IJi it'^ I oil \< Hi 7^ u ^1 ■ % CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Date Due if««*^ Cornell University Library LC1091 .K41 1911 Education for citizenship olin 3 1924 032 717 088 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032717088 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP Prize Essay by Dr. GEORG KERSCHENSTEINER Member of the Royal Council of Education and Director of the Public Schools of Munich Translated by A. J. PRESSLAND jrom the Fourth Improved and Enlarged Edition for and published under the auspices of THE COMMERCIAL CLUB OF CHICAGO RAND McNALLY & COMPANY CHICAGO LONDON NEW YORK 1 u u u Copyright, igii. By Rand, McNally & Company /f ^^f/^ AUTHOR'S NOTE This first English translation of my essay, "Staatsbiirgerliche Erziehung der Deutschen Jugend," was made at my request, and has been reviewed by me with the translator. It is the only authorized English translation; and I am glad The Com- mercial Club of Chicago deems the essay of sufficient value to give it to the thoughtful readers of America and England. Georg Kerschensteiner. Chicago, November 14, 1910. A FOREWORD The Commercial Club of Chicago, recognizing the impera- tive need of practical, vocational training to supplement prerent public school courses, has engaged Dr. Edwin G. Cooley, for- merly Superintendent of Schools of Chicago, to investigate the industrial education systems of Europe, with a view to learning what place such courses of study should have in the public school systems of America. In pursuit of this task the Club has secured the English translation of Dr. Georg Kerschensteiner's prize essay entitled ''Education for Citizenship." This is the first presentation in English of the theories which Dr. Kerschensteiner has so suc- cessfully demonstrated in the now famous continuation schools of Munich. vn INTRODUCTION This book will be a landmark in the history of education. It is a book of ideas which have been realized in practical admin- istration. When it first appeared it sounded a new note of advance. It threw a fresh light upon the educational responsi- bilities of the State. It made those into whose hands it fell understand that the changed conditions of our economic and industrial life called for a new departure in educational policy. The old limits of compulsory attendance at school have become abolished. Educational supervision must be carried forward, in some suitable form, through the critical years of adolescence. This continued education must be dovetailed into industry and into all kinds of wage-earning employment by cooperation between the public authorities, the parents of the young people, and the individual employers concerned. But in such a course of continued education something more than purely technical or commercial training is required. Preparation for the duties of citizenship is not less indispensable than preparation for a trade. And preparation for the duties of citizenship means that the school must endeavor to impart a civic and moral ideal. Such is the argument of the book. And now both Europe and America recognize its truth. A book is more than doubled in value when the writer of it proves that he can successfully work out his ideas in practice. This is the case with the volume now before the reader. As superintendent of education in one of the most famous cities of the world. Dr. Kerschensteiner has proved that he is as capable in the art of administration as in the art of literary expression. ix X INTRODUCTION He is a thinker who can translate his thought into practice; a doer of things which are the realization of an ideal. It is no accident that the strongest influence toward the humanizing of the technical continuation school has come from Munich, one of the great art centers of Europe. Dr. Kerschensteiner's educational policy is inspired by a belief in the power of a living art to kindle a fine ideal of life. His plans appeal to something higher than commercialism and profit making. Greater value, indeed, the adoption of his policy may give to the prowess of skilled industry; but in- creased pecuniary gain, if it comes, will be a bye-product of it, a collateral result. The primary aim of the reformed continua- tion school is to produce better men and women. And it will help in doing this by setting before the younger members of the community a noble conception of civic duty, and by encour- aging them to seek for the happiness which comes from doing creative work in the self-realizing, self-forgetting spirit of the true artist, which is also the spirit of the patriotic citizen. "Here," said one great painter of another, "here is the consum- mate workman who gladly recognizes the measure of his freedom within the four walls of his limitation, and thus illustrates the fine old words, 'whose service is perfect freedom.' " This book now appears for the first time in English. Its translation has been a labor of love to one who, himself a teacher, has entered with quick insight and sympathy into Dr. Kerschensteiner's educational aim and civic purpose. Our thanks are due to Mr. Pressland for the skill and care with which he has discharged no easy task. M. E. Sadler. The University of Manchester August, 19 10. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Existing Opportunities: Their Develop- ment AND Their Deficiencies i I. The necessity of public education. 2. The situa- tion In the nineteenth century. 3. Changes in the last half of the nineteenth century. 4. Their defects and merits. 5. Significance of the people's schools. 6. Danger in the early discontinuance of common school education. 7. The difficulty of the educational task of the State. II. The Aim of Civic Education 15 I. Divergence of views. 2. The general task of the State. 3. The general educational aim of constitu- tional States. 4. Aim of education for the working classes. 5. The onesidedness of the policy up to the present time. 6. The three educational stages. III. The External Conditions 35 1. The general basis. 2. Hours of labor and wages. 3. Dwelling houses. 4. The special calling itself. 5. School monopoly. 6. Class monopoly. 7. Attitude of the upper classes. 8. Educational condition of the masses. 9. Educational condition of women. IV. The Internal Conditions 48 I. Egoism. 2. Altruism. 3. Relation of egoism to altruism. 4. Relation of autonomous and heterono- mous education. 5- Importance of work in the educa- tion of the intellect and the will. 6. The social neces- xi xii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE sity of education. 7. Relation of will and intelligence. 8. The significance of pleasure in work. V. The Scholastic Educative Forces 64 1. A backward glance over the field of education. 2. The results thereof. 3. Extension of the field of school education. 4. The necessary extension of the city continuation school. 5. Instruction in citizenship. 6. Instruction in hygiene. 7. Importance of system- atic training of the body. 8. Evening entertainments. 9. The organization of the continuation schools of Munich. 10. The systematic building up of continua- tion schools for the country districts. II. The system- atic building up of trade schools. 12. The utilization of the manual training school. VI. The Importance of Practical Work in School 97 1. Information about, versus training for, citizenship. 2. The lessons of the workshop as an instrument for education for citizenship. 3. Other means of educa- tion for citizenship. 4. School savings banks as a means of leading up to the idea of reciprocity. 5. Self- government as a means of education for citizenship. 6. Possibility of introducing self-government. 7. The school in its relation to alumni associations. VII. The Non-scholastic Educative Forces iii I. Private educational agencies in general. 2. Im- portance of devotion to the interests of others. 3. The task of the people's educational associations. 4. Com- bination of the people's high schools and the people's hygienic associations. 5. Libraries. 6. The great importance of the gymnastic societies for our purpose. 7. Example in England. 8. Substitutes for the gym- nastic societies in the country districts. 9. Gymnastics and will power. 10. Educational councils. TABLE OF CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER PAGE VIII. Concluding Remarks 126 I. The most immediate aim of education. 2. The impediment of poverty. 3. The impediment of lack of ability. 4. Diversity of school systems. 5. Necessity of a broad organization of all the schools. 6. The influence of international intercourse upon the people's education. 7. The education of the upper classes and its importance for the education of the masses. NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR Two courses are always open to a translator — he may either endeavor to reproduce a masterpiece of literature in a version of equal literary merit, or he may attempt to convey the mean- ing of an author in the author's own way. Of these two methods the latter has been adopted here, since the object of the translation is to give those who have no readi- ness in reading German a clear idea of Dr. Kerschensteiner's objects and policy. XV PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION In the spring of the year igoo the Royal Academy of Useful Knowledge of Erfurt, Germany, announced a prize competition of which the theme was: "How are our young men, from the time of leaving the Volksschule (age fourteen years) until the entrance into military service (age twenty years), to be edu- cated for citizenship?" As director of a great city school sys- tem this question had interested me in the most lively way for many years. Shortly before the announcement of the subject of the prize competition I had been employed upon a sketch of an educational organization which should care for the youth of Munich who were beyond the years of compulsory attendance. The working out of this plan had been approved by a unani- mous vote, so far as the principle was concerned, by the action of the two city councils at the end of April, 1900. Now, a year later, the theoretical considerations which led me to pro- pose that plan of organization have received additional confirm- ation through the action of the Royal Academy in unanimously awarding the prize to the work lying before you. Heavy is the feeling of responsibility which weighs upon one who has to guide a great school system in a new path, great the pressure of anxiety which the work of clearing away the obstacles to a new organization brings with it, and frequent the doubts as to the reasonableness of one's plans, when not all the expected results are realized. The more one reflects on these things the more one feels the need of a dispassionate criticism of what one has felt, thought, and done, by a wide circle of intelligent and impartial men, and the more reassuring will their xvii xviii PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION approval be in times of struggle with opposing currents of opinion, which spare no one who attempts to organize. In spite of this, one will always be conscious that in so inade- quately developed a question as that of the education of the masses for citizenship, involving not alone considerations of technical education but the whole range of social and economic relations, the final answer under all the circumstances cannot be given. The stream of our civic life flows on in currents beyond the reach of the human eye. We estimate the direction in which it moves, and we mark out the goal which it should reach. The law of its motion is influenced by too many only partly known, still partly concealed, forces to make it possible for us to state it in a definite formula. Still we know that, among the unending series of forms in which the law displays itself, there are at least two principal influences governing its action, — the greatest possible insight on the part of the efficient members of the State as to the goal we are struggling toward, and the devoted and self-sacrificing purpose of the efficient to conduct the weaker ones with them to this goal. If we succeed in strengthening more and more these inner forces, we have done all that it is possible for the educator to do. Georg Kerschensteiner. Munich, July, 1901. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION During the last three years the thought of giving great care to education for citizenship, together with intellectual and tech- nical education, has really won greater recognition than ever before. The deliberations of the German Reichstag over finan- cial reform show that all classes need such an education, — not only the masses of workingmen, but the classes which we call well-to-do and educated. We recognize more clearly than ever before that neither scientific nor technical education will give, as a matter of course, any guarantee that the person so equipped will place his intellectual or technical weapons at the service of the general public, whenever circumstances demand it. We recognize more plainly than ever before that the much- admired organization of our German school system is under the pressing need of extending its work in the direction of character building — training for citizenship. Indeed, one can say that the demand for education for citizenship is beginning to be a battle-cry, with all the thoughtless superficiality that goes with a battle-cry. The real fundamentals, not only of education for citizenship but of all education, are in such cases ignored, and the original conception bound up with this much- used name is lost sight of. This is always the case with new ideas when they come into general circulation. There was a need in this fourth edition of making a careful revision. The improving hand was laid on almost all para- graphs, new facts were introduced, and a stricter definition of the conception was striven for. In Chapter II the difficult and much-contested question of the aim of the State, and the asso- xix XX PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION dated question of its task, were critically examined. In Chap- ter V the fundamental demand for the perfecting of a continua- tion school, which at the same time should give a guarantee for education for citizenship, was more sharply defined in order to make misunderstandings impossible for all future time. In doing this, the characteristics of the right kind of instruction for citizenship were worked out more definitely, in order that public education for citizenship should not suffer from the grave mistake which political parties make to-day when they color the meaning of the phrase with their partisan views. In the same chapter I have given a short description of our now happily completed organization of continuation schools in Munich. In Chapter VI entirely new matter is introduced. There is great danger that our measures for the advance of edu- cation for citizenship may go astray, as so many reforms of the last century did, by the introduction of a few more "ologies" into the heads of the children. It therefore appeared neces- sary to treat in this chapter, from a new point of view, the thought developed in Chapter IV, — the inner basis of education for citizenship. Whoever in the future, in his theory of educa- tion for citizenship, opposes this practical basis for the continua- tion school will first of all have to come to an understanding with the ideas of this chapter. Georg Kerschensteiner. Munich, May, 1909, EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP CHAPTER I THE EXISTING OPPORTUNITIES: THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR DEFICIENCIES I. Every householder knows that the best v?ay of protecting his property is to have it carefully in- spected from time to time, to have all damage repaired at once, and to take opportune precautions against impending risks by the introduction of improvements. These simple statements apply in a greater degree to the edifice which we call the State. But the complicated structure of the State, which makes it so hard for the honest inquirer to gain a thorough insight into Its constitution or a complete grasp of its functions, also renders it exceedingly diffi- cult for him to perceive when and where amendment is necessary. In the past century we cherished for a long time the comfortable opinion that an edifice of this nature, possessing some sort of organic constitu- tion, would of Its own accord evolve remedies for its shortcomings, provided it were only a healthy organ- ism. But what is meant by "the State a healthy organism"? To this question Plato gave an answer 2 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP centuries ago: "Only that State is healthy and can thrive which unceasingly endeavors to improve the individuals who constitute it." He himself inquired into the best forms of government, and in his marvel- ous dialogue, The Republic, sketched an ideal State, the outline of its foundation, and the laws for its main- tenance. And when he was obliged to recognize that his sketch was a counsel of perfection, owing to his over-estimation of human capacity, he laid before the world a second sketch, entitled The Laws. In both of these works great importance is attached to public education as a fundamental necessity of civic life. The same idea recurs at a later period, not only in the works of great teachers who to a large extent are pro- fessionally interested in it, but in the lives of many prominent statesmen up to the commencement of the nineteenth century. But though the idea gained in generality, it was seldom the subject of the same pro- found reflection. The great minister of Louis XIV, the famous Colbert, who for more than twenty years exercised unlimited control over the finances of France, displayed an extensive educational activity, though his motive was solely to increase the productive power of the State. His successor, Turgot, the adviser of Louis XV, endeavored to train the people on Plato's lines,! and nominated a Council of Education for the whole kingdom. Almost at the same time, that is, in iGustav Meier, Soziale Bewegungen und Theorien (Teubner), p. 95. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 3 the middle of the eighteenth century, the great Scot- tish economist, Adam Smith, demanded compulsory primary education. At the end of the eighteenth cen- tury and the beginning of the nineteenth we find almost all the great men considering the question. An over- powering idealism, a thing almost unknown to-day, and a fervent belief in the future of the human race, took possession of the leading intellects of the day. In Germany, Schiller wrote his brilliant letters on esthetic education and Fichte his much-admired Addresses to the German Nation. Freiherr vom Stein and Wil- helm von Humboldt were advocating by word and deed the education of the people. And the same spirit which inspired them found its practical application in the work of Pestalozzi, Herbart, and Schleiermacher. It was not to be expected that the utterances of these men would fall everjTvhere on deaf ears. As a matter of fact we trace in several German states at this time the first great beginnings of a general primary education as an acknowledged mainstay of the State. 2. But the fire of this enthusiasm was soon quenched. Though other reasons for its extinction can be quoted, this alone Is decisive : There was no real demand for education among the people, who were participating more and more in the affairs of the country. In fact, the people evinced greater or less opposition to the educational policy of those in power, and, as is often the case to-day, the opposition sprang principally from selfish and interested motives. Even 4 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP in official circles zeal abated. People were contented with the introduction of compulsory education and the foundation of training colleges, with having replaced old dames, toll-keepers, and time-expired soldiers by proper teachers. It was not until after the middle of the nineteenth century that the question again became prominent. But the ideals of the old philosophers and economists no longer formed the motive power. "Culture," "Culture for its own sake," was the war-cry. And by "culture" was meant the greatest possible number of "ologies." Libraries of useful knowledge and mutual improvement societies began to appear. The curricula of primary and secondary schools were extended, the syllabuses were increased to an inordinate degree, the length of attendance was aug- mented, and the daily time-table enlarged. In politics no great educational movements are to be recorded. Our most prominent statesman, Bismarck, was occupied with other questions than that of public education. As all the rights and franchises which a liberal democ- racy considered absolutely necessary had then been granted to the people,^ it was believed that the latter, though still in a state of political infancy, would, as a consequence of the new training, use their powers to proper advantage. 3. I have no desire to blame the franchise agita- tion of this period or to deplore its success, all the less ^Manhood suffrage, freedom of the press, freedom of marriage, freedom of trade. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 5 since that evoked, as it was bound to do, an educa- tional activity vs^hich quickly made itself felt every- where. But it cannot be said that the educational policy was well planned or was possessed of a clear aim. This remark applies not only to the work of voluntary societies but also to official regulations. A possible exception occurs in the case of Austria, with its Education Act of 1869 and its excellently conceived extension of industrial education on the lines proposed in 1 88 1 by Dummreicher.^ The numerous and costly arrangements for extend- ing education beyond the compulsory age, which State action and private initiative have rendered possible during the last thirty years in Germany, may be classi- fied in the following six categories : (a) Organizations, purely of a scholastic nature, called into being by the State, or private societies, for example, general, industrial, commercial, and agricul- tural continuation schools, trade schools, and technical and monotechnical schools (Lehrwerkstatten). {h) Organizations, not of a scholastic nature, for the cultivation of intellectual and artistic tastes, pro- moted by science and art societies, university extension societies, public libraries, and similar institutions. {c) Pubhc and private organizations for making life pleasanter, for example, the formation of public 1 Dummreicher, Ueber die Aufgahen der Untemchtspolkik im In- dustrie Staate Oesterreich, Vienna (Holder). 6 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP playgrounds and the organization of popular enter- tainments and art exhibitions. {d) Private organizations for promoting physical training, that is, gymnastic societies, health lectures, temperance societies. {e) Social and philanthropic institutions of educa- tional value, such as apprentices' homes, working girls' clubs, rescue committees, volunteer fire brigades, and sanitary associations. (/) Public festivals for the preservation and exten- sion of the feeling of national unity. The origin of most of these organizations may be ascribed to the spirit which characterizes the latter half of the nineteenth century. An exception must be made in favor of the older gymnastic societies, which had been founded in the first part of the century as a means of education with a national purpose. In the sixties and seventies the belief that elementary educa- tion by itself was insufficient to give the amount of edu- cation necessary for the people forced itself on the official mind. About this time the first detailed acts relating to public continuation schools were issued, with the avowed intention of strengthening or supplement- ing primary education. In some German states. Sax- ony (1873), Baden (1874), and Hesse (1874), the obligatory character of these schools was emphasized from the first. In others, as in Prussia and Bavaria, the question of compulsory attendance was left to the decision of the local authority. From 1870 onwards. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 7 technical training classes, people's education societies, and popular libraries began to develop rapidly.^ The value of industrial art museums as a means of promot- ing both industrial efficiency and artistic taste gained greater recognition, and from this time forward we see a great increase in the hitherto scanty provisions of this nature. In the eighties the movement for provid- ing public playgrounds made great progress until, at the beginning of the nineties, the Central Committee for the Promotion of Athletics ( Centralausschuss zur Forderung des Volks- and Jugendturnspiele) took up the work systematically. The first apprentices' homes were then established; sanitary measures, a result of the campaign of 1870-1871, received increased atten- tion; and temperance societies were formed. In the nineties, university extension societies on the English model were founded, and for the first time the idea that the providing of high-class amusement was an im- portant part of popular education found expression in evening entertainments of a popular nature. ^ ^ Cf. J. Tews, "Deutsche Bildungsvereine,'' in Reyer, Handbuch des Volksbildungs'wesens, Stuttgart, 1896 (Cotta), pp. 65-77. In 1871 the Gesellschaft fiir die Verbreitung von Volksbildung was founded in Berlin. In the same year the Volksbildungsverein in Munich appeared. In 1874 Diisseldorf and Dresden followed suit. In 1878 the Huraboldtakademie in Berlin was opened. Among the important Bil- dungsvereine only a few, for example the Berlin Handwerkerverein and the Hamburg Bildungsverein, date much farther back (1844-1845). 2 In Vienna the first great popular concert was held in 1892. In 1895 there were held in Berlin twenty-four popular concerts of classical music, admission to which cost from thirty-five to forty pfennigs. In 8 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 4. During the last thirty years the broad stream of general public education in German-speaking countries has thus received many additions, which have had their sources almost exclusively in the towns. The majority owe their origin to a right feeling among the educated classes; some may be ascribed to purely economic neces- sities, others to patriotic impulses, and others again to religious sentiment. If we consider the history of the most successful undertakings of this nature we notice an abundance of that spontaneous public-spirited activ- ity which disregards reward; an administrative energy in individual men and women worthy of all admiration ; a readiness of sacrifice, and a highly developed altru- ism among the intellectual elite of society. But, in spite of all this, most of the organizations mentioned do not produce the results which might be expected of them. In particular, most of them suffer from one great defect — the lack of an appropriate organization as regards civic education. With few exceptions, these public-spirited endeavors can be immediately ascribed to two motives, — intellectual or artistic culture for its own sake, and pecuniary advantage. This is easily understood of an age in which scientific knowledge 1897-1898 the first people's entertainment evenings were held in Mun- ich, and Volkssymphoniekanzerte have been held regularly since 1899. In the latter year Von Ebarth threw open certain performances at the Court Theatre in Gotha at a reduced fee to the peasant population. In 1897, following the example of Frankfurt am Main, popular concerts were organized. Cf. Schriften fiir Arbeiter Wohlfahrtseinrichtungen, No. 78, Berlin, 1900 (Hegemann), p. 105. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 9 showed a hitherto unheard-of growth, and the eco- nomic development of Germany received an impulse which in a short time converted a poor country into a prosperous one. In fact, we find all the important educational facilities organized entirely according to these two points of view; that is to say, all trade and continuation classes, whether they are maintained by the nation, the local authorities, or by private individ- uals. To spread knowledge and to insure dexterity were the principal aims of these societies. But knowl- edge and skill can be employed selfishly as well as altruistically, and they certainly will be employed I selfishly if in these very schools we neglect to direct the attention of the masses to general considerations and to curb the selfishness of the individual while at the same time strengthening his feeling of solidarity. We must add one more to the shortcomings of mod- ern educational endeavor. In nearly all towns it is a common thing to find different societies with quite simi- lar aims working side by side and dissipating in their competition both mental effort and material means. Only in a few towns, of which Basel is a notable example, has it been possible to prevent this, and to combine all efforts for the improvement of popular education and public well-being In a single society of public endeavor. Finally, in all the endeavors of the last thirty years the peasantry has been almost entirely overlooked. In the broad German counties there are neither technical classes nor mutual improvement lo EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP societies for the peasantry. There are no opportuni- ties for instruction in art or politics; it is even difficult to say that the continuation schools have as yet gained a footing. Only the fire brigades and regimental socie- ties are available for the cultivation of a feeling of solidarity, though here and there local clubs endeavor to foster a common, but often one-sided, trade interest. Exactly as at the beginning of the nineteenth century, this part of the German nation has still to rely on the primary school for the whole of its instruction in civics. 5. Now the public elementary school is a great achievement of the nineteenth century, in the first half of which it satisfied the modest requirements of civic education when well conducted and carefully super- vised. With a minimum attendance of seven full school years it can still furnish the elementary instruc- tion necessary as a foundation for further training and education; indeed, from the very beginning it exer- cises a considerable amount of educative influence. It provides the means indispensable under modern condi- tions for human intercourse, and gives the individual better prospects of success in life. Beyond doing this, the work of the primary school cannot be regarded as effective, for, wi th the leav ing age fixed at fourte£ n. the pupil at the end of his school career is intellectually too immature. It is precisely on this account that the Swiss cantons have extended the age of compulsory attendance beyond what obtains in German schools. Thus Bern makes fifteen and Vaud sixteen years of EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP ii age the limit of compulsory attendance. It is true that the whole time of attendance (ten thousand to eleven thousand hours) in these cantons does not exceed the amount for German schools. But, though this is the case, no one will fail to recognize what an important advantage, in regard to public education, a school life of this kind, extending over nine or ten years, has as compared with our own. In consequence of the earlier termination of the primary school course certain subjects of the curricu- lum fail to exercise their special educative influence on the German pupil, who lacks the insight necessary for their comprehension. But beyond all this, the prema- ture release from school discipline means for most pupils a complete cessation of all systematic education, and this cessation occurs at an age when the demoraliz- ing influences of an uncontrolled life may have the most baneful effect on the budding moral character. 6. In fact, we can say that in spite of extended syllabuses, perhaps even as a result of them, and in spite of an increase in the length of compulsory attend- ance, which only occurs locally and is still insufficient when it does occur, the general primary school estab- lished at the beginning of the nineteenth century does not meet the requirements of society at the end of it, when economic, social, and political conditions have completely changed. The rapid growth of towns, and especially of great cities, with their moral dangers; the inevitable weakening of the old educative influences 12 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP of family, trade, and class, which is a result of the economic, social, and political developments of the present day; the increase of wealth and the growing desire for pleasure which accompanies it; the manner in which the people abuse the liberty won for them by a liberal humanism and an intelligent democracy; the development of political conditions at home, and much else, make the complete cessation of an orderly public education at the age of thirteen or fourteen a grave disadvantage. Is it not strange that attendance at school up to the age of eighteen or nineteen is required from the small fraction of our people which is destined for the liberal professions, although they spring from families which possess both the means and Ithe intellectual qualifications for accomplishing their educational duties, while we expose the overwhelming majority of their future fellow-voters to the unguarded dangers of everyday life when they are still little more ban children ? The little that we are able to give our )rimary pupils is sufficient to make the evil tendencies >f everyday life as liable to influence them as the good, ^s it is impossible to give a definite direction to the character at the age of thirteen or fourteen by means of the primary school, and as young people at that age are without exception selfish, our primary education is for the individual, and still more for the mass, a gift of the Danaides rather than a bounty from heaven. We give the people all too readily a fire which it cannot tend, a hammer which it cannot wield, and a cast of Kl EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 13 1 mind on which the demagogue who promises every- l thing can work more easily than the leader who * remains faithful to high principles. 7. Thus it is that at the end of the century thought- ful people are becoming conscious of the necessity for continuing public education beyond the compulsory term of the primary school. And, just as formerly, it is again the economist and the philosopher, cleric and layman, who demand with all earnestness the extension of civic education. It can truly be said that the great questions of political economy are bound up with those of education. In the same way, as many problems of national economy cannot be solved unless the people are well educated, so also is It Impossible to Introduce I educational reforms without corresponding reforms In economic, in social, and even in political conditions. When the wolf waits at the door and thousands have to contend with hunger, will power is deficient, and strength Is wanting to grasp a helping hand. Where miserable housing conditions, with their corrupting influences, kill the sense of home and family, the best part of our well-considered educational organization disappears without leaving a trace behind. If the upper classes have lost their moral fiber we shall seek in vain to reform the lower. On a close inspection of the relations mentioned we must recognize that the educational problem is exceedingly intricate, and that it is not to be solved without an educational policy of wide outlook, in which a knowledge of pedagogy as which courage and energy are as necessary as sym- pathy. But, above all, an educational policy must have a clear aim towards which the citizen may be directed. As to this aim, however, opinions differ so greatly that we must submit the question to a aearching inquiry. CHAPTER II ' THE AIM OF CIVIC EDUCATION I. The aim of civic education depends upon the conception we form of the State and its functions. But how widely in this respect does a Bismarck differ from a Windthorst, a Bebel from a Von Sturm, a Voltaire from a Rousseau ! What differences there are in the apparently objective theories of government of Thomas Hobbes, of John Locke, and of Wilhelm von Humboldt ! A man like Hobbes — impressed with the idea of the omnipotence of the State, who knows no laws but those of the State, no religion but the State religion, no property but State property — must neces- sarily have different educational ideals from a man like Locke, who opposed the general laws of humanity to those of the statute book and admitted the right of resistance to any measure which does more than protect life, liberty, and property. A man like Wilhelm von Humboldt — who in his Ideen zu e'lnem Versuche die Grenzen der Wirksamkeit des Staats zu bestimmen characterizes as harmful any care shown by the State for the material welfare of the citizen — must reject, as Humboldt did, not only the education of the citizen by the State, but also every public provision for education. IS i6 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP A man who understands by equality that equal political power should be given to the diligent and the indolent, to the just and the unjust, to the philosopher and the simpleton, and that differences of food, drink, and housing should disappear; one who understands by fraternity a brotherhood of proletariats, by freedom the right to have his own will respected above all else — this man will desire a different civic education from that advocated by the Christian Socialists of Eng- land,* who preach that true equality consists in equal possibilities for all men to develop their capacity and talents; that, above all, freedom from prejudice must characterize a man before political or commercial free- dom can benefit him; and that fraternity must be ex- tended to others who hold opposite but perfectly honest opinions. Even in our own time Treitschke, genial Tiistorian and ardent patriot though he was, considered {that the welfare of the State is promoted by an organ- ization which deliberately keeps certain great masses of the people in a lower state of intellectual development for purposes of mechanical toil, and thus affords the in- ftellectual elite greater leisure to work for the good of the country. Even to-day there are many serious people who share his opinions, among them those who seek to demonstrate that illiterates are necessary for menial work, and on this account wish to impose limits on ^ Cf. the excellent work by Von Nostitz, Das Aufsteigen des Arbeiter- standes in England, Jena, 1900 (Fischer), p. 35. We shall have fre- quent occasion to refer to this work. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 17 public education. Opposed to these are the great ethical teachers of the nineteenth century who see the welfare of the State in a social organization which permits every one, without exception, to develop his intellectual powers to the utmost. 2. In this conflict of opinion it is useful and neces- sary to discuss briefly the question, "What are the prob- lems the State has to solve?" A consideration of past and present States and of the activity they have dis- played shows that the views expressed by Paulsen in his Ethics ^ may be accepted as a correct answer to this question. He says : "The function of the State is to realize the vital interests of the community, first of all by protection against foreign and civil enemies, and then by action in those fields where the energy of the individual is insufficient or would be opposed to the interests of the community." In this statement the question, "What are the vital interests of the commu- nity?" remains unanswered. The reply is not at all easy. Thus much is certain : a State will be of value to the individual so far as his vital interests are involved in those of the State, or so far as there is hope that legitimate agitation may compel State atten- tion to them. The State thus appears an immediate, valuable means of promoting his vital interests. But the interests of the numerous individuals composing the State are at variance. The farmer differs from the ^Paulsen, System der Ethik, etc., Fifth Edition, Vol. II, p. 527 and, at greater length, p. 513. i8 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP manufacturer in this respect, the townsman from the peasant, the employer from the employed, and the j churchman from the free-thinker. History teaches us ' that such a conflict of interests may attain to dimen- sions which may bring the State to the verge of ruin and at the same time endanger the most proper of the vital interests of the individual. To prevent this we endeavor to constitute the State so that it can insure an agreement between conflicting individual interests by legislation or by arbitration. Our endeavors are thus directed toward making the State an efficient instrument for carrying out the agreement arrived at. In this State, which is now the object of our civic actions, the interests of the community are identical with those of the individual, modified as above. One of its functions is to further and safeguard the adjust- ment of conflicting interests and to organize means and forces for this purpose. How far the State should attempt to solve this prob- lem by means of official regulations; how far, as a State, it should legislate for the material welfare of its citizens, is a problem that ethics alone can help to solve. The aim of al l education is to produce a society consisting, as far as possible, of persons characterized by independence of mind, harmonious development, and freedom of action which springs from high princi- ples. To reach this end the direct State care for the material welfare of the people must decline gradually as the growing powers of the citizen render each EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 19 individual capable of undertaking the task for himself. Sufficient room must be left for the play of self-help, self-government, and enterprise, so that variety of conditions and honorable competition may insure an autonomous development. If, in the sense thus indi- cated, we declare that self-preservation and care for the welfare of the people is the function of the State, no considerable opposition will be shown to our statement. From the point of view of the individual State, this function Is mainly a selfish one, but to It social ethics adds, to a certain extent, another of an altruistic char- acter. We may thus say that, just as It is the function of the family to foster the State-Idea and to prepare its members for State-citizenship, so it is the function of the State to promote the "humanity-idea" of world- citizenship. But a State which judiciously fulfils its selfish functions, already briefly described as self- preservation and care for the public welfare, assists also the general Idea of humanity; because It Is only by the training of the Ideal citizens as we have already described them, Inspired with a strong altruism, that the selfish function in Its best form can be rendered capable of fulfilment. If we educate good State- citizens we are also educating good world-citizens; the greater the social body and the more varied the bal- anced separate Interests, the more is the humanity-Idea necessarily promoted simultaneously with the State- Idea. Yet how far a State should exceed Its special 20 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP functions to place its forces at the service of the humanity-idea ; how far, for example, it should accord moral or active support to weaker States, depends upon the extent to which the raisons d'etre (of self-preserva- tion and public welfare) appear thereby to be ! endangered. The demand that in the interests of i humanity a State should disregard its own safety, and i interfere in every case of injustice, is a premature Jdemand in the present state of society. For the rela- tions of States to one another are much what one would expect in a state of nature, and the idea of a. body of culture between individual States is still something of a novelty. The kingdom of humanity, the visionary goal of social ethics, will recede to an infinite distance if the States with higher moral development should hazard their existence in these circumstances, or be over- powered by States of lower moral development that have committed the injustice. These considerations should not be lost sight of by those who wish to see the training of the world-citizen replace that of the State- citizen. These remarks show that the State fulfils its func- tions at the present time when it confines its attention to its own preservation and to the welfare of its mem- bers. But if we wish to avoid misunderstandings we must subject these views to further analysis. As to welfare, we cannot consider this as an end in itself if we take it in the sense of the greatest comfort of all citizens; for, as history seriously teaches us, directly EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 21 this occurs, the self-preservation of the State will be endangered. By welfare we must understand that the State should endeavor to counteract all influences that might weaken it or render It liable to attack, and that It should care for the socially and financially weak, and should enable them, according to their capabilities and character, to take a place in the common struggle for the preservation of the State. And by self-preservation we must understand not an attempt to maintain equi- librium but a condition of development toward ever greater perfection. Let it not be objected that this conception can have a meaning only so long as the State Is capable of development. We do not know how long a State can maintain this characteristic. The German Empire was once In a state of decay, and yet It is stronger and more powerful to-day than ever before. A State is capable of development as long as' it believes In Its mission and acts according to this belief. In this respect analogy with the individual Is misleading. The statement that the function of self- preservation necessarily includes that of continued Improvement Is justified by the presence of a struggle for existence among States, from which the most effi- cient has the greatest chance of emerging with success. 3. Having thus defined the functions of a State in respect to self-preservation and the promotion of well- being, let us consider the further question, "How must the modern constitutional State fulfil Its func- tions?" Now the vital principle of the modern State 22 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP is the unlimited extension of personal liberty and politi- cal rights. It is no longer, as in the eighteenth century, the prince "who sees everything, knows everything, and does everything" that contributes to the physical and intellectual welfare of his people. It is the people themselves, who in their own way work out their own salvation by means of their rights and liberties, chief of which is the right of voting. How far it is justi- fiable and reasonable to entrust a people altogether devoid of civic training with rights and liberties to such an extent is a question open to dispute. In finding an answer to this question, how the State should approach its task, we are restricted to the present situation, — a situation that can never be materially altered, one which, with certain assumptions, the best friends of their country cannot wish to see altered. The prin- cipal of these assumptions is that primary education should be thorough, even if it must be continued in maturer years. For, measured by ethical standards, that State is undoubtedly the best which can form the most powerful unit while granting the greatest amount of personal and political freedom to the individual, the family, and the community. The State of the eight- eenth century was certainly not more ideal in this respect than that of the nineteenth. If, now, the modern State recognize the citizenship of each of its members; if it give the right and impose the duty of assisting the State to fulfil its functions in the interests of the community; if, under certain condi- EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 23 tions, it be possible for the individual to gain what may be a decisive voice in the national affairs, both admin- istrative and legislative, — then the answer to our ques- tion is near at hand. It is simply this : by giving to I every one the most extensive education, one that in- I sures (a) a knowledge of the functions of the State and ;' (b) personal efficiency of the highest degree attainable. In other words, the modern State effects its purpose in the quickest manner by giving each of its mem- bers an education which enables him to understand generally the functions of a State, by means of which he is able and willing to fill his place in the State organism according to the best of his powers. 4. We must now define more minutely the general aim of civic education that we have in mind as regards the class of pupils and their ages, that is, the manu- facturing population between the ages of fourteen and twenty. Here we are not concerned with a theoretical inquiry into the functions of the State, on which a sys- tem of social ethics or a general theory of government can be formulated. For several reasons this section of civic education must be limited to the modest aim of explaining, clearly and convincingly, the dependence of the special economic and social needs of the pupil on the interests of his fellow-citizens and of his native land. Among these reasons are the immature state of the pupils' minds, which cannot be disregarded; the short time available under modern conditions for an extensive intellectual training; the less certain influence 24 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP on the will which instruction taken alone affords; and the absolute necessity of providing for an all-round professional efficiency, without which civic usefulness would be greatly impaired. Every theory which goes beyond the intellectual capacity of the pupils must be excluded from the cur- riculum. Instruction will best follow the lines of his- torical development and deal with the conflict of interests and its results. It should be planned to suit the pupils' trades, and above all to exhibit national interests by means of concrete examples. How this is to be done simply will be discussed in detail later. As a means of insuring personal efficiency, and so of enabling a pupil to take that part in society which his capacity warrants, the first place must be assigned to a training in trade efficiency. This is the conditio sine qua non of all civic education. But in the prosecution of this object, in the training which inspires love of work and results in effectiveness of effort, precisely those civic virtues are developed which must be regarded as the foundation of all higher moral train- ing, — conscientiousness, diligence, perseverance, self- restraint, and devotion to a strenuous life. From a consideration of the interdependence of individual in- terests it may be possible to develop the highest of civic virtues, — self-control, justice, and devotion to the inter- ests of the community. How far education will be helpful here depends upon the extent to which our edu- cational arrangements make it possible for the pupil EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 25 to be actively related to his environment and to apply the sympathetic interests we have aroused in him. For action is the only foundation of virtue. Thus much , Aristotle has taught us already. This is also true of, ijthe second object which education toward personal .efficiency puts before us: the training in a sensible, jlhygienic mode of life, which eventually makes the ''pupil a fit subject for military service. Here we shall have to provide not only for the discernment neces- sary, but also for the possibility of exercising it. I To sum up, the first aim of education for those leaving the primary school is the development of trade \ efficiency and love of work, and with this the develop- : i ment of those elementary virtues which effectiveness of effort and love of work immediately call forth, — con- scientiousness, diligence, perseverance, responsibility, self-restraint, and dedication to a strenuous life. In close connection with this the second aim must be pursued: to gain an insight into the relations of individuals to one another and to the State, to un- derstand the laws of health, and to employ the knowledge acquired in the exercise of self-control, justice, and devotion to duty, and in leading a sen- sible life tempered with a strong feeling of personal responsibility. The first of these aims is part of a technical educa- tion; the second is part of a moral and intellectual education. But it must be remembered that the first aim also has intellectual and moral tendencies of high 26 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP moment, and that the second, as will be shown later on in detail, can be attained only through the first and as a continuation of it. It is not unusual nowadays to find other educational aims put forward, and those especially recommended that bear on science and art. In determining principles we cannot favor these claims. First of all one must confine his ambitions to what is within his power of attainment, and then numerous scientific and artistic stimuli are sure to manifest themselves along the lines j we have already indicated. Their further develop- ment must, to a large extent, depend on opportunities and individual talent. If artistic training were a safe foundation of civic education, those people would be right who wish to see the greater part of the time for civic instruction employed in the artistic training of the pupil. "But," says Schiller in his letters on esthetic leducation,^ "we must reflect that in every epoch in his- •^ tory when the arts flourished and taste reigned supreme mankind was sunk in depravity, that it is not possible to find a single example of esthetic culture, at once widespread and advanced, among a people possessed of political freedom or civic virtue, of fine manners accompanied by genuine morality, or of behavior at once refined and sincere." Furthermore, we must oppose the view that the aim 'of education is to be sought exclusively in the purely ^ Tenth letter, p. 128, in the collection, Cotta's Biblkthek der Weli- Literatur, Vol. 14. of Schiller's complete works. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 27 technical training for an occupation, a view which re- i gards efficiency in work as a sure guarantee of civic ' virtues. In this there is a great danger of encouraging selfishness, both professional and personal. A school which devotes not a single moment of the day to any other interest than that of personal advantage or the desire to become an expert worker so as to gain the greatest possible advantage over competitors in the economic struggle. Is scarcely a suitable nursery of civic , virtue. On the contrary, one often observes in these \ 1 cases that the attempt to gain expertness in the shortest 'possible time is apt to result even In serious injury to Jhealth. Then as to religious obligations, civic education considers religion as a means of education and not as an end. Religion finds expression in the most different forms of creed. Liberty of conscience Is one of the most Important pillars of the State, and a State which prescribes a definite aim to civic education in this respect finds Itself in serious conflict with its citizens. On this account we find sectarian Instruction In religion excluded from the national schools In many countries where religious denominations are numerous, not from any indifference to religion but as a protection to re- ligious sensibilities. In the United States of America there are no public schools in which religious instruc- tion is given. In England, where lukewarmness on religious questions has never been alleged against the populace, the Education Act of 1870 says: "Every 28 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP school board is to be conducted under the conditions required for public elementary schools, and no religious catechism or religious formulary distinctive of any particular denomination is to be taught therein." And in another section we read: "No attendance at any place of worship or Sunday school, nor any religious instruction, is to be imposed on a child if his parents or guardians object." If religious instruction is to be given in school it must be taken at the beginning or the end of a school session, so that children may be with- drawn easily if their parents desire it. "In England," writes Von Nostitz,* "there is comparatively little danger, because religious feeling is still alive among the people. The non-recognition of the established church in the public (council) school and the existence of a conscience clause is not so much a concession to the small party of secularists as a concession to the numer- ous influential dissenters who are particularly sensitive on sectarian questions. The English system is not a plea for a secular school but one in favor of religious views. The majority of English elementary public schools take advantage of the arrangements for giving religious instruction contained in the Act of 1870. In his excellent book. The Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland, Graham Balfour reports that in ^ Op. cit., p. 141. The remarks in the text apply to the public ele- mentary schools in England and Wales. The voluntary schools, estab- lished to preserve distinctive forms of religious teaching, for many years accounted for about half the total number of pupils in attendance at primary instruction and are still very numerous. — Translator. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 29 1894 there were only fifty-seven school-board districts in England and Wales where no provision was made for religious Instruction. This is intelligible to any one who knows England well, — a country in which re- ligion rightly plays a prominent part in education, but where the State is not authorized, in spite of the exist- ence of an established church, to prescribe a religious aim for all its people. The aim is fixed by each family for itself." 5. One would have thought that the modern State, at any rate in the last half of the nineteenth century, would have recognized more clearly the aim we have described and the means necessary for attaining it. But this is not the case. It is only since political rela- tions at home have developed in a direction which arouses deep anxiety in the prosperity of the Father- land that attention has been paid to the problem of the civic education of the masses. And it is only since the selfishness of certain wealthy and educated classes has placed great obstacles in the way of imperial policy of high importance that the existence of a lacuna in our higher schools, as regards civic education, has become evident in the highest circles of the Empire. An exam- ination of the regulations, statutes, and curricula of schools and institutions that deal with the education and instruction of the masses, that is, continuation schools and technical and monotechnical schools, will show what peculiar conceptions governments and pri- vate societies have formed of this important question. 30 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP In these schools the lack of any instruction in civics or hygiene strikes the reader at once. Take up any regu- lation dealing with any such school in any German state, and it will be found that the object of the school is either to repeat, to strengthen, or to extend the instruction given in the public elementary school, or to give a purely specialized training. Our secondary pupils leave school without the slightest interest in civic questions and totally ignorant of the purpose, constitu- tion, and functions of the State organism. Such ignorance becomes intelligible only when we remember that our secondary schools date their organizations from a time when there were no citizens, but only sub- jects and rulers. So far, in Germany at least,^ no legislator has thought of making use of the school in the sense we have indicated. The new Prussian tech- nical schools for the building, machinery, and weaving trades, excellently organized as they are from the trade aspect, do not contain a single subject of instruction which serves any other purpose than the acquisition of technical skill and knowledge, or the promotion of trade efficiency. The industrial art schools of Ger- many, which might influence greatly the taste of the people, are almost entirely schools of drawing, model- ing, and painting. Nowhere has an attempt been made to introduce, even as a side issue, any instruction which ^ Hamburg is the first town to demand systematic instruction in civic questions in all its schools (since 1908). Of course mere instruction is insufficient for all whom the home does not provide with the correspond- ing moral will power, but the first step has been taken. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 31 will direct the attention of the pupil systematically, and not merely incidentally, to general interests, instead of confining it to his immediate interests, although in all the schools mentioned immature mental development cannot be put forward as an obstacle. The German continuation and technical schools show the same short- comings as the trade schools mentioned, even such highly developed technical schools as those of Berlin and Hamburg, and such well-organized schools as the continuation schools of Leipzig. The two great European republics, France and Switzerland, show a fuller appreciation of this ques- tion. Since 1894 Vaterlandskunde has been a subject of the curriculum in the Handwerkerschule of Bern. In addition to a repetition of geography and history the instruction embraces the consideration of com- munal, cantonal, and federal finance, of the functions of the legislative, administrative, and judicial author- ities; a discussion of the rights and duties of the Swiss citizen; the productivity of the country, its trade, industries, and commercial relations with foreign na- tions. Even actual copies of referendum and initiative proposals are discussed. In the first year of the course one class, of twenty-three pupils, was formed; four years later there were eleven classes with three hun- dred pupils. Since 1883 the attention given to civic education has been even more widespread in France than in Switzerland. Almost everywhere gymnastique, as contained in the code for the ecoles primaires 32 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP superieures, is taught in the trade schools. In addition to this, enseignement moral or instruction civique — for the most part, be it said, hygiene and manual training — is taught in these schools and, locally, in some ele- mentary schools also. Now during the last twenty years we have had in Germany plenty of men who pointed out this defect of our technical, commercial, and agricultural schools, who demanded that a knowledge of law and national economy should be an obliga- tory subject of instruction, and who wrote books for this purpose. But these books/ almost without excep- tion, show a great want of insight into the possibilities of such instruction. It is a great mistake to imagine that the civic insight of the classes considered will be improved by lectures on the constitution or on the fac- tory acts, or by a discussion of theories of national economy, even if, which is not yet the case, efficient instructors are to be found. Instruction must find another and more unpretending way of gaining its object, one that can captivate both the disposition and the will.^ 6. But, above all, we must refrain from forming great expectations when instruction is the only means of attaining our object. With pupils of this class, be- tween the ages of fourteen and twenty, instruction forms but a small part of the task. Other arrangements, ^A fairly complete catalogue is given in Pache, Handbuch des Deutschen Fortbildungsschuliuesens, Wittenberg, 1900 (Herrose), Part V, p. 72. " See Chap. V, sec. 6, et seqq. EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 33 to be discussed later, must be made for providing the greater part of civic education. It will be well to distinguish, at the outset, two stages of civic instruc- tion. One corresponds to the age of apprenticeship and so reaches to the age of seventeen or eighteen, during which time compulsory education is predom- inant; the other corresponds to the journeyman stage and lasts up to the period of military service, and dur- ing this time attendance at classes or other means of education is left to the pupil's free choice. The more thoroughly education is organized during the first stage, and the more ready the artisan class is to make personal and material sacrifices for the education of its posterity, so much the more will the efficient worker make use of the varied educational opportunities which are provided for him during the second stage by the State, by local authorities, and by private associations. Everything depends on the influence we exert on the pupil between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Finally, military service forms a kind of third stage. So far as discipline of the will and physical education are concerned It Is one stage at present; so far as moral education Is concerned this Is unfortunately but rarely the case.^ When the large social classes have once thoroughly comprehended the necessity of civic educa- tion, when the purely utilitarian policy of our numer- ous technical. Industrial, and agricultural Institutions ' Cf. Professor Gruber, Die Prostitution vom Standpunkt der Sozial- hygiene, Vienna, 1900 (Deuticke), p. 9. 34 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP has given way to a broader and more patriotic one, then will the question of the most complete and profit- able treatment of this third stage of civic education have received a final answer. CHAPTER III THE EXTERNAL CONDITIONS I. Before we proceed to discuss the principles which must be observed in every attempt to make civic education practicable under existing conditions of society, we must understand the fundamental condi- tions which render the civic education of the masses at all possible. These may be arranged in two groups, which may be called external and internal. The ex- ternal comprise (a) conditions of an economic-social nature, relating to pay, work, housing conditions, and nature of occupation; (b) conditions of a political- social nature, viz., any view or measure which assists or hinders the aspirations of the efficient; and (c) the standard of culture of the masses, in particular that of women. The internal conditions are chiefly of a psychological nature. By them we understand (a) the two great instincts of selfishness and altruism; (b) the relation between the education of the intellect and the educa- tion of the will; and (c) the psychological importance of productive work in the whole scheme of education. The importance of these internal conditions is not very obvious, and opinions as to their range difFer greatly. But practically there is unanimity as to the 35 36 EDUCATION FOR CITIZENSHIP influence which the external conditions, particularly those in section (a), exert on the education of the masses. If these conditions are distinctly unfavorable it is of little use for us to launch into extensive schemes. Every existing organization is the result of continual adaptation to a changing environment. Individual re- formers have declared that all existing institutions ought to go into the melting pot. If we wish ro effect a lasting improvement we have no need of the melting pot, nor is it advisable to introduce any sudden revolu- tionary measures. It is better to trace the numerous influences which go to form modern national life and endeavor gradually to improve the conditions under which they arise. 2. To discuss the external conditions at length does not fall within the scope of our work, and we must limit ourselves to a short notice of the more impor- tant. If success is to attend our educational efforts the desire to learn must be present. Now it is a well- established fact that this desire is closely connected with the conditions of work and wages. Very long hours of work and low wages, even when the work is light, cause a complete deterioration — physical, men- tal and moral — in the working classes. On the other hand, high wages and short hours of work, ex- tended over a considerable space of time, bring an in- creased desire to learn. Brentano ^ was the first to draw ^ Brentano, Veher das Verhdltnis