
can be used by students in exactly the same way that they are used in the "real"
world of work. Students can choose to use these tools to organize, analyze,
and present information. The information the students process comes from their
grappling with particular tasks and problems. By encouraging students to use
real world tools in their problem solving, the tasks themselves become more
authentic and thus more engaging. Proponents of engaged learning argues that
engaged learners are more effective learners.
Another way in which technology tools create greater student engagement is
that they strongly support a constructivist approach to education. By using
a technology such as the Internet or a CD-ROM encyclopedia, a student can explore
and navigate through a wide body of information and discover facts, principles,
and concepts as they go. This type of exploration is largely self-directed,
thereby allowing each student to assimilate information and construct meaning
in a way that is personally relevant. Furthermore, when used to present information
- such as through the use of a spreadsheet or presentation manager - the student
must learn how to manipulate and organize information in such as way as to convey
the meaning that s/he has constructed. Again, this is not only highly engaging,
but also replicates the real world tasks that the student will face outside
of school. Students easily make this connection between "authentic"
tasks and the real world, and this often results in their taking greater pride
and ownership in their work when that work involves the use of technology.(Means,
Finally, technology supports a multiplicity of cognitive styles and learning
behaviors. Students who are not sufficiently engaged with text-based information
may become fully engaged with audio or visual information. Technology can be
used to translate virtually any content into another media, and therefore makes
content accessible to all students.
The wonder of content-neutral, applications, technology is that it can
be applied to so many different learning environments, virtually content areas,
and the same program can be suitable for a wide range of grade levels. The following
pages provide some highlights as to how individual applications can be beneficially
integrated into the classroom.
- Internet Usage in Public Schools, Quality
Education Data, 1997
- The Connected
Learning Community: A New Vision for Technology in Education, Microsoft
- The Role of Computer Technology in Restructuring Schools, Collins,
Allan; Phi Delta Kappan; September, 1991
- Plugging In: Choosing
and using educational technology, North Central Regional Educational
- Restructuring for Learning With Technology: The Potential for Synergy,
Sheingold, Karen; Phi Delta Kappan; September, 1991
- The Link Between Technology and Authentic Learning, Means, Barbara,
Olson, K; Educational Leadership, April, 1994
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e.g., Microsoft Excel, AppleWorks
A spreadsheet is a program which organizes "cells" of numerical data
into tables of rows and columns much as one would find in an accounting ledger.
Through the use of equations (written in a simple programming language unique
to the particular spreadsheet program in use) the spreadsheet program is able
to perform basic mathematical functions across the rows and columns. For example,
it is possible to total a column of numbers, divide that total by cells within
the column, and report the resulting average elsewhere on the spreadsheet. Most
spreadsheet programs provide a capacity for graphing data. Graphs can range
from simple X-Y line graphs to more complex three-dimensional representations.
Spreadsheets are excellent tools for students to collect and analyze data and
thus work well in curriculum units that call for students to deal with both
interdisciplinary content and process/information analysis tasks. Students can
design spreadsheet layouts, collect the data to fill in the various rows an
columns, and then write equations to analyze the data they have collected. In
this way, a spreadsheet becomes a vehicle for learning about and representing
both simple and more complex relationships between numbers and pieces of information.
While the use of spreadsheets is very common in mathematics and science curricula,
they can be used any place where data collection and analysis is required. Many
teachers use spreadsheets in social studies curricula where students might collect
numerical information and organize it chronologically. Projects on genealogy
and immigration make particular use of spreadsheets.
- Provides a highly integrated use of mathematics in a wide range of subjects.
Anything that can be counted and categorized can be placed into a spreadsheet
whereupon mathematical operations can be performed amongst the categories.
- The structure of a spreadsheet encourages students to think of information
in terms of domains and sets
- Allows students to see the relationships between ordered sets of information
- Most spreadsheet programs easily produce graphs and charts as another (visual)
way of analyzing and reporting quantitative information.
- A middle school mathematics teacher in Oregon uses spreadsheets, graphing
software, and Hypercard as tools for students to investigate the relationship
between observations and data. Margaret Niess's students in Corvallis, OR
measure and record the volume of water stored in different bottles when those
bottles are filled to different heights. Clearly, bottles of different shapes
will hold different amounts of water at different filling heights. When this
data is graphed, students then compare the curves of different graphs with
the bottles they represent. The goal here is for students to develop a sense
of the relationship between physical shapes and their one-dimensional data
representations. Further understanding of these relationships is demonstrated
by having students predict the appearance of a graph based solely upon examination
of the physical bottle. Students also write descriptions of their predictions.
In these written passages, students must set out hypothesis and develop written
proofs. Finally, students use a Hypercard stack which takes them through
a series of other data/observation/prediction/proof exercises. For example,
students can predict relationships between a person's height and shoe size,
or that between study time and test grades. In all of these cases, the technology
is a tool that aids in the development of process skills related to mathematics
and scientific reasoning.
Margaret L. Ness, Analyzing and Interpreting Graphs in the Middle Grades
- Bottles and Beyond in The Computing Teacher; December/January, 1994-5;
pgs. 27 - 29.
- Elementary students in Grahamstown, South Africa used databases and spreadsheets
as research tools in an interdisciplinary history, science, and mathematics
project. This project involved collecting birth and death date data from gravestones
in local cemeteries. After collecting and analyzing their data, the students
created a number of hypothesis from their observations - such as "women
live longer than men" - and then were able to support their hypothesis
by organizing and presenting their data in graphs, tables, etc. Examination
of their data also led many students to hypothesize as to the causes of varying
mortality rates between centuries, sexes, and amongst children. The questions
raised through this data examination gave rise to other research projects,
not all of which made direct use of technology or data-based research. The
Grahamstown teachers who organized this project felt that the gravestone data
project offered many advantages over a more traditional (e.g., library based)
research project. These advantages included development of technology skills
such as keyboarding, computer graphing, and spreadsheet manipulation; student
exposure to primary sources of data; development of higher order thinking
that linked statistics and history; and the integration of mathematics into
social studies and other "real world" explorations.
James R.M. Paul and Colette Kaiser, Do Women Live Longer Than Men? Investigating
Graveyard Data With Computers in Learning and Leading with Technology;
May, 1996; pgs. 13 - 15
- Microsoft has an excellent curriculum guide which explains how its popular
Excel program can be used for simple classroom projects.
Out of the Classroom with Microsoft Office, Microsoft Corporation,
- Oregon State University's Project Connect is a math and science initiative
designed to help K-12 teachers incorporate technology into a wide vareity
of math, science, and integrated curriculum activities. Check their WorldWideWeb
site for a number a lesson plans and other activites which make use of spreadsheets.
In particular, see the lesson entitled What
Tops Us? A lesson in gathering data by Oregon elementrary school teacher
- For more information about the Cruncher, a spreadsheet program for
young students, see the Davidson and Associates
- For more information about ClarisWorks, an integrated software package
which contains a strong spreadsheet program, see the
Claris Corporation's WWW page.
This site also contains a number of software templates for use with the ClarisWorks
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Database Management Programs
e.g., Microsoft Access, FileMaker Pro
Databases work much like spreadsheets, although they are often used where textual
information is more important than numerical data. A database management
program is used to create, organize, and manipulate information in databases.
Databases are primarily used for creating "records" of collected information.
Most database management programs allow for some degree of numerical analysis
of the collected information (e.g., counting, grouping, sorting by rank order,
Databases are often used in interdisciplinary curriculum units. They become
a vehicle for information collection and organization. The manipulation of information
within a database calls for mathematics and critical thinking skills. These
skills are further enhanced when a student designs a database using a
database management program.
- The act of creating databases - using a database management program - encourages
students to understand categories of information, and the relationship between
- A database gives structure to otherwise disparate information. When a student
adds records to a database, s/he must understand enough about any given piece
of information (e.g., a book or a movie) so that s/he can complete a number
of descriptors about that piece of information (e.g., the title, date of creation,
- Creating a database requires that a student sufficiently investigates a
subject such that s/he can create an adequate number of descriptive fields
of information relating to that information.
- Creating a database is a productive exercise in terms of learning how to
search or use a pre-created database.
- Databases can be created to catalog virtually any type of information, in
particular, qualitative (versus quantitative) information.
- High school language arts students in Jeannine St. Pierre Hirtle's Houston,
TX classroom collaborate on a research project which evaluates children's
literature. St. Pierre Hirtle's students work with second graders in a local
school to gather information about these children's interests and abilities.
Then, they worked with each other and elementary school librarians to gather
book examples, and to create templates which analyzed the basic elements and
structure of children's books. Using the information they gathered, the high
school students ultimately produced over 60 original children's books for
the second grade students. St. Pierre Hirtle's students used a variety of
technology tools in their work. Tools such as wordprocessors, spreadsheets,
databases, presentation managers, scanners, and desktop publishing packages
assisted in data gathering, presentation, and book production.
Jeannine St. Pierre Hirtle, Constructing a Collaborative Classroom
(parts 1 and 2) in Learning and Leading with Technology; April, 1996 pgs.
19 - 21 and May, 1996 pgs. 27 - 30.
- FileMaker Pro is a database management program produced by Claris.
See their WWW site for information
on this program, software templates, and teacher reviews of the program.
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Word Processing Programs
e.g., Microsoft Word, ClarisWorks
Most teachers are familiar with word processing programs in that the teacher
likely uses such a program to create lesson plans, student/parent communications,
and personal correspondence. Students make use of word processors in similar
ways. Certainly, research papers, projects, and other written communications
can be accomplished with the use of a word processor.
Aside from simply making student work appear "neater", word processors
have pedagogical importance in that they have been found to encourage students
to write more and to more easily edit and revise their work. In this way, they
are powerful tools in developing writing, critical thinking, and research skills.
Further, word processors as a technology-based tool, encourage and motivate
certain students who have difficulty with the manual task of handwriting. Finally,
many students take greater pride in work that has been produced with a word
processor. This motivates these students to continue writing and performing
the other learning tasks associated with their writing.
Word processors are not just used within Language Arts curricula. Students
may word process work related to any subject area. Also, word processed work
often becomes the basis for importing data into databases, spreadsheets, and
presentation programs. In this way, the word processor is often the cornerstone
application within integrated application suites such as Microsoft Office,
Microsoft Works, or ClarisWorks.
- Word processors encourage students to edit and revise their work to a much
greater extent that is often the case with pencil-and-paper writing. Thus,
word processors are key tools when teaching the writing process.
- Word processors produce "neater" end products thereby increasing
student pride in their work.
- Word processing and the use of a computer keyboard is a key - virtually
mandatory - basic skill for most post-school jobs and careers. Virtually all
jobs require some familiarity with a keyboard.
- Some students who have difficulty with the manual task of writing (e.g.,
motor deficiencies, dyslexia, etc.) find it easier to use a word processor
to write than to use pencil and paper.
- Word processors are about putting words on paper (or increasingly, into
some sort of electronic format). Thus, they can be used anywhere where
writing is required.
- A good summary of the use of word processors by young children is provided
by Ithel Jones in his article on the effect of word processors on composition
amongst second-grade children. Aside from showing that the technology generally
encourages students to produce higher quality writing, Jones' article offers
a summary of the basic research into the value of word processors in writing
Ithel Jones, The Effect of a Word Processor on the Written Composition
of Second-Grade Pupils, in Computers in the Schools, vol. 11(2),
1994, pgs. 43 - 54
- In an broad survey of current classroom practice, researchers from the University
of Arizona discuss and overview the ways that multimedia, telecommunications,
and writing/editing applications (e.g., word processors) can support the processes
of reading education. Examples of classroom use are included for each category.
For multimedia, the researchers discuss schools where students and teachers
create multimedia activities and presentations to illustrate research projects
and create films/videos/etc. Telecommunications examples include using electronic
mail to conduct surveys and gather information for student research projects.
Often, the results of these projects can be formatted for multimedia presentation
on the WWW. Writing and editing tools in fact support both multimedia and
telecommunications as well as functioning as stand-alone resources (e.g.,
word processing standard "written" reports). Writing and editing
using the computer is a standard part of the process of creating multimedia
presentations or formatting information that is to be telecommunicated. In
assessing the impact of these technologies on reading and writing processes,
the researchers came to few conclusions except to note that if there is to
be any impact, the technologies must be fully integrated with the "regular"
or existing curriculum. They noted that technology seems to have differing
impact on students of different abilities - e.g., word processors seem to
have some impact on improving the creative writing skills of "average"
students where as there is little observed impact on "advanced"
students. Nevertheless, more data on impact is bound to be obtained as more
and more schools integrate technology tools as an aid to basic skills development.
Jay Blanchard, Judy Lewis, and James Crossman, Technology in Middle School
Reading Education: Opportunities to Transform the Classroom in Computers
in the Schools; vol. 11(3), 1995; pgs. 79 - 91
- Apple Computer has an excellent WWW site containing a wide variety of lesson
plans that demonstrate the value of technology in integrated instruction.
Their Newswriting Through History lesson demonstrates the use of word
processors and (if available) multimedia authoring tools to create student
"newspapers" from different points in history. This lesson may be
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e.g., Microsoft Powerpoint, Hyperstudio
Presentation tools allow students and teachers to take text, numerical data,
graphs, sounds, and visual images and organize this information into "multimedia"
presentations. While it is possible to use multiple media (e.g., sounds and
images) within a presentation, it is also possible to create a text-only presentation.
It is important to remember that although most presentation tools allow for
the creation of very sophisticated products, the degree of sophistication and
complexity is very much under the control of the author.
Virtually any student project can result in a presentation. Presentations can
be made before an entire class or be designed for individual viewing. Multimedia
presentation tools can be integrated into any lesson or unit that would otherwise
result in a "paper and paste" project product.
While a presentation tool such as Powerpoint is simply software, this software
usually requires the use of particular hardware to acquire digital images/sound
and to display the resulting multimedia presentations. Nevertheless, much of
the material that makes its way into most presentations results from other software
applications such as word processors and spreadsheets (which create tables and
- Presentation managers encourage students to think in a structured way about
the information that they are presenting. Different types of managers require
or encourage different structures - e.g., PowerPoint is very linear whereas
HyperStudio encourages non-linear, multilayered, connections.
- Students must think critically about what information they choose
to place into a presentation. The act of assembling the presentation using
the software encourages reflection and critical thought.
- Presentation managers are designed to display information to a large number
of individuals. Therefore, the student successfully using a presentation manager
must think about the information that s/he is presenting as something which
much appeal to an audience that extends beyond oneself and the teacher.
- Presentation managers allow students to mix textual, visual, and audio information
in the same presentation. This encourages multiple modes of expression.
- The act of creating a multimedia presentation is extraordinarily engaging
for many students. Thus, the use of presentation managers very much encourages
- High School sophomores in Deer Park, TX use HyperStudio to create
presentations for their research in world literature from the Middle Ages
through the Renaissance. Working with partners, students conducted a semester
of library research on integrated curricular topics related to their particular
interests (e.g., Renaissance town life or medieval medicine). They then used
the second semester to create presentations on their research using the Hyperstudio
application. Each team of students were given specific requirements for their
presentations that specified how much text, video, graphics, etc. there were
to include in the final presentation. Students were required to flow chart
their presentations and this demanded that they make the cognitive connections
between the various points of their presentation/research. The writing and
revising of text that went into presentations was first accomplished in the
school's computer writing lab, and later modified as necessary within Hyperstudio.
Final presentations were evaluated by the teacher as well as by student peers
(through group presentation). This project shows one way in which a technology
tool can be used to enhance rather traditional library research skills. Furthermore,
the use of hypermedia tool lead to the development of technology skills and
perhaps greater development of information synthesis skills through the assembly
of research information in a connected, flowing, presentation.
Karen Milton and Pattie Spradley, A Renaissance of the Renaissance - Using
Hyperstudio for Research Projects in Learning and Leading with Technology;
March, 1996; pgs. 20 - 22.
- The publisher of HyperStudio,
has an excellent WWW site which contains sample student projects and several
curriculum and "how-to" guides for using their product.
- Microsoft has an excellent curriculum guide which explains how PowerPoint
can be used to create student and teacher presentations. In
and Out of the Classroom with Microsoft Office, Microsoft Corporation.
- The May, 1997 issue of Learning and Leading with Technology has a
large section on presentation managers and their use in the K-12 classroom.
Check out this issue for a number of tips and pointers using Microsoft PowerPoint.
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The Internet is one of the most exciting new technology "tools" available
to teachers and much is written about the instructional benefits of using this
resource. In its broadest sense, the Internet is telecommunications. A vast
network of networks, the Internet allows students and teachers to reach out
to a world of information that can be accessed, analyzed, and brought into research
and other projects. Further, the Internet provides students with the capability
of becoming information providers. Whether through sending electronic
mail or by publishing WorldWideWeb pages, students can place their knowledge
and work before the interconnected users of the Internet.
Some describe the Internet as a vast "library." This analogy is only
partially correct. Like a library, the Internet contains many pieces of information.
This information is held on WorldWideWeb servers (i.e., webpages) and by individuals
with which anyone with electronic mail can communicate. But unlike a library,
the Internet has no particular order to the information it contains. Anything
and everything, published by anyone who has computer access to the 'net, can
be found on the Internet. Thus, the Internet is really more of an electronic
"town square" than an organized library. This presents challenges
and problems for the students using the Internet. In this wide-open information
universe, critical thinking and research skills must become much more refined
than when using a closed information universe such as a traditional library
or even a CD-ROM encyclopedia. Many teachers believe that the critical thinking
skills that grow out of successful Internet use are the major educational benefit
of the Internet.
The networked world of the Internet provides a wonderful ground for student
collaboration. Students can electronically "meet" with individuals
connected anywhere else on the Internet. This means that students researching
a particular subject can communicate with adult researchers, access primary
information sources, and gain in-depth content area learning experiences. Students
can share cultural experiences with peers located around the globe. Students
can share their work with anyone by publishing it on the WorldWideWeb. Indeed,
the availability of the Internet means that "school" is no longer
defined by four walls and a particular geographically-bounded community. The
Internet brings the world to teachers and students.
- Students have access to a truly astronomical amount of information including
original research and primary sources. This challenges the student's research,
critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
- Students can publish their work before a global audience of peers thereby
adding perceptions of importance to their work and increasing pride in ones
- Students can communicate with peers and individuals around the planet thereby
increasing cultural understanding.
- On the Internet, students can electronically collaborate with other students
around the globe to solve problems and create information and knowledge. The
Internet is a huge arena for collaborative learning.
- Second grade students in Washington, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon, Massachusetts,
and Spain use the I*EARN (International Educational and Resource Network)
e-mail network to communicate with students in Central America. Through I*EARN,
the US and Spanish students learn of the impoverished conditions in Nicaraguan
villages outside of Managua. Groups of US and Spanish students organize within
their schools to raise money for the Nicaraguan villages. Teachers in these
schools begin to integrate information on Nicaragua and Central America into
their curricula by asking students to write essays on Central America, its
environment, economy, politics, etc., and to share these essays via e-mail
with children in Nicaragua.
Peter Copen, Connecting Classrooms Through Telecommunications in Educational
Leadership; October, 1995; pgs. 44 - 47
- Students at Century High School in Santa Ana, CA participate in interdisciplinary
projects which match teams of students with community non-profit groups requiring
assistance. The "Prophets"
project asks students to select social or environmental topics to study.
Then, students are matched to community groups which focus on those chosen
topics. This matching takes place on a community-access WWW server operated
by Access Sacramento (a local community services provider). Since the students
in this project are located at a considerable distance from the community
groups (all of which are in the Sacramento area), technology is used to facilitate
interaction and discussion. Students use Internet-based videoconferencing
and WWW resources to communicate with their community groups and cooperatively
solve problems related to their topics. The community groups serve as on-line
mentors and "experts" for the students. Students participate in
"authentic" real-world tasks which provide them with useful career
skills in technology, environmental, and scientific fields. One of the major
outcomes of the Prophets project is that students help the non-profit groups
design WWW presences. Most importantly, students feel connected to the real-world
and its problems through their "hands on" work in solving some of
Thomas March and Jessica Puma, A Telecommunications-Infused Community Action
Project in T.H.E. Journal; vol. 24(5); December, 1996; pgs. 66 - 70.
- IBM has developed a WWW
site that contains a number of grade and subject specific curriculum materials
and on-line lessons. Well developed, documented, and researched resources
are compiled into "Internet Activities" for teachers to integrate
into their classroom work.
- North Carolina teacher Caroline McCullen helped organize MidLink Magazine
a cooperative effort amongst middle school students around the globe. MidLink
Magazine is a project which uses the WorldWideWeb (WWW) to regularly publish
student work. The magazine "issues" are sometimes generally about
the participant schools, and sometimes focus on particular themes such as
holidays around the world. Schools participating in the project each have
their own in-school MidLink project where a team of students collaborate
on tasks such as writing, editing, electronically posting materials, communicating
with other MidLink schools, etc. Students at all schools use a variety
of technology tools such as word processors, HTML editors, graphics programs,
and e-mail. Schools with their own WWW servers are linked to the main MidLink
site, whereas schools which are not as fully on the Internet send their materials
to another MidLink school site for posting on the net.
Caroline McCullen, World Wide Web in the Classroom: The Quintessential Collaboration
in Learning and Leading with Technology; November, 1995; pgs. 7 - 10
- One of the best on-line resources for K-12 teachers and administrators isKathy
Schrock's Guide for Educators. This site is a comprehensive subject
guide for virtually all K-12 curricula. Kathy has scoured the Internet to
find lesson plans, original sources, on-line collaborative projects, and other
Internet-based resources. Further, this site has a number of links to search
engines and other Internet tools. Finally, Kathy has authored several presentations
which are designed to show teachers how to use the Internet as a tool for
teaching and learning. These presentations are available on her site. In short,
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators is an excellent "first stop"
for any teacher use of the Internet.
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Last updated, January 8, 2001


Before its discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1493, the island was called Karukera ("island of beautiful waters") by the Caribs.
Identification. Columbus named the island after the Spanish sanctuary Santa Maria de Guadalupe de Estremadura.
Location and Geography. Guadeloupe is an archipelago of eight inhabited islands in the Lesser Antilles, between the tropical Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea. The two principal islands, Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre, are separated by a channel, the Rivière Salée. The capital, Basse-Terre, is on the western wing; the commercial center, Pointe-á-Pitre, is on the eastern wing. The other islands, known as "dependencies," are Marie-Galante, la Désirade, Petite-Terre (uninhabited), and the archipelago Les Saintes, along with Saint Barthélemy and the northern half of Saint Martin to the north. The total area is 660 square miles (1,705 square kilometers). Grande-Terre, essentially limestone, consists of plateaus, plains, and hills ( mornes ). Basse-Terre is volcanic with high mountains and a tropical rain forest. The climate is humid and tropical with a dry season from January to May and a wet season from June to December.
Demography. The total population in 1997 was estimated to be 428,044 with a density of 650 inhabitants per square mile (251 per square kilometer) and a growth rate of 1.5 percent annually. Until recently, population growth was steady because of high levels of fertility and declining mortality as a result of better hygiene and medicine. The youth of the population and high unemployment situation spurred government attempts to control the population through subsidized family-planning programs and a policy of emigration in the period 1961–1981. The majority of the population is of African descent, with a substantial East Indian minority and smaller groups of Syro-Lebanese and white Creoles ( blancs-pays ). In the outlying island dependencies there are distinctive white populations in La Désirade and Saint-Barthélemy and light-skinned inhabitants in Les Saintes.
Linguistic Affiliation. French is the official language of administration and education, but Guadeloupeans speak a French-lexified Creole that dates back to the time of colonization and slavery. In the 1970s and 1980s, Creole became a critical symbol in the nationalist claim for independence from France. Today all social strata recognize the value of Creole in cultural revitalization. Other languages play symbolic roles for ethnic minorities. Syro-Lebanese residents frequently listen to Arabic-language radio stations, and songs and prayers in Tamil have survived in Hindu religious ceremonies.
Symbolism. Creole, drum music, food specialties, and the celebration of carnival operate alongside symbols of the French hegemonic presence such as the tricolor flag and the French national anthem.
Emergence of the Nation. In the pre-Columbian period, Arawaks and later Caribs moved to the region from coastal South America. European exploration led to conquest, to colonization, to the eradication of the indigenous population, to the introduction of sugarcane cultivation, and a plantation economy that was dependent on African slave labor. Under French colonial domination since 1635, with brief periods of English occupation, Guadeloupe was shaped by French politics. The first abolition of slavery (1794–1802) and the almost total elimination of the white plantocracy during
During the twentieth century, the local population of color sought to redress political, social, and economic inequalities. With the passage of the Assimilationist Law on 19 March 1946, Guadeloupe became an overseas department of France. This process ushered in wide-scale transplantation of French administrative and political superstructures and educational and social security systems. Integration with France precipitated a decline in both export and subsistence agriculture, a growth in the service sector, a rise in unemployment, massive emigration, and increasing tensions between Guadeloupeans and metropolitan French. In 1974, Guadeloupe was designated a region, ushering in a policy of decentralization.
National Identity. The revolutionary hero Louis Delgrès, who committed suicide in 1802 rather than be subjugated to the restoration of slavery, is credited with starting the formation of a national consciousness. The first independence movements had their origins in Antillean student organizations in France and the decolonization movement after World War II. The Groupe d'Organisation Nationale de la Guadeloupe was formed in the mid-1960s; in the early 1970s the independentist party—the Union pour la Libération de la Guadeloupe—was founded, and in 1981 the Mouvement Populaire pour une Guadeloupe Indépendante was created. Nationalist activity has focused on political demonstrations, trade-union strikes, electoral abstention, and affirmations of cultural difference. The marginal support nationalists enjoyed in the 1980s has eroded with decentralization.
Ethnic Relations. Relations between the black majority and the East Indian minority are basically devoid of tension. Politics and culture remain arenas of debate as a result of increased French integration and the growing presence of the European Union.
Colonialism created different levels of culture, architecture, and the use of space. A unique architectural style was created in rural areas: the colonial villa with a majestic gallery, verandahs, and jalousied windows for ventilation and the vernacular dwelling ( case créole ) of two or three rooms with a kitchen, yard, and garden. These wooden huts have been supplanted by hurricane-resistant cement houses of one or two stories. The traditional dichotomy between rural and urban landscapes has become less visible as cities and industrial zones expand and suburbs are created. Urban architecture has evolved over time from French military, ecclesiastical, and colonial administrative architecture in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries to public works in the 1930s, postwar construction such as low-income public housing, and a modern style influenced by local architects who are adapting contemporary construction principles to a tropical environment.
Food in Daily Life. Food reveals Amerindian, African, East Indian, and French cultural influences. Traditional foods include manioc flour, root crops, breadfruit, avocado, green bananas, peas and beans, okra, curried meats, salted codfish, fish, and tropical fruits. Creole cooking uses hot peppers and spices but has been influenced by French cooking and imported foodstuffs.
Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. Special dishes for ceremonial occasions include pork, blood sausage, pigeon peas, rum punches (Christmas), salted codfish, crab calalou, rice (Easter and Pentecost), cakes and chaudeau (marriages, baptisms, First Communions), and curried goat on banana leaves (Indian ceremonies).
Basic Economy. Agriculture has declined significantly as a percentage of the gross domestic product. Commerce and services now represent 77.9 percent of the total economy. Agricultural productivity is constrained by natural calamities, by the absence of crop diversification, and by rural and agricultural exodus. The primary sector (agriculture and fishing) employs less than 8 percent of the active working population.
Land Tenure and Property. In 1996, 30 percent of the total land area was under cultivation, with sugarcane and bananas the main crops. While the majority of farms registered in 1989 were small, large farms comprise one-quarter of the total cultivated land. Most of the farms registered in 1989 were small. Agricultural land is owned individually or jointly, sharecropped, or rented, and the number of farmers and the amount of land under cultivation have declined consistently. Small farmers produce for the local market, and many people in the countryside maintain small gardens or fruit trees.
Commercial Activities. The weakness of the productive apparatus has caused a serious trade imbalance. In 1997, exports were only 7.4 percent of imports; this has been compensated by the transfer of public funds from France. Imports and exports circulate primarily within the French national territory, with the European union being a secondary partner. Guadeloupe exports principally agricultural products and processed food; most manufactured goods, equipment, and the majority of foodstuffs are imported.
Major Industries. Industrial production remains weak, essentially represented by small enterprises. The manufacturing sector involves primarily food processing and energy. Close to half of industrial production originates in building and public works.
Division of Labor. In 1997, the workforce consisted of 125,900 employed and 52,700 unemployed persons. Jobs are increasingly concentrated in the civil service sector. A major problem is youth unemployment, with persons aged fifteen to twenty-nine accounting for 43 percent of the unemployed.
Classes and Castes. Social differentiation is based on education, professional orientation, culture, and wealth. Income differentials have been aggravated by inflated civil service salaries that allow greater consumption of imported and luxury goods.
Symbols of Social Stratification. Status markers are linked to consumption patterns and include cars, the type and size of house, leisure activities such as travel abroad and sports, clothing style, and language.
Government. Political authority resides in a prefect appointed by the French president, and two subprefects. The Minister for the Overseas Departments and Territories is attached to the French Ministry of the Interior. There are forty-three cantons (electoral divisions) from which legislative leaders of the two local assemblies are elected by direct universal suffrage. The Regional Council is the most important local assembly, and the influence of the General Council, or departmental assembly, has declined. Each commune has an elected mayor and a municipal council. Two senators and four deputies serve in the French National Assembly.
Leadership and Political Officials. Political parties are distinguished chiefly by their stands on national and social issues. Party orientation follows three main currents: anti-assimilationist/regionalist, autonomist, and independentist. Several parties are formally linked to traditional right-wing parties in France; others are local formations, while the far-left parties are Trotskyist. The anti-assimilationist left is split between a center left committed to autonomy and a far left committed to independence and "socialism." The debate on island status issue is focused on whether to merge the two assemblies into a single local assembly. In December 1999, the presidents of the Regional Councils of Guadeloupe, Martiniques, and French Guiana united in support of autonomy. Personality is important in politics, where patron-client and kin ties play key roles.
Social Problems and Control. Guadeloupe is subject to French law and is part of the French judicial system. There are municipal and national police as well as gendarmeries in each commune. In the past, crimes were limited to domestic or local disputes and frequently were handled out of court. Vandalism, burglary, and drug trafficking have become more common as a result of increased economic
Military Activity. The French army maintains a presence, and there is a national guard.
The French government funds a comprehensive social security program that includes a minimum wage, pensions, family allocations, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, and health insurance.
A variety of organizations operate in the villages, towns, and cities with a focus on sports, culture, carnival, social clubs, and labor unions.
Division of Labor by Gender. In the last few decades, the replacement of agriculture by a state-subsidized economy has been accompanied by a change in women's occupations. While women have entered the workforce in greater numbers, unemployment has disproportionately affected women and youth. With the collapse of the productive sector, most women work in administration, education, health, services, and commercial activities. Women's access to employment lags behind that of men, and women are more likely to be underemployed, to be compensated less, and to hold fewer managerial positions.
The Relative Status of Women and Men. Gender, along with race and class, operates as an important index of status. Although women frequently are heads of households, they have little power outside the home. Continued male domination is manifested by weak political representation of women and their marginalization in the workforce. Feminism and women's reproductive rights have only recently gained a foothold with the formation of women's associations.
Domestic Unit. Family organization and the domestic unit are strongly influenced by socioeconomic
Inheritance. Inheritance follows French law, which distinguishes between legitimate children with full rights of inheritance, recognized children who are disadvantaged in inheritance if there are legitimate heirs, and "natural" children born of unmarried parents with no rights of inheritance from the father.
Kin Groups. Within the extended family, relations of blood and marriage create a wide circuit of social contacts, including grandparents, godparents (through baptism), cousins, aunts and uncles, half siblings, and neighbors.
Infant Care. From the moment of birth an infant is showered with attention and care by family members and extended kin. Frequently an older sibling, a grandmother, or another adult in the family is actively involved in the care of an infant, particularly if the mother works or is a single parent. Baptism occurs within the first few months after birth.
Child Rearing and Education. Child rearing varies with the type of family, the persons in the family, the relationships in the household, the socioeconomic class, and the social milieu. Children participate actively and very early in family life and have responsibilities that vary with age and gender. Being obedient, helpful, polite, and well dressed is valued, and strict discipline frequently is enforced with punishment. School is compulsory from ages two to sixteen. Education is highly valued as a means of social mobility. However, the school system is marked by high failure rates, repeating classes, and students who are below grade level.
Higher Education. The Université des Antilles-Guyane operates a campus in Guadeloupe. Many Antilleans undertake university education in France, which is considered prestigious.
Guadeloupeans are known for hospitality, with an emphasis on food, drink, music, and dancing. Casual conversations often are conducted in Creole. People greet each other by kissing or by shaking hands. The style of life favors multiple social contacts, and interaction is filled with conviviality and humor—with bantering and flirtation between the sexes. Traditional values emphasize "reputation" for men and "respect" for women.
Religious Beliefs. The Catholic Church is the dominant organized religion, with its own doctrine, rites, social organization, history, and calendar. Since World War II, Protestant sects such as Evangelists, Adventists, and Baptists have competed with the Catholic Church for congregations. Although the cosmology, myths, and theological systems from Africa did not survive, African magico-religious practices and superstitions are prevalent. Many people still believe in the forces of good and evil, spirits and supernatural creatures with powers. Hindu religious rituals are being reactivated
Religious Practitioners. In the Catholic Church, metropolitan priests generally outnumber Antillean. Liberation theology is practiced by local priests, but most priests are conservative. Parishioners also frequent the services of quimboiseurs (sorcerers) for counsel in affairs of the heart and problems in social relations and in times of sickness. Marabouts (sorcerers from Francophone Africa) are active in urban areas.
Rituals and Holy Places. Each village, town, and city has its own church and cemetery where the dead are remembered on All Saints' Day (1 November). There is a Hindu temple in Capesterre Belle-Eau and smaller temples in the countryside.
Death and the Afterlife. Funeral wakes are customary, and the deceased is celebrated with drumming, riddles, storytelling, and rum. Among East Indians, a funeral generally is followed by forty days of fasting.
Modern Western medical practices coexist with traditional healing methods and the use of medicinal plants. Popular discourse on the body and illness includes notions of "hot" and "cold." While people acknowledge that illness can be attributed to natural causes, there is also a belief in the supernatural causation of illnesses and unhappiness. Whereas in the past, people often used personal and family remedies, visited the local healer if there were no results, and only then resorted to the pharmacy, dispensary, or hospital, today people rely more on Western remedies.
Each town or village observes its own annual fête patronale. Islandwide celebrations include French national holidays such as Labor Day (1 May), Bastille Day (14 July), and New Year's Day (1 January) as well as the local celebration of Carnival (linked to the religious calendar) and the anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery (27 May).
Artists and writers often receive support from the French state. There is a private school of music, and music pervades the culture. Local record labels promote Antillean bands. With the renewed interest in Creole, traditional oral culture is being revived; there are annual poetry competitions in French and Creole. A regional literature has developed that is receiving recognition overseas.
At the Université des Antilles-Guyane campus in Guadeloupe, natural and biological sciences are taught along with juridical sciences and law. A number of research centers focus on Caribbean studies.
Abenon, Lucien-René. Petite histoire de la Guadeloupe, 1992.
"Antilles." Temps Modernes, vols. 441-442, April–May 1983.
Bastien, Daniel, and Maurice Lemoine, eds. "Antilles: Espoirs et déchirements de l'âme créole." Autrement, vol. 41, October 1989.
Bebel-Gisler, Dany. La langue créole force jugulée, 1976.
Benoit, Catherine. Corps, jardins, memoires: Anthropologie du corps et de l'espace á la Guadelupe, 2000.
Berthelot, Jack, and Martine Gaumé. Kaz antiyé jan moun ka rété/Caribbean Popular Dwelling/L'habitat populaire aux Antilles, 1982.
Burton, Richard D. E., and Fred Reno, eds. French and West Indian: Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana Today, 1995.
Centre d'Etudes de Géographie Tropicale du CNRS. Atlas des Départements Français d'Outre-Mer: III La Guadeloupe, 1988.
Dictionnaire encyclopédique des Antilles et de la Guyane, edited by Jack Corzani, 6 vols., 1992.
Encyclopédie antillaise, 6 vols., 1971–1973.
INSEE. "Guadeloupe: Une année en demi-teinte." Antiane Eco, 41, June 1999.
——. Tableaux Economiques Régionaux de la Guadeloupe, 1997, 1998.
Lasserre, Guy. La Guadeloupe: Etude géographique, 1961.
Leiris, Michel. Contacts de civilisations en Martinique et en Guadeloupe, 1955.
L'Historial Antillais, 6 vols., 1981.
Schnepel, Ellen. Language, Politics and the Creole Movement in Guadeloupe, French West Indies, forthcoming.
Singaravélou. Les Indiens de la Guadeloupe, 1976.
—E LLEN M. S CHNEPEL


has written on this subject).
It also helps us become accustomed to express
beautifully, either orally or in writing, ideas and
sentiments which are accurate and personal.
The goal of the English class is not to form scholars or
specialists, but to acquire some mastery of our own tongue.
As a consequence, spelling and grammar do not come first
in teaching English. They have to be understood as tools,
never disconnected from the expression of ideas. Language is
an instrument to communicate thought.
1. READING ALOUD TO
Language is primarily spoken. This is why
the teaching of language, as an art imitating nature, must use
the spoken or phonetic form of words as the primary means for
teaching reading. Reading aloud should be the first way of
testing reading comprehension, of making the learner familiar
with the role of punctuation marks, or engaging the learner in
the full emotional experience that literature ought to yield,
or providing an appreciation for the cadenced and hence
ordered character of all works of the mind. One can teach a
pupil to put a period at the end of a sentence by first
identifying the end of a sentence as a place where one drops
Not only should the students read aloud,
but the teacher should also read to the class. This can be
done at the end of the day. The children always look forward
to a good story. It is also an excellent way to train them to
thoughtful listening. Once, Father Finn, SJ, was given a
difficult class. He found that the best way to obtain
discipline was to read them a story as a reward for good
Reading aloud can be an excellent homework
assignment as well. Parents and other siblings can easily
listen for five minutes a day. This is an excellent way to
show children that reading is important to the family, too.
Mother Stuart used to give a reading class
to her teachers. She wrote that such a class gives:
- "Some understanding of the importance of reading well
aloud, and of what is important in it.
- Courage to admit to our hearers that we have some
feeling of sympathy with what we are reading (a thing some
appear to feel bound in honor to keep as a dark secret).
- Some realization of the effects of good reading in
developing things that have their springs very deep:
self-control, patience, consideration for others, active
thought for them, positively and negatively. We have to
remember that we read for them, not for ourselves, and so
must not put too much of our personal idiosyncrasies into
our reading lest it may jar on them. It teaches the
necessity of consideration for our author and our audience
and forgetfulness of ourselves."
As Dr. Otto Willman2 says,
reading aloud is a:
"valuable asset of instruction and a
capital of which the teacher should make the most profitable
use. The teacher, who can do justice to a story, approaches
in power the rhapsodist. The pupils will not only listen to
her, but will hang breathlessly upon her every word as upon
a rhapsodist’s. In this way the teacher will not only win
their interest, but infuse into their soul sympathy with
what is great and noble, and enthusiastic devotion to high
2. THE ROLE OF
Grammar is the study of a language, spoken
or written. First, of the elements which constitute this
language: this is morphology. Secondly, of the
functions and relations which link the elements to one another
Grammar could be called a descriptive
knowledge. What is the object of this description? The
elements of the language and their arrangements, therefore the
structure of the language, its constructions, the diagrams,
the models in which human thought is expressed, since language
is the body of the thought.
The study of grammar, while indispensable,
is secondary in the study of any language, beginning with our
own. Before all else, through the contact with great works of
literature, the goals of the English class are to root us in a
tradition, and to make us discern the true nature of man. It
is also to teach us how to express ourselves. Besides, even to
express ourselves correctly, the study of grammar does not
suffice in itself; it is an auxiliary, and nothing more.
Reading great writers teaches us more on this level, owing to
a prolonged and frequent contact with beautiful language.
As a consequence, we should seldom if ever
isolate the study of grammar from the study of a text. It is
very important to connect this technical study of the language
to the expression of thought, since grammar is but an
However, we must be careful never to do
grammatical exercises taken from a poem. A poem is a work of
art; but in dissecting it into subjects, direct objects,
adverbs, prepositions, etc…. one destroys it. It is a
destruction of the music of the words, and an annihilation of
its transcendence, that is, what it tells us beyond words. As
G.K. Chesterton says:
"Pleasure in the beautiful is a sacred
thing; if a child feels that there is an indescribable
witchery in the wedding of two words he feels it alone, as
he feels his vanities and his dreams, in places where he
cannot be badgered or overlooked or philosophically
educated. The act of insisting upon his analyzing the holy
thing, I think, without the smallest doubt or the smallest
desire to exaggerate, is as insolent as asking him to
dissect his favorite kitten or account for his preference
for his mother."
3. THE STUDY OF
The Dominican teaching sisters have made
the following remarks about the important subject. It does not
seem good to have the student memorize lists of words isolated
from a text, for the sole benefit of enriching a collection of
completely disincarnate vocabulary.
Of course, it is necessary to learn
spelling, but we should never dissociate this study from a
text, where words are included in a sentence and the sentence
in a text. When we understand the text well, it helps to
understand the words used to express the thought. The
"context" is indispensable to the true understanding of the
word. It will also help to memorize the spelling of a word.
When this word is seen in the context of a beautiful sentence,
this beautiful sentence has a better chance to strike our
mind, and thus to inscribe itself more deeply in our memory,
rather than if it is in the middle of a list of dry and
disconnected words, without soul or life.
To study our language does not mean to
dissect it into a multiplicity of material elements, separated
from one another. Such a study, far from leading to a better
comprehension of the language, presents the danger of reducing
it to something merely material, whereas its fundamental role
is to convey thought. Language allows a mind to communicate
with another mind. It is a matter of spiritual communication,
which needs words, and yet transcends words. This is
especially true in the case of poetry, or with knowledge in
the supernatural domain of the Faith and of revealed Truth.
4. DICTATION, IN GENERAL
Dictation is very useful in teaching
correct writing. The children work from models of beautiful
writing. They see and study correct spelling and punctuation
and are able to enjoy excellent writing of various styles.
Laura Berquist3, the renowned educator, has
analyzed well this topic, which is of great importance for a
In a prepared dictation, the teacher goes
through the passage with the child, line by line, noting and
giving a reason for every capital, comma, semicolon, colon,
period, question mark, exclamation mark, and quotation mark.
Difficult spellings are gone over as well. The teacher then
dictates the passage to the child, who writes it from the
dictation. This way the student gives concentrated attention
to the mechanics of writing in a situation where he is writing
material that has been put together because it goes together,
as opposed to material artificially put together to try to
highlight examples of writing mechanics.
In an unprepared dictation, the teacher
reads an entire passage that the child has not studied
beforehand (although it could be a text from his reader that
he has seen before). As soon as the student finishes the first
set of words, the teacher reads the rest of the sentence,
waits for the student to write it and then moves on to the
next set of words. The dictation doesn’t take long this way,
but it does provide a model of good writing and practice in
spelling and punctuation.
In summary, the unprepared dictation is
administered as follows:
Teacher reads whole selection.
Students repeat what was said.
Teacher reads selection again in little
sections as students write.
Teacher repeats whole selection one last
time as student reads work and corrects it, if necessary.
Another form of dictation is called
auto-dictation. The child has to write a text from memory. A
good example of this might be a poem or a song that has been
Value of Dictation
Dictation is useful to cultivate attention
and to teach spelling in an interesting way, not mechanical
but integrated into the study of literature. It should be done
on a daily basis in the elementary school (frequency should be
dependent on grade level).
5. THE IMPORTANCE OF
The reading of beautiful texts is
irreplaceable for culture. To explain a text is to unfold it
or to open it, respecting its contents and communicating with
the true values it contains. This nourishes our students. We
should treat literary work as literary work, as work belonging
first to art, presenting first a vision of beauty. We have to
allow ourselves to be enchanted, captivated by the work,
without forgetting to keep our head and reason. Because a
literary work is not a philosophical thesis, it speaks to our
intelligence through our sensibility, which it can rouse,
touch or make vibrate. But we cannot read it only from the
purely esthetic point of view, which is impossible,
because there are moral values involved necessarily. Thus we
have to be attentive to the values of Christian life. For in
every literary work of any grandeur, the question of the
conception of man is involved. Creators of characters,
speakers of words, inventors of harmonies, makers of
situations, the great writers are all of that. Without that,
they would not be great writers.
Teaching the classics in the English
speaking world presents however one problem. Dr. John Senior4
has expressed it well:
"The upshot of the difficulty is that the
heart, indeed, the very delicate viscera, the physical
constitution and emotional dispositions as well as the
imaginations, of children will be formed by authors who are
off the Catholic center and some very far off; and yet, not
to read them is not to develop these essential aptitudes and
We should be careful not to exaggerate the
difficulty. "The worst failure in English classical
literature is indirect, that is its omissions —the conspicuous
absence of Our Blessed Mother and the Blessed Sacrament and,
following from the loss of these principal mysteries, all the
rich accidentals of Catholic life, the veneration of saints
and relics, the use of medals, scapulars, holy water,
Rosaries… These omissions must be compensated for by a rich,
Catholic and especially Latin liturgical life."
We think that we should not deprive our
students from the treasures contained in Robert Louis
Stevenson, Walter Scott or Charles Dickens simply because
these authors are not Catholic. "English literature has
been done and can’t be done again, the best since Greece and
Rome, full of beauty, good and truth —and Protestant. As the
Children of Israel took Egyptian gold and silver vessels on
the Exodus, so it is with us and classic books which, although
Protestant, are doubly Catholic to a Catholic because he feels
the pain of what they lack."
In addition to such classics as Treasure
Island or Robinson Crusoe, children should become
familiar with such authors as Fr. Francis Finn [available from
ANGELUS PRESS] or Hilda Van Stockum. These
Catholic writers (and several others like them) are able to
form a Catholic mentality in our students and this is why they
should be included in our literature lists (Br. Schuster's
"The Role of Catholic Literature").
The reading of the authors from the past
reveals to us the mystery of man and the context of a
civilization which is past, allowing us to understand better
the world in which we live. It would not be good to study only
contemporary authors. Even to understand these authors and to
grasp their impact, it is good to read them with reference to
the great works of the past. But we need to see clearly that
reading the authors of the past interests us insofar as their
works bear a message which is still valid, inasmuch as they
are expressing eternal values and thus they are in a way,
authors of the present.
6. THE SUPERIORITY OF
"LIVING BOOKS" OVER TEXTBOOKS
School readers that contain excerpts of
whole books have several drawbacks. The first one is taken
from the human nature of the teacher. a As Fr. Drinkwater5
"School Readers, in essence and
origin, are an attempt to make it possible for children to
learn something without teachers, or without competent
teachers; and they tend to create the conditions they
presuppose. Thus, if I were a teacher teaching some subject
by means of a School Reader, I should be under a
constant temptation to say, ‘Get out your reading books’;
and the end of it would be that the children would know only
the book and not the subject."
The second drawback is taken from the human
nature of the student. There is no doubt that he will get more
out of reading the complete story from beginning to end than
out of reading a fragment of it. Well chosen books stimulate
thought in a manner which cannot be attained through readers.
A good book read by an entire class during a couple of
months is always a great learning experience. As a teacher
was saying, "After reading such a book, my students are
always different (for the better)". The various themes
contained in the story are discussed together. Often the
students will remember having studied such a book several
years ago whereas they will not remember the excerpts in an
A third drawback is that the School
Reader tends to create a positive distaste for books:
"If it is all readable, any child of
ordinary curiosity has read it all from cover to cover in
the first week or two; and to return to it regularly during
a whole term, or whole year, is neither work or play, but
mere irredeemable boredom which soon induces on the one hand
the habit of day-dreaming, and on the other, that hatred of
everything in book form with which most pupils leave
school." (Fr. Drinkwater)
Does this mean that we should do away with
English textbooks? No, especially since some readers (Faith
and Freedom, National, Cardinal, De La Salle etc…) contain
some good stories (that are for the most part well written) by
which the children are able to be nourished. So we can use
these textbooks in an intelligent manner, selecting the best
excerpts for study in the classroom and using the rest as
supplementary reading. A teacher who has several grades in one
and the same classroom or several reading levels in one and
the same grade will also find these readers helpful. But we
should always use besides those readers several well-chosen
classics to study as a class. These 3 or 4 books have to be
adapted to the grade level of our students. There are several
lists available to help teachers select the best books for
their pupils. Great literature is the best way to form the
minds of children, and this can only be done through reading
living books and not just textbooks.
In the choice of books, we will not only
include classical literature but also some works by recent
Catholic writers because of the special value of Catholic
literature. Every teacher should read the wonderful essay on
this subject by Brother George N. Schuster.
7. THE ART OF
One of the best ways to stimulate thinking
in the intellects of our students is through skillful
questioning. As someone said, "The teacher’s fish-hook is
the interrogation point, for with his questions he angles in
the minds of his scholars for facts, conclusions, inferences
and judgments —the results of all mental processes. …But to be
most effective, questions must be well made." When
the teacher does most of the talking, the minds of the
students are apt to remain more or less inactive. Nothing
wakes up the mind more quickly and thoroughly than a direct
question. To put his pupils on the alert, to hold their
attention, to arouse their curiosity, to fix truth in their
memory and to apply it to their conscience, to keep them
active instead of passive —for all these ends the teacher will
find nothing more helpful than the practice of frequent
questioning. Training the pupil to think is one of the
chief objects of education; and in trying to answer questions
the pupil is set thinking in order to supply the missing
Since good questioning is so important for
effective teaching, teachers will strive to acquire this
intellectual craft. Mother Stuart told her teachers that
"To acquire the art of questioning was to cultivate a habit of
clear expression of thought. One questions as one talks. Good
questioning, like good expositions, is the outcome of habits
of clear thought and precise expression. Here, as elsewhere,
general life-habits dominate school-work."
Fr. Kirsch6 gives good advice in
this matter. If the teacher asks a question he expects an
answer, and it is evident therefore that the question should
be so worded that an answer is possible. It is a waste of time
to ask a pupil questions that he cannot be expected to answer
either because he has never learned the matter, or because the
subject is altogether beyond his capacity. A really good
question requires some hard thinking on the part of the
teacher as well as the pupil: on the part of the teacher,
because she must seek to ascertain before questioning, what
that pupil can be expected to know; on the part of the pupil,
because he must set his mind working in order to find the
The teacher must insist that the pupils
answer what was asked for, and not something else that may
pertain, perhaps only in a remote way, to the matter in
hand. Nor should the teacher be satisfied with half an answer,
or tolerate the practice of pupils who hide their ignorance by
beating about the bush. If the pupil cannot answer, or gives a
wrong answer, the teacher should try, in most cases, to lead
him to discover the correct answer. If this is impossible or
if it involves loss of time, then another pupil should be
invited to give the answer, though the teacher must still make
sure that the first pupil will get to know the matter.
It is a point of special importance that
the answer be given in a complete sentence. We all know from
experience how much easier it is to give one word answers
instead of a complete sentence. But consider what is missed,
what valuable opportunities are lost for language training if
the teacher is satisfied with single words or with half
sentences. The teacher must furthermore demand grammatical
correctness. What improvement shall we ever expect of our
pupils if we allow them to use slang expressions or
ungrammatical speech in the schoolroom?
Let the teacher give much time and effort
to the acquiring of the difficult art of questioning. Nothing
impresses a visitor to a schoolroom more favorably than the
teacher’s ability in this regard. The character and quality of
classroom instruction can, with comparative accuracy, be
discovered by a study of the character of the questioning. It
is, indeed, a pleasure to visit a class where the pupils vie
with one another in answering whatever question has been
asked, for this rivalry is a visible proof of the alertness of
the children and the teacher’s skill. But the best evidence of
the teacher’s skill is her ability to let a few questions
start the class in giving a connected treatment of a subject.
It is a good rule to make one question go
as far as possible, and for the teacher to come prepared with
a number of pivotal questions. Strayer remarks: "A half
dozen thoroughly good questions often make a recitation a most
stimulating exercise, while the absence of this preparation on
the part of a teacher not infrequently results in the
ordinarily listless period which may actually be harmful to
the child’s intellectual growth."
8. THE CASE AGAINST
Cardinal Newman7 gives this
definition of the instruction given in the elementary school:
"a discipline in accuracy of mind". The great Cardinal
then explains that the problem of modern students is the
"haziness of intellectual vision" caused by "shrinking
from the effort and labor of thinking." The consequence is
that when they grow up, our students "will have no
consistency, steadiness, or perseverance; they will not be
able to make a telling speech, or to write a good letter, or
to fling in debate a smart antagonist, unless so far as, now
and then, mother-wit supplies a sudden capacity, which cannot
be ordinarily counted on. They cannot state an argument or a
question, or take a clear survey of a whole transaction, or
give sensible and appropriate advice under difficulties, or do
any of those things which inspire confidence and gain
influence, which raise a man in life, and make him useful to
his religion or his country."
How can we develop the intellects of our
students? We have to arm ourselves with patience. Rome was not
built in a day, and buildings will not stand without
foundations. If our students are to be taught well, they must
be taught slowly, and step by step. A good teacher will not be
afraid to spend time on a particular page if he sees that it
is stimulating the minds of his pupils. Quality comes
One of the problems of modern education is
the abuse of workbooks. When used in a systematic way, they
tend to lead the child to develop automatic reflexes so that
he fills in the blanks without thinking. Very little true
learning is accomplished. The exercises tend to be artificial,
the sentences meaningless and personal effort is therefore not
encouraged. In traditional education, the students were using
a notebook in which they were writing dictations,
compositions, diagramming etc… They were not just filling in
the blanks but writing whole sentences and whole paragraphs.
Penmanship was thereby greatly improved. Students were also
proud of their notebooks. A workbook is thrown away after
use whereas a beautifully kept notebook (poetry, history,
religion) can be kept throughout life.
The shortcomings of multiple-choice
questions are evident enough: shaky knowledge is sufficient to
recognize the answer, guessing yields rather good results,
intelligent discrimination among the answers may enable one to
find the correct solution even if one did not know it. It is
therefore no true way of assessing a child’s solid knowledge.
Oral questions are often the best way to really find out if
the child has grasped a particular point.
Does this mean that workbooks are never to
be used in our classrooms? No, in fact they may be necessary
in certain circumstances (several grades in the same
classroom, etc…). Obviously, they should only be used with
great moderation. Good teachers will much prefer oral
exercises or using the blackboard and the notebook. Workbooks
favor laziness of the mind since they do not require much
intellectual effort. We do not want our students to fill
out worksheets in a mechanical way, but to think accurately.
9. THE PLACE OF
POETRY IN THE CURRICULUM
We should foster in our students a love of
the beautiful and true and a corresponding distaste for what
is ugly and false. Children’s sense of beauty can be
encouraged in various ways. The so-called fine arts include
music, painting, literature etc. Attention to such things will
aid in the kind of intellectual formation that is the object
of a classical education because it will strengthen and inform
the imagination, which must be developed in the right way to
do its job well. Laura Berquist has stressed in her writings
the importance of poetry for education (cf. also Dr.
David Allen White's series on "T.S. Elliot: The Wasteland"
Poetry is one of the forms of the beautiful
that is relatively accessible to children. Children respond to
patterns of sound and enjoy the rhythm of poetry, if they are
introduced to it before someone tells them they shouldn’t like
it. Poetry is naturally pleasant to the ordinary child, and
pleasure is a sign teachers should never ignore.
Mother Stuart, speaking of the cultivation
of the love of the beautiful in children, explained that it
tended to make them thoughtful, not childish, and awakened the
true human element in them, making them grow up. "It has
been suggested that beauty gives to children what suffering
gives to older people —something completed,
accomplished in the best sense."
Children are very good at imitation because
it is the way God intends them to learn. We need to keep this
in mind for all areas of our children’s development, moral and
intellectual. Children need models of right behavior and of
excellence in all the scholastic areas that are appropriate
for them to pursue. The right use and richness of language is
an area that is most appropriate for the formation of
children. For this reason they should be exposed to the best
examples of the use of language that we can give them.
Beautiful word patterns and sounds, the right choice of words,
and methods of producing particular responses can be imitated
by children who have had good models. Language development
is significantly enriched by exposure to good poetry.
Additionally, in all of the fine arts, one
of the chief benefits of appreciation is seeing the world
through the eyes of the artist. His gift of observation is
given to the student when the work is studied. For this reason
a painting can be better than a photograph in drawing the
viewer’s attention to certain aspects of a particular scene,
for example, the lighting or the composition of the figures.
Similarly, poetry can be a better way to draw attention to
certain truths or to make some facet of an experience stand
out. Excellent poetry will both direct the student’s attention
to these aspects of reality and model the best way to share
Also, poetry appeals to the emotions, as
does music, and like music, beautiful and rightly ordered
poetry can habituate or train the soul to the right kind of
internal movement. Familiarity with truly good poetry will
encourage children to love the good, to hope for its victory,
and to feel sad at its demise. The opposite habituation is
very clear to see in children who watch or read stories in
which the grotesque is taken for granted. They cease to be
shocked by what is really disgusting. That is a great loss to
Young children are good at memorization;
they pick up jumping-rope rhymes and doggerel verses without
effort. We should encourage this inclination and ability by
having the children memorize fine poetry, among other things.
This will strengthen the imagination and memory, as well as
prepare the children for the subsequent stages of intellectual
development. Since poetry draws attention to specific aspects
of experience, regular exposure to poetry will reinforce
children’s observational powers.
Continued practice in memorization will
stretch the faculty of imagination. Like any power of the
soul, repeated use of the power will improve it. Children who
memorize regularly find it easy to do, and a good memory is a
real asset to the intellectual life. We should start by
reading the poem to our students.
If the poems are short and adapted to the
grade level of the students, it seems possible to memorize one
every week or at least every two weeks. Once the poem is
learned, the child should enter it in a "Poetry Notebook",
which could contain illustrations. The poem can be photocopied
when the child is too young to write well (e.g., first
grade). As the student gets older, he should write the poem in
his notebook himself. Soon he will have his own personal
anthology, full of poetry he knows and enjoys.
10. THE TEACHING OF
Creative writing encourages personal
thought, originality and imagination. It is good to acquire
skill in expressing one’s own interior world on paper. It also
helps to be able to describe persons, events or situations
accurately. Good writing is possible only when the student
really knows his subject. This is why composition themes
should at least up to 6th grade be about familiar and concrete
things: first his personal experience, e.g., how I
spent last Sunday, what I saw on my way to school. What I did
yesterday evening after my homework etc… Essays for children
need to give clear boundaries and expectations.
After the child has learned to write about
his own doings he may be given subjects dealing with his
family or neighbors, e.g., how my father planted a tree
in the garden, how my mother baked a cake. Last, the teacher
may move to more difficult subjects. e.g., what episode
of Our Lord’s life was last Sunday’s gospel about, what my
favorite book is and why.
The classics the students read for
literature offer plentiful material for composition work.
These books stimulate their interests so it should be easy to
find subjects which will arouse their enthusiasm and therefore
bring out good writing. In 7th and 8th grade,
students can be initiated to write a real "dissertation",
e.g., what motivation such character had, how they judge
his actions, what would have happened if he had acted
differently etc. It is then that the teacher can form their
judgment and help them have a Catholic perspective on life.
One important point in teaching composition
is this: if we really want our students to improve their
writing skills, we need to correct their first draft so
they can write a second draft with the benefit of our guidance.
It is the only way for them to acquire the "craft" of writing.
They are apprentices and the teacher is the master craftsman.
He shows them how to do the work. The introduction should give
a preview of what the composition is about, clearly indicating
the topic and the student’s purpose in writing about it. The
body must consist of paragraphs which are well articulated so
that the current of thought flows smoothly throughout the
whole composition. The conclusion is often a brief summary of
the composition. The teacher should make helpful suggestions
in correcting the first draft so that the second draft will
incorporate them into their work.
Mother Stuart told her teachers "that
she would reserve to herself the pleasure of giving them a
weekly class in English composition". They met in her room
on Wednesday evenings, a subject was given to be developed in
a paper of about five hundred words, and returned to her by
five o’clock the following Tuesday. At the next meeting these
papers were read aloud, and criticized first by them, then by
her, and finally revised according to a scheme which she
prepared each week.
A short outline had to be written at the
head of each essay, however brief. Sometimes entire paragraphs
were remodeled by her and handed to them with their next
paper. This continued for nine weeks. She was quite merciless
in the criticism of certain faults, such as exaggeration,
inaccurate statements, phrases that had no thought behind
them, meaningless adjectives, and above all what she called
"cheap writing" a superficial, easy manner of handling a
subject without having "thought to a finish", as she
said once, apologizing for giving an answer after very short
notice. She always gave them the reasons for her rejection of
a word, and substituted others with a note of interrogation,
submitting them to their approval.
Good writing, whether for teachers or for
students, is an excellent tool for the formation of the mind.
As a summary, here is a checklist
for the principal who is evaluating one of his teachers:
- Is the teacher effectively teaching grammar?
- Have the students a good knowledge of the parts of
- Are they proficient in the art of diagramming sentences?
- What is the spelling level of the students?
- Does the teacher make the effort of correcting the
spelling mistakes of the students in their notebooks?
- Is the study of spelling integrated into the different
parts of the English program or is it disconnected (spelling
- Are dictations done regularly?
- Are they corrected with diligence?
- Are the poor spellers getting extra help from the
- Are the students led to appreciate good literature?
- Is the teacher instilling a love of reading in his
- Do the students have many good books to read at home?
- Are readers (consisting of excerpts) the only books used
in the classroom or is the teacher also using complete works
- Are these books well chosen so as to nourish their
- Does the teacher possess a good knowledge of these books
so that he can share this knowledge with his students?
- Does the teacher ask enough questions to his students?
- Are these questions well prepared so as to lead the
pupils to think?
- Does he try to involve every student in the discussion
or only the bright outgoing ones?
- Is the teacher using workbooks in a way which defeats
the purpose of education?
- Are workbooks encouraging the teacher’s laziness so that
he no longer teaches but merely corrects the
- Is the teacher developing penmanship through the
students’ writing whole paragraphs in their notebooks?
- Are the students memorizing poems on a regular basis?
- Are they able to recite them with expression?
- Is the teacher explaining these poems to the pupils so
that they may be led to enjoy them?
- Are the students given a composition on a regular basis?
- Are the subjects well chosen?
- Is the teacher correcting the first draft so that the
student can write a second draft with the benefit of his
teacher’s observations so as to improve his writing skill?