■^Vh^ ss SOUTHERN BRANCH wimsny of California LIBRARY, ' UDS ANGELES, CALIF. PKINCIPLES AND METHODS OF TEACHING PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF TEACHING JAMES WELTON, M.A. PR0FKS30R OF EDUCATION IN THF. UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS AUTHOR OF "the LOGICAL BASES OF KDDCATION," "a MANUAL OF LOGIC," ETC. AND OF TnE ARTICLE ON " EDUCATION " IN THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA Set'enth linpyession (Second Edition) BALTIMORE, MD., U.S.A. WARWICK & YORK, INC TUnivei-sitB tutorial ipre5S..X&. EXGLAND o .1 '7 L(3 PEEFACE TO SECOXD EDITION. The essential purpose of every book on teaching must ^ be to help teachers in their actual daily work. In this C^ way only can it eft'ectuallj assist them when they offer ^ themselves for examination in that work. An answer to a ^ question on the practice of teaching is valuable exactly in proportion as it shows that the writer has not only read about the subject, but has assimilated the principles laid down in his text-book and made them part of that living- thought which finds expression in the daily work of the class-room. A competent examiner discriminates at once i between such answers and those which are mere verbal ^ reproductions of text-book methods which have never ^ influenced the wi-iter's practice. It is therefore hoped that S this book may be of value to candidates for examination f^ T in the subject of which it treats by helping them to become better teachers. The treatment is meant to be theoretical — in the sense of setting forth a consistent and co-ordinated body of doctrine. Such theory is, of course, involved in all true practice. No attempt has been made to set forth explicit directions how to carry out every small piece of teaching. The model for a work on teaching should not be a book on cookery, with its detailed recipes directing the reader how to produce by rule of thumb certain specific results. After all, teaching is dealing Avith souls, and only mind can VI PEEFACE. really influence mind. The true and effective way to train the practical teacher is to imbue him with broad and fruitful principles ; and he becomes a real edvicative force just in the degree to which, having incorporated those principles in the living texture of liis own thought, he brings them to bear on the living problems which every- day in school sets him to solve in such vast numbers. But that the principles and methods here set forth are practical has been proved by the successful working of every one of them in school. At the same time I do not claim to have reflected here the ordinary practice of the average English school. To have done so would have furnished little of either stimulus or suggestion. I have set up an ideal, but it is a practic- able ideal. It is true that small and insufficiently stalled schools cannot attain the full scope of the application here sTiggested of the leading principles. If they could, the book would be of little service to the larger and better equipped schools. But the principles of curriculum and of method can be applied to small schools as well as to large ones, and it is the principles which are essential. The main body of the book sets forth what I believe to be a possible and satisfactory curriculum for primary schools. But the methods of teaching the various subjects are also applicable in principle to the junior classes in secondary schools, though modifications in detail will be demanded by the wider curriculum and the greater oppor- tunities for out-of-school culture enjoyed by most of the pupils. To meet the wishes of many teachers in such schools, who have found the book helpful, a chapter on the Teaching of Modern Languages, by Mr. F. B. Kirkmau, B.A., has been added in this edition. To indicate that i\Iodern Languages should form no part of the curriculum of the ordinary primary school, this has been placed in an PREFACE. VU Appendix, Were the book specially iutended to treat of the course of study in secondary schools, its logical place would have been immediately after the chapters ou tho teaching of English. The Chapter on Geography has been largely rewritten. In the rest of the book the changes simply correct printer's errors. The lists of recommended books have been deliberately kept short, and restricted to books known by the -writers of the various chapters to be of real lielp to a teacher. Acting on the opinion more than once expressed in the book that a teacher cannot be really proficient in every subject, I have not attempted to write all the following chapters. I have sought the assistance of friends and former pupils whose views on education agree with, my own, and who are more competent to treat their respective subjects than I can claim to be. The chapter on Music is written by Mr. E. T. White, Mus.Doc, Lecturer on the subject in the Groldsmiths' College ; those on Geography and Mathematics by Mr. W. P. Welpton, B.Sc, Master of Method in the University of Leeds ; that on Natural History by Mr. C. E. Moss, D.Sc, Keeper of the Her- barium at the University of Cambridge ; that on ISTeedle- work by Miss E. L. Melville, M.A., Mistress of Method in the Leeds City Training College. The chapter on Geography also owes much to Mr. A. Jowett, M.Sc, Principal of the Pupil Teachers' College at Bury, and the sections on Handicraft to Mr. C. E. StancHffe, Lecturer ou the subject in the York Training College. But though, the pens are different, the doctrine is one, and I accept as full responsibility for the chapters contributed by others as for those I have written myself. I must further express my obligations to my friends — Dr. Fletcher, Vice-Principal of the Cambridge University VUl PREFACE. Day Training College, for reading the proofs of all the earlier chapters, and Mr. B. Branford, Divisional Inspector of Schools under the London Connty Council, for reading those of the chapter on Mathematics. But above all, I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Welpton, whose suggestions and criticisms have helped miich in every part of the work. The last thirty years of the nineteenth century saw effort concentrated on supplying the material deficiencies in English schools. The few years which have already elapsed in the present centiu-y have been marked by a movement towards a wider curriculum and more effective methods of teacliing. If this book — the oiitcome of years of thought and of much experience in the work of school- room and training college — helps that movement even to a small extent, the labour bestowed on it will be amply rev^^arded. J W, Leeds, May, 1909. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. GENERAL FCNCTIOX OF TEACIIIXO. 1. Recognised Importance of Education •2. Doubt as to Function of Education S. Need to Resolve this Doubt . . . 4. Application of term ' Education ' 5. Aim of Education Knowledge and Practice Knowledge and Virtue 6. Chief Agents of Education The Home The School The Church 7. Education and Life 8. Education and Teaching 9. Theory and Practice in Teaching 10. Factors in Teaching 11. Function of the Teacher PAGK 1 •2 o 3 4 9 11 13 14 15 1(5 16 17 17 IS 19 CHAPTER II. MATERIAL OF INSTRUCTION. 1. Meaning of ' Value ' 2. Relative Values of Education, School, and Teaching 3. Evils of exaggerating Functions of School and of Teacliing 4. Test of Educational Value of Instruction 22 22 23 24 JC CONTENTS. PAGS 5. Evils of applying Imperfect Tests ... ... 25 ' Value as Discipline ' . . ... ... ... ... 26 ' Value as Knowledge ' 28 These Values not Necessarily Connected 29 6. General application of Test to School Work 30 Material Utility and the Curriculum 32 Examinations... ... . . ... ... ... ... 32 7. Special application of Test to different Types of Schools ... 33 Limitation of Treatment to the Primary School ... 3.5 8. Determination of the Curriculum of the Primary School . . . 3o English Language ... ... ... ... ... ... 36 Literature, History, and Social Geography 36 The Natural World 37 Mathematics ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 37 Music, Drawing, etc. ... ... ... ... ... 37 Handicraft ... ... ... ... ... ... . . 37 Variations in Emphasis on Different'Groups ... ... 38 Influence of Tradition ... ... ... ... ... 39 9. Utilisation of Special Knowledge of Teachers 40 10. Arrangement of Matter of Instruction 42 ' Concentration of Studies ' 42 Natural Correlation of Knowledge ... ... ... 45 11. Construction of the Time Table 46 CHAPTER III. FORM OF INSTRUCTION. Test of the Value of Teaching 48 Perceptual Activity 48 Conceptual Activity 49 Perseverance ... ... ... ... ... .-• ■•• 51 Characteristics of Good Method 52 Purpose ... ... ... ... ••• •■• ••• 53 Economy of Effort 54 Prompt Beginning ... ... ... ..- 55 Orderly Process 57 Stimulation of Learning 58 Effective Result 60 CONTENTS. XJ fACg 3. Maxims of Method G- Proceed from the Knowii to the Unknown 62 Proceed from the Easy to the More Difficult 62 Proceed from the Concrete to the Abstract 6.'i Proceed from tlie Empirical to the Rational 63 Proceed from tlie Simple to the Complex 64 Proceed from the Indefinite to the Definite 66 The Development of the Child is Parallel to that of the Race G6 4. Psychological Basis of Method ... •• 07 5. The Herbartian Formal Steps of Method 69 6. Chief Classes of Lessons 72 7. Lessons which aim at increasing "Elange of Knowledge . 7."{ Steps of Method 74 i. Adjustment of Atteutioii ... ... ... 74 ii. Assimilation of New Matter 75 iii. Organisation of Knowledge ... ... ... 15 Modes of Learning and Teaching 76 Direct Study of Things and Events 76 Oral Teaching ... . . ... ... ... 80 Learning from Books ... ... ... ... 82 8. Lessons which aim at increasing Depth of Knowledge ... 85 Steps of Method 86 i. Apprehension of Problem ... ... ... 87 ii. Suggestion and Testing of Solutions .. . ... 87 iii. Formulation of Theory ... ... ... 88 iv. Application of Theory 90 Absence of Rigidity ill JMetliod 90 Use of these Methods ... .,. 90 Modes of Learning and Teaching 91 Questioning ... ... ... ... 91 Experimenting ... ... ... 92 The Essence of Heuristic Methods 94 9. Lessons which aim at Applying Knowledge 94 Steps of Method 95 i. Formulation of Principle 95 ii. Form of Application ... ... 96 iii. Verification ... ... ... ... 96 Modes of Learning and Teaching '-'O Xii CONTENTS. PACB 10. Lessons which aim at developing Constructive and Execu- tive Power 97 Steps of Method 98 i. Analysis of Result to be Attained ... ... 98 ii. Expression and Criticism ... ... ... 98 Modes of Learning and Teaching 99 11. Summary 100 CHAPTER IV. THE TEACHING OF ENGLISU : PREPARATORT. 1. Functions of Language Teaching 101 Language as an Instrument of Thought 101 Language as an Instrument of Common Intellectual Life 102 Reasons for Teaching the Mother Tongue 102 Increased Mastery over Language 103 Cultivation of Interest in Literature 104 2. Foundations of Language Teaching 105 3. Language Teaching in the Infant School 106 Increase of Power of Speech ... ... ■ • 106 Improvement of Utterance 109 Introduction to Literature .. . Ill 4. The early Teaching of Reading and Writing 112 Method of Teaching 113 The 'Letter' Methods 114 The 'Alphabetic' Method 114 Phonetic Methods 115 Place of Phonic Analysis H" Summary US CHAPTER V. THK TEACniNO OF ENGLISH : READING. 1. The General Work of the Senior School 120 2. Reading to Pupils by Teacher 121 3. The Essence of Reading ■ 122 Reading Aloud 122 CONTENTS. xm 4. Reading as Elocution ... 5. Principles of Method in Teaching Reading ... i. With Younger Children Vocal Drill Silent Reading Reading Aloud Correcting Mistakes ... Cultivating Expres.sion ii. With Elder Classes Phrasing Emphasis Modulation The Reading of Poetry Amount of Practice ... Reading to Hearers without Books Matter suited for Reading Aloud ... 6. Reading Books ... School and Class Libraries PAGE 123 125 125 126 126 126 126 127 128 129 129 130 131 133 134 134 135 138 CHAPTER VI. THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH : LITERATURE. 1. Learning by Heart and Recitation 139 Choice of Passages ... ... ... ... ... ... 139 Method of Learning .. . ... ... ... ... ... 140 2. Intensive Study of Content and Form of Literature ... 143 3. Exa,mple horn Tennyson's Idylls of the King 145 General Apprehension of Whole 146 Detailed Study 151 Third Reading ... ... ... ... ... ... 155 4. Passages of a predominantly Intellectual Character ... 156 Example from Bacon on i^tcAes 156 Example from Bacon on >) Text Questions g25 )) !> C4rammar Practice 627 7> :, Written Work 642 M Order of Stejis in Lesson ... 645 Home-work ... r-ia 040 Accessories ... ... ... ... ou- 6. Method in the Literary Course g^y 7. Method of Teaching Tran.slation as a Fine Art 650 Books Recommended ... ... ... a-i Addendum : An Experiment in Research 657 IXDEX 6ti3 CHAPTER 1 GENEllAL FUNCTION OF TEACHING. I. One of the most remarkable movements of the last ceutviry lias been the increased importance Recognised attached in the public mind to education, of Education. I^arge sums are expended by the State and by local authorities in supplying and main- taining schools, and in securing the services of comjjetent teachers. Old-fashioned people, indeed, are apt to grumble as expenditure on the machinery of education grows yearly heavier, but such grumblings become more and more in- frequent as the new fashion of thought spreads, and those who are not converted at least hold their peace or give vent to their dissatisfaction only in private. Meanwhile, a growing tendency is observable in the public press and on public platforms to regar^l education as a panacea for all social and economic ills. If our markets seem to be endangered by the enterprise of a foreign nation, it is pointed out that the nation in question has a system of technical schools and colleges more comj)lete and better organised than our own. If we are not as immediately successful in war as patriotism vrould desire, Cassandra voices are heard on every hand warning us that every wiiere amongst us are to be seen signs of pliysical PR. TG. 1 2 GENERAL FUNCTION OP TEACHING. deterioration, aucl calling for compulsory systems of drill and other forms of physical training, and often for the public feeding of the children, to enable them to profit both by this and by what is more commonly understood by ' schooling.' As the demand for the spread of tl;e franchise l)ecomes more and more irresistible, fears aiise lest the newly en- franchised voters should use their power un-wisely, and statesmen feel the need "to educate our masters." In these and other ways the fashionable creed is brought home to us, that socially and politically education is the one thing needful. 2. But despite all this current enthusiasm and still more current eloquence, there seems to be no clear Doubt as to insight into the nature of this supreme good Education. w hich all agree in demanding. It is as true now^-a-days as it was in the time of Aristotle that "there is no agreement as to w^hat the young should learn, either with a view to the production of goodness or the best life, nor is it settled whether education ought to be directed mainly to the culture of the intellect or to the development of character. Nor is the perplexity removed y an examination of the actual education we see around us, for there is no certainty whether education should be a training in what is merely useful as a means of livelihood, or in what tends to promote goodness, or in the disciplinary studies. Each of these views has some supporters. Further, even amongst those who accept goodness and character as the end there is no agreement as to the right means to adopt. For at the very outset there is a difference of opinion as to what kind of goodness is most worthy of esteem, and, as a natural consequence, as to the nature of the training necessary for its development."' » l'oliti,:.s, V. 1. GENERAL FUNCTION OF TEACHING. 3 3. Amidst all the curreut coufusiou there ruus indeed the vague and general notion that education Need to Resolve should be, in some way, a preparation for* life, or, as Mr. H. Spencer puts it, " for com- plete living." Such a statement wins acceptance by its very vagueness and generality, but it is obviously inadequate as a guide to those who are to amdertake in any special Avay the actual work of education, and who wish to set about that work not in a mechanical manner, rviled by mere tradition, but as intelligent " artists in the souls of children." They feel it needful to be able to give definite and well-grounded answers to such questions as, What iy the aim of education ? What do we wish to accomplish when we deliberately set ourselves to mould and direct the lives of the young ? Why does the State enforce schooling and pay so heavy a price to have its childi-en brought under school influence? What has the community a right to expect as the result of its sacrifices and regulations ? What should parents require the school to do for their childi'en ? Such inquiries will be taken by many people to be equivalent to each other, for modern habits of speech tend more and more to limit education to schooling. But in reality they are manifold, and involve the relations of home, school, and State as instruments of education, as well as the more fundamental question of the nature of the end which all their elfoi'ts are bent to realise. It is with this more fundamental question we are now concerned. 4. What then is the aim of education, and what shall be included under the term ? In a sense, every =- Application thing which helps to mould and form a ' Education.' human hfe is part of its education. In this widest application physical influences, such as climate and material surroundings, are agents of 4 GENERAL FUNCTION OF TEACHINQ. education, as well as everythiug in the social eiiviroument. Who can deny the formative influence of city or country life, of social position, of wealth or poverty, of refinement or coarseness ? Everything which comes into one's life influences it to a greater or less extent, though in many cases, of course, the influence is too slight to be traced. It is not, however, usual to speak of every formative influence as educative, and it will be necessary for our purpose to limit the term to influences which are inten- tionally brought to bear upon the individual by those who are in a position superior in some respects to his own. Even so it will be seen that the scope of the term is a wide one and will include not only the efforts of the school, but those of the home — indefinite and semi-conscious as these often are — and the regulation of life by the State and by the narrower social community in Avhich the individual's life is passed, which by example, precept, and in the last re- sort compulsion, enforce their views of life and conduct upon their members. Nor must we omit the potent influence of the Church, including under that name every specially religious organisation. The degrees in which the moulding of the individual by these agencies is intentional of course varies enormously both as a whole and in detail. But wherever any element of intention is present the influence should be regarded as educative. 5. It is evident that education as thus defined will include influences R'ood, bad, and indifferent. Edu^cation ^^^ some of those thus accepted as edu- cators may deliberately exert an evil influence and of set purpose train and incite to wrong, whilst a much larger number will do ill even though meaning to do well, either from a misapprehension of what is really good, or from want of power to organise and direct the means to GENERAL FUNCTION OF TEACHTNO. 6 (lie attainment of the perceived good. Hence Ave are led back to the I'ool question: At what should education aim ? and then to the dependent query : By what organisation of means can it attain its end ? Now to the former of these two inquiries many answers have been given and are still given. But they all fall under two general classes — the individualistic and the ^cial. Those who look upon education as primai-ily, if not exclusively, for the benefit of the individual to be educated, give as their answer some form of preparation for adult life which will make that individual life a more desirable one than it would otherwise be. According to theii" view of what makes life desirable they lay most stress on the development of goodness, on the training of intellectual power, or on the acquirement of some form of aptitude which will be of direct service in earning a livelihood. And obviously the social position and degree of culture of the pai-ents will largely determine which of these is regarded by them as the most important. -Simi- larly, the State and the smaller local communities are apt to regard each of these ends as most appropriate to a certain soci;il class and most desirable for the members of that class. On the other hand those who look upon education as primarily for the good of the State, or of the community, will give as their answer that it should render those who \ are educated more fitted to perform well some function in the commimity, should discover what specific function each individual is best fitted to fulfil, and should train him for that. Here, too, emphasis may be laid on goodness^ intellect, or industrial skill as the most valuable in general or for certain classes of the community. Thus the results of the two answers may concide to a laro-e extent in the comniunitv as a whole. But while the 6 GENERAT, FUNCTION OF TEACHINa. former regards the social organisation mainly as a means for the advancement of the individual, the latter cares nothing for the individual as such, and only requires that the work of the community shall be well done. While, for example, the former would found scholarships and set up " the ladder from the elementary school to the univer- sity," the latter would care little or nothing for such aids to the talents of the poor. So long as a sufficient number of citizens were found able to till efficiently the higher walks of intellectual, social, and industrial life, the cost of whose training could be borne l)y their families, the com- munity as a whole would not feel called upon to seek out yet others to train for similar pursuits at the general cost. Its aim would rather be to limit the number of those trained for the higher and more intellectual occupations by the number of probable vacancies in such pursuits. Each of these views can be traced in the past. In its crudest form education consisted in training the child in the pursuits — hunting, fishing, fighting, etc. — necessary to en- able him to maintain himself and his family when he should reach adult life. As occupations became more specialised this training took the general form of teaching the boy the craft or trade of his father and the girl the household duties performed by the mother. But as communities became more organised the con- ception of the child as the future citizen became dominant, and, as a consequence, the idea that education is intended to train loyal and useful citizens overshadowed the con- ception that it is a means of benefiting the individual. This idea was carried out most fully in Sparta, where the family was practically abolished and the State took the training of its yoinig citizens entirely into its own hands. Both Plato and Aristotle were much influenced by this view, but they raised it to a higher level by regarding the aENERAIi FUNCTION OF TEACHINa. 7 wliole organisation of the State as a means for the perfect deveki2:»ment of the citizen as well as the education of the individual as a means to the perfection of the State. Thus in these philosophers we find a nice balancing of the claims of individual and community. In the mediaeval Church the social view was predomi- nant. Education was regarded as a means of training good Christians who would he citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Nevertheless, in that it substituted the spiritual for the temporal world it of necessity concerned itself with the personal or individual side of life. But at the same time its method of education was admiraldy adapted to train up a body of men who would continue its organisa- tion and prosecute its aims. Concurrently with this ecclesiastical system of education, with its strongly marked social tone, was that of chivalry, in which the sons of a favoured few were trained in the castles of the nobles. This was essentially individualistic in its conception : it aimed at making the perfect knight, whose characteristic virtues of courage and courtesy were essentially personal. It must be noted that Plato proposed a formal and systematic education, regulated by the State, only for the select few. The great mass of the people was, apparently, to be left to the practical and industrial training which inight be given in the family. This was, to varying degrees, the actual practice of Europe till recent days. With an ignorant and debased peasantry such an educa- tion was all too often imperfect industrially and bad intellectually and morally. It was the special work of the nineteenth century, under the influence of Pestalozzi in Switzerland, of Bell and Lancaster in England, and of others of like sympathies, to promote a more definite and intentional training of the childx'en of the poor, and, as a 8 GENERAL FUNCTION OF TRACHINO. uecessary means, to advocate the establishment and organi- sation of schools by the State. But the very success of their efforts, by enormously increasing the number of children receiving schooling, naturally led to the gradual weakening of the social idea of the purpose of education and the corresponding increase in strength of the opinion that it is primarily an individual benefit. For in a modern State the nmnbers are too large, and the social and in- dustrial organisation is too complex, for the State to attempt any apportionment of occupation in accordance with ability. And, further, the advantage to the State of the education of any particular individual is not obvioixs. The current individualistic philosophy of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries made for the same results, so that the individualistic conception is probalily now the more prevalent. ^ Such a conception errs rather negatively than positively. For a child is a human being, and as sixch he is essentially an individual. But modern thought is more and moi-e tending to emphasise that every individual is what he is through his interaction with his surroundings, physical and social. As a social being he enters into all sorts of relations with other liiinian beings, and with the world in general, and as he grows older the range and scope of these relations increase. Cut away the social side of a person and the individual is reduced to an empty nothing. His development ami success in life depend upon the fulness and Avisdom with Avhicli he enters into suitable relations with the world in which he finds himself. To do this implies that he understands these relations and can interpret them liberally and generously. Only by under- standing, for example, the relations of the physical world to his purposes can he avail himself of physical means. Every discovery in tlie mechanical arts is an illustration of GENKTCAT, FTTNOTTOK OF TEACHING. V this. Understanding the power and activity of steam and seeing Iioav to contrive by certain forms of an-anging matter to utilise this power enabled man to invent the steam-engine. Similai'ly, only by imderstanding the relations of the social world and unifying his actions with those relations can one seciire the direct or indirect co- operation of his fellows. It is needless to labour the point, which seems sufficiently obvious. Only Ijy grasping clearly that life is a system of relations, and that every such relation has, as its two terms, the individual on the one hand and on the other some portion of the physical or human world about him. can we harmonise the claims of individual and social considerations to determine life, and consequently to be operative in our conception of the purpose of education. Governed by this conception, we shall say that the purpose of education should be to lead the child into the fullest, truest, noblest, and most fruitful relations of which he is capable with the world in which he lives. Such relations may be broadly classified as theoretical and practical — those of knowledge and those Knowledge ^ action. The distinction between knowing and Practice. '^ and doing is frequently drawn somewhat rigidly in modern thought, with the result that their mutual dependence is overlooked, and theory and practice are set in antithesis to each other. This is a result of the predominantly intellectual cast of philosophic thought for the last two centuries. Its consequences in education are serious^knowledge is often confounded with erudition, and practice with rule-of-thumb aptitude. In old G-reek thought the distinction was not exaggerated into a separation. With Socrates, knowledge was the power by which things are done, and included not only the under- standing how to do them, but the skill to apply that 10 GBNKRAL FUNCTION OF TEACHING, understanding. Happily, thinkers are again seeing that this is the truer vieAv of actual human life. Know- ledge is the power of dealing effectively with situations, and is not complete tmless the ' how ' is added to the 'why.' As Gruyau puts it: "To know is to be led as a whole to learn more and to be able to do niore."^ Of course the ' situation ' may be theoretical or prac- tical. Every moment of one's waking and conscious life finds one in a situation requiring to be dealt with by some fcn-m of mental or physical activity. Experience, in- deed, is nothing but a series of situations and the dealing with them. Thus, one may deal with a situation by decid- ing on a line of conduct and then steadfastly carrying it out ; by inventing some machine or applying some material aptitude ; by understanding the nature and cause of natural phenomena ; hj appreciating references to history or to literature ; by entering into the spirit of a work of art. But whatever the situation may be, the power of dealing with it effectively includes not only a set of ideas which, as it were, reflect its nature, but also a system of ideas of the kind of activity which will enable us to extract from it all the advantage it is capable of yielding. Without this there is no effective knowledge. When this fuller view of knowledge is taken, the dispute whether ' knowledge ' or ' skill ' should be the result aimed at in education is seen to be settled. To make either the sole aim is to render it impossible that even the half aimed at should be attained. Man's knowledge began in his practical needs, and every advance in knowledge has a practical bearing on life, either on the material or on the mental side. To enter into any piece of knowledge is to apprehend this liearing, and such apprehension can only result from the actual working it out in practice. ^ Education and Ileredi/t/, p. 28(5. OENBEAL FUNCTION OF TEAOHINa. 11 Moreover, the answer to the question wliether knowledge or virtue is the ultimate eud of education is Knowledge niade easier. The highest knowledge is know- ledge of how to deal with life itself, as distinct from its trappings and accessories. Such knowledge the Grreeks called ' Wisdom,' and Wisdom they placed first of the cardinal virtues, the others being those qualities which enable a man to carry out without flinching, and with due regard to the rights of others, a line of conduct seen to l>e wise. At the same time, as has been said, knowledge in- cluded practice, and so might broadly be spoken of as covering the more obviously active qualities of the will, as well as those more contemplative attributes of the intellect which ' knowledge ' or ' wisdom ' more directly suggests. So we see what Socrates meant by his identification of know- ledge and virtue. For knowledge or wisdom was not something merely existing in the mind, but was the actual dealing with the important things of life in a masterly way. And this implied persistence and effort, or, as we should say, ' Will.' Now the term ' virtue ' to the Greek denoted the characteristic excellence of anything said to possess it. So that human virtue was excellence in living a human life in every one of its relations. Hence, virtue and knowledge approach so near each other as to be practi- cally indistinguishable. It is equally evident, however, that this identification cannot be made if the narrower and more popular mean- ino-s be given to ' virtue ' and ' knowledge ' and ' practice.' Hence we have the disputes already referred to as to which of these is the ultimate aim of education. On the view wo have taken each by itself is inadequate. To say that "Morality is the aim of education," or that "The aim of education is the development of a good character," is either to limit tlie scope of education, or to extend the meaning of 12 GENERAL FUNCTION OF TEACHING. ' rtiorality ' and ' G^ood character ' bevond the usual modern acceptation. Yet more unfortunate is it to make the aim of education the acquirement of ' knowledge ' in the very common modern sense of remembered infor- mation, for that is to divorce the educative process from the largest and most important parts of the life for which it has to prepare. Lastly, to make mere unintelligent practice the aim is to reduce man to a piece of machinery and to negate all the higher parts of his nature. This is well put by Mr. Dodwell in an article on 'Matthew Arnold as a Social Reformer.' He says : " It is of course a very ancient truism that a just morality is the basis of all healthy social life. But the true ethical ideal can only be conceived by the man of well-balanced, well-developed mind ; the true morality can therefore only be fitly con- ceived of, and indeed practised, by a mind whose aims are other than purely moral. To a lofty conception of conduct must be added the love of beauty, the love of knowledge, the love of social life ; for we can agree to take as our ideal neither the hermit's, because we believe that man may find a higher life in society than in the desert ; nor the ideal of the ignorant and uninstructed, because the intellect and its products are the most truly characteristic of man's power and works ; nor the ideal of the Philistine, because civilisation, that quality which separates us from the savage, lies so greatly in the educated sense of beauty in all its possible forms. It is essential that all these should be in mutual subordination : our sense of beauty and good manners must not lead us into iniwoi-thy actions ; and oiu- sense of right, also, must be so subtly tempered as never to produce unlovely deeds."' Or, as Lord Avebury briefly sums it up : " There are ' M(icmillan'8 Magazine, Nov. 190.1, pj). 57-8. QRNKRAL I'U NOTION OF TEACHING. 13 three great questions wliicii iu life we have over and over again to answer. Is it right or wrong? Is is true or false? Is it beautiful or ugly? Our education ought to help us to answer these questions." ' The Socratic 'Wisdom' or ' Virtue' will, perhaps, better than any other single term, co\ er the complex network of relations into which true education should lead the child. As the child is led into this wisdom he is gradually enabled to understand his environment, is made acquainted with the typical relations of life, and is inspired with clear and generous ideas about them ; he becomes capable of entering sympathetically into the thoughts, and aspirations, and activities of his fellow-men, both as individuals and as smaller or larger communities ; he reaches understanding of the physical world, and appreciation of its forms of beauty. And in this ever- widening process his own indi- viduality grows and develops : his powers are realised only as they are exercised on appropriate material. Thus the development of his relations to his surroimdings is the development of his own personality. And this develop- ment is possible only through his own activity. He himself must organise and systematise his ideas so that they are in true relation to each other and to the life which he has to live, and may issue in the appropriate expressive activity, mental or physical. In a word, the aim of educa- tion shoidd be the attainment of that masterly power of dealing with life, and of appreciating at their true value the things of life, which Socrates called 'Wisdom.' This, in more modern phraseology, may be styled the development of personality. 6. Education, in the sense in which we have now defined it, is obviously not confined to school-life nor even to youth. Throughout life, Church, State, Civic Community, • Tht due of Li/e, Chap. VI. J4 QENEKAL FUNCTION OF TEAOHlNd. and Social Organisation exercise their pressui'e and give their instruction by example, precept, or of^Edu^Si?^ understood convention. The limit of the educative process is reached only when the individual becomes inca]:>able of furthe)' modification or development. No doubt, as age advances one's plasticity decreases, but it vyould be hard to prove when, in any individual case, it absolutely ceases. Another educative influence is the vocation or employ- ment by which one earns a livelihood. In youth or early manhood, after school days are past and when the directive influence of home is lessened, the chief educative influence in most lives is the deliberate teaching of a pro- fession, craft, or trade. For here we have one whole set of relations, hitherto left vague and indeterminate, given a definite direction and character. During childhood, however, the essentially educative agencies are the Home, the School, and the Cluu'ch. In the earliest years the home stands alone. In it the child learns many bodily aptitudes and forms many habits of conduct. He learns to talk and to understand speech, and in so learning he imbibes many of the thoughts and opinions of the family, and, all unconsciously, adopts the general attitude of life therein prevalent. He enters into many of the simpler social relationships, especially those of obedience to parents and of courtesy and consideration for others, if the home be good, and their opposites of roughness and selfishness if it be bad. Throughout youth this influence of the home continues to be consciously exerted, though with gradually but constantly diminishing directive force ; often it lasts far into life. And though, doubtless, there are homes that are bad, a yet larger number which are careless, and many which are not remarkable for their wisdom, yet it cannot GENERAL FUNCTION' OF TEACHING. 15 be doubted that the eclucative iutiiience of the liome is, on tlie whole, a force making for righteousness in the coni- n^unity. No true view of education, certainly, can ignore the home, though such ignoring seems to be implied bj the common identification of education with schooling. Education, if wise and continued tlu'oughout generations, may work a radical reformation in a social state which contains much evil, but to hope that mere schooling will do so, while the other agents of- education remain unsatis- factory, is futile. That the school is an educative agent is obvious to all. It sets itself ostensibly to train the young, and besides this it has no other justification. All the other educative agents we have named have other functions, and so their work as educators is apt to be overlooked. But it is not so with the school. For the work of the school is organised solely with this purpose. It is, therefore, the most typical — if not the most powerful — educative instrument. If we consider the place of the school in the social organisation we shall see more clearly what part of the work of education especially falls to it. On the one hand it takes up the specialised function of instruction which the parents have neither time nor skill, and frequently not the knowledge, to impart. Specialised work is the character- istic of all advanced civilisation, and it is not surprising that as knowledge increased and life became more complex the need of specialists in teaching should be felt. The teacher in school, then, acts as the delegate of the parents in the work of teaching. This being so, it is evident that the educative process will only go on smoothly and well when home and school work in harmony with each other. On the other hand the school is the or