(2) The effective use of this material in connection with the conference method of instruction and with regard to the characteristics of the conference group. (3) Dangers in the improper use of instructional material and how to avoid them. 6. Records and reports. Such information as was necessary in connection with special supplies or records and reports developed in connection with the carrying on of the work, consisting chiefly of (1) The use of the individual progress charts. (2) The use of the enrollment and discharge cards. (3) The use of the reports to be made to the home office. The time required to develop a reasonable degree of efficiency was not accurately determined. The work as carried on at training center No. 1 was conducted with staff members in the evening on a follow-up basis extending over a period of four months, while the first group of prospective shipyard instructors were under instruction. The training centers at Philadelphia and Long Beach were conducted at a later date on a nominal basis of eight hours a day for two weeks. It, of course, should be clearly understood that the men were being trained to conduct an intensive training course given on full time, as indicated under Type I in the following section. It should also be understood that very carefully worked out instruction material was developed on the basis of the special instructing conditions and of the types of men who were to be trained as instructors, in the form of notes, forms, questions, and points for discussion. A fairly effective piece of instructional work for prospective instructors for an instructor-training course of this type, as indicated by subsequent results, can be given in approximately 150 hours, provided the prospective instructor trainers (1) are well acquainted with the ordinary information possessed by competent instructors, (2) have had a successful teaching experience, especially from the standpoint of managing students without disciplinary friction, (3) understand the difference between development teaching and mere conducting of textbook recitations, and (4) have had some contact with industrial people. In the group being prepared as instructor trainers the persons having training for teaching or experience in teaching did better work than did those lacking such training experience even though they had a thorough command of their trades. In the group being prepared as instructors skill in the trade was found to be a greater asset than teaching experience. This training course for instructor training has been described in some detail because it is, so far as any information in possession of the Federal Board is concerned, the only work of this kind that has been conducted up to the present time. During the last year, however, the Federal Board for Vocational Education has conducted regional conferences at which considerable time was given to very definite instructional work of this character and discussion with representatives of State boards for vocational education who were directly responsible for instructor training. Much of the experiences obtained in the training of instructor trainers by the Emergency Fleet Corporation was presented in these conferences and has been subsequently utilized in conducting of instructor-training courses in a number of States. Instructor-training courses.—The purpose of these training courses just discussed is to equip individuals to conduct instructor-training courses; the purpose of an instructor-training course is to equip individuals to instruct. A considerable number of so-called instructortraining courses have been established, both under public control and under the control of semipublic institutions, and are now in operation in the various States. All of these courses may be classified into one of the following types: Kinds of courses.-1. Courses the purpose of which is to give content, teaching technique, and ability in instructional management, such as typical courses given in normal schools. 2. Courses the purpose of which is to give only teaching technique and instructional managerial ability to individuals who already know what they are to teach and who possess a mastery of content through adequate occupational experience. A typical course of this type is conducted in Massachusetts under the direction and control of the State board. Types of instructor-training courses.-The object of all training courses may be classified under one or the other of the two kinds defined in the last paragraph. From the standpoint of organization practically all instructor training courses may be classified under one of the following types: 1. The short unit continuous intensive instructor training course.— This type is characterized by the fact that a group of prospective instructors are brought together for a relatively short period of extremely intensive work, during which they give their whole time and energy to the work. Up to the present time courses of this type lasting from four to six weeks have been conducted with very satisfactory results in terms of the objective. 2. The short-unit discontinuous intensive training course.-Such a course is conducted usually through meetings held twice a week in the evening, the members of the group carrying on their ordinary occupations during the daytime. Training of this type has for some time been conducted in the States of Massachusetts and New York, and has since been developed in a number of States. These courses usually run from 20 to 25 weeks-representing about a hundred hours-although in certain cases they have been carried on for two successive years, making a total of from 200 to 240 hours, with correspondingly improved results. During the period of their development courses of this character were conducted by Pratt Institute under the direction of Mr. W. A. O'Leary; by the Albany Normal School under the direction of Mr. Harry B. Smith, and by the Buffalo Normal School under the direction of Mr. H. C. Givens, and by the State of Massachusetts under the direction of Mr. Charles R. Allen. Such courses are now conducted by a number of teacher training agents attached to the staffs of State boards for vocational education and by other teacher training institutions. 3. Modifications of the short unit discontinuous intensive training course by a combination of correspondence methods with an itinerant teacher trainer have been adopted in some States, but up to the present time sufficient information as to the results obtained has not been secured to warrant any very definite statements as to their value or effectiveness. 4. The long-term continuous-training course.-This type of course is characterized in general by (a) A relatively long period of training, from two to four years, in an institution. (b) Institutional residence during training. (c) The inclusion in the program of both content courses and professional training. Examples of such courses are commonly found in connection with the instructor training work carried on in many State universities and in the agricultural and mechanical colleges. Methods under State plans for administration of instructor training.-In general, two distinct plans of carrying on instructor training have been developed by the State. 1. Instructor training carried on directly out of the State office and entirely under the control of the department of education. The State of Massachusetts has adopted this plan. 2. Instructor training carried on through a designated educational agency or agencies within the States such as the State university or the agricultural and mechanical college. This is the more common form. California and Pennsylvania have adopted this plan. The following table gives further concrete data regarding the teacher training offered by individual States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1920: |