Class LBi£!X3__ 
 
 Book L N4- 
 
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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
STUDIES IN 
 
 PEDAGOGY 
 
 REVISED AND ENLARGED 
 
 BY 
 
 GEO. W. NEET, 
 
 PROFESSOR OF PEDAGOGY IN THE 
 VALPARAISO COLLEGE. 
 
 VALPARAISO, INDIANA 
 
 M. E. BOGARTE, PUBLISHER, 
 
 19 3. 
 

 THE LIBRARY OF 1 
 
 CONGRESS, 1 
 
 Two Copies 
 
 Receivefl 
 
 SEP 21 
 
 1903 
 
 Copyright 
 
 Entry 
 
 :?>f AA. 4 A 
 
 /^o3 
 
 cuss &y 
 
 XXc. No 
 
 rTC^fX^ \ 
 
 COPY 
 
 ,.«• 1 
 
 COPYRIGHTED 1903 
 BY GEO. W. NEET. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It is fully appreciated that there are many books 
 written during the present times for which there not 
 only is no demand, but for which there is no excuse- 
 The present little volume is not born of any desire to 
 produce a book on pedagogy better than any yet writ- 
 ten. It is, however, prompted by a desire to choose 
 from the field of pedagogical science material well 
 adapted to a special class of students, with which the 
 writer has to deal in his daily teaching. 
 
 The field of pedagogy is so large that material 
 must be selected from it for those students who are 
 just beginning the study of pedagogy. So it has been 
 the aim in this little volume to select from this broad 
 field and organize such material as is best adapted to 
 students beginning this line of work. At the same 
 time material has been selected whose study, it is 
 believed, wiU be of substantial worth to teachers in 
 giving them an insight into the nature of the teach- 
 er's profession as well as knowledge valuable for 
 guidance in teaching. While simplicity has been 
 aimed at as much as possible, no effort has been 
 made to avoid the most fundamental problems of 
 pedagogy. 
 
IV STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 This book is prepared for the special purpose of 
 use as a text-book in my own classes. Much which 
 is the result of the most recent investigations along 
 pedagogical lines is here arranged in a teachable and 
 convenient form. Thus the study is brought up to 
 date. 
 
 An effort has been made to show where the pres- 
 ent studies articulate with psychology, child-study 
 and methods. G. W. N. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 lAPTER 
 
 '• 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 
 Introduction 
 
 9. 
 
 I. 
 
 The School 
 
 - 13. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Purpose of the School 
 
 25. 
 
 III. 
 
 The Physical Nature of the Child 
 
 - 38. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Mental Nature of the Child 
 
 63. 
 
 V. 
 
 The Mental Nature of the Child 
 
 - 84. 
 
 VI. 
 
 The School Curriculum - 
 
 122. 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Teacher - 
 
 - 148. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Management of the School - 
 
 176 
 
 IX. The Process in the Teaching Act, — 
 
 Method 208. 
 
 X. The Recitation - - - - 231. 
 Index - - . . - 245. 
 
INTROD UCTION. 
 
 Pedagogy/. — This term is sometimes thought to^ 
 name some particular school subject, the study of 
 which will enable those who wish to teach school to 
 do their work better than they could do it without 
 such study. It is thought by some who have not 
 been special students of it to name a subject as 
 definite, with regard to the truth it teaches, as 
 grammar, geometry, or physiology. Such, however, 
 is a wrong notion of the meaning of the term, peda- 
 gogy, as well as a wrong idea of the nature of the 
 subject, pedagogy. Pedagogy is a term which names 
 a group of subjects that have to do with both the 
 science and art of education, and is not correctly to 
 be thought as naming any one particular subject. 
 
 The term, pedagogy, is from the Latin term, pced- 
 agogus, which means a boy-leader or a child-leader. 
 Thus from its literal meaning pedagogy should be 
 something which has to do with leading children from 
 a condition in which their unpreparedness for living 
 is the greatest to one in which they live intensive and 
 fruitful lives. And this is the correct use of the term, 
 for it indicates the nature of the subject. Used in 
 this sense pedagogy names a group of subjects which 
 are called professional subjects. That is to say, they 
 
:X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tire subjects which the teacher should study with the 
 special view of becoming more skillful in the art of 
 teaching. Pedagogy thus embraces the group of 
 professional subjects, psychology^ child-study, or paid- 
 ology, methods, history of education, and philosophy of 
 education. 
 
 Guyau, a French educational writer of note de- 
 :fines pedagogy as follows: "Pedagogy might be 
 defined as the art of adapting new generations to 
 those conditions of life which are the most intensive 
 and fruitful for the Individual and the species." 
 This definition emphasizes the art side of pedagogy, 
 but it also has an important science aspect. 
 
 It thus appears that two views of pedagogy may 
 be found in the minds of teachers, as follows: 
 
 1. The view that pedagogy is a definite subject, 
 such as history, etc. This view is not the correct 
 one. 
 
 2. The view that pedagogy is a group of sub- 
 jects — the professional subjects for the teacher. 
 
 Paraphrasing Guyau 's definition and adding a 
 little to it, we have the following definition for peda- 
 gogy: Pedagogy is the science and the art of adapting 
 new generations to those conditions of life most intensive 
 and fruitful to the individual and the race. 
 
 It will thus appear that the field of study in 
 pedagogy which offers itself to teachers is a broad 
 one, and one from which material especially suited 
 must be chosen. It further appears that to become 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 to any great extent proficient in the pursuit of peda- 
 gogy will require considerable time. Educational 
 ideas have grown till it is no longer believed that one 
 can become proficient in pedagogy by studying it for 
 one or two school terms. This becomes evident 
 when one thinks that to know pedagogy to any great 
 extent is to know psychology, child-study, methodol- 
 ogy, history of education, and philosophy of educa- 
 tion. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SCHOOL. 
 
 The Beginning Point. — Prom the teacher's point 
 of view all study of pedagogy centers around and is 
 connected with the school. The term, -pedagogy^ is 
 so closely connected with the school, and they have 
 been associated together to such an extent that this 
 term always suggests the school in some of its 
 various aspects. For this reason pedagogy has 
 come to be regarded a strictly professional line of 
 work, and a more or less extended study of it is the 
 teacher's distinctly prof essional preparation. So, as 
 a starting place in the study of pedagogy, it seems 
 eminently fitting to begin with the study of the 
 school as a ivhole, since it is the institution in which 
 the learner and the teacher meet in the educating 
 process. 
 
 The Nature of the School. — Among the ancients 
 the school was a place of leisure, but it can scarcely 
 be called such now. In its development it has be- 
 come one of the fundamental organizations of society. 
 The school is thus an organization, but it gives little 
 or no help to know this unless the idea of an organi- 
 zation is well understood. 
 
14 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 The study of the human body as a type of an 
 organization will reveal pretty well the thought 
 sought for here. A somewhat careful study will 
 show that the following points are to be found in the 
 human body as an example of an organization: 
 
 1. A complex whole. 
 
 2. Individual parts. 
 
 3. The harmonious working relation of the 
 parts. 
 
 4. A common purpose for which all the parts 
 work. 
 
 5. Self -activity and self -adjustment of the 
 whole and the parts. 
 
 The body as one thing is a complex whole, since 
 it may be analyzed into parts some of which are of 
 more importance than others. The individual parts 
 in this case are the organs of the body — the hands, 
 the feet, the skin, the heart, the stomach, etc. They 
 are individual parts because each one has some 
 marks about it which distinguish it from everything 
 else. All these organs work so as to help onean- 
 other. Thus the hands help to care for the feet; the 
 feet help to carry the hands from place to place; 
 the feet and hands help to secure food to nourish the 
 skin, heart, and stomach as well as themselves; the 
 stomach helps to digest the food, and the heart pumps 
 the blood enriched by the digested food to all parts of 
 the body. All these parts do their work in such a 
 way that, while each one does its own particular 
 
THE SCHOOL. 15^ 
 
 work well, it in no way hinders any other part but 
 also facilitates its work. If any part should work 
 against another for a time, the organization would be- 
 come impaired; if continued, the organization would 
 be destroyed by breaking down the unity of its parts. 
 The common end for which all the parts here work ia 
 the maintenance of the body as a whole, which is also- 
 the maintenance of the life of each part. The human 
 body is self-adjusting in that, when out of order, it 
 tends to adjust itself, and in most cases actually does 
 so. It is self-active in that it has the power of 
 originating its own activities — of causing itself to 
 act. The analysis of the human body as an example 
 of an organization reveals the essential ideas of any 
 organization as we wish in our work to think it. 
 
 Then, when we say the school is an organization,. 
 we say it is a collection of individual parts, self-ad- 
 justing and self-acting, working harmoniously to- 
 gether for one common purpose. Thus the pupils, 
 the teacher, the school curriculum, the school 
 officers, the patrons, etc., are the individual parts; and 
 the common purpose toward which they are harmo- 
 niously working is the education of the learner 
 physically, intellectually, cesthetically, socially, morally^ 
 and religiously. 
 
 The school, the church, the family, the state, and 
 business society are organizations which are called the 
 institutions of civilized life. These five institutions^ 
 are the lines along which civilization has grown. 
 
16 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 A further study of the institution, the school, 
 leads into a discussion of the origin of the institu- 
 tions, and particularly the origin of the school. 
 
 Origin of the School. — The school had its origin in 
 the differentiation of institutions. But this statement 
 gives no help unless the meaning of differentiation is 
 well understood. Differentiation has been called the 
 law of all progress. That is to say, progress con- 
 sists in the division of structure or of labor or of 
 both, and when there is no differentiation of these 
 there is no progress. 
 
 Differentiation may be defined as a differencing, 
 or division, of structure or labor to the end of more 
 efficient work. 
 
 Illustration. — The lowest forms of life are small 
 animals and plants each consisting of but one small 
 cell of protoplasm which does in a way the work that 
 all the organs of higher living forms do for them. 
 Thus this one cell performs all the functions of di- 
 gestion, circulation, assimilation, muscular action, 
 -etc., that are performed by the organs of higher 
 forms of life. In these little living beings there is 
 almost no differentiation of structure or function. 
 But a little higher form of plant or animal life has 
 many cells, some rudimentary digestive organs, 
 and circulatory organs; and also rudimentary 
 nervous, muscular, and supporting systems. The 
 higher up in the scale of plant or animal life the 
 being is, the more definite are the separate organs, 
 
THE SCHOOL. 17 
 
 and the more is their labor divided. For instance 
 the robin or the geranium each has a definite set of 
 organs for the performance of a definite set of 
 functions. That is to say, they have a high degree 
 of differentiation, while the one celled forms have 
 none or nearly none. This means progress; for when 
 an organ has but one kind of work to do, it can do 
 that better than it can do many kinds of work. This 
 is true because there is more time and energy to be 
 spent upon this particular work. 
 
 Differentiation of Institutions. — There was a time 
 in primitive society during the childhood of the race 
 when only one of these fundamental institutions of 
 civilization was in existence. This institution was 
 the family. It then had much work to do. It had to 
 protect the children from enemies, both wild beasts 
 and men, to furnish food, clothing and shelter. It 
 had to educate the children in so far as they were 
 educated; to furnish religious services, and provide 
 means of enjoyment for leisure hours. With these 
 manifold duties to perform the family could not be 
 expected to do any of them very well, and we know 
 that they were not well done. The protection fur- 
 nished was poor; the food, clothing, and shelter were 
 poor; the religion was crude and frequently degrad- 
 ing; the right education of the children could not be 
 given, and the pleasures were gross and debasing. 
 It could be no other way under such conditions. 
 
 That there was first a felt -need for the organl- 
 
18 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 zation, the churchy after the family may seem strange, 
 but history shows it is the truth. And when there is 
 a strong felt-need for any thing, the thing is thus 
 produced which will satisfy the need. Thus the 
 second institution of society which came into exist- 
 ence was the church as a product differentiated from 
 the family. To say that the church had its origin in 
 the thought that it as an institution could furnish 
 gratification for man's religious impulses better than, 
 the family could is a true statement. If such had 
 not been the case, the church would have had no 
 reason for coming into existence. 
 
 The next institution to differentiate was doubt- 
 less the school. It grew out of the thought that it as 
 an institution could educate the children better than 
 could be done by the family or the church, or by 
 both. So the school had its origin in the thought that 
 it as an institution could do the work of educating the 
 children better than any other institution in existence. 
 
 This is the thought that created it, and it is the 
 sole purpose of the school to realize this thought; for 
 it is the function of everything to realize the idea that 
 created it, and the school accords to this law. 
 
 Illustration. — It may be truly said that the idea 
 which created the cotton-gin was the idea of some 
 machine to separate the fiber of the cotton from the 
 seed. And it is the purpose, or function, of the cot- 
 ton-gin to realize this idea; that is, to do the work of 
 separating the fiber of the cotton from the seed. 
 
THE SCHOOL. 19 
 
 This we know it does well, and its doing this well is 
 what has kept the cotton-gin in existence. 
 
 The origin of the state, and business life may be 
 accounted for in the same way as the origin of the 
 school; that is, they arose in the process of differ- 
 entiation of the institutions. It is, however, our 
 purpose here to study the origin of the school only. 
 
 Differentiation in the School. — The first school was, 
 doubtless, a very simple and primitive affair. It 
 probably consisted of a few students congregated 
 under the shade of some friendly tree to receive in- 
 struction from one who occupied the place of 
 teacher. Within the memory of men now living the 
 school was very simple. The house was a log cabin 
 containing almost no furniture; the curriculum was 
 reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic. The 
 country school was Primary school, High school, 
 Academy, Normal school. Technical school. College,, 
 and University. But from this simple beginning by 
 differentiation our schools have become quite complex 
 and elaborate. There has been differentiation at any 
 rate along four lines as follows: 
 
 1. In the school as a whole. 
 
 2. In the work of the teacher. 
 
 3. In the curriculum. 
 
 4. In the grading. 
 
 Once there was nothing but the primary schools, 
 but now there are Primary schools. High schools, 
 Technical schools, Colleges, and Universities, each 
 
f20 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 with its own special work to do. Once a teacher 
 ? taught everything in the school course, but now in 
 ; many places there is a special teacher for each sub- 
 . ject. The curriculum once consisting of only reading, 
 writing, spelling, and arithmetic is now changed by 
 '-differentiation to one consisting of the following 
 .groups: 1. The language group. 2. The science 
 group. 3. The history group. 4. The mathe- 
 matical group. 5. The art group. Now the curriculum 
 is quite complex and extensive. And lastly differen- 
 tiation has brought about grading in our schools. 
 The teacher in the first schools taught all grades, 
 .while the tendency is now towards but one or two 
 I grades for a teacher. 
 
 This differentiation in all lines of school work 
 
 : means progress. It means a saving of time and 
 
 < energy. Division of labor, or differentiation, in the 
 
 ; school means progress just as truly as it means 
 
 progress in any kind of life. 
 
 . Illustration. — Suppose the farmer, in addition to 
 ; producing products of the farm, had to make his own 
 machinery, grind his wheat and corn for flour and 
 meal, tan the skins and make his boots and shoes, 
 do his own carpenter work, saw his lumber, produce 
 • <5otton, wool, and flax, weave them into cloth for cloth- 
 ing, be his own doctor, dentist, lawyer, teacher, and 
 preacher, none of these lines of work could be so well 
 done as they now are when this labor is divided 
 Tup among many persons. Time and energy would 
 
THE SCHOOL. 21 
 
 be lacking the farmer to do so many kinds of work 
 well. Also, there is not only more energy to put on 
 any one kind of work when labor is differentiated, 
 but any one doing just one or two lines of work be- 
 comes more skillful than he could become when doing 
 many lines of work, and, thus, will do his work much 
 better. 
 
 The origin of the school thus being seen in the 
 study of the differentiation of institutions, the next 
 topic to invite study is the elements of the school. 
 
 The Elements of the School. — It has been seen that 
 the school is a complex whole; that is a whole made 
 up of many parts, or elements, some of which are of 
 less importance than others. These elements may 
 be divided into two classes, and these classes may 
 appropriately be called: 
 
 1. The necessary elements. 
 
 2. The supplementary elements. 
 
 The necessary elements are those without which 
 the school can not exist. The school is wholly for the 
 learner, and without the learner there can be no school. 
 So the learner is the first and most important of the 
 necessary element^^ of the school. The learner 
 makes necessary a teacher. While a school can not 
 exist without the learner, no more can it exist with- 
 out the teacher. The school finds the thought that 
 created it in the process of fulfillment in the teaching 
 act, but to have the teaching act requires a teacher. 
 So the teacher is the second one of the necessary 
 
^2 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 elements of the school. While the life of the learner 
 is the thing to be developed always in teaching, it 
 can not be developed without some subject or sub- 
 jects for it to exercise upon. So a third element, the 
 subjects of the school course, is also an absolute 
 necessity. The term used to designate the school 
 subjects,~reading, writing, spelling, geography, 
 history, etc., — taken as a whole, is the school curricu- 
 lum. With these three elements, the learner^ the 
 teacher^ and the curriculum^ a school may exist, but 
 take away any one or more of them and the school can 
 not exist. 
 
 Every school possesses other elements, which con- 
 tribute to the efficiency of the work the school has to 
 do, but which are not absolutely necessary to the 
 existence of the school. These are the elements 
 which have been called the supplementary elements of 
 the school. They are the school officials^ the parents^ 
 and the material equipments. The school officers are 
 the directors, trustees, members of the school 
 boards, superintendents of county, city, and state, 
 the commissioner of education, and, in a sense, the 
 legislators, governors, and the president of the 
 country. The material equipments are school houses, 
 school furniture, laboratories, library, apparatus, and 
 school premises. 
 
 Both of these classes of elements may exist, how- 
 ever, and there still be no school. In order that 
 there may be a school these elements, whether 
 
THE SCHOOL. 23 
 
 necessary or supplementary, few or many, must be 
 organized, that is they must work in harmony with the 
 law of the organization. This law is the law of unity. 
 In order to understand this truth well, two words, 
 law and unity , need special study. 
 
 Laiu. — A law is a truth which is true of a large 
 number of particular cases. Thus it is a law that 
 plants require sunshine, moisture, and air for their 
 growth. This is a truth which is true of a large 
 number of particular plants, and these plants are the 
 particular cases. Again it is a law that all material 
 objects are drawn toward the center of 'the earth. 
 This is a truth which is true of all material objects, 
 and these objects are the particular cases. 
 
 Urdty. — Unity as used here means oneness in 
 thought, purpose, and effort. It means harmony in 
 work and means. It is the harmonious working rela- 
 tion in the organization. Thus there is unity between 
 the student and the teacher when they are both 
 working with the same thought in mind to accomplish 
 the same end by the use of harmonious means. 
 There is unity between parent and teacher when they 
 are agreed as to the end to be attained in school work, 
 and are also agreed on the means and are working to 
 reach the desired end. 
 
 The law of unity is the fundamental law of the 
 school. This appears from the fact that when all 
 the elements of the school are examined at the time 
 at which the school is doing its best work, it is found 
 
24 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 that it is when there is most unity; also, it is found 
 that when the school is doing its poorest work, is 
 when there is least unity. With the law of unity 
 intact the school moves forward without a jar toward 
 the accomplishment of its work — the education of the 
 pupil. When the law is broken there always results 
 discord and friction. Any one connected with the 
 school, the teacher, the parent, the school officers, or 
 the student may break the law of the school — the law 
 of unity. When any one does so, he breaks a rule 
 of the school, since the rules of the school are but 
 different aspects of the law of unity. And he who 
 breaks the law of unity in the school either intention- 
 ally or unintentionally has committed an educational 
 sin. 
 
 Further Material for Study. — After studying the 
 school as an institution of civilization, there remain 
 to be studied the purpose, or aim, of the school; the 
 necessary elements of the school; school management, 
 the recitation^ etc. These will be studied in succeed- 
 ing chapters. 
 
 The purpose of the school is one with the end, or 
 aim, of education; so a study of this leads to a study 
 of the nature and purpose of education. 
 
 The nature and purpose of education will constitute 
 the subject-matter of study in the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PURPOSE OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 The Problem. — The purpose of the school is to^ 
 educate the pupil. But what does it mean to educate 
 the pupil? What sort of condition is the pupil to be 
 in when he is educated? What is the meaning of 
 what is called an education? These are some of the 
 questions which suggest themselves at the outset of 
 the study. The real problem is, What is the purpose 
 of the school? and, since the purpose of the school is 
 the same as the purpose of education, the problem 
 is, What is the end to be reached in the educating 
 process? That is to say, the question to be answered 
 is, What is the aim, or purpose, of education? 
 
 The Problem Ansioered. — There is scarcely an 
 educational writer of note to be found who has not- 
 dealt with this problem and who has not answered 
 it in some way. This fact, that educators every- 
 where have been thinking and writing upon this 
 question, is evidence of the importance which school 
 men think it to possess. 
 
 It will prove helpful to study some of the 
 answers to this very important question. 
 
 Complete Living. — Mr. Herbert Spencer, doubt- 
 less the greatest living thinker, says the purpose of 
 
'26 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 ^education is complete living. This when analyzed 
 means: 
 
 1. Treating the body right. 
 
 2. Treating the mind right. 
 
 3. Managing one's affairs right. 
 
 4. Rearing a family right. 
 
 8. Behaving right as a citizen. 
 
 6. Spending one's leisure time right. 
 
 This seems a broad and comprehensive view of 
 the purpose of education. There is no kind of hu- 
 man activity that this view of the aim of education 
 does not touch. Granting that this is the true aim 
 of education, then instruction in our schools, if in 
 harmony with this aim, must give the pupil knowl- 
 edge which will furnish guidance in these six kinds 
 of activities. There must be knowledge gained 
 which will furnish guidance in treating the body right; 
 in treating the mind right; in managing one^s affairs 
 right; in rearing a family right; in behaving right as a 
 <iitizen; in spending one^s leisure time right. 
 
 The schools in their present condition fall far 
 short of realizing this comprehensive aim. There is 
 scarcely anything in many of our school courses that 
 lias as its specific aim to furnish knowledge which 
 gives guidance in treating the mind right. The 
 school curriculum is also almost entirely devoid of 
 work which gives knowledge to furnish guidance in 
 rearing a family. Doubtless much in the average 
 .school course has such a remote connection with 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE SCHOOL. 27 
 
 knowledge that gives guidance in any of these six lines 
 of human activities indicated, that the time spent upon 
 it could be spent much more profitably some other 
 way. That is to say, in the light of the above indi- 
 cated purpose, the school curriculum is inadequate to 
 a high degree. This point will be studied at length, 
 however, in Chapter VI. under the head of The 
 School Curriculum. 
 
 Rational Freedom. — Dr. Arnold Tompkins says 
 that the aim of education is rational freedom. And 
 by rational freedom is meant the power to choose and 
 live in the highest good. This means the power to 
 choose and do that which will in every instance lift 
 one to a higher plane of life as opposed to doing as 
 one pleases regardless of the effect it has upon his 
 own life and the lives of his f ellowmen. Some fancy 
 their freedom taken away from them when they are 
 prohibited from doing those things which by degrees 
 bring upon them habits constantly degrading to 
 their lives. In such cases it is not rational freedom 
 that is taken away; in fact, it is not freedom at all, 
 but the opportunity of placing themselves in bondage 
 which is restricted. 
 
 Illustration. — A man claims freedom gives him 
 the right to partake of intoxicants to the extent that 
 lie becomes drunken. He objects, if one says the 
 law against drunkenness should be enforced, and 
 says his freedom is restricted. It seems evident 
 iihat the restriction is not upon his freedom, but that 
 
28 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 the license to make a slave of himself is the thing- 
 upon which the restriction falls. If he were free, he 
 would know the evil of intemperance, he would choose 
 to be temperate, and would have the force of character 
 to realize his choice. 
 
 Thus, since rational freedom means the power to 
 choose and live in the highest good, it means the 
 same thing as complete living. 
 
 Strong Moral Character. — Dr. Charles A. McMurry 
 discusses the question. What is the main aim of 
 education? in his work on "General Method," and 
 comes to the conclusion that it is strong moral char- 
 acter. Some have objected to strong moral character 
 as the main aim of education on the ground that it 
 slights the value of knowledge in education. The ob- 
 jection, however, does not seem to be a good one. In 
 order to have strong moral character one must have 
 knowledge sufficient to enable him to know to a high 
 degree the right and wrong in human activity. One 
 is not likely as a rule to do better than he knows. He 
 may do so, however, by accident, but to be able to act 
 right, presupposes the development of the thinking 
 and knowing powers to the extent that judgments of 
 right and wrong may be formed. So to say that 
 strong moral character is the main aim of education 
 does not mean that knowledge getting and the ability 
 to think are to be slighted at all. On the other hand, 
 it does mean that one must possess a store of useful 
 knowledge and the power of ready, accurate thought, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE SCHOOL. 29 
 
 but it further means that this power must be regu- 
 lated and directed to righteous ends. 
 
 To say that a man always has good motives is not 
 equivalent to saying that a man has a strong moral 
 character. The Fijian considers murder an action of 
 the highest honor, and feels that his life has been 
 more or less a failure till he has killed some one. 
 Although some would say the act of killing on 
 the part of the Fijian is a moral act because the motive 
 is good to the Fijian, none probably, would say the 
 act is the result of strong moral character. Similarly, 
 the Turcoman regards theft as meritorious, as shown 
 by the fact that he makes pilgrimages to the tombs 
 of noted robbers to make offerings to their departed 
 spirits. In the same manner the Egyptian thinks it 
 praiseworthy to lie without any further object than 
 that he may become skillful in the art of lying. Ac- 
 cording to a class of thinkers on moral questions these 
 acts, murder, theft, and lying, are moral acts since the 
 agent performs them with what he considers a good 
 motive. However, the common sense of any school 
 boy tells him that these acts do not grow out of strong 
 moral character. 
 
 A person to have strong moral character must 
 be a good thinker] a lover of truth, beauty, and goodness-, 
 and must have well formed habits to the end of acting 
 truthfully, beautifully, and righteously. 
 
 Wise and Virtuous Men and Women. — Another way 
 of stating the purpose of education which means 
 
30 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 substantially the same as the purpose stated 
 above is to say the purpose of education is to make 
 wise and virtuous men and ivomen. Wisdom consists 
 in knowing what is the best thing to be done next 
 under any set of circumstances, and virtue consists in 
 doing it. Thus a man or woman is wise just to the 
 degree that he or she knows what is best to do next, 
 and virtuous just to the degree that he or she does it. 
 
 Harmony of the Four Vieius. — Complete living, 
 rational freedom,, strong moral character, and tuisdom 
 and virtue as the purpose of education all mean in 
 substance the same thing. Each one emphasizes 
 the truth that it is the function of education to 
 make worthy, honorable men and women of unsullied 
 integrity and virtue. 
 
 Importance of the Bight View. — Purpose is begin- 
 ning and end in every kind of process. Purpose as 
 mere idea is the beginning, and it moves forward 
 guiding the process to its realization, the end. Thus 
 it determines the end .reached and the character of 
 the process in reaching the end. It also determines 
 the means used in carrying on the process. 
 
 Illustration. — A man wishes to beautify his 
 lawn, the purpose, which exists only as an idea. But 
 it is the beginning of the process of making the 
 lawn beautiful. He sets out shrubbery, makes flower 
 beds and plants flowers, plans walks orderly ar- 
 ranged, and constructs a fountain in some suitable 
 place. All this constitutes the process, which the 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE SCHOOL. 31. 
 
 purpose guides. In the light of the purpose 
 the work must be neatly, orderly, and artistically'- 
 done, or the beauty will be marred. The purpose^ 
 also determines the kind of shrubbery, flowers, 
 walks, and fountain selected; that is, the means. Ail 
 this work well done, the lawn is beautiful, which is:. 
 the realization of the purpose. Thus the purpose- 
 was beginning as idea, and end as its realization. 
 
 From the foregoing the importance of having the 
 right purpose of education fixed in the mind of each 
 student and teacher may be seen. It will determine:. 
 
 1. The chararacter of the educational process^ 
 
 2. The means used in the educational process.. 
 
 3. The end reached by the educational process. 
 Of all the educational questions which enlist the 
 
 intellect and appeal to the interests of the people, no- 
 other is more important than this; no other is more 
 vital and determining in its effects; no other is more 
 far-reaching in its influence. Upon the appreciation, 
 of its importance, its correct solution, the faith in it, 
 and the force of it in the form of living- 
 principles in the lives of students and teachers de- 
 pend not only the success and happiness of individ- 
 uals, but even the perpetuity of national life. 
 
 Man\s Aim in Life. — In general it may be said, 
 that man aims at two things in life: 
 
 1. "Animal happiness. " 
 
 2. "Spiritual worthiness." 
 
 Animal happiness means a condition in life 
 
32 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Tesulting from the satisfying of one's physical needs. 
 It means the possession of the material things of life 
 to the extent that one may have an adequate supply 
 of food, clothing, and shelter for himself and family. 
 It is somewhat relative, meaning different things to 
 different people, but in all cases it refers to the 
 possession of money, property, etc., to the end of 
 bodily comfort. It is the practical set over against 
 culture; the physical set over against the spiritual. 
 
 Spiritual worthiness means all that has been 
 discussed under moral character, rational freedom, 
 wisdom and virtue, and complete living from the 
 spiritual side. 
 
 Relation of These Aims. — These aims are both 
 worthy ones, but which one holds the dominant place 
 in the consciousness and affections of an individual 
 makes a mighty difference in his life. It will change 
 the whole current of his character and actions. If 
 one subordinates spiritual worthiness to animal 
 happiness, he subordinates the higher to the lower, 
 the animal-like to the human-like, and will be 
 governed more in his actions by the animal-like than 
 by the human-like. Thus the proper relation of 
 these aims is that spiritual worthiness must always 
 occupy the leading place in consciousness and affec- 
 tions, and if there ever be conflict between them, an- 
 imal happiness must be subordinated to spiritual 
 worthiness. One may attain to both by aiming at 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE SCHOOL. 33 
 
 the higher, but he is not hkely to attain to both, if he 
 allows his life to be dominated by the lower. 
 
 What the 3Iain Aim of Education Is Not. — The 
 predominant aim of education then is not animal 
 happiness, if it were man would be no better than 
 the lower animals in so far as his aim in life is 
 concerned. There is, nevertheless a strong and 
 wide-spread belief that the purpose of education is 
 primarily to furnish a means for obtaining a liveli- 
 hood. Evidence of this is found in the ideas of a 
 majority of the students who first enter the work in 
 our universities, normal schools, and colleges. It is 
 probably not an exaggeration to say that nine- tenths 
 of the students entering these schools hold in mind 
 as their predominant aim the money-making purpose. 
 Further evidence of this is found in the ideas that 
 parents generally have in sending their children to 
 school. It is common for parents to say, in reply to 
 the question, Why are you sending your children 
 to school? something like the following: ''I want my 
 child to be educated that he may not have so hard a 
 time in life as I have had. " 
 
 What the Primary Aim of Education Is. — The 
 primary aim of education is strong moral character. 
 In our civilization there is a need for strong moral 
 character above all other things. There can be no 
 doubt of a need for a better manhood and woman- 
 hood among the masses of our people, when the 
 following sad truths are so evident: 
 
34 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 1. Ignorance, vice, and poverty go hand in hand 
 with human misery. 
 
 2. There is scarcely a court in the land in which 
 one can feel absolutely sure of justice. 
 
 3. No attempt is made to conceal the fact that 
 to corrupt the right of suffi'age is regarded as fair 
 play. 
 
 4. So many men in the common affairs of life 
 will not deal honestly with one another. 
 
 5. Legislators are susceptible to the influence 
 of lobbyists and bribery. 
 
 6. Men have not the moral courage to crush 
 out of existence the curse of intemperance, which fills 
 the jails, penitentiaries, and alms houses, and causes 
 the premature death of eighty thousand citizens 
 3^early in our country, which causes the loss of 
 fortunes, and makes homes desolate. 
 
 One can assert without fear of exaggeration that 
 the most pressing need of the nation, and humanity 
 is a better type of moral manhood and woman- 
 hood. John G. Holland's "Prayer of the Nation" is 
 as true now as it ever was. He says: 
 
 "God give us men! A time like this demands 
 Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands, 
 Men whom the lust of office does not kill; 
 Men whom the spoils of office can not buy. 
 Men who possess opinions and a will; 
 Men who have honor and will not lie; 
 Men who can stand before a demagogue 
 And scorn his treacherous flattery without winking, 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE SCHOOL. 35 
 
 Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog- 
 In public duty and private thinking." 
 
 Hints from Nature. — Education as a process is 
 living rather than mere preparation for living, and 
 human life will of necessity in the process of educa- 
 tion conform with the unfolding of life wherever 
 found. Then when the universal laiv of the unfolding 
 life process has been found out, the real purpose of 
 education has been discovered. This is always an 
 upward striving to accomplish the end prompted by 
 inherent self -urgency. Thus the acorn develops into 
 the very best oak tree possible under the circum- 
 stances, true to the self-urgency inherently in it. 
 The grain of corn grows into the mature stalk and 
 ear, also true to the self-urgency in it. Everything 
 in nature has an upward tendency because of the 
 self- urgency in it. 
 
 The poet idealizes it thus: 
 
 "Every clod feels a stir of might, 
 An instinct within it that reaches and towers. 
 And groping blindly above it for light. 
 Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers." 
 
 The animal world feels this self-urgency, content 
 to accomplish the work nature has given it to do. 
 The larva develops into the beautiful butterfly, true to 
 this principle. Within the egg is potentially the 
 songster of woodland and field, and its life consists 
 in making the potential that to which its self -urgency 
 points. 
 
36 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Tennyson idealizes it thus : 
 
 **To-day I saw a dragon-fly 
 Come from the wells v/here he did lie. 
 An inner impulse rent the veil 
 Of his old husk: from head to tail 
 Came out clear plates of sapphire mail. 
 He dried his wings: like gauze they grew: 
 Thro' crofts and pastures wet with dew 
 A living flash of light he flew. " 
 
 The human being comes into the world the most 
 in bondage to his limitations of all animals. His 
 most evident characteristic is his unpreparedness for 
 life, his inability to take care of himself. But no one 
 can tell what he will become; that is, his potential 
 freedom is greater than any one knows. It is confi- 
 dently believed that, while he is actually in bondage 
 in almost every way, he is potentially absolutely free. 
 
 Education as a process is the growth from what the 
 individual is to lohat freedom is in him potentially^ and 
 to which his self-urgency points him. And the purpose 
 of education from the hint given by nature is to make 
 of each individual the best man or woman he is 
 capable of becoming; that is, one who has the physic- 
 al, intellectual, aesthetic, social, moral, and religious 
 aspects of his life harmoniously developed to the 
 end of scrupulous honesty and integrity, strong 
 moral character, and whatever else makes the even 
 current of life run full and strong. 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE SCHOOL. 37 
 
 The poet Holmes puts the ideaUzed purpose of 
 education thus: 
 
 "Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, 
 
 As the swift seasons roll! 
 
 Leave thy low-vaulted past! 
 Let each new temple, nobler than the last, 
 Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, 
 
 Till thou at length art free. 
 Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea." 
 
 By way of emphasis it may be said that, if a man 
 is dishonest, untruthful, or immoral in any way, he 
 is not educated, though he be a Spencer in thinking 
 ability, and possesses a profound knowledge of all 
 the arts and sciences known to man. 
 
 It has been seen that the necessary elements of 
 the school are the learner, the teacher, and the school 
 curriculum. 
 
 The learner presents himself to us for study as; 
 to (1) his physical nature, and (2) his spiritual nature. 
 
 Our study in the next chapter will deal with the 
 physical nature of the learner. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE PHYSICAL NATURE OP THE CHILD. 
 
 Importance of Its Study. — Few people are to be 
 found who have reached middle or later life and who 
 are not afflicted with some sort of disease which 
 more or less all the time is a handicap to them in 
 their pursuit of success and happiness. Together 
 with catarrh, rheumatism, etc., more than ninety- 
 men and women in a hundred are thus afflicted. In 
 fact, it is extremely difficult to find a person who is 
 habitually perfectly well. This fact, that so few men 
 and women are to be found who in middle or later 
 life are thoroughly well is evidence of the need of a 
 better understanding of the laws of life by parents, 
 teachers, and all other persons. This knowledge is 
 needed by each one that he may guard his own health 
 and the health of those intrusted to his care. 
 
 The Misfortune of Bad Health. — No greater mis- 
 fortune can come to one than to be afflicted with bad 
 health. This truth is evident from the following 
 facts: 
 
 1. Bad health causes natural pain, weariness, 
 gloom, and the loss of time, and money. 
 
 2. It hinders the performance of all duties. 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OP THE CHILD. 39 
 
 often makes business impossible, and always makes 
 it much more difficult. 
 
 3. It produces an irritability fatal to the right 
 management of children, makes one's duties in the 
 social institutions impossible, and the spending of 
 one's leisure time a misery. 
 
 "To all of which add the fact, that life, besides 
 being thus immensely deteriorated, is also cut short. 
 It is not true, as we commonly suppose, that a dis- 
 order or a disease from which we have recovered 
 leaves us as before. No disturbance of the normal 
 course of the functions can pass away and leave 
 things exactly as they were. In all cases a per- 
 manent damage is done, not immediately appre- 
 ciable, it may be, but still there; and along with other 
 such items which Nature in her strict account keep- 
 ing never drops; will tell against us to the inevitable 
 shortening of our days. Through the accumulation 
 of small injuries it is that constitutions are commonly 
 undermined, and break down long before their time. 
 And if we call to mind how far the average duration 
 of life falls below the possible duration, we see how 
 immense is the loss. When to the numerous partial 
 deductions which bad health entails, we add this 
 great final deduction, it results that ordinarily more 
 than one-half of life is thrown away. ' ' 
 
 Three potent factors which have to do with the 
 health of all persons and with the health of children 
 in particular are food^ clothing^ and shelter. 
 
40 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Food. — It is well known that there is a thought 
 current in the minds of some people to the effect that 
 the child should not be allowed to eat animal food. 
 It is thought by many people that a strictly vegetable 
 diet is the one most suitable for children; they have 
 joined in with this belief without thinking very much 
 whether it is true or not, or if true, why it is true. 
 Some believe this so strongly that they will permit 
 their children to have little or no meat to eat, while 
 many who eat meat themselves and permit their 
 children to do so still believe it would be better for 
 all parties concerned, if they would not eat it. 
 
 When such questions as this come up to be 
 solved, the solution can be found by applying the 
 truths of modern science to it, in so far as it can be 
 solved at all. Accordingly the thing for the parent 
 and teacher to find out is what the truths of modern 
 science show when applied to this question. Then, 
 let us study this question in the light of the truths 
 of modern science. 
 
 Three reasons are given in support of the theory 
 that children should live on an exclusively vegetable 
 diet: 
 
 1. It is claimed that the health of the child is 
 better promoted by a vegetable dietary. 
 
 2. It is claimed that the child whose dietary is 
 vegetable has a better disposition than the one whose 
 food is mixed. 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 41 
 
 3. And lastly it is claimed that it is wrong to 
 kill animals for food. 
 
 Let us study each of these points. The main- 
 tenance of the health of the child demands food for 
 three things: 1. To make up for the waste of the 
 body. 2. To supply fuel to keep up the temperature 
 of the body. 3. To furnish material for building up 
 new tissue — for growth. These three demands may 
 be met in three ways: 1. By small quantities of 
 concentrated food. 2. By moderate quantities 
 of moderately rich food. 3. By large quantities of 
 dilute food. Small quantities of concentrated food 
 are not desirable, because it is a well known fact that 
 an effort to supply the needs of the body by too con- 
 centrated food leads to disease of the digestive 
 organs. 
 
 Large quantities of dilute food are undesirable, 
 because too great a task is imposed upon the digestive 
 organs to promote their health, and the system re- 
 quires an economy of digestion that energy may not 
 be drawn away from other work of the body to the 
 work of digestion unduly. 
 
 As a rule vegetable food is too dilute to supply 
 the needs of the body unless it is taken in too large 
 quantities for the best results to the digestive organs. 
 One of two things is likely to result: 1. There may 
 be an abnormal development in size of the digestive 
 organs. 2. Or there may result disease of the di- 
 gestive organs by overwork. 
 
42 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Thus for the purpose of keeping the digestive 
 organs healthy by giving them enough work to do 
 and yet not overworking them a diet of mixed veg- 
 etable and animal food seems the best. 
 
 The body demands three kinds of organic foods: 
 proteids, sugar s^ and/ais. The proteids are muscular 
 tissue builders and must be supplied the body to 
 enable it to maintain its strength. Meats and milk 
 are rich in proteids, but vegetables are not rich in 
 these. On the other hand few of them contain any 
 considerable quantities of proteids. Thus since the 
 body must have proteids, it seems the most natural 
 way to supply them with animal food. 
 
 Our teeth indicate that the natural food of the 
 human race is one mixed of vegetables and meats. 
 
 And lastly our first food is animal food. 
 
 From the above it is seen that the verdict of 
 science is that under natural conditions a dietary 
 mixed of vegetable food and animal food is the natural 
 one and the best one for children in order to promote 
 health. 
 
 In regard to the assertion that animal food gives 
 children bad dispositions, it is perfectly true to say 
 that this assertion has never been proven. It is a 
 mere assertion without proof. On the other hand 
 good feeding and good dispositions go together 
 throughout the whole animal world. The Esquimau 
 and the Laplander are not distinguished for their bad 
 dispositions, but for just the opposite characteristics. 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 43 
 
 They are both easy-going sort of fellows that can not 
 easily be provoked into a fight, yet they and their 
 ancestors for ages have lived almost wholly on meat. 
 
 With respect to the third reason urged, it may 
 be truly said that it is difficult to see why it is wrong 
 to kill animals for food any more than it is to kill 
 plants, or any more than it is to kill them when they 
 become pests. 
 
 The mass of scientific evidence seems to be 
 entirely against a strictly vegetable diet for children 
 and in favor of a mixed one. 
 
 Clothing. — There are some ideas in regard to 
 clothing more or less generally held which are the 
 source of evil and human misery. These ideas are 
 the following: 
 
 1. It is held that children's health may be better 
 preserved by dressing them in clothing insufficient 
 in quantity and quality and thus hardening them. 
 
 2. Fashion is given the precedence of comfort 
 in children's clothing. 
 
 The child needs clothing for three things: 1. To 
 protect him from cold. 2. To protect him from 
 heat. 3. To protect him from substances which 
 might otherwise injure him. 
 
 In the process of hardening children the first 
 purpose of clothing is violated in that the child is not 
 protected from cold. 'The common notion about 
 'hardening' children is a grievous delusion. Chil- 
 dren are not infrequently 'hardened' out of the world; 
 
44 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 and those who survive, permanently suffer either in 
 growth or constitution. " The reason for this is that 
 a constant quantity of heat is necessary to the health 
 and growth of the body. If this quantity of heat is 
 lessened for any considerable time because of a lack 
 of clothing or because of exposure, one of two things 
 will result; 
 
 1. The health will be impaired. 2. Or merely 
 retarded, or stunted, growth will result. If the con- 
 stitution is not strong enough to bear the loss of heat, 
 the result will be sickness, disease, and premature 
 death. However, if the constitution be sturdy enough 
 to bear the loss of heat, no further injury may result 
 than stunted growth. 
 
 "This truth is displayed alike in animals and 
 man. The Shetland pony bears greater inclemencies 
 than the horses of the south, but is dwarfed. High- 
 land sheep and cattle, living in a colder climate, are 
 stunted in comparison with English breeds. In both 
 the arctic and the ant-arctic regions the human race 
 falls much below its ordinary height: the Laplander 
 and Esquimau are very short; and the Terra del Fue- 
 gians, who go naked in a cold latitude, are described 
 by Darwin as so stunted and hideous, that one can 
 hardly make one's self believe that they are fellow- 
 creatures." 
 
 The only safe rule is, cMldren must wear clothes 
 sufficient in quantity and quality to protect the body 
 from any abiding sensation of cold, however slight. 
 
THE PHYSICAL. NATURE OP THE CHILD. 45 
 
 Children are also frequently required to wear 
 clothing which makes them uncomfortable in order 
 to conform to fashion; also, clothing made of such 
 unsubstantial material that their freedom of play and 
 activity is restricted that the clothing may not be 
 soiled or torn. This freedom of activity is very 
 necessary to the child's growth and development. 
 
 Prom the standpoint of the child's welfare, the 
 following rules should be strictly adhered to in 
 clothing children: 
 
 1. While clotJiing sJiould not be in excess, it should 
 always be sufftcient in quantity and quality to pre- 
 vent any abiding feeling of cold. 
 
 2. It should be made of non-conductive material, 
 and strong enough to stand the loear and tear of childish 
 s'ports with little damage, oMd of color loell adapted to 
 use and exposure. 
 
 The Pedagogy of Food and Clothing. — But what is 
 the pedagogical bearing of food and clothing? Two 
 thoughts here suggest themselves: 
 
 1. Excellent opportunities often present them- 
 selves for bringing these facts, that the child's 
 welfare demands that he have plenty of wholesome, 
 nutritious food, and plenty of clothing of the right 
 quality, before parents and people in general. There 
 is opportunity in this respect for great improvement 
 in the conditions which affect the education of 
 children, and it is the duty of each teacher to do 
 what he can to improve these conditions. The teacher 
 
46 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 must understand and be impressed with the im- 
 portance of improvement of these conditions to do 
 effectively his part toward bettering them. 
 
 2. The teacher who understands the relation of 
 food and clothing to the child's life will not expect the 
 same quality or quantity of work from the poorly fed 
 and poorly clad child that he will expect from his more 
 fortunate companions. Not all children can be 
 treated alike in teaching. The teaching must con- 
 form to the needs of the child, and the needs of no 
 two children are the same. The knowledge of food 
 and clothing in their relation to the education of the 
 child will give the teacher more charity and more 
 sympathy in teaching those children who are poorly 
 fed and poorly clad. And the charity and sympathy of 
 the teacher for Ms children is of the highest importance 
 to them. 
 
 Schoolroom Conditions. — There are several points 
 concerning the condition of the schoolroom which are 
 properly to be discussed in pedagogy work; and be- 
 cause of their relation to the child's physical nature, 
 it, from one viewpoint, is proper to discuss them 
 here. These points are: 1. Ventilation. 2. Tem- 
 perature. 8. Lighting. 4. Seating. 5. Cleanliness. 
 
 Ventilation. — The general well-being of the body 
 depends upon the quantity and quality of the blood. 
 If the blood be not properly aerated, the whole body 
 suffers at once from the effects of the blood upon it. 
 There is drowsiness, stupor, fatigue, headache, and a 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 47 
 
 general ill-feeling and the lack of vivacity. These 
 conditions continued lead to bad colds, catarrh, 
 neuralgia, pneumonia, tuberculosis of the lungs and 
 death. From the standpoint of the child's physical 
 welfare, proper ventilation is of the highest impor- 
 tance. It is not an uncommon thing to find seventy- 
 five per cent, of the students in a schoolroom suffering 
 "with colds at one time, the teacher oftentimes 
 attributing this condition of things to circumstances 
 over which he has no control v/hen it often happens 
 that he is largely to blame for it in neglecting proper 
 ventilation. The child's success in life will depend 
 to such a large extent upon his physical excellence 
 that it becomes of the highest importance to the 
 teacher to do his part in giving him a sound body. 
 
 The Difficulty of Proper Ventilation. — Proper 
 ventilation in ninty-nine school houses in a hundred 
 is an absolute impossibility. Each person in a mixed 
 audience should have not less than 3000 cubic feet of 
 fresh air per hour; or to say it in another way, each 
 person should be provided with from 40 to 50 cubic feet 
 of air per minute, and this should be distributed with- 
 out producing draughts. These conditions simply 
 can not be provided in most schoolrooms. 
 
 A system of ventilation called the plenum system 
 will provide these conditions. According to this 
 "the fresh air is forced into the schoolroom by 
 means of a fan, and the foul air is pushed out through 
 any openings in the rooms, and passes away through 
 
48 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 a stack. The air in the rooms in such a system as 
 this is under constant pressure. All spaces are 
 filled with air and all leakage is toward the outside. 
 Thus the entrance of contaminated air from any 
 outside source is absolutely prevented. " 
 
 The plenum system is the best system because 
 the a*ir in the room is under constant pressure toward 
 the outside, thus pushing the bad air out all the 
 time and preventing any bad air from coming in from 
 the outside. 
 
 But not many of our schoolrooms have an engine 
 to drive the fan, and most school officers think they 
 can not afford such expensive ventilating apparatus. 
 
 Important Points on Ventilation. — Our plan of 
 study does not permit a detailed discussion of the 
 technique of ventilation, though it is a profitable 
 study for the teacher. 
 
 There are two things which must be efficiently 
 provided for in a properly ventilated schoolroom: 
 
 1. All parts of the room must be furnished with 
 an adequate amount of fresh air at all times. 
 
 2. The air must be got into the room in such a 
 way that the pupils and teacher may not be exposed 
 to draughts at any time. Draughts are the source 
 of colds, sore throat, earache, neuralgia, catarrh, 
 rheumatism, etc. 
 
 The two following points also need emphasis: 
 1. Air may be cold and at the same time be impure 
 and unfit to breathe. 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 49 
 
 2. It is an important duty of every teacher to 
 acquaint himself with the technique of ventilation 
 in order that he may do as much as possible toward 
 ventilating properly both his schoolroom and his 
 living rooms. 
 
 That air may be cold and at the same time be 
 impure is a truth that janitors as a rule seem entirely 
 incapable of getting into their heads. Nearly every 
 one has had the exasperating experience of sitting 
 at some public gathering suffering intensely from 
 cold and bad air at the same time. That the ther- 
 mometer in the room shows the temperature to be 
 68° is no guarantee of the purity of the air in the 
 room. 
 
 Temperature. — No schoolroom is conducive to 
 health, which is either too warm or too cold. If it is 
 too cold, it will bring on a sensation of chilliness that 
 is not only extremely uncomfortable, but dangerous 
 to the health. All the evils which result from clothing 
 deficient in quantity and quality may likewise result 
 from sitting, working, and living in an atmosphere of 
 too low temperature. Colds, sore throat, neuralgia, 
 earache, catarrh, pneumonia, tuberculosis, rheuma- 
 tism, stunted constitution, and arrested physical 
 growth, and even death may be traced to this source 
 in many cases. 
 
 The results are almost as bad if the schoolroom 
 is constantly kept too warm. Two undesirable 
 things grow out of constantly keeping the schoolroom 
 
50 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 too warm, as follows: 
 
 1. The enervating effect a too high temperature 
 produces upon one's life. There is nothing which 
 more quickly takes the energy, vivacity, and vitality 
 out of students and teacher than a school atmosphera 
 habitually kept too warm. 
 
 2. The diseases which result from leaving a 
 room too warm and going out into the open air. The 
 sudden change of temperature brought about in this 
 way is a constant source of pulmonary troubles. 
 
 A temperature of 70° Fahrenheit is, all things 
 considered, the temperature which should as nearly 
 as possible be maintained in the schoolroom. Any 
 variation from this of more than two degrees should 
 be avoided; for if the temperature be more than 72° 
 some one will be suffering with heat; if it be below 
 68°, some one will be too cold. 
 
 Every schoolroom should be provided with a 
 thermometer, if not by the school board, by the 
 teacher, in order that approximately the proper 
 temperature may be maintained. A good ther- 
 mometer with a scale from 40° below zero to 240^ 
 above mounted on a metal frame costs only 25 cts., 
 and should be owned by every teacher as an aid in 
 his school work. 
 
 It is worthy of note in this connection that 
 temperament, clothing, and food of children have a 
 direct bearing upon the question of temperature that 
 no really earnest, sympathetic teacher will ignore. 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 51 
 
 Some children are comfortable in an atmosphere at 
 68°, some at 70°, and others at 72°. Some are clothed 
 too warmly, some about right, and some are too 
 scantily clothed. Again some have an abundance of 
 food of good quality, while others have food deficient 
 both in quantity and quality. No teacher can afford 
 to overlook these various conditions, and no sympa- 
 thetic, loving teacher will want to do so. 
 
 Lighting. — The facilities for lighting our school 
 houses are as a rule very bad. They are very much 
 worse than people generally suppose, so bad that 
 a school house is hardly to be found well enough 
 lighted to prevent diseases of the eyes from being- 
 contracted where students habitually study in them. 
 Light insufficient in quantity is admitted to the room, 
 and what is admitted comes into the room in such a. 
 way that it hurts the eyes. In fact nine hundred and 
 ninety-nine school rooms in a thousand do not con- 
 form in their facilities for lighting to the truths 
 which modern science teaches on this subject. 
 
 The defects in facilities for lighting our school 
 houses are so universal that some diseases of the eyes 
 caused thereby have come to be known as school 
 diseases. Myopia (short-sightedness) and Asthenopia 
 (weakness of the eyes) are the most prevalent of 
 these. 
 
 Recent studies show that our school houses have 
 been and are veritable factories for producing 
 myopia. Large numbers of school children have 
 
52 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 been studied in Germany, France, Sweeden, Russia, 
 and America for the purpose of getting helpful infor- 
 mation on the subject of myopia among school 
 children. Dr. Hermann Cohn examined the eyes of 
 10,060 school children and found myopia gradually 
 increasing from 1.4 per cent, in the village schools 
 to 26.2 per cent, in the gymnasia. Those children 
 who had been in the village schools six months or 
 less showed no myopia. 
 
 Dr. Motias examined in France the eyes of 6,680 
 students with similar results; he found that in some 
 colleges the percentage of myopic students was as 
 high as 80. 
 
 Dr. Dowling examined the eyes of 1,000 school 
 children in Cincinnati and found that a little more 
 than 30 per cent, of them were short-sighted. All 
 the cases examined showed a gradual increase of 
 myopia from the first grade on through the schools. 
 
 Causes of Myopia. — It is generally agreed among 
 school authorities that the causes of myopia among 
 school children are as follows: 
 
 1. Too little light in the schoolroom, which re- 
 quires habitually holding the work too close to the 
 eyes. 
 
 2. Too much written work in the lower grades 
 in the preparation and reciting of the lessons. 
 
 3. Too long periods of eye work. 
 
 4. The reading of books printed with too small 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. b'd 
 
 type on glistening paper and with the lines crowded 
 too closely together; that is, poorly leaded. 
 
 5. Bad seats which cause stooping postures 
 favorable to congestion of the eyes. 
 
 The question, What is to be the test of the proper 
 amount of light in the schoolroom? is pertinent. 
 Authorities are quite generally agreed that, when 
 there are no outside obstructions to keep the light a- 
 way from the windows, there will be enough light in 
 the room if the windowpane surface is one-fourth of 
 the floor surface; that is to say, there should be 1 
 square foot of windowpane surface to every 4 square 
 feet of floor surface. 
 
 Undesirability of Myopia. — Myopia is a disease. 
 It is undesirable and is to be carefully avoided for the 
 following reasons : 
 
 1. It is disagreeable, painful oftentimes, and 
 always inconvenient. 
 
 2. It is unnatural and places the one afflicted at 
 a disadvantage in life in the struggle for success and 
 happiness. 
 
 3. It is so closely connected with the nervous 
 system that it tends to bring on other nervous 
 diseases. 
 
 Bules for Prevention. — Schoolrooms should never 
 be more than 33 feet in length and 24 feet in width. 
 There should be an abundance of windows so ar- 
 ranged as to admit the light from the left and the 
 
54 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 rear of the students. Blackboards should be at the 
 front and at the right. 
 
 Dr. A. G. Young, secretary of the State Board of 
 Health in Maine, and an eminent authority on school 
 hygiene, gives the following rules for the prevention 
 of myopia in school: 
 
 1. The schoolroom should have an abundance of 
 light in every part. The principal source of light 
 should be at the pupil's left. 
 
 2. The periods of eye work should not be too 
 long. 
 
 3. A large part of the instruction should be 
 communicated orally during school hours, and the 
 eyestraining and timerobbing preparation of written 
 lessons should be reduced to the lowest possible 
 point. 
 
 4. The school work to be done at home should 
 be limited to a very small amount, and in the younger 
 classes to none. 
 
 5. The desks and seats should be of the proper 
 pattern and size, otherwise stooping or other postures 
 favoring congestion of the eye and production of 
 myopia will be assumed by the pupil. 
 
 6. The demand for written work should be 
 moderate. 
 
 7. The type of all school books and other books 
 for children shc-uld be large and distinct. 
 
 8. Blackboards should be of a dead black, no't 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 55 
 
 glossy. They should be placed where they will be 
 well lighted. 
 
 If these rules be well observed, other school 
 diseases of the eye, as well as myopia, will be reduced 
 to the minimum. 
 
 Seating. — This subject will be studied from a 
 different viewpoint in the chapter on The Management 
 of the School so will receive but brief study here. 
 
 From the standpoint of the child's health, the 
 proper seating of a room is much more important 
 than usually appreciated. 
 
 Eulenberg studied 1000 cases of spinal curvature 
 and found that 95.8 per cent, of this 1000 cases 
 originated between the ages of four and twenty, and 
 that 92 per cent, originated between the ages of five 
 and fourteen. 
 
 Posterior curvature, "round shoulders," and 
 lateral curvature are to be avoided as great mis- 
 fortunes. Besides detracting much from one's 
 personal appearance, they impede respiration and 
 other functions. 
 
 Then seats and desks should be of proper size 
 and pattern for the following reasons: 
 
 1. That spinal curvatures and other physical 
 deformities may be guarded against. 
 
 2. That postures favoring congestion of the eyes 
 may be guarded against. 
 
 The demand for proper seats in the schoolroom 
 
56 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 will sooner or later bring the adjustable seats and 
 desks into common use. 
 
 * 'Adjustable desks are among the important im- 
 provements of school furniture. There are several 
 forms on the market, and the main objection to all of 
 them is the price, making it almost an impossibility 
 to supply whole schoolrooms with them. From the 
 hygienic standpoint, each child should have his desk 
 adjusted to himself; but where this is impossible, it 
 has been found of advantage to have two rows of 
 desks and seats, usually the outer ones, adjustable. 
 Extreme cases can thus be accommodated. " 
 
 Cleanliness. — It is a maxim that "cleanliness is 
 next to godliness. ' ' A better statement of the fact is, 
 cleanliness is godliness. 
 
 Every school house should be kept scrupulously 
 neat and clean. No paper, bread crumbs, chalk, 
 nutshells, etc., should be allowed upon the floor. 
 The abominable habit that some students and even 
 teachers have of expectorating upon the school house 
 floor should not under any circumstances be toler- 
 ated. It should be regarded a criminal offense. 
 
 "The reason for this care is that dust and dirt in 
 a schoolroom is a serious sanitary evil. Dust itself 
 is an irritant to the eyes and the air passages. Dust 
 is known to be a bearer of disease germs. Tubercu- 
 losis is certainly transmitted thus, and it is very 
 probable that many other infectious diseases are 
 spread in the same way. An infectious inflammation 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 57 
 
 of the eyes is sometimes very prevalent in schools, 
 and it is believed that the germs of this disease are 
 spread by means of the dust in schoolrooms as well 
 as in other ways." 
 
 This dust evil could be much reduced, if all 
 school houses had hard wood floors well painted, or 
 even soft wood floors well filled and painted. It was 
 not long since popular to oil the floors of school 
 houses, but two good coats of floor paint have been 
 made to answer all the purposes of oiled floors and 
 found not to have their objectionable features. 
 
 The school house should be swept daily at the 
 close of the afternoon session after all the students 
 have left the room. The windows should be thrown 
 wide open, and the floor sprinkled with damp saw- 
 dust before sweeping. 
 
 The teacher who is thoroughly in earnest with 
 respect to cleanliness will not be afraid to take the 
 broom and duster and set things to rights, even 
 though the janitor does slight his work somewhat. 
 As a rule one can tell a great deal about the quality of 
 the teacher by the condition of his schoolroom. 
 
 Tlie Senses and the Sense Organs. — A sense is the 
 mental power to get sensations. Thus sight is the 
 mental power to get sensations of light; smell, the 
 mental power to get sensations of odor, and so on. 
 
 The sense organs are those organs which bring 
 stimulus in such connection with the nervous system 
 as to urge the mind to action. There are two general 
 
58 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 cl'asses of senses : 1. General, or organic. 2. Special. 
 Authorities recognize seven special senses, as follows 
 in the order of importance: 1. Sight. 2. Hearing. 
 S. Touch. 4. Smell. 5. Taste. 6. Temperature. 
 7. Muscular sense. 
 
 The general, or organic, sense is that sense which 
 gives us a knowledge of the general well-being or ill- 
 being of our bodies and has no special sense organ. 
 Pain, hunger, thirst, and fatigue are sensations got 
 through the general sense. 
 
 The special senses are those senses which give 
 ns a knowledge mainly of objects around us and have 
 special sense organs. 
 
 The sense organs are of the highest importance 
 to one throughout his whole life. Through them the 
 -child first awakens to conscious life. Without the 
 sense organs the mind would never grow. It would 
 remain nothing more than a bundle of undeveloped 
 capacities. Without the sense organs all intellectual 
 growth as well as all the pleasures of living would be 
 dfenied one. 
 
 Since the sense organs are of the highest im- 
 portance in education, the maintenance of their health 
 and their growth become from a pedagogical point of 
 view one of the most practical questions with which 
 the teacher has to deal. All of the special sense 
 organs are subject to diseased conditions which may 
 demand constant attention, but in this brief study 
 space is lacking for the consideration of more than 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 59 
 
 two. Of special importance to the teacher are the 
 following: 1. The sense organ of hearing. 2. The 
 sense organ of sight. 
 
 Hearing. — Diseases of the ear almost always pro- 
 duce partial or entire deafness. And too few people 
 fully realize what a sad misfortune partial or entire 
 deafness is, and how many people are more or less 
 deaf. 
 
 "Authorities estimate that fro-m fifty to sixty 
 per cent, of the children are more or less defective in 
 hearing. It is also claimed that by judicious treat- 
 ment the percentage can be reduced to fifteen or 
 twenty.*' 
 
 ''There are too many partially deaf people in every 
 community. Every such one is badly handicapped in 
 his business and social relations. How many men 
 lose good positions because of defective hearing! 
 How many sad and fatal accidents are due to the 
 same cause! The new education can do no better 
 service to oncoming generations than to preserve and 
 perfect this sense in children." 
 
 Children have been accused of dullness ^ stupidity, 
 suUenness, and obstinacy when the only difficulty was 
 they could not hear what was going on in their school 
 work. In order to avoid misunders-tanding his chil- 
 dren, every teacher should test, the hearing of his 
 children; also, that he may do something towards 
 seating them so as to favor the unfortunate ones. 
 A teacher can not depend upon the students to in- 
 
60 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 form him of any defects of hearing for two reasons: 
 first, students themselves are often not aware of the 
 defects; secondly, people generally are very sensitive 
 concerning any physical defects they may have, and 
 do not desire to call attention to them. 
 
 The following is an easy and practical schoolroom 
 test: "The pupil is placed at one end of the school- 
 room with his back turned toward the teacher, who 
 dictates in a clear, but not loud voice, while the stu- 
 dent writes. The teacher should begin by standing 
 at the farther end of the room. If, at that distance, 
 the pupil has any difficulty in hearing, the teacher 
 gradually approaches until the pupil understands 
 perfectly, which will be shown by his writing the 
 dictated matter perfectly and without hesitation. 
 According to the distance at which the scholar hears 
 readily, he is ranked and placed in the schoolroom. 
 If, for instance, he hears at a distance of fifteen feet 
 only, he is placed within that distance from the 
 teacher's desk." 
 
 Seeing. — Myopia has already been discussed as a 
 school disease. Few persons, teachers included, are 
 aware of the number of cases of headache, and other 
 nervous diseases caused by myopic eyes. Astigma- 
 tism, resulting from irregularity of curvature of the 
 lenses of the eye, is a disease which is frequent 
 among students, and causes many nervous headaches. 
 
 ''There seems to be no remedy for these defects 
 save in glasses properly fitted. It is quite common 
 
THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 61 
 
 and is a prolific source of headache. Thousands of 
 cases of chronic headache have been promptly cured 
 by the use of glasses. " 
 
 '*A ministerial friend tells me that a teacher 
 forced his son, who was affl-icted with myopia to hold 
 his book at the regulation distance, and in the regu- 
 lation position as he read or studied, and that the 
 headache resulting threw him into such nervous dis- 
 orders that at least once a fortnight he was obliged 
 to keep him out of school for three or four days. A 
 lady friend tells me that her little daughter had been 
 coming home every day for months with a bad head- 
 ache, and that she was losing all interest in school, 
 when the writer visited the city and urged the 
 teachers to test the sight and hearing of their pupils. 
 This girl was found defective in eyesight and given a 
 front seat. In two weeks her headache was all gone, 
 and her interest in school had returned." 
 
 A large number of similar cases might be given, 
 but these will suffice. 
 
 It is the duty of every teacher to test the eye- 
 sight of his children. Every teacher can procure a 
 set of Snellin's test cards of almost any jeweler or 
 optician for ten cents, and can learn to use them cor- 
 rectly in tests in five minutes. They are as good test 
 cards as can be secured. Having found the defectives, 
 the teacher's duty is to inform the parents or guard- 
 ians and do what may be done by seating the stu- 
 dents so far as possible so as to favor the defective 
 
62 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 ones. Any earnest, sympathetic teacher will be 
 willing to do so much for his pupils. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 
 
 An Attribute. — An attempt to study anything to 
 the end of knowing it well always consists in seeking 
 out the attributes of that thing, and an object is well 
 known only when many of its attributes have been 
 discovered and learned. Thus all learning consists 
 in grasping with the mind the attributes of things. 
 If one sees all the attributes of any object, he knows 
 all there is to know about that object. Then to know 
 all the attributes there are in the universe to 
 know means entire freedom of the knowing power, 
 the intellect. 
 
 An attribute is perhaps indefinable, but the fol- 
 lowing statement will characterize it: An attribute 
 is any mark of an object which helps the mind in knowing 
 it. 
 
 Classes of Attributes. — There are some attributes 
 belonging to objects which enable the mind to know 
 an object from everything else in the universe. Such 
 an attribute is called a particular attribute. There 
 are again some attributes which belong to every 
 object in a class. Such attributes are called common 
 attributes. Of the common attributes some belong 
 
64 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 ^like to each object of a class of objects, but do not 
 extend beyond the class. These are class common 
 attributes. Also of the common attributes some 
 belong alike to each object of a class of objects, and 
 extend to things beyond, thus connecting the class 
 out with other things in the universe. These are 
 universal common attributes. From the above the 
 classes of attributes are particular, and common; and 
 the classes of the common are class common^ and 
 universal common. 
 
 The definitions for these are as follows: 
 
 A particular attribute is an attrib^Ue which dis- 
 tinguishes its object from all other objects. 
 
 A common attribute is an attribute ivhich belongs 
 alike to each object of a class of objects. 
 
 A class common attribute is a common attribute 
 which does not extend beyond the class of objects to 
 which it belongs. 
 
 A universal common attribute is a common attri- 
 bute ivhich connects a class of objects ivith other objects in 
 the universe. 
 
 Illustrations. — If one knows a table well, he 
 knows its use, form, color, material, length, height, 
 width, weight, and decorations; also, the form, 
 length, width, height, use, color, material, make, 
 condition and decoration of the parts; also, how the 
 parts are connected with the table as a whole and 
 with oneanother. But all these are the attributes 
 of the table. So to know the table is to know its 
 attributes. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 65 
 
 The table, no doubt, has marks not possessed by 
 anything else. These are the particular attributes. 
 
 The use is a common attribute and is also a 
 class common, since it belongs to all the class, tables, 
 and to nothing else. Possessing weight is a univer- 
 sal common attribute, since it belongs to other 
 things than tables. 
 
 Attributes of Mind. — The first step in studying 
 the spiritual, or mental, nature of the child is the 
 study of the attributes of the mind. Some might 
 think it would consist of the study of the substance 
 of which the mind is made, but this can not be done. 
 There is absolutely no way to study what the mind 
 is made of, but its attributes can be studied. The 
 following are important common, or general, attri- 
 butes of mind: 
 
 1. Consciousness. 
 
 2. Attention. 
 
 3. Apperception. 
 
 4. Self-activity. 
 
 5. Iterativeness. 
 
 6. Rhythm. 
 
 Consciousness. — If you are asked a question, you 
 either know the answer to it or you do not do so, and 
 you further know that you know the answer or do 
 not know it. That is to say, you know the condition 
 of your own mind. It is because of the attribute of 
 consciousness that the mind is able to do this. Thus 
 through consciousness the mind knows itself, and is 
 
66 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 thus both the knower and the thing known. If with- 
 out provocation some one should strike you in the 
 face, you know, without any difficulty, your state of 
 mind toward that person. If the question, How do 
 you know your own mental states? were asked you, 
 you could answer correctly only by saying, / knoiu 
 them through consciousness. One gets some idea of 
 consciousness, if he compares his state of mind 
 when he is sound asleep with his state of mind when 
 he is awake. In the first state he is more or less un- 
 conscious while in the second state consciousness is 
 at work. 
 
 Consciousness is considered indefinable by some 
 psychologists, but it surely can be defined as nearly 
 as many other things which are considered definable. 
 The following is the definition for it: 
 
 Consciousness is that attribute of mind by virtue of 
 tvhich the mind knows its oivn conditions and activities. 
 
 Function of Consciousness. — Consciousness is the 
 most fundamental attribute of the mind. Without 
 consciousness the mind, as we know it, could not 
 exist. Consciousness has the following three func- 
 tions : 
 
 1. It enables us to know one mental experience 
 from another. 
 
 2. It enables us to know the value of mental 
 experiences to ourselves. 
 
 3. It enables us to direct our mental activities 
 to the accomplishment of mental work. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 67 
 
 Attention. — The mind is constantly having ex- 
 periences. Mental life, and physical life, too, are a 
 succession of experiences. An experience is a change 
 of any kind, and a mental experience is then a mental 
 change of any kind. Thus mental life is a succession 
 of mental changes. 
 
 Most of our mental experiences are carried on 
 without the mind's hQvug fully conscious of them, but 
 the mind has the ability of bringing any experience 
 fully into consciousness and focusing its energy upon 
 it. It is able to do this through the attribute of 
 attention. 
 
 From the study so far it may be seen that there 
 are two steps in the process of attending: 
 
 1. The bringing of some experience fully into 
 consciousness. 
 
 2. The focusing of the mind's energy upon it. 
 At first thought it seems that the mind's energy 
 
 is focused upon something outside of the mind, but a 
 careful study shows that the mind's energy is always 
 focused upon some mental experience. 
 
 From the above study the definition of attention 
 is as follows : 
 
 Attention is that attribute of the mind by virtue of 
 ivhich the mind brings some experience fully into con- 
 sciousness and focuses its energy upon it. 
 
 Illustration. — One is sitting in his room studying 
 his lesson in arithmetic. The clock is sitting on the 
 mantel shelf ticking away as loudly as usual, but he 
 
68 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 does not hear it clearly, though he has a sort of dim 
 consciousness of its ticking. Suppose some one says, 
 "How loudly the clock ticks!" Immediately he hears 
 it plainly. That is to say, the mind brings fully into 
 consciousness the experience corresponding to the 
 ticking of the clock and focuses its energy upon it. 
 The focusing element in attending is analogous to the 
 action of a lens in focusing the rays of light. 
 
 Classes of Attention. — On the basis of the effort 
 involved there are two classes of attention: 1. Non- 
 voluntary. 2. Voluntary. If the mind gives atten- 
 tion to a thing because it is so attractive that there is 
 no seeming effort, the attention is non-voluntary. If 
 on the other hand an appreciable effort is required in 
 order to give attention, the attention is of the vol- 
 untary kind. The following are the definitions: 
 
 N on- voluntary attention is that kind of attention 
 in which no appreciable effort is involved. 
 
 Yoluntary attention is that kind of attention in 
 which an appreciable effort is involved. 
 
 Interest. — Interest is the basis of attention; that 
 is, the mind must be interested in a thing to pay 
 attention to it. The following is a definition for 
 interest: 
 
 Interest is any feeling for an object tvhich the mind 
 regards as the cause of the feeling. If an object is so 
 attractive in itself as to hold the mind's interest, the 
 interest is said to be direct; if, however, the interest 
 is not in the thing itself, but in something else to 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OP THE CHILD. 69 
 
 which the thing is a means, the interest is indirect. 
 Thus one sometimes studies a subject not because he 
 is interested in the subject but because he thinks 
 he needs it. Thus the classes of interest are: 
 1. Direct. 2. Indirect. 
 
 Direct interest is that kind of interest in luMch no 
 appreciable effort is involved. 
 
 Indirect interest is that kind of interest in which 
 an appreciable effort is involved. 
 
 Apperception. — All learning is the mind's process 
 of getting meaning. But this statement does not 
 give much help unless we see what meaning is, and 
 what has the meaning. It seems at first thought 
 that objects in the outside world possess the mean- 
 ing, but a closer study shows that this is not the 
 case. The mind in learning a thing gets meaning 
 from it just to the extent to which it can connect its 
 past experiences with the present experiences and 
 grasp the likeness and difference between them. 
 And from the above it is seen that meaning is the 
 relation between present and past mental experiences and 
 is in the mind. 
 
 It is because of the attribute of apperception 
 that the mind is enabled to connect the past mental 
 experience with the present in knowing, willing and 
 feeling. But this is not all apperception enables the 
 mind to do. Apperception enables the mind to 
 change itself permanently with each experience. 
 Certainly every experience the mind has leaves a 
 
70 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 permanent effect upon it. The mind never is again 
 after an experience just what it was before the ex- 
 perience. Psychologists say experiences are organ- 
 ized into the mind, but it seems easier to say exper- 
 iences leave their effects upon the mind. 
 
 From the above study it is seen that there are 
 two parts to apperceiving: 
 
 1. Bringing past experiences to bear upon the 
 present experiences. 
 
 2. Organizing the present experiences into the 
 self. 
 
 By making a synthesis of these points the follow- 
 ing definition for apperception is reached: 
 
 Apperception is that attribute of mind by virtue of 
 which it brings its past experience to bear upon the pres- 
 ent experience in getting its meaning, and by virtue of 
 which the present experience is organized into the mind. 
 
 The last part of apperceiving may very appro- 
 priately be called mental assimilation. 
 
 Illustrations. — If one who knows nothing of geol- 
 ogy were walking down a valley and should find a 
 rock almost round, but having a plane surface as if it 
 were worn off by holding it on a grindstone, he would 
 probably get much the same meaning as he would by 
 looking at any other rock. But if a geologist should 
 find it, he would connect his past experience with 
 that aroused by the rock and say it called to his mind 
 an ice age, when tremendous ice fields covered all the 
 northern part of Indiana. The difference in these 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OP THE CHILD. 71 
 
 two men would be in the experience they brought to 
 bear upon the experience aroused by the rock. 
 
 A child called a jardiniere of ferns "a pot of green 
 feathers." 
 
 A small boy called a locomotive "a big bow-wow." 
 
 The south sea islanders called Captain Cook's 
 goats "horned hogs." 
 
 In each of the above cases the present experience 
 was connected with the past in trying to get meaning, 
 and the mind was able to do this because of the attri- 
 bute of apperception. 
 
 Self -activity. — Some idea of self -activity may be 
 had by comparing objects which possess it with those 
 which do not. A sewing machine acts in sewing, but 
 always from a power without itself. A threshing 
 machine acts, but the cause of its activity is not with- 
 in it. All machines act in a manner similar to the 
 threshing machine or sewing machine; that is, from 
 a cause not in themselves. A horse acts from a 
 cause within himself in taking food and changing it in- 
 to horse flesh; and, also, by moving from place to place, 
 he acts. A plant acts in growing by taking its food 
 from the soil and air and making it into plant tissue. 
 The action of the horse and plant are caused from 
 within while the action of the machine is caused from 
 without. The horse and the plant possess self- 
 activity but the machine does not. The mind pos- 
 sesses this attribute by which it causes its own 
 activities, and thus is self -active. The definition from 
 the above is as follows: 
 
72 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Self-activity is that attribute of mind bij virtue of 
 which it causes itself to act. 
 
 Iterativeness. — When the muscles of the arm and 
 fingers perform the movements in making any char- 
 acter in writing for the first time, the activity is done 
 with difficulty and very unskillfully, but repeated 
 attempts give more skill and success. Each act 
 makes the performance a little more easily accom- 
 plished. What was it that remained with the muscles 
 after each activity that caused them to perform the 
 act again with more ease? This can be answered only 
 by saying it is a tendency left in the muscle. By 
 tendency is meant a disposition to perform some activity. 
 Thus the plumule of a plant has a tendency to grow 
 upward, and the radix has a tendency to grow down- 
 ward. We fold a piece of paper, and then say it has 
 a tendency to fold in the same place again. The 
 mind possesses this attribute by virtue of which it 
 has a tendency to act as it has acted, and this is what 
 is called iterativeness. Conclusions from the above 
 study give the following definition: 
 
 Iterativeness is that attribute of mind by virtue of 
 which it tends to act again as it has acted. 
 
 Without iterativeness one could not learn to walk, 
 to talk, to write, nor could he learn any art whatever. 
 He could not remember anything nor make progress 
 in mental growth. In short, human life as we know 
 it would be an impossibility. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CPHLD. 73 
 
 Rhythm. — When the word, rhythm^ is spoken, the 
 average person probably thinks of poetry and music. 
 But rhythm is an attribute that belongs to almost 
 everything in the world. Everything from a dew- 
 drop to an ocean, from a pebble to a continent, pos- 
 sesses rhythm. Every leaf, every flower, and every 
 blade of grass possesses rhythm. Rhythm in its 
 broadest sense is a thing, the departure from that 
 thing, and a return to it. The following is rhythmical: 
 
 "The day is cold and dark and dreary; 
 It rains and the wind is never weary." 
 
 In this there is the sound symbolized by eary in 
 the word, "dreary. ^^ This is the thing, and "It rains, 
 and the wind is never w" is the departure from it. 
 The return to the thing is eary in the word "iveary.^^ 
 
 In the maple leaf rhythm is manifested by a 
 portion on the right half always having a correspond- 
 ing like portion on the left half, the part between the 
 like parts being different. One of the like parts is 
 the thing, that between them is the departure from 
 it, and the other like part is the return to it. The 
 human mind possesses this tendency to act, to de- 
 part from it, and to return to it, and this is caUed the 
 attribute of rhythm. Since the mind is rhythmical 
 it likes rhythm in anything and dislikes that which 
 is not rhythmical. The world is full of rhythm, and 
 the human mind longs for it. 
 
 The following is a definition for rhythm as an 
 attribute of the mind: Rhythm is that attribute of 
 
7^ STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 the mind by virtue of luhich the mind acts an activity, 
 departs from it, and tends to return to it at regularly 
 recurring periods. 
 
 Activities of the Mind. — If we will examine our 
 mental activities by looking within our minds, we 
 will find that we are sometimes almost wholly oc- 
 cupied in thinking, again we are depressed with 
 sorrow, and at other times we are almost wholly 
 occupied in directing our muscular or mental activ- 
 ities in doing something. These distinctions among 
 the mind's activities give grounds for the classification 
 of them into: 
 
 1. Knowing. 
 
 2. FeeUng. 
 
 3. Willing. 
 
 Thus knowing, feeling, and loilling are the three 
 large classes into which all mental activities are 
 divided. 
 
 Knoiving. — An accurate statement for knowing 
 is, knoiving is the mind's process of getting meaning. 
 But this statement does not give sufficient help unless 
 the term, meaning, is well understood. Most persons, 
 at first thought, would probably say that meaning is 
 something which belongs to objects in the external 
 world. But careful thinking reveals the fact that 
 things very unlike what the mind has ever known 
 have very little meaning to it. And this thought 
 carried out shows that, if it were possible to find any- 
 thing entirely different from anything the mind has 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 75 
 
 ever known, it would suggest absolutely no meaning 
 to the mind. Again, two persons look at the word, 
 obliviscor, and while one gets no meaning from it, to 
 the other it means / forget. So scarcely any two 
 persons get the same meaning from an object or 
 event which they see. An object or event stimulates 
 to an activity of the mind, and, if the mind has past 
 mental activities of a similar character to connect the 
 present activity with, it is said the mind gets mean- 
 ing. From this it may be seen that meaning is a 
 thing which is in the mind. That is to say, meaning 
 is relation; and further, it is the relation between 
 present mental experiences and past mental exper- 
 iences. But even here there are two terms whose 
 meaning must be understood. The first, experience, 
 explained in a former paragraph, is any change^ or 
 activity, and any mental experience is any mental 
 change, or activity. The second, relation, is the like- 
 ness between mental experiences. Relation means 
 in this connection what it means wherever used; 
 namely, the connection the mind sees between its 
 experiences because of their likeness. 
 
 We are now in a position to give the following 
 definitions for knowing: 
 
 Knowing is the mind\s process in getting meaning. 
 
 Knowing is the mind^s process in grasping the re- 
 lation 'between its present and past experiences. 
 
 Discriminating and Unifying. — Discriminating is 
 seeing differences and unifying is seeing likenesses. 
 
76 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 The mind in knowing sees likenesses and differences 
 between its experiences and thus discriminates and 
 unifies. Thus knowing is both discriminating and 
 unifying. One thing necessary in knowing a maple 
 tree is to see the difference in the mental activity it 
 arouses and in the mental activity aroused by an oak 
 tree; and a second thing necessary is to see the like- 
 ness between the activity aroused by the maple tree 
 and the activities aroused by maple trees in the past. 
 
 All Knowing Indirect. — There is no way for the 
 mind to get meaning directly from an object. The 
 past experience must always come in as a factor in 
 knowing. This truth has led psychologists to say 
 that all knoiving is indirect, or mediative. That is to 
 say the experience aroused by any object is always 
 referred to the past experience, and this act of refer- 
 ring to the past experience is the mediative element in all 
 knowing. It is this act of reference that makes the 
 knowing indirect. 
 
 Feeling. — Every experience the mind has changes 
 it both temporarily and permanently. It never is 
 after an experience quite what it was before the ex- 
 perience. Some of ' these experiences change the 
 mind for the better and some change it for the worse, 
 but all must change the mind permanently in some 
 way. This change of the self by an experience both 
 temporary and permanent is called the value of an exper- 
 ience by psychologists. If the experience is in har- 
 mony with the growth toward self-realization, the 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 77 
 
 experience has a positive value to the self. If the 
 experience is not in harmony with the growth toward 
 self-realization, it has a negative value to the self. 
 
 The mind has the ability of being aware, to a 
 greater or less extent, of the value of its experiences 
 to itself. That is to say, the mind knows or thinks 
 it knows, at least, when it has an experience, whether 
 the experience is in harmony or conflict with its 
 growth toward self-realization. It is no doubt true 
 that experiences are unfavorable to the growth to- 
 ward self realization, even when the mind regards 
 them as favorable. And it holds equally true that an 
 experience may be favorable to the growth towards 
 self-realization, yet the mind regard it as unfavorable. 
 
 "When the mind has an experience, and becomes 
 aware of the value of this experience to the self, the 
 state of mind which arises as a result of this becom- 
 ing aware is feeling. 
 
 Feeling is the state of mind tvJiich results from the 
 mind^s becoming aware of the value of an experience to 
 the self 
 
 An analysis of this definition reveals the follow- 
 ing points : 
 
 1. A state of mind. 
 
 2. An experience. 
 
 3. The value of an experience. 
 
 4. Becoming aware. 
 
 5. The self. 
 
78 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 By state of mind is meant the disturbed or 
 agitated condition of consciousness. It is a deeper 
 condition than what is ordinarily called mental ac- 
 tivities. In the activity of a muscle, the whole muscle 
 acts together, but the individual molecules in the 
 muscle act, too. The activities of the mind are anal- 
 ogous to the activities of the muscle as a whole while 
 the state of mind is analogous to the molecular action. 
 
 Feeling is always a state, or condition, of the mind, 
 and is always an accompaniment of an activity. 
 
 An experience, as before said, is any change, or 
 activity, whatever. It is the thing which feeling al- 
 ways accompanies. 
 
 The value of an experience is the effect of the ex- 
 perience on the life of the person. This effect is in part 
 temporary and in part permanent. One thing is 
 certain, one's experiences organize, build his char- 
 acter, for a higher or lower destiny. 
 
 Becoming aware is the recognition by the mind 
 of the value of an experience. The thing become 
 aware of is thus the value of an experience. The mind 
 does not always consciously think out the value of an 
 experience, but it either consciously or unconsciously 
 recognizes it. 
 
 The self in the widest sense includes both the 
 body and the mind. Thus there are the physical self 
 and the mental self. Tlie mental self is the original 
 capacity of the mind to knoiv, feel, and will plus the 
 effect of its experiences upon it. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 79 
 
 Love, Hate, and Indifference. — Love, hate, and in- 
 difference are called the three fundamental forms of 
 feeling; that is, all feeling is one of the three: love, or 
 hate, or indifference. 
 
 When the mind has an experience which it re- 
 gards as having a positive value to the self the feeling 
 which arises is love, or like. The definition is as fol- 
 lows: Love is the feeling lohich arises tvhen the mind 
 has an experience which it regards as having a positive 
 value to the self 
 
 If the mind has an experience which it regards 
 as having a negative value to the self, the feeling 
 which arises is hate, or dislike. The definition is as 
 follows: Hate is the feeling that arises ivhen the mind 
 has an experience which it regards as having a negative 
 value to the self 
 
 If the mind regards the experience as having 
 little or no value to the self, the state of mind which 
 arises is indifference. The definition is as follows: 
 Indifference is that state of mind which arises ivhen the 
 mind has an experience which it regards as having little 
 or no positive or negative value to the self There is 
 perhaps no such thing as absolute indifference with 
 respect to anything, for indifference is a state of 
 mind in which there is an absence of feeling. We, 
 however, have some feeling with respect to every- 
 thing. 
 
 The Function of Feeling. — Peeling is a kind of 
 safeguard which nature has given us. It urges us to 
 
80 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 act; that is, feeling is a spring to action. It also urges 
 us to avoid experiences which hinder our develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Feeling always accompanies activity. If the ac- 
 tivity causes growth in self-realization, a pleasant 
 feeling accompanies it to urge us to repeat the 
 activity for the self -development which it furnishes. 
 If the activity hinders growth in self-realization, a 
 disagreeable feeling accompanies it to urge us to 
 avoid the activity because of its hindrance to our self- 
 realization. 
 
 Everything which one voluntarily does, he does 
 because of feeling. Thus feeling is both a mainspring 
 and a guide in human action^ and this is its function. 
 
 Willing. — Willing is a complex process involving 
 both knowing and feeling, but characterized by striv- 
 ing to act in some way. The process of willing 
 always begins with an impulse. Impulse is an excess 
 of energy, or it is a felt pressure to act in some way. 
 Impulse produces some sort of change. The impulse 
 which urges the bird to build its nest is a good ex- 
 ample of a typical impulse. There are, however, 
 several kinds of impulse. The thing which causes 
 the little child to throw his arms and legs about in 
 any direction before he has control of himself is the 
 impulse, or excess of energy. By a rather complex 
 process impulse in the act of willing is changed into 
 desire. Desire is a feeling directed toward something 
 which it is thought will satisfy the feeling. And 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 81 
 
 desire in the process of willing is changed into choice. 
 Then, lastly, the mind directs the activities toward 
 the realization of the choice. From the above the defi- 
 nition for willing is as follows: Willing is the process 
 in ivhich the mind changes impulse into desire ^ desire into 
 choice, and in which the mind seeks to realize the choice. 
 
 An analysis of the definition of willing shows the 
 following points in it: 
 
 1. Impulse. 
 
 2. Desire. 
 
 3. Choice. 
 
 4. The process by which impulse becomes 
 desire. 
 
 5. The process by which desire becomes choice. 
 
 6. The process by which choice seeks to realize 
 itself. 
 
 Impulse and desire have been explained. Choice 
 will be explained after the discussion of point five. 
 
 A careful analysis of the process by which im- 
 pulse becomes desire will show the following points 
 involved in it: 
 
 1. The mind sees its real condition. 
 
 2. The mind sees an ideal condition of itself. 
 
 3. The mind compares these two. 
 
 4. The mind decides that one is better or worse 
 than the other. 
 
 5. A feeling of dissatisfaction arises. 
 
 6. This feeling becomes desire. 
 
82 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Illustration. — A student knows of a lecture, which 
 arouses an impulse in him. He is at home — his real 
 condition; he thinks of his being at the lecture — the 
 ideal condition; he compares these two; he decides 
 that to be at the lecture would be a better condition 
 than to be at home; then he is dissatisfied to be at 
 home, and so desires to have himself at the lecture. 
 
 The process in which the desire becomes choice 
 involves what is called the conjiict of desires. That is 
 to say, there are more than one desire before the 
 mind and from which the mind must select. In 
 the illustration given the student probably desired to 
 stay at home and study his lesson, but he also desired 
 to go to the lecture. Since he could not both go to 
 the lecture and stay at home, there was a conflict of 
 the two desires. In this case he selects his desire to 
 go to the lecture and drops the other out of mind, and 
 this act of selecting is the choice. Thus the thing 
 chosen is a desire. An analysis reveals the following 
 in choice: 
 
 1. Two or more desires before the mind. 
 
 2. The mind compares these. 
 
 3. The mind decides which is preferable. 
 
 4. The selecting of the preferable one — the 
 choice. 
 
 The process by which the mind seeks to realize 
 the choice consists simply of the directing of the 
 activities to perform the deed. The directing is purely 
 mental^ but the activities directed may be either 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 83 
 
 mental or physical. In the illustration above, the 
 mind's directing the physical activities of going to 
 the lecture was the process in which the mind was 
 seeking to realize the choice. 
 
 The Functions of the Will. — Repeated acts of the 
 will result in the formation of self-control and char- 
 acter. So it is the function of willing to give these 
 two things : character and self-control. 
 
 Self -control is of three kinds: p/i^sica?, prudential, 
 and moral. Thus the function of the will is to give 
 physical control, prudential control, moral control, and 
 character. 
 
 The Study of the Will. — Since the will is the power 
 by which the process of loilling is carried on, and the 
 power can be studied only by studying its activities, 
 all study of the will, no matter how far pursued, con- 
 sists only in elaborating the points begun here. That 
 is to say, to make a profound and intensive study of 
 the will would be nothing more than elaborating im- 
 pulse, desire, choice, self-control, and character. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 
 
 The Development of Knoiving. — The best way to 
 study knowing intensively is to study its develop- 
 ment. But the question, What is development of 
 knowing? at once suggests itself. To answer this 
 question it is necessary to rethink that knowing is 
 grasping the relation between present and past mental 
 experiences. Then knowing which is developed only 
 to a small extent is that knowing in which but few 
 relations are grasped; and knowing which is highly 
 developed is that knowing in which many relations 
 are grasped. From which it appears that develop- 
 ment in knowing consists in grasping more and more 
 relations. To show then that one kind of knowing is 
 more developed than another kind is to show that 
 more relations are grasped in one kind than in 
 another. 
 
 Illustration. — If one studies a butterfly but five 
 minutes, he knows little about it because he has seen 
 the butterfly in only a few relations; that is, he has 
 grasped but few relations, and his knowledge of the 
 butterfly is but little developed. Suppose now that 
 he studies the butterfly five months; then he will 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 85 
 
 know much about it because he has seen it in many 
 relations; that is, he has grasped many relations, and 
 his knowledge of the butterfly is much developed. 
 Thus the development of one's knowledge of a thing 
 consists in grasping more and more relations. And 
 we again reach the conclusion that development in 
 knoioing is gaining in the number of relations grasped. 
 
 Stages in the Development of Knoiving. — As know- 
 ing develops it passes through various stages some- 
 what analogous to one's passing through stages on a 
 journey. These stages have been given the following 
 names by psychologists in the order of their develop- 
 ment: 
 
 1. Sense-perception. 
 
 2. Memory. 
 
 3. Imagination. 
 
 4. Conception. 
 
 5. Definition. 
 
 6. Judgment. 
 
 7. Reasoning. 
 
 8. Systematization. 
 
 9. Intuition. 
 
 The Basis of Development. — The sensation is the 
 basis of development in knowing; and it is likewise 
 the basis of development in feeling and willing. 
 
 The sensation is the first, most primitive, and 
 least developed mental activity which the mind ever 
 has. It is the first conscious step in the mental 
 
86 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 changes succeeding the physical changes. It helps 
 to bridge across from the physical to the mental. 
 
 If one places his hand on a chestnut burr, it acts 
 as a stimulus, which excites the outer, or peripheral, 
 nerve ending. This disturbance of the peripheral 
 nerve ending extends along the nerve fiber to the 
 brain and there arouses a disturbance. This dis- 
 turbance of the brain is followed by a change of the 
 mind which causes a state of consciousness — the 
 sensation. 
 
 From this it may be seen that the steps leading 
 up to the sensation are the following: 
 
 1. Stimulus. 
 
 2. Excitation of the peripheral nerve ending, 
 
 3. Transmission of the impulse. 
 
 4. Brain change. 
 
 5. Corresponding mental change. 
 
 6. The state of consciousness — the sensation. 
 The stimulus is any form of motion which comes 
 
 in contact with some part of the nervous system. 
 Thus the stimulus of hearing is motion in the air; the 
 stimulus of sight is motion of the ether; the stimulus 
 of touch is the motion in the molecules of matter. 
 
 An impulse has been well defined as an excess of 
 energy. Thus in the transmission of the impulse 
 one particle of nervous matter has an excess of 
 energy and strikes against another particle and 
 transfers some of its energy to it; and it in turn 
 strikes the next, transferring some of its energy to 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OP THE CHILD. 87 
 
 the next, and so on till the impulse reaches the brain. 
 Then the disturbance spreads and produces the 
 brain change. 
 
 An induction from the above study gives the 
 following definition for the sensation: 
 
 The sensation is a state of consciousness arising 
 from a change in the mind corresponding to a change in 
 the brain caused by some external stimulus. 
 
 Students sometimes get the wrong impression 
 that the sensation is in part a physical thing. Pour 
 of the steps leading to the sensation are physical, but 
 the sensation itself is a state of consciousness, and 
 consciousness is purely a mental thing. 
 
 Classes of Sensations. — There are two classes of 
 sensations: general, or organic, and special. 
 
 General, or organic, sensations are those which 
 give us a knowledge of the ill-being or well-being of 
 our bodies, and have no special sense organs. Pain, 
 fatigue, hunger, and thirst are general sensations. 
 
 Special sensations are those which mainly give 
 us a knowledge of objects around us, and have special 
 sense organs. Light, sound, odor, and favor are 
 special sensations. 
 
 Characteristics of the Sensation, — The sensation 
 has four characteristics as follows: 
 
 1. Quality. 
 
 2. Intensity. 
 
 3. Duration. 
 
 4. Local sign. 
 
88 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 The quality of sensations is the main thing which 
 enables the mind to tell the differences between 
 things. The mind knows hot from cold, sweet from 
 sour, rough from smooth, white from black, etc., 
 because of a difference in the quality of its sensa- 
 tions. 
 
 The main thing which causes a difference in the 
 quality of the sensation is a difference in the quality 
 of the stimulus. 
 
 The intensity of sensations is very well illus- 
 trated by the difference in the sensation furnished 
 by a light of ten candle power and one of seventy-five 
 candle power; or by the difference in the sensation 
 furnished by the light from a kerosene lamp and by 
 that of an electric light. 
 
 The main cause of the difference in the intensity 
 of sensations is the difference in the intensity of the 
 stimulus. 
 
 The duration of the sensation is indicated by the 
 time during which it lasts. Thus the difference be- 
 tween a half note and a whole note of the same pitch, 
 intensity, and quality, is in their duration. Again, 
 some tastes endure for a long time while others 
 disappear quickly. 
 
 The mind is able through the sensation to tell 
 the point of application of the stimulus. Thus when 
 the foot is touched the mind does not make the mis- 
 take of thinking it is the face which is touched. That 
 characteristic of the sensation which enables the 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OP THE CHILD. 89 
 
 mind to tell the point of application of the stimulus is 
 the local sign. 
 
 The Aspects of the Sensation. — If one would put 
 his hand on a hot stove, the sensation got would 
 (1) enable him to know something, (2) give pain, 
 (3) stimulate him to act. Thus the sensation has 
 three aspects, and they are as follows: 
 
 1. Intellectual. 
 
 2. Emotional. 
 
 3. Volitional. 
 
 The intellectual aspect of the sensation is that 
 one which enables the mind to get knowledge from 
 the sensation. It furnishes the basis for the develop- 
 ment of knowing. 
 
 The emotional aspect of the sensation is that 
 aspect which is pleasurable or painful. It furnishes 
 the basis for the development of feeling. 
 
 The volitional aspect of the sensation is that 
 aspect which urges to action. It furnishes the basis 
 for the development of willing. 
 
 Comparison of General and Special Sensations. — 
 The following points in the comparison of general 
 and special sensations are worthy of notice: 
 
 1. General sensations enable the mind to know 
 the well-being or ill-being of the body, the special, 
 mainly the outside world. 
 
 2. General sensations have no special sense 
 organs, but the special have. 
 
90 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 3. The knowledge got through general sensa- 
 tions is vague, while that obtained through special 
 sensations is much more definite. 
 
 4. The emotional aspect predominates in the 
 general sensations, the intellectual, in the special. 
 
 Sense-perception. — The sensation is not knowing, 
 but sense-perception, the first stage in the develop- 
 ment of knowing, is based upon and developed out of 
 the sensation. As soon as the mind begins to connect 
 its sensations, and see the likeness and difference 
 between them, that is, relate them, it is sense-perceiv- 
 ing. The sensation itself is an isolated thing. 
 
 Thus sensations are the material which the mind 
 works up into knowledge of external objects, as it 
 were. They are analogous to the threads which are 
 woven into cloth; the cloth is analogous to the knowl- 
 edge, and the weaving process is analogous to sense- 
 perceiving. In sense-perception the mind interprets 
 the sensations; that is, gets meaning — sees the like- 
 ness and difference between thera. We are now in a 
 position to give the following definition for it: 
 
 Sense-perception is the mental process of inter- 
 preting the sensation corresponding to some external 
 object. 
 
 The mind usually regards its sensations as 
 attributes of objects. Thus the mind regards the 
 sensation, sour, as an attribute of acid; the sensation, 
 sweet, as an attribute of sugar; the sensations, green, 
 red, etc., as attributes of objects. It is in this way 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 91 
 
 that the mind learns to interpret sensations and to 
 know the corresponding objects. Thus the mind 
 interprets a patch of red color as a strawberry; a 
 patch of blue color as a bunch of grapes; a certain 
 note as a bluebird, or a certain odor as a clover field. 
 
 Classes of Sense - perception. — There are two 
 classes of sense-perception on the basis of develop- 
 ment: original sense-perception^ and acquired sense- 
 perception. 
 
 If one learns that a piece of red-hot iron is hot 
 by placing his hand upon it, he gets his knowledge 
 through the temperature sense, the only way there is 
 of directly getting such knowledge. At first, sight 
 could not give such knowledge, but later the mind 
 would know that the iron is hot through sight. 
 
 The perception of the iron as hot through the 
 temperature sense is an example of original sense- 
 perception; its perception through sight is an example 
 of acquired sense-perception. 
 
 Original sense-perception is that kind of sense- 
 perception in which the mind interprets the sensations 
 from one sense luithout the aid of the sensations from 
 any other sense. 
 
 Acquired sense-perception is that kind of sense- 
 perception in lohich the mind interprets the sensation 
 from one sense hy the aid of the sensations from some 
 other sense. 
 
 The Object of Sense-perception. — The object with 
 which sense-perception deals is one which possesses 
 
92 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 marks that distinguish it from all other things; one 
 which is external to the mind; one which occupies 
 space, and one present in time and space. Thus the 
 object of sense-perception is: 
 
 1. Particular. 
 
 2. External. 
 
 3. Material. 
 
 4. Present in time and space. 
 
 By present in time is meant coexistent with the 
 act of sense-perception. And by present in space is 
 meant in such a position as to furnish a stimulus to 
 the senses. 
 
 The Percept. — Every process produces some sort 
 of a product. Thus the product of sense-perception 
 is called a percept. The percept is the idea of the 
 sense-perceived object with its characteristics just 
 mentioned above. The definition is as follows: 
 
 The percept is an idea of a particular, external, 
 material object present in time and space. 
 
 Memory. — Every experience the mind has leaves 
 a tendency for the mind to act again a little more 
 easily, as it acted in that experience. This tendency 
 for the mind to act again as it acted before is called 
 retention in psychology. Thus we learn the definition 
 for the noun to-day, and to-morrow we are able to 
 give it when called upon; and we say we retained it. 
 But where was it in the meantime? It remained with 
 the mind only as a tendency. That is to say, the 
 mind keeps the disposition to act again as it acted 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 93 
 
 when the noun was learned. When the mind acts an 
 experience it has before acted the process is called 
 reacting, or reproducing. These two things, retention 
 and reacting, are elements of memory. But there 
 must also be another element. When the mind re- 
 acts an experience, if it is a complete process of 
 memory, it must be aware that the present ex- 
 perience is one it has had before. This process of 
 seeing that the present experience is not a new one, 
 but one the mind has had before, is called identifying. 
 The present experience is identified with the past 
 experience. This act of identifying is the third 
 element in memory. We are now in a position to 
 give the following definition for memory: 
 
 Memory is the mental process of retaining, reacting, 
 and identifying past mental experiences. 
 
 As before said, retention is the mind's tendency 
 to act again as it has acted. Just what this tendency 
 is in ultimate analysis, no one knows, but that the 
 disposition to act again as it has acted is a mark of 
 the mind is very evident. 
 
 The reacting is just the working of the mind as 
 it has worked before. Thus if the mind thinks that 
 life is an intense struggle to-day and to-morrow thinks 
 the same thing, the mind has reacted a past ex- 
 perience. 
 
 When one reacts an experience and is conscious 
 that he has had this experience before, he is identi- 
 fying the present experience with the past. The 
 
94 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 identifying element is absolutely necessary to mem- 
 ory. Without it the act could not be called one of 
 memory. 
 
 The Classes of Memory. — On the basis of develop- 
 ment there are four classes of memory, as follows: 
 
 1. Recognition. 
 
 2. Remembrance of the Particular. 
 
 3. Remembrance of the General. 
 
 4. Recollection. 
 
 Recognition is the least developed kind of mem- 
 ory and is most like sense-perception, but it is a little 
 advance in development over sense-perception. In 
 recognition the object is alv^ays present as it was in 
 sense-perception, and the object is always particular. 
 In addition to reperceiving the object the mind al- 
 ways knows that it is reacting the activity corre- 
 sponding to it at a different time from the former 
 activity and usually at a different place. 
 
 Thus the knoiving that the mind has perceived the 
 object before, the grasping of more time relations, and 
 more place relations constitute the advance in de- 
 velopment of recognition over sense-perception. 
 
 Illustration. — As one passes down the street and 
 meets his friends, he says he recognizes each one; he 
 is using the term, recognize, just right, for in each 
 case he is reknowing his friend in an act of recogni- 
 tion. The object, his friend, is particular, present, 
 and is known to have been known before. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 95 
 
 Remembrance of the particular is the next higher 
 kind of memory. In this kind of memory the object 
 remembered is never present, but it is always a 
 particular object. The process is as follows: the 
 mind has an activity corresponding to some object 
 some element of which is like some previously known 
 object. From the suggestion of this like element the 
 mind reacts the entire activity appropriate to the 
 previously known object, and thus remembers it. 
 
 The main advance of remembrance of the par- 
 ticular over recognition is that it enables the mind to 
 think of objects when they are not present. This is 
 an immense advance, for to be able to think of objects 
 only in their presence would detract tremendously 
 from the mind's power of thought. 
 
 Illustration. — One sees a basket of fruit sitting in 
 a show window. This makes him think of a par- 
 ticular fruit farm he has seen in Michigan. From 
 the suggestion of the like element in the basket of 
 fruit the mind goes ahead and finishes up the whole 
 activity appropriate to the fruit farm previously 
 known, and thus remembers it. 
 
 The next higher kind of memory is remembrance 
 of the general. In this kind of memory the mind 
 remembers a general idea, or general notion. If, 
 when a child is given a piece of crayon and told to 
 make triangles on the board, he is able to do so, it is 
 because he remembers the general idea, triangle. 
 
^96 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 The process is as follows: the mind has an ac- 
 tivity corresponding to something some element of 
 T\7hich is like some element of the general idea. From 
 the suggestion of the like element, the mind rethinks 
 the general idea, and thus remembers it. 
 
 Illustration. — A teacher held up an overshoe and 
 Bsked the students what it put them in mind of. A 
 student said it put him in mind of a flatboat. The 
 teacher asked what one and the student said no par- 
 ticular one. The student's act of memory was 
 remembrance of the general. The advance of remem- 
 brance of the general over remembrance of the 
 particular is that it enables the mind to think of 
 things in classes or generals. This enables the mind 
 to save much time and energy. 
 
 Recollection is the most developed kind of mem- 
 ory. It is characterized by a special effort of the 
 will to get hold of some associated line which will 
 suggest the thing to be remembered. 
 
 The process is as follows: the mind has an ac- 
 tivity corresponding to some object some element of 
 which is missing. The mind is aware that there is a 
 missing element, and makes a special effort of the 
 will to bring into consciousness some associated line 
 to suggest the missing element. If it succeeds, the 
 act is complete. 
 
 Illustration. — I see a flower, but can not remem- 
 ber its name — the missing element. I then try to 
 think where I saw the flower before, how its name 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 97 
 
 looked on the page, etc., and thus succeed in recalling 
 its name. 
 
 A gentleman stepped into a store and saw a man 
 whose face seemed familiar, but could not remember 
 his name or where he had seen him before. He then 
 made an effort to get hold of some associated line to 
 suggest the name and circumstances under which he 
 had been known. He went back to the different 
 places in which his life had been spent for five years 
 and thus remembered the missing elements. 
 
 The advance of recollection over the other kinds 
 of memory is in ( 1 ) tJie effort involved; (2) the number 
 of relations grasped. In the effort to get hold of some 
 associated line to suggest the missing element more 
 relations are grasped than in any other kind of 
 memory. 
 
 The Laiu of Memory. — There is but one law of 
 memory, and it is as follows: The mind remembers 
 things wholly through their associations. Thus, if 
 when one sees a thistle, Scotland comes into mind, it 
 is because the thistle and Scotland have been asso- 
 ciated in that mind; if one remembers France when 
 he sees the lily, it is because France and the lily have 
 been associated. 
 
 Association. — But the question, What is associa- 
 tion? at once suggests itself. When one looks at the 
 word, dog^ the idea, dog^ comes into consciousness. 
 This occurs because the idea of the word, dog, and 
 the idea, dog, have been held in consciousness at the 
 
98 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 same time; also, if two or more things have been held 
 in consciousness in close succession, they will suggest 
 each other. Thus it appears that association is noth- 
 ing more than the process of holding two or more 
 things in consciousness at the same time or in close 
 succession. The following is the formal definition 
 for it: 
 
 Association is the mental process of holding two or 
 more things in consciousness at the same time or in close 
 succession. 
 
 Laios of Association. — There are two classes of 
 laws of association: primary^ and secondary. 
 
 The primary law of association explains why 
 ideas succeed one another at all in consciousness. 
 The secondary laws explain why, when several ideas 
 have been associated with an idea, it suggests one in 
 preference to another. Thus, if ideas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 
 and 7 have been associated with idea x, when x comes 
 into consciousness, why will idea 5 come into con- 
 sciousness rather than 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 7? The secon- 
 dary laws explain this. 
 
 The Primary Law Stated. — The following is the 
 statement for the primary law of association: When 
 two or more things have heen held in consciousness at the 
 same time or in close succession and one is afterward 
 presented, it is the tendency for the other or others to 
 come into consciousness. 
 
 The Secondary Laws Stated.— The secondary laws 
 are five in number and are as follows: 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 99 
 
 1. The law of correlation: Those things held to- 
 gether in consciousness with the most essential likeness 
 are, other things equal, the most strongly associated. 
 
 2. The law of repetition: Those things held to- 
 gether in consciousness the most frequently are, other 
 things equal, the most strongly associated. 
 
 3. The law of emotional preference: Those 
 things held together in consciousness with the highest 
 degree of feeling are, other things equal, the most strong- 
 ly associated. 
 
 4. The law of voluntary attention: Those things 
 held together in consciousness with the highest degree of 
 attention are, other things equal, the most strongly 
 associated. 
 
 5. The law of recentness: Those things held 
 together in consciousness the most recently are, other 
 things equal, the most strongly associated. 
 
 The law of correlation may be illustrated as fol- 
 lows: if Bonaparte and Alexander have been asso- 
 ciated at one time, and Bonaparte and Newton at 
 another time, when Bonaparte comes into mind, 
 according to the law of correlation, Alexander would 
 come to mind in preference to Newton. This would 
 be true, because there are more essential likenesses 
 between Bonaparte and Alexander than there are 
 between Bonaparte and Newton. 
 
 The law of repetition may be illustrated as fol- 
 lows: if the Declaration of Independence and Thomas 
 Jefferson have been held together in consciousness 
 
 L.of 
 
100 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 more often than the Louisiana Purchase and Thomas 
 Jefferson, when Thomas Jefferson comes into con- 
 sciousness the Declaration of Independence will 
 appear in preference to the Louisiana Purchase. 
 
 The following will illustrate the law of emotional 
 preference: a boy was crossing a bridge on horseback, 
 when a broken board flew up at one end because of 
 the horse's stepping upon it at the other end. The 
 horse becoming frightened at this jumped and fell at 
 full length off the end of the bridge into the mud and 
 water some eight or ten feet below. Now when this 
 boy sees a broken board in a bridge, he thinks of 
 this incident in preference to other things, because 
 of the high degree of feeling connected with it. 
 
 The following illustrates the law of voluntary 
 attention: if a friend walks past one holding a vase in 
 his hand and one gives him careful attention on one 
 day and on a second day the same friend carrying a 
 book passes one and is given only slight attention, 
 when the friend comes into consciousness the vase will 
 appear in consciousness in preference to the book. 
 
 The illustration of the law of recentness is as 
 follows: if one has recently been reading of the 
 numerous dogs of Constantinople, and before this 
 has read the Mohammedan's call to prayer, accord- 
 ing to the law of recentness, when Constantinople 
 comes into consciousness its numerous dogs will 
 appear in consciousness in preference to the call to 
 prayer. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 101 
 
 Imagination, — The mind has the ability of getting 
 ideas and then of putting these ideas into mental 
 images, or pictures. If one tells you to shut your 
 eyes and look at the following described apple with 
 the mind's eye, the process of forming the picture of 
 it is imagining: 
 
 A large dark-red apple, three inches in diameter, 
 almost spherical, with a rotten spot as large as a 
 finger nail on one side, and a worm hole on the oppo- 
 site side, is lying on a platter sitting on a stand in the 
 center of a room. 
 
 The pictures formed by the imagination may be 
 almost like objects which have been seen or they may 
 be almost entirely changed; that is, highly idealized. 
 It makes no difference how much they are idealized 
 the imagination still depends upon the memory for 
 the material for its images. The Ancients imagined 
 a huge dog, Cerberus, with three immense heads, 
 whose body bristled with snakes in the place of 
 hairs, and whose barking resembled peals of thunder, 
 as the guardian of Hades. There is nothing new in 
 this picture but the combination. They were familiar 
 with dogs, heads, snakes, and peals of thunder. The 
 only new thing is the combination. What is true of 
 this case is true of all cases of imagination. Imagi- 
 nation is thus dependent upon sense-perception and 
 memory for the material which it builds into its 
 images. The image made by imagination is always a 
 particular thing; that is, the mind regards it as 
 separate from all other things. 
 
102 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 From the foregoing the definition of imagination 
 is as follows : Imagination is the mental process of em- 
 bodying an idea in a particular form^ or image. 
 
 The Advance in Development of Imagination over 
 Memory. — If one should study a vase for one hour and 
 then go to another room and attempt to draw it, he 
 would find many places which he would not quite 
 remember. Imagination enables one to fill out these 
 places in a picture where memory fails him. Thus 
 imagination fills up the discrepancies of memory. 
 
 Sense-perception confines the mind strictly to 
 the present time; memory enables the mind to know 
 past time, but it is only the imagination which en- 
 ables the mind to know future time and to project 
 itself into the future. This enables the mind to set 
 up ideals and to plan for the future. 
 
 The integrity of the act of memory depends up- 
 on the accuracy of the reproduction. Thus the mind 
 regards itself as remembering well or poorly accord- 
 ingly as it reproduces accurately or inaccurately. 
 This is not the case with the imagination. In acts of 
 imagination the mind knows its freedom in changing 
 or idealizing. The imagination is thus a much freer 
 activity of the mind than memory. 
 
 These three advances of imagination in develop- 
 ment over memory may be summed up as follows: 
 
 1. The imagination fills out the incompleteness 
 in acts of memory and thus enables the mind to think 
 of objects as complete wholes. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 103 
 
 2. The imagination enables the mind to grasp 
 future time and thus to project itself into the future. 
 
 3. The imagination is much freer than memory 
 In its idealizing activity. 
 
 Classes of Imagination. — On the basis of develop- 
 ment there are three classes of imagination: repro- 
 ductive, mechanical, and creative. 
 
 Reproductive imagination is the least developed 
 kind of imagination. It is but a small advance in 
 development over memory. If one should study a 
 tree on the lawn for an hour, then go to his room and 
 draw it the image produced would be as nearly literal 
 as possible; that is, as nearly an accurate represen- 
 tation of the tree as possible. The kind of imagina- 
 tion employed would be the reproductive. 
 
 The definition is as follows: Reproductive im- 
 agination is that kind of imagination tvhich forms 
 images as nearly literal as possible. 
 
 The mechanical imagination is the next higher 
 kind. It is that kind of imagination which makes 
 images by arbitrarily separating or combining parts 
 of images of the reproductive imagination. If the 
 wings of birds are combined with the forms of cows, 
 the image is the result of the mechanical imagination, 
 or if the head of a man is imaged floating through 
 space, it is the work of the mechanical imagination. 
 
 The following is the definition: Mechanical im- 
 agination is that kind of imagination which forms 
 
104 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 images by arbitrarily separating or putting together 
 images of the reproductive imagination. 
 
 The creative imagination is the highest kind. It 
 is also called constructive ^ inventive, and scientific 
 imagination. In this kind of imagination the mind 
 fashions the material which it builds into an image to 
 suit its purpose. It is the kind used in all the crea- 
 tions of man, as a bridge, a bicycle, an automobile, a 
 house, a poem, etc. It is purposive to a high degree. 
 The entire image in this kind of imagination is a 
 product highly idealized and made up of smaller 
 images which have also been idealized to suit the 
 mind's purpose. 
 
 The definition is as follows: Creatiye imagi- 
 nation is that kind of imagination which builds up com- 
 plex images made by adapting the images of reproductive 
 and mechanical imagination. 
 
 Conception. — In order to know any object the 
 mind must see it in both its particular and universal 
 aspects — must see what distinguishes it from all 
 other things and also what connects it with other 
 things. Some of the stages of knowing emphasize 
 one aspect of objects and some the other. Thus 
 in sense-perception, memory, and imagination the 
 mind emphasizes the particular aspects of objects, 
 but in conception, definition, judgment, reasoning, and 
 systematization the mind emphasizes the universal 
 aspects of objects. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 105' 
 
 Sense-perception, memory, and imagination deal 
 with particular ideas. Conception, too, deals with an 
 idea, but not a particular idea. It deals with what is 
 called a general idea, or general notion. But what 
 is a general idea, or notion? If one should set out to 
 examine triangles, he would find that every triangle: 
 1. Is a polygon. 2. Has just three sides. 3. Has 
 just three angles. He would also find that each one 
 has several attributes not found in all the others, and 
 that each one has some attributes not found in any of 
 the others. These last two kinds of attributes are 
 necessary to the triangle, but do not enter into the 
 general idea of the triangle. The general idea> 
 triangle, is made up of ideas, one, two, and three aibove. 
 That is to say, it is made up of those attributes that 
 could be found in any triangle. The following is the 
 definition for a general idea: 
 
 A general idea is an idea which corresponds to the 
 common attributes of a class of objects. 
 
 The terms, concept, general idea, and general 
 notion, all have the same meaning. This should be 
 remembered. The process in which concepts are 
 formed is conception, and the definition is as follows: 
 
 Conception is the mind^s process of forming an idea 
 which corresponds to the common attributes of a class of 
 objects. 
 
 Method of Forming Concepts in Actual Life. — In 
 actual life concepts are formed as follows: first, the 
 mind perceives an object of a class for the first time 
 
106 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 and gets a sort of tentative concept which usually 
 contains attributes not possessed by all the objects of 
 the class; secondly, the mind perceives other objects 
 of this kind and begins to drop from the concept any 
 attributes which are not common and perhaps to add 
 some common attributes not at first perceived; this 
 process of changing the concept because of further 
 experience is continued until just those attributes 
 which belong to every object of the class remain. 
 
 Illustration. — The mind naturally gets its general 
 Ideas from the study of particulars. Suppose the 
 first barn a child sees is a square one, painted red, 
 with roof sloping but one way, and containing only 
 hay and corn. From this particular the mind's idea 
 of barn will contain square form, red color^ this par- 
 ticular kind of roof, and filled ivith hay and corn. To 
 be brief, the mind from the study of particulars goes 
 on correcting its idea of barn by dropping out 
 elements, and possibly adding some, until just those 
 attributes remain which are possessed in common by 
 barns. 
 
 This is the way the mind naturally gets its con- 
 cepts in life. When it examines the first particular, 
 it forms a tentative, or trial, concept. But it goes on 
 and examines other particulars to correct this ten- 
 tative concept. It should be noted carefully that the 
 mind naturally examines the real, particular object 
 of which it forms its concepts. 
 
 The Logical Steps in Conception. — The following 
 are the logical steps in an act of conception: 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 107 
 
 1. The mind acts an activity appropriate to a 
 particular object by thinking several of its attributes. 
 
 2. The mind repeats this process with other 
 similar objects. 
 
 3. The mind compares and contrasts these ob- 
 jects. 
 
 4. The mind abstracts the common attributes 
 by holding them in consciousness and dropping more 
 or less from consciousness the others. 
 
 5. The mind generalizes by extending the com- 
 mon attributes of the particulars studied out to all 
 objects of the class. 
 
 6. The mind thinks the name of the class. 
 
 The first two steps may be put together, thus 
 making but five steps as follows: (1) the examination 
 of particulars; (2) comparison and contrast; (3) ab- 
 straction; (4) generalization; (5) denomination. 
 
 The Asjoects of the Concept. — The concept has two 
 aspects: intension^ and extension, or intent and extent. 
 
 When the mind thinks the general idea, triangle, 
 it thinks the common attributes which make up the 
 idea, but it also thinks of the particular objects to 
 which the concept applies. In the first case the mind 
 is thinking of the intension, intent, or content — these 
 terms all have the same meaning — of the concept. 
 In the second case the mind is thinking of the ex- 
 tension, or extent, of the concept. The following are 
 statements for these two aspects of the concept: 
 The intension of a concept is that aspect of the concept 
 
108 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 which refers to the number of common attributes in it. 
 The extension of a concept is that aspect of the concept 
 which refers to the number of particular objects to ivhich 
 it applies. 
 
 Definition. — The popular notion of definition is 
 that it is some sort of formal statement, either oral 
 or written, to be learned and remembered. But 
 definition in its essential nature is a mental process, 
 and sufiiciently distinct to be regarded a stage in the 
 development of knoiuing. 
 
 An examination of how the mind naturally forms 
 a definition will reveal the nature of the process. 
 
 Let the thing to be defined be the triangle. The 
 mind examines a particular triangle, noting its at- 
 tributes; then it examines a second triangle, noting 
 its attributes; then a third, and so on. The mind 
 compares these various particular triangles and 
 selects out their common attributes. It finds them 
 as follows: 
 
 1. The triangle is a polygon. 
 
 2. It has three sides. 
 
 3. It has three angles. 
 
 The mind now makes a synthesis of these com- 
 mon truths of triangles in the form of a thought, 
 which gives the following: A triangle is a polygon 
 having three sides and three angles. This, it is evident, 
 is a definition of the triangle, and the mind's process 
 of arriving at this mental product is the mental 
 process of definition. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OP THE CHILD. 109 
 
 From the above the following definition of defini- 
 tion is reached: 
 
 Definition is the mind^s process of making a syn- 
 thesis of the common attributes of a class of objects in the 
 form of a thought. 
 
 For instance, the mind examines several par- 
 ticular nouns in sentences, and sees the following 
 truths of each one: 
 
 1. It is a substantive word. 
 
 2. It names the object which it expresses. 
 
 The mind makes a synthesis of these truths as 
 follows: A noun is a substantive luord which names its 
 object. But this defines the noun. 
 
 In making a definition the mind takes the follow- 
 ing steps: 
 
 1. It thinks the name of the thing to be defined. 
 
 2. It puts the thing to be defined in the next larger 
 known class. 
 
 3. It sets the thing to be defined off from all other things 
 of this class. 
 
 For instance, in the definition of the sentence, 
 *^The sentence is that language unit which expresses a 
 thought,^* ^^The sentence'^ names what is to be defined; 
 ^Hs that language unif* puts the thing to be defined 
 into the class, language units, the next known class 
 larger than the sentence; and ^^ which expresses a 
 thought" sets the sentence off from the other things 
 of the class, the ivord and discourse. 
 
 The thing defined is always a class. When the 
 mind defines a prism, the definition is not for some 
 
110 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 particular prism, but it is for the class, prism. Thus, 
 a definition must include all the particulars of the 
 class to be defined. • That is to say, it must be in- 
 clusive. The definition must also exclude everything 
 except the particulars of the class defined; that is, it 
 must be exclusive. 
 
 The mind's natural mode of defining is thus as 
 follows: 
 
 V. The mind examines particular objects of the 
 class to be defined. 
 
 2\ The mind selects out the common attributes 
 of these particular objects. 
 
 3^ The mind makes a synthesis of these com- 
 mon attributes in the form of a thought by: 
 
 V. Thinking the name of the class to be 
 defined. 
 
 2^ Putting the thing to be defined into the 
 next larger known class. 
 
 3^ Setting the thing to be defined off from all 
 other things of that class. 
 
 Laws of Definition. — Thus to guide in making 
 definitions the following laws may be formulated: 
 
 1. Name the thing to he defined. 
 
 2. Put the thing to he defined into the next larger 
 known class. 
 
 3. Set the thing to he defined off from all other 
 things of tJiat class. 
 
 Judgment. — The mind gets particular ideas 
 through sense-perception, and general ideas through 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. Ill 
 
 ccnception. In judgment the mind grasps and em- 
 phasizes the relation between ideas. For example, 
 the mind of man had an idea, coal^ and the idea, fuely 
 for years before it ever grasped the relation between, 
 those ideas. When at last it did, it asserted that coal 
 is a fuel This process of grasping the relation be- 
 tween the idea, coal^ and the idea, fuel^ and asserting 
 it is the mind's process of judging. Thus the defini- 
 tion of judgment is as follows: 
 
 Judgment is the mincfs process of grasping the 
 relation between ideas and asserting it. 
 
 The product of an act of sense-perception is a 
 percept; of an act of conception, a concept; of an act of 
 definition, a definition; of an act of judgment, a judg- 
 ment. 
 
 Every judgment is expressed by a sentence, if 
 expressed at all. Thus the sentence is the symbol of 
 the judgment. It is commonly said that the sentence 
 expresses the thought^ and this is right, because the 
 thought and the judgment mean precisely the same 
 thing. 
 
 The sentence, then, bears the relation to the 
 judgment of the symbol to the thing symbolized. And 
 the judgment bears the relation to the sentence of the 
 thing symbolized to the symbol. 
 
 The act of judging is a triple activity of the mind; 
 that is, a one act made up of three. The following 
 are the steps in judging: 
 
 1. The mind acts some idea. 
 
112 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 2. The mind acts a second idea related to the 
 first. 
 
 3. The mind grasps and asserts the relation be- 
 tween these ideas. 
 
 The Elements of the Judgment. — Since there are 
 three activities in making every judgment, there 
 are three essential elements in every judgment: the 
 'psychical subject, the psychical predicate, and the psy- 
 chical copula. The following are definitions for them: 
 
 The psychical subject is the idea of the object about 
 which something is asserted. 
 
 The psychical predicate is the idea of that which 
 is asserted about the object of which the subject of the 
 judgment is the idea. 
 
 The psychical copula is the idea of the relation 
 J)etween the subject of the judgment and the predicate of 
 the judgment. 
 
 The Two Aspects of Judgments. — Judgments have 
 two aspects: intension and extension. The inten- 
 sion and extension of judgments are not so much 
 two separate things as the two different aspects of 
 the same thing. Thus every judgment is at one time 
 both a judgment of intension and extension. If the 
 mind thinks man is an animal, it may refer the sub- 
 ject, the idea, man, to the predicate, the idea, animal, 
 with the idea of extending or universalizing the 
 subject, for animal is a larger class than man. In 
 this case the judgment is one of extension. But if the 
 mind refers the predicate, ths idea, animal, to the sub- 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 113 
 
 ject, the idea, man, with the idea of enriching the 
 subject in meaning by adding the element of animal 
 to it, the judgment is one of intension. 
 
 Reasoning. — In judgment the mind emphasizes 
 the relation between ideas. In reasoning it empha- 
 sizes the relation among judgments. In every act of 
 reasoning there are three judgments involved, so 
 related that the last is reached because of its relation 
 to the other two. Thus having the two judgments, 
 ^ ^ Man is mortal, ^^ and ^^ William is a man," the mind 
 reaches the third judgment, ^^ William is mortal,'^ and 
 this process of the mind is reasoning. The definition 
 is as follows: 
 
 Reasoning is the mincVs process of reaching a judg- 
 ment because of its relation to tivo preceding judgments. 
 
 The Classes of Reasoning. — There are different 
 classes of reasoning depending upon the basis chosen. 
 Often the mind produces a judgment when it is not 
 at all conscious that this judgment is reached be- 
 cause of its relation to two preceding judgments, but 
 an analysis always shows that the two preceding 
 judgments are implied, though not in consciousness. 
 Thus there are two kinds of reasoning from the 
 standpoint of whether all three of the judgments are 
 in consciousness. Thus when the mind thinks This 
 day is rainy, it has as a rule, in consciousness only 
 this one judgment. An analysis shows that the two 
 judgments, rainy days have certain characteristics; and 
 this day has these characteristics; are implied, however. 
 
114 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Then again, the mind in reasoning examines par- 
 ticular objects and reasons that what is true of these 
 is true of the whole class; that is, it goes from the 
 examination of particulars to a general truth. Also 
 the mind may start with a general truth and reason 
 that what is true of the whole class must be true of 
 the particular objects of that class. Thus from the 
 standpoint of whether the mind goes from particulars 
 to the general or from the general to particulars 
 there are two classes of reasoning. 
 
 Implicit and Explicit Reasoning, — On the basis of 
 whether the mind has in consciousness all three 
 judgments there are two classes of reasoning: im- 
 plicit^ and explicit. 
 
 Implicit reasoning is the kind of reasoning in 
 which one or more of the judgments are not in conscious- 
 ness. 
 
 Explicit reasoning is the kind of reasoning in 
 which the mind has all the judgments in consciousness. 
 
 Inductive and Deductive Reasoning. — On the basis 
 of whether the mind goes from the particular to the 
 general or from the general to the particular there 
 are two classes of reasoning: inductive and deductive. 
 
 Inductive reasoning is that kind of reasoning in 
 which the mind goes from truths of particular objects to 
 general truths. 
 
 Ex. — This object is an animal. 
 
 This object has voluntary motion. 
 Animals have voluntary motion. 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 115 
 
 Deductive reasoning is that kind of reasoning in 
 which the mind goes from general truths to truths of 
 particular objects. 
 
 Ex. — Animals have voluntary motion. 
 This object is an animal. 
 This object has voluntary motion. 
 
 The Syllogism. — In every act of reasoning there 
 are three judgments, or propositions. These three 
 judgments, or propositions, taken together are called 
 the syllogism. Thus the syllogism may be characterized 
 as follows: 
 
 The syllogism is the formal act of reasoning con- 
 sisting of three judgments, or propositions. 
 
 Of the three judgments which compose the syllo- 
 gism the first two are called the premises, diXidi the last 
 one, the conclusion. 
 
 There are in each syllogism also three terms: the 
 major term, the minor term, and the middle term. These 
 may be known from their position in the judgments. 
 The predicate of the conclusion is invariably the major 
 term; the subject of the conclusion, the minor term, 
 and the term found in both the premises but not 
 found in the conclusion is the middle term. 
 
 The premises are called major or minor depend- 
 ing upon which term is found in them, the major 
 term being always found in the major premise, and 
 the minor term, in the minor premise. 
 
 Thus in the syllogism, — 
 This object is an animal. 
 
116 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 This object has voluntary motion. 
 
 Animals have voluntary motion. 
 *'have voluntary motion" is the major term; *' Ani- 
 mals" is the minor term; and '^This object" is the 
 middle term. Also, "Animals have voluntary motion" 
 is the conclusion. "This object has voluntary mo- 
 tion" is the major premise, and "This object is an 
 animal" is the minor premise. 
 
 The arrangement of the judgments in a certain 
 order is called a figure of the syllogism. There are 
 said to be three figures of the syllogism, as follows: 
 
 I. 
 
 Animals have voluntary motion. 
 
 This object is an animal. 
 
 This object has voluntary motion. 
 
 II. 
 Animals have voluntary motion. 
 This object has voluntary motion. 
 This object is an animal. 
 
 III. 
 This object is an animal. 
 This object has voluntary motion. 
 Animals have voluntary motion. 
 
 The first figure of the syllogism is employed by 
 the mind in deduction; the second, in identiJiGation; and 
 the third, in induction. 
 
 Systematization. — In judgment the mind grasps 
 the relation betv^een ideas; in reasoning, betvreen 
 judgments; and in systematization, between complete 
 acts of reasoning. Thus by systematization the 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OF THE CHILD. 117 
 
 mind connects all the truths of plant life into a com- 
 plete system — the science of botany; also, all the 
 truths of animal life into the science, zoology. 
 
 Systematization is the mind^s process of grasping 
 the relation between complete acts of reasoning. 
 
 Intuition. — To know any object completely is to 
 know it in both its particular and universal aspects; 
 that is, (1) to know it as distinct from other objects, 
 (2) as connected with other objects. 
 
 In the stages in the development of knowing 
 from sense-perception to imagination, inclusive, the 
 mind emphasizes the particular aspects of known 
 objects; but in the development of knowing from 
 conception to systematization, inclusive, the mind em- 
 phasizes the universal aspects of objects. Thus in no 
 stage of knowing from sense-perception to systema- 
 tization does the mind grasp an object with equal 
 emphasis upon both its particular and universal 
 aspects. This it does in the highest stage of know- 
 ing, intuition. Intuition in its fuUness is thus 
 knowing an object completely, and is thus the end of 
 the development of knowing. It may be defined as 
 follows: 
 
 Intuition is the mincVs pi^ocess of implicitly grasp- 
 ing an object ivith equal emphasis upon both its particular 
 and universal aspects. 
 
 Intuition is rational insight. 
 
 The Distinguishing Element in the Stages of Knoio- 
 ing. — By the distinguishing element in the stages of 
 
118 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 knowing is meant that element which makes any 
 stage different from any other stage, and by which 
 any stage may be known. 
 
 The distinguishing element in sense-perception 
 is the interpreting the sensations; in memory, the iden- 
 tifying activity; in imagination, the free imaging activ- 
 ity of the mind; in conception, the grasping the class 
 common attributes; in definition, the synthesis of the 
 common truths of a class; in judgment, the grasping the 
 relation between ideas; in reasoning, the grasping 
 the relation between judgments; in systematization, the 
 grasping the relation among complete acts of reasoning; 
 in intuition, the equality of emphasis on both aspects of 
 an object, the particular and universal. 
 
 The Advance in the Stages of Knotoing. — The sen- 
 sation in itself is an isolated thing. In sense-percep- 
 tion the mind relates the sensations and grasps the 
 likeness and difference between them. Its advance 
 over the sensation is in grasjying the relation between 
 the sensations. In original sense-perception, the least 
 developed kind, the mind interprets the sensations 
 from only one sense, that one which was evidently 
 designed to give sensations of one particular kind. 
 In the acquired sense-perception, the most developed 
 kind, more than one sense is involved, and thus more 
 relations are grasped and the process is more com- 
 plex — more developed. 
 
 In memory, the second stage of knowing, the 
 mind grasps more time and place relations than in 
 
THE MENTAL NATURE OP THE CHILD. 119 
 
 sense-perception. In sense-perception the mind can 
 deal with only present, in time and space, objects. 
 Thus it is a great advance to be able to think of objects 
 not present in either time or space. 
 
 Recognition, the lowest kind of memory, is a 
 very small advance over sense-perception, merely 
 Tnore time relations grasped. 
 
 Remembrance of the particular is an advance 
 over recognition in that the object is never present — 
 TYiore place relations grasped. 
 
 In remembrance of the general the mind ad- 
 vances to the grasping of general relations. The mind 
 deals with particular ideas in both recognition and 
 remembrance of the particular, but with a general 
 idea in remembrance of the general. 
 
 In recollection, the highest kind of memory, the 
 advance is in the effort of the will involved and in the 
 graspi/ng more relations in the attempt to get hold of 
 some associated line to suggest the missing element. 
 
 In imagination the mind advances over memory 
 (1) in grasping more time relations; (2) in filling out 
 the discrepancies of memory in its effort to remember 
 a thing completely; and (3) in the freedom of the ac- 
 tivity. 
 
 In reproductive imagination, the least developed 
 kind, the mind advances just a little beyond memory. 
 The advance is mainly that of supplying the discrep- 
 ancies of memory. 
 
120 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 In mechanical imagination the advance over the 
 reproductive is the greater freedom of the idealizing 
 activity. 
 
 In the creative imagination the advance is in the 
 greater number of relations grasped because of the 
 freedom of the ideaUzing activity of the mind. 
 
 The advance of conception over the stages of 
 knowing below it is that of shifting the mind's em- 
 phasis from the particular to the class common attributes 
 of objects. Sense-perception and imagination, the 
 idea-forming stages of knowing below conception, 
 give particular ideas; conception, also an idea- forming 
 stage of knowing, advances to the general idea. 
 
 The advance in definition over conception is 
 found in the mind's effort to make explicit what it 
 only vaguely grasps in conception — the distinct sepa- 
 ration of the different classes of things. 
 
 The advance in judgment is in grasping and em- 
 phasizing the relation between ideas of any kind what- 
 ever; that is, in reaching out for more relations. 
 
 The advance in reasoning is grasping the relation 
 J)etween entire judgments, a further broadening of the 
 relations grasped. 
 
 The advance of systematization over reasoning is 
 in grasping the relations among complete acts of reason- 
 ing. 
 
 In intuition the advance is in the equal emphasis 
 of the mind in grasping an object in both its universal 
 and particular aspects. This is the most complete 
 
THE MENTAL. NATURE OF THE CHILD. 121:. 
 
 knowing of an object and with it the development of: 
 knowing ends. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 
 
 Meaning of the Term. — The curriculum is the 
 school course of study. It is made up of the various 
 subjects studied in school. Thus in the primary, or 
 common, school the curriculum consists of reading, 
 writing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar, primary 
 language, history, geography, physiology, and in 
 some places music, and drawing. In the secondary, 
 or high, school it usually consists of algebra, and 
 geometry; Latin, composition, rhetoric, and literature; 
 botany, zoology, chemistry, physics, geology, and 
 astronomy; ancient history, mediaeval history, and 
 modern history; drawing, and music. 
 
 It is easily seen that the school curriculum is not 
 a fixed thing, but that it changes from time to time. 
 The subjects in the school curriculum taken as a 
 whole divide themselves into groups. There are at 
 any rate the following groups: 
 
 1. The language group consisting of reading, 
 writing, spelling, language, composition, rhetoric, 
 grammar, Latin, literature, German, French, etc. 
 
 2. The mathematical group consisting of arith- 
 metic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, etc. 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 123 
 
 3. The natural science group consisting of physi- 
 ology, geography, botany, zoology, psychology, chem- 
 istry, physics, astronomy, geology, etc. 
 
 4. The history grouj) consisting of ancient 
 history, mediaeval history, and modern history. 
 
 5. The art group consisting of drawing, and 
 music, at the least. 
 
 6. The 2^'i^of^ssional group consisting of psy- 
 chology, methodology, paidology, etc. 
 
 Origin of the Curriculum. — The function of the 
 school is to educate the child. But the child must 
 have something to study that he may get knowledge 
 and discipline in the process of education. Thus 
 there are two aspects of the thought which originated 
 the school curriculum: the idea of getting useful 
 knowledge, and the idea of getting mental discipline. 
 
 The foremost one of these ideas was the need for 
 useful knowledge. So it may be said that the first 
 felt-need which w^as instrumental in originating the 
 school curriculum was the felt-need for useful knowl- 
 edge. And by useful knowledge is meant knowledge 
 which furnishes one guidance in right living. 
 
 The second felt-need which was instrumental in 
 originating the school curriculum was the felt-need 
 for discipline; that is, for mental exercise to the end 
 of health and growth. It was recognized that the 
 mind must have exercise to maintain its health, and 
 also to grow. 
 
124 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 The curriculum at one time consisted of nothing 
 more than reading, "writing, spelhng, and arithmetic. 
 It was called the ''three r's, " when it was thus sim- 
 ple, — "readin, ritin, rithmetic, " spelling being in- 
 cluded in "ritin." 
 
 There was a need for some subject in the 
 curriculum the study of which would make the 
 children skillful in the two following things: 
 
 1. Getting thought and feeling from pieces of 
 discourse. 
 
 2. Communicating this thought and feeling 
 orally in the author's own words. 
 
 This need was the origin of reading as a subject 
 in the school curriculum. And the purpose of read- 
 ing in the school course is to satisfy this need. 
 
 Again there was a need for something in the 
 school course which would make the children skillful 
 in the art of making the correct written forms by 
 means of which thought and feeling are commu- 
 nicated. This need was the origin of spelling and 
 writing in the curriculum. And the purpose of 
 spelling and writing in the school course is to satisfy 
 this need. 
 
 In dealing with the world of objects the mind 
 needed to be skillful in measuring them. In carrying 
 on business transactions the things exchanged had to 
 be measured, and skill was needed. So there was a 
 need for some subject in the school course the study 
 of which would give the children skill in measuring. 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 125 
 
 This need brought arithmetic into the school cur- 
 riculum, and was thus its origin. And the purpose 
 of arithmetic in the schools is to make the children 
 skillful in measuring. 
 
 In a similar way we could trace out the origin of 
 every study in the school curriculum, but it will 
 probably be more helpful to do that under the head 
 of- 
 
 The Groivth of the Cui'riculum. — As stated above 
 the school curriculum of the primary, or common, 
 school, at one time consisted barely of reading, writ- 
 ing, spelling, and arithmetic. But it has not remained 
 so. Many new subjects have been added. That is to 
 say, the school curriculum has grown. 
 
 It is interesting to trace out the ideas which 
 brought the subjects into the school curriculum as it 
 grew, and to compare those ideas with what these 
 subjects actually do for those who study them. That 
 is, to see whether these subjects have realized in the 
 lives of the children the things which they were 
 expected to realize. 
 
 It was seen that some subject needed to be in the 
 school curriculum whose study would give the pupils 
 the habit of using good language in communicating 
 their thoughts and feelings. So grammar was added 
 to satisfy this need, and for a long time it was ex- 
 pected that the study of grammar would actually 
 give the pupils the habit of using good language in 
 writing and speaking. Finally it became evident that 
 
126 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 grammar was not doing this well enough. The need 
 for some subject to do this was still strongly felt. So 
 the next attempt to satisfy this need brought primary 
 language as a subject into the curriculum. 
 
 The question whether language lessons as usually 
 taught will satisfy this want suggests itself. 
 
 It was also felt that, since so much of life's suc- 
 cess and happiness depends upon the health of the 
 physical being, something ought to be added to 
 the curriculum, the study of which would give knowl- 
 edge valuable for guidance in maintaining the health 
 of the body. Thus physiology and hygiene were 
 added to the school curriculum to satisfy this want. 
 Man learns by experience and by example; that 
 is, by his own experiences and by the experiences of 
 others. He must depend upon the experiences of the 
 race for a large part of his knowledge. These ex- 
 periences of the race have been preserved in recorded 
 history; and these experiences thus recorded are the 
 heritage left by the race to humanity. 
 
 There was felt a need for some subject in the 
 school curriculum the study of which would bring 
 the child into possession of the thought and feeling 
 of the race as manifested in history, and this need 
 caused history to be added to the school curriculum- 
 Life of all kinds is very dependent. Plant life 
 depends upon heat, light, and moisture; animal life 
 of all kinds is dependent upon plant life and other 
 animal life; and the human being is dependent upon 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 127 
 
 all these things along with his dependence upon his 
 fellow men. This mutual dependence of life, veg- 
 etable, animal, and human upon one another, and 
 upon heat, light, and moisture has led to the wide 
 distribution of life over the surface of the earth. 
 
 There was a need felt for some subject whose 
 study would give the child a knowledge of the mutual 
 distribution of heat, light, moisture, relief forms^ 
 plant life, animal life, and human life on the surface 
 of the earth. Geography was added to the school 
 curriculum to satisfy this want, and this was the 
 origin of geography in the curriculum. 
 
 Enriching the Curriculum. — Within recent years 
 there has been much discussion on enriching the 
 school curriculum of the primary school. By en- 
 riching it, is meant the addition of new subjects to it 
 and the bringing down some subjects which were 
 formerly taught only in the advanced grades to the 
 lower grades. 
 
 In line with this thought literature^ music^ draiv- 
 ing, and nature study have been introduced into 
 many primary school curricula, and history, ge- 
 ography, etc. have been placed in the work of the first, 
 second, third, and fourth years. 
 
 The main purpose in making this change has 
 been to make a school curriculum better adapted to 
 the child's mental development in the first three or 
 four years of his school life than the one composed 
 almost wholly of reading, writing, spelling, and 
 
"128 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 arithmetic. It was thought that the first work of 
 the child in school was not well adapted to his stage 
 of physical and mental development, and that, there- 
 fore, was not of a character to arouse an enduring, 
 drawing interest in school work. So the need for 
 work more interesting to the child than the formal 
 work in reading, writing, spelling, and number, is 
 largely the thing which has produced these changes 
 in the curriculum. 
 
 A Rational Curriculum. — The school curriculum 
 lias been criticised on the ground that it is not ra- 
 tional; that is, it is not reasonable. The question, 
 What is a rational school curriculum? at once suggests 
 itself. Let us study this question systematically for 
 4a time. 
 
 All would no doubt agree that that school cur- 
 ricTilum is the most reasonable which is best adapted 
 to the needs of the learner's life. And all would also 
 ^gree that that school curriculum which wastes the 
 learner's time and breaks down his health is not a 
 reasonable one. Then if in some way it can be de- 
 termined what school curriculum is best adapted to 
 the learner's life, it may be known what a rational 
 school curriculum is. 
 
 In order to proceed in a systematic study of the 
 curriculum it is necessary to rethink the purpose of 
 the educating process. 
 
 The Purpose of Education. — Herbert Spencer, it 
 "iRdU be remembered, says the purpose of education 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 129 
 
 is complete living. And there is unanimity of opinion 
 among thinking people everywhere on this point. 
 Certainly any work in the educating process is to be 
 regarded as good or poor accordingly as it helps 
 much or little in right living. The evidence that 
 people generally estimate the value of any subject in 
 the school curriculum in terms of living is, that when 
 any one wants to show the value of any school sub- 
 ject, he attempts to show how it helps in life. Thus 
 the teacher of French, when he wishes to show the 
 value of the study of French, always does it in terms 
 of life; the German teacher, and the Latin teacher 
 endeavor to show the use of German and Latin in 
 living. 
 
 It was previously seen that "complete living** 
 means the following: 1. Treating the body right, 
 2. Treating the mind right. 3. Managing one's 
 business right. 4. Rearing a family right. 5. 
 Behaving right as a citizen. 6. Spending one's 
 leisure time right. 
 
 The Test. — The only rational mode of judging the 
 value of any school curriculum is to judge to what 
 degree it discharges the function of preparing for 
 right living. The test is as follows: Any subject is 
 valuable in the school curriculum just to the degree to 
 which it helps in right living. 
 
 The First Step in Applying the Test. — The first step 
 in applying this test to the school curriculum is to 
 classify f in order of importance^ the lines of activity 
 
130 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 ivhich make up human life. These are as follows: 1. 
 Those activities put forth in direct self-preservation. 
 2. Those activities put forth in indirect self-preser- 
 vation. 3. Those activities put forth in rearing a 
 family. 4. Those activities put forth in performing 
 the duties of citizenship. 5. Those activities put 
 forth in spending one's leisure time. 
 
 The Order of Importance of These Lines. — A little 
 study shows that these lines of activities have been 
 arranged in the order of decreasing importance. The 
 activities put forth in direct self-preservation — those 
 in getting out of the way of objects which would in- 
 jure, avoiding danger, eating, drinking, protecting 
 ourselves, etc. — are first in importance. If one were 
 as ignorant as an infant of his environment, he would 
 lose his life in less than a day, unless he had some 
 one to care for him. And, since absolute ignorance 
 of all other things would not bring death so quickly, 
 those activities spent in direct self-preservation and 
 that knowledge which furnishes guidance for these 
 activities are of foremost importance. 
 
 The activities spent in indirect self-preservation — 
 those activities in securing food, clothing, and shelter 
 — are second in importance. That these activities 
 precede in importance those put forth in rearing 
 families may be seen from the fact that self- main- 
 tenance makes possible those activities employed in 
 rearing families. Without self -maintenance first 
 there could be no family life. Thus the activities put 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 131 
 
 forth in indirect self-preservation are second in im- 
 portance only to those needful in direct self-preser- 
 vation. 
 
 No social life would be possible without the 
 family. The family is the most fundamental social 
 institution, and the rearing of children alone makes 
 possible the church, state, etc. Then those activities 
 employed in bringing up children are more important 
 than those spent in performing the duties of citizen- 
 ship. 
 
 Again the goodness of society as a whole depends 
 upon the goodness of those individuals who compose 
 it, and the quality of the individuals depends largely 
 upon the family training. Therefore those activities 
 put forth in rearing a family are third in importance. 
 
 Fourth in importance are those activities put 
 forth in fulfilling one's duties as a citizen. This ap- 
 pears from the fact that of all the lines of activities 
 making up life, those used in spending leisure time 
 could be best left out of life. Also, the various forms 
 of pleasurable activities which fill up leisure hours 
 presuppose social institutions. No great degree of 
 development of these pleasurable occupations is 
 possible without well established social institutions. 
 
 Fifth and last in the lines of activities which 
 make human life are the activities spent in leisure 
 time. 
 
 The Rational Order of Education. — From the fore- 
 going, the following is seen to be the rational order 
 
132 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 of education: 1. That education which prepares for 
 direct self-preservation. 2. That education which 
 prepares for indirect self-preservation. 3. That 
 education which prepares for parenthood, and the 
 bringing up of a family. 4. That education which 
 prepares one for the duties of citizenship. 5. That 
 education which prepares for spending right one's 
 leisure time. 
 
 While there may be particular exceptions and 
 modifications of this order in the lives of some indi- 
 viduals, yet there remain these marked divisions, and 
 they subordinate one another substantially as indi- 
 cated. 
 
 The Second Step in Applying the Test. — The second 
 step in applying the test is to classify knowledge in 
 the order of its importance. 
 
 Not all knowledge is of equal value to the human 
 race. Some may have a vital bearing upon all human 
 life for all time; some may touch the lives of only a 
 few for only a brief time; and some may be so re- 
 motely related to human life as to have almost no 
 bearing upon it. Accordingly knowledge has been 
 classified as follows: 1. Knowledge of intrinsic 
 value. 2. Knowledge of quasi-intrinsic value. 3. 
 Knowledge of conventional value. 
 
 Knowledge of intrinsic value is that knowledge 
 'which bears upon the life of all mankind throughout 
 all time. The knowledge that chlorine is a disin- 
 fectant; that tuberculosis is a disease caused by a 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 133 
 
 germ; that every thought or feeling one has burns 
 away some of his brain material, and scientific knowl- 
 edge in general, is knowledge of intrinsic value. 
 These truths will have a bearing on human conduct 
 for all time. 
 
 The extra knowledge of the English language 
 which the study of Greek and Latin gives is knowl- 
 edge of quasi-intrinsic value. It has a value to a part 
 of humanity for a part of time, but is not of value to 
 all mankind for all time. 
 
 Knowledge of conventional value is simply 
 fashionable knowledge. Gossip, neighborhood and 
 national, much of Greek and Latin taught in school, 
 and some parts of history are knowledge of only con- 
 ventional value. Much that is taught in the subjects 
 above mentioned scarcely has the remotest bearing 
 ui)on human activities. It is fashionable to learn 
 such things, and so people go on studying them with- 
 out ever having thought out what bearing they reaUy 
 have on human life. 
 
 Thus in estimating the value of knowledge, 
 knowledge of intrinsic value is of first importance. 
 
 The Value of Learning. — The process of learning 
 is valuable from two points of view. First, knowledge 
 is obtained which furnishes guidance in human con- 
 duct. Secondly, the mind gets healthful exercise in 
 its efforts to learn. The mind develops by exercise; 
 that is, it learns to do by doing. The exercise of the 
 mind to the end of maintaining its health, and develop- 
 
134 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 ing its strength is what is called mental discipline. 
 Thus any learning has two values: 1. A knowledge- 
 giving value. 2. A disciplinary value. 
 
 Thoughts to Be Kept in Mind. — In the further 
 study of the school curriculum, in order to system- 
 atize the study, the following thoughts should be kept 
 in mind: 
 
 1. Life is divided into several lines of activity of 
 decreasing importance. 
 
 2. Knowledge is of three kinds according to its 
 worth: a. Knowledge of intrinsic value, b. Knowl- 
 edge of quasi-intrinsic value, c. Knowledge of 
 conventional value. 
 
 3. Learning always has two values: a. A 
 knowledge-giving value, b. A disciplinary value. 
 
 Disciplinary Value and Knowledge -giving Value 
 Not Antagonistic. — There is an error current to a 
 large extent that some subjects are needed in the 
 school curriculum because they have an excellent 
 disciplinary value, even though their study does not 
 give knowledge of much use in guiding one in right 
 living; and another aspect of the same error is, that 
 some subjects are needed in the school curriculum 
 because of the useful knowledge their pursuit gives, 
 even though their study does not furnish good mental 
 discipline. 
 
 This error in its two aspects has entered entirely 
 too largely into the considerations in making school 
 curricula in the past. It is quite possible that those 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 135 
 
 subjects whose pursuit gives knowledge the most 
 useful for guidance in right living are the very same 
 ones whose pursuit gives the best disciphne. And 
 there is no lack of subjects to make a curriculum 
 which will give the most valuable knowledge and at 
 the same time give the very best discipline. Human 
 life is too short to study one set of subjects for valu- 
 able knowledge alone, and to study another set of 
 subjects for discipline alone. 
 
 In the solution of any educational problem hints 
 usually may be had from nature. Everywhere in 
 nature we find capacities developed by performing 
 the functions which it is their office to perform, and 
 not by some exercise artificially arranged to fit them 
 for the performance of these duties. The hunter ac- 
 quires the discipline which makes him a successful 
 hunter only by the pursuit of game. The highest de- 
 velopment of a j^ower alivays results from the exercise 
 in the work which the conditions of life require of it. 
 
 In the light of these truths, the acquisition which 
 gives the most valuable knowledge must at the same time 
 furnish the very best discipline. 
 
 Making discipline almost the entire object in 
 teaching ' 'is responsible for a sort of mediaeval dia- 
 lectics and fruitless beating of the air in teaching 
 which passes as superfine method. It is Fichte's 
 idealism and subjectivity run mad." 
 
 Direct Self-preservation. — The knowledge which 
 gives guidance in direct self-preservation, too im- 
 
136 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 portant to be left to be taught in school, Nature has 
 taken into her own hands to teach. She is teaching 
 the child his daily lessons in direct self-preservation 
 by means of the falls, bruises, scratches, cuts, burns, 
 and pains which befall him every day in his early 
 life. Mother Nature teaches the lesson well that, 
 when any of the laws of life are violated, pain and 
 misery are the inevitable result. 
 
 Not being aware of all the safeguards which 
 nature has furnished us, we often violate her laws. 
 What subjects have we in the school curriculum 
 whose pursuit will furnish knowledge for guidance 
 in these activities? The answer to this question is, we 
 have 'physiology and hygiene. The pursuit of these 
 subjects gives the knowledge that one's physical 
 sensations and desires — cold, heat, fatigue, hunger, 
 thirst, etc. — are promptings which, if obeyed, would 
 to a large extent provide for direct self-preservation. 
 But so great an ignorance is there of the laws of life 
 that men do not appreciate fully enough that the 
 sensations are the natural guides in direct self-pres- 
 ervation. 
 
 Physiology and hygiene have it as their field of 
 work to teach a better general knowledge of the laws 
 of physical life and a fuller appreciation of the ne- 
 cessity and momentous importance of their obedience. 
 
 No one will doubt the value of physiology and 
 hygiene in the school curriculum who will consider 
 the pain, the weariness, the gloom, the waste of time 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 137" 
 
 and money entailed, and ''how greatly ill-health 
 hinders the discharge of all duties, makes business 
 often impossible and always more difficult; produces 
 an irritability fatal to the right management of chil- 
 dren; puts the function of citizenship out of the 
 question; and makes amusement a bore. Is it not 
 clear that the physical sins, partly our forefathers' 
 and partly our own, which produce this ill-heaithj 
 deduct more from complete living than any thing 
 else, and to a great extent make life a failure and a 
 burden instead of a benefaction and a pleasure?" 
 
 And it may further be added that the average 
 length of human life is, by the violation of these 
 physical laws, largely cut short. 
 
 Physiology and hygiene may thus be seen to 
 occupy a dignified and exalted position in the school 
 curriculum. And this is a fact which should be seen 
 and appreciated by every teacher that these sciences 
 may be taught conscientiously and well. 
 
 Indirect Self-preservation. — The knowledge which 
 furnishes guidance in indirect self-preservation is 
 that which guides in making a living — in obtaining 
 food, clothing, and shelter. All persons are agreed 
 upon the importance of such knowledge; and indeed^ 
 by too many it is regarded as the sole or main object 
 of education. While every one is agreed that knowl- 
 edge which furnishes guidance in making a living is 
 of high importance, yet few have systematically 
 thought out just what knowledge will best do this. 
 
138 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 In order to study this question to the best ad- 
 vantage, it is necessary to notice the main things in 
 which men who work are employed. 
 
 What Things Men Are Employed in. — The main 
 lines in which men who work for a Hving are employed 
 are as follows: 
 
 1. The production of commodities. 
 
 2. The preparation of commodities. 
 
 3. The distribution of commodities. 
 
 By the production of commodities is meant the 
 production of corn, wheat, hay, oats, beef, pork, coal, 
 iron, wool, flax, poultry, fruit, lumber, leather, silk, 
 cotton, linen, hemp, and a large number of other 
 similar things. 
 
 The preparation of commodities means changing 
 them into a fit condition for consumption, or use. It 
 refers mainly to manufacturing; as the manufacture 
 of machinery, food, clothing, etc. 
 
 Distribution refers to sending such things to the 
 points of consumption. 
 
 Now, the question is. What knowledge gives 
 the greatest guidance in these three lines of activities? 
 
 It is evident that commodities could not be dis- 
 tributed without a knowledge of reading, writing, 
 spelling, and arithmetic. Distribution requires 
 railroads, canals, bridges, docks, and the dredging of 
 rivers; locomotives, cars, steamboats, and steam- 
 ships. But the knowledge which guides in the 
 construction of these is a knowledge of mathematics, 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 139 
 
 physics, chemistry, and mechanics. Thus the knowl- 
 edge which gives guidance in the distribution of 
 commodities is, directly, mathematics, physics, 
 chemistry, and mechanics; and indirectly, reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, and spelling. 
 
 That knowledge which guides in the preparation 
 of commodities is, again, directly, a knowledge of 
 chemistry, physics, mathematics, and mechanics; 
 and indirectly, reading, writing, spelling, and arith- 
 metic. 
 
 That knowledge which gives guidance in the 
 production of commodities is, directly, chemistry, 
 physics, geology, zoology, botany, agriculture, horti- 
 culture, and bacteriology; and indirectly, reading, 
 writing, spelling, and arithmetic. 
 
 Thus it is seen that subjects whose study 
 furnishes knowledge which gives guidance in both 
 direct and indirect self-preservation directly are al- 
 most wholly science subjects. 
 
 The Bearing of a Family. — One is led to wonder, 
 when he thinks of our school curriculum, whether 
 this division of human activities is to be considered of 
 so little importance that no systematic knowledge is 
 needed to furnish guidance for them. 
 
 "If by some strange chance not a vestige of us 
 descended to the remote future save a pile of our 
 school books or some college examination papers, we 
 may imagine how puzzled an antiquary of the period 
 would be on finding in them no indications that the 
 
140 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 learners were ever likely to be parents. 'This must 
 have been the curriculum for their celibates,' we may 
 fancy him concluding. *I perceive here an elaborate 
 preparation for many things: especially for reading 
 the books of extinct nations and coexisting nations — 
 from which indeed it seems that these people had 
 very little worth reading in their own tongue; but I 
 find no reference whatever to the bringing up of 
 children. They could not have been so absurd as to 
 omit all training for this gravest of responsibilities. 
 Evidently then, this was the school course of one of 
 their monastic orders.' " 
 
 There are however in the school curriculum 
 physiology and hygiene whose pursuit will give 
 knowledge which furnishes guidance in bringing up 
 children, in so far as the laws of their bodies are 
 concerned. But not enough emphasis is placed upon 
 these subjects. The value of the knowledge furnished 
 by their study has not yet been sufficiently appre- 
 ciated. 
 
 'To tens of thousands that are killed, add 
 hundreds of thousands that survive with feeble con- 
 stitutions, and millions that grow up with constitu- 
 tions not as strong as they should be; and you will 
 have some idea of the curse inflicted on their off- 
 spring by parents ignorant of the laws of life." 
 
 The child not only has a physical nature, but he 
 has also a moral and intellectual nature. For guid- 
 ance in the moral and intellectual training of children 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 141 
 
 there is almost nothing in the average school cur- 
 riculum whose study gives the requisite knowledge. 
 
 Psychology and child study are the subjects 
 ivhose pursuit gives the knowledge most valuable for 
 guidance in these activities. But few schools have 
 these subjects in their curricula at present, and 
 probably will not for many years yet. 
 
 "Be this as it may, however, here are the indis- 
 putable facts: that the development of children in 
 mind and body rigorously obeys certain laws; that 
 unless these laws are in some degree conformed to 
 hy parents, death is inevitable; that unless they are 
 in a great degree conformed to, there must result 
 serious physical and mental defects; and that only 
 -when they are completely conformed to, can a per- 
 fect maturity be reached." 
 
 Man's Duties as a Citizen. — When one asks him- 
 self what subjects there are in the school curriculum 
 the pursuit of which furnishes guidance in one's 
 duties as a citizen, his mind turns to history, for it 
 has been asserted over and over again that the study 
 of history makes good citizens. But when one stops 
 to think whether history, as usually taught, does 
 especially make good citizens, it does not seem very 
 clear. 
 
 It is safe to say that if history were properly 
 taught, it would give a stock of knowledge valuable 
 for guidance in citizenship. But in order that history 
 may give this guidance it must not be taught merely 
 
142 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 as a record of events; neither must it be taught as 
 isolated events^ nor must all the time of teaching be 
 spent on the state as an institution of society. To 
 accomplish this desired result history must be 
 studied as the struggle of the race in its effort for higher 
 life. This struggle must be seen to have been one in 
 all the institutions of society — the family, the school, 
 the church, industrial life, and the state. It must be 
 seen, too, that in human action there is a seed-time, a 
 period of growth, and a fruitage. 
 
 But as history is often taught it certainly is 
 worth little for guidance in citizenship. 
 
 Literature, if well taught, is valuable for guidance 
 in this line of activities. 
 
 The best interpretation of both history and liter- 
 ature requires a knowledge of psychology. This is 
 evident from the following: If one knew absolutely 
 nothing about the human mind, he could not interpret 
 history or literature at all. And certainly one who 
 has an organized, systematic knowledge of psychology 
 will interpret better than one who has only a frag- 
 mentary, unorganized knowledge of it. 
 
 ** Without an acquaintance with the general truths 
 of biology and psychology, rational interpretation of 
 social phenomena is impossible." "All social phe- 
 nomena are phenomena of life — are ultimately de- 
 pendent upon the laws of life — and can be understood 
 only when the laws of life are understood. " 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 143: 
 
 Sociology is the best subject in the school cur- 
 riculum to furnish knowledge valuable for guidance 
 in the duties of citizenship, and an understanding of 
 sociology is absolutely dependent upon a knowledge 
 of psychology. 
 
 Thus, we see again that for knowledge to furnish 
 guidance in this fourth division of human activities, 
 we are largely dependent upon science. 
 
 Spending Leisure Time. — A life with no leisure 
 time is not most to be desired, for it is almost sure 
 to become one of drudgery. All should have some 
 leisure time and should have proper habits of spend- 
 ing it. This time should be spent in such a way that 
 it will furnish recreation and amusement, and at the 
 same time be not degrading, but uplifting in its ef- 
 fects. If one must spend his leisure time in such a 
 way as to degrade himself, he would be benefitted by 
 not having any to spend. 
 
 This time could be spent in the enjoyment of 
 Nature; in the enjoyment of literature; in the enjoy- 
 ment of fine arts — architecture, sculpture, music, 
 painting, and poetry — and in the companionship of 
 one's friends, and so spent would be elevating, and 
 ennobling. 
 
 Those subjects which will put one in the right 
 attitude of mind for the enjoyment of nature are those 
 subjects which treat of nature. That is to say, they 
 are the natural sciences — botany, zoology, geology, 
 astronomy, chemistry, and physics. 
 
144 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 That subject which gives knowledge valuable for 
 -guidance in enjoying literature is directly the school 
 subject, literature. And to this should be added 
 psychology, which aids largely in the interpretation 
 of literature. 
 
 Music, now in many school courses is the subject 
 Ti^rhich gives ability to enjoy music. 
 
 In the average school curriculum there is nothing 
 T^hich directly prepares one to enjoy architecture, 
 sculpture, and painting. 
 
 For the enjoyment of poetry, literature, reading, 
 and psychology prepare one. 
 
 Greek and Latin. — Prom a systematic study of 
 the school curriculum one wonders why so much time 
 is still spent on Greek and Latin in our schools. It 
 <5annot be because they give knowledge valuable to 
 vany large extent for guidance in living. In fact, they 
 have small claim to a place in the school curriculum 
 because of the valuable knowledge their pursuit fur- 
 nishes. Their claim to a place in the curriculum 
 rests upon the idea that they are good disciplinary 
 studies. 
 
 It has been shown that those subjects which 
 furnish the most valuable knowledge also furnish the 
 best discipline. Therefore, Greek and Latin are 
 •over-rated as disciplinary subjects, too. It has also 
 been seen that it never pays best to study any sub- 
 ject merely for discipline when there are so many 
 subjects the mastery of which furnishes the best 
 discipline and valuable knowledge, too. 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 145 
 
 The Most Valuable Knowledge. — A systematic 
 study of the school curriculum points indubitably to 
 the fact that the most valuable group of subjects in 
 the school curriculum is the science group; the most 
 valuable from both the valuable knowledge stand- 
 point, and the disciplinary standpoint. 
 
 Science has liberated humanity from the bondage 
 of superstition to a large extent. Science has tun- 
 neled mountains, bridged rivers, and spanned 
 continents. Science has harnessed waterfalls to do 
 man's bidding. Science has tamed the lightning to 
 minister to man's wants. Science has prevented 
 plagues, stamped out zymotic diseases, and made it 
 possible for man to inhabit almost every part of the 
 earth. In short, science has been the vitalizing force 
 which has done more to ameliorate the condition of 
 mankind than all other influences combined. Science 
 has enfranchised the human race physically, intel- 
 lectually, aesthetically, socially, morally, and re- 
 ligiously. 
 
 Child Study and the Curriculum, — We will not lose 
 sight of the fact that we started out to see whether 
 our school curriculum is a rational one or not. And 
 in the pursuit of the solution of this problem it has 
 been found out that much time is wasted in school in 
 the pursuit of subjects not the most valuable. 
 
 There is also another phase of this subject which 
 has an important bearing upon the rationality of the 
 school curriculum. The question is, Are the subjects 
 
146 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 m the school course taught at the time in the child's 
 life when they are best adapted to his stage of de- 
 velopment? A curriculum can not truthfully be said 
 to be rational, if the various subjects are not taught 
 at the period in the life of the learner when they may 
 best be taught. For instance, no one would say a 
 school curriculum which provides the study of 
 algebra, of psychology, or of logic for the child of six 
 is rational. 
 
 Much systematic, painstaking, and exact study 
 has recently been given to children in the search for 
 the solution of this problem along with many others. 
 The consensus of opinion on this question is pretty 
 accurately stated in the following quotation: 
 
 Changes in the Curriculum Suggested by Child 
 Study.— ''Ouv increasing knowledge of the child's 
 mind, his muscular and nervous system, and his 
 special senses points indubitably to the conclusion 
 that reading and writing are subjects which do not 
 belong to the early years of school life, but to a later 
 period, and that other subjects now studied later are 
 better adapted to this early stage of development. 
 What is thus indicated of reading and writing may be 
 afarmed also of drawing and arithmetic. " 
 
 The physiological and psychological reasons for 
 the above statement can not be discussed here. Suf- 
 fice it to say that the study of these things early hi 
 school life produces nervous diseases, and arrested 
 development; also, diseases of the sense organs. 
 
THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM. 147 
 
 particularly of the eyes. There is, too, thus a great 
 loss of time and energy, and bad mental habits are 
 formed. 
 
 Child study undoubtedly points to the fact that 
 nature study ^ oral history, oral literature, and the free 
 activity of the larger movements of the body, as in 
 manual training, should constitute the school cur- 
 riculum for about the first four years of the child's 
 school life, and that reading, writing, spelling, draw- 
 ing, and arithmetic should come later. 
 
 So the answer derived from our study of the 
 school curriculum is, that we certainly have not yet a 
 wholly rational school curriculum. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE TEACHER. 
 
 Importance of the Teacher. — From the standpoint 
 of the purpose of the school the learner is the most 
 important element of the school. But from another 
 point of view the teacher seems to be the most im- 
 portant element of the school. It is true that the 
 school exists for the learner, and without him there 
 would be no need for the teacher, school house, cur- 
 riculum, or school officers. The development in the 
 child's life is the end to be attained, and all parts and 
 processes of school work are means to this end. The 
 end is always more important than the means in aU 
 rational processes. Thus the teacher stands in re- 
 lation to the development in the life of the learner as 
 means to end. 
 
 When the teacher is considered as the element in 
 the school upon which its successful operation most 
 depends, he seems the most important element in the 
 school. 
 
 There is much truth in the statement, ''As the 
 teacher is, so will be the school. " He is the life-giving 
 element in the school. If the teacher is properly- 
 qualified, loves his work, and has a sympathetic in- 
 
THE TEACHER. 149 
 
 sight into the hves of his pupils, hardly any thing can 
 make his school a failure. 
 
 Duties of the Teacher.— The duties of the teacher 
 are, indeed, many. He must poke the fire, sweep 
 the floor, keep proper ventilation, oversee the care of 
 school grounds, and vigilantly watch school property; 
 tie up cut fingers, doctor bruised heads and limbs, 
 soothe the sorrows of some, and rejoice in the joy of 
 others; encourage the brave, generous, and true, and 
 frown upon the cowardly, selfish, and deceitful. He 
 must assign lessons, hear recitations, correct the 
 wayward, and encourage the good of all kinds. 
 
 From such an inventory of the teacher's duties it 
 seems at first sight that nothing can be got but con- 
 fusion. A little thought, however, will show that 
 these duties may readily be divided into two classes: 
 1. Governing. 2. Teaching. 
 
 Governing. — Governing is the work of the teacher in 
 keeping the organization running ivith the least possible 
 friction. A common error made by the teacher in 
 school government is in thinking that he is a legislator 
 as well as an executive. He thinks this and so acts 
 as to lead his students to think it. No worse mistake 
 than this can be made in school government. In- 
 stead of the teacher's thinking that he is a legislator 
 and that the laws of the school originate in him, he 
 should understand that the laws of the school are in- 
 herent in the organization itself. The pupils should 
 be led by the conduct of the teacher to appreciate 
 this fact, too, in so far as they are able to do so. 
 
150 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 The teacher is governor in that it is his duty to 
 call attention to the laws of the school, explain them, 
 and execute them. 
 
 Teaching. — Teaching is the luorTc of the teacher in 
 leading the learner into those experiences which con- 
 stantly make him a little more loise and virtuous. 
 
 From this study of teaching it is easy to deduce 
 the following definition of a teacher: 
 
 A teacher is one who stimulates the learner to ex- 
 periences which he would not have without that one^s 
 influence. 
 
 The teacher's duties in teaching are both positive 
 and negative. 
 
 Positive Duties. — Every experience the learner 
 has affects him permanently to some degree. Some 
 organize him toward a higher destiny and some, 
 toward a lower. While the child is naturally born 
 with capacities for becoming good, he is also born with 
 capacities for becoming bad. 
 
 ''The child inherits not only the good proclivities 
 and propensities of his long line of ancestors, but he 
 inherits also bad feelings and emotions. His heart is 
 not altogether a good heart; it overflows not only in 
 goodness but also at times more or less frequent, 
 in selfishness, rancor, bitterness, cowardliness; in 
 short in excesses and defects of various kinds. " 
 
 From the positive side the teacher is to guide the 
 child in the development of all that is good in his 
 nature, and in the acquisition of knowledge which 
 
THE TEACHER. 151 
 
 will furnish guidance in right living. Thus the 
 teacher's positive duties are to arouse the experiences 
 in the life of the child which constantly lift him to a 
 higher plane of living. Such experiences are along 
 six lines: physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social, moral, 
 and religious. And this is what it means to teach 
 considered from the positive side. Thus, teacJmig is 
 arousing those experiences — physical^ intelleGtual^ (Es- 
 thetic, social, moral, and religious — in the life of the 
 learner to the end that he may continuously grow into a 
 higher life. 
 
 Negative Duties. — The teacher's negative duties 
 in teaching consist in eliminating the evil tendencies 
 from the child's nature. The teacher is not to lose 
 sight of the fact that the tendencies, propensities, 
 and proclivities for wrong doing born in the child, 
 inherited from his long line of ancestors must be 
 eliminated. 
 
 Some teachers make a mistake by thinking the 
 child is naturally good. The child is not moral, neither 
 is he immoral, but he is unmoral; but he may easily 
 develop into an immoral individual, if surrounded by 
 an immoral environment. Whatever immoral tend- 
 encies he has are to be suppressed. But these 
 characteristics can not .be effectively suppressed in 
 the life of the child by simply attempting to root 
 them out without supplying their places with some- 
 thing. That is to say, education can not be alone 
 negative nor even largely negative. The only safe 
 
152 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. ^ 
 
 plan is to eliminate the bad by building up the good 
 in its place. No teacher or parent will succeed well 
 in educating his children, who always has his eye 
 fixed on the things which the children ought not to 
 do. He should supply the good to take the place of 
 the bad. In teaching, as in algebra, a good way to 
 get rid of the undesirable element is to eliminate it 
 by substitution. 
 
 Characteristics of the Teacher. — In studying the 
 characteristics of a teacher one is impressed, at 
 the start, with the fact that there are some qualities 
 which the teacher must have, if he teaches success- 
 fully at all, and that there are other desirable qualities 
 which not all can possess. Of the first class scholar- 
 ship is an example, and of the second class good health 
 and fine native ability are examples. The first class 
 of characteristics may be called necessary character- 
 istics; the second may be called supplementary char- 
 acteristics. 
 
 Without the first set the teacher must be a 
 failure. The second set, while not absolutely neces- 
 sary to the success of a teacher, are desirable and 
 facilitate the ease with which success is attained. 
 
 Necessary Characteristics. — As above stated, these 
 are absolutely necessary to any marked degree of 
 success on the part of the teacher, and are as follows: 
 1. Strong moral character. 2. Scholarship. 3. 
 Professional preparation. 4. Energetic, student's 
 habits. 5. The habit of daily preparation. 6. Love 
 
THE TEACHER. 155 
 
 of occupation. 7. Sympathy with children. We 
 will study these somewhat in detail. 
 
 Strong Moral Character. — ''The teacher should be 
 an example, in person and conduct, of what he re- 
 quires of his pupils." This is just as true to-day as 
 when said by Comenius two hundred and fifty years 
 ago. Since the purpose of the school and the aim of 
 education is to make wise and virtuous men and women^ 
 no influence which does not contribute to that end 
 should ever be brought to bear upon the child. And 
 since we are better understanding the power of sug- 
 gestion, we are beginning to realize what a powerful 
 influence on the life of the children the example of 
 the teacher has. Slovenly habits of thought; slang, 
 impure English, profanity, by- words; smoking, chew- 
 ing tobacco; dishonesty, injustice, and selfishness all 
 impress the life of the child and tend to reproduce 
 themselves in him. No teacher who uses tobacco — 
 smokes or chews — who is careless of his English, or 
 who in any way shows himself dishonest or cowardly 
 can be as good a man as he would be without those 
 traits, and since anything which detracts from man- 
 hood detracts from the teacher, it is equally true that 
 he can not be as good a teacher as he would be with- 
 out those traits. 
 
 But while all can agree on the desirability of 
 strong moral character for the teacher, to talk of it 
 in the abstract without knowing very definitely what 
 it means is not sufficiently helpful. An analysis will 
 
154 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 show that, at the least, the following elements enter 
 into moral character: 1. Knowledge of right and 
 wrong. 2. Truthfulness. 3. Honesty. 4. Justness. 
 5. Habits of activity. 6. Self-control. 
 
 Knowledge of Right and Wrong. — In order for one 
 to have strong moral character, he must have the 
 ability to think out the right and wrong in human 
 activity. A man's motive may be good and the ac- 
 tivity prompted by that motive be very bad. To say 
 iihat a man may have strong moral character and be 
 at the same time ignorant concerning the common 
 laws of life and daily human actions is to place a 
 premium on ignorance. An ignoramus can not be 
 a man of strong moral character. 
 
 To hold that an act is good provided it is done 
 T^T^ithgood intentions, notwithstanding much human 
 misery and unhappiness result from it is certainly a 
 doctrine very pernicious and baneful in its results. 
 
 Truthfulness. — It seems so evident that truthful- 
 ness is an element of morality that no study is needed 
 to prove it. There is one aspect of this question 
 which enters largely into the work of the teacher. 
 Teachers have feared to say ''I don't know," lest 
 pupils would lose confidence in their ability. It does 
 not necessarily follow that, if the teacher honestly 
 acknowledges that he does not know, when such is 
 the case, the pupils will lose confidence in his ability. 
 If it were so, it would still be a question whether it is 
 not preferable for students to lose confidence in one's 
 
THE TEACHER. 155 
 
 ability than to lose confidence in one's truthfulness. 
 But students are, as a rule, reasonable. They do not 
 expect that the teacher will never make a mistake, 
 nor that he will know the correct answer to every 
 question that arises. They further know that they 
 have no right to expect so much, but they also know 
 that they have a right to expect the teacher to be 
 perfectly truthful. 
 
 Honesty. — Honesty and truthfulness seem much 
 the same thing, as elements of character. They how- 
 ever emphasize different aspects of moral character. 
 Truthfulness refers to the representation of things 
 as they are, and so refers to one's representing 
 things thus. Honesty refers to uprightness in the 
 actions of one person to another. In honesty ques- 
 tions of advantage and disadvantage are involved. 
 There are many ways in which a teacher's honesty is 
 involved in school work. The student's instinct for 
 truth and honesty will assert itself to the extent that 
 he will appreciate these qualities in the teacher. And 
 pupils are quick to detect these characteristics as 
 well as their opposites. 
 
 It is a great misfortune for students to be under 
 1)he influence of a teacher who is untruthful and dis- 
 honest. Their opportunities for receiving good from 
 such a teacher are greatly lessened. Even when the 
 teacher endeavors honestly to benefit his students, 
 his influence wiU lack force and effectiveness. 
 Students will not hear what he says when they know 
 "what he is. 
 
156 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 "How can I hear what you say, when what you 
 are is thundering in my ear." 
 
 "The teacher can not be a signboard. He must 
 go the way he points. " 
 
 Justness. — In school work, justness does not 
 mean that all students must be treated alike. That 
 all students must be treated alike is a traditional 
 maxim of school which has been pernicious and evil 
 in its effects. This maxim usually refers to correc- 
 tions and rewards. Scarcely any one would think 
 that in teaching all are to be taught in the same way, 
 but in the matter of corrections and rewards the idea 
 prevails to a greater or less extent that all students 
 are to be treated in the same way. In the matter of 
 being just in rewards and corrections the individual 
 differences of children must be taken into considera- 
 tion as well as in the teaching act. No two children 
 respond to stimulus just in the same way nor in the 
 same degree. 
 
 It requires some firmness on the part of the 
 teacher to be just. The teacher may err in two ways 
 in matters of justness: 1. He may err because of 
 kindness. 2. He may err from a hypercritical 
 spirit. 
 
 Too often the teacher because of kindness fails to 
 have the student see just what his paper or recitation 
 is worth. A paper graded on the scale of a hundred 
 is marked seventy-five per cent, when justice would 
 show it to be worth no more than thirty or forty per 
 
THE TEACHER. 157 
 
 cent. A recitation worth little or nothing is smoothed 
 over and patched up by the teacher till the pupil is 
 deceived into believing that he has really done some- 
 thiug creditable. 
 
 Justice may at times seem severe, but its very 
 severity is educative in a high degree. Justice after 
 a period of growth always brings a fruitage much to 
 be desired. The teacher's profession is in need of 
 teachers with courage to give children credit for just 
 what they merit, no more and no less. 
 
 Habits of Activity. — No one can be a sluggard and 
 he a moral man. Morality means activity. There 
 are people who think that if one does no active harm 
 he is entitled to be called good. That is to say, some 
 hold that activity is not a necessary element of good- 
 ness in a man. A little study, however, shows the 
 fallacy of this view. If one asks himself the question, 
 "What is a good lead pencil?'* or "What is a good 
 knife?" and stops to think out the answer, he will find 
 that he will reach the conclusion that the lead pencil 
 or knife is good which does its work well. That is, 
 goodness refers to the ability or adaptability of a 
 thing to do its work. And this is the meaning of 
 goodness as generally understood concerning all 
 things except man. That men are an exception to 
 this general truth is not reasonable. 
 
 Also, if a man who does neither active good nor 
 bad and so does nothing is good, the question, ''What 
 is he good for?" suggests at once the answer, ''good- 
 for-nothing." 
 
158 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Under normal circumstances, a strong moral 
 character means a life of intense activity. 
 
 The teacher's profession has no need of teachers 
 who find nothing to do after 4:00 P. M. and before 
 8:30 A. M., and least of all have our children need for 
 such teachers. 
 
 Self-control. — It seems unnecessary to emphasize 
 the fact that self-control is an element of morality. 
 A brief study of the lines of self-control is, however, 
 of some help. 
 
 For our purpose here, self-control may be divided 
 Into the following aspects: 
 
 1. Control of the appetites. 
 
 2. Control of one's actions. 
 
 3. Control of one's language. 
 
 No person who lets his appetites go without 
 restraint can be a moral person. ''No heart is so 
 pure, no soul is so noble, that physical appetite long 
 unrestrained does not corrupt. Every mother has it 
 In her power to form the tastes and appetites of her 
 children. They are always formed^ but the process 
 of re-forming is frequently a heart-breaking failure.'* 
 The teacher may have an influence in this forming of 
 tastes and appetites, but not with much effect until 
 he has correctly formed his own. 
 
 No teacher succeeds well who has not learned to 
 control his actions in all aspects of school work. 
 Many a teacher has lost his opportunities for doing 
 good in a school by lack of ability to act calmly and 
 
THE TEACHER. 159 
 
 reasonably under trying circumstances. A success- 
 ful teacher must guard his actions not only under 
 trying circumstances, but all the time, even under 
 the most usual circumstances. 
 
 Controlling one's language is certainly an element 
 of moral character under any consideration, but the 
 control of the teacher's language is an element of 
 great importance in successful teaching. A word of 
 encouragement here, a kind word there; a word 
 of approval for this effort, a word of disapproval for 
 lack of effort; a mild, pleasing tone at all times; such,, 
 other things equal, are among the important elements 
 that go to make the ideal teacher. Sarcasm, irony, 
 blustering, boisterous tones keyed to a high pitch are 
 among the most disorganizing attributes a teacher 
 can possess. 
 
 Scholarship. — That a teacher must possess schol- 
 arship to teach at all is unquestioned. No one can- 
 teach what he does not know, and it is equally true 
 that no one can teach well what he does not know 
 well. Nothing gives more confidence to the teacher^ 
 and nothing is more inspiring to the pupils than to 
 know that the teacher is master of his subject. 
 
 A school subject is a group of factSy these facts hav- 
 ing a relation peculiar to that subject alone. The teacher 
 who is master of his subject not only sees these facts, 
 but he sees the relation of these facts to each other 
 and to the subject as a whole. With such a knowledge- 
 of his subject the teacher sees the end from the be- 
 
160 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 ginning; he is able to distinguish the important from 
 the unimportant, and to organize his work. A lack 
 of scholarship makes the teacher a slave to the text- 
 iDOok, instead of being, as he should be, a source of 
 self -directive energy in the subject. 
 
 It is a very deplorable set of conditions which 
 compels teachers to teach subjects about which they 
 know barely enough to make a grade for license. 
 First class teaching can never be done under such 
 circumstances. 
 
 Professional Preparation. — Professional prepara- 
 tion from the teacher's point of view means a mastery 
 to a greater or less extent of those subjects which 
 ivill furnish peculiar guidance to the teacher in his 
 actual work in the schoolroom. Everyone who enters 
 the profession of medicine, law, or the ministry rec- 
 ognizes the need of study which will give guidance in 
 his special work. That is to say, men of those pro- 
 iessions recognize the need of special preparation for 
 professional work. This is not less true in the 
 teacher's work than in the other professions. A brief 
 study shows that the teacher's professional prepa- 
 ration consists in general of the following: 
 
 1. A systematic knowledge of the laws of life, 
 b>oth physical and mental. 
 
 2. A knowledge of the purpose of education. 
 
 3. A knowledge of current, approved methods. 
 
 4. Practice in the art of teaching. 
 
 A short study of each of these is beneficial. 
 
THE TEACHER. 161 
 
 A Knowledge of the Laius of Life. — The laws of life 
 are those truths of the body and the mind which all 
 physical and mental growth obeys during life. They 
 are of two general classes: physical and mental. The 
 teacher learns physical laws in the study of physi- 
 ology and hygiene; and the mental laws are to be 
 learned in the study of psychology. 
 
 The question before us for study is, Must the most 
 successful teacher have a scientifiG knowledge of psychol- 
 ogy ^ physiology f and hygiene? We can study this 
 question in the two following ways: 
 
 1. We can depend upon our own ability to think 
 it out correctly. 
 
 2. We can study what our foremost educational 
 thinkers have thought about it. 
 
 What Our Own Study Shoivs. — If the teacher knew 
 absolutely nothing of the laws of life, he could not 
 teach school a day, an hour, or even a minute. He 
 could not tell whether beef or arsenic would be food; 
 whether a child would be comfortable in an atmos- 
 phere at the freezing point or at the boiling point; 
 whether he would be more comfortable sitting 
 down, running, or standing on his head; nor could he 
 decide on any hygienic or physiological question 
 whatever concerning the child's welfare. Neither 
 could he tell how, when, or why to teach any point of 
 knowledge. He would not know whether to begin 
 the study of algebra, logic, or reading with the child 
 of six or with the child of sixteen. Without some 
 
162 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 knowledge of the laws of life, the teacher could not 
 (1) provide a suitable course of study; (2) arrange his 
 school into classes; (3) assign lessons suitable to 
 his classes; (4) interpret his pupils' conduct; (5) 
 know whether his pupils grasp the meaning of the 
 lesson. In short, he could not teach at all. 
 
 Therefore, to teach school at all a teacher must 
 know something of physiology^ hygiene^ and psychology. 
 Everyone of course knows something of these sub- 
 jects, but the knowledge of most is what is called 
 ordinary knoivledgCy and not scientijic Tcnoivledge. An 
 examination of ordinary knowledge shows it to be 
 possessed of the following qualities: it is incompletey 
 fragmentary, unorganized, contains many partial truths, 
 has error intermingled ivith the truth, and is not usable 
 to as high degree as it should be. 
 
 Scientific knowledge is found to be possessed of 
 the following qualities: it is more complete, more con- 
 nected, better organized, contains more whole truths, 
 has the error eliminated to a large degree, and is 
 usable to a large extent. 
 
 Now, the question is. Which will help the teacher 
 more in teaching, the ordinary knowledge or the 
 scientific knowledge of physiology, hygiene, and 
 psychology? 
 
 Everyone knows something of science, the knowl- 
 edge having been picked up in fragments from ex- 
 perience, but it is not this knowledge which has most 
 caused the progress of the world. The knowledge 
 
THE TEACHER. 163 
 
 "which has caused civilization to move forward with 
 such strides in the present century has been that 
 which was scientific. 
 
 Thus the question we started out to study re- 
 duces itself to the following: First, a teacher must 
 have some knowledge of physiology, hygiene, and 
 psychology to teach at all. Secondly, the teacher 
 through everyday experience may acquire an ordi- 
 nary knowledge of these subjects. Thirdly, the 
 teacher may acquire through study a scientific 
 knowledge of these subjects. Fourthly, scientific 
 knowledge is the most valuable for guidance. Fifthly, 
 the teacher should have the scientific knowledge of 
 physiology, hygiene, and psychology. Sixthly, the 
 most successful teacher must be an earnest student of 
 physiology^ hygiene, and psychology. 
 
 Thoughts of Teachers. — There are two classes of 
 teachers who oppose the study of psychology as a 
 part of the teacher's professional preparation. Those 
 of the first class know something of psychology only 
 as an abstract science, not as an applied science. 
 This class sees nothing in psychology but discipline, 
 because to them there is no such a thing as educa- 
 tional psychology. There are but few of this 
 class, the most of them having belonged to an older 
 school. 
 
 Those of the second class, a very large class, 
 know little or no scientific psychology, and so oppose 
 it, because to acknowledge the need for it is to ac- 
 
164 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 knowledge a criticism on themselves. With the 
 second class the wish has been father to the thought. 
 They oppose it perfectly consistently. If one knows 
 no psychology, his knowledge of psychology certainly 
 will not help him any in teaching. 
 
 The rapid strides with which pedagogical work 
 has been coming into schools of every kind is evidence 
 of what is being thought on this subject. Every 
 normal school, private and public, every college and 
 university now has its pedagogical department. And 
 this state of things is very recent. Now, psychology 
 is the basis upon which the whole superstructure of 
 pedagogy stands. 
 
 Teachers' examinations almost everywhere now 
 demand a knowledge of professional subjects, too. 
 
 Thoughts of the Thinkers. — William T. Harris, 
 United States Commissioner of Education, and an 
 eminent thinker and educator says: "If the teacher 
 knows nothing of psychology as a science, he must 
 copy in detail the methods of others, and rely on his 
 general knowledge of human nature derived from 
 experience. Like all uneducated workmen, he may 
 succeed after a sort by following tradition unaided 
 by science, but he will not develop beyond a narrow 
 degree of perfection in details. He will have no in- 
 sight into the general relations of his work. He can 
 not safely deviate from routine, nor venture to crit- 
 icise his own work or the work of others. If he has 
 learned good models, he may pass for a good teacher; 
 
THE TEACHER. 165 
 
 if he has learned bad ones, he is unable to perceive 
 their defects. Possessing no scientific knowledge of 
 the mind he can not lift himself above the details 
 of his art to the principles which govern them, and 
 become himself an original source of directive energy. 
 Some knowledge of the mind every successful teacher 
 must have, although in so many cases it is unsystem- 
 atic, and consequently unscientific." 
 
 Herbert Spencer, the philosopher, psychologist, 
 and educator, says: ^' Grant that the phenomena of 
 intelligence conform to laws; grant that the evolution 
 of intelligence in a child also conforms to laws; and it 
 follows inevitably that education can be rightly guided 
 only by a knowledge of these laws. To suppose that 
 you can properly regulate this process of forming 
 and accumulating ideas, without understanding the 
 nature of the process, is absurd. How widely, then, 
 must teaching as it is, differ from teaching as it 
 should be; when hardly any parents, and but few 
 teachers, know anything about psychology." 
 
 William James, an eminent psychologist, says: 
 "It (a knowledge of psychology) certainly narrows 
 the path for experiments and trials. We know in 
 advance, if we are psychologists, that certain methods 
 will be wrong, so our psychology saves from mis- 
 takes. It makes us, moreover, more clear as to what 
 we are about. We gain confidence in respect to any 
 method which we are using as soon as we believe that 
 it has theory as well as practice at its back. Most of 
 
166 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 all it fructifies our independence, and it reanimates 
 our interest." 
 
 Without multiplying quotations, let it be sufficient 
 to say there is scarcely an educator of note or good 
 reputation among civilized peoples who does not speak 
 in the same general way on this subject. 
 
 A knoivledge of psycJiology is absolutely no guaran- 
 tee of a good teacher^ hut it is just as true that no one can 
 be more than a successful imitator as a teacher without a 
 knowledge of psychology. To be an artist in one's 
 work requires a mastery of the principles underlying 
 that work. 
 
 Purpose of Education. — The purpose of education 
 has been studied before, but it remains to study why 
 the teacher should have as nearly correct views as 
 possible of the purpose of education. And since the 
 purpose of education and the purpose of life are 
 the same, the question to be studied is the importance 
 of having the correct view of the purpose of life. 
 
 One may possibly wear his religion on Sundays, 
 and put it off on week days. But his view of the 
 object to be accomplished by education will show it- 
 self in all he does. Every act in the schoolroom will 
 be affected by it. If he has wrong ideas of the pur- 
 pose of education, every assignment will be tinged by 
 it; every recitation will be colored thereby; and every 
 correction or direction will be affected by these false 
 ideas. If he has right ideas of life and education, 
 they will manifest themselves in all his school work. 
 
THE TEACHER. 167 
 
 If he has no definite ideas of the purpose of education 
 and life, his work will be purposeless, scattering, 
 disorganized, and fragmentary. A clear, fervent 
 purpose will draw the teacher's work toward its ac- 
 complishment as surely as the magnet attracts the 
 particles of steel. 
 
 Knowledge of Methods. — The teacher should know 
 current approved methods of teaching the various 
 school subjects. The notion that students can grad- 
 uate from the primary school or the high school and 
 go into the schools and teach well without having 
 studied approved methods is entirely wrong, and 
 baneful, and pernicious in its influences. The ap- 
 pallingly bad work done by such teachers all over the 
 country is evidence of this truth. 
 
 It is still held by many that if the teacher knows 
 his subject well this is a guarantee that he will teach 
 it well. This, however, is not at all necessarily true. 
 Nothing is commoner in school work than teachers 
 who know their subjects well, but who teach poorly. 
 
 ''The professional training of teachers is not 
 generally high. Many people still entertain the idea 
 that to know a subject is a guarantee of the ability to 
 teach it. Nor is it easy to demonstrate the fallacy of 
 this notion to those who are ignorant of the laws that 
 govern the workings of the human mind." 
 
 The teacher who knows the method of teaching 
 any subject knows (1) the means to he used; (2) howcm^- 
 rectly to use them; (3) the natural processes of tJie 
 learner's mind in learning that subject. 
 
168 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 To any one who will think it is plain that to know 
 this is of equal importance with knowing well the 
 subject. This point will receive full study in chapter 
 IX. 
 
 Practice in the Art of Teaching. — One becomes 
 skillful in doing anything by practice. Thus one 
 becomes skillful in writing by practice in writing; 
 skillful in riding a bicycle by riding; skillful in skating 
 by skating; skillful in ball-playing by playing ball. 
 This is a principle that holds true in the acquirement 
 of any art. And since teaching is an art, the principle 
 applies to it. So a teacher to become skillful must 
 have practice in the art of teaching. This practice 
 may be obtained in two ways: 
 
 1. A student may obtain it by teaching as a 
 student- teacher under the direction of a skillful train- 
 ing-teacher in a training school. 
 
 2. A teacher may obtain it by teaching in his 
 own school without having had any practice before, 
 and thus acquire the skill by experience without the 
 direction of a training- teacher. 
 
 It is evident that learning to teach in the latter 
 way is pretty hard on the pupils upon which the 
 teacher practices. It is too much a matter of experi- 
 ment, and is very much like a physician's learning to 
 practice medicine by experimenting upon his pa- 
 tients. But everywhere almost the children in our 
 schools are victims of such experimenting. 
 
THE TEACHER. 169 
 
 It is truly a deplorable set of conditions which 
 compels persons to teach who have merely enough 
 education in the subjects to secure licenses, and it ia 
 certainly not a less deplorable set of conditions which 
 compels teachers to experiment thus with the inno- 
 cent lives of our children. 
 
 Energetic Student Habits. — ^The living teacher is a. 
 constant worker. He ever keeps before him a high 
 degree of excellence in all lines of work toward which 
 he constantly strives. A teacher never reaches a 
 place in his school work where he can safely rest on 
 the oars and drift. There is absolutely no way ta 
 have a thorough, fresh knowledge of the subjects 
 taught; to keep in mind the best educational methods 
 and ideals; to maintain a healthful interest in one's 
 profession but by constant industrious student habits. 
 Everything that lives progresses, and nothing makes 
 progress more rapidly than the science and art of 
 education. One as a teacher simply can not rely upon 
 his past preparation to guide him safely and success- 
 fully through in his teaching. He must keep up with 
 educational progress or he will be an "old fogy " and 
 a "fossil" sooner than he is aware. The educational 
 world demands thoughtful, progressive teachers. 
 
 "To reach the port of heaven, we must sail some- 
 times with the wind and sometimes against it, — but 
 we must sail, and not drift nor lie at anchor. " 
 
 Daihj Preparation. — No teacher can succeed well 
 without the habit of preparing his lessons for his. 
 
170 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 daily recitations, and for this reason the habit of 
 daily preparation is regarded a necessary character- 
 istic of the teacher. A teacher never gets to a point 
 "where he knows a subject so well that he can do his 
 best work without making special preparation for 
 each lesson. This is true for several reasons. First, 
 no lesson is ever taught at any two times under the 
 same set of circumstances. Students to whom 
 the lessons are to be taught will vary in capacity and 
 other particulars. So each lesson must be prepared 
 with the view of teaching it to the particular class one 
 has, if the very best teaching is to be done. 
 
 Secondly, a teacher who teaches without daily 
 preparation shows staleness in his work; his teaching 
 lacking all the freshness, vigor, and interest born of 
 seeing something new in the subject. This results 
 irom the fact that going over the same thing again 
 and again without seeing anything new of necessity 
 grows monotonous and uninteresting. While on the 
 other hand no one ever knows a subject so well but 
 that he can see something new in it by his study in 
 daily preparation. 
 
 Thirdly, for most teachers it is the only means of 
 mitigating the evils which usually result from a lack 
 of sufficient knowledge of the subjects taught. 
 
 The teacher who will succeed best is the one who 
 *'gets out" his lessons daily. This he expects of his 
 students, and this his students have a right to expect 
 of him. 
 
THE TEACHER. 171 
 
 Love of Occupatio^i.—^Eyerj one knows with how 
 much more zest work which one Hkes to do is done 
 than work which one does not hke to do. Too many 
 teachers make teaching a mere stepping-stone to 
 some other kind of work, and so do not put their 
 hearts into it and really prepare themselves for the 
 work. Not being in love with teaching is largely 
 the cause of this. 
 
 No teacher who does not hke to teach school can 
 show so much interest, enthusiasm, aggressiveness, 
 and progressiveness in his work as he would if he 
 loved it. Love for the work hghtens the labor; it puts 
 the spirit of life into it. Otherwise teaching becomes 
 the veriest drudgery, a thing to be endured only. 
 
 Sympathy with Children. — By m^d^Xhy with chil- 
 dren has been regarded by many great educators as 
 the highest and most essential characteristic of the 
 teacher. The abihty of the teacher to rejoice with 
 his students in their joys and triumphs, to grieve 
 with them in their grief, in short, to be in sympa- 
 thetic touch with their lives in all phases is the 
 characteristic above all others that enables the teacher 
 to touch the lives of his children and uplift them. 
 Such a teacher is one of heart power— the one who 
 can love every chUd, the erring and wayward as well 
 as the good. 
 
 It is unfortunate for the children that circum- 
 stances are such that teachers largely teach school at 
 a period of hfe when they have the least sympathy 
 
172 STUDIES 1]S PEDAGOGY. 
 
 for children. From sixteen to thirty is the period in 
 life in which young men and young women have the 
 least sympathy for children. This is the period in 
 which young men and young women are most inter- 
 ested in themselves and in each other. Before sixteen, 
 and after about thirty they have more sympathy with 
 children. But between sixteen and thirty is the 
 period in which a large majority of teachers do their 
 teaching. 
 
 Sympathy for child life is idealized in the follow* 
 ing, said to have been found among the unpublished 
 papers of Charles Dickens, the great educator and 
 lover of children: 
 
 They are idols of hearts and of households; 
 They are angels of God in disguise; 
 His sunshine still sleeps in their tresses; 
 His glory still beams in their eyes. 
 
 Those shouts of home and of heaven 
 Have made me more manly and mild, 
 And I now know how Jesus could liken 
 The Kingdom of God to a child. 
 
 My heart grows as tender as woman's, 
 And the fountains of feeling will flow, 
 When I think of the paths steep and stony 
 Where the feet of these dear ones must go. 
 
 O, the mountains of sin that o'er-hang them ! 
 O, the tempests of fate blowing wild ! 
 But I know there's nothing on earth more holy 
 Than the innocent heart of a child. 
 
 Desirable Characteristics^ Though Not Absolutely 
 Necessary. — ^There are several characteristics which 
 
THE TEACHER 173 
 
 greatly facilitate a teacher's success, but which not 
 all teachers can possess, and without which success 
 in teaching may still be attained. A few of the most 
 important of these will be briefly studied: 1. Good 
 health. 2. Natural aptitude. 3. Personal magnet- 
 ism. 4. Mastery of the circumstances. 
 
 Good Health. — The relation between the mind and 
 body is so close that whatever in any way affects the 
 efficiency of bodily functions also affects the mind. 
 Dispositions and temperaments are results of bodily 
 conditions. To do one's best work of any kind requires 
 a healthy, vigorous, vivacious condition of the nervous, 
 digestive, circulatory, respiratory, and muscular 
 systems. Aggressive, vigorous, efficient work is the 
 accompaniment of good health. 
 
 Ill health on the other hand induces weakness of 
 effort, irritability of mind, despondent and depressed 
 states of spirit, discouragement and dreariness fatal 
 to all successful teaching and school government. Ill 
 health makes all work drudgery, amusement a bore, 
 and life a misery and a failure. The longer one lives 
 the more fully he appreciates this fact 
 
 Therefore, one of the highest duties towards his 
 school is for the teacher to make all reasonable ex- 
 ertion to keep his health uniformly excellent. 
 
 Natural Aptitude. — No doubt there are persons 
 who are to some extent natural teachers; that is, are 
 naturally adapted to teaching, while others have no 
 natural ability as a teacher. There are persons who 
 
174 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 naturally show an aptitude in music, while others can 
 never reach any marked degree of proficiency in 
 music. The same is without doubt true of teachers. 
 This natural aptitude is a very desirable character- 
 istic, and one that must be possessed by every teacher 
 to some extent, but it is one which not all, not even a 
 majority of teachers, possess to a large extent. That 
 most persons can become good teachers with proper 
 preparation is an encouraging truth. However, it is 
 just as true that there are some who when they at- 
 tempt to teach have entirely missed their calling. 
 There are some whose native ability for teaching is 
 such that they will never succeed at this work. Such 
 people, who may be most excellent men and women, 
 may succeed well at some other line of work. Froebel 
 and Pestalozzi succeeded well at nothing else but 
 teaching. 
 
 Personal Magnetism. — This is the characteristic of 
 the teacher which draws people to him. It is the 
 endowment of the teacher which makes friends for 
 him both in school and out of school. It is not, as 
 some suppose, altogether an endowment with which 
 one is born. It may be attained to by painstaking care. 
 Some of the elements which go to make it up are 
 general friendliness, sympathy, courtesy, charity, frank- 
 ness, and pleasant greeting. These elements may all 
 or any of them be attained by careful cultivation. 
 
 Mastery of Circumstances. — By a mastery of cir- 
 cumstances is meant the ability of doing the proper 
 
THE TEACHER. 175 
 
 thing next under any set of circumstances. There 
 are persons who seem never to know what to do next 
 under any set of circumstances except the most usual, 
 while again there are persons who seem always to 
 know what to do in any set of circumstances. Now 
 the teacher has much need of belonging to the latter 
 class, for a school is a place famous for the uprising 
 of unusual circumstances. A teacher must possess 
 the ability to some extent to meet the occasion, other- 
 wise he can hardly get along for a day. But perhaps 
 not all can possess this characteristic to the extent 
 desired. 
 
 Illustration. — A student upon an occasion of fail- 
 ure in recitation in a class, insisted he had no right 
 to believe what he could not see with his eyes. Vari- 
 ous illustrations were given by the teacher to show 
 that the position taken by the student was not only 
 untenable but unreasonable. The student would not 
 be convinced of his error. The teacher mildly and 
 pleasantly asked the student if he believed he had a 
 brain. A smile went around the class and the 
 student took his seat without a word. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 
 
 Importance of. — There is no subject that enlists 
 the attention of the teacher of more far-reaching im- 
 portance tlian this one of school government. Upon 
 the successful solution of the question, How best 
 manage a school? depends the efficiency of all the 
 school processes. The teacher who fails in school 
 government fails in all, because all other aspects of 
 school work bear an organic relation to school man- 
 agement and their efficiency depends upon it. To the 
 beginning teacher it is the most vital school question. 
 It is the rock upon which more teachers in their 
 careers have been shipwrecked than upon any other. 
 It has caused more sleepless nights, more shattered 
 nervous systems, more hot, scalding tears than any 
 other aspect of school work. 
 
 Kinds of School Government. — There are to be 
 iound in school two kinds of school government: gov- 
 ernment by force, or fear, and government by direc- 
 tion rather than by suppression. The following 
 names are respectively appropriate: 1. Police gov- 
 ernment. 2. Rational government. 
 
 Police government is by physical force, or by fear 
 on the part of the pupils. Such government is always 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 177 
 
 accompanied by a great deal of friction and bad feel- 
 ing. It does little or nothing toward giving the pupil 
 habits of right self-control and self-direction, the end 
 of all school government. 
 
 Rational government aims to lead the pupils to 
 do right because they love the right. It is to be 
 accomplished by reasonable means of firmness, kind- 
 ness, and justice. It accomplishes much toward 
 making pupils self-governing, toward giving them 
 habits of right self-control and right self-direction. 
 
 The School an Organization. — In the study of the 
 nature of the school in a previous chapter, it was seen 
 that the school is an organization, and that the ideas 
 which are to be found in an organization, according to 
 the best use of the term, are: 
 
 1. It is a complex whole. 
 
 2. This whole is made up of individual parts. 
 
 3. These parts have a harmonious working re- 
 lation. 
 
 4. These parts work for one common end. 
 
 5. The whole is self-acting and self-adjusting. 
 
 The school is made up of pupil, teacher, cur- 
 riculum, school officers, etc., aU constituting a com- 
 plex whole, the individual parts being patrons, school 
 officers, children, teacher, etc. These all work to- 
 gether in such a way as not to produce friction, and 
 so as to economize energy as far as possible. This is 
 what is meant by a harmonious working relation. 
 The education of the learner is, the common end for 
 
178 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 which all these parts work. The school as a whole 
 acts — originates its program, classes, recitations, and 
 sets up ideals and strives to attain them ; it also, when 
 it gets out of order, proceeds to adjust its own diffi- 
 culties. In this way it is self-acting and self-ad- 
 justing. 
 
 The Fundamental Law. — When the school is doing 
 the work of educating the pupils the most efficiently, 
 it is found to be when there is the most unity in it. 
 And when it is doing its work the most poorly, it is 
 found to be when there is the greatest lack of unity. 
 Then the law underlying all the complex activities of 
 the school to which they conform in order to contrib- 
 ute to the highest success of the school, is the law of 
 unity. 
 
 By unity is meant that any act of any element of 
 the school furthers any other act of the same element or 
 any act of a different element toiuard the accomplishment 
 of the purpose of the school. 
 
 It is evident that unity is the thing which will 
 contribute to the success of the school always. And 
 it is equally evident that if one element of the school 
 so acts that his activity antagonizes the acts of any 
 other element, or other acts of his own that it works 
 against the success of the school — it breaks the law 
 of unity. 
 
 From the study so far the hint is that the problem 
 invoU^ed in school management is the maintenance of 
 the law of unity. 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 179 
 
 Source of the Law. — The laws of any organization 
 are inherent in the organization and are not externally 
 imposed. The law that determines that the plumule, 
 the growing point of the stem of the plant, grows 
 toward sunlight and air, and the law that determines 
 that the radix, the growing point of the root, grows 
 from the sunlight and air are in the inherent nature 
 of the plant. No externally imposed conditions can 
 change the laws. The botanist can discover these 
 and many other laws of plant life, but he can make no 
 laws for the plant. No one can legislate for the plant. 
 Legislatures and parliaments might pass a law that 
 hereafter plants should grow, blossom, and produce 
 fruit without moisture, sunshine, and heat, and all 
 nations of the earth might ratify this law, but the 
 plants would go on in their own seemingly stubborn 
 way, and demand for their growth, heat, light, and 
 moisture. 
 
 The law of the school is as much a part of the 
 nature of the school as the laws of plant life are a 
 part of the nature of the plant. 
 
 Rules. — The various aspects of the law of unity 
 are rightly to be considered the rules of the school. 
 Some writers have attempted to make a distinction 
 between the law of the school and the rules of the 
 school. It has been said that a rule of the school is 
 an externally imposed regulation made by the teacher, 
 director, trustee, or superintendent, and that a law 
 of the school is some truth inherent in the nature of 
 
180 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 the school according to which the various elements 
 act. This is not a true distinction; and to attempt to 
 make such a distinction is bad, because it is a source 
 of mischief. The right meaning of a rule is, that it is 
 a minor law. The various aspects of the law of unity 
 are thus the rules of the school. The following is a 
 formal statement for it: A rule of the school is some 
 aspect of the laiu of unity. 
 
 The correct ideas of the law and the rules of the 
 school should be thoroughly fixed in the lives of pupils 
 and teacher. 
 
 Aspects of the Laio. — An analysis of the law of 
 unity in the school reveals various lines of unity to be 
 sought, the most prominent of which are the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 1. Unity in the organization as a whole. 
 
 2. Unity between teacher and pupil. 
 
 3. Unity between the pupil's real and ideal self. 
 Before taking up the study of each of these in 
 
 detail, it is worth while to notice that this is only a 
 very general analysis. A minute analysis would re- 
 veal almost an endless number of aspects of the law 
 of unity. For instance, there must be unity between 
 patrons and teacher; between patrons and children; 
 among school officers; between the school officers and 
 teacher; between the school officers and children, 
 and among the children themselves. Each one of 
 these unities might in turn be further analyzed. 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 181 
 
 Unity in the Organization as a Whole. — There is 
 complete unity in the organization as a whole when 
 every element of it is so acting that each act furthers 
 the influence of any other act of any element toivard the 
 accomplishment of the common end — the education of 
 the learner. 
 
 The thought of what unity in the school as a 
 whole consists of is of the highest importance to every 
 conscious element in the school. If this thought can 
 be so firmly fixed in the minds of each person — 
 teacher, learner, school officers, and patrons — con- 
 nected with the school that it will become a part of 
 his life, the government of the school will be largely 
 accomplished. 
 
 An appreciation of the meaning of the law of 
 unity in the organization as a whole will reveal the 
 fact that it is not the learner alone, as usually thought, 
 who violates the rules of the school, but almost as 
 often the teacher, the patrons, or the school hoard. 
 
 Legislators themselves may break the rules of 
 the school by making "school laws" that break the 
 unity of the school, and militate against the integrity 
 and efficiency of school work. It thus appears that 
 there is a distinction between the law of the school 
 and what often goes into the statutes as "school laws. " 
 
 When a school board secures a teacher for any 
 other reason than because of the ability of that 
 teacher to do good teaching, its members break the 
 law of the school. That teachers should be chosen 
 
182 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 from any other consideration than their ability to 
 minister to the lives of their pupils is a pernicious 
 doctrine which should have the condemnation of all 
 honest and sensible people in the strongest possible 
 terms. Poverty, patronage, nepotism, machine pol- 
 itics, church influences, and so on, of themselves 
 should have absolutely no place in the considerations 
 when a teacher is to be chosen. A school board will 
 hire a teacher year after year wholly incompetent and 
 unfit for a teacher, because she is poor and has an 
 invalid mother; they will not hire competent and pro- 
 ficient married ladies to teach because perchance a 
 married lady who teaches will support her worthless 
 husband. Or they will trade patronage, a teacher 
 being hired because she trades at the store which is 
 owned by a member of the board. Such school 
 boards are the worst enemies of the schools and the 
 children who are in them. There is no economy, no 
 justice, nor common sense in thus injuring the lives 
 of a room-full of children, thirty or forty, year after 
 year, in order to furnish a place for a teacher who is 
 incompetent. 
 
 One gets heart- sick at the incompetency, dis- 
 honesty, or imbecility of a school board which will 
 take into consideration the many things brought to 
 bear to secure places for incompetent teachers even 
 at the disregard of the influence on the growing lives 
 of the children. The doctrine that sets anything 
 above the welfare of the pupils in the choice of teach- 
 ers is wholly indefensible. 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 183 
 
 In this manner is the law of the school broken by 
 school boards to their everlasting dishonor and dis- 
 grace; and the conditions of our school system which 
 permit this pernicious custom constitute the most 
 serious defect of the American schools to-day, one 
 whose influence is baneful alike to pupils and teachers. 
 
 The Power of Sentiment. — By sentiment is meant 
 a feeling for or against anything because of a knowl- 
 edge concerning that thing. Sentiment is a powerful 
 factor in controlling people's lives and actions. In 
 fact life is almost wholly controlled by sentiment. 
 
 A certain church community has a sentiment 
 against an organ in church, and a pastor comes and 
 lauds the advantages of the church organ. One can 
 easily judge the standing of that pastor in that com- 
 munity. The same sermon might be preached in 
 another community with most satisfactory results. 
 In a town now in mind almost everyone plays at 
 cards, and any new-comer who refuses to play is 
 regarded as unsociable and ridiculous. The best 
 church people in this town do not object to cards, so 
 to play at cards has no bad effect upon one's reputa- 
 tion in this town. In another town now in mind, to 
 play at cards is placed in the category of heinous 
 crimes, so to play at cards here would ruin one's 
 reputation and destroy his usefulness in this com- 
 munity. What is the difference in the two places? 
 The answer is a difference in sentiment. 
 
 Since sentiment is thus so strong a factor in 
 determining people's actions, it may be made use of 
 
184 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 very advantageously in school government. If there 
 is some line of conduct which breaks the law of unity 
 in the school, the most potent, as well as the most 
 rational, means of controlling it is to establish a sen- 
 timent against it in the school. And if there is some 
 line of conduct beneficial to the school, the surest way 
 of introducing and maintaining it is to establish a 
 sentiment in favor of it. 
 
 The Main Line of School Government. — It will be 
 found then that the main work of the teacher in school 
 government is to establish a proper sentiment with 
 respect to the following five points: 
 
 1. The law of the school is inherent in the school 
 because of the pupil's part in it. 
 
 2. The pupils as much as the teacher help to 
 make the rules of the school. 
 
 3. The teacher, pupils, school officers, or patrons 
 may break a rule of the school. 
 
 4. The pupils as well as the teacher help to keep 
 the rules of the school intact. 
 
 5. The ultimate object of the school is the high- 
 est good of each pupil. 
 
 If teachers can estabhsh a strong sentiment for 
 that which is wanted and against that which is 
 not wanted in school the government of the school 
 will largely care for itself. 
 
 "The main line of work running through the 
 management of a school is that of developing in 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 185" 
 
 the thought of the pupil the laws which are in the 
 school because of his membership in it." 
 
 Behavior, or Conduct. — Behavior in school is often 
 thought of as applying merely to the student, but a. 
 true view shows that conduct with reference to the 
 school involves the actions of the teacher, pupil, pa- 
 tron, or school officer. Conduct in school is one^s hear- 
 ing toioard the unity in the school. Good conduct is 
 that which maintains or tends to maintain the unity 
 in school; bad conduct is that which breaks or tends 
 to break the unity in school. That which is good 
 behavior is right in school, and bad behavior is wrong^^ 
 in school. 
 
 Illustration. — Whispering as a rule is wrong in 
 school, because it breaks the unity in several ways. 
 First, it breaks the unity between the teacher and 
 the pupil, because it is discourteous to the teacher ,-^ 
 and when the pupil whispers he breaks the unity of 
 thought between his own mind and the mind of the 
 teacher. Secondly, it disturbs others in the class, is 
 noisy, and disorderly. Every teacher should set the 
 stamp of strong disapproval upon whispering in 
 school by showing the students that they are much 
 more gentlemanly and lady-like without it. 
 
 Unity betiveen Teacher and Learner. — It is in the 
 unity between the teacher and the learner that the 
 life of the learner comes into vital touch with the life 
 of the teacher. There is unity between the teacher 
 and the learner when there is a mutual furtherance ia. 
 their acts toward the education of the learner. 
 
186 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 This unity has an important influence upon suc- 
 cessful teaching. No teacher can do his best teaching 
 to a student when he is aware that there is antagonism 
 between that student and himself — when he does not 
 like the student or when he knows the student does 
 not like him. And no student can do his best work 
 for a teacher when he does not like the teacher or 
 w^hen he knows the teacher does not like him. From 
 which it results that the teacher should make all 
 reasonable efforts to maintain cordial relations be- 
 tween himself and his students. These cordial re- 
 lations should manifest themselves at all times both 
 in the recitation and out, if this unity is to be main- 
 tained. 
 
 Unity between the Learner's Real and Ideal Self. — 
 There is unity between the learner's real and ideal 
 self when each act of his life lifts him from a lower to 
 a higher plane of living; when through his action the 
 I am becomes constantly what was the / ought just 
 before the act. 
 
 From this it appears that constant, perfect unity 
 between the real and ideal self of the learner can 
 never be more than approximated, for to attain to 
 such unity constantly would be an ideal growth to- 
 ward self-realization. 
 
 To make the learner conscious that every act of 
 his life leaves a permanent effect and influence on his 
 life, and that every act which brings about unity be- 
 tween his real and ideal self influences him for good, 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 187 
 
 and that every act which breaks this unity or tends 
 to break it affects him for the worse, is to make him 
 conscious of the disturbing struggle in Ufe. When 
 the learner sees and fervently feels the nature of this 
 struggle he is naturally unwilling to do those things 
 which will degrade him, but aspires to a higher life 
 constantly. 
 
 Thus in maintaining the unity between the 
 student's real and ideal self, the school is fixing the 
 habit with him of right living under any circumstan- 
 ces. And this — to give the learner the habit of self-con- 
 trol and right self-direction — is the ultimate end of all 
 school government 
 
 Unifying Conditions. — Unity in school is not best 
 attained directly, but is best attained indirectly by 
 establishing unifying conditions. With the proper 
 unifying conditions established unity follows as a 
 natural result. Thus the establishing of unifying 
 conditions is a means to unity as an end. 
 
 Unifying conditions might be analyzed into many 
 aspects, but time will permit the study of only the 
 following important aspects : 
 
 1. Unifying conditions in the organization as a 
 whole. 
 
 2. Unifying conditions between teacher and 
 learner. 
 
 3. Unifying conditions between the learner's 
 real and ideal self. 
 
188 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Unifying Conditions in the Organization as a Whole, 
 — Unity in the organization as a whole means that all 
 the elements of the school so act that each act fur- 
 thers the influence of any other activity of any element 
 toward the accomplishment of the common object — 
 the education of the learner. 
 
 Now, what is the condition which preeminently 
 brings about this unity? The answer to this question 
 is, the condition above all others for unity in the 
 organization as a whole is the proper sentiment to- 
 ward the nature of the school and its work; that is, 
 the proper sentiment toward the following points as 
 stated before: 
 
 1. The law of the school is inherent in the school 
 because of the pupil's part in it. 
 
 2. The pupils as much as the teacher help to 
 make the rules of the school. 
 
 3. The teacher, pupils, school officers, or patrons 
 may break a rule of the school. 
 
 4. The pupils as well as the teacher help to keep 
 the rules of the school intact. 
 
 5. The ultimate object of the school is the high- 
 est good of each pupil. 
 
 This condition estimates every act of every ele- 
 ment of the school in terms of its ministry to the wel- 
 fare of the pupils. It means the best is none too good 
 for the pupil. The best teacher, the best school house, 
 the best books, the best school board, the best 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 189 
 
 superintendent, and the best apparatus are due the 
 pupils. 
 
 And any school officer, teacher, or superintend- 
 ent who purposely, or through neglect, does less than 
 to strenuously exert himself to secure those con- 
 ditions is not loyal to the charge entrusted to him. 
 
 Conditions of Unity between Teacher and Pupils. — 
 The most important condition of unity between 
 teacher and pupils is the spirit of good will and cor- 
 diality — the feeling on the part of the pupils that their 
 teacher is earnestly trying to do them good, and the 
 feeling on the part of the teacher that the students 
 believe that he is earnestly trying to help them on 
 toward a wise and virtuous life. This spirit in school 
 is the most potent condition of unity between the 
 teacher and his pupils. 
 
 A second important condition of unity between 
 the teacher and pupils is the school-room. It is the 
 place where the outward form of unity in the school 
 is maintained. It is the place where the students 
 come together for the work of the school, and it may 
 be made a positive influence for securing unity. 
 
 "It must be more than a secure, quiet, and com- 
 fortable meeting-place for teacher and pupil; it must 
 have a positively elevating influence, bringing the 
 pupil, by its active toning power, into the higher life 
 and mood of unity with the teacher." 
 
 The schoolroom should be a place of harmony, 
 peace, and beauty; pleasing, attractive, and homehke. 
 
190 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 It should have clean and beautiful floors and walls, 
 with some harmony between the two. There should 
 be some decoration in the form of some well chosen 
 pictures, not many, though, some casts, and some 
 vases and flowers; and whatever else good taste sug- 
 gests to make it pleasant, pure, harmonious, and 
 admirable. The general tone of such a schoolroom 
 constantly tends to induce the attitude of mind favor- 
 able to the unity of the pupil with his teacher. 
 
 The Purpose of the Schoolroom. — The purpose of 
 the schoolroom as a unifying condition may be ana- 
 lyzed into the following three points: 
 
 1. To bring the learner into the presence of the 
 teacher. 
 
 2. To make the teacher and learner comfortable. 
 
 3. To minimize diverting influences. 
 
 Presence of Learner. — In the schoolroom the 
 learner is brought into the presence of the teacher. 
 It is necessary for the pupil and teacher to work in 
 the same atmosphere. No first rate teaching can be 
 done except in the presence of the learner. An at- 
 tempt is sometimes made to teach by correspondence, 
 but such teaching lacks the life, flexibility, and force 
 that come from the personal contact of teacher and 
 learner. In the presence of the student the teacher 
 can adapt his teaching to the moods, attitudes of 
 mind, and peculiarities of each individual. Thus only 
 in the presence of the student can the teacher best 
 lead him to think, experience the feeling, and will as 
 he should. 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 191 
 
 Also in teaching it is necessary to have the pupils 
 in easy communicable relations. The minds of 
 pupils can not keep in touch with the mind of the 
 teacher in the teaching act unless the pupils can 
 without difficulty see and hear the teacher. If 
 students must crane their necks to see the teacher's 
 face and gestures, and strain to hear his words, it is 
 safe to say unity will not last long under such con- 
 ditions. Students will naturally make a few spas- 
 modic efforts under such circumstances to maintain 
 the unity between themselves and the teacher, but 
 the tension being too great, they will soon settle down, 
 the unity broken, to await the end of the recitation. 
 
 Communicable relations demand that the school- 
 room be not 'too long, nor too broad. Students can 
 not hear the teacher well more than thirty feet, and 
 can not see the teacher well from the sides if the 
 width of the room is more than twenty-four feet. All 
 school authorities are agreed on these dimensions for 
 a schoolroom. So from the standpoint of school gov- 
 ernment, as well as from the hygienic standpoint, no 
 schoolroom should be larger than twenty-four by 
 thirty-three feet. 
 
 Comfoi^t of Teacher and Pupils. — Much of the noise 
 and friction in school arises because the pupils are 
 uncomfortable. No student should be expected to 
 work quietly who is uncomfortable to any great ex- 
 tent. While the schoolhouse is to provide for the 
 comfort of pupils and teachers, many of them cer- 
 
192 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 tainly fail in this to a remarkable degree. When 
 students and the teacher are uncomfortable, the unity 
 of teacher and pupils is broken in that their attention 
 is drawn to their bodily discomfort. Thus no student 
 or teacher can do his best work under conditions of 
 bodily discomfort. 
 
 There are at any rate four things connected with 
 the schoolroom which will contribute to bodily com- 
 fort: 1. Comfortable seats. 2. Proper temper- 
 ature. 3. Proper ventilation. 4. Proper lighting. 
 
 Not only from hygienic reasons, but from reasons 
 of school government should the seats be of proper 
 pattern, and well adapted to the age and size of pupils 
 who use them. The demand for seats adapted to the 
 individual students who use them will sooner or later 
 bring adjustable seats into the schoolroom. The 
 need of them has been felt in the past, but school 
 officers have objected to them on the grounds that 
 they are not substantially made and that they cost 
 too much. Both these objections will in time be over- 
 come. 
 
 Every schoolroom should have a thermometer 
 liung about four feet from the floor in some part of 
 the room where the air would be at an average tem- 
 perature with that in the room as a whole, and the 
 mercury should be kept as nearly as possible at from 
 68° to 72°, Fahrenheit. If the temperature is below 
 this, some one will be uncomfortable from cold; and 
 if the temperature is above this, some one will be un- 
 comfortable with heat. 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 193 
 
 Plenty of pure fresh air admitted to the school- 
 room in such a way that no one, teacher or pupil, will 
 be subjected to draughts is certainly essential to 
 comfort, and since essential to comfort, it becomes a 
 question of school management as well as a question 
 of school hygiene. One point here needs to be re- 
 Iterated and emphasized, and that is, that air may be 
 unfit to breathe and at the same time be cold. That the 
 temperature of a room is 68° or below is absolutely no 
 guarantee that the air in that room is pure enough to 
 breathe. This is a truth that many janitors never 
 learn. 
 
 Bad lighting likewise induces bodily discomfort 
 and so breaks up the unity. Plenty of light for all 
 parts of the room should be admitted to the school- 
 room at all times, and the main sources should be 
 from the pupil's back and left. In order that there 
 may be plenty of light in all parts of the room the 
 relation between floor space and window pane space 
 should be 4 to 1; that is, there should be not less than 
 one square foot of window pane to every four square 
 feet of floor space. This relation should obtain when 
 there are no obstructions to prevent the free passage 
 of light. If buildings, trees, or anything of the kind 
 obstruct the free passage of the light, there should 
 be more than one square foot of window pane to four 
 square feet of floor space. 
 
 The seating, heating, ventilating, and lighting of 
 schoolrooms have usually been studied from the 
 
194 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 hygienic standpoint, but they also deserve study 
 from the viewpoint of school management. 
 
 Minimizing Diverting Influences. — Any influence 
 which takes the pupil's attention away from his 
 school work is a diverting influence, and whatever 
 removes influences that take the pupil's attention, 
 from his school work is a condition of unity. The 
 schoolroom evidently shuts out many influences which 
 would attract the pupil's attention, and thus divert 
 him. Some schoolrooms are however so situated that 
 all sorts of sights and sounds are continually attract- 
 ing the attention of the pupils. The writer has taught 
 in a schoolroom near a railroad upon which as many 
 as four or five heavily loaded trains would pass during 
 one recitation period. Just so many times was the 
 unity of the recitation broken. Again, a schoolroom 
 situated near a paved street will often have the unity 
 between the teacher and pupils broken by the rat- 
 tling of vehicles upon this street. These points are 
 worth consideration in choosing a location for school 
 buildings. 
 
 It is upon the school premises and within the 
 schoolroom in particular though that distracting in- 
 fluences may be minimized. These influences are 
 those which divert through: 1. Touch. 2. Sight. 
 3. Hearing. 
 
 Touch. — The law against diverting influences 
 through touch demands that all pencils, knives, un- 
 necessary books, fruit, toys, pencil cases, etc., except 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 195 
 
 those in actual use, should be removed from desks. 
 If such things are left on the desk they are a constant 
 challenge to the student to touch them, and as such 
 under any ordinary circumstances will be handled by 
 the students. 
 
 This law also demands single seats, and estimates 
 especially their superiority over double seats. 
 
 Sight. — It is imperative that all unnecessary 
 sights be removed from the attention of the students. 
 Hence the law against students passing from one part 
 of the room to another; to the water bucket; to and 
 from the stove; against any unusual arrangement of 
 school furniture. 
 
 Hearing. — The law against distracting influences 
 through hearing demands quiet in the schoolroom. 
 This is such an important point in school management 
 that special study needs to be given to it. 
 
 From a mistaken idea that to demand quiet in the 
 schoolroom is to rob children of their freedom, some 
 teachers not only permit but advocate an intolerable 
 amount of noise in their schools. The error of this 
 doctrine should be made as clear as possible to every 
 teacher because of the mischief ensuing from it. 
 
 Dr. Arnold Tompkins exposes weU its pedagog- 
 ical unsoundness in the following: ''Most effective 
 of all means of diverting the attention is noise. Si- 
 lence must be the law of the schoolroom. The noise 
 of whispering, studying, fixing fires, walking, loud 
 talk of the teacher, etc., must be gotten rid of. It is 
 
196 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 quite common for the teacher to make more noise than 
 all the pupils together. A teacher should speak in 
 subdued tones, and move about too quietly to attract 
 notice. He should so address a class during recita- 
 tion that the pupils studying are not compelled to 
 listen. Pencils should be sharpened at recess; and 
 slate frames covered, or slates abolished for note- 
 books. 
 
 I know it has been often urged that a noisy 
 schoolroom is a sign of energy and activity, of in- 
 dustry and hard work; that the working beehive must 
 hum. This sounds very well till we reflect that it is 
 physical energy and activity that makes the noise; 
 there is no mental analogy. Rather it is the reverse; 
 the greater the mental activity the greater the silence. 
 The boy who thinks is not necessarily noisy, but 
 necessarily silent. All professional students seek a 
 silent retreat as the best condition for mental labor. 
 This doctrine of a noisy school arises from two classes 
 of teachers, — those who can not secure silence and 
 seek an escape through the theory; and those who 
 champion in good faith the plea for freedom on the 
 part of the pupil, — or as it seems to some, a plea for 
 license." 
 
 Since the child has such a superabundance of 
 energy which seeks to discharge itself in muscular 
 activity, it is almost an impossibility for him to keep 
 quiet long at a time. This truth together with the 
 law of silence for the schoolroom demands short 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 197 
 
 school hours with frequent intermissions and rest 
 periods in which an opportunity is given for muscular 
 activity. Marches, drills, and other forms of physical 
 exercise are a powerful means in maintaining silence 
 in the schoolroom if interspersed between the periods 
 of mental work. 
 
 Conditions of Unity betiveen the Learner's Real and 
 Ideal Self.— It may be reiterated that there is unity 
 between the pupil's real and ideal self when each act 
 he puts forth helps to fix in him habits of wisdom and 
 virtue. If each act would do so, this would be ideal 
 growth in self-realization. 
 
 The highest aim of the school is to induce actions 
 by the pupil that will constantly uplift him, and give 
 him the ability to inhibit those which would degrade 
 him, that the growth brought about by these activities 
 may crystallize into character whose elements are 
 wisdom and virtue. But this would be nothing more 
 than unity between the learner's real and ideal self . 
 
 The conditions of this unity are at any rate four: 
 1. Pure motives. 2. Right ideas of life. 3. Incen- 
 tives. 4. Social influences. 
 
 Pure Motives. — Pure motives mean one^s intentions 
 to do good in his actions. 
 
 The one who habitually intends to do good in his 
 actions is much more likely to do the things which 
 will constantly further him toward wisdom and virtue, 
 than the one who frequently does things with bad 
 intent. Of course one may make mistakes, but on 
 
198 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 the whole pure motives prove a very potent condition 
 in maintaining the unity between the learner's real 
 and ideal self. 
 
 That the teacher may lead the student to look into 
 his own mind and make inquiries about his motives is 
 a thought worthy of attention, too. In this way the 
 teacher may help the pupils in establishing this very 
 important condition of unity. 
 
 Right Ideas of Life. — One's ideas of anything al- 
 ways determine very largely what his actions are 
 toward that thing. Therefore, the pupil must have 
 right ideas of life, otherwise he can not attain to right 
 living. If the pupil can be made to see and feel fer- 
 vently that, when all things are considered, there is 
 but one thing in general in life worth living for, 
 namely, a high type of wise and virtuous manhood or 
 womanhood, one very essential condition of unity be- 
 tween his real and ideal self exists. 
 
 What an opportunity here for the teacher who is 
 himself what his students should become, to help 
 students to start right in life. The teacher must have 
 thought out what life's success consists in, it is true, 
 before he can inspire students to hunger and thirst 
 after righteousness. 
 
 Right ideas of life and conduct are certainly a 
 Yery important condition of unity between the learn- 
 er 's real and ideal self. 
 
 Incentives. — Incentives are stimuli to urge to ac- 
 tivity. Strictly speaking an incentive is always a 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 199 
 
 desire for something, but the thing which arouses the 
 desire is also frequently called the incentive. As 
 such, are class grades, class honors, per cents, 
 prizes, etc. 
 
 Incentives may be divided into two classes: 1. 
 Natural. 2. Artificial. 
 
 Natural Incentives. — Natural incentives are de- 
 sires for those effects which in the nature of things 
 result from the deed; as the Tcnoivledge and mental 
 growth which result from conscientious study. 
 
 The one great natural incentive is the mind^s inherent 
 desire for progress. The soul awakes to consciousness 
 with the desire for progress as its deepest and 
 strongest trait. This passion of the soul for knowl- 
 edge and righteousness, this desire for progress is 
 man's distinctive mark. 
 
 "Progress, man's distinctive mark alone, 
 
 Not God's, and not the beasts'; God is, they are, 
 
 Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be." 
 
 This characteristic of the mind, mental hunger , is 
 called wonder in psychology. Thus wonder is the 
 mind's natural incentive. It has produced science 
 and philosophy. 
 
 All natural incentives are good for they stimulate 
 the learner to natural, healthy endeavor. 
 
 Artificial Incentives. — Artificial incentives, as the 
 name implies, are incentives which do not naturally 
 result from the deed. For instance, a parent might 
 pay his child for learning his spelling lesson. The 
 
200 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 child would thus be stimulated to learn spelling lessons 
 from his desire for money. The incentive is un- 
 natural, for a quantity of money is not a natural 
 result of the action. Thus, examinations, per cents, 
 class honors, prizes, etc., come under the head of 
 artificial incentives. 
 
 Artificial incentives are at the best of doubtful 
 utility. While they may do some good, the evils re- 
 sulting from them probably outweigh by far this good. 
 The best educators in the land condemn them 
 strongly. 
 
 "The use of such means necessarily kills the 
 desire to know, which is immoral because killing 
 the soul itself. When a teacher, in good faith that 
 the natural process of learning is its own sufficient 
 reward, begins to instruct pupils who have been 
 under the artificial stimulus of the per cent, system, 
 he finds them to be indifferent to legitimate appeals, 
 and ready to affirm that school life is not worth living 
 without the usual excitement and strife for per cent. 
 What hope for such pupils after the days of formal 
 instruction ! The severest criticism that can be made 
 on school work is to show that students after gradu- 
 ation have not a burning desire to pursue a systematic 
 course of study and improvement. The use of false 
 incentives is not the only reason for this; but it is 
 largely chargeable to formal methods of instruction 
 which necessitates artificial incentives, which further 
 render instruction dead and formal. By this process 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 201 
 
 the pupil, if not becoming positively averse to study,, 
 feels satisfied and self-sufficient, and having no foreign 
 incentive now offered, he is under no compulsion ta 
 further labor. If study means a contest with ponder- 
 able per centable packages of knowledge, how play 
 the game when there is no one to estimate and umpire? 
 If the school is to determine to a future life of study, 
 the motives appealed to and cultivated in school must 
 be the same as those employed in the natural, health- 
 ful course of life out of school. '* 
 
 *'The abiding passion of the soul is for knowl- 
 edge, and all the teacher can properly do is to take 
 this fact fairly and at its worth. The passion he may 
 stimulate, make definite, and attach to the proper 
 objects; but he can not introduce a substitute without 
 weakening the life-giving connection between the 
 pupil learning and the object being learned. " 
 
 Social Influences. — The child is by nature a social 
 being, and will live in society after leaving school. In 
 the school in many instances he first begins to learn 
 his duties with respect to others. In all cases the 
 pupil first begins to come fully into the understand- 
 ing of what it means to live in a society of his equals. 
 In the family the student begins to learn something 
 of living in society, but it is in the school that he first 
 meets with the conditions of society in anything like 
 those in which he will be required to live later. The 
 school forms a transition from the family to the com- 
 plex social life of the community. Here the pupil 
 
202 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 learns something of the difference between doing as 
 he pleases and doing so as to uplift himself and at the 
 same time help those around him. In the school are 
 good opportunities for learning habits of politeness, 
 toleration, charity, order, truthfulness, justice, and 
 industry. But all of this is unity between the learn- 
 er's real and ideal self. Thus social influence is one 
 of the conditions of unity between the real and ideal 
 self. 
 
 Broken Unity. — In the best regulated schools there 
 will be cases of broken unity. This may happen in 
 any of the following ways: 1. Through ignorance. 
 2. Through neglect. 3. Through thoughtlessness. 
 4. Through willfulness. If the child does not know 
 that it is a violation of unity to come to school late, 
 and comes in late, it is a case of broken unity through 
 ignorance. If, however, he knows it is wrong, but 
 neglects to start in time, it is a case of broken unity 
 by neglect. If the learner thoughtlessly plays with 
 the ink well on his desk, and thus breaks the unity by 
 the noise made, it is a case of broken unity through 
 thoughtlessness. If a student purposely insults one 
 of his fellow students or the teacher, he willfully 
 breaks the unity of the school. 
 
 Since prevention is better than cure, the main 
 aim in school government is in preventing broken 
 unity. This is to be done by establishing conditions 
 for unity and eliminating those unfavorable to unity. 
 This consists first and at all times in establishing a 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 203 
 
 sentiment in the lives of students in favor of those 
 things conducive to unity and against those things 
 unfavorable to unity. 
 
 Restoration of Unity. — When unity in any way in 
 school is broken it must be restored. The ideal con- 
 dition would be to have the school in such an attitude that 
 the unity would he voluntarily restored by the one who 
 broke it. And if students have in mind (1) the nature 
 of the school; (2) the source and nature of the law of 
 the school; and (3) have the proper sentiment toward 
 school behavior, the unity in most cases, when broken, 
 will be spontaneously and voluntarily restored. But 
 since such conditions can not always be maintained, 
 it must at times be restored through the influence of 
 the teacher as an agent. 
 
 The teacher's work in restoring unity becomes a 
 not difficult task when the conditions insisted on all 
 along in these studies have been established in school. 
 Confidential talks with students in which the teacher 
 in a kind and sympathetic manner calls attention to 
 the offense and the way to correct it may be used 
 with lasting and beneficent results. Often nothing 
 is necessary but to call the student's attention to the 
 misbehavior. However, obstinate cases arise which 
 can not be passed by lightly, and this suggests the 
 question of school punishments. 
 
 School Punishments. — This is the most delicate as 
 well as the most disagreeable feature of the teacher's 
 work. It requires a great deal of discretion, patience, 
 
204: STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 sympathy, and good sense to punish at all success > 
 fuUy. 
 
 It should be remembered that punishment in 
 school has the following two purposes: 
 
 1. To restore broken unity. 
 
 2. To prevent broken unity in the future. 
 
 And punishment which fails in either or both of these 
 things is not an entire success, but it may easily be 
 an entire failure. If by punishment the teacher, by 
 arousing anger, antagonism, and bad feeling, causes 
 more unity to be broken than restored, the school 
 would have fared better without the administering of 
 punishment. 
 
 The teacher must not punish for revenge, or with. 
 a vindictive spirit. Punishment must be reformative 
 and preventative, not vindictive. Plato was right 
 when he said only the unreasonable fury of a brute 
 toould punish vindictively. If the teacher finds him- 
 self angry, and it is admitted that occasions for 
 justifiable anger arise in school, he will gain an im- 
 portant victory by not acting till his anger subsides. 
 He will often save a good many heartaches and 
 regrets, too. 
 
 No recipes can be given for particular cases, but 
 the study of nature's punishments enables us to state 
 the following general rule, which is always safe to 
 follow: The punishment should be what in the nature of" 
 things follows as a result of the offense. 
 
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SCHOOL. 205 
 
 The only difficulty with the guidance which this 
 rule furnishes in school punishments is that of de- 
 termining what the natural result of the offense is. 
 At times it is very difficult to determine what 
 naturally follows as a result of the offense. But in a 
 large number of cases this rule gives absolutely safe 
 guidance. 
 
 Illustration. — If a student spills water on the 
 floor of the schoolroom through carelessness, the 
 natural thing is to have him clean it up. If again a 
 student by making noise disturbs a certain part of 
 the room, the natural punishment is removal from 
 that part of the room. 
 
 Corporal Punishment. — Corporal punishment is 
 punishment of the body, as by whipping, beating, etc. 
 
 The tendency in school government is to discard 
 it entirely. Some cities do not tolerate it at all in 
 their schools. It is, to say the best for it, the device 
 of the teacher who is not sufficiently wise to see a 
 better way. That a better way exists is not doubted 
 by those who have carefully studied the problem. It 
 is a noticable fact that the most skillful teachers 
 everywhere have the least use for corporal punish- 
 ment, while the least skillful resort to it most. 
 
 If our teachers were all wise enough, and if 
 school conditions were what they should be, no doubt 
 corporal punishment could be abolished in school 
 entirely; but with existing conditions it does seem 
 that it is not entirely wise to wholly condemn and 
 
206 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 forbid its use. However it should be remembered 
 that it is the device of the unskillful, and the ignorant, 
 and is to be used only when all other means have been 
 exhausted. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT, — METHOD. 
 
 The Teaching Act. — The school exists as an organ- 
 ization in order that the most favorable conditions 
 may be furnished for the act of teaching. It is in 
 this act that the mind of the pupil comes into vital 
 touch with the mind of the teacher. Here the miracle 
 of the influence of one mind upon another is mani- 
 fested. Here it is that the most important duty of the 
 teacher is involved. To this process all other processes 
 of the school point. The school finds the idea that 
 created it in the process of realization in the teaching 
 act. The act of teaching is a process for it is a series 
 of steps directed toward the accomplishment of an 
 end. The teaching act is not a simple process for it 
 is a large process made up of smaller processes. 
 
 The Processes in It. — A brief analysis of the teach- 
 ing act will show that there are three processes going 
 on in it, — (1) the thinking the learner is doing; (2) 
 the thinking the teacher is doing; (3) a process of 
 handling questions, directions, objects, assignments, 
 and so on — the manipulation of means in teaching. 
 The first two of these processes are spiritual, or 
 mental, processes, and the third is external to both 
 
208 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 the mind of the teacher and the pupil and is a physical 
 process. 
 
 Illustration. — In teaching the definition of a noun 
 to a student, first, the student's mind goes through 
 the process of thinking (1) that the noun is a sub- 
 stantive word; and (2) that it expresses an object by 
 naming it. This is the process in the mind of the 
 student in the teaching act. Secondly, the teacher 
 thinks these same points through with the student, 
 but he thinks several other things, too. This is the 
 spiritual process of the teacher in the teaching act. 
 Thirdly, there is a process of asking questions, illus- 
 trating, possibly referring to text-books, etc., going 
 on, and this is the physical process in the teaching 
 act. 
 
 Nature of Method as a Subject of Study. — The ques- 
 tion, What is the subject of method like? is often 
 asked. It may be answered in a general way by say- 
 ing it is a subject of study the pursuit of which has 
 for its special object to make teachers more skillful 
 in teaching than they would be without such study. 
 But this much might be said of any pedagogical 
 study — of psychology, for instance. To be more 
 definite, method as a subject is that study which 
 deals with the three processes in the act of teaching 
 as indicated above. These three processes in their 
 various phases constitute the material of all study in 
 the subject of method. 
 
 The Subject-matter of Method.— By subject-matter 
 is meant the material of study in any subject or lesson. 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT, — METHOD. 209 
 
 It is the thought and feeling embodied in any subject 
 or lesson which are to be got from such subject or 
 lesson by study. It always consists of facts and 
 relations among such facts. So the subject-matter of 
 method, as a subject of study, is the three processes, one 
 in the mind of the learner, one in the mind of the teacher, 
 and one a physical process, in their relation to the growth 
 in the life of the learner. 
 
 Definition of Method. — Method is thus seen to be a 
 complex and comprehensive thing. Any definition to 
 be perfectly accurate, must include the various phases 
 of these three processes. The following, it seems, 
 does this: Method is the triple process in the act of 
 teaching by tvhich the learner is induced to take the steps 
 from his real condition to a higher condition held up as 
 an ideal. This is the definition of method considered 
 in its broadest and most comprehensive sense, and 
 the sense in which its study will give the most help 
 to the teacher. 
 
 Classes of Method. — Since there are three proc- 
 esses going on in the teaching act there are, in a 
 sense, three methods, — the learner's method, the 
 teacher's method, and physical method. These three 
 will be studied somewhat in detail. 
 
 The Learner's Method. — The learner's method is 
 the movement of his mind in gaining any point of 
 knowledge. The pupil's method is thus a living, 
 spiritual process internal to his life. Method from 
 this point of view is mental growth. That is to say, 
 
210 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 it is the change of potential mental activity into actual 
 mental activity, and this is the essence of growth. 
 
 Illustration. — If the child learns in a number 
 lesson that 8 -f- 7 = 15, the activity of his mind in 
 thinking the following steps is his method: (1) the 
 mind rethinks the number 8; (2) the mind rethinks 
 the number 7; (3) the mind thinks the number 8 and 
 7 together; (4) the mind thinks the name of the new 
 number. These four steps are the mind's process in 
 thinking the point of knowledge, and are, therefore, 
 the mind's method. This phase of method calls 
 attention to the fact that the thing to be watched and 
 emphasized in teaching is the change in the learner's 
 life by which he is constantly rising to a higher plane 
 of living. 
 
 Definition of the Learner's Method, — The learner's 
 method may be characterized by the following defi- 
 nitions: 
 
 1. The learner's method is the process of the 
 learner's mind in learning a thing. 
 
 2. The learner's method is the movement by 
 which his mind identifies itself with the thought and 
 feeling of the external world. 
 
 3. The learner's method is the mental activity 
 by which his mind makes the objective the subjective. 
 The objective means the external world, and the 
 subjective means the self. And the self means one's 
 original capacity to know, to feel, and to will, plus the 
 effect of one's experiences on this capacity. 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT, — METHOD. 211 
 
 4. The learner's method is the process in which 
 his mind goes from its real condition to an ideal con- 
 dition. One's real condition is his condition just as 
 he is at any time. His ideal condition is one different 
 from what he is in at any time, and which actually 
 has no existence except as an idea in the mind; hence 
 the name ideal. The ideal condition is not necessarily 
 a better condition than the real, but may be either a 
 better or worse condition. 
 
 The Teacher's Method. — The teacher's method is 
 the thinking he does in teaching a thing. The teacher 's 
 method is a very important topic of study in the sub- 
 ject of method. It must be thoroughly understood 
 by one who is to succeed best. 
 
 First, the teacher must think the thought in the 
 point or points to be taught; that is, he must think 
 the subject-matter. Secondly, he must see in terms 
 of development of the learner's life the reasons for 
 teaching the subject-matter; that is, he must see the 
 purpose. Thirdly, the teacher must see the nearest 
 related knowledge possessed by the learner which he 
 can use as a foundation to build upon in teaching the 
 new point; that is, he must see the basis. Fourthly, 
 the teacher must see the activities the learner's mind 
 puts forth in mastering the points of truth in the 
 subject-matter; that is, he must see the steps. Lastly, 
 the teacher must see the means he may best employ 
 in leading the mind of the learner to take the steps in 
 mastering the subject-matter; that is, the teacher 
 
212 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 must think out the devices. Thus the teacher in 
 teaching a lesson must think (1) the subject-matter; 
 (2) the purpose; (3) the basis; (4) the steps; and (5) 
 the devices. These five things every teacher does in 
 some sort of way in teaching every lesson. Some 
 think them out clearly and accurately, and some think 
 them out scarcely at all, and do not know that they 
 do even that much. A teacher can think the teaching 
 of a single point, or of a whole lesson, or of a whole 
 subject, under these five heads, and must do so with 
 more or less accuracy in teaching. It is worth our 
 while to study these five points further for the help 
 the study will give. 
 
 Subject-matter.— In a general way the subject- 
 matter is that which is to be mastered by study. It 
 Is the thought embodied in the thing studied by the 
 mind of the learner. In a particular lesson the sub- 
 ject-matter is just that to be got from the lesson 
 which the learner should have after the recitation. 
 In a particular subject, as grammar or history, the 
 subject-matter is just that to be got from the subject 
 which the learner should be in possession of after the 
 study of the subject. In this general sense the sub- 
 ject-matter of education is the whole world of thought. 
 This study is too general to be most helpful. A 
 closer study will reveal the fact that every subject- 
 matter is composed of two things: (1) The facts to 
 be taught. (2) The relation in which these facts are 
 to be taught or studied. 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT, — METHOD. 213 
 
 Illustration, — Suppose the words, inquiry y dis. 
 course, and aspirant are to be taught. Now, a spelling 
 lesson might be made of it; and if it were a spelling 
 lesson, the subject-matter would be, the words, in- 
 quiry, discourse, and aspirant, as to their correct 
 written or printed forms. Thus the words, inquiry, 
 discourse, and aspirant are the facts to be taught or 
 studied, and ''as to their correct written or printed 
 form " indicates the relation in which they are to be 
 taught or studied. But these same facts might be 
 used, and the lesson not be a spelling lesson at alL 
 If the relation in which they are to be studied or 
 taught is as to their correct pronunciation the lesson 
 would be one in orthoepy, and the subject-matter 
 would be, the words, inquiry, discourse, and aspirant 
 as to their correct pronunciation. 
 
 Further Illustration. — Suppose the facts of the 
 revolution of the earth around the sun are taught, 
 who can say whether the lesson is one in astronomy 
 or one in geography? If, however, these are taught 
 in their relation to the distribution of life, climate 
 and relief forms on the earth's surface, the lesson at 
 once reveals itself as a geography lesson. From these 
 illustrations it is to be seen that a subject-matter 
 consists of (1) the facts to be taught or studied; and 
 (2) the relation in which these facts are to be con- 
 sidered. This relation is often called the organizing 
 principle of the subject-matter. 
 
 General Statement of Subject-matter. — The state- 
 ment of subject-matter is not the subject-matter any 
 
214 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 more than a word is an idea, or a sentence a thought. 
 The statement of the subject-matter bears the same 
 relation to the subject-matter that the word bears to 
 the idea and that the sentence bears to the thought; 
 that is, the statement bears the same relation to the 
 subject-matter that the symbol does to the thing 
 symbolized. 
 
 The general statement of a subject-matter is very 
 valuable to a teacher, whether it be of a single lesson, 
 or of a whole subject. It is helpful to the teacher 
 because it must do two things: (1) it must name the 
 facts to be taught, and (2) it must tell the relation in 
 which these facts are to be taught. Thus the general 
 statement of the subject-matter of any subject is a 
 perennial guide to the teacher in teaching that sub- 
 ject, in that it shows, in a general way, what to teach 
 and in what relation (how) to teach it. 
 
 Purpose. — Purpose in reality is beginning and 
 end in every process. The purpose as idea — the be- 
 ginning — moves forward in the process to its reali- 
 zation — the end. The purpose exists in the teacher's 
 mind, but it is to be realized in the life of the learner. 
 The purpose is the effect the mastery of the subject- 
 matter should have on the life of the child. In actual 
 teaching the teacher is to go from the subject-matter 
 by way of comparison of the effect the thinking the 
 subject-matter has on his own mind to its effect on 
 the child's life, which is the purpose. That is to say, 
 there is no way to tell the purpose of the subject- 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT, — METHOD. 215 
 
 matter except from the effect its mastery produces 
 on the child's life. The course of study — the subject- 
 matter — is usually provided for the teacher. So the 
 teacher must start with the subject-matter and find 
 out the purpose in teaching it. Much depends in the 
 teaching act upon how well the teacher does this. If 
 the teacher has definitely in mind just what he wants 
 to do in the lesson he will be drawn steadily and 
 constantly toward its accomplishment. A definite 
 purpose saves time, economizes energy, emphasizes 
 the important, organizes, and prevents aimless wan- 
 dering. 
 
 It will be seen that in teaching any lesson there 
 are two phases of the purpose: (1) to give knowledge 
 valuable for guidance in living; (2) to give mental 
 discipline; that is, to furnish a mental gymnastic to 
 the end that the mind may grow strong by exercising 
 it. 
 
 Basis. — This is the learner's nearest related 
 knowledge to the new points to be taught, and upon 
 which the teacher may build in teaching the new 
 point. Basis is an important point in teaching. Many 
 errors are made in teaching because the learner has 
 not basis for learning the new point, or because the 
 teacher does not see the basis. Teaching in harmony 
 with the principle underlying basis, the mind naturally 
 goes to the unknown from the nearest related Tcnoivn, 
 means a progressive development of a subject, each 
 step becoming basis for the step succeeding it. There 
 
216 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 are many violations of basis in teaching, as often 
 done. 
 
 Illustration. — If the lesson to be taught is that 
 5 -f- 4 = 9, the child must know the number 5 and 
 the number 4 as basis before he could learn that 5 + 
 4 = 9. If the teacher should attempt to teach this 
 lesson without having taught the numbers 5 and 4 he 
 would meet with the difficulty of insufficient basis. 
 Again, if a teacher attempts to teach the noun to a 
 class without the class having a definite knowledge of 
 an object, he will most surely meet a difficulty in the 
 basis. The teacher to teach well must see and choose 
 definitely his basis. 
 
 Steps. — Steps are more or less complete move- 
 ments of the mind. They are mental things and in 
 the teaching act are in the life of the learner. They 
 are the advances of the mind in mastering the sep- 
 arate points of the lesson to be learned. Or in a 
 more general sense they are the advances of the mind 
 in mastering the various phases of a subject. 
 
 Illustration. — If the lesson to be taught were that 
 17 — 8 = 9, the steps would be: 1. The advance of 
 the mind in rethinking the number 17. 2. The ad- 
 vance of the mind in rethinking the number 8. 3. 
 The advance of the mind in thinking the number 9 as 
 remainder. Again, if the lesson were, to teach the 
 definition of the triangle, after examining several 
 triangles, the steps would be: 1. The advance of 
 the mind in thinking a triangle is a figure. 2. The 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT,— METHOD. 217 
 
 advance of the mind in thinking a triangle has three 
 sides. 3. The advance of the mind in thinking a 
 triangle has three angles. 4. The advance of the 
 mind in synthesizing these points in the definition, A 
 triangle is a figure having three sides and three angles. 
 
 To know the steps the mind takes in working out 
 any new lesson is a matter of much importance to the 
 teacher. He must know something of the steps or 
 he cannot teach at all; and, other things equal, the 
 more clearly the teacher has thought out the steps, 
 the better will he teach the lesson. 
 
 Devices. — The devices are the various things used 
 by the teacher to lead the mind of the learner to think 
 and feel in the manner desired. A synonym for 
 devices is the term means. Devices, or means, con- 
 stitute a very important factor in teaching. There is 
 opportunity for the exercise of rare judgment, tact, 
 and skill in the selection of devices. When it is 
 understood that questions, text-books, and reference 
 books, maps, globes, and school apparatus in general; 
 blocks, sticks, etc., are devices in teaching, some- 
 thing of their importance in school work becomes 
 evident. Devices are so important that among many, 
 method means nothing more than the manipulation of 
 devices. However important they are it must not be 
 lost sight of that they are always determined in the 
 light of the mental process they are to induce. They 
 are means to an end, and in nature the end is always 
 more important than the means. 
 
218 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Method as a Physical Process. — It is, perhaps, using 
 the term method in its most popular significance to 
 think of it as meaning some physical process external 
 to the life of the learner. That is to say, it is using 
 the term in the sense in which most persons com- 
 monly use it in speaking and writing. This idea of 
 method is the one usually held by persons who have 
 not made any careful study of what the term really 
 ought to mean. There is a sort of indefiniteness in 
 the minds of such persons as to just what they do 
 mean by method. However, upon examination it will 
 be found usually that the idea that method is the 
 manner of doing some physical thing prevails, though 
 even this is held in mind more or less vaguely. From 
 thinking of method in this sense we have the following 
 terms; "Object Method, " ''Concert Method, " ''Con- 
 secutive Method," "Promiscuous Method," "Lecture 
 Method," "Socratic Method," and "Laboratory 
 Method." 
 
 These all refer to the manipulation of objects, 
 questions, and answers in the teaching act, and so 
 are to be studied briefly under method as a physical 
 process. 
 
 The Object Method. — By this is meant the handling 
 of objects by teacher and pupils in the process of 
 teaching. It is a good line of work, if used judicious- 
 ly. It has its proper place in teaching number work 
 primary reading, nature study, primary geography, 
 and primary language. 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT, — METHOD. 219 
 
 The Concert Method. — ^The concert method means 
 having students to answer questions, read, and speak 
 simultaneously in the recitation. There is much that 
 may be said against concert work, but very little to 
 be said for it. It is objectionable because it (1) 
 violates the law of self -activity; (2) stifles individual 
 effort and individual responsibility; (3) does not bring 
 out clear, definite answers or thinking; and (4) leads 
 to confusion, disorder, and chaotic class work. There 
 may possibly be instances in which concert work 
 may be used advantageously, but as a rule it should 
 iDe avoided. 
 
 The Consecutive Method. — The consecutive method 
 of asking and answering in the recitation means be- 
 ginning at some point, the head of the class, or at the 
 name beginning with A, and proceeding in some 
 regular order back to the point of starting. In pro- 
 ceeding in recitation this way the students know 
 pretty well when the "turn" of each one will come. 
 This method, like the preceding one, has many things 
 against it, but little to recommend it. It is objection- 
 able because it leads to (1) habits of inattention; (2) 
 disorder and disorganization of the class; (3) habits of 
 idleness; and (4) bad methods of study. However 
 good a student may be, if, when he has answered a 
 question, he knows to a certainty that he will not be 
 called upon again for some time, the tendency is for 
 him to relax his attention. If the student is not a 
 ^ood one, the tendency in this kind of work is for him 
 
220 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 to become worse, and since he is not called upon ta 
 attend closely he is prone to do something else, there- 
 by causing disorder and disorganization. Idleness 
 in the class is a direct result of inattention, and bad 
 habits of study result from the student's being able 
 to prepare just those points in the lesson which he 
 has reckoned will come to him. 
 
 Promiscuous Method. — The promiscuous method 
 of asking questions and receiving answers refers to 
 distributing the questions and receiving answers 
 from students promiscuously. No student knows to 
 whom the answer to the question will fall. This 
 method unlike the two preceding has much to be said 
 for it and little or nothing against it. It is desirable 
 because (1) it fosters habits of attention and concen- 
 tration; (2) it is flexible and gives the teacher the best 
 opportunities for meeting the needs of individual 
 students; (3) it fosters habits of order and organiza- 
 tion in the class work; and (4) it tends to industrious 
 habits, and right methods of study. By the use of 
 the promiscuous method students are held constantly 
 to attending to the question under consideration, to 
 the careful preparation of the lesson as a whole, and 
 to order and unity in the class. As a rule, the pro- 
 miscuous method is certainly the best for class work. 
 
 Lecture Method. — The lecture method refers to 
 teaching by means of talks, or lectures. This method, 
 perhaps, has its advantages and disadvantages. It is 
 certainly not adapted to all kinds of school work, and 
 
THE PRCX:!ESS IN THE TEACHING ACT,— METHOD. 221 
 
 probably not adapted to any kind of school work if 
 used exclusively. There are, however, some phases 
 of school work which may be taught profitably by 
 talks, or lectures. To elementary school work the 
 lecture method is not at all adapted, and but very 
 poorly adapted to secondary school work. In the 
 first eight years of the child's school life he must be 
 taught differently than by this method. That stays 
 with the child which he has an opportunity to see, 
 hear, and think about. This, however, is not to be 
 construed to mean that oral teaching should not 
 be done in primary history, primary geography, 
 nature work, etc. If the lecture method has any 
 legitimate place in school work it is in the coUege and 
 university. However it may seem theoretically, it 
 remains a fact that those things which are digged out 
 by the student, recited upon in the class, and dis- 
 cussed by questions and answers are the things which 
 in the end stay with him and do him good. Certainly 
 the lecture method in the average teacher's school 
 work is, to say the least, to be used sparingly, and 
 -with much caution when used at all. 
 
 The Socratic Method. — This method takes its name 
 from Socrates, a Greek philosopher and teacher, born 
 469 B. C. It is sometimes called the developing 
 method. It proceeds by the employment of subtle 
 questions to lead the student to think what it is de- 
 sired for him to think without telling him anything. 
 *'The Socratic method, more or less perfectly under- 
 
222 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 stood, has had great influence upon professional 
 pedagogy. In many schools for the professional 
 training of teachers, and in many schools in charge 
 of teachers professionally trained, systematic ques- 
 tioning of this sort is looked upon as ideal teaching; 
 and there is no lack of conscientious endeavor to 
 prepare for use in recitation, series of questions which 
 shall lead the child's mind to take the logical steps 
 which given occasion requires. One who doubts the 
 value of such systematic questioning may usually be 
 converted by hearing a single typical recitation con- 
 ducted by a master of the art. The power of such a 
 recitation to touch, move, chasten and direct the soul 
 is so evident, that if Socrates and Plato had taught us 
 nothing but how to do such work their fame as 
 teachers would be justified." It is noteworthy that 
 the ''Socratic Method" is diametrically opposed to 
 the "Lecture Method." 
 
 The Laboratory Method. — This is also often called 
 the '* Scientific Method," or ''Inductive Method, "and 
 it means a procedure in which the student is lead to 
 investigate and think for himself. It is opposed to 
 taking things on mere authority without investiga- 
 tion, and to the text-book method. It proceeds by 
 leading the student to deal with the actual material of 
 study rather than to deal with what some one has 
 said about it. In botany, studied in this way, the 
 student deals with plants; in zoology, with animals; in 
 grammar, with sentences and parts of sentences. 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT,— METHOD. 22S 
 
 This method has much to recommend it. 1. It fosters 
 habits of free inquiry and free investigation. 2. It 
 is the mind's natural way of learning. 3. It makes 
 the student self-directive and self-helpful. 4. It 
 fixes with the student right methods of study. 5. It 
 gives the student a critical attitude of mind. All 
 these are very desirable characteristics for a student 
 to have. 
 
 Comparison of Teacher^ s and PupiVs Method. — 
 These two methods are alike as follows: 1. They 
 are both spiritual processes. 2. The mind of the 
 learner and the mind of the teacher in general go 
 through the same process in thinking the thing to be 
 learned. 3. Both the teacher and the pupil keep in 
 mind to some extent the purpose of the process in the 
 teaching act. 
 
 These two methods are different as follows: 1. 
 The teacher, in addition to thinking the truths to be 
 learned, must think the learner's thinking of them. 
 2. The teacher must think out the means or devices 
 to be used in leading the learner to think the desired 
 points of truth. 3. While both the teacher and the 
 pupil keep in mind the purpose, the teacher sees it 
 definitely, or should do so, while the pupil only sees 
 it vaguely. The teacher's method thus includes more 
 than the learner's. 
 
 Two Vieivs of Method.— The foregoing study sug- 
 gests to us that there are two views of method. It is 
 unfortunate that educational writers hold these twa 
 
224 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 views, as considerable confusion prevails because of 
 this fact. One class of educators, those who have 
 studied method least, mean by method simply the 
 physical process in the act of teaching. A second 
 class, those who have been special students of method, 
 mean by method the triple process in the act of teach- 
 ing. 
 
 Comparison of the Two Views. — In our study of 
 method we may call these two views respectively the 
 popular vieiv and the special view. The popular view 
 -will thus designate method as the manipulation of ex- 
 ternal means, or devices, and the special view will 
 designate method as the triple process. 
 
 Thinking of method according to the popular view 
 constantly places the mind's emphasis upon some- 
 thing external to the life of the learner. This has in 
 the past led to much that was bad in teaching and is 
 still doing so. The teacher loses sight thus of the 
 fact that it is in the learner's life that the educating 
 process is to be carried on. He is prone to make the 
 manipulating, the text-book, or some petty scheme 
 of teaching an end instead of a means. Every ques- 
 tion that arises concerning teaching must be settled 
 in the light of the effect upon the life of the learner. 
 The ultimate question is. How does it affect the life of 
 the learner? The process in which the mind of the 
 learner masters the new point of knowledge is 
 the point of prime importance in the teaching act and 
 the thing always to be emphasized in the study of the 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT,— METHOD. 225 
 
 act of teaching. The popular view of method leads 
 to almost hopeless confusion. Everyone holding this 
 view who happens to use some different device, or 
 means, in teaching calls it his method and gives it a 
 name. Since there is an almost infinite number of 
 devices which may be used, there thus arises an al- 
 most infinite number of methods, which no teacher 
 can or desires to keep informed upon. This leads to 
 a hopelessly chaotic condition of things in the study 
 of method. 
 
 The popular view of method has lead to much dis- 
 paragement of the study of method among persons 
 who should be friendly to its study. These are often- 
 times persons who are very good thinkers, but who 
 have not given special study to method. It is a com- 
 mon remark among this class of teachers that one 
 may study method in a subject at the expense of a 
 knowledge of that subject. The depreciating remarks 
 made about method, which arise from the popular 
 view of method, are a source of much harm to the 
 profession of teaching. This is true, because many 
 persons who would otherwise make a careful study 
 of method and would receive the benefit that must 
 come to the teacher thereby, are kept from beginning 
 the study by this disparaging attitude on the part of 
 some teachers. It may be safely said that there is 
 need for no one thing among teachers more than an 
 intensely professional spirit. It seems strange that 
 some teachers take pleasure in saying depreciating 
 
226 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 things about method work. It is, however, probably 
 to be explained from a misconception of method. I 
 have never yet heard the first person speak depre- 
 ciatingly of method, who had been a student of the 
 subject. 
 
 The special view may be proven to be the better 
 view. This is the argument: A thing is good ac- 
 cordingly as it realizes the purpose which brought it 
 into existence. Method as a subject came into ex- 
 istence to supply the want for something, the study 
 of which would help the teacher to do better work in 
 his daily teaching. Accordingly, that thing whose 
 study helps the teacher most is the best. It has 
 already been shown that the study of method as a 
 triple process is more helpful to the teacher than the 
 study of method as the manner of manipulating some 
 external means, or device. Therefore, the special 
 view is the better view of method. 
 
 No Danger in Too 3Iioch Study. — It is not difficult 
 to see that there is no danger of a teacher's devoting 
 too much time to the study of method when one takes 
 the proper view of method. The teacher can not 
 study the process through which the mind goes in 
 mastering any point of knowledge until he has the 
 knowledge himself. For instance, the teacher can 
 not see the mental steps the mind of the learner takes 
 in learning the definition of an adjective without 
 knowing the definition of an adjective himself. To 
 know the method in teaching the definition of an 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT, — METHOD. 227 
 
 adjective is to know two things: 1. The definition of 
 an adjective. 2. The process the mind naturally 
 employs in learning the definition of an adjective. 
 No teacher can rationally and well teach the adjective 
 who does not know both. 
 
 Further Illustration. — In the teaching of history 
 this point becomes quite evident. The teacher wha 
 knows method in history knows these two things: 1. 
 The events of mankind in their relation to the struggle 
 of the race for higher life. That is to say, he must 
 know history. 2. The natural processes of the mind 
 in learning history. No teacher can teach history at 
 all without a knowledge of the first, and it is equally 
 clear to any person who will think, that no one can 
 teach history well without a knowledge of the second. 
 
 So this question reduces itself to the following: 
 It is not possible for a teacher to study method too 
 much, unless it is possible for a teacher to know 
 too much about his subjects and to know too weU the 
 mind's natural process in learning those subjects. 
 
 Factors Determining MetJiod. — About twenty years 
 ago one of the leading educators of this country said 
 ' ' The laio in the mind and the thought in the thing studied 
 determine the method.^' This statement of this truth 
 can not well be improved upon. It shows that the 
 two following things are factors in determining 
 the method to be pursued in teaching any subject 
 whatever: 
 
 1. The law in the mind. 
 
"228 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 2. The thought in the thing studied. 
 
 That these two factors are the ones which deter- 
 mine every rational method makes the above state- 
 ment a universal truth. 
 
 The Law in the Mind. — The law in the mind has 
 reference to the general truths of mind — the forms of 
 activity common to minds. 
 
 Holding in mind that method is the triple activity 
 in the process of teaching, it can easily be seen that 
 this process must be largely what it is because of 
 what the mind can do; that is, because of the laws 
 governing mental activity. 
 
 Again, the method would be different in teaching 
 the same subject-matter to a child of eight and to an 
 adult, because it is a law of the mind that the mind of 
 the child of eight could sense-perceive, remember, 
 and imagine accurately, but that he could not reason 
 accurately, while the adult should be able to do so. 
 
 The Thought in the Thing. — Each thing is the 
 -embodiment of thought; that is, each thing in the uni- 
 verse is capable of suggesting a thought to the mind. 
 "Evangeline," the rose, the lily, is each the embodi- 
 ment of thought. 
 
 Again remembering what method is, it can read- 
 ily be seen that the process is different in teaching 
 different things, and so the method is different. 
 
 The process in teaching the noun as to definition 
 and in teaching *'Maud Muller" as to interpretation 
 is widely different, because of the difference in the 
 
THE PROCESS IN THE TEACHING ACT, — METHOD. 229- 
 
 thought embodied in them. And since method is 
 the triple process in the act of teaching, the method 
 is widely different, the cause of the difference being 
 the difference in the thought in the two things. 
 
 Thus these two things, the mind of the learner^ 
 and the subject-matter, determine the method. 
 
 The whole study of general method should em- 
 phasize the truth that the essential thing in teaching is 
 opening up the tvay for the realization of the child's in- 
 herent possibilities. 
 
 "Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise 
 From outward things, whate'er you may believe^ 
 There is an inmost center in us all, 
 Where truth abides in fullness, and around, 
 Wall upon wall, the gross flesh hems it in, 
 ******* ^j^(j ^Q know 
 
 Rather consists in opening out a way 
 Whence the imprisoned splendor may escape, 
 Than in effecting entry for a light 
 Supposed to be without." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE RECITATION. 
 
 The Nature of the Recitation, — The word, recitation ^ 
 is of Latin origin and literally means a reading aloud. 
 As the term is used now in connection with school 
 work something of the literal meaning may be found 
 in it. But there is more in the recitation as thought 
 of now than the mere reading or speaking aloud. A 
 written recitation might be conducted in which the 
 original notion of the recitation is scarcely to be found 
 at all. 
 
 The recitation is the school process in which the 
 learner rethinks what he has learned in previous 
 study and communicates this to the teacher and his 
 fellow students. This, however, is not all there is in 
 the recitation, but constitutes a considerable part of 
 the process. In addition to the student's process 
 of rethinking and communicating to the teacher, and 
 other students, what he has previously learned, there 
 are in the recitation the suggestions^ tests, directions , 
 and encouragement by the teacher. 
 
 The recitation is the crowning process of school 
 work. It is in the recitation more than in any other 
 place that the learner is stimulated to the effort of 
 
THE RECITATION. 231 
 
 learning. Good recitations are the test of good school 
 work. 
 
 Purposes of the Recitation, — The following are the 
 purposes of the recitation: 
 
 1. To furnish a process in which the mind of the 
 learner and the mind of the teacher may come into 
 living touch with each other. 
 
 2. To test the learner on his preparation and 
 understanding of the subject-matter of the lesson. 
 
 3. To supplement the knowledge of the subject- 
 matter the student has gained in his preparation. 
 
 4. To give the learner the habit of right methods 
 of study. 
 
 5. To approve, encourage, inspire, and stimulate 
 the learner in his work. 
 
 Vital Touch of Learner ^s and Teacher^ s Mind. — In 
 order that instruction may be most effective the mind 
 of the learner must come under the influence of the 
 mind of the teacher with conditions as favorable for 
 learning as possible. This is needed that in the act 
 of teaching the life of the teacher may come into 
 closest touch with the life of the pupil. 
 
 That the conditions may be the most favorable 
 the class should recite in a room separate from that 
 in which the school is accustomed to sit and study. 
 Since this is not possible in so many schools, the next 
 best thing is to have the pupils to occupy a position 
 in the room as nearly isolated from the other students 
 as possible. Separate recitation rooms, though, are 
 
232 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 always the best, for in them all diverting influences 
 can be reduced to the minimum, and the conditions 
 for learning be best maintained. 
 
 Testing on the Preparation of the Lesson. — Good 
 teaching requires that some definite thing be de- 
 manded daily of the learner. And the requirement 
 of tests on the preparation and understanding of what 
 is demanded is imperative. The responsibility of 
 getting up before the class and stating to the class 
 and the teacher what he has learned is a constant 
 spur to the student in his work. Negligence and 
 looseness in study always result from the assignment 
 of lessons upon which students never recite. There 
 is no surer way to induce bad habits of study than to 
 assign lessons and then not test students as to their 
 preparation and understanding of these lessons. And 
 the tendency is in this direction, even though one has 
 the best students to be found. If students are not 
 good there is nothing in such work to make them 
 better, on the other hand they become worse. The 
 responsibility of proper preparation is brought home 
 to the student in no other way so well as in the class 
 room at recitation. Every one knows how prone he 
 is to neglect work which he has planned to do because 
 of a lack of a definite responsibility. The tests in the 
 recitation fix and maintain a definite responsibility. 
 
 The testing to be most helpful must be accurate^ 
 critical, and just. Students are often deceived in 
 thinking they have prepared well their lessons when 
 
THE RECITATION. 23^ 
 
 they have not, because the testing is poorly done in 
 the recitation. It frequently happens that a student 
 makes a recitation which is worth nearly nothing, 
 but the teacher by smoothing it over and patching it- 
 up makes the student think he has done something 
 creditable. The student is thus misled and is per- 
 fectly willing for the teacher to do the same thing^ 
 again. If a student neglects to prepare his lesson, 
 he should be brought face to face with his ignorance 
 which might have been removed. 
 
 Supplementing a Knotvledge of the Lesson. — It is 
 not to be expected that the student will at all times- 
 completely master the subject-matter of the lesson. 
 Points more or less vague to the learner or of which 
 he has obtained a wrong idea will often become clear 
 and correct to him by recitations of other students 
 and the illustrations of the teacher. And many times 
 points which the student has not been able to work 
 out will be cleared up to him upon the teacher 's asking 
 him questions which lead to their solution. And 
 again there are points which the student can get from 
 no other source than from the teacher. These the 
 teacher may give directly to the student and save 
 time and guessing on his part. 
 
 It has been stated as a principle of pedagogy that 
 the teacher should never tell a student anything lohich he 
 can find out for himself This statement emphasizes 
 an important pedagogical truth, no doubt, for the 
 tendency certainly is among teachers to tell students 
 
234 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 many things which they should be led to work out 
 for themselves, as the easiest way out of it, when the 
 •student fails to respond properly to a question. But 
 to follow the principle literally would also lead to 
 ^rave errors. For instance, if a child were standing 
 hj the fire and without his knowledge his clothes 
 should catch fire, he would find it out without being 
 told sooner or later. But no one would think of wait- 
 ing for him to find it out so. 
 
 One purpose of the recitation certainly is to sup- 
 plement the knowledge the student gets from his 
 preparation of the lesson. 
 
 Giving an Insight into Bight Methods of Study. — It 
 often happens that students are willing to prepare 
 their lessons, but that they do not know how to study. 
 The teacher has opportunity in the recitation in two 
 ways to show the student how to study: 
 
 1. He can show the student how to study by his 
 requirements in the daily work of the recitation. If 
 the student is constantly held accurately to the care- 
 ful preparation of each point assigned, he will soon 
 come to understand what it means to prepare a lesson; 
 and from what is worked out on the separate points, 
 he will see what is to be done with each point by way 
 of preparation. 
 
 2. In the recitation from time to time the teacher 
 may take the points one by one and show the students 
 just how to proceed in their preparation. This the 
 teacher must do occasionally, if he would have 
 
THE RECITATION. 235 
 
 his students use their time and energy to the best 
 advantage. 
 
 Approving, Encouraging, Inspiring, and Stimulat- 
 ing. — Young people and old, too, are oftentimes 
 gladdened by a word of approval. The teacher's op- 
 portunity for approving of that v^orthy of approval, 
 and disapproving of that not worthy of approval is a 
 means in his hands of working much good. Teachers 
 are too ready to disapprove of the bad and to let the 
 meritorious pass by as if unnoticed. Every child is 
 capable of something worthy, and should be made to 
 feel so. Just approval in the recitation is a perfectly 
 legitimate incentive, and may be used to do much 
 good by the careful, sympathetic teacher. 
 
 Pupils frequently have spells of despondency and 
 discouragement in their school work. This comes 
 about from extravagant ideas of what a pupil should 
 accomplish, or a somewhat mistaken idea of native 
 ability, etc. In the recitation the teacher has an 
 opportunity to dispel the despondency and encourage 
 by placing before the students healthful ideals of 
 student life. 
 
 The teacher by taking the soul's hunger at its 
 worth and so teaching as to stimulate and quicken it 
 has an opportunity to inspire the learner to a life of 
 search for truth and righteousness. And the teacher 
 who can so teach that his pupils will be inspired to 
 study his subjects after leaving school, in the pursuit 
 of wisdom and virtue, is a most successful teacher. 
 
286 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 The Law of the Recitation, — The law of the reel* 
 tation is the same as the law of the school as a whole; 
 that is, the law of unity. Without unity between the 
 teacher and pupils the recitation could not exist, but 
 it often actually exists with various degrees of unity. 
 When the minds of all the students are following the 
 mind of the teacher as the recitation progresses there 
 is ideal unity. To approach this condition of things 
 is always to be sought; and, other things equal, the 
 recitation will be successful in the degree to which 
 this is attained. Either the pupils or the teacher may 
 break the law of unity in the recitation. 
 
 The student may break it by failing to give atten- 
 tion when he ought to do so. Whispering breaks the 
 unity always, and while not in itself necessarily 
 wrong, is a positive sin when engaged in during the 
 recitation. It is to be deplored that there is a teacher 
 in the land who can not see the question of whispering 
 in school in its true light, and who does not set the 
 stamp of disapproval upon it. It is absolutely inde- 
 fensible as a practice. There are many other ways 
 of breaking the unity of the recitation. 
 
 The teacher may break the unity by conducting 
 the recitation in such a way that there can not by any 
 possibility be unity, as indicated by the following 
 quotation: 
 
 "Here is a picture taken from real life: School- 
 room of two grades (seventh and eighth), of about 
 twenty pupils each. Good teacher, as the world goes; 
 
THE RECITATION. 237 
 
 lesson in denominate numbers by the seventh grade. 
 Teacher directs one boy to pass to the board and 
 solve the first problem; another the second; and so on 
 till the ten problems are used. Then, commencing 
 again with the first problem, re-assigns the ten prob- 
 lems severally to the next ten pupils. A few pupils 
 remain without work, and these are given selected 
 problems to work at the desk, the board all being 
 occupied. The teacher now steps back to talk to the 
 visitor while waiting developments. Things always 
 develop rapidly under such circumstances; and soon 
 the teacher is needed by a girl working at her desk, 
 where teacher and pupil discuss the problem. Note 
 here that it is all right for teacher and pupil to talk 
 during the recitation, because the teacher makes the 
 rules: two pupils must not talk; except to help each 
 other, as they say. And this they soon do, for the 
 bright girl points the way to the dull boy. The first 
 boy has done his sum; and, rather than waste time, 
 punches the fire, which is already too hot. Another 
 bright lad cultivates the fantasy and freehand draw- 
 ing; while some laggards toil on, with and without 
 help, hopeless, and despairing of victory before time 
 is called. The first boy explains to those who have 
 done their work, while others toil on. Fill out the 
 picture at your leisure. In all it was a splendid dis- 
 play of self -activity, free thought and free speech." 
 
 The law of unity in the recitation demands short 
 recitation periods. When the minds of the pupils 
 
238 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 become fatigued to any great extent, it is impossible 
 to maintain the unity. Forty minutes is probably 
 long enough for any recitation period and in the case 
 of young students it should, of course, be much less, 
 its length depending upon the ability of the pupils to 
 give sustained concentrated attention. 
 
 The Teacher's Preparation for the Recitation. — No 
 teacher can do his best work without making daily 
 preparation for his recitations. This preparation by 
 the teacher is called lesson planning. Thus lesson 
 planning means the process, on the part of the 
 teacher, of working through each lesson a short time 
 before teaching it with the view of teaching it to some 
 particular class. In short, it is the teacher's im- 
 mediate preparation for teaching each lesson. Daily 
 lesson planning is thus an absolute necessity to the 
 teacher who will do the best teaching of which he is 
 capable. No teacher, then, should ever go before his 
 class to teach a lesson without having planned it for 
 this particular recitation. 
 
 This may seem too much of a requirement to 
 some teachers, since it will of a necessity demand 
 many sacrifices of them. To those who object on this 
 ground, it may be said that the most successful 
 school work demands just this sacrifice and more, and 
 that those who are unwilling to give it should relin- 
 quish their claims as successful teachers to those 
 who are willing. Also, according to the law of the 
 survival of the fittest these very teachers in the strug- 
 
THE RECITATION. 23^ 
 
 gle for excellency will be pushed to the rear that their 
 places may be occupied by those more worthy. 
 
 And daily preparation will not be found to de- 
 mand so much sacrifice as it at first appears. The 
 teacher will grow in skill in lesson planning in a short 
 time to such an extent that he will find that he caa 
 plan each lesson in a very few minutes. This of 
 course presumes that he has a fair degree of scholar- 
 ship in the subjects which he teaches. 
 
 No better means exists to arouse interest and 
 maintain it in the class than that of planning each 
 lesson. It works out as follows: the teacher having 
 planned his lesson, as a general plans a battle, comes 
 to the recitation full of expectation and interest to see 
 if all things will work out as they were thought in the 
 planning. The pupils, according to the law of sym- 
 pathy, catch the interest and expectation from th& 
 teacher, and in turn manifest an intense interest. 
 This is but one, however, of the many benefits which 
 come to the teacher from lesson planning. 
 
 But the teacher's intentions may be excellent, 
 and yet he may not succeed well because he has no 
 systematic way of planning lessons. In other words 
 the teacher may see the necessity of lesson planning, 
 but may not know how to plan a lesson. It wiU be 
 remembered that under the head of the ' ' Teacher's: 
 ifei/iO(^," it has been shown that in teaching a lesson 
 the teacher must think through {l)the subject-matter; 
 (2) the purpose; (3) the basis; (4) the steps; and (5) the 
 
:240 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 devices. Systematic lesson planning consists in 
 thinking out as accurately as possible just these five 
 things before attempting to teach a lesson. 
 
 Some teachers say one can depend upon the in- 
 spiration of the moment in teaching and that lesson 
 planning is not necessary. But the worst failures as 
 "teachers are those who attempt to depend upon the 
 inspiration of the moment and find that the moment 
 comes and goes without the inspiration. Inspiration 
 is not a thing so easily got as to come along to help 
 out the teacher who has not prepared himself for his 
 recitation. Inspiration results from properly pre- 
 paring one's self for his class work. 
 
 Manner of Conducting the Recitation. — The manner 
 of conducting the recitation is a point of sufficient 
 importance to repay careful study, for upon it de- 
 pends to a considerable degree the success of the 
 teacher. The teacher who has a mild, pleasant way 
 of leading his students in recitation inspires them 
 with confidence, respect and love; while the loud, 
 boisterous, explosive teacher fails in securing these 
 very necessary attitudes of his pupil's minds. 
 
 Recitations should be both oral and written. The 
 oral should doubtless predominate, but they should 
 be varied occasionally with written recitations. This 
 is because the pupils wiU be called upon in life both 
 in and out of school work to communicate their 
 thought and feeling in both oral and written dis- 
 course. To know is good, but it is not entirely suf- 
 
THE RECITATION. 241 
 
 ficient. It was said a long time ago that he who does 
 not know is an ignoramus, and that he who knows, 
 but can not communicate what he knows and feels is 
 a dumb statue. 
 
 All of the following ways of manipulating ques- 
 tions and answers have been used in conducting the 
 recitation, and have been called methods of conducting 
 it: 1. The concert method. 2. The consecutive 
 method. 8. The promiscuous method. 4. The lec- 
 ture method. 5. The Socratic method. 
 
 The various so called methods of conducting the 
 recitation have already been studied (See page 218), 
 and their merits and demerits pointed out. So while 
 they should be rethought, they will not be rediscussed 
 here. 
 
 Assignments. — ^The assignment is a proper topic of 
 study in connection with the recitation, for it is the 
 teacher's most effective means of stimulating the 
 students to properly prepare for the recitation. 
 There is no other device in the hands of the teacher 
 that may be used so effectively as assignments. Clear, 
 definite, logical assignments bring clear, definite, 
 logical thinking in the recitation. On the other hand 
 bad, indefinite assignments bring unsatisfactory 
 recitations and lead to bad habits of thinking. As a 
 rule a teacher will get just about as good recitations 
 as are good his assignments. The teacher by skillful 
 assignments can lead his pupils to pursue almost any 
 desired line of thinking. 
 
242 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Every assignment in any subject should place 
 before the class a definite problem for solution, and 
 it must be stated in such a way that the learner will 
 see what is required of him; and it must suggest the 
 general plan to be pursued in solving the problem. 
 An assignment might be bad in any of these three 
 ways. 
 
 Many of us can remember when the teacher said 
 as the assignment, **Take the next lesson." Audit 
 is also easily remembered that we frequently did not 
 know how to take it, when to take it, nor where to 
 take it, and that we were little better off after taking 
 than before taking. 
 
 The assignment is a most powerful means in the 
 hands of the conscientious teacher for doing his stu- 
 dents lasting good. 
 
 Common Errors in Conducting the Recitation. — The 
 following are some of the most prevalent errors which 
 teachers are prone to fall into and which they should 
 studiously avoid; 1. Giving assignments not suf- 
 ficiently definite. 2. Permitting students to wander 
 from the question. 3. Repeating questions before 
 giving students time to answer. 4. Repeating the 
 answer. 5. Calling on the student before asking 
 the question. 6. Talking too much. 7. Calling too 
 much upon the brighter students for recitation. 
 
 Indefinite assignments were studied in the pre- 
 ceding topic and nothing further is necessary here 
 unless it is to emphasize what was said there. The 
 
THE RECITATION. 24S 
 
 importance of definite, logical assignments in teach- 
 ing, however, can not be well overestimated. 
 
 To have the student answer just the question 
 asked and stop then, teaches him to talk to the point 
 and stop when he has finished it. But to talk to the 
 point and stop when one has reached it is the charac- 
 teristic of a well trained mind. Other things equal, 
 that teacher who holds the students to just the 
 question asked does his students by far the most 
 good. And that student who answers just the ques- 
 tion asked is as a rule the best thinker. 
 
 The habit of repeating the question before giving 
 students time to answer fosters habits of inattention, 
 and leads to bad habits of study. The student does 
 not feel the necessity of giving concentrated habits of 
 attention since he has a right to expect the teacher to 
 repeat the question. Also, the tendency on the part 
 of the teacher is to make the answer to the question a 
 little easier each time he asks it, and this leads to 
 poor preparation and bad habits of study. 
 
 There seems to be an almost incontrollable habit 
 among teachers to repeat the answer to a question 
 immediately when the student has given it. It is in 
 itself not only unnecessary, but positively harmful. 
 It tends to habits of inattention on the part of the 
 students in the class who are not reciting. Why need 
 they pay respectful attention to the student who is 
 reciting, if the teacher wiU repeat the answer once, 
 twice, or often three times? 
 
244 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 By calling on the student before asking the ques- 
 tion, opportunity is afforded the other students in the 
 class to relax their attention. If the teacher asks the 
 question, hesitates momentarily, then calls oa some 
 one for the answer, the attention of the whole class 
 will be better held; for no one knows but that he will 
 be called on to recite. 
 
 Talking too much is perhaps the most general 
 of all the common errors in conducting a recitation. 
 Many teachers literally talk their students to sleep 
 and some almost talk their students to death. Too 
 much talking kills interest; violates the students' self- 
 activity; fosters bad habits of study; stifles individual 
 endeavor, and robs the student of the pleasure of his 
 own effort. 
 
 Teachers have to watch themselves to avoid falling 
 into the habit of calling too much on the brighter 
 students. It is not just to the weaker ones who 
 usually need the opportunity of reciting more than 
 their more fortunate companions. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Activities of the mind, 74. 
 Aim in life, 31. 
 
 Relation of these aims, 32. 
 All knowing indirect, 76. 
 Apperception, 69. 
 Aptitude, Natural, 173. 
 Approving, 235. 
 Assignments, 241. 
 Association, 97. 
 
 Laws of, 98. 
 Attention, 67. 
 
 Classes of, 68. 
 Attribute, 63. 
 
 Classes of, 63. 
 
 of mind, 63. 
 Basis, 215. 
 Beginning point, 13. 
 Behavior, 185. 
 
 Child Study and curriculum, 
 145. 
 Cleanliness, 56. 
 Clothing, 43. 
 Concept, 105. 
 
 Method of forming, 105. 
 
 Aspects of, 107. 
 Conception, 104. 
 
 Logical steps in, 106. 
 Conduct, 185. 
 Consecutive method, 219. 
 Consciousness, 65. 
 
 Function of, 66. 
 
 Comparison of teacher's and 
 pupil's method, 223. 
 Complete living, 25. 
 Curriculum, 122. 
 Meaning of, 122. 
 Origin of, 123. 
 Growth of, 125. 
 Enriching the, 127. 
 A rational, 129. 
 Test of, 129. 
 First step in applying, 129. 
 Order of importance of 
 
 these lines, 130. 
 Second step in applying, 
 132. 
 Changes in suggested by 
 
 child study, 146. 
 Daily preparation, 169, 238. 
 Definition, 108. 
 Laws of, 110. 
 Devices, 217. [tions, 17. 
 
 Differentiation of institu- 
 in the school, 19. [ing, 134. 
 Disciplinary value of learn- 
 Discriminating and unifying, 
 75. 
 Diverting influences, 194. 
 Duties as a citizen, 141. 
 
 as a teacher, 149. 
 Education 
 What main aim is not, 33. 
 
246 
 
 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Primary aim of, 33. 
 
 Purpose of, 25-37, 128. 
 Knowledge of, 166. 
 
 Relational order of, 131. 
 Elements of the school, 21. 
 Encouraging, 235. 
 Errors in conducting reci- 
 tation, 242. 
 Feeling, function of, 76. 
 Greek and Latin, 144. 
 Governing, 149. 
 Government, 176. 
 
 Kinds of school, 176. 
 
 Main line of school, 184. 
 Hate, 79. [30. 
 
 Harmony of the four views. 
 Habits of activity, 157. 
 Health 
 
 Misfortune of bad, 38. 
 
 Good, 173. 
 Hearing, 59. 
 Hints from nature, 35. 
 Honesty, 155. 
 Imagination, 101. 
 
 Advance over memory, 102. 
 
 Classes of, 103. [30. 
 
 Importance of the right view, 
 Incentives, 198. 
 
 Natural, 199. 
 
 Artificial, 199. 
 Indifference, 79. 
 Inspiring, 235. 
 Interest, 68. 
 Intuition, 117. 
 Iterativeness, 73. 
 Judgment, 110. 
 
 Aspects of, 112. 
 
 Justness, 156. 
 Knowing, 74. 
 
 Development of, 84. 
 Stages in, 85. 
 Basis of, 85. 
 Stages of 
 Distinguishing element in 
 the, 117. 
 Advance in the, 118. 
 Knowledge giving value of 
 learning, 134 
 Knowledge 
 Most valuable, 145. 
 of laws of life, 161. 
 of methods, 167. 
 of purpose of education, 
 166. 
 Law, 23. 
 
 Law, Fundamental, 178. 
 Source of the, 179 
 Aspects of, 180. 
 Law of the recitation, 236. 
 Law in the mind, 228. 
 Laboratory method, 222. 
 Learner's method, 209, 210. 
 Learning 
 Value of, 133. 
 
 Disciplinary and knowledge 
 giving value, 134. 
 Lecture method, 220. 
 Lighting, 51. 
 Love, 79. 
 
 of occupation, 171. 
 Magnetism, Personal, 174. 
 Management of school, 176. 
 Importance of, 176. 
 Kinds of, 176. 
 
INDEX . 
 
 247 
 
 Mastery of circumstances, 174. 
 Memory, 92. 
 
 Classes of, 94. 
 
 Law of, 97. 
 Method, 207. 
 
 Nature of, 208. 
 
 Subject-matter of, 208. 
 
 Definition of, 209. 
 
 Classes of, 209. 
 
 Learner's, 209, 210. 
 
 Teacher's, 211. 
 
 As a physical process, 218 
 
 Comparison of teacher's 
 
 and pupil's, 223- 
 
 Two views of, 223. 
 
 Factors determining, 227. 
 Methods of study, giving in- 
 sight into, 234. 
 Moral character, 28, 153. 
 Motives, Pure, 197. 
 Myopia 
 
 Causes of, 52. 
 
 Undesirability of, 53. 
 
 Rules for prevention of, 53. 
 Object method, 218. 
 Order of importance of these 
 lines, 130. 
 Percept, 92. 
 
 Physical nature of the child, 
 
 38. 
 Power of sentiment, 183. 
 Practice in the art of teach- 
 ing, 168. 
 Preparation 
 
 Professional, 160. 
 Daily, 169, 238. 
 Testing on, 232. 
 
 Problem, The, 25. 
 Processes in teaching act, 207. 
 Promiscuous method, 220. 
 Punishments, School, 203. 
 
 Corporal, 255. 
 Purpose, 214. 
 
 of education, 33, 25, 128. 
 
 of the recitation, 231. 
 
 of the school, 25. 
 Rational freedom, 27. 
 Rearing of a family, 139. 
 Reasoning, 113. 
 
 Classes of, 113. 
 
 Implicit and explicit, 114. 
 
 Inductive and deductive, 
 
 114. 
 Recitation 
 
 Nature of, 230. 
 
 Purpose of, 231. 
 
 Manner of conducting, 240. 
 
 Common errors in conduct- 
 ing, 242. 
 Rhythm, 73. 
 
 Right and wrong, knowledge 
 of, 154. 
 Right ideas of life, 198. 
 Rules, 179. 
 School 
 
 Nature of, 13. 
 
 Origin of, 16. 
 
 Differentiation in, 19. 
 
 Elements of, 21. 
 
 Purpose of, 25. 
 School an organization, 177. 
 School government, 176. 
 Schoolroom, Purpose of, 190. 
 
 Presence of learner, 190. 
 
248 
 
 STUDIES IN PEDAGOGY. 
 
 Comfort of teacher and pu- 
 pils, 191. 
 
 Conditions, 46. 
 Scholarship, 159. 
 Seating, 55. 
 Seeing, 60. 
 Self-control, 158. 
 Self-activity, 71. 
 Self-preservation 
 
 Direct, 135. 
 
 Indirect, 137. 
 Senses and sense organs, 57. 
 Sensation 
 
 Characteristics of, 87. 
 
 Classes of, 87. 
 
 Aspects of, 57. 
 
 Comparison of general and 
 special, 89. 
 Sense-perception, 90. 
 
 Classes of, 91. 
 
 Object of, 91. 
 Sentiment, Power of, 183. 
 Sight, 195. 
 
 Social influences, 201. 
 Socratic method, 221. 
 Source of the law, 179. 
 Spending leisure time, 143. 
 Steps, 216. 
 
 in applying test, 129, 132. 
 Stimulating, 235. 
 Study, No danger of too 
 
 much, 226. 
 Student habits. Energetic, 169. 
 Subject-matter, 212. 
 
 of method, 208. 
 
 General statement of, 213. 
 Supplementing a knowledge 
 
 of lesson, 233. 
 Syllogism, 115. 
 Sympathy with children, 171. 
 Systematization, 116. 
 Teacher 
 Importance of, 149. 
 Duties of, 149. 
 Positive, 150. 
 Negative, 151. 
 Characteristics of, 152. 
 Necessary, 152. 
 Desirable, 172. 
 Teacher's method, 211. 
 Teaching, 150. 
 Teaching act, 207. 
 
 Processes in, 207. 
 Temperature, 49. 
 Test of curriculum, 129. 
 Testing on preparation of 
 
 lesson, 232. 
 Things men are employed in, 
 138. 
 Thought in the thing, 228. 
 Thoughts of teachers, 163. 
 Thoughts of thinkers, 164. 
 Touch, 194. 
 of teacher's and learner's 
 mind, 231. 
 Truthfulness, 154. 
 Unity, 23, 178. 
 between teacher and learner, 
 185, 189. 
 between learner's ideal and 
 real self, 186, 197. 
 in the organization as a 
 
 whole, 181. 
 Broken, 202. 
 
INDEX 
 
 249 
 
 Restoration of, 203. 
 
 Fundamental law, 178. 
 Source of, 179. 
 Aspects of, 180. 
 Unifying and discriminating, 
 75. 
 Vital touch of learner's and 
 
 teacher's mind, 231. 
 Will 
 Functions of, 83. 
 Study of, 83. 
 Willing, 80. 
 
 Wise and virtuous men and 
 women, 29. 
 
SEP SI 1908 
 
SEP 81 1903