April 18, 1938.

of ny letter to Mrs Briggs |
your field house 4t would fit in perfectly.

Ae coon as I got the spockfieations I shall, send
them OMe

: ieestine of Education,
FOASAH Varsity Coache

 
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI

SPRINGFIELD

ROY ELLIS, PRESIDENT

Y tun 2106) Cone” Dy Akad 22 2 ct Keer
1O Ja Ot gece: . WA frobG— a0 p20 8
Lid D6 fl for fgg Yo
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Ranh Ate’ Aug Far ZKe7 Sr az,,

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Joint ia

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March 29, 1958.
| aia ae
to
good
the

Director of
Varsity Ba

ee eee

ie
: :
i al 825

POAsAH

 
Che University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma

a rae ceee
 

May 9, 1958.

not be leaving the institution, but wo will see you.
year when we come to Norman to play our gumte

With every good wish for your continusd
. gue0eers, I am

FCAsAH Varsity Basketball Coachs ;

 
 

May 4, 1958.

Mre Henry MoCurdy,
90 MacDougal Street,
New York City, NeYs |
 ~‘Dear Henrys :
' ‘Iam sending you muy “Setter Basketball"
duly autographeds | |
. I want you to Imow how vory much I enjoyed
the fine dimer and the excellent visit that we had at
itlentae Personally, I treasure that visit as one of the
finest that we heve hades It wis certainly good to see you

and to hear of your continued success. It is always
splendid to see Kansas sons blaging the traile  «

By the wey, Allen Wilbur and Alfred "Scoop"
Hill stopped in the office day before yesterday enroute
to their various destinationse I told them of the fine
visit I had with you and they were glad to learn, as both
of them had previously, of your progressions

With every good wish to you, the good
wife and family, I an

Fraternally yours,

| Director of Physical Education,
POAsAH -Veredty Basketball Coachs

 
 

dame 29, 1988.

| | Director of Physical Education,
FCAsAH Varsity Basketball Coach.

 
 

 

CHICAGO - BOSTON - ATLANTA- DALLAS - SAN FRANCISCO - LONDON: TORONTO- BOMBAY - CALCUTTA- MADRAS - MELBOURNE - SHANGHAI - MANILA

T. C. MOREHOUSE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

CABLE ADDRESS TELEPHONE

PACHAMAC NEW YORK Publishers ALGONQUIN 4-2100

SIKTY - FIPTH AVENUE  - NEW YORK
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

CHARLES L.SKELLEY

MANAGER AND EDITOR IN CHIEF ASSOCIATE EDITOR

HENRY B.M¢CURDY

CHARLES D.ANDERSON

ASSISTANT MANAGER AND EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR

May 9, 1938

Mr. Forrest C. Allen

Director of Physical Education
University of Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

Dear Phog:

I am hastening to let you know that your
letter of the 4th and the package containing your book entitled
BETTER BASKETBALL arrived last Saturday. I am delighted with
the book and greatly appreciate the friendliness of the auto-
graph. This morning Martin, now seven and a half, woke me up
at 6:50 to have me read all about the bandages. Apparently he
has been studying the book with great care and is looking
forward to a chance to see a real basketball game. I only wish
that I could initiate him into this sport by letting him see
one of your teams play Nebraska or Missouri.

Your report on Allen Wilbur and Alfred Hill
came as a surprise to me. I had been looking for Alfred Hill
in New York during the past week and I sincerely hope that he
did not pay his visit here during my recent absence. I always
look forward to a good visit with him.

With kindest good wishes, I am

Sincerely yours,

——
hbmsafr

 
Hin | ie af
i ae 3 ut
Agekh a: Hii a
si; i ue fs i
Eng i ie iy
HG £3 i fall |
aH i} 1 iM
HE mt Hi | iil

nH

July 8, 19586

oe
 Divestor of Physical Education,
Varsity Basketball Coache

:

Lots of luck to you, Andye

Southwest iissourd State Teachers College,
ee in een

lr. Andrew Me Donald,

i
3
i
:

f
8

 
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI _
STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE
SPRINGFIELD

ROY ELLIS, PRESIDENT

Peccecnel Pour B27 Ca cerny
[fet frcacmangele, aud } Lact Lote al)
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI

SPRINGFIELD

ROY ELLIS, PRESIDENT

tag Kauded 7 a PLR Ray 7 eo

the at ee «0! CAI SD xno Zee Ley
Coos mde WE Mate BE 2a eG, tr
AY Bet ) Kant catheh for aang Clee
aundahs 2 hiechr Of age Blico, 7 lez
— hal FP was. ttef By $Ladk op Ziar. D1e a at

Chun t enbany te Kathe 2h cancel frebal eee?
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI
STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE

 

 
OUTHWEST MISSOURI
STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE

: nial tetas anv <
Glo a” Yparg cL
GE Lace ansayf el

<a 9 aLeatli. La eA GE

 
 
CHARACTER BUILDING THROUGH PHYSICAL EDUCATION*
C. H. McCLOY

State University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa

Physical educators have for years claimed to be builders of character.
Not infrequently such claims are buttressed by reference to a few students who
have engaged in physical education programs and who have changed in the course
of a few years from being individuals of rather inconspicuous personality to indi-
viduals of outstanding character and ability. The physical educator has been
prone to claim the credit for such metamorphoses. Examination of the evidence
has not been impressive. The literature is strangely silent with regard to those
individuals who took the same courses or belonged to the identical athletic groups
at that same time but who have changed for the worse.

When one examines the methodology proposed to produce character education
through physical education one usually finds such processes based upon faulty
psychology and on methods of education long since abandoned by the leading educa-
tional philosophers.

Recent studies by competent investigators! 4) have thrown much doubt on the
character building efficacy of a number of institutions, When these studies are
analyzed and compared with what is known of the learning process the wonder is not
that character results have failed to come through either physical education or
other such movements but that anyone should have expected such results to be forth-
coming when the methods used were not specifically planned to secure changes in
character and were not in harmony with modern educational techniques. We have in
far too many cases trusted rather blindly to an all-wise Providence and to G.
Stanley Hall,

This paper is an attempt to outline a process of character building through
physical education, laying dowm the foundations of the process upon our present-
day knowledge of how man learns.

DEFINITIONS

Before proceading to discussion it would perhaps be well to define our
terms. The term 'character’ as used in this paper, is not in any sense limited to
the sence, of morals, It has been defined by Lewey as the ‘interpenetration of
habits". Dewey, in his book Human Nature and Conduct, uses habits in the sense
of learnings. This definition may be rephrased as the interpenetration of learn-
ings, If everyone had read Dewey's book and understood his description of charac-
ter this definition might be adopted as adequate.

aie

* The writer is indebted to numerous authors in the field of character education.
His greatest indebtedness for this paper is to Dr. W. W. Charters from whose book
THE TEACHING OF IDEALS much has been draw. The principal other sources aside
from educational psychology are HUMAN NATURE AND CONDUCT by Dewey, NATURE OF CON-
DUCT by Symonds, the teachings of Professor Judd concerning the importance of
verbal responses in transfer of training, and the interpretation of Dewey's
philosophy by Professor Kilpatrick. The writer has dram freely from these
sources and wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness.

C.H.McC,

were

i ete aga ie PO a eal incre ings
oe

By ‘interpenetration' we might understand a sort of integration or inter-
relatedness, or it might be thought of as a sort of mutual linking up of cause
and effect. In Dewey's terminology, ‘habit' would be anything learned. It is not
restricted here to habits of action, but means as well habits of thinking, of
attitudes, or of emotional states.

The definition which I should like to propose, however, is the learning
basis of conduct, or the determiners of conduct. Let us discuss this definition
a moment. A situation arises which calls for choice and the decision must be made
as to whether to do A or B. The individual decides to do A. Why did he decide to do
A and not B? This decision was based upon certain elements of his heredity but
more upon elements of his education. These learnings may have been due to teaching
or may have simply been "picked up" from some experience or experiences in the past.
It is these determiners of his choice resulting in conduct, these things learned
in some way or other, that we should call his ‘character'. These loarnings do,
indeed, interpenetrate. The physical educator must to a large extent ignore the
hereditary bases of conduct, for these are already pre-determined. As an educator
he is concerned primarily with what he can do with the individual as he is. This
definition of learning would involve all of the social and personal qualities which
the individual exhibits in his day by day activities. It includes perseverance,
cool headedness, and a general tendence towards initiative as much as it does moral
courage and social ethics. :

 

The question may arise as to whether such a definition of character does.
not assume that desirable changes of conduct (even though they may be the result
of quite insincere motives) indicate desirable changes in character. The educator
must face this dilemma. He desires to change motives but he can not measure
motives or tell what they are from the individual's conduct. It would, therefore,
seem that we are forced into assuming that while with any given individual, im-
provement in overt conduct may not be accompanied by like improvement in motive,
yet general improvement in overt conduct, where such conduct is not unduly in-
fluenced by artificialities of the situation such as an over-emphasis upon rewards,

-is probably accompanied in most cases by improvement in motives.

(THE BASIS OF ATTACK ON THE PROBLEM)

The psychology of physical education is peculiarly poor in scientifically
proven results. We have little in this field which gives us a direct approach to
character building through physical education. I have thought,therefore, to
approach this problem from the standpoint of a philosophical research. In the
last thirty years educational psychology has taken great strides. Much is now
known of the original nature of man, of his social inheritance, of the differences
between individuals, and of the learning process. It seems rather evident that
conduct involving character is just as much related to the processes covered by
educational psychology as is the conduct involved in multiplying two numbers to-
gether or in reading and comprehending a book.

The individual is undoubtedly as much limited by his innate capacities or
incapacities in the character qualities as in those of intellectual endeavor. As
we have intellectual morons and geniuses so we have equal extremes in many of the
specifically outlined character elements. One may be a genius in certain types
of cooperation and a moron in differentiating between some kinds of social and
unsocial conduct, just as one can be a genius in mathematics and a total loss in

languages.

} saat ata i i it ns eh cata
cca laa Sit nt a ache eas in nam stn no

 
}
Gas id nla asetaasiesen ean a ae

o3=

The social inheritance so ably discussed by writers on educational sociol-
ogy perhaps applies even more justifiably to the field of conduct in this character
realm than to the field of conduct in the classroom. There are individual differ-
ences as in that of intellectual endeavor. Some unpublished studies lead to the
¢onclusion that these character qualities are, as is the case of most intellectual
and physical qualities, normally distributed and vary all the way from practically
none at all to stages of highest development.

It seems quite evident that learnings in character would be subject to the
same laws and principles as learnings in the ordinary intellectual fields and the
commonly taught, and in this day generally understood, laws and principles of the
learning process should be applicable here and in almost any other phase of learn-
ing. This being true it would seem to me that we might carry over by analogy what
we know in the intellectual field into the field of the learning basis of conduct.
What remains then is to produce a philosophy of character education which corre-
sponds to an hypothesis in this field. Upon the basis of that hypothesis we can
experiment and revise our theory upon the basis of our experience. We must, how-
ever, see to it that our educational procedure is purposeful and that we seek
directly and specifically to accomplish predetermined objectives. Direct learning,
however, will probably be the smallest part of the processes. Associate and con-
comitant learnings must be as carefully planned for as the direct learnings. Con-
comitant learnings have in the past been assumed to be what happened that was not
planned for. That was, unfortunately, quite frequently true. The capable educator,
however, " plan for concomitant learnings as wisely as he plans for his direct
learnings. 4)

An understanding of that which follows depends upon a reasonably compre-
hensive grasp of two things. First, an understanding of the laws and principles
of the learning process. In a short treatise such as this, it would be impracti-
cable to present these and to discuss them thoroughly. Ample discussions of weer.
laws of learning will be found in any modern text book on educational psychology.

The second need is an understanding of the general educational principles
involved in such processes as the project method of instruction. The differences
between the direct, associate, and concomitant learnings, and the use of coercion,
as opposed to other forms of motivation. One of the best books for such study is
the Foundations of Method by ——e Other references will be found in the
Suggested bibliography appended. 6)

Learning is a laboratory process. We have tended to consider the labora-
tory as the exercising ground of the physicist, the chemist, and the biologist.
This is, however, a narrow view. When we learned handwriting, one of our earliest
experiences in school, we learned it not by listening to a lecture but by labor-
iously doing it. We practised the making of letters; this practise was laboratory
work. We learned to read by laboratory work in reading, and we learned arithmetic
by the solving of countless problems. For some reason, however, exponents of
character education, particularly those representing the church and the Sunday
school, have seemed to feel that a peppy exhortation delivered perhaps once a week
could take the place of learning by doing. This I believe to be fallacious, and
I believe also that we as physical educators must plan our educational curriculum
to give a graded laboratory course in character. Each thing should be done for
a purpose. This of course raises many problems; for instance, should one emphasize
only activities that are of use in later life. I believe that many activities that
in themselves are of no use whatever in later life may have extremely great value
at one point in the educational process. The average bey who plays football will
onl

not play it after he leaves high school or college. Nevertheless, the laboratory
training which he gets from participating in games like this may have made playing
the game worthwhile. We do not usually continue the study of arithmetic past the
grades; we pass on to the study of algebra, to geometry, to trigonometry, and to
the calculus. Each in its turn leaves a deposit of use in later life though that
use may be an indirect one.

The problem is raised also of the dilemma of "education for later life"
versus the philosophy that education is life. It would seem to me that both of
these can be true and that we as educators can plan an education that is life to
the participant today while preparing him also for life later on.

THE CHARACTER EDUCATION PROCESS

The development of such an educational process involves a number of steps
and of separate procedures.

The first of these is the determining of the objectives of the individual.
Recent studies of the individual objectives of physical Sees t°F. Rone that
interests, mind-set, and objectives in general are not the same. Just as tastes
in music run from the classics to jazz so do tastes in physical activities run
from basketball to calisthenics, from dancing to apparatus work, and from water
polo to weight lifting. Some of these interests are probably due to individual
differences in innate tendencies. More of them are probably due to differences
in local situations and conditions, The director of physical education who ignores
these interests and individual objectives, however, loses values inherent in the
project approach and sterilizes much of his character building process.

DETERMINE THE OBJECTIVES OF THE INDIVIDUAL

 

One of the best methods of determining such objectives is to prepare a
comprehensive check list. We suggest that such check lists be prepared as in the
illustration given below with omissions and additions according to the exigencies
of the local situation.

"Read the following list of physical education activities and make an X in the
column that represents your feelings or desires:

Enjoy or Would like Averse I should

would enjoy a little to like specif-
doing but doing ic coaching
very much not much in

 

Apparatus work
Archery
Baseball (indoor)
Baseball ( outdoor)
Rasxetbali
boxing
Calisticnics
Diving
Feacing —

Peat eee
i a
wo LS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group Games

 

 

 
lie

Gymnastic Dancing
Handball Ee
Hiking

Horse Shoes

Indian Club Swinging
Life Saving
Marching

Mat Exercises
Roller Skating
Rowing

Running

Squash

Swimming

Tennis

Track and Field
Volleyball
Wrestling

 

 

Now look back to the items you checked in the first column and mark the one you
like best with a Figure 1, your second choice with a Figure 2, and your third
choice with a Figure 3."

After determining these individual likes and dislikes, tabulate them in
numbers and by individuals and take them into consideration in the building of the
program. It is difficult to give directions for doing this in such a general
paper, because of the fact that local equipment, teaching staff, course of study
requirements, and other factors render any generalized treatment ineffective.

One method of approach that is exceedingly effective with groups from the senior
high school ages and up will be given a little later in this paper.

DETERMINE THE TEACHERS OBJECTIVES:

The second thing to be taken into consideration is the objectives of the
teacher. The director of physical education should know what his character ob-
jectives are, what qualities he is seeking to develop, what habits of conduct he
wishes to build.

In the development of his list of objectives the practical physical edu-
cator as contrasted with the teacher interested in pure psychology is faced with a
dilemma. The psychologist of today will tell him that there is no such thing as
a generalized trait; that there is no such thing as honesty, as cooperation, or as
sportsmanship. He will say that there are hundreds of specific honesties; that
one may be scrupuously honest in rendering expense accounts and not be able to
count over seven in golf; or that a man may have perfect vision for seeing the
mote in his neighbour's eye and be utterly unable to see the beam in his own eye,

If we were to hold to this teaching of the psychologists we should have
to produce a list of many hundreds of specific objectives. The practical educator,
however, recognizes that this will not do. In the first place man thinks in terms
cr words and there are no specific words for most of these objectives. One who
does not have the word for a quality and can not express himself feels balked.
“nis is seen perhaps as celarly as any place in the field of esthetics or in love-
making, The individual who is moved by great emotions but who can not express
himself either in music, in verse, through adequate adjectives, or similar out-
lets, feels strangely impotent. Professor Judd, I believe, rightly emphasized

the importance of words or names in the human learning process. 8 We tend,
practically speaking, to put these specific objectives together into bundles,

Those that have a number of common elements are, in a way, knotted together and
carried by one verbal handle. From this point on I shall use the word 'trait'
quite unblushingly and here define it as a term which brackets a number of specific
habits or action patterns having certain obvious things in common which fall, in
general, under one heading and which we have become accustomed to call by one

term. This may be poor psychology but I believe it is good education.

An adequate selection of objectives might be classified in numberless
ways. One must remember that the simple listing of objectives has no effect upon
the character of the individual. It is equally true, however, that the teacher
who does not have in mind the results he is seeking to accomplish is apt to miss
his goal, It is, therefore, desirable to list such objectives, to think them
through, keep them in mind and from time to time to review them, checking up on
one's processes.

A tentative list from which to select objectives is appended herewith.
It will be noticed that these objectives are grouped under nine general headings.
This grouping is simply to put together types of things that in ordinary human
thinking go together. This is purely a matter of convenience to assist the teacher
of physical education to keep in mind the goals he seeks. The sub-headings or
descriptive words to each general heading are in many cases not mutually exclusive,
but are semi-synonymous. My idea being not to set up specific objectives so much
as to make the field clear in the mind of the teacher.

A TENTATIVE LIST FROM WHICH TO SELECT CHARACTER OBJECTIVES

I. Qualities of Leadership

 

Inspires respect; can inspire devotion to a cause; has prestige with
groups; others admire and like him; can discipline others.

 

II. Positive, Active Qualities

 

Is decisive, quick, and aggyressive; has initiative, resourcefulness,
and courage; is persistent and persevering and never quits; exhibits an
abundance of energy and ‘fight’.

III. Positive Mental Attitudes .

 

Has self-confidence, self-reliance, and morale; feels he has ‘class’;
shows alertness and enthusiasm; has moral courage and conviction; no feel-
ing of inferiority; does not alibi. 41.f AWA ft i

 

TV. «Self Control.

Control in confusion-producing circumstances; is cool-headed; is
controlled under provocation, controls temper; does not bully.

 

 

 

sical ditiinn 7 scsi maine diate Cts
V. Social Cooperation
Obedient to accepted authority, a good follower; a good team worker,
a hard worker for the group, unselfish, and will sacrifice his own glory;
is loyal to his group and institution; will deny himself for good of group;
knows how to assume his share of responsibility.
VI. Social Action - Standards of the Gentleman

Respectful to others, modest, magnanimous (holds no grudges); is
cheerful, not grouchy; is courteous, truthful and trustworthy - a real
sportsman. Doesn't alibi.

VII. Ethical Social Qualities

Respects rules and officials; plays fairly, and only asks ynerese?,
respects property of others. eee

VIII. Qualities of Efficiency

 

Plans and thinks to the point; is thorough and dependable; can follow
directions; finishes what he starts; he carries responsibility; is
adaptable; he recognizes the value of time; tries for high standards.

IX. Sociability

A good mixer; friendly, people like him; he likes to be with others
and others like to be with him.

In the use of the above list of objectives given, many of them will proba- |
bly need to be omitted in some groups. The nervous development of the child may
not have reached the point that renders some of these objectives possible of
accomplishment. Some objectives will have been satisfactorily accomplished almost
throughout.

In endeavoring to make this list of objectives function in the thinking
processes of the teacher a further process must be encouraged, for which we offer
no example here because of limitation of space. This process involves the de-
tailed thinking into each of these general terms and developing specific objectives
in terms of physical education situations. To illustrate in the matter of self-
control, one might think up many specific objectives having to do with control
of temper when fouled by an opponent, control of temper when treated unjustly by
an official, control of temper when reprimanded by the teacher or when scolded by
his playmates, etc. There may be dozens of such specific situations or specific
objectives lined up under each of these more generalized terms. I should suggest
that where a group of individuals expects to undertake such an experiment the
different individuals lis gych specific objectives in some such way as Charters
has done on page 82 ff. Then let this group get together and combine their
lists and think them through. The important thing is not that every teacher shall
remember a long list of specific objectives but that having thought them through
at least once, he shall recognize situations and opportunities as they arise in
order that he may use them for additional ends.

IRE een
When the teacher determines his objectives it does not mean that he
assumes entirely the center of the stage and directs the show, A clever teacher
can utilize the project method almost in its extreme form and still not relinquish
his guidance of the process. Methods of doing this will be presented below. I
should, however, like to stress one point here. The prevailing emphasis upon
individual psychology has, in my opinion, led too many of us to neglect the
equally applicable teachings of social psychology and of educational sociology.

We should not forget that the human animal is a social animal. The larger number
of his qualities and virtues are social ones. The laboratory practise in these
qualities must be given in social group units. This involves the obligation to
utilize natural groupings to the fullest, to utilize the knowledge of how to (9)
form such natural groups and to emphasize cooperative planning and projecting.'~!

DEVELOPING THE CONCEPT, THE IDEAL AND THE HABIT

The third step! 1)in this process based upon a knowledge of the objectives
of both student and teacher would seem to be the real beginning of an application
to the needs of the individual. Let us assume for the purpose of this paper
that we are dealing with individuals who are just making their beginnings in
certain characteristics and traits. The teacher frequently loses sight of the
fact that an idea that is very real to him is perhaps utterly unknown to the indi-
vidual. Let me illustrate in this paper with but one quality, that of ‘teamwcrk'.
Any other would do as well. The word 'teamwork' together with its concept may be
merely a new noise to the individual in the group even though he may have been
engaged in cooperative tasks in the home or school. The first step in this pro-
cess of application then would be to cause the individual to form the concept or,
in popular slang, "to get the idea". Let us consider this process. Kilpatrick(4
has given us an excellent illustration upon which I shall draw, phrasing it in my
own words, A little child who has never seen a dog or a picture of a dog and has
no notion of what a dog is, sees as his first dog experience one of these small
wooly animals that a woman carries in her muff. On asking what that is he is told
it is a dog. He examines it with care and decides he knows what a dog is. Per-
haps his next experience in dogdom is a Great Dane about the size of a six-months-
old calf. On asking what this is he is told that this is a dog also. How confused
he must be! But after seeing mastiffs and poodles, greyhounds, airdales, terriers,
and collies, eventually it dawns on him what 'dogt really means and he "gets" a
concept of dogness. It is a kind of ideational Gestalt, and like the old puzzle
pictures where we used to try to look for the beautiful:lady in the shrubbery we
sought and sought in vain until suddenly she sprang at us and after that we could
see nothing else in that picture; so when one learns a new concept it is by syn-
thesizing many experiences having in them a common element until we get this
ideationai pattern.

Remember that the individual does not have the same idea of what these
objectives mean as the teacher has. To him a term such as ‘sportsmanship' may
Carry no meaning. The teacher will need to attach a name to each situation involv-
ing such trait-adtion as it arises. For exemple, let us suppose that an individual
who has not absorbed the concept of teamwork is in a group of boys playing soccer.
Suppose John is constantly trying to 'dribble' and loses the ball consistently.

Tac teacher may tell him in the hearing of the others that he should not have tried
to 'dribble' in this way when guarded because "it is poor teamwork". He is told
 

thet he should have passed to Will under such and such a circumstance. Probably
teamwork to John will now mean pass the ball to Will. As he passes to Will the
next time, perhaps an opponent is standing by Will and secures the ball and the
bewildered John is now told that it was not sood teamwork to pass to Will, that

he should have passed to James; that would have been good teamwork under these
circumstances. At first he is as confused as the baby with the dogs, but eventu-
ally as enough situations arise having in them this common element of cooperation
and teamwork, it dawns upon John what 'teamwork' is. Perhaps, he could give a
fair definition of it in his om terms. In such ways as this, different situations
are utilized to press upon the consciousness of the individual what this thing
means; to convey to him the ideational pattern that goes with a relatively com-
plex concept. In the terms of the currect educational psychology one wants to

use the principle of analogy and the principle of partial activity to cause those
prepotent elements of the situations to stand out and to be associated with satis-
factions in such a way as to cause them to become active connections in his mental
functioning.

The question will arise, does not this sort of thing happen to the indi-
vidual in any case? Does he not generalize from his experiences and has he not
been having this sort of experience all his life? The difference it would seem
to me lies in that while he has undoubtedly been having many experiences yet
these have not in most cases been tied up to verbal expressions in the nature of
generalizations and intellectualizations but have simply happened as isolated
things. It will be the more intelligent individual who will generalize upon the
common elements. In the process here outlined the teacher plans to have such
generalizations and intellectualizations going forward systematically, pointing
towards a desired goal.

The next step, and one which goes on concurrently with the development
of the concept, is the forming of the emotional organization or drive centered
around the idea so that it becomes a goal to be desired. The teacher, in the
process of teaching what the concept is, is at the same time utilizing the laws
and principles of learning in such ways as to cause the individual at the same
time or immediately after he forms the concept to decide that it is a desirable
type of conduct in which to engage habitually. The next step is that of forming
the habit of constantly acting in this way. This, which is the culmination of
this educational PRggess, is the forming of ideo-motor connections that result
in conduct habits.'°! I shall not discuss here the psychology of habit formation
for that is discussed in almost any good textbook on psychology.

Expressed in another way these last three elements are habits of thinking,
feeling, and acting in the way desired by the educator. Hence, these three
elements must all be stressed and inter-related with the individual as ideo-ideal
connections, ideo-motor connections, and ideal motor connections.

May we stress at this.point the fact that such a character education
scheme as here proposed will only function where the teacher has his objectives
in mind and is constantly endeavoring to utilize situations that arise to mold
the concepts, the ideals and the action habits of his pupils. It must be an
individual emphasis, not just teaching something to a class. He will have to
allow for individual differences in interest, in previous conditioning, and in
generally determined mind set. Some individuals learn a thing more quickly than
others. Some are easily interested in certain objectives, others are not. The
teacher must learn to adapt to these individual differences,

ci a ati ats

 
10

It seems to me wise to call attention at this point to a fact that has
been too often overlooked by the educational administrator. The director of
physical education, because of the very nature of his athletic “situations, has
under-his control more powerful satisfiers and annoyers than does any other
ao “educator. ‘A boy who strikes out at a critical point in the game is vastly more
‘annoyed than when he misses the third problem in arithmetic. He is correspondingly
more elated when he knocks a home run than when he solves the problem correctly.
The little child is playing with powerful satisfiers and annoyers in a game of
tag, and this whole gamut of physical expression lends itself most admirably to
conditioning the individual in one way or another. Character education is always
taking place. It is the duty of the physical educator to see that the process
is moving in the right direction.

One will perhaps not need to warn a teacher of physical education that
from the standpoint of the individual participant in a program of physical edu-
cation the most important thing is the joy of doing, of accomplishing, and the
sheer delight of self-expression through skilled activity. The student should
not be depressed by the reformer-like emphasis upon some mystical gain. The
character education process is a process manipulated by a skilled teacher who sees
to it that a favorable educational wind is heading the student's travel in life
towards the desired goal. Hence the principal emphasis will be an indirect one.

It is usually held by character educators that the indirect method of
instruction should be used almost exclusively although Charters is inclined to
question this. In the indirect method the individual is influenced so far as
his habits are concerned without his realising that there is any true emphasis
upon character traits as such. I hold that this can be somewhat over-done. In
the first place certain habits of feeling and acting can be developed in a given
environment, which function only in that environment because they are based on
nothing deeper than the seeking of the approval of the teacher or the group,

It would seem to me that permanent improvement which would result in transfer will
come only when, in addition to a realization of the wider scope of the concept,

we have a conviction that the behavior pattern in question is a desirable one.

As propaganda shows us, much conviction is based simply on reiteration upon the
part of “authority”. In the interests of the better educational process, however,
it would seem that such conviction should be based primarily upon a realization

of the social values involved and that some form of a direct approach should be
combined with the indirect to produce such a result. No very acceptable method

of doing this has come to our attention. A small pamphlet entitled "Character
Education on a Practical Basis" by Agness Boysen, published by F. E. Compton and
Company is suggestive.

THE PROCESS oF TRaNSFER! 2)

 

The process given above would be narrowly circumscribed if it went no
further. Some method must be found which will cause learnings in the physical
education field to have a wider spread of influence. With this end in mind it
becomes necessary to devise educational procedures which will capitalize the
common elements in the various types of situations covered by the same general
trait-name, and to cause the individual to generalize them and, as far as possible,
to intellectualize the process; this would seem to be a matter of pointing out
such common elements from time to time and of helping the individual to such

generalizations and intellectualizations. More important still, I believe, is
Ld

the need for the cooperation of the whole faculty or staff of an institution in
an attempt to integrate into one whole the non-physical and the physical aspects
of education. To illustrate, suppose the teacher of physical education were to
mimeograph the list of objectives sought for each group during the current period
and the types of laboratory experiences used in the seeking, and were to dis-
tribute this list to the staff or faculty of the institution explaining it briefly
and seeking cooperation. Probably this teacher would have to talk with each
faculty member individually. Suppose the class in English is studying Ivanhoe.
The English teacher is too prone to forget, just as is the teacher of physical
education, that words do not necessarily convey meaning. While the group is
studying this classic the teacher of English might kill two birds with one stone
by associating certain of the episodes of this story with the words used in con-
nection with the physical education character education process. Certain of the
processes of chivalry can be associated with the term 'sportsmanship'. Some of
the episodes of the book exhibit good teamwork. The student is given a richer
comprehension of this classic in terms of his own experience, and the specific
learnings which he has developed in the gymnasium or on the athletic field are
spread to wider fields.

The teacher of civics has also a rich opportunity to cooperate in this
scheme and to secure both an attitude of readiness towards civic cooperation and
social ethics and to enlarge the character scope of things learned in physical
education. Probably enough has been said to illustrate this process of transfer.
An alert teacher working with a cooperative staff in his own and in other depart-
ments has, it seems to me, a perfectly obvious possibility of securing these
character results. I should like to stress the fact that character building is
not confined to physical education. The physical educator should be cooperative
in the same way with the character education efforts of other members of the
faculty or staff. Because of the specific needs of my subject, however, I am not
discussing that phase of the process.

The same process can be carried out by the staff of such social-educational
institutions as Y.M.C.A.'s, Y.W.C.A.'s, Boy and Girl Scouts, etc. The staff
members, group leaders and others have equal opportunity to stress this type of
transfer of training. Teachers and others who are poorly acquainted with the
principles of the transfer of training should refresh their memories by again
studying these principles in any modern textbook of educational psychology. 5)

It should be pointed out that in this process the largest contribution
made by the physical educator is not that of producing the transfer of training.
It is rather that of giving the base upon which transfer can take place. Concepts
do not come from an intellectual vacuum. They arise out of previous experiences
whether these be physical, intellectual, or emotional. The individual who has
experienced things that are significant and meaningful to him and has experienced
them in functions of life that do not seem artificial, and in addition has had
the common elements in such experiences tied into common bundles with verbal
handles, tends the more easily to develop general concepts. The physical educator
is working with activities and with experiences that are vital to child life. It
is easy for him to develop these concepts, to associate them with ideals and
action habits and to lay the ground work upon which transfer can take place. It
is essential that this be done systematically and comprehensively.
12

The physical educator should not go to the other extreme, however, and
assume that all responsibility for transfer must be assumed by others. He,
himself will frequently be able to call to the attention of the individual stu-
dent wider applications of the concepts learned in a physical education environ-
ment and to assist him to generalize concerning them. The teacher should be alert
to seize all such opportunities when it can be done naturally.

MEASUREMENT OF RESULTS

 

One of the major obstacles to rapid progress in character education is
the difficulty of measurement in this field. Experimental programs, however,
necessitate an attempt at measurement. In such cases one usually falls back on
ratings. Rating scales have their limitations. Some are more objective than
others. A rating scale is appended to this paper. In this scale not all of
the items have been checked for validity or reliability. More research will have
to be done with such scales before they can be presented as being the best that
can be proposed. Pending such research, however, we offer the scales given here
without apology.

It will be noted that this scale attempts to rate actions in terms of the
frequency with which they are observed, In the item the hogged the ball', he is
rated in terms of textremely often', 'frequently', ‘fairly often’, ‘seldom’,
‘never’. This is rated simply according to the observation of the leader. No
attempt is made to determine why he did or did not ‘hog the ball', but simply
that he did or did not do so. As noted in the title, it is a behavior rating
scale. Some of the items are less objective. They are, as it will be noted,
classified under a number of headings, corresponding to the general headings in
the list of proposed objectives. The small numbers in the corner of each Square
are to be used to score the individual. These are purely arbitrary and we have
no evidence to show that any one of these items is of equal, greater, or less
importance than any other item. These scores are used simply as a matter of con-
venience and should be written under the word ‘score’.

Each individual in the group should be rated by such teachers of physical
education who feel competent to rate him and also by a carefully selected group
of student leaders. These are probably the commonly utilized squad leaders.
They should not be taken into the confidence of the teacher to the extent of
knowing that this is a character education experiment and perhaps in the repro-
duction of these rating scales any suggestive headings should be lef} off. The
final rating adopted for the individual should be the average between the rating
of the leader and the teacher. With, however, due weight being given to the
assurance of the leader, That is, one would give less weight to the rating of
the individual who marked the column 'rater's assurancet as "a mere guess", than
he would one who marked "positive assurance". Quite frequently, however, the
rater who does not feel competent to rat: certain things at any given time may
observe the individual involved for several days end rate him then,

This rating should be done as early in the semester or season as the
rater feels is practicable from the standpoint of his competence to rate. AS
soon as the rating is completed another profile chart should be prepared such as
that given in the sample appended. In this chart the average rating under each
general heading should be draw in, Suppose for example, under "leadership" the

attest tina ts ii ete i dean ee aD