v 5 '-i- ,v ^° V ■ 4 /\ .*' vs. ..v * i <£> ^ W ^ & V c's •^ ; \ ". ^ ^ ^ *J- ^ iOo, W c^-i 0°'* ^ "^ * / % http://www.archive.org/details/imitationineduCaOOdeah IMITATION IN EDUCATION ITS NATURE, SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE JASPER NEWTON DEAHL, A. M. Sometime Fellow in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE Faculty of Philosophy Columbia University mew U?orfc 10OO SECOND COPY JF ^ Y IMITATION IN EDUCATION ITS NATURE, SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE //jr BY / JASPER NEWTON DEAHL, A. M. Sometime Fellow in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE Faculty of Philosophy Columbia University IHew H>orfe 1900 Monc v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Introduction 7 I. The Nature of Imitation 9-21 1. Examples of imitation 10 2. Two kinds of imitation 12 3. Conscious and unconscious imitation 16 4. Imitation and originality 16 II. The Scope of Imitation 22-37 1. In history 22 2. In religion 24 3. In politics 25 4. In art 26 5. In literature ... 31 6. In society 33 7. In science . - 37 III. The Significance of Imitation 38-94 1. What has been thought of imitation 38 2. Imitation among children ... 41 3. Imitation among students 44 a. Questionnaire I . . . 45 b. Questionnaire II . 47 4. The training of teachers . .' 52 a. Questionnaire III 54 b. Questionnaire IV 61 5. Imitation in teaching morality 70 6. Imitation in learning language 74 7. Imitation in composition 76 8. Imitation in the acquisition and application of method. 83 VJ CONTENTS PACE 9. Imitation in learning . 86 a. Interest 87 b. Sympathy 90 c. Assimilation .... 91 d. Emulation 93 1. Dangers and limitations of imitation 94 2. Summary 97 3. Bibliography 100 IMITATION IN EDUCATION Its Nature, Scope, and Significance INTRODUCTION The plan for the subject-matter of this paper is to consider these three topics — the nature, scope, and significance of imi- tation — in the order here named. This separate treatment of these topics will be observed in the discussion of the nature of imitation more than in that of the other two. Yet, in discuss- ing the nature of imitation, something of the significance must appear, as in the last section, which considers the nature and development of originality ; in that section of the paper much of the significance of imitation may be seen. Each of the other two topics will involve some consideration of the pre- ceding topics. The scope of imitation will bring out its na- ture and significance to some extent ; the significance of imi- tation will show much of its scope, and especially illustrate the nature of imitation. The purpose of this study is to find and set forth something of the practical value of imitation in education. An attempt will be made to show that imitation is more fundamental in our human nature than we are disposed to grant; that the na- ture of intelligent imitation is such as not only to admit of, but even to contribute in large measure to the development of the higher powers of mind ; that its scope is limited to no class of thinkers or doers, and to no particular field of activ- 7] 7 8 IMITA TION IN ED UCA TION [8 ity; that its significance in education is of more importance than has generally been recognized by teachers ; that imitation in education has a sound practical and psychological basis, and that it should be ranked and used with the more valuable means of securing mind growth. THE NATURE OF IMITATION This paper does not pretend to analyze psychologically the process by which the example of one person influences the conduct of another. We seek only such a conception of the nature of imitation as shall describe the facts whose import- ance in life, particularly in education, we are trying to ascer- tain. We may say roughly that there are two kinds of imitation — instinctive in the lower animals and intelligent in man. The child, so far as its intelligent manifestations are concerned, till it is about six months old, does not materially differ from the lower animals. Its first imitative acts would be more instinctive than intelligent. Some doubtful cases of imitation have been cited much earlier than the sixth month. Darwin thinks he noticed his son imitating sounds at four months old, but he was not sure of any positive imi- tation until the sixth month. Tiedmann noticed his son, at four months, making movements with his mouth when he saw any one drinking, as if he were tasting something. Preyer observed his child of seven months laugh in response to those who smiled at it. In each of these cases, the in- stinctive tendency was prominent. That is, the child did nothing in these cases that it might not have done about that age and in about that way without a model from any one. These and such acts as these, where the instinct undoubtedly plays a large part, we shall call instinctive imitation. It is about the sixth month, however, that intelligence begins to appear in the child and its imitative acts become 9] 9 I0 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [ IO more and more intelligent and less instinctive. ' Preyer ob- served his child at fifteen months try to blow a candle out after it had seen some one else perform the act. This is an example of intelligent imitation in one of its simplest forms. It is close to the border line, close to copying and mimicryi and partakes largely of the mechanical which is always found in the simpler and earlier forms of children's imitations. It is not instinctive, however, since instinct alone would not have prompted the child to blow out the light and the child would not have done so without the model — seeing some one blow it out. A higher form of imitation is illustrated in a child dressing and caring for her doll. Here the model is adapted some- what by the child to her material. The imagination comes in and supplies what does not comport with the external model. Of a similar kind is a case cited by 2 Mr. Small. This boy had seen some men putting in a system of electric lighting. On his return to his home, the boy drove sticks into the ground and stretched ropes about the porch and windows and climbed the posts to arrange and mend the lines as he had seen the line-men do. This case of imitation is of a little higher order than that of the child with the doll. It required some more imagination to reproduce the model, more selection of elements and adaptation. Another example of imitation may be taken from a teacher. In this case, the teacher had occasion to be under the tuition and see the work of a skillful and efficient instructor. The method of the instructor, his manner of questioning his pupils, management of classes, skill in illustrating and developing the subjects, his calm demeanor and self-possession, his interest and zeal in subjects and for his pupils, greatly pleased the teacher. When the teacher began school work again, he took 1 Senses and Will, p. 288. i Pedagogical Seminary, 4; 20. 1 r ] THE NATURE OF IMITATION i i this instructor as his model. By close application, selection, and discrimination, the teacher acquired much of his instruc- tor's skill and powder for teaching. But by a slower, more pains-taking course, the teacher, who was not naturally calm, self-possessed, nor given to manifest interest and enthusiasm, found himself becoming like his instructor in these things. The teacher continued to try to emulate the model instructor until self-possession and enthusiasm in his school work be- came natural and fixed in his character. He no longer needed to be on his guard at every point in these matters. This example of imitation is still of a higher order than that of the boy putting in the electric lighting. The point of chief note here not found in that of the boy is that the teacher repro- duced in himself the inner state and condition of mind in the instructor and acquired them by imitation. • In these three examples cited, the model was obtained chiefly by seeing it, by being brought into contact with it. I now wish to give two examples of imitation where the model is obtained not at all, or only indirectly, through sight. Re- cently I heard a Sunday-school lecture. The lecturer said in his introductory remarks that he had learned of a certain clergyman who used candles to illustrate his Sunday-school lectures. The lecturer whom I heard stated that, upon learn- ing of the candle method, he said to himself, "The plan is a good one, I can do that." So he set to work and got up his outfit to illustrate the points he wished to bring out before the school. This was an imitation, and at the same time highly original. It was an imitation in that the model was obtained from another person and suggested the general plan and pur- pose. It was original in that the model gave but a bare out- line. The details had to be chosen and the model perfected by a process of synthesis. It had to be constructed. It was built up by imagination after the judgment had approved of the elements chosen. The vague model was brought out in clearness by addition and combination of elements. ! 2 IMITA TIOA IN ED UCA TION [ \ 2 The other and last example of imitation I desire to give is of a somewhat different kind, though similar to the last named. In this example, as in the last, the model was not obtained di- rectly from the one imitated. It differs, however, in that none of the exact data of the model is found in the imitation. This is an example where the model is a method of doing some- thing. The method is imitated. Mr. Edward Dowden 1 saw two of the Literary Portraits of Sainte-Beuve side by side in a picture gallery. The portraits were those of Mathurin Regnier and of Andre Chenier. The poets represented by these two portraits were of two distinct types. Their poetical spirits and systems of thought and feeling were unlike. They repre- sented two poles on the world of poetic lore; the one was the complement of the other. The two portraits placed side by side represented a comparative study of the two poets. This method of the painter served so well its purpose — to bring out in bold relief the essential characteristics of the two comple- mentary literary characters — that Mr. Dowden said he would adopt the method. This he did in his study of Tennyson and Browning, and we have his excellent essay on these two poets: ''Mr. Tennyson and Mr. Browning — a Comparative Study." These examples of imitation may be shown to exhibit the chief characteristics of both the instinctive and the intelligent types of imitation. Those referred to before the sixth month of the-child's life are of the instinctive type. The model or the action that called forth the activity of the child simply turned the child-like impulse in a given direction at that time. The child did only what it might have done, or what at least it was able to do without the model. Such may be called imita- tive only from the objective point of view. To the observer, this seems to be imitative; it is not such, however, from the child's point of view. The child did not in any sense whatever delib- 1 Studies in Literature, p. 191. 1 3] THE NA TURE OF IMITA TION ! 3 erately set about to do the thing cited in any of those cases. His action was objectively imitative ; subjectively it was in- stinctive. This instinctive response is seen later in the life of the child and even in the adult, and must be distinguished from sub- jective, intelligent imitation. It is often found so closely blended with the intelligent imitation as to render discrimination be- tween the two kinds difficult. You may observe it in the be- havior of the child when you extend your hand to greet him. I have found upon trial that most children who have not formed the habit of giving the right hand and who at the time are not, as it were, on their guard, will give the hand opposite the one you extend. That is, they will give the left hand in response to your right and the right to your left. In these cases the responses were instinctive. The child simply imitated the model set before it in a reflexive way. It is only when the child has learned to inhibit the instinctive impulse or when such inhibition has resulted in habit that it responds to your greeting after the established form. This same kind of imitative tendency is noticeable in the adult. Some one laughs, others present do the same without knowing the cause of the laughter, or why they themselves laughed ; or some one coughs, others do the same without having any other occasion for so doing except that the model was set, and as it were they followed suit. It is probably true that intelligent imitation has its origin in instinctive imitation. Human intelligence is thought to have its beginnings in instinct. Instinctive behavior forms an im- portant part of the raw material on which intelligence exercises itself. The intelligence fashions and moulds this raw material and guides the activities concerned to finer issues in individual adaptation. Thus, beginning with a congenital and instinctive imitative tendency, the intelligence may later utilize that ten- dency as the basis of imitation of the intelligent type. The first example of intelligent imitation — the child blowing I4 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [ I4 the candle out — is not cited because intelligence is thought to manifest itself in the child for the first time. There may have been earlier many other intelligent acts, but this one is clear. There is no doubt to which category it belongs. Yet, while it is well marked off from instinctive imitation below, it is quite easily distinguished from the next example — the child dressing the doll or the boy putting in the electric plant. It was not necessary to have in the mind of the child the image of the one setting the model or of the child's self blowing the light out in order that he himself might be able to blow the light out. The knowledge the model gave the child was sense knowledge. The knowledge was almost wholly of the percep- tual kind. It was presentative knowledge as opposed to rep- resentative knowledge. There was no distinct image in the mind of the child of what it would do in blowing out the light. The model was, so to speak, outside the child's mind, as any sense knowledge or perception may be described as be- ing outside the mind; for example, the child, seeing its mother, has no idea, no image of the mother in its mind. Now, in the second example, there is a distinct advance to- wards a higher form of knowledge, or what results from sense knowledge. The boy saw the men put in the electric plant, or the girl saw the mother making the clothes and putting them on the children. These things seen left an image in the mind of the children. The model now is within the mind. It is an idea that is to be acted out, to be expressed. It is very im- portant in a proper understanding of the nature of imitation to make this distinction — the model as sense knowledge out- side, as it were, of the mind, and the model as ideational knowledge, an image within the mind. It is only when the model is an image in the mind that anything akin to original- ity may be looked for in imitation. This introduction of the new element, originality, in imita- tion appears more clearly in the next example cited. It is not so apparent in the case of the teacher. At least we have no jg] THE NATURE OF IMITATION jc account of it given. Originality may not have been present in the imitative process. Yet originality is here made possible after the teacher has well formed the habit of behaving after the manner of his instructor. Energy is then released to pursue new courses. In the example of the Sunday-school lecturer, sense knowledge does not at all appear in the model as obtained from the clergyman. The end to be attained was as in all originality, a guide in building up the new model. The means and the end were not so apparent as in the former examples. The means had to be supplied more largely in this case ; and the mind was more free to adapt the means to the end. The vague model became vivified in the process. This model was tested by imaginary trial, changed where de- fective, and finally the perfected model was acted out. It should be noted that in these examples cited above the pro- cess is progressive from the first to the fourth. The progress is from presentative knowledge to representative knowledge. It is from perceptual model to ideational model, from a well defined to a less well defined model which is modified and adapted to secure the desired end. In the next example, this progress from the more concrete to the less concrete obtains in a still larger sense. The model is less well-defined to begin with. Mr. Dowden saw the portraits which gave him the artist's method or model of making the comparative study. The model was not complete at first. It had to be filled out as in the last example. Just what the artist had in mind, Mr. Dowden must supply to a considerable extent from his knowledge of literature and literary men. Then this model, which was a method of doing something with the brush, must be carried over into literature and adapted to the pen. It ceases to be a painted image in the mind ; it becomes a word picture. Instead of the painter's ideal, it becomes the ideal of the man of letters. The model has become an ideal such as the author may not attain but towards which he may strive. He may have all the essential characteristics — even their ! 6 IMITA TWN IN ED OCA TION [ j 6 shades of differences of thought and feeling — in his ideal model. They may stand out clear and distinct to Mr. Dowden but he can never give a word picture of Tennyson and Browning as clear as the one he sees in his model. His model has become an ideal because of the material of which it is formed and because of its being beyond his power of attainment. Owing to this nature of the model, including in its reach all stages of mind activity from sense knowledge to ideal conceptions, imitation, which is the acting out of the model, embraces a large range of mind activity. It is an essential element in all originality except possibly the purely creative. Imitation cannot be described as wholly conscious. We imitate many times unconsciously. It is true we often imitate with set purpose, have the model as such in our minds ; but this is not always true. 1 doubt whether it is true in most cases of imitation. The fact that we find ourselves continually imitating what we would prefer not to imitate disproves the proposition that we always consciously imitate. Besides, I have found many cases of imitation in other persons where the imitator was not conscious of it as such until after it was pointed out to him. Much of our imitation may be detected only after the act has been performed by close analysis of our conduct and by close introspection and discrimination of our own past mental operations and method of procedure. Even then much will escape our notice. Many of our models are secured long before the opportunity to realize them presents itself, and we forget where and how we got them. In such cases we are apt to claim originality. Imitation as an element in originality has been referred to. It will now be necessary to inquire somewhat briefly into the nature of originality to see what elements of imitation are found in it. This is the more incumbent upon us since the educational significance of imitation does not depend so much upon the lower limitations of imitation — its origin, for instance, !7] THE NATURE OF IMITATION iy as it does upon its upper limitations, its possibilities of leading to what is called originality in thonght and action. Most persons admit that imitation has some value in the early life of the child. Very few, however, agree that it has any consider- able significance for the adult. This, I take it, is an error due to lack of close discrimination. The adult as well as the child, the genius as well as the man of mediocrity, has his model. The absence of model on the part of the genius is not the thing that marks him off from the rest of mankind. On the con- trary, he has his model, just as surely as the proletarian in thought has his model. The difference between two such persons consists in the difference of manner in using such models. The genius thinks his model over, colors it with his own individuality, his own personality, and thus conceals it from ordinary observation ; yet imitation is the important element. It is simply of a higher order, more synthetic, more constructive in nature. Those who are not included in the number of imitators are so few compared with those who do imitate that they do not affect the significance of imitation in education. It has been well said that for these few such edu- cation as one person may occasion in another is very little. Most that may be done for such persons is of a negative rather than of a positive nature. The very small number of such illustrious persons may be seen by consulting ' Mr. Galton's " Hereditary Genius." By a very careful study of distinguished men of various periods and countries, he found that one man in 4000 may be called emi- nent and that not more than one in a million, or in many mil- lions, sometimes, may be called illustrious. The terms eminent and illustrious are not applied to men who have become noted by some single act or by some official position. They refer to men who have attained and can maintain their distinction whatever their position in society may have been or may be in the future. Mr. Galton characterizes such men as possessing 1 Hereditary Genius, p. 9. ! g IMITA TION IN ED UCA TION [ 1 8 three separate qualities — intellect, zeal, and power to do work. 1 In cases of originality, there must be an active turn of mind or a profuseness of energy put forth in trials of all kinds. There must be a disposition to try experiments not unlike a fanaticism for experimentation. Profuse, active vigor let loose on a field which has increasing charm for the mind, results in human nature surpassing itself. Then we have originality, in- vention, discovery. 2 These original men and women, the marvelous flowers of the race, do not appear by chance or by miracle, but represent the crowning point of a long past. They synthesize the greatness of their time and of the race. Inven- tion and discovery are always the result of a long series of anterior inventions and discoveries. The geniuses build an edifice with the stones that others have hewn. Invention is only the crowning stroke. 3 No elements of representation can get into consciousness except as they have already been pres- ent in some form in presentation. The activities of consciousness are always conditioned on the content of presentation and re- presentation present at a given time. Imagination is construc- tive, not creative. Types of imagination differ only in the amount of novelty introduced — the lucky associations formed in discerning fine distinctions in the contiguous or in the similar. * The man of originality differs from the merely mechanical man in his imitative tendencies just in the same way that he differs in his thinking from such a man. The two types of mind are separated by a very wide gulf which at the same time is very narrow. A mere matter of difference in direction of nerve-currents might produce opposite results. It is a matter of association of ideas that marks off the man of 1 Bain, Senses and Intellect, p. 6io. 2 Le Bon, Psychology of Peoples, p. 200. s Baldwin, Social and Ethical Interpretations, p. 90. * James, Psychology, II; 325. jn] THE NATURE OF IMITATION !q originality from the man of commonplace thought. In the latter, we have a mind that deals only in habitual contiguities or similarities; in the former, we have a mind that deals in rare and keenly discriminated contiguities and similarities. Now, something analogous to this is found to hold true be- tweeen the two types of mind in the matter of imitation. The mechanical rnind discovers and uses only the perfectly appar- ent models for imitation. The model is followed almost liter- ally. There is little adaptation. The original mind has the sagacity to see the finer issues in the model, to see where new elements may be added or old ones modified. The associa- tions in such a mind take in the novel, make unaccustomed connections. The model becomes a vitalized thing; the model changes, grows, and becomes an ideal. Originality as shown in the psychology of ' invention illu- strates the common elements found in imitation and in in originality. Inventions may be divided into two psy- chological types, — the one creative, due to spontaneous and novel synthesis, the other developing an old form — a distinct model. An invention is a new systemization of psychic ele- ments. Every intellectual creation, whatever it may be, literary, artistic, scientific, or industrial, consists in the develop- ment of a synthetic idea furnished by new combinations of elements already existing in the mind. The invention is the reaction of the mind upon some given circumstances, and it depends for its results upon the nature of the reacting mind. The model is often presented to the mind in some unlooked for manner. The sagacious mind seizes it and develops it by a synthetic process. The first idea M. Daudet had of " Fro- ment Jeune " came to him while seeing a play in a vaudeville theatre. The first idea M. Massenet had of his " Roi de Lahore " was received at the sight of a simple Indian chest. Roger Dumas gives in some detail how his mind was prepared *F. Paulhan, in Revue Philosophique, 45; pp. 225-258. 20 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [ 2 o to write " Tristesse de David." Mr. Dumas saw a painting of David, old, sorrowful, in a reverie upon his throne, with the sun setting. The author tells how he filled out in his mind the whole intent and purpose of the painter, how he added other images to this one central image — the model, how he changed and recombined the elements of his mental images, until finally his subject " Tristesse de David " came out of this " hatching " process. Having his subject, he continued to take note of the images that seemed best suited for his theme until he reached an image that would fittingly close his literary work. Then he selected and arranged his images to form his perfected model. Many other examples might be cited, including almost every form of invention and scientific discovery, such as the air brake suggested to Westinghouse by an account of com- pressed air used in piercing a tunnel. Practically the only kind of invention or discovery in which imitation does not figure largely as an element, is that kind hit upon by trial and error, continued experimentation. A good example of the last named kind is found in Mr. Goodyear's invention of vul- canized india-rubber. In this case, and in similar cases, the inventor simply tried one experiment after another until a happy hit was made. It can not be said that he had a model in mind and worked it out to perfection. But in all or most of the cases where originality is manifested imitation is an im- portant factor. Where the invention is a development, imita- tion of successive models may be called the chief factor in the process ; where invention is constructive, the elements are already in the mind, and the model is fashioned by the syn- thetic process and realizes itself in imitation of the model. To support the position taken here, I wish to give a quota- tion from a history and description of remarkable inventions. The passage to be cited does not use the term imitation, but it may be clearly seen that the process of invention, or the means of developing originality, consists in intelligent selection 2I ] THE NATURE OF IMITATION 21 of models and in constructive imitation of such models. 1 "To enable us to appreciate properly the gradual advances that have been made in perfecting any invention, it is necessary to consider its distinguishing features. In steam navigation, for example, it will be found that the amount of novelty to which each inventor has a claim is very small, and that his principal merit consists in the application of other inventions to accom- plish his special object. The same remark will indeed apply to most other inventions ; for the utmost that inventive genius can accomplish is to put together in new forms, and with different applications, preceding contrivances and discoveries, which were also the results of antecedent knowledge, labor, and skill." 1 T. C. Bakewell, Great Facts, p. 7. II THE SCOPE OF IMITATION The scope or the extent of imitation in the world at large is much greater than we are usually disposed to think. A fair appreciation of this factor in the institutional life of society, will indicate how large an influence the imitative tendency and the imitative ability should have in one institution of civiliza- tion — the school. I can not here give more than a few examples from history. And yet, these will go to show some- thing of the range and scope of imitation, and to suggest what a more exhaustive account might contain. The history of the world is one panorama of imitation. The more carefully and minutely the study of history is made, the more apparent this fact becomes. In this historical sketch, I shall cite only those nations and peoples who have been prominent in the affairs of the world. These will exhibit the intelligent type of imitation of which we are now speaking. I shall choose a few of the many notable examples from people of recognized, high intellectual types. The Hebrews may be noted first. It is a matter of record that the nation became a kingdom in imitation of the neighboring nations. Any one who will make a comparative study of the ancient oriental religions will not fail to note the striking similarity between the Hebrew religion and the other religions of that region. The origin of much of the Hebrew belief and practice can be distinctly traced to other religions. This does not take any account whatever of the many lapses into idolatry which were due almost wholly to imitation. It must be borne in mind that the Hebrews were a strong, vigorous, intellectual people. 22 [22 23] THE SCOPE OF IMITATION 2 $ They were peculiarly hedged about to prevent this very thing, to. keep them from imitating in government and religion. With all this, there is no better example of the power and significance of imitation. Just how much the Greeks followed other nations and peoples in the development of their govern- ment, religion, and art is not easily determined. It is a fact, however, worthy of note that there were but two models in Greece for the Greeks. Sparta and Athens set the pattern for all the other Greek states and for the colonies. Rome has been called the nation of borrowers. It would be more nearly correct to call the Romans the nation of imitators. The significant part they played in the world's history is due almost wholly to their remarkable imitative tendency and ability. They possessed great ability for imitating. Yet, they contributed largely to the progress of humanity. The Greeks and Romans have been models in art, literature, law, etc., for all the world. History is full of the accounts of those who have tried to restore Athens and Rome. The dream of Charlemagne was of this nature. For a thousand years the Holy Roman Empire of the Germans was an imitation of Rome. The Roman model still lives in the German schools, laws, and government. The Crusades were one vast imitative enterprise. The epidemic extended from children to the aged, from the most simple-minded to the most acute thinkers of the time. Even after the fanatical craze was over, after the imitative tendency had expended itself, deliberate imitation continued in the military and commercial enterprises. The feudalism of the Middle Ages had its origin, as an institution, and its growth in imitation. It remains to-day in our " spoils system." That very astute and far-sighted warrior and states- man, Peter the Great, said, when he was defeated by the Swedes, that they had simply taught him how to beat them in later engagements. Peter the Great founded his empire by imitating other nations. The remarkable development and recently manifested power of Japan is due to its ability and 24 IMITA TION IN ED UCA TION [24 disposition to imitate western civilization. When Prussia in 1870 defeated France, the latter immediately began to repair her loss and to render a similar disaster less possible by imitat- ing Germany in her public education. Our own constitution* said to be the most original ever framed, contains no new elements. Every essential feature may be found in European governments. There was simply a new arrangement, a new synthesis of the old. Our state constitutions are modeled after our national constitution— an imitation of it. The motive force in modern labor organizations and of trusts and ' combines " is to be found in the tendency and ability to imitate. One class of laborers organize, or one industry is formed into a trust; the result is seen, and the process is imitated. ./The influence of imitation in religion is too apparent to need more than a mere reference, There is probably not one per- son in a thousand, who deliberately chooses his religion from among Christianity, Mohammedanism, Buddhism, etc. Even among Christian denominations, there is probably not more than one in a hundred whose membership is not determined by imitation of parents or of those with whom he is associated- The imitative tendency in religion is strongly marked by American religious epidemics, usually termed revivals. In 1800 a religious epidemic spread rapidly in this country. In Kentucky, a camp-meeting was held at Cabin Creek. It lasted four days. People were seized with fits of crying, singing, praying, shouting. All the people in that vicinity were drawn into the maelstrom as if by magic. One man thus describes the scenes: "The laborer quitted his task; age snatched his crutch ; youth forgot his pastimes ; the plow was left in the furrow; the deer enjoyed a respite upon the mountains; busi- ness of all kinds was suspended ; bold hunters and sober matrons, young men, maidens, and little children flocked to the common centre of attraction." This is simply an example of what occurred at other places and at other times, as in New Haven and New York in 1832. 2 j] THE SCOPE OF IMITATION 2 $ Commercial epidemics illustrate the force of imitation in a slightly different form. This is seen when a run is made on a bank or when some speculating scheme is set on foot. It has been well said that ' " men think in crowds and go mad in herds." The tulip craze in Holland, the South Sea Scheme, the Mississppi Scheme are well known examples. In these examples, imitation, at least intelligent imitation, is not the only factor, but it is one of the operating influ- ences. ^Tn politics imitation is quite as prominent as in religion. Most men vote the ticket of their fathers or at least find them- selves more closely allied with the party of their fathers, than with any other party. This is very noticeable where children of the same parents are separated and brought up by other people. In such cases the boys ally themselves, in nearly every case, with the party to which their guardians belong, and if these happen to belong to different parties, the brothers will be of different political faith. I recently collected a few data to find to what extent men do imitate their parents in this matter. I gave two questions to a number of college men. All the men are college graduates, a number are college professors. The purpose in selecting this class of men was to get those who would be most likely to break away from parental influ- ences. If the answers do not represent the facts, I think the error is on the negative side — on the side of those who do not vote as their fathers. The reason for this belief is, many men whom I approached on the subject were somewhat sensitive on the question. They would at once see the import of the questions and manifested a dislike to be reckoned with those who imitate in anything. They are like most men in desiring to be among the thinkers, " the eminently original." The two questions were: (i) Do you vote the same party ticket that your father votes? (2) If not, do you find yourself more closely allied 1 Sidis, Psychology of Sulfation, p. 343. 2 6 IMITA TION IN ED UCA TION [ 2 6 with the party of your father than with any other party ? To the first question, 33 answered yes and 17 no. To the second question 9 answered yes and 8 no. The number of men to whom these were put was 50. Thirty-three or sixty-six per cent, voted the party ticket of their fathers ; seventeen or thirty- four per cent, did not. If the nine who answered in the affirmative to the second question be added to those of the first question, we have forty- two or eighty- four per cent, who do vote as their fathers against eight or sixteen per cent, who do not belong to the party of their fathers. These last eighty- four and sixteen per cent, respectively, represent the facts, be- cause an affirmative answer to the second is practically the same answer to the first. It is certainly true that if men were promiscuously canvassed, the per cent, of those adhering to the paternal party would be much larger. This on a small scale represents the influence of imitation in politics. It is not at all probable that all these men or any considerable number came to their present convictions by a process of reasoning. On the contrary, men are controlled by imitation and only when they need to justify their positions do they begin to reason in self defense. y In art not only may the scope of imitation be seen, but the selective nature also of intelligent imitation is well brought out. It was claimed in discussing the nature of imitation that in its higher forms, where originality is most clearly mani- fested, the model tends to become an ideal. This maybe more clearly seen in what we shall present here concerning art. It will also appear, I think, that the works of art are not due to some occult power from which they come out full grown as Venus from the waves, or as Athena from the head of Zeus. As in all other inventive powers and products of mind, they take their elements from sense data which become an idea, then an ideal, which is slowly and laboriously evolved from the first simple model; and the product or work of art is executed in intelligent imitation of the model or ideal. 27] THE SCOPE OF IMITATION 2 j 1 The arts may be divided into the purely imitative or copy- ing arts, as mechanical craft, wax figures, colored statues, artificial flowers, engravings, etc., and the fine or creative arts, poetry, music, painting, etc. The fine arts are all imitative ; they are not copies, they are creations. They admit of the expression of an idea or sentiment, or telling of a story which distinguishes them from the merely imitative arts. De Quincey says that poetry takes precedence among the fine arts, that its mode of imitation is least material and farthest removed from sensible objects. It merely produces the images of objects by abstract and indirect means. It is not susceptible of being confounded with its model. Music comes next in order. Poetry and music each depend for their interpretation upon sentiment and mental activity. Painting, which imitates bodies by the lineal appearance and the color of bodies, is next in order of succession and is followed by sculpture, etc. In these last the model and what becomes the image are more nearly in actual contact. The fine arts, aside from literature, are peculiar in their power of expression. They consist in representing the moral by the physical, intellectual ideas and affections by palpable forms, in giving thought to bodies. The imitative arts copy the form ; the fine arts make an ideal imitation. Ideal embellishment is beyond the province of mere copying. But this ideal has a physical basis. Man can not create something out of nothing or form without a model; that is the prerogative of the infinite alone. With all his powers man can not be anything but an imitator. A new idea or conception is suggested to the mind of man consciously or unconsciously, but it may always be traced to its origin. The artist must go to the immutable laws of nature to get the principles that are essential to successful imitation. Sir Joshua Reynolds says " our art is not a divine gift neither is it a mechanical trade." Goethe says " the artist must hold to 1 M. A. Dwight, Introduction to the Study of Art, p. 11-33. 2 8 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [ 2 8 nature, imitate her. He must choose the best out of the good before him." Every one is familiar with the story giving the origin of the Corinthian order of architecture — the story of the artist who took his hint, his model, from the basket over- grown with leaves. He idealized the object presented to his notice, adapted it to a specific object and produced a work of artistic beauty that will be forever preserved. He held to the very essence of imitation in art, to represent reality by its appearance alone. A true work of imitation bears some im- press from the mind of the artist, and thus the artist conveys to the mind of another his conception of the subject repre- sented. His idea becomes an ideal and is expressed by imitating it. The great artist is distinguished not by uncom- mon powers of mind but by uncommon combination of powers — free imagination, fine sentiment both moral and intellectual, clear discrimination, sound reason and judgment. These powers in combination enable the artist to take a sense model, idealize it, and express it in imitation. His imitative and assimilative power enable him to separate the essential from the accidental, to proceed from part to whole, thus educing an ideal nature from the germs of the actual. The Greeks have long been celebrated for their works of art. To what extent they got their models from other people is not known. Layard in his Assyrian researches has brought to light many specimens of artistic works which probably fur- nished-models to the artists and architects of ancient Greece- Then, too, the Greeks possessed a remarkable ability for imitating nature. Aristotle well describes their conception of art in his definition : " A work of art is an idealized copy of human life — of character, emotion, action — under forms mani- fested to the sense." The perfection of art works among the Greeks consisted largely in their fixed ideals obtained from nature. ' Zeuxis painted grapes so perfectly true to nature 1 Thomas Purdie, Journal of the Society of Arts, 12; 329. 2q] 1 "HE SCOPE OF IMITA TION 2 Q that the birds came and pecked at the fruit on the canvas. Apelles painted horses so truthfully that animals of their own kind greeted them by neighing. Parrhasius painted a curtain so true to nature that his competitor took it for a real curtain drawn over the picture. It is claimed that the fine arts had their origin in the love of imitation which is no doubt an original, powerful sentiment or instinct of our minds. How- ever, art is only great or imitation fascinating in proportion to intellectual elements employed. Goethe says the poet or painter holds up a mirror to material objects — earth, plants, animals, mankind — and catches a reflection of the world around him which is itself only a reflection of an ideal. Thus, fine art is a copy of a copy three times removed from truth. While modern _ideals__diner essentially from Greek ideals, the importance of imitation — to choose the best and execute with patience and skill — is still recognized. William M. Hunt, one of America's great artists, used to urge his studio pupils to study the best pictures over and over again. " You must set yourselves ahead by studying fine things. I've told you over and over again whose works to draw — Michael Angelo, Raphael, Diirer, Holbein, Mantagna. Get hold of something of theirs. Hang it up in your room ; trace it, copy it, draw it from memory over and over, until you own it as you own ' Casabianca ' and ' Mary had a Little Lamb.' " The great Italian artist ' Leonardo da Vinci happened in his boyhood to get in his possession that inestimable folio of draw- ings once owned by Vasari. This folio contained certain designs by Verrocchio, faces of such impressive beauty that Da Vinci copied them again and again. In the artist's works in later life, there seems to be a touch of the early pictures he copied so often as a germinal principle, " the unfathomable smile, always with a touch of something sinister in it." From childhood this model seems to have developed, defining itself 1 Pater, Studies in the History of the Renaissance, pp. 116-117. , IMITATION IN EDUCATION r^ Q more and more clearly, until he met the Florentine lady, the wife of Francesco del Gioconde. She seemed to give living form to his ideal dream. Present, from the first incorporeal in the artist's thought, dimly traced in the designs of Verrocchio, his ideal took form in Mona Lisa, the portrait of the Florentine lady. This masterpiece of one of the great artists of the world reveals Da Vinci's mode of thought and work. It illustrates how an ideal model is developed in a master mind, its slow growth, and its final execution in imitation. It also illustrates how an ideal was attained, is adapted and used again and again, for the facial expression of Mona Lisa is traceable in his other, later portraits. This use of a once perfected ideal is found in other artists. The face of little St. John in Botticelli's " Madonna of the Louvre " is used again and again in other works of that artist. Murillo got his models from the common people he met, and used the same ideal models over and over even in sacred sub- jects. Any one who will take the trouble to compare Cabanel's " Queen Vashti " and his " Shulamite " will not fail to observe the same ideal repeated in these paintings. The same thing may be observed in Vibert's " The Reprimand " and in his " The Startled Confessor." Most of Kensett's paintings and those of Inness have each a tone that will enable the observer to recognize the artist in his work. Or, take a group of por- traits in the Metropolitan Museum and a common model may be traced through all. Compare Reynolds' portraits of "Lady Carew," " Mrs. Arnold," " Mrs. Angelo "; John Hoppner's por- trait of a " Lady ; " Richard Beechey's portrait of a " Lady ; " Thomas Lawrence's " Lady Ellenborough ; " Robert Pine's "Mrs. Reid;" Francis Cote's " Lady Hardwicke." These are all works of artists of originality. Yet the similarity is very striking. A similar model is seen in each. In Reynolds' "Lady Carew" and in his " Mrs. Angelo," it is most notice- able, except possibly in Hoppner's and in Beechey's portraits of ladies. The two last are very similar in tone, expression, jl] THE SCOPE OF IMITATION 3 1 etc. These men form a kind of school in art. The funda- mental principle in any school of art, or of literature is imita- tion. Among the master artists, it is selective, intelligent, often unconscious imitation. Among the second or third rate artists, imitation is the cause of the similarity but it is a less intelligent, a more mechanical kind of imitation; it approaches nearer to what we term copying. Literature is quite as fruitful a field for the study of imita- tion as that more generally called art, which we have just been considering. The field is so large and rich in material that it would be too large a theme in itself for a paper like this. We shall therefore confine ourselves within small compass. We can not do more than suggest some of the productions of recognized literary merit and the intimate relations between imitation and originality. It must be borne in mind that the claim here made is that there is very little absolutely original. Originality is relative. Only one person in a million or in many millions can produce a work of originality, and such a person, may be, only once in a life time. What passed for original is only relatively so, and in this synthetic originality, imitation is a large factor. To see more clearly the distinction between the absolutely original, such as only the genius may approach, and the rela- tively original, such as men of eminence may attain and ordinary people may approximate at least, let us ask the question — what is absolute originality? An absolutely original work must con- sist in something which can be likened to no other thing that existed previously. A work to be perfectly original should not merely remind us of no other work of the same class but pre- vent us from thinking of any other in connection with it. Such a work must possess characters, a turn of thought and of senti- ment, and a style wholly its own. The materials in the man- agement of which this originality is shown, must be drawn from nature alone and be referable to something in nature, and be interesting to the mind and heart of man. , 2 I MIT A TION IN ED UCA TION [32 If we try the great literary geniuses, such as Chaucer, Shak- speare, and Carlyle, by this standard, we shall find that each, to use James's phrase, exhibits but " a pepper corn " of origin- ality, in the sense in which we are now using the term origin- ality. Chaucer certainly borrowed largely from Boccaccio for his " Canterbury Tales." After the student has made a study of Shakespeare and finds how he laid the whole world under contribution, he will certainly feel that the great genius is not so great after all. Of his more than thirty-five plays, there is one plot that seems to be Shakespeare's. Carlyle's " Sartor Resartus " is of German origin, founded upon a book received from a German. No one disclaims the originality of these men, but we do claim that it consisted largely in their ability to imitate, to see the right model, to form new combinations using this model as a base for operation. This use of imitation is seen in most great authors, especially in their most notable works. It has been said that ' Bulwer Lytton is an author of the composite kind, owing all he has attained less to the force of his own genius than to his valuable facility of imitating others. He took several of his characters in " The Caxtons " from Sterne's " Tristram Shandy." Sterne in his turn caught much of his humor from Rabelais and others. The essential things in " Robinson Crusoe" delighted men and boys five or six centuries before De Foe's time. The conception seems to have come from the Arabs — a child placed upon a lonely island and coming by degrees to a knowledge of every thing. " Gulliver's Travels " was sug- gested to Swift by the writings of a Frenchman, Cyrano de Bergerac. Cyrano wrote the history of the sun and moon as a satire on the philosophy of his age. He treated philosophy much as Cervantes had treated chivalry. A trip to the moon reveals many encounters and experiences much like those of Gulliver. But, Cyrano was not the original of Gulliver. This : Putnam's Monthly, 8; 1 13. 23] THE SCOPE OF IMITATION 33 may be found in Lucian's " True History." Rabelais imitated the Greeks, and in turn was imitated by those who came after him. Don Quixote is an old legend found in Lucian and in Aristophanes. Besides, earlier than Cervantes, Chaucer had expressed similar ideas. The Saxon Caedrron and later Avitus sang " Paradise Lost " long before Milton. Tennyson's " Two Voices " may have been suggested by George Fox. Indeed, to any one who reads attentively, imitation would seem to be the law of literary progress and excellence. Imita- tion in literature as well as elsewhere has a great part, and we may as well make the best of the ability to imitate in a practi- cal and philosophical way. Imitation can not be said to be a sign of weakness. The great Shakspeare and Burns are among those who have laid most determined hands upon the modes and thoughts of others. When a writer improves what he imitates, he does well; but when he fails to add beauty, we condemn him. New light, or grace, or charm, must be given. In the progress of the mind, in all departments of literature, we find imitation, the most palpable, in the books we most admire. The scope of imitation is widest and doubtless most signifi- cant in society, in what goes to build up civilization. In the enlightening or civilizing process, there are two opposing and equally prominent forces at work. The one is the conserva- tive force — to keep things as they are ; the other a radical or progressive force — to keep things changing. Imitation is a factor in each. Society is held together more largely by imitation than by any other one agency. It brings the newly born members in line with the average behavior of their kind. This may be its most important function in society. Imitation is also progressive in its function in society. In any given social state, there are certain well recognized standards of conduct and behavior. For this given society, progress is possible only on the ground that there be in it some members, more vigorous, more active, more intelligent than the others. 24 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [34 These members — the skeptics, the socialists, it may be — break with the present order of things, with the accepted standards. Such persons forge ahead of their fellows and their generation. However, unless that leveling up force — intelligent imitation — comes to their aid, they will ever be re- garded as cranks and fanatics. Since imitation is selective, chooses the best models, these more progressive members of society will be taken as models by the more thoughtful among the other members. This molding influence goes down through society in a geometric ratio. These intelligent, zeal- ous, forceful men and women in society, who set the models for the others, are the leaven in society ; the fermentation, the leavening of the social whole, is the work of imitation. It is by means of imitation that the social web is woven. It comes to us as tradition. Through the imitative tendency and ability, we receive our social inheritance. l M. Tarde points out that phenomena of every kind can be known only because they repeat themselves. In physics we study repeti- tion under the forms of undulation of vibration ; in biology, under the forms of heredity, or the transmission of life and characteristics from cell to cell ; in sociology, under the form of imitation, or the transmission of impulse, feeling, and idea from individual to individual, from group to group, from gen- eration to generation. For Mr. Tarde society is imitation through and through — one ceaseless round of imitation. For him, imitation is the fundamental characteristic of sociology. 2 Prof. Giddings does not agree with this conclusion. He is of opinion that social consciousness is the fundamental fact of society. But he says if imitation is not fundamental in social relations it must be very nearly so. His reason for this view is that imitation is not peculiar to social relations ; it is present in non-social affairs of life as well as in the social. 3 A11 1 les lois de V imitation. 2 Principles of Sociology, p. 15. 3 Principles of Sociology, p. 100. 35] THE SCOPE OF IMITATION 35 activity is a clash of atoms or of thoughts. Conflict is an essential of all progress. This conflict is manifested in one of two forms. First, there is primary conflict which is conquest. Second, there is secondary conflict which is contention. The first often destroys, the second simply modifies. All evolution begins in primary conflict and continues in the higher forms in contention. Death usually follows the first form ; develop- ment, the second. When two armies contend, each repeats the maneuvres and many of the tactics of the other, as the war in South Africa at the present time well illustrates. When two men contend, each instinctly or selectively repeats the method of attack and defense of the other to a greater or less degree. This second kind of conflict is often seen in a milder form. The unexpected meeting of long parted friends has sometimes resulted in death. You meet a stranger, conflict may manifest itself in a flushing of the face, in a conscious thrill. In whatever form this conflict exhibits itself in one, it tends to repeat itself in the other. Imitation therefore is a part of every conflict. The mode of conflict instinctive or in- telligent is followed by like kind of imitation. y Imitation is a factor in society, in the conflict that gradually assimilates and harmonizes the opposing forces. The char- acteristic modes of thought and action spread from individual to individual. However, 1 while imitation softens old conflicts it creates new ones. Imitation in religion, in politics, even in scientific thought, may set brother against brother. This is taught in prophecy and exemplified in the history of the Chris- tian religion. In society as everywhere else intelligent imitation is never a perfect copy. ' Like waves of light, it is refracted by its media. The nature of the mind of the imitator and the environment ot the imitator, each tend towards differentiation. When the con- 1 Principles of Sociology, p. 1 1. 3 Les lois de /' imitation, p. 24. ,6 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [36 flict produced by this differentiation results in a combination due to the contention of a weaker and stronger sentiment and image, we have the essence of ' invention. It is the creation of a new idea and a new 2 practice by the combination of familiar ideas and of current practices. New examples and models are all the while coming into existence to struggle against the established customs and modes of imitation. It is in this way that both stability and progress owe much to this factor. Some of the essential elements of society — communi- cation, toleration, alliance — are each largely contributed to by developed imitation. The chief social factor of the economic life is imitation. By means of it, sympathetic association is rendered more possible. By means of sympathetic imitation a social sense and a social habit are evolved. Likewise, the in- tellectual powers of voluntary attention, generalization, abstract thought, and invention are developed chiefly by association of individuals. 3 These presuppose in the individual the con- sciousness of himself, and that consciousness is an effect of his observation and imitation of individuals like himself. The moral sentiments — self denial, self government — as well as the intellectual activities are largely developed through imita- tion. Adam Smith said : "As nature teaches the speculators to assume the circumstances of the persons principally concerned, so she teaches these last in some measure to assume those of the speculators." 4 We are so far susceptible to suggestion and so far imitative in all matters of material and moral well-being, that we desire and endeavor to live at least as well as the average, fairly well to-do, fairly well-behaved members of the community. The desire to enjoy what others enjoy and the imitative tendency to act as others act, are strong enough in 1 Les lois de V imitation, p. 26. * Principles of Sociolo%\>, p. 112. 3 Principles of Sociology, p. 122. * Principles of Sociology, p. 123. 37] THE SCOPE OF IMITATION 37 the social individual to impel him to pursue his material and moral interests as diligently as most others pursue theirs. This combination of desire and diligence is the basis of what economists call the standard of living. It is the foundation ot wealth and behavior as well as of all individual advancement. It would be very interesting and instructive to know how large a part imitation plays in psychology, to know to what extent men follow the lead of Leibnitz, Locke, Kant, Wundt, and James in the method and thought of these leaders. How many men have imitated in their method of thought and re- search that of Darwin in reaching his conception of organic evolution? How many have imitated Schleiden and Schwan in the cell theory ? For it is the method of thought and work that thinkers imitate most. Here imitation yields rich returns, because the method of thinking and of doing is the most valu- able lesson we can learn from our fellows. When we compare how few men have hit upon a new method in physical, in chemical, or in biological laboratories, and how many men have imitated these few happy hits we can in part begin to ap- preciate the role of imitation in the sciences. In history, religion, politics, art, literature, sociology, and in pure science, not only is the scope of imitation exhibited, but also its nature and significance further brought out. That imitation — an element playing so large part in all these lines of human progress — should be discredited for so long by so many people is certainly unfortunate to say the least. If it is as im- portant a factor in the development of originality in these diverse fields of human thought and action as it seems to be, why should it not also be important in the process of school education ? Ill THE SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITATION Something of the significance of imitation has already ap- peared in the discussions of the previous topics. Before we consider any special phases of its significance, let us see what some of the prominent educators who have expressed them- selves upon this subject have thought of the imitative process in education. Aristotle says " Imitation is innate in men from childhood ; for in this men differ from other animals that of all they are the most imitative and through imitation get their first teachings." In emphasizing the importance of teachers understanding their pupils, Quintilian seems to think that knowledge of the faculty of imitation and of the laws of memory are equally essential. If we remember what considerable importance he attached to memory, we may fairly well get his estimate of imitation. It would be one of the first educational means. Leibnitz made imitation an efficient factor in his world of monads. For him, the soul was a monad which reflected or imitated the other monads of the universe. By this means self-activity manifests itself. This was to him the soul's means of cognition. While Montaigne did not explicitly evaluate imitation, he made a tell- ing application of its significance, His whole educational philosophy is an imitation of the education he received at the hands of his father. However, it is only within the last ten or twelve years that educators have begun to see more clearly than the earlier edu- cators the value of imitation and to express themselves more distinctly upon this subject. ' Miss Haskell gives a clear ^Pedagogical Seminary, 3; 30. 38 [38 jg] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITATION 39 description to show the motor function of imitation. She is of opinion that imitation is the mode in which all motor impulses discharge themselves. The energy of the child must pass from potentiality to actuality, and it does so most easily and effici- ently by the path of imitation. ' Prof. Royce says: " The imitative functions in their proper and almost inextricable en- tanglement with our individual and temperamental functions are absolutely essential elements of all our mental development, of all our worth as thinkers, as workers, as producers." ' Hazlitt is of the opinion that imitation gives pleasure to the learner by exciting curiosity and inviting a comparison between the object and the representation. It opens a new field for in- quiry and leads the attention to a variety of details and dis- tinctions not perceived before. It renders an object that is uninteresting in itself a source of pleasure, not by the repetition of the same idea but by suggesting new ideas, by detecting new properties and endless shades of differences. 3 Stout brings out a similar value for attention. Imitation is a special development of attention. Attention is always striving after a more vivid, a more definite, a more complete apprehension of its object. Imitation is a way in which this endeavor may gratify itself. * Smith considers imitation the means by which we come into sympathy with knowledge, sources of knowl- edge, and with our natural and social environment. In imita- tion there is an association of ideas or mental processes. It is a mode of perception or cognition. It is that form of percep- tion in which the mind interprets what is given in sensation. Imitation of idea by ideas is sympathetic assimilation. We make the inner experience of another our own experience. The method of truth in his opinion is sympathetic imitation. 1 The Century Magazine, 26; 107. 1 Round Table, p. n. ' Manual of Psychology, II; 271. 4 MelJiods of Knowledge, p. 1 70. 40 IM1TA TION IN ED UCA TION [40 Knowledge must consist in sympathetic imitation if it is a re- production of what constitutes objects. : In imitation, how- ever slavish it may appear, there is sometimes as it were a first soaring of the liberty of the child, of his aspiration after the ideal. 2 Imitation marks the beginnings of education. The child who begins to imitate gives evidence of self consciousness. He notices the activity of another fellow being and recognizes that activity as proceeding from an energy or will power akin to the power which he himself possesses. He proves to himself the possession of that power by imitating the action in which he is interested, It is evident that imitation is a kind of spiritual assimilation, a digesting and making one's own of the acts of another. By means of imitation the child arrives at the fundamental principles which originated in action. Having found this in his own mind, he has his energy free and be- comes original. 3 Prof. James says " Man has always been recognized as the imitative animal par excellence . . . Each of us is, in fact, what he is, almost exclusively by virtue of his imitativeness. We become conscious of what we ourselves are by imitating others — the consciousness of what others are precedes — the sense of self grows by sense of pattern. The entire accumulated wealth of mankind — languages, arts, sciences — passes from one generation to another by social tradition, each generation simply imitating the last. Inven- tion, using the term most broadly, and imitation are the two legs, so to call them, on which the human race historically has walked." ' Tracy says, " The child's attention is very easy to get and very hard to hold. This double fact renders him capable of education, but at the same time makes his education a gradual process which must consist largely in the 'Payne, Compayre's Introduction on Teaching, p. 221. 2 Harris' Introduction to Taylor's Child Study, p. XI. * Talks to Teachers, p. 48. * Psychology of Childhood, p. 113. 41 ] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITATION 4! formation of right habits in him through imitation." Guyau says " by the judicious use of the child's imitative suggesti- bility, we may make of him almost what we please." Again, 1 Guyau says, " All perception is more or less reducible to an imitation, to the creation within us of a state corresponding to what we see in others." 2 Holman gives it as his opinion that many of the most valuable things the human race has discovered have been stumbled upon, as it were, by some simple imitation. It is quite likely that the origin of fire may be explained in this way. So it happens that individuals soon learn that it is worth while to look out for helpful examples or causes and effects and to expend considerable energy in trying to imitate them. Thus, imitation prompts the will to action and guides it by practical experience and knowledge. Observation and the resulting imitation produce many of the highest aids to progress and are thus utilized in the practical affairs of life. Prof. Butler says, in his lecture course, in discussing imitation, that it is one of the strongest social bonds. Good influences and good examples have value only in so far as they are imitated. Culture and refinement can be taught by example alone ; they can be learned only by imitation. Imitation makes up the major part of the child's life both in quality and in quantity, in his language, ideas and activity. A reference to some work that has been done in the study of imitation will further illustrate its importance and prepare for a better understanding of our next topic. Mr. E. H. Russel, of Worcester Normal, has published a volume which gives the records of children's imitations ob- served by the normal students. The volume gives more than 1200 examples of imitation of children from one to twelve years old. The subject matter of this book has been worked over and expressed in graphic form in six charts by Miss Car- 1 Education and Heredity, p. 14. 2 Education, p. 185. 4 2 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [42 oline Frear. 1 Her purpose was to discover the trends and age tendencies in the imitative activity of children. In some of the charts she distinguishes three kinds of imitation — direct, play or dramatic, and purposive imitation. I shall not repro- duce the charts, but simply use per cents, to indicate the gen- eral position and directions of the lines on the charts. The ages of the children who were observed were one to twelve years. The per cents, here given show where the lines start the first year and where they end the twelfth year. However, they do not increase or decrease regularly as the per cents, seem to indicate. The first chart shows whom the child imi- tates the more at different ages — adults or other children: Adults, 82 per cent., 1st year; rises to 95 per cent, by 12th year. Children, 11 per cent., 1st year; falls to O per cent, almost, by 12th year. The second chart shows that the child's imitations are : Direct, 70 per cent. 1st year; fall to 8 per cent, by the 12th year. Play, 20 per cent. 1st year ; rises to 90 per cent, by 12th year. The third chart shows the child imitates an : Idea, 45 per cent. 1st year; rises to 80 per cent, by 12th year. Actual thing, 55 per cent. 1st year; falls to 20 per cent by 12th year. The fourth chart shows with whom the child plays : Alone, 35 per cent. 1st year; rises to 70 per cent. 2d year; falls to 10 per cent, by 12th year. Children, 9 per cent. 1st year ; rises to 90 percent, by 12th year. Adults, 55 per cent. 1st year; falls to O per cent, by 12th year. The fifth chart shows what children imitate most and is based on play imitation : Action, 85 per cent. 1st year; falls to 55 per cent, by 4th year; rises to 94 per cent, by 8th year Oral speech, 7 per cent. 1st year; rises to 26 per cent, by 4th year; falls to 23 per cent, by 8th year. Sound and action, 18 per cent. 1st year; rises to 24 per cent. 6th year; falls to O per cent, by 8th year. 1 Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 4, pp. 382-86. 43] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITA TION 43 The sixth chart is made out on a basis of direct imitation and shows that the child imitates : Action and speech, 53 per cent. 1st year; rises to 85 per cent.; falls to 80 per cent, by 1 2th year. Action alone, 45 per cent. 1st year; falls to 12 per cent, by 12th year. The facts indicated by these charts are such as to com- mend them to careful consideration. I believe, on the whole, they will stand the test of reason and experience. The extent to which children imitate adults rather than other children, as shown in the first chart, is of practical value for teacher and parent. The second and third charts give results that are in evidence of the thought of this paper as to the nature and significance of imitation. It should be noted that in the first years of the child's life direct or perception imitation begins with 70 per cent, and decreases to 8 per cent, by the i?th year; that play imitation, which is a higher, less mechanical form, begins with 20 per cent, and rises to 90 per cent, in the same time. Imitation of an idea begins with 45 and rises to 80 per cent., while the more mechanical form, imitation of the actual thing, begins with 55 per cent, and falls to 20 per cent. The results in both these charts show that the faculty of intelligent imitation increases with the developing powers of mind. The progress is from tendency to imitate to ability to imitate, from a disposition to copy to power for originality. It was shown by Miss Frear's first chart that children imi- tate adults about fifteen times as much as they imitate other children ; and that chart gives the ratio only up to 12 years of age. At that age, the child practically ceases to imitate an- other child. It does not matter whether this is the actual ratio that exists or not. It doubtless is not. However, it does show the general tendency — that the child tends as it grows older to choose a more rational model, to select what it thinks is the best to imitate. This conclusion verfies and is verified by the experience of those who have either taught or observed children. Many teachers whom I have asked for 44 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [44 data on students imitating each other, say they could give a much larger number of examples of students imitating teachers. If this tendency to imitate adults more than their fellow students be kept in mind in considering the data below, we may get a more nearly correct perspective of the whole of student imitation. To get a more reliable notion of student imitation of their fellows, I selected about sixty high-grade boarding schools. Most of these were preparatory schools, quite a number of them rank as colleges, a few are colleges. These schools were selected with the thought that imitation found among their students would tend to prove much more for the nature and scope of imitation than the same amount of information found in ordinary public schools. Of course, in the boarding school it can more readily be detected, because the teacher sees more of the student's life, besides the students come in contact more with each other. It must be remembered that the influence of the teacher would be increased for similar reasons, and the ratio of tendency to imitate adults and fellow students would not be seriously affected. These schools will furnish more favorable evidence for imitation than public schools made up of all classes. For it is fair to suppose the students in these schools will more than average in matters of intelligence and individuality with public school pupils. If imitation tended to decrease with increased intelligence and culture, one would find little or no imitation in these schools. So, it may be stated that the presence of imitation in so far as it was found in these schools, would lend evidence in favor of our main thesis: (1) that imitation is a characteristic of the more in- tellectual as well as of the less intellectual, (2) that it is of much wider scope than we are apt to concede. The purpose of the questionnaires sent to these schools was " to find out whether there are certain characteristics whose possession makes a boy or girl likely to be imitated." Forty- five schools reported. Thirty of this number gave one or 45] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITATION 45 more leaders of a larger or smaller group of students. Fifteen schools reported there was no such leader among their students. Just how man}' of these fifteen schools failed to interpret the questionnaire aright, I do not know. Some of them simply gave a negative answer to the first question. Others said there was no such leader of the whole school but that there were leaders of classes and small groups. Still a few seemed to take the term imitation in a menial sense. They indicated this by saying " Our students possess much personality. We take care that they have high ideals set be- fore them. A boy would be considered comtemptible here, who would imitate or ape another boy. We cultivate indi- viduality," and similar statements. Some of the statements clearly indicate that the leader we were inquiring for was in some of these schools. Others indicate the leader may have been there. One principal, of much experience and close observation, in sending in the report of his school said : " I should be glad to know if any report no." This implies there is a leader or leaders in every school. I believe his inference is correct. Sometimes the leadership is on a very small scale. It may be the leader has but one person manifestly in tow. To say the least, the number of schools in which there are no leaders is much less than fifteen, the number reported. Below the questionnaires are given with the answers tabu- lated after each question. A few reports did not seem to de- scribe any individual leader, but simply gave what the person making the report considered characteristics of leaders. These answers are not given. A few answers given in some of the reports could not be expressed in these definite terms. Such are not included in the tabulation. QUESTIONNAIRE I I. Is there now in your school any boy who is naturally imitated by other boys, or who may be called a leader among the boys? 46 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [46 Yes, 14 schools. No, 8 schools. Total reported, 22. 16 boys described. If your answer is no, please be sure to mark it No and re- turn the same to us, as it is very important to know the num- ber of schools where there is no imitation. If your answer is yes, we shall be very much pleased if you will answer the remaining questions, or as many of them as you can. 2. How old is he ? Average age 16 years +. 3. Are the boys who imitate him larger or smaller, as a rule, than he ? Larger, 1. Smaller, 3. About same, 1 1. 4. Are they older or younger than he ? Older, 1. Younger, 6. About same, 9. 7. Is he on the base ball team ? Yes, 7. No, 5. 8. Is he on the foot ball team ? Yes, 10. • No, 4. 9. Is he on any other athletic team ? Yes, 8. No, 6. 10. Is he of strong emotional temperament, or is he of de- liberate, intellectual temperament? Emotional, 6. Intellectual, 2. Deliberate, 5. Nervous, 2. 47] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITA T10N 47 11. Is he notable for boldness or daring? Yes, 8. No, 4. Fearless, 2. Courageous, 2. 15. Has he any noticeable peculiarities, as stammering, lameness, crosseyedness, etc.? Yes, o. No, 16. The replies to other questions showed no marked difference between the boy imitated and his fellows in point of wealth, social position, fluency of speech, rank in class, mental ability, or moral strength. QUESTIONNAIRE II 1. Is there now in your school any girl who is naturally imitated by the other girls, or who may be termed a leader among the girls ? Yes, 16 schools. No, 7 schools. Total reported, 23. 14 girls described. If your answer is no, please be sure to mark it No and re- turn the same to us, as it is very important to know the num- ber of schools where there is no imitation. If your answer is yes, we shall be very much pleased, if you will answer the remaining questions, or as many of them as you can. 2. How old is she? 2 — 13 years. 4 — 16 years. 2 — 17 years. 5 — 18 years. 1 — 20 years. Average age, 17 years. 4 8 IMITA TION IN ED UCA TION [48 3. Are the girls who imitate her larger or smaller, as a rule, than she? Larger, 1. Smaller, 4. Both, 4. Same, 4. 4. Are they older or younger than she ? Older, o. Younger, 5. Both, 7. About same, 2. 5. Does she spend more money or less than those who imitate her? More, 3. Less, 3. Pretends more, I. About same, 6. 6. Has her family wealth, position or power more or less than the families of those girls who imitate her? Yes, 3. No, 6. Pretends more, 1. 7. Is she distinguished in any athletic games or exercises ? Yes, 1. No, 6. ■ Fond of, 4. Luxurious and idle, I. 8. Is she of strong emotional temperament, or of deliberate intellectual temperament? Emotional, 9. Deliberate, 2. Intellectual, 3. 9. Is she of marked timidity or of manifest strong desires? Assumes timidity, 2. Strong desires, 12. 49] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITA TION 49 10. Is she notable for fluency of speech in conversation ? Yes, 8. No, 2. Talks well, 2. Enjoys shocking hearers, 1. 1 1. What approximately is her rank in class ? High, 3. Good, 2. Av., 6. Low, very, 2. 12. In general, would you call her brighter, abler than those who imitate her? Yes, 5. No, 9. Of the 9, but confident, 1. but clever, 1. but assertive, 2. 13. Has she any noticeable peculiarities, as stammering, lameness, crosseyedness, etc.? Yes, o. No, 14. 14. Is she strong or weak morally ? Strong, 2. Av., 4. Weak, 3. High ideals, 1. Strong in her own faith, 1. 15. Does she dress in a showy or gaudy manner? Gaudy, 2. Showy, 3. Well, 2. Good taste, 4. Quiet in dress, 1. jo IMITATION IN EDUCATION [j 1 6. Does she sing well? Yes, 6. Comic songs, 2. No, 4. 17. Does she play on any instrument well? Yes, 2. No, 9. 18. Has she marked dramatic talent? Yes, 3. Good mimic, 1. No, 7. 19. Is she distinguished for beauty of form, features, car- riage, voice? Yes, 6. Beautiful features, 1. No, 2. Beautiful carriage, 1. Beautiful form, 2. Fascinating manners, 2. These answers found in the questionnaires indicate some- thing of the nature of imitation, as was pointed out above. In the preparation of the questions, it was necessary to limit them to such acts as could be seen in the students. The internal, higher forms of imitation are not easily detected. This latter kind of imitation is manifested in much in the same way, and becomes evident in degree as growth of intellect and charac- ter show themselves. It is of slow growth, not easily ob- served, nor is its progress readily estimated in a given time. Recognizing these limitations of the questionnaire, we may still see in the answers given a tendency to imitate ideas rather than perceptions. The wide scope of imitation among stu- dents is very apparent. It must be remembered these were not the only leaders in these schools, nor was the imitation confined to that of leaders. This fact was pointed out in many of the reports received. Such statements as these in the re- ports indicate this : " Almost every class or group of students has its leader; it is difficult to choose the student most imi- tated." t !] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITA TION 5 ! The questionnaires bring out some of the characteristics of the leader more clearly than they indicate either the nature or the scope of imitation. The question why some people are leaders has long been one of much prominence and interest. It may be said in general terms that strong belief and enthu- siasm bring followers, that the leader has vigor of both mind and body, that he has often an over-mastering will expressed in strong desires. It may be seen in the questionnaires that most of the imitators of the leaders were younger than the leader or of about the same age as the leader. One interesting case is given where one boy is notably the leader of one other boy, who is both larger and older. The report says, " The leadership seems to be due simply to the superior energy and dash of the leader. The boy who follows is in all respects the superior — older, larger, more refined, having more money, a better student, and finer looking." In general, however, size and age may cause a boy or girl to be imitated, and boys may even be dominated by one older than themselves. It is a very serious matter for a boy to be placed in close relation with an older, coarser, or less refined person. Wealth and position do not seem to be elements of leader- ship. The fact that a large majority of the leaders among boys are very active in athletics is significant. This is not true of the girls. And the difference between boys and girls is seen in temperament. The boy leaders are more deliberate ; the girls, emotional, strong in desires, fluent in speech. The girls seem to choose their leaders more from outward appearances, as seen in dress, beauty, etc. The boys choose their leaders more for some inner characteristic, such as boldness, courage, energy. Ability and rank in school do not seem to be essen- tials for either boys or girls as leaders. It also seems that the leader must have no noticeable physical peculiarities. It is interesting to note the moral characteristics of the leaders. I do not know just how much the answers here do show. It is evident on the face of the reports that " morally strong" was 5 2 I MIT A TION IN ED UCA TION r 5 2 used in more than one sense by those who made out the reports. Some took morally strong as synonymous with morally good or bad ; others, morally strong to mean morally good. Yet the reports clearly show that the leader may not only be morally weak, but in very many cases the leader is specifically characterized as morally bad. This phase of lead- ership would be one of the most interesting and profitable studies for further investigation by parents and by teachers. Imitation is such an all-powerful factor in the realm of morality that it is well worth while to find more positive evi- dence in this matter. For example, it was stated in some of the questionnaires answered that the students who possess less will-power tend to choose morally bad leaders rather than mor- ally good leaders to imitate. Whether these statements were true or not, further study of this subject is needed ; for not only the individual life, but the community and social national life as well, in moral ideas, are so largely determined by leaders in business, in politics, in state, in war. Can we estimate the in- fluence of morally bad students or teachers? Much less can we estimate how many persons are infected by a morally bad political leader, state official, representative or senator in Con- gress. Any one who desires may, in a small way, get some idea of the influence of morally bad men in high places. To get some notion of this influence, one needs only to approach less prominent men than those cited, whose conduct may be called questionable. The matter of such conduct is no sooner raised than these less prominent men will refer you to a long list of more prominent, or equally prominent men, who de- ported themselves in a similar manner. This matter, how- ever — imitation and morality — will be considered somewhat more in detail in a later section of this paper. The following section will continue the study of imitation by the question- naire method in the training of teachers. The training of teachers affords a fruitful field for the study and application of imitation in education. It will be my pur- 5 3] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITATION 53 pose here to show that imitation properly understood and applied may contribute much to the solution of practical prob- lems in the training of teachers. Among these problems there is the difficulty of securing natural conditions and ample op- portunity for pupil teaching, and the unwillingness of a suffi- ciently large number of persons to go through so long appren- ticeship in the training schools. And, in consequence of this unwillingness, very few teachers have any training at all. Then there is the economic problem. The term economic is used here in a liberal sense. It refers in part to the cost in terms of money, but it has reference especially to the cost in terms of time and energy. The waste in time and energy in the training of teachers is no small amount, as I shall try to show. The questions then to be considered are : How will imita- tion aid in the solution of the practical problems ? Where is this waste in training of teachers? How will imitation effect a conservation of time and energy ? To get the whole ques- tion before us and to indicate what imitation of an intelligent kind may contribute in answer to these questions, I shall sub- mit the results of two questionnaires. These questionnaires were placed in the hands of only such teachers as were in posi- tions to give reliable data. The answers came from many dif- ferent states and represent more than forty different schools and school systems. Form III, given below, was answered by 24 grade teachers, 36 normal teachers, and 14 high school and college teachers. So far as the answers could be definitely and accurately tabulated, they are given after each question. A few teachers did not answer all the questions and some answers given could not be classified. 54 IMITA TION IN EDUCA TION [54 QUESTIONNAIRE III 1. Please indicate what courses you have taken as a student. Grade Teachers. a. In High School or its equivalent .... 19 b. In Normal School, . 17 c. In Training Class, . . 16 d. How many years have you taught? ... 12 Av. 12 Av. 10 Av. 2. Please classify your past teachers as accurately as you can according to the following points, giving under each point the number of men and of women, kind of school as grades, high school, normal school, etc., in which such teachers in- structed you : Kind of school. H. & Normal College Total Teachers. Teachers. 32 14 65 28 5 SO 7 2 25 No. of No. of Normal High Women. Men. Grades. School. School. College. a. Favorite teachers, 151 I 7 8 22 55 27 30 b. c. Good teachers, . 235 Indifferent teach- 246 51 49 15 68 138 45 26 34 39 d. Poor teachers, . 105 87 26 22 9 3i 3. Did you have any favorite teachers whom you did not consider skillful in methods of instruction? Yes, 36. No, 32. In government? Yes, 33. No, 32. In either instruction or government? Yes, 14. No. 26. 55] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITATION 55 4. What characteristics made them favorites of yours ? Most of the answers were expressed in these terms — " kind- ness," "interest," "sympathy," " enthusiasm," "justice," "cor- diality," " sociability," " good manners," etc. 5. Do you hold in mind any teachers as models in method of instruction and of government whom you more or less con- sciously strive to emulate ? Yes, 66. No, 3. If so, give such as follows : No. of teachers. No of models found in the a. Women, 73. r Grades, 30. b. Men, 124. Kind of J Normal 53. School I High School, 25. ^College, 52. c. Add any whom you hold in mind as models in some one subject or in government alone as follows : No. of models found in Govern- ,- Grades, 30. No. of teachers. Subject ment. Kind of J Normal, 50, a. Women, 59 37 school j High School, 18. b. Men. 87 65 I College, 48. 6. Did those teachers whom you hold as models differ from your other teachers in academic or professional acquire- ments ? Yes, 29. No, 18. 7. Did they require more or less response from you as a student than other teachers ? More, 45. Less, 16. 8. Were they more or less exacting in their requirements of you than the other teachers ? a. In the assigned work. More, 44. 56 IMITA TION IN ED UCA TION [56 About same or less, 12. b. In conduct or deportment. More, 36. About same or less, 15. 9. In the following list check all those things you are aware of imitating in your past teachers; use figures — 1, 2, 3 — to indicate something of the relative degree : No. No. No. No. Ans. Points Ans. Points. a. Assigning les- j. Calm demeanor 37 73 33 62 k. Emotional de- b. Reviewing work 33 68 meanor . . . 11 22 c. Questioning pu- /. Petulancy . . . 6 IO 48 109 n. Sarcasm . . . 18 38 d. Work at black- 0. Scolding . . . 12 18 board .... 37 75 Commending . . 33 65 e. Using apparatus . 11 15 /. Manifested sym- f. Beginning a sub- pathy .... 30 56 29 58 q. Placing emphasis g- Movements about on given points room .... 22 44 of subject matter 40 91 h. Gestures . . . 8 9 i. Facial expression 11 15 10. In teaching the different subjects, as spelling, reading, history, etc., do you find you tend to imitate more in some than in' others ? If so, name the, say five, subjects of most marked imitation in a decreasing series. Answers varied too much to admit of any statement in brief form. 11. Have you had any teachers considered good by you, whom you do not imitate? Yes, 46, No, 14. 12. Representing all your imitative tendency by 100, mark 57] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITATION 57 the per cent, of your imitation of the following types of teachers, so that the sum of per cents, will equal 100: a. Teachers of intellectual temperament, 64 Ans. Av. 38 per. cent. b. Teachers of emotional temperament, 64 Ans. Av. 19 per cent. c. Teachers of strong will, 64 Ans. Av. 43 per cent. 13. As in question 12, mark the amounts of your tendencies to imitate : a. Your past teachers, 65 Ans. 49 per cent. Av. b. Model or other school work seen, 65 Ans. 51 per cent. Av. (13) Classified : Grade Normal High & College Teachers. Teachers. Teachers. 21 Ans. 32 Ans. 12 Ans. a. 40 per cent. 63 per cent. 46 per cent. b. 60 per cent. 37 per cent. 54 per cent. 14. Again, as in question 12, mark, as accurately as you can, the percentage of your professional acquirements from the fol- lowing sources : An estimate of 41 Answers of 25 teach- teachers who had ers who had train- no practice ing class work as school work. pupil teachers. a. Imitation of past teachers . . 25 per cent. 21 per cent. b. Imitation of school work seen, 22 " 23 " c. Theory and practice of educa- tion studies 20 " 20 " d. Practice school or class work done 33 " 36 " A few suggestions here may assist in getting the import of the questions and the significance of the answers. The pur- pose of question (2) was to find about what ratio the number of teachers in (c) and (d ) bears to the number in (a) and (b), and to find in what kind of schools these good or poor teach- ers are most abundant. It will be found that this ratio is ^ 5 8 I Ml TA TION IN ED UCA TION [58 nearly ; or the ratio of indifferent and poor teachers to the whole number of teachers is ^ nearly. This means inefficient teachers about 2 days per week during the school life of the pupils, or about 4 months in the year. The classification of teachers according to schools is not complete. Many answers could not be tabulated. Only those are given about which I could be sure. However, I do not think this affects the con- clusions that may be drawn. If we compare the kinds of schools, we find the schools rank in efficiency in this order : normal first, college second, grades third, high schools fourth. The normal ranks high above any other; the grades and high school rank very low, with little difference in favor of the former. The fifth question is probably the most valuable one in the list and the answers are most significant. It contributes the most reliable data for our subject. It gives actual facts and, it must be noted, it presents but the minimum. All unconscious imitation and all those undesirable models, of which we found so many in question (2) and which we find ourselves imitating in spite of our efforts not to do so, must be added to get the sum total. It is very difficult to get a just notion of the bad models imitated. In question (9), (k), (I), (m), and («) were introduced for this purpose. Most teachers would not care to put themselves on record in this matter. There were not many teachers to whom I could explain that an answer to one of these meant simply that they found themselves doing such things in imitation in spite of their desire not to imitate. Since most answers that I received to these four points came from the teachers to whom this explanation was made, I am led to believe that the actual facts would give a much larger number of answers and counts to these points, if the explanation had been given to all the teachers. In this question (9), the figures in the first columns represent the number of teachers who checked the respective points as imitated by themselves ; the figures in the second columns give the sums of the counts — 1, eg] SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITA TION jg 2, 3 — as the points were checked. These points were asked for not so much for the value of the subject matter obtained as to get some real data to show that imitation does exist on a large scale. However, these answers do indicate much besides this. They show that intellectual and moral characteristics of teachers are imitated as well as the more mechanical, that any phase of the teacher's acquired outfit may come through imi- tation. The answers to question (il) are of value. However, the value rests upon supposition. This hypothesis, that every good teacher will be imitated, is supported by abundant evi- dence throughout this paper. There is much evidence to show that a good model is always imitated and a bad model often imitated. If we take this view, the answers in this question in- dicate that the unconscious imitation, that should be added to the conscious imitation in question (5), is a large factor. And if to the unconscious imitation of good models, the conscious and unconscious imitation of bad models be added, we have a just estimate of the entire influence of imitation in the training of teachers. In questions (13) and (14), we have the four points to be considered in the training of teachers. In question (13), the answers of 65 teachers are given with the average per cent, for each point. The answers are also given according to the kind of teachers giving them. I am of opinion the results are fairly accurate, that normal teachers do imitate their former teachers more than either grade or high school and college teachers imitate theirs. Many high school and college teachers said in their answers that much of their imitation was of their associ- ates. The grade teachers have a much better opportunity, in many cases more need, to imitate work seen than normal teachers. In question (14) the purpose was to get the four points evaluated by several groups of competent teachers, that results might be compared. In the first column, the answers of 41 teachers are given in average per cents. These teachers 60 2MI7A TJON IN ED UCA TION [fo had no practice school training. Their answers are based in (d) upon what they have gained by experience in school work while teaching. The validity of these answers may be ques- tioned. This would be especially true if they stood alone, but taken with three other groups they lend much to the weight of evidence. It should be borne in mind that none of the evi- dence in this paper, or all taken together, is thought to be sufficient to demonstrate anything. The kind of truth we are here seeking cannot be demonstrated in the strict sense of the term. This paper deals with probable and not with de- monstrable evidence ; and its purpose is to try to show where the weight of evidence lies in the influence of imitation in edu- cation. In this sense, and taken with the other data given, these answers have value. In the second column are the answers of 25 teachers who have had practice school training. The evidence given in this column is for this same reason more reliable than that in the first column. It should be noticed that the average per cents do not vary much in the two columns, and where there is a difference, it is found just where reason would look for it. This fact lends weight to the whole evidence. These four points will be found in the next questionnaire, so any further consideration of them may be deferred until we have seen the results in form IV. The purpose of Questionnaire IV. was to get evidence on the influence and value of imitation in the training of teachers from those who have had much experience in training schools. The answers here represent 24 training schools, and were given by 66 critic and model school teachers, and by 22 heads of departments, such as professors of education, principals of normal schools, and principals of training and model schools. Answers from professors of education and from principals of normal schools are included in the 22 heads of departments only where such professors and principals have under their direction a model or training school. The answers in this 6n SIGNIFICANCE OF IMITATION 6 1 form are tabulated after each question as in the other forms. Most of them may be easily interpreted. QUESTIONNAIRE IV. Model School and Critic Teachers. 1. Do your pupil teachers tend to imitate the teachers who give them their academic instruction, while doing your work in the training school ? Yes, 43. No, 00. Very little, 12. 2. If you give model lessons, do they tend to imitate you ? Yes, 54. No, 00. Very little, 12. 3. Check all of those things which you have noticed your pupils imitating. a. Mannerisms 33 k. Austerity 22 b. Distribution of material .51 /. Slang 8 c. Use of devices 57 m. Gesture 20 d. Use of illustrative mater- n. Gentleness 24 ial 50 0. Polish 13 e. Dealing with disorder . . 50 p. Facial expression ... 4 f. General plan of lessons . 47 q. Add any others you g. Correction of pupils' work. 25 may have noticed. h. Artificial dignity . ... 16 Moderation 1 i. Naturalness 20 Academic method ... 1 j. Tone of voice 30 4. Do pupils who imitate more or less acquire good meth- ods of instruction and of government more or less rapidly and easily than those who do not imitate? More, 46. Less, 5. Depends on pupils, 6. These represent the average per cents, of 44 answers by critic and model teachers. 62 IMITATION IN EDUCATION [62 5. In estimating a pupil teacher, do you regard favorably or unfavorably his power of imitating? Favorably, 52. Unfavorably, 5. If not too far, 6. 6. Using 1, 2, 3 and 4 — 4 representing highest degree — mark the following points to indicate the sources of acquired skill as you see it in your pupil teachers. a. Imitation of former teachers. 17 % b. Imitation of model or other school work seen . . . 27 % c. Theory and practice studied. 22 % d. Practice school work done . 34