h -^ v. : '•'■V.< cv" ^ ^ ^ % Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/principlesofteacOOharv Principles of Teaching BY NATHAN A. HARVEY PROFESSOR OF PEDAGOGY, STATE NORMAL COLLEGE, YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN CHICAGO ROW, PETERSON & CO. 4 Copyright, 1910 BY ROW, PETERSON & CO ©CU259133 PREFACE Seme men need to apologize for living, and the preface of a book is frequently in the nature of an apology for its existence. Whether a book needs an apology or not, it is sometimes advantageous to a reader to know the author's point of view, and what he expects the book to accomplish. Of the five hundred thousand teachers in the United States, about one hundred thousand are teaching their first term of school this year. Of this one hundred thou- sand, scarcely more than ten thousand have had any professional training, or have given to the subject of teaching any serious preliminary thought that could be called professional study. The professional aspect of the work must be presented to them after the work of teach- ing has been entered upon. In the hope that it may contribute somewhat to the realization that there is a professional aspect of teaching, and a body of educational doctrine worth while for a teacher to know, this volume is sent forth. The book has grown out of the attempt to give to young persons preparing to teach the largest amount of professional knowledge in the shortest possible time. This necessarily involves the selection of somewhat isolated topics, rather than a closely integrated body of educa- tional doctrine. A classification of the chapters in the 3 4 PREFACE book will show that some of them may be called chapters in the Philosophy of Education ; others belong to the subject of Child Study, while still others are more properly pedagogical, or devoted to the Principles of Teaching. Much of the best in educational doctrine is old, going back to the time of Locke and Comenius. Some of it is new, the result of recent discussions and investigations. All of it, old and new, needs to be worked over, from time to time, and reorganized in the light of additional knowledge, enlarged ideals of life, and new conceptions of child nature. A book in which a conscientious attempt to accomplish such a reorganization of material is made, needs no apology for existence. It will be found that much emphasis is laid upon the reasons that justify the statements of educational prin- ciples, and the practices of teaching. We must search in biology, psychology and sociology for such an under- standing. Teaching cannot be educational without being sociological. It cannot be sociological without being psychological. It cannot be psychological without at the same time being biological. This conception, from which alone can arise a science of education, will account for some of the things in the book that would otherwise lack interpretation. The writer has not hesitated to rely upon his own investigations and an experience of many years in all grades of school, from that of the country district to the university and the normal school, even when his con- clusions have not harmonized completely with the theories of other writers upon these subjects. The attempt has been made to present the conclusions in an understand- able way without relying upon mystifying and mean- PREFACE 5 ingless phrases, or inventing new terms for old and well understood ideas. Grateful acknowledgement for many valuable suggestions is made to Supt. I. C. Mc- Neill, of Memphis, Professors O. O. Norris, S. B. Laird, and H. C. Lott, of Ypsilanti. To the Public School Teachers of the United States, whose work must be the principal reliance of this Nation for the perpetuity of its institutions, this volume is ad- dressed. May 1, 1909. Ypsilanti, Michigan. Table of Contents CHAPTER. I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV PAGE. What a Teacher Ought to Know ... 1 The Study of Psychology 28 What Education Is 4U What Education Does For the Child . . 48 The Aim of Education °° The Argument For the Common School . . 83 Periods of Child Development . . . 100 The Theory of Play . . • • • • 12 3 Interest Imitation . • 161 Apperception ^ The Problem of Teaching Children How to Study ........ 19Z What Teaching Is ..218 The Recitation • • 235 Different Forms of Recitation . . . 251 School Discipline 271 Motives In 'School ...... 290 School Incentives 305 Formation of the General Abstract Notion . 321 The Growth of Children . . . • 344 Defective Vision 360 Defective Hearing ...'._.. 27A Fatigue, Lefthandedness, Nervousness, Pos- ture and Disease 382 The Course of Study 401 7 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING CHAPTER I. What a Teacher Ought to Know. Professional Knowledge. — It is not intended, in this introductory chapter, to point out all the things that a teacher ought to know, nor to include in the statement all the things that well-informed individuals who may become teachers are likely to learn. Rather it is intended to assert that there are some things which a teacher, from the mere fact of being a teacher, ought to know, but which it is not necessary that well-informed persons who are not teachers, should know. Teaching is profes- sional work, and there is a body of knowledge which per- tains especially to the profession. It is this professional knowledge which distinguishes teaching from other pro- fessions, and the professional from the non-profes- sional teacher. It is a body of knowledge without which no teacher can hope to rise to the point of greatest effectiveness in his profession, or make his work ac- complish as much for the children placed in his care as it might do. Knozvledge of the Subject. — First, the teacher ought 9 10 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING to know the subject which he is called upon to teach. We may agree heartily with the proposition here ad- vanced, and assert as strongly as anybody can assert it, that the teacher ought to know a good deal more about the subject than he is called upon to teach. But the statement as it is usually made contains some implica- tions, with which we may not agree. It contains the implication, usually, that the knowledge of the subject is the only thing that is necessary for the teacher to learn in order to be a good teacher, and that the more he knows of the subject the better teacher he will be. Assent cannot be given to these propositions without reservation. It is not true that the better scholar is always the better teacher, and it is not true that ad- ditional knowledge of the subject, beyond a certain point, will result in improvement in teaching. Neither is it altogether true that a person cannot teach what he does not know. The very essence o'f the inductive spirit is that of discovery, and a teacher may guide, in a degree, the activities of the children without knowing exactly what the result of those activities may be. The result, in such a case, however, is not likely to be so satisfac- tory as if he knows beforehand what it will be. since he thereby may avoid much waste of energy. The Bom Teacher. — There is another implication in the statement that the teacher must know the subject which he is to teach, and sometimes, instead of being implied, it is openly expressed. That implication is that if a person is a born teacher and knows the subject he WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 11 can teach it; and if he is not a born teacher he cannot teach. The implication is that ability to teach is a natural gift and not a matter of training. The argument runs about as follows : A person who is a born teacher will be able to teach the things that he knows ; therefore there is no need for any instruction in the art of teaching. A person who is not a born teacher can never be taught to teach, so all attempts to give instruction in the art of teaching are useless. The Bom Musician. — Let us draw a parallel. Nearly every one is acquainted with some person who may be called a born musician. He can learn to sing or whistle a tune with the greatest facility, and will play almost any instrument with which he becomes acquainted. We may call him a born musician ; and, according to the ar- gument in case of the born teacher, there is no occa- sion for his attending a conservatory of music, nor taking lessons in musical art. But a person who is pos- sessed of such natural aptitude is the one who is most likely to avail himself of all possible opportunities for musical instruction in his own and foreign countries. It is evident that this amount of instruction in music would be considered neither profitable nor appropriate for one who has not great natural talent in music. Only the born musician is ever considered worthy of such an amount of musical training. So it is with the born teacher. Only the born teacher is worth training. The person who has no natural ability for teaching is one whom it is impossible ever to train to teach. Hence in a very 12 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING true sense we may say that only the born teacher can ever be trained to teach. To say, however, that a person is a born teacher im- plies that very few persons have the natural ability to teach. The truth is that teaching ability exists in various degrees in a great many persons. Nearly everybody has more or less of teaching talent, and nearly every- body can learn to teach. Knowledge of the Subject Not Sufficient Prepara- tion. — There is still another very mischievous form of the argument against the special preparation of teachers. Coupled with the assertion that a teacher is born, not made, goes the suggestion that greater knowledge of the subject is the only preparation for teaching that can be made. If a person knows the subject he can very quickly learn the methods of teaching. An ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory. A person who knows a subject has learned the process by which he has ac- quired it, and he knows the methods that his teachers have employed. There can be no valid reason then, for special preparation for teaching. Thus runs the argu- ment. Parallel of the Physician and the Lawyer. — Let us apply the same process of reasoning to another profes- sion. Suppose that a person wishes to become a physi- cian. Assume that he is man in good health He knows what good health is and how to maintain it, as his present healthy condition shows. Let us advise him to attend some school where he will have his mind WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 13 developed. Then, when he wishes to begin the practice of medicine, he will soon learn how to distinguish dis- eases and the proper remedies to apply. His mind has been so well trained that he will quickly achieve eminence in his profession, and schools for training in medicine will be unnecessary and useless. So too, if a young man wishes to practice law, let us advise him to study Latin and Greek and other sub- jects that will give him mental discipline, so that as soon as he wishes to undertake the practice of law, his well- trained mind will enable him to surpass others who have had only the limited training that is given in law schools. He can learn the methods of legal practice in a short time by observation in the court room. We see the absurdity of such argument as soon as it is stated in terms of another profession than that of teaching. In fact, teaching is the only profession in which knowledge of the professional aspect of the sub- ject is ever considered useless and inadvisable. The Phases of Professional Training. — The profes- sional training of a teacher includes at least three dis- tinct lines of work; there must be first and fundament- ally a knowledge of the subject. This knowledge must be so full that it will permit the teacher in the recita- tion to be free to follow the operations of the children's minds rather than to be concerned with the facts of the lesson. Such freedom is an immediate condition for all good teaching. There is no disposition to underesti- mate the importance of knowledge of the subject, al- 14 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING though of the three lines of work involved in the pro- fessional preparation of teachers, perhaps either of the others is of more importance. Especially is this true, if by knowledge of the subject we mean, as is generally the case, an academic, as distinguished from a profes- sional knowledge of it. Two Facts About Knowledge. — There are two con- siderations about the knowledge of the subject that ought to be noticed. The first is that our knowledge of the subject is the result of constantly learning, forgetting and relearning it. Knowledge is not something that can be accumulated and made a permanent possession. Our knowledge is constantly changing; it is in a state of flux and flow ; it is subject to constant modifications caused by our learning of other things, and modified by our tendency to forget. A teacher who is not con- stantly learning or relearning a subject is not very well prepared for teaching it. It is scarcely too much to say, that everything we know, which is available for our teaching, has been learned within the past five years. The teacher whose acquisition of knowledge terminates with his school days very quickly ceases to be of value as a teacher. Difference Between Academic and Professional Knowl- edge. — There has already been indicated a difference between an academic and a professional knowledge of the subject. A teacher needs to have a very different knowledge of the subject from that which the pupil ac- quires, or from that which is possessed by the ordinary WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 15 well-informed person. This professional aspect of the subject is a part of the technique of the teaching pro- fession, and cannot be disregarded. Not only must the teacher's knowledge of the subject be more extensive than the pupil is likely to acquire, but it must differ in kind. Let us illustrate by an example from arithmetic : Illustration from Arithmetic. — Suppose that the teacher has a class in arithmetic, and it has been decided that the lesson for the day shall be the fraction three- fourths. The teacher's knowledge of the subject cer- tainly includes a knowledge of the fraction. Suppose the teacher proceeds upon the assumption that three- fourths indicates that a unit has been divided into four equal parts and three of the parts have been taken. He may proceed by cutting an apple into four equal parts and exhibiting three of the parts. Or, what is decidedly better, he may have each pupil in the class perform the operation of division and selection. But the first ques- tion that arises may be in connection with a piece of pie. A boy wants a whole piece; it is not, to him, a fraction. A piece is not a fraction in itself, although it is one of the equal parts. Here the teacher discovers that he needs to distinguish between the fractional unit and the unit of the fraction. This idea is scarcely new to him, nor perhaps to the children. But the next prob- lem says that John has twelve marbles and gave Henry three-fourths of them. It is difficult for the teacher to make his children see that twelve marbles is a unit that may be divided into fractional parts. Evidently the 16 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING teacher needs to know something more about a fraction than he has yet learned in an academic way before he is ready to teach it with profit. A Fraction as a Ratio. — Again, the teacher may as- sume that a fraction is a ratio expressing the relation of one number to another. If he proceeds upon this as- sumption, he will need to get some blocks or other ob- jects that have easily discoverable ratios to each other, and cause the children to recognize and state the ratio between the two objects selected. The process is quite different from the other method of procedure and has caused much acrimonious discussion over method among teachers. There is nothing in this procedure about the fractional unit nor the unit of the fraction. The teacher is therefore called upon to decide which of these views of the nature of the fraction is the true one ; and then only is ready to proceed with the teaching of his class. Professional Knowledge of a Fraction. — But a proper professional knowledge of the nature of the fraction will show that all the devices for teaching fractions and the particular ideas expressed in them are only partial, and merely illustrative of the much more comprehensive understanding which the teacher must have before he is ready to teach three-fourths properly to a class. These devices and the applications of fractions underlying them are the only things that the pupil can see, and are almost the only things that a teacher who has not made special preparation for teaching is likely to know. Essential Difference Between a Fraction and an In- WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 17 teger. — When we come to understand a fraction prop- erly we shall find that it is an extension of the number concept. Our ordinary integral numbers are decimal numbers having a constant base of ten, and expressed by using the device of place-value. Before we are able to teach fractions properly, we must know a good deal more about decimal numbers than it is profitable to teach to children. We must know what is meant by place- value, and how important it is in the making of arith- metical calculations. We should have tried to multiply and divide numbers expressed in the Roman notation. We should have seen the limitation imposed upon arith- metic by such notation, and should have recognized the tremendous improvement introduced by the Arabic no- tation. Then we must have realized what is meant by a base. In the decimal number we carry one for every ten. Ten units of one denomination make one of the next higher. We should have tried to reduce a decimal number in which the base is ten, to an equivalent ex- pression in a system in which the base is twelve or eight or some other number. Then we shall understand that a fraction is a number which has no constant base, but whose base is expressed by the denominator. When we reduce a fraction to an equivalent fraction having another denominator, we are changing a number from a system having one base to an equivalent number ex- pressed in a system with a different base. Importance of Professional Knowledge of a Fraction. — The common fraction does not employ place-value; 18 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING hence it is that operations performed with fractions are attended with greater difficulties than teachers ordinarily suppose. Only when we have arrived at some such understanding of the nature of a fraction are we able to teach fractions as well as we should; and then only are we able to see that the dividing of an object into equal parts is an illustration of the fraction concept, and does not itself express the true nature of the frac- tion. This conception of the fraction is far beyond the comprehension of the children of the grades in which the subject of fractions is taught, and is not obtained by the study of algebra or higher mathematics. No amount of knowledge of algebra or analytics or calculus will make a person a good teacher of fourth grade arith- metic. No amount of knowledge of literature or rheto- ric or Anglo-Saxon will make a person a good teacher of reading for a primary grade. It must be a knowledge of the subject itself, far beyond the limits that the chil- dren are able to comprehend, which constitutes a knowl- edge of subject matter necessary for a teacher. Illustration from Grammar. — Let us illustrate the kind of knowledge that a teacher must possess by an example drawn from grammar. Let us suppose that we have a class beginning grammar, and that we are proposing to have our children learn and understand the different elements of a sentence. We have chosen for our illustrative sentence the favorite one in grammars, Lead is a metal. We have our pupils learn that lead is the subject, is is the copula and metal is the predicate. WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 19 But some inquisitive child asks why lead is the subject. We reply that something is said about lead. Then he asks if something is not said about metal: and if we are honest we reply, "Certainly, but lead is that of which something is affirmed." Then he asks what do we mean by affirmed, when we are likely to suggest that it is about time for recess. In order that the teacher shall be able to teach children with confidence, and to inspire the proper kind of confidence in them, as well as to judge what is the best method of procedure in a given case, the teacher must know what really constitutes the distinction between the different elements of a sentence. He must know the psychological processes that give rise to grammatical distinctions. He must know that a sentence, or a propo- sition, is the expression of a judgment. He must know that in making a judgment two different ideas, or con- cepts, are held up in the mind and compared. He must know that the two concepts are not of equal rank in the process of judging, but that one of them is used as a standard of comparison, and the other is brought beside it to be compared: that the expression of the concept which is the standard is the predicate, and the expression ,of the concept which is compared with the standard is the subject; that the ex- pression of the judgment itself is the copula. The copula is the word which expresses the agreement of the two concepts with each other. Only this kind of knowledge will enable the teacher to teach grammar with assurance 20 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING and with the highest kind of success. This is not the grammar of the grades nor of the high school. It is rather the psychology of grammar. Illustration from History.. — This matter is of so great importance that it is worth while to use another illustra- tion. Let us employ an illustration from history, for the purpose and content of history are so generally mis- understood. Suppose that the lesson for the day is the Landing of the Pilgrims, and the 'children, having studied their lesson in the text-book, come up to recite. They recite that the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock on the twenty-first of December; that there were one hundred one of them, and that they came over in a vessel called the Mayflower. If a child recites these facts promptly the teacher is likely to call it good recitation. Unimportant Details. — But let us examine the matter. Let us suppose that instead of landing on Plymouth Rock they had landed on the sandy beach beside it. Sup- pose that instead of being the twenty-first of December it had been the twenty-fifth or the nineteenth. Suppose that instead of being one hundred one persons there had been ninety-nine, or one hundred five ; and suppose that instead of being called the Mayflower the vessel had been called the Derelict, or some other name. How different is the teaching of this event from what it would be if the Pilgrims had landed in sunny June; and yet its real significance would not be in the least changed. When the pupils have recited the facts enumerated, WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 21 and have done it well, the teacher feels like commending them, while there has been only a single item of essen- tial importance. All circumstances might have been different from what they were without modifying in the slightest degree the essential idea underlying the landing of the Pilgrims. What, then, is this essential idea which it is necessary for the teacher to know in order that his pupils may derive anything like the proper amount of benefit from the history lesson, and without which the learning of it is all vain and wasted effort? The Essential Idea. — The teacher must know that the voyage of the Pilgrims was the expression of an idea. Essentially it was an expression of a desire for religious freedom. The teacher must see in the voyage of the Pilgrims the flower and the fruit of a long train of circumstances; and must see in this flower and fruit the seed of another long train of circumstances springing out of it, and running through all expressions of: our national life down to the present time. The landing of the Pilgrims is, then, the connecting link between two great trains of circumstances, expressing the conflict of opposing ideas. One train of circumstances preceded the coming of the Pilgrims ; the other followed it, and finds its expression in our national and social life. Unless the teacher can look before and after this voyage, and see these trains of circumstances expressing opposing ideas, he will not be able to teach the landing of the Pilgrims in the most satisfactory manner. Difference Between a Teachers Knowledge and a 22 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Pupil's. — This effective knowledge of the subject is something that the non-professional person does not have, nor does he need to have it. It is a kind of knowledge of the subject that the pupil does not get, and it is not necessary that he should. But it is the kind of knowledge that makes the work of the teacher effective, and which it is necessary that he should have if his work is to be the best that it may become. It is a knowledge of the thing that is to be taught, not necessarily a knowledge of other subjects foreign to that of instruction. It is not a knowledge of higher mathematics that makes an ef- fective teacher of arithmetic or of algebra. It is a knowledge of arithmetic and of algebra that makes the effective teacher of those subjects. Knowledge of the Purpose of Education. — Pedagogi- cal as well as academic knowledge of the subject, then, is necessary. But even more necessary for effective teaching is a knowledge of the purposes of education. The community, by the very process of establishing a school, recognizes the fact and registers its belief that the child who attends a school will become a different person than he would become did he not attend school. The community establishes a school as the specific in- stitution for bringing- about a desired change in the individual. The pupil who attends school may be modified in one direction or another according as the school is planned to affect his growth in one or the other direction. The teacher must know the direction in which it is desirable that the child's growth shall be modified. WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 23 or he will not be able to work effectively in the chosen direction. The teacher must know the end and purpose of edu- cation. If the teacher adopts the knowledge aim of education, and believes that the acquisition of knowledge is the purpose for which the school has been established, he will teach in one way. If he believes that mental discipline is the end and purpose of education, he will teach in a different way. If he believes that the de- velopment of the moral nature of children is the one and only purpose of education, he will select different subjects of instruction, and will teach in a different manner than he would if he believed mental discipline or the acquisition of knowledge to be the end and pur- pose of education. If he adopts the aim of social efficiency as the purpose of education, then again his methods of teaching and his selection of subject matter will be es- sentially different from what it would be under the influ- ence of the other aims. It is important, then, that the teacher shall have clearly in mind all the time the end that is to be sought in school work, and that he shall know how to proceed to make the desired change in the minds and characters of the children. Purpose Determines the Method. — Both the subject matter and the method of instruction will be determined by the end and purpose of education that is established in the mind of the teacher. In order to produce the de- sired change upon the mind and character of the child certain mental experiences must be engendered in him. 24 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING The child and the man is inevitably determined by what he thinks. If the teacher can cause the child to think in a certain way, to experience the proper .kind of men- tal processes, than he can effectively develop the child in the proper direction. It is of the utmost importance that the teacher shall know, not only the end and pur- pose of education, and the kind of person which he wishes the child to become, but he must also know the mental processes that will lead him in the direction of the end sought. If he does not know what the mental processes are, and is unable to distinguish these mental processes when the child does experience them, then his work will inevitably be blind, haphazard and ineffect- ive. A person who teaches without a knowledge of what mental processes a child experiences, can never teach so effectively as he would if he knew what those mental processes are. The Pedagogical Content. — This second element in the teacher's effective knowledge then, includes also, a knowledge of the pedagogical content of the subject. What is there in this subject that is capable of being used to induce the mental processes which it is necessary for the child to experience in order to attain the end of education which the community has established and which the teacher has recognized. Here is a new view- point for the study of the subject. The course of study and the selection of the subject matter is to be deter- mined, not by tradition, but by its pedagogical content. Every subject of instruction must be subjected to this WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 25 scrutiny. We have proceeded not very far in this direc- tion, but there is room for much careful work by every teacher in trying to understand the subject as material for inducing mental processes. Knozvledge of the Child. — The third kind of knowl- edge that the teacher ought to have is a knowledge of child nature. Although placed last in order of men- tion, this is perhaps most important of all. The teacher's knowledge of the child is not that kind of knowledge of children that persons who are not teachers have. It is a kind of special, professional knowledge of children. It is different from that which is obtained by casual in- tercourse with them. The knowledge of children that a teacher must have is a knowledge of the individual children who are seated before him. It is not a knowl- edge of the average child, nor of children in the abstract, but of the concrete specimens which constitute his class. Phenomena of Child Development. — A teacher must know that certain instincts develop at certain times and that the sudden development of instincts accounts for many actions of children. The fear of furred animals and feathered creatures appears suddenly and rather earlier than the children are sent to school. The demand for society appears in children about the time that they become of school age, and then .it is that children need to play with other children. The teacher needs to know that the first social games of children are largely competi- tive plays, and that competition is an essential element in 26 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING child life. Love plays do not appear, nor become of inter- est to children until the period of oncoming adolescence. The teacher needs to know that respect for law appears rather suddenly and that school crimes have their ex- planation in the retarding of the social impulses which lead children to respect the rights of property and the virtue of truthfulness. Children in whom these impulses are belated are examples of retarded development, and the teacher needs to know this fact in order to employ the best method of procedure to enable such children to grow into the proper respect for law and order. The ado- lescent period is remarkable for the great and sudden changes that occur in the nature and interests of chil- dren. Possible Injury from Ignorance. — A person who is ignorant of these facts of child life and is unacquainted with the phenomena of adolescence is as likely to do in- jury to children as he is to do good. Sometimes the best recommendation that a teacher can have is that he is ineffective. He is like a homeopathic pill. At least he can do no harm. Much has been written in recent years about the phenomena of adolescence, but other periods of child life are as full of startling changes as this. The teacher who does not know these facts of child life is unable to attain his highest efficiency. Necessity for Continuous Study. — These are the lines of professional knowledge in which each teacher ought to grow. No teacher can ever be called master of them WHAT A TEACHER OUGHT TO KNOW 27 all, but every teacher may persist in the acquisition of this kind of knowledge as long as he teaches. A per- son who has not had special preparation for teaching before he begins is handicapped in all his work, but the best professional preparation merely prepares one to enter upon the study of the profession. Such a person has not completed his professional study. He is only beginning it. ~ & & Synopsis. 1. There is a difference between the knowledge of a subject that a teacher needs to have and that which a pupil, or a well-informed person is likely to get. It is this difference which constitutes the professional knowledge of teaching, and distinguishes the professional from the non-professional teacher. 2. The teacher should know, not only the subject in a professional way, but he needs to know the real purpose and aim of education. Only when this is known can he most effectively direct his efforts in teaching. 3. The teacher should study child nature, and the changes which occur in the mental and moral constitu- tion of the child in the course of the child's school career. He needs to know, also, the mental processes which it is necessary to induce in the child to lead him to ac- complish the purpose for which he is sent to school. 4. The teacher needs to know the pedagogical con- tent of the subject; or what there is in the subject that may be used to induce, in the course of learning it, that mental process which will produce the desired effect upon the child. CHAPTER II. The Study of Psychology. Why Study Psychology? — Psychology is the basis of all scientific pedagogy. No course of training for teach- ers can be considered satisfactory that is not established upon psychological foundations, yet it is not always easy to state wherein the study of psychology has aided the teacher. If the preceding statement is true, we must be able to show wherein the teacher who has studied psychology is better prepared for his work than is one who has not studied psychology. We must show in what respect a teacher who has studied psychology is a better teacher than the same person would have become had he not studied psychology. Or, again, we must show in what respect he is a better teacher than he would have become, if instead of studying psychology he had devoted the same amount of energy to studying something else. Psychology Not a Set of Rules. — One misapprehen- sion of the subject is very common among teachers. The belief is prevalent that psychology is a set of rules which will direct us in the process of teaching. Many teachers believe that nothing that they have learned in psychology has helped them in their teaching. The 28 THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 29 origin of this belief is found in the fact that they have looked upon psychology as something which they could apply directly in their school work. A case of discipline, a serious question of method, a problem of manage- ment has appeared for solution, and no psychological rule has been at hand to furnish an answer. Hence arises the statement that psychology has been of no service in teaching. Misapprehension from the Term Applied Psychology. — The belief that psychology is something in the nature of a system of rules to be acted upon in various vicissi- tudes of teaching is fostered somewhat by the use of the term "applied psychology." There is a mischievous implication in the term. In the ordinary sense of the word there can be no such thing as applied psychology. It is not a series of rules that can be applied to teaching. In another sense of the word, any psychology that can- not be applied is worthless. Let us try to understand the advantages gained in the study of psychology, and we shall harmonize the apparent contradiction involved in these two statements. Effect of Psychology Upon a Teacher s Attitude. — The greatest effect produced by the study of psychology is to be found in the change it makes in the teacher's attitude toward the business of teaching. 1. The teacher who has studied psychology is likely to teach the child, while the teacher w r ho has not studied psychology is likely to teach the subject. 2. The teacher who has not studied psychology is 30 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING likely to pin his faith to devices, while the teacher who has studied psychology is likely to look through the devices to the mental processes which the devices are intended to call forth. 3. The teacher who has not studied psychology is satisfied with the learning of the subject, while the teacher who has studied psychology is likely to see the change which it is designed to produce by means of the subject upon the mind of the child, and to recognize the mental processes which it is necessary to engender in order to produce that change. The Teacher Works With Children's Minds. — It is a truism too common to have much influence, that a teacher works with the minds of the children. In order to know how to work with those minds, the teacher must know the laws of mental operation and growth. This is a truth to which many teachers will give an in- tellectual assent, and then proceed in a manner directly contrary to that in which they must act if they really believed it to be true. A bricklayer or a carpenter works with material, and we can rather easily estimate the worth of his work in the increase of value which it has given to the materials employed. Such work is not pro- fessional work. The teacher's work is professional work, for it deals with the immaterial part of man, and with the living spirit. The teacher cannot rise to the dignity of an artist in his profession who does not conceive of his work in this light. The more a teacher studies psychology, the more likely he is to feel, to realize, and THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 31 to act as if he believed that he is employed to produce an effect upon the living, spiritual, immortal souls of children entrusted to his care. Looked at in this way, psychology is not something that can be learned; it is something that must be lived. We cannot learn psy- chology, in this sense, in a little while. There must be time enough devoted to the study of the subject to enable us to attain the mental attitude here indicated. It is in this way that psychology appears to have its greatest value. Psychology Teaches How to Study Children. — The second advantage in the study of psychology is apparently less intangible than the one that has just been adduced. The teacher needs to study the children in their indi- vidual capacities. He needs to know each child in such a way that he can appreciate the motives which induce him to act in the way that he does, and when his actions are wrong, to apply such incentives as will cause him to act in a different way. The study of psychology is a preparation for the study of children. Why Begin With Adult Psychology? — Adult psy- chology is a necessary preliminary to the study of child psychology. It is necessary for us to begin our study of psychology with an examination of our own minds, for our own minds are the only ones that we can observe directly. We study children's minds by interpreting their actions in terms of our own mental processes, with such modifications as we believe to be necessary. A teacher who has studied child psychology will know to what 32 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING motives he must appeal in order to govern wisely. We learn, for example, the theory of play. We know from our studies why some plays have an attraction for certain children, while they have no attraction for children who are older or younger. We learn that particular plays attract certain children because they are in a stage of development which corresponds to the activities involved in the play. We can, then, by observing the plays of children determine something about the stage of devel- opment in which a child is, and we can adjust our methods, devices, and incentives to this stage of his de- velopment. Understanding Delinquent Children. — Not different is it with lying, cheating, and stealing. We learn in our psychology how to regard these criminal instincts in a scientific way, and we shall exercise greater wisdom in dealing with such cases of criminal tendency. Know- ing that we must regard these criminal tendencies as manifestations of an undeveloped condition, we may avoid mistakes that are likely to confirm the child in them, and we shall know how to appeal to the proper motives to initiate courses of action enabling him to develop power to resist the wrong impulse. Psychology Teaches Us to Understand Processes In- volved in Teaching and Learning. — We are to teach chil- dren to think, but if we do not know what thinking is we shall work blindly. When we know that thinking con- sists in the perception of relations, and that it is possible to reduce all relations to a single one, that of resem- THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 33 blance or difference, we shall be better prepared to induce this activity of thinking than if we had no clear no- tions about it. The same thing is true of such ideas as are expressed by the words "explain," and ''understand." We say that we wish our children to understand the things we are teaching. If we know that by "under- stand" we mean to perceive the relations that a thing holds to something else that is already known, then we shall be better prepared to cause our children to under- stand than if we ourselves have failed to obtain a clear notion of the process which the word "understand" ex- presses. The same thing is true of the idea expressed by the word "explain." YVe say that we must explain the idea in the lesson. But if we ourselves do not know exactly what we mean by explain, we shall have diffi- culty in the process. When we know that by explaining we mean the pointing out of the relations that the thing holds to something else that is already known, we shall accomplish the explanation much more readily and directly. It is not likely that we shall get an adequate notion of thinking, explaining, and understanding with- out the study of psychology. Psychology Necessary to Understand Educational Ideas. — It is necessary for us to have an adequate notion of what is meant by interest, apperception, imitation, habit, play. These ideas and many others of a similar nature are involved constantly in educational discussions, especially as motives to study and to behavior in school. We need to have as clear a conception as possible of these 34 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING notions, and such a conception of them is impossible without a knowledge of psychology. Unless we approach them through and by means of psychology, they will be to us mere words and symbols, utterly unavailable for use in producing mental activity or determining proper behavior. The interests and feelings constitute the mo- tives of children, and we cannot understand their motives unless we have a knowledge of psychology. Psychology Determines Devices Employed. — Our de- vices are determined by our knowledge of psychology. We cannot avoid the employment of devices, nor would it be wise to do so if we could. It is not enough that we should know the subject and the laws of mental action; there must be some way of bringing the subject and the mind of the child into contact with each other. There must be some method of procedure by which a desired mental effect may be produced in the process of learn- ing. The teacher who has not studied psychology is likely to see only the device. He sees somebody teach by the word method ; or employ some plan of using blocks in teaching square root ; or adopt some way of using bundles of sticks to illustrate the decimal notation, or exploit some little twist in map drawing, and immediately he thinks that this is the one and only way to teach these subjects. He is likely to be tied down and seriously lim- ited by his devices. The teacher who has studied psychol- ogy knows that the aim of his work must be to produce some effect upon the mind of the child. He undertakes to determine what mental processes must be induced in THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 35 the mind of the child to produce this effect. Then he decides how the subject matter may be employed so as to produce this mental activity in the process of learn- ing. The device, to him, is merely a plan for producing a perviously determined mental activity. To the teacher who has not studied psychology, the device is a way of teaching the subject. Different Effects from Learning the Same Subject. — A subject may be so taught and so learned as to produce one effect, or another effect. A child who is directed to learn a rule in arithmetic, and then to solve problems by applying the rule, derives a very different effect from the learning of the subject than does one who is taught to solve problems by perceiving the relations existing between the quantities, and concludes his study by formu- lating a rule. A pupil who learns the laws of falling bodies, and then employs an Atwood's machine to illus- trate the laws, or to see that they are true, derives a very different effect from his study than does the pupil who is set to work to determine how far a body falls in one, two, and three seconds and from the relations which he is compelled to recognize between these different spaces, to generalize, and to state a law. < Good or Bad Devices. — The effect to be produced upon the mind of the child determines the device to be employed, and a device must be considered good or bad, according as it produces or does not produce the de- sired effect. We shall produce one effect or another in studying the same subject and by learning the same 36 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING facts according as we use one or another device. The psychological effect to be produced determines the de- vice to be employed. If we are unacquainted with psychology, and with the relations of mental processes to one another, we shall be at the mercy of our devices. A Subject Is a Construction of Thought. — In the previous chapter it was stated that the teacher needs to have a professional knowledge of the subject. Such professional knowledge shows how the mind has acted constructively in building up a system of thought. The professional knowledge of history shows how the mind of man has operated collectively in building up our insti- tutional life; while such knowledge of arithmetic, shows how the mind has operated in building up the system of mathematical conceptions that is manifested in and through the subject. The professional knowledge of the subject must manifest the method of thought that runs through it. The thought in the subject and the nature of the mind determines the device to be em- ployed. Hence it is that a knowledge of psychology is essential to the successful study of any subject as a pre- paration for teaching. Effect of Learning Different Subjects. — A knowledge of psychology will, also, enable us to understand the mental processes which are especially prominent in learn- ing any subject. Some subjects may be used more economically than others in producing a given effect upon the mind and character of a child. While the learning of every subject involves the same mental processes, the THE STUDY OF TSYCHOLOGY 37 different subjects vary in the relative amounts of men- tal processes that are demanded. The teacher should know what subjects can be employed most economically in producing desired mental effects. He must know what the mental processes are, their relations to each other, and how they are manifested in the learning of each subject. Economy of Effort in Learning. — In learning, certain mental processes are always involved. There can be no acquisition of knowledge without remembering. Psy- chology shows us the laws of remembering, and how we may apply our efforts in order to remember most efficiently. It shows us that in order to remember most successfully, the entire lesson to be remembered should be studied as a whole, and not studied piece-meal. It shows us also, that the same amount of energy devoted to studying, accomplishes a greater result if it is not expended all at one time, but that it should be broken up into several intervals of study. It shows us that our forgetting is most rapid in the first few hours that elapse after the thing has been learned. We forget nearly half of what we have learned in the first six hours after learn- ing it. Especially is this true if we turn immediately to the study of some other lesson, or engage in some other occupation. Importance of Attention. — Psychology shows us also what attention is, and the very great importance of at- tention in any learning process. All learning processes depend upon attention, and without it no education is 38 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING possible. Attention may be either positive or negative, although one kind involves the other. Without a satis- factory knowledge of the conditions of attention, a teacher will find it impossible to achieve the best results. Lazvs of the Learning Process. — Psychology shows us that the process of learning is not a regular, uni- form progression in the acquisition of knowledge or skill; but that there are intervals of rapid improvement, alternating with periods when no progress is observable. This seems to be inevitable, and is recognized in every process of learning. Unless we know the laws of the learning process, as psychology exhibits them to us, we shall be placed at a serious disadvantage in teaching. These are only a few of the things that psychology has for us, which are of immediate utility in teaching. Summary of the Advantages of Psychology. — So we see that for all these things, the attaining of the proper attitude toward teaching, the studying of the nature of the children, the production of the desired kinds of ac- tivity, the determination of the devices needed to pro- duce the desired effect, the proper knowledge of the subject that will enable us to employ it effectively, — for all these things it is necessary that the teacher shall have made a careful and long continued study of psy- chology. Synopsis. 1. Psychology is not a system of rules that may be applied to the teaching of children. 2. A knowledge of psychology is of advantage in THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY 39 enabling the teacher to attain a proper attitude of mind toward the business of teaching. 3. It is a prerequisite to the sudy of children, and to a comprehension of the way in which the child's mind acts, grows and develops. 4. It is necessary to enable us to recognize the pedagogical content of a subject. 5. It enables us to attain fundamental notions of such processes as thinking, explaining, understand- ing. 6. It can give us some positive information about the processes of learning, remembering, forgetting, and other mental activities. CHAPTER III. Meaning of Education. Inherited Characteristics. — When a child is born it has certain inherited characteristics. It has the human form, two eyes, two hands, and senses that belong to the human race. It has the shape of features and the pecu- liarities of hair and of eyes derived from its parents. Besides these characteristics of bodily structure, it has tendencies of body and mind that will enable it to grow into and become something different from what it is at birth. This combination of physical characteris- tics and inherited tendencies we may call its heredity. It is evident that no part of this heredity is education. The Larger Meaning of Education. — But the child may have its growth modified. Every experience that it has leaves it something different from what it was before the experience affected it. This modification of growth is what, in the broad sense of the word, we may designate as education. Education, then, is the modifi- cation of growth resulting from the child's experiences. These experiences depend upon his environment, but environment does not constitute education. The child reacts upon his environment, and it is this reaction which modifies growth and constitutes his education. We 40 MEANING OF EDUCATION 41 sometimes hear the statement that what a person is at any time depends upon his heredity and his environment. It is more nearly the truth to say that what a person is at any time depends upon his heredity and his education. The environment does not modify the person unless he reacts upon it. Education Inevitable. — This use of the word education is the larger and more comprehensive meaning of the term. It involves some curious consequences. One con- sequence of this larger meaning of the term is that every person must be educated. There is no escape from the process. Every person reacts upon his environment, and has his growth modified thereby. Every experience pro- duces some modification of the individual's growth and this modification of growth constitutes education in the larger meaning of the term. Education a Continuous Process. — The second corol- lary is that education is a continuous process. It begins at birth and continues as long as the individual lives. It is not something that can be begun and finished. Narrower Meaning of Education. — In the narrower use of the word education, we mean the process by which the mental and moral growth of the child is modified in school, and we generally use the word in this limited sense. While this is really too restricted a use of the word, it is very natural that we should employ it, for the school is the one institution which the community formally establishes and sets aside for the purpose of producing modifications in the mental and moral growth 42 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING of children. We recognize that other institutions, the family, home, church, government, everything contrib- utes to their education, but the school is especially designed for that purpose, and has no other function. It must be expected, therefore, to produce a greater effect upon the growth of the child than any institution that is not so designed. Hence we limit the word education to the process by which growth is modified in school. School, the Community Ideal. — The establishment of the school implies that the community believes it possible to modify the mental growth of a child in one way or another. It is a recognition of the fact that the child may have his growth modified in a way that the community believes to be good, or in another way that it believes to be bad. The community establishes a school, builds a schoolhouse, employs the teacher, and adopts such a course of study as it believes will bring about the kind of growth in children which is desirable. Hence we may say that the school embodies the ideal of the community. It represents the ideal that the community holds of what the individual ought to become. Literal Definition of Education. — We are now ready to consider a definition of education. If we look at the literal meaning of the word, we shall have some kind of definition. The word is derived from two Latin words, e, meaning out, and duco, I lead. The thought in the word is that education is the leading out, or the drawing out of the powers of the mind. This literal meaning of the word points us back to a system of psychology that MEANING OF EDUCATION 43 has been largely discarded , for we now speak rather of mental processes than of mental powers. If the word means anything in its literal sense, now, it means that education is a process of assisting in the mental develop- ment of man. Development and Brain Activity. — Mental develop- ment is closely parallel to the development of brain ac- tivities. We are unable to state positively what is the connection between mind and body, but we do know enough to assert without any hesitation that for every mental process there is a corresponding physiological change, which takes the form of the transmission of a nervous impulse through a nervous arc. Every time a nervous impulse passes through a nervous arc it facilitates the transmission of the next impulse. Simi- larly, every mental process, such as is involved in learn- ing, makes it easier to engender the next. The more we learn the easier the process of learning becomes.: Education as Development. — The child has at birth all the brain cells that it will ever have. There are probably as many as seven hundred million cells in the brain of a little child, nearly all of which are at first undeveloped. The cells are small and have no dendrites or cell branches, and they are incapable of transmitting or originating nervous impulses. They have not formed connections with other brain cells, nor become organized into brain centers. Nervous impulses are started in the sense organs, and transmitted along the nerves to the brain cells. As a result of repeated attempts of successive im- 44 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING pulses to pass through the brain cells, the cells become developed, dendrites grow out, connections with other cells are established, and brain centers are formed. In this way we can picture to ourselves the physiological changes which are parallel to the mental development. Education produces this kind of development in the brain cells by furnishing the proper kind of experiences, and by establishing nervous impulses which are carried through Education as Development. Four Neurons. A and C, from the cerebellum ; B, from the spinal cord ; D, from the cerebrum ; a, the axon. The cells A and D are stained so that the main body and the dendrites are black; B and C show the nucleus. brain centers that would otherwise be untraversed. De- velopment, then, is really one of the elements of educa- MEANING OF EDUCATION 4o tion, and any statement of education must take this ele- ment into account. Education as Adjustment. — But development is not the only element in education. In order that the child may develop it must live. The child must learn how to obtain food, clothing and shelter, and how to avoid dan- gers that threaten his existence. These things constitute portions of his environment and furnish opportunities for experiences by means of which he becomes developed. This is a process of adaptation or of adjustment to his environment. The child must learn to live in his en- vironment and constantly needs to adjust himself to it. Life itself is an adjustment of the internal conditions of the individual to the outer circumstances of his environ- ment. Environment includes not merely the natural and physical surroundings of the child, but the social com- munity with all its manners, customs, traditions, institu- tions and history in which he finds himself placed. He must learn of all these circumstances, and how to conform his own life to them. Education a Change from Dependent to Independent. — There are almost as many definitions of education as there are persons who have written about it. Let us see what must enter into any satisfactory definition. The child is at first a completely dependent individual. With- out the aid of other persons, no child could survive the first few days, or the first few years of childhood. By the process of education he is changed from a dependent to an independent being. This must enter into our 46 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING definition, for it is by the process of education that this change occurs. Education, then, is the process by which a child is changed from a dependent to an independent being. Education a Change from Egoistic to Altruistic Being. — But this is not all. At first, the child is a per- fectly egoistic being, and has no regard for other persons. His only business is to live and he makes everything else contribute to that end. He has no consideration for anybody except himself. He must change from the con- dition of an egoistic to that of an altruistic being, who will regard the rights of others. This change is brought about by the process of education. Education, then, is the process by which a child is changed from a dependent, egoistic being to an independent, altruistic being. Education a Change from Self-Centered to Social Attitude. — But the child is also self-centered. He regards everything from his own standpoint. He looks at every- thing in the light of its effect upon himself. He must .change from this view-point to one in which he may consider matters in the light of their effect upon the entire community of which he is a part. He must regard, not merely the rights of an individual, even though that individual be some other than himself, but he must regard the rights of the community. He must change from a self-centered being to a social being. This change is brought about by the process of education. Hence we may say that education is the process by which a child is changed from a dependent, egoistic, self-centered being, to an independent, altruistic, social being. MEANING OF EDUCATION 47 It is by the process of education thus described, that the child becomes adjusted to his environment and de- veloped as an individual. Synopsis. 1. Education may be used with two different mean- ings, the broader and the narrower. In the broader meaning of the word, it is the total change that is pro- duced in the child's growth by his experiences. In the narrow sense of the word, it is the change that is pro- duced in his growth by his experiences in school. 2. Education includes two elements, development and adjustment. 3. Education is the process by which a child is changed from a dependent, egoistic, self-centered being to an independent, altruistic, social being. CHAPTER IV. What Education Does for the Child. A Boy's Objections to Going to School. — We have many discussions of education from the view-point of the teacher, the philosopher, or of the community, but few from that of the child. We wish to look at it, if possible, as a child who has not attended school very much looks at it, to see what answer we may make, if any, to the objections that a boy sometimes raises to attendance upon school. This is a problem that every teacher must some time in his teaching- exoerience confront. Successful Uneducated Men. — The problem sometimes arises from the objection of a boy who refuses to go to school claiming that education is of no value, and point- ing as an illustration of its inutility to the example of some eminently successful man who never attended school, or who attended so short a time as not to be en- titled to rank with educated persons. He may also point to the example of some college graduate who is now working at twenty-five dollars a week or twenty-five dollars a month for the uneducated, successful man. Sometimes it takes the form of an objection on the part of the parent to sending his children to school, or an objection to the payment of taxes, claiming that it in- vades personal liberty. What shall we say to such a boy or man? 48 WHAT EDUCATION DOES 49 Objections to Particular Subjects. — Sometimes the objection that the boy makes is an objection to studying a particular subject, such as grammar, which subject is sometimes very unpopular with boys ; or it may be geogra- phy, which is sometimes equally unpopular. Girls in high schools frequently have an objection to the study of zoology or chemistry, and when this is the case they are unable to see that there is any advantage in such study. Sometimes the problem arises in the objection of an eminently successful man to the study of a par- ticular subject. A circuit judge once said to the writer, "What is the use of studying algebra? It will never be of any use to you. It is a mere juggling with figures, and has no application to practical affairs." The assump- tion was that since he had become a successful man, had been a member of the legislature, been elected circuit judge, been a candidate for congress, algebra was not a help, or rather, the lack of it was no hindrance to suc- cess in his profession. Hozv Anszvcr Objections. — The practical problem is, How shall we answer these objections? What can we say to the persons who raise them? May there not be, in the objections they raise, something of truth which it is well for us to consider? It is not enough merely to be convinced ourselves of the value of an education, im- portant as such conviction may be; but it will conduce to clearness in our own view if we are able to make it clear to others. Few Teachers Ready, to Answer. — Nearly all teachers 50 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING went to school because their parents said that they should go, and attendance at school was a matter of course with them. Consequently few teachers have really determined the fundamental principles upon which universal educa- tion is justified. The objections raised will furnish us an opportunity to think carefully about the matter. It is necessary for us to know the real value to the child, not to the state, of attendance upon school, so that we may be able to present the argument in an effective way to him. The Money Argument. — There is one argument that will appeal to some men who can be reached by no other ; that is the argument from the increased earning power of the educated man. A farmers' institute not long ago adopted a declaration that a school training above the elementary school unfitted a boy to become a farmer. Therefore, if it is desired to keep a boy on the farm, and to make a farmer out of him, he must not go to school beyond the time required to learn the elementary school subjects. Such persons may be reached by the dollar-and- cents argument. Perhaps an apology is needed for pre- senting this argument, since it may seem to bring educa- tion down to a basis purely mercenary, and to take away from it something of the higher character that belongs to it. It is believed, however, that the argument is a valid one, and fully justified by our definition. Justified by Our Definition. — We have said that edu- cation is a process by which a child is changed from a dependent to an independent being. We have seen that WHAT EDUCATION DOES 51 education is an adjustment of the individual to the cir- cumstances in which he is placed. Education is the process by which the individual becomes adjusted. An individual is not adjusted to his environment unless he is able to make a living in the place in which he is situated, and he cannot be an independent being unless he is able tq support himself. A man who is dependent upon the community for his support and must live in the poor- house or be supported by the community in some other way, is not independent, and is not educated, no matter how long he may have attended school. So an educated man must be able to make a living, or must be able to make a better living than he could make if he were not educa- ted. The former notion, that education had nothing to do with making a living, no doubt grew out of the leisure class idea exemplified in education. Let us see if we can show that education is really of advantage in making a living, and if it has really a money value. Money Value of a Man. — How much is a man worth ? This seems a foolish question, since "All that a man hath will he give for his life." But courts are called upon every day to fix the value of a human life in cases where a man has been killed by a railroad or other corporation. The legislature of Illinois, at one time, fixed the sum of five thousand dollars as the largest amount that a corpora- tion should be called upon to pay for the killing of a man. After a while, juries and courts ventured to assess damages of ten thousand or fifteen thousand or twenty thousand dollars for the loss of an arm or a leg, while 52 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING they were permitted to assess not more than five thou- sand for the loss of life. All this tends to show that a man's arm or leg is worth more than his head, which may be true if he is a football player or a baseball pitcher, but not in other circumstances. The amount allowed as the maximum for a life was subsequently raised to ten thousand, but this shows that legislatures believe it possi- ble to put a value upon the life of a man. Value of the People. — It seems reasonable to make an estimate of the value of a man upon the basis of his earning power. The census of 1890 showed that the total cost of living in the United States was about thirteen billion dollars a year. This must be, then, about the amount of wealth produced each year, for there is never a very large surplus in any one year to be passed to the credit side of accumulated wealth. The number of people in the United States was about 76 million, and this amount means that on the average, every man, woman and child in the United States produced about $171.00 each year. A person who is capable of earning $171.00 in a year, reckoning money at five per cent, is worth about twenty times $171.00, or $3,420.00. Multiplying this amount by 76 million we shall see that on the basis of their earning power, the entire population was worth about 260 billion dollars. When we compare this amount with the total assessed valuation of the property of the country, which at that time was about 25 billion dollars, we shall find that the people of the country were worth more than ten times the total assessed valuation of the property of the country. WHAT EDUCATION DOES 53 But the assessed valuation of the property of the country is probably not more than four-tenths of the real value. This would make the real valuation of the property of the country about 65 billion dollars, and the people, on this basis, would still be worth more than three times the total value of the property of the country. The People the Real Wealth of the Country. — Since 1890 conditions have changed. The population of the country has increased about ten millions, the earning power has increased about fifty per cent, the total assessed valuation of the property is now about 75 billions, and the real value not far from 200 billions. Calculations will show that, based upon earning power, the people of the country are worth about 440 billions, which is nearly six times the total assessed valuation of the property, and more than twice the real value of the property. This calculation serves to show that it is the people who con- stitute the real wealth of the country. Money Value of Education. — How much of this value is due to education? It is possible to show that about seven-eighths of the value of the people comes from the education which they receive in school. But let us make a very liberal estimate, and say that one-half of this value of the people is due to education. That makes the value of the people which is derived from educational processes amount to about 220 billion dollars. In order to derive this value, for the people of a country, a whole generation must be educated. The education of the people must be continued for a period of about thirty- 54 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING three years, which is approximately the lifetime of one generation. We are now spending. in this country for educational processes ■ about 235 million dollars a year. In thirty-three years this amounts to, approximately, eight billion dollars. We invest in the education of one gen- eration of people about eight billion dollars, and we derive from it an increase in the value of the people of about 220 billion dollars. We put eight dollars into education, and draw out, in increased value, 220 dollars. For every dollar that we invest in education there is an increased value of 27 dollars to the people. This looks like a pretty good investment. Although these figures are only approximate, and there may be considerable error in them, still the calculations show the nature and magni- tude of the interest with which we are dealing. Money Value of Education to the Individual. — But our objector may not be impressed by figures that apply to the whole country, and may even question the moderate estimate that one-half the value and earning power of the people is derived from school education. He may demand something more specific, which will apply directly to his own case. How much is education worth to the individual directly? Superintendent Schaefrer figures it out in this way. He says that in the part of Pennsylva- nia in which he lives, a man who is wholly uneducated, capable of doing only the lowest grade of work, which demands the least amount of intelligence, calling only for the exercise of muscle, is able to earn about $150.00 a year. A man who is capable of earning $150.00 a year WHAT EDUCATION DOES 3D has in himself a capitalized value of $3,000.00. If he had $3,000.00 and should put it out at interest at five per cent, it would bring the same income that he now earns by his labor. Value of School Attendance Per Day. — Statistics show that the average earnings of a college graduate in this country are about $1,200.00 a year. A man who is able to earn $1,200.00 a year has in himself a capitalized value of $24,000.00. The difference, the only difference that we have considered, is the difference derived from attendance upon school sufficiently to graduate from col- lege. This difference is $21,000.00 which the college education has added to the value of the man. If we assume that the school year is 200 days long, and that there are eight years in the elementary grades, four years in the high school and four years in college, this would require an attendance upon school 3,200 days. But no one ever does attend school 3,200 days in order to gradu- ate from college. Perhaps 2,000 days is sufficient time for accomplishing that result under favorable circum- stances. Two thousand days' attendance upon school re- sults in an increased capitalized value to the individual of $21,000.00. This means that the time of the pupil in going to school is worth anywhere from ten and a half dollars a day. on the two thousand-day basis, to six dollars and a half on the thirty-two hundred-day basis. Yet we all know many parents who have kept their children out of school for a much less sum of money than ten dollars and a half a daw 56 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Three Conditions Necessary. — This calculation as- sumes three things : First, that the child is capable of profiting by an educational opportunity. It assumes that he is not feeble-minded, although states find that it is profitable to educate feeble-minded children in special institutions, at a much greater expense than is necessary for normal children. So perhaps this limitation ought not to be mentioned. It certainly is true that unless the child conforms to the regulations that the school imposes, learns his lessons, obeys the rules, and does as he is expected to do, this increase in value is not derived from attendance upon school. Value of Good Teaching. — The second assumption is that the teaching shall be of the right kind. If the teaching is poor, it is not possible for the children to derive anything like this amount of value from attendance upon school. This is the justification for demanding the best teachers that can be obtained. If the teaching is poor, not only will little value be added to the individual, but there may be a positive detriment to the child. If it is possible for a good teacher to add to the capitalized value of his pupils anything like ten dollars and a half a day, an increase of $450.00 a day in a school of forty pupils, while the poor teacher can bring about no increase in value to the pupils, then it will be readily seen that the difference in salary needed to secure a good teacher and that required to secure a poor teacher is completely negligible. Money Value of Different Subjects. — The third thing WHAT EDUCATION DOES 57 is that the subjects taught shall be of the proper kind for giving this increased valuation. It makes a difference what subjects are taught. If earning power is the end of education that is sought, then subjects may be selected that will contribute largely to this result. Earning power is very largely the result of education. Industrial Efficiency and Leisure Class Education. — There are two general principles underlying the selection of subjects for study. One principle may be called that of Industrial Efficiency, and the other may be called the Leisure Class Principle. Some subjects taught in school contribute to industrial efficiency, or earning power, and other subjects have no relation to such increase. Some persons prefer leisure class education, which is expressed by saying that the pupil learns those things that a gentle- man ought to know. Leisure class education may not con- tribute directly to earning power, and the examples of educated men who are unsuccessful in making a living are men who have received leisure class education. The difficulty lies in confusing the two principles under the one term, education. Money Value of Industrially Efficient Education. — In our statistics showing that the earning power of col- lege graduates is $1,200.00 a year, no distinction has been made between different kinds of colleges. It will be found that technical schools in which students are trained in some particular line of industrially efficient work enable their graduates to earn more money than do colleges whose aim is to give a general education. One of our technical 58 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING colleges recently collected statistics from the members of a class that was graduated ten years before. Of the 180 members of the class, 151 replied. The average earning power of the 151 members was $3,107.00 a year, which is much greater than the average of graduates from all kinds of colleges. If our education is of the leisure class kind, the boy who objects to it, saying that it does not contribute to his success in industrial occupations, is right. How Answer Objections. — Let us answer the objec- tions fairly and squarely. Let us not befog the answer, nor shrink from his question. It may be that there is much of value in the objections, for both the teacher and the school, and we may learn much from trying to an- swer them. Let us suppose that a boy lives in a rural district, and already knows that he intends to become a farmer. What shall we say to him when he asserts that school work contains nothing that will help him to make a living by farming, or that will help him to become a better farmer than he would become without going to school ? The Successful Uneducated Man an Exception. — In the first place, we can point out the fact that where there is one man who has become wealthy and attained a posi- tion of honor and respect in the community without the advantages of education, there are hundreds of men equally deficient in education who have not made a success in life and who have not attained wealth and position. The one successful man is an exception. The larger WHAT EDUCATION DOES 59 number of men who have made a success of their lives are men who have had the advantages of education. With a given number of men the chances of making the kind of success in life that he desires is considerably greater for the educated than for the uneducated man. The un- educated man finds himself confronted by very serious limitations that the educated man does not feel. More than this, no one has ever said that education is a hindrance, while many persons without education assert that education would have been an advantage to them. The Advantageous Subjects in School. — In the sec- ond place we may point out to the boy that there are many things in school work which are of direct benefit to him in his farming operations. Besides reading and writing, we may show that the processes of arithmetic and denominate numbers are indispensable to him. Weighing, measuring, and calculations with denominate numbers will be admitted as helpful by the boy himself. If the things that we teach in arithmetic are not of such a nature as to make them serviceable to the boy in his work, then it is the part of wisdom to change them in such a way that they will become so. The principles of arithmetic may be illustrated as well by one set of prob- lems as by another. There is no reason why we should teach denominate numbers except that they represent a common kind of utility. We may make our arithmetic work all of such a nature that it will be directly servicea- ble, without detracting from its culture value, or failing to teach the fundamental principles of mathematics. 60 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Economic Advantage of Science. — Then we can point to the fact that the knowledge of plant life, plant growth, weeds, fertilization, and other things that constitute the subject matter of nature study, or elements of agriculture, are directly useful to him in his business. The facts of animal life, the economic importance of insects and earth- worms, the elements of chemistry, which may be taught in any school, are indispensable to any kind of success in farming above the lowest. So the objection that is raised may contain enough of truth to make it exceed- ingly important to us. We may find it necessary to modify our courses of study to meet the objections of the boy, for certainly the kind of education that does not contain an appeal to every boy is not the kind of educa- tion that will conform to our definition. Advantage of Other Subjects. — When we are able to show that school work does contain some things that will be of service to the boy, then we are ready to show that it is well for him to learn something that does not now appear to him as likely to be -serviceable in the occupa- tion that he has chosen. We can show him that there are things taught in school which people generally have found to be helpful in the affairs of life even though their immediate utility cannot be easily seen. The loyalty of the most perverse boy may thus be enlisted and his interest in school work aroused. Interest, we shall see, is the feeling arising from the recognition of the relation existing between the thing to which we are attending and ourselves. We shall need to search for this relation be- WHAT EDUCATION DOES 61 tween the thing we teach and the life the boy is to lead, and discover how to make it apparent. Unless it can be shown to exist, we have little reason for teaching the subjects that now make up our curriculum. Freedom from Limitations. — But there is a second reason for attending school that cannot be open to the charge of being mercenary. There is a difference be- tween the educated and the uneducated man. The unedu- cated man finds himself limited in a way that the educated man does not. We are pressed upon on all sides by our limitations. The soul struggles to be free. Freedom is the first demand that the soul makes. The Limitations in Time. — We are limited in time. Our years of conscious life begin with our earliest recol- lections, and continue as long as we live. We strive desperately to surpass these limits, and to discover what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next year. In default of any other method of revealing the future, many persons consult fortune tellers, and dream books as a forlorn hope. Perhaps it is this desire for freedom that lies at the foundation of the soul's demand for im- mortality and a life after death. The United States gov- ernment is expending thousands of dollars every year in the attempt to remove the limits of time in the future for twenty- four or forty-eight hours, and to discover what the weather will be. All of us think the money is wisely expended. Limits of Past Time. — We are more successful in pushing back the limits of time in the past. By means 62 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING of the processes of education we can learn about the heroes of the olden time. We can know of George Wash- ington and the men who founded the colonies. We can live in some degree in the time of Columbus, and ex- perience something of the exaltation of spirit that his discoveries brought about. We can watch the process by which the institutions of political government became established, and know of the struggle of King John with his barons at Runnymede. We can live in the old Roman and Grecian clays, and can watch the building of the pyramids in the valley of the Nile. We can go farther back even than this, and can learn from the sun-dried bricks of Babylon and Assyria. We can learn of the cave- men in France, and from a knowledge of the flint imple- ments of the Indians we can reconstruct in part the life that these primitive people lived. Just in so far as we are able to do this, we can take into our own lives something of the life that they lived, and add to our own experi- ences something of the experiences which they had. Thus we add to the quantity of human life through the pro- cesses of education, without increasing our length of years. Life is not merely linear. It has breadth and unsuspected depths. The Limitations in Space. — We are limited by space. The processes of education enable us in part to remove these limits. Were it not for this possibility we should never be able to see more of the earth than we can walk around. By the processes of education we learn to build ships and railroads which carry us swiftly to far por- WHAT EDUCATION DOES 63 tions of the earth. By reading books of geography and travel, we are able to understand something of the nature of the countries that we may never hope to visit, and to take into our own lives something of what we read about there. We can read in the morning paper of events that have happened in different parts of the earth, and this is likewise the removal of the limits of space. Just in so far as we are able to do this, we enlarge our lives and make them fuller and richer. We live more in the years of our life than it would be possible for us to do were it not for the removal of the limits of space. It is this thought that Tennyson expresses when he says, "Better fifty years of Europe Than a cycle of Cathay." Cathay was evidently a place in which there was little opportunity to live a full, rich life, while it is possible to do so in Europe. The Limitations of Disease. — We are limited by dis- ease. By the processes of education, we learn to push back this limit, and to live a larger number of years than it would be possible were it not for education. The average length of life in all civilized countries is con- stantly increasing. So by the processes of education we not only increase the quantity of human life in a given number of years, but we actually increase the number of years themselves. Other Limitations. — We are limited by climate, by seasons, by latitude. By the processes of education we may enlarge these limits and live in places where other- 64 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING wise life would be impossible. In every direction we push back the limits and increase the amount of life that we may live. This is the thought in Holmes's Chambered Nautilus : "Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul As the swift seasons roll. Leave thy low-vaulted past, Let each new temple nobler than the last, Shut thee from Heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell on Life's unresting sea." The Quantity of Life. Not only is education an eminently practical matter, not only does it enable us to push back the limits and add to the quan- tity of our lives, but it is by means of the pro- cesses of education that the child enters upon his in- heritance. A body of knowledge has been accumulated slowly and laboriously by the work of thousands of men through all the years and centuries. This constitutes a part of the child's race inheritance, and it rightfully belongs to him. By the processes of education the child comes into possession of his race inheritance, and to keep him out of it by ignorance is to defraud him of his rights. Synopsis. 1. Education has a commercial value. The people of a country constitute the principal part of the wealth of the country, and a large part of this value in the people is derived from Education. 2. Money invested in education returns a larger WHAT EDUCATION DOES 65 per cent on the investment than it can be made to do when invested in any other way. 3. Education enables us to push back the limits of time, space, and disease, and to increase not only the length of human life, but to intensify it so that we live a greater quantity of life in the same number of years than would be possible for us without education. 4. It is by the processes of education that a child enters upon his racial inheritance, and to prevent his be- coming educated is to defraud him of that which right- fully belongs to him. CHAPTER V. The Aim of Education. Importance of a Proper Aim. — We wish to look at Education for the purpose of determining what we may make of the pupil by its processes. A difference in our belief concerning the purposes of education makes a difference in our teaching, and to our pupils in learning. If we believe that the purpose of education is one thing, and that our pupils should derive certain results from our teaching, we shall teach in such a way as to cause them to get these results. If we set up some other aim for education, we shall teach in a different way. Our methods of teaching and the subjects taught will very largely be determined by our views concerning the aim of education. The Knowledge Aim. — A great majority of persons believe that the acquisition of knowledge is the primary purpose of school life. They express it by saying that a child goes to school to learn. They believe that the educated man is the one who knows a very large number of facts. School is regarded as a source of knowledge, and if the children acquire a great deal of knowledge as the result of their school work, the parents are satisfied. Children almost universally entertain this opinion, and 66 the Aim of education 67 when a child is asked why he goes to school, he will almost invariably reply it is to learn. A majority of teachers hold the same opinion. If they have an intellec- tual belief in the validity of some other aim, it is purely theoretical and is not permitted to influence their teach- ing. Examinations in school, and in whatever other places they may occur, attempt to discover the intellectual status of the pupil by giving him an opportunity to tell what he knows. The Knowledge Aim Inadequate. — Notwithstanding the popularity of this knowledge aim of education, it is not difficult to show that it cannot be the true purpose of education. Pupils who study Latin in the high school spend nearly all of their second year in reading about the campaigns of Caesar against the Gauls. A better and more complete knowledge of what Caesar really did in Gaul might be obtained in two weeks by reading an Eng- lish translation. It is not even a knowledge of the Latin language that is especially desired. A knowledge of the Latin lesson for any particular day and for any particular classic may be obtained in much shorter time and quite as accurately by the use of an interlinear translation, com- monly called a "pony." But teachers of Latin do not advise the reading of ponies, or English translations. On the contrary, they try to establish a code of honor which will prevent students reading their lessons by the use of a pony. It is evident from this illustration that in the Latin classes, at least, a knowledge of facts does not con- stitute the end that is desired. It is true that a knowledge 68 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING of Caesar's campaigns and a knowledge of the Latin language will be acquired, but it is evident that a knowl- edge of these facts does not constitute the purpose for which Latin is taught. Illustration from Mathematics. — The same thing is true in arithmetic and in algebra. We may have a problem which demands of us the length of a pole that is two sevenths in the water, one seventh in the mud and eight feet in the air. If it is the knowledge of the length of the pole that is sought, we may turn to a book of an- swers and discover the length in that way ; but such a method of procedure does not satisfy the teacher. The teacher demands that we shall find out by a very tedious and painstaking process the length of the pole. If the aim and purpose of studying algebra were to gain a knowledge of facts, we might commit to memory the answers of the problems in the book and learn our les- son very easily. It is not even a knowledge of processes in arithmetic and algebra that is demanded by the teacher. It is true that a knowledge of the facts which constitutes the answer to the problem will be obtained, and it is also true that a knowledge of the processes by which the answer is obtained will be acquired. But the real purpose that the teacher of arithmetic or algebra has in mind is something very different from this. If a knowledge of the processes in algebra were regarded as the purpose of the study, the teacher would advise the use of a key, by which the processes could easily be learned. This key would show how the problems are solved, the different THE AIM OF EDUCATION . 69 processes employed, and the steps to be taken in the solution. Knowledge of Processes Inadequate. — The older books on arithmetic stated the rule, which the pupil was expected to memorize. When the rule had been memor- ized, the pupil was expected to apply it to the solution of problems, and so fix the rule in memory. Thus in the older books the rule of three, or the rule of proportion was stated as follows : "Write for the third term the number that is of the same denomination as that required in the answer. Then from the nature of the question consider whether the answer must be greater or less than the third term. If greater, place the larger of the re- maining two numbers for the second term and the smaller for the first. Multiply the second and third terms to- gether and divide by the first. The quotient will be the answer." The learning of the rule gave a knowledge of the process. But all such rules are now discarded, show- ing that knowledge of the processes is not the aim that teachers now seek in arithmetic. Example From History. — The same thing is true in history. If a knowledge of the facts in history were the principal thing sought, we should commit to memory long columns of dates, and learn the tables of chronological recapitulation, which were once such favorite devices with teachers. Teachers of history no longer teach in that way, and thus they show that they have largely discarded the knowledge aim in education. Origin of Objections to School. — It is this knowledge 70 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING view of education which makes it difficult for a boy to see why he should go to school, or why he should study particular subjects. His constant query is, "Why should I study this?" or "How will a knowledge of this help me in the work I am proposing to do?" The teacher must have in mind very clearly the real purpose of education in order to be able to answer satisfactorily such questions of a recalcitrant boy. Undue Emphasis of Memory. — It is this knowledge view of education that leads to the undue emphasis of memory in teaching. Committing to memory is a favor- ite requirement of some teachers, and it is justifiable only if knowledge is the aim of education. It is this knowledge aim also, that sometimes leads a person to assert that his school work was of no value to him, be- cause he has forgotten all that he learned in school. It is really a fortunate thing for most of us that we do forget the larger part of the things that we have once learned. If there is. not now a volume upon the Uses of Forgot- ten Knowledge, there ought to be one, for the phrase is very suggestive. Aim of Mental Discipline. — Recognizing the inade- quacy of the acquisition of knowledge as the aim of edu- cation, some persons have undertaken to establish mental discipline as the true purpose. It is believed that the real purpose of education is not the accumulation of knowledge, but the training of the mind. The mind, through its processes of learning, becomes able to do what otherwise would be impossible for it. Study is a THE AIM OF EDUCATION 71 kind of mental gymnastics, and it matters little what sub- ject is studied, provided that it furnishes an opportunity for great mental exercise. The more difficult the lesson, provided that it is learned, the better discipline it gives. The more difficult the method of teaching, provided that the pupil is induced to learn the lesson by that method, the greater the value to be derived from the teaching. This is the reason why teachers of Latin object to trans- lations and ponies. They affirm that it is not the knowl- edge of the subject which is the matter of especial im- portance, but that in the study by which the knowledge of the subject is gained, power and ability to do mental work in any direction is acquired. Symmetrical Development. — The psychological theory under the influence of which this idea of mental discipline has been developed, assumes that the mind has certain powers which need to be cultivated. Some of the powers of the mind are likely to be stronger than the other powers. The aim of the school should be to develop a harmonious individual with his mental powers symmet- rically balanced. The definition of education that would apply to this scheme of teaching is that education is mental development. Cultivating the Weak Powers. — The mental discipline theory would lead us to develop the weak powers, or weak germs of power, rather than to give attention to the powers that are already strong. The strong powers, or germs of power, will take care of themselves, while the weak germs of power will need the attention of the /J PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING teacher. The person should study in school those sub- jects that will develop especially the powers of the mind that are naturally weak, while in selecting an occupation for life he should choose that kind which permits the exercise of those powers that in him are especially strong. If a pupil is particularly weak in mathematics, which fact ■will generally be shown by strong disinclination to study mathematical subjects, he should be put through a severe course in mathematical training. If he is inclined to be musical and not at all disposed to science, his musical powers will take care of themselves, while he needs to have his scientific faculties cultivated. Opposition Between School and Life. — Here we have in business the exercise of the strong powers, and in school the exercise of the weak powers. Hence arises inevitably, an antagonism between school and life. Not only is this antagonism rendered inevitable by holding to the' belief in mental discipline as the purpose of school, but it is even commended by the advocates of this theory. It is this fact that gives point to the remark that in school it does not make any difference what you study, pro- vided it is something that you do not like. Impractical Subjects Best for Discipline. — There is another conclusion that seems unavoidable. The sub- jects that are proper in school, and which are to be pre- ferred for mental discipline, are those which are farthest removed from practical utility. That subject is better for mental discipline which has and can have no practi- cal application. The purpose is to develop those powers THE AIM OF EDUCATION 73 of the mind that are not likely to be developed by the occupation in which the person will afterward engage. Most Difficult Subjects Best for Discipline. — In the opinion of those who hold to this doctrine of mental discipline, that subject is best for school instruction in which there is the greatest demand for mental work. A professor of philosophy states that Latin is a much better subject for school instruction than is French or English, because in the understanding of a specific sen- tence in Latin there is a demand for thirty-two separate acts of judgment; while in the corresponding sentence in French or English there is a demand for only four- teen or fifteen acts of judgment. If this be the standard of excellence in subject matter, we might increase the number of acts of judgment demanded in reading by striking out from the English book every third word ; or by printing it in the form of illustrated rebuses, or pic- ture writing, which would enable us to increase the num- ber of acts of judgment almost indefinitely, making it more difficult to read, and affording a much greater opportunity for mental discipline. Mental Discipline Aim Inadequate. — The theory of mental discipline is shown to be defective when we con- sider it in the light of present day psychology. It as- sumes as a fundamental postulate, that power gained in the study of one subject is capable of being applied to the study of any other subject. It assumes that a per- son who has had his mind trained by the study of Latin can apply the power so gained to the study of mechanics ; 74 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING that a person whose mind has been disciplined by the study of mathematics will be found prepared to study medicine. That botany will cultivate the observing pow- ers to such an extent that a person who has studied botany, having been trained to observe fine distinctions, will make a good observer in geology, or a good proof- reader. The statement is not true. Power gained in the study of one subject does not contribute very materially to the study of an unrelated subject. Physiological Demonstration of Inadequacy of Men- tal Discipline Aim. — Let us picture the process in physi- ological terms. Let a circle represent the entire field of the brain, and let a, b, c, d, e, be portions of this brain field. Let us suppose that a comprises all the brain cells and centers that are traversed by impulses when we are studying Latin, and that b, c, d, are not traversed by impulses as a result of this study. Brain cells and centers are developed by the transmission of impulses through them. They are developed in just the degree to which they have been traversed, and have formed connections with other cells and centers. Does the study of Latin develop the brain cells and centers in that por- tion of the brain represented by b, c, d, which by our supposition are never traversed by impulses when we are studying Latin? Evidently not, and this corresponds to the statement we have made, that power gained in the study of one subject is incapable of being employed in the study of an unrelated subject. The Truth in Mental Discipline. — The only escape THE AIM OF EDUCATION 75 from this conclusion is to prove that every brain cell and brain center is traversed by impulses when we are learning Latin, or, as was the common expression for- merly, that the whole mind is involved in every learning process. This proposition, however, has been overthrown by the doctrine of Localization of Function, which teaches that every portion of the brain has its own functions to perform. It is true, however, that the more w 7 e learn of one subject the more easily a related subject is learned. The study of Latin assists in the learning of another language, and the more nearly the language is related to Latin, the greater the assistance rendered. Culture Aim of Education. — Another aim of educa- tion, sometimes scarcely discriminated from that of men- tal discipline, is culture. Subjects of instruction are sometimes classified as culture subjects and content sub- jects. It is difficult for any one to define exactly what is meant by culture when it is used in this sense, but in general, we may say that culture is an expression of the leisure class idea. It is best indicated by saying that culture consists in learning those things that are gener- ally known by cultured people. Cultured people are those whose energies have been directed into channels other than those employed in making a living. The Leisure Class. — By the leisure class is not meant a class of people who manifest no activity, but that class of people whose activities are not devoted to mercenary, profitable or utilitarian ends. Language, art subjects, deportment and athletics are favorite culture subjects. 76 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Each of these departments of culture education manifests the expenditure of large amounts of time, whose results are not capable of being applied to utilitarian purposes. Drawing as a fine art is a culture subject; drawing as learned by an engineer is a utilitarian, or content sub- ject. Culture Not a Universal Aim. — It seems quite evident that in communities devoted to the industrial occupations, the leisure class idea of education, expressed under the term culture, will never be satisfactory. Culture does not express a universal aim of education, and therefore it can not be adopted as the real purpose and end. We need some broader statement of purpose than this can ever be made. Moral Aim in Education. — Some writers, seeing the inadequacy of the knowledge aim, the mental discipline aim, and the culture aim of education, have endeavored to establish, as the real purpose of education, the mak- ing of the individual a moral being. They have set up the development of moral character as the only purpose in education, This aim changes very much the subjects of instruction and modifies the course of study. Such writers would make literature and history the basis of all school work, believing that it is in and through these subjects that the moral nature of the child can best be cultivated, and that from them can best be derived the ideals which it is necessary for him to acquire. Importance of Morality. — The child must become a moral being. The very existence of society depends upon THE AIM OF EDUCATION 77 morality. Morality is conformity to the demands of so- ciety, and loyalty to the institutions upon which society rests. A person who is not moral, is one who has had his development arrested upon the plane of an egoistic and self-centered being. Hence, according to the very terms of our definition he cannot have been educated. Non-Morality of Children. — A little child is not moral. He will do things which, if performed by older persons, we should call immoral. A little child has no regard for the rights of property, does not manifest any sense of modesty or shame, experiences no feeling of responsibil- ity, disregards the rights of others, and shows no con- sideration for their feelings. All of these he will acquire as he grows up. We excuse him by saying that he is too little or too young, to know any better. Morality a Matter of Growth. — Morality, then, is a matter of development. If the child has good heredity, the proper kind of food, and if his ethical atmosphere is what it should be, his moral development is assured. The things that contribute to the development of the in- dividual in any direction are the things which make for morality. The child learns how to act in society by being placed in social situations that demand action. He must come to recognize the rights of others, and he does this by means of effective protests which others make when he invades their rights. He must be placed in situations where such protests may be made and made effectually. Hence it is not so much the direct teaching of morality 78 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING that is demanded as it is the placing of the child in the proper conditions for development. Inadequacy of the Moral Aim.- — But there are some objections more positive than those already indicated to the cultivation of morality as the sole aim of education. If the development of morality could be realized in an ideal way it would still be an unsatisfactory education. There are some children in school who are characterized as ''goody-good." It is not a term that implies respect, but as it is usually employed, it is a designation of weakness. It implies that a person so characterized is good, but little or nothing else. No teacher feels that a child who is called by his fellows goody-good is an ideal child. If we were to succeed in making all persons such as are implied by morality as the end of education, we should have a nation of goody-goods. A good person who is not intellectual or efficient, when put into a po- sition of authority and responsibility, usually does more harm than a person who knows better what to do but is morally weaker. There are few persons who would not become more indignant at being called a fool than a knave. So it appears that the development of morality as the end of education is quite as defective as is the knowledge aim or the mental discipline aim. Community Life, or Social Efficiency, as an Aim. — We ought not to tear down a man's house unless we are ready to build him a better. We must not discard the aims of education that are already proposed without being ready to substitute a larger one. The four aims already THE AIM OF EDUCATION 79 discussed have been shown to be inadequate, and we must establish an aim that shall comprehend all that is good in each of the others. The aim of education that is here proposed has for its key-word Community Life. It corresponds very nearly to Mr. Spencer's defi- nition of education, "preparation for complete living." That person is well educated who is adjusted in every respect to the life of the community in which he lives. This implies, in the first place, that he shall be a moral individual, for morality is necessary to the continua- tion of community life. The individual must of necessity possess the moral virtues, and do nothing habitually that is anti-social. The Development of Society. — Society exists as the result of certain actions on the part of the individuals who constitute it. In the development of society, cer- tain ways of acting and living have been found advan- tageous. Those communities have survived that have adopted certain customs, while other communities which have failed to adopt such advantageous customs have perished. In order to preserve society, these advan- tageous customs and ways of living have been crystallized into institutions. Conformity to these institutions is the first requisite of a good citizen. The education of an individual must train him to conform to community or institutional life. Comprehensiveness of Community Life as an Aim in Education. — This requires that the individual shall be moral, but it demands that, he shall be developed physi- 80 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING cally and mentally as well. Society demands that the in- dividual shall participate in its intellectual life, and that he shall contribute to it services that can be given only through physical activity. It does not demand that the intellectual development shall be that of particular pow- ers, for it is the whole individual that is to be developed. It does not demand that the training shall be along dif- ferent lines from that which the individual will follow in his daily life after he leaves school. It recognizes that the child should accumulate knowledge, not merely for the purpose of using it to develop the intellect, but because it enables him to enter into the larger life of the community, and to adjust himself to the conditions in which he finds himself placed. It is by the accumulation of knowledge that the child comes into his race inheri- tance. The Knowledge Test in Mental Discipline. — The men- tal discipline aim of education insists strongly upon the uselessness of knowledge in itself, and asserts that it has no use except as its acquisition contributes to the mental development of the individual. Examination upon the facts of knowledge is justified only upon the assumption that the acquisition of a certain amount of knowledge has been accompanied by a corre- sponding increase in mental power. If we estimate, then, the amount of knowledge, we may make an estimate of the amount of mental power that has been acquired in obtaining that knowledge. Community Life Includes Mental Discipline. — This THE AIM OF EDUCATION 81 aim of adjustment to community life demands that there shall be mental discipline. It recognizes the fact that the acquisition of knowledge does result in the gaining of power and in the development of the intellect, although perhaps not in the way that the advocates of the theory of mental discipline assert. The power gained is a power to acquire related knowledge more easily, not unrelated knowledge. The new knowledge is acquired by means of the related knowledge, not by means of abstract mental power. It recognizes that mental power may be gained just as well, or better, by the acquisition of knowledge which can be applied to the purposes of community life, as by the acquisition of knowledge that can have no such application. It removes completely the contradiction between school and society, and brings the school directly into harmony with the other institutions of society. This is a gain whose value cannot be overestimated. The child who goes to school under this conception of edu- cation does not go to school to learn something, nor to have his mind trained, nor to become a moral being. All of these results will follow ; but he goes to school to learn how to live and to be of social value in the com- munity in which he finds himself placed. Changes Necessitated by Community Life as an Aim. — Under this conception of the purposes of education, we shall change a good deal of our educational practice. We shall discard a good deal of the useless and inap- plicable subject matter of instruction, and select that which has some direct relation to the community life in 82 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING which we find ourselves immersed. We shall discard the cloister and convent idea of education, and make school a place where life abounds. We shall recognize that school is life, and that only by making it life can we teach children how to live. Synopsis. 1. It makes much difference to the pupil what aim of education the teacher holds in mind. The aim of education that the teacher holds in mind determines the subjects that are to be taught and the methods of teach- ing, and consequently the effect that is produced upon the character of the pupil. 2. The knowledge aim, the mental discipline aim, the moral development aim, while each having some- thing of value, are all of them inadequate. 3. A more comprehensive and more nearly adequate aim of education is that of teaching a child to live in a community in accordance with the best ideals which the community represents. CHAPTER VI. The Argument for the Common School. Necessity for Knowing the Argument. — It would seem as if an apology were necessary for presenting an argu- ment for the public school, because it is the one institu- tion that is particularly dear to the hearts of the Ameri- can people. But there may come a time when the ene- mies of the public school will challenge its right to exist, and every one who is interested in the welfare of the country ought to know the reasons that called it into existence, and that justify its maintenance. Teachers in the public schools ought especially to be acquainted with the principles that underlie its establishment; yet it is true that not many teachers would be willing to risk the existence of the public school upon the validity and cogency of the argument which they might be able to make. Two Kinds of Schools. — There are in the public schools of the United States today about 16 million children, while in other schools, mostly private and paro- chial, there are about a million and a half. This fact in- dicates that there is a question with two sides, both of which must be considered. What is a Common School? — The public school is common because it is designed for every class of chil- dren in the country. It is" not common in the sense of 83 84 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING being poor or inefficient, or ordinary or "ornery." It is called free because no tuition is charged for attending it. Every child has the right to attend, and to receive the benefits of instruction without the payment of tui- tion. It is public in the sense that it is supported by public taxation and is controlled by the state, or the community in which it is placed. Two Forms of the Argument. — The argument for the common school takes two forms. One is an argu- ment for education in general, which does not apply to the public school more than to other educational insti- tutions, until it can be shown that there is no other agency than the state which can make education uni- versal. Education Necessary in a Free Government. — The first proposition is that education and a high order of intelligence is necessary in a republican form of govern- ment. The liberties of the people cannot be preserved unless there is a high average of intelligence. In a republican form of government, the representatives, who are directly responsible to the people, make the laws. Good laws are not likely to be made, unless the people are so intelligent that they may hold their representatives responsible for the laws which they make. In a despotic government, it is not the safest thing for the government that the people shall be educated and intelligent; but in a free government, the preservation of liberty de- mands the highest possible intelligence. Education and Slavery. — On the other hand, it is THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 85 impossible to enslave a people, and take away their lib- erties, when there is a high average of intelligence. In the slavery days, many of the southern states made it a criminal offense to teach a negro slave to read and write. They recognized, the fact that when a negro did learn to read and write he became impatient of his slave condition and immediately tried to escape from slavery. This is a good illustration of the difficulty ex- perienced in trying to enslave a people who are educated and intelligent. Education and Morality. — The second argument is that education makes the people moral. Morality is necessary in the preservation of the community. We have recognized the necessity for morality in our defi- nition of education. We have said that education changes the individual from a self-centered being to a social being. Hence by our very definition of education it must conduce to morality. An immoral person is an anti- social being, and has not learned to live with other persons in conformity to the institutions of society. It is in school that children learn to live together, and thus inevitably education tends to produce morality. Education and Crime. — Prison statistics show that in proportion to their numbers the illiterate members of the community furnish eight times as many criminals as do the educated classes. It is true that some crimes, such as forgery and counterfeiting are impossible for illiterate criminals ; but this fact can scarcely be urged as an argument for ignorance. 86 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING The Standard of Education. — Prison statistics from which the above statements are derived, draw the distinc- tion between educated and uneducated at the ability to read and write. In a country where the knowledge of reading and writing is so easily obtained as it is here, where the very atmosphere in which a person lives leads him to learn to read and write, a knowledge of reading and writing is a very unsatisfactory standard of educa- tion. If we were to establish a more adequate standard for illiteracy, the prison statistics would, without any doubt, be very much more emphatic than they are now in demonstrating that education conduces to morality. Educated Criminals. — There is every probability that the person who has attended school and still remains a criminal would have been a criminal without attending school, although his criminality might have taken a dif- ferent form. No one will charge that his criminality is the result of his school experience ; the most that can be urged is that the school did not develop him beyond the point of criminality. It is doubtful if education can completely overcome bad heredity, or if a person born with little tendency to develop, can ever be developed beyond the point of criminality. There are such beings as recidivists, or born criminals ; but that the atmosphere of school is conducive to morality and favors moral de- velopment cannot be seriously questioned. Morality and Religion. — It is sometimes asserted that children cannot be made moral by education that is not distinctly religious in character. It is true that nearly THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 87 all moral individuals are religious and that nearly all religious persons are moral. But there are some persons who are profoundly religious but not moral, and there are some persons who are profoundly moral but not re- ligious. The fact that there are such persons shows that religion and morality are not identical. In fact, it can be shown that the religious and the moral sentiments are not identical, but spring from quite different origins. Education and Pauperism. — The third argument is that education tends to prevent pauperism. In our defi- nition we have said that education changes an individual from a dependent to an independent being. No person is independent who cannot make a living. Education opens many ways for an individual to employ his pow- ers. An examination of poorhouses will, without any doubt, show that the degree of education and intelligence among the inmates is low. This argument is more par- ticularly valid if the education is that which is based upon the idea of industrial efficiency. Leisure class edu- cation is much less effective in promoting independence. The public schools are, in nearly all parts of the country, based primarily upon the idea of industrial ef- ficiency, while the private and parochial schools are es- tablished upon a different basis. There is however, nearly everywhere an opportunity for much greater emphasis than is now given, even in the public schools, to the idea of industrial efficiency. Validity of these Arguments. — These three argu- ments are for education in general rather than for the 88 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING free public school. Let us leave the demonstration of the fact that only state schools can bring about universality of education until we discuss the special advantages of the public school over the other kinds of schools. Argument From Homogeneity. — The first advantage of the public schools over other kinds of schools is that they tend to make the people of the country homogen- eous. Diversity of interests and habits of thought is a source of most dangerous weakness to a country. In- stead of being a source of strength, numbers constitute a source of weakness unless the people are homogen- eous in their interests and ideals. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy is very weak from this cause. Under one government, people differing widely in race, language, ideals and habits of thought, a revolution is immanent in Austro-Hungary at any time. Heterogeneity of the People of the United States. — There is no other country in which this problem of diversity of race and people is so tremendously impor- tant as it is in the United States. The origin of our nation is essentially Anglo-Saxon. The first settlers were Englishmen. The English Pilgrims, who spoke the English language and who entertained English ideas of political liberties, settled in Massachusetts. They were followed by the Puritans, who could not live at home in consequence of their religious non-conformity views. They sought a place iii the New World where they could worship God in their own way and make everybody else do the same. They persecuted the Ouak- THE ARGUMENT EOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 89 ers, showing that their ideas of religious liberty were very rudimentary. In Virginia settled another group of Englishmen, holding the English ideals of political liberty, such as trial by jury, and conforming to the religion of the established church. Between the two, in Maryland, was established a colony of English Catholics, who had been persecuted at home, but they, too, maintained the ideas of English political liberty. In Carolina and Georgia were other Englishmen. In Pennsylvania settled a colony of Eng- lish Quakers, whose motive in seeking the New World was to escape religious persecution. They, however, maintained the doctrines of English political liberty. Also there were Swedes in Delaware and Dutch in New York, furnishing a heterogeneous element, although not exercising a determining influence upon the character of the country in the beginning. The predominant influ- ence in regard to political institutions was English. In religious matters they could not agree, hence it came about that when they were compelled to work together by the exigencies of the Revolutionary war, they agreed upon the English language and English political insti- tutions, but were compelled to adopt the principle of religious liberty, and the absolute separation of church and state. Heterogeneous Elements in Immigration. — Immigra- tion began soon to figure in the population of the coun- try. The earliest influx of immigrants was from Eng- land. These constituted no new element in the country, 90 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING but harmonized with the population already here. About 1830, or a few years before, began the great Irish im- migration which lasted for more than twenty years. The Irish and the English were not well adjusted in their native countries, and it is scarcely likely that they would harmonize without modification in this. About 1850 the German immigration began, and continued for twenty years. The German is not less tenacious of his own ideas than is either the Englishman or the Irish- man; so without adjustment and modification there is not much probability that three such diverse nationali- ties will work together in a common cause. About 1870 the immigration from the Scandinavian countries be- came a characteristic feature and introduced a new ele- ment into the population of the country. Since 1890 the immigration has been greater than ever before, and has come largely from Italy and the other countries of southern Europe. A very large number of Russian Jews have introduced an element heretofore lacking in the population of the country. There is scarcely a country in the world that has not contributed to the popu- lation of the United States. In the larger cities, the tendency is for these different nationalities to segregate and to remain true to the language, traditions, and ideals of their native country. The Real Danger in Immigration. — This is the real danger from immigration. Instead of having a large number of people, all Americans, there is danger that we shall have a large number of different nationalities THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 91 with a very loose bond of union, thus engendering great weakness. More than a million immigrants are arriving each year. Unless the country can transform these peo- ple into Americans with American traditions and notions of government, and speaking a common language, it is impossible to hope for the perpetuation of the govern- ment or its progression along the line in which it has started. Common ScJwols the Most Efficient Agency in Pro- moting Homogeneity. — There is no other agency than the public school that can harmonize so effectively these diverse interests, and make Americans of the children of the immigrants. Other schools cannot do it, because other schools are founded upon other ideas, and delimited by other lines of demarcation than the fact of belonging to one common country. Church schools attract only the children of families who belong to that one church. Often, too, these church schools teach the children in a language other than English. Private schools fre- quently mark off the children of the rich from the chil- dren of the poor. In the public school, the children learn to live together, to know each other, and to give to each others' opinions the same respect that they de- mand for their own. They learn to speak a common language, the principal bond and source of strength among the people of a country. What is Meant by- Homogeneity. — It is not meant by being homogeneous, that the people shall all come to have the same political and religious opinions. The 92 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING public school does not undertake to coerce the opinions of any child. In fact, it is sometimes urged against the public school that in it the children are allowed too much freedom of opinion. The history is not interpreted for them, but the children are allowed to interpret it for themselves. Instead of this fact being a weakness in the public school, it is the cardinal glory of its consti- tution. It permits each child to interpret the facts for himself ; but it teaches children to live together and to respect the rights of others. Other Schools Not Productive of Homogeneity. — In schools patronized by wealthy parents the wealthy chil- dren may learn to live with wealthy children, but they learn little about respecting the rights and opinions of the people who are not wealthy. Such schools are a source of weakness instead of strength to a country. The same thing is true of parochial schools, in which children of only one religious faith are gathered to- gether. They are not likely to learn to live in harmony with people of another faith, but the natural tendency is to become intolerant and to disregard the rights and opinions of others. Godless Schools. — Let us look at some of the objec- tions that are raised to the public schools. The first objection is that they are godless schools. By this is meant that there is no religious instruction given in the schools, but it does not mean that they are ungodly or immoral, or incapable of producing the proper kind of moral training. Let us see how the schools became god- less. THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 93 The prototype of the public schools was the New Eng- land district school. These schools were organized by the church and closely affiliated with it. Much religious instruction was given in them. When these schools were reorganized upon the present basis by Horace Alann, the religious feature was still retained. But now came a protest from different religious bodies, that the teaching was not in conformity with the views which they held, and they could not subject their children to religious instruc- tion opposed to the faith of their parents. Perhaps the protests of the Roman Catholic priesthood were the most effective. They objected to the reading of the King James version of the bible instead of the Douay bible. Then it came to be recognized that there was an inconsistency in requiring Jewish children to participate in the exercises of the Christian religion, and in readings from the New Testament. Besides this, there was a protest from the people who were called infidels and atheists, who objected to any form of religious instruc- tion, and desired a kind of teaching directly contradictory to the teachings of religion. In order to remove all cause for dissension, all religious instruction was grad- ually dropped from public school teaching. But no sooner had this result been obtained than the same per- sons who had protested against religious teaching in the public schools now said that the schools were godless and refused to commend them. Education the Business of the Parent. — The second objection is that education is the business of the parent 94 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING and not the business of the state. This objection would be valid if it were the parent that is to be educated, and if it were invariably the case that the parent would pro- tect the rights of the child. But there are two other parties to be considered besides the parent. One is the child, whose rights the state must safeguard even against the parent. The parent may be one who does not be- lieve in education, and may let the child grow up in ignorance, as many parents are willing to do. When the child becomes a man, his opportunity for education is gone and cannot be restored. He has been deprived of his inheritance in the stores of knowledge accumulated by the race. Hence it is necessary that the state shall protect the rights of the child to an education, just as it is necessary that it shall protect his right to live. The Business of the State. — The third party to the transaction is the state itself. When the child has grown to manhood, the parent is released from all his obliga- tions to him, and the state must accept him as a citizen. The state cannot refuse to receive him, whether he is ig- norant or learned, vicious or virtuous, inefficient and pauper, or self-helpful and independent, criminal or not. Hence it is the duty and the part of wisdom for the state to exercise some supervision over the education and character of its future citizens. Education the Business of the Church. — The third ob- jection is that education is the business of the church. The fundamental doctrine of this country is that there shall be an absolute separation of the church from the THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 95 state. Although all may agree upon the validity of this principle, there is difficulty when we come to make ap- plication of it. The state assumes that marriage is a private contract and provides that the sanction of law must be secured. It provides for the issuance of a license and its proper return and certification before the marriage shall be legal. But the church assumes it has jurisdiction over the institution of marriage, although such contention was not made before the eleventh cen- tury. There is a compromise by which the state accepts the certification of the legal papers by the accredited officers of the church. The same situation prevails in the matter of educa- tion. The state assumes that secular, but not religious, education is the business of the state. It has not for- bidden to the church the matter of secular education, but it has acknowledged that religious education is not state business. It seems as if we have here the proper place to draw the line between the business of the church in education and the state. Is education the business of the church? Yes, religious education, and the church might well confine its efforts to that field. Is education the business of the state? Yes, secular education, and the state would better guard its prerogatives rather care- fully. Division of the School Fund. — The idea that educa- tion is the business of the church usually takes the form of a demand for a division of the school fund. The argument is a specious one, but its fallacy is easily seen. 96 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING The argument runs about as follows : In a certain city, or district, the church organizations maintain parochial schools in which are educated sixty thousand children, or one-fifth of all the children who are educated in the city. The state accepts the education given in these schools as equivalent to the education that would other- wise be given in the public schools. The state is re- lieved from the necessity of educating the sixty thou- sand children, and therefore needs to expend a smaller amount of money than it otherwise would do. The pa- rochial schools represent a distinct saving to the city or district. It is no more than just that the city should reimburse the parochial schools for the money which they expend in educating the children, up to the amount which the parochial schools save the city. Effect of Such Division. — Let us see what would happen if this claim were allowed. If this demand were granted to one denomination for one kind of a school, it could not be refused to another for another kind of a school. As soon as the principles were allowed, every denomination could make its claim, and the entire school fund would be dissipated. The state would then be in the position of levying taxes and distributing funds to the church to be employed by the church in ways over which the state had no jurisdiction. The school fund so raised would be employed largely for the purpose of teaching religion, which is not the business of the state. It would have no control over the money so expended, and the state is not justified in raising THE ARGUMENT FOR THE COMMON SCHOOL 97 money to be expended in ways over which it has no control. Double Taxation. — There is another objection, that persons who support private schools are doubly taxed. This argument might have some weight if the children of those parents who support the private schools were refused admission to the public schools, but such is not the case. They are invited and urged to attend the public schools, but refuse to do so. It is even a con- cession on the part of the state to permit children to be educated in schools over which it has no control, and not even the right of inspection. If it should ever be shown that any schools were teaching doctrines inimical to the government, no one could question the right of the state to assume control of such schools or even close them up. It is perfectly possible that an exigency might arise making it necessary to compel attendance upon the state schools, or to put private schools under public inspection. Universal Education Possible Only by the State. — The church has never been able to bring about universal education, even in those countries where it has been most influential. Only in those countries in which the state has taken upon itself the duty of providing schools has education become anything like universal. It is this fact that gives point to the three arguments for universal education. These become valid arguments for the pub- lic school as soon as it is recognized that public schools, or state schools are the only agents by which education mav be made universal. 98 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Taxing One Man to Educate Another Man's Chil- dren. — Another objection made with less frequency than formerly is that it is not equitable to tax one man to educate another man's children. There would be some justice in this contention if the taxes taken were ex- pended for the peculiar benefit of the other man, or even for the other man's children. The tax is levied and collected and expended for the benefit of the state. It benefits the state by reducing the crime and pauperism that otherwise must burden the state. It would be just as easy to sustain the objection that it is inequitable to tax one man for the support of the police department to protect his neighbor's property from thieves and rob- bers ; or to raise taxes for the support of the fire de- partment to keep a neighbor's house from burning down. Education a Profitable Investment of Money. — It re- mains merely to show that money invested in education brings a larger return to the community as a whole than does money invested in any other way. This dem- onstration is made in Chapter V. Our conclusion is that the free common public school is fully justified by reason and by results. The very worst that can be said about it is said. There is no other school in the world that dares to expose to public inspection its in- most workings, both in its moral results and in its teach- ing practices. The public school does so, and it is this fact that gives the people confidence in it. the argument for the common school 99 Synopsis. 1. The argument for the common school takes two forms. One is for education in general, which applies to all forms of schools. This is an argument for the common school when it is shown that state education is the only means by which education can become uni- versal. The other argument applies to the public school directly. 2. In a republican government, universal education and a high degree of intelligence is necessary in order to maintain the rights of the people. Education strength- ens the country by decreasing crime and pauperism. 3. Public school education renders the people homo- geneous in their ideals and language, and strengthens the nation. 4. The objections to the public schools, that educa- tion is the business of the church, that it is the business of the parent, that the schools are godless, that parents who send their children to private schools are doubly taxed, that it is wrong to tax one man to educate an- other man's children are invalid objections. 5. State education is the only process by which edu- cation may be made universal. CHAPTER VII. Periods in Child Development. The Culture Epoch Theory. — The Culture Epoch theory assumes that there is a parallel between the men- tal development of the individual and that of the race. Using this as a basis, the attempt is made to construct a really scientific course of study, determining the particular subject that shall be taught by the stage of development in which the child may be at any specified time. If the child repeats in his mental development the development of the race, the exercises which a child undertakes at any time should be those which correspond to the occupations of the race when the people were in the stage of development corresponding to that in which the child is at the time. The Biogenetic Law. — In order to understand the culture epoch theory, we shall need to understand in the first place, the biogenetic law, or Von Baer's principle, from which the culture epoch theory is derived. The Taxonomic Series. — If we examine all the ani- mals that now live upon the earth and arrange them in a series according to their various degrees of complexity, we shall start with a protozoan, such as an amoeba, and we shall conclude our series with a mammal, such 100 PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 101 man. We can readily distinguish five or more great groups. The simplest animals that are now living are one-celled animals, of which an amoeba is a good ex- ample. While an amoeba, consisting of a single animal cell, is a very complex organism, it is not nearly so com- plex as is an animal whose body is composed of many cells. The next group of animals, in order of complexity, is the group of invertebrates. There are many degrees of complexity among invertebrates, but we may group them all together, and consider a worm as a type of the whole group. The third order of complexity will be represented by a vertebrate, but that kind of vertebrate which we know as a fish. A fish has a two-chambered heart, breathes by gills, the blood is sent forward to the gills by a single aorta, and ^n other respects it is not so com- plex as are other kinds of vertebrates. The fourth member of our series will be the group of reptiles which may be represented by a turtle. This group is more complex than the fish, having a three- chambered heart, breathes by lungs, and has other char- acteristics which manifest greater complexity. The fifth member of our series will be represented by a rabbit, or some other mammal, which has a four- chambered heart, warm blood, and other characters in- dicative of a great complexity and a high order of de- velopment. This series of animals now stands : 1 One-celled animal, 2 Invertebrate, 3 Fish, 4 Reptile, 5 Mammal. 102 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING This series represents animals now living, arranged according to the order of their complexity, and is called the zoologic, or taxonomic series. The Phylogenetic Series. — The second series is a series of animals, arranged, not according to their com- plexity, but according to a totally different character- istic; namely, the order in which they began to exist upon the earth. The first animals that appeared upon the earth were, without any doubt, one-celled animals. The evidence of the particular kind is not very definite, for only a few of the Protozoa have any hard parts that are at all likely to be preserved throughout geological changes, and the time when they first appeared was so very long ago that even if they had been much better adapted for preservation than they are, most of their structures must have disappeared. But in the time in which the rocks that are called Archean were formed, there was, in all probability, no other animals than Pro- tozoa living. Age of Invertebrates. — Then there came a time when animals of more than one cell began to live. These earliest animals of many cells were all invertebrates, and at that time only protozoa and invertebrate animals were living. These invertebrates may be typified by a worm, for many of them were worms, and many kinds, such as Brachiopods, had shells which have been pre- served. The long series of years known as the Silurian period is called the age of Invertebrates. Age of Fishes. — Then there came a time when Ver- PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 103 tebrates constituted the most important feature in the life of the earth. The first vertebrates were fishes. The Age of Fishes is the period in which the rocks called the Devonian were formed. The fishes were numerous, and surpassed in activity and general complexity any of the invertebrates that lived at the same time. Age of Reptiles. — After the Age of Fishes there came an Age of Reptiles, which represented a higher form of animal life. The Age of Reptiles is the time in which the rocks of the Mesozoic age were produced. Mesozoic time is sometimes divided into three periods and the rocks that correspond to the three periods are called the Triassic, Jurassic and the Cretaceous. Reptiles furnished the dominant form of animal life in this age. Fishes existed, of course, but the reptiles far surpassed them in complexity and degree of development. There were many reptiles that do not exist now. We have living only four orders of reptiles, represented by the snake, turtle, lizard, and alligator; but in the Age of Reptiles there were at least ten orders represented, and some of them were among the largest animals that ever existed. There were reptiles in the water, such as the Ichthyosaur and the Plesiosaur; there were reptiles on the land, such as the Dinosaur ; and there were flying reptiles, such as Pterodactyls of many kinds. Age of Mammals. — After the Age of Reptiles came the Tertiary period, which is the Age of Mammals. Mammals now took the place in the life of the earth that had been held by reptiles. Many kinds of mammals 104 PRINCIPLES OP TEACHING lived then that no longer exist. Some forms were very large, larger than any animals now living except the whales. If we arrange these animals in a series according to the order in which they have appeared upon the earth, we shall have the following arrangement : 1 Protozoa (single-celled animals), 2 Invertebrates (worms), 3 Fishes, 4 Reptiles, 5 Mammals. This is called the phylogenetic, or geologic series. The Ontogenetic Series. — Let us now look at the series of changes that occur in the development of a single mammal. If we watch the development of a rabbit we find that it begins as an egg, which is a single animal cell, and is comparable in complexity with an amoeba, or other protozoan. The single animal cell di- vides into two, and the two into four, until finally there are many cells. Then the many cells arrange them- selves into layers, called the ectoderm and the endo- derm, and the animal has a central body cavity. In this condition it represents a degree of complexity that is manifested by a worm, and no one could predict, without knowing the animal by which the egg had been produced, that it would ever become anything else than a worm. At this period of its existence it has no characteristics except those that belong to invertebrates. The Final Step. — But it does not stop here. Verte- brate characters begin to appear. A backbone and spinal cord make themselves apparent, but the vertebrate char- acters are at first essentially those of a fish type. The PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 105 heart, when it is first formed is two-chambered, the blood is sent forward to gill arches, and in all essential respects the animal is a fish. Afterward the heart be- comes three-chambered, the gill arches disappear, the blood goes to the lungs, and the embryo takes on the characters of a reptile. After the animal passes through the stage when it is a reptile, the heart becomes four- chambered, two occiptical condyles are formed, and the other characters which constitute a mammal are de- veloped. If we arrange these different stages of the animal in the order in which they appear, we shall have the following: 1 Egg (single animal cell), 2 Invertebrate (worm), 3 Fish. 4 Reptile, 5 Mammal. This series is called the ontogenetic, or embryologic series. It is a series of stages in the development of a single animal. If we examine these three series we see that they have exactly the same stages occurring in the same order. In each we can readily distinguish five stages, and we might have recognized many more than five. Harmony of the Three Series. — How are we to ac- count for the close similarity of these three series, since they are derived from totally different data? One is a series of animals living at the present time arranged according to their degrees of complexity. Another is a series of animals arranged, not according to their com- plexity, but according to the order of their appearance upon the earth. The third is a series of stages occurring 106 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING in the development of a single animal. The only reason- able explanation seems to be that the embryo passes through the stages that it does, from the simple to the complex, because the ancestors of the race to which it belongs were developed gradually in the long geologic ages through the same several stages, and that the single animal in the course of its development recapitulates the history of the development of the race. This last state- ment is known as Von Baer's principle, or the biogenetic law. Ziller's Theory. — Ziller undertook to demonstrate the same or a corresponding principle with reference to the mental life of the human race. He undertook to show that the mental life of an individual recapitulates the mental development of the race. Then he undertook to show that we might make a scientific course of study from this fact, and adjust the various phases of instruc- tion to the particular stage of development in which the child might be at any particular time. If we could base our course of study upon some general principle by means of which we might determine what things are proper and what are improper subjects of instruction in the education of children, it would be a great improve- ment over anything that has yet been done in educa- tion. The Pre-human Period. — Anthropologists are fairly well agreed that we can discover at least eight stages in the development of the human race. The determina- tion of the stages here adopted is taken from Lewis H, PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 107 Morgan. The first stage that we need to recognize is the pre-human stage, in which the human race or its ancestors had not developed articulate speech. Probably in this pre-human period, the ancestors of men lived in trees, ate roots and buds and vegetables, as well as worms and other small animals that they could pick up. There were no companies of these pre-human an- cestors. Life was altogether individual. This period terminates with the adoption of articulate speech as a means of communication. The little child is in this condition, corresponding to the pre-human period, up to the time when he begins to utter his first words. He recapitulates in the first nine or ten months of his life this whole period of pre-human ancestry, which is farther removed and vastly longer than any period of human history than has occurred since that time. Older Savagery. — The first human stage is called by Mr. Morgan, the period of Older Savagery. It begins with the adoption of articulate speech as a means of communication, and terminates with the employment of fire and the use of fish as an article of food. The older savages still lived in trees, wandering little from the place in which they were born, and subsisted on the same kind of food as did their pre-human ancestors. The adoption of articulate speech greatly favored the development of mental life, and this is perhaps the most important fact in all of human history. The Child as an Older Savage. — The little child enters 108 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING upon the stage of his development corresponding to the older savagery when he begins to utter his first words. It corresponds to the time extending from ten months old to that of a year and a half or two years of age. This period of development probably lasted from twenty to thirty thousand years, and the child recapitulates in his development the entire history of the race for that period in a year or fifteen months. The child in this period of his existence is active, enjoys the sensations of taste and of muscular activity, and uses his vocal organs much. It is the time in which he is learning to talk and in which his mental processes develop more rapidly than in any- subsequent period. Middle Savagery. — The third stage in the development of the race is the period of middle savagery. This period begins with the adoption of fish as an article of food, and the use of fire, and terminates with the invention of the bow and arrow. In this period men descended from the trees and ceased to be tree-dwellers. They found it advantageous to live near the seashore and along the banks of rivers. Hence it is evident that they acquired the habit of wandering more widely than had been the custom before, and also it is probable that they began to live in caves, by which they were protected from the at- tacks of wild beasts, and the great carnivorous animals, which were their principal enemies. The Child as a Middle Savage. — The little child ap- pears to be in the stage of development corresponding to the period of middle savagery in the years from two to PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 109 four or five. In this period the interests of a child lead him to wander. He becomes a truant, running away from his mother, and a period of early truancy is rather well marked. He likes to throw things, and he suddenly be- comes afraid of the dark, and of fur bearing animals, owls and other large birds. Later Savagery. — The fourth period is that of the later savagery, which begins with the invention of the bow and arrow, and terminates with the invention of pottery. In this period man became essentially a hunter and wandered widely from home. He was no longer on the defensive in protecting himself from wild animals, but assumed an aggressive attitude toward animal life. The woman stayed at home, and we have the beginnings of the social differentiation of the sexes. Man was the hunter, woman became the home maker. This is the age also in which man began to inquire into the origin of things, and the result is the development of myth and fable. The Bozu and Arrow. — It ought to be noticed here that the bow and arrow has been invented only once, and the knowledge of its use was carried into all coun- tries where it is now found by the people as they mi- grated from the original home of the race. Some people, such as the Australians, never invented the bow and arrow, and had no knowledge of its use. They invented the boomerang, which served the same purpose, but it was not the bow and arrow. The belief is that the Australian ancestors separated from the rest of the human 110 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING race before the bow and arrow was invented. The use of the bow and arrow is found all over Europe and Asia, over nearly all of Africa, and over both the Americas. The Child as a Later Savage. — The period of child development which corresponds to the later savagery includes the earliest years of school life, from the age of five and a half or six, to six and a half or seven. Boys like to throw things and to play with bows and arrows or popguns. Hunting games and competitive plays begin to be enjoyed. A differentiation can be observed between the plays that are enjoyed most by boys and by girls. Girls begin to enjoy the imitative plays which corres- pond to domestic affairs. All children of this age are fond of fairy tales, and this fact furnishes justification for laying out a course of study that shall include for these earliest school years fairy tales, the myths of Greece, the Norse legends, and Mother Goose. Older Barbarism. — The fifth period is the period of older barbarism. It begins with the invention of pottery and ends with the cultivation of plants and the domestica- tion of animals. In this stage, man was the hunter and became the warrior. The beginning of social institutions is to be looked for here, in the fact of warfare and the consequent necessity for men to work together and to render mutual assistance, although social life did not reach its most characteristic form until the next period. Woman was the home maker, and her duties were limited to those of domestic life. It is .probable that pottery was PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 111 the invention of woman, and that she first cultivated plants and developed agriculture. The Child as an Older Barbarian. — The years of a child's life that correspond to this period of older bar- barism are the years from six and a half or seven, to about eight or eight and a half. The child begins to need the companionship of others in his plays. He likes to dig in the ground and to play with plastic materials. Mud pies and models of animal forms are attractive occupa- tions for him. He is on his way to becoming socialized. Mimic wars and stories of adventure appeal to him. There is a well pronounced differentiation between the plays that interest girls and those in which boys find delight. Middle Barbarism. — The sixth period is that of middle barbarism. It begins with the domestication of animals and the cultivation of plants, and ends with the smelt- ing of iron. In this period men ceased to wander so widely as heretofore. The cultivation of plants enabled a larger number of people to subsist in one place, thus rendering it possible for a complex society to be devel- oped, and the cultivation of the fields tended to prevent frequent removals. Warfare became a more serious oc- cupation, and by the necessity for cooperation in the de- fense of the community, tended ■ to increase the social feelings and to develop the tribal and community life. The Child as a Middle Barbarian. — The years of a child's life that correspond to the period of middle bar- barism are approximately from the age of eight or eight and a half to eleven. The child is contentious and likes 112 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING to quarrel. He has a fondness for domestic animals as pets, and school gardens may profitably be included in the course of study. The boy likes to hunt and fish. Sociology becomes a prominent part of the child's in- terest. The child needs in this period of his existence to be taught concerning the fire department, the police, and the various social services which the community renders to him as an individual. Later Barbarism. — The seventh period is the period of later barbarism. It begins with the smelting of iron and terminates with the invention of the written, phonetic alphabet. It is especially characterized by the develop- ment of manufactures and the growth of cities. Here we perceive also the beginnings of national life, and the development of literature in the form of folk tales and histories of national heroes. The Child as a Later Barbarian. — The years of a child's life that correspond to this period of later bar- barism are those from about eleven until thirteen or fourteen. In this period the child has much interest in making things, and in the stories of industry. In the period of later barbarism there was little commerce ; as we should expect, then, the child in his corresponding years feels little interest in commercial ventures. Problems in arithmetic with a commercial expression have little at- traction for him. His games are still competitive and fighting games, and this also we should expect, since wars constituted a large part of the life of the race. The child is, however, becoming more nearly socialized, and PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 113 depends more upon the cooperation of his companions in his plays. Civilization. — The eighth period is a period of civilized life, and begins with the invention of the written alphabet. It is characterized by the great and sudden development or intellect, of national life and of commerce. The years of a child's life that correspond to it are those approxi- mately from twelve or fourteen onward. The child is now ready to understand the life of the race and to participate in its activities. Weakness of the Theory. — Such is, in brief, a sketch of the Culture Epoch theory. In its largest outlines, there can be little doubt of its truth. It is impossible to under- stand child nature and to interpret the interests and activities of children without a recognition of the facts here enunciated. However, as a practical basis for making a course of study and for determining what shall be the school activities of children, it seems to have little value. The attempt to make a course of study from a consideration of the facts enumerated above leads us into several manifest absurdities. For example, the period of later barbarism terminates with the invention of the alphabet. The period of child life that corres- ponds to this period is the time just preceding adolescence, when the child is from twelve to fourteen years old. In order to be consistent in making our course of study, we should not teach a child to read until he has arrived at this period of life. But we do teach him to read much sooner, and we believe it would be unwise not to do so. 114 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING The Earliest Educative Materials. — It is a favorite assumption of the advocates of the Culture Epoch theory that the earliest experiences of a child in undertaking a particular subject should be in the same range of activi- ties and with the same materials that primitive men em- ployed. In beginning the experience of weaving, he should be taught to weave with bark or reeds. In using tools, the first tools employed should be pebbles and shells, because these are the first implements that primitive man employed. In the development of water craft, the child should be taught to make a raft and to fasten together the logs of which it is composed with withes, because primi- tive man did so. Why. Primitive Man Used Primitive Materials. — It rather seems that primitive man employed these materials because he had no better. If he had had yarn or cotton thread it is not at all likely that he would have used bark and reeds as weaving materials. So if he had had axes and nails it is not at all probable that he would have used withes to fasten the logs of his raft together. It is not that he was lacking in intellectual capacity to use such materials, but such materials had not as yet been dis- covered, nor the way to manufacture them been found out. The materials and processes were not adjusted to the degree of mental advancement, but knowledge was lacking. The person who invented the bow and arrow, or who invented weaving was not deficient in intellect. It is doubtful if any invention of modern civilized man is a mark of greater intellectual capacity than was the in- PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 115 vention of the bow and arrow, flint arrow-heads, or the phonetic alphabet. Primitive Man Not Deficient in Intellect. — When we consider that there were no antecedent discoveries related to these things, we shall see that mental power was not lacking. We may recognize that modern men are superior to primitive men mostly, if not altogether, in consequence of their greater knowledge. Put a modern man into the situation of a primitive man and it is doubtful if the genius of an Edison would not be helpless in presence of the difficulties confronting him. The actual processes carried out by so-called savages of the present day are sufficient to arouse the wonder of any man. If primitive man had had modern tools, it is extremely probable that he would have been able to use them. A More Fundamental Objection. — But a more funda- mental objection must be stated. The Culture Epoch theory assumes that a child must be educated according to his instincts which have been inherited from his an- cestors. It assumes that the plays of children, for ex- ample, are determined by their heredity and that educa- tion must adapt itself to the line of interests that the instinctive plays have mapped out. How Interpret Imitative Plays. — But such an inter- pretation of interests and of plays cannot account for imitation, and imitative plays constitute much the larger number of plays in which children engage. It is by means of imitation that a reflex passes over into a conscious voluntary act, and all early processes of education are 116 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING possible only because a child can imitate. Instinct means fixity of nervous structure, while imitation implies plas- ticity. It is only upon a plastic nervous structure that education can produce any effect. Education Depends Upon Plasticity of Organization, Not Upon Inherited Instincts. — Our educational processes and courses of study must, then be based upon the plas- ticity of the child's nervous organism, and not upon its fixed structure. It must regard the imitative character of children, and not direct its energies to the child's in- stinctive activities. The child in his education must absorb the social life about him, and not act out the life pro- cesses of his ancestors. The most valuable inheritance of the child is not the experience of his ancestors, fixed as instinct, but the plastic nervous character by which his ancestors were able to learn new things, and which is a necessary condition for his own learning. Course of Study Adapted to Intellectual Capacity, Not to Racial History. — Our course of study and the ex- ercises that we give our children in school should be adapted to their intellectual capacity, and not at all to the experiences of the race in the periods that correspond. The experiences of the race w T ere not determined in the largest measure by their intellectual capacity. The race had intellectual capacity that would enable them to read and write long before the phonetic alphabet and the processes of reading and writing had been invented. Education Determined by Present Conditions, Not by Past Experiences. — It is our purpose, through the pro- PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 117 cesses of education, to obviate the necessity for the child's passing through all these primitive experiences, and to lead him by a short cut to the methods of thought of the present day. There seems to be nothing gained by go- ing the long way round. What we really wish to do is to educate the child for present conditions and into the life of the present. The life of the past has disappeared because something better has been discovered. It would seem to be a mistake to base our teaching upon the life of the past, thereby retaining, as far as we are able, that experience which has been proved to be inadequate, instead of substituting directly for it that which is recog- nized as better. Three Periods of Intellectual Development. — We may, however, readily recognize in the life of the child three well-marked periods of intellectual development. The first stage is the period of infancy, lasting from the time that the child is born until the time of the second dentition. Approximately, this is described by the time from birth until the child is seven years of age. It is easily possible to distinguish two periods in this space of time; the period of earlier infancy, lasting from the time the child is born until the first set of teeth are obtained; and the period of later infancy, lasting from the time of first dentition until that of the second. The time at which this period ends is not the same for all children. We ordinarily send children to school at six years of age ; but it is as wrong to send some children to school at six as it is to keep others out of school after thev are five. 118 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Period of Infancy. — The period of infancy is a period of vivid imaginings. The child is frequently unable to distinguish an idea from a percept. The stick is a real horse to him, and the doll is a real child. In this period of infancy, the child is non-social. His plays are distinct- ly individual plays and he does not need the cooperation of another child in order to play. Two children may play at the same time, and may slide down the same cellar door, but one waits while the other slides down. There is no necessity for cooperation. The plays that are most attractive are sense plays and imitation plays. The child is constantly searching for new sensations, and receives the keenest enjoyment from the exercise of the muscular sense. This accounts for his tendency to jump up and down without moving from place to place. The ten- dency to make a noise arises from the satisfaction ex- perienced in the mere exercise of hearing. The child likes to play with his parents and with older people, and at first appearance this looks as if it were a cooperative play. Really it is not, but the activity of the parent toss- ing the child about is merely another way by which the child obtains a new sensation. Infancy Egoistic. — The child in this stage is purely selfish. His only business is to live, and he makes every- thing contribute to that end. There is no room in his nature for generous actions or altruistic motives. When such actions appear, analysis will show that they are imitative actions, or arise from the suggestion of some elder person. PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 119 Criticism of Kindergarten Theory. — A criticism has been made upon the kindergarten that appears to have some validity. The criticism is that the kinder- garten undertakes to make children social before they have reached the stage of development in which it is possible for their social natures to affect their actions. The cooperative games of children in the kindergarten are not natural to the children, but are carried on at the suggestion of the teacher and by a process of imitation. Not until the children have passed the period of in- fancy is there any opportunity for the development of the altruistic spirit and the social nature. Period of Childhood. — The second period of child- growth is that of childhood, extending from about the age of seven to fourteen, and culminating at about the age of eleven. It extends from the time of the second dentition to the oncoming of adolescence. The limits of this period may vary in different children by as much as two years, or more. This period is approximately cov- ered by the years devoted to elementary school work. It is not by accident or chance that the elementary school course covers a period of eight years, nor is it chance that a few schools extend the period to nine years and that others shorten it to seven. The child is a different being in these seven years from what he was in the first years of his life. The characteristics of this period are better manifested in boys than they are in girls. The child's nature has changed, and he begins to be a social being. The plays most favored are those that demand 120 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING the cooperation of other children, and mostly take on the character of competitive plays. Fighting is a good example, and fighting plays are characteristic of this period. There is little or no disposition to work as teams. One boy tries to out jump or outdo another. He wishes to excel for himself, and is little actuated to excel for his side or for his school. Emulation is a strong- motive in this period, and there is no really good reason for refusing to employ it as a motive in school work. Period of Adolescence. — The third period of child- growth is the period of adolescence, which begins ap- proximately at the age of fourteen for boys, and a year or two earlier for girls, and extends to the twenty-first year. It is the period that is covered by the high school and the college course. It is not an accidental circum- stance that high school and college life is so very differ- ent from that of elementary school. The adolescent is a different person from what the child was. A great transformation has occurred in his nature, and his in- terests, aspirations, and motives are decidedly changed. In this stage the adolescent becomes distinctly social. Competitive plays are still prominent, but the competition now is that of side against side, party against party. The individual sinks his individuality in that of the team, and the most popular plays are those that demand team work. Football and baseball are appropriate games for this age. They are not so for younger children, and when played by them, are rather imitative, than team plays. Love plays become prominent if not predominant. PERIODS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT 121 This is the age, too, when young people begin to inquire into the nature of things, and speculative studies have an attraction for them. Political economy and psychology are favorite subjects, and religious conversion takes place usually in this period. Special Significance of Adolescence, — It ought to be observed that in our modern school work the period of adolescence has an especial significance. One of the most efficient causes in bringing man up to the state in which he stands at the head of the animal world is the prolongation of the period of dependence, or infancy, in the large sense of the term. The prolongation of the period of dependence allows such a complete adjustment that the mental life develops in a way that would other- wise be impossible. In ancient or barbarous society, a child, upon entering the period of adolescence is ac- counted mature. He is allowed to marry and to become a hunter and warrior with other men of his tribe. In modern civilized society such is not the case. Although most of our compulsory education laws permit the youth to discontinue school at the age of fourteen and go to work, thus conforming to the older standard of maturity, the young man is not allowed to vote until he is twenty- one, and the young woman 1 is still accounted a girl and not a woman until long after she is twelve. Modern civilized society adds another seven years to the period of dependence, with results of greatest value to society as a whole. This further prolongation of the period of infancv allows more time for adjustment and educa- 122 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING tion, and it is perhaps one of the most important factors in continuing our civilization. Synopsis. 1. The biogenetic law asserts that every animal re- peats in the course of its development the history of the race. 2. Zillers theory asserts similarly, that every indi- vidual human being repeats in the course of his mental development the history of the human race. 3. A scientific course of study must recognize the successive stages in the development of the individual, and present the proper materials for each stage of de- velopment. 4. Ziller's theory is true in its largest features, but of no practical value in making a course of study. Other circumstances overshadow the importance of racial development. 5. Three different stages in the development of the individual must be recognized, however, and these are the stages now provided for, first, in the home educa- tion of infancy ; second, the elementary education of childhood ; third, the adolescent education of the high school and college. CHAPTER VIII. The Theory of Play. Why Study Play? — We need to study the plays of children for two reasons : First, because we can learn more about children by studying their plays, and by study- ing the children when they are playing, than we can in any other way. When a child is playing, he is not un- der restraint, and his actions are a true index to his char- acter. Only Play Processes Educative. — The second reason is because of a widely discussed theory that play activi- ties of children are the only processes by which they be- come educated. The theory asserts that activities which do not take the form of play are not educative. This is implied in the statement that children, in order to be educated, must be interested in their school work. The reasoning by which this conclusion is reached involves the affirmation of some or all of the following propo- sitions : Educated Only by Self-activity. — A child is educated by means of his own self-activity, which is manifested only in actions that originate within himself, not in those which are forced upon him from the outside. The im- pulse to self -activity is always accompanied by a feel- 123 124 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING ing having a pleasant tone, which we may call interest. But the activities in which a child is interested are those which take the form of play. Hence it is proper to say that only play activities can call forth a child's self -activity, and have any truly educative effect upon him. When a child engages in tasks at the command of another, and is not interested in the doing of them, his self-activity is not called into action, and the result is not truly educative. It is rather the activity of the person who for the time being assumes the function of taskmaster that is manifested in the activity of the children. Wrong Idea of Play. — This view of play is too ex- treme. Such a definition of play is not satisfactory. It assumes that anything which the child likes to do is play, and that anything which the child does, without lik- ing to do it, is work. It assumes that the distinction be- tween play and work resides in the tone of the feeling which accompanies the activity. This is the commonly recognized distinction between play and work. Per- sons talk about certain kinds of work being as good as play, and of making play out of their work, implying that when the work that is to be done affords pleasure in the doing, it changes into play ; and that any activity which is disagreeable, by that very fact takes on the char- acter of work. Real Definition of Play. — A much more satisfactory statement of the distinction between play and work may be made in something like the following manner : Play THE THEORY OF PLAY 125 is any activity which is undertaken for the sake of the activity itself, and not at all for the result which is to come from the activity. The person who plays is paid for his exertion by the exertion itself. Work is any ac- tivity which is undertaken for the result which is to follow from the activity. Relation of Pleasantness and Unpleasantness to Play. — Pleasantness and unpleasantness are not the determin- ing factors in discriminating work from play. To de- termine whether a given form of activity is play or work, we must look at the result of the activity. Work may be pleasant, and still be work. Play may be unpleas- ant and still be play, although when such a condition pre- vails, we can usually discontinue the play. To the person who is playing a disagreeable game, there is usually no object in continuing it. Spencer's Theory of Play. — There are three theories of play which it is important for us to understand. The first is Spencer's theory, which will be found stated in his Principles of Psychology, Volume I, page 628. Mr. Spencer assumes that play is the activity arising out of the disposition to expend a surplus of energy which is generated in excess of the demands made upon it by the activities of the animal, and by the physiological demands of the body. Thus we find children and kit- tens and other young animals playing, while with the old men and cats and older animals play is rare. The young of any species of animal generates a large amount of energy, much of which is in excess of the ordinary demands made 126 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING upon it, and this surplus of energy is demonstrated by the processes of growth. Also, when a child or a kit- ten or the young of any species of animal becomes sick or enfeebled, one of the first indications of sickness is the disinclination to play. The sick condition of the animal is particularly unfavorable to the generation of nervous energy, and there is no surplus of energy de- manding expenditure in play. Criticism of Spencers Theory. — Mr. Spencer's theory has been seriously criticised, especially by Mr. Groos, who points out the fact that children and other animals sometimes play to the point of complete exhaustion, long after the time when any available surplus of energy has been expended. However, it really seems that there is a very large measure of truth in Mr. Spencer's theory. It certainly is not all the truth about play, but it does seem to contain a great deal of truth. Groos' Theory. — The second theory of play is that of Groos, which is elaborated in his two books, The Play of Animals and the Play of Man. His theory is that play is a preparation in the present for the work of the future. A kitten plays with flying leaves and balls of yarn and other moving things, involving the same activity and cultivating the same kind of skill that will be needed for catching mice and other kinds of prey when the kitten shall have become a mature cat. So we shall find the play activities of children involving the same kind of skill necessary for engaging in the occupations of man- hood. The play activities seem to arise from the bring- THE THEORY OF PLAY 127 ing forward of the instincts that furnish the motives for the activities before the time when the activities themselves are necessary. The instinctive activities are brought forward into the infancy period, thus allowing an opportunity for skill to be acquired that will be needed in mature life. The cat will not need to exercise her preying instincts until she is six months or more old; but the instincts for catching prey are developed in the kittens by the time that they are three or four weeks old. So through play, in the time from four weeks old to the time when they are six months old, the skill demanded for the successful pursuit of prey, is acquired. Criticism of Groos Theory. — The truth in this theory is that play does prepare the young animal for the ac- tivities of mature life. But Mr. Groos makes the as- sumption that play is for the purpose of accomplishing this result. He assumes a teleological motive which can- not be allowed. It does not explain the facts that Mr. Spencer brings forward as evidence of the truth of his theory, nor does it account for those forms of play activities which have no counterpart in the life of the mature individual. While there is an element of truth in the theory, it is perhaps the least valuable of the three. Stanley Hall's Theory. — The third theory of play is that of G. Stanley Hall, although the theory was stated in almost the same form by a German philosopher, Laza- rus. This theory is that play is an activity in the young which repeats the activities of the ancestors of the race. 128 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING A kitten plays with moving objects, because acting in that manner toward moving objects was the business of ancestral cats in catching prey. So boys like to hunt, in play, because hunting was an activity pursued for many centuries by the ancestors of the boy. With the boy it is play, but with the ancestors it was a business. The instinct to hunt became fixed in the constitution of primitive man and appears in his descendants, even though the act of hunting as a business has disappeared. The nervous system of the ancestors became adjusted to the activities of the various occupations which they pur- sued, and that adjustment, with whatever modifications of the nervous system it involved, was inherited by their descendants. Criticism of Hall's Theory. — There appears to be a good deal of truth in this theory. The particular instincts which find expression in various forms of play were probably acquired by the ancestors from their occupations. But this will not account for all the forms that play ac- tivity assumes. It is true that the boy will play hunting and fighting games, and this may be accounted for by the fact that the ancestors of the boy hunted and fought. But the same boy will play games that involve the use of the telephone, or telescope, or locomotive, or train, which occupations were unknown in ancestral experience. Incompleteness of All Theories of Play. — The differ- ence between Stanley Hall's theory and Groos' theory is that Stanley Hall's theory looks to the past for the origin of play activities, while Groos' theory looks to the future. THE THEORY OE PLAY 129 Hall's and Spencer's theories do not consider the same question at all. There can be no conflict between Spencer and Hall in this matter because they are considering dif- ferent things. Spencer considers the origin of the play activity itself, while Hall discusses the particular form that the activity assumes. It seems as if these three theo- ries are not mutually exclusive at all. In some degree they may be made to supplement each other, and elements from all are necessary in the construction of any satis- factory theory of play. Perhaps something more than is involved in any one of them may be needed to make the theory of play complete. Two Ways of Classifying Plays. — We may study the plays of children by classifying them according to two characteristics : First, according to the nature of the plays themselves ; or second, according to the ages of the children to whom particular plays are most attractive and appropriate. Certain kinds of plays are most attrac- tive for children of one age, while the same plays lose their attractiveness when the children become older. Sense Plays. — Considering the plays in themselves, we shall find a large group of sense plays. The exercise of any sense in a moderate degree affords pleasure, and the pleasure thus derived is sufficient inducement for the exercise of the sense activity. Thus it conforms to our definition of play, and we may properly speak of sense plays. A sense may be exercised for another pur- pose than the mere satisfaction derived from its exercise, but when such is the case, the exercise of the sense is 130 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING not play. But in many cases the sense is exercised for the mere pleasure that accompanies the exercise; and when such is the case, the exercise is truly play. Toxtch Plays. — The sense of touch is the source of many plays. We like to feel a smooth surface, as a smooth piece of polished glass, or the polished surface of a piano case. We enjoy the feel of plush or velvet. Sometimes pleasure is derived from rubbing the palm of one's hand over the bristles of a hair brush. A baby puts things into his mouth, not for the nourishment to be thence derived, but for the satisfaction to be ob- tained by the exercise of the sense of touch. He will try to put a doorknob into his mouth as readily as he will something from which nourishment is to be derived. The sense of touch is more delicate in the mouth and upon the tongue than it is in any other part of the body. Gum chewing is a sense play in the sense of touch. People chew gum, not for the nourishment that is to be derived from it, nor for the taste ; but they chew gum for the satisfaction of feeling it with the mouth and teeth and tongue. It is one of the best examples of touch play. Splashing in the water, while wading, swimming, or washing is largely a play in the touch sense. The feeling of water on the skin is sufficient inducement to do those things which bring the water intd contact with it. Temperature Plays. — The sense of temperature is the basis of many plays. We like ice water or ice cream. We experience the sense of taste, also, in ice cream, but THE THEORY OF PLAY 131 the taste is just the same after the ice cream is melted that it was before ; yet we prefer to eat our ice cream before it has been melted. The preference that we man- ifest for the frozen ice cream over the same when melted indicates how much of the pleasure is a temperature play. So we like hot coffee, or hot tea. We enjoy also iced tea or iced coffee, but coffee that is neither hot nor cold contributes little to our enjoyment. We like to feel the bracing air of winter that makes our blood tingle. This means that we enjoy the cold tem- perature, but we also enjoy the sensation of warmth ex- perienced when we come into the house and stand by a hot stove. We enjoy a hot bath or a cold bath, and when we experience either, we have a combination of two kinds of play, a touch and a temperature play. When the tem- perature is approximately that of the skin we experience a touch play only. Taste Plays. — Taste is the source of many plays. We eat candy, not for the nourishment derived from it, but for the satisfaction obtained in the exercise of the sense of taste. The same thing is true in large measure with anything we eat that is seasoned to the taste. The little boy who defined salt as the thing which makes your po- tatoes taste bad when you don't put any on, was not far from the truth. The potatoes would furnish just as much nourishment without the salt as they do with it, but we should not experience the taste play without the salt or other seasoning. It is safe to say that a large part of our eating is in the nature of a taste play. 132 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Equilibrium Plays. — Equilibrium furnishes still more plays. Children sometimes whirl around until they be- come dizzy for the sake of experiencing the dizziness. This method of exciting the sensation of dizziness is associated with a movement play, but the dizziness is an equilibrium play. Walking on the rails of a railroad track is another manifestation of a play of equilibrium. Whether the satisfaction derived from turning hand- springs, or standing on one's head, or performing other acrobatic feats can be classed with equilibrium plays may be questioned. Probably the greater part of such activity is another kind of play. Muscle Plays. — The exercise of the muscles, giving rise to the muscular sensation is another kind of play. The movement of one's own body in running or jump- ing or any other kind of vigorous exercise is a muscle play. This is the kind of play that serves Spencer par- ticularly well as his illustration of the origin of play. Dancing is placed here, at least in part, The exercise of the muscles, whenever satisfaction is afforded by their exercise, is a muscle play. Movement Plays. — But there is another kind of play which involves a movement of one's own body that is not a muscle play and which may properly be called a movement play. It is illustrated by such movements as riding in a merry-go-round, jumping from an elevation, sliding down a banister, or sliding down a straw stack, Here belongs also in large measure the satisfaction de- rived from riding, driving, bicycling, automobiling, skat- THE THEORY OF PLAY 133 ing, coasting, or riding in a rapidly moving railroad train. In some of these forms of amusement, especially those that demand muscular activity, the movement play is as- sociated with a muscle play. Plays in Moving Bodies. — Besides the movement of one's own body, there is a kind of play that consists of moving other things about. Such plays are throwing a ball, skipping stones on the water, knocking over chairs or throwing things from a window or down a well. These occupations are very attractive to children and furnish them many plays. Tearing paper and many of the destructive plays of children are of this nature. Sight Plays. — Many important plays arise from the exercise of the higher senses, seeing and hearing. We like to let the light into our eyes, and we like to see things. The mere exercise of the sense of sight is a pleasure, as we can easily determine by observing how, in a dimly lighted room, every one will face the light. Confinement in darkness is a great punishment. Monot- ony becomes wearisome, and we experience pleasure from the appearance of color in the grass and in the trees when spring comes. Colored flowers attract us. We appreciate highly the exercise of the color sense, and seeing color is a sensation play. We find pleasure in looking at the rainbow, or the solar spectrum as it is cast by a prism. W r e enjoy, also, looking at things through a prism, and experiencing the virtual spectrum thus disclosed. Colored pictures on our walls please us, both by their color and by the forms they represent. In the 134 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING play on the color sense and the sense of sight we have the beginning of our appreciation of art, both pictorial and plastic. Enjoyment of art is a play of the sense of sight, and the artist is a player. Hearing Plays. — Nearly the same thing may be said of hearing that has been said of sight. Children like to make a noise merely for the sake of hearing it. A baby likes to knock things on the floor, and a boy will pound two tin potlids together for the purpose of enjoying the excruciating noise thus produced. It is as satisfying to the boy as is the finest music to some other people. African savages that pound on tomtoms are playing in the same way. Some pianos sound like tin pans and be- tween the pianos that sound like tin pans and those that do not there is a difference only in degree. We shall thus see that all of our appreciation of music grows out of this play in the sense of hearing, and is merely an elaborated form of it. In this way we have indicated the origin of music, and we know that it is not a sud- den development in the race. Imitation Plays. — Besides the sense plays, we have a large group of imitation plays. The child is essentially an imitative animal, and the disposition to imitate the occupations of older people appears very early. Chil- dren imitate the occupations of their parents and of other persons. Housekeeping is almost an universal play, because housekeeping is almost an universal business. Playing with dolls is accounted for on the basis of imi- tation rather than because of an inherited maternal in- THE THEORY OF PLAY 135 stinct. The maternal instinct scarcely develops before the period when dolls are laid aside. Examples of Imitation. — Boys will imitate the occu- pations of men whom they see at work. They will build houses, make bricks, run engines, play train, blacksmith, drive horses, and plow. Every occupation that comes within the observation of children will be imitated. We notice the imitations of children most explicitly when the occupations that are imitated are comparatively rare and unusual. When a circus comes to town, all the boys for the next three days will play circus, and will be ably assisted by their sisters. Every boy wants to be a clown or a daring bareback rider. Keeping store is a favorite imitative play, and playing school is another that is almost universal among children of school age, or just before it. Sometime in their lives all children have played church, and preached a sermon, and carried out the full program of religious exercises. They have imitated a funeral occasion, and doubtless buried a favorite doll. It is quite customary for boys on a farm, about the time of the annual slaughtering of hogs, to carry on a butch- ering of their own, using rats or other animals instead of hogs. We have read of boys who imitated the events of an execution by hanging, to the imminent danger of the sub- ject of their play. Unable to Account for Imitation. — Perhaps imitation is the source of a larger number of plays than is any other principle. Neither Mr. Hall's theory nor Mr. Groos' can account for the disposition of children to 136 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING play store, nor to play train, nor to play church, nor do the imitative plays corroborate either theory. Neither of these plays is a repetition of ancestral experience in any proper sense of the word, nor can we see that any one of these plays is a preparation for anything that is likely to come. Memory Plays. — Some plays are more or less intel- lectual. They consist in the exercise of the mental processes merely for the sake of exercising them. Mem- ory exercises are favorite forms of play. The remem- bering of Mother Goose rhymes, nonsense jingles, or counting-out rhymes are partly of this kind. So older persons sometimes play memory games. Games some- what similar to The House that Jack Built are common. My Aunt's Garden, Key to the King's Garden, The Little Man's House are games of this kind that may be found described in almost any book of Fireside Amusements. Imagination Plays. — Imagination furnishes a basis for a large number of plays. Here may be classed all fairy tales, day dreams, the reading of stories classed as fic- tion, except that in some cases, other elements than imagination, and consequently other plays than imagina- tive plays are involved in their reading. Imagination also includes the plays in which there is self-illusion. The broomstick is to the boy a real horse, through the ex- ercise of imagination, and many of the plays of children are imaginative plays. Other Plays. — The will is sometimes made the basis of play. Boys dare each other, and taunt each other THE THEORY OF PLAY 137 into doing what they would not otherwise attempt. So experiments with the feelings take the form of play. Listening to ghost stories is partly a play with the feel- ing of fear. Persons enjoy being scared just a little. Some persons like to read books that make them weep and enjoy listening to the dramatic rendering of plays which have the same effect. Ordinarily weeping is the expression of sorrow, but in such cases as those just mentioned, an experiment with the feelings that causes weeping is a real play. Plays of Infancy. — Leaving now the study of plays in themselves, we shall be able to understand the nature of children more perfectly if we group their plays ac- cording to another characteristic. We shall find that the plays of children up to the age of about seven years are individual plays. The first and the most numerous kind is the sense play, and the next in importance is the imitative play. The little child is not a social animal. Even when he is playing with his parents, he is using the parents as the source and means of a new sensation, or it is an individual sense play. Two children may play in the same place and at the same time, but such play is not necessarily a cooperative play. Sometimes in imi- tative plays it is difficult for us to realize that the plays are essentially individual, because the individual element is obscured by the cooperative nature of the occupation which is imitated. Even fighting, with little children, is not a cooperative play. Little children seldom fight, and when thev do, it is usnallv because one child wishes 138 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING to take something that the other child possesses, and the resulting combat is not a play, nor a desire to fight for the sake of fighting, but righting for the possession of something desired. Plays of Childhood. — With the period of childhood, from seven to fourteen, and varying as much as two years either way, a different kind of play appears. Individual and sense plays continue, but other plays not before en- gaged in, except very slightly in imitation, now become the dominant feature in play. The plays that are char- acteristic are cooperative plays They demand the co- operation of other children of the same age. The child begins to forsake the companionship of his parents, and attracts to himself the companionship of other boys. The most characteristic of these plays are competitive, or fighting plays. One boy cannot fight unless another boy agrees to fight with him. So each boy tries to excei all other boys in whatever he undertakes. He tries to jump farther, or run faster, or climb higher, or shout louder than all other boys. It is one boy against another boy, or against all other boys. Competitive Plays. — This competitive instinct may be exemplified in other ways than physical competitions. It may be involved in mental processes, not merely in ex- celling other children, but in excelling one's self. The competitive instinct may be applied to the solution of puzzles, or of problems in arithmetic, whose attractive- ness for some children seems to lie in the opportunity furnished for an exercise of this instinct. A large part THE THEORY OF PLAY 139 of the interest manifested by children in the older schools in the study of arithmetic and spelling was of this nature. The competitive instinct was employed very effectively in teaching spelling, by means of spelling matches and spelling schools. Being strong and general, there seems to be no valid objection to making a proper use of this competitive instinct in school work. Plays of Adolescence. — When children reach the age of adolescence, another kind of play begins to make itself manifest. The individual and the sense plays con- tinue, but the competitive plays take on a new character. Instead of being individual competitive plays, they be- come team plays. It is through the activities of these cooperative team plays that the adolescent becomes so- cialized. The best examples of competitive team plays are football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. Here the individual must sink his individuality in the success of the team. The coach is constantly called upon to dis- courage the making of grand stand plays. So there are debating teams and literary contests and school compe- titions in which the competitive team feature is promi- nent. Football and Prise Fighting. — Some persons have de- clared their inability to distinguish between football and prize fighting. Both are competitive games, but football is a team play while prize fighting is an individual play. The prize fighter is an example of retarded development. His social nature is arrested in the stage of the pre- adolescent period and he could never excel as a football 140 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING player. It would be impossible for him to sink his indi- viduality in the work of the team. Why, Little Boys Cannot Play Football. — Boys below the age of fourteen cannot play football or baseball suc- cessfully. When such games are played by boys below this age they are imitative, rather than team plays. The fact that imitation leads to the playing of almost any kind of a game is a source of very serious entanglement and misunderstanding of the nature of the games played. A cooperative play or occupation may be imitated as truly as are individual occupations, and the cooperative character of the original frequently misleads us about the imitative origin of the play. Love Plays. — In the adolescent period, another kind of play becomes of great importance. This is the love play, a good example of which is found in dancing. Dancing, besides the love play, involves a movement play and a muscle play ; but in the adolescent period the love play feature becomes prominent. Any kind of a play in which the cooperation of some person of the opposite sex is demanded may be considered a love play. We must class with the love plays the reading of novels in which the love story is prominent. We have in such classes of fiction, both the imagination play and the love play; but it will be found that the love story is especially attractive to adolescents, while it is usually quite distasteful to children before the adolescent period. We must class with the love plays, also, such social functions as picnics, parties, and balls. These are particularly attractive to THE THEORY OF PLAY 141 young people in the adolescent period, and when they con- stitute an episode in the experience of pre-adolescents, we must consider them as imitative plays. While the individual and sense plays of the period of infancy, and the individual competitive play of the period of child- hood persist, the adolescent period is characterized by the introduction of two new elements that shadow forth imperative interests in the life of the race, the team play and the love play. Synopsis. 1. The study of children's plays enables us to under- stand the children better than we can in any other way. In play, children are unrestrained and undirected, so that they manifest their real nature. 2. Play is the performance of any activity that is undertaken for the sake of the activity itself. Work is any activity that is undertaken for the result to be accomplished by it. The pleasantness and unpleasantness of the activity does not distinguish play from work. 3. Plays may be classified according to the functions exercised. We may distinguish sense plays, imitative plays and mental plays. 4. Plays may be classified according to the ages of children to whom they are of most interest. We may distinguish the plays of infancy, of childhood, and of adolescence. CHAPTER IX. Interest. The plays of children are manifestations of their various interests, and we can recognize what interests the children feel by observing their plays. Value of Interest. — All teachers agree upon one thing : That is, that if a child is interested in his lessons he will learn much more rapidly and with much less effort than if not. Starting from this point, one school of educa- tional philosophers, whom merely for convenience we shall call the Interest people, make some rather startling deductions. They say, in the first place, that all school- work should be interesting to the children ; that only those subjects in which the children are interested, have for them any educative value; that if a child is not in- terested in any particular subject it is evidence that such subject is not appropriate for him to study at that time ; that if he is not interested in the subject, it shows that he is not in the proper stage of development to derive benefit from its study. Interest Determines All School Work. — In this way the interest of the child becomes the predominant factor in selecting materials for a course of study, and for ar- ranging the order in which they shall be presented. All 142 INTEREST 143 school work takes on the form of play, although it will be remembered that the Interest people define play as any activity that gives pleasure, or is accompanied by a feeling having a pleasurable tone. The course of study, under the conception of the Interest people, cannot be any fixed and definite statement of things to be done, but all school work, from the lowest to the highest, be- comes elective. There is no thought in this method of procedure of making the child conform to the community ideal, and modifying his natural disposition, but the idea carried out in its ultimate conclusion leads to the development of the natural disposition of the child with- out reference to the community ideal. Perhaps it is the influence of this idea which lies at the basis of the recent development of elective courses in our high schools. Argument of the Will People. — But there is another group of people who hold a different opinion about the purpose of school life. For our present purpose, and merely as a matter of convenience, we may designate them as the Will people. They assert that the fact a child is interested in a particular thing is rather a reason why it should not be made the basis of instruction in school, than that it should. If a child is interested in a particular kind of study, he will learn about it without any teaching. It is a good thing for a boy to fly kites and to play ball, and much benefit may be expected to come from learning to play these games. But instead of establishing courses in kite-flying and ball-playing in school, the kite-flying and ball-playing may be left 144 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING to take care of themselves, and the school can turn its attention to teaching something else that the child in all probability will not otherwise learn. School Should Train to Do Disagreeable Things. — The Will people say that life consists of many hard, disagreeable things ; that the child must learn to do these disagreeable things, and it is the function of the school to prepare him for performing such actions in life. The school should devote itself especially to teaching those things in which the child is not particularly interested, but which it is necessary that he should know in order to become a useful citizen. This is really the justification for the establishment of a school. Training the Will. — The Will people say also, that if the child is to spend his energy in school doing only those things that are pleasant for him, there is no oppor- tunity for the development and training of the will. That he must be trained to have a strong will and do disagree- able things in order that, when the occasion arises,, he may be willing to choose the disagreeable and difficult, rather than the easy and pleasant things. He must learn to do his duty because it is his duty, and not be- cause it is pleasant for him to do it. This is the most important function of school work; and unless the school makes of its pupils men of strong wills, ready to choose the disagreeable and difficult, it has utterly failed in its undertaking. Methods of Teaching Should Train the Will. — Not only must the subjects of instruction be those in which INTEREST 145 the children feel little natural interest, but the methods of teaching would better accentuate the uninteresting character of school work. The things to be learned would better be learned in the more difficult, rather than the easier way. The more difficult the subject is made in school, provided that it is learned well, the better is the instruction, according to the views of the Will people. It furnishes a better opportunity for the de- velopment of will power. In fact, to cultivate the will in school it does not make very much difference what you study, just so it is a something that you do not like. Rejoinder of the Interest People. — To these proposi- tions of the Will people, the Interest people make a re- joinder. They say that to keep a boy doing disagreeable tasks is not a cultivation of the will of the boy, but rather the will of the teacher. The will can be cultivated only by causing the impulses leading to action to spring from the inside, and not by impressing them upon the boy from the outside. The will cannot be cultivated by compulsion, but the only effect of such procedure is to bring about a real weakening of the will. Proper Cultivation of the Will. — More than this, when we compel a boy to attend to a disagreeable thing, we are not cultivating his will, but, we are teaching him to divide his attention and his energies, — a process which is productive of anything else than the effect desired. The boy may assume the appearance of studying his history lesson while at the same time he may be counting the marbles in his pocket, or day-dreaming of sailing the 146 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Spanish Main in a pirate ship. The only way to cultivate the will of the child is to cause the impulse to action to spring up from his own consciousness. Hence the will can be cultivated only by the method of procedure ad- vocated by the Interest people. Only those exercises cultivate the will, in any true sense of the word, that command the interest of children. Weakness of the Argument of the Will People. — The reply of the Interest people seems to be satisfactory. The real weakness of the argument of the Will people is that it is based upon a psychology that is decadent and demonstrably wrong. The will is not something* that can be trained as a horse or dog can be. Hence their argument is fallacious, and wholly beside the question. Weakness of the Argument of the Interest People. — The Interest people are wrong in their assumption that the interest resides in the thing. It is not the thing that is interesting but it is we who are interested. Conse- quently much of the reasoning of the Interest people is as bad or worse than that of the Will people. Let us study interest in itself before trying to decide upon the relative merits of the arguments advanced by the two sides. What Interest Is. — Interest is classed by some persons as an intellectual process, and is scarcely discriminated from attention. It seems much more satisfactory to consider interest as a feeling, and to class it with other affective processes. A feeling can never exist alone, but it is always the accompaniment of an intellectual pro- INTEREST 147 cess. The intellectual process which the feeling that we call interest accompanies is a perception. The thing that is perceived when we experience the feeling of interest is a relation. One of the terms between which the relation is perceived is ourselves, and the other term is the thing to which we attend. Hence we may define interest as the feeling which accompanies the perception of the relation which exists between the thing to which we attend and ourselves. When no relation is perceived between the thing and ourselves, the feeling which we experience is not that of interest. Everything is Interesting. — When I see a man walk- ing along the street, the matter may be of no interest to me. But when something indicates that he is my father or my brother or some one to whom I owe money, then it becomes of interest. The interest has arisen, not from any change in the appearance of the man, but from the recognition of the relation that he holds to me. Similarly, everything in which I am interested is related to me in some way. In a certain sense, everything in the universe is related to me; so there is nothing in the universe in which I am not now, or in which I may not become interested. In order that I may be interested in any particular thing all that I need to do is to perceive that it holds some relation to me. The interest is much or little according to the closeness of the relationship. Hence it would seem unwise to refuse to teach a partic- ular subject because it is of no interest to the child. The child is interested in everything in the universe, or he 148 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING may become so. Lack of interest does not imply a par- ticular stage of development, but it implies lack of skill and insight in the teacher. Interest in a subject does not imply that the subject is the best thing for the child to be taught at any particular time. Hence we may be perfectly free in our selection of material for the course of study, selecting those things which it will be best for the child to know, and feeling perfectly confident that, if it is presented in the right way and with the proper perspective, anything we may choose to present will be of interest. Interest a Feeling. — Interest is a feeling, but not all feelings are interests. If a feeling accompanies some other intellectual process than the perception of the re- lation between ourselves and something else, then the feeling is not one of interest. Like other feelings, in- terests may differ in their specific character, and be of different kinds ; so it is perfectly proper to speak of interests, using the word in the plural. We may have just as many different kinds of interests as there are kinds of relations that we perceive. Three Qualities of Feeling. — Feelings differ from each other in at least three important respects. They differ in specific character. One feeling needs to be de- signated by a different name from another feeling, as joy and sorrow. Feelings also differ from each other in intensity and may be strong or weak. Feelings also differ from each other in tone, by which we mean the pleas- antness or unpleasantness which they manifest. Tone INTEREST 149 is so important that many persons have been inclined to consider it the feeling itself, rather than one of the characteristic qualities of feeling. This accounts in very large measure for the fact that by interest most persons have meant the pleasantness accompanying an intellectual process. But we may have unpleasant interests just as truly as pleasant. The pleasant tone of a feeling usualh accompanies a degree of resistance in a nervous arc that is not so great as to be injurious, while an unpleasant interest, or feeling, is usually the accompaniment of a degree of resistance which is injurious to the individual. Habit Decreases Feeling. — The fact is well estab- lished that a repetition of the passage of a nervous im- pulse through the same nervous arc leaves such an effect in the arc that the nervous impulse will thereafter traverse it with less resistance than it did at first. This is the law of habit, and it is the most important fact in our study of interest. An unpleasant interest, which we may regard as the concomitant of great resistance in the nervous arc, may, by practice or habit, change to one of a pleasant character. When the resistance becomes little or nothing, then the interest ceases to be pleasant or un- pleasant, and becomes one of monotony. Unpleasant Subject Becomes Pleasant by Successful Study. — Here we have an explanation of an important fact. A subject in school that is too difficult for a class, awakens a painful interest and the pupils do not like to study it. But if it is studied long enough, and the chil- dren understand each lesson as it is studied, the practice 150 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING diminishes the resistance, and the interest ceases to be unpleasant and becomes pleasant. If a lesson is too hard, the interest the children experience in studying it is an unpleasant interest. If the lesson is too easy, it does not furnish a sufficient amount of resistance to arouse any kind of feeling, and the interest of the children is not a pleasant interest, but one of monotony. Interest Usually Follows Attention. — In the above facts we have an answer to the question frequently asked: Does interest, meaning pleasurable interest, fol- low or precede the doing of a piece of work well? In the case of a pupil in school, does he do good work because he is interested in the subject, or is he interested in the subject because he does his work well? If a person is interested in his work, there is no doubt that the work will be done with the greatest economy of effort. But how shall the pleasurable interest be aroused ? This is a prac- tical matter, and it will always be found that if a pupil undertakes to learn his lesson as well as it is possible for him to learn it, the pleasurable interest in the subject will increase rapidly. A sure recipe for arousing interest in school work is to see that every lesson is well learned and thoroughly understood. Illustration in This Chapter. — This very chapter will furnish an illustration. A person who is not concerned with teaching nor with philosophical questions, and who reads this chapter over casually, as he would a newspaper paragraph, will not experience any feeling of interest in it. A teacher, to whom this chapter may be supposed to have INTEREST 151 something of intrinsic interest, and who reads it over with little attention, will experience little interest in it. A teacher who puts enough energy into the reading of this chapter to discover in it an explanation of the phenomena of interest or lack of interest in the children that he has observed will experience a pleasurable interest in reading it. A teacher who has not had the proper kind of psycho- logical training to enable him to read this chapter readily and understanding^ without much study and great effort, but who does read it thoroughly, will experience a pain- ful interest in it. A teacher of much experience, or a writer upon pedagogy, whose ideas on interest, already well established, are jarred out of their setting by the critical reading of this chapter, is likely to experience a painful interest in it, and to verify by his attitude toward these ideas,,, the accuracy of the conclusion here reached. How Develop Interest. — Our very definition of inter- est also implies what is necessary to the production of pleasurable interest in school work. The child who is unable to see what relation the subject of instruction bears to the life that he is leading or that he must ulti- mately lead will not have his interest so readily aroused. Hence the teacher who wishes his pupils to learn as rapidly and with as little effort .as possible, will devote much attention to showing the relation that the subjects of instruction bear to the life of the children in school. There are so many different kinds of relations and so many interests to which appeal may be made that a teacher who is skillful and acquainted with the real situa- tion will have little difficulty. 152 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Interest of Curiosity. — It is impossible to make any very satisfactory classification of interests. It will serve our purpose merely to discuss a few of the most im- portant and easily observable interests without undertak- ing to classify them all. We may group some of the interests in such a way that the grouping may be service- able to us without its being a scientific classification. The first group of interests we may indicate are those of curiosity. They are rather low interests and in them is implied something of a reprehensible character. When we speak of a person as being very curious by nature, or manifesting great curiosity, we mean to imply something rather to the discredit of the individual. But low as is this interest, it is the first interest that people experience, and perhaps it lies at the basis of all im- provement that the world has made. The nations that lead the world in science and civilization are the nations in which the interest of curiosity is prominent. Out of it grows the desire to know for the sake of knowing. It expresses the relation of the unknown to ourselves. The nations of Southern Asia are good examples of nations that experience little interest of curiosity. Such nations become stagnant and make little progress. The letter of the Turkish cadi to Dr. Layard is a classic ex- pression of this lack of curiosity. To people who ex- perience this lack of curiosity, progress is impossible. Letter of a Turkish Cadi to Mr. Layard, who wrote to him asking for certain statistical information : "My Illustrious Friend and Joy of My Liver : "The thing you ask of me is both difficult and useless. Although I have passed all my days in this place, I have neither INTEREST 153 counted the houses nor inquired into the number of inhabitants ; and as for what one person loads on his mules and the other stows away in the bottom of his ship, that is no business of mine. But, above all, as to the previous history of this city, God only knows the amount of dirt and confusion that the infidels may have eaten before the coming of the sword of Islam. It were unprofitable to inquire into it. "O, my Soul! O, my Lamb! Seek not after the things that concern thee not. Thou earnest unto us and we welcomed thee: go in peace. "Of a truth thou hast spoken many words ; and there is no harm done, for the speaker is one and the listener is another. After the fashion of thy people thou hast wandered from one place to another until thou art happy and content in none. We (praise be to God) were born here and never desire to quit it. Is it possible, then, that the idea of a general intercourse between mankind should make any impression on our understanding? God forbid. "Listen, O my son. There is no wisdom like unto the belief in God. He created the world, and shall we liken ourselves unto Him in seeking to penetrate into the mysteries of His creation? Shall we say, Behold this star spinneth around that star, and this other star with a tail cometh and goeth in so many years? Let it go. He from whose hand it came will guide and direct it. "But thou wilt say, Stand aside, O man, for I am more learned than thou art, and have seen more things. If thou thinkest that thou art in this respect better than I am, thou art welcome. I praise God that I seek not that which I require not. Thou art learned in the things that I care not for; and as for what thou hast seen, I spit upon it. Will much knowledge create thee a double stomach, or wilt thou seek Paradise with thine eyes? "O my friend, if thou wilt be happy say, There is no God but God. Do no evil, and thus wilt thou fear neither man nor death, for surely thine hour will come. "The Meek in Spirit (El Fakir), "Imaum Ali Zadi." Curiosity as an Interest in School. — Many teachers appeal to the interest of curiosity as a means of stimu- lating study. A subject is regarded as interesting be- cause it is new and strange. The practice of such teach- ears is to do something new all the time in order to keep the children interested. It really seems as if it is scarcely 154 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING advisable to appeal to this interest as a means of inducing study, for it is a lower form of interest than is the interest of habit, or almost any other. When a class enters upon a new subject, it will be discovered that no good work is likely to be done until the feeling of newness has disappeared and a different interest manifests itself. The effect of appealing to the interest of curiosity and of doing something new all the time is fatal to the forma- tion of correct habits of study, and even if it fails to in- duce nervousness in children, it prevents the develop- ment of more powerful interests. Interest of Exploration. — Similar to the interest of curiosity, and yet to be distinguished from it, is the in- terest of exploration. This interest is experienced when persons travel beyond the boundaries of their horizon, and when they see new things for themselves. It is not lim- ited to physical exploration, but applies to the fields of knowledge in all directions. It is the interest underlying what, at present, we call research. But not all things are indicative of the interest of exploration that appear to be. When a person reads up all the guide books that he can find about the places which he expects to visit, the probability is strong that the real interest is not one of exploration, but one of imitation. The person wishes . to imitate what other people have done, and if other persons had not visited such places and talked about them he would not feel inclined to do so. It is not the interest of exploration that takes people to Europe in such large numbers every INTEREST 155 summer, but rather the interest of imitation. If it were the interest of exploration, they would prefer to visit South America, or some other place that is not so com- monly frequented by tourists. Interest of Habit. — The interest of habit is a powerful interest. Habit is a conservator of energy, and anything that is done as the result of habit is done with little loss of energy. When a thing has become habitual we ex- perience little feeling in doing it. The resistance in the brain centers involved in the nervous processes has diminished to a minimum, and little feeling results. The tone has become one of indifference. But when we un- dertake to do the thing in a different way, we increase the resistance to such an extent that the resulting feeling has a painful tone. Often it seems more painful to break a habit than it does to form one. The direction of the nervous impulse into unaccustomed channels is accom- panied by so great an amount of resistance that the con- comitant feeling is painful. In the case of an activity that is at first painful, repetition diminishes the amount of resistance to such an extent that it ceases to be ac- companied by a painful feeling, and comes to be attended by a pleasurable one. Importance of Habit. — Habit is one of the most im- portant interests. If a teacher can get a class into the habit of learning lessons well, or into the habit of proper behavior in school, or into the habit of punctuality, or regular attendance, the school work runs smoothly, and there is little friction anywhere in the school. All things 156 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING that contribute to the formation of correct habits of study and behavior are important arrangements in the making of the school. Strict adherence to the program, promptness in opening and closing the school and in the different exercises of the day ; the manner of assigning lessons and of calling upon the pupils to recite ; everything that conduces to the steady movement of the school will induce interest of habit and tend to render it helpful to the pupils. On the other hand, whatever tends to interrupt the formation of good habits in school detracts just so much from its efficiency. Even holidays, changes of program, new devices, all tend to retard and to pre- vent the formation of habit. Just in so far as they substitute an interest of less effectiveness for the interest of habit, they tend to detract from the effectiveness of the school work. Interest of Artistic Accomplishment. — The interest of artistic accomplishment is well worthy of our considera- tion. Sometimes we know that things become monoton- ous, and children lose interest in their work. This is the justification assigned by many teachers for the change of program, the introduction of new exercises, and the employment of the interest of curiosity. Monotony is a manifestation of indifference. It is not painful, neither is it pleasurable. We think of it as something undesira- ble because it affords no pleasure. With the same amount of nervous energy, the action that is performed without feeling will be better done than if feeling accompanies it. Usually, however, the feeling INTEREST 157 of monotony accompanies an action that is performed with little energy. If a greater amount of nervous energy were generated in the doing of the act, feeling, not of monotony, or indifference, but of pleasure would accompany the action. Hence arises the belief that a feeling of pleasure is the best evidence of an action well done. Artistic Accomplishment Not Monotonous. — The work of an artist never becomes monotonous. Whenever we do anything in the very best way possible for us to do it we always experience a feeling of pleasure. This is true after the painful experience of learning has been completed, and a habit has been formed. If we do the thing as well as we can do it, habit never becomes so strong that it takes away the pleasure in the doing. In- difference or monotony results only when the amount of nervous energy does not increase as the habit is formed. When we do a thing in the very best way that we can do it, there is always a sufficient amount of resistance to create in us the feeling of interest, whether pleasant or unpleasant. This unpleasant interest may, and in gen- eral will, become diminished by habit, so that the final result will always be a pleasant interest. The pleasant interest may give way to a feeling of indifference, if no larger amount of energy is employed. But in order to do the work in the very best possible way we shall need to direct the nervous impulse in such an amount through the necessary brain centers that considerable resistance will be encountered. 158 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Limit of Skill. — Not only will a larger amount of nervous energy result in an increase in interest, but we cannot go on improving in the doing of the thing by practice indefinitely. There is a limit to the skill which we may acquire. We ultimately reach a point where we forget as rapidly as we learn. The cells at the limit of the brain center which is traversed, recover from the effect of the transmission of the nervous impulse through them as rapidly as they are modified. Even the most skillful artist needs to keep in practice, and a few days cessation increases the resistance in the necessary brain centers to such an extent that the nervous impulse finds a more difficult pathway than before. Hence the result is not so successful as on the previous occasion. Here we have an explanation of the continuous pleas- urable interest in doing any thing as well as we can do it. We may call this the interest of artistic accomplishment, and it may be experienced in any activity in which we may engage. It may, perhaps, be experienced in the highest degree in those occupations that demand the highest skill, but it may be experienced in other occupa- tions as well. Even though the problem be so simple as chopping wood, the one who starts out to be an artist can never find such occupation mechanics T he skill re- quired to strike exactly in the same place that the ax fell upon before is not easily acquired nor easily retained. There is always a sufficient amount of resistance in the fringe of cells latest to be traversed with ease in the acquisition of skill, to furnish a pleasurable interest. INTEREST 159 There is generally, in such cases, a pretty steady balance between the forgetting and the learning; between the decrease of resistance and the recovery of the former condition, so that the process never becomes monotonous, nor the feeling one of indifference. Interest in Welfare. — Interest in our own welfare, both physical and social, is an interest so comprehensive that it may be made to include all egoistic feelings and a large part of the altruistic. It is presupposed in all dis- cussions of interest, and may be made to include more than half of all kinds of interests that we can distinguish. It may be a pleasurable or a painful interest, and it is scarcely worth our while to consider it in any way except as a generic interest that includes many groups which we may characterize by other names. Synopsis. 1. The Interest people assert that all school work should be determined by the interest which children mani- fest in it. The Will people consider interest a minor matter, and seek justification for their selection of sub- jects and methods of teaching in the opportunity afforded for the cultivation of the will. The two schools of phil- osophers are quite distinctly opposed to each other. 2. Interest is a feeling, and like other feelings is to be explained upon physiological principles, and associated with nervous processes. It may be associated with the resistance which a nervous impulse encounters in passing through a nervous arc. 160 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 3. Interest is the feeling which accompanies the in- tellectual process of the perception of the relation be- tween the thing to which we attend and ourselves. 4. Many kinds of relations indicate many kinds of interests. We may become interested in anything and everything in the universe, since everything in the uni- verse holds some relation to ourselves. 5. Some of the principal kinds of interest are curios- ity, or wonder, exploration, habit, imitation, and artistic accomplishment. CHAPTER X. Imitation. Importance of Imitation. — The interest of imitation is of so much importance that it demands treatment by itself. There is something rather uncomplimentary im- plied in the statement that a person is an imitator, or that a certain piece of work is an imitation. Notwithstanding the uncomplimentary character of such references, imita- tion is one of the most important elements in the education of children, and in our whole social life. Other things being as they are, if it were not for the results of imita- tion, it would be impossible to maintain our present civili- zation for a single day. Effect of Being Original in Language. — Let us sup- pose that we should decide to be absolutely original, and suppose that we were able to do so. Let us suppose that we decide to invent a language of our own, and not to imitate the language of others. Suppose we were able to invent a language as complex as the English, with as many words and modes of expression and new rules of grammar. When we had our new language invented, of what use would it be? Since no one else would know our language, it would be impossible to communicate our thought by means of it to any other person, and the very purpose for which language is made would be defeated. 161 162 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING We should be, as a result of our refusal to imitate, in exactly the same condition that the prehuman race was before it had become able to use spoken language. Illustration from Clothing. — Similarly, if we were to refuse to wear the same kind of clothes that other persons do, we should deprive ourselves of the advantage of get- ting our clothes at the same shop where other clothes may be procured. We should find no tailor who could make clothes for us, since he knows how to make only such clothes as other persons wear. We should be com- pelled to invent new ways of making up clothes. If we should refuse to imitate others in the kinds of materials employed, we should be compelled to discover new materials, and to invent new processes for making them into fabric. In short, we should deprive ourselves of the wisdom which people have been accumulating for thousands of years. The same kind of illustration might be employed with reference to food, to houses, to amuse- ments, or to anything else. We are able to enjoy so much of the comforts of life in such abundance merely because we are imitators and content to eat the same things, to wear the same kind of things, and to enjoy the same things that other persons do. Imitation Preserves Improvements. — Imitation is the conservative force in community life, and tends to pre- serve the improvements that have once been made. But in order that there shall be improvements and progress, there must be change, which is opposed to imitation. This tendency to change we may call adaptation, or invention, IMITATION 163 or creation. Nations differ widely in their disposition to invent, or to change. A nation that is new, and is not hampered by traditions, or old ways of doing things, is likely to be very inventive. This is the condition of the United States today. Our people generally are inventive, not merely in machinery and mechanical devices, but in political, religious, and social life. The same thing is true of the people of New Zealand and Australia, who are, like the United States, adolescent nations. The same thing is not true of the people of Europe, and still less of the people of Eastern Asia. The Chinese were once a highly inventive people. Two or three thousand years ago they invented gun- powder and the magnetic needle and printing, and brought into cultivation almost one-half of all the plants that constitute the agricultural production of the world. They seem to have lost their power of invention, and to have been for a great many years chiefly concerned in the preservation of what they have already acquired. They are imitative to excess. We have all heard the story of the officer of a European vessel in a Chinese port, who employed a Chinese tailor to make a uniform for him. The tailor did not know how to make the European trousers, so the officer furnished him with an old pair as a model. He made the new trousers exactly as the old ones were made ; and since the, old ones had been patched and darned, the Chinese tailor made the tear in the knee and put in the patch and the darn. So a ladv who had a Chinese cook showed him how to 164 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING make a cake. The recipe called for three eggs, but one of the eggs the lady had at hand was bad. She threw it away and used three good eggs. Every time that the cook made a cake after that recipe, he employed four eggs, three to put into the cake and one to throw away. Imitation in Children. — Children are imitative. Imi- tation does not appear at first, but manifests itself about the age of six to nine months. From that time until the child is seven years of age, imitation is nearly the strongest interest the child possesses. The first actions of a child are not imitative acts. They are reflexes and involuntary. He responds by a muscular movement to a stimulus ; but the act is not an intellectual one, and cannot be inhibited. Imitation and Reflex Action. — There is very little difference between the first imitative actions of a child and the preceding reflexes which involve the same muscles. The principal difference is that after a series of reflexes, the child comes to recognize that it is his muscle which moves in response to the stimulus, and he can picture in his mind the movement of the arm or the muscle before it is made. This preliminary idea of his own movement, however, is the essential difference be- tween the voluntary and the involuntary act ; between the reflex and the imitation. The act that is pictured can be inhibited, if the contrary picture, or the opposing sug- gestion is presented. If it is not presented, the action follows as inevitably as if it were a reflex instead of voluntary act. IMITATION 165 Reflex Passes Through Imitation to Become a Vol- untary Act. — This, then, is the way that a reflex act passes over into a conscious, voluntary, willed act. When a child sees the action of a person, such as the waving of a parent's hand, the child has a mental picture of his own hand waving. It is in this way that he inter- prets and knows the meaning of the action of the other person. Until he is able to picture to himself his own hand waving, he does not know the meaning of the other person's action. The idea of his own hand waving furnishes the motive for the action. It is the mental antecedent, the conscious motive, to the voluntary act. The idea of his own movement comes from his inter- pretation of the action which he sees, and so it is that the child imitates the action of the person. What is imitated is the idea or mental image of the action of the other person, which exists in the mind of the child. The Physiological Process in Imitation. — It may con- duce to clearness of understanding if we try to picture the nervous processes that go on in the brain of the child at the time of the imitative act. The preceding reflexes have been the result of nervous impulses pass- ing through the motor center. A connection has already been established between the sight center and the motor centers as a result of the stimulus setting up a nervous impulse in the eye, which has been transmitted to the sight center and then has flowed over to the motor cen- ters. The resulting movement, which the child has seen, has established another impulse in the sight center, 166 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING so that the sight centers and the motor centers have be- come rather closely connected. When the child has pictured to himself his own movement, he has established a nervous impulse which is centrally initiated, and which' has been preceded by such an adjustment of the elements of the brain centers as will permit a nervous impulse to pass easily. Then a very small impulse from the out- side directed into the same brain center will easily pass through it and flow over into the associated motor center. It is not so likely to flow into the other motor centers, because like adjustments have not been made for them. This is the meaning of the idea of one's own movement. Hence the previous useless reflexes are inhibited, or fail to appear, and the imitated act is accomplished with less expenditure of nervous energy than the preceding re- flexes. Every Voluntary Act an Imitation. — Using the word imitation in its widest sense, we may say that every conscious voluntary action is an imitation of the idea which exists in the person's mind. It does not seem, however, that this method of looking at an action leads to clearer thinking about actions in general, although it does emphasize the importance of imitation as an ele- ment in education. How Imitation Passes into Originality. — The first actions of children, even those that are imitative, are meaningless. The parent who starts away from home and waves good-bye to the baby, fondly imagines that the return imitative wave of the baby's hand means IMITATION 167 good-bye, but it does not. It is purely an imitation of the action. But there comes a time when the child associates the action of the hand with the departure and absence of the parent. Then the response ceases to be purely imitative, and becomes something more ; or rather, there is something more imitated than the action of the parent. Later, when the parent goes away, he may not wave his hand, but he may say, ''Bye, bye, Baby;" and still the baby may respond by the waving of his hand as he has previously learned to do on similar occasions. Here is an imitation, it is true, but it is the imitation of the idea rather than of the action. The same idea is ex- pressed by the parent in words which the baby expresses, or imitates, by the action of the hand. Accidental Variation. — We have now seen how the action of the little child is developed from a reflex through the imitation of the action to the imitation of the idea, and becomes a conscious voluntary act. It is now our purpose to inquire how r imitation passes over into originality. We may point out at least two ways in which this result is brought about. In the first place, it is impossible to do a thing twice in exactly the same way. The things that constitute the disturbing elements are so many and so various and so difficult to trace, that we may abandon the attempt to do so, and say that the variations are fortuitous, or accidental. Accidental variation then, will account for some of the changes in an imitated action that enables us to call it an original process. 168 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Purposeful Variation. — Variation of any kind is or- iginality, no matter how it may be brought about. Be- sides this accidental variation, there may be a purpose- ful variation. After an action has been performed a good many times, the nervous arc ceases to furnish a sufficient amount of resistance to give pleasure, or to furnish a pleasurable interest in the doing of the act. Hence, in order to experience interest, or pleasure in the doing, the person will modify, somewhat, the nervous arc, thus throwing new brain cells into the combination, in- creasing the resistance, and consequently modifying the character of the action. In this way we may account in very large measure for the tendency to invention, grow- ing out of imitation. Imitation in Adults. — We have so far been consider- ing the child as imitative, without considering the effect of the same quality upon the actions of adults. Grown people are quite as truly imitative as are children. The difference between adults and children in this respect is that adult persons have a large number of ideas, so that an inhibitory one is much more likely to appear and prevent the imitation than in a child. Hence we fail to recognize the imitative character of adult actions. But when it is possible to prevent the appearance of the inhibiting idea, persons manifest their imitativeness very clearly. When one person in a company yawns, it will be a very short time before nearly everybody in the company will yawn, unless the inhibiting suggestion is given. When a person stares up into the sky, as if IMITATION 169 lie were looking for an airship or an angel, it is likely that everybody passing near him will glance up into the sky, or even stop to gaze in the same direction. It may be that he saw nothing at all, but in the absence of the inhibiting suggestion, people will imitate his actions. Importance of Imitation in School. — We have been studying the psychology of imitation, but it is necessary for us to consider the practical importance of this in- terest to the teacher. The child who starts into school at the age of six learns nearly everything in his first year by imitation. The teacher undertakes to teach him how to write a word. She says, "Write it in this way" — putting a copy on the board. Indeed in no other way could the child be taught to write. If the teacher were unable to write, it would be a difficult matter for her to teach the children, even though she might have a good intellectual knowledge of the process itself. The same thing is true in reading. The child imitates the sound of the word as the teacher pronounces it, and associates the sound of the word with the printed character. Read- ing, writing, drawing, and the exercises that are intended to develop the number concept are all imitative exercises. Other Things Learned by Imitation. — But the child learns other things than his lessons by imitation. He imitates the speech of the teacher, the grammatical forms, the tricks of pronunciation, the peculiarities of manner, the manner of rising up and sitting down. Everything that the teacher does is imitated by the children. We see how important it is, then, that the teacher shall be ex- 170 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING actly the proper person to be imitated by these copyists. It has sometimes been suggested that we over-emphasize the importance of the primary teacher, but when we consider the effect of imitation, it seems almost impossi- ble to do so. Imitation of the Bad. — The child imitates not merely the teacher, but he imitates his classmates and his play- mates. He imitates their habits of speech, their methods of acting and their ideas. It has been remarked that the child is likely to imitate the bad rather than the good, and there seems to be a good deal of justification for that opinion. There is also a clearly indicated reason why such should be the case, although it is by no means an evidence of total depravity on the part of the child. The Good Beyond the Child's Stage of Development. — The good is something that is in the nature of an improvement and is more nearly in conformity to the standard of conduct adopted by adult society than is the bad. It represents a standard of social development that has been attained by society through hundreds of years of slow progression. The bad represents a stage of conduct existing in the less developed society of the past. The child is in a stage of development that cor- responds to the past experience of the race, rather than to the present higher development of it. The bad, then, is more nearly in accordance with his present stage of development than is the good, and it is easier for him to act in accordance with the bad standard than with the good. The good is something in the nature of an IMITATION 171 improvement and a development of character. The bad is something in the nature of a lack of development. The child, in school at least, is progressing and is moving away from a less developed to a more developed state. The good is something that he has not yet grown up to. Hence he is more nearly affiliated in his development with the undeveloped condition which we call bad, than he is with the more fully developed condition that we call good. Imitative Plays. — If we observe the plays of children, we shall see that before the age of seven years, with the exception of sense plays, much the larger number are imitative plays. Children play house, and play store, and play school. We observe the bizarre and strange imitations, sometimes, such as the imitations of circus and funerals and executions and butcherings ; but imita- tions of the less rare and the common occupations of adult life .are played by the children so frequently that they fail to attract attention, and we neglect their consid- eration. They constitute much the larger number of children's plays. Sometimes it seems necessary for chil- dren to imitate these occupations before they can organ- ize them in their minds. Dramatisation in School. — This leads to a considera- tion of the exercise in school that is known as dramatiza- tion. Dramatization means expression in action of the stories that have been read by the children or told to them. Such stories as Cock Robin, Little Miss Muflet, Bo Peep, Little Boy Blue, The Falling Leaves, are 172 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING favorite stories for dramatization. The reasons advanced for dramatization are of three kinds: First, that it is a play for children and interests them very much. We may allow this to be the case. Children do dramatize, or "play and act out" the stories that they have read, on their own initiative and without any teaching. How- ever, dramatization is advocated for its educative value rather than for the pleasure that it gives to the childern; hence it is from the educative standpoint that we must consider it. Dramatisation a Means of Expression. — The second reason is that children find in dramatization a means of expression. They express the thought of the stories in action. This is undoubtedly true, although it may be true without furnishing sufficient reason for introducing dramatization into the school exercises as an educative process. This argument for dramatization might take the following form: Thought is impossible without ex- pression, and the more complete the expression the better will the thought be organized. The child needs to ex- press the same thought in as many ways as possible. He may express it in words, both spoken and written. He may express it in material by making the object that will correspond to the thought, if it is the thought of a material object. He may express it in drawing, as some things are best adapted to such expression. He may express it in action, and this is the most effective means of expression and altogether the most satisfactory, when the thought is a series of events, or an account of an IMITATION 173 action. The form of expression that is most satisfactory in any particular case depends upon the nature of the thing that is thought. If it is a story of occurrences, then action is the most satisfactory form of expression, and is the form that will most efficiently help the child to organize his thought. More than this, it may be said that thought is im- possible without some form of muscular movement which constitutes the expression. With little children, the larger movements that influence the whole body are more efficient means of assisting thought than are the smaller movements employed in speaking. Reply to the Argument. — To this it may be replied that the children have already learned to express the thought in words. If we teach them to express the same thought in action after they have learned to express it in words, we are encouraging a lower form of expression and placing less value upon the higher. Speech is a higher form of expression than is action, and it is farther removed from the primitive form. Children are capable of expressing quite accurately their thoughts in actions long before they can express them in words. A father heard a cry from his two-year-old child. He came down stairs and said, "What's the matter, Baby?" The baby pointed to his mother, saying, " 'm — 'm'm — ," then viciously spatted his hands together, leaving no doubt in the mind of the father what was the occasion of the baby's cry. Action a Primitive Form of Expression, — The race 174 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING employed action to express thought long before language was invented, and action is a form of expression pecu- liarly appropriate for children in the prehuman stage. So great was the change from action to speech as a means of expression that we employ it to mark the sepa- ration between the human and the prehuman condition of the race. It would therefore seem that in dramatiza- tion we are encouraging a lower form of expression to the discouragement of the higher. It would seem that we were undertaking to assist the children to overcome the advantages of civilization. Example of Teachers of the Deaf. — Perhaps the practice of the teachers of the deaf has some relation to this discussion. It is the constant effort of teachers of the deaf to prevent the expression of thought by action, or sign language. They act upon the principle that if the deaf children are encouraged or permitted to use the language of action, it will be distinctly detrimental to their progress in oral expression. The wisdom of the teachers of the deaf may be questioned, but their prac- tice is rather opposed to the principle involved in drama- tization. Dramatization Clarifies Thought. — The third reason advanced in justification of dramatization in school is that it clarifies the thought of the children and makes more real to them the thought already secured. It is by action that the child organizes the thought into his own consciousness, and he can do this better through his muscular activity than merely by means of words. IMITATION 175 Reply to the Argument. — In opposition to this view it is argued that the child already has the thought in mind which he wishes to express in action, and that he cannot express it in action any more clearly than he has it in mind. Dramatic action is inevitably hampered by many material limitations. A person who can read, and who is able to picture to himself the actions that are ex- pressed in words is not limited in his thought by these material conditions. Hence it is that the intelligent reader is likely to have a more adequate interpretation of the thought than that which is obtained by the best dramatic representation. Dramatic rendering of plays is more likely to be popular with those who cannot read adequately than with those who can. Shakespeare's plays were more popular with the unlettered populace of his time than they are today, although many people read them with great appreciation. When Justified. — There is likely to be something of a sense of disappointment when we see a dramatic inter- pretation of a play with which we are already familiar through reading which does not occur if we have not read it. If a dramatic rendering of a story leads to a higher conception of the thought than can be obtained without it, then dramatization is helpful and fully justified. But if a child has already obtained a fairly adequate notion of the story, then the interpretation of it in any manner that will cause a fall or drop in his conception is not helpful, but harmful. Few people would expect to have their conception of the tragedy on Calvary intensified 176 PRINCIPLES OP TEACHING by a dramatic rendition of the circumstances, and Mil- ton's Battle in Heaven would be but a burlesque when acted out under material limitations. It may be that children's dramatizations are susceptible to the same criti- cisms. Unconscious Imitation. — Imitation is not always con- scious imitation. In fact, it is seldom so. The action that is seen is generally imitated unconsciously. When a person is watching a game of baseball or football, his muscles undergo the same contractions, in slight degrees only, of course, as do the muscles of the players. So at the conclusion of an exciting game the spectator is fre- quently almost as tired as are the players. A person who looks at a statue, involuntarily and of necessity puts himself into the attitude of the figure, and expresses by that involuntary attitude the thoughts and emotions which the figure represents. If the figure represents a vigorous action, the movement of the muscles and the posture of the body are quite noticeably in conformity with that of the figure. What is really imitated is the thought in the mind of the observer which the figure arouses in him. If a person should misinterpret a figure, and perceive in it an expression of joy, while the artist's intention was to represent extreme anguish, the mistaken observer would imitate the joyous attitude. Imitation of Ideas Read. — The ideas aroused in the mind by reading are imitated in some slight degree in every case. Hence the importance of reading good books and of refusing to read bad or indifferent ones; for the IMITATION \77 ideas that the books express will be imitated in some slight degree and will modify the character of the reader. In fact, we have here a standard of judging whether a book is good or bad. Example of the Great Stone Face. — We have an admirable example of unconscious imitation and its re- sults in Hawthorne's story of the Great Stone Face. Here was a boy who had looked for years upon the majesty of the Great Stone Face and who had eagerly watched for the man who should represent in his features and in his character the ideas which the Great Stone Face expressed. Year after year he had gazed upon the face, and his thoughts had involuntarily conformed to those which it expressed. At length, after many disap- pointments, the neighbors observed that Ernest himself was the man who so closely resembled the Great Stone Face. His contemplation of the face for so many years and his unconscious imitation of the ideas which the face expressed had molded his features into the likeness of the expression that existed upon the face. School Surroundings Imitated. — We have in this fact of unconscious imitation the reason for making the school surroundings as good as it is possible to have them. The school represents the ideals and ideas of the community. Every article of furniture, every element in the archi- tecture of the building, every item of decoration on its walls, every portion of the school grounds and the school surroundings expresses the idea of somebody, and that idea will be imitated by the children, and will modify 178 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING their character. Hence it is necessary that the ideas which the school surroundings express shall be of such a nature as will make their imitation advantageous. Imitate What is Admired. — The child is very suscepti- ble to suggestion. He imitates most readily that which he most admires ; for admiration is a feeling of kinship with himself, and is a form of interest. The teacher can contribute somewhat to the efficiency of imitation by leading the pupils to admire the good and to dislike the bad. Children imitate best what they most admire, or that with which they feel the nearest relationship. Synopsis. 1. Imitation is the most important interest in child- hood, and is the one upon which the primary teacher must principally depend. 2. The first actions of children are reflexes, but by the : process of imitation they pass over into conscious voluntary actions. 3. The child learns to interpret the actions and ideas of other persons by a process of imitation. Ideas may be imitated. It is a proper use of the word in a very ex- tended sense, to say that every purposive action is the imitation of an idea entertained by the actor. 4. Imitation passes over into originality, or creation, by two processes ; first, accidental variation ; second, by intentional variation, for the purpose of increasing the pleasant feeling. 5. Children imitate the bad rather than the good, IMITATION 179 because the bad is something that is not so far removed as the good from their present condition of development. The good is something that approximates more nearly to the ideals of older people, hence, is farther removed from the present stage of development of the child. 6. The principles of imitation must enter into the discussion of the utility of dramatization, good reading, and development of character. CHAPTER XL Apperception. Herbartian Conception of Mind. — Apperception means the process by which a new idea is joined to old ideas and a new thing is learned. The discussion of apperception, therefore, involves an understanding of the whole learning process. The word is adopted from the philosophical utterances of the German philosopher Herbart, and in order to understand his explanation of the term, we must know something of his conception of the mind. Other psychologists had regarded the mind as an active thing capable of doing something of itself ; but Herbart regarded it as inactive. He thought of the mind under the figure of a room, into which and out of which ideas, which are the active things, came and went. Ideas are in the mind or out of the mind, and our com- mon habit of speech corresponds to this notion of the relation of ideas to the mind. The Threshold of Consciousness. — When an idea comes into the mind, it is said to rise above the threshold of consciousness. This is one of the Herbartian phrases which it is necessary for us to understand before we can read Herbartian literature readily. The figure assumes that the ideas come into the mind from below, as through a floor by means of a trap door. When an idea is in the 180 APPERCEPTION 181 mind we are conscious of it, and when it is out of the mind we are unconscious of it. It is said to rise above the threshold of consciousness, or to sink below the threshold. Related Ideas. — When an idea rises above the thresh- old of consciousness, it immediately looks around for acquaintances. If it finds none, it has difficulty in main- taining its position, and is very likely to be thrust out of the mind into outer darkness by the other ideas, or to sink below the threshold of consciousness, never to appear, or to reappear only after a very long time. If, however, the new idea finds many intimate friends and close relatives, it immediately attaches itself to them, forms a close connection, and coheres firmly with them ; and is with difficulty thrust out. It is maintained in the mind by the power and influence of its friends and family connections. Focus of Consciousness. — Every idea in the mind is a competitor with every other idea ; or, it would perhaps be better to say, every family group of ideas in the mind which cohere closely with each other, is a competitor with every other family group. Not all places in the mind are equally desirable, nor of equal value. They are like the seats at a baseball game. As soon as an idea has come into the mind and formed a connection with its friends and relatives, it immediately begins to push for the most advantageous position in the front row of seats in the grand stand. If its family group is sufficiently numer- ous and powerful, they drag it up to the front row. If 182 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING its family group is not very strong, it is likely to find itself put away off into the left field bleachers, providing it is not ejected from the ball grounds entirely. The Ap perceiving Mass. — In Herbartian English, we may say that some idea is constantly in the focus of con- sciousness, while other ideas are in the fringe. We see that the position which the new idea secures depends largely upon the number and strength of the group of its relatives, and the closeness of the connection it is enabled to form with them. This group of related ideas with which the new idea coheres, and by means of which it is enabled to maintain its position in the mind is called the ap perceiving mass. It is evident that some one or more of the ideas in the apperceiving mass will be more closely related to the new than will others, and that it will form the closest connection with that one, or with those that are most nearly related to it. So we see that the larger the apperceiving mass, the greater the probability that there will be some one idea with which the new can form a close connection, and to which it can cohere most firmly. This emphasizes the impor- tance of a large apperceiving mass. Illustration. — This discussion of the apperceiving mass indicates for us the real process of learning, and sug- gests why some things are learned so much more readily than others. A dressmaker, or some other person who is accustomed to observing women's costumes could see as much in a minute about a woman's costume at church as could a student of entomology in a month. But the APPERCEPTION 183 student of entomology would probably manifest an equally decided superiority over the dressmaker if the object to be observed were a grasshopper or some other member of a group of insects. The dressmaker would have a very large apperceiving mass of ideas about women's costumes, while the entomologist would have a very small one. In the case of the grasshopper, the condition of the apperceiving mass would be directly reversed. We learn most easily about that of which we already know the most. Knowledge attracts related knowledge to it- self. In undertaking a new subject it is the beginning that is always difficult. Modification of a New Idea. — When a new idea comes into the mind, the group of related ideas at once proceeds to modify it. All of them proceed to change it in some way, and usually they succeed, and so the new idea is assimilated to the old ones. It is true that the new idea also modifies the old ones to a certain extent ; but usually the old ideas are so much more numerous and so much stronger that the effect which the new idea produces upon the mass of old ones is so small as to be inap- preciable. Occasionally, however, the new idea is so strong and masterful in its nature that it changes the entire apperceiving mass more than the apperceiving mass can change it, and then we say that the person has been converted. Conversion is a term that is commonly employed in a religious sense, but it is properly applied to every process by which the opinion of a person is changed, 184 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Criticisms of the Doctrine of Apperception.— -There are two valid criticisms upon the Herbartian statement of the doctrine of apperception. The first, that it is highly figurative, and like any other figure, it may be carried very easily beyond the point where it is service- able, and then it is likely to hinder rather than help our thinking. In the second place it is altogether me- chanical and static rather than dynamic. No one really believes that anything like what the figure supposes ac- tually occurs. No one supposes that there is a real room for the mind, nor a real threshold, nor that ideas really cohere, nor that they form an apperceiving mass. When any figure of this kind is carried far enough, it breaks down under its own weight. This conception of the mind fails to take into consideration the developments of psychology that have been made in the past hundred years ; and so it is lacking in some very important ap- proximations to truth that may now be made. Physiological Processes Involved. — It appears that a very much better statement of all that is valuable in the Herbartian doctrine of apperception may be made by applying a physiological figure. We know that every mental process is accompanied by a corresponding physi- ological change', which always consists of a nervous impulse passing through a nervous arc. What the na- ture of the connection may be between the mental process and the physiological change, whether one is the cause of the other, or whether both are caused by some third thing we cannot state. But we may be safe in assert- APPERCEPTION 185 ing that whatever relation one such physiological process holds to other physiological processes of this kind, the same relation will obtain between the corresponding men- tal processes. A new idea gets into the mind through the senses. Force, originating in, or modified by, some object sets up an impulse in the end organ of the sensory nerve. The impulse is transmitted to its appropriate brain center, with which the sensory nerve is connected. The mental concomitant is a sensation, which is one of the ele- ments of the percept formed by a combination of several sensations experienced at the same time and modified by each other. When this percept is reproduced without the previous peripherally initiated impulses ac- companying it we may call it an idea. The idea, properly so called, is not accompanied by a peripherally initiated impulse, but only centrally initiated ones, which traverse a combination of brain ceils which we may call center 1. Let us suppose that there is another brain center or combination of brain cells, which we may call center 2, closely connected with brain center 1. We may sup- pose that some of the cells which constitute center 1 are the same cells which constitute a portion of center 2. When an impulse traverses combination 1, it is easily diverted into combination 2, since some of the cells of 1 belong also to combination 2. When 2 is traversed by an impulse, a different idea is experienced from that which is experienced when 1 is traversed. In like man- ner we may suppose that other combinations of 186 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING brain cells, 3, 4. 5, 6; 7, 8, 9 are connected with 1 or 2 or with each other, so that an impulse starting in any one of them is likely to be transmitted through all of them with little resistance, or without being thrown into brain centers that are unconnected with the first. This group of cells designated by 1 may be considered as corresponding to the simple perception, Circles \o SWcim (Xs^oc'vdX ton- Circles Showing Physiological Processes Involved. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 represent the related ideas, or the apperceiving mass. The figure on this page shows the centers of the apperceiving mass as closely approximate in space, but it is not necessary that this should be so. It is necessary only that they should be so connected as to offer little resistance to the transmission of an im- pulse from one to the other. Two centers may be the APPERCEPTION 187 full length of the brain apart, but so connected by asso- ciation fibres that the impulse readily passes from one to the other, and the effect may be as satisfactory as if they were closely approximate and had some cells in common. Apperception Described in Physiological Terms. — We thus discover in our physiological hypothesis some- thing to correspond to every element of the Herbartian figure, without involving any of the manifest absurdities which it employs. The new idea corresponds to the new combination of brain cells which is traversed for the first time by a nervous impulse. It may be that these same brain cells have entered into other combinations before, but the nervous impulse passes through them in a new combination. The apperceiving mass corresponds to the different brain centers, or com- binations of brain cells that have cells in common with the new combination or which are closely connected with it in some way. The idea rises above the threshold of consciousness when the nervous impulse traverses that particular combination of brain cells. The idea is modi- fied by the old ideas, since the specific direction that the nervous impulse takes in passing through the brain center is determined in part by the previous experience of the cells that are traversed in their new combination. Sensations that are experienced at the same time, or that are related by simultaneous association, modify each other, as we can see in contrasted colors or tastes ; and the same thing is true of percepts and ideas. The mind is 188 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING not a room, but it is the sum of all mental processes which we experience, and these mental processes have their physiological concomitants in the nervous impulses which are transmitted at the same time. Advantage of the Physiological Interpretation. — The advantage of this physiological interpretation of appercep- tion is that something of this kind must actually occur. The difference between what we have supposed to occur and what actually does occur is the fact that the actual occurrences are probably a hundred times as complex as what we assumed them to be. Results of Discussion of Apperception. — The intro- duction of the word apperception into the educational discussions of this country . contributed little to the im- provement of thought upon educational processes. Every- thing of value in the idea of apperception was already expressed by such terms as mental assimilation, mental association, and kindred words. The discussions that followed the introduction of the word, however, were of the greatest service. In the first place, the study of the process now known as apperception has compelled us to modify materially the statement of some of our best established educational maxims. We have heard it said that in the process of teaching or learning we should go from the known to the unknown. In conse- quence of our study of apperception, we know now that we must proceed from the known to the related un- known. The emphasis is thrown upon the word "related." for there is no real value in going from the known to APPERCEPTION 189 the unknown if the unknown is unrelated to the known. We may know well the theorem about the square upon the hypotenuse, but it is of no assistance in learning the unknown about the temperature of the carboniferous age. The unknown that we must reach is the unknown that is related to the known. Effect of Apperception Upon Formal Discipline. — In the second place, the discussion of apperception has been disastrous to the doctrine of formal discipline, or mental discipline as an aim in education (See page 70). The theory of formal discipline is that if the mind be- comes well trained in the study of one thing, the power so gained is perfectly available for the learning of any- thing else. We know now that this is not true. The power to learn a new thing depends upon the amount and character of the apperceiving mass. If this apper- ceiving mass is a mass of unrelated ideas, it does not assist at all in learning the new. If the brain centers traversed when learning one thing are not closely con- nected with the brain centers that are traversed by im- pulses which accompany the mental processes involved in learning a new thing, then the experiences of the first brain centers will not facilitate in the least the traversing of the new combinations of brain cells in- volved in learning the new. The study of Latin may assist in learning a new language, but it will not materi- ally forward the learning of the principles of architecture, nor the methods of assaying. Method of Learning. — Third, the discussion of ap- 190 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING perception has shown us the true method of learning anything. The new thing is learned by relating it to something already known. It is a mistake to learn a new thing as if it were unrelated to everything else in the universe. All knowledge is relative, and the rela- tions in which it exists must be perceived if we are to learn things well. What is Meant by Relation. — We have been using this principle of relativity so much and shall have oc- casion to use it further to such an extent that it seems necessary for us to have a clear understanding of what it means. We can best approach the meaning of relativity by going back to the laws of association. The words which express relation in our language are especially the prepositions ; aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, etc., through all the long list that our grammars give. Each of these words expresses a rela- tion that can be exhibited by holding one object in some position relative to another. The position that one holds with reference to another is an exemplification of rela- tion. Phenomena of Association. — If we should select any word such as "watch," and write down immedi- ately after thinking of that word the succession of words that appear to us, without trying to make any selection, we should find that our list of successive words are related to each other in ways that we might describe. Thus if we should follow the word "watch" with nine others, we might have a list such as the following: APPERCEPTION 191 Watch, works, case, gold, mine, rock, drill, bore, tunnel, Hoosac, canal, Panama, The relation between watch and works is that of part and whole. The relation be- tween works and case is container and the thing con- tained. The relation between case and gold is that of object and material of which it is made. The relation between gold and mine is that of substance (or material) and source or origin. So we may discover and state the relation between any two of the different pairs of words. Lazvs of Association. — Older psychologists undertook to state a complete list of these Laws of Association, as they called them. We know now that a law of asso- ciation is a statement of the relation existing between two things or ideas, and that there are as many laws of association as there are relations existing between things. It follows that a complete list of laws of asso- ciation is impossible, but the lists that were made will help us to an understanding of what is meant by relation. Enumeration of Lazvs. — Some of the laws of asso- ciation that were stated were as follows : Contiguity, coexistence, similarity, contrast, cause and effect, part and whole, substance and quality. The law of contiguity means that when the idea of one thing comes into the mind it is likely to be followed by the idea of another thing that has existed or been experienced in the same place. The law of coexistence means that when the idea of one thing comes into the mind it is likely to be followed by the idea of some, other thing that has been 192 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING experienced at the same time. The idea of contrast means that when the idea of one thing comes into the mind it is likely to he followed by the idea of another thing as different as possible from the first. Reduction of All Laws to a Single One. — The at- tempt was often made to reduce these laws of association to a single law, or to a single principle of association, and with a considerable degree of success. The law of contiguity is believed by some to be broad enough to cover all forms of association, while others believe that the law of similarity can be extended until it is broad enough to cover all cases. It really seems as if we could show that by extending the meaning of the word resem- blance, we might make it broad enough to cover every form of association, and to include all laws of associa- tion and all kinds of relation under the term. The law of contiguity can be so reduced. Two things that are contiguous resemble each other in their position, or spatial situation. Two things that coexist resemble each other in the characteristic of time. The law of contrast would seem to be the most difficult to bring under this law of resemblance, for contrast means the farthest pos- sible away from resemblance. A tall man suggests a short man, and we can show that the relation is one of resemblance. In the first place, the tall man is like the short man in the fact that both of them differ from the ordinary man, who is neither tall nor short. They have this resemblance, that they are both unlike the average man. Then, in the second place, they are both men APPERCEPTION 193 and the relation of contrast is possible only between two beings of the same order of existence. A siphon and psychology are scarcely capable of forming a con- trasting pair. The Lazvs of Resemblance. — In some such way as this we may find it possible to reduce all laws of asso- ciation and all forms of relation to a single form, which by enlarging somewhat the meaning of the term, we may call resemblance. Hence we may say that by rela- tion we mean the resemblance that one thing bears to another. The perception, then, of relation is the per- ception of a resemblance, or the perception of the way in which one thing is like another. If we can realize this conception of relation it will be of very great as- sistance to us in understanding the processes of think- ing and of teaching. Physiological Interpretation of Resemblance. — Physi- ologically, we may express relation in terms of nervous impulse. Two ideas are related to each other when the same nervous impulse passes from the brain center that is traversed when we experience one idea, directly into the brain center that is traversed when we experience the other idea. Let us draw two circles that intersect. Let one, circle A, represent the combination of brain cells that is traversed by an impulse when we experience the idea a. Let the other circle, B, represent the combi- nation of brain cells that is traversed by an impulse when we experience the idea b. The common section, x, will represent the brain cells that are common to the 194 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING two cell combinations or brain centers. It will represent the element of resemblance between the two ideas, and it will show why, when the nervous impulse is passing through one brain center, it is easy for it to enter into and traverse the other brain center or combination of cells. The greater the common segment, the greater the resemblance between the the two ideas, and the more easily the second mental experience follows the first. Definition of Reading. — With this digression con- cerning the nature of relation, let us return to our con- sideration of the modifications in educational thought that have been produced by the discussion of appercep- tion. The fourth change that has been brought about is a change in our definition of reading. An early defi- nition of reading declared it to consist of the pronun- ciation of words on the printed page. This definition was confessedly inaccurate, although it is still realized in practice in many places today. A better definition was that reading is talking from a book. This was in- tended to emphasize naturalness of expression. Then we were told that reading is getting the thought of the author from the printed page and expressing it; or expressing the thought of the author. But no two per- sons get the same thought from the printed page, and it is probable that neither of them gets the thought that the author had. They have different apperceiving mass- es, and the ideas that are awakened in them are modified in accordance with the apperceiving mass which each one possesses. So we may see that the thought which APPERCEPTION 195 is obtained is not the author's thought, but it is the reader's thought. We see that in the light of our discussion of apper- ception, we must define reading as expressing the thought that is aroused in us by the words of the printed page. It is our own thought that is expressed, and not the author's thought. It may even be very different from the author's thought. Importance of Apperceiving Mass. — We are ready also to understand what is meant by saying that we get from a book only that which we take to it. If we have no related ideas, we get nothing from reading a book, although we may know the meaning of every word that is used. We interpret everything that we read in terms of our own apperceiving mass. If our apperceiving mass is very large, we shall be able to interpret very fully what we get from a book. If our apperceiving mass is small, we shall get but little from our reading of the book. Whether we get much or little depends upon whether our apperceiving mass is large or small. Ilustrdtion of Apperception. — There was once a little girl very precocious in the matter of sewing. She made doll dresses and was skillful with her needle. It had been snowing, and going out of the house she gathered some snow from the ledge just above the base board. She was eating the snow before the fire when some one asked, "Alice, where did you get the snow?" She re- plied, "O, I got it off of the tuck of the house." Just so it is that we interpret all of our knowledge by means of that which we alreadv know. 196 principles of teaching Synopsis. 1. Apperception is a process by which new knowledge is joined to the old. A study of apperception leads us to an understanding of the whole learning process. 2. The discussion of apperception has changed some of our most important educational maxims, has largely destroyed our faith in the possibility of a general men- tal discipline, and has modified our definition of read- ing. 3. It is possible and advantageous to understand ap- perception in physiological terms rather than in the terms of the Herbartian psychology. CHAPTER XII. The Problem of Teaching Children How to Study. Importance of Study. — Teachers are constantly ad- vised to teach their children how to study. It is, per- haps, the most difficult matter which they have to con- sider. When a child has learned how to study, there is little else that the school can do for him, except to fur- nish him with opportunities, appliances to employ, and favorable conditions for his mental and moral growth. Improvements in the Process. — There have been many marked improvements in teaching. But all the improve- ments that have been made in teaching seem to consist of some modification of the teacher's duties, and not any change in what the pupil is expected to do. It is really a question whether the children in school today study any better than did the children of twenty-five years ago, and in some respects it may be doubted if tbey study as well. Analysis of the Study Process. — All of us have learned how to study more or less satisfactorily, although some can study better than others. We have learned in a haphazard manner without any special instruction in the matter. We have probably not even stopped to analyze the process, so that when we undertake to teach 197 198 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING our children how to study we find ourselves unable to do so. The first thing for us to do is to analyze the process of studying, and then we shall be better pre- pared to teach our pupils. Explanation of Study. — Study is something that the pupil must do, and not an activity of the teacher. It is a self-directed activity of the child. By study, the child gains knowledge. When we see an object or an event, a mental process is established that corresponds to the external event or object. But the setting up of the correspondence is not in itself knowledge. When I turn away and am able to reproduce the mental process which corresponds to the external event, then I say that I know it. It seems that knowledge demands the rein- statement of this previous mental experience and consists in the recognition of this correspondence. Mental Discipline a Result of Study. — But study may result in something else than knowledge. A thing may be learned with a certain degree of difficulty, and a second thing with a less degree, in consequence of the change in mental conditions produced by the learning of the first. This effect by which a second thing is learned more easily than the first is what is meant by mental discipline. We have seen that mental discipline as an end in ed- ucation must be discredited, but there is a very real sense in which mental discipline occurs. The second thing is learned more easily if it is related to the first. If, however, the second thing is not related to the first, then it is not more easily learned. PIOW TO STUDY 199 Physiological Interpretation of Mental Discipline. — This effect of study which we call mental discipline is the result of nervous habit. It is physiological rather than mental. There is more reason for believing that the change in nerve cells is the cause of the increased facil- ity in learning the second thing than that the physiologi- cal process is the cause of the mental process involved in learning the first thing. A nervous impulse is trans- mitted through a given combination of brain cells more easily the second time than it was the first. The change is without any question a change in the physiological constitution of the nervous arc. Mental discipline re- solves itself into physiological habit. Study, then, is the self-directed activity of the child that results in knowledge and in mental discipline, or physiological habit. Study Not Limited to Books. — The term study is sometimes limited to the learning of things from books. It is difficult to convince a teacher who has spent ten years of his life in teaching subjects that constantly in- volve laboratory work that his classes in all that time were not studying. On the walls of Agassiz's school barn at Penikese was placed the motto, "Study nature, not books." It is just as important to know things and to know how to study them, as it is to study books, and there are other objects of study than either things or books. We must study books, but we must also study things and we must study pictures. Three different kinds of study are easily discriminated, and these do 200 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING not exhaust the list, although these three are of especial importance to teachers. First Process in Studying. — Let us examine first the process of studying a book. Suppose that we have a lesson to learn from a book, such as a history lesson or a lesson in grammar. The first thing to do is, evidently, to read it over. There is a difference between reading and studying. When we read a history lesson we are studying ; when we read a dime novel or a story in a magazine, we are merely reading. The difference is that in studying we attend more earnestly, and put a greater amount of nervous energy into the process than when we merely read. Study is work. It demands active attention, and there is effort involved in the process. It may not always be accompanied by pleasurable feelings, nor always by unpleasant feelings. The tone of the feeling makes no difference in determining whether our activity is studying or reading. The end desired by study is the learning of the matter of the book. Reading and Study. — Reading is play. There is little or no effort involved in it. It demands only spontan- eous attention, and the reading is the compensation in itself. We read for the pleasure to be derived from the process itself. In England, the term read is often used in the sense in which we use the word study. A person says that he is reading at such or such college. He says perhaps he is reading algebra, meaning that he is studying algebra. We have a similar use of the term in this country, which, however, is less common than HOW TO STUDY 201 it formerly was, when we say that a person is reading law, or reading medicine. We mean by this that he is studying the things which it is necessary for him to know in order to become a lawyer or a physician. This use of the word is disappearing, probably in conse- quence of the fact that the study of medicine and of law is no longer so largely confined to the study of books. Second Process in Studying. — The second step in the process of studying is to remember what has been read. This may be done in two ways. The words of the book may be remembered, or the ideas expressed may be remembered and translated into the words of the pupil. Some teachers demand of their pupils that they commit to memory the words of the text. Although this practice is not so common as it once was, it is prob- able that examples of it may be found in the experience of every pupil. The following example can probably be paralleled in the experience of every person who reads this chapter: Illustration of Memorising Lessons. — The lesson was in physiology with pupils of high school age and grade. There were six girls in the class. The teacher called the class to the recitation seats, and then with a book open before him, he said. "Mary." Mary arose, began at the top of the page, recited verbatim through that page down the next to the end of the lesson. Then the teacher said, "Minnie." Minnie arose, began at the same place, recited verbatim the same words down to the same stopping place, and sat down. Then the 202 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING teacher said, "Rhoda." Rhoda began at the same place, recited the same text, and stopped at the same point on the page. The other three girls were called upon in the same way and recited the same text. When the sixth girl had recited, the teacher said, "Take to the bottom of page 98 for the next time. Class excused." Inadequacy of Learning Lessons by Heart. — There was something good about this lesson. The assignment was perfectly definite. Every pupil in the class knew exactly what she was expected to do for the next day. They knew, too, when they had their lessons prepared. Each pupil knew that she would be called upon and knew what was expected of her. Another good thing was that the teacher did not talk too much. Notwithstanding all these good things it was not teaching. Not a single question was asked by the teacher, nor by a pupil, which would demand a statement showing what was in the minds of the pupils. The pupils may have known what the words of the text meant, or they may not. The teacher may have been well acquainted with the facts stated in the text, but there was nothing in his teaching which indicated that he was. Any person who could read might have been just as good a teacher as he was. It is possible that the pupils derived some value from this recitation, but if they did, it was not the fault of the teacher. It is a travesty upon the business to call such a process teaching. It is difficult to conceive a more stupefying process, yet perhaps all of us nave known teachers who demanded HOW TO STUDY 203 this kind of study, and when the pupil has varied from the statement of the text, petulantly exclaimed, "Well, well, if you can improve upon the words of the book do so; but I do not think you can." Why Learning by Heart is Popular. — Learning by heart is not necessarily learning. The words of an author do not convey any meaning until they have been translated into the thought and the words of the learner. The process of committing the text to memory so closely simulates the process of learning that many teachers are deceived by the resemblance. What Ought to be Committed to Memory. — There are some things that ought to be committed to memory. The multiplication table ought to be committed to mem- ory, — after it has been learned, not before. There will be so many occasions to use the multiplication table that it is worth while to commit it to memory so that it may be at hand ready to use when occasion demands it. The statement that it ought to be committed to memory after it has been learned implies the distinction we have already drawn between learning and committing to memory. A thing may be committed to memory without learning it, and a thing may be learned without commit- ting it to memory. Other Things to be Memorised. — Similarly, the alpha- bet, the tables of denominate numbers, some of the rules of grammar, lists of exceptions to the rules, the rules for pronunciation, rules for spelling, should be commit- ted to memory, because they are to be used so frequently 204 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING that it is a saving of time and economy of effort to learn them thoroughly by heart once for all. Some definitions, theorems of geometry, the Constitution of the United States, as the supreme law of the land, and such things as these are proper subjects for memorizing, because the expression is made in very carefully selected language and there is permissible no variation in meaning, such as variation in language implies. So selections of poetry and choice selections of other literature are to be com- mitted to memory, because the form in which the thought is expressed is frequently the most important thing about it. The thought might be expressed in some other way, but then it might not be worth committing to memory. A Better Process of Remembering. — But a lesson may be remembered in another way. Instead of remembering the words of the text, the learner may remember the ideas, translating them into his own thought and -putting them into his own words. This is very much better than learning the words of the book; for the teacher is enabled to judge from the words that the pupil employs in expressing the thought whether the thought he has obtained is adequate or not. >* Illustration of Adequate Interpretation. — A teacher in a city was teaching a class of small boys to read. The boys were such as might properly be designated "street Arabs," and they talked the language of the street with all its modern improvements. The lesson was as follows : "See the cow. Is not the cow pretty? Can the cow run? HOW TO STUDY 205 Yes, the cow can run. Can the cow run as fast as the horse? No, the cow cannot run as fast as the horse.'' The teacher was a good teacher, and she desired to know whether the boys had obtained an adequate conception from what they had read. She inquired: "Who can tell me this story in your own way ?" Several thought they could, and one boy was designated to tell the story. He did it as follows: "Git onto de cow. Aint she a beaut? Kin de cow git a gait on her? Sure. Kin the cow hump herself wit de horse ? Nit. De cow ain't in it wid de horse." It was evident that the thought was adequate. Such an interpretation is to be commended. Without it, it would be impossible for the teacher to know just what thoughts are awakened in the minds of the children by the words of the book. Topical Analysis. — Some devices for reading and re- membering the ideas set forth in the lesson have been found helpful, and may be worthy of our consideration. One device is that of making a topical analysis of the lesson. In some books there is a topical analysis printed in the margin of the page. Each paragraph has some central thought whose elaboration constitutes the para- graph itself. The searching out of the central thought and stating it in a very brief manner is a satisfactory means of studying a lesson. Sometimes a diagram show- ing the relation of these central thoughts to each other will enable a whole book to be remembered at a single reading. Reproduction in R/nYnzo-.— Reproduction in writing 206 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING is another method of study. A person may take up a book and read a page or chapter or section — some unit of the subject — and then undertake to reproduce the thought as completely as possible in writing. It will be found that there is a great temptation to refer to the book while writing, to see what really is said about the matter under consideration, but which has not been clearly comprehended, but such a temptation needs to be resisted. Then the next paragraph or section is read and reproduced in the same way. Not only will the lesson or the book be learned very thoroughly in this way, but a great amount of skill in studying will soon be acquired. Remembering A r ot the Completion of Study. — When a pupil has learned the ideas so that he is able to repro- duce them, the teacher is usually satisfied with the lesson, and thinks his whole duty done. Such is not the case. The real study of the lesson is just ready to begin. The ideas that have been read and remembered are only the raw material for the real study of the lesson which is yet to come. Perceiving Relations. — The third process of study is expressed by saying that we think about it.\ The ideas that are read and remembered are held in the mind and the relations between them are to be discovered by the pupils. The relations between the ideas in today's lesson and those in yesterday's lesson need to be searched for. Thinking about it means the perception of relations, and this constitutes the third element in study. Not only HOW TO STUDY 207 are the relations existing between the ideas of yester- day's lesson and those of today's lesson to be discovered, but the relations between the different ideas in today's lesson are to be seen. Then, too, the relations between the ideas in today's lesson and the ideas in any other lesson are to be searched for and discovered. It would be wrong for the teacher to point out these relations, for this is the place in which the activity of the pupil can be most profitable. The business of the teacher is to detain the attention of the pupils upon the matter in hand until they come to see the relations for themselves. His business is to suggest, to urge, to hold the attention to the matter in hand until the relations make themselves mani- fest. It is not a time for hurry nor for stirring up emo- tion other than such as is necessarily an accompaniment of the greatest possible production of nervous energy. Time is necessary, but talk by the teacher is quite unnec- essary. Explanation in such a case is out of order. Explanation means the pointing out of relations, and that is not the business of the teacher when the children are studying the lesson. Sometimes this keeping still is the most difficult, as it is the most important part of the teacher's work. Assignment Without Recitation. — Teachers are some- times criticized for assigning a lesson which is not called for in recitation. This means that they have assigned a lesson which is to be read and remembered, and then have failed to call for a reproduction of those ideas that have been learned. If the class is so faithful -08 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING that the teacher feels confident that they have studied, read, and remembered the ideas, then he is justified in not calling for their reproduction, but may proceed at once to the utilization of the ideas as materials for the lesson. He may call for a statement of the relations ex- isting between the ideas, rather than for the reproduction of the ideas themselves. It is a better test of the dili- gence of the pupil, and altogether a higher form of teaching, since it is impossible for the pupil to show forth the relation unless the ideas are at hand. Perceiving Relations a Study Lesson. — This plan of procedure makes of the lesson a study lesson. It is the most important and the most valuable kind of lesson, and is the kind in which the assistance of the teacher in training the children how to study is the most neces- sary and the most profitable. The kind of lesson in which the ideas are merely reproduced is a testing lesson, and is not nearly so important. The Study of Tilings. — Besides the study of a book we need to study things. We interpret the ideas that we read in a book only by means of the ideas which we have already obtained by experience with things. The study of things gives us first hand knowledge that lies at the basis of all other kinds. In this sense it must be considered the most important, even though not the greatest in amount. The study of books can give us only second hand information. There is a great differ- ence between first hand and second hand knowledge. When we study a thing, we get an idea of that thing. HOW TO STUDY 209 When we study a book about a thing, we get an idea of another person's idea of the thing. When instead of getting second hand information we get it at third or fourth hand, the probability that our ideas approximate the real thing is very small. N- First Process — Abstraction. — In the study of a thing we can discover the same elements which we observed in the study of a book. Suppose that we are studying a machine, a chemical process, a flower, or a crawfish. The first thing we do is to look at the thing as a whole, and this corresponds to the reading of the book lesson. Then we analyze the thing into its parts. Thus if our object is a grasshopper, we see that it is composed of three body divisions, head, thorax and abdomen. Apply- ing a name to each of these parts makes our recognition of them more definite, although the name is not at all necessary to our analysis. Then we turn our attention to one of these parts, for example the head, to the ex- clusion, for the time being, of all other parts. Next we examine the parts of the head. W T e see in it the com- pound eyes, the antennae, and the mouth parts. We limit our observation for the instant to one of these organs, neglecting all other parts. W r e count the seg- ments of the antennae, not so much to discover how many segments there are, although this fact is ascer- tained by counting, but because in the process of count- ing we fix our attention for an instant upon one par- ticular segment to the exclusion of all other segments, or of all other parts of the body. This process by means 210 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING of which we examine each part of the thing we are studying to the exclusion of all other parts is called the process of abstraction. Second Process — Analysis. — At the same time that the process of abstraction is going on, another process which is scarcely to be distinguished from it is in progress. We look not merely at the part itself, but we examine the relation that the part we are studying bears to the other parts. We see how it is like and how it . differs from the other parts. This process of seeing the thing in its relations is the process of analysis. Abstraction and analysis are fundamental processes in the study of a thing, and we have found that they are equally impor- tant in the study of a book lesson. Abstraction and analysis correspond to the reading of the book lesson. Sometimes we delineate the object seen by drawing, and this is a device, or method of study, which demands that we shall examine the thing more minutely than we other- wise would do. We cannot fail to examine the thing that is drawn, while we might fail to examine some portion of it if we did not draw. Third Process — Perception of Relations — Differences and Resemblances. — Even yet we have not completed our study of a thing. The third element in study has not been accounted for. Let us suppose that we have studied a bumblebee, a housefly, a butterfly, a squash bug, a dragon- fly, and a beetle. We shall never be able to learn all that we ought to know about a grasshopper by studying the insect itself. When we have studied some other insects HOW TO STUDY 211 we can proceed to discover the relations that the grass- hopper holds to them. We observe the resemblances and the differences among all these insects. We observe that they are all alike in having two pairs of wings, segmented abdomen, breathing by spiracles, and we enumerate many other resemblances. Similarly we point out the differ- ences that exist among the insects studied in respect to their wings, mouth-parts, and metamorphosis. This is the third step in the study of a thing, and, as it is the most important element in the study of a book lesson, it is really the most important step here. It dis- closes more about the thing than does any other step in study. There is the same necessity for the teacher's assistance, and for the teacher's self-repression to avoid pointing out the relations, that we find in the study of 3 book lesson. Example of a Ragweed. — But it is not necessary that we shall discover resemblances and differences between different things in order to exemplify this third element of study. The thing manifests relations within itself, and is its own center of correlation. So simple a thing as a ragweed or a common flower of any kind, or a frog or a grasshopper shows forth relations which must be perceived before we can say that we have any adequate knowledge of the thing itself. Correlated Characters. — Let us look at a ragweed as its own center of correlation, and see the relations that it manifests. The spikes of a ragweed are terminal, there- fore it must be branching in order that there may be as 212 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING many terminal buds as possible. The branching habit enables the ragweed to produce a large number of seeds and so propagates the species in large numbers. It in- sures a sufficient number of progeny to continue the race. But a densely branching plant will shade the interior branches, unless as in the case of the ragweed the leaves are much cut and ragged. The reproductive organs are separated from each other, the stamens borne in one flower, and the pistils in another. The pistillate flowers are below the staminate, and this favors the reception of pollen that may be dropped from the staminate flowers above. The pistillate flowers are turned upward, thus favoring the reception of the pollen, and the stigmas are bearded, thus further assuring that the pollen grains will stick until fertilization occurs. The staminate flowers are clustered ; and the cluster is surrounded by an in- volcure which is entire, and which serves as a protection for the pendulous heads of staminate flowers. The staminate heads are turned downwards, and when the pollen is discharged it is naturally directed toward the pistillate flowers. The pollen is produced in large quanti- ties ; as many as a billion pollen grains have been estima- ted in one plant, and this is about half a million times as many pollen grains as there are seeds produced by the same plant. Add to this the fact that the ragweed is protected from herbivorous animals by its bitter taste, and we have fourteen or fifteen different characters con- tributing to the one definite effect of insuring that there shall be a continuation of the species. HOW TO STUDY 213 We shall never know the ragweed, nor any other thing, until we have perceived the relations existing in the thing itself. This is the study that the pupil must do for himself. It is wrong for the teacher to point out these relations ; for this takes away the opportunity for self-directed activity on the part of the pupil. The business of the teacher is to know and to recognize the relations that are significant, and to hold the attention of the pupil to the matter in hand until the relations which he knows to be significant are seen. Study of Bictures. — The third object of study which we wish to consider is pictures. Pictures are of great importance in the books of the present day. The ex- cellence and cheapness of the new T methods of repro- ducing pictures makes it possible to illustrate nearly all books. Publishers depend largely upon pictures in a book to make it sell. The authors of one series of geogra- phies now before the public paid thirty thousand dollars to secure the pictures that are reproduced in those books. One publishing house gave a painter a thousand dollars to paint ten pictures of scenes and events in American history, in order that it might reproduce them in a school history of the United States. But the pictures in a book are frequently of little service to the pupil or to the teacher, largely because the teacher does not know how to study them nor how to teach the children to study them. A person who wishes to specialize in the study of pictures will make a reputa- tion as wide as the continent. 214 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING First Process. — In the study of pictures we may dis- cover the same three elements that we have found to be- long to the study of a book lesson and to the study of an object. The first thing to do is to look at the picture as a whole. We should call it by a name if possible, although the name is not an essential part of the picture. This looking at the picture as a whole corresponds to the reading of the lesson. After the picture has been seen as a whole, the next step is to analyze it and look at the different parts, or to see the elements that enter into its composition. If this examination of the picture were to be written out, it would constitute a description of the picture. Difference Between Description and Interpretation. — It is rather a difficult process to get children to make a good description of a picture, and to see things just as they are, instead of seeing them as they think they ought to be. It is very difficult to state a fact instead of an interpretation of the fact. Teachers of English who use pictures as subjects for exercises in composition realize the strong tendency to write into a picture what is not there rather than to describe exactly what the picture shows. The description of a picture involves a state- ment of the relation of the different elements of a picture to each other, but it does not involve an interpretation of what the picture expresses. \^ Third Process — Interpretation. — The third element in the study of a picture consists of its interpretation. It involves not merely a statement of the relations of the HOW TO STUDY 215 different elements of the picture to each other, but it demands that we shall draw inferences from what we see concerning that which we do not see. Certain elements in any picture are in harmony with certain other situa- tions which we cannot see, and conversely certain ele- ments in the picture are out of harmony with other elements which we might discover in another picture. We should make any legitimate inference that the picture allows. Drawing Inferences. — It is our business in studying a picture to understand the story which the picture tells. The story in a picture is but a continuation of the per- ception of relations and of inferences which may legiti- mately be drawn. Some pictures, and these are the most numerous in our books, tell no story, but show forth many harmonious relations. They are packed with information. We get knowledge from them ; but according to our previous statement, all of our knowledge takes the form of the perception of relations. The study of a picture, then, is a thinking process, and demands that we perceive relations. Pictures that illustrate a piece of literature or a narration of events tell a story. Certain antecedent circumstances and conditions may legitimately be in- ferred from the pictorial situation. The description of the antecedent circumstances and the further subsequent circumstances that would be in conformity to the situa- tion represented by the picture constitutes its story. Very much may be done in training children to study pictures and to see in them more than they do see. At present, 216 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING it is to be feared that few children derive the benefit that they might from the illustrations in books. The illustrations may be made a hundred times as serviceable as they are now. Importance of Studying Pictures. — When children have learned to study pictures, teachers have a means of improving their teaching very much. As admirably as text-books are illustrated, a teacher will find that a library of pictures, which may be cut out of magazines and other printed matter, adds much to the effectiveness of his teaching. Such pictures, elegant illustrations of almost every kind of subject may be had for the trouble of preserving them. They may be mounted on manila paper or cardboard, and will constitute a valuable library of reference. Besides this, it is possible for every teacher to make use of some form of projection appara- tus which will contribute to the effectiveness of his teach- ing. Sunlight is the best and the cheapest source of illumination, and a projection apparatus using sunlight may be constructed for a very small sum of money. The effectivenesss of teaching by pictures, however, depends largely upon the ability that the children have acquired to study pictures, and this fact emphasizes the importance of teaching children how to study them. Synopsis 1. Study is a self-directed activity on the part of the pupil that results in knowledge and in mental dis- cipline. HOW TO STUDY 217 2. Study is not confined to books, but includes objects and pictures. 3. There are three processes involved in the study of a book-lesson, a thing or a picture ; first, an examina- tion of the subject of study as a whole ; second, an analysis of the parts which compose it ; third, the per- ception of the relations existing between the parts of the thing, or between the thing studied, and other things already known. CHAPTER XIII. What Teaching Is. Definition of Teaching. — We have learned that study is the self-directed activity of the child, and similarly we may arrive at the conclusion that teaching is an activity 7 of the teacher. We have looked at school work from the standpoint of the learner, now we con- sider it from the standpoint of the teacher. The ac- tivity of the teacher in the teaching process is designed to produce an effect upon the mind of the child. We may put these elements into the form of a definition and say that teaching is the activity on the part of the teacher that produces an effect upon the mind of the child. Teaching and Telling. — We ought to discriminate be- tween teaching and telling. Telling is an activity of the teacher, and it is, or may be, intended to produce an effect upon the mind of the child ; but unless it does do so, it is not teaching. We may tell a large number of pupils how to make a loaf of bread, but when we have done so we have not taught them. Teachers sometimes express surprise that children do not know what they ought. The teacher sometimes says that "They ought to know that. I told them 218 WHAT TEACHING IS 219 three or four times last week." But telling is not teaching - . Telling may produce an effect upon the minds of the children, or it may not. In order to teach a class how to make a loaf of bread, the teacher must do something which will cause the minds of the children to travel over the same mental path that the teacher's mind traveled over when he was telling them. In order to know that their minds are traveling over the same mental path, there must be an expression by the pupils. This is perhaps the chief external dif- ference between teaching and telling. Telling does not demand an expression on the part of the pupil. Teaching makes an imperative demand that the ideas shall be expressed. Modifying Misapprehension. — Different pupils will obtain different understandings of what has been told them, because they will join the things that are told to different apperceiving masses. Widely different notions of anything said or read will be obtained by different children in this way. It is evident that not all of the varying ideas will correspond to those which the teacher intends them to get. Hence the teacher must do something to modify the varying ideas of each pupil so that, notwithstanding their different ap- perceiving masses, all pupils shall obtain the same idea of the thing taught. The pupils must repeat what the teacher has said. They must be able to state the ingredients that enter into the composition of a loaf of bread in their proper proportion, the order in which 220 I'K I x CIPLES OF TEACHING they are introduced, the methods of mixing, the time and the temperature of baking. In a class of any large number, some of the pupils will misapprehend some of these things, and the teacher must correct the mistaken impressions. Only when the pupils have had their misapprehensions corrected, are able to lay the proper emphasis upon the different processes, and can tell the story as clearly as did the teacher, are we able to say that the class has been taught. Unity of Teacher and Pupil. — The teacher knows the mental path along which he causes the pupil to travel, because he has himself traveled over the same path before. He knows all the difficulties and all the places where the train of thought may be switched off. It is the teacher's duty to keep his mind in con- tact with the mind of the pupil all the time and to know where the child is mentally located at any in- stant; to offer suggestions and to furnish incentives that will keep the mind of the pupil in the proper pathway at all times. The most important and the most difficult thing is to know where the child is mentally located. The teacher and the pupil must be thinking the same thing at the same time. Their minds are in contact with each other, but there is a difference between the think- ing of the teacher and that of the pupil. The pupil thinks the thing, and the teacher thinks the thought of the pupil. The unformulated and un- expressed thought of the teacher at any instant WHAT TEACHING IS 221 is "Just what is the pupil thinking at this present moment? Does the thought of the pupil at the pres- ent instant agree with what I know he ought to be thinking?" Necessity for Expression. — Since the pupil and the teacher are to think the same thoughts at the same time, and since the teacher must know at any instant what the pupil is thinking, it is evident that there can be no very successful teaching unless there is con- stant expression by the pupil all the time that the teaching process is going on. Expression has two effects : In the first place, it enables the teacher to know where the pupil is mentally located at any time ; and in the second place, it serves as an intensifier of the pupil's thought, rendering it more definite and clear. Forms of Expression.-^- Expression may take the form of words, as in the case of oral recitation, but it is not limited to this. It may take the form of drawing, as when a teacher wishes to know the process of the pupil in thinking the Mississippi river, or some other geographical feature. Expression may take the form of writing on the blackboard, as in reproducing the thought of a reading lesson, writing out the demon- stration in geometry, the analysis of a sentence in grammar, or making a diagram of it. The written solution of a problem in arithmetic or algebra ; the construction of a diagram in geometry; the drawing of a figure to show the relation of its different parts ; — 222 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING any of these things may constitute a form of expres- sion which is necessary for teaching. So, too, the drawing illustrative of an incident in the reading of a story is an adequate form of expression for the purpose that expression is employed in teaching. Sometimes the expression may take the form of fold- ing papers, as in a primary class, following the direc- tions of a teacher in exercises intended to develop the number v concept. Other forms of constructive work, such as the use of a sand table or a molding board, the cutting of cardboard, sewing;, weaving, building a tent, or constructing articles with wood may sometimes be employed to enable the teacher to know the mental location of the pupil. Purpose of Oral Redding. — Oral reading is such an important form of expression that the discussion of it may well stand by itself. The purpose of oral read- ing is not merely to obtain the thought. Tf Ave could be certain that the pupil obtains an adequate thought from the selection that he is assigned to read, there might be little value in oral reading. But how shall we cause the pupil in reading to obtain an adequate thought, and how shall we know that he has ob- tained it? Oral reading has little value except as a means of manifesting to the teacher the adequacy of the thought which the pupil has obtained from the printed page. The thought is expressed quite as much by the em- phasis and inflection of the voice as it is by words. WHAT TEACHING IS 223 Exactly opposite and contradictory meanings may be expressed by varying- emphasis in reading such sen- tences as "They will plant corn, if it does not rain." "He will tell the truth, if he is not a gentleman." . Imitative Expression.— -It is evident, too, that the form of expression may be imitated without an adequate thought being secured. Hence arises the danger from asking pupils to read a sentence as a teacher reads it. Notwithstanding this danger, sometimes the only way to enable a child to acquire the thought that is ade- quate is to read it in such a way that the pupil will recognize the thought which the teacher's reading ex- presses. Here, then, are the two dangers between which the teacher must, choose. He must choose be- tween the danger of inadequate thought, and of sense- less imitation. Anyone who has studied carefully the matter of teaching reading must know how hopeless it is to try to ascertain the mental location of pupils and the adequacy of the thought that is obtained from the printed page, by question and answer, or by re- production without oral reading. Hence arises the great importance of reading aloud as a means of testing ade- quacy of thought. Expression as an Aid to Clearness.- — Expression con- duces to clearness of thinking. Perhaps the psychol- ogy of expression may not furnish a very satisfactory explanation of it, but there can be but little question of the fact. The more one tries to express his thought, the clearer it becomes. It is scarcely an exaggeration 224 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING to say that one never really knows a thing in all its length and breadth and fullness until he has taught it to a class. The old Latin proverb applies here : "Men, while teaching, learn." Psychology of Expression. — The psychology of ex- pression may be stated approximately in the follow- ing manner : Whenever we experience a mental pro- cess, a nervous impulse must traverse a nervous arc. The nervous arc consists of three parts, a nerve, a brain center, or combination of brain cells, and another nerve. It is the transmission through the brain center, not the accumulation of the nervous impulse in it, that is the concomitant of the intellectual process, hence the nervous impulse must pass out of the brain center into something else or there will be no intel- lectual process. Physiology of Expression. — This something else is generally a nerve leading to the organs of expression. Such a nerve of expression leads usually to a muscle; and expression commonly, though not always, takes the form of muscular movement. The nerve of ex- pression may, however, lead to some gland, and the expression may take the form of a glandular secretion, such as is manifested in Aveeping. Sometimes the nerve of expression may lead to the internal organs., when the expression does not appear at the extremities nor in the face. At any rate, wherever a nervous impulse that is the concomitant of the intellectual pro- cess may go, it must leave the brain center. WHAT TEACHING IS 225 The fact that there are two nerves connected with the nervous arc explains what is meant by the phrase "No impression without expression." The statement implies that it is impossible for us to know anything or to learn anything without some form of expression in the process of learning, and by expression in this sense is nearly always meant some form of muscular movement. Is All Consciousness Motor? — Some psychologists go even farther than this. They will tell us that all con- sciousness is motor. By consciousness here is meant any form of an intellectual process, including the form that makes us aware of our own mental processes. The statement of this may be understood by carrying our physiological explanation a little farther. When a nervous impulse runs out of the brain center along a nerve of expression to a muscle, the muscle con- tracts. The contraction of the muscle starts another nervous impulse in the muscle nerve, and this im- pulse flows backward to a muscle center in the brain. It is this backward flowing impulse which is be- lieved to be the concomitant of the consciousness it- self. It is possible that this explanation is altogether too far reaching, and lays too much emphasis upon the motor element in learning and in education in general, but it is employed by many writers upon education to justify the demand for a much greater extension of constructive work, and creative energy in our educa- tional processes. It is this psychology of expression 226 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING which is used to justify the introduction of manual training and constructive work into our schools. A Different Interpretation. — It is possible that a some- what different explanation of the psychological proc- ess involved in expression will be more satisfactory. When we think of anything, we give attention to it. When we undertake to express our thought, we must give increased attention to it. Attention is a process by which a nervous impulse is directed into and through a brain center. If a nervous impulse be strong, it will encounter sufficient resistance to force it out into some surrounding center ; and since the motor centers are in the middle of the brain areas, and since they have been used much from birth, and by habit have become easy of access from all parts of the brain, the motor centers are likely to be the first to receive this overflow from the brain center that is traversed by a strong impulse. Cause of Expression. — Any large amount of nervous energy passing through a brain center will overflow and run into some expression center. In order that there shall be expression, then, there must be a large amount of nervous force, and this is a condition which accompanies a larger amount of intellectual activity. Hence we have the expression accompanying, rather than causing, a greater amount of intellectual work. It is really the attention that causes the greater amount of intellectual work, but the proper expression is an evidence rather than a cause of the greater in- tellectual work done. WHAT TEACHING IS 227 Whatever may be the psychology of expression, the fact remains that no process of learning can be very satisfactory which is not accompanied by an expres- sion of the thought in some manner. Hozv the Teacher Assists the Pupil. — The pupil is assisted in his expression and in his thought by the teacher. The teacher knows the mental path, knows where it is easy to be drawn away from it ; and at the proper time, by question or suggestion or calling to mind some related experience, he will be able to bring the pupil back to the right path or to prevent his leaving it. Often by the form of question, or by the look of the teacher, the pupil is directed in his thinking. This assistance given by the teacher, which is a legitimate part of his work, may be so overdone, especially in the case of young and inexperienced teach- ers, that it not only becomes ludicrous, but disastrous to any thinking on the part of the pupil. Class Teaching. — We have been using expressions that apply to only a single pupil, but all that has been said belongs in equal degree to every member of the class. The teacher must know the mental location at any time of every member of the class, and must di- rect the thought of each one. All members of the class must be traveling the same mental path and must be thinking the same thing at the same time. From this proposition, certain very important corol- laries follow. 228 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Class Unity. — In the first place, thinking the same thing at the same time maintains a class unity which is the ideal in school teaching. It settles all cases of discipline, for there can be no disorder while all are thinking the same thing. The teacher who would be a good disciplinarian must set as his ideal the main- tenance of this class unity in teaching. Number in a Class. — In the second place, this consid- eration fixes the number of pupils that can be profit- ably taught in one class. We may tell a thousand persons at once, but we cannot teach a thousand. A hundred pupils in a class is too many, and so is fifty. Some have said that there should not be more than thirty in a class, and perhaps twenty-four are enough. A young teacher cannot teach a large class so well as can a teacher of the same ability who has had more experience. If a class is well graded, a larger number can be well taught than if it is not. The rule must always be that no greater number is permissible than that whose mental location can be known by the teacher at any instant. The teacher must be able to know, generally, just what each pupil in the class is thinking at any time. With most teachers, a class of ten or fifteen is better than a larger number. Pupil Recites to the Class. — Another corollary fol- lows. When a pupil is called upon to recite, he re- cites to the whole class and not to the teacher. The recitation is not a matter of private conversation be- tween the teacher and the pupil who is reciting. Every WHAT TEACHING IS 229 member of the class must be thinking the same thought at the same time, and that will not be possible unless the recitation is to the whole class and every member of the class knows where the pupil who is reciting is mentally located. Pupil Recites for the Class. — A corollary similar to the last also follows. The pupil who is reciting is speak- ing for the whole class. He represents the meeting as its spokesman, and is reciting the thoughts of the class. A pupil who finds that his thoughts are not represented by the one reciting, has a right to object, and it is his duty to do so. Teacher Looks at Other Members of the Class. — Since the teacher must know the location of each pupil in the class, it will be necessary for him to look at the other members rather than at the one who is reciting. The teacher can judge what the person who is reciting is thinking by what he says ; but he must judge of what the other members of the class are thinking by other indications. He may judge by the expressions of their faces, or by the involun- tary movements that they make, which, if he were skillful enough, would enable him to read clearly the thoughts that each one experiences. Order of Propounding Questions. — The teacher usu- ally indicates the point of beginning of the train of thought by asking a question, making a suggestion or stating a topic. The teacher may ask a question and then designate some member of the class to ans- 230 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING wer it, or he may designate the person to answer be- fore the question is asked. One of these methods of procedure conforms to the principles here laid down and the other does not. It is evident that if the per- son to answer is designated before the question i-? asked, there is a lack of responsibility felt by the other members of the class, and there is likely to be a failure to maintain the unity of thought in the class. If the pupil to answer is designated before the ques- tion is asked, the assumption is that the question is asked directly to that pupil. If the question is asked before the pupil is designated, the implication is that the question is asked of the whole class, and the pupil designated to answer it is merely the representa- tive spokesman of the class. A teacher who has a proper conception of class unity will always put the question before designating the pupil to answer it. but a teacher who merely conforms to the rule with- out feeling the importance of the principle which the rule expresses, will be little helped by such con- formity. This idea of the relation of the pupil who is reciting to the rest of the class obviates the neces- sity of keeping a ledger account of the number of times that a pupil is called upon. Every pupil *s called upon every time, and is to be held responsible for the recitation. Difference Between the Thinking of the Teacher and Pupil. — The pupil and the teacher think the same thoughts at the same time ; but there is a difference between the WHAT TEACHING IS 231 thinking* of the pupil and the thinking* of the teacher. The pupil thinks the thought of the lesson, and the teacher thinks the thought of the pupil. The pupil thinks the thought of the lesson as he understands it, and the teacher thinks the lesson as the pupil thinks it. The teacher needs to keep his mind in immediate con- tact with the mind of the pupil. There is also another different. The thing that the teacher recognizes first in the beginning of the process of teaching is the ef- fect that it is desired to produce upon the mind and character of the pupil by the process of teaching. The teacher must know* this effect. This is the justifica- tion for the consideration of the end or purpose of education in Chapters 4 and 5. Teacher Recognizes Order of Processes. — When the effect which it is desired to produce has been de- termined, then the teacher needs to recognize the mental processes which it is necessary for the child to go through in order that this effect shall be pro- duced upon his mind and character. This shows the necessity for the study of psychology by the teacher. When these mental processes have been recognized, then the teacher selects the subjects and exercises which may be employed with the greatest economy of effort to induce in the minds of the pupils these thoughts and mental processes. What the Pupil Understands.— With the pupil the process is completely reversed. The pupil sees first, and perhaps sees only, the means that are to be em- 232 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING ployed in his education. He sees that he is studying arithmetic, or history, or zoology. He knows, for ex- ample, that he is studying a grasshopper or a crawfish or an earthworm, and is trying to find out all about it. He knows that he is trying to find the gills, or the spiracles or the mouthparts or the sense organs. The teacher knows that the pupil is using his mind in the process of abstraction, analysis, discrimination, com- paring, judging, generalizing, and in logical definition. The pupil knows nothing about the mental processes that the teacher is causing him to experience, and really he needs to know nothing about them. The best results are obtained by coming at them indirectly. The astronomer exercises his keenest sight by means of averted vision. The pupil may come sometime to realize that he did employ the mental processes in- dicated, and that it was a good thing for him to do ; but ordinarily he knows nothing more about his w r ork than that he was trying to learn the subjects of in- struction. If, however, the teacher knows nothing more than this, he can never rise above the plane of an amateur, and must fail to reach the dignity of an artist or professional teacher. Sometime, usually a long time afterward, the pupil, by comparing himself with persons who did not have the advantages that he himself has experienced, may come to recognize that the work which he accomplished in school has had an effect upon his mind and character. So the point that the teacher started from is the point at WHAT TEACHING IS 233 which the pupil arrives last. The last thing" to be considered by the teacher is the first, and often the only thing considered by the pupil. In this fact we have an explanation of the different view points of the teacher and the pupil, as well as an explanation of the difference between the kinds of knowledge of the subject that the teacher and pupil must have. Synopsis. 1. Teaching is an activity of the teacher which is designed to produce an effect upon the mind and character of the pupil. 2. Teaching is not telling. Teaching consists in causing the mind of the pupil to traverse the same mental path that the teacher is going over. The teacher and the pupil must travel the same mental path at the same time. 3. Traveling the same mental path at the same time maintains a unity between teacher and pupil that is the ideal condition for all school work, in- cluding discipline. 4. The teacher must know where the pupil is men- tally located at any time, and from this fact arises the necessity for expression by the pupil. 5. The entire class must be a unit, and this fact fixes the status of the pupil who recites. Tie recites to the whole class and for the whole class ; the teacher watches the expression on the faces of the rest of the class rather than the pupil who is reciting. Only that 234 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING number can be taught at any one time whose mental location can be known by the teacher at any instant. The teacher must indicate the point of beginning be- fore designating the pupil who is to recite. CHAPTER XIV. The Recitation. Importance of the Recitation. — The most importan function of the school is the recitation. All consider- ations about the schoolhouse, its lighting, its heating, its ventilation; all matters concerning the course of study, the subjects of instruction, the length of the school day, the number of months in the school year ; all these things are subordinate to the recitation. If the recitation is a failure, none of these other things can make the school work a success. It is in and through the recitation that the teacher produces that effect upon the mind and character of the child which it is the purpose of all good teaching to accomplish. In the recitation, the pupil and the teacher come into that immediate contact with each other which en- ables the teacher to bring about the effect that the school is established to produce. Literal Meaning of the Word. — Since the recitation is of such extreme importance, we are justified in giving it the most careful consideration. The literal meaning is to say over, or to say again, or to say back. The root cit means to say, and re means again, or back. So, literally, the word recitation means the 235 236 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING act of saying over, or saying back, that which has been presented to the pupil, either orally or by means of a book. This was no doubt a correct designation of the process in the practice of the old teacher of Latin, who in all probability first applied this term to the recitation. It exactly describes the process that is exemplified in the practice of the Chinese schools. Exemplification of the Literal Meaning. — In China, a lesson is assigned from a book. The pupil goes to his proper place on the floor and shouts out his les- son as loud as he can until he believes that he is able to say over the portion of the text that has been assigned to him. He learns the words, and there is no demand made upon him that he should learn the thought. If the last word on the page which marks the limit of his lesson is in the middle of a sentence, or even if it be the first word of a sentence, the pupil stops his learning right there and does not trouble himself about the meaning of the word or the sentence. Then he comes up to the teacher, hands him his book, turns his back to the teacher and repeats the words of the text that he has learned. This process is called "backing the book." Formerly, the process of teach- ing in European and American schools was something- very like this ; but happily, the practice has fallen completely into disuse, or lingers only in a few places where the light of better things has not penetrated. A More Extended Meaning. — Recitation now means much more than giving back what has been learned. THE RECITATION 237 We ought to have a better name for the process than we have, and one which does not need so much ex- planation. But the term recitation is well established, and we may extend its meaning and keep the word with less danger of misapprehension than we should encounter by coining a new one. It might be remarked here, that in England the word lesson is more com- monly used to designate the process to which we apply the term recitation. The Testing Element. — We may discover in the reci- tation at least four different elements. A complete recitation will include something of each of these four. The first element is testing, which is designed to dis- cover whether or not the pupil has studied his les- son, and that he has been faithful in making the preparation which he is expected to make. It serves as an incentive to study ; and without it, in many cases, the pupil would become negligent and fail to make the preparation that has been demanded. The Test as Incentive to Study-. — Let us suppose that a lesson has been assigned for study from a text book, to a class in the seventh or eighth grade, in any school in the country. If there is a feeling that they will not be held to a recitation or to a report of their study, a very large number of pupils will fail to put a proper amount of effort into the learning of the lesson assigned. The testing lesson, then, serves as a spur to study. Punishment for Failure. — Formerlv, the failure in 238 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING the test was considered a matter for punishment by the teacher. A pupil who failed to study his lesson, as shown by his recitation test, was whipped, or kept in after school, or made to stand on the floor, or sub- jected to some other form of punishment. While the severity that is visited upon a delinquent is not so great as it formerly was, the idea of punishment for delinquency still persists. The teacher's disapproval, or scolding, or sarcastic remark, or lack of commenda- tion, or even the pupil's feeling of failure still serves as an incentive to faithful preparation. The oppor- tunity to recite when a lesson has been prepared well, is an incentive of another kind. When a pupil has prepared his lesson well, it is a source of satisfaction to him to be permitted to recite, and to tell what he has learned. So, in the test of the recitation, there is a double inducement to study. Where No Test is Employed. — In the German Uni- versities, and in some other schools, there is no test- ing lesson. A student in a German University may study or he may not study. He may attend lectures or he may not attend them. He may read the books recommended or he may not read them. He is per- fectly free to do as he wishes to do. If, however, he desires to obtain a degree, or other recognition of good work, he appears before the examiners and takes an examination. The examination is supposed to show whether he has studied well or not. No one who needs the incentive to study that is furnished by the THE RECITATION 239 daily recitation ought to go to a German University. Other Advantages of the Test. — The test includes other things, however, besides the inducement to study. In the test upon the lesson studied, there is an opportunity to correct any mistakes that have been conceived and to modify any misapprehensions that the pupil may have made. The pupil has an opportunity to compare his un- derstanding of the subject with the understanding that the other pupils have obtained. The very attempt it- self to put the knowledge that has been gained by study into such a form that it may be recited tends to make it clearer, and has a very decided effect upon its value. Nevertheless, the principal significance of the testing element in the recitation is the incentive to study. The Test Not an Essential Element. — The test is really not the most essential part of the recitation. If the teacher knows that the class has studied the lesson he may proceed as if the assignment had been recited. He may use the ideas that have been gained from the study of the lesson as a raw material out. of which to build a more complete lesson structure than he would be able to do by merely testing. So while we may never be able to dispense with the test, it is not an essential element of the recitation proper. It de- pends for its value upon the weakness and inefficiency and general untrustworthiness of child nature. This is true, notwithstanding the fact that many teachers 240 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING can see nothing in the recitation except the test, and that when this has been satisfactorily made, they are pleased with the result, feeling that their whole duty has been done. When the Testing Element is Necessary. — Whether the test shall be the principal element in the recita- tion or not depends upon the relation of the teacher to his pupils. If the pupils are inattentive, idle, indis- posed to study, then the teacher may wisely make the recitation largely, or even entirely a test, and mini- mize for the time being, the other and more important elements. Until good habits of study have been formed, and confidential relations established between teacher and class, the teacher will probably find it advantageous to adhere closely to the recitation of the facts in the lesson assigned. The Instruction Element. — The second element in the recitation is teaching, or instruction. No text book lesson contains all about the subject under consid- eration that the pupils should know. There is a nec- essity for furnishing details that would otherwise be omitted. Text-books that are made in one part of the country for one class of schools and for one class of children are used in another part of the country, by another kind of schools, and another class of children. No text-book is perfectly adapted to the particular class that is using it, and the adaptation must be made in and through the recitation. This adaptation constitutes part of the element called instruction. THE RECITATION 241 Forms of Instruction. — Instruction may take the form of direct telling by the teacher. The teacher ought to know a good deal more about the subject than can be stated in the text-book used, and he may tell some of the things that are necessary to a proper under- standing of the lesson assigned. Some of the pupils may have had experiences which are more helpful than any that the teacher is able to give, or than that which is stated in the text book. Concrete illustra- tions adapted to the experiences of children are al- ways helpful and satisfying. Report of Topics Read. — Certain pupils may have been assigned topics to read and to report upon. Some teachers use this device very successfully for instruc- tion, but it has serious limitations that diminish its usefulness. If an article or a book is good for one member of the class to read, it ought to be good for all pupils in the class to read it. It is not the work of the class as a whole that is to benefit the members, but it is the work of each individual that is to benefit him. It adds nothing to the efficiency of the class for its members to read a hundred articles, if each mem- ber of the class has read only two. The same good might be derived by the different members of the class from reading the same two articles, as if each member had read two different articles. In fact, for some reasons the smaller the number of references read the better, since it is probable that the smaller number selected would be better than the average 242 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING of the larger number. The report that is made upon the reading of an article by a member of the class would in all probability benefit the other members of the class most if it were made by the teacher. It must be understood that the principal benefit in the reporting is obtained by the one who makes the re- port, rather than by those who merely hear it. Advantage of Reporting Upon Readings Assigned. — On the other hand, the person who makes the report is reciting, just as he would be were he to recite upon the lesson assigned to all members of the class. His report, or recitation, is likely to be longer, and to oc- cupy more time than the ordinary recitation upon the lesson assigned to the whole class. It demands a greater ability to organize the larger mass of material than it does to recite briefly upon a subordinate topic. What Teaching Includes. — But this second element of the recitation includes, also, teaching in the more technical sense of the word. We mean by teaching not what is very unwisely called imparting informa- tion, but we mean the holding of the attention of the pupils upon the subject of the lesson until the relation which the teacher knows to be significant appears to the children. We have examined this process in the preceding chapter under the title of "Teaching How to Study." It is perhaps the most important element in the recitation, and makes of the recitation a study lesson, as the testing element makes of it a testing lesson. After the lesson has been studied and recited THE RECITATION 243 by the pupil, the real lesson, the most important part of the recitation, is just ready to begin. The facts have been learned, they are at hand, and now the teacher demands that the pupils shall discover and shall state the relations that exist between these facts. The pupil who has learned the facts in his historv lesson, or in any other lesson, assigned, is in the position of the student of botany who has undertaken to study a flower and has merely picked it. A person who has gathered a flower or a handful of flowers has not finished his study of botany nor of that part of botany which the flower represents. He now needs to study the plant and to discover all the relations in it which adapt it to its situation. Remembering a Preliminary. — In the same way, a student who has studied his lesson and has learned the facts reported in his text is now merely ready to discover the relation existing between those facts and the general principles of which the facts are manifes- tations. This is the part of the recitation in which the greater number of teachers fail, and it is the one in which the manifestation of the greatest skill on the part of the teacher may appear. This element of the recitation shows whether the teacher is an artist in his profession, or merely a plodder and an artisan. The Review Element. — But the recitation includes another element that must not be overlooked. This element is review. Review means looking at the sub- ject again, and every complete recitation must include 244 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING something of review. Review is necessary in conse- quence of the great rapidity with which things are forgotten. In the first twenty-four hours after a thing has been learned, about two-thirds of it is for- gotten ; in six days about three-fourths, and in a month about four-fifths. The first few hours after learning involve the larger amount of forgetting. Review, or relearning, is necessary for fixing in the mind the things that have been learned, so that they may become a permanent possession. Nothing ever becomes a permanent possession by a single learning, but must be repeated and relearned. Necessity for Review. — There is another reason for review. The things that were learned in yesterdays lesson are needed in today's. We wish to discover the relations between the ideas expressed in yesterday's lesson and those expressed in today's, and in order to perceive the relations most clearly, we need to have the ideas of both lessons as clearly in mind as possible. The apperceiving mass must be as fresh and as avail- able for service as it is possible to have it. Only in. this way can we make the best use of what we have already learned. Time for Reviews. — Review may come either at the beginning of the lesson, or at the conclusion of the test. Its proper place is at the beginning of the lesson period, for by placing it there we are able to make use of the freshly reviewed knowledge in a way that would be impossible if it were placed after the THE RECITATION 245 test. The disadvantage of placing the review at the beginning of the recitation period is a strong proba- bility that the teacher and the class will spend so much time in reviewing that there will not be suffi- cient to cover the new work. Pupils are likely to be more skillful in forgetting than the most cautious teacher is able to give them credit for ; and while the necessity for reviewing is thus more strongly empha- sized, the amount of time demanded by the process is startlinglv exaggerated. A Practical Difficulty. — If the review is thus pro- longed, and the advance lesson not fully covered, then it is a matter worthy of careful consideration just where the next day's recitation shall begin. Shall the teacher begin the recitation of the following day with the advance lesson assigned, or shall he begin at the place where the recitation closed? To begin with the advance means that there shall be a hiatus ofun- recited material from which no benefit is derived in the recitation. However, it appears that the advan- tages of this plan of beginning with the advance will outweigh the advantage of the other. It keeps faith with the class, and it serves as an inducement to the teacher to see that the entire lesson is covered in every recitation. Otherwise, there arises an uncertainty about every lesson, which is conducive to anything rather than to consistent study on the part of the pupils. We may begin at the beginning of every lesson, and let each lesson take care of itself. 246 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Form of the Reviezv. — The review ought to be not merely a repetition. It may have been recited seriatim yesterday. In today's review we may begin with the central thought and organize around it all the rest of the lesson material. We need in the review to look at the subject from a new angle if possible, and that review is best which differs somewhat from the recita- tion of the day before. Purpose of Drill. — Drill is a more emphatic form of review, whose purpose is to make the subject mat- ter a permanent possession. We drill to secure such familiarity with some portions of knowledge that we may have them at hand without effort in recalling them. We need to know some things automatically, without thinking about them. It is, in some cases, a perfectly proper demand on the part of the teacher to say to a pupil, "I do not want you to think, I want you to know." We need to know some things with- out thinking. We need to acquire the kind of fam- iliarity that comes from drill in case of the multiplica- tion table, the spelling of certain words, the processes of arithmetic, the shape and phonetic value of the let- ters of the alphabet. Devices in Drill. — The difficulty in drill is to main- tain the interest and attention of the children with- out weariness, until the processes of drill have ac- complished the purpose for which it is intended. Here the teacher needs to be skillful in devices. The de- vice of headmarks in spelling, of competitive stand- THE RECITATION 247 ings in grammar or geography, the device of prob- lems in arithmetic, — for problems are generally de- vices for drill involving an appeal to the puzzle in- stinct, rather than statements of principles, — all of these devices may secure the attention and interest of children while the drill is continued long enough to fix the principles and processes in the mind. The principal difficulty is that when once a teacher has secured a satisfactory device for drill, which holds the interest of the children, he is likely to think that he has discovered a new process of teaching, and will work the device to a funereal conclusion. Such an exaggeration of drill as we have seen in some so- called methods of arithmetic is likely to be injurious to children rather than helpful. The Assignment as an Element. — A fourth element in the recitation is the assignment of the lesson. It is not a teaching element, but it is a matter of such essential importance to successful preparation of the lesson on the part of the children that it easily as- sumes the first place in the list of things to be done in the time of recitation. A teacher who carelessly turns over the pages of a book at the end of the hour and says "Take to the bottom of page 131," has not made a good assignment. In order to make the as- signment, the teacher must study the lesson, not merely read it over, before the assignment is made. He must know where the hard places are, and what difficulties are Hkelv to- be encountered. He must know 248 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING the relation of this lesson to the lessons that have preceded it, and why this lesson is necessary to the proper understanding of the lessons that are to follow. This may necessitate a rearrangement of the order of the text-book matter according to the needs of the children and the comprehension of the teacher. Until the teacher knows the lesson in this way, he is not ready to make a good assignment. Time for Assignment. — The assignment may be made at the beginning of the recitation period or at the end of it. The- disadvantage of waiting to the end of the recitation period to make the assignment is that nearly always in such a case there will not be time enough to make the assignment in the proper way, and poorly prepared lessons will result. If the assignment is made at the beginning of the recitation period, there will always be sufficient time to make the assignment properly, although it has some attendant disadvan- tages. It may take too much time, and the time for the other elements of the recitation may be thus un- duly shortened. Advantage of Late Assignment. — There is a distinct advantage in making the assignment in the light of the recitation that has preceded it. The recitation itself may not be so satisfactory as the teacher has supposed that it would be, and the lesson assigned at the beginning of the period may be shown by the recitation to be too long,, or too short, or in some other respect not best adapted to the needs of the THE RECITATION 249 class. If such should be the case, there will be a necessity for modifying the assignment. However, with lessons that need careful assignment, and nearly all lessons do, the beginning of the recitation period will be found rather more satisfactory. One very ex- cellent teacher of geography frequently occupied half of the recitation period in making the assignment and the lessons were always well studied by the pupils. Sometimes in extreme cases the entire recitation per- iod may be occupied by the assignment, and the recita- tion may follow the next day. This is sometimes called a lecture form of recitation, although in such cases it is not a proper designation for the exercise. A Good Assignment. — A poor assignment is likely to result in poorly prepared lessons on the part of the pupils ; a good assignment will greatly encourage successful study. Not only should the pupils know what are the important parts of the lesson assigned, but they should be given some directions about how to go to work to study it, and such information about it as will awaken sufficient interest to induce study. We have seen that it is impossible to be interested in anything about which we know nothing, and whose relations to ourselves, or to something which we al- ready know, are undiscernible. So the teacher in making the assignment may give sufficient informa- tion to arouse interest, and not so much as to de- stroy it. All illustrations here employed have been such as 250 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING will apply to a class from the fifth grade who are using a text-book as the basis of their study. Under other conditions a modification of these suggestions will be imperative. The preceding statements have illustrated, however, a general principle which will apply with modifications to all kinds of recitations., Synopsis. 1. The recitation is the most important factor in all school work. 2. A recitation includes four elements : testing, teaching, review and assignment. 3. The testing element is employed principally as an inducement to study, and is not in itself an essen- tial part of the lesson. The teaching element is the heart of the lesson, and demands thinking, or the perception of relations by the pupil. CHAPTER XV. Different Forms of Recitation. What Form of Recitation Means. — For our present purpose we may distinguish the form of the recitation from the method of the recitation. By form of reci- tation we shall mean in this chapter the procedure in- volved in the management of the class as a whole during the recitation period, while by method we shall mean the procedure relating to the single in- dividual who is called upon to recite. There is noth- ing essential in this distinction, and it is used here merely as a matter of convenience. Concert Recitation. — The first form of recitation which we wish to consider is the concert recitation. It is mentioned mostly for the purpose of condemna- tion, although some teachers have a great fondness for it. At one time it was very popular in the schools of this country, and we can trace it back a long way in the history of education. It was most easily ap- plied to a catechetical system of instruction in which questions were printed in a book and the answers fol- lowed. The answers were expected to be committed to memory and recited. To What Limited. — In the concert form of recitation, 251 2o2 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING all the pupils in a class say the same words at the same time. It is limited to those recitations in which a set form of words may be used. This concert form of recitation is employed in teaching reading, per- haps more frequently than in any other subject, at the present time. It is evident that the teacher cannot know what each member of the class is thinking in this case, nor where each pupil is mentally located at any time, nor how adequately the thought is ex- pressed, so the primary purpose of the recitation is defeated. Boys have been known, in a class in con- cert reading, deliberately to mispronounce words, sub- stitute words of their own for the words of the text, and to give ludicrous misinterpretations to the thought of the selection that was being read, without the knowledge of the teacher or any other members of the class than their immediate neighbors. Any form of recitation that affords opportunity for such disrup- tions of unity must be condemned. Singing Geography. — Grammar, arithmetic, and geo- raphy are sometimes taught by the concert form of recitation. Years ago children were taught to re- member their geography lesson by singing it. "Maine, Augusta ; Maine, Augusta ; on the Kennebec River" represents the kind of geography which it was neces- sary for the children to sing in order to remember it. Singing geography involved the employment of the concert form of recitation, and may be taken as a rather typical example. FORMS OF RECITATION 253 Illustration of Concert Evils. — A teacher who was a county superintendent had a great fondness for con- cert recitation. He was teaching a grammar class, and lined them up at the blackboard around the room. Each pupil wrote the sentence which the teacher pro- nounced, then using the formula for parsing and an- alysis which all had learned and which was rigidly adhered to, they parsed every word. Each pupil in the class who knew his lesson tried to make himself heard above all the others. Two boys represented the mas- culine contingent — (grammar was never a favorite subject in that school with the boys) — and their vocal contribution was "wow-wow-wow-wow," recited with solemn countenance and inward hilarity. It served the purpose of increasing the volume of sound, and the teacher was blissfully unconscious that they were not participating in the recitation. Utility of Concert Recitation. — Concert recitation has a limited field of usefulness. In class singing, of course, concert recitation is the one great aim. In learning the phonetic values of the English letters, where there must be sufficient drill to produce a mus- cular memory, the drill may profitably be accom- plished in concert. So drill upon certain formulae, or memory gems, or the multiplication table may be profitably accomplished by concert exercise. There is an additional value sometimes in the fact that timid pupils may wear away their timidity by speaking together with other members of the class. 254 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING The Text-book Form. — The second form is the text- book recitation. This kind of recitation assumes that each pupil has a text-book from which lessons have been assigned and studied. Pupils have read and re- membered the lesson, and are called upon to recite. The teacher requires of them that they reproduce what they have learned, thus making of it a testing lesson. We have already seen that the lesson should be a study lesson, or a teaching lesson, as well as a testing lesson, although the test is the only thing that many teachers attempt to get from it. If the pupils can be trusted, the test may be omitted, and the study lesson, whose principal element is the perception of relations existing between the ideas that have been read and remembered, may be adopted as sufficient test ; for certainly the pupils cannot state the relations exist- ing between different ideas, unless they know what the ideas are. Advantages of Text-books. — The text-book recitation is the principal form of teaching employed in the schools of the United States, and it will probably be a long time before any other is generally adopted. The advantages of the text-book lesson are many and great. The text-book organizes the subject in a satis- factory manner; it selects the proper kind and quality of material ; it furnishes a large amount of helpful exercises, and it states directly facts that may be util- ized in teaching. In so far as it does these things sat- isfactorily, it enables the pupil to work independently FORMS OF RECITATION ZOD of the teacher, and so conserves his energy. Without a text-hook, a large amount of energy must be de- voted by the teacher to the preparation of work for the pupils to do, and placing it before them in such a manner that they can proceed to do it. The text-book saves a large amount of the teacher's time, which would otherwise be devoted to writing on the black- board. Advantage in Doing Without Text-book. — Notwith- standing the advantages of a text-book, it is quite de- monstrable that the teacher who will dispense with it will do better teaching than will one who depends largely upon it in teaching. There is such a thing as a tyranny of the text-book, from which it is difficult to free one's self and still use it. Observation of the teaching of classes in zoology, botany, chemistry, and physics has led to the belief that under equally favor- able circumstances, classes not using a text-book ex- celled those that did use it by twenty-five per cent. Disadvantage of Text-books. — The reasons for this improvement are several. No text-book is written for a particular class, nor exactly adapted to it. A text- book written by a teacher in Massachusetts may be used by schools in Michigan or in California, in schools the like of which the author of the book has never seen. It cannot, therefore, be exactly adapted to such schools. The case is quite as bad in high schools. A university professor, whose work is all advanced work will not hesitate to write a book for 256 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING high school classes such as he has never had any ex- perience in teaching. Even for the elementary schools, a professor of mathematics will have no hesitation in preparing a book on arithmetic. The lack of adapta- bility is a serious matter, especially in view of what has been said in Chapter IX about the basis of interests. Interest depends upon the perception of the relation of the thing studied to ourselves. The problems in arithmetic, for example, ought to take a different as- pect for the children in a dairying community from those that are employed in a manufacturing district; and these will be different, again, from those employed in a community devoted to mining or to general agri- culture. We cannot have a series of problems that shall be merely school problems, adapted to all schools, without divorcing school from community life and lessening the element of interest. The school is an ex- pression of the life of the community, and the school exercises ought to reflect that life. Arrangement of Subject Matter. — In the second place, the order of topics in the book may not be that which the teacher believes to be best, but it is generally bet- ter to follow the order of the text, if the book is to be used at all. No matter what arrangement of topics is adopted in the text, the treatment of all topics con- forms to the requirements of that order. A topic in the text presupposes in its treatment that the preced- ing topics have been discussed; hence, to rearrange the topics, demands a readjustment of the entire book to FORMS OF RECITATION 257 the new order. Then, too, the book may lay emphasis upon one topic, or series of topics, when in the judg- ment of the teacher, the good of the class demands that the emphasis be placed upon another topic, and the entire subject be organized around that topic, or series of topics, as a center. In this way the text-book may prevent a teacher's doing his best work. Why Text-books are Valuable. — Notwithstanding these evident advantages of doing without a text- book, it will be impossible for many years to abandon its use to any considerable extent. The text-book de- rives its value very largely from the limitations of the teacher. So long as one-fourth of our teachers enter upon the work of teaching every year, and only a small proportion of them have had any special preparation for teaching; and so long as teachers with little ex- perience are called upon to teach a variety of subjects and conduct a large number of classes each day, the text-book is a positive necessity. Conditions Necessary to do Without Text-book. — In order to teach better without a text-book than with one, the teacher must have such knowledge of the sub- ject that he can make a better text-book, for his own school at least, than the one with which his classes are furnished, if it should become necessary to do so. Not a large number of our teachers are scholars of this kind. Then the teacher must have had experience in teaching the same subject in the same situation with the same course of study for several years, or he will 258 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING fail to make a satisfactory adjustment of the work. Since these conditions do not generally prevail, we shall not soon be able to dispense with the text-books with advantage to the teaching. Lecture Form. — The third form of recitation is the lecture form. This is found especially in colleges and universities, although it is frequently attempted with in- different success in high schools, and even in the grades below. It demands a class of students who are able to study by themselves, and who have the ability to follow a train of thought with considerable accuracy. It is telling rather than teaching. It demands for its best result a considerable knowledge of the subject on the part of the pupil, and a large apperceiving basis, so that the new ideas may be joined promptly to the old, and find their appropriate place with little delay. Hence it is adapted to only the most advanced work. Proper Place for the Lecture Form. — Properly, the lecturer is an investigator who reports in his lectures the results of his investigations. He knows things that are too recently discovered to have appeared in the text-books. The lecture form permits great freedom to the teacher and enables him to give the best of him- self to his class. Its disadvantages are that it makes no imperative demand upon the pupil. It does not contemplate an immediate reproduction of the lecture, and no demand is made upon the pupil for thinking about it, or perceiving relations between the ideas ex- pressed. The lecture is poured out over the class, and FORMS OF RECITATION 259 they may absorb as much or as little of it as they are able. A Modification of the Lecture Form. — There is a kind of teaching that closely simulates the lecture form without its disadvantages. In this form of recita- tion the subject-matter of the lesson is stated orally, or in the form of a lecture, but the lecture is expected to be reported upon, studied, reproduced, organized in thought as a preparation for reciting upon it. The reproduction may be in writing, or it may be merely thought over. The lecture constitutes the assignment of the lesson, the reproduction in writing or otherwise, constitutes the study of the lesson, and the recitation constitutes the test. By this means all that is valu- able in the lecture form is preserved and most of the dis- advantages are eliminated. One Advantage of the Lecture. — There is one ad- vantage peculiar to the lecture form of recitation itself. Some persons are ear-minded, and learn things more readily by hearing than by seeing them. Such persons find the lecture form a distinct advantage. Other per- sons are eye-minded, and must see a thing before they can learn it. Such persons are at a disadvantage under the lecture form of recitation. With the greater num- ber of people, both seeing and hearing are available as means for learning, hence a combination of text-book and oral instruction is generally serviceable. Development Recitation. — A fourth form of recita- tion is the development lesson. This form is found at 260 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING its best in the German schools, and is widely advo- cated in our own country. In the development form of recitation, the children are supposed to know some- thing of the subject to start with. Using what the children already know as a basis, the teacher sets for them a problem, and holds their attention to the mat- ter until they arrive at its solution. Then he sets for them another problem, using as one of the factors the solution that has been reached in the preceding prob- lem. This form of recitation emphasizes the element of thinking, or perceiving relations, which we have seen is the element of greatest deficiency in most teaching. The development form of recitation keeps the children thinking, and so far as it does this more successfully than other forms, it is to be preferred to them. It is almost an ideal method for accomplishing the pur- poses for which it is adapted. Limitations of the Development Lesson. — It has, how- ever, like other forms of recitation, its serious limita- tions. It must be employed by a skillful teacher, or it degenerates into a burlesque. Not all things are sus- ceptible to treatment in this form. It is admirable for showing forth relations existing between ideas, but it is useless for obtaining new ideas. Facts can seldom be developed or treated by the development method. It is impossible to develop the facts about the num- ber of bones in the neck or the number of days in the week, or the phonetic value of ough in an unfa- FORMS OF RECITATION 261 miliar combination. One teacher developed very skill- fully the manner in which seeds were disseminated, us- ing a banana as the basis for the development lesson. So a kindergarten teacher developed readily the fact that the pictured rocks along Lake Superior were bluffs showing smooth surfaces on which the Indians had painted scenes such as are represented in Hiawa- tha. The danger in depending upon the development essons as a chief resource is that so many things will be developed that are not so. Inference, reasoning, is at best in constant need of verification by an appeal to facts, or first-hand knowledge. Only where some neces- sary connection exists between two things is a genuine development lesson possible. Question and Answer Method. — Leaving now the different forms of recitation, let us examine the method of reciting as applied to the individual pupil. The teacher usually indicates the place of beginning, o." the starting point on the mental path along which the pupil must travel, by a question, or demand, or remark about the lesson. When it is indicated by a question, we have the method of recitation that is called the Question and Answer method. This is the only method that some teachers employ, and its use is so nearlv universal that there is great need to study it carefully. It demands a very considerable knowledge of the sub- ject to ask questions about it intelligently. It is quite as satisfactory a method of testing the knowledge of a class to demand that they ask questions, as it is that 25 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING may fail to draw the line in the proper way. In order to draw the line of separation around the offender, the teacher must deal with the individual, and not with a group or with the school as a whole. If the teacher undertakes to include in his condemnation of an action, a whole room, or an entire class by general statement, or by direct charge, or even by an inquiry, as in the case supposed in the preceding chapter, he draws the line between himself and the rest of the school. He isolates himself, instead of isolating the offender. He associates others with the offender, which is the thing that the offender most desires. By dealing directly with the individual offender, the teacher avoids the common mistake of drawing the line of separation in the wrong place. There is no other principle of school govern- ment so important as this, and perhaps none that is so frequently violated. By dealing directly with the individual, the teacher is able to maintain the unity be- tween himself and the rest of the school, and to show that the offender has excluded himself from this unity. Getting Children on Our Side. — Teachers have a way of expressing this fact by saying that they wish to have the pupils on their side. This is a crude way of expressing an important truth. It means that they re- cognize a necessity for the maintenance of unity. It means that the line of separation is drawn so as to isolate the offender, and to recognize that the unity is broken between the offender and the rest of the school. Weakness of Departmental Instruction. — In oppor- MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 299 tunities for dealing with the individual in such a way as to establish and maintain the unity between teacher and pupil, the one who teaches the same class all day in several subjects has an advantage over one who teaches many children in only one subject for a short time each day. A teacher must have an unusual strength of per- sonality to make a vivid impression upon a class of children with whom he comes into contact only one hour each day. It is this fact which constitutes the princi- pal weakness of the departmental method of instruc- tion. The departmental teacher is very likely to teach the subject rather than to teach the children. Effective Methods of Discipline. — We have now the principle to apply in cases of disorder or school crimes. In cases of stealing, the difficulty of detecting the of- fender is very great, and when he is detected, what can be done? It may be assumed that such a person should be expelled from school ; but when that is done, we de- prive the thief of the very best opportunity that he will ever have of growing past the undeveloped condition which permits him to steal. There is little danger that others will be affected by his presence, and from his ex- ample learn to steal. Their moral natures are not likely to suffer, since most of the children have already passed the point of development that permits them to steal, and degeneration is not likely to affect young children. There is little opportunity for dealing with the individual of- fender, but in cases where it may be done, harsh meas- ures are not likely to accomplish the result which we 300 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING desire. The most effective device is to maintain the kind of ethical atmosphere favorable to the development of all the individuals, and this will affect the thief, even though we may not be able to discover him. This ethi- cal atmosphere results in such a force of public opinion that the pressure upon every child to behave in the proper manner is very strong, and results in the forma- tion of ethical habits and the development of moral character. How Deal With Lying and Cheating. — Nearly the same thing may be said of lying. The ethical atmos- phere here manifested by the expectation of the teacher and the majority of the children that every person is expected to tell the truth, and the suggestion arising from this expectation, working in and through the force of public opinion, is the best possible condition for the proper development of the child in the ways of truth. In cases of cheating and other allied vices, the same principle must apply. Shall we abandon examinations and recitations because some children may cheat in them? The conclusion would seem to be unwarranted. It is inadvisable to do things that will encourage cheating, and it is equally inadvisable to believe that no one will attempt to cheat. It is best that the teacher, so far as possible, shall not furnish an opportunity for the pupil who cheats to enjoy the fruits of cheating to the disad- vantage of those who do honest work. When Impossible to Discover the Offender. — Even though it be impossible to discover a pupil in the act of MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 301 cheating, the general character which makes cheating natural to the child cannot be concealed, and the teacher may have a good general idea who it is that cheats, with- out positive evidence of the fact. About the only thing that the teacher can do is to prevent the reward of cheat- ing from being enjoyed; to cultivate such an ethical at- mosphere that children will grow into the habit of not cheating; to establish and cultivate a public opinion that will serve at once as an incentive to honesty and a deter- rent to cheating. Inadequacy of Instruction in Morality. — The principle here enunciated emphasizes the importance of the teach- er's example and the high standard of behavior that he holds in mind as the essential factor in determining the ethical atmosphere. Hence it is quite distinctly unfavor- able to the teaching of morality in school by formal les- sons of any kind. Such formal lessons are likely to be destructive to the establishing of the proper ethical at- mosphere rather than favorable to it. They substitute in- tellectual precepts for an ethical atmosphere as the deter- mining factor in behavior. Effect of Interest. — The third element in determining the behavior of children is interest. Children feel deeply and strongly, and the way that a child will feel at any time toward a particular situation is determined by several factors ; by his stage of development ; by the suggestions that he receives from other people, and which enter into the ethical atmosphere in which he lives ; by other cir- cumstances, such as habit, the result of his past exper- 302 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING iences, and by anticipation of what is to come. In one sense of the word, interest is the dominant factor, and may be made broad enough to include the other two which have already been discussed. But since those other fac- tors determine what the interest shall be, it is necessary for us to consider the actions as determined in part by them. Interest May Be in Various Things. — Interest is the feeling arising from the recognition of a relation existing between the person and the thing to wmich he attends. The interest which results in proper behavior in school may arise from the recognition of any one or many of such a multitude of relations that it is impossible to enum- erate them. The interest may be in the learning of the lessons, in the personality of the teacher, in the welfare or reputation of the school as a whole; or it may be an interest in personal welfare associated with punishment or reward. Transfer of Interest. — We must recognize the fact that there is a possibility of a transformation of one kind of interest to another. The interest of curiosity may de- velop into the interest of personal welfare, and this may change into the interest of habit. The teacher is justified, then, in making use of one form of interest, even though of that kind which may be called artificial and totally ex- traneous, expecting to substitute for it a higher and more permanent interest as soon as it can be done. Proper Interest is in School Work, Not in Behavior. — The interest that leads to proper behavior in school is MOTIVES IN SCHOOL 303 usually not an interest in behavior itself, but an interest in the regular work of the school. It is an interest in the studies and subjects of instruction and the regular school exercises, rather than an interest in behavior as such. This is the fact that more than any other emphasizes the importance of good teaching as a condition of dis- cipline. Discipline, considered as determined by interest, becomes not an end nor even a necessary condition of study, but an inevitable accompaniment of good teaching. Discipline and good teaching are therefore so inextrica- bly mingled that it is only in thought that we are able to separate them. When we consider a school well gov- erned without its being well taught, we are establishing a false standard of discipline and of good order. It is a standard which iconoclasts are justified in deriding. The only true discipline is that which comes as an ac- companiment of good teaching, and which is determined in very large part by interest. Deportment Marks. — In consequence of the principle here enunciated, it is with doubtful propriety that teach- ers record a mark for deportment in children's monthly reports which are furnished for the inspection of parents. This seems to make deportment a separate subject, like arithmetic, and to distinguish it as' something apart from the general atmosphere of the school. It furnishes an improper suggestion and makes behavior a thing in itself, attracting attention to it in a way rather unfavorable than otherwise to its best manifestation. 304 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Synopsis 1. The behavior of children is determined largely by three factors: The stage of development in which the child is, the ethical atmosphere in which he lives, and interest. 2. Stealing, lying and cheating may be considered as typical school crimes. When we recognize actions by these names, we may regard them as examples of re- tarded development. 3. The ethical atmosphere is the sum of all the sug- gestions that reach a pupil from the expectation of the teacher and the other children that he will act in a cer- tain way. The force of public opinion is the means by which the pupil is influenced to act as he is expected act. 4. Interest is a term so broad that it may be made to include both of the other factors, and other things as well. It is possible to bring about a transformation of interests, so that when a habit of good behavior has been established in consequence of one interest, it may be continued in consequence of an interest of a higher order. CHAPTER XVIII School Incentives Use of Incentives Legitimate. — We may use the term School Incentives to designate those special devices by which a teacher determines the interests and actions of the children. Since the interest may be transferred from one kind to another, it is legitimate for the teacher to employ a device appealing to an interest of a low order as a means of attaining to an interest of a higher order, and reaching a higher standard of conduct. As good teaching is a fundamental condition for securing proper discipline, so devices that attract children to take a proper attitude toward the school studies are the most effective and of a higher order than those devices which appeal merely to the disciplinary side of school life. Our first endeavor, then, should be to employ such devices as will induce in the child the proper kind of study, and good habits of recitation. Habit as an Incentive. — The interest of habit is one of the most powerful interests that children have. It is essential that the teacher do whatever is possible to induce good habits of study. It is imperative, in seek- ing to establish good habits of study, that the teacher be careful in making the assignment of lessons. The 305 306 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING nature of the assignment and the recitation may be varied according to the degree of habit that has been formed in the learning of the lessons. If good habits of study have not been formed, the assignment will be very definite, the recitation will be mostly a testing lesson, and there will be no failure to call for every portion of it. The lesson will not be so long nor so difficult as to render it painful to learn, thereby arousing an unpleasant interest, and it will still be of sufficient difficulty to demand effort suffi- cient to awaken a pleasurable interest in its accomplish- ment. These are the general principles to apply when it is our purpose to induce good habits of study in a class where such habits do not at present exist. Program as an Incentive. — Habits are engendered by a regular succession of acts. Repetition and regularity are the elements that enter into their formation. Rigid adherence to a program is well understood to be one of the most effective devices for securing good habits of study. It is a conservative force that leads to good teaching and to good discipline. That it does limit the freedom of the teacher and of the pupil in some respects, and prevents the accomplishing of as much, under certain circumstances, as might be accomplished if deviation from it were permitted, is sometimes very true. Hence some teachers refuse to be bound by a program ; but when it is the intention to establish good habits of study, and to encourage the interest of habit, rigid adherence to a program is essential. A program in itself is a device for securing such habits. SCHOOL INCENTIVES 307 Habit Opposed to Curiosity. — The interest of habit resulting from the employment of a program is opposed to the interest of curiosity or newness, which arises in the deviation from it. The interest of habit is a much safer interest and a higher form, as well as more effective in maintaining good behavior in school. Imitation as an Incentive. — The interest of imitation is a powerful interest which has already been discussed. The idea of the teacher is imitated, rather than the spoken word in which the teacher might state his rules of conduct. The teacher expresses by his own habits of order and neatness his real idea of discipline and of good behavior in school, and it is this rather than the verbal expression which is imitated. His actions furnish the suggestions which, unconsciously to the children, con- stitute the motive for a corresponding action in them. Intellectual Interest as Incentive. — A third element in interest is the intellectual feeling, by which is meant the desire on the part of children to know. Children really desire to learn, and to know things. It is a natural in- terest, and it is one to w T hich the teacher can appeal very successfully. We may see a manifestation of it in the eagerness with which children of a certain age work at puzzles, and by the questions that children of an earlier age ask. The little child is essentially an animated inter- rogation point, and if the subject that we wish the child to learn is presented to him in the right way, we shall find that he is eager to learn. Teachers usually regard this interest too lightly. They assume that study is distaste- 308 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING ful, and that the subject must be made attractive to the child by extraneous means. The child accepts this sug- gestion, and becomes indisposed to learn. Teaching Little Children to Read. — It is believed by many people that the little child should not be put to learning to read and write as soon as he goes into school, but that he should be set to doing something else which will show him the necessity of learning to read and write. When he has discovered the necessity for learning to read and write, then there will be little trouble in in- ducing him to learn these subjects. It seems that the mistake in this philosophy lies in the assumption that reading and writing are in themselves disagreeable sub- jects, and that something else is agreeable. The fact is, that if the same suggestion is given to the child con- cerning reading and writing and numbers, that is given to him concerning construction work or nature study, the same disposition to learn reading and writing will be manifested that is exhibited toward the other subjects, which are believed to be in themselves more attractive. We make a mistake if we assume that school subjects are not full of interest to the children. Every lesson should be a problem, and should challenge the best efforts of the child. We may destroy all interest by making our lessons too easy, and we can destroy it by making them so diffi- cult that the experience in learning is a painful one. Artificial Incentives. — In our use of the word incen- tives, we are rather inclined, however, to limit it to the artificial, extraneous devices by which we induce an SCHOOL INCENTIVES 309 interest, not in the study itself, nor in the regular exer- cises of the school, but in something else that may in- volve as a condition, compliance with all the school regu- lations. Our general principle is that such extraneous incentives are justifiable if they are necessary to the formation of good habits of study and conduct, and if the lower interest generated in them is afterward trans- ferred to the higher forms of interest ultimately involved in the school exercises themselves. Let us apply this principle to the discussion of some common forms of in- centives. Prizes as Incentives. — The giving of prizes is one of the most common incentives adopted to induce interest in school exercises. Some world famous prizes are ex- tensively advertised, and others that are not called prizes are equally good examples of such incentives. The Nobel prizes are awarded each year, and nearly every great scientific association offers prizes as rewards for success in competition. In colleges and universities, prizes, under the name of scholarships, are offered from year to year. The public schools of elementary grade have mostly passed beyond this stage of development that encourages the giving of prizes, and nothing has been lost, but rather a distinct gain has been made thereby. Evils of Prise Giving. — The objections to the giving of prizes in school are very strong. Prizes appeal to but few in a class. They appeal only to those who have a good chance of obtaining them, and these few are the best pupils, who need the incentive least. It accentuates the 310 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING! difference between the good and the bad, while we desire to bring the bad up nearer to the good, thus diminishing instead of accentuating the difference. The winning of the prize depends upon success in competition, rather than upon success in accomplishment. The success may be obtained in an honorable or a dishonorable way. Mis- fortune to a competitor is as effective in winning the prize as is excellence in the one who wins it. It is closely allied to the disposition to get something for nothing which is the spirit of gambling, and is assimilated to the undeveloped stage that permits one to steal. Altogether, there is little that can be said in favor of the incentive of prizes in school. Other Rewards as Incentives. — The same objections apply with less force to rewards, or marks of distinction, that are given for successful work rather than for com- petitive superiority. Such rewards often take the form of diplomas, certificates, medals, degrees and promotions. It must be understood that these are artificial incentives and open to the objections that they center the interest upon the distinction, rather than upon the end that is the real purpose of study. When, however, the rewards, or marks of distinction are not emphasized, but the interest aroused by them is transferred to the study which is the real purpose of school work, there is no serious objection to them. The Marking System. — A system of markings, either in percentages or in some thinly disguised form of per cents,, is often employed as an incentive to work in school. SCHOOL INCENTIVES 311 The children are graded in per cents, and the standing of the pupil enters as an element into the ethical atmos- phere in which the child lives. Sometimes, if a child has a certain per cent standing in his classes he is allowed special privileges ; or if he lacks a certain per cent stand- ing he is denied participation in special school opportuni- ties. Occasionally a regulation is made that pupils with a certain high per cent standing in daily work will not be required to take a final examination in their subject, while it is almost universal in colleges and high schools, that pupils who have failed to maintain a certain per cent standing in their work are deprived of the privilege of playing upon the football and baseball teams of their schools until they have brought their work up to the required mark. Unconsidered Indignation. — Many years ago a great wave of indignation swept over the country concerning the marking system, and the same feeling persists to such an extent that we feel even now when we mention a marking system, we must apologize for its introduction into educational discussions. However, it is of so much practical importance that it is well for us to consider the matter carefully. Objections to the Marking System. — The objections to the use of per cent markings as an incentive to study are numerous and weighty. In the first place, the objec- tion is ofTered that children are thus taught to compare themselves with each other and to take pride in com- petitive superiority. This is the same objection that is 312 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING made to the giving of prizes as an incentive, and has equal validity. It is not inherent in the marking system, however, as it is in the prize system. The teacher may report the mark of the pupil only to the pupil himself, then it is not possible for him to make invidious com- parisons. Another objection is that the marks cannot tell the truth. When one child is marked 75.1 and an- other is marked 74.9 it is impossible to affirm that one child is ' superior to another. We cannot be sure that there is an actual difference in the ability or success of the two children, yet one may be promoted upon this mark- ing, and the other may be cast into outer darkness. This is very likely true, but if there is any attempt to employ promotion as an incentive, there is a necessity for some method of drawing the line between those who shall be promoted and those who shall not. Any method that shall be devised for this purpose will probably be open to the same objection in greater degree. Promotion Determined by Marks. — Promotion is often used as an incentive in school work. This is not its pri- mary purpose, and to use it so is rather a perversion of its real function. The real purpose of promotion is to adjust the individual pupil in such classes as will enable him to study with the prospect of greatest improvement. Promotion is intended to advance the pupil to such a class that his ability and stage of development will be as nearly as possible equal to that of other members of the class. Children do not all develop with equal rapidity. If they did, there would be no necessity for making SCHOOL INCENTIVES 313 discriminations between pupils in promotions, but all members of a class could take up different subjects at the same time. The good of the child is the only thing that should determine his promotion, and that good can be decided satisfactorily only by the person who knows the pupil's ability best, namely, the teacher. Often it may happen that a pupil enters upon the adolescent stage and should be promoted to a higher class, when his class work is not so good as that of other pupils who have not developed physically so rapidly, but whose per cent standing is higher. Facility* of Determining Promotion by Marks. — It is difficult, however, to bring children and parents to realize all of these situations, while the per cent scale is easily comprehended. Therefore, notwithstanding the inad- equacy of promotions based exclusively upon percentage, it is usually found to be more satisfactory to adopt that basis as a determining factor in making promotions. When such a plan of promotions is adopted, it is very easy and very effective to employ promotion based upon percentages as an incentive to study. Advantages of a Marking System. — This, then, is one of the purposes and one of the advantages of markings. Not only are they employed, sometimes, as an incentive to study, but they are employed by the teacher as a means of making up his judgment upon the success of the pupil's work. Teachers are called upon to decide whether a child shall be promoted or not. They must sometimes decide whether a child shall go into another 314 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING class or grade, or remain in the one in which he now is. Pass or not pass, is the decision to be made. In order to avoid injustice, a careful record of the pupil's work in the shortest possible way is needed. The record is not necessarily open to the inspection of the pupil, but may be exclusively for the benefit of the teacher in making decisions that shall not be unjust. Marks Assist in Making Correct Judgment. — A teacher is called upon constantly to make judgments upon the success of a pupil's work. A parent would have just cause for indignation if the teacher were sincere in the statement that he does not know how successful the child is in his school work. If the teacher really does not know, he is unworthy of his place. The mark is merely a shorthand way of expressing the teacher's judgment of the child's work. The average of several marks is likely to be more nearly correct than is any single judgment. An error in one is corrected by an error in the opposite direction in another. A teacher may feel that he knows what a child can do, but an average of ten or twenty marks does not agree with his single judgment. His record is more likely to be correct every time. In case of a good student, a single failure in recitation will stand out more strongly because it is an unusual circumstance, and it will diminish the opinion of the teacher toward that pupil more than a dozen good recitations will raise it. On the other hand, a poor student who makes a brilliant recitation one day will receive more credit in the general estimation of the SCHOOL INCENTIVES 315 teacher than he will deserve. The average of marks will show forth a much more nearly accurate estimate of the pupil's success in his studies than will a single general judgment. Marks an Unworthy Motive to S tudy.— Another ob- jection to the use of marks as an incentive is that it establishes a wrong motive for study. Instead of study- ing for the good that is to be derived from the study itself, the children work for marks alone. Instead of in- culcating an interest in learning, it inculcates an interest in getting marks. Children work for marks rather than for the good that they are to derive from their school work. Answer to the Objection. — This is a valid objection, and can be removed only by an application of the princi- ple that interest aroused by one device may be trans- formed into a better and higher form. It must be recog- nized also, that the value to the child comes not from the aim that the child himself holds in view, but from the effect that is produced upon the child by his own activity, how- ever that activity may be induced. The apparent aim in school work, which is recognized by the child, is seldom the real purpose recognized by the teacher or the educa- tional philosopher. This consideration takes away a large part of the force of the objection. A mark is merely a shorthand expression of the judgment of the teacher, upon a single recitation. It is, perhaps, a short way of saying privately "I commend you," or "That is good." No one believes that the approval of the teacher is an 310 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING unworthy motive to work for, and the mark is merely a way of expressing that approval. Neither is there any ob- jection to the comparison by the pupil of his own work one month with his own work of the month before. This kind of rivalry of the pupil with himself and his desire to do better than he did before is one of the most worthy motives. The recorded judgments of the teacher en- able him to make this kind of comparison, and they need no apology. The Really. Valid Objections to Marks. — The greatest objection to the marking system in all its variations is that it takes too much time and effort on the part of the teacher. Especially when the teacher attempts to make a record of recitations in the time of the class period, it is likely to distract his attention from the real busi- ness of teaching, to disrupt the unity of thought, and to diminish very much the effectiveness of teaching power. The school in which the requirements for gradu- ation are the most rigid, adhere most strongly to a mark- ing system. The advantages are great, although there is danger of injustice. It is not to be commended highly as a means of inducing study, but has its chief value in determining promotion. Emulation as an Incentive. — Emulation is the basis of many devices for inducing study, or proper behavior in school. In some schools, this takes the form of head- marks, or ranking in class. When so used, it has all the objectionable features of prizes. When, however, emula- tion is made the basis of team-play, in which one school SCHOOL INCENTIVES 317 is pitted against another, or one room against another room, or one portion of the room against another portion, it is in large part relieved from this objection. Team-play is one of the most efficient means of socialization, and competitive team-play is in accordance with the natural tendencies and stages of development of children above the age of twelve or fourteen. Emulation is frequently made the basis of team-play in spelling, in arithmetic or in geography. The same principle is sometimes em- ployed in maintaining school order. Tardiness yields more readily to this treatment than to any other. The room in school which shows the smallest number of cases of tardiness is furnished with some mark of dis- tinction which is retained until some other room shows fewer cases of tardiness, when it is passed over to that other room. Tardiness almost disappears under the stress of such incentive, although it is questionable if in such cases, punctuality is not sometimes obtained at too great cost. It is a question whether devices based upon such a principle may not become too effective. Pupil Government. — Only a slight variation of this device leads to pupil-government in school. Children may be brought to have such regard for the discipline of their room that government may safely be left to the children themselves. The force of public opinion is strong enough in such cases to act as a restraint upon disorder, and it may act very effectively. It seems of doubtful propriety, however, for the teacher to abandon all authority, even in the best of circumstances. In fact 318 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING all authority is never abandoned, but the impulse leading to the establishment of the ethical ideal originates with the teacher, and is constantly maintained by him. The teacher's authority may never be openly exercised, but he is and must be ready to take control at any time that the government seems to be in danger. General Exercises and Special Days. — In this connec- tion we must not neglect the consideration of general exercises, such as singing, and lessons of such a nature that the entire school may participate in them. Such are the celebration of Washington's birthday, Thanksgiving, and other anniversary days and special occasions. In some schools this is made a regular institution. Such exercises have the advantage of causing the school to work together as a unit and contributes to the develop- ment of the community ideal. It has the serious disad- vantage of breaking up the formation of habit, and relying upon another interest, usually of less value than that of habit, which it displaces. It proceeds to adopt a different line of study from that which has been laid down as the best for all pupils when the entire situation is considered. In schools where it is made an incident, and not permitted to break up and destroy the regular work of the school, much good may come from it. Whether the practice is good, 1 or bad is likely to depend upon attendant circumstances and the entire situation in the school. It cannot be sweepingly commended nor unsparingly condemned. Artificial Incentives to be Minimized. — All the incen- SCHOOL INCENTIVES 3 19 tives so far discussed are devices, whose value depends upon the application of the principle of the transforma- tion of interests. If the teacher is of such vigorous per- sonality that extraneous devices are not necessary, it is better to minimize their application. The teacher whose pupils maintain good order and who work steadily with- out being conscious of any of the machinery by which the teacher induces in them this condition of study will in all probability accomplish more than the teacher whose pupils are consciously stimulated by devices for such pur- pose. Especially is this the case when the principle of transfer of interest is neglected and the children are actuated consciously and avowedly by the incidence of the device itself. Incentive May be too Effective. — One other objec- tion is frequently urged to every one of such devices as it is particularly and successfully applied. Each one is charged with inducing too intense application of cer- tain children to study, to the detriment of their physical health and their nervous condition. Each device is be- lieved to be, sometimes, too successful. This is a gen- eral condition and not a criticism upon the employment of devices in themselves. That the amount of pressure necessary to induce proper study in one group of children will produce an injurious intensity of study in another group is sometimes true. But it is rather decidedly easier to modulate the too intense activity of the studious and orderly, than it is to induce a proper degree of activity in those who are indisposed to study at all, or to 320 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING conform to school regulations. The criticism that in- centives succeed too well in what they are designed to accomplish does not argue that they are to be abandoned, but that the child should always be considered in making an application of the device. Synopsis 1. The principle of transformation of interests per-, mits the employment of incentives of a low order, ex- pecting them ultimately to be supplanted by those of a higher order. 2. Habit, imitation, and intellectual feeling are in- terests of a high order which may be appealed to without hesitation by the teacher. 3. Some incentives of lower order which may be employed to induce the interest of habit are prizes, marks of distinction, such as diplomas, class rankings, per cent markings, promotion and emulation. Each of these is open to criticism, and they vary much in the degree with which they may be commended or condemned. CHAPTER XIX The Formation of the General Abstract Notion Importance of an Understanding of the General Ad* stract Notion. — No discussion of the principles of teach- ing can be satisfactory that does not include a study of the general abstract notion. An inadequate knowledge of it is the cause of very much poor teaching, and the occasion of nearly all the ludicrous mistakes in examina- tion papers. A teacher who fails to know the process by which the general abstract notion is formed is not in a situation to direct the studies of children to the most successful issue. Composition of a Notion, or Concept. — By general abstract notion we understand the meaning, or content, of a common noun. The word concept is used to express the same thing that is indicated here by the term general abstract notion ; but the latter term seems to be more suitable for our purpose. We may distinguish a general abstract notion, expressed by a common noun, from a singular concrete notion, expressed by a proper noun. The singular concrete notion arises as the result of a combination of sensations experienced at the same time. A sensation is the simplest intellectual process which we can distinguish, and it is the psychological accom- paniment of a nervous impulse started in a sense organ and carried to its brain center. 321 322 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Composition of a Percept. — A sensation makes us ac- quainted with the quality of an object. From an object we may obtain several sensations, corresponding to sev- eral qualities. These sensations accompany peripherally initiated impulses ; but as soon as the peripherally initia- ted impulses have been established, and the correspond- ing sensations experienced , then, in nearly all cases, centrally initiated impulses accompanying other sensa- tions, which we may designate as faint, combine with them. All the sensations that are experienced at the same time, both faint and vivid, combine, modify each other, and the result is a percept, or singular concrete notion. There may be ten sensations of different degrees of in- tensity accompanying centrally initiated impulses, while there may be only four sensations accompanying peri- pherally initiated impulses. This is the truth involved in the statement that we see more with the mind than we do with the eye. What is a Proper Noun? — If the singular concrete notion is properly expressed, its expression is a proper noun. It is the notion of some particular object, or a single individual thing. Very few objects that we have occasion to indicate have individual names, so we dis- tinguish which one of a number of objects we mean by the employment of a number of limiting words attached to a common noun. The process by which a general abstract notion is formed may be illustrated from every branch of study, but we can exhibit the process very satisfactorily by show- THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 323 ing- how the general abstract notion of an insect is ob- tained. The Process of Abstraction. — Let us suppose that we are studying a grasshopper, and we begin with the study of an individual. The first thing that we do is to see the grasshopper as a whole. This, however, is not sufficient to give us a satisfactory knowledge of the animal. We observe that it is made up of parts. There are three body divisions, the head, thorax and abdomen. Leaving out of consideration for the time being all other parts of the body, we fix our attention upon the head. We ob- serve that the head itself is composed of different parts, and we may distinguish the eyes, excluding from consid- eration, for the time, all other parts of the head. We see that the eye itself is composed of parts, six-sided facets, of which there are several thousand in each eye. Each facet corresponds to a single eye, and if every facet ex- cept one were covered up, the grasshopper could still see with that one facet. In consequence of the convexity of the eye, some of the facets are directed upward, some downward, some sideways, some backward, some for- ward. Thus the grasshopper is enabled to see in all di- rections at once without moving his head or changing the position of his eyes. It really seems as if he had been designed by providence to be a school teacher. Counting, a Process of 'Abstraction. — Then we look at the antennae, excluding from consideration for the time being all other organs, We count the segments of the antennae, not merely to find out how many seg- 324 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING ments there are, although this information will naturally be obtained, but in order that we shall fix our attention for an instant of time upon each single segment, to the exclusion of every other segment, and of every part of the head. Importance of Abstraction. — When I am fixing my attention upon one thing to the exclusion of everything else, I am engaged In the process of abstraction. It is a very important process, and rather a difficult one. That it is an important process is rendered evident by the number of abstract words and common nouns that we employ. The definition of an abstract noun given in our gram- mars, that it is the name of a property or a quality consid- ered separate and apart from the object to which it be- longs, is accurate, but usually means little to the chil- dren who are called upon to learn it. It is just as truly a process of abstraction to examine the leg of a grass- hopper to the exclusion of the other parts of the animal, as it is to abstract truth, weight, redness, or any other property of an idea. The Process of Analysis. — The second process that is employed in the study of an object, and which is neces- sary to an understanding of the process by which a general abstract notion is formed, is the process of analy- sis which goes along concurrently with the process of ab- straction, and indeed can scarcely be separated from it. Analysis differs from abstraction in the fact that by analy- sis we examine the relations that one part holds to the THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 325 other parts. It accompanies the process of abstraction, but can be separated from it in thought. Analysis in Grammar and Arithmetic. — We hear much of analysis in grammar and in arithmetic, and the process is the same wherever we find it. The analysis of a prob- lem in arithmetic consists in the perception of the rela- tions that one quantity in the problem holds to the other quantities. A problem is difficult or easy according as the relations are apparent or obscure. So every problem in arithmetic is solved by analysis, and this is the fact which attests the wisdom of discarding rules in the so- lution of problems. In the analysis of sentences in gram- mar we need to see the relation that one word or element of a sentence holds to the other words, or elements. Abstraction and Analysis Involved in the Studying of a Thing. — This process of analysis and abstraction is a necessary step in the development of the general abstract notion, but it is all included in the study of the individual thing. It is as necessary to the formation of the particu- lar concrete notion, as it is to the general abstract notion, and is involved in any process of perception. We Study a New Thing by Means of the Old.— After we have obtained as thorough a knowledge of a single insect as we can get, we proceed to study in the same way other related insects. It will require not nearly so long a time to study a cricket as it did to study the grass- hopper. We can see just as many things and see them just as well in one-fourth of the time that we spent in studying the grasshopper. This is not because our pow- 326 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING crs of observation have been cultivated, but because we have obtained a body of knowledge which is related to that which we obtain from the cricket, and by means of which we apprehend and interpret its structure and life. It is by means of this related knowledge that we are able to see so much more with the mind than we are with the eye. The Process of Discrimination. — Let us suppose that we have studied in this way a bumblebee, butterfly, squashbug, housefly and dragonfly. It is not a matter of indifference that they be studied in a certain order, be- cause certain relations manifest themselves readily if they are studied in a certain order, which do not appear if they are presented in a different one. When we have studied individuals of these kinds, we are ready for the next step. We need to notice the differences which have manifested themselves to us while studying the different insects. We can tabulate the differences in some such form as the following : Table 1 Differences Among Insects. Grasshopper Butterfly Bumblebee Squash bug Wings Straight Scaly- Membrane Half Metamorphosis Direct Indirect Indirect Direct Mouth parts . . Biting Sucking Biting and Lapping Sucking THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION Dragonfly Beetle Housefly Wings Nerved Sheath Two Metamorphosis -.'... Indirect Indirect Indirect Mouth parts Biting Biting Sucking and Piercing Importance of Discrimination. — The process by which we observe differences is called discrimination. It is an important process in thinking. Every great discovery has arisen from the recognition of finer and finer dis- tinctions. A good example is found in Lord Rayleiglrs discovery of argon. Lord Rayleigh weighed nitrogen that was derived from the air, and then nitrogen that had been obtained from chemical compounds. He found a small but constant difference between the two weights. Other men had observed the same difference, but to them it was non-significant. They attributed the differ- ences to inaccuracies in weighing, or to other ordinary conditions. But in 1893 Lord Rayleigh studied this dif- ference, and arrived at the discovery of argon, an ele- ment previously unknown, and which constitutes nearly one per cent of the air. This led to the discovery of other substances in the air, neon, krypton, helium and xenon. These discoveries have added a new r column to the table of elements, and it seems possible, at least, that ether itself will find a place in this column, and so furnish a totally different explanation of the universe from that which has previously prevailed. Such are the great re- 328 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING suits that follow from making a finer discrimination than has been previously made, and such is the process by which improvements are always obtained. Ability to Discriminate Is a Function of Growth. — The growth of a child's knowledge pursues the same course. The discriminations that a young child makes are not very fine, and it is worse than useless to attempt to have him draw delicate distinctions that are after- ward made easily. Sometimes, on the plea of thorough- ness, we undertake to induce young children to make distinctions that are appropriate and possible only to children of a more mature age. The growth of a child's knowledge and power to think is parallel to, and deter- mined by, his ability to make finer and finer discrimina- tions. Discrimination Necessary to a Critic. — The person who discriminates well is a good critic. This is a quality especially valuable to a teacher. It is frequently asserted that a good critic is not a creator nor a constructive thinker and it is generally true that the two qualities of mind exist in different degrees in the same person; but the function of the critic is perhaps as important as is the function of any other thinker. The Process of Comparison. — We must now examine another process. While we have been studying these dif- ferent animals and observing how they differ from each other, we have also been observing how they resemble each other. We see that each has three body divisions, segmented abdomen, seventeen body-segments, six legs, THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 329 jointed appendages, two pairs of wings, and all breathe by spiracles. We might observe many other resemblances, which, just at this stage of our study, do not appeal to us. Thus we might observe that all are composed of cells, have white blood, are bilaterally symmetrical, take solid food, exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen, sexes are separate, and many other things. We may express these resemblances in the following table : Table II. Resemblances Among Insects Three body divisions. Seventeen body segments. Segmented abdomen. Three pairs of legs. Grasshopper Jointed appendages. Butterfly One pair of antennae. Bumblebee Compound eyes. Squash bug < Jaws move sideways. Dragonfly- Two pairs of wings. Beetle Breathe by spiracles. Housefly External chitinous skeleton. Double nerve cord and ganglia White blood. Reproduce by eggs. ( Bilaterally symmetrical. A General Abstract Notion the Sum of Resemblances. ■ — All animals that we have studied manifest these char- acteristics. We may group the characteristics together and use one word to designate their sum. We may em- ploy the word insect to mean the sum of the characters that are common to all the animals studied. We have now a way of expressing by a single word everything that is included in the table of resemblance and this 330 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING word expresses the general abstract notion. It is general because it applies to every individual which possesses the characteristics found in our table of resemblances. It is abstract because it has been formed from a table of characters abstracted from the individuals studied. Whenever I use the term insect, I mean the things that are included in the table of resemblances. The general abstract notion is always formed from a table of resem- blances, either explicitly stated as in this case, or, — which is very much more common, — more or less clearly im- plied, and unconsciously recognized. Different Contents for the Same Word. — It will be seen from the above analysis that our general abstract notion will be full and complete, or weak and imperfect, according to whether the number of characteristics in- cluded in our table of resemblances is great or small. No two persons are likely to have exactly the same table of resemblances, and consequently the word, or the com- mon noun which expresses it, will have somewhat dif- ferent meanings to different individuals. Nearly all of our general abstract notions are formed from seeing or hearing words used in different relations. Much reading, properly interpreted by our experience, enables us to form the greater number of our general abstract notions. Difference Between Singular Concrete and General Abstract. — The singular concrete notion is formed by a combination of all the sensations that we receive from an object. These sensations associate themselves with each other according to the law of resemblance. All THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 331 the qualities with which the sensations make us acquainted exist in the same place and at the same time, and so are associated by that law of resemblance. The general ab- stract notion is formed from a combination of sensations which correspond to qualities belonging to different ob- jects, and from which the table of resemblances is formed. It is easier to see how the process of forming the general abstract notion is a process of the recognition of re- semblances than it is to see that the singular concrete notion is formed in the same way. Can a General Abstract Xotion be Derived from ct Single Object. — If there is but one thing in the world of a particular kind it may be a fair question whether the notion that we get of it is a singular concrete or a general abstract. There is but one moon. Do we get a general abstract notion of the moon from studying it, or is it a singular concrete notion ? When there was but one war vessel called the Monitor, could we have a general abstract notion of monitor, or would it be proper to speak, as we came to do afterward, of a monitor ? The same change has occurred in the word Geyser. Once it meant the name of a particular spring of peculiar char- acter in Iceland. Other springs resembling it were dis- covered, and the name geyser was applied to all of them. It seems inadvisable to consider a notion that has only one representative as a general abstract notion. Has a General Abstract Xotion Any Actual Represen- tation? — Similar to the above question is the one whether a general abstract notion has any material representative. 332 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Is there a general abstract cow? This is purely a matter of definition. Those who affirm that there is a material representative of a general abstract notion assert that anything which contains all the characters represented in the table of resemblances is a material representative of the general abstract notion, no matter how many char- acters it also contains which are not found in the table. Those who affirm that the general abstract notion has no material thing to correspond to it also affirm that the general abstract notion is merely the sum of the resem- blances, and anything that possesses any other characters cannot represent the notion. It avoids some difficulties to consider the general abstract notion as merely the sum of characters, and this is equivalent to saying that it has no material representative. There is no general abstract cow. The use of the term "general abstract notion" im- plies the same thing. It is a notion abstracted from the objects that are studied, and it is obtained by considering the abstracted qualities. Importance of Comparison. — The process of perceiv- ing resemblances is called comparison. The person who can perceive resemblances well is the person who becomes a philosopher. The ability to perceive resemblances may not exist in equal degree with the ability to perceive dif- ferences. The critic is seldom a philosopher, and a phil- osopher is not likely to be a good critic. These two pro- cesses of discrimination and comparison lie at the founda- tion of all processes of learning, and there is no other way to learn anything except by observing how it is like THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 333 something else or how it differs from something else. This is merely another way of saying that all knowledge is relative, and that all processes of thinking and learning consist in the perception of relations. Logical Definition. — From our tables of resemblances and differences we may make a logical definition. If we wish to define beetle we may say that a beetle is an in- sect . When we have said this we have said a good deal, but we have not made a definition of a beetle. When we have said that a beetle is an insect, we have said all the things that are included in the table of resem- blances, and have distinguished it from those animals which do not have the characters expressed by the table, but we have not discriminated it from other insects. A fly is an insect and a bumblebee is an insect. We need to distinguish the beetle from these animals, and from the other insects which we have studied in making the table of resemblances. We need to look at the table of differences and to insert into our definition the charac- ters in which we found the beetle to differ from other insects. A beetle is an insect which has sheath wings, biting mouthparts and which undergoes an indirect meta- morphosis. Logical and Psychological Concepts. — Some writers, distinguish logical from psychological concepts, or gen- eral notions. There is no validity in this distinction. A logical concept is merely one that is clear and definite and which can be defined. A psychological concept, as these writers use the term, is a general abstract notion 334 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING that has not become sufficiently clear to admit of defini- tion. We may recognize all degrees of definiteness in general abstract notions, and it is not only hairsplitting but absolutely misleading to undertake to discriminate one kind from another by means of the degrees of defi- niteness in the concept. Genus and Differentia. — Every real definition is made in this way. It is made from a table of differences, but it must have as its predicate nominative the general ab- stract notion derived from the table of resemblances. The predicate nominative that is so used is called the genus; and the characters which are found in the table of differences, and which discriminate the thing we are defining from the other things that are included in the same genus are called the differentia. A logical defini- tion, then, is a statement which manifests the nature of the thing defined. It always includes two things, the name of the genus, or the comprehensive group to which the thing we are defining belongs, and the differentia, or characteristics which separate the thing we are de- fining from other members of the same group. Most of our dictionary definitions are not definitions at all, but statements of distinguishing features by which we may be able to identify the thing that is defined. When I say that Mr. Brown's house is number 926 Forest Avenue, I have not made a definition of Mr. Brown's house nor a statement which manifests its nature, although I have enabled a person to find the place. Our dictionary defi- nitions are o'enerallv statements of this kind. THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 335 Properties of the General Abstract Notion. — Let us examine a little farther the properties of the general ab- stract notion. Table III. Differences Among Arthropods. Grasshopper Crawfish Spider Centipede Skeleton Chitinous Calcareous Chitinous Chitinous Body Divisions Three Two Two One (differ- entiated) Number of legs Six Ten Eight Sixty-two Antennae One pair Two pairs None One pair Eves Compound Compound Simple Compound (or none) Breathing Spiracles | Gills So-called lung Spiracles Body segments Seventeen Twenty-one Undeter- mined (Thirty- six?) Wings Two pairs None None None Table IV. Resemblances of Arthropods. Jointed appendages. , ,„,„ * Jaws move sideways. Crawfish ) ^temal skeleton Double nerve cord and ganglia. White blood. Reproduce by eggs. Bilaterally symmetrical. Here we have table III, which represents the differ- ences existing between the groups of Arthropoda, and Spider Centipede 336 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING! table IV, which represents the resemblances among the same animals. We derive the general abstract notion of Arthropoda from table IV. We can make a logical de- finition of insect from table III, using as the predicate nominative the general abstract notion Arthropod. If we compare table II with tables III and IV, we shall see that the table of resemblances has become shorter, and the table of differences has become longer. In fact, we may recognize that tables III and IV consist of the char- acters found in table II divided up between them. Another View of the General Abstract Notion.— -In- stead of regarding the general abstract notion as consist- ing of the sum of qualities associated by the law of resem- blance, many writers on psychology consider that it is the result of a single act of perception or apperception. They declare that the first consciousness of a child is a vague, undifferentiated whole, and that the process of its development is a process of setting apart and rendering consciously clear the different elements that have been apperceived. Such a conception of the process of form- ing a general abstract notion is neither demonstrable nor capable of being understood. It involves the assumption of a metaphysical faculty of the soul, which controls the process of association, and it appears to be an indication of a relapse into the old unscientific psychology of the past. This faculty which differentiates and sets apart the elements of the undifferentiated mass, is called ap- perception. The word is used here with a different mean- ing from the Herbartian sense described in Chapter XL THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 337 The process described in this chapter is clear, capable of being understood, and is the one which is always acted upon in practice by students of botany and zoology who have more occasion to classify and describe general ab- stract notions than do any other persons. Comprehension and Extension. — The general abstract notion of arthropod is derived from a shorter table of re- semblances than is the general abstract notion of insect. The general abstract notion of .insect contains more characteristics than does the general abstract notion of arthropod. This is expressed by saying that the general abstract notion of insect has greater comprehension than does the general abstract notion of arthropod. By the comprehension of a notion we mean the number of char- acters that are included in it. But there are a greater number of individuals to which the term arthropod will apply than there are to which the term insect will apply. Arthropod includes all the animals that are insects, and many more besides. We may express this fact by saying that the notion arthropod has greater extension than does the notion insect. By the extension of a notion we mean the number of individuals to which it may apply, or the number of individuals that may be included in the no- tion. It will be seen that as the number of individuals increases, the number of characteristics that are likely to be common to all of them decreases. Other things being as they are, the greater the extension of the no- tion, the less the comprehension ; and the greater the com- prehension, the less the extension. This is the general rule, 338 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING although in its applications it is not always strictly true. This entire process which has been described in the formation of a general abstract notion is called the process of generalization. Generalization results, not al- ways merely in the formation of a general abstract no- tion, but it may result in the statement of a principle or a law. We have employed for our illustration the notion expressed by a common noun, but it will be seen that the meaning of a verb or a preposition is as truly a general abstract notion as is the meaning of a noun. Notions Have Different Ranks. — One other property of the general abstract notion is discovered by the ex- amination of tables II, III, and IV. General abstract notions are not all of the same rank. The notion insect is of a different rank from the notion arthropod. The notion insect is included in the notion arthropod. Stu- dents of zoology and botany, those sciences which are especially classificatory, have devised means of express- ing the ranks of the different notions which they employ in classification. The grasshopper that we study is an individual. Individuals that are very nearly alike, as nearly alike as parent and offspring, are of the same species, and are called by the same name. The specific name of the grasshopper that we study may be femur- rubrum. Grasshoppers may differ specifically, and yet so closely resemble each other that we may call them by different specific names, but group them into the same genus. Thus the genus of our grasshopper may be Melanoplus. Different genera may be so nearly alike that THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 339 we group them into the same family, the grasshopper family, and we may name this family Acrididae. Families that are alike may be grouped together and another gen- eral abstract notion of greater extension be formed. The families that are like the grasshopper family may be grouped together into an order, and we may name this grasshopper order Orthoptcra. Orders that are alike make up a class, and the class to which the grasshopper belongs is the class Insecta. Classes that are alike consti- tute a branch, and the name of the branch to which the grasshopper belongs is called Arthropoda. Branches that are alike constitute a kingdom, and the kingdom to which the grasshopper belongs is the Animal Kingdom. Thus we see that the different ranks into which the general abstract notions fall are called species, genus, family, order, class, branch and kingdom. Other Divisions. — Many other divisions are employed, such as sub-class, cohort, tribe, etc., but these are suf- ficient to indicate for us the different ranks of the gen- eral abstract notions. Thus the names of the gen- eral abstract notions derived from the tables of resem- blances among animals that resemble the grasshopper less and less closely are femur-rubrum, melanoplus, acrid- idae, orthoptera, insect, arthropoda and animal. These general abstract notions represent different ranks, each being subordinate, and having less extension than the one next succeeding it. The Content of Nouns. — Common nouns express no- tions nearly all of which are formed by the process here 340 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING described. Our understanding of such a word will be full and adequate or incomplete and unsatisfactory ac- cording as our table of resemblances from which the notion is derived is long or short. Many ludicrous mis- takes are made in school and upon examination papers in consequence of the meagerness of the content of some of these words which express general abstract notions. The girl who wrote that Noah Webster founded the diction- ary, had an inadequate content for the word founded. So the pupil who said that Tom Paine invented the Pacific Railroad, had no satisfactory meaning for the word in- vented, and the one who wrote that Arnold was engaged in a plot to embezzle the United States was likewise de- ficient in her general abstract notion expressed by the word embezzle. How Acquire the Meaning of Words. — One of the most important and at the same time most difficult things for the teacher to do is to cause the children to acquire adequate general abstract notions, or to fill up common nouns with a satisfactory content. The only suggestions that can be given about the method of doing this is to say that the child must use the word in a sufficient number of relations, with a sufficient amount of experience with things to enable him to interpret what he reads; that is, he must acquire as long a table of resemblances as possible. Much reading with a sufficient amount of ex- perience with things to enable him to interpret what he reads is the most satisfactory way of filling up words with a content. It cannot be done verv satisfactorily 7 by means THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 341 of dictionary definitions. Hence it is that children who read the most are likely to be those children who have the best understanding, who know most satisfactorily the meanings of words, and who are able to see most easily the relations that exist in the things under consid- eration. The notion is formed by abstracting the com- mon elements from the different uses in which the word is employed. This is usually an unconscious process and not at all the formal device employed in our illustration. Reading and Experience. — The word is merely one of the properties of the general abstract notion. It would avoid many dangers in the use of the word if other properties of the notion, and other elements that enter into its constitution, might be experienced before the word is obtained. This is the justification for the aphor- ism which says the thing should be given before its sym- bol, the meaning before the word. But in much the larger number of cases, the word is the first characteristic of the general abstract notion that the child obtains. Hence it follows that a very large part of the teacher's duty necessarily consists in causing the child to fill up his empty words with a content. Reading must be the chief reliance of the teacher, although reading, without the proper kind of experience that will enable the child to interpret or see the meaning of what he reads, is likely to be of little value. First hand knowledge, contact with things, is essential, and in many cases difficult to secure. General Abstract Notions Necessary to Thinking. — Many languages of uncivilized peoples have very few 342 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING common nouns. It is unnecessary to say that such lang- uages have been developed by people who have very little capacity for thought. It is impossible to carry our think- ing processes very far without the employment of com- mon nouns, expressing general abstract notions. It is a labor saving device. If we were compelled to substitute for every common noun the table of resemblances which it is used to express and from which it has been derived, our use of language would be very meager and we should be quite helpless in thinking. Danger in the Use of Common Nouns. — Yet there is a positive danger in the use of common nouns. We are likely to assert of an individual object, more than is in- cluded in the class, merely because some other member of the class has the characteristics which we assert of it. Because it is like some other member of the class in the class characteristics, we are likely to assert that it is like other members of the class in characteristics which do not enter into the constitution of the general abstract no- tion which the name of the class expresses. Our under- standing of the general abstract notion is at once too broad, since we make it include too many characteristics, and at the same time too narrow, for we do not know all the characteristics which make it up. Common Nouns Have Different Meanings for Differ- ent Persons. — Besides this, no two persons are likely to have exactly the same content for a word. The list of resemblances which constitute the general abstract no- tion is seldom the same for any two individuals. Hence THE GENERAL ABSTRACT NOTION 343 they have necessarily different contents, and different meanings for the same word. Notwithstanding these serious defects, the general abstract notion is indispens- able to our thinking. Synopsis. 1. The general abstract notion is the content of a common noun. It is formed from a table of resemblances seen to exist between the individuals that are compared. 2. In the formation of a general abstract notion, we must employ the processes of abstraction, analysis, dis- crimination and comparison. 3. The general abstract notion is the sum of the re- semblances existing among the things which we com- pare. 4. A logical definition includes the general abstract notion, or name of the class to which the thing we are defining belongs, and the differences which distinguish it from other members of the same class. 5. Nearly all of our general abstract notions, that is, the meanings of common nouns, are obtained by reading words in the various relations in which they are used. 6. A large part of the teacher's difficulty is found in the attempt to have children fill up the word with a content ; to acquire an adequate meaning for common nouns ; to make general abstract notions. 7. Nearly all of the ludicrous errors in examination papers arise from the inadequacy of the general abstract notions which words are employed to express. CHAPTER XX The Growth of Children. Importance of Child Study. — Undoubtedly, the great- est improvements in education and in teaching in the past twenty-five years have come, not from the study of sub- jects, but from the study of children. Whatever improve- ments in teaching have originated in the study of the sub- jects of instruction have been made in consequence of studying the subjects for the purpose of adapting them better to the child. The child is constantly changing his nature and his disposition as he grows older ; and the subject matter and ideal of education must be changed to suit his changing nature, and to adapt it to the particu- lar stage of development in which he is found. It is a fundamental principle of teaching that the nature of the child shall determine both the subject that shall be taught and the methods of teaching. Hence arises the imperative necessity for making the best possible study of the child in all his various relations. Relation Between Bodily Growth and Mental De- velopment.— -We may readily understand that there is a relation between the growth of the body and the growth of the mind. Not only is there a parallelism, but it ap- pears that there is a more immediate connection between 344 THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 345 the two than the word parallelism implies. A study of the physical growth of children will help us to interpret the changes in the mental processes which we call growth. What is Meant by Growth. — We may mean by growth one of two things : We may mean an increase in size or increase in complexity of organization. W r e may speak of the growth of a butterfly when it is changed from the caterpillar condition to the imago form, although there has been no increase in size. x\ll the time that has been passed in the chrysalis condition has been employed in reorganizing the material of the body. This is one sense of the word growth, although it is not the more common one. The ordinary use of the word means increase in size, and this increase may be de- termined either by measuring the extent of the body in one or more directions, or by weighing. Usually, in the case of children, increase in size is judged by measuring the height, and by taking the weight. We need to as- certain both height and weight, for we find that increase in height is not necessarily coordinate with increase in weight. Size of Boys and Girls. — At birth there is a difference in the size of boys and girls. On the average the boy is slightly taller and heavier than the girl. By measuring and weighing a thousand boys and girls at birth, and taking the average measurements, it has been found that the average boy at birth is about 19.68 inches tall and weighs 7.3 pounds, and the average girl at birth is 19.48 inches tall and weighs 7.1 pounds. At the end of the 346 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING first year the boy is about 27 inches tall and weighs 21.9 pounds, while the girl has grown to the height of 26.88 inches and weighs 21.3 pounds. Thus it will be seen that in the first year of life the height of the child has in- creased more than seven inches, and its weight has almost trebled. In no subsequent year will there be anything like this same amount of increase in height, nor the same relative increase in weight. The growth in the second year is still great, but scarcely more than half the amount of increase in height and weight that is ob- served in the first year. Table of Increase in Height. BOYS GIRLS Age Height in Actual Per cent Height in Actual Per cent of inches height inches height increase 5% 41.7 41.3 6% 43.9 2.2 5.3 43.3 2.0 4.8 7% 46.0 2.1 4.8 45.7 2.4 5.5 8% 48.8 2.8 6.1 47.7 2.0 4.4 9% 50.0 1.2 2.5 49.7 2.0 4.2 10% 51.9 1.9 3.8 51.7 2.0 4.0 11% 53.6 1.7 3.3 53.8 2.1 4.1 12% 55.4 1.8 3.4 56.1 2.3 4.3 13% 57.5 2.1 3.8 58.5 2.4 4.3 14% 60.0 2.5 4.3 60.4 1.9 3.2 15% 62.9 2.9 4.8 61.6 1.2 2.0 16% 64.9 2.0 3.2 62.2 0.6 1.0 17% 66.5 1.6 2.5 62.7 0.5 0.8 18% 67.4 0.9 1.4 the growth of children 347 Table of Increase in Weight. BOYS GIRLS Age Weight Actual Per cent of Weight Actual Per cent increase increase in pounds gain of gain 6K 45.2 43.4 7H 49.5 4.3 9.5 47.7 4.3 9.9 8H 54.5 5.0 10.1 52.5 4.8 10.0 9H 59.6 5.1 9.3 57.4 4.9 9.3 iok 65.4 5.8 9.7 62.9 5.5 9.6 \\y> 70.7 5.3 8.1 69.5 6.6 10.5 \2V ? 76.9 6.2 8.7 78.7 9.2 13.2 13*4 84.8 7.9 10.3 88.7 10.0 12.7 UV ? 95.2 10.4 12.3 98.3 9.6 11.9 15K 107.4 12.2 12.8 106.7 8.4 8.5 16K 121.0 13.6 12.7 112.3 5.6 5.2 17M 115.4 3.1 2.8 18M 114.9 Variation in Rate of Growth. — At the end of the sixth year, the boy has increased to 43.9 inches in height, and weighs 45.20 pounds. The girl, 43.3 inches in height and weighing 43.4 pounds, is still surpassed in height and weight by the boy. At twelve, the girl has passed the boy in both height and weight. At this time the boy is 55.4 inches tall and weighs 76.9 pounds, while the girl is 56.1 inches tall and weighs 78.7 pounds. This superiority of the girl over the boy arises in consequence of the fact that the girl has entered upon a period of rapid growth in the twelfth year, which is not entered upon by the boy for nearly two years afterward. So for a period of about three years the average of a large number of girls shows greater height and weight than does the average of a large number of boys of the same age. At the end of 348 • PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING the fifteenth year the boy surpasses the girl in both height and weight, and remains larger from that time forward. Periodicity of Growth. — In looking at these tables of growth we shall see that the period of rapid growth for both boys and girls extends over a period of about three years, in each year of which an increase of nearly ten per cent is made in both height and weight. The table is misleading in the fact that it involves the assumption that there is such an average individual, when there is not. The table makes it appear that there is an increase of nearly ten per cent in each one of the three years, while the fact is that for almost every one of the boys and girls measured, much the larger part of the growth of these three years occurs in a period of one year, or of eighteen months. The increase in one individual in one year is greater than any table of averages would indi- cate. Any particular boy is likely to grow, in some one of these years, four, five, or even six inches. This year may be the thirteenth for some boys, the fourteenth for others, and the fifteenth for still others. So, while the average of a large number of boys is about three inches in one year, the actual grow T th of any one boy in some of the three years is much larger than the average. The same thing is true for weight, although the extremely rapid increase in weight appears later than does the in- crease in height. Analogy of Plants. — Growth in children is not uni- form, but rhythmical, or occurs at intervals, just as it does in plants. Tf a growing plant be measured, it will THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 349 be seen that nearly all the growth is made at night, and little or none is made in the daytime. This may be modi- fied by the influence of a cloudy day, but in general it is true that growth in height of a plant occurs mainly at night. But even in the growing-time at night the growth is not uniform. In one plant that may be cited as an example, three periods of growth were observed every night. The first one was the longest and the least intense. The second one was shorter and more intense. The third was the shortest and the most intense of the three. After this third period, no more growth was observed until the following night. First Period of Rapid Grozvth. — So in children we may observe three, or possibly four periods of rapid growth at long intervals, separated by periods of slower growth. This recurrence of periods of rapid growth at long intervals we may call the secular rhythm. The first period occurs in the first year and is the most intense and most clearly marked of all the periods. After the first year there is a period of slower growth until about the age of seven, when there is another period of rapid growth, not so well marked and not so intense as the first, but still noticeably greater than the rate of growth immediately preceding and following this period. In some children this period may occur as early as five and a half years, and in others it may be delayed later than seven. The beginning of this period marks the separa- tion between the period of infancy and the period of childhood. 350 PRINCIPLES OF TEACPIING Adolescent Period. — The third period of rapid growth is that which occurs at the beginning of adolescence, and occurs in girls at about the age of twelve and in boys at about the age of fourteen. This period is more intense than the second, but not so intense as the first. Growth almost ceases at the age of sixteen for boys, but there is a tendency to resume it at about the age of twenty-one. If we can recognize this fourth period it will be found to be the least intense of the four, and noticeable only in consequence of the almost cessation in the two or three years immediately preceding. It is almost certain not to be observed in some individuals. Annual Rhythm of Growth.— Besides this secular rhythm, we may discover an annual or seasonal varia- tion in growth. All, or nearly all, the growth that a child makes in height in one year is made in the months from April to August, scarcely any growth in height occurring in any of the other months. The growth in weight occurs in the months from August to December and but 1 ittle in the remainder of the year. From Decem- ber to April there is little or no growth in either height or weight. Monthly Rhythm. — There is some evidence tending to show that all the growth which occurs in height and weight in the proper seasons for such increase occurs in periods extending over about half a month. Growth will occur for about two weeks, then there will be a period of no growth for the following two weeks. This may be called the monthly rhythm. Similarly it is believed THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 351 that all the growth in weight occurs in the daytime, and all the growth in height is made at night. If these sup- positions are true, we may discover at least four different kinds of rhythms in the growth of a child. Showing the relative proportions of the body in child and adult. (Langer.) U asymmetrical Growth. — Another fact of growth is even more important. Not all parts of the body grow to the same degree, nor do all parts of the body grow at the same time. Growth in height and weight are only two measurements of growth, and perhaps they are not the most important. A man is not merely a child grown tall. The proportions of the body of a child are decidedly different from the proportions of a man. The head of a child grows to about twice its linear dimensions before manhood, while the entire body grows to about 352 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING three times its linear dimensions. Not all parts of the head grow in the same proportion. While the entire head grows to about twice its linear dimensions, the upper part of the head grows to only about 157/100 of the upper part of the head of a child. The legs grow to about 472/100 of the legs of the child. The arms grow to about 350/100 of the arms of a child, and so it is with every organ of the body. The different organs bear different proportions to each other in the man from what they do in the child, and they do not grow at the same time. At first one organ will grow rapidly. Then, perhaps for a number of years, there will be little or no increase in the size of that organ while other organs are growing. Growth of the Heart. — The relation of the capacity of the heart to the arteries at birth is about 25 to 20. This proportion increases gradually until the time just before the period of rapid adolescent growth the propor- tion is about 56 to 20. In the period of rapid adolescent growth the proportion rapidly increases to 97 to 20. Irregularity of Mental Growth. — Without assuming more than a parallelism between the bodily growth and mental development, this study of the irregularity of growth and disproportion in the development of different organs would lead us to suspect that there might be a corresponding disproportion in the development of the mental processes. The different mental abilities and in- stincts changing disproportionately make the character of the child a constantly changing quantity, and necessi- THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 353 tate a corresponding change in methods of treatment, with an appeal to different motives leading to action. If growth of the physical organism occasions and condi- tions a development of the mental processes, then an irregularity of growth will produce a corresponding irreg- ularity in mental development. A recognition of this principle will explain many peculiarities in the school work of a child, and account for circumstances that have no explanation if we assume that the character of the child remains constant, and his mental development is regular and uniform. Relation of Bodily Growth and Mental Power. — It is a most important thing for teachers to know the rela- tions between physical growth and the ability to do mental work in school. Is the well-grown child a better pupil and more able to do good work in school than is one who is small and undersized? Shall we proportion our school work and grade the children according to size? At present our grading is altogether on an intellectual basis, and size and condition of growth have nothing to do with it. Accordingly we find in the first grade some children who are taller than are other children in the eighth grade. Children Below Grade Mentally are Smaller. — The re- ports of the Chicago Department of Child Study are significant in this respect, even though we may not con- sider them conclusive. Investigation of several thou- sand children in all the grades show that, in general, those children who are at and above grade in their school 354 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING work are taller and heavier than those who are below grade. The difference is not very great, but it is con- stant. This means that the average growth of all the children who are below grade is less than the average growth of the children of the same age who are at or above grade. Of course, very many individual cases occur which do not comply with the rule, but the general average makes the rule conclusive. Criminal Children Smaller. — A comparison of the children in the ordinary school with the children in the John Worthy school emphasizes the relation between growth and school standing. The John Worthy school in Chicago is the school attached to the city prison. All the boys in this school are criminals and all of them are below grade, most of them far below grade. Meas- urements show that the height and weight of the boys in the John Worthy school are decidedly below those of boys of the same age in the ordinary school, even of those who are below grade. The Small Bright Child. — This conclusion that large children are most likely to be the brightest and mentally capable of doing* better school work will in all probability appear unsatisfactory to many teachers. Every teacher has probably known some child who is very small for his age, and who yet is the brightest pupil in his class. When a visitor enters a school room he will in all proba- bility pick out the smallest pupil in the room as the brightest, and not often will he be mistaken. How shall we account for this discrepancy? Dr. Christopher, in THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 355 the reports above referred to, makes the suggestion that such cases are rather pathological than normal. His sug- gestion means that precocity is in the nature of a disease, and that these small children who are unusually bright are in danger of mental decay and an earl}* death. Impression of Teachers. — This is, however, not the general impression that is obtained by teachers from an examination of such cases. Teachers generally get the impression that there is a reciprocal relation between bodily growth and ability to do mental work. When a large proportion of energy that is available in the body is employed in doing physical work and in building up tissues there is a correspondingly smaller proportion re- maining for doing mental work. This conclusion, derived from casual observation of a few cases of precocious children, is directly contradictory to that derived from a careful and accurate examination of many thousand chil- dren of all kinds. It would seem that the conclusion derived from an examination of the larger number of children is more likely to be correct. How, then, shall we explain these cases of precocious children? The Small Bright Child Well Adjusted to his Work.— In the first place it may be observed that the cases of small children who are bright are likely to receive undue attention, merely from the fact that they are exceptional. The brightness of the smallest child in the room is likely to attract more attention than is the brightness of the ordinary child, or the average child in the room. He is likely to receive more credit for being bright than is 356 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING properly due to him. In the second place, the fact is generally overlooked that the small, bright, precocious child seldom maintains his superiority up to the years of maturity, and seldom develops into a genius. He is, when he becomes mature, very likely to be merely an ordinary individual, rather than to be either a genius or to be stupid. Taking this fact into consideration, we may find an easy explanation of the precocious child in school. Growth Necessitates Readjustment. — The failure of his body to grow is paralleled by the corresponding failure cf his mind to change. Change always implies a demand for readjustment, both physical and mental. The grow- ing body or the growing mind is always out of adjust- ment with its surroundings from the very fact of its growing, and there is always implied the necessity for a readjustment to the conditions surrounding him. The small child, whose growth has not been so rapid as that of other children, is not so far removed from adjustment to the conditions that he meets in school at the time of his slow growth, as are the other children whose growth has been more rapid. He is not so constantly exper- iencing new impulses and encountering new conditions. He cannot have the same distractions that more rapidly growing children have ; consequently his school work is likely to be done better than that of the rapidly growing children whose school work suffers as a result of these distracting circumstances. This explanation seems to satisfy all the conditions involved in the problem, and leaves the way open for us to accept the conclusion that THE GROWTH OF CHILDREN 357 in general, leaving out of consideration the bright children whose growth has been delayed, the well-grown child is more likely to be up to grade in his school work than is the child whose growth has not been so satisfactory. Same Conditions Favorable to both Mental and Physical Growth. — Shall we, then, draw the conclusion that physical growth is the cause of mental growth? Such a conclusion would be unwarranted from the data considered. It is probably safe to say that the same conditions of good food, fresh air, exercise, heredity, and ethical atmosphere that are favorable to physical growth are at the same time and in the same degree favorable to mental growth. The case of the John Worthy school boys, who are all criminals, nearly all below grade in mental work, and nearly all below the average in physical growth, indicates that moral growth is dependent upon the same conditions that determine physical and mental growth. Does Rapid Mental Growth Parallel Rapid Physical Growth. — One other question is of interest to us. Just at the time of most rapid growth, is the child capable of doing as good work in school as he is at other times, or should the school work be lightened for him, and he be not expected to do so much? , The prevailing opinion, sanctioned by the writers on child study, is that the child in periods of most rapid growth is not capable of making so great intellectual progress, or studying with the same degree of profit, as when he is not growing. The prin- ciple cannot be stated absolutely, and there is even reason 358 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING for believing that the mental growth resulting from the formation of new associations among the brain cells and brain centers parallels the rapid physical growth in height. The erratic character of the work, amounting to very poor work in the ordinary school subjects, may be accounted for by the growth of new interests that are excluding, in large part, the old. If we take into account the new in- terests that are forming, we may have a better under- standing of the kind and amount of mental work that the pupil is capable of doing. What Determines the Maximum of Growth. — The child will reach a certain maximum of height and weight. The maximum height will be reached in the early twenties, or sooner; but the maximum weight will scarcely be reached by the early forties. There is no doubt that good food, good air and good sanitary conditions assist growth, but the body tends to reach the same maximum under un- favorable conditions. It is difficult to estimate the effect of good food and other extraneous influences ; to deter- mine how much of the growth that is made is due to the hereditary factor, and how much is due to the circum- stances in which the growing is done. It seems, how- ever, that the hereditary factor is more important in determining the maximum growth than are good food, clothing and exercise. These latter factors are suscep- tible to great variation without materially affecting the maximum height and weight that may be reached. It is quite possible that good external conditions contribute more to the hastening of the growth than they do to the ultimate maximum. the growth of children 359 Synopsis. 1. The greatest improvements in education in recent years have come from a study of children, both in their physical nature and their mental development. It is necessary to adapt the subject matter of instruction to the necessities of the child. 2. The growth of children is not uniform. Four well marked periods of rapid growth, alternating with intervals of slower growth may be observed. 3. In general, the well grown child is more likely to be up to grade in his school subjects and in his mental development than is the child whose physical growth is less satisfactory. 4. Mental and moral development are in all prob- ability dependent upon the same circumstances that con- dition physical growth. Of these circumstances, perhaps, heredity is more important than is any other one factor. CHAPTER XXL Defective Vision. Importance of Knowing Physical Conditions. — Some of the greatest improvements in teaching that have accrued from the recent child-study movement are de- rived from the greater emphasis that it has laid upon the physical welfare of children. Examination of the physical organisms of the children has led to the dis- closure of many defects that interfere seriously with their progress in school. Many cases of stupidity have been found to be only apparent, and to have their ex- planation in defects of the senses of sight and hearing. Indications of Poor Eyesight. — When we find a child who is an exceedingly poor speller, or who miscalls words frequently in his reading, or who fails to un- derstand many things in his lessons, it is well to make an examination of his eyesight. Some child-psychol- ogists believe that every case of extremely poor spell- ing is associated with defective eyesight, even if not caused directly by it. While it is perhaps too much to admit that this is so generally true, we may still recognize that many cases of poor spelling may be thus accounted for. At any rate, the child who has defective eyesight is placed at a great disadvantage in 360 DEFECTIVE VISION 361 school work, and unless the teacher is aware of the defect in the child's vision, much injustice is likely to be done. One great difficulty is that the child himself is not always aware that his eyesight is de- fective. We do not ourselves recognize the fact that we have a blind spot in each eye. Illustrations. — The following circumstance came with- in the writer's observation. A woman, grown up. married, was looking through a small spyglass, prob- ably for the first time in her life. In trying to see through the glass with one eye closed, she became aw r are that she was blind in one eye. It was the first intimation of the fact that she had ever had. She did not know when the eye had become blind, and did not know but that it might have been blind from her early childhood. Another woman who is now a teacher in a high school testifies that when she was ten years old, her uncle, visiting the house where she was living/ re- marked that she needed glasses and insisted upon get- ting her a pair. That evening, for the first time in her life, she saw the stars. She had heard about the stars, but she did not know that they were things that could really be seen. It was a new world that her spectacles opened up to her. These are extreme cases, but it is in extreme cases, which are not in themselves rare, that the greatest injustice may be done, and the great- est assistance given by the teacher. Whom to Examine. — It is not necessary to examine everv child in the room in order to discover those that 362 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING have defective vision. Poor spelling and poor reading have already been suggested as possible indications of defective eyesight. Redness of the eyes, a squinting appearance, headaches, are all symptoms, arid when any of these indications appear, the teacher should make tests of seeing. Examination shows that twenty- five per cent of all children in school have vision that is more or less defective. However, not more than about ten per cent have vision so defective that it is a serious disadvantage to them. It is no doubt true that the entire number of children in a community af- fected with defective vision is greater than these figures show, because the most serious cases do not enter school. Percentage of Defective Eyes. — The number is not constant in the grades. The prevailing opinion is that, the number of children with defective eyesight is least in the first grade and gradually increases in the higher grades. From this it is argued that school work is det- rimental to eyesight. Investigations seem to show that a considerable percentage of children in the first grade have defective eyesight, and that the percentage stead- ily increases until the fourth grade, when it begins to decrease. The decrease is constant until the sixth grade is reached, where the lowest percentage of de- fective eyes is found. This decrease may be associated with the oncoming of the period of rapid growth and adolescent changes, which seems to have a tendency to improve the eyesight of many children. After the DEFECTIVE VISION 363 sixth grade, the percentage of defective eyes increases slowly and gradually throughout the other grades. A count of students in normal school classes shows usu- ally from twenty-five to thirty-three per cent of the students wearing glasses, and from five to ten per cent seriously inconvenienced without them. FlG. 73. — Diagram showing the point at which the rays of light are brought to a focus in different eyes. Myopia. — The most common kind of defective vision in children is myopia, or near-sightedness. In this case, the child must hold his book or other object which he wishes to see clearly at a distance less than the normal from his eye. The normal eye can see things best at a distance of about ten inches from the eye. The myopic eye must have it brought nearer than ten inches in order to see it most clearly. The explanation of this defect is easy. The cornea of the myopic eye is too convex, and rays that come from an object at a normal distance are brought together at a point in front of the retina, instead of exactly at it. When an object is held nearer to the eye than the normal distance, the rays from a point on the object are more diverging than they would be if they came from 364 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING the normal distance; in this way the more convex cornea brings the more diverging- rays to a focns at the proper distance behind it. In order to compensate for this too great convexity of the cornea, the person needs to wear concave glasses, which are thicker on the edges than they are in the middle. Hypermetropia. — Another defect of vision is far- sightedness, or hypermetropia. This defect is the op- posite condition from that of myopia. In far-sighted- ness the object that is to be seen must be held farther from the eye than is the case with normal vision. The cornea is not convex enough to bring the rays of light to a focus on the retina when the point is at the distance at which the normal eye sees best and the rays, in order to be brought to a focus on the retina, must be less diverging than when they come from an object at the normal distance. This result is accomplished by holding the object at a distance from the eye greater than the normal. The eyes of a person older than about forty are likely to become less convex than they were before, hence far-sightedness is com- mon in older persons. Some children are far-sighted. Sometimes, when a person has been near-sighted as a child, the far-sightedness resulting from age will com- pensate for the near-sighted condition, and the person will become able to see better as he grows older. The person who is far-sighted needs to wear convex glasses, which are thicker in the middle than they are at the edges. DEFECTIVE VISION 365 Astigmatism. — Still another defect is astigmatism. This arises from an inequality in the convexity of the cornea. The eyeball ought to be a section of a sphere, and the surface ought to be truly spherical. But some- times the convexity is greater in one direction than it is in another, so that all the rays of light that enter the eye from a single point are not brought to a focus at the same place, and a blurred image is the result. The eyes of nearly every person are somewhat astig- matic. The appearance of rays of light radiating from a star, is evidence of astigmatism. However, the de- fect is not usually great enough to cause serious trouble. A person whose eyes are astigmatic needs glasses that are shaped especially to compensate for the inequality of curvature in his eyes. Snellen's Test Cards. — The method of testing the eyesight of children is easy and within the reach of every teacher. The usual test for myopia is Snellen's test cards. These cards are printed in black letters on a white background, or in white letters on a black back- ground. The letter at the top is a large E which is expected to be read by the normal eye at the distance of 200 feet. Other letters of different sizes, one size for each line, and which are expected to be read by the normal eye at distances respectively of 100, 70, 50, 40, 30, 20, 12 and 10 feet are found on the card. Method of Making the Test. — The person whose vision is to be tested is seated at a distance of twenty feet from the card which is hung in a good light. 366 PRINCIPLES OF TEACPIING Only one eye is tested at a time, for there is frequently great variation in the vision of the two eyes. The hand, or some other opaque object is held before the eye which is not being tested, and the type is read with the other eye. Beginning with the larger sizes of type, the person reads the several rows of letters until he comes to one that he cannot read. If he is able to read the row of letters that is expected to be read at a distance of twenty feet, then his vision is wMBHEDBYAiMEiicoE.oPT.cuN.HSTATtsi.cHKAdo. normal. If, however, he fails «IC«S SNELLEN S FEtT e^ M^Mi - to r ead the twenty feet row, and is able to read the thirty feet row, his visual acuity is ■■• said to be 20/30. If he is nra. jm •- able to read no letters smaller £# %aP tnan tbe ^y teet row at a distance of 20 feet, his visual N" L D acuity is 20/50 "a nr 1 td t 1 ^ est f or HyP erme t r °pi a - — The test with Snellen's cards E Z F B D is not very satisfactory for ' c T L C F O ~ far-sightedness. If a person can read the fifteen feet row * EOPZFRDA at a distance of 20 feet, we •"RVTZrHDBKOPH •• may say that he is far-sighted, .TGLFRVZY! Test for Myopia. This but a P erson ma Y be far-sight- cut is reduced to 1/10 size. ed an( j st [\i ^ una ble to read it in consequence of the letters being too small to make a sufficiently large visual angle to permit them to be DEFECTIVE VISION 00/ read. The definition may be perfect at the greater distance, but the visual angle too small. Pray's Astigmatic Letters. — Pray's astigmatic letters are used as a test for astigmatism. The letters are large and composed of alternate black and white lines, the lines in any one letter running parallel to each other. The letters are of the same size and twelve in number. The lines that constitute one letter run horizontally and those which constitute another make an angle of fifteen degrees with the horizon. The other letters are composed of lines which vary from these positions by increasing differences of fifteen degrees, making angles with the horizon, of 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 degrees respectively. Then varying in the other direction back to the original horizontal position. Each letter has the same proportion of its surface composed of black lines that the other letters do, so that to a normal eye, one letter will appear just as black as any other. If some of the letters look darker than do the others, it is evidence of an astigmatic condition, and the direction of the lines in the letters which look darker will indicate the direction of the greatest curva- ture of the cornea. Treatment of Defective Vision. — These are the de- fects in vision which are the most common and most easily escape notice. Diseases of the eye which are characterized by inflamed lids and ulcerated cornea are known in other ways. Practically all cases of myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism may be improved by 368 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING the use of glasses properly fitted, hence it is of im- portance for the progress of the children that the teacher or other person shall make such examination of the eyes as will prevent injustice from being done, and enable children to do their best work in school. While the teacher should be able to test the eyes to o*PRAr»A,T,c M AT,cLrTTc* 5 discover defects, the prescribing of glasses, or other means of im- provement of eyesight must be left to the skilled oculist. School Work and Defective Vision. — The >i charge is frequently made that school work is detrimental to, eye- sight, and many per- ^$^£ ^^ ^? ^ons are inclined to at- =T= sssrsjB s§bs^ JM U ^ Z 6 B ** ^ f°® C* 'fsjy r&*^ ^2* tribute much of the de- Test for Astigmatism."' Re- fective eyesight in chil- duced to 1/10 size. c i ren to school work. If this were proved to be true, it would be a serious charge against the schools. A previous state- ment has shown the result of investigation which in- dicates that the sixth grade manifests a smaller per- centage of children with defective vision than do other- grades, and this does not corrobrate the charge. It is extremely probable that better hygienic conditions, so DEFECTIVE VISION 369 far as the use of the eyes is concerned, prevail in school than in the home. There is scarcely a school- room in which children are compelled to read while facing- the light and scarcely a teacher would permit them to do so. At home, children are under little re- straint in this matter and many of them certainly read under the w r orst possible conditions of poor light, and while facing the source of illumination. When the eyes of a child are turned toward the light, the pupillary reflex tends to close up the pupil by the contraction of the circular muscles in the iris and to decrease the amount of light which is admitted. When the page of the book which the pupil is reading is turned away from the light, little light falls upon it and it is poorly illuminated. When the child is trying to read such an unilluminated page, the pupil- lary reflex tends to open the pupil by the contraction of the radial muscles of the iris. When the pupil is trying to read while facing the light, both conditions prevail. The page of the book is poorly illuminated and the light enters the eye directly. The consequence is that the radial muscles try to enlarge the pupil of the eye at the same time that the circular muscles are trying to close it and the two sets of muscles are acting at the same time in opposition to each other. Such a condition results in muscle strain in the pupil- lary muscles and there is likely to result an inflamed condition of the iris and adjacent tissues from such excessive strain. 370 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Reading and Defective Vision. — It may be asserted that reading itself is detrimental to eyesight. This is the one thing which is characteristic of school work, and even the reading that is done outside of school in preparation of lessons may be charged up to its ac- count. If the print in the books that are read is not of the proper kind, injury may easily result. How- ever, nearly all school books are good examples of book-making. The print should not be smaller than small pica, which has letters six-one hundredths of an inch high, and the letters should be spaced at least three and a half hundredths apart. With type not smaller than this and properly printed, it is doubtful if the amount of reading that school work demands will produce any injury to the eyes. Proper Amount of Light. — The manner in which the light is admitted to the room will have an effect upon the eyesight of children. The window surface must be great enough to furnish a sufficient amount of light on a cloudy day, and on a bright day some of the light must be shut out by window shades. The window surface ought to be one-fourth or one-fifth as great as the floor space, although this estimate will be modi- fied by the proximity of other houses, or trees that may shade the windows. The shape of the room will also modify it somewhat, since if the windows are all on the short side of the room, the light will not be so well distributed as if they are on the long side. Direction of Light. — The light should come from the DEFECTIVE VISION 371 rear and from the left. The only reason for having it come from the left rather than from the right is that in writing we move from the left hand side of the page toward the right. Nearly all persons use the right hand in writing. If the light should come from the right, the portion of the word which has already been written, and which is the place at which we must look in guiding our hand to complete the word and to make the next stroke, will be in the shadow. If the light comes from the left, no such shadow is thrown upon the part of the word that is already written. For reading, there is no difference whether the light comes from the left or from the right. It is evident from what has been said above that no windows should be in the side of the. room in front of the children. If all the light should come from the rear, the shadow of the children's heads and shoulders will fall upon a book that is held in front, so this position for the windows is not to be recommended. A skylight in a room furnishes a very satisfactory source of illumina- tion. The color of the walls will exercise some in- fluence upon the illumination. If the walls are white, an otherwise dark room will be lighter, while a large amount of blackboard surface will produce an opposite effect. Window Shades. — Some means of excluding the ex- cess of light on a bright day are necessary. For this purpose window shades are employed, and these are various in their kinds, A light yellow or buff shade 372 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING that will permit some light to pass through it is usually more nearly satisfactory than one that is opaque. Red shades are believed to be injurious to the eyes. When part of the light needs to be shut out, it is better to shut it out from the bottom than from the top. Hence it is believed to be more desirable for the window shades to be so hung as to be pulled up from the bottom than to be drawn down from the top. Devices are in use that permit the adjustment of the window shade to hang from any point desired. Inside wooden shutters, or slatted blinds are more nearly permanent, less likely to be out of repair, and are very satisfactory as a means for regulating the light. Every schoolroom should be supplied with some means of artificial illumi- nation so that on the not very rare occasions of un- usual darkness accompanying a rainstorm, the school work may not be interrupted. Color Blindness. — One other form of defective vision may be noticed. There are cases of color blindness, which prevents a person so affected from recognizing colors, and everything appears to him as black or white or various shades of gray. The general appearance of things is identical with that shown in a photograph. About four men in a hundred are color blind, and a very few women, perhaps not more than one in a thousand. The test for color blindness cannot be made by asking a person to name the colors shown to him, but by asking him to match the color of var- ious articles, such as colored ribbons, or bits of DEFECTIVE VISION 373 worsted. If he matches the colors correctly, he is not color blind, but if he puts into the same group reds and greens or various shades of blue, it is evidence of color blindness. Synopsis. 1. Defective vision is a cause of poor school work in some children. In order to prevent injustice to the child, and to secure the best work, the teacher should be prepared to make tests of vision. 2. Myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism are the principal defects in the vision of school children. 3. Snellen's test cards are employed for making the test for myopia, and with less accuracy, for hyperme- tropia. Pray's astigmatic letters constitute a conven- ient test for astigmatism. 4. School work may be done in such a manner as to injure the eyesight, but it is very probable that in to injure the eyesight, but it is very probable that in school than in the homes of the children. CHAPTER XXII. Defective Hearing. Number of Children With Defective Hearing. — All that has been said in the previous chapter about de- fective vision may be repeated with emphasis about defective hearing. We find that many children suc- ceed poorly in their school work in consequence of de- fective hearing, and it is important, both to the teacher and to the children, that the teacher shall know whether a particular child can hear well or not. Many- cases of serious injustice have occurred from the fact cent of children have hearing that is more or less de- fective hearing. We know that about twenty-five per cent of children have hearing that is more or less de- fective in one or both ears. This number is least in the lowest grades, and rises gradually until in the eighth grade, perhaps, one-third are affected. How- ever, not more than ten per cent are likely to have hearing so defective as to interfere materially with the success of their school work. Necessity for Prompt Treatment. — It is important to the child, also, that the state of his hearing shall be recognized by some one capable of giving compe- tent advice, for in nearly all such cases prompt and skillful attention may remedy the defect. Promptness 374 DEFECTIVE HEARING 375 is an important matter in all cases of defective hearing. Some cases are recorded of really pitiful examples of injustice done in consequence of the teacher's ignor- ance of the child's state of hearing. In the Child Study Monthly, Volume I, is recorded the case of a boy, Archie, who was kept in the first grade for five suc- cessive years in consequence of his inability to ac- complish the work of the grade. Younger children from the same family had passed into the other grades, but Archie was recognized as a dunce. One day the principal of the school in a store at holiday time asked Archie what he wanted for Christmas. Archie pointed to a dumb watch. Then the teacher inquired why not have one like his, that would tick. Attempts to show the difference led to the surprising discovery that Archie could not hear the watch tick at all. The principal took him immediately to a physician who re- moved the adenoid growths wdiich caused the deafness, and Archie returned to school. Within six weeks Archie had become the best pupil in the room, and within a year had recovered nearly all the ground that had been lost in his years of deafness. This is an extreme case, but we are likely to find such cases at any time. The pitiful part of the mat- ter is that the child himself is not likely to know that he is deaf, but must accept the alternative that he is stupid. It is only when some one investigates and informs him of the fact that he becomes aware of his deafness. 376 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING Apparent Stupidity Due to Deafness. — Defective hearing induces the appearance of stupidity. When we have a very stupid child in school, the first thing to do is to examine his hearing". Sometimes we may be led to suspect defective hearing by the facial expression of stupidity, or by the open mouth in breathing. In- attention, disobedience, failure to comply with the re- quests of the teacher, sometimes all of these arise from an inability to hear, and the teacher must be alert to its signs. Even when a child can hear well enough to understand what is said in the schoolroom, there is such a strain upon the attention, caused by the defect, that fatigue soon intervenes, and the child fails to ac- complish as much as he might. Causes of Defective Hearing. — Defective hearing may be caused by various conditions. Some of the most serious cases arise as the after effect of disease. Probably a larger number of children become deaf from scarlet fever than from any other cause. Another cause of defective hearing is catarrh, which acting upon the mucous membrane of the throat and nasal passages, is likely to close up the Eustachian tube, and to produce inflammation of the organs of the mid- dle ear itself. The removal of the inflammatory con- dition as soon as possible is the only remedy, and prompt measures are necessary to prevent the condi- tion from becoming chronic. Sometimes adenoid growths, which are excrescences upon the posterior portions of the nasal organs, press upon the Eustachian DEFECTIVE HEARING 377 tubes and prevent the free egress and ingress of the air. This produces deafness, and the remedy is the removal of the adenoid tissue. Sometimes enlarged tonsils press upon the Eustachian tubes, and the re- moval of the tonsils is the usual treatment. The sep- tum of the nose may be so crooked as to prevent the ADENOIDS NASAL § CAVITY % Where the Adenoids Form. Showing how adenoids or enlarged tonsils obstruct normal breathing. Note the large nasal cavity, the lining of which covers an area of over twenty square inches, and serves to warm, moisten and purify the air before it passes on into the throat. This cut shows a large mass of adenoids hanging from the roof of the naso-pharyngeal cavity (the expanded upper end of the throat.) easy introduction of the air into the middle ear. In such cases the septum needs to be straightened. In nearly all cases of partial deafness, the trouble is with 378 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING the middle ear, and arises from a stoppage of the Eustachian tube. The Watch Test. — Fortunately, the method of test- ing the hearing is an easy one. In an ordinary room, as still as convenient, the teacher ascertains how far the pupil can hear a watch tick. Wide variations in the hearing of children will be discovered, and it will be necessary for the teacher first to establish a norm for the watch he is using. The average distance at which children can count the ticks, may be adopted as the norm for the particular watch used. Probably the average for all the children in the room will serve well as a norm for the watch. Some children may hear the watch tick at a distance of ten feet, while other chil- dren whose hearing is not noticeably defective will hear it at only three feet. How Employed. — Having tested the watch, the teacher proceeds to test the child by means of it. The child is directed to close his eyes. This is necessary in order that he shall not be led into error by reporting the watch as heard when its presence is known by some other means than its ticking. Sometimes it is necessary to blindfold a child before we can place re- liance upon his report that the watch is heard. The ear that is not being tested should be covered by the hand, or some other device for excluding sound from it should be employed. Each ear should be tested sepa- rately, for it is often the case that the two ears are not of equal acuteness. DEFECTIVE HEARING 379 Precautions Observed. — Before proceeding to make the test the watch should be wound, for only by this means can we assure ourselves that it will tick with uniform loudness. When a watch is newly wound it will tick more loudly than when it is nearly run down. It is not the loudness that is necessary so much as it is the uniformity of loudness. Method of Making the Test. — When a child is seated in a chair with the ear to be tested turned toward the teacher, the watch is held at such a distance from the child that it is improbable he can hear it. The teacher by some word, as "Now," indicates the time that the child is to report whether the watch can be heard or not. The child may respond by "Yes," or "No." Then, if the ticking is not heard the teacher brings the w T atch nearer until it is distinctly heard. Then the watch is carried away from the ear until it can no longer be heard, the child reporting at frequent inter- vals whether it is heard or not. These tests are re- peated until the teacher is satisfied of the correctness of the report, and the distance at which the watch can just be heard is measured. If the distance is as great as previous tests of the watch have shown that it can be heard by other children, the child does not have defective hearing. Manipulation of the Watch. — Care must be taken in the manipulation of the watch. The child must not be seated near a wall, for the wall will tend to reflect the sound and so increase the loudness of the tick. 380 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING The watch must not he held in the palm of the hand, but suspended by the bow, for the hand will furnish a reflector for the sound. The watch should some- times be removed from the presence of the pupil and put into some place where it is impossible for the child to hear it while he does not suspect that it has disappeared. Only in such ways and with such pre- cautions can the teacher be certain that the child really hears the watch and not merely imagines it. An illus- ion, or hallucination of hearing, is very easily induced in these tests. The Whisper Test. — Another test is necessary to corroborate the watch test. The teacher stands about thirty feet from the pupil and whispers words with as nearly uniform degree of loudness as possible. The pupil repeats the words that the teacher has whispered as nearly as he understands them. If the words are not correctly repeated, the teacher approaches more closely to the child until the words can be repeated correctly. The principal source of error in this test is the variation in loudness of the whisper that the teacher gives. In an ordinary room, not perfectly still but moderately quiet, a person whose hearing is not defective may hear a whisper at a distance of about twenty feet. By means of these tests the teacher can determine pretty definitely what pupils have defective hearing and how serious the defect may be. defective hearing 381 Synopsis. 1. Defective hearing is equally prevalent with de- fective vision, and produces as disastrous results upon the work of the child. 2. Promptness in recognizing defective hearing and advice toward its proper treatment is imperative if the defect is not to become permanent. 3. The watch test and the whisper test are reliable and convenient for a teacher to use in testing for de- fective hearing. CHAPTER XXIII. Fatigue, Left-Handedness, Nervousness, Posture and Disease. Two Kinds of Fatigue. — It is necessary for us to know something about fatigue in school, for other- wise we may act very injudiciously toward children, and produce permanent injury to them. There are two kinds of fatigue, muscular and nervous. Muscular fatigue arises from changes in the muscle cells, which are brought about usually by excessive activity. Nerve fatigue depends upon changes occurring in nerve cells and may be brought about by a variety of causes. Of the two kinds, nerve fatigue is much more common among students, although it is difficult to distinguish one form from the other. Beneficial Nature of Fatigue. — Fatigue is a feeling characterized by a painful tone, and like other painful feelings it has its beneficent effect. It is a warning of possible danger, and an intimation that injury to the organs in which the fatigue originates may occur, if the excessive activity is continued. Its origin may be explained upon the principle of natural selection. It is probable that in nearly all cases, nerve fatigue occurs in the brain cells and not in the fibres. It is 382 FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 3&3 scarcely too much to say that under normal conditions. it is impossible to fatigue a nerve fiber. The muscle cells which lie at one end of the fiber, and the gang- lion cells which lie at the other end will become ex- hausted to such a degree as to prevent the generation of a nervous impulse for the fiber to transmit, long before the fiber becomes fatigued. Hence the fatigue of the fiber becomes practically impossible. Fatigue may arise from either one or both of two con- ditions. When a brain cell or muscle fiber is acting, there is an oxidation of tissue to liberate energy. If the oxida- tion of tissue goes on more rapidly than its restoration, fatigue will ensue. If the oxidation is continued long enough, the point of complete exhaustion will be reached, and the muscle cell or the nerve tissue will be unable to liberate any more energy. Fatigue Due to Poisonous Products. — But there is another process which is even more effective in pro- ducing fatigue than the excessive oxidation of tissue. As the tissue is oxidized, there are produced toxic sub- stances which are not merely waste products, but active poisons. They not only clog the system, pre- venting its functioning with a normal degree of read- iness, but also serve to poison the body, preventing its usual degree of activity in every way. These waste products and toxic substances must be eliminated from the system and carried away from the tissues. If the fatigue poison is eliminated from the body as rapidly as it is produced, fatigue does not follow. But if it is 384 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING produced more rapidly than it can be eliminated by the excretory organs, it will be carried by the blood to all parts of the body, affecting all its tissues, and fatigue will be experienced over the whole body. Every tissue becomes poisoned and its activity impaired. It is probable that the effect of the accumulation of fatigue poisons rather than the depletion of the tissue cells, is the source of the feeling of fatigue. Conditions of Fatigue. — From the above considera- tions we are able to state the conditions that induce fatigue and the means of preventing it. Taking the first cause for the production of fatigue, we see that fatigue soon follows if there is not an opportunity for the rebuilding of the tissues. If the body is poorly nourished in consequence of lack of food, or improper food, or from some failure to assimilate the food that is furnished, fatigue soon follows any exertion. A person who desires to do good work must eat plenty of food of the right kind. Vital Capacity<. — Not only is food needed to keep up the supply of tissue which may be oxidized, but it is equally important that oxygen be furnished for the oxidizing process. If the air that the person breathes is impure, or if the capacity of the lungs is small, fatigue is likely to follow upon the doing of a smaller amount of work than if the air is pure and the capacity of the lungs greater. If the number of respirations per minute is small, fatigue follows sooner. So im- portant is this matter of obtaining oxygen, that the FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 385 capacity of the lungs is sometimes called the vital capacity. El im ination of Fatigue Poisons. — Several conditions contribute to the carrying away of the toxic products. The lungs and the skin are the most important organs in eliminating the products of fatigue. The transfusion of gases through a membrane goes on most rapidly when the gases on opposite sides of the membrane are most unlike. Hence when the air that is taken into the lungs is pure, containing the greatest amount of oxygen and none of the gaseous fatigue products, these products will be eliminated from the body with the greatest rapidity. If the air that the person breathes is impure, removal of fatigue products will proceed slowly. Exercise is beneficial in so far as it quickens circulation and assists elimination. When it goes beyond this point, exercise becomes injurious and in- duces fatigue rather than prevents it. Methods of Investigating Fatigue. — There are several methods of studying fatigue. One is by means of the chronoscope, which is an instrument for measuring short intervals of time, even down to the one-thous- andth part of a second. The interval between the time that a signal is given and the time that the per- son responds is called his reaction time. In general, fatigue increases reaction time ; and by knowing how r much it has been increased, we are able to estimate the amount of fatigue. Esthesiometer. — Another method of studying fatigue 386 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING is by means of the esthesiometer, or sense measurer. This method depends upon the fact that fatigue dimin- ishes the acuteness of the senses. The usual manner of employing this principle is by means of the sense of touch. We learn in studying the senses that the points of a pair of dividers must be placed a certain distance apart on a particular portion of the skin be- fore they can be recognized as two points. When the subject is fatigued the points must be spread farther apart in order to be perceived as two, than when he is not fatigued. We may take the increase in the distance that the points must be separated as the measure of fatigue. Another means of investigating fatigue is by means of the ergograph. This is an instrument by means of which the work done in a limited interval of time by some organ, such as the middle finger may be meas- ured. When a person is not fatigued, the middle finger can lift a certain weight a specified distance in a minute. When the person is fatigued he can not lift the weight so far. So the decrease in the distance that the weight can be lifted in a minute may be taken as a measure of fatigue. The Ergograph. — The ergograph consists of a cord moving over a friction wheel, and carrying a weight at one end. The weight employed is usually about one- seventh of the weight of the body. The other end of the string is attached by a loop to the middle finger. The hand is fastened by straps and braces so that FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 387 only the finger is capable of moving. To the string, somewhere along its course, is attached a pencil which makes a mark as the finger pulls up the weight. The paper upon which the mark is made is best attached to a rotating drum so that the variation in distance for the different pulls as well as the total distance through which the weight is pulled may be measured. Arithmetical Calculation. — The foregoing methods of studying fatigue are all physical or physiological. Other methods purely mental have been devised. One employs arithmetical calculations. A person is set to adding ten columns of numbers, each column consist- ing of fifteen figures. When a person is not fatigued, he will make a certain number of mistakes. When he is fatigued, the number of errors will be greater. The increase in the number of errors over that made when he is not fatigued, will indicate the measure of his fatigue. Memory Test. — Similarly, memory may be used as a test for fatigue. A person can commit to memory, 388 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING a certain number of lines, or nonsense syllables, with a certain number of repetitions when he is not fatigued. When he is fatigued, he must employ a larger number of repetitions, or he can learn a smaller number of syllables with one reading. The number of repeti- tions that are required, or the number of syllables that can be learned with one reading may be taken as the measure of fatigue. Variations of Fatigue in One Day. — By the use of some or all of these methods much has been learned about the fatigue incident to a school day. Begin- ning with the first hour in the morning, fatigue does not begin to manifest itself for the first half an hour or more. It becomes apparent at the end of the first hour, and steadily increases until the noon recess. Then there is a rapid recuperation until the first period in the afternoon, after which fatigue increases rather steadily until four o'clock when school closes. The hour from three to four is a better hour for school work than is the hour from eleven to twelve. Different subjects are found to have different fa- tigue results. Subjects in which there is much mem- orizing, are found to be the most fatiguing. Latin mathematics, and grammar are most so ; music and drawing the least. There is a difference in the re- sults of investigations concerning physical exercise ; some investigators report it the most fatiguing, others report it the least. It probably depends upon the length of time and the intensity of the exertion whether FATIGUE, POSTURE,, AND DISEASE 389 it is fatiguing or not. Some investigators have re- ported different hours in the day as having different fatigue value, thus establishing a kind of fatigue rhythm. The probability is that there is no particular fatigue value either for a certain hour or for a speci- fied subject, but that the fatigue resulting from a specific subject in a certain hour depends upon the amount of nervous energy that is expended in study- ing that subject, or in that particular hour. In school we may observe several external signs of fatigue. In bad cases, we may observe nervousness, Ti'me VIII IX X X/ til 1 / 1 J i w »n o+ wcvl< 2*0 iio "V 22© 1*0 , V s s .' Fatigue Curve. inattention, inability to learn, the drawn and set countenance. All of these are signs of fatigue. Feeling and Fatigue. — We have already observed that a brain cell fatigues much more readily than does a nerve fiber. We may associate this with the fact that a nervous impulse encounters much more re- sistance in a brain center than it does in a nerve. So too, any action that is habitual, is less fatiguing than one that is new 7 and unfamiliar. We may associate this with the fact that a new action is accompanied by 390 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING a much greater resistance than is the habitual one. As a result of these and similar observations we may make the assertion that fatigue is directly associated with resistance. It can be shown to be highly probable that resistance in a nervous arc is directly associated with feeling. Hence we may recognize as a fact that the greater the amount of feeling which accompanies an act the greater the fatigue engendered. Pain and Fatigue. — Painful or unpleasant activities are usually more fatiguing than are those that are pleasant, or indifferent, or less painful. Painful feel- ing is nearly always associated with a strong resist- ance, while a pleasant feeling is usually associated with a resistance not so strong. Hence we may have an explanation for the fact that activities accompanied by feelings of an unpleasant tone are fatiguing, while those that are accompanied by feelings of a pleasant tone are less fatiguing. Pleasure and Fatigue. — But, even actions accompa- nied by feelings of a pleasant tone will produce fa- tigue, which is less likely to be the case with activities accompanied by feelings having an indifferent tone. If the feeling accompanying an act is one of indif- ference, we shall likely have muscular fatigue mani- festing itself before the nervous fatigue appears. Left-Handedness Breaking a Child of Left-Handedness. — Some chil- dren are left-handed and others are riofht-handed. The FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 391 practical question for teachers and parents is. "Shall we break a child of being left-handed and compel him to use his right hand? The reasons for doing so are found in the fact that a great majority of persons are right-handed, and our conventions are adapted gen- erally for right-handed persons, so that a left-handed person appears awkward and conspicuous. We shake „.-■-, *->-**'"""¥r vm ^ f. Z ■■■ The Left Half of the Human Cerebrum. The words "leg," "trunk." "arm," "face." are printed over the centers that control the corresponding parts of the body. Other words show where different sensations and memories are located. hands with the right hand. We write toward the right side of the page, and we read in the same direction. Tools of all kinds are made for use with the right hand, and few tool-makers make tools for left-handed persons. Right-Handedness and Speech. — Right-handedness is associated with the development of speech. The 392 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING child becomes right-handed or left-handed before he can talk, and it is probable that right-handedness is associated with the development of the speech center in the left hemisphere of the brain. The speech center is situated near the lower part of the fissure of Ro- lando, in close proximity to the motor a^ea, and in fact constitutes a portion of that area. The muscles of speech are mostly medial organs, and while they might with equal facility be innervated from either side of the brain, in nearly all persons they are innervated from the left side. Hoiv RigJit-Handedness Favors Speech. — The motor area for the hand and arm of the right side of the body is in close proximity to the speech center on the left side of the brain. It is well known that the de- velopment of one portion of the brain area is likely to produce a modification of adjacent areas, so that the development of the motor area for the right hand and arm is likely to produce a development of the speech center in close proximity to it. Hence we see that the development of the speech center is aided by the development of the muscular movements of the right hand and arm. Left-Handedness and Speech. — A left-handed person may have the speech center on the left side of the brain, or he may have it on the right side. With nearly all persons there is probably a strong hereditary tendency to have it on the left side of the brain. If a left-handed person has the speech center on the left FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 393 side of the brain, it implies that the speech center is developed under the influence of heredity rather than in consequence of the movements of the hand and arm. The tendency to organize the speech center on the left side of the brain, which arises as a consequence of descent from many generations of right-handed people, may be strong enough to overcome the in- fluence of the use of the left hand, which undoubtedly would tend to make the speech center on the right side. This fact may furnish an explanation of some other phenomena. Left-Handed Children Often Defective in Speech. — Some psychologists have asserted that every left- handed child has some kind of a defect in his speech. It may be a lisp or a stammer or a stutter. If the speech center in any case, is on the right side, there is no reason why a left-handed child should have a defect in his speech. If, however, the left-handed child does manifest a defect in speech, it is evidence tolerably strong that the speech center is on the left side. Also, we may affirm that not all left-handed children w r ill have a defect in speech, for some of them undoubtedly have the speech center on the right side. Why Not Break a Child .of Being Left-Handed?— Now returning to the practical question, we shall see that undertaking to break a child from being left- handed is likely to disturb the development of the speech center, and to injure seriously the power to talk. Other mental processes are likely to be impaired, 394 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING and the formation of associations between brain cen- ters prevented. The entire effect is likely to be dis- astrous to the course of mental development. It is a safe rule to follow, never to break a child from being left-handed after he has begun to talk. An Exception. — There is one consideration, however, that may be regarded as a modification of the above rule. When a child is left-handed and has not learned to write, it may be worth while to teach him to use his right hand in writing, although his natural dis- position would lead him to use his left hand. The ad- vantages of using the right hand in writing are many and great. We write toward the right hand side of the page. It is a pure conventionality, and the people who first taught us to employ writing might just as well have adopted the practice of going from right to left, or from top to bottom, or bottom to top. But the plan was adopted to go from the left toward the right, and we must of necessity conform to it. If we use the right hand in writing, we are writing away from the median line of the body and can see the portion of the letter or the word that has already been written with- out looking over the writing hand. If, however, we use the left hand in writing, we are writing toward the median line of the body, and in order to see the portion of the word that has already been written, we must look over the writing hand. In consequence of this conventionality there is a distinct advantage in using the right hand in writing. To learn a new act is very FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 395 different from breaking away from one habit and learn- ing the action in another way. If a child has already learned to write with his left hand, there can be no question that it is better to let him continue to use it. Unidexterity and School Standing. — There is a theory widely prevalent but seldom acted upon, that a per- son ought to become as skillful in the use of one hand as the other. Some teachers have insisted that children should become ambidextrous. Investigations do not reveal anything to support this notion. Investigations show that the children in school who are at and above grade are decidedly more unidextrous than the children below grade. Also the children in juvenile prisons, all of whom are criminals, and all of them below grade intellectually, are decidedly less unidextrous and more nearly ambidextrous than are the children below grade in the ordinary school. It seems as if there is a direct relation between unidexterity and school standing. Nervousness Test for Nervousness. — Some children in school are nervous. Nervous children cannot sit still. They jump at a sudden noise, are weary, and easily fatigued. Sometimes nervousness becomes chronic and so pro- nounced that it is called chorea, or St. Vitus dance. The teacher may test for nervousness in various ways. If he asks all children to stand with their hands and arms outstretched, the nervous children will be indi- cated by the convulsive or twitching movements of 396 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING their outstretched hands. If the hands of a nervous child are laid palm downward upon the hands of the teacher a twitching can be felt that is rather a deli- cate test for nervousness. Serious Nature of Nervousness. — Nervousness is a disease of a rather serious nature. In its worst forms it becomes nervous prostration, which is the result of continued fatigue reaching the point of complete ex- haustion. The probability is great that, when the de- gree of nervous exhaustion is reached which is indi- cated by the correct use of the term nervous prostra- tion, the nerve cells never completely recover. The in- jury is permanent. Cause of Nervousness. — This association of nervous- ness with fatigue gives us the key to its nature. Nerv- ousness indicates a lack of nervous energy, which is perhaps manifested more positively through the failure of the processes of attention than in any other way. The mechanism that erratic nervous impulses employ to escape into the motor centers, giving rise to the jerk- ings and twitchings of nervousness, probably exists in the brain centers. The proper treatment, rest, is in- dicated by this diagnosis of its cause. A nervous child must not be burdened with work either physical or mental. Good food, plenty of it, with abundance of fresh air and a sufficient amount of exercise to produce the best condition of circulation is about all that can be done for nervous children. Most cases of nervous- ness which are attributed to the schools arise from out- FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 397 side conditions not connected directly with school work. Many children stay out late at night attending parties and other social functions, and the resulting nervous condition is charged to the schools. Fre- quently it is attendance upon the meetings of organ- izations of the students themselves in the school, rather than the regular school work, to which the nervous condition must be attributed. Occasionally there is a case of overwork in school to which the. nervousness must be charged, but these cases are rare compared with the number that ought to be charged up to something else. Nervousness and Schoolwork. — Other conditions than overwork cause the larger part of the nervous- ness that is properly chargeable to the school. Worry, which means an excessive amount of attention given in such a way as to be accompanied by a painful tone., so using up a large amount of nervous energy, is a frequent cause. The amount of pressure brought tc bear upon a class in order to induce the stupid and lazy ones to learn their lessons, is likely to induce worry and consequent nervousness in the pupils who do not need such pressure. The nervous children are frequently the brightest and most conscientious pupils in the class. Their very brightness and conscientious- ness may be the occasion of their nervousness. Scold- ing by the teacher, inducing worry, is likely to result in nervousness. Examinations, where great emphasis is laid upon them, may produce the same effect in 398 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING some children. The nervous child must not be urged to undertake more work. Even though he be the brightest pupil in the class, and can learn his lessons the most easily, he must be prohibited from taking the full amount of work that other children carry. Position and Movement. Importance of Proper Position. — Posture has much to do with the attitude toward school work that a child manifests. A sprawling* posture indicates a sprawling habit of mind. One of the most certain methods of inculcating the proper habit of mind is to induce the proper attitude of body. Movement is much the same kind of phenomenon. The person who walks erect and promptly is likely to manifest an erect and prompt habit of mind. Kind of School Desks. — Proper position in school is likely to be much facilitated by the proper kind of seats. The seat should be as high from the floor as the length of the leg from the sole of the foot to the under side of the knee when the knee is bent. The back of the seat should be so shaped that it will con- form to the curves of the spine, so that the entire back of the seat may be in contact with the body. The desk in front should be high enough so that the bent elbows can be placed on it without raising them or stooping over. The edge of the desk in front should overhang the edge of the seat by about two inches. Unfortunately many children are occupying seats that FATIGUE, POSTURE, AND DISEASE 399 are not adapted to their size. Adjustable seats may be obtained, but they are expensive and awkward to adjust. The best plan seems to be to seat about three- fourths of the room with non-adjustable seats and then buy adjustable seats of various sizes for the rest of the room. Contagious Diseases. — A child that is found to be affected with a contagious disease should be sent away from school. This rule is so nearly always complied with that there is little occasion for its discussion. A child that is sick does not wish to come to school ; but in the earliest stages of disease he may not know that he is sick. It is scarcely possible for the teacher to depend upon his own recognition of disease, and it is expecting too much from him to hold him responsible for discovering it. However, he can contribute very much to the immunity of the children by full and proper ventilation. Few diseases will be contracted in the open air, and there is little reason to be appre- hensive about contracting any if the room is well venti- lated. The floor and the walls should be kept as clean as possible, for it is in dust and dirt that the germs of disease chiefly accumulate. Synopsis 1. Fatigue in school is nearly always nerve fatigue, and arises from an excessive expenditure of nervous energy. It is felt to be general over the body in consequence of the distribution of toxic fatigue- 400 PRINCIPLES OP TEACHING products by the blood, when they are produced more rapidly than they can be eliminated. 2. Good food, fresh air, sufficient exercise are the most important factors in preventing fatigue. 3. A child who has learned to talk and who mani- fests a disposition to be left-handed should not be broken of his left-handedness. Such a procedure is likely to disturb the power to speak, and interrupt the development of other brain connections and mental processes. 4. Nervousness may be induced by a variety of school conditions, chief of which is worry. The proper treatment of nervousness is rest. 5. Posture and movement are indications of mental attitudes. One of the most important means of inducing the proper mental attitude toward school work is to engender the proper habit of posture and of movement. CHAPTER XXIV The Course of Study Jefferson and the Public School System. — Thomas Jefferson was a magnificent dreamer. He dreamed of a condition of society in which the rulers should be chosen by the people. He dreamed of a government in which the laws should be made by representatives whom the people should elect, and he believed that laws so made would be willingly and cheerfully obeyed. He dreamed of a country in which actual and complete justice should be maintained between man and man, and that the liberty guaranteed by trial by jury should be realized in fact as well as in theory. He dreamed of a condition in which all people should be educated, and by this he meant that all persons should learn to read and write, for that was the limit of general education, even to his magnificent concep- tion. Condition of Education Before the Public Schools. — It is difficult for us to realize the conception of edu- cation in the minds of people generally at the time that Thomas Jefferson lived. Reading and writing were rather unusual accomplishments over great por- tions of the country, and a large proportion of the soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War were 401 402 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING illiterate. Perhaps this explains the small number of personal accounts of revolutionary incidents that have come down to us in writing. Few persons believed it possible ever to attain the ideal of universal education, and there were many who believed it to be undesirable that all persons should be educated, even to the extent of learning how to read and write. They argued that it furnished power to the criminal to commit crime, which he would not have if he were uneducated. It would make of an ordinary criminal a much more dangerous one. Besides, they argued, education would unfit many per- sons for the kind of work they must do. We still hear echoes of such objections to education, but they are few, and no longer considered as a serious menace to educational institutions. Provision of the Ordinance of 1787. — But Thomas Jefferson, magnificent dreamer that he was, never dreamed of a condition of society in which people would be willing to tax themselves for the support of schools, open to all children of the district, without payment of tuition. That was beyond his power of conception. He believed that it would be necessary to create an endowment fund from the proceeds of which schools should be maintained for the purposes of universal education. So he was instrumental in having incorporated into the ordinance of 1787 a pro- vision setting aside the sixteenth section of every township in the Northwest Territory as a nucleus for THE COURSE OF STUDY 403 this endowment fund. The states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were carved out of the Northwest Territory; and it is in these states that the development of the peculiarly American Institu- tion, the free public school, is best exemplified. The older states have been hampered by tradition more than have these, and the newer states have profited by their example. The Sixteenth Section. — This grant of the sixteenth section in every township was a magnificent endow- ment, but it has been largely squandered. As soon as the land became worth anything, and anybody wanted it, it was not difficult to induce legislatures to pass laws permitting its sale, and short-sighted officials proved poor trustees for the interests of posterity. In at least one township in Illinois, one old man suc- ceeded in defeating every proposition to sell the school section, and the township owns it today, land worth one hundred fifty dollars an acre, and the income from it supports every school in the township without local taxation. Curriculum of the Earliest Schools. — The earliest schools which may be considered the progenitors of the free public schools, taught especially reading and writing. The purpose was evident. Reading and writing were utilitarian subjects, a knowledge of which was very useful to every person. If a person could read, there was no necessity for him to get somebodv to read his letters for him, when he received 404 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING any ; and he would not be at the expense of employing some one to write his letters when he wished to reply. Besides that,, he could read and understand books and newspapers. Reading and writing were felt to be very useful accomplishments. The Three R's. — But as soon as schools were estab- lished for the teaching of reading and writing, it was recognized that the ability to cipher, or to perform simple arithmetical operations, had also a great eco- nomic value. A man might find out by means of such knowledge when he was being cheated in his pur- chases, and would be able to calculate what he ought to receive when he sold his produce. So arithmetic became a common school subject. We have now reached that trinity of common school subjects known as the three R's complete. This point in the development of the curriculum of the common schools was reached somewhere in the period from 1812 to 1820. In this period, the common schools, intended for the education of children who did not intend to prepare for going to college, taught but little else. Grammar, History, Geography. — But no sooner were the three R's adopted as common school subjects than other subjects began to be taught in the schools. Grammar was added and its introduction was justi- fied by various arguments. It was said that grammar would teach children to write and speak the language correctly. Thus people attempted to justify its intro- duction on economic grounds. THE COURSE OF STUDY 405 The same thing was true of geography, which was introduced as a school subject for the alleged reason that it would be advantageous to any person who might wish to travel ; or to a merchant who might wish to import or export goods. Economic reasons for introducing history were not so clearly manifest, but its addition was justified upon the grounds that it would make the boys more intelligent voters ; that it would lead to the selection of better officers and rep- resentatives ; that it would make men more ready to enlist in the army in case a war should arise. Prob- ably it was this last consideration that led to the writ- ing of histories which concerned themselves princi- pally with the events of wars and battles and sieges. An exact enumeration of the pages in a very popu- lar school history published in 1868 shows that 48 pages were devoted to colonial history, the events re- lated in which occurred before the United States was established ; 29 pages of full page maps, tables, review questions ; 91 pages devoted to the French and In- dian war, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War and the Civil War; while only seventeen pages w r ere devoted to the history of the United States proper, exclusive of the wars. The Seven Common Branches. — We have now intro- duced into our curriculum the branches of reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, and history. These with spelling constituted the seven common branches of later vears. It is not meant that no other 406 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING subjects were taught in the schools, even in those which were the direct ancestors of the free public schools ; but that these came to be recognized as ap- propriate subjects for every common school, whether other things were taught or not. Hence it came about that when the free, common, public school, supported by public taxation, became thoroughly organized and established somewhere in the years between 1837 and 1855, the seven common branches were recognized as appropriate and necessary subjects of instruction, in those schools. Idea of Industrial Efficiency, or Practical Utility. — It will be observed that the introduction of each one of these subjects was justified by the immediate prac- tical benefit that was expected to accrue to the indi- vidual from its study. There was no attempt to justify it on the ground of mental discipline or moral development, or that they were things which gentle- men should know. The reasons assigned for their in- troduction were not often valid, but they were be- lieved to be justified on economic grounds. Introduction of Science. — When the curriculum of the seven common branches had become established, other subjects began to demand admission. There were at this time, and for years afterward, sporadic at- tempts to teach algebra, geometry, and occasionally some ambitious college student, teaching in the long vacation of his college, would organize a Latin class. Subsequently sprang up a demand for the teaching THE COURSE OF STUDY 407 of natural science. This demand followed upon the great development of interest in science accompany- ing the publication of "Darwin's Origin of Species." Still another influence, which was perhaps equally im- portant in this country, was the inspiration arising from the teaching of zoology by Louis Agassiz at Harvard. Organisation of High Schools. — We have now a course of study for the common schools, composed of the seven common branches, and more or less in- definitely, the subjects of algebra, geometry, zoology, botany, physiology, natural philosophy, astronomy, and occasionally Latin and German. This point in the development of the curriculum was reached some- where in the early seventies. Then began the develop- ment of the free, public high school. There were few of these schools before 1868, but by 1880 the high school had taken on its definite form and had become well established. There were forty high schools in the United States in 1860, while in 1880 there .were eight hundred. The number in 1900 was 6,005. The sub- jects of algebra, geometry, Latin, zoology, botany, and others were assigned to the high schools, and the ele- mentary schools were told to confine their efforts to the teaching of the seven common branches. So the common school curriculum was made. Music and Drawing. — But it would not stay made. Music began to demand attention, and the schools were compelled to listen to the demand. Drawing 408 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING was also seeking admission to the curriculum. It was attempted to justify the demand for the introduction of these subjects by economic reasons. Music made discipline easier. It had a soothing effect. Then the old demand for the study of science appeared under the guise of a demand for nature study. The children in the city were supposed to be suffering from a lack of opportunity to learn about nature. In the rural districts the same reasons for introducing nature study did not seem to exist, and it has never been so popu- lar in rural communities as in cities, although under the name of "Elements of Agriculture," with the eco- nomic justification, it has attained considerable promi- nence. Physical training and manual training, justi- fied on economic grounds, have been introduced into many schools. Manual training meant at first, work- ing in wood with tools; but lately, under the name of construction work, and with a variety of materials, it has entered all grades of the school. Algebra is again demanding a place in the elementary curriculum, and the same may be said of geometry and German. Three R's Neglected ? — The curriculum of the three R's, or even of the seven common branches, has been overshadowed by the introduction of newer subjects. Complaint is often made that such an overcrowded curriculum is disastrous to the health of the teachers, and even more to the nervous condition of the chil- dren. Our schools are said to be running to fads, and teachers are advised strongly by the critics of the THE COURSE OF STUDY 409 schools to go back to the three R's and teach them well. Critics of the schools point to the fact that children do not read well, nor write well, nor spell well, nor cipher well. Hence the schools are said to be teaching the wrong things, or teaching the right things in the wrong way. Three R's Well Taught. — The advice to teach the three R's to the exclusion of other subjects of more recent introduction is not good unless it can be shown that the three R's are not so well taught as they were before the introduction of other subjects. There is less strain experienced in the teaching of the common branches than there was once, but all indications available point to the fact that the three R's were never before so well taught as they are today. In- dications of this are to be found in such comparisons as that of the Springfield examinations. A few years ago, a principal of Springfield, Massachusetts, un- earthed a set of examination papers in arithmetic and spelling that had been written by the pupils of the school just fifty years before. The same questions were given to the children of the eighth grade in the same school, and since then to children in many other cities, with the almost invariable result that the chil- dren of the present day wrote more accurately and in- telligently than did those of fifty years before. This is true, notwithstanding the fact that the children who wrote the papers fifty years before were older, that the school year was longer ; and the school reports 410 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING show that special attention had been given in that year to the teaching of arithmetic and spelling. Why Better Taught Nozv Than Formerly. — The rea- son is obvious. In 1846 the children below this grade had read as a requirement in school only eleven books. Now the children in the eighth grade have read from fifty to sixty or seventy books. In arithmetic, prac- tical work in measurement results in the greater de- velopment of the number concept; so that the ideas which are needed for the writing of an examination paper are acquired without the same degree of stress being laid upon the teaching of the subject itself that was employed before. Idea of Industrial Efficiency. — Two different ideals have been manifested in the development of the cur- riculum of the schools. One of these is the idea of in- dustrial efficiency, which leads to the teaching of those subjects that will be of immediate utility to the chil- dren who learn them. Subjects are introduced into school work because of the benefit that a knowledge of the subjects will confer. This is the idea which un- derlies the selection of the subjects of the common school curriculum, and the common schools are founded upon the idea of industrial efficiency. In schools established upon this principle, the acquisition of knowledge is the end of school education, and the teaching is likely to be determined by it. Leisure Class Idea. — The other principle is that of the leisure class idea. This may be most brieflv THE COURSE OF STUDY 411 stated by saying that schools founded upon this prin- ciple are established particularly to teach the things that a gentleman ought to know. By gentleman, is here meant some one who is not compelled by the cir- cumstances of the case to earn the money that he must live upon. He can spend his time in occupa- tions that are not directly economic in their product. There is little thought of the economic value of sub- jects of instruction in schools that are founded upon this idea. Mental discipline is likely to be the ex- pressed aim of instruction in such schools. Subjects that are incapable of being put to any practical use are likely to be preferred. It is the mark of a leisure class education that persons so taught shall have a large amount of knowledge which is incapable of eco- nomic application. Hence it is that the classics, Latin, Greek, languages generally, are favorite subjects in leisure class schools. Drawing as an art is a leisure class subject; drawing as applied to mechanics, archi- tecture, engineering, is a subject for industrial ef- ficiency. Colleges Generally Leisure Class Institutions. — The early colleges were altogether based upon the leisure class idea. Higher education in general is still largely an expression of it. As colleges have affected the common schools, the leisure class idea has been mani- fested in their course of study. As the common school idea has reached upward into the colleges, their courses of study have been modified in the direction of indus- 412 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING trial efficiency. At present, the battle ground of these two ideas is best exemplified in the high schools. The high schools have grown up out of the common schools, supplanting the leisure class academies and preparatory schools. The colleges have recently influ- enced the high schools very much, and have embodied in them the leisure class subjects. The opinion is often expressed that education goes from the top downward, meaning that it filters from the colleges into the common schools. The statement is not true, unless by education is meant leisure class education. Industrially efficient education almost invariably pro- ceeds in the other direction. Fads in School. — The newer subjects that are in- troduced into the curriculum are sometimes called fads. The name is never applied in a complimentary way, but is rather a term of obloquy. A fad is some- thing that is new, rather unusual, not adopted in all the schools, and pursued with a considerable degree of enthusiasm. On the one hand it is claimed that the introduction of new subjects, or fads, into the schools has come about in consequence of the imperative de- mand for the enrichment of the course of study; on the other hand it is claimed that such introduction has led to an overloaded and indigestible course of study, de- structive to efficient teaching or learning, and in- jurious to the health and mental effectiveness of the pupils. What is the explanation of this discrepancy of opinion? THE COURSE OF STUDY 413 The Ideal Toward Which the Public School Tends. ■ — When we look at it m the right way, we shall see that we have been groping blindly toward a sublime ideal, as much beyond that of Thomas Jefferson as his was superior to that of most of the people of his day. We are gradually coming to a realization in practice of that which has been known in theory a long time. We are gradually coming to teach the child instead of the subject. Our teaching is coming to be based upon child-psychology, rather than upon adult logic. Adult logic has previously laid out our courses of study and said how they should be taught. Adult logic said that the letter is simpler than the word, and that we should pro- ceed from the simple to the complex. Therefore, adult logic said, we should teach the letters before the words. But we now know that the word which means something to the child is simpler for him than the let- ter which means nothing", and our teaching of reading has increased in effectiveness more than five hundred per cent since we recognized this fact. The same kind of changes will occur and are now in progress in the teaching of arithmetic and of language work. Geography has already undergone a trans- formation and is no longer exclusively the locative geography of former days. Physical Geography, once considered a high school subject, is made the basis of the work in geography in the elementary grades. His- tory is no longer confined to the course of events in 414 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING the United States, but our children learn something about English history, Roman history, Greek history, and Greek, Roman and Norse mythology. Nature of the Public School Ideal — The ideal toward which we have been groping is not the idea of in- dustrial efficiency, nor the leisure class idea, but some- thing that is more comprehensive than either. The aim is not knowledge that can be applied, nor the fash- ionable knowledge of the leisure class, nor is it to be determined by the idea of mental discipline. The aim of mental discipline has always been a subterfuge at best. There is just as much mental discipline possi- ble of attainment in acquiring knowledge that can be applied to immediate and practical ends, as in learning things that have no possible utilitarian application. School as a Preparation for Living. — School is a preparation for life. There is no possible way of learn- ing to live except by living, as there is no way of learning to skate except by skating. So in order that school may be a preparation for life, it must be life itself. School is not merely a preparation for life, it is life. The child is to learn to live in the community, and the school must represent the best ideals of com- munity life in which it is placed. This means that the three R's shall be taught, and shall be well taught, too. The three R's constitute an essential element in the life of every community in the United States. It means that in an industrial community the principle of industrial efficiencv shall determine the course of THE COURSE OF STUDY 41 study. Iii an agricultural community the subjects that maintain a relation to agriculture shall constitute the curriculum. In a leisure class community, the leisure class subjects shall prevail. This is not the principle of electives in school, but it is something better. The school will represent the community ideal, and as such it will appeal to every child in the community, by showing forth the relation of school work to the life that he must live. What Subjects May Properly be Introduced into School. — Anything that constitutes an element in com- munity life, by that very fact justifies its demand for introduction into the grades of the school. It may or may not be expedient to introduce it into the program, but if conditions will permit, there can be no valid rea- son for refusing to consider it a fit subject for instruc- tion in school. Such conditions afford abundant opportunity for the introduction of such subjects, as manual training and domestic science, as well as for the elements of agriculture and of physical training. Manual train- ing, or construction work, may be just as truly a leisure class subject as a subject for industrial effi- ciency. Manual training that runs to raffia work and pyrography is far removed from the idea of industrial efficiency. Domestic Science. — Cooking and housekeeping work constitute a most essential element in the life of every community, and domestic science will in all reasonable 416 PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING probability constitute an ever-increasing element in the school curriculum. The objections to the intro- duction of domestic science are not strong. Girls can be taught housekeeping at home, is the common objec- tion. Very true, but so they can be taught to read and write and cipher at home; nevertheless it has been found not only economical, but altogether advantage- ous to teach the reading and writing and ciphering at schools, where skilled teachers with proper appliances can economize the efforts of the children. Community Life the One School Subject. — Hence it is, too, that, notwithstanding the ever-increasing num- ber of subjects that make up the curriculum, the courses of study are not overcrowded. There is but one real subject of instruction, and that is community life. Any subject that does not have a direct relation to it is of right debarred from the course; and the re- lation of the child to the community in which he lives determines the course to be pursued in his education. The Aim Determines the Subjects of Instruction, — The doctrine of formal discipline would assert that it •makes no difference what subject is studied, provided it is sufficiently difficult and demands considerable energy. It does make a difference what subjects of in- struction are presented to the child, for the nature of the child is inevitably determined by the things which he contemplates. "The chameleon of human thought takes its color, day by day, from the books over which it crawls." The character of the child is determined THE COURSE OF STUDY 417 by the things he thinks. So we ought to cause him to study the things which represent the best ideals of the community, for by so doing we are preparing him to live in that community. Course of Study Made by the Teacher. — It is com- monly assumed that the course of study is made by the superintendent, or board of education, or some other constituted authority. The fact is that the real course of study can be made only by the teacher. Dif- ferent teachers, using the same printed course of study, and intending to follow the same system of in- struction, by the different emphasis which they give to the same subjects will teach totally different courses and produce correspondingly different effects upon the minds and characters of the children. It is the teach- er, who in the last analysis, is responsible for the course of study. Hence arises the necessity for the teacher's having a proper ideal of what constitutes edu- cation, and how the subjects of instruction may be re- lated to the life of the community. Synopsis 1. There are two ideas involved in the develop- ment of the common school curriculum ; the idea of in- dustrial efficiency and the leisure class idea. 2. The elementary schools represent especially the idea of industrial efficiency and the colleges rep- resent more nearly the leisure class idea. The battle proline! at present is the higfh school. 418 • PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING 3 A satisfactory conception of the public school curriculum will include an idea more comprehensive than both of these. The course of study must be based upon the idea that the business of the school is to teach the pupil to live in the community. Community life is the one idea that the course of study ought to embody. 4. Anything that constitutes an element in the life of the community may, if conditions are favorable, have its introduction into the schools justified by this principle. 5. It is the teacher, rather than the board of edu- cation or the superintendent, who really makes the course of study. INDEX Abstraction, 210, 231, 324. Abstract notion, 321. Acts of judgment, 73. Adenoids, 377. Adjustment, 45. Adolescent play, 139. Advantages of Psychology, 28. Agassiz, 407. Agriculture, 59, 408. Aim of Education, 22, 66. Algebra, 67. Ambidexterity, 395. Americanization, 90. Analysis, 210, 232, 324. Antagonism between school and life, 72, 81. Apparatus, projection, 216. Apperception, 33, 180. Apperceiving mass, 182, 189. Applied psychology, 29. Arabic notation, 17. Archie, 375. Argon, 327. Argument for education. 48. For common school, 81. For dramatization, 171. Arithmetic, 15, 35, 68. Arthropods, 335. Artist, 30. Artistic accomplishment, 156. Assessed value, 53. Assignment, 247. Association, 190. Laws of, 191. Astigmatism, 365. Attention, 37. Atwoods machine. 35. Austro-Hungary, 88. Babylon, 62. Backing the book, 236. Bad, imitation of, 170. Base, of numbers, 17. Behavior, 34, 273, 276, 294. Biogenetic law, 100. Birthdays, 318. Blind spot, 361. Born teacher, 10. Musician, 11. Bow and arrow, 109. Brain cells, 43. Brain centers, 74. Chambered nautilus, 64. Characteristics of interest, 146. Cheating, 293. Chicago Dept. of Child Study, 353. Child nature, 25. Psychology. 31. Study monthly, 375. Chinese invention, 163. Schools, 236. Chronoscope, 395. Classification, 338. Color blindness, 372. College graduate, 54. Colonization, 88. Committing to memorv, 76, 202. Committee on school propertv, 284. Comparison, 328, 332. Comprehension of the notion, 337. Common noun, 321. Branches, 405. Schools, 83. Community life, 78, 414. Compulsory education, 121. Competitive play, 138. Concert recitation, 251. 419 420 INDEX Concept, 321. Consciousness is motor, 225. Construction work, 222. Contiguity, 191. Contagious diseases, 399. Content of common noun, 329. Co-operative play, 137. Correlation, 211. Conversion, 183. Corollaries, 41. Cost of living, 52. Course of study, 42, 401. Courage, 293. Critic, 328. Cramming, 268. Creation, 163. Criminal instincts, 32, 86. Cultivation of the will, 144. Culture, 75. Epochs, 100, 113. Cultivation of plants, 110. Curiosity, 152. Curriculum, 403. Darwin, 407. Defective vision, 360. Hearing, 374. Definition of play, 124. Of education, 46. Logical, 333. Degeneration, 292. Denominate numbers, 59. Departmental teaching, 298. Deportment mark, 303. Desks, 398. Despotic government, 84. Development, 44. Recitation, 259. Retarded, 26. Stages, 32, 100. Devices, 34. For study, 205. Division of the school fund, 95. Diplomas, 310. Discipline, formal, 189. School, 271. Disease, 399. Discrimination, 326. Domestic science, 415, Double taxation, 97. Dramatization, 171. Drawing, 76, 221. Drill, 246. Ear-minded persons, 259. Earning power, 52, 57. Education, 40, 46. Elements of agriculture, 60, 408. . Of the recitation, 237. Electives, 415. Emulation, 316. Endowment fund, 403. English political institutions, 88. System of play, 282. Environment, 40. Equilibrium plays, 132. Ergograph, 387. Esthesiometer, 385. Ethical atmosphere, 277, 290, 295. Examinations, 266. Exercise, 385. Explain, 33, 207. Expression, 221. Extension of the notion, 337. Eye minded persons, 259, Fads, 412. Failure in discipline, 272. Faint sensations, 322. Falling bodies, 35. Farmers' institute, 50. Fatigue, 382. Toxin, 383. Of a school day, 388.' Fears, 25. Feeling play, 136. Feeling and fatigue, 389. Fighting play, 137. First hand knowledge, 208. Focus of consciousness, 181. Forgetting, 14, 244. Formal discipline, 189, 414. Fraction, 15. Gambling. 294. General abstract notion, 321. INDEX 421 German system of play, 282. Geyser, 331. Godless schools. 92. Goody-good, 78. Grammar, 18. Grammatical distinction, 19. Grasshopper, 323. Great Stone Face, 177. Groos, 126. Groos's theory of plav, 127. Growth, 100, 344. Tables of, 346. 347. Periods of, 349. Proportional, 351. And school standing, 353. Habit, 8, 33, 144, 305. Hearing, 374. Test, 378. Play, 134. Heredity, 40. Herbart, 180. High schools. 407. History. 20. Homogeneity, 88, 91. Hypermetropia, 364. Ideas, 180. 185. Illiteracy. 85. Imagination play, 136. Imitation, 161. Imitative actions, 166. Play, 134. Teaching, 169. Immigration, 89. Impulse, peripherally initiated, 322. Incentives, 305. Industrial efficiency. 57, 87, 406. Infactions of discipline, 278. Infant play, 137. Instincts, 25. Institutions, 42. Institutional life, 79. Instruction, 240. Interest, 33, 142, 301. Denned, 147. People. 142. Interests, 148. Intelligence, 84. Intellectual feeling, 307. Investment, 54. Invention, 162. Isolation of offender, 298. John Worthy school, 354. Judgment, 19. Key, 68. King John, 62. Knowledge, 14, 26. Aim, 67. Professional, 9, 14, 15, 25. Latin, 67. Laws of association, 191. Lazarus, 127. Learning, 37. By heart, 202. Lecture recitation, 258. Left handedness, 390. Leisure class. 57, 75, 410. Lewis H. Morgan, 106. Limits, 61. Lighting, 370. Localization of function, 75. Logical definition, 232, 333. Lord Rayliegh, 327. Love plav. 140. Lying, 292. Marking system, 310. Marriage, 95. Man, primitive, 114, 128. Maximum height and weight. 358. Mayflower, 20. Mental processes, 36. Discipline, 70. 198. Play, 136. Location, 221. Measurement of fatigue, 385. Memorv, 70. Method, 12. Of thought, 36. Monitor, 331. Moral aim, 76. Morality, 77. 422 INDEX Movement play, 132. Musician, born, 11. Muscle play, 132. Myopia, 363. Nature study, 408. Nervous arc, 44. Nervous prostration, 396. Nervousness, 395. Neurons, 43. Nile, 62. Northwest territory, 402. Notion, general abstract, 321. Singular concrete, 330. Noun, common, 321. Proper, 321. Objections to schools, 48, 92. Ontogenetic series, 105. Origin of language, 107. Origin of Species, 407. Oral reading, 222. Originality, 166. Ordinance of 1787, 402. Overwork, 397. Overflow, nervous, 326. Parochial schools, 83. Pauperism, 87. Pedagogical content, 24. Periods of racial development, 106. of childhood, 117. of growth, 348. Peripherally initiated impulse, 322. Phonetic alphabet, 116. Picture study, 213. Pilgrims, 20, 88. Place, value, 17. Play, 25, 33, 123. And work, 124. Plays of animals, 126. Playground, 282. Plasticity of nervous organi- zation, 116. Pony, 67, 293. Poor spelling, 360. Posture, 398. Powers of the mind, 71. Professional knowledge, 19. Training, 13. Work, 30. Practical subjects, 72. Predicate, 18. Pray's astigmatic letters, 368. Preparation for life, 414. Precocity, 355. Primary teaching, 169. Primitive man, 114, 128. Prison statistics, 85. Prize fighting, 139. Prizes, 309. Private schools, 82. Program, 306. Projection apparatus, 216, Prolongation of infancy, 121. Promotions, 310, 313. Proportional growth, 351. Physician, preparation, 12. Phylogenetic series, 102. Public opinion, 296. Punishment, 238, 297. Pupil government, 317. Puzzles, 247. Psychology, 28, Of expression, 224. Pyramids, 62. Quantity of life, 62. Questioning, 229. Question and answer, 261. Race inheritance, 64, 80. Ragweed, 211. Reaction time, 385. Reading, definition, 194. Reading or study, 200. Recidivists, 86. Recitation, 235, 251. Topical, 264. Reflex action, 165. Reflex imitation, 164. Relation, 190. Relation of growth to school standing, 353. Relativity, 190. Religion, 91, 93. INDEX 423 Remembering, 37, 201, Reporting, 241. Resemblance, 193, 329. Retarded development, 26. Review, 243. Roman notation, 17. Rules in arithmetic, 69. Runnymede, 62. Salary, 56. Schaeffer, Supt, 64. 'School as community ideal, 42. Discipline, 271. Standing and growth, 353. Self activity, 123. Sense plays, 129. Sensation, 321. Seven common branches, 405. Sight play, 133. Simultaneous association, 185. Sixteenth section, 403. Slavery, 84. Snellen's test cards, 365. Social efficiency, 23. Spencer, 79. Theory of play, 125. Spontaneous attention, 200. Special days, 318. Spelling, poor, 360. Speech center, 391. Springfield examinations, 409. Stealing, 292. Stanley Hall, theory of play, 127. Stages of development, 32. Study, 197. Stupidity, 375. 'Subject of sentence, 18. Suggestion, 276. Tables of growth, 346, 347. Of differences, 326, 335. Of resemblances, 329, 335. Taxonomic series, 100. Taste plays, 131. Tardiness, 317. Teacher, born, 10. Teaching, 218. Technical schools, '57. Temperature plays, 130. Team plays, 139. Telling. 218. Testing, 237. Text books, 240. Text book recitation, 254. Test for nervousness, 395. Thinking, 32, 206. Threshold of consciousness, 180. Theory of discipline, 274. Of play, 123. Spencer's, 125. Hall's, 127. Groos', 126. Three R's, 404. Touch plays, 130. Thomas Jefferson, 400. Training, professional, 13. Transfer of interest, 302, 305. Turkish cadi, letter, 152. Understand, 33. Unconscious imitation, 176. Uneducated, successful man, 58. Unity, class, 227. Of the school, 285, 297. Value of the teacher, 56. Ventilation, 399. Von Baer, 100. Vision, 360. Vital capacity, 384. Watch test, 378. Whisper test, 380. Will, 143. Will play, 136. Will people, 143. Window shades, 371. Weight of children, 347. Work, 124. Worry, 396. Worth of a man, 51. Ziller, 106. : ' ,, f:k 0- ^ «** ' - V \ OO ■: r >r %.< V V o CV rt- v> vOo. V * - • : -/-., xO c> %c> !> ->c ^ -\ ,jr >- \ N - A" .«*> , N G b ^> * V jfy'o ^^ ,r;--~. .^ A> ,r> . V ^ ■; * O. % £ * .A Hi" \V ocV ■ •--