LIBRARY OF THE University of California. Class School Teaching and School Reform School Teaching and School Reform A Course of Four Lectures on School Curricula and Methods, delivered to Secondary Teachers ana Teachers in Training at Birmingham during February 1905 By Sir Oliver Lodge Principal of the University of Birmingham U^W Williams & Norgate 14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London 1905 v All rights reserved Copyright in U.S. America "The result of handing over education to the most comprehensive theorist, with whatever gifts of lucid expression, would be, I doubt not, disastrous. The history of education is the battle-ground and burial- ground of impracticable theories : and one who studies it is soon taught to abate his constructive self-confidence, and to endeavour humbly to learn the lessons and harmonise the results of experience " It not unfrequently happens — and perhaps it is not surprising — that even successful schoolmasters, immersed in the business of their pro- fession, are found to have learned the theory of what they are doing casually and long ago from other men, and to have let it remain in their minds in undigested fragments, not really brought to the test of, and therefore not modified by, experience." Henry Sidgwick. Preface The origin of the following Lectures was a request from our Professor of Education that I should take part in a course of Lec- tures on Teaching which he was arranging with several Professors to deliver to Second- ary Teachers in Training. On condition that my lectures were thrown open to teachers in general, I consented ; though I was well aware that I necessarily regard the matter from the University point of view, and have not that intimate acquaintance with school work which would justify my entering into details in any dogmatic spirit. Sometimes, however, suggestions from an outsider are useful ; and the number of distinguished teachers who attended showed Vlll Prefao that they were welcome. It was in full recognition of the truth of both portions of that utterance of Professor Henry Sidgwick which I prefix to this book as a motto that I undertook the task. An excuse and warrant for my interfer- ence, if so it be regarded, is contained in a Presidential Address and Official Circular issued by the Royal Society, here partially reprinted as an Appendix, to which I wish specially to direct attention. OLIVER LODGE. University of Birmingham, March 1905. UNIVERS^Y OF oai in LECTURE I CURRICULA AND METHODS There are two burning questions in the air at the present time concerning English Schools. One is as to the curriculum : what subjects should be selected for teaching ; the other is as to the method : how they ought to be taught. These two questions are closely related, and are constantly tending to merge into one another : so that, for instance, those who oppose the compulsory retention of classics often express themselves as satisfied with them as subjects, if only they were properly taught so that they might become really known by the majority of pupils ; while others advocate the retention of these languages as the staple item in a school 2 School Teaching curriculum because, of the whole range of knowledge, they are the only subjects which the masters by generations of hereditary practice know how to teach, the only subjects for which appropriate text-books and sound pedagogic tradition exist. So it is said. The obvious contention of reformers is that, in spite of all this, the majority of the boys upon whom this traditional battery of education has been expended leave school full of indifference to Greek and Latin literature, with the merest smattering of the language, which they speedily manage to forget, and sometimes with an active dislike for all studies that ever formed part of their school course. To which the traditional reply is, that the object of education is not to impart knowledge of a subject, but to train the mind, to render it elastic and subtle and adaptable, and to enable its cultured possessor to hold his own among similarly educated men. This reply, at least on its positive side, Mental Training 3 involves an excellent major premiss ; but the corresponding minor premiss is weak, and a fallacy lurks in the negative clause of the reply. As thus : — The major premiss would run something like this : — Education should train the mind and character, should render the mental faculties elastic, subtle, quick, adaptable, and should result in culture. By all means ; we can all agree to that. But the minor premiss of the argument continues thus : — Greek and Latin, especi- ally Greek and Latin grammar, constitute the best instrument for training the mind and developing all the faculties. Therefore, of course, Greek and Latin grammar should be the staple of sound education for every- body above the rank of handicraft worker. The extra inducement, that grounding in the traditional subjects will enable the pupil hereafter to hold his own among similarly educated persons, is forcible enough, but in essence this assertion is not confined to any 4 School Teaching particular branch of knowledge : it would hold equally well of any subject whatever, if only it were universally recognised and of long standing. The implied condition, how- ever, is the undoubted truth that at present nearly all our own so-called educated seniors have been taught in this way, and in these subjects, and so we must follow in the same track in order to hold our own with them, — a temporary circumstance which illustrates the usual difficulty and hardship experienced during periods of transition. But what is the fallacy which I said lurked in the negative clause of the argu- ment ? Its full statement ran thus : — The object of education is not to impart knowledge of a subject, but to train the mind, etc. ; and the fallacy is the tacit assumption that there is some necessary opposition between know- ledge of a pleasant or useful subject and a perfectly trained mind, between a subject worth knowing and a disciplinary or re- creative subject, between exercise in gym- Mental Training 5 nasium, on the one hand, and exercise in garden or workshop or playing-field, on the other. I will go further and say, that unless the result of education is to make at least some one subject thoroughly liked, and even thoroughly known up to the limits of the student's capacity and opportunity, it is quite impossible that his mind can be really trained, or alert, or elastic, or can acquire any other of the desirable adjectives one would gladly apply to it. It must have not only a deadening intellectual influence, but even to some extent a deteriorating moral influence, to work for a long time at a thing and then not know it. If, in exceptional cases, agility results from the training, then it is dangerous. I suggest that we ought to regard any education which results in alertness and ability combined with igno- rance, from the same sort of point of view as that from which Plato regarded the lower kinds of Sophists and Rhetori- cians. He appears to suggest, though 6 School Teaching probably it was only true in extreme cases, that they had learnt eloquence, they had acquired the gift of persuading the multitude, they foisted themselves into public or private offices as leaders of men, and became rulers and advisers of the State ; and yet of all real facts they were ignorant, and thought no shame of being so, regarding the details of accurate knowledge as beneath them. So long as they could speak well and persuade, they, or at any rate the class he was denouncing, paid little attention to the truth or wisdom of the doctrines they were sustaining. Agile guides they were, but they knew not the path ; pilots familiar with the traditional methods of navigation, but without a chart ; unwilling even to trouble about the destination of the vessel, their skilful leadership might speedily lead to destruction. Very well then, of all the things I have to say I am surer of none than of this : that no method of teaching can possibly be good which does not result in a knowledge of the Mental Training 7 subject, proportional to the time and atten- tion bestowed upon it. A training of the mind by means which pretend to teach a subject and do not teach it, the expenditure of the precious time of youth on the laborious digging and weeding of soil in which nothing is to be grown and from which no fruit is expected, is not only a waste, it is a crime ; and it is apt to result in a lifetime of inefficient and unproductive activity, expended in unprofitable and mis- leading directions ; with no hope of any outcome, and with no open-eyed insight into the possibilities of growth and progress in the world. Men so trained never are the real teachers of any progressive race. Real progress must go on in spite of them, and in opposition to them, conducted by men trained in other fields and outside the schools ; but that such men should be even the titular leaders and aristocracy of any race, constitutes a real danger and a risk of decadence which other nations will not be slow to perceive. 8 School Teaching So far I have been treating of general principles, and so far I may in the main expect agreement ; but if I go further and assert that the average schoolboy of to-day is ignorant, that he does not really know the subjects which he has been taught, that he spends years at Latin without being able to use Latin freely, that he learns what he calls French or German and is tongue-tied when he finds himself abroad, that he drones and re-drones over a few books, sometimes over only one book, of Euclid, and is utterly ignorant of geometry, — I shall be saying what I think, but what I am not able to be sure of to the full extent. On this every- one can judge for themselves, and probably it is rash to generalise too freely. Nevertheless, if such an accusation has any truth behind it at all, — and if it had none it would not be painful or possess any sting, — the element of truth in it constitutes a severe indictment against the intellectual atmosphere and teaching-methods in orthodox schools, even against those ancient traditions and The Schoolboy 9 time-honoured methods by which the classi- cal languages are imparted ; although they are not now imparted as they used to be imparted — solely at the point of the cane ; an educational weapon, by the way, for which strong conservative support is occasionally forthcoming to this day. Where lies the fault ? And one answer is prompt : — with the boys. The eager and inquiring child has by some process been turned, or has turned himself, into the in- tellectually dull, apathetic, indolent, pro- fessional schoolboy. I recognise the breed, and the hopeless- ness of getting any knowledge into the worst specimens of the class ; but I am constrained to ask, How did it originate ? And if the answer is, apathy and luxury in over-wealthy homes, knowledge that living does not depend upon exertion — a curse to any individual and any nation of which it is true, — I must admit a certain truth in that reply. Each generation re-acts on the succeeding ; and if the present generation is io School Teaching villainously educated, the next succeeding generation is apt to suffer by influence and example, even if not by precept. But schools are designed in order to curb and replace the evil influences of home, and it is never well to assume without proof that a fault is wholly on one side. More- over, experience tends to show, I believe, that, on the average, the intellectual apathy of boys at a day - school, who share to some extent the life of the home, is not so marked as is that of boys at boarding-schools, who are removed from home contamination for long periods of time altogether. I am sure that there is a fault in the schools too, not in any particular schools, but in schools on the average, and I believe that it consists partly in the intellectual pabulum which is supplied, partly in the methods employed for supplying it. I know that children who have been favoured with sound nursery or governess instruction, when they leave it and proceed The Schoolboy 1 1 to school, frequently fall back in their knowledge, and lose interest in lessons. I believe that this is a common experience. They become sometimes intellectually spoiled, careless, and dissipated. Suppose it is so, what is the cause ? Is it due wholly to the supposed exigences of class-teaching, whereby but little individual attention can be given ? If classes are too large, and their composition too mechanical, this is undoubtedly one reason ; but there are other reasons ; and the chief reasons are, in my opinion, first, want of trained organ- ising skill in the teacher of junior classes ; second, and for our present purpose especi- ally, that subjects are not taught in order that they may be learnt, but are used mainly as a disciplinary task : so much time to be compulsorily expended on each task, whether the attention be there or not, the result being not attended to, or being left to Providence. But now a word on this burning question of training. It must be admitted that in 12 School Teaching secondary schools, junior teachers are not in general trained to deal with young inquiring minds ; they use methods probably in which they themselves were taught, and, save in very exceptional cases, they are unable to evolve a good system for themselves. In- deed, in many cases they are hardly free even to attempt to evolve such a system, they have to do what they are told ; but if they did attempt it, they would at first be con- ducting experiments at the expense of the children, and would be acquiring facilities which should have been acquired in the training college, or during some period of probation under supervision. Any educated teacher can take the sixth form, by the light of nature : there is no difficulty about the highest form, nor about teaching by specialists in college, — though even there the difference between the good and the bad teacher is manifest ; but that difference is innate ; it can hardly be ex- pected that training will do very much good to an incompetent person who has seriously The Teacher 13 studied his subject and yet has no faculty for imparting it. His is a hopeless case, and, if very markedly bad, he had better adopt some other trade or profession ; for though the probability is that he would do poorly there also, yet he would be doing less harm than in a position which enables him to spoil the minds of generations of in- genuous youth. A sixth-form teacher, therefore, feels no need of training ; and this is what those headmasters really mean who regard train- ing as unnecessary, they are assuming the attitude of college professors and specialists in some subject ; indeed, some of them cover efficiently a considerable range of subjects, while others are limited, at least as regards efficiency, to a few. It is possible that the motherly instinct of a lady teacher may sometimes dispense with the need of training for the care of infants and very small children. I doubt very much whether it does : I fancy that training is quite essential for the infant- 14 School Teaching school teacher ; but however that may be, I am certain that it is necessary for the intermediate ages — the troublesome ages between, say, 8 and 16, more particularly between 9 and 15, still more between 10 and 14. For all these forms, training in method is absolutely essential. It is in the early years of this period that the mischief is done. Children leave the home or the kindergarten, and enter a school, a preparatory school perhaps, a school any way with class teaching, and usually with young and untrained teachers ; they there soon acquire the fatal habit of listlessness and inattention, incipient decadence has set in, which continues to grow for a time and then to remain constant, until the ordinary bodily growth and material brain develop- ment wake some of them up again, at or about the age of 16 ; when very frequently it is supposed to be time for them to leave school altogether, having never known what a studious life is, nor experienced any of the joys of learning since their babyhood. The Teacher 15 But the question arises : Is it the method only, or is it the subject-matter ? I reply, it is both. For my own experience. At the age of eight I was set down to the Eton Latin Grammar, every word in Latin, and that book constituted the larger part of my mental pabulum for the next four years. The result was nauseating. And yet I know that I was keen to learn anything that was learnable. Valpy's Greek Delectus was in- flicted in the same way. But though we all see the folly of an extreme case now, we fail to see the equal folly of much that still goes on. I knew that most of what I was doing was useless, I felt it as clearly as I feel it now. I am not speaking of Latin itself, nor of the Latin and Greek accidence. Moreover, I recognise that translation is an excellent though severe exercise, it enlarges one's vocabulary and enables the right word to spring to the mind ; but the greater part of what was intended to be syntax was useless, for it 1 6 School Teaching was learnt in a barbarous manner, with the meaning scarcely regarded. Avoidance of the cane was the only motive for learning in those few dreary years : everything was worked on the principle of repulsion instead of attraction — an expensive and ineffective variety of force. Vis a tergo is eminently suited to inorganic matter, it is doubtfully appropriate to the lower animals, it is in- sufferable applied to man. The Cossack is an adept at it. Study should be attractive, of that I am convinced ; not superficially but solidly at- tractive ; nothing is more stimulating and essentially pleasurable than to feel that you are really making progress, and acquiring a mastery of something. " No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en, — In brief, sir, study what you most affect." So says Shakespeare ; though a Mr Clark of Cambridge, quoted by Henry Sidgwick from Cambridge Essays, 1855, evidently does not agree, for in his opinion " it is a strong The Teacher 17 recommendation to any subject to affirm that it is dry and distasteful." If it be said, as it may with truth, that at first a child cannot tell what study likes him best, I answer that no one need expect him to, nor need he be asked. If he is asked, it will be found that the class he likes best is that which has the best teacher, and the study he hates worst is that presided over by an incompetent teacher. He does not know the reason, and charitably considers it the fault of the subject ; but the subject itself has no fault, the fault lies in its presentation. My belief is that the child, to whom everything is new, is eager to learn ; and, if in health, is docile and intelligent until spoiled. Attention must, however, be secured ; and when attention hopelessly wanders, the lesson must be suspended. It is useless, and may be worse than useless, to continue. Discipline of the brain, and cultivation of the attention, are not to be secured all at once. Some persons indeed manage to pass 2 1 8 School Teaching through life without having acquired these advantages : some indeed are so ignorant, it is amazing that they can continue to exist. Attention and concentration should be the fruit of education ; inattention is a deadly opposite. The one thing that many schools are thoroughly successful in teaching is in- attention. It is a safeguard devised by youth to protect it through long hours of dreariness, to shield it from unprofitable subjects, or rather from subjects rendered unprofitable by their mode of presentation. Books are so simple, so natural and easy to the adult. Things are so expensive and troublesome and unusual — indeed they are barely understood, or not at all understood, by many an untrained teacher — and yet the education of small children should be largely in things rather than in books. Books are about things, and, except as picture-books, should come later, or at least concurrently. Language is a tool, a handy and con- venient tool, and in the present half-civilised Languages 1 9 or barely half-civilised condition of the human race, more languages than one or two must be acquired ; but they are, from one point of view, tools and instruments of com- munication ; they do not, from this aspect, deserve the time and attention bestowed upon them. It must not be forgotten, how- ever, nor is it likely to be forgotten, that when really known, they are also a means of expressing thoughts and recording impressions and emotions ; they are then weapons of the highest artistic kind ; but few indeed can wield any language in this masterly way save the mother-tongue. Any civilised language, even when only moderately known, is a key to a literature, and is a useful adjunct to the traveller, a means of communication with people of training other than his own, a weapon with which he does well to be equipped on entering the world. But, for this purpose, language should be learned in the pupil's stride, not by years of painful application. In play, with picture-books, in conversation, familiarity with the colloquial 20 School Teaching languages should be acquired — unconsciously almost, and easily, so as to reserve energy and real labour for things of reality and greater moment. One of these things of reality is the inter-relation among languages, and the scheme on which they have been evolu- tionary built up ; this is essentially an adult study, and accordingly the niceties of grammar and the science of philology make an interesting subject for years more nearly mature ; but to foist these scientific studies upon small children is not only cruel but useless, they cannot possibly assimilate them, save as mechanical jingle and bar- barism. In so far as the necessary declensions and conjugations can be acquired as a jingle, that is very well ; they are conventional, like the alphabet, and they involve no real difficulty ; oddly enough, they stick in the memory fairly. But later on, at a certain age, or perhaps rather at an uncertain age, depending on the child, the scientific study Languages 2 1 of some one language should be begun, by anyone intended to be liberally educated ; it should then be recognised as a branch of science, and not be regarded from the utilitarian or cosmopolitan point of view. It would certainly appear that for this purpose the fully inflected ancient languages are best and most satisfactory ; if they were still more complete and regular, like " Esperanto," they would be better still to begin with ; the irregularities greatly in- crease the difficulty, which otherwise is not great, though no doubt they also increase the historical and philological interest for adults. A language which forms its cases and tenses by auxiliaries and prepositions is probably not so instructive as one that re- tains its inflexions — though I am not at all sure of that ; however that may be, it is to be expected that gradually some idea of what a language is, and why all the cases and tenses are necessary and useful, will begin to dawn upon the mind of a youth, 22 School Teaching but it cannot possibly dawn upon the mind of a small child. " The advantage that young children have over even young men in catching a spoken language has led some to infer that they have an equal superiority in learning to read a language that they do not hear spoken ; an inference which, I think," says Professor Henry Sidgwick, " is contrary to experience." I have been much struck with the way in which Latin is learnt and used at the Roman Catholic College of Oscott. There, Latin is to a great extent the language of daily life ; lectures are often delivered in it, and much reading is performed in that language. Hence it is necessary that freshmen shall rapidly get to know it, and they do ; no matter though they know little when they come, they soon pick it up by this colloquial treatment ; and thereafter the cosmopolitanism of the Church must be greatly aided by the power of its more educated priests in all countries to com- Languages 2 3 municate with each other. It is an ex- cellent example of a language which is learnt for real use, and not merely as a means of discipline. It is impossible to allow years of fruitless study to be spent on a thing which is required for use : an inkling of it is obtained at once, and a polish, of various grades, is put on later. That is typical and characteristic of the way in which everything should be learned that is worth learning, Dr Gow urges that Latin forms a con- venient first vehicle for imbibing the prin- ciples of scientific classification, a study in genera and species, a sort of early natural history, among objects of a cheap and easily accessible character, i.e. among words ; and doubtless he is right, though the objection is that a boy finds everything recorded in grammars and dictionaries, so that he gets to lean too much upon authority, and acquires too much the impression that everything is well known, that all knowledge is old and stale : which is absurdly false. 2\ School Teaching Birds, beasts, and fishes, if they were available, would be far more interesting to most youths than "words," but their scien- tific analysis is too difficult, and they them- selves are too inaccessible and expensive for exact study at school stage. Hence the genera and species of words may be utilised instead, and the earliest introduction to scientific study, of the less strenuously-reason- ing natural-history kind, may be through the medium of a language. French seems to me to have lost too much grammar to make it suitable for the purpose in its lower stage, and its significant refinements make it in its higher stages too difficult : it is a language which should be learnt for its usefulness and its delicate aroma, rather than scrutinised scientifically. Whether German may be used as a sufficiently scientific language, instead of Latin, is a question that may be debated by experts. If it were so I should rejoice, as tending to a possible simplification in curricula, and towards combining gym- nastic exercise with useful acquisition ; but Languages 2 5 I myself greatly doubt it, and feel that a Romance language, with elements in many respects more different from our own, is more of a stringent educational weapon for English youth. At the same time, this may be a counsel of perfection : the stress of subjects is severe for lads of ordinary capacity, and something short of the best may have to be put up with by the ordinary mortal, training him- self for the business of life, even under ideal conditions : how much more under our present conditions. There is no doubt that Latin and Greek took their prominent place in school educa- tion because in the Middle Ages they consti- tuted the channels to knowledge, — a view of them which is certainly now antiquated. We live in the backwash of the enthusiasm of the Renascence, and it no longer behoves us to pass all our youth beneath the Caudine Fork of classical studies, notwithstanding their extreme interest and value to the few called to be scholars. The bulk of mankind 26 School Teaching will always be imperfectly educated ; and it becomes a practical question whether a speaking familiarity with several languages, and a sound knowledge of the inflexions of, say, German, is not as much linguistic train- ing as the average boy can spare time for. Would that he had as much as this at present ; especially if it could be accom- plished, as I believe it could, with very much less expenditure of time than that at present expended, and wasted because fruit- lessly expended, on the beggarly elements of ancient literature — the deadly letter without the enlivening spirit. All things are not possible, and achieve- ment should be the test of what is possible. Greek or anything else might be compulsory if it could become known without disturb- ing the balance of knowledge and without useless strain. Even so, it might be argued, should a practical acquaintance with every instrument in an orchestra, and skill in reading every kind of score, be part of a youth's instruction in music. If he is going Languages 2 7 to be a composer or a conductor, such a training, inter alia, would be doubtless good ; but then in that case it is hardly necessary, for such a youth would have a natural apti- tude for the knowledge, and would pick it up for himself. To subject every schoolboy or schoolgirl to the early training necessary and appropriate for a Musician, would be absurd ; and no diatribe on the beauty and glory of music would justify it, nor have any point or bearing on the controversy. The beauty and glory of Music, as of Greek, are things which no one doubts. The study of any language which remains practically unknown and useless is a waste of time. To be any good at all, it must be brought so far as to be useful. A begin- ning in the drudgery of grammar, followed by complete neglect, is useless, or almost useless. But this also must not be pressed too far : to the youth with exceptional parts even a smattering is of service. His general faculties will enable him to use what to a scholar may seem insignificant and worth- 28 School Teaching less. The test of helpful learning is, Can it be used ? If its possessor can use it, well and good ; it is a matter of personal calibre and ability : such a youth or such a man may rightly acquire a smattering of a great variety of human knowledge, provided always that he can store it in handy niches, and get at it when occasion serves. Passing away from languages, then, what else should be taught to ingenuous youth ? I reply, things appropriate to its various ages. Not Latin grammar, nor any other systematic science, at the age of six or eight. Observational and experimental acquaint- ance with the salient and everyday facts of nature ; science, if it can be called science, by all means ; anything tending to enlarge- ment of conception and acquaintance with phenomena ; that is, to speak theologically, with the thoughts of God as well as with the thoughts of man. These may be always made interesting, and are natural to children ; their attention will not wander ; Language 2 9 and if left to brood over and handle things, they will unconsciously acquire or absorb much which no teacher could didactically give them, and which they neither should nor can at that age express. Let them express what they can, not what half-trained (half-baked) adults think they ought to express. Their thoughts should seldom be turned into the futile and artificial direction of trying to think what the teacher is thinking of, nor of what they are wanted to say about a thing that is before their eyes. Hasty and compulsory expression is sure to be artificial and of little use. A certain amount of unsupervised soaking is more truly educative. But to this end the thing itself must be genuinely interest- ing, and must be there, in the flesh. Then as to other subjects : attention can be given to drawing, painting, music, poetry, construction, dissection, map- making, star-gazing, mechanism, garden- ing ; above all, attention to the meaning of words, accurate use of language, and 30 School Teaching precision of statement ; careful use of the mother- tongue, distinct speech and utter- ance (distinct speech is too often neglected), good reading aloud and elocution ; memory work, not only of worthy literature but of comparatively uninteresting things too, in moderation, provided they are matters of real help, and real though trivial im- portance, embodying genuine facts and realities ; arithmetical and geometrical puzzles and problems, to be solved by common-sense and in self-invented ways, not in accordance with a previously elab- orated scheme ; everything which fosters clearness of thought, concentration of atten- tion, skill of hand, precision of eye, and alertness of brain. No indigestible material to be supplied to the mind. Anything of real importance, not at present assimilable, is to be com- mitted to the verbal memory in order that the meaning may hereafter dawn. But the memory to be reserved for the useful and essential, not clogged with rubbish for Language 3 1 the sake of filling up hours when the teacher has other things to do. " If a boy is to be taught things which, it is distinctly understood, are to be for- gotten, the good that they do him during the time that they remain in his mind ought to be very clearly demonstrated " — (H. Sidgwick). For the temporary memory, recapitula- tion of a sermon or other discourse, if the sermon were good, would be an excellent training, and greatly cultivate the habit of attention. Recital of an event, invention and narration of a story, would be an ex- cellent safeguard against a too pragmatical adherence to facts alone. Careful and expressive composition in English, with grammatical and literal blunders gradually eliminated, is of course of the utmost importance, though in my day there was none of it. But essay-writ- ing about nothing in particular, or upon subjects which are, or ought to be, unknown to the youths, is a dangerous exercise, and 32 School Teaching is apt to engender a false facility for word- spinning without any substance behind it — a facility only useful apparently to the com- posers of some of those leading articles which occasionally are produced with re- markable speed by skilled writers for the ephemeral press. The whole of the essay entitled " The Theory of Classical Education," in Professor Sidgwick's recent posthumous volume, called Miscellaneous Essays and Addresses, is ex- tremely well worth reading, and there is only one part where I find myself disagree- ing. In the midst of many wise observa- tions on the English language, among which he says, " In order to learn to speak English with accuracy and precision, we have but one rule to follow — to pay strict attention to usage"; and where he remarks on the prevalent inattention to the study of Early English, in spite of the emphasis laid on classical etymologies, — he goes on to say that a writer is liable to fall into a different set of errors if he ever attempts, as pedants Language 3 3 have attempted, to make his knowledge of Latin override English usage ; as, for instance, in the case of words like c edify ' and ' tribulation,' where modern usage should dominate and supersede mere ety- mology. Now, on the contrary, it is, I believe, desirable, in the back of one's mind, to remember the ' building-up ' signifi- cation, and the ' sifting-of-wheat-from-chafF' signification, when choosing those words ; and not to employ them where these mean- ings are quite inappropriate, even in the most metaphorical sense : it is well, in fact, to get into the habit of using words with constant care and nice discrimination, as advocated by Mr Ruskin in Sesame ', and illustrated by Milton. As to the employment of Greek for the invention of technical terms in science, it must be considered not only trivial but somewhat barbarous ; the meaning of a technical word, moreover, constantly tends, and ought to tend, to depart from the original derivation, as discovery proceeds : 3 34 School Teaching e.g. atom ; and many a customary name, such as c galvanometer,' has no intelligible etymology, apart from history, at all. There are plenty of good reasons for learning Greek, but this matter of technical scientific terms is hardly one of them. Arithmetic and Geometry. I have spoken elsewhere on these subjects, so my remarks now may be brief. I am convinced that arithmetic and geometry should first be taught, not as systematic science, but by observation and experiment : experiment with handled things, like counters or beans or coins sometimes, but experiments usually conducted on paper. This kind of experimenting is cheap and easy, and very instructive. Subjective dis- coveries can be made in this way, and usually excite considerable interest. Even at a very rudimentary stage the value of six times seven should be not told but ascertained. It should be realised that all that is intended by the question is how Arithmetic 35 to group things in tens instead of in sevens. For instance, six sevens and 3 over, can also be grouped as four tens and 5 over, or as three dozen and 9 ; and 6 x 7 = 42 = 3/6 is an abbreviation for the main part of this experience. The fact that six sevens make 42 should then be learnt mechanically for handy use hereafter. The phrase " eight and fourpence " sug- gests things grouped in dozens ; if grouped in tens they make ten complete packets. A quantity of this experimenting, enough to be useful but not enough to be wearisome, should precede the niceties of numeration, and serve as an introduction to the ingenious shorthand of the conventional Arabic notation. Adults are so used to writing four groups of ten and 2 over in the compact form 42 that they forget how much abbreviation and shorthand there is about it ; and they sometimes forget to realise that they might equally well write it 3/6, meaning three dozen and 6 over. 36 School Teaching What is called the multiplication table, or the pence table, is simply a summary of experiments in grouping, — a trivial but handy and useful exercise. Afterwards there should be experiment on powers and roots, and indices and logar- ithms, and series or progressions ; and throughout plenty of exercise in amusing problems, such as are sometimes to be met with in the contemporary press. The ' rules ' should be led up to and arrived at by experience and guided ex- periment ; and, if possible, they should be first formulated imperfectly and badly by the pupil, who will then better appreciate the more correct mode of statement subse- quently imparted. To give the correct and complete at once, without opportunity for the incorrect and partial, is but half to do the business. To understand and realise the working of a rule, it is necessary also to experience the way in which it fails, or rather the slight modifications which make it fail ; though it is a mistake to emphasise Geometry 3 7 the false as much as the true : the false should not be allowed a chance of dwelling in the memory. So also in Geometry, some of the pro- positions, especially the constructions in Euclid (or better ones), could be invented ; and the inventional solution of a number of other simple propositions, such as are formulated as questions for small children in Spencer's Inventional Geometry, would give life and reality to the subject. It is a far better training to cultivate the habit of thinking for one's self, the habit of solving any problem presented, or at any rate of trying to attack it, than to load the memory with a number of beautiful prob- lems ingeniously worked out and formally re- corded in perfect though sometimes artificial style by the ancients. The latter is a training in classics, not in geometry. And it must be noted that a knowledge of Euclid is not complete unless the number- ing of the propositions is known and the order rigorously adhered to ; otherwise the 38 School Teaching proof is no proof, since some of the facts depended on may covertly assume the thing to be proved. Fortunately this was realised by my own teachers, and accordingly my acquaintance with the text of Euclid at one time was as complete and thorough as my acquaintance with the words of the Church Catechism. It is the difficulty experienced by those who abandon the linear order and logical arrangement of Euclid, for some more modern and more geometrical and comprehensive and practically useful ideas, which has played tem- porary havoc with elementary school geometry. Like all revolutions, it necessitates turmoil and trouble for a time, but the result will, I trust, justify those who have felt con- strained to advocate some departure from time-honoured and classical but inefficient procedure. If Euclid could be universally learnt and enjoyed, as by some boys it can be learnt and enjoyed, as I learnt and enjoyed it myself for instance, then I for one would Geometry 3 9 advocate its retention, just as I advocate the retention of any other classical master- piece which can give pleasure. But inas- much as experience shows that the average boy is not competent to appreciate the beauties of Euclid, nor even to understand and assimilate the text, the persistent attempt to soak him in it for many years, till he becomes sick of the whole business, must be abandoned. That is not the way to teach real geometry : a boy must learn geometry by direct experience, and by simple reasoning based upon that experience ; and, what with geometrical drawing and experimental trigonometry and surveying, he can far outstrip his classical colleague in real and intrinsic knowledge of the subject, even of the facts incorporated in that curious and beautiful antique Euclidian structure. He will know things in a blunt, utilitarian, practical-engineering sort of way ; his culture will be deficient, if it be limited to that mode of treatment, but his usefulness may 4-0 School Teaching nevertheless be considerable ; and if he has, as he often has, ability in some other direction, he may make his mark in the world, and be a credit to his school and nation. LECTURE II CHIEFLY ON TEACHING IN HISTORY AND SCIENCE A speaking and writing acquaintance with the mother-tongue, and with the elements of at least one other language to give it life and reality, — for the man of one language, like the man of one book, can have no full conception either of language or literature — these things are inevitable in any system of education. There remains the question of indoctrination in the facts and lessons of History, and in the eternal truths of Science. Take History first. It is clearly to be discriminated from Science, though, like everything else, it may be studied by scien- tific methods. It is discriminated in this definite way : it has distinct reference to <* 42 School Teaching time ; it is a study of the past, and of the present as an outcome of the past. It is by the study of history that man is differentiated from other animals, who live only in the present. That which occurred before the life of the individual animal is non-existent, except in so far as it has left a residual in- fluence on his instinct and bodily organism ; but to the human race the whole of racial experience, so far as it has been recorded, lies open for use, or can be dissected out by skilled explorers ; and it is this transmission from age to age of the accumulated experi- ence of the race which, more than any other fact, has raised man above other animals and enabled a human race to exist. In language, in social institutions, in cere- monies, in Architecture, a great deal of history is imbedded, as well as in documents and inscriptions. The earth itself has a history, which is read by the historical science of Geology. Part of Astronomy is in that sense also historical. Chronology of every kind, everything relating to the History and Science 43 past, has a historical side. Science itself has a history, often of surpassing interest. But the laws of science proper have no re- ference to date ; they are independent of time and place : if true, they are always true, here and everywhere. That is why it is sometimes said to deal with the eter- nities and the immensities. With the facts or assertions of Science, however, time and place are often involved : they contain often a geographical and historical element, as when one species is given a local habitat, and another is spoken of as extinct. Cer- tainly this is so, and all knowledge is inter- locked and welded together in this sort of way ; but it must be recollected that classi- fication is always more or less artificial, and the essential distinction between the historical aspect of knowledge and what I conceive to be the specifically scientific aspect of knowledge is clear. It is this independence of ' time ' that en- ables science to make predictions : the fundamental laws can be trusted in the 44 School Teaching future as well as in the present and the past, subject always to the possibility of unlooked- for interference, or for oversight due to lack of data and human fallibility. One important lesson, imparted by real education, is that infallibility is not accessible to man. Amazing have been the blunders made by the natural tendency of the ignorant to take refuge in some kind of infallibility, to elevate into an oracular and trustworthy utterance even a casual assertion or side- reference made by a truly great man. In- fallibility of this kind is sickly and infantile, and is not to be expected even from the greatest of prophets. As for scientific men, the utmost that can be expected from them is care and candour — scrupulous candour and unremitting care. If, like prophets and poets, they have the element of inspiration also, it is well ; but the utterance of their moments of inspiration must be scrutinised too, and caution must be rigorously exercised both by teacher and by disciple. What are we to say, then, about the teach- History 45 ing of history in schools — the history of the world, of mankind in general, of one's own nation and city in particular ? Usually the term ' history,' in school, is applied in the sense of the history of our own nation, beginning at some well-marked epoch, and finishing a century or two away, so that events may not become too complicated or too personal. Much of what is so taught is rather the dry bones of history ; it is anatomy rather than physiology, a scrutiny of the structure of defunct organism rather than a study of living function. Part of this anatomical study is necessary, and may be acquired young. The order of the kings, for instance, with their dates, is a harmless and useful piece of memory work ; it serves afterwards as a sort of framework in which to set more vital details. But for any real insight into the history and institutions of a people, in their struggles and revolts, their failures and successes, their emancipations and their oppressions, for any real sympathy with the feelings and efforts 46 School Teaching of a statesman, something beyond infantile age is necessary ; and I doubt whether any living interest can be felt in these vividly interesting things until some idea is grasped of contemporary politics, and of the motives which sway men and nations. Politics may be called the history of the present. History may be called the politics of the past. Politics itself has, no doubt, many defects for educational purposes : one is that it moves so slowly, the dull periods take their full time as well as the exciting periods, and we get swamped with the trivial and the unimportant ; even if we are able, as usually we are not able, to take a broad disinterested view of matters under discussion, and to distinguish the permanent from the temporary. Thus, if we tried to utilise those extracts from the Times of last century, which are printed each day, in order to follow the course of, say, the Napoleonic troubles, we should be choked off by the slowness of their development. Napoleon has been strongly in evidence since this History 47 century began, but we are yet a long long way, a whole school life of ten years, from the coming of the battle of Waterloo ; we cannot wait for it. So that is one difficulty of contemporary politics ; and another is, that it partakes too much of the nature of gossip and triviality to be capable of being made a serious school subject ; and boys brought up on it would be apt to be offensive and priggish. Indeed, that is a thing against which enthusiastic educators have always to be upon their guard ; and I commend to their notice Mr Andrew Lang's excellent fairy tale called Prince Prigio. 1 But, nevertheless, the study of history cannot come to full life until the spirit of politics — not necessarily party politics, but politics in the legitimate sense : sociology, public spirit, patriotism, civic interest — has been somehow awakened. And if this can be done by the judicious teacher in con- 1 Incorporated in his My Own Fairy Book with two other stories. 48 School Teaching nection with the historical events of the past, as I suppose it can, and sometimes is, no effort should be spared thus to infuse the body of history with the life-blood of humanity. It then becomes a good and stimulating subject, and leaves an effect long after its exact chronological details are forgotten. I always forget them, and am relieved to find that Creighton says it does not matter— the spirit of them remains in the mind ; and, as usual, the spirit is the vital thing. If the spirit and the atmosphere are there, the details can always be looked up when wanted ; and part of education should consist in familiarity and practice with this looking up of details, with the use of books in general, not only of books of reference. A book in its natural order is more instruc- tive than a book in alphabetical order. The latter may be necessary for ignora- muses, but other books are usually employed for subjects which one has really studied. I am not now speaking of a collection of treatises bound together, like the Encyclo- History 49 pcedia Britannica^ but rather of such a volume as the index to that work. Its proper use is for mainly unknown and new subjects. Some idea should also be grasped — though probably that comes better later, at college — of the way in which documents are util- ised for the ascertainment and construction of history by historians themselves. It is highly desirable that specimens of real ancient documents should be exhibited. The Oxford Helps to the Study of the Bible are excellent in that way, by their facsimiles of the real textual authorities, of which the familiar English version in common use is a tremendous simplification. In any case, history is a live and human subject, and one in which it is easy for every- body to take an interest, if the teaching is only decently intelligent. When the teach- ing is really skilful, and appropriately inter- mingled with biography, it becomes a most admirable instrument of education ; interest in it may become enthusiastic. This latter 5