tion are two: First, the lessons or tasks or projects must each be an achievement complete in itself-hence the name "unit-task method"; second, the instructions necessary for the assistance of the individual must be in such form that the individual can for the most part teach himself by following them. Even here, however, the assistance of the teacher will be needed occasionally, for this man at one point, for that man at another; but after the initial stage has been passed one teacher can give individual assistance to a large group.

SUGGESTED EXPERIMENTS

"But," the conventional schoolman will object, "our work has not been organized on this basis, and we could not make the proper preparation quickly if we would." This is of course true. The whole point of this chapter is not that the reorganization of the entire educational work for immigrants should be attempted, but that serious experimental study of the Americanization process should be begun to determine how far an evolution of method along the lines indicated is practical.

There are three steps that are within the bounds of immediate achievement wherever classes of immigrants are taught: (1) teachers and principals could be so impressed with the ideal of service and its possibilities that their attitude toward the foreign born would be totally changed, and a situation more favorable for

requests for assistance be created; (2) one room in each night school could be devoted to, and advertised as, an educational service station, to see how far immigrants would respond to such opportunity, and how far the assistance given could be utilized for educational ends; (3) record could be kept of the kinds of service demanded, and of the types of situations which present difficulties to immigrants. As a complement to such records, the life of the city could be surveyed and a selection of situations made as the basis of such series of unit tasks as would be most frequently demanded, and within themselves provide a great deal of general training.

The proper preparation of these unit lessons is an important element in the situation. It is hard to believe that the extemporaneous procedure of the average teacher can equal in effectiveness prepared directions experimentally evolved through the co-operative efforts of, say, the ten best teachers available. Little care has been given to this phase of educational work; the class activities of almost any single teacher will yield instances of exceptional skill as well as of gross violation of the most fundamental principles. What most teachers never do is deliberately to plan their work so as to give their pupils a chance to teach themselves. potentialities of photographs, moving pictures, phonographs, etc., as aids to self-education have not been appreciated as yet. If ten teachers of exceptional ability co-operated in preparing instructions with which illiterate immigrants could

The

teach themselves enough English to be able to conduct the negotiations for renting a room, the lesson could be administered by a teacher of very ordinary ability with a minimum of training, and yet produce exceptional results.

The ideal of rendering services to the foreign born would vitally affect everything about evening-school work. For instance, the material chosen for reading, or for citizenship classes, would be selected with the purpose of making use of all that is of value in the heritage of the immigrant. It cannot be too much emphasized that, "dagos" and "hunkies" though they may be called, our foreign born have behind them long histories that are as dear and as sacred to them as our own stories of the Revolution, or our basic institutions, are to us. American ideals are but the expression of some of the aspirations which are to be found in all races and ages. When night-school material is so chosen or written as to tap these hidden desires, great stores of energy will be released for educational and Americanization purposes. Keeping in mind what might be done to make plain to the immigrant that America is the land of opportunity, the land that will make easy the achievement of his most cherished ambitions, the reader is asked to judge of the following paragraph, taken from a manual for citizenship issued by one of our large cities:

A citizen of the United States is one who owes allegiance to it and to no other country. The laws of the United States provide that all persons who are born in the United States are citizens of it, even though their parents are aliens,

and that all persons except Chinese, who are born in other countries, may become citizens by being naturalized. To be naturalized is to renounce allegiance to the country of which one is a citizen, or to the monarch to whom one is subject, and to swear allegiance to the United States.

From the point of view of an American speaking to an alien whose continued allegiance to his native country is a menace, this paragraph expresses forcefully and clearly important truths. But is it not pertinent to ask whether or not information in regard to becoming a citizen of the United States can be couched in language more readily understood by the immigrant, more certain to appeal to his needs and desires, and less likely to arouse in him all those ideas and emotions which would set him against a change of allegiance?

Let us consider, for instance, the probable effect of the same ideas if expressed somewhat as follows:

The United States is a country made by men who came from other lands. In their native homes they found life hard, chances few, and improvement slow. So they broke the ties that bound them and in this new world made a land of freedom, a land of opportunity, where every man who tries is respected and has a chance to live in peace and happiness, To make these things secure, they set up rules and laws to govern themselves and those other men who still come from foreign lands.

Those who are born in the United States are citizens by birth, even though their parents were foreign born. Those who are born in other lands are allowed by law to join the citizenship of the United States, or be naturalized, as it is called, but only when they love this country and all she stands for better than any other country. Naturalization

is for those who wish to become Americans. To be naturalized is to give up allegiance to the country where one was born, or to the monarch to whom one is subject, and to swear to obey the laws and uphold the constitution of the United States.

The crucial objection to the suggestions of this chapter is that they have nowhere been systematically tried. What is needed is objective evidence that a change of method would improve the efficiency of evening-school work. This cannot be given at present. However, the reader should remember also that this chapter is merely a plea for a scientific attempt to secure such evidence.

DEMAND OF THE NEW TIMES

On the other hand, behind the suggestions given is a wealth of indirect evidence which is worthy of consideration. First, educational theory has been moving in the direction of motivation on the basis of the needs of the pupil, and of recognition of individual differences, for many years. Recently this movement has been gaining headway rapidly. Second, under pressure of war emergencies, military authorities have been driven over and over again to mobilizing small specific units for instruction, and for limited purposes and within narrow fields results have been secured which must be counted wonderful when compared with the slow, painful process of conventional education. Third, a large number of teachers of evening schools now make use in