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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6109.txt b/6109.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..05d8388 --- /dev/null +++ b/6109.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9428 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of How To Study and Teaching How To Study +by F. M. McMurry + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: How To Study and Teaching How To Study + +Author: F. M. McMurry + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6109] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on November 7, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HOW TO STUDY AND TEACHING HOW TO STUDY *** + + + + +Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + + +HOW TO STUDY +AND +TEACHING HOW +TO STUDY + +BY F. M. McMURRY + +Professor of Elementary Education in +Teachers College, Columbia University + + + + + +TO MY FRIEND +ORVILLE T. BRIGHT +THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED, AS A +TOKEN OF WARM AFFECTION +AND PROFESSIONAL +INDEBTEDNESS + + + + +PREFACE + + + +Some seven or eight years ago the question, of how to teach children +to study happened to be included in a list of topics that I hastily +prepared for discussion with one of my classes. On my later +examination of this problem I was much surprised, both at its +difficulty and scope, and also at the extent to which it had been +neglected by teachers. Ever since that time the two questions, How +adults should study, and How children should be taught to study, have +together been my chief hobby. + +The following ideas are partly the result of reading; but since there +is a meagre quantity of literature bearing on this general theme, they +are largely the result of observation, experiment, and discussion with +my students. Many of the latter will recognize their own contributions +in these pages, for I have endeavored to preserve and use every good +suggestion that came from them; and I am glad to acknowledge here my +indebtedness to them. + +In addition I must express my thanks for valuable criticisms to my +colleague, Dr. George D. Strayer, and also to Dr. Lida B. Earhart, +whose suggestive monograph on the same general subject has just +preceded this publication. + +THE AUTHOR. + +_Teachers College_, May 6,1909. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + +PART I + +PRESENT METHODS OF STUDY; NATURE OF STUDY AND ITS PRINCIPAL FACTORS + + I. INDICATIONS THAT YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOT LEARN TO STUDY PROPERLY; + THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE EVIL + + II. THE NATURE OF STUDY, AND ITS PRINCIPAL FACTORS + +PART II + +NATURE OF THE PRINCIPAL FACTORS IN STUDY, AND THEIR RELATION TO +CHILDREN + + III. PROVISION FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES, AS ONE FACTOR IN STUDY + + IV. THE SUPPLEMENTING OF THOUGHT, AS A SECOND FACTOR IN STUDY + + V. THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS, AS A THIRD FACTOR IN STUDY + + VI. JUDGING OF THE SOUNDNESS AND GENERAL WORTH OF STATEMENTS, AS A + FOURTH FACTOR IN STUDY + + VII. MEMORIZING, AS A FIFTH FACTOR IN STUDY +VIII. THE USING OF IDEAS, AS A SIXTH FACTOR IN STUDY + IV. PROVISION FOE A TENTATIVE RATHER THAN A FIXED ATTITUDE TOWARD + KNOWLEDGE, AS A SEVENTH FACTOR IN STUDY + X. PROVISION FOR INDIVIDUALITY, AS AN EIGHTH FACTOR IN STUDY + +PART III + +CONCLUSIONS + + XI. FULL MEANING OF STUDY; RELATION OF STUDY TO CHILDREN AND TO THE + SCHOOL + + INDEX + + + + + +PART I + +PRESENT METHODS OF STUDY; NATURE OF STUDY, AND ITS PRINCIPAL FACTORS + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INDICATIONS THAT YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOT LEARN TO STUDY PROPERLY; THE +SERIOUSNESS OF THE EVIL + + + +No doubt every one can recall peculiar methods of study that he or +some one else has at some time followed. During my attendance at high +school I often studied aloud at home, along with several other +temporary or permanent members of the family. I remember becoming +exasperated at times by one of my girl companions. She not only read +her history aloud, but as she read she stopped to repeat each sentence +five times with great vigor. Although the din interfered with my own +work, I could not help but admire her endurance; for the physical +labor of mastering a lesson was certainly equal to that of a good farm +hand, for the same period of time. + +This way of studying history seemed extremely ridiculous. But the +method pursued by myself and several others in beginning algebra at +about the same time was not greatly superior. Our text-book contained +several long sets of problems which were the terror of the class, and +scarcely one of which we were able to solve alone. We had several +friends, however, who could solve them, and, by calling upon them for +help, we obtained the "statement" for each one. All these statements I +memorized, and in that way I was able to "pass off" the subject. + +A few years later, when a school principal, I had a fifteen-year-old +boy in my school who was intolerably lazy. His ambition was +temporarily aroused, however, when he bought a new book and began the +study of history. He happened to be the first one called upon, in the +first recitation, and he started off finely. But soon he stopped, in +the middle of a sentence, and sat down. When I asked him what was the +matter, he simply replied that that was as far as he had got. Then, on +glancing at the book, I saw that he had been reproducing the text +_verbatim_, and the last word that he had uttered was the last word on +the first page. + +These few examples suggest the extremes to which young people may go +in their methods of study. The first instance might illustrate the +muscular method of learning history; the second, the memoriter method +of reasoning in mathematics. I have never been able to imagine how the +boy, in the third case, went about his task; hence, I can suggest no +name for his method. + +While these methods of study are ridiculous, I am not at all sure that +they are in a high degree exceptional. + +_Collective examples of study_ + +The most extensive investigation of this subject has been made by Dr. +Lida B. Earhart,[Footnote: _Systematic Study in the Elementary +Schools._ A popular form of this thesis, entitled _Teaching Children +to Study_, is published in the Riverside Educational Monographs.] and +the facts that she has collected reveal a woeful ignorance of the +whole subject of study. + +Among other tests, she assigned to eleven- and twelve-year-old +children a short selection from a text-book in geography, with the +following directions: "Here is a lesson from a book such as you use in +class. Do whatever you think you ought to do in studying this lesson +thoroughly, and then tell (write down) the different things you have +done in studying it. Do not write anything else." [Footnote: +_Ibid._, Chapter 4.] + +Out of 842 children who took this test, only fourteen really found, or +stated that they had found, the subject of the lesson. Two others said +that they _would_ find it. Eighty-eight really found, or stated that +they had found, the most important parts of the lesson; twenty-one +others, that they _would_ find them. Four verified the statements in +the text, and three others said that they _would_ do that. Nine +children did nothing; 158 "did not understand the requirements"; 100 +gave irrelevant answers; 119 merely "thought," or "tried to understand +the lesson," or "studied the lesson"; and 324 simply wrote the facts +of the lesson. In other words, 710 out of the 842 sixth- and seventh- +grade pupils who took the test gave indefinite and unsatisfactory +answers. This number showed that they had no clear knowledge of the +principal things to be done in mastering an ordinary text-book lesson +in geography. Yet the schools to which they belonged were, beyond +doubt, much above the average in the quality of their instruction. + +In a later and different test, in which the children were asked to +find the subject of a certain lesson that was given to them, 301 out +of 828 stated the subject fairly well. The remaining 527 gave only +partial, or indefinite, or irrelevant answers. Only 317 out of the 828 +were able to discover the most important fact in the lesson. Yet +determining the subject and the leading facts are among the main +things that any one must do in mastering a topic. How they could have +been intelligent in their study in the past, therefore, is difficult +to comprehend. + +_Teachers' and parents complaints about methods of study._ + +It is, perhaps, unnecessary to collect proofs that young people do not +learn how to study, because teachers admit the fact very generally. +Indeed, it is one of the common subjects of complaint among teachers +in the elementary school, in the high school, and in the college. All +along the line teachers condole with one another over this evil, +college professors placing the blame on the instructors in the high +school, and the latter passing it down to teachers in the elementary +school. Parents who supervise their children's studies, or who +otherwise know about their habits of work, observe the same fact with +sorrow. It is at least refreshing to find one matter, in the much- +disputed field of education, on which teachers and parents are well +agreed. + +How about the methods of study among teachers themselves? Unless they +have learned to study properly, young people cannot, of course, be +expected to acquire proper habits from them. _Method of study among +teachers._ The most enlightening single experience I have ever had +on this question came several years ago in connection with a series of +lectures on Primary Education. A course of such lectures had been +arranged for me without my full knowledge, and I was unexpectedly +called upon to begin it before a class of some seventy-five teachers. +It was necessary to commence speaking without having definitely +determined my first point. I had, however, a few notes which I was +attempting to decipher and arrange, while talking as best I could, +when I became conscious of a slight clatter from all parts of the +room. On looking up I found that the noise came from the pencils of my +audience, and they were writing down my first pointless remarks. +Evidently discrimination in values was not in their program. They call +to mind a certain theological student who had been very unsuccessful +in taking notes from lectures. In order to prepare himself, he spent +one entire summer studying stenography. Even after that, however, he +was unsuccessful, because he could not write quite fast enough to take +down _all_ that was said. + +Even more mature students often reveal very meager knowledge of +methods of study. I once had a class of some thirty persons, most of +whom were men twenty-five to thirty-five years of age, who were +college graduates and experienced teachers. One day I asked them, +"When has a book been read properly?" The first reply came from a +state university graduate and school superintendent, in the words, +"One has read a book properly when one understands what is in it." +Most of the others assented to this answer. But when they were asked, +"Is a person under any obligations to judge the worth of the thought?" +they divided, some saying yes, others no. Then other questions arose, +and the class as a whole soon appeared to be quite at sea as to the +proper method of reading books. Perhaps the most interesting thing was +the fact that they seemed never to have thought seriously about the +matter. Fortunately Dr. Earhart has not overlooked teachers' methods +of study in her investigations. In a _questionnaire_ that was filled +out by 165 teachers, the latter were requested to state the principal +things that ought to be done in "thinking about a lesson." This was +practically the same test as was given to the 842 children before +mentioned. While at least twenty different things were named by these +teachers, the most frequent one was, "Finding the most important +points." [Footnote: _Ibid._, Chapter 5.] Yet only fifty-five out +of the 165 included even this. Only twenty-five, as Dr. Earhart says, +"felt, keenly enough to mention it, the necessity of finding the main +thought or problem." Forty admitted that they memorized more often +than they did anything else in their studying. Strange to say, a +larger percentage of children than of teachers mentioned finding the +main thought, and finding the more important facts, as two factors in +mastering a lesson. Water sometimes appears to rise higher than its +source. + +About two-thirds of these 165 teachers [Footnote: _Ibid._, Chapter 5.] +declared that they had never received any systematic instruction about +how to study, and more than half of the remainder stated that they +were taught to memorize in studying. The number who had given any +careful instruction on proper methods of study to their own pupils was +insignificant. Yet these 165 teachers had had unusual training on the +whole, and most of them had taught several years in elementary +schools. If teachers are so poorly informed, and if they are doing so +little to instruct their pupils on this subject, how can the latter be +expected to know how to study? + +_The prevailing definition of study._ + +The prevailing definition of study gives further proof of a very +meager notion in regard to it. Frequently during the last few years I +have obtained from students in college, as well as from teachers, +brief statements of their idea of study. Fully nine out of every ten +have given memorizing as its nearest synonym. + +It is true that teachers now and then insist that studying should +consist of _thinking_. They even send children to their seats with the +direction to "think, think hard." But that does not usually signify +much. A certain college student, when urged to spend not less than an +hour and a half on each lesson, replied, "What would I do after the +first twenty minutes?" His idea evidently was that he could read each +lesson through and memorize its substance in that time. What more +remained to be done? Very few teachers, I find, are fluent in +answering his question. In practice, memorizing constitutes much the +greater part of study. + +The very name recitation suggests this fact. If the school periods are +to be spent in reciting, or reproducing, what has been learned, the +work of preparation very naturally consists in storing the memory with +the facts that are to be required. _Thinking periods_, as a substitute +name for recitation periods, suggests a radical change, both in our +employment of school time and in our method of preparing lessons. We +are not yet prepared for any such change of name. + +_The literature dealing with method of study._ + +Consider finally the literature treating of study. Certainly there has +never been a period when there was a more general interest in +education than during the last twenty years, and the progress that has +been made in that time is remarkable. Our study of the social view- +point, of child nature, of apperception, interest, induction, +deduction, correlation, etc., has been rapidly revolutionizing the +school, securing a much more sympathetic government of young people, a +new curriculum, and far more effective methods of instruction. In +consequence, the injuries inflicted by the school are fewer and less +often fatal than formerly, while the benefits are more numerous and +more vital. But, in the vast quantity of valuable educational +literature that has been published, careful searching reveals only two +books in English, and none in German, on the "Art of Study." Even +these two are ordinary books on teaching, with an extraordinary title. + +The subject of memorizing has been well treated in some of our +psychologies, and has received attention in a few of the more recent +works on method. Various other problems pertaining to study have also, +of course, been considered more or less, in the past, in books on +method, in rhetorics, and in discussions of selection of reading +matter. In addition, there are a few short but notable essays on +study. There have been practically, however, only two books that treat +mainly of this subject,--the two small volumes by Dr. Earhart, already +mentioned, which have been very recently published. In the main, the +thoughts on this general subject that have got into print have found +expression merely as incidents in the treatment of other themes--coming, +strange to say, largely from men outside the teaching profession--and +are contained in scattered and forgotten sources. + +Thus it is evident not only that children and teachers are little +acquainted with proper methods of study, but that even sources of +information on the subject are strangely lacking. + +The seriousness of such neglect is not to be overestimated. Wrong +methods of study, involving much unnecessary friction, prevent +enjoyment of school. This want of enjoyment results in much dawdling +of time, a meager quantity of knowledge, and a desire to quit school +at the first opportunity. The girl who adopted the muscular method of +learning history was reasonably bright. But she had to study very +"hard"; the results achieved in the way of marks often brought tears; +and, although she attended the high school several years, she never +finished the course. It should not be forgotten that most of those who +stop school in the elementary grades leave simply because they want +to, not because they must. + +Want of enjoyment of school is likely to result, further, in distaste +for intellectual employment in general. Yet we know that any person +who amounts to much must do considerable thinking, and must even take +pleasure in it. Bad methods of study, therefore, easily become a +serious factor in adult life, acting as a great barrier to one's +growth and general usefulness. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE NATURE OF STUDY, AND ITS PRINCIPAL FACTORS + + + +Our physical movements ordinarily take place in response to a need of +some sort. For instance, a person wishing to reach a certain point, to +play a certain game, or to lay the foundations for a house, makes such +movements as are necessary to accomplish the purpose desired. Even +mere physical exercise grows out of a more or less specific feeling of +need. + +The mental activity called study is likewise called forth in response +to specific needs. The Eskimo, for example, compelled to find shelter +and having only blocks of ice with which to build, ingeniously +contrives an ice hut. For the sake of obtaining raw materials he +studies the habits of the few wild animals about him, and out of these +materials he manages by much invention to secure food, clothing, and +implements. + +We ourselves, having a vastly greater variety of materials at hand, +and also vastly more ideas and ideals, are much more dependent upon +thinking and study. But, as in the case of the Eskimo, this thinking +and study arises out of actual conditions, and from specific wants. It +may be that we must contrive ways of earning more money; or that the +arguments for protective tariff seem too inconsistent for comfort; or +that the reports about some of our friends alarm us. The occasions +that call forth thought are infinite in number and kind. But the +essential fact is that study does not normally take place except under +the stimulus or spur of particular conditions, and of conditions, too, +that are unsatisfactory. + +It does not take place even then unless we become conscious of the +strained situation, of the want of harmony between what is and what +might be. For ages malarial fever was accepted as a visitation by +Divine Providence, or as a natural inconvenience, like bad weather. +People were not disturbed by lack of harmony between what actually was +and what might be, because they did not conceive the possibility of +preventing the disease. Accordingly they took it as a matter of +course, and made no study of its cause. Very recently, on the other +hand, people have become conscious of the possibility of exterminating +malaria. The imagined state has made the real one more and more +intolerable; and, as this feeling of dissatisfaction has grown more +acute, study of the cause of the disease has grown more intense, until +it has finally been discovered. Thus a lively consciousness of the +unsatisfactoriness of a situation is the necessary prerequisite to its +investigation; it furnishes the motive for it. + +It has ever been so in the history of evolution. Study has not taken +place without stimulus or motive. It has always had the practical task +of lifting us out of our difficulties, either material or spiritual, +and placing us on our feet. In this way it has been merely an +instrument--though a most important one--in securing our proper +adjustment or adaptation to our environment.[Footnote: For discussion +of this subject, see _Studies in Logical Theory_, by John Dewey. +See, also, _Systematic Study in Elementary Schools_, by Dr. Lida +B. Earhart, Chapters 1 and 2.] + +_The variety of response to the demand for study_ + +After we have become acutely conscious of a misfit somewhere in our +experience, the actual study done to right it varies indefinitely with +the individual. The savage follows a hit-and-miss method of +investigation, and really makes his advances by happy guesses rather +than by close application. Charles Lamb's _Dissertation on Roast +Pig_ furnishes a typical example of such accidents. + +The average civilized man of the present does only a little better. +How seldom, for instance, is the diet prescribed for a dyspeptic--whether +by himself or by a physician--the result of any intelligent study! +The true scientist, however, goes at his task in a careful and systematic +way. Recall, for instance, how the cause of yellow fever has been +discovered. For years people had attributed the disease to invisible +particles which they called "fomites." These were supposed to be given +off by the sick, and spread by means of their clothing and other +articles used by them. Investigation caused this theory to be abandoned. +Then, since Dr. J. C. Nott of Mobile had suggested, in 1848, that the +fever might be carried by the mosquito, and Dr. C. J. Finlay of +Havana had declared, in 1881, that a mosquito of a certain kind would +carry the fever from one patient to another, this variety of mosquito +was assumed by Dr. Walter Reed, in 1900, to be the source of the +disease, and was subjected to very close investigation by him. Several +men voluntarily received its bite and contracted the fever. Soon, +enough cases were collected to establish the probable correctness of +the assumption. The remedy suggested--the utter destruction of this +particular kind of mosquito, including its eggs and larvae--was so +efficacious in combating the disease in Havana in 1901, and in New +Orleans in 1905, that the theory is now considered established. Thus +systematic study has relieved us of one of the most dreaded diseases +to which mankind has been subject. + +_The principal factors in study_ + +An extensive study, like this investigation, into the cause of yellow +fever employs induction very plainly. It also employs deduction +extensively, inasmuch as hypotheses that have been reached more or +less inductively have to be widely applied and tested, and further +conclusions have to be drawn from them. Such a study, therefore, +involving both induction and deduction and their numerous short cuts, +contains the essential factors common to the investigation of other +topics, or to study in general; for different subjects cannot vary +greatly when it comes to the general method of their attack. An +analysis, therefore, which reveals the principal factors in this study +is likely to bring to light the main factors of study in general. + +_1. The finding of specific purposes, as one factor in study_ + +If the search for the cause of yellow fever were traced more fully, +one striking feature discovered would be the fact that the +investigation was never aimless. The need of unraveling the mystery +was often very pressing, for we have had three great epidemics of +yellow fever in our own country since 1790, and scientists have been +eager to apply themselves to the problem. Yet a specific purpose, in +the form of a definite hypothesis of some sort, was felt to be +necessary before the study could proceed intelligently. + +Thus, during the epidemic of 1793, the contagiousness of the disease +was debated. Then the theory of "fomites" arose, and underwent +investigation. Finally, the spread of the disease through the mosquito +was proposed for the solution. And while books of reference were +examined and new observations were collected in great number, such +work was not undertaken by the investigators primarily for the sake of +increasing their general knowledge, but with reference to the +particular issue at hand. + +The important question now is, Is this, in general, the way in which +the ordinary student should work? Of course, he is much less mature +than the scientist, and the results that he achieves may have no +social value, in comparison. Yet, should his method be the same? At +least, should his study likewise be under the guidance of specific +purposes, so that these would direct and limit his reading, +observation, and independent thinking? Or would that be too narrow, +indeed, exactly the wrong way? And, instead of limiting himself to a +collection of such facts as help to answer the few problems that he +might be able to set up, should he be unmindful of particular +problems? Should he rather be a collector of facts at large, +endeavoring to develop an interest in whatever is true, simply because +it is true? Here are two quite different methods of study suggested. +Probably the latter is by far the more common one among immature +students. Yet the former is the one that, in the main, will be +advocated in this book as a factor of serious study. + +_2. The supplementing of thought as a second factor in study._ + +Dr. Reed in this case went far beyond the discoveries of previous +investigators. Not only did he conceive new tests for old hypotheses, +but he posited new hypotheses, as well as collected the data that +would prove or disprove them. Thus, while he no doubt made much use of +previous facts, he went far beyond that and succeeded in enlarging the +confines of knowledge. That is a task that can be accomplished only by +the most mature and gifted of men. + +The ordinary scholar must also be a collector of facts. But he must be +content to be a receiver rather than a contributor of knowledge; that +is, he must occupy himself mainly with the ideas of other persons, as +presented in books or lectures or conversation. Even when he takes up +the study of nature, or any other field, at first hand, he is +generally under the guidance of a teacher or some text. + +Now, how much, if anything, must he add to what is directly presented +to him by others? To what extent must he be a producer in that sense? +Are authors, at the best, capable only of suggesting their thought, +leaving much that is incomplete and even hidden from view? And must +the student do much supplementing, even much _digging_, or severe +thinking of his own, in order to get at their meaning? Or, do authors--at +least the greatest of them--say most, or all, that they wish, and +make their meaning plain? And is it, accordingly, the duty of the +student merely to _follow_ their presentation without enlarging +upon it greatly? + +The view will hereafter be maintained that any good author leaves much +of such work for the student to do. Any poor author certainly leaves +much more. + +_3. The organization of facts collected, as a third factor in +study._ + +The scientist would easily lose his way among the many facts that he +gathers for examination, did he not carefully select and bring them +into order. He arranges them in groups according to their relations, +recognizing a few as having supreme importance, subordinating many +others to these, and casting aside many more because of their +insignificance. This all constitutes a large part of his study. + +What duty has the less mature student in regard to organization? +Should the statements that he receives be put into order by him? Are +some to be selected as vital, others to be grouped under these, and +still others to be slighted or even entirely omitted from +consideration, because of their insignificance? And is he to determine +all this for himself, remembering that thorough study requires the +neglect of some things as well as the emphasis of others? Or do all +facts have much the same value, so that they should receive about +equal attention, as is the case with the multiplication tables? And, +instead of being grouped according to relations and relative values, +should they be studied, one at a time, in the order in which they are +presented, with the idea that a topic is mastered when each single +statement upon it is understood? Or, if not this, has the reliable +author at least already attended to this whole matter, making the +various relations of facts to one another and their relative values so +clear that the student has little work to do but to follow the printed +statement? Is it even highly unsafe for the latter to assume the +responsibility of judging relative values? And would the neglect or +skipping of many supposedly little things be more likely to result in +careless, slipshod work than in thoroughness? + +_4. The judging of the worth of statements, as a fourth factor in +study_ + +The scientist in charge of the above-mentioned investigation was, no +doubt, a modest man. Yet he saw fit to question the old assumption +that yellow fever was spread by invisible particles called "fomites." +Indeed, he had the boldness to disprove it. Then he disproved, also, +the assumption that the fever was contagious by contact. After that he +set out to test a hypothesis of his own. His attitude toward the +results of former investigations was thus skeptically critical. Every +proposition was to be questioned, and the evidence of facts, rather +than personal authority or the authority of time, was the sole final +test of validity. + +What should be the attitude of the young student toward the +authorities that he studies? Certainly authors are, as a rule, more +mature and far better informed upon the subjects that they discuss +than he, otherwise he would not be pursuing them. Are they still so +prone to error that he should be critical toward them? At any rate, +should he set himself up as their judge; at times condemning some of +their statements outright, or accepting them only in part,--and thus +maintain independent views? Or would that be the height of presumption +on his part? While it is true that all authors are liable to error, +are they much less liable to it in their chosen fields than he, and +can he more safely trust them than himself? And should he, therefore, +being a learner, adopt a docile, passive attitude, and accept whatever +statements are presented? Or, finally, is neither of these attitudes +correct? Instead of either condemning or accepting authors, is it his +duty merely to understand and remember what they say? + +_5. Memorizing, as a fifth factor in study_ + +The scientist is greatly dependent upon his memory. So is every one +else, including the young student. What suggestions, if any, can be +made about the retaining of facts? + +In particular, how prominent in study should be the effort to +memorize? Should memorizing constitute the main part of study--as it +so often does--or only a minor part? It is often contrasted with +thinking. Is such a contrast justified? If so, should the effort to +memorize usually precede the thinking--as is often the order in +learning poetry and Bible verses--or should it follow the thinking? +And why? Can one greatly strengthen the memory by special exercises +for that purpose? Finally, since there are some astonishingly poor +ways of memorizing--as was shown in chapter one--there must be some +better ways. What, then, are the best, and why? + +_6. The using of ideas, as a sixth factor in study_ + +Does all knowledge, like this of the scientist, require contact with the +world as its endpoint or goal? And is it the duty of the student to +pursue any topic, whether it be a principle of physics, or a moral idea, +or a simple story, until it proves of benefit to some one? In that +case, enough repetition might be necessary to approximate habits--habits +of mind and habits of action--for the skill necessary for the successful +use of some knowledge cannot otherwise be attained. How, then, can +habits become best established? Or is knowledge something apart from +the active world, ending rather in self? + +Would it be narrowly utilitarian and even foolish to expect that one's +learning shall necessarily function in practical life? And should the +student rather rest content to acquire knowledge for its own sake, not +bothering--for the present, at any rate--about actually bringing it to +account in any way? + +The use to which his ideas had to be put gave Dr. Reed an excellent +test of their reliability. No doubt he passed through many stages of +doubt as he investigated one theory after another. And he could not +feel reasonably sure that he was right and had mastered his problem +until his final hypothesis had been shown to hold good under varying +actual conditions. + +What test has the ordinary student for knowing when he knows a thing +well enough to leave it? He may set up specific purposes to be +accomplished, as has been suggested. Yet even these may be only ideas; +what means has he for knowing when they have been attained? It is a +long distance from the first approach to an important thought, to its +final assimilation, and nothing is easier than to stop too soon. If +there are any waymarks along the road, indicating the different stages +reached; particularly, if there is a recognizable endpoint assuring +mastery, one might avoid many dangerous headers by knowing the fact. +Or is that particularly what recitations and marks are for? And +instead of expecting an independent way of determining when he has +mastered a subject, should the student simply rely upon his teacher to +acquaint him with that fact? + +_7. The tentative attitude as a seventh factor in study_ + +Investigators of the source of yellow fever previous to Dr. Reed +reached conclusions as well as he. But, in the light of later +discovery, they appear hasty and foolish, to the extent that they were +insisted upon as correct. A large percentage of the so-called +discoveries that are made, even by laboratory experiment, are later +disproved. Even in regard to this very valuable work of Dr. Reed and +his associates, one may feel too sure. It is quite possible that +future study will materially supplement and modify our present +knowledge of the subject. The scientist, therefore, may well assume an +attitude of doubt toward all the results that he achieves. + +Does the same hold for the young student? Is all our knowledge more or +less doubtful, so that we should hold ourselves ready to modify our +ideas at any time? And, remembering the common tendency to become +dogmatic and unprogressive on that account, should the young student, +in particular, regard some degree of uncertainty about his facts as +the ideal state of mind for him to reach? Or would such uncertainty +too easily undermine his self-confidence and render him vacillating in +action? And should firmly fixed ideas, rather than those that are +somewhat uncertain, be regarded as his goal, so that the extent to +which he feels sure of his knowledge may be taken as one measure of +his progress? Or can it be that there are two kinds of knowledge? That +some facts are true for all time, and can be learned as absolutely +true; and that others are only probabilities and must be treated as +such? In that case, which is of the former kind, and which is of the +latter? + +_8. Provision for individuality as an eighth factor in study_ + +The scientific investigator must determine upon his own hypotheses; he +must collect and organize his data, must judge their soundness and +trace their consequences; and he must finally decide for himself when +he has finished a task. All this requires a high degree of +intellectual independence, which is possible only through a healthy +development of individuality, or of the native self. + +A normal self giving a certain degree of independence and even a touch +of originality to all of his thoughts and actions is essential to the +student's proper advance, as to the work of the scientist. Should the +student, therefore, be taught to believe in and trust himself, holding +his own powers and tendencies in high esteem? Should he learn even to +ascribe whatever merit he may possess to the qualities that are peculiar +to him? And should he, accordingly, look upon the ideas and influences +of other persons merely as a means--though most valuable--for the +development of this self that he holds so sacred? Or should he +learn to depreciate himself, to deplore those qualities that +distinguish him from others? And should he, in consequence, regard the +ideas and influences of others as a valuable means of suppressing, or +escaping from, his native self and of making him like other persons? + +Here are two very different directions in which one may develop. In +which direction does human nature most tend? In which direction do +educational institutions, in particular, exert their influence? Does +the average student, for example, subordinate his teachers and the +ideas he acquires to himself? Or does he become subordinated to these, +even submerged by them? This is the most important of all the problems +concerning study; indeed, it is the one in which all the others +culminate. + +_The ability of children to study_ + +The above constitute the principal factors in study. But two other +problems are of vital importance for the elementary school. + +Studying is evidently a complex and taxing kind of work. Even though +the above discussions reveal the main factors in the study of adults, +what light does it throw upon the work of children? Is their study to +contain these factors also? The first of these two questions, +therefore, is, Can children from six to fourteen years of age really +be expected to study? + +It is not the custom in German elementary schools to include +independent study periods in the daily program. More than that, the +German language does not even permit children to be spoken of as +studying. Children are recognized as being able to learn (_lernen_); +but the foreigner, who, in learning German, happens to use the word +_studiren_ (study) in reference to them, is corrected with a smile and +informed that "children can learn but they cannot study." _Studiren_ +is a term applicable only to a more mature kind of mental work. + +This may be only a peculiarity of language. But such suggestions +should at least lead us to consider this question seriously. If +children really cannot study, what an excuse their teachers have for +innumerable failures in this direction! And what sins they have +committed in demanding study! But, then, when is the proper age for +study reached? Certainly college students sometimes seem to have +failed to attain it. If, however, children can study, to what extent +can they do it, and at how early an age should they begin to try? + +_The method of teaching children how to study_ + +The second of these two questions relates to the method of teaching +children how to study. Granted that there are numerous very important +factors in study, what should be done about them? Particularly, +assuming that children have some power to study, what definite +instruction can teachers give to them in regard to any one or all of +these factors? + +Can it be that, on account of their youth, no direct instruction about +method of study would be advisable, that teachers should set a good +example of study by their treatment of lessons in class, and rely only +upon the imitative tendency of children for some effect on their +habits of work? Or should extensive instruction be imparted to them, +as well as to adults, on this subject? + +The leading problems in study that have been mentioned will be +successively discussed in the chapters following. These two questions, +however, Can children study? and If so, how can they be taught to do +it? will not be treated in chapters separate from the others. Each +will be dealt with in connection with the above factors, their +consideration immediately following the discussion of each of those +factors. While the proper method of study for adults will lead, much +emphasis will fall, throughout, upon suggestions for teaching children +how to study. + +_Some limitations of the term study_ + +The nature of study cannot be known in full until the character of its +component parts has been clearly shown. Yet a working definition of +the term and some further limitations of it may be in place here. + +Study, in general, is the work that is necessary in the assimilation +of ideas. Much of this work consists in thinking. But study is not +synonymous with thinking, for it also includes other activities, as +mechanical drill, for example. Such drill is often necessary in the +mastery of thought. + +Not just any thinking and any drill, however, may be counted as study. +At least only such thinking and such drill are here included within +the term as are integral parts of the mental work that is necessary in +the accomplishment of valuable purposes. Thinking that is done at +random, and drills that have no object beyond acquaintance with dead +facts, as those upon dates, lists of words, and location of places, +for instance, are unworthy of being considered a part of study. + +Day-dreaming, giving way to reverie and to casual fancy, too, is not +to be regarded as study. Not because it is not well to indulge in such +activity at times, but because it is not serious enough to be called +work. Study is systematic work, and not play. Reading for recreation, +further, is not study. It is certainly very desirable and even +necessary, just as play is. It even partakes of many of the +characteristics of true study, and reaps many of its benefits. No +doubt, too, the extensive reading that children and youth now do might +well partake more fully of the nature of study. It would result in +more good and less harm; for, beyond a doubt, much careless reading is +injurious to habits of serious study. Yet it would be intolerable to +attempt to convert pleasure-reading fully into real study. That would +mean that we had become too serious. + +On the whole, then, the term study as here used has largely the +meaning that is given to it in ordinary speech. Yet it is not entirely +the same; the term signifies a purposive and systematic, and therefore +a more limited, kind of work than much that goes under that name. + + + + + +PART II + +THE NATURE OF THE PRINCIPAL FACTORS IN STUDY, AND THEIR RELATION TO +CHILDREN + + + + +CHAPTER III + +PROVISION FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES, AS ONE FACTOR OF STUDY + + + +_The habit among eminent men of setting up specific purposes of +study._ + +The scientific investigator habitually sets up hypotheses of some sort +as guides in his investigations. Many distinguished men who are not +scientists follow and recommend a somewhat similar method of study. + +For example, John Morley, M.P., in his _Aspects of Modern Study_, +[Footnote: Page 71.] says, "Some great men,--Gibbon was one and Daniel +Webster was another and the great Lord Strafford was a third,--always, +before reading a book, made a short, rough analysis of the questions +which they expected to be answered in it, the additions to be made to +their knowledge, and whither it would take them. I have sometimes +tried that way of studying, and guiding attention; I have never done +so without advantage, and I commend it to you." Says Gibbon [Footnote: +Dr. Smith's Gibbon, p. 64.], "After glancing my eye over the design +and order of a new book, I suspended the perusal until I had finished +the task of self-examination; till I had resolved, in a solitary walk, +all that I knew or believed or had thought on the subject of the whole +work or of some particular chapter; I was then qualified to discern +how much the author added to my original stock; and, if I was +sometimes satisfied with the agreement, I was sometimes armed by the +opposition of our ideas." + +President James Angell emphasizes a similar thought in the following +words:-- + +I would like to recommend to my young friends who desire to profit by +the use of this library, the habit of reading with some system, and of +making brief notes upon the contents of the books they read. If, for +instance, you are studying the history of some period, ascertain what +works you need to study, and find such parts of them as concern your +theme. Do not feel obliged to read the whole of a large treatise, but +select such chapters as touch on the subject in hand and omit the rest +for the time. + +Young students often get swamped and lose their way in the Serbonian +bogs of learning, when they need to explore only a simple and plain +pathway to a specific destination. Have a purpose and a plan, and +adhere to it in spite of alluring temptations to turn aside into +attractive fields that are remote from your subject.[Footnote: Address +at Dedication of Ryerson Public Library Building, Grand Rapids, Mich., +Oct. 5, 1904.] + +Noah Porter expresses himself even more pointedly in these words:-- + +In reading we do well to propose to ourselves definite ends and +purposes. The distinct consciousness of some object at present before +us, imparts a manifold greater interest to the contents of any volume. +It imparts to the reader an appropriative power, a force of affinity, +by which he insensibly and unconsciously attracts to himself all that +has a near or even a remote relation to the end for which he reads. +Anyone is conscious of this who reads a story with the purpose of +repeating it to an absent friend; or an essay or a report, with the +design of using the facts or arguments in a debate; or a poem, with +the design of reviving its imagery and reciting its finest passages. +Indeed, one never learns to read effectively until he learns to read +in such a spirit--not always, indeed, for a definite end, yet always +with a mind attent to appropriate and retain and turn to the uses of +culture, if not to a more direct application. The private history of +every self-made man, from Franklin onwards, attests that they all were +uniformly, not only earnest but select, in their reading, and that +they selected their books with distinct reference to the purposes for +which they used them. Indeed, the reason why self-trained men so often +surpass men who are trained by others in the effectiveness and success +of their reading, is that they know for what they read and study, and +have definite aims and wishes in all their dealings with books. +[Footnote: Noah Porter, Books and Reading, pp. 41-42.] + +_Examples of specific purposes_ + +It is evident from the above that the practice of setting up specific +aims for study is not uncommon. Some actual examples of such purposes, +however, may help to make their character plainer. Following are a +number of examples of a very simple kind: (1) To examine the +catalogues of several colleges to determine what college one will +attend; (2) to read a newspaper with the purpose of telling the news +of the day to some friend; (3) to study Norse myths in order to relate +them to children; (4) to investigate the English sparrow to find out +whether it is a nuisance, or a valuable friend, to man; (5) to +acquaint one's self with the art and geography of Italy, so as to +select the most desirable parts for a visit; (6) to learn about Paris +in order to find whether it is fitly called the most beautiful of +cities; (7) to study psychology with the object of discovering how to +improve one's memory, or how to overcome certain bad habits; (8) to +read Pestalozzi's biography for the sake of finding what were the main +factors that led to his greatness; (9) to examine Lincoln's Gettysburg +speech with the purpose of convincing others of its excellence. + +_The character of these aims_ + +Well-selected ends of this sort have two characteristics that are +worthy of special note. The first pertains to their _source_. Their +possible variety is without limit. Some may be or an intellectual +nature, as numbers 6, 8, and 9 among those listed above; some may aim +at utility for the individual, as numbers 1 and 7; and some may +involve service to others, as numbers 2 and 3. But however much they +vary, they find their source _within_ the person concerned. They +spring out of his own experience and appeal to him for that reason. +One very important measure of their worth is the extent to which they +represent an individual desire. + +The second characteristic pertains to their _narrowness_ and +consequent _definiteness_. They call in each case for an investigation +of a relatively small and definite topic. This can be further seen +from the following topics in Biology: What household plants are most +desirable? How can these plants be raised? What are their principal +enemies, and how can these best be overcome? Whether we be working on +one or more of such problems at a time, they are so specific that we +need never be confused as to what we are attempting. + +The nature of these aims in study can be made still clearer by +contrasting them with others that are very common. The "harmonious +development of all the faculties," or mental discipline, for instance, +has long been lauded by educators as one chief purpose in study. +Agassiz was one such educator, and in his desire to cultivate the +power of observation, he is said to have set students at work upon the +study of fishes without directions, to struggle as they might. Many +teachers of science before and since his time have followed a similar +method. Truth for truth's sake, or the idea that one should study +merely for the sake of knowing, has often been associated with mental +discipline as a worthy end. Culture is a third common purpose. + +Each of these aims, instead of originating in the particular interests +of the individual, is reached by consideration of life as a whole, and +of the final purposes of education. They are too general in nature to +recognize individual preferences, and they are also too general to +cause much discrimination in the selection of topics and of particular +facts within topics. Strange to say, however, they have discriminated +against the one kind of knowledge that the aforementioned specific +aims emphasize as especially desirable. Under their exclusive +influence, for example, students of biology have generally made an +extensive study of wild plants and have paid little attention to house +plants. Such subjects as physics, fine art, and biology cannot help +but impart much information that relates to man; but that relationship +has generally been the last part reached in the treatment of each +topic, and the part most neglected. Under the influence of these +general aims any useful purpose, whether involving service to the +individual or to society at large, has somehow been eschewed or +thought too sordid to be worthy of the scholar. + +_The relation of specific purposes to those that are more +general_ + +Nevertheless, these two kinds of aims are not necessarily opposed to +each other. If a person can increase his mental power, or his love of +knowledge, or his culture, at the same time that he is accomplishing +specific purposes, why should he not do so? The gain is so much the +greater. + +Not only are the two kinds not mutually opposed, but they are really +necessary to each other. General purposes when rightly conceived are +of the greatest importance as the _final_ goals to be reached by +study. But they are too remote of attainment to act as immediate +guides. Others more detailed must perform that office and mark off the +minor steps to be taken in the accomplishment of the larger purposes. +Thus the narrower purposes are related to the larger ones as means to +ends. + +_Ways in which specific purposes are valuable +1. As a source of motive power_ + +Specific purposes are necessary in the first place, because they help +to supply motive power both for study and for life in general. Proper +study requires abundant energy, for it is hard work; and young people +cannot be expected to engage in it heartily without good reason. In +particular, it requires very close and sustained attention, which it +is most difficult to give. Threats and punishments can, at the best, +secure it only in part; for young people who thus suffer habitually +reserve a portion of their energy to imagine the full meanness of +their persecutors and, not seldom, to devise ways of getting even. +Neither can direct exercise of will insure undivided attention. How +often have all of us, conscious that we _ought_ fully to concentrate +attention upon some task, determined to do so in vain. + +The best single guarantee of close and continuous attention is a deep, +direct interest in the work in hand, an interest similar in kind to +that which children have in play. Such interest serves the same +purpose with man as steam does in manufacturing,--it is motive power, +and it is as necessary to provide for it in the one case as in the +other. + +Broad, general aims cannot generate this interest, for abstractions do +not arouse enthusiasm. It is the concrete, the detailed, that arouses +interest, particularly that detail that is closely related to life. We +all remember how, in the midst of listless reading, we have sometimes +awakened with a start, when we realized that what we were reading bore +directly upon some vital interest. Specific purposes of the kind +described insure the interest, and therefore the energy, necessary for +full and sustained attention. "For remember," says Lowell, "that there +is nothing less profitable than scholarship for the mere sake of +scholarship, nor anything more wearisome in the attainment. But the +moment you have a definite aim, attention is quickened, the mother of +memory, and all that you acquire groups and arranges itself in an +order that is lucid, because everywhere and always it is in +intelligent relation to a central object of constant and growing +interest." [Footnote: Lowell, Books and Libraries.] If eminent +scholars thus value and actually make use of concrete purposes, +certainly immature students, whose attention is much less "trained," +can follow their example with profit. + +Life in general, as well as study, requires motive power. Energy to do +many kinds of things is so important that one's worth depends as much +upon it as upon knowledge. Indeed, if there must be some lack in one +of these two, it were probably better that it be in knowledge. + +A deep many-sided interest is a key also to this broader kind of +energy. Yet how often is such interest lacking! This lack of interest +is seen among high-school students in the selection of subjects for +commencement essays; good subjects are difficult to find because +interests are so rare. It is seen among college students in their +choice of elective courses; for they often seem to have no strong +interest beyond that of avoiding hard work. It is seen in many college +graduates who are roundly developed only in the sense that they are +about equally indifferent toward all things. And, finally, it is seen +in the great number of men and women who, without ambition, drift +aimlessly through life. Well-chosen specific purposes will help +materially to remedy these evils, for there is no dividing line +between good study-purposes and good life-purposes. The first must +continually merge into the second; and the interest aroused by the +former, with its consequent energy, gives assurance of interested and +energetic pursuance of the latter. + +The importance of being rich in unsolved problems is not likely to be +overestimated. Most well-informed adults who have little "push" are +not lazy by nature; they have merely failed to fall in love with +worthy aims. That is often partly because education has been allowed +to mean to them little more than the collecting of facts. If it had +included the collection of interesting and valuable purposes as well, +their devotion to proper aims in life might have grown as have their +facts; then their energy might have kept pace with their knowledge. + +If students, therefore, regularly occupy a portion of their study time +in thinking out live questions that they hope to have answered by +their further study, and interesting uses that they intend to make of +their knowledge, they are equipping themselves with motive power both +for study and for the broader work of life. + +_2. As a basis for the selection and organization of facts_ + +One of the constant dangers in study is that facts will be collected +without reference either to their values, as previously stated, or to +their arrangement. Nature study frequently illustrates this danger. +For instance, I once witnessed a recitation in which each member of a +class of eleven-year-old children was supplied with a dead oak leaf +and asked to write a description of it in detail. The entire period +was occupied with the task, and following is a copy of one of the +papers, without its figures. + + THE OAK LEAF. + +Greatest length......... Length of the stem.... +Greatest breadth........ Color of the stem..... +Number of lobes......... Color of the leaf..... +Number of indentations.. General shape......... + +The other papers closely resembled this one. Consider the worth of +such knowledge! This is one way in which time is wasted in school and +college. Probably the main reason for the choice of this topic was the +fact that the leaves could be easily obtained. But if the teacher had +been in the habit of setting up specific aims, and therefore of asking +how such matter would prove valuable in life, she would have never +given this lesson--unless higher authorities had required it. + +One of my classes of about seventy primary teachers in the study of +education once undertook to plan subject-matter in nature study for +six-year-old children in Brooklyn. They agreed that the common house +cat would be a fitting topic. And on being asked to state what facts +they might teach, they gave the following sub-topics in almost exactly +this order and wording: the ears; food and how obtained; the tongue; +paws, including cushions; whiskers; teeth; action of tail; sounds; +sharp hearing; sense of smell; cleanliness; eyes; looseness of the +skin; quick waking; size of mouth; manner of catching prey; claws; +care of young; locomotion; kinds of prey; enemies; protection by +society for the prevention of cruelty to animals,--twenty-two topics +in all. When I inquired if they would teach the length of the tail, or +the shape of the head and ears, or the length and shape of the legs, +or the number of claws or of teeth, most of them said "no" with some +hesitation, and some made no reply. When asked what more needed to be +done with this list before presenting the subject to the children, +some suggested that those facts pertaining to the head should be +grouped together, likewise those pertaining to the body and those in +regard to the extremities. Some rejected this suggestion, but offered +no substitute. No general agreement to omit some of the topics in the +list was reached, and most of the class saw no better plan than to +present the subject, cat, under the twenty-two headings given. + +Although there were college graduates present, and many capable women, +it was evident that they carried no standard for judging the value of +facts or for organizing them. The setting up of specific purposes +seemed to offer them the aid that they needed. Since this was in +Brooklyn, where the main relation of cats to children is that of pets, +we took up the study of the animal with the purpose of finding to what +extent cats as pets can provide for themselves, and to what extent, +therefore, they need to be taken care of, and how. + +Under these headings the sub-topics given, with a few omissions and +additions, might be arranged as follows: + +Under first aim:-- + + I. _Food_ (chief thing necessary). + + /Birds + 1. Kinds of prey...{ Mice + \Moles, etc. + /Eyes, that see in dark; + 2. How found..... { structure. + { Sense of smell; keenness. + \Ears; keenness. + + / Approach; use of whiskers. + | Quietness of movements; + | how so quiet (padded feet, + | loose joints, manner of + | walking). + | Action of tail. + 3. How caught.....{ Catching and holding; + | ability to spring; strength of + | hind legs. + | Fore paws; used like hands. + | Claws; shape, sharpness, + \ and sheaths. + + II. _Shelter._ Use of covering. + Finding of warm place in coldest weather. + +Under second aim:-- + + I. _Food_ (when prey is wanting). + Kinds and where obtained: milk; scraps + from table; biscuit; catnip. + Observe method of drinking. + + II. _Shelter_. How provide shelter. + + III. _Cleanliness_. Why washing unnecessary (cat's face + washing; aversion to getting wet). + Danger from dampness. + Need of combing and brushing; + method. + + IV. _Enemies_. Kinds of insects; remedies. + Dogs; boys and men. + Proper treatment. Value of Society for + Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; + how to secure its aid. + +Thus a definite purpose, that is simple, concrete, and close to the +learner's experience, can be valuable as a basis for selecting and +arranging subject-matter. Facts that bear no important relation to +this aim, such as the length of the cat's tail and the shape of its +ears, fall out; and those that are left, drop into a series in place +of a mere list. + +_As a promise of some practical outcome of study in conduct_ + +A manufacturer must do more than supply himself with motive power and +manufacture a proper quality of goods; he must also provide for a +market. Again, if he makes money, he is under obligations not to let +it lie idle; if he hoards it, he is condemned as a miser. He is +responsible for turning whatever goods or money he collects to some +account. + +The student, likewise, should not be merely a collector of knowledge. +The object of study is not merely insight. As Frederick Harrison has +said, "Man's business here is to know for the sake of living, not to +live for the sake of knowing." "Religion that does not express itself +in conduct socially useful is not true religion"; and, we may add, +education that does not do the same is not true education. + +It is part of one's work as a student, therefore, to plan to turn +one's knowledge to some account; to plan not alone to sell it for +money, but to _use_ it in various ways in daily life. If, instead +of this, one aims to do nothing but collect facts, no matter how +ardently, he has the spirit of a bookworm at best and stands on the +same plane as the miser. Or if, notwithstanding good intentions, he +leaves the effect of his knowledge on life mainly to accident, he is +grossly careless in regard to the chief object of study. Yet the +average student regards himself as mainly a collector of facts, a +storehouse of knowledge; and his teachers also regard him in that +light. Planning to turn knowledge to some account is not thought to be +essential to scholarship. + +There are, no doubt, various reasons for this, but it is not because +an effect on life is not finally desired. The explanation seems to be +largely found in a very peculiar theory, namely, that the fewer +bearings on life a student now concerns himself with, the more he will +somehow ultimately realize; and if he aims at none in particular, he +will very likely hit most of them. Thus aimlessness, so far as +relations of study to life are concerned, is put at a premium, and +students are directly encouraged to be omnivorous absorbers without +further responsibility. + +Meanwhile, sensible people are convinced of the unsoundness of this +theory. How often, after having read a book from no particular point +of view, one feels it necessary to reexamine it in order to know how +it treats some particular topic! The former reading was too defective +to meet a special need, because the very general aim caused the +attitude to be general or non-selective. How often do young people who +have been taught to have no particular aim in their reading, have no +aim at all, beyond intellectual dissipation, the momentary tickle of +the thought. Thus _all_ particular needs are in danger of being +left unsatisfied when no particular need is fixed upon as the object. +It is the growing consciousness of the great waste in such study that +has changed botany in many places into horticulture and agriculture, +chemistry into the chemistry of the kitchen, and that has caused +portions of many other studies to be approached from the human view- +point. + +This indicates the positive acceptance of specific purposes as guides +in study. They are not by any means full guarantees of an outcome of +knowledge in conduct, for they are only the plans by which the student +hopes that his knowledge will function. Since plans often fail of +accomplishment, these purposes may never be realized. But they give +promise of some outcome and form one important step in a series of +steps necessary for the fruition of knowledge. + +_By whom and when such purposes should be conceived_ + +The aims set up by advanced scholars are necessarily an outgrowth of +their individual experience and interests. Such aims must, therefore, +vary greatly. For this reason such men must conceive their purposes +for themselves; there is no one who can do it for them. + +Younger students are in much the same situation, for their aims should +also be individual to a large extent. Text-books might be of much help +if their authors attempted this task with skill. But authors seldom +attempt it at all; and, even if they do, they are under the +disadvantage of writing for great numbers of persons living in widely +different environments. Any aims that they propose must necessarily be +of a very general character. Teachers might again be of much help; but +many of them do not know how, and many more will not try. The task, +therefore, falls mainly to the student himself. + +As to the time of forming in mind these aims, the experimental +scientist necessarily posits some sort of hypothesis in advance of his +experiments; the eminent men before mentioned conceive the questions +that they hope to have answered, in advance of their reading. It is +natural that one should fix an aim before doing the work that is +necessary for its accomplishment. If these aims are to furnish the +motive for close attention and the basis for the selection and +organization of facts, they certainly ought to be determined upon +early. The earlier they come, too, the greater the likelihood of some +practical outcome in conduct; for the want of such an outcome is very +often due to their postponement. + +On the other hand, the setting up of desirable ends requires mental +vigor, as well as a wide and well-controlled experience. Gibbon's +"solitary walk" (p. 31) Would hardly be a pleasure walk for most young +people, even if they had his rich fund of knowledge to draw upon. +While it is desirable, therefore, to determine early upon one's +purposes, young students will often find it impossible to do this. In +such cases they will have to begin studying without such aids. They +can at least keep a sharp lookout for suitable purposes, and can +gradually fix upon them as they proceed. In general it should be +remembered that the sooner good aims are selected, the sooner their +benefits will be enjoyed. + + + +THE FITNESS OF CHILDREN IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO SELECT SPECIFIC +PURPOSES OF STUDY + + +According to custom, young people are expected to acquire knowledge +now and find its uses later. The preceding argument would reverse that +order by having them discover their wants first and then study to +satisfy them. This is the way in which man has progressed from the +beginning--outside of educational institutions--and it seems the +normal order. + +To what extent shall this apply to children? If the fixing of aims is +difficult for adult students, it can be expected to be even more +difficult for children of the elementary school age. For their +experience, from which the suggestions for specific purposes must be +obtained, is narrow and their command of it slight. On the other hand, +they are expected to have done a large amount of studying before +entering the high school, much of it alone, too. And, after leaving +the elementary school, people will take it for granted that they have +already learned how to study. If, therefore, the finding of specific +purposes is an important factor in proper study, responsibility for +acquiring that ability will fall upon the elementary school. + +_Do children need the help of specific aims?_ + +The first question to consider is, Do children seriously need the help +of such aims? They certainly do in one respect, for they resemble +their elders in being afflicted with inattention and unwillingness to +exert themselves in study. These are the offenses for which they are +most often scolded at school, and these are their chief faults when +they attempt to study alone. There is no doubt also but that the main +reason why children improve very little in oral reading during the +last three years in the elementary school is their lack of incentive +to improve. They feel no great need of enunciating distinctly and of +reading with pleasant tones loud enough to be heard by all, when all +present have the same text before them. Why should they? + +Good aims make children alert, just as they do older persons. I +remember hearing a New York teacher in a private school say to her +thirteen-year-old children in composition, one spring day: "I expect +to spend my vacation at some summer resort; but I have not yet decided +what one it shall be. If you have a good place in mind, I should be +glad to have you tell me why you like it. It may influence my choice." +She was a very popular teacher, and each pupil longed to have her for +a companion during the summer. I never saw a class undertake a +composition with more eagerness. In a certain fifth-year class in +geography a contest between the boys and girls for the best collection +of articles manufactured out of flax resulted in the greatest +enthusiasm. The reading or committing to memory of stories with the +object of dramatizing them--such as _The Children's Hour_, in the +second or third grade--seldom fails to arouse lively interest. + +For several years the members of the highest two classes in a certain +school have collected many of the best cartoons and witticisms. They +have also been in the habit of reading the magazines with the object +of selecting such articles as might be of special interest to their +own families at home, or to other classes in the school, or to their +classmates, often defending their selections before the class. Their +most valuable articles have been classified and catalogued for use in +the school; and their joke-books, formed out of humorous collections, +have circulated through the school. The effect of the plan in +interesting pupils in current literature has been excellent. + +A certain settlement worker in New York City in charge of a club of +fourteen- to eighteen-year-old boys tried to arouse an interest in +literature, using one plan after another without success. Finally the +class undertook to read _Julius Caesar_ with the object of selecting +the best parts and acting them out in public. This plan succeeded; and +while the acting was grotesque, this purpose led to what was probably +the most earnest studying that those boys had ever done. + +The value of definite aims for the conduct of the recitation is now +often discussed and much appreciated by teachers. If such aims are so +important in class, with the teacher present, they are surely not less +needed when the child is studying alone. + +The worth of specific aims for children as a source of energy in +general is likewise great. It is a question whether children under +three years of age are ever lazy. But certainly within a few years +after that age--owing to the bad effect of civilization, Rousseau +might say--many of them make great progress toward laziness of both +body and mind. + +The possibilities in this direction were once strikingly illustrated +in an orphan asylum in New York City. The two hundred children in this +asylum had been in the habit of marching to their meals in silence, +eating in silence, and marching out in silence. They had been trained +to the "lock step" discipline, until they were _quiet_ and _good_ to a +high degree. The old superintendent having resigned on account of age, +an experienced teacher, who was an enthusiast in education, succeeded +him in that office. Feeling depressed by the lack of life among the +children, the latter concluded, after a few weeks, to break the +routine by taking thirty of the older boys and girls to a circus. But +shortly before the appointed day one of these girls proved so +refractory that she was told that she could not be allowed to go. +To the new superintendent's astonishment, however, she did not seem +disappointed or angered; she merely remarked that she had never seen a +circus and did not care much to go anyway. Shortly afterward he fined +several of the children for misconduct. Many of them had a few dollars +of their own, received from relatives and other friends. But the fines +did not worry them. They were not in the habit of spending money, +having no occasion for it; all that they needed was food, clothing, +and shelter, and these the institution was bound to give. Then he +deprived certain unruly children of a share in the games. That again +failed to cause acute sorrow. In the great city they had little room +for play, and many had not become fond of games. It finally proved +difficult to discover anything that they cared for greatly. Their +discipline had accomplished its object, until they were usually "good" +simply because they were too dull, too wanting in ideas and interests +to be mischievous. Their energy in general was low. Here was a demand +for specific purposes without limit. + +One of the first aims that the new superintendent set up, after making +this discovery, was to inculcate live interests in these children, a +capacity to enjoy the circus, a love even of money, a love of games, +of flowers, of reading, and of companionship. His means was the fixing +of definite and interesting objects to be accomplished from day to +day, and these gradually restored the children to their normal +condition. Thus all children need the help of specific aims, and some +need it sadly. + +_Is it normal to expect children to learn to set up specific aims +for themselves?_ + +There remains the very important question, Are children themselves +capable of learning to set up such purposes? Or at least would such +attempts seem to be normal for them? This question cannot receive a +final answer at present, because children have not been sufficiently +tested in this respect. It has so long been the habit in school to +collect facts and leave their bearings on life to future accident, +that the force of habit makes it difficult to measure the +probabilities in regard to a very different procedure. + +Yet there are some facts that are very encouraging. A large number of +the tasks that children undertake outside of school are self imposed, +many of these including much intellectual work. Largely as a result of +such tasks, too, they probably learn at least as much outside of +school as they learn in school, and they learn it better. + +Further, when called upon in school to do this kind of thinking, they +readily respond. A teacher one day remarked to her class, "I have a +little girl friend living on the Hudson River, near Albany, who has +been ill for many weeks. It occurred to me that you might like to +write her some letters that would help her to pass the time more +pleasantly. Could you do it?" "Yes, by all means," was the response. +"Then what will you choose to write about?" said the teacher. One girl +soon inquired, "Do you think that she would like to know how I am +training my bird to sing?" Several other interesting topics were +suggested. The finding of desirable purposes is not beyond children's +abilities. + +Individual examples, however, can hardly furnish the best answer to +the question at present; the general nature of children must determine +it. If children are leading lives that are rich enough intellectually +and morally to furnish numerous occasions to turn their acquisitions +to account, then it would certainly be reasonable to expect them to +discover some of these occasions. If, on the other hand, their lives +are comparatively barren, it might be unnatural to make such a demand +upon them. + +The feeling is rather common that human experience becomes rich only +as the adult period is reached; that childhood is comparatively barren +of needs, and valuable mainly as a period of storage of knowledge to +meet wants that will arise later. Yet is this true? By the time the +adult state is reached, one has passed through the principal kinds of +experience; the period of struggle is largely over, and the results +have registered themselves in habits. The adult is to a great extent a +bundle of habits. + +The child, and the youth in the adolescent age, on the other hand, are +just going the round of experience for the first few times. They are +just forming their judgments as to the values of things about them. +Their intellectual life is abundant, as is shown by their innumerable +questions. Their temptations--such as to become angry, to fight, to +lie, to cheat, and to steal--are more numerous and probably more +severe than they will usually be later; their opportunities to please +and help others, or to offend and hinder, are without limit; and their +joys and sorrows, though of briefer duration than later, are more +numerous and often fully as acute. In other words, they are in the +midst of growth, of habit formation, both intellectually and morally. +Theirs is the time of life when, to a peculiar degree, they are +experimentally related to their environment. Why, then, should they be +taught to look past this period, to their distant future as the +harvest time for their knowledge and powers? The occasions are +abundant _now_ for turning facts and abilities to account, and it +is normal to expect them to see many of these opportunities. Proper +development requires that they be trained to look for them, instead of +looking past them. + +Here is seen the need of one more reform in education. Children used +to be regarded as lacking value in themselves; their worth lay in +their promise of being men and women; and if, owing to ill health, +this promise was very doubtful, they were put aside. For education +they were given that mental pabulum that was considered valuable to +the adult; and their tastes, habits, and manners were judged from the +same viewpoint. + +Very recently one radical improvement has been effected in this +program. As illustrated in the doctrine of apperception, we have grown +to respect the natures of children, even to accept their instincts, +their native tendencies, and their experiences as the proper _basis_ +for their education. That is a wonderful advance. But we do not yet +regard their present experience as furnishing the _motive_ for their +education. We need to take one more step and recognize their present +lives as the field wherein the knowledge that they acquire shall +function. We do this to some extent; but we lack faith in the +abundance of their present experience, and are always impatiently +looking forward to a time when their lives will be rich. + +In feeding children we have our eyes primarily on the present; food is +given them in order to be assimilated and used _now_ to satisfy +_present_ needs; that is the best way of guaranteeing health for +the future. Likewise in giving them mental and spiritual food, our +attention should be directed primarily to its present value. It should +be given with the purpose of present nourishment, of satisfying +present needs; other more distant needs will thereby be best served. + +A few years ago, when I was discussing this topic with a class at +Teachers College, I happened to observe a recitation in the Horace +Mann school in which a class of children was reading _Silas Marner_. +They were frequently reproved for their unnaturally harsh voices, for +their monotones, indistinct enunciation, and poor grouping of words. +In the Speyer school, nine blocks north of this school, I had often +observed the same defects. + +At about that time one of my students, interested in the early history +of New York, happened to call upon an old woman living in a shanty +midway between these two schools. She was an old inhabitant, and one +of the early roadways that the student was hunting had passed near her +house. In conversation with the woman he learned that she had had five +children, all of whom had been taken from her some years before, +within a fortnight, by scarlet fever; and that since then she had been +living alone. When he remarked that she must feel lonesome at times, +tears came to her eyes, and she replied, "Sometimes." As he was +leaving she thanked him for his call and remarked that she seldom had +any visitors; she added that, if some one would drop in now and then, +either to talk or to read to her, she would greatly appreciate it; her +eyes had so failed that she could no longer read for herself. + +Here was an excellent chance to improve the children's reading by +enabling them to see that the better their reading the more pleasure +could they give to those about them. This seems typical of the present +relation between the school and its environing world. While the two +need each other sadly, the school is isolated somewhat like the old- +time monastery. The fixing of specific aims for study can aid +materially in establishing the normal relation, and children can +certainly contribute to this end by discovering some of these purposes +themselves. That is one of the things that they should _learn_ to do. + + + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN TO FIND SPECIFIC AIMS FOR +THEIR STUDY + + +_1. Elimination of subject-matter that has little bearing on +life_ + +The elimination from the curriculum of such subject-matter as has no +probable bearing on ordinary mortals is one important step to take in +giving children definite aims in their study. There is much of this +matter having little excuse for existence beyond the fact that it +"exercises the mind"; for example: in arithmetic, the finding of the +Greatest Common Divisor as a separate topic, the tables for +Apothecaries' weight and Troy measure, Complex and Compound +Fractions;[Footnote: For a more complete list of such topics, see +Teachers College Record, _Mathematics in the Elementary School_, +March, 1903, by David Eugene Smith and F. M. McMurry.] in geography, +the location of many unimportant capes, bays, capitals and other +towns, rivers and boundaries; in nature study, many classifications, +the detailed study of leaves, and the study of many uncommon wild +plants. The teaching of facts that cannot function in the lives of +pupils directly encourages the mere collecting habit, and thus tends +to defeat the purpose here proposed. Not that we do not wish children +to collect facts; but while acquiring them we want children to carry +the responsibility of discovering ways of turning them to account, and +mere collecting tends to dull this sense of responsibility. + +_2. The example to be set by the teacher_ + +By her own method of instruction the teacher can set an example of +what she desires from her pupils in the way of concrete aims. For +instance: (a) during recitation she can occasionally suggest +opportunities for the application of knowledge and ability. "This is a +story that you might tell to other children," she might say; or, "Here +is something that you might dramatize." "You might talk with your +father or mother about this." "Could you read this aloud to your +family?" Again, (b) in the assignment of lessons she might set a +definite problem that would bring the school work into direct touch +with the outside world. In fine art, instead of having children make +designs for borders, without any particular use for the design, she +might suggest, "Find some object or wall surface that needs a border, +and see if you can design one that will be suitable." As a task in +arithmetic for a fifth-year class in a small town, she might assign +the problem, "To find out as accurately as possible whether or not it +pays to keep a cow." Finally, (c) as part of an examination, she can +ask the class to recall purposes that they have kept in mind in the +study of certain topics. By such means the teacher can make clear to a +class what is meant by interesting or useful aims of study, and also +impress them with the fact that she feels the need of studying under +the guidance of such aims. + +_3. The responsibility the children should bear._ + +The teacher need not do a great amount of such work for her class. The +children should _learn to do it themselves_, and they will not acquire +the ability mainly by having some one else do it for them. + +Therefore, after the children have come to understand the requirement +fairly well, the teacher might occasionally assign a lesson by +specifying only the quantity, as such and such pages, or such and such +topics, in the geography or history, with the understanding that the +class shall state in the next recitation one or more aims for the +lesson; for example, if it is the geography of Russia, How it happens +that we hear so often of famines in Russia, while we do not hear of +them in other parts of Europe; or, if it is the history of Columbus, +For what characteristic is Columbus to be most admired? Again, In what +ways has his discovery of America proved of benefit to the world? The +finding of such problems will then be a part of the study necessary in +mastering the lesson. + +Likewise, during the recitation and without any hint from the teacher, +the children should show that they are carrying the responsibility of +establishing relations of the subject-matter with life, by mentioning +further bearings, or possible uses, that they discover. + +Review lessons furnish excellent occasions for study of this kind. It +is narrow to review lessons only from the point of view of the author. +His view-point should be reviewed often enough to become well fixed, +but there should be other view-points taken also. + +John Fiske has admirably presented the history of the period +immediately following the Revolution. The title of his book, _The +Critical Period of American History_, makes us curious from the +beginning to know how the period was so critical. This is a fine +example of a specific aim governing a whole book. But other aims in +review might be, Do we owe as much to Washington during this period as +during the war just preceding? Or were other men equally or more +prominent? How was the establishment of a firm Union made especially +difficult by the want of certain modern inventions? The pupils +themselves should develop the power to suggest such questions. + +_4. The sources to which children should look for suggestions_ + +The teacher can teach the children _where to look for suggestions_ in +their search for specific purposes. During meals, three times a day, +interesting topics of conversation are welcome; indeed, the dearth of +conversation at such times, owing to lack of "something to say," is +often depressing. There is often need of something to unite the family +of evenings, such as a magazine article read aloud, or a good +narrative, or a discussion of some timely topic. There are social +gatherings where the people "don't know what to do"; there are +recesses at school where there is the same difficulty; there are +neighbors, brothers and sisters, and other friends who are more +than ready to be entertained, or instructed, or helped. Yet children +often dramatize stories at school, without ever thinking of doing the +same for the entertainment of their family at home. They read good +stories without expecting to tell them to any one. They collect good +ideas about judging pictures, without planning to beautify their homes +through them. Thus the children can be made conscious that there are +_wants_ on all sides of them, and by some study of their environment +they can find many aims that will give purpose to their school work. +Again, by a review of their past studies, their reading, and their +experience of various kinds, they can be reminded of objects that they +are desirous of accomplishing. It is, perhaps, needless to say that +the teacher herself must likewise make a careful study of the home, +street, and school life of her pupils, of their study and reading, if +she is to guide them most effectually in their own search for +desirable aims. + +_5. Stocking up with specific aims in advance_ + +Finally, the teacher can lead her pupils to stock up with specific +aims _even in advance of their immediate needs_. A teacher who visits +another school with the desire of getting helpful suggestions would +better write down beforehand the various things that she wishes to +see. She can afford to spend considerable time and energy upon such +a list of points. Otherwise, she is likely to overlook half of the +things she was anxious to inquire about. + +Likewise, children can be taught to jot down in a notebook various +problems that they hope to solve, various wants observed in their +environment that they may help to satisfy. Children who are much +interested in reading, sometimes without outside suggestion make lists +of good books that they have heard of and hope to read. And as they +read some, they add others to their list. Keeping this list in mind, +they are on the lookout for any of these books, and improve the +opportunity to read one of them whenever it offers. A similar habit in +regard to things one would like to know and do can be cultivated, so +that one will have a rich stock of aims on hand in advance, and these +will help greatly to give purpose to the work later required in the +school. + +_6. The importance of moderation in demands made upon children._ + +In conclusion, it may be of importance to add that this kind of +instruction can be easily overdone, and it is better to proceed too +slowly than too rapidly. It is a healthy and permanent development +that is wanted, and the teacher should rest satisfied if it is slow. +It is by no means feasible to attempt to subordinate all study to +specific aims; we cannot see our way to accomplish that now. But we +can do something in that direction. Only occasional attempts with the +younger children will be in place; more conscious efforts will be +fitting among older pupils. By the time the elementary school is +finished, a fair degree of success in discovering specific aims can be +expected. + +Yet, even if little more than a willingness to _take time to try_ +is established, the gain will be appreciable. When children become +interested in a topic, they are impatient to "go on" and "to keep +going on." This continual hurrying forward crowds out reflection. If +they learn no more than to pause now and then in order to find some +bearings on life, and thus do some independent _thinking_, they are +paving the way for the invaluable habit of reflection. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SUPPLEMENTING OF THOUGHT, AS A SECOND FACTOR OF STUDY + + + +_The question here at issue_ + +In the preceding chapter the importance of studying under the +influence of specific purposes was urged. These are such purposes as +the student really desires to accomplish by the study of text or of +other matter placed before him. Since they are not usually included in +such matter, but must be conceived by the student himself, they +constitute a very important kind of supplement to whatever statements +may be offered for study. The questions now arise, Are other kinds of +supplementing also generally necessary? If so, what is their nature? +Should they be prominent, or only a minor part of study? And is there +any explanation of the fact that authors are not able to express +themselves more fully and plainly? + +_Answers to these questions--1. As suggested by Bible study._ + +For answers to these questions, turn first to Bible study. Take for +instance a minister's treatment of a Bible text. Selecting a verse or +two as his Answers to theme for a sermon, he recalls the conditions +that called forth the words; builds the concrete picture by the +addition of reasonable detail; makes comparisons with corresponding +views or customs of the present time; states and answers queries that +may arise; calls attention to the peculiar beauty or force of certain +expressions; draws inferences or corollaries suggested in the text; +and, finally, interprets the thought or draws the practical lessons. +The words in his text may number less than a dozen, while those that +he utters reach thousands; and the thoughts that he expresses may be a +hundred times the number directly visible in the text. + +Leaving the minister, take the layman's study of the parable of the +Prodigal Son. This is the story as related in Luke 15:11-32: + +11. And he said, A certain man had two sons: + +12. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the +portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his +living. + +13. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and +took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance +with riotous living. + +14. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that +land; and he began to be in want. + +15. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and +he sent him into his fields to feed swine. + +16. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the +swine did eat; and no man gave unto him + +17. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of +my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! + +18. I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I +have sinned against heaven, and before thee, + +19. And am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy +hired servants. + +20. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great +way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on +his neck, and kissed him. + +21. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, +and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. + +22. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, +and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. + +23. And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and +be merry. + +24. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is +found. And they began to be merry. + +25. Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew nigh +to the house, he heard music and dancing. + +26. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things +meant. + +27. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath +killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. + +28. And he was angry, and would not go in; therefore came his father +out, and intreated him. + +29. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I +serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and +yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my +friends; + +30. But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy +living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. + +81. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I +have is thine. + +32. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this thy +brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. + +How simple the story! Even a child can tell it after very few +readings, and one could soon learn the words by heart. Is one then +through with it? Or has the study then hardly begun? + +Note some of the questions that need to be considered:-- + +1. What various thoughts probably induced the young man to leave home? + +2. What pictures of his former life does he call to mind when +starving? Why did he hesitate about returning? + +3. What were his thoughts and actions as he approached his father; +those also of his father? + +4. What indication of the father's character is given in the fact that +he saw his son while yet "a great way off"? + +5. Which is perhaps the most interesting scene? Which is least +pleasing? + +6. How would the older son have had the father act? + +7. Did the father argue at length with the older son? Was it in place +to argue much about such a matter? + +8. Describe the character of the elder son. Which of the two is the +better? + +9. Is the father shown to be at fault in any respect in the training +of his sons? If so, how? + +10. How do people about us often resemble the elder son? + +11. Is this story told as a warning or as a comfort? How? + +These are only a few of the many questions that might well be +considered. Indeed, whole books could be, and probably have been, +written upon this one parable. Yet neither such questions nor their +answers are included in the text. It seems strange that almost none of +the great thoughts that should be gathered from the story are +themselves included with the narrative. But the same is true in regard +to other parts of the Bible. The conversation between Jesus and the +Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) is, perhaps, the greatest +conversation that was ever held. Yet one must discover this fact +"between the lines"; there is no such statement included in the +account. + +Evidently both to the minister and to the layman the Bible contains +only the raw materials for thought. It must be supplemented without +limit, if one is to comprehend it and to be nourished by it properly. + +_2. As suggested by the study of other literature_ + +Does this same hold with regard to other literature? For answer, +recall to what extent Shakespeare's dramas are "talked over" in class, +both in high schools and colleges. But as a type--somewhat extreme, +perhaps--take Browning's + +MY LAST DUCHESS + +That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, +Looking as if she were alive. I call +That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf's hands +Worked busily a day, and there she stands. +Will't please you sit and look at her? I said +"Fra Pandolf" by design, for never read +Stranger like you that pictured countenance, +The depth and passion of its earnest glance, +But to myself they turned (since none puts by +The curtain I have drawn for you, but I) +And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst, +How such a glance came there; so, not the first +Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, 't was not +Her husband's presence only, called that spot +Of joy into the Duchess' cheek; perhaps +Fra Pandolf chanced to say, "Her mantle laps +Over my lady's wrist too much," or "Paint +Must never hope to reproduce the faint +Half-flush that dies along her throat": such stuff +Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough +For calling up that spot of joy. She had +A heart--how shall I say--too soon made glad, +Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er +She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. +Sir, 't was all one! My favor at her breast, +The dropping of the daylight in the West, +The bough of cherries some officious fool +Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule +She rode with round the terrace--all and each +Would draw from her alike the approving speech, +Or blush, at least. She thanked men,--good! but thanked +Somehow--I know not how--as if she ranked +My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name +With anybody's gift. Who'd stoop to blame +This sort of trifling? Even had you skill +In speech--(which I have not)--to make your will +Quite clear to such an one, and say, "Just this +Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss, +Or there exceed the mark"--and if she let +Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set +Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse, +--E'en then would be some stooping; and I choose +Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt, +Whene'er I passed her; but who passed without +Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands; +Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands +As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet +The company below, then. I repeat, +The Count your master's known munificence +Is ample warrant that no just pretense +Of mine for dowry will be disallowed; +Though his fair daughter's self, as I avowed +At starting, is my object. Nay, we'll go +Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though, +Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity, +Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me! + +How much the word last in the title of this poem suggests! Note how +many, and how different, are the topics in the last dozen lines. Yet +there is no paragraphing throughout. The page should show things as +they exist in the Duke's mind, and he runs from one thought to another +as if they were all on the same plane, and closely related. + +Was there ever a more vain, heartless, haughty, selfish, bartering +gentleman-wretch? Note how single short sentences even surprise one by +the extent to which they reveal character. Whole volumes are included +between sentences. One can scarcely read the poem through rapidly; for +it seems necessary to pause here and there to reflect upon and +interject statements. + +There is no doubt about the need of extensive supplementing in the +case of adult literature. Is that true, however, of literature for +children? Is not this, on account of the immaturity of children, +necessarily so written as to make such supplementing unnecessary? +For a test let us examine Longfellow's The Children's Hour, which is +so popular with seven- and eight-year-old boys and girls. + +THE CHILDREN'S HOUR + +Between the dark and the daylight, +When the night is beginning to lower, +Comes a pause in the day's occupations, +That is known as the Children's Hour. + +I hear in the chamber above me +The patter of little feet, +The sound of a door that is opened, +And voices soft and sweet. + +From my study I see in the lamplight, +Descending the broad hall stair, +Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra, +And Edith with golden hair. + +A whisper, and then a silence: +Yet I know by their merry eyes, +They are plotting and planning together +To take me by surprise. + +A sudden rush from the stairway, +A sudden raid from the hall! +By three doors left unguarded +They enter my castle wall! + +They climb up into my turret +O'er the arms and back of my chair; +If I try to escape, they surround me; +They seem to be everywhere. + +They almost devour me with kisses +Their arms about me entwine, +Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen +In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine! + +Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti, +Because you have scaled the wall, +Such an old moustache as I am +Is not a match for you all! + +I have you fast in my fortress, +And will not let you depart, +But put you down into the dungeon, +In the round tower of my heart. + +And there will I keep you forever, +Yes, for ever and a day, +Till the walls shall crumble to ruin, +And molder in dust away! + +1. How would we plan to dramatize this poem? In answering this +question, we must consider how many persons are needed, what +arrangement of rooms and doors, etc., will be fitting; are the last +three stanzas to be spoken? etc. + +2. It seems that here is a family in which an hour is set aside for +play. What kind of home must that be? + +3. Was this the custom each day? Or did it happen only once? + +4. Does the father seem to enjoy it? Or was it rather an unpleasant +time for him? + +5. Is there any proof that these were especially attractive children? +("Voices soft and sweet.") + +6. Which is the best part of the last three stanzas, in which he tells +how much he loves them? (Meaning of "for ever and a day.") + +7. Do you know any other families that have a time set apart each day +for playing together? Why are there not more? + +8. Does such an arrangement depend on the parents wholly? Or could the +children help much to bring it about? How? + +9. Have you heard the story about the Bishop of Bingen in his Mouse- +Tower on the Rhine River? + +10. Meaning of strange words may be explained in various ways, perhaps +some of them scarcely explained at all. + +These are some of the questions that could well be considered in this +poem. It is true that this selection, like most adult literature, is +capable of being enjoyed without much addition. But it is not mere +enjoyment that is wanted. We are discussing what study is necessary in +order to get the full profit. In the case of Hawthorne's _Wonder-Book_ +and _Tanglewood Tales_, numerous questions and suggestions need +likewise to be interjected. One of the best books for five- to eight- +year-old children on the life of Christ bears the title _Jesus the +Carpenter of Nazareth_. It is an illustrated volume of five hundred +pages, which makes it clear that the original Bible text has been +greatly supplemented. Yet it is a pity to read even this book without +frequent pausing for additional detail. + +Thus literature, including even that for young children, fails to show +on the surface all that the reader is expected to see. Much of it +states only a very small part of this. A piece of literature resembles +a painting in this respect. Corot's well-known painting, "Dance of the +Wood Nymphs," presents only a few objects, including a landscape with +some trees and some dancing women. Yet people love to sit and look at +it, perhaps to examine its detail and enjoy its author's skill, but +also to recall countless memories of the past, of beautiful woods and +pastures, of happy parties, of joys, hopes, and resolves, and +possibly, too, to renew resolves for the future. The very simple scene +is thus a source of inspiration, a stimulus to think or study. A poem +accomplishes the same thing. + +_3. As stated by Ruskin_ + +A warning of the amount of hard work that the student of literature +must expect is given by Ruskin in the following forcible words: "And +be sure, also, if the author is worth anything, that you will not get +at his meaning all at once,--nay, that at his whole meaning you will +not for a long time arrive in any wise. Not that he does not say what +he means, and in strong words, too; but he cannot say it all, and what +is more strange, will not, but in a hidden way, and in parables, in +order that he may be sure you want it. I cannot quite see the reason +of this, nor analyze the cruel reticence in the breasts of wise men +which makes them always hide their deeper thought. + +"They do not give it you by way of help, but of reward, and will make +themselves sure that you deserve it, before they allow you to reach +it. + +"But it is the same with the physical type of wisdom, gold. There +seems, to you and me, no reason why the electric forces of the earth +should not carry whatever there is of gold within it at once to the +mountain tops, so that kings and people might know that all the gold +they could get was there, and without any trouble of digging, or +anxiety, or chance, or waste of time, cut it away, and coin as much as +they needed. But Nature does not manage it so. She puts it in little +fissures in the earth, nobody knows where. You may dig long and find +none; you must dig painfully to find any. + +"And it is just the same with men's best wisdom. When you come to a +good book, you must ask yourself, 'Am I inclined to work as an +Australian miner would? Are my pickaxes and shovels in good order, and +am I in good trim myself, my sleeves well up to the elbow, and my +breath good, and my temper?' And keeping the figure a little longer... +the metal you are in search of being the author's mind or meaning, his +words are as the rock which you have to crush and smelt in order to +get at it. And your pickaxes are your own care, wit, and learning; +your smelting furnace is your own thoughtful soul. Do not hope to get +at any good author's meaning without those tools, and that fire; often +you will need sharpest, finest chiseling and patientest fussing before +you can gather one grain of the metal."[Footnote: _Sesame and Lilies_] + +_4. As suggested by an examination of text-books_ + +When we turn from literature to the text-books used in schools and +colleges, we find the need of supplementing greatly increased. Writers +of literature are at liberty to choose any topic they please, and to +treat it as fully as they will. But writers of text-books are free in +neither of these respects. Their subjects are determined for them; it +is the history, for example, of a given period, the grammar of the +English language, the geography of the earth. And these must be +presented briefly enough to be covered by classes within a prescribed +time. For these reasons text-books contain far less detail than +literature, and in that sense are much more condensed. They are only +the outlines of subjects, as their titles often directly acknowledge. +Green's _History of England_, for instance, which has been extensively +used as a college text, barely touches many topics that are treated at +great length elsewhere. It is natural, therefore, that in our more +advanced schools the word text in connection with such books is used +in much the same sense as in connection with the Bible; a text is that +which merely introduces topics by giving the bare outline of facts, or +very condensed statements; it must be supplemented extensively, if the +facts or thoughts are to be appreciated. + +How about the texts used in the elementary school? Those used in the +highest two grades need, perhaps, somewhat more supplementing than +those in the high school. But in the middle grades this need is still +greater. In the more prominent studies calling for text-books, such as +history, geography, and English language or grammar, nearly the same +topics are treated as in the higher grades, and in substantially the +same manner. But since the younger children are not expected to take +as long lessons,--and perhaps, too, because they cannot carry as large +books,--their texts are made briefer. This is mainly accomplished by +leaving out much of the detail that is necessary to make the facts +clear and interesting. Consequently, supplementing is an especially +important factor of study in these grades. In general, the briefer the +text, the more "filling in" is needed. + +As an illustration, take the following extract from the first page of +McMaster's _Child's History of the United States_, often used with +ten-year-old pupils. + +Four hundred and fifty years ago the people of western Europe were +getting silks, perfumes, shawls, ivory, spices, and jewels from +southeastern Asia, then called the Indies. But the Turks were +conquering the countries across which these goods were carried, and it +seemed so likely that the trade would be stopped, that the merchants +began to ask if somebody could not find a new way to the Indies. + +The king of Portugal thought he could, and began sending his sailors +in search of a way around Africa, which extended southward, nobody +knew how far. Year after year his ships sailed down the west coast, +the last captain going further south than the one before him, till one +of them at last reached the southern end of the continent and entered +the Indian Ocean. + +Observe a few of the thoughts "between the lines" that need to be +considered:-- + +1. Six things are here mentioned as brought from the East Indies. It +seems odd that some of these should receive mention as among the most +important imports. Which are they? Could any of them have been more +important then than now? Why? + +2. What were the routes of travel, by land, to the Indies? (Map.) + +3. Where did the Turks live; and what reasons had they for preventing +this trade? + +4. Why could not the first Portuguese captain sail directly to the +southern end of Africa? + +Again, take the topic _desert_ in geography. The texts usually define +a desert as a sandy waste, often a plain, that receives too little +rain to support much vegetable or animal life. Pictures are given +showing the character of the plants, and perhaps the appearance +of such a region. Beyond that little is usually attempted. In the +larger books the danger from sand storms and some other things are +included. Such treatment needs to be supplemented by numerous +questions, such as the following:-- + +1. What animals that are common here are seldom found there, or not at +all? (Horses, cows, etc., also birds, flies, bugs, etc.) + +2. What plants that are common here are not found there? (Trees, +flowers, weeds, etc.) + +3. Is the weather particularly enjoyable there, or not? Is it +desirable to have sunshine all the time? + +4. What about noises of various kinds? (Silence so oppressive to some +people that it becomes intolerable.) + +5. What would be some of the pleasures of a walk in the desert? +(Coloring, change of seasons, trees along streams, appearance of any +grass.) + +6. What about the effect of strong winds on the sand? + +7. Imagining that some one has just crossed a desert, what dangers do +you think he has encountered, and how may he have escaped from them? + +_The extent to which the supplementing should be carried_ + +From the preceding discussion it is clear not only that no important +topic is ever completely presented, but also that there is scarcely +any limit to the extent to which it may be supplemented. Men get new +thoughts from the same Bible texts year after year, and even century +after century. How far, then, should the supplementing be carried? + +The maximum limit cannot be fixed, and there is no need of attempting +it. But there is great need of knowing and keeping in mind the minimum +limit; for in the pressure to hurry forward there is grave danger that +even this limit will not be reached. + +What is this minimum limit? Briefly stated, it is this: There should +be enough supplementing to render the thought really nourishing, +_quickening_, to the learner. In the case of literature that will +involve some supplementing; and in the case of ordinary text-books it +will require a good deal more. + +Is this standard met when the child understands and can reproduce in +substance the definition of desert? Far from it! That definition is as +dry and barren as the desert itself; it tends to deaden rather than +quicken. The pupil must go far beyond the mere cold understanding and +reproduction of a topic. He must see the thing talked about, as though +in its presence; he must not only see this vividly, but he must enter +into its spirit, or _feel_ it; he must experience or live it. +Otherwise the desired effect is wanting. This standard furnishes the +reason for such detailed questions as are suggested above. The +frequency with which stirring events, grand scenery, and great +thoughts are talked about in class with fair understanding, but +without the least excitement, is a measure of the failure of the so- +called better instruction to come up to this standard. No really good +instruction, any more than good story books, will leave one cold +toward the theme in hand. + +_Reasons why authors fail to express their thought more +completely_ + +It must be confessed that this standard calls for a large amount of +supplementing. There are meanings of words and phrases to be studied, +references to be looked up, details to be filled in for the sake of +vivid pictures, illustrations to be furnished out of one's own +experience, inferences or corollaries to be drawn, questions to be +raised and answered, and finally the bearings on life to be traced. It +might seem that authors could do their work better, and thereby +relieve their readers of work. + +Yet these omissions are not to be ascribed to the evil natures of +authors, nor to the superabundance of their thought, alone. Readers +would be dissatisfied if all this work were done for them. Any one has +observed that small children are disappointed if they are not allowed +to perform necessary little tasks that lie within their power. Also, +they enjoy those toys most that are not too complete, and that, +therefore, leave some work for their own imaginations. This quality of +childhood is characteristic of youth and of adults. An author would +not be forgiven if he stopped in the midst of his discourse to explain +a reference. Eminent writers, like Longfellow, for example, are even +blamed for attaching the morals to their productions; and terseness is +one of the qualities of literature that is most praised. In other +words, older people, like children, love activity. Although they at +times hate to work, they do not want authors to presuppose that they +are lazy or helpless; and they resent too much assistance. Since, +therefore, the many omissions in the presentation of thought are in +accordance with our own desires, we would do well to undertake the +necessary supplementing without complaint. + + + +THE ABILITY OF CHILDREN TO SUPPLEMENT THOUGHT + + +There are several facts indicating that children have the ability to +undertake this kind of studying. + +_Reasons for assuming that children have this kind of ability +1. Their vivid imaginations_ + +One of the chief powers necessary is a vivid imagination by which +concrete situations can be clearly pictured, and children possess such +power to an unusual degree. They see so vividly that they become +frightened by the products of their own imaginations. Their dolls are +so truly personified that mishaps to them easily cause tears, and +their mistreatment by strangers is resented as though personal. Adults +hardly equal them in this imaginative quality. + +_2. Their ability to imitate and think, as shown in conversation_ + +When children are left alone together they do not lack things to do +and say. Their minds are active enough to entertain one another as +well as adults do, and not seldom better. In fact, if they remain +natural, they are often more interesting to adults than other adults +are. They reach even profound thoughts with peculiar directness. When +I was attempting, one day, to throw a toy boomerang for some children, +one of the little girls, observing my want of success, remarked, "I +saw a picture of a man throwing one of these things. He stood at the +door of his house, and the boomerang went clear around the house. But +I suppose that people sometimes make pictures of things that they +can't do; don't they?" + +_3. The success of development instruction_ + +The method of teaching called _development instruction_ is based on +the desire and ability of children to contribute ideas. That +instruction could not succeed as it has succeeded, if children did not +readily conceive thoughts of their own. Not only do they answer +questions that teachers put in such teaching, but they also propose +many of the questions that should be considered. That method +flourishes even in the kindergarten. In the kindergarten circle +children often interrupt the leader with germane remarks; and +sometimes it is difficult even to suppress such self-expression. One +reason the kindergartner tells her stories, rather than reads them, is +that she may have her eyes on the children and thus take advantage of +their desire to make contributions of thought. The same tendency is +shown in the home, when children want to "talk over" what their +parents or other persons read to them. They fail to respond in this +way only when they are afraid, or when they have attended school long +enough to have this tendency partly suppressed. + +_4. The character of children's literature_ + +Finally, the fact that children's literature, like that for adults, +presupposes much supplementing, is strong reason for presupposing that +ability on their part. Any moral lessons that belong to fairy tales +must be reached by the children's own thought; the same usually +applies to fables also. Hawthorne understood the child mind as few +persons have. Yet it is astonishing how much ability to supplement +seems to have been expected by him. It would be surprising if such +experts were mistaken in their estimate of children. + + + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN TO SUPPLEMENT THOUGHT + + +_1. Importance of using text-books_ + +Teachers can make use of text-books at least enough to give much +practice in supplementing text. Text-books are so uncommon in some +schools that one might conclude that they had gone out of fashion +among good teachers. Yet there is certainly nothing in modern +educational theory that advises the neglect of books. Some teachers +may have imagined that development instruction, to which reference has +just been made, leans that way. But development instruction is of +importance rather in the first presentation of some topics. After a +topic has been thus developed, it can well be reviewed and further +studied in connection with books. Many teachers are neglecting to use +texts both to their own detriment and to the serious disadvantage of +their pupils. + +_2. Kind of text to be preferred_ + +Teachers who have liberty in choosing their text-books should select +those that contain abundant detail. That means a thick book, to be +sure; and many teachers are afraid of such books on the ground that +they mean long lessons. A thick book may be a poor text; but a thin +one is almost bound to be. The reason is that books are usually made +thin at the expense of detail; and detail is necessary in order to +establish the relations between facts, by which the story form can be +secured and a subject be made interesting. Without plenty of detail +the facts have to be run together, or listed, merely as so many things +that are true; they then form only a skeleton, with all the +repulsiveness of a skeleton. Such a barren text is barren of +suggestions to children for supplementing, because the ideas are too +far apart to indicate what ought to fit in between. + +The understanding ought to be more common that long lessons are by no +means synonymous with hard lessons. The hardest lessons to master are +those brief, colorless presentations that fail to stimulate one to see +vividly and to think. Many a child who carries a geography text about +with him learns most of his geography from his geographical readers, +simply because the writer does not squeeze all the juice out of what +he has to say in order to save space. A child can often master five +pages in such a book more easily than he can one from the ordinary +geography, and he will remember it longer. + +_3. Character of the questions to be put_ + +Whatever the text chosen, the recitation should be so conducted that +the emphasis will fall on reflection rather than on mere reproduction. +To this end one should avoid putting mainly memory questions, such as, +Who was it--? When was it--? Why was it--? What is said about--? Even +the usual request, "Close the books," at the beginning of the +recitation can often be omitted to advantage. Why should not the text- +book in history and geography lie open in class, just as that in +literature, if _thinking_ is the principal object? + +Questions that require supplementing can be proposed by both teacher +and pupils. Now and then some topic can be assigned for review, with +the understanding that the class, instead of reproducing the facts, +shall occupy the time in "talking them over." The teacher can then +listen, or act as critic. It is a harsh commentary on the quality of +instruction if a lesson on Italy, or on a presidential administration, +or on a story, suggests no interesting conversation to a class. + +Occasionally, as one feature of a lesson, a class might propose new +points of view for the review of some subject. For example, if the +Western states have been studied in geography, some of the various +ways in which they are of interest to man might be indicated by +questions, thus: What about the Indians in that region? What pleasure +might a sportsman expect there? What sections would be of most +interest to the sight-seer? How is the United States Government +reclaiming the arid lands, and in what sections? What classes of +invalids resort to the West, and to what parts? How do the fruits +raised there compare with those further east in quality and +appearance? How is farming differently conducted there? In what +respects, if any, is the West more promising than the East to a young +man starting in life? + +These are such questions about the West as large classes of +individuals must put to themselves in practical life; they are, then, +fair questions for the pupil in school to put to himself and to +answer. By thus considering the various phases of human interest in a +subject, children can get many suggestions for supplementing the text. + +_4. Different types of reproduction_ + +The habit of reproducing thought in different ways will also throw +different lights on the subject-matter, and thus offer many +supplementary ideas. For example, dramatizing is valuable in this way. +The description, in the first person, of one's experiences in crossing +the desert is an illustration. I once visited a Sunday-school class +that was studying the life of John Paton, the noted missionary to the +New Hebrides Islands. The text stated that one of the cannibal chiefs +had been converted, and had asked permission to preach on Sunday to +the other savages. This permission was granted; but the text did not +reproduce the sermon. Thereupon several members of the class +undertook, as a part of the next Sunday's lesson, to deliver such a +sermon as they thought the savage might have given. Two of the boys +brought hatchets on that Sunday to represent tomahawks, which they +used as aids in making gestures, and their five-minute speeches showed +a careful study of the whole situation. Likewise the experiences of +Columbus might be dramatized, as, when asking for help from the king, +or when reasoning with the wise men of Spain, or when conversing with +his sailors on his first voyage to America.[Footnote: See the story of +Columbus in Stevenson's _Children's Classics in Dramatic Form_, A +Reader for the Fourth Grade.] + +Additional suggestions will often be obtained by inquiring, "What part +of this lesson, if any, would you like to represent by drawings? Or by +paintings? Or by constructive work? Also, How would you do it?" + +_5. The danger of the three R's and spelling to habits of reflection_ + +Much of what has been said about supplementing ideas finds only slight +application to beginning reading, writing, spelling, and number work. +The reason is that these subjects, aiming so largely at mastery of +symbols, call for memory and skill rather than reflection. For this +very reason these subjects are in many ways dangerous to proper habits +of study, and the teacher needs to be on her guard against their bad +influence. They are so prominent during the first few years of school +that children may form their idea of study from them alone, which they +may retain and carry over to other branches. To avoid this danger, +other subjects, such as literature and nature study, deserve prominent +places in the curriculum from the beginning, and special care should +be exercised to treat them in such a way that this easy kind of +reflection is strongly encouraged. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS, AS A THIRD FACTOR IN STUDY + + + +_A. The different values of facts, and their grouping into "points"_ + + +_Extent to which teachers treat facts as equal in value_ + +In several branches of knowledge in the primary school it is customary +for teachers to attach practically the same importance to different +facts. This is the case, for instance, in spelling, where a mistake +counts the same, no matter what word be misspelled. It is largely the +case in writing. In beginning reading one word is treated as equal in +value to any other, since in any review list every one is required. In +beginning arithmetic this equality of values is emphasized by +insistence upon the complete mastery of every one of the combinations +in the four fundamental operations. Throughout arithmetic, moreover, +failure to solve any problem is the same as the failure to solve any +other, judged in the light of the marking systems in use. + +The same tendency is less marked, but still evident, in many other +subjects, some of them more advanced. In geography, teachers seldom +recognize any inequality of value in the map questions, even though a +question on the general directions of the principal mountain systems +in North America be followed by a request to locate Iceland. The +facts, too, are very often strung along in the text in such a manner +that it is next to impossible to distinguish values. Here is an +example from a well-known text: "Worcester is a great railroad center, +and is noted for the manufacture of engines and machinery. At +Cambridge is located Harvard University, the oldest and one of the +largest in the country. Pall River, Lowell, and New Bedford are the +great centers of cotton manufacture; Lawrence, of both cotton and +wool; Lynn, Brockton, and Haverhill make millions of boots and shoes; +and at Springfield is a United States arsenal, where firearms are +made. Holyoke has large paper mills. Gloucester is a great fishing +port. Salem has large tanneries." How does this differ from a spelling +list, so far as equality of values is concerned? + +In nature study all have witnessed the typical lesson where some +object, such as a flowering twig, for example, is placed in the hands +of every pupil and each one is requested to tell something that he +sees. Anything that is offered is gratefully accepted. While this +particular kind of study is fortunately disappearing, the common +tendency to regard all facts alike is still clearly shown in the case +of the topic, cat, discussed on page 40. + +In literature, failures are very often condemned alike, whether they +pertain to the meanings of words, of sentences, of references, or of +whole chapters. + +Until very recently at least, even in universities, it has been common +to assign lessons in history textbooks by pages, and to require that +they be recited in the order of the text. The teacher, or professor +even, in such cases has shown admirable ability to place the burden of +the work upon the students by assigning to himself the single onerous +task of announcing who shall "begin" and who shall "go on." What +recognition is there of varying values of facts in such teaching? + +_The effect of such teaching on method of study_ + +Not all of such instruction is avoidable or even undesirable; but it +is so common that it has a very important effect on method of study. + +So long as facts are treated as approximately equal in worth, the +learner is bound to picture the field of knowledge as a comparatively +level plain composed of a vast aggregation of independent bits. In +spelling, writing, and beginning reading it is so many hundreds or +thousands of words; in beginning arithmetic it is the various +combinations in the four fundamental operations; in geography it is a +long list of statements; in history it is an endless lot of facts as +they happen to come on the page; in literature it is sentence after +sentence. + +One can get possession of this field, not by taking the strategic +positions,--for under the assumption of equality there are none,--but +rather by advancing over it slowly, mastering one bit at a time. Thus +the words in beginning reading, writing, and spelling are learned and +reproduced in all orders, proving them to be independent little +entities. In geography and history, when the facts are not wormed out +of the pupil by questions, he sees the page before him by his mind's +eye,--a fact frequently revealed by the movement of his eyes while +reciting,--and attempts to recall each paragraph or statement in its +order. In literature he masters his difficulties sentence by sentence, +a method most clearly shown in the case of our greatest classic, the +Bible, which is almost universally studied and quoted by verses. + +Thus the _unit of progress_ in study is made the single fact; the +whole of any subject becomes the sum of its details; and a subject has +been supposedly mastered when all these bits have been learned. This +might well be called the method of study by driblets. It is probably +safe to say that a majority of the young people in the United States, +including college students, study largely in this way. + +While this method of study is bad in numerous ways, there are three of +its faults in particular which need to be considered here. + +_Respects in which this method of study is wrong +1. Facts, as a rule, vary greatly in value_ + +In the first place, facts vary indefinitely in value. In parts of a +few subjects they do have practically the same worth, which is, no +doubt, a source of much misconception about proper methods of study. +In spelling, for instance, _which_ is probably as important a word as +_when_, and _sea_ as important as _flood_. In a list of three hundred +carefully selected words for spelling for third-year pupils, any one +word might properly be regarded as equal to any other in worth. This +may be said also in regard to a list for writing. Much the same is +true in regard to a possible list of four hundred words for reading in +the first year of school. In arithmetic one would scarcely assert that +4X7 was more or less important than 9X8, or 8/2, or 6-3, or 4+2. In +other words, the various combinations in the four fundamental +operations are, again, all of them essential to every person's +knowledge, and therefore stand on the same plane of worth. + +To some extent, therefore, the three R's and spelling are exceptions +to an important general rule. Yet even in spelling and beginning +reading not all words by any means have the same value. Children in +the third year of school who are reading Whittier's _Barefoot Boy_ +ought to be able to recognize and spell the word _robin;_ perhaps, +also, _woodchuck_ and _tortoise;_ but _eschewing_ is not a part of +their vocabulary and will not soon be, and probably the less said +about that word by the teacher the better. + +The moment we turn to other subjects, facts are found to vary almost +infinitely in value, just as metals do. Judged by the space they +occupy, they may appear to be equally important; but they are not to +be judged in this way, any more than men are. According to their +nature, thoughts or statements are large and small, or broad and +narrow, or far-reaching and insignificant. A general of an army may be +of more consequence to the welfare of a nation than a thousand common +soldiers; so one idea like that of evolution may be worth a full ten +thousand like the fact that "our neighbor's cat kittened yesterday." + +_2. They are dependent upon one another for their worth_ + +In the second place, facts can by no means be regarded as independent. +As before, to be sure, the three R's and spelling afford some +exception to this rule. In spelling, writing, and beginning reading it +is important that any one of a large number of words be recognized or +reproduced at any time, without reference to any others. All of these, +together with the combinations in the fundamental operations in +arithmetic, are often called for singly, and they must, therefore, be +isolated from any possible series into which they might fall, and +mastered separately. + +Aside from these subjects, facts are generally dependent upon their +relations to one another for their value. Taken alone, they are +ineffective fragments of knowledge, just as a common soldier or an +officer in an army is ineffective in battle without definite relations +to a multitude of other men. + +If the first sentences on twenty successive pages in a book were +brought together, they would tell no story. They would be mere +scattered fractions of thoughts, lacking that relation to one another +that would give them significance and make them a unit. Twenty closely +related sentences might, however, express a very valuable thought. + +James Anthony Froude, impressed with this truth and at the same time +recalling the prevalent tendency to ignore it, declares: "Detached +facts on miscellaneous subjects, as they are taught at a modern +school, are like separate letters of endless alphabets. You may load +the mechanical memory with them, till it becomes a marvel of +retentiveness. Your young prodigy may amaze examiners and delight +inspectors. His achievements may be emblazoned in blue books, and +furnish matter for flattering reports on the excellence of our +educational system. And all this while you have been feeding him with +chips of granite. But arrange your letters into words, and each word +becomes a thought, a symbol waking in the mind an image of a real +thing. Group your words into sentences, and thought is married to +thought, and the chips of granite become soft bread, wholesome, +nutritious, and invigorating." [Footnote: James Anthony Froude, +_Handwork before Headwork._] + +A very simple illustration is found in the study of the dates for the +entrance of our states into the Union. Taken one at a time, the list +is dead. But interest is awakened the moment one discovers that for a +long period each Northern state was matched by one in the South, so +that they entered in pairs. + +_3. The sum of the details does not equal the whole._ + +Finally, the whole of a subject is not merely the sum of its little +facts. You may study each day's history lesson faithfully, and may +retain everything in memory till the book is "finished," and still not +know the main things in the book. You may understand and memorize each +verse of a chapter in the Bible until you can almost reproduce the +chapter in your sleep, and still fail to know what the chapter is +about. Probably some readers of this text who have repeated the Lord's +Prayer from infancy, would still need to do some studying before they +could tell the two or three leading thoughts in that prayer. + +An especially good illustration of this fact in my own experience as a +teacher has been furnished in connection with the following paragraph, +taken from Dr. John Dewey's _Ethical Principles underlying Education._ +"Information is genuine or educative only in so far as it effects +definite images and conceptions of material placed in social life. +Discipline is genuine and educative only as it represents a reaction +of the information into the individual's own powers, so that he can +bring them under control for social ends. Culture, if it is to be +genuine and educative, and not an external polish or factitious +varnish, represents the vital union of information and discipline. It +designates the socialization of the individual in his whole outlook +upon life and mode of dealing with it." I have had a large number of +graduate students who found it very difficult to state the point of +this paragraph, although every sentence is reasonably clear and they +are in close sequence. + +Thus the larger thoughts, instead of being the sum of the details, are +an outgrowth from them, an interpretation of them; they are separate +and new ideas conceived through insight into the relations that the +individual statements bear to one another. + +_The proper unit of progress in study_ + +From the foregoing we see that some facts are very large, while others +are of little importance, and that any one statement, taken +separately, lacks significance. + +The field of thought, therefore, instead of being pictured as a plain, +is to be conceived as a very irregular surface, with elevations of +various heights scattered over it. And just as hills and mountains +rest upon and are approached by the lower land about them, so the +larger thoughts are supported and approached by the details that +relate to them. + +A general of an army, desiring to get possession of a disputed region, +does not plan to take and hold the lower land without the higher +points, nor the higher points without the lower land. On the contrary, +each vantage point with its approaches constitutes, in his mind, one +division of the field, one strategic section, which is to be seized +and held. And these divisions or units all taken together constitute +the region. + +So any portion of knowledge that is to be acquired should be divided +into suitable units of attack; one large thought together with its +supporting details should constitute one section, another large +thought together with its associated details a second, etc.; all of +these together composing the whole field. In other words, the student, +instead of making progress in knowledge fact by fact, should advance +by _groups of facts_. His smallest unit of progress should be a +considerable number of ideas so related to one another that they make +a whole; those that are alike in their support of some valuable +thought making up a bundle, and the farther-reaching, controlling idea +itself constituting the band that ties these bits together and +preserves their unity. Such a unit or, "point," as it is most often +called, is the basal element in thinking, just as the family is the +basal element in society. + +_The size of such units of advance._ + +Such units of advance may vary indefinitely in size; but the danger is +that they will be too small. A minister who reaches his thirteenthly +is not likely to be a means of converting many sinners. A debater who +makes fifteen points will hardly find his judges enthusiastic in his +favor, no matter how weak his opponents may be. A chapter that +contains twenty or thirty paragraphs should not be remembered as +having an equal number of points. What is wanted is that the student +shall _feel the force_ of the ideas presented, and a great lot of +little points strung together cannot produce a forceful impression. + +Any thought that is worth much must be supported by numerous facts and +will require considerable time or space for presentation. A minister +can hardly establish a half dozen valuable ideas in one sermon; he +does well if he presents two or three with force; and he is most +likely to make a lasting impression if he confines himself to one. +Drummond's _The Greatest Thing in the World_ is an example of the +possibilities in this direction. + +Accordingly the student, in reading a chapter or listening to a +lecture, should find the relationships among the smaller portions of +the thought that will unify the subject-matter under a very few heads. +If several pages or a whole lecture can be reduced to a single point, +it should be done. He should always remember that to the extent that +the supporting details are numerous they will have a cumulative +effect, thereby rendering the central thought strong enough to have a +permanent influence. + +_The meaning of organization of knowledge, and its value._ + +Such grouping of ideas as has thus far been considered, although of +the greatest importance, is only the beginning of the organization of +knowledge. For thus far only the minimum unit of advance has been +under discussion. Asone proceeds in the study of a subject these +smaller units collect in large numbers, and they must themselves be +subordinated to still broader central thoughts, according to their +nature. This grouping of details, according to their relationships, +into points, and of such points under still higher heads, and so on +until a whole subject and even the whole field of knowledge is +carefully ordered according to the relationships of its parts, is what +is meant by organization of knowledge. + +Sometimes an entire book is thus organized under a single idea, +Fiske's _Critical Period of American History_ being an excellent +example. In this volume the conditions at the close of the +Revolutionary War are vividly described. It is shown that great debts +remained unpaid, that different systems of money caused confusion, and +that civil war was seriously threatened in various quarters. These and +other dangers convinced sober men that a firm central government was +indispensable. But then, it was no easy matter to bring such a +government into existence; and it is shown how numerous heroic +attempts in this direction barely escaped failure before the +constitution was finally adopted. On the whole, it is safe to say that +each paragraph or small number of paragraphs, while constituting a +unit, is at the same time a necessary part of the chapter to which it +belongs; likewise, each chapter, while constituting a unit, is an +integral part of the book as a whole; and all these parts are so +interrelated and complete that the whole book constitutes a unit. + +Observe the advantage of such organization. The period of our history +immediately following the Revolution used to be one of the least +interesting of topics. Under the title "The Period following the +Treaty of Paris," or "The Period from the Close of the Revolutionary +War to the Adoption of the Constitution," the textbooks attempted +nothing more than an enumeration or history of the chief difficulties +and struggles of our youthful nation. In some cases, if I remember +correctly, this was designated "The Period of Confusion," and its +description left the reader in a thoroughly confused state of mind. + +Fiske's book was a revelation. What had seemed very complex and +confused became here extremely simple; what had been especially dull +became here perhaps the most exciting topic in all our history. And +the secret of the advance is found to a large extent in the +organization. Thus organization is a means of effectiveness in the +presentation of knowledge, as in the use of a library or the conduct +of a business. + +_The basis for the organization of knowledge in general._ + +All the facts in Mr. Fiske's book are organized about the stirring +question expressed in his title, _i. e._, how our ship of state barely +escaped being wrecked. Because this idea is of intense interest to us, +and the entire book bears upon it continually, the story is read with +bated breath. Drummond's _Greatest Thing in the World_ is another +excellent example on a smaller scale of ideas centered about a vital +human question. Thus specific problems of various degrees of breadth, +_that are intimately related to man_, can well be taken as the basis +for the organization of knowledge in general. Classical literature is +organized on this basis, which is called the pedagogical or +_psychological_ basis, and it seems desirable that other fields should +also be. + +Yet there are other kinds of organization in which the relation to man +is not so plainly, or not at all, taken as the controlling idea. For +example, biology is often organized on the basis of the growing +complexity of the organism, the student beginning with the simple, +microscopic cell, and advancing to the more and more complex forms. +Formerly, after the Linnaean system, plants were classified according +to their similarity of structure. Now both plants and animals are +often classified on the basis of their manner of adaptation to their +environment. Thus within the field of science there is what is called +the _scientific_ basis of organization. + +There is also the _logical_ basis of organization of thought, +according to which some most fundamental idea is taken as the +beginning of a system, or the premise, and other ideas are evolved +from this first principle. Rousseau attempted to develop his +educational doctrine in this way, starting with the assertion that +everything was good as it came from the Creator, but that everything +degenerated in the hands of man. John Calvin did the same in his +system of theology; and he reasoned so succinctly from his few +premises that any one granting these was almost compelled to accept +his entire doctrine. + +Attention is called to these facts here in order to suggest that, +while the scientific and the logical bases of organization are in +common use, neither of them is adequate as the main basis of +organization for a young student who is studying a subject for the +first time. The reason is that each of them secures a careful ordering +of facts only with reference to the relations that those facts bear to +one another, and not with reference to the relation that they bear to +man; and in thus ignoring man they show grave faults. They are +indifferent to interest on the part of the learner; they offer no +standard for judging the relative worths of facts to man; and instead +of exerting an influence in the direction of applying knowledge, they +exert some influence in the opposite direction by their indifference +to man's view-point. It must be admitted that they are of great +assistance in securing thoroughness of comprehension by their +revelation of the relations existing among facts, and also that they +classify facts in a convenient way for finding them later; but they +are of greatest use to the advanced student, who is already supplied +with motive and with standards for judging worth, and who has proper +habits of study already formed; they can well follow but they should +not supplant the psychological basis. + +_The student's double task in the organization of ideas._ + +An author's organization of subject-matter is frequently poor. But +whether it be poor or good, some hard work on the part of the student +is necessary before the proper grouping of ideas can take place in his +own mind. The danger is that there will be practically no arrangement +of his thoughts, as is well illustrated in the following letter from +an eight-year-old boy. + +DEAR UNCLE CHARLIE: + +Will you please buy some of my 24 package of my Bluine, if you will +please buy one package it will help me a lot. One Saturday we played +ball against the east side and beat twelve to 1. I will get a baseball +suit if I can sell 24 packages of Bluine. We had quite a blizzard here +to-day. For one package it costs ten cents. When we played ball +against the east side we only had 6 boys and they had twelve. We have +a base ball team, and I am Captain, so you see I need a suit. Gretchen +and Mother are playing backgammon with one dice. I catch sometimes +when our real catcher is not there. When he is there I play first +Base. + Your loving nephew, JAMES. + +There is one prominent idea in this letter, touching the sale of +Bluine, with reasons; and parts of two others, concerning the weather +and the occupation of mother and sister. The first is the most fully +treated; but, as might be expected from an eight-year-old child, no +one idea is supported by sufficient detail to round it out and make it +strong. + +In avoiding such defects two things are necessary: First, the student +must decide what points he desires to make. They should be so +definitely conceived that they can be easily distinguished from one +another and can even be _counted_. Then, in the second place, all +the details that bear upon a central idea should be collected and +presented together in sequence under the point concerned. By this +massing of all supporting statements under their proper heads, +overlapping or duplicating is avoided, and clearness is gained. Also, +force is secured by the cumulative effect of intimately related facts, +just as it is secured by the concerted attack by the divisions of an +army. + +Even the better students often stop with finding the main thoughts +alone. And the temptation to do no more is strong, since teachers +seldom require a forceful presentation of ideas in recitation; they +are thankful to get a halting statement of the principal facts. But +the student should remember that he is studying for his own good, not +merely to keep teachers contented; and he should not deceive himself +by his own fluency of speech. He should form the habit of often asking +himself, "What is my point?" also, "What facts have I offered for its +support, and have I massed them all as I should?" He must thus form +the habit of arranging his ideas into points if he wishes to be +pointed. + +_Precautions against inaccuracy in the grouping of facts into points._ + +The dangers of inaccuracy in this kind of study are numerous. First +the individual statements must be carefully interpreted. A certain +very intelligent ten-year-old girl studying arithmetic read the +problem, "What is the interest on $500 at six per cent for one year?" +Then, probably under the influence of some preceding problem, she +found four per cent of the principal, and added the amount to the +principal for her answer, thus showing two mistakes in reading. +Perhaps half of the mistakes that children make in the solution of +problems is due to such careless reading. A certain fifth-year class +in history read a very short paragraph about the three ships that were +secured for Columbus's first voyage, the paragraph ending with the +statement, "On board the three [ships] were exactly ninety men." When +they were asked later how many men accompanied Columbus the common +answer was, "Two hundred and seventy, since there were ninety men on +each ship." + +These mistakes are typical of those that are common, even among +adults, as in the reading of examination questions, for instance. I +have more than once asked graduate students in a university to state +the _one principal_ thought obtained from the extended study of an +article on education, and have received a paper with a threefold +answer, (_a_), (_b_), (_c_). Such responses are due to extreme +carelessness in reading the questions asked, as well as to a desire to +be obliging and allow an instructor some freedom of choice. Thus the +meaning of the individual statements that constitute the material out +of which larger truths are derived, must be carefully watched if the +final interpretation of an author's thought is to be accurate. + +The tendency toward error is greater still when it comes to finding +the central thought for a portion of text. This was once amusingly +illustrated by a class composed only of the principals and high-school +teachers in a county institute, some seventy-five persons in all. The +text under discussion was the first chapter of Professor James's well- +known book, _Talks to Teachers_. The title of the chapter is +"Psychology and the Teaching Art"; and Professor James, fearing that +teachers might be expecting too much from his field, sets to work to +discourage the idea that psychology can be a panacea for all of a +teacher's ills. The larger portion of the twelve pages is devoted to +this object, although the explicit statement is made, on the third +page, that "psychology ought certainly to give the teacher radical +help." But so little space is given to this declaration that, in spite +of its definiteness and positive character, the class as a whole +reached the conclusion that he was advising teachers not to study +psychology at all. In other words, they had failed to balance up one +part of the chapter against the other; and their failure left them in +the ridiculous position of assuming that an author of a book for +teachers was dissuading teachers from reading his book. + +A third and perhaps the most common source of error is found in the +particular wording given to the central thought. In order to be +perfectly definite and accurate any thought should be expressed in the +form of a full statement. It ordinarily takes at least a whole +sentence to express a whole thought. But it is very common for +students even, who have formed the habit of thinking by points, to +allow brief headings, consisting of single words or short phrases, to +represent entire thoughts. Although such headings, on account of their +brevity, may be useful, they are merely names for the thought, not +statements of the thought itself; and it means the loosest kind of +thinking to stop with them. A mere title, as a lecture "About Russia," +for instance, designates only the outside limits to which a person +confines himself--provided he sticks to his theme. It often tells no +more about the substance of the thought within those limits than a +man's name tells about his character. It is usually easy to tell "what +a page is about"; but it usually requires keen thinking to word its +principal idea sharply in a full sentence. Many students are +inaccurate in the interpretation of authors and in their own thinking, +not so much because they lack mental ability as because they lack the +energy to continue their thinking to this point of wording the central +idea accurately in a full sentence. + + + +THE ABILITY OF CHILDREN TO GROUP FACTS INTO POINTS. + + +The grouping of facts into points requires ability to perceive that +some statements are more valuable than others, without reference to +the space that they happen to occupy on the printed page; it +presupposes, also, the power to rearrange a stranger's ideas. It is, +therefore, an aggressive kind of work, in which even adults often fail +to distinguish themselves. Can children be expected to assume such +responsibility? + +_Proofs of such ability. +1. As shown by children ten years old and younger._ + +Proof that any ten-year-old child has already assumed it in a simple +way for some years is contained in the following facts:-- + +1. Long before the school age is reached a child has had much practice +in picking out the logical subjects of sentences, inasmuch as he has +learned to comprehend statements made to him. Distinguishing the +subject of a sentence is the same kind of work as distinguishing the +subject of a paragraph or chapter, only it is simpler. + +2. Any six-year-old child has, likewise, had much practice in +detecting the subject of short conversations, especially of those of +interest to him. If he happens to overhear a conversation between his +parent and teacher touching a possible punishment for himself, he can +be trusted to sum it up and get the gist of it all, even though some +of the words do not reach him. That is exactly the kind of thinking +required in getting the point of a lecture. + +3. In relating fairy tales and other stories, during the first years +at school, children easily fall into the habit of relating a part, or +a point, at a time. And, if the memory or the courage fails, the +teacher gives help by asking, "What will you tell about first? And +then? And then?" thus setting them right, and keeping them so, by +having them divide the story into its principal sections. + +4. In composition, in the lower and middle grades, the paragraphing of +thought, first as presented on the printed page, then as called for in +oral recitation and in conversation, and finally in the child's +written form, is a prominent subject of instruction. No one maintains +that such work is unnatural, or too difficult, for such young +children. + +5. Development instruction, which has already been mentioned as +peculiarly successful with young children, would be impossible if +children were unable to appreciate the character of a principal +thought, as the topic or point for discussion, and of other thoughts +as subordinate to it. + +_2. As shown in the use of different texts and of reference books._ + +The use of several texts in one subject, as history, by one child, and +the use of reference books,--both of which are common above the fifth +year of school,--presuppose the ability to study by topics, and to +bring together from various sources the facts that support a principal +truth. + +_3. As shown by the rapid improvement they can make in such study._ + +Finally, the progress that children can make, when direct instruction +in this matter is given to them, is good proof of their ability in +this direction. For example, in a geography class composed of ten- +year-old children, I once assigned for a lesson the following section +from the text-book:-- + +POLITICAL DIVISIONS.--You will remember that Spain was the nation that +helped Columbus make his discovery of America. The Spaniards afterward +settled in the southern part of the continent, and introduced the +Spanish language there. That is still the chief language spoken in +Mexico, in the southern part of North America. Mexico became +independent of Spain many years ago. + +Other nations also sent explorers and made settlements. Among these +were the English, who settled chiefly along the Atlantic coast, and +finally came to own the greater part of the continent north of Mexico. + +In time the English, who lived in the central portion of eastern North +America, waged war against England, and chose George Washington as +their leader. On the 4th of July, 1776, they declared their +independence of England, and finally won it completely. This part +became known as the United States; but the region to the north, which +England was able to keep, and which she still possesses, is called +Canada. Find each of these countries on the map (Fig. 123). Point +toward Canada and Mexico. + +Besides these three large nations, several smaller ones occupy Central +America, which lies south of Mexico. + +After the children had had time to study it somewhat carefully, I +requested them to tell briefly what the section was about. The first +three replies were as follows, in the following order, and these were +not improved on later, without suggestion: "It tells about discovery." +"It tells about the language in Mexico." "It tells about what are +nations." This was their first attempt at such work, and it met with +meager success. The heading in the text seemed to give them no aid +whatever, which was sufficient proof of its unfitness for children. + +Yet within one month, with some attention given to this matter every +day, I found half of the class of twenty to be reasonably safe in +picking out the central thought in a page of their text. + +From all these facts it seems that children are reasonably capable of +receiving instruction in regard to the grouping of facts into points. +It is evident, also, that they need such instruction badly, if they +are to study properly the lessons that are assigned to them. + + + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN TO GROUP RELATED FACTS +INTO POINTS + + +_1. The teacher's example._ + +In the first place, the example of the teacher can be of great +influence. Any good teacher should do more than ask questions and +explain difficult topics. She should now and then talk to her +children. Particularly general exercises she should give expression to +other ideas than those immediately involved in instruction. If at such +times her ideas are carefully grouped about one or more central +thoughts, her pupils are likely to feel the roundness and the +consequent clearness and force of her points, and to be ambitious to +imitate her style. Many an adult, no doubt, can recall both the +pleasure he experienced in early youth when listening to some speaker +who possessed this merit, and early attempts that he made to imitate +such a style. + +_2. Use of written outlines in development instruction._ + +In development instruction, in the lower and middle grades in +particular, brief headings representing the main facts reached might +be placed on the blackboard, or written down by each pupil as the +facts are established. Such writing is of great assistance in keeping +the outline in mind. Frequently, even in the lower grades, review +outlines might be required without such visual help. + +_3. In connection with the use of text. +(a) Finding of the principal thought in paragraphs._ + +A terse statement of the principal thought in each paragraph of some +story or other well-organized text is a valuable exercise in +determining the relation that the different sentences in a paragraph +bear to one another, and the gist of the whole. + +_(b) Finding where a point begins and ends._ + +Pupils might point to the place on the page where the treatment of a +certain point begins; also where it ends. Thus they would receive +exercise in distinguishing not only the principal thought, but also +the _turns_ in the thought, and therefore the most suitable stopping +places for reflection. + +_(c) The making of marks, to indicate relative values._ + +The most valuable statements might well be _marked_ in the text, +some system of marks--as, for instance, one, two, or three short +vertical lines in the margin--being agreed upon to indicate different +degrees of worth. It is very common for adults, particularly very +careful students, thus to mark books that they read. Unless one does +so, it is difficult to find again, or review quickly, the main ideas. +Yet one of the especially important things to teach young people in +the handling of a book is some way of reviewing quickly the most +valuable parts. Many persons who would gladly review the few most +interesting portions of a book have no way of doing so except by +reading the volume through again. That takes so much time that they +omit the review altogether. + +In case the books belong to the school or library, all such marks may +be objectionable. Certainly the aimless marking of any book is to be +condemned. But thoughtful marking, with the view of showing relative +values, is likely to increase the amount of reflection on the part of +the one who makes the marks. It is likely, also, to increase the +amount of reflection on the part of the later reader, for he, seeing +the marks, is inclined to weigh the thought long enough to decide +whether he agrees or disagrees with the previous reader. + +If, however, the objections to such markings are insuperable, children +can at least be encouraged to own some of the books that they use. +They ought to be developing a pride in a library of their own, anyway. +"If a book is worth reading, it is worth buying," says Ruskin. "No +book is worth anything which is not worth much; nor is it serviceable +until it has been read and reread, and loved and loved again, and +_marked_, so that you can refer to the passages you want in it, as a +soldier can seize the weapon he needs in an armory, or a housewife +bring the spice she needs from her store." [Footnote: Ruskin's _Sesame +and Lilies._] + +It might be added, also, that all the writing thus suggested could be +kept on note paper or in note books, if forbidden to appear in printed +books. + +It should be borne in mind, however, that one important object in +using books in school is to teach their proper use outside of school. +To this end, books should be used in school in substantially the same +way in which they are expected to be used outside. There is often a +lack of correspondence between these two methods in various ways. + +Wherever the markings indicating relative values happen to be placed, +they can well be compared in class and the disagreements discussed. +This would throw a class into the heart of the subject-matter of a +text on their own initiative. If it resulted in spending a whole +recitation in a discussion of relative values, as it frequently would, +it should be remembered that that is the most valuable kind of study. + +_(d) The selection of marginal headings._ + +If the books used contain no marginal headings, the pupils might +propose some. And if marginal headings are found in some, proposals +for their improvement would be in place, since such headings are +rarely good. For example, the heading "Political Divisions," quoted +above, would be much more definite and significant if changed to "The +Countries in North America," and children could soon learn to make +such improvements. Headings of chapters, likewise, often need +rewording in a simpler, more definite and restrictive way. + +_(e) The collecting of supports for leading thoughts._ + +Choosing some one of the principal thoughts, the children should have +practice in finding the data that support it, and in presenting such +data in good sequence and in an otherwise forceful manner. + +_(f) Stating the leading thoughts in close sequence._ + +As one way of summarizing review lessons the children might enumerate +the leading thoughts in close sequence, giving a careful wording for +each in a full statement. + +_4. As a preparation for the taking of notes._ + +Pupils in the higher grades having to consult reference books +frequently, and to take notes also from discussions and lectures, +should receive careful instruction in note-taking. As preparation for +such work, the teacher might read to the class, while the latter +listen with the object of telling how many and what are the main +points. Sometimes they might call "halt" as they realize that a turn +is being made and another point is beginning. They should be reminded +that the relationships of ideas, which are indicated by punctuation +and paragraphing on the printed page, are revealed by a reader's or +speaker's manner, as when he makes short pauses between sentences, or +emphasizes an idea by voice or gesture, or allows his voice to fall at +the end of some minor thought, or turns around, stops to get a drink, +walks across the floor, or waits for applause at the close of one of +his principal flights. Teacher and pupils might all take notes +together, sometimes on principal points, sometimes only on the +supporting data for one such point. Then the results might be +compared, and the small amount of writing necessary might be +discussed. + + + + +_B. The neglect of relatively unimportant facts or statements_ + + +We have seen that the organization of ideas requires the recognition +of some thoughts as central, and the grouping of various details about +them. While it places peculiar emphasis on these controlling facts, it +also recognizes details as an essential part of knowledge. + +_Neglect as well as emphasis involved in relative values._ + +A question now arises about the relative values among these details. +While they are an essential part of knowledge, do they themselves vary +indefinitely in worth? And while many deserve much attention, are +there many others that may be slighted and even ignored? + +The first part of this chapter has really dealt with the emphasis that +is necessary for some ideas. But emphasis at one point suggests +neglect at another point, for the two terms are correlative. Some +persons would even assert that neglect is as important an element in +proper study as emphasis, and that the two terms should be in equally +good repute. This part of the chapter deals with the neglect that is +due in proper study. It is, perhaps, a more difficult topic to treat +than the preceding. Certainly many teachers are afraid to advise young +people to neglect parts of their lessons, lest such suggestion might +seem a direct recommendation to be careless. + +_Why neglect is scarcely allowable in some subjects._ + +We have seen that, to a certain extent, the facts in the three R's and +spelling have practically the same worth. All of the combinations of +simple numbers must be mastered; likewise all the words in a well- +selected list in spelling, etc. Since differences in value are wanting +here, there is no occasion for slighting any part. Any neglect in such +cases signifies an oversight or a mistake. + +_Why neglect is necessary in most subjects._ + +But, as before, these subjects to some extent form an exception to the +general rule. In most studies neglect of some parts is positively +necessary. + +It has been already shown that no exact number of facts needs to be +brought together in order to make up any particular topic or study. +Besides those directly expressed in print, there are others +immediately suggested; and the number of possible ideas bearing on a +given matter is legion. Neglect, therefore, becomes not only +necessary, but even prominent, as a factor in study. One might ask, +"Are not all the statements in a valuable book that one happens to be +reading worthy of careful consideration?" Not necessarily, by any +means. The production of thought parallels the production of grain. An +acre of ground, that yields thirty bushels or eighteen hundred pounds +of wheat, may easily grow two whole tons of straw and chaff. These +latter are absolutely necessary to the formation of the wheat kernel; +yet the consumer usually has little use for them; he gets past them to +the grain with the least possible delay, often throwing these other +materials away. + +Likewise, many things that are necessary in the production of thought +are of little use to the consumer. For example, there are often +introductory remarks that have lost their original significance; there +are asides and pleasantries; there are careful transitions from one +thought to another, to avoid abruptness; there are usually more or +less irrelevant remarks due to the fact that even authors' minds +wander now and then; and there are often some things that seemed +important to the author which in no possible way can be of value to +the reader. + +For these reasons, some things are to be omitted, if possible, without +being read, because they are worthless. Many details are unworthy of a +second thought. Many other statements should be cast aside after +having been carefully enough examined to make sure that they will not +be further needed. Not only should some statements and paragraphs be +slighted, but whole chapters as well. Similar practice is familiar to +all in connection with conversations and discussions; and books are of +the same nature as these, having the same faults, though perhaps to a +less degree. What the student wants to carry away is valuable thought, +with the details that vitally concern it; and the space occupied by +such thought and its supporting details, as in the case of the wheat, +is small as compared with the space occupied by the chaff that +accompanies them. "Some books are to be tasted," says Bacon, "others +to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some +books are to be read only in part; others to be read, but not +curiously [attentively]; and some few to be read wholly and with +diligence and attention." [Footnote: Bacon's Essays, _Of Studies._] If +he had added that very many books should not be read at all, he would +have covered the field. + +As a rule, therefore, it is a serious error for a student to +distribute his time and energy somewhat equally over a lesson or a +chapter or a book. There are times when he should advance rapidly and +even skip, as well as other times when he should ponder carefully and +review much. + +_How safety and skill in neglect may be developed. +1. By proceeding from principal thoughts to details._ + +How can one become safe and skillful in this phase of study? The +student must, of course, read or listen to statements largely in the +order of the author's presentation; but two opposite courses of +procedure are possible, and much depends upon the choice that is made +between them. + +On the one hand, one can proceed sentence by sentence, examining each +statement carefully, looking up new words and references, +supplementing, tracing the bearings on one's own life, and doing +whatever else is necessary to assimilate each thought. The single +sentences can be put together so as to reveal the thoughts of +paragraphs; and the central ideas of paragraphs and chapters can +likewise be brought together, so as to reveal the main thoughts of the +work as a whole. Thus the general movement may be from the details to +the larger features, and the controlling ideas may be the last to be +reached. + +The Bible is very commonly studied in this manner, the verses of a +chapter and the chapters of a book being taken one by one in the order +given and thoroughly mastered, and the outline of the whole being the +last thing considered. Geography and history are also frequently +studied in the same way. + +On the other hand, while the reader is still obliged to follow the +author's order, he may at the start be mainly on the outlook for the +general trend of the thought, for the principal issues that are +raised, with the principal answers that are offered; and, if the work +is at all difficult, he may for the time pass over many obscure little +matters, such as new words, strange references, and meaningless +statements, in the sole quest for these larger elements. Then, having +determined these tentatively, he can set to work to examine the +details on which they depend, making the investigation as thorough as +he wishes. Thus the general movement may be from the principal to the +minor thoughts, and the details may be carefully considered last of +all. In accordance with this plan we hear it recommended that the book +of Job be read "at a sitting," or, in case one's spirit of devotion +lacks that degree of endurance, at two or three sittings. Likewise, +Gray's _Elegy_ might be read through without pause, even several +times, before any part is studied in detail; so, also, the drama of +_William Tell_; one act, and perhaps the whole of the drama, of +_Julius Caesar;_ any one of Browning's shorter poems; and ordinary +lessons or chapters in history and geography. + +While these two courses may finally bring about the same result, the +latter is much the more economical plan, for the following reason: The +individual statements vary greatly in value, as we have seen, some +requiring only slight attention, while others must be closely +scrutinized. What determines their value is their relation to the +leading ideas. The latter are the sole standards of worth, the sole +guides, in discriminating among them. If, then, the student has not +found out what the leading ideas are, what basis of selection has he? +How, then, is he to know what are the important details and what are +the unimportant? What can he do, then, more than merely to distribute +his energies somewhat equally and blindly over the various statements +offered, until the principal thoughts come to light? Only after that +will he be in a position to measure relative values and thus to deal +with the details intelligently. The first plan, therefore, involves a +great waste of time. For the same reason that it is economical to go +sight-seeing with a guide, or at least to examine a guidebook before +setting out, it is economical to determine the gist of the thought, +the spirit and substance of the whole, before giving careful attention +to the minor parts. + +_2. By keeping the standard of values ever in mind._ + +The student must not only find the central idea as early as possible, +but he must hold it with a firm grip. Both of these things require +much tenacity of purpose. In following the order of an author's +presentation, considerable detail may have to be traversed before the +main thought begins to dawn in the student's mind, and temptations to +forget about the main issue and to become absorbed in these details +are ever present. It is on this account that teachers attending +teachers' gatherings frequently fail to reach those topics for +discussion that have been advertised; they even fail when printed +reports are the avowed subject for conference. After having arrived at +their destination with much sacrifice, they seem often to forget +exactly what they came for, or to be diverted from it with surprising +ease. However, they are not inferior to other adults in this respect. + +Again, after having settled upon the main idea tentatively, one must +_hold_ it with determination and _use_ it. Children often fail to hold +a question in mind long enough to give a relevant answer. I once asked +a fifth-year class in history, "Who discovered America?" when almost +immediately came the response, "Vespucci sailed along the coast of +South America and named the whole country!" Or they hold it in mind a +moment, and then confuse it with other things, or let it go entirely. +I asked the class, "What is the color of the Indians?" and received an +answer telling about their color and their clothing. At another time I +inquired, "How long has it been since America was discovered?" One boy +replied, "Two hundred and fifty years," remembering, I suppose, that +that number had recently been used in class. But the example in +subtraction was solved on the blackboard before the class, and the +correct answer, 413, was obtained. Once more I said, "Four hundred +and thirteen years since what?" All were silent for a moment, having +quite forgotten the original question. Then came the reply, +"Since--since--Columbus sailed the deep." + +Such carelessness among children sometimes arouses the ire of +teachers; but adults are little better. When a body of them meets for +the discussion of a certain question, the probability is that, if the +first speaker speaks directly to the point, the second will digress +somewhat, the third will touch the subject only slightly, and the +fourth will talk about a different matter. Many a discussion that has +started off well leads to much excitement without any one's knowing +definitely what the subject of dispute is. It is rarely the case that +every page of a paper that is read before teachers bears plainly upon +the subject announced. + +Only in parliamentary discussions, where there is always a definite +"question before the house," is it customary for participants to +remember the topic and stick to it. This happens then only because it +is understood that any one may be "called to order" at any time, and +for the sake of self-protection each person makes a special effort not +to forget. + +This exceptional caution must become habitual with the student if he +is to study effectively. He must look for the principal thought until +he finds it; and, having found it, he must _nurse_ it by recalling it +every few minutes, while using it as a basis for determination of +values. + +_Rapid reading and its method among scholars._ + +That various rates of reading are desirable, even to the point of +skipping over much matter, is indicated by the way in which some +eminent men have studied. For instance, Joseph Cook in his _Hints +for Home Reading_ remarks, "It is said that Carlyle reads on an +average a dozen books a day. Of course he examines them chiefly with +his fingers, and after long practice is able to find at once the +jugular vein and carotid artery of any author." Likewise, "John Quincy +Adams was said to have 'a carnivorous instinct for the jugular vein' +of an argument." [Footnote: Page 80.] "Rapid reading," says Koopman, +[Footnote: Koopman, _The Mastery of Books_, p. 47.] "is the... +difficult art of skipping needless words and sentences. To recognize +them as needless without reading them, is a feat that would be thought +impossible, if scholars everywhere did not daily perform it. With the +turning of a few leaves to pluck out the heart of a book's mystery--this +is the high art of reading, the crowning proof that the reader has +attained the mastery of books." The fact that the first and last parts +of both paragraphs and chapters very often reveal their leading thought, +is of course a great aid in such rapid reading. + +_Is the spirit of induction here opposed?_ + +It is pertinent to ask whether this method of study does not oppose +the spirit of induction. Men like Carlyle seem to ignore that spirit +when they turn quickly to the central ideas or a book and, after +reading these, cast the work aside. It should be remembered, however, +that the minds of such men are so well stocked with information that +most, and sometimes all, of the author's details may be unnecessary to +them; they are already prepared for the generalization. + +The ordinary student, proceeding more slowly, can also be on the watch +at the start for the main issues, without offending against induction. +In so doing he is not necessarily attempting to master the +abstractions first; he may be merely trying to find out what the main +questions are, in order to supply himself with a guide. + +Many an author states his principal problem near the beginning of his +treatment, and then it is easy for the reader or listener to view all +the details in its light. But when this is not the case, the student +must go in quest of it in order to _get the setting_ for all the +statements, rather than in order to assimilate it. He must see the +whole in some perspective before he can study the parts intelligently. +The worth of specific purposes as discussed in pp. 31-60 is clearly +seen in this connection. + +_Relation of such neglect to thoroughness. +1. A common conception of thoroughness and its influence on practice._ + +It is of vital importance further to inquire what relation such +neglect bears to thoroughness in study. + +The answer depends upon the meaning attached to the word _thorough_. +We often hear it said that "Trifles make perfection, and perfection is +no trifle"; also that "thoroughness has to do with details." Again, as +a warning against carelessness in little matters, we are told that-- + + For the want of a nail the shoe was lost. + For the want of a shoe the horse was lost. + For the want of the horse the rider was lost. + For the want of the rider the battle was lost. + For the loss of the battle the kingdom was lost. + +There is certainly a valuable truth in these maxims, and some people, +therefore, accept them at their face value. Calling to mind that many +of the greatest discoveries have hinged on seemingly insignificant +facts, and that the world-renowned German scientists are distinguished +by infinite pains in regard to details, they conceive that the student +is primarily concerned with trifles. Knowing that the dollars will +take care of themselves if the dimes are carefully saved, they reason +that knowledge is properly mastered if the little things receive close +attention. It becomes their ambition, therefore, to let nothing that +is little escape them. In this spirit the conscientious student, +largely identifying conscientiousness with thoroughness, keeps a +special watch for little things, feeling that the smaller an item is +the more fully it tests his thoroughness, and the more meritorious he +is if he attends to it. + +The influence of this notion of thoroughness upon practice has been +marked in some schools. And since spelling furnishes excellent +material for testing care for details, that subject has often been +given high rank partly for that special reason. I have known one large +training school for teachers in which for twenty years and more +probably more time and energy on the part of both faculty and students +were expended on spelling than on any other single subject. It was +unpardonable not to cross the _t_ or dot the _i_, not to insert the +hyphen or the period. Having written a word in spelling, it was a +heinous offense to change it after second thought, and a dozen +misspelled words per term seriously endangered one's diploma at the +end of the three-year course. + +No one can deny great merit to such strenuousness. So definite an aim, +applied to all subjects and relentlessly pursued by a whole faculty,--as +was the case in this school,--compelled students to work till they +overworked, and the school was therefore regarded as excellent. Yet +this conception makes thoroughness a purely _quantitative_ matter; it +accepts _thoroughness_ as meaning _throughness_ or completeness, +signifying the inclusion of everything from "beginning to end," or +from "cover to cover." + +_2. The correct notion of thoroughness._ + +This notion of thoroughness, however, is certainly wrong in opposing +all neglect; and the above-quoted maxims show themselves, in their +disregard for relative values, to be only half truths, In the school +just mentioned there was small emphasis of relative worths and of the +use of judgment in the choice of objects to receive one's attention. +As thoroughness consisted in attention to details, little things +became _per se_ worthy of study, and comparative worth was on that +account overlooked. + +But, as we have seen, there is no hope of mastering _all_ the ideas +connected with any topic, so that the student must be reconciled +to the exercise of judgment in making selection. This choice must be +exercised, too, among the details themselves; it is not confined to a +selection of the large thoughts in distinction from the details. +Details vary infinitely among themselves in value; some, like the +horseshoe nail, easily bear a vital relation to large results; others, +like the use of a hyphen in a word, in all probability bear no +important relation to anything. Those that have this vital relation +are essential and need careful attention; the others are non-essential +and deserve for that reason to be neglected. In other words, +thoroughness is a _qualitative_ rather than a quantitative matter; it +is qualitative because it involves careful selection in accordance +with the nature and relation of the details. The student, to whom +thoroughness is a question of _allness_ needs mental endurance as a +chief virtue; the real student, on the other hand, requires constant +exercise of judgment. In brief, the proper kind of thoroughness calls +for a good degree of good sense. + +The thoroughness that is here advocated implies no underestimate of +little things; it only condemns want of discrimination among them. +Even the painstaking German scientist is no devotee to all things that +are little. Carrying on his investigation with reference to some +definite problem, he is concerned only with such details as are +closely related to it. If he is uncertain just what so-called little +things do relate to it,--as has been the case, for instance, in the +investigation of the cause of yellow fever,--he carefully investigates +one thing after another. But in so doing he discriminates very sharply +among details, throwing many aside without hesitation, briefly +examining some, and finally settling on certain ones for exhaustive +study. + +It is only those little things that are thus related to something of +real value that deserve attention. The mathematician is a stickler for +little things. He insists that figures should be plainly made, and +that 1 + 1 should never be allowed to equal 3. He is wholly in the +right, because the slightest error in reading a number, in placing a +decimal point, or in finding a sum must vitiate the whole result. +Little things of that sort are called little, but they are in reality +big. + +It is unfortunate that such matters are often called trifles, for a +trifle is usually supposed to be something that is of very little +account; the name thus misleads. Such details are essential; other +details are non-essential. It would be well if people would more +generally divide details into these two classes, and apply the term +trifles only to the latter sort. By neglecting non-essentials one +could find more time for the details that are essential. Neglect of +some things, therefore, instead of being opposed to thoroughness, is a +direct and necessary means to it. + +One cannot deny that this notion of thoroughness has its dangers, for +it places the responsibility upon the student of using his own +judgment. That is always dangerous. If the student lacks earnestness, +or insight, or balance, he is bound to make mistakes. He is likely to +make them anyway; and he may merely pick and choose according to +comfort or whim, and do the most desultory, careless studying. It +would be easier for him to "look out for all the little things" than +to discriminate among them, for intelligent selection requires more +real thinking. + +_The dangers in these conceptions, and the conclusion. +1. The danger in this conception of thoroughness._ + +On the other hand, it should be remembered that neglect of details in +general has not been advocated; it is only a judicious selection among +them. And such selection calls for no more energy or ability than +selection among larger facts. If we can trust students at all to +distinguish values among the larger thoughts--as every one knows that +we must--there is the same reason for trusting them to distinguish the +relative worths of details. + +_2. The danger in the alternative plan._ + +The dangers of the alternative plan should also be borne in mind. +Suppose that a capable student is taught to let no trifles escape him. +The danger then is that, to the extent that he is earnest, he will +fall in love with little things, until his vision for larger things +becomes clouded. He may always be intending to pass beyond these to +the larger issues; but he is in danger of failing so regularly that he +will come in time to value details in themselves, not for what they +lead to; the details become the large things, and the really large +matters are forgotten. + +A former professor in a large normal school illustrated this tendency +exactly. At sixty years of age he was an unusually well-informed, +cultured man, but he had developed a mania for little things. He had +charge of the practice department, and each fall term it was customary +to receive applications from about two hundred students for the +practice teaching for that term. Each applicant filled out a blank, +giving his name, age, preferred study to teach, preferred age of +children, and experience in teaching. These papers had to be briefly +examined; then at four o'clock in the afternoon of the same first day +all these applicants were to be called together in one group for +instructions about their teaching. By this arrangement the practice +teaching could be started off very promptly. + +On one occasion in the writer's knowledge, however, this gentleman +could not resist the temptation to blue-pencil every mistake in +spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc., that he could find in this +entire set of papers, which must have occupied nearly two hours. +Meanwhile, this task was so hugely absorbing, he entirely forgot to +notify the two hundred applicants that they were wanted at four +o'clock, and thus one day out of a year of less than two hundred was +largely lost for the practice teaching. + +The main fault of half of the good teachers in the elementary schools +to-day is over-conscientiousness about little things. Believing that +every mistake in written work should be corrected, that the blackboard +should be kept thoroughly clean, that each day's lessons should be +carefully planned, that, in short, every little duty should be well +performed, they putter away at such tasks until there is no time left +for much larger duties, such as physical exercise, sociability, and +general reading. As a result they become habitually tired, +unsympathetic, and narrow, and therefore _schoolish_. It is a +strange commentary on education when conscientiousness means +particular care for little things, as it very often does among +teachers. It is desirable that a teacher prepare each day's lessons in +full, and that she do a hundred other things each day, as well. But +when she cannot do all these--and she never can--it is highly +important that she apportion her time according to relative values; +for instance, it is far better that she omit some of her preparation +of lessons for the sake of recreation, if recreation would otherwise +be omitted. People are unfitted for the work of life until they view +it in fair perspective. One of the important objects of abundant and +broad educational theory for teachers is to help them preserve the +proper balance between large and small things; and, owing to the +common tendency to neglect the larger things for the smaller, one of +the prominent duties of school principals and supervisors is to remind +both teachers and students of the larger values in life in general and +in study in particular. + +_3. The conclusion._ + +It is evident that grave dangers are at hand, whether one slights some +details or attempts to master them all. But no matter what the dangers +are, there is one right thing for the student to do, that is, to +develop the habit of weighing worths, of sensing the relative values +of the facts that he meets. Good judgment consists largely in the +proper appreciation of relative values; and since that is one of the +very prominent factors in successful living, as well as in study, it +is one of the most important abilities for the student to cultivate. + +Not only the equal valuation of all details, but the treatment of +various rules and virtues as absolute, is likewise directly hostile to +this habit of mind. Young people who are taught to be always +economical, or always punctual, or always regular, are thereby tempted +to substitute thoughtless obedience for exercise of judgment. It is +not always wise to be saving. A certain college boy owned three pairs +of gloves; one pair was so old and soiled that it was suitable only +for use in the care of the furnace; the other two pairs were quite +new. However, having been taught to be always saving, he wore the old +pair to college during much of his senior year, and saved the other +two. He was true to his early teaching at the expense of good sense. + +There are few circumstances in life that can be properly treated by +rule of thumb. Good judgment is called for at every turn; and the +habit of considering relative values in regard to all affairs is one +that the student should constantly cultivate, no matter what dangers +have to be encountered. + + + +ABILITY OF CHILDREN TO NEGLECT UNIMPORTANT DETAILS + + +This ability is so intimately related to the ability that is necessary +in grouping related facts that the one can hardly exist without the +other. Yet it is well to observe what a demand there is for neglect in +ordinary school work, and how this demand is met by children. Mistakes +in beginning reading are very common, such as saying _a_ for _an_, +_the_ for _thu_, not pausing for a comma, leaving out a word, putting +in a word, etc. When fairy tales are related, slight omissions, +mistakes in grammar, too frequent use of _and_, etc. are to be +expected. In the pupil's board work, penmanship, and written +composition minor errors are innumerable. What is to be done with all +these? Certainly many of them must be entirely passed over, or more +important things will never be reached. + +In their literature and in their reference books many little +difficulties are met with that must likewise be overlooked. Take for +instance the following typical paragraph from Hawthorne's _Gorgon's +Head:_ + +"Well, then," continued the king, still with a _cunning_ smile on +his lips, "I have a little _adventure_ to propose to you; and, as +you are a brave and _enterprising_ youth, you will doubtless look +upon it as a great piece of good luck to have so rare an opportunity +of _distinguishing_ yourself. You must know, my good Perseus, I think +of getting married to the beautiful Princess Hippodamia; and it is +_customary_, on these occasions, to make the bride a present of some +_far-fetched_ and _elegant curiosity_. I have been a little +_perplexed_, I must honestly confess, where to obtain anything likely +to please a princess of her _exquisite_ taste. But, this morning, I +_flatter_ myself, I have thought of _precisely_ the article." + +Here is an adult's vocabulary, as well as an adult's ideas, with +perhaps a dozen new words, and anything like mathematical thoroughness +in the study of this paragraph would destroy its attractiveness. It is +well for teachers to consider what would be a thorough treatment of +such a section. Encyclopedias and other reference works also present +many strange words and difficult paragraphs that children cannot stop +to examine with care. In their ordinary school work, therefore, +children find many details that must be overlooked; the more important +things cannot be accomplished unless these less important ones are +ignored. + +It would be strange if children were quite incapable of doing what is +so plainly required of them. It is true that they can be taught to +reach the extreme of foolishness in the insignificance of the details +that they mention. But it is also true that a fair amount of wise +guidance will lead them to exercise good judgment in their selection. +In other words, thoroughness as a relative and qualitative matter, +rather than only quantitative, can be appreciated by them. Any teacher +who has tested them carefully in this respect is likely to agree to +this assertion. It is as natural for a lot of children to condemn the +mention of useless detail, because of its waste of time, as it is for +them to condemn selfish or immoral conduct. + + + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN TO NEGLECT RELATIVELY +UNIMPORTANT DETAILS + + +_1. Placing responsibility upon children._ + +The responsibility of deciding what shall be neglected should very +often be left with the children, no matter how many mistakes and how +much loss of time it may temporarily cause. Criticisms and suggestions +from the teacher would be in place later. Many parents as well as +teachers refuse to place this responsibility upon children for fear of +the mistakes that they will make. On account of this fear they make it +as nearly as possible unnecessary for children to judge freely, by +giving them arbitrary rules to follow, or by directing them exactly +what they shall do each moment. This cultivates poor judgment by +depriving children of the very practice that will make their judgments +reliable; it prevents the school requirements from corresponding to +those in life outside. + +Confidence in the general and growing good sense of children is a +presupposition in the sensible parent and teacher. Having such +confidence, their mission is to let these young people alone much of +the time; to direct, not to control the selections that they make, +assuming the role of advisers and critics but not dictators. + +This training toward independent judgment should begin even in the +first year of school. If Johnny raises his hand in beginning reading +to state that Mary said _a_ for _the_, the teacher need not either +accept or reject the criticism. She may merely turn to the whole class +and ask whether that is a helpful correction to make. A similar course +may be pursued with many corrections and suggestions in later years. +In this way a class sense of what is fitting or valuable in the way of +neglect can be developed. + +It should be remembered, however, that children cannot judge the worth +of details without a basis of some sort. Unless, therefore, they +helplessly rely upon the direction of the teacher in each case, they +must be taught what the reading or other subject is for. They must +gradually get a fair idea, for instance, of what good reading is, and +realize that it includes pleasant tones, a careful grouping of words, +much inflection of voice, and clear enunciation of final consonants. +As they become acquainted with this standard in reading, they will +readily learn to overlook such details as have little to do with its +attainment. + +It is true that it saves much time for the teacher herself to +determine what shall or shall not receive attention, or at least for +her to accept or reject a child's suggestion dogmatically, rather than +to allow him or the whole class to pass upon its worth. Also, the +constant demand for "more facts" tempts teachers to save time in this +way. But again, it behooves the teacher as well as the pupil to use +judgment, and not sacrifice one of the main objects of an education in +order to save some time. + +_2. Class study of printed articles._ + +Children who use reference works might now and then study an +encyclopedic article together merely to see what parts should be +slighted. When looking for a certain fact they will discover, from the +way the paragraphs begin, that one paragraph after another can be +discarded without being read in full. In the same spirit newspapers +might be studied by the older children, to determine from the headings +what articles need not be read at all, what ones in a cursory manner, +and what ones carefully, if any. Similar study of some magazines might +be in place. It is a duty of the school thus to accustom pupils to +proper methods of reading common kinds of printed matter. + +_3. Reduction of reproductions._ + +Pupils might occasionally be asked to reproduce a story or any other +line of thought as fully as they wish. Suppose that it occupies six +pages. Then they might be requested to reduce it to three pages, and +perhaps, finally, to one page, eliminating each time what is of least +importance. Such an exercise compels a very careful study of relative +values. + +_4. Holding and carrying a point._ + +Having decided upon a definite problem for consideration, all grades +of learners might be held responsible for detecting beginning +wanderings of thought. They might accustom themselves to the +responsibility of rising to a point of order at such times, stating +the main question and asking the suspected person to show the +relevancy of his remarks. There is no reason why the teacher should +carry this responsibility alone; indeed, it is an imposition on the +children, checking their growth in judgment and power of initiative. + +Again, at times students in all grades might be allowed full freedom, +in order to show how quickly they will engage in discussion, and even +become excited, with no definite question before them. They may not +realize their error, however, until asked to state what they are +considering. It should be remembered that the question at issue may be +as much neglected in the reading of books as in participation in +discussion; on this account the method of reading might be tested in a +similar manner. + +_5. Encouragement of different rates of reading._ + +Finally, varying rates of reading should be encouraged, according to +the nature of the subject matter. While some books should be perused +very slowly and thoughtfully, others should be covered as rapidly as +possible. In the case of many novels, for instance, the ideas are so +simple that they can be comprehended as rapidly as the words can be +scanned. + +Many persons, however, can read only as fast as they can pronounce the +words. They follow an established series of associations: first, the +word is observed; this image calls up its sound; the sound then +recalls the meaning. Thus the order is _sight, sound, meaning._ +That is a roundabout way of arriving at the meaning of a page and is +usually learned in childhood. It explains why many an educated adult +can read very little faster silently than aloud. + +Some adults read fast simply by skimming over the less important +parts, which is often justified. Some, however, save time by +associating the form of a word directly with its meaning, leaving the +sound out of consideration. Then by running the eye along rapidly they +double and treble the ordinary rate of advance. It is said that Lord +Macaulay read silently about as rapidly as a person ordinarily thumbs +the pages; and he must have seen the individual words, because his +remarkable memory often enabled him to reproduce the text verbatim. +The slow-reading adult can, by practice, learn to take in a whole line +or more almost at a glance, in place of three or four words, and can +thus increase his rate of advance. But habit is so powerful that the +rapid eye-movement necessary in rapid reading, together with the +direct association of the form of a word with its meaning, should be +learned in childhood. To this end, children should often be timed in +their reading, being allowed only a few seconds or minutes to cover a +certain amount. Some exercises might be given them, too, so as to +accustom them to taking in a considerable number of words at a glance. + +Meanwhile, however, pains should be taken to avoid the impression that +rapid reading is always in place. Matter that requires much +reflection, like the Bible for example, may well be read slowly. It is +not merely rapid reading, but varying rates according to need, that +the teacher should encourage. + +There is no expectation that children will learn to handle books as +Carlyle did. But they should be guided by the same general principles, +and should form practical acquaintance with these principles while in +school. Ordinarily there is a striking contrast between the use of +books in school and outside, and the different rates of reading in the +two places afford a striking illustration. Text in school is taken up +in a gingerly fashion, scarcely enough of it being assigned for one +lesson to get the child interested. Then this is reviewed over and +over until any interest that may originally have been excited is long +since destroyed. Thoroughness is aimed at, at the expense of life. In +independent reading outside of school the opposite course is pursued. +In the reaction from the school influence children revel in their +freedom to do the things that their teachers forbid, and they +accordingly go racing through their volumes. + +Both methods are at fault. The school handling of books is intolerably +slow; that outside is likely to be too rapid. In general, the method +of using books in school should more closely resemble that desired +elsewhere. The school method is the first to be reformed. It is seldom +wise to be so thorough in the treatment of a text as to kill it for +the learner. As a rule longer textbook lessons should be assigned in +the elementary school, and less attention should be given to the minor +facts. Then, if necessary, the same general field should be covered +from another point of view, through another text. This change of +method is already largely realized in our beginning reading, and +partly realized in several other subjects. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +JUDGING OF THE SOUNDNESS AND GENERAL WORTH OF STATEMENTS, AS A FOURTH +FACTOR IN STUDY + + + +We have already seen that proper study places much responsibility upon +the student. Instead of allowing him to be an aimless collector of +facts, it requires him to discover specific purposes that the facts +may serve. With such purposes in mind he must supplement authors' +statements in numerous ways, and also pass judgment on their relative +values. This all requires much aggressiveness. + +_The problem here._ + +A problem now confronts us that suggests even greater aggressiveness. +The statements that one hears or finds in print are often somewhat +exaggerated, or distorted, or grossly incorrect, or they may be +entirely true. Who is to pass judgment upon their quality? Has the +young student any proper basis for carrying that responsibility? + +_Pressing nature of this problem. +1. In reading newspapers and magazines._ + +This problem is forced upon one when reading newspapers, particularly +during political campaigns. One paper lauds a candidate as a great +administrator, while another condemns him as a doctrinaire. One +advocates protective tariff and the gold standard, while another urges +revenue tariff only and free silver. Among the news columns one +article predicts war, while another discerns signs of peace. Russia is +at one time pictured as moving fast toward complete anarchy, while at +another time she is shown to be making important political advances. +The Japanese are praised for their high standards of life, and are +again condemned for their immorality. Magazine articles show +disagreements just as striking. Public men, political policies, +corporations, and religious beliefs are approved or condemned +according to the individual writer. What, then, is the proper attitude +for the reader? Is he to regard one authority as about as good as +another, or is he himself to distinguish among them and judge each +according to the evidence that is offered? + +_2. In the use of books._ + +D'Aubigne's _History of the Reformation_ is an extremely interesting +work; but it treats the Reformation from the Protestant view-point, +and is on that account unacceptable to Catholics. The history of our +Civil War presents one series of facts when written by a northerner; a +very different series when written by a southerner; and a still +different one when written by an Englishman. Shall the student of +either of these periods adopt the views of the author that he happens +to be reading? Or shall he assume a view-point of his own? Or shall he +do neither? + +Carlyle and Ruskin indulge in much exaggeration, relying on striking +statements for increased effect. Shakespeare possibly intended to +present an exaggerated type of the Jew in the character of Shylock. +Shall the student recognize exaggeration as such? Or shall he take all +statements literally? Or shall he avoid doing either, preserving an +inactive mind? + +In his work on _Education_, Herbert Spencer states that "acquirement +of every kind has two values--value as knowledge and value as +discipline. Besides its use for guidance in conduct, the acquisition +of each order of facts has also its use as mental exercise." Many +students of education would assert that one very important value of +knowledge is here overlooked, _i. e._, its power to inspire and +energize, a value that literature possesses to a high degree. Assuming +that they are correct, dare the young student pass such a criticism? +Or would such a critical attitude on his part toward a high authority +be impertinent? + +The first paragraph in Rousseau's _Emile_ runs as follows: "Coming +from the hand of the Author of all things, everything is good; +in the hands of man everything degenerates. Man obliges one soil to +nourish the productions of another, one tree to bear the fruits of +another; he mingles and confounds climates, elements, seasons; he +mutilates his dog, his horse, his slave. He overturns everything, +disfigures everything; he loves deformity, monsters; he desires that +nothing should be as Nature made it, not even man himself. To please +him man must be broken in like a horse; man must be adapted to man's +own fashion, like a tree in his garden." + +At the bottom of the first page of the translation of _Emile_ by +Miss Worthington is a note by Jules Steeg, Depute, Paris, bearing on +the above first paragraph and running as follows: "It is useless to +enlarge upon the absurdity of this theory, and upon the flagrant +contradiction into which Rousseau allows himself to fall. If he is +right, man ought to be left without education, and the earth without +cultivation. This would not be even the savage state. But want of +space forbids us to pause at each like statement of our author, who at +once busies himself in nullifying it." Opposing statements like these +are certainly enough to place the student in a dilemma. + +_Proper attitude of the student toward authorities._ + +Here are contradictions in political and religious beliefs and news +items; very different interpretations of historical events; +exaggerations bordering on misrepresentations; and evident omissions +and absurdities on the part of educational philosophers. The weather +bureau represents Old Reliability herself, in comparison with authors. +What attitude shall the adult student assume toward such contradictory +and faulty statements? Shall he regard himself as only a follower, +taking each presentation of thought at its face value, sitting humbly +at the feet of supposed specialists, and carefully preserving in +memory as many of their principal opinions and conclusions as +possible? Shall he assume the position of a mere receiver and +collector? + +That is manifestly impossible, for that would mean an ego divided a +thousand times. It would prevent the final using of knowledge by the +learner, instead of directing its use wisely; for the many opposing +ideas and cross purposes would nullify one another. Besides that, wise +application requires far more than a good memory as a guide, since +memory takes no account of the adaptations always required by new +conditions. + +Whether he likes it or not, the student cannot escape the +responsibility of determining for himself the fairness and general +reliability of the newspapers and magazines that he reads; he must +expect bias in historians, and must measure the extent of it as well +as he can by studying their biographies and by observing their care in +regard to data and logic; he must scrutinize very critically the ideas +of the world's greatest essayists and dramatists. If a philosopher, +like Rousseau, offers brilliant truths on one page, and equally +brilliant perversions of truth on the next page, the student must +ponder often and long in order to keep his bearings; and if footnotes +attempt to point out some of these absurdities, he must decide for +himself whether Rousseau or the commentator shows the superior wisdom. +"Above all," says Koopman, "he [the student] must make sure how far he +can trust the author." [Footnote: Koopman, _The Mastery of Books_, p. +47.] + +"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for +granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to _weigh_ and +_consider_," says Bacon. [Footnote: Bacon's _Essays Of Studies_.] + +Every book we read may be made a round in the ever-lengthening ladder +by which we climb to knowledge and to that temperance and serenity of +mind which, as it is the ripest fruit of wisdom, is also the sweetest. +But this can only be if we read such books as make us think, and read +them in such a way as helps them to do so, that is, _by endeavoring +to judge them_, and thus to make them an exercise rather than a +relaxation of the mind. Desultory reading except as conscious pastime, +hebetates the brain and slackens the bow string of Will. [Footnote: +Lowell, _Books and Libraries._] + +The student, therefore, must set himself up as judge of whatever ideas +appear before him. They are up for trial on their soundness and worth; +he must uncover their merits and defects, and pass judgment on their +general value. If he is hasty and careless, he suffers the penalty of +bad judgment; and if he refrains from judging at all, he becomes one +who "does not know his own mind," a weakling. + + Who reads + Incessantly, and to his reading brings not + A spirit and judgment equal or superior + Uncertain and unsettled still remains, + Deep versed in books and shallow in himself. + [Footnote: Milton, _Paradise Regained_, Book 4, line 322.] + +_The necessity of this attitude in the acceptance as well as in the +rejection of ideas._ + +The need of such an attitude may be granted when the rejection of +ideas is necessary. But there are many works that have been tried for +ages and found undoubtedly excellent. There are many men, also, who +are acknowledged authorities in their specialties. In the case of such +books and men, where little if any negative criticism is to be +expected, cannot the student set out merely to enjoy the merits and +not bother about the defects? Can he not, therefore, abandon the +critical attitude and accept outright what is offered? + +That depends on how much is involved in real acceptance. A wise young +woman who rejects a suitor does so for reasons of some sort; her +reasons should certainly not be less clear if she accepts him; on the +contrary, they are more likely to have been investigated with care. +The rejection of a lover is, then, no more positive thing, involves no +more intelligence and emotion, than his acceptance. + +Again, a competent supervisor of instruction who accepts as good some +recitation that he has observed, does so on the basis of specific +points of merit that he has seen. Otherwise his acceptance is only +flattery and is unacceptable to an earnest teacher. So, in general, +the acceptance of any line of thought or action presupposes a +consciousness of certain merits. Intelligent acceptance is thoughtful +or critical. + +There is a common idea that acceptance is far more easy and far less +aggressive than negative criticism. The contrary, however, is probably +true. The former idea is due to the fact that much acceptance, as of +political and religious doctrine, for example, is only nominal or +verbal; it is not intelligent or critical enough to be genuine. Any +one can find fault, it is often declared; but the recognition of merit +requires special insight. Rejection, therefore, is no more aggressive +or positive than acceptance; and if one of these calls for a more +critical attitude and more mental energy than the other, it is +probably the latter. + +_Relation of the critical attitude to sympathy and respect._ + +What is the relation of this critical attitude to sympathy for an +author? One of the essential conditions in the proper study of a book +is that it be approached with an open, sympathetic mind. One must look +at the world through the author's eyes in order to understand and +appreciate what he says, and that is possible only when one feels high +respect for him and is in close sympathy with him. To this end, it may +be well at times for the student to annihilate his own personality, as +Ruskin advises, so as to lose himself in another's thought. + +If the critical attitude were incompatible with such respect and +sympathy, its value might well be questioned. But that is not the +case. A sensible parent who is in closest sympathy with a child finds +no great difficulty in seeing its defects and even in administering +punishment for them. There are parents and teachers who cannot thus +combine real sympathy with the critical attitude; but they are too +weak and foolish to rear children. Helpful friendships among adults, +also, are not based upon blind admiration; they presuppose ability to +discern faults and even courage now and then to mention them. + +One cannot be a true scholar without making a similar combination. The +unquestioning frame of mind that allows a sympathetic approach to an +author marks one stage in study; but this must be followed by the +critical attitude before the study is complete. That the two attitudes +are not incompatible is well stated by Porter in the following words: +"We should read with an independent judgment and a critical spirit. It +does not follow, because we should treat an author with confidence and +respect, that we are to accept all his opinions and may not revise his +conclusions and arguments by our own. Indeed, we shall best evince our +respect for his thoughts by subjecting them to our own revision." +[Footnote: Noah Porter, _Books and Reading_, p. 52.] + +_How daily life requires similar independence of judgment._ + +While the demand thus made upon the scholar seems great, there is +nothing surprising about it; for the scholar's relation to an author +is substantially the same as that of any adult to other persons with +whom he has dealings. If you go to a store to purchase a pair of +rubbers, you cannot surrender yourself complacently to any clerk who +happens to wait upon you. He is very likely to be satisfied to sell +you rubbers that are too long or too short, too wide or too narrow, or +at least not of the shape of your shoes. Or he may want to sell you +storm rubbers when you prefer low ones. Unless, therefore, you carry a +standard in mind and reject whatever fails to meet it, you are very +likely to buy rubbers that won't be satisfactory. The same is true if +you go to a tailor for clothing; unless you know him to be unusually +reliable, it is not enough for him to tell you that a coat fits; you +must test the statement by your own observation. + +Some years ago a house that I occupied in New York City became +infested with rats, and, wanting to reach the kitchen from the cellar, +they gnawed an inch hole through a lead drain pipe from the laundry +tubs, that lay in their way. The hole was behind a cupboard in the +kitchen, very close to the wall, and not easy to reach. If clean +clothing was to be had, the pipe had to be fixed; but when a plumber +was called in, he stated that a carpenter would be needed to remove +the cupboard, and again to replace it after the work was completed. +The pipe having the hole, he added, would need to be taken out, and, +as it was one arm of a larger pipe that had two other branches, the +pipe with the three arms would have to be removed and another put in +its place. The entire work was estimated to cost about fifteen +dollars. + +As that seemed a large amount to invest in a rat hole, another plumber +was consulted; but he made substantially the same report. Still not +being satisfied, I went to a hardware store and asked, "Have you a man +who can solder a thin metal plate over a small hole in a lead pipe? +The hole is about an inch in diameter and somewhat difficult to reach; +but the work can be done by any one who knows his business." The +merchant said that he had such a man. The man was sent over; he did +the work in a few minutes, and the bill was seventy-five cents. + +Plumbers are probably as honest and capable in their lines as most +classes of workmen; but many persons have learned to their sorrow not +to place themselves as clay in their hands. + +A man who builds a house should keep more than half an eye on his +architect, otherwise the house is likely to cause numerous lifelong +regrets. Even one's physician is not to be implicitly obeyed on all +occasions. If a patient knows that quinine acts as a poison upon him, +as it does upon some persons, he must refuse to take it. Also, if a +physician gives too much medicine, as physicians have been known to +do, one must discover the fact for himself, or his alimentary canal +may suffer. Such men are merely types of the many persons who surround +us and help us to live; we must be judges of the conduct of each of +them toward us, if we wish to be healthy and happy. + +Must we, then, pass upon everything; and is no person to be fully +trusted? How can any one find time for the exercise of so much wisdom? +And what are specialists for? + +Certainly many, many things must be taken for granted. When you board +a train, you cannot make sure that the trainmen are all qualified for +their positions and that all parts of the train and of the track are +in proper condition. If, however, you choose a poorly managed road, in +place of a well-managed one, you are more likely to be killed on the +journey. In other words, while many things must be assumed, the +responsibility of determining what they shall be rests with you, and +you suffer the penalty of any bad selection. Your own judgment is +still your guide. + +Many persons must likewise be trusted. But who shall they be, and to +what extent? The objects of choice have now been merely shifted from +things to human beings, and independent judgment must still be +exercised the same as before. The difficulty is fully as great, too. +Says Holmes, "We have all to assume a standard of judgment in our own +minds, either of things or persons. A man who is willing to take +another's opinion has to exercise his judgment in the choice of whom +to follow, which is often as nice a matter as to judge of things for +one's self." [Footnote: Holmes, _Autocrat of the Breakfast Table._] + +Reasons for the use of independent judgment may be found in lack of +knowledge on the part of others, or of skill, or of judgment, or of +energy, or of honesty. But there is a more fundamental reason than +either incompetence or dishonesty, and it is found in the peculiar +circumstances of each person. The point of view of an architect is not +the same as that of the owner of a house. Every one hundred dollars +added to the cost of a building rejoices the architect's heart because +it increases his income. On the other hand, every hundred dollars thus +added tends to produce depression in the owner's mind. Similarly, the +point of view of any specialist or friend is different from yours; it +can never be fully your own. Just because no one can look at your +affairs from your own point of view, no one is fully qualified to +judge them for you, and you must rely upon yourself. + +The people with whom we trade, therefore, the specialists and friends +to whom we go, like the authors that the student consults, are all +related to us merely as advisers. No one of them is fitted to tell us +exactly what to do, and the proper attitude toward them all is that of +friendly suspicion. + +_Greatness of each person's responsibility for judging._ + +This conception of each person's relation to ideas and to the world at +large places his judgment on a high plane. Whether he will or not, +every man is intellectually a sovereign whose own judgment in the +decision of all his affairs is his court of last resort. This is a +grave responsibility, indeed; and it is no wonder that many shrink +from it. Yet what better state can be conceived? This responsibility +proves the dignity of manhood; it is the price of being a man. Fairly +good judgment, exercised independently of everybody, is one essential +condition of self-direction and of leadership of others. The +importance of good judgment is often emphasized; and the reason for it +is here evident, since it must guide us at every turn. The reason for +education of judgment is also evident. Every person is bound to make +many mistakes; but he will make far fewer when his ability to judge +has been properly trained. The utter inadequacy of instruction that +aims mainly at acquisition of facts is likewise evident; for the +exercise of judgment involves the use or adaptation of knowledge to +particular conditions, and the mere possession of facts bears little +relation to this ability. + +_The basis that every student has for judging worth._ + +It may seem presumptuous for a young student of education to pass +judgment upon the greatest writers on education that the world has +produced, such as Spencer and Rousseau. Certainly the opinions of such +great men are far more valuable and reliable, on the whole, than those +of an immature student. The architect's knowledge of building, +likewise, is superior to that or a novice in that line. Granted, +therefore, that no one person is in a position to judge for another, +what right, what basis has this other, particularly the inexperienced +person, to judge any and every sort of affairs for himself? He has +basis enough. Speaking of the value of expert knowledge, Aristotle +says: "Moreover, there are some artists whose works are judged of +solely, or in the best manner, not by themselves but by those who do +not possess the art; for example, the knowledge of the house is not +limited to the builder; the user, or, in other words, the master of +the house will even be a better judge than the builder, just as the +pilot will judge better of a rudder than the carpenter, and the guest +will judge better of a feast than the cook." [Footnote: Aristotle, +_Politics_ (Jowett), p. 88.] The reason that the non-expert can thus +sometimes even surpass the expert himself in judging of the latter's +work is found in the fact that the non-expert as well as the +specialist has had much valuable experience bearing on the +specialist's line. + +A very important truth is here suggested concerning the student. +Nothing that one is fitted to study is wholly new or strange to him. +Any person must have had experiences that parallel an author's thought +in order to understand that author. For, according to the principle of +apperception, intimately related past experience is the sole basis for +the comprehension of new facts. + +Values are no newer or stranger to the student than other phases of +experience. The student's related past, therefore, furnishes as good a +basis for judging soundness or worth as it does for getting at +meanings. When, for instance, he reads Spencer's statement that +"acquisition of every kind has two values,--value as knowledge and +value as discipline"--he can verify each use out of his own life. He +can determine for himself that the assertion holds. On the other hand, +he can quite likely recall how he has sometimes been aroused and +stirred to new effort by things that he has read; and he may, in +consequence, question whether Spencer has not here overlooked one +great value of knowledge. Again, when the student is told by Rousseau +that "in the hands of man everything degenerates," he can, no doubt, +justify the assertion to some extent by recalling observed instances +of such degeneration. But, in addition, when he recalls what he has +observed and read about the wonderful advance made by man toward a +higher civilization, and realizes that Rousseau is denying that there +has been an advance, he is in a position to consider whether Rousseau +is mainly in the right or mainly in the wrong. + +It is true that the student may be wrong in his conclusions; also +that, even though he be often right, he may become a confirmed fault- +finder. But that is not discouraging, for he is surrounded with +dangers. The essential fact remains that, just as his past related +experience furnishes a fair basis for understanding the meaning of +what he hears and reads, so, also, it furnishes a fair basis for +estimating its value. + + + +ABILITY OF CHILDREN TO JUDGE VALUES + + +_A conception of child nature that denies such ability._ + +Many persons who agree to the necessity of independent judgment on the +part of adults may demur at the idea of placing similar responsibility +upon children. Are not children normally uncritical and imitative or +passive? they say. And if we teach them to judge and criticise freely, +are they not very likely to develop priggishness that will result in +immodesty and disrespect for others? "Memory," says John Henry Newman, +"is one of the first developed of the mental faculties; a boy's +business, when he goes to school, is to _learn_, that is, to store up +things in his memory. For some years his intellect is little more than +an instrument for taking in facts, or a receptacle for storing them; +he welcomes them as fast as they come to him; he lives on what is +without; he has his eyes ever about him; he has a lively +susceptibility of impressions; he imbibes information of every kind; +and little does he make his own in the true sense of the word, living +rather upon his neighbors all around him. He has opinions, religious, +political, literary, and, for a boy, is very positive in them and sure +about them; but he gets them from his schoolfellows, or his masters, +or his parents, as the case may be. Such as he is in his other +relations, such also is he in his school exercises; his mind is +observant, sharp, ready, retentive; he is almost _passive_ in the +acquisition of knowledge. I say this is no disparagement of the idea +of a clever boy. Geography, chronology, history, language, natural +history, he heaps up the matter of these studies as treasures for a +future day. It is the seven years of plenty with him; he gathers in by +handfuls, like the Egyptians, without counting; and though, as time +goes on, there is exercise for his argumentative powers in the +elements of mathematics, and for his taste in the poets and orators, +still while at school, or at least till quite the last years of his +time, he _acquires and little more;_ and when he is leaving for +the university he is mainly the creature of foreign influences and +circumstances, and made up of accidents, homogeneous or not as the +case may be." [Footnote: John Henry Newman, _Scope and Nature of +University Education,_ Discourse V.] + +This view of childhood is somewhat common; and according to it +children are almost exclusively _receptive,_ any active exercise +of judgment scarcely beginning before college entrance. + +_Extent of such ability. +1. as evidenced by individual examples of children's judgments._ + +Let us see to what extent this view holds when examined in the light +of children's actual conduct. A first-grade pupil who had attended the +kindergarten the previous year remarked to his former kindergarten +teacher, "I wish I was back in the kindergarten." "Why?" said the +kindergartner. "Because," said he, "we did _hard_ things in the +kindergarten last year." Then he added confidentially, "You know our +teacher was in the fourth grade last year. She used to come in to see +us when we were playing, and she thinks we can't do anything else. +Why, the things she gives us to do are _dead easy._" His teacher +herself afterward admitted that his criticism was just. + +A small boy, being asked if he went to Sunday school, replied "Yes." +"Have you a good teacher?" was the next question; to which came the +response, "Yes, pretty good; good for a Sunday school. She would not +be much good for day school." Wasn't he probably right? + +A five-year-old boy was taken to Sunday school for the first time by +his nurse. There the chief topic of instruction happened to be eternal +punishment. On the way home he was not altogether good, and the nurse, +in the spirit of the day's lesson, assured him that he would go to the +bad place when he died, and would burn there always. When he entered +the house he hurried, sobbing, to his mother and declared vehemently: +"Nurse says I'll go to the bad place when I die, and that I'll burn +there always. I _won't_ burn always; I know I won't! I may burn a +little bit. But I'm bad only part of the time; I am good part of the +time; and I _know_ I won't burn always." His reasoning on theology was +as sound as that of many a preacher. + +I was standing near a second-year class in reading one day when I +overheard a boy say "Nonsense!" to himself, after reading a section. I +agreed with him too fully to offer any reproof. + +An eight-year-old girl said to her mother, "May I iron my apron? I +ironed a pillowcase." "Did Sarah [the maid] say that you ironed it +well?" asked the mother. "No, she didn't say anything," was the +response. "But I know that I ironed it well." Is that an entirely +passive attitude? + +Rebecca had spent six years in the public schools of two large cities +when she entered the seventh grade of the State Normal School. She had +been called a "quiet child," "nervous" and "timid," by different +teachers. After a very few days in the new school, however, she +volunteered this expression of her thoughts: "I didn't think the +Normal School would be anything like that. It's very different from +the public schools. There only the teacher has opinions and she does +all the talking; but in the Normal School the children can have +opinions, and they can express them, and I like it." + +Any one who has had close contact with children knows that they have a +remarkably keen sense of the justice or injustice of punishments +inflicted upon them. As a rule, I would rather trust their judgment of +their teachers than their parents' judgment, although it is true that +parents form such judgment largely from hearing remarks from their +children. Children are reasonably reliable, also, in judging one +another's conduct, which they are prone to do. + +Such facts as these indicate that it is quite natural for children--even +very young ones--to pass judgment of some kind on things about them, +and that their judgments are fairly sound. They are hardly to be +called merely passive receivers of ideas, mildly agreeing with the +people about them. + +_2. As evidenced by the requirements of the school._ + +The school plainly assumes the presence of this ability by the +requirements that it makes of children. One of the common questions in +the combination of forms and colors, even in the kindergarten, is, +"How do you like that?" In instruction in fine art throughout the +grades their judgment as to what is most beautiful is continually +appealed to. + +The judging of one another's compositions and other school products is +a common task for pupils. In connection with fairy tales six-year-olds +are frequently asked what they think of the story. Many say, "It is +beautiful"; but now and then a bold spirit declares, "I don't like +it." + +Children are expected to judge the quality of literature, +distinguishing with ease between what is literal and what is +imaginative, or figurative, or humorous. When they read that the rope +with which the powerful Fenris-Wolf was bound was "made out of such +things as the sound of a cat's footsteps, the roots of the mountains, +the breath of a fish and the sinews of a bear, and nothing could break +it," [Footnote: Hamilton Mabie's _Norse Myths,_ p. 166.] they are +not deceived; they only smile. Now and then they make mistakes; but in +general such stories as _Through the Looking-Glass_ and the "Uncle +Remus" stories do not overtax their power to interpret conditions. + +What literature or history is there for children that omits the +passing of moral judgments? Cinderella is approved of for her +goodness, William Tell for his independence, Columbus for his +boldness; Cinderella's sisters are condemned for their selfishness, +and Gessler for his meanness. Without such exercise of judgment these +two studies would miss one of their main benefits. The data that must +be collected in nature study and history for the proof of statements +give much practice in the weighing of evidence; and the self- +government that is now so common, in various degrees, in good schools +is supposed to be based upon a reasonable ability to weigh out +justice. Thus the method both of instruction and of government in our +better schools presupposes the ability on the part of pupils to judge +worth; and the better teachers have considered it so important that +they have constantly striven to develop it through instruction, just +as sensible parents have placed upon their children some of the +responsibility of buying their own clothing, doing the marketing, and +planning work at home, in order to cultivate the power to make wise +choice. If the ability to judge were really wanting in children, our +supposedly best methods of teaching and governing them would need to +be abandoned. + +_3. As evidenced by requirements of child life._ + +The best proof that children possess this ability is that they can +scarcely get on without it. Several years ago, when I reached +Indianapolis on a journey, I gave my bag to a boy ten or eleven years +of age to carry to my hotel. While we were walking along together +another boy stopped him and drew him to one side. I observed that they +were having a serious conversation, and when we soon proceeded further +I inquired what the trouble was. "That boy," said he, "wants me to +divvy up with him." "What do you mean by that?" said I. "He wants me +to give him half of the money that I am to get from you for carrying +this bag," was the reply. "But," I responded indignantly, "he has not +helped you at all. Why, then, should he receive anything?" "He +shouldn't," came the answer; "but he belongs to a crowd of fellows, +and he told me that if I didn't divvy up with them they would pound +the life out of me." I pondered for some time, but I gave no advice. +What advice should have been given? + +This is a striking ease; but it only illustrates very forcibly that +children are not merely sleeping, and eating what is given to them, +like cattle and sheep. Like adults they are surrounded with human +beings and are leading moral lives. At home, in school, on the street, +a hundred times a day they must "size up" people and situations and +decide what is best to do. If they are weak in such decisions, they +are regarded as weak in general; and if very weak, other persons must +assume responsibility for them and "tote" them through life. On the +other hand, if they are strong, they are classed as sensible persons, +and they "get on" well. Children distinguish themselves as balanced +and sensible, just as adults do, simply because they are wise in +measuring values. + +Those persons who regard childhood as almost solely a period for +receiving knowledge, seem to think that active life really begins only +when one becomes of age. The fact is, it begins from eighteen to +twenty-one years sooner than that; and throughout all those earlier +years one has nearly as great a variety of trials, and trials usually +of greater intensity for the moment, than adults have. In the midst of +so much need, it would be strange, indeed, if one were endowed with no +power, called judgment, to cope with difficult situations, if one had +only the power to collect facts. That would leave us too helpless; it +certainly would not be adaptation to environment, or normal evolution. + +In conclusion, therefore, those who deny a fair degree of sound +judgment to children deny what seems a marked natural tendency of +childhood; they pass a sweeping criticism upon what is now supposed to +be the best method of instructing and governing children; and, +finally, they deny to the child the one power that can make his +knowledge usable and insure his adaptation to his environment. Self- +reliance, which parents and teachers strive for so much, becomes then +impossible among children, for self-reliance is nothing more than +independent direction of self, made possible by power to judge +conditions. Certainly most persons are unwilling to take this position +in regard to the nature of childhood. They will agree that a twelve- +year-old boy, sitting for an hour in the presence of the President of +the United States and hearing him converse freely, without forming +judgments about him, and many fairly accurate ones too, would be an +abnormality. + +_Danger of priggishness._ + +What about the threatened priggishness and related evils that may +result when the responsibility for passing judgment frequently is laid +upon children? Certainly a modest sense of one's own merit and proper +respect for others are highly desirable qualities. These qualities, +however, are not greatly endangered by the exercise of intellectual +independence, for it is little related to immodesty and impertinence. + +A few years ago when many distinguished scientists celebrated in +Berlin the discovery of the Roentgen rays, Mr. Roentgen himself was +not present. Although he had possessed boldness enough to enlarge the +confines of knowledge, he lacked the courage to face the men who had +met to do him honor, and he telegraphed his regrets. St. Paul, +Erasmus, and Melanchthon were, intellectually, among the most +independent of men; but St. Paul possessed the humility of the true +Christian, and both Erasmus and Melanchthon were extremely modest. +Pestalozzi was once sent by his government as a member of a commission +to interview Napoleon. On his return from Paris he was asked whether +he saw Napoleon. "No," said he, "I did not see Napoleon, and Napoleon +did not see me." Recognizing the greatness of a real educator, he took +away the breath of his friends by ranking himself alongside Napoleon +as a truly great man. Yet he was one of the most modest, childlike men +that the world has ever known. These examples show that the keenest, +boldest of analysts and critics may yet be the humblest of men. + +Self-reliance is the more common name for similar independence among +children; and it is no more nearly related to priggishness in their +case than in the case of adults. The five-year-old child will often +reject statements from his parents, even though he have the greatest +respect and love for them. It is only natural for him to do so when +assertions that he hears do not tally with his own experience; and he +will retain such boldness throughout life unless made subservient by +bad education. + +There is some danger, however, that the cultivation of this +independence may make one a chronic fault-finder. It should not be +forgotten, therefore, that judging means approving as well as +condemning, and in case of children probably much more of the former +than of the latter. In addition, care should be taken that children +shall pass judgment only on matters lying fairly within their +experience, and shall recognize the need, too, of giving good reasons +for their conclusions. If these precautions be taken, the danger of +priggishness is reduced to the minimum. What danger remains can afford +to be risked; for independent judgment is the very basis of +scholarship among adults, and mental submissiveness in childhood is +not the best preparation for it. + + + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT +AMONG CHILDREN + + +_1. Placing responsibility upon children at school._ + +Responsibilities that require exercise of judgment should be placed +upon children throughout the school, from the kindergarten on. +Scarcely a recitation need pass without opportunities of this kind. +For example, children can determine the correctness of answers to +questions put in class, can weigh the relative merits and the +efficiency of tasks performed, can propose suitable ways of +illustrating topics, such as lumbering, irrigation, mining, etc. The +wisdom of plans for preserving order in the school, for decorating the +building, and for improving the school in other respects can also be +submitted to their judgment. It is by the exercise of judgment in many +ways that young people will become judicious in numerous directions. +It is not difficult for any teacher to do some work of this kind, but +it is difficult to be consistent in it. Many teachers who are zealous +in cultivating independent judgment a part of the time, undermine this +influence at other times by arbitrary decisions or by a personality so +overpowering that it allows no free scope to the child's personality. + +_2. Study of responsibilities borne at home._ + +Some study of the responsibilities that different children bear at +home may prove very profitable. While some carry much responsibility +there, others are given no option as to when they shall start to +school each day, or how they shall dress, or who shall buy their +clothes, or how they shall spend money. Thus they are allowed no +opportunity to decide things for themselves or to develop independent +judgment. Interviews with individual parents, and parents' meetings, +may prove very fruitful along this line. + +_3. Consideration of the use to be made of advice._ + +In order to teach the nature of self-reliance and the scope of its +exercise, the use to be made of the advice of friends should be a +topic for occasional discussion. Many a young man and woman hesitates +to ask the advice of others for fear that they may be offended if the +advice given is not followed. They are justified, too, for many +persons are offended in this way. The propriety of rejecting advice +should be far more generally understood than it is. Then children, as +well as young men and women, would seek it much oftener, to their +lasting benefit. + +_4. Examples of combinations of modesty with independence._ + +Since modesty should be cultivated along with independent judgment, +examples of distinguished men and women who have combined these two +qualities should now and then be considered. + +_5. Observation of habits of pupils in use of judgment._ + +It is well to mark out for special attention such pupils as seem to be +untrue to their own experience in judging, or such as seem to lack the +energy to use it as a basis of judgment. For example, many eleven- and +twelve-year-old children in their study of _Excelsior_ feel that +the young man very rashly exposed himself and merited his death. Yet +some of these will suppress this judgment, and even praise him as a +noble youth, in order to please their teacher, or because they think +that that is what they _ought_ to say. They lack the boldness to +be honest with themselves. + +Again, very many young people fail to think far enough to "weigh and +consider." They stop short with the concrete narrative, failing to +judge whether the story is reasonable, whether the characters are +representative, whether the moral is sound, etc. Thus they omit a +portion of the thinking that should be expected of them. Whether they +are wanting in mental energy or do not realize that this is one of the +important parts of study, they should be taken in hand. Right habits +of mind are even more important than knowledge. + +_6. Reports of merits of printed matter, with discussion._ + +As one means of overcoming the defect just mentioned, different +children, or different committees of a class, might examine the same +newspapers, magazines, articles in reference books, etc., and then +report on their merits independently of one another, giving their +reasons. The discussions that would be likely to follow as the result +of disagreements would be of the highest value. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MEMORIZING, AS A FIFTH FACTOR IN STUDY + + + +"All the intellectual value for us of a state of mind depends on our +after-memory of it," says Professor James. [Footnote: William James's +_Psychology,_ Vol. I, p. 644.] + +_Importance of memory._ + +In other words, there would be little object importance in reading, or +reflection, or travel, or in experience in general, if such experience +could not later be recalled so as to be further enjoyed and used. Want +of reference thus far to memory does not, therefore, signify any lack +of appreciation of its worth. No time is likely to come when a low +estimate will be placed upon memory. + +_Usual prominence of memorizing as a factor in study, and the result._ + +How prominent memorizing should be, however, is a question of great +importance. + +The four factors of study that have now been considered are the +finding of specific aims, the supplementing of the thought of authors, +the organizing of ideas, and the judging of their general worth. These +four activities together constitute a large part of what is called +_thinking._ Memorizing--meaning thereby, in contrast to thinking, +the conscious effort to impress ideas upon the mind so that they can +be reproduced--has usually been a more prominent part of study than +all these four combined. The Jesuits, for example, who were leaders in +education for two hundred years, made repetition "the mother of +studies," and it is still so prominent, even among adults, that the +average student regards memorizing as the nearest synonym for the term +studying. Repetition, or drill, however, is far from an inspiring kind +of employment. It involves nothing new or refreshing; it is mere +hammering, that makes no claim upon involuntary attention. When it is +so prominent, therefore, it stultifies the mind, starving and +discouraging the student and defeating the main purpose of study. + +_Reasons for such prominence._ + +If the work of memorizing is so uninteresting and even injurious, why +is it made so prominent? There are probably numerous reasons; but only +three will here be considered. + +In the first place, memorizing is more superficial than real thinking, +and people generally prefer to be somewhat superficial and mechanical. +It takes energy to dig into things, and, being rather lazy, we are +very often content to remain on the outside of them. Children show in +many little ways how natural it is to be mechanical. For instance, +rather than think the ideas _adverb_ and _present active participle,_ +they will recognize words ending in _ly_ as adverbs, and those ending +in _ing_ as present active participles. They will class words as +prepositions or conjunctions by memorizing the entire list of each, +rather than by thinking the relations that these parts of speech +express. Young men and women, likewise, will memorize demonstrations +in geometry rather than reason them out, and will memorize other +people's opinions rather than attempt to think for themselves. Even +though it is often really easier to rely upon one's own power to think +than upon memory, it takes some depth of nature to recognize the fact +and act accordingly. + +Teachers show this tendency as plainly as students. In preparing +lesson plans, for example, very few will get beyond what is mechanical +and formal. The reason that recitations are so largely memory tests, +too, is that teachers put mere memory questions more easily than they +put questions that provoke thought. It is, therefore, a well- +established natural trait that is back of so much mechanical +memorizing. + +A second reason for the prominence of memorizing is found in the +desire to strengthen the memory through its exercise. We know that the +arm may be developed by the lifting of weights, so that it will be +stronger for lifting anything that comes in its way. So it has long +been a common belief that memory, as a faculty of the mind, could be +developed by any kind of exercise so as to be stronger for all kinds +of recall. Many words in spelling, many dates in history, many places +in geography, many facts in grammar and even in the more advanced +studies, have been learned rather because they were supposed to +develop memory than for any other reason. Thus the desire of +strengthening memory has considerably increased the amount of +memorizing. + +The belief that memorizing normally precedes thinking rather than +follows it, is a third very important reason for the prominence of +memorizing. "The most important part of every Mussulman's training," +says Batzel, "is to learn the Koran, by which must be understood +learning it by heart, for it would be wrong to wish to _understand_ +the Koran till one knew it by heart." [Footnote: Batzel, _The History +of Mankind,_ Vol. III, p. 218.] We hold no conscientious scruples +against understanding statements before attempting to memorize them; +but one might think that we did, for our practice in memorizing +Scripture generally corresponds to that of the Mussulman in learning +the Koran. I venture to affirm, also, that the average student +habitually begins the study of his lessons by memorizing, with the +expectation of doing whatever thinking is necessary later. The average +teacher conducts recitations in the same manner. There is the defense +for this practice, too, in the fact that it seems logical to get the +raw materials for reflection into our possession before trying to +reflect upon them. The result, however, is that a surprisingly small +amount of thinking is done; for the memorizing requires so much time +and energy that, in spite of good intentions, the thinking is +postponed for a more convenient season until it constitutes an +insignificant part of study, while memorizing, the drudgery of study +becomes its main factor. + +_How this prominence may be reduced._ + +If it is possible to reduce the prominence of mechanical memorizing, +it is highly desirable to do so, for it is unreasonable to defeat the +ends of education in the attempt to educate. Let us see how this may +be accomplished. + +_1. By providing more motivation._ + +There is no complete cure for our tendency toward the superficial and +mechanical, due to mental laziness; the defect is too deep. Yet to the +extent that we increase our motive for effort a cure is found. Live +purposes give force; they make one earnest enough to fix the whole +attention upon a task, and to determine to get at the heart of it; +they deepen one's nature. Full concentration of attention, due to +interest and exercise of will power, is one of the chief conditions of +rapid memorizing. Some of the ways in which such purposes may be +supplied have already been discussed in Chapter III. + +_2. By abandoning attempts to strengthen the general power of memory._ + +In the second place, we can afford to abandon all attempts to develop +the _general power_ of memory. The power of various crude materials to +retain impressions that are made upon them varies greatly according to +their nature. Jelly, for instance, has little such power; sand has +little more; clay possesses it in a higher degree, and stone in a far +higher still. But whatever persistence of impressions a given lot of +any one of these materials may possess, it can never be changed, it is +a fixed quantity. + +The same holds in regard to the brain matter. Some men have brains +that retain almost everything. Professor James tells, [Footnote: +_Psychology,_ Vol. I, p. 660.] for instance, of a Pennsylvania +farmer who could remember the day of the week on which any date had +fallen for forty-two years past, and also the kind of weather at the +time. He tells further of an acquaintance who remembered the old +addresses of numerous New York City friends, addresses that the +friends had long since moved from and forgotten; nothing that this man +had ever heard or read seemed to escape him. Other persons, on the +other hand, possess little power to retain names, dates, quotations, +and scattered facts; their desultory memory, as it is called, is very +poor. But whatever native retentive power any particular brain happens +to have, can never be altered. The general persistence of impressions +of each person is a physiological or physical power depending on the +nature of his brain matter, and it is invariable. "No amount of +culture would seem capable of modifying a man's general +retentiveness," [Footnote: _Psychology,_ Vol. I, p. 663.] says James. +Again, "There can be no improvement of the general or elementary +faculty of memory." [Footnote: _Talks to Teachers,_ p. 123.] Our +desultory memories, in other words, are given to us once for all. + +It is commonly supposed, on the contrary, that persons who memorize a +great deal, such as actors, greatly strengthen their general memory in +that way. "I have carefully questioned several mature actors on the +point," says James, "and all have denied that the practice of learning +parts has made any such difference as is alleged." [Footnote: +_Psychology,_ Vol. I, p. 664.] Actors certainly do increase their +ability to memorize certain kinds of subject-matter. Any one who has +much practice in learning lists of names, even, is likely to increase +his ability for that and similar tasks, just as one who learns to play +tennis well is aided thereby in playing baseball. The reason for such +improvement, however, is found largely, if not wholly, in improvement +in one's method of work, as will be made clear later, rather than in +any increase in general retentive power. + +While the question of improving the memory is somewhat in dispute, +[Footnote: See _Educational Review_ for June, 1908.] and some +psychologists assert that _any_ kind of memorizing will have _some_ +effect on all other kinds, it is safe to say that mere exercise of +memory is, for all practical purposes, useless as a means of +strengthening general memory. Only those things, therefore, should +be memorized that are intrinsically worthy of being reproduced. + +_3. By improving the method of memorizing._ + +Even though a person's native retentive power cannot be improved, the +skill with which he uses whatever power he has can be increased. Men +who lift pianos find the work very difficult at first; but soon it +becomes reasonably easy. The greater ease is not due to any marked +increase in strength, but rather to increased skill in using strength. +It is due to improvement in method; they learn how. + +So it may be with memorizing. A large portion of such work is usually +awkward, consisting of repetitions that consume much time and energy. +But it is possible so to improve the method that memory tasks will +occupy comparatively little time. + +_How facts are recalled._ + +Before discussing ways in which the method of memorizing can be +improved, it is necessary to consider how facts are recalled. + +Impressions are not stored away in the brain, and afterward recalled, +in an isolated state, or independently of one another. On the +contrary, they are more or less intimately related as they are +learned, and recall always takes place through association of some +sort. "Whatever appears in the mind must be _introduced;_ and, +when introduced, it is as the associate of something already there." +[Footnote: James's _Talks to Teachers,_ p. 118.] + +The breakfast I ate this morning recalls the persons who sat around +the table; memory of one of those persons reminds me of a task that I +was to attend to to-day; that task suggests the fact that I must also +go to the bank to get some money, etc. Thus every fact that is +recalled is marshaled forth by the aid of some other that is connected +with it, and which acts as the cue to it. This is so fully true that +there is even the possibility of tracing our sequence of ideas +backward step by step as far as we wish. "The laws of association +govern, in fact, all the trains of our thinking which are not +interrupted by sensations breaking on us from without," says James. +[Footnote: _Ibid._] + +_How method of memorizing may be improved._ + +Since any idea is recalled through its connection with other ideas, +the greater the number and the closeness of such relations, the better +chance it stands to be reproduced. Improvement in one's method of +memorizing, in other words, must consist mainly in increasing the +number and closeness of associations among facts. A list of unrelated +words is extremely difficult to remember; every additional relation +furnishes a new approach to any fact; and, the closer this relation, +the more likely it is to cause the reproduction. + +_1. By more of less mechanical association._ + +Even the simplest associations, that are largely mechanical, may be +important aids to memory. For example, it is much easier to learn the +telephone number _1236_ by remembering that the sum of the first +three numbers forms the fourth than by memorizing each figure +separately. _Teacher_ is a word whose spelling often causes +trouble; but when _teach_ is associated with _each_, which is +seldom misspelled, the difficulty is removed. _There_ and _their_ are +two words whose spelling is a source of much confusion; but it is +overcome when _there_ is associated with _where_ and _here,_ and +_their_ with _her, your, our,_ etc. _Sight, site,_ and _cite_ are +still worse stumbling-blocks in spelling; but the difficulty is +largely overcome when _sight_ is firmly associated with _light_ and +_night, site_ with _situation,_ and _cite_ with _recite._ The +association of the sound of a word with its meaning is an important +help in remembering the meanings of some words, as _rasping,_ for +example. Professor James, I believe, tells of some one who forgot his +umbrella so often that he practiced associating _umbrella_ with +_doorway_ until the two ideas were almost inseparable. Then, whenever +he passed through a doorway on his way out of doors, he was reminded +to take his umbrella along. While there might be some disadvantages in +this particular association, it forcibly suggests the value of +association in general. + +The various mnemonic systems that have been so widely advertised have +usually been nothing more than plans for the mechanical association of +facts. Sometimes, to be sure, it has been more difficult to remember +the system than to memorize the facts themselves; yet they, too, give +witness to the value of association. + +I once asked a thirteen-year-old girl, in a history class, when Eli +Whitney lived. She gave the exact month and day, but failed to recall +either the year or the part of the century, or even the century. Her +answer showed plainly that her method of study was doubly wrong; for +she not only offended against relative values in learning the month +and day while forgetting the century, but she revealed no tendency to +associate Whitney's invention with any particular period of history. +Even cross-questioning brought no such tendency to light. She was +depending on mere retentiveness to hold dates in mind. The habit of +memorizing facts in this disconnected way is common among adults as +well as children, and as a remedy against it the student should form +the habit of frequently asking himself the question, "With what am I +associating this fact or idea?" + +In contrast with associations that are more or less mechanical, there +are vital associations that are possible in all studies containing +rich subject-matter. + +_2. By close thought association. +(1) Through attention to the outline._ + +Early association of the principal ideas, or early recognition of the +outline of thought, is perhaps the most important of these. One can +proceed sentence by sentence, or "bit by bit," in memorizing as in +thinking, adding one such fragment after another until the whole is +learned. But the early recognition of the main ideas in their proper +sequence is far superior. These essentials give peculiar control over +the details by grouping them in an orderly manner and furnishing their +cue so that the whole is more easily memorized. This is true even in +the case of verbal memorizing, as is evidenced by a certain minister +quoted by Professor James. "As for memory, mine has improved year by +year, except when in ill-health, like a gymnast's muscle. Before +twenty it took three or four days to commit an hour-long sermon; after +twenty, two days, one day, one-half day, and now one slow analytic, +very attentive or adhesive reading does it. But memory seems to me the +most physical of intellectual powers. Bodily ease and freshness have +much to do with it. Then there is great difference <of facility in +method. I used to commit _sentence_ by _sentence._ Now I take the idea +of the whole, then its leading divisions, then its subdivisions, then +its sentences." [Footnote: James, _Psychology,_ Vol. I, p. 668.] + +Thus early attention to organization is a large factor in memorizing, +as in study that aims principally at comprehension of the thought. +Where good organization is wanting,--as in tracing lessons in +geography, and other mere tests of facts,--this aid to memorizing is +lacking, and one must depend more upon brute memory power. On the +other hand, where the portions of one's knowledge have become so +closely interrelated and so well organized that they form a well-knit +system of thought, one's ability to remember may be surprising. +Spencer and Darwin were examples of men whose ideas were thus +organized. Neither of them possessed phenomenal memories to start +with; but their observations so generally found a group of close +relations to sustain them, and these groups were associated with one +another in such a close and orderly way, that the outline of the whole +could be easily surveyed, and any fact could be quickly reproduced, +just as any book can be speedily found in a well-organized library. +Thus, as we grow older, if the organization of our knowledge is +improving, the power of reproducing it will likewise be increasing. + +_(2) Through comparisons._ + +Comparisons are another means of establishing valuable thought +connections. Study by topics, also, furnishes special opportunity for +comparisons. "It is generally better," says James Baldwin, "to learn +what different writers have thought and said concerning that matter of +which you are making a special study. Not many books are to be read +hastily through." [Footnote: James Baldwin, _The Book Lover,_ p. 43.] +Koopman likewise declares, "A single trial will prove to any student +the superiority, in interest, of the topical and comparative over the +chronological and consecutive method of studying history." [Footnote: +Koopman, _Mastery of Books,_ p. 43.] Again, "The student who has not +known the pleasure of reading _all_ the works of an author, as a study +in personality, has a great source of enjoyment still before him." +[Footnote: _Ibid.,_ p. 44.] + +Many persons have the feeling that it is a moral duty, after having +begun a book, to read it through. Here is the recommendation that our +reading for a time "converge to one point"; that we find, for example, +what several psychologies have to say on one topic, such as memory, +rather than read one psychology from cover to cover. The value of +comparison for thoroughness has already been emphasized. Its value +from the view-point of memory is great, not only because it insures +more lasting impressions due to increased interest, as just suggested, +but also because each new comparison, while reviewing, also +establishes new and closer associations among old ideas. + +_Memorizing of Kipling's "Seal Lullaby."_ + +According to the above, we can best memorize by establishing whatever +associations seem interesting and reasonable. Take, for instance, +Kipling's Seal Lullaby:-- + + Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us, + And black are the waters that sparkled so green. + The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us + At rest in the hollows that rustle between. + + Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow; + Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease! + The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee, + Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas. + +The music of the rhythm leads one to read it aloud from time to time. +The first two lines are an announcement of bedtime; the next three +tell where the resting place is, and the last three give assurance of +safety--that is the outline. Any one has often observed how black the +waters become as night approaches, and the picture is vividly recalled +as the first couplet is read. "Combers" is almost a strange word, but +its use makes its meaning reasonably clear. Is there a cradle of some +sort? And a good pillow, too? Is there any tenderness indicated on the +part of the mother? Any pet names applied? What dangers might cause +uneasiness? Which is the most beautiful part? What lullabies of our +childhood does this recall? How does this one compare in beauty with +"Rock-a-bye-baby"? Let us sing each, in order to judge. What marked +contrast is there between the two, in the latter part? + +I first ran across this lullaby in company with two friends, to each +of whom it was entirely new. It appealed to us so strongly that we +read it aloud several times and talked it over. We considered some +questions such as the above, and compared it with "Rock-a-bye-baby," +disagreeing somewhat in our opinions. When we left it, each of us +nearly or quite knew it by heart, although we had scarcely thought of +trying to memorize it. In this way the association of ideas with one +another, particularly with things that have been long cherished, is a +very valuable aid to memory. + +_Where the fault in cramming lies._ + +To some persons this method of memorizing through association of ideas +will seem very slow. It must be acknowledged that there is a more +rapid way, called _cramming._ Every mature student has found +that, under great pressure, he can commit to memory the substance of +thought, and even the words, for an astonishing amount of matter. The +difficulty is, however, that it will hold only up to a certain hour, +the hour after examination, for example; then it goes so rapidly that +one can fairly feel it slipping away. Such rapid memorizing is a +witness to the value of very close attention in study; but the rapid +escape is testimony to the necessity of a closer association of facts. +Owing to undue haste the ideas are crowded into the memory without +becoming intimately related, or tied together, in numerous ways. Then, +when some part is forgotten, as is sure to happen, the other parts, +being unrelated to it, offer no cue for its reproduction. Thus one +part after another is lost; and, even though the ideas are closely +related by nature, the lack of appreciation of such relationship on +the part of the student allows the whole to escape as rapidly as mere +lists of facts. To be firmly remembered, either a great amount of +drill is necessary, or else the ideas must be _assimilated_, and +assimilation cannot be hurried in this manner. + +_The principal means of making mechanical memorization less +prominent._ + +The ordinary plan of study, by which memorizing precedes thinking, +results, as we have seen, in crowding out thinking by leaving little +time and energy for it. Memorizing thus becomes a substitute for +thinking, and makes study an extremely dull task. This is an +inversion, however, of the true order. If thinking is made to precede +conscious attempts to memorize, the nourishing character of study is +assured, and direct attempts at memorizing become largely unnecessary, +because most of the memorizing has already been accomplished +unconsciously. In other words, _memorizing then becomes a by-product +of thinking, instead of a substitute for it._ We often regret the +prominence of memorizing in study, and here is probably the principal +means of reducing it. There will be less of it, to the extent that we +do more thinking; and there will be far more thinking if we put +thinking first in time, thereby making it first in importance. + +I once saw Kipling's _Seal Lullaby_ presented to seven-year-old +children. The teacher read it aloud from the blackboard, then the +class read it. Then the class set to work to memorize it, a line or +two at a time. This was a good example of bad method, for adults as +well as for children. If they had planned first to _enjoy_ the +poem by trying to read it several times aloud with expression, by +talking it over, illustrating it and singing it, the memorizing would +have taken care of itself. As it was, their teacher's haste to have it +_learned,_ amounted to a direct advocacy of the principle of cramming; +for they were attempting to memorize through force rather than through +association of ideas. One reason older students practice cramming to +such an extent is that they have never been fully taught a better +method; the schools have never fully stood for a better method of +memorizing. + +So long as memorizing is put first in time, and therefore in +importance, those persons who have quick memories will be held up as +the ideal students, whether they have higher abilities or not. Quick +memories, however, are poor educators indeed unless they are coupled +with unusual earnestness and energy. With all classes of students, +therefore, the thinking should habitually precede attempts to +memorize. + +_Examples of improvement in memory through closer attention and better +method._ + +From all that has been said, it is plain that _how_ to memorize is +closely bound up with the question _when_ to memorize. We are now +ready to appreciate the statement that good memorizing is really +good thinking, and that improvement in memory is mainly improvement in +attention and in method of thinking. + +This is in general true, even in spite of some opinions to the +contrary. Thurlow Weed, the journalist and politician, for example, +greatly increased his ability to remember, and attributed the +improvement to an increase in his general power of memory, due to its +exercise. He relates his experience in the following words:-- + +My memory was a sieve. I could remember nothing. Dates, names, +appointments, faces--everything escaped me. I said to my wife, +"Catherine, I shall never make a successful politician, for I cannot +remember, and that is a prime necessity of politicians." + +My wife told me I must train my memory. So, when I came home that +night, I sat down and spent fifteen minutes trying silently to recall +with accuracy the principal events of the day. I could remember but +little at first; now I remember that I could not then recall what I +had for breakfast. After a few days' practice I found I could recall +more. Events came back to me more minutely, more accurately, and more +vividly than at first. After a fortnight or so of this, Catherine +said, "Why don't you relate to me the events of the day, instead of +recalling them to yourself? It would be interesting, and my interest +in it would be a stimulus to you." + +Having great respect for my wife's opinion, I began a habit of oral +confession, as it were, which was continued for almost fifty years. +Every night, the last thing before retiring, I told her everything I +could remember that had happened to me, or about me, during the day, I +generally recalled the dishes I had had for breakfast, dinner, and +tea; the people I had seen, and what they had said; the editorials I +had written for my paper, giving her a brief abstract of them. I +mentioned all the letters I had sent and received, and the very +language used, as nearly as possible; when I had walked or ridden--I +told her everything that had come within my observation. + +I found I could say my lessons better and better every year, and +instead of the practice growing irksome, it became a pleasure to go +over again the events of the day. I am indebted to this discipline for +a memory of somewhat unusual tenacity, and I recommend the practice to +all who wish to store up facts, or expect to have much to do with +influencing men. [Footnote: Quoted by James, _Psychology,_ Vol. I, p. +665.] + +Professor James comments on this experience as follows:-- + +I do not doubt that Mr. Weed's practical command of his past +experiences was much greater after fifty years of this heroic drill +than it would have been without it. Expecting to give his account in +the evening, he _attended_ better to each incident of the day, named +and conceived it differently, set his mind upon it, and in the evening +went over it again. He did more _thinking_ about it, and it stayed +with him in consequence. But I venture to affirm pretty confidently... +that the same matter, casually attended to and not thought about, +would have stuck in his memory no better at the end than at the +beginning of his years of heroic self-discipline. He had acquired a +better method of noting and recording his experiences, but his +physiological retentiveness was probably not a bit improved. +[Footnote: James, _Psychology,_ Vol. I, p. 666.] + +Again, as to the memorizing of facts by actors, Professor James +says:-- + +What it has done for them is to improve their power of _studying_ +a part systematically. Their mind is now full of precedents in the way +of intonation, emphasis, gesticulation; the new words awaken distinct +suggestions and decisions; are caught up, in fact, into a preexisting +network, like the merchant's prices or the athlete's store of records, +and are recollected easier, although the mere native tenacity is not a +whit improved, and is usually, in fact, impaired by age. + +It is a case of better remembering by better thinking. Similarly when +schoolboys improve by practice in ease of learning by heart, the +improvement will, I am sure, be always found to reside in the _mode +of study of the particular piece_ (due to the greater interest, the +greater suggestiveness, the generic similarity with other pieces, the +more sustained attention, etc., etc.) and not at all to any +enhancement of the brute retentive power. [Footnote: _Ibid._, p. +664.] + +_The prominence of drill._ + +It still remains to consider the extent to which mere repetition or +drill should be prominent. Some help toward an answer may be found in +certain recent investigations into the value of drill, and in certain +recent improvements in method. + +Spelling, arithmetic, and language being the subjects that have +required the largest amount of drill, these will be the principal +studies here considered. + +Dr. O. P. Cornman in his _Spelling in the Elementary School_ recounts +some very interesting investigations into the value of drill in that +subject. In two schools, each containing the usual eight grades, the +use of the spelling book and home lessons in the subject were +abandoned for a period of three years. At the same time the period +which had been devoted to studying and reciting in spelling in +school was omitted from the school program, making the mastery of +spelling entirely an incidental matter. The results thus obtained were +then compared with the results previously obtained in spelling in +those two schools, and also in a number of other schools that devoted +from ten to fifty minutes daily to spelling. The conclusion reached +was that "the spelling drill as at present administered throughout the +country adds little or nothing to the effectiveness of the mere +incidental teaching of spelling"; [Footnote: Cornman, _Spelling in +the Elementary School,_ p. 66.] or, again, that it "is of so little +importance as to be practically negligible." [Footnote: _Ibid.,_ p. +65.] This result may have been due to a considerable extent to poor +texts in spelling and to the ineffective methods of drilling used. + +A large portion of the time spent on arithmetic in the first six +grades is usually occupied with drill. Some schools devote a full +fifth of their time to this study, thus making the drill in arithmetic +very prominent. It is commonly supposed that so much repetition +greatly improves the results. Yet, according to investigations +undertaken by Dr. C. W. Stone, "a large amount of time spent on +arithmetic is no guarantee of a high degree of efficiency. If one were +to choose at random among the schools with more than the median time +given to arithmetic, the chances are that he would get a school with +an inferior product; and, conversely, if one were to choose among the +schools with less than the median time cost, the chances are about +equal that he would get a school with a superior product in +arithmetic." [Footnote: Stone, _Arithmetical Abilities: Some Factors +Determining Them,_ p. 62.] + +Such conclusions as these give ground for suspicion of any very large +amount of drill, even in these drill subjects; it involves too much +waste. One important reason for the waste is the fact that drills +usually are uninteresting or lack motive, and on that account +attention lags, until one learns slowly or not at all. It is true that +one can and ought to _will_ to do certain necessary things. But +even adults are so made that an act of will insures close attention +for only a moment at a time, then attention lags again; sustained +attention is assured only when the work undertaken is subordinated to +some real interest, so that attention is involuntary. + +Recent advances in method of studying language offer further +suggestions in regard to the advisable prominence of drill. In the +study of modern languages, for example, it used to be the custom to +depend largely upon drill for the mastery of a vocabulary, and of the +forms of the verbs, nouns, and other parts of speech. Likewise in +teaching children to read English it was customary for much drill on +new words to precede the actual use of such words in reading. Now much +more rapid progress is effected both in modern languages and in our +vernacular by greatly increasing the amount of matter read and +decreasing, correspondingly, the quantity of drill. The suggestion, +therefore, is here made that not only the extensive drills of former +times involve much waste, but also that they are probably unnecessary. +Further than that, since a closer and more abundant association of +facts has already eliminated a large amount of drill, it may be +expected that the good work of elimination will go on much farther. +Very extensive drills in the future, therefore, do not promise to be a +recommendation for the teacher who is responsible for employing them; +they will be the resort of those persons who lack the energy or +ability to do a higher kind of work, that is, to _think_. + +We need not congratulate ourselves, however, that drills will ever +disappear entirely; some drill, like some punishments for children, +will probably always be in place, and a considerable amount is still +necessary. We must expect a fair amount because we shall probably +never be bright enough to make the associations of ideas fully take +the place of review by drill. In particular it must be remembered that +those portions of our knowledge that we expect to use daily must +become second nature to us, or be reduced to habit; that means that +many facts must become familiar enough to be reproduced instantly +without effort. That is the case, for example, with the multiplication +table. Thoughtful association is only a good beginning in the +formation of habits; repetition also has a very important place, which +must be continued until the knowledge stands at our command "without +thinking." + + + +THE ABILITY OF CHILDREN TO MEMORIZE BY THINKING + + +_The crucial question._ + +No one doubts the ability of children to memorize; that is the one +thing that they have always been known to be able to do. One argument +for teaching them foreign languages as well as many things +unintelligible to them now, but possibly useful later, is that they +can learn them so easily. That is the ground also, on which much +verbatim memorizing of literature and Scripture, that they could not +hope soon to appreciate, has been required of them. + +The crucial question in this connection, therefore, is not, "Can +children memorize?" but rather, "Are they capable of more than +mechanical memorizing, or learning by rote? Can they think well enough +to memorize largely through association of ideas, like older persons?" + +_Children's ability to memorize by thinking._ + +The answer to this question has already been practically given. It has +been shown that children can conceive specific purposes; can +supplement the thought of authors; can measure the relative importance +of facts well enough to establish fair organization among them; and +can judge the soundness and general worth of statements. They not only +_can_ do these things, but they normally do do them; their present +daily lives constantly call for these several kinds of mental +activity. + +These several factors, however, largely compose the activity of +associating ideas with one another, or of thinking. Children can, +therefore, memorize through thinking, just as naturally as adults can. + +_The desirable prominence of such memorizing in childhood._ + +While very extensive drills are perhaps generally recognized as +questionable in the case of adult students, there is a tendency to +regard them as entirely proper in childhood. And the helplessness of +children--in spite of frequent little rebellions on their part--prevents +the establishment of a contrary conviction. We admit that a considerable +amount of drill is guaranteed to children through the three R's and +spelling, whether any one approves of it or not. But what about much +beyond this minimum? Shall the teacher willingly increase the amount +by neglecting possible associations within those four subjects, and +also by requiring much memorizing of literature and facts in other +subjects that cannot be appreciated at the time? Or shall she regard +the close association of ideas as the normal activity of children and +a great quantity of drill and rote learning as at least verging on +the abnormal and the unhealthy? These are questions of great importance +in the instruction of children. + +It seems safe to affirm that, in general, there are the same reasons +for regarding drill and thoughtless memorizing as an evil--though to +some extent a necessary one--in childhood as in adult life. Indeed, if +there be any difference, the evil is probably greater in childhood, +for drill furnishes no nourishment to childhood, while that is +peculiarly the period of growth, when abundance of nourishment is most +important. + +Granted that the ability of children to memorize things that do not +brighten the eye is striking, it must be remembered that their mental +and moral growth in numerous directions is also striking. It is far +more important that their spiritual welfare as a whole be provided +for--as live ideas lying within their sphere of experience can be made +to provide for it--than that they starve themselves now for the sake +of storing up material for the future. The latter plan shows a very +low estimate of child-nature, and a misapprehension of the relation of +the present to the future. + +Aside from this, it is in the elementary school that children must +mainly acquire their permanent habits of study; the methods of work +there acquired will not be made over on entering the high school or +college. If they there become accustomed to beginning their lessons by +memorizing, and to memorizing words without appreciating their import, +the chances are good that they will have the same habits later. Why +not, if there is anything in habit? At least, they will have much to +overcome if they reform. On the other hand, if they there begin the +mastery of lessons by studying the thought, and memorize largely +through the association of ideas, they are likely to continue that +plan later. By thus becoming thoughtful in regard to childish matters, +they give best promise of being thoughtful on larger subjects later. + +In all these remarks there is no intention of making philosophers out +of children; but there is a feeling of the necessity of preserving and +developing their live-mindedness. Opposition to this feeling indicates +that children are not expected to do much thinking even in their own +sphere of experience. + + + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN TO MEMORIZE PROPERLY + + +Other things being equal, the depth and hence the permanence of +impressions varies as the degree of attention varies. For example, if +a child's whole attention is given to a name, or a date, or the +spelling of a word, he may retain it in memory after having heard it +only once; otherwise it may have to be repeated several times. + +_1. Need of concentration of attention, and method of securing it._ + +Children, however, easily fall into the securing it. habit of dividing +their attention between work and play, so that half of their time is +wasted; yet they labor under the impression that there is much virtue +merely in _spending time_ on lessons. + +Divided attention is not confined to children, either. It is +frequently observed that announcements made before large schools are +never understood rightly by _all,_ simply because there are always +some who are thinking partly of something else. A certain professor of +English in one of our large universities has for years been in the +habit of dictating the following directions, with illustrations, to +his students beginning composition: "Fold the paper lengthwise from +right to left, leaving the single edge to your right hand. Endorse on +the first three lines. Do not use abbreviations in writing the date. +Omit all punctuation, or, if you punctuate, use commas at ends of +lines and after date of month." In classes ranging from forty to +seventy-five persons, as many as 90 per cent have failed to follow +these directions. What better proof is needed of common laxness of +attention? + +To remedy this evil among children teachers would do well to refer +much less to the _time_ spent in study and much more to the _kind_ of +attention given. More than that can be done. Children are often +directed to "pay close attention," or to "concentrate their attention +fully," sometimes without comprehending the meaning of the command, +and more often without knowing what steps to take in order to obey. +Both difficulties can be partially overcome by fixing time limits to +tasks, even in the lower grades. For example, two minutes can be +announced as the limit for reading a half page in the second reader. +Under that stimulus the children will do their best; and when they +have undergone several such tests successfully, reference to these +tests will explain what is meant by close attention; reference to +their successes also will instill confidence that they know how to +give close attention, for they can do again what they have already +frequently done. The dawdling that is so common among children is +partly due to lack of an ideal, and such time limits should be +resorted to somewhat frequently in order to keep the ideal fresh in +mind, as well as to cultivate confidence that the ideal can be +realized. Military governments often obtain undivided attention to a +remarkable degree, showing that attention is a thing that can be +cultivated in some directions. Similar determination to secure it +should be exercised in the school, only the pressure applied should be +of a different kind. + +_2. Danger of cramming and its avoidance._ + +College students are not the only ones who gulp down facts, hold them +undigested for a few hours, and then disgorge them. Many children +study largely in this way in preparation for their daily recitations, +as is shown by the fact that they retain facts a very short time, even +though they seem to know each day's lessons. It is true in spelling, +for example, and in geography and history. It is true likewise in +verbatim memorizing of poetry and Bible verses on Sunday mornings. + +The general remedy for this evil is found in the requirement that +ideas be associated, and as far as possible enjoyed, before any +special attempt is made to memorize. This is most difficult in +spelling; but some associations are possible there, as suggested (p. +168). It is comparatively easy in geography and history, after +children have received some instruction as to method. It is impossible +in verbatim memorizing of literature, if selections are made that are +far beyond children's appreciation. But there is no need of such +selections; there are plenty of poems and Bible verses that can be at +least partly understood and really enjoyed by very young people, and +it is that kind that should be chosen. + +Naturally the thinking that is thus required cannot be expected in +large amount from the younger children, for they will feel and enjoy +much more than they can analyze. Also, it should, perhaps, be expected +very little in memorizing that is entirely voluntary, as when a poem +is learned by some child simply because he likes it. But memorizing +that is a part of school work, and therefore a part of serious study, +should be undertaken in this way, because it is the right way. The +number of associations, too, is not so important as the method of +study that the child gradually adopts. + +_3. Ways of leading children to memorize through thinking in study +periods._ + +How children study in preparation for the recitation will depend upon +how the recitation itself is conducted, upon what is _first_ called +for there and what is most emphasized. The reason that memorizing +constitutes the main part of study, not only in the elementary school, +but in the high school and the college, is that reproduction has been +the principal thing required in the recitations all along the line. It +is the character of the recitation, therefore, that must first be +changed. + +The questions that are considered in the recitation are the factor of +greatest influence. If the children find that the teacher's questions +usually begin with what, or where, or when, thereby merely calling for +direct reproduction of the substance of text, she may talk ever so +much about right methods of study, but they will memorize before +thinking and without thinking. + +Very many of the questions should test not so much knowledge of the +text as the pupil's way of treating the text. The spirit of the +teacher's usual general question should be, How have you associated or +related these facts? And some of her detailed questions might well be: +What object do you see in studying this topic? What statements here +need filling out, and how have you done it? What are the most +important ideas here? Or the most beautiful? How do these statements +remind you of others that you already know? Have you found any of +these statements questionable? And, if so, how? Thus the conduct of +the recitation will show the kinds of questions that must be expected. +Gradually the teacher should refrain from putting the questions +herself and leave that to the pupils. That becomes very important as +they mature; for how otherwise will they learn to study alone? + +The questions should include higher forms of comparison far more than +is customary. Much of the study of geography, for example, should +consist of the comparison of countries with one another. Poems should +be compared and grouped. _The Children's Hour, Snow-Bound, +Evangeline,_ and the parable of the Prodigal Son taken together +reveal a conception of home life that is not obtained by the study of +literary selections in an isolated way. So Burke's three addresses, +_On Taxation,_ in 1774, _On Conciliation,_ in 1775, and _Letters to +the Sheriffs of Bristol,_ in 1777, throw light on one another and form +a unit. Such comparisons continually review original facts, and in +that way eliminate much customary drill. Preparation for such +comparison in the study period properly puts mere memorizing far +in the background. + +The cross lights that different studies throw upon one another through +careful correlation--as when literature and history deal with the same +topic--are valuable in a similar manner and should be included in the +questions that are considered. + +Finally, when the text is so intolerably dull that it discourages +reflection, instead of stimulating it,--as is not seldom the case,--it +very often lies within the teacher's power to accomplish her objects +mainly by the use of other books that are supplementary and for +reference. This she should do without hesitation. Much routine drill +on geography text, for instance, can be avoided by using geographical +readers. Pointed questions, of course, would be in control here as in +other cases. + +These various thought questions, coming from teacher and pupils, +should not be reserved until toward the close of the recitation, to be +put then _if any time is left._ That defeats their object. They +should occupy the time from the beginning of the period; it is the +memory questions that should follow, if there is time and if they are +needed. The order in time for the thinking and the special attempt to +memorize is one of the most vital matters, and it is highly important +that the recitation itself stand for the order that is expected in +private study. + +_4. Conditions for the best kind of drill._ + +While it is the sign of a weak mind to give great prominence to drill, +some drill is unavoidable. There are two conditions that must be +fulfilled in order to secure the best kind. One is that sufficient +motive be provided to secure very close attention. The use of motor +activity may be an important aid in this direction, as when children +are allowed to walk about and point in locating places in geography, +to dramatize in reproducing literature, and to use sand and clay in +representation of various kinds. + +Emulation is a powerful motive, but has so many dangers that it should +be used sparingly. The cooperative spirit is the kind that the school +should cultivate, and heated competition does not readily lead to +cooperation. There is, however, much profit and no danger in making +comparisons among one's own products. + +The teacher herself may be one of the most potent factors securing +close attention. If she has force and has cultivated the friendship of +her pupils until they are anxious to please her, her appeals to their +own wills will not be in vain. If, in addition, her skill in handling +a class inspires confidence, she can do much toward conducting her +class through drills without waste of time. Very many drills are +failures mainly because the teacher is a poor manager, not knowing how +to distribute materials quietly and quickly and to assign and +supervise work so that all are kept busy. The strong personality, +however, has its dangers, also, for it may _carry_ children through +drills instead of letting them carry themselves. In the main, unless +children furnish their own steam when they work with a teacher, +they will have little steam to do work when left to themselves. + +The healthiest provision for motive in drills is found in the +recognition of a given drill as a necessary step toward the +accomplishment of some already greatly desired end. A child will +willingly practice mixing colors in order to obtain a certain shade, +if he is much interested in painting a certain kind of calendar. And +he will gladly drill upon the rendering of a poem, if he is anxious to +surprise his mother with it on her birthday. Such subordination of +uninteresting tasks to larger purposes is highly educative, and no one +has found the limit to which it can be carried. + +The second condition of successful drills is that they be short. Even +under the most favorable circumstances children cannot long remain +alert on subject-matter that lacks intrinsic interest. In brief, +therefore, drills to be effective must be made sharp by the presence +of motive, and must be short. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE USING OF IDEAS, AS A SIXTH FACTOR IN STUDY + + + +_The indefiniteness of the endpoint of study._ + +The student has accomplished much when he has discovered some of the +closer relations that a topic bears to life; when he has supplemented +the thought of the author; when he has determined the relative +importance of different parts and given them a corresponding +organization; when he has passed judgment on their soundness and +general worth; and when, finally, he has gone through whatever drill +is necessary to fix the ideas firmly in his memory. Is he then through +with a topic, or is more work to be done? Digestion of food is +likewise a long process, the food having to be acted upon in various +ways in the mouth, the stomach, and the intestines. But with food +there is always a certain end to be reached, called assimilation, +which is the actual changing of its nutriment into the solids and +liquids of our bodies. Is there a similarly definite end to be reached +in the study process? + +It must be admitted that while we can define this end somewhat sharply +in words, it is very difficult to know when it has been actually +reached. Many a business man has felt convinced that he understood a +certain business project perfectly, until the outcome has proved the +contrary. Business failures are largely due to such deception. Even +highly educated men are often surprised at their want of mastery of +questions that they had supposed to be fully within their grasp. +Socrates spent much of his time bringing such surprises to the +promising but overconfident young men of Athens. Robert Y. Hayne, the +distinguished champion of nullification, no doubt experienced such a +surprise when Webster delivered his great speech on that subject. The +actual mastery of subjects is perhaps never complete; it is only +relative. Even a child may have as good a grasp of one subject as a +philosopher has of another, and each may be deceived in regard to the +extent of his understanding. + +The common ignorance as to how much study is necessary for the mastery +of knowledge is suggested by the common ignorance as to how much work +is necessary for the assimilation of food. It takes from three to five +hours for food that has been eaten to get beyond the stomach, and +people ordinarily assume that the assimilative process is pretty well +completed by that time. The fact is, however, that it is then only +well begun; for it requires from ten to twelve hours to dispose fully +of a meal, and most of the work of digestion takes place _after_ +the food leaves the stomach. While the assimilation of knowledge is +what the student is supposed to aim at, how much that involves is even +less understood. + +_Importance of as great definiteness in the endpoint as possible._ + +In the digestion of food our organisms provide for themselves, so that +we do not need to worry greatly over some ignorance of the process. +But our responsibility in the assimilation of knowledge is much +greater, for that does not go on uninterruptedly even while we sleep; +it will be carried only so far as we have the energy and insight to +take it. + +That being the case, it is very easy for one to stop too soon in the +study of a topic. For instance, when a lesson in history has been only +memorized, the digestive process has been carried little further than +physical digestion has been taken when food reaches the stomach. That +is, it is barely begun. Yet very many young people stop near this +point, and they sometimes even take credit to themselves for getting +so far. + +We might add comprehension of the thought to the work of memorizing +and still be far from the end. We can have comprehended and memorized +the Beatitudes, for example, and be as free from any effect from them +as the proverbial duck's back is from the effect of water. We can pass +good examinations in psychology and logic with the same absence of +influence. That certainly does not signify assimilation. Assimilation +means the spiritual nourishment that is received by making new thought +homogeneous with one's own thought, by making it an integral part of +one's self. + +Remembering how young people generally study, it seems probable that +many of them spend a large part of their time providing for +nourishment that they never get. They do a lot of hard work collecting +the raw materials of knowledge without working them over so as to reap +either the pleasure or the profit intended. Here is where some of the +waste in education lies. + +It is highly important, therefore, that the student reach as definite +as possible a conception of the endpoint to be attained in study. +Although the meaning of assimilation may not be perfectly clear, a few +of its characteristics at least may be distinguished, so that we can +feel some certainty as to how far we have got in the process, and have +some notion as to how much more must be done in order to reach the +approximate goal. + +_The endpoint accepted in mastery of the useful arts._ + +Study of the useful arts, such as the various trades, consists of two +distinct parts. On the one hand, facts must be mastered that pertain +to the nature of materials, to methods of using implements or tools, +and to plans tor construction. In cabinet-making, for example, the +qualities of woods and paints, the rules for using the saw, plane, and +chisel, and the various ideas governing designs for household +furniture must all receive attention. In other words, a considerable +body of theory must be acquired. + +On the other hand, this theory must find application under particular +conditions; a table must be made out of certain materials, with +certain tools, according to a certain design. This also involves much +thinking; but, in addition to all that, there is execution of theory, +called doing or practice. + +There is, further, a definite relation between these two parts, for +the theory is merely a means to an end. What is wanted is a good +product, and the theory is valuable to the extent that it affects the +product. The useful arts, as studies, stand, therefore, both for +theory and for the application or use of theory, and the latter is the +goal. No one thinks of pursuing any one of the trades without +including the use of his knowledge in practice as the culminating part +of his work. + +To what extent should other branches of knowledge resemble the useful +arts in their combination of knowledge with the use of knowledge? +Should the use of ideas be their goal? The answer must depend upon +one's conception of the purpose of life in general and, therefore, of +education. + +_The endpoint in the study of other subjects._ + +Abilities of various kinds in the animal world find their purpose not +in themselves but in adaptation to environment. Fear on the part of +the rabbit, for instance, increases its speed in running, and in that +way protects its life. The bear's strength aids in repelling its +enemies, and the intelligence of both animals finds its purpose both +in protection against enemies and in finding food. Living, in the case +of animals, thus means _getting on,_ and any ability, whether physical +or intellectual, is of importance to the extent that it makes such +getting on successful. The endpoint among animals, then, is the _use_ +of their powers in effecting adaptation to their environment. + +Man's environment is far broader than that of animals, being moral and +spiritual as well as physical. But his relation to it is substantially +the same; for his success is likewise measured by the degree of +adaptation accomplished. Human abilities are not mainly valuable in +themselves, but rather as means in securing fuller adaptation, +"complete living"; that is, they are valuable for their use. + +The end to be attained in education is in full harmony with this idea. +The object of education most emphasized in recent years is +_efficiency,_ which means power to accomplish. It presupposes a +good degree of intelligence, the more the better, but it goes beyond +that; for an efficient person is one who _does_ things. Knowledge +without the ability to apply or _use_ it leaves one theoretical, +which, is a term of reproach. + +The various subjects of instruction recognize the necessity of use +very plainly. Painting and music, for example, contain, each, a large +body of theory. They also include an abundance of practice, a +practice, too, that centers in the betterment of man's condition. +Literature deals largely with ideals, presenting the theory of living. +But this theory is valuable chiefly as a guide to conduct. The student +of literature who professes admiration for its ideas without applying +them to himself has derived only a small part of the benefit from it +that he should. Literature is like religion in this respect. The +latter emphasizes the worth of insight into divine truth and of faith +in God; but both this insight and faith are to find their fruitage in +conduct. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is +this," says the apostle, "to visit the fatherless and widows in their +affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." [Footnote: +James 1, 27.] Similarly, a study of philosophy that does not end in +affecting our own philosophy of life, and thereby our conduct, has +been unsuccessful, even though examinations have been successfully +passed. + +Pure science is knowledge that has been proved and properly organized; +and it is highly desirable that specialists devote their lives to its +further development. The main reason, however, is that its +applications may finally be more abundant; and science used for the +purpose of education must recognize the relation of such knowledge to +man as one of its integral and prominent parts. So long as efficiency +is the recognized purpose of education, there is little excuse for a +young person's studying science apart from its applications, or pure +science. There is some profit in it, but there is more profit in +something better. That kind of study should be left to the specialist. + +Much has been said in times past about art for art's sake, science for +the sake of science, and knowledge for the sake of knowledge; but +these are vague expressions that will excite little interest so long +as the worth of a man is determined by what comes out of him, by the +service he renders, rather than by what enters in. Other branches of +knowledge used for educative purposes, therefore, resemble the useful +arts in the recognition of their bearings on man, their actual use as +the goal in their study. + +_Why the using of knowledge as an endpoint in study needs emphasis._ + +It might be unnecessary to emphasize this matter were it not that this +conception of study has been reached only after long development and +is still actively opposed. The old Greeks stood for a very different +idea. To Plato, the use of the intellect for practical purposes was +subordinate and almost disgraceful. The summation of existence was to +be found in reflection, and the ambition of the educated man was to +escape from the concrete world, in order to live in the world of +abstract truth. Many of the monks of the Middle Ages resembled the +ancient Greeks in this regard, desiring to separate themselves as +completely as possible from society for the sake of the contemplation +of spiritual matters. Reflection, contemplation, was thus not a means +to an end but an end in itself, and the thinker or dreamer, rather +than the efficient man, was the ideally educated person. + +That goal is now condemned for its extreme selfishness; we want men +and women as citizens who are glad to identify themselves with their +fellow beings and ambitious for efficient service among them, not +those who conscientiously ignore the world. Yet there are still plain +tendencies in this direction, as is seen in the fact that an education +that is liberal and cultural is often contrasted with one that is +useful as being of a higher order. "That alone is liberal education," +says Cardinal Newman, "which stands on its own pretensions, which is +independent of sequel, expects no complement, refuses to be +_informed_ (as it is called) by any end or absorbed into any art, +in order duly to present itself to our contemplation." [Footnote: +_Scope and Nature of University Education,_ p. 135.] Liberal +education is something which "is desirable, though nothing come of +it"; "worth possessing for what it is, and not merely for what it +does." Art for art's sake, rather than art for man's sake, would thus +represent the true spirit of a liberal college course, in the +estimation of this author; the admission of service to mankind as a +prominent purpose, particularly as its goal, would deprive it of its +liberal character, and in the same degree expose it to condemnation. + +That is strange doctrine indeed. Liberal is originally a term opposed +to narrow and restricted, and a liberal education might properly be +contrasted with the very narrow bread-and-butter kind that aims at the +mastery of art without theory. But how the restriction caused by the +presence of worthy specific purposes of a thousand kinds is inimical +to the broadening effects of study and to its general value is +difficult to comprehend. The hypothesis guiding a scientific +investigation narrows the work only enough to give it point, and a +well-chosen particular aim will have the same effect on any study. + +Further than that, the consciousness in advance that any conclusions +reached must be tested by actual conditions has only a good influence +by nerving us to do our best; and the actual test is of value in +informing us as to the degree of soundness of our ideas. All persons +must be shocked by the misfit between what they supposed to be true +and what they find by trial to be fact, before they will waken up and +do their best thinking. The superabundance of advice that bachelor +uncles and maiden aunts offer in regard to the rearing of children is +due to the fact that their theory has not been refined by practice. It +is the direct contact with the world in the _use_ of knowledge that +reveals the latter's real significance and that converts it into +experience; and it is only the knowledge that becomes experience that +really counts in education. + +Again, in arguing the question of allowing normal schools to grant +degrees, a certain well-known educator declares: "Where ability to +exercise a practical art is concerned, degrees are or should be +valueless. They should be restricted merely to the position of +evidences of culture. For this reason normal schools should not grant +degrees." [Footnote: _Year Book of National Society for Scientific +Study of Education,_ 1905, p. 93.] Our better normal schools--which +are the only kind that might be expected to grant degrees--give +instruction in literature, history, geography, fine art, etc., the +same as the degree-conferring colleges. To these subjects the normal +school adds the history of education and the principles of education, +which are presumably harmless so long as they are not applied, and +they usually are not. There remain then the subjects that involve +practice, such as special method courses, applied psychology and +practice teaching; these must be the baneful studies. The good four- +year normal school course presumably requires as much thinking and +other strenuous work as that of the college. But the presence of the +last group of subjects signifies that this study is to culminate in +the _use_ of knowledge; and there's the rub. It is this latter fact +that vitiates the course and precludes the cultural effect that a +college course insures. + +If this is a proper interpretation, it is, indeed, strange doctrine. +One can understand how carpentry might not have as great a cultural +effect as literature; but one would think that, if the untested and +therefore half-digested thoughts of literature have a certain cultural +effect, the same thoughts might have a fuller refining influence if +their meaning and force were more fully realized in the way their use +in life might secure their realization; and one would think that the +same might hold in regard to any subject. + +The difficulty is that there are two opposing notions of culture. On +the one hand there are persons who conceive culture to be a refinement +that is directly endangered by contact with the realities of life, for +instance by participation in local politics and other social contests, +and by such practice of charity as must be accompanied by physical +exertion and bad smells. Culture is, to them, the name for that +serenity and loftiness of mind that can be attained and preserved only +by keeping a safe distance from the madding crowd; and the cultured +man is pictured by them as sitting in a comfortable chair, preferably +with a book in his hand, and rapt in meditation on lofty themes. + +On the other hand there are those who conceive that culture--if more +than a veneer--is a refinement that can be attained only by direct +participation in social life. Such contact with the world may bring +embarrassment, temptation, and failure, as well as their opposites; +but all of these, instead of debasing, are the very experiences that +purify and make gentle; they are the fire without which the refining +process could not take place. Culture means to these people the +ennobling effect of such actual struggles upon a person's whole +outlook on life and upon his way in general of conducting himself; and +the cultured man is pictured by them as in action, even with his +sleeves rolled up, engaged in the accomplishment of high purposes. + +Culture is so valuable a quality that each person must determine for +himself which of these two conceptions of it is sound, before he can +decide whether the using of knowledge is worthy of being made the goal +in study or not. + +_Breadth of meaning of the term "use."_ + +In declaring that the _using_ of knowledge is the proper endpoint in +study, it is important that the breadth of meaning of the term _use_ +be held in mind. The application of knowledge in earning a livelihood +covers only a small part of what is included. A man is using his +knowledge when he is getting inspiration from poetry that he has +memorized, or drawing new conclusions from previously acquired facts. +He is using it, further, when he entertains his family with it, or by +its means makes himself otherwise agreeable to them. He is using it +when it is made to count in the rearing of children, or in the +performance of the manifold duties of membership in a community, or in +worshiping God. In short, it is being used when its content is turned +to account in the accomplishment of purposes, whatever they be, or is +made to function in one's daily adaptation to physical, moral, and +religious environment. + +_States in the assimilation of knowledge._ + +The student should continually carry in mind the fact that facility in +the use of knowledge is the end of his study, and the only reliable +proof of mental assimilation. It is a long road, however, to this +goal, and any clearly marked stages that must be passed through in +reaching it should be well known, since they will help the student +greatly to keep his bearings and preserve his courage. Here are given +a few such stages. + +_1. Collection of crude materials._ + +First, under the influence of as full a sympathy with the author as +possible, one obtains a fair comprehension of the thought. Much +supplementing may be necessary to this end, as well as careful +consideration of relative values. This may require one or several +perusals of the thought, according to the difficulty of the subject +and to individual ability. Proof of comprehension may be given by the +expression of the thought in one's own words, either from memory or +with the book open. Such study is a comparatively passive kind of +work, calling for subordination of the student to the author, and +amounts to little more than a collection of the crude materials of +knowledge. The corresponding stage in the assimilation of food would +be, perhaps, its preparation and mastication. + +_2. Selection and reorganization of the profitable portion of these +materials._ + +"What am I getting from this author?" or "What profit is this material +bringing me?" is the principal consideration in the second stage. With +the thought of profit uppermost in mind, the student recalls or +further defines any specific purposes of the study that may have +occurred to him; under their guidance he casts aside as non-essential +much of what is presented, and centers his attention on those ideas +that seem to have real value for him. + +These he further re-words, in order to determine their very essence, +and also carefully weighs. In addition he reorganizes them, unless +their original organization appears to him peculiarly fitting. The +self must enter so fully, in true assimilation, that neither the +author's wording nor his organization is likely to prove satisfying. +One will seldom quote another's words or follow his order of treatment +when presenting a topic that has been really digested. Not seldom the +last point made by an author will become the first in the student's +mind, showing how radical the reorganization may be. + +This step, requiring much discrimination and exercise of judgment from +the learner's own view-point---thereby entirely subordinating the +author to the student--requires a high degree of independence. It +might be called the profit-drawing stage, or the stage in which the +part that promises profit is extracted. The corresponding step in the +assimilation of food is what is technically called digestion, which is +the separation of the nutritious from the waste elements, or the +conversion of food into chyme, preparatory to assimilation. + +_3. Translation of this portion into experience._ + +Even after a person has determined what portion of the crude materials +can be of value to him and has reorganized it in a satisfactory +manner, it may still seem somewhat strange to him,-another person's +thought rather than his own. This is an indication that more work must +be done, for assimilation of knowledge, like assimilation of food, +requires the full identity of the nourishing matter with the self. "A +thought is not a thought," says Dr. Dewey, "unless it is one's own." +[Footnote: _School and Society,_ p. 66.] + +The student may thus far have reached nothing more than a +consciousness of facts by themselves, while consciousness of them as a +part of the self is a much more advanced stage. In order to reach this +last point the student may find it necessary to review the thought a +number of times in various ways, stating the pertinent questions and +their answers. He may also practice making the main points with force, +using them either under imagined or under actual conditions. In such a +manner they are tossed about, overhauled, and restated, until a much +closer and more abundant association of the ideas with one another and +with the past experience of the learner is secured; he warms up to +them until he welds them to himself. + +As a result a sense of ownership of the knowledge is finally +established, a condition in which one largely loses consciousness of +the original wording and, perhaps, even of the original source of the +thought. The ideas now seem simple and their control easy, and one +enjoys the feeling of increased strength due to real nourishment +received. The feeling of ownership is fully justified, too, for, no +matter where the thought may have originated, it has been worked over +until it has been given a new color and has received one's own stamp, +the stamp of self. This is the step in which the profitable matter +extracted from the crude materials is translated into the learner's +own experience; it corresponds to that part of food assimilation in +which the nutritious portion of our food, secured through digestion, +is made over into the bone, tissue, and muscle of the body. + +_4. Formation of habit._ + +While these steps overlap more or less, each represents a distinct +advance. Study of many topics may be allowed to stop at this point, +although it should be understood that assimilation is perhaps never +complete, and that the appreciation of a great thought, together with +the ability to use it, may continue to grow from year to year. On that +account one should expect to review from time to time, by use and +otherwise, the valuable experiences that have already been "mastered" +through study. + +Certain portions of knowledge, however, cannot be left as properly +under our control when they have been translated into experience as +described. Study has thus far brought the student only to the ability +to use his knowledge with fair ease _consciously,_ and extensive +portions of knowledge have to be used quite _unconsciously;_ they +must not only become truly ours but they must become second nature to +us. In all the trades, for example, the many facts about the use of +materials and tools, etc., must be applied "without thinking" before +skill is attained. The same holds in the fine arts. In grammar, +knowledge of the rules must be carried over into habit before one's +speech is safely grammatical. Knowledge of the political and moral +truths contained in history and literature must likewise be converted +into habit before proper conduct is assured. In learning how to study +one must fall into the habit of associating ideas, weighing values, +and carrying points, _unconsciously,_ before the subject is properly +mastered. "Ninety-nine hundredths, or, possibly, nine hundred and +ninety-nine thousandths of our activity is purely automatic and +habitual," says Professor James, "from our rising in the morning to +our lying down each night. Our dressing and undressing, our eating and +drinking, our greetings and partings, our hat-raisings and giving way +for ladies to precede, nay, even most of the forms of our common +speech, are things of a type so fixed by repetition as almost to be +classed as reflex actions." [Footnote: James, _Talks to Teachers,_ p. +65.] Professor James is here referring mainly to motor activity; but +habit is evidently a large factor in all phases of life; and, while +many of the valuable thoughts assimilated by study probably do not +need to be applied unconsciously, it is safe to say that prominent +portions of most branches of knowledge must be converted into habit, +or become second nature, before we can be said to have reached the +desirable endpoint in their pursuit. + +The extent of this last advance, in which experience becomes habit, is +indicated by the wide difference that exists between using a correct +form of speech consciously and using it unconsciously, for even years +of trial may intervene between the two. Repetition by use, under as +nearly natural conditions as possible, must be the principal means of +getting through this fourth step. But such practice should be +influenced by certain very important precautions stated by Professor +James. He has in mind primarily the formation of moral habits in his +suggestions, but they apply in large measure also to the formation of +other habits. + +1. "In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old +one, we must take care to _launch ourselves with as strong and +decided an initiative as possible._ Accumulate all the possible +circumstances which shall reinforce the right motives; put yourself +assiduously in conditions that encourage the new way; make engagements +incompatible with the old; take a public pledge, if the case allows; +in short, envelop your resolution with every aid you know." + +2. "_Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is +securely rooted in your life._ Each lapse is like the letting fall +of a ball of string which one is carefully winding up; a single slip +undoes more than a great many turns will wind again." + +3. "_Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every +resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may +experience in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain._ It +is not in the moment of their forming but in the moment of their +producing motor effects, that resolves and aspirations communicate the +new 'set' to the brain." [Footnote: James, _Talks to Teachers,_ +pp. 67-70. See also James, _Psychology,_ Vol. I, Chapter IV, +"Habit."] + +_The time and labor necessary in real assimilation of knowledge._ + +It is evident that real assimilation of knowledge is a very complex +process, requiring a great amount of time and labor. "And be assured, +also," says Ruskin, "if the author is worth anything, you will not get +at his meaning all at once--nay, that at his whole meaning you will +not for a long time arrive, in any wise." [Footnote: Ruskin, _Sesame +and Lilies._] Ruskin is here doubtless referring mainly to insight +into the thought; but, as has been shown, a point is not assimilated +when one merely sees it clearly; insight into an idea usually precedes +experience or ownership of it by a long interval; and the latter +generally precedes habit by another long period. + +We are familiar with these facts as applied to mechanical subject- +matter, such as the multiplication tables and forms of discourse. We +recognize that we must come back to these over and over again if we +are to obtain automatic control over them. Yet we act as though there +was ground for assuming that the more fertile ideas, which are to be +reduced to habits of thought and conduct, require less energy and +patience. There is no justification for any such assumption; it would +seem more reasonable to expect to devote more time to the latter, +rather than less. + +Probably not much knowledge acquired either in school or college is +carried through the three or four stages named above; but it is also +true that comparatively little of that knowledge becomes a source of +power, and it is safe to assume that the one fact is at least part +explanation of the other. It is highly important, therefore, that the +student become early reconciled to the fact that the real mastery of +knowledge is a long and laborious process. + + + +CHILDREN'S CAPACITY TO INCLUDE THE USE OF KNOWLEDGE AS A FACTOR IN +THEIR STUDY + + +_The natural tendency to carry ideas into execution._ + +One of the most attractive baits that can be offered to a +discontented, restless child is to propose that he _do_ something; and +having received such a proposal, his impatience over delay in its +execution shows how closely his nature links doing with thinking and +planning. The games of children call for comparatively little study; +yet children's desire to be acting is so dominant that they can +scarcely wait to learn the rules before beginning to play. An eight- +year-old girl who had been studying at home with her mother complained +to a friend, "Mother doesn't have me _do_ anything! She has had me +read and spell and learn arithmetic, and that's all." It is partly +because we have come to appreciate, in recent years, this pressing +need of doing, that we have been reforming the elementary school by +introducing manual training, cooking, and sewing. One of the early +surprises and disappointments of children produced by adults is +the failure of the latter to carry into practice plans that they have +been heard to make, and ideals that they have professed to admire. +Having set up specific aims, such as were suggested in Chapter III, +children expect to realize them in practice, because instinct tells +them that the value of theory is found in its application. That is the +reason that they so often inquire, "What is the use of it?" in +connection with their study at school, and that they disapprove so +heartily of any project that won't work. + +_Value of this tendency in education._ + +Living means substantially the same thing with children as with +adults. They have the same general environment as adults; they study +the same large fields of knowledge; and they likewise find the object +of education in efficiency. There are the same reasons, therefore, as +in the case of more mature students, for making the using of knowledge +the aim of their study. + +The prospect of applying knowledge is a source of motive for all +grades of learners. I have never seen a class more attentive to every +detail of its procedure than were a certain group of girls who felt +under obligations to eat the strawberry jam that they were making at +school. Furthermore, the actual doing of the things imagined is a +great clarifier of thought for children, as is shown in the very +extensive use that the school makes of motor activity in numerous +studies, and particularly of dramatizing in literature and history. It +is also the most natural test of the practicability of the plans of +children, and on that account a means of developing their soundness of +judgment. This is well illustrated by a certain six-year-old girl who +was making a doll's dress. After working in a very absorbed way for a +time she impatiently exclaimed, "I won't have any lace in my sleeves!" +"Why not?" asked one of her playmates. "'Cause I can't see any way to +put it on," was the reply. One of the chief reasons why the experience +of children outside of school is so educative is the fact that their +ideas and plans are thus continually corrected by trial. + +Briefly, therefore, it is normal for children to carry ideas into +execution, and there is the same need of it as in the case of adults. +It might be added that the peculiar ease with which children form +habits furnishes a special reason why the conversion of ideas into +habits should constitute a very important part of their study. + + + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN TO MAKE THE USING OF +KNOWLEDGE A PART OF THEIR STUDY + + +_1. Special recognition of those facts that should be translated +into habit._ + +While all of one's knowledge should become familiar enough to form +experience, some of it should be worked over until it is translated +into habit. Facts of this latter kind should be clearly distinguished +from others, in order that they may receive the special attention due +them. The moral truths of literature and history belong plainly to +this group. But there are many others, such, for instance, as the +picturing of places upon the earth's surface rather than upon maps; +the association of places with their latitudes; in the case of such a +live problem as protective tariff, the association of the main facts +in its history; the association of our leading transportation routes +with the progress of our country; looking to the evidence in +considering the value of statements; and the accurate and pointed +wording of questions and answers. + +The habits that should be insisted upon in arithmetic are pretty well +agreed upon, such as neatness of written work, accuracy of oral and +written statements, the statement of a problem in one's own words, in +case the meaning is at all doubtful, and the use of the approximate +answer as a guide in finding the exact answer. But only when the great +importance of such procedures is definitely recognized are they likely +to receive the attention necessary to convert them into habits. If +accuracy of statement were recognized as one of the very valuable +habits to be acquired in literature and geography, as well as in +arithmetic, much more effort would probably be put forth to establish +that habit in those studies. Rules for thinking and for the expression +of thought that should result in habits, like the rules of grammar, +pervade all the studies, but until this fact is better established, +and until the principal habits to be expected from each study are more +clearly defined, somewhat as in arithmetic, there will be much wasted +effort in study because important parts of the work will not be +carried to completion. + +_2. Studying for one's own benefit._ + +The average "good" student scarcely gets beyond the first of the four +stages of study outlined, _i. e.,_ the collection of the crude +materials of knowledge. One very important reason tor this is that he +fixes his eyes too intently upon his teacher in the preparation of his +lessons; he studies to satisfy her rather than himself, as though +somehow the school was established for her benefit. This subordination +to the teacher is shown in the attitude toward marks; many a college +student, even, waits helplessly until he can learn his mark before he +knows whether or not he has done well; he seems to lack any conviction +of his own about the matter. The student who feels responsibility +primarily to himself, and therefore bothers little about marks, is +rare. + +Yet the selection of that portion of the subject-matter that promises +profit, and its conversion into experience, presuppose the ability to +subordinate both author and teacher to the self, indeed to forget +about both. No teacher can direct a student just what to select, or +inform him when it has become experience with him; the real student +must have a self big enough to carry that responsibility alone. +Weakness in this respect manifests itself very early. Many a child is +so absorbed in his teacher as not to know when he knows a thing until +the teacher's approval is given. In some schools probably half of the +pupils ten to twelve years of age fall into such a halting, apologetic +frame of mind, that they would scarcely risk a meal on the accuracy of +any statement that they make. In comparison, the boy who won't study, +who plays hookey on warm spring days in spite of his teacher's +warnings, and who otherwise defies his teacher, is to be admired; he +is preserving his individuality, his most important possession. + +It is largely the teacher's fault if children show no power to +discriminate the values of facts to themselves, and to determine when +they know a thing. They will not always show wisdom in their +selections, and will not always be right when they feel _sure._ A +good degree of reliability in these respects is something that has to +be acquired by long training. But the spirit of self-reliance is a +child's birthright, and if it is lacking in his study it is because +his nature has been undermined. Teachers, therefore, should take great +pains to avoid a dogmatic manner toward children; they should impress +upon them the fact that they are primarily responsible to themselves +in their study, and that teachers are only advisers or assistants in +intellectual matters, and not masters. No doubt many a college student +finds it next to impossible to accomplish the second and third stages +in study here outlined, simply because he finds no individual self +within him to satisfy; it has been so long and so fully subordinated +to others that it has become dwarfed, or has lost its native power to +react; on that account independent selection is difficult and the +sense of ownership is weak. + +_3. Means of influencing pupils to use their knowledge. +(1). "The recitation."_ + +The principal means on which the teacher must rely for influencing +children to include the using of knowledge as a part of their study, +is the recitation. Since at least most of the recitation period is +necessarily spent in talking, it might at first seem that it could +accomplish little in the way of applying what one learns. But when it +is remembered that perhaps the main use of knowledge is found in +conversation and discussion, the situation need not seem so hopeless. + +The great thing, then, is to see that the talk of the class room takes +place under as natural conditions as serious conversation and +discussion elsewhere, thus duplicating real life. We know that +children may spell words correctly in lists that they will miss in +writing letters, and that they can solve problems in arithmetic +correctly in school that seem quite beyond them when accidentally met +as actual problems outside. Such facts emphasize the truth that only +actual life secures a full and normal test of knowledge, and, +therefore, that the recitation secures it only to the extent that it +duplicates life. + +Here is seen a fundamental weakness of the customary recitation. It +tests only the presence of facts in the minds of pupils, while the +outside world tests their ability to use these facts, which is another +and far more difficult matter, requiring true assimilation. Not merely +that; but the customary recitation makes a sympathetic teacher the +center of activity, she putting most of the questions, interpreting +the answers, foreknowing what the children are trying to say, and +deciding all issues. The children are not expected to offer ideas that +are new to any one present, and they even acknowledge responsibility +only to the teacher, looking toward her, addressing their statements +to her, and usually endeavoring only to make her hear. All this holds +largely in college recitations as well as elsewhere,--in case the +students have the privilege of doing anything beyond listening to +teachers there. This is an extremely unnatural situation and an +inadequate test, as is indicated by the fact that the replies to the +teacher's questions seldom convey clear meaning to strangers present. +Such recitations secure far less individuality of thought and far less +directness and force in its expression than is acceptable anywhere +outside of the academic atmosphere. + +The special importance of having the school periods duplicate life +conditions is seen in the fact that the character of the recitation +determines the character of the preparation for it. Both the child and +the more mature student will ordinarily go only so far in preparation +as is necessary in order to meet the demands made upon them in class. +If, therefore, the recitation does nothing more than give a weak test +of the presence of facts, the preparation will include little +selection and reorganization of facts and little effort to translate +them into experience. + +How, then, should the customary recitation be modified? Let the young +people come together much of the time for the same purpose that they +have in serious conversation outside; _i.e.,_ not to rehearse or +recite, but to talk over earnestly points that are worth talking over. +With an assigned topic for a lesson, and with a teacher present as +adviser and critic, let them compare their conceptions of what seem to +them the principal facts, supplementing, rejecting, and selecting what +seems to them fit. The relationship that they would bear toward one +another might be the same as in any social gathering; but since it +would be real work and not entertainment that they were attempting, +attention would be centered on a definite subject and remarks would be +more pointed. While the teacher would preserve order in the usual +fashion, and might often come to their aid by correcting and advising, +responsibility for taking the initiative and for making fair progress +would rest primarily upon the children, so that they would be adopting +an attitude and a method that could be directly transferred to the +home and elsewhere. This is the ideal that Dr. Dewey urges in his +_School and Society_ when he says: "The recitation becomes a +social meeting place; it is to the school what the spontaneous +conversation is at home, except that it is more organized, following +definite lines. The recitation becomes the social clearing house, +where experiences and ideas are exchanged and subjected to criticism, +where misconceptions are corrected, and new lines of thought and +inquiry are set up." [Footnote: Dr. John Dewey, _School and +Society,_ p. 65.] The recitation then becomes a period where +children talk before the teacher rather than to her; and in +questioning and answering one another in a natural way they not only +learn pointedness in thinking, but they increase and test their +knowledge by using it. Thus they give witness to the truth of Bacon's +words: "Whosoever hath his mind fraught with many thoughts, his wits +and understanding do clarify and break up in the communicating and +discoursing with another; he tosseth his thoughts more easily; he +marshalleth them more orderly; he seeth how they look when they are +turned into words; finally, he waxeth wiser than himself; and that +more by an hour's discourse than by a day's meditation....A man were +better relate himself to a statue or picture, than to suffer his +thoughts to pass in smother." [Footnote: Bacon's Essays, _Of +Friendship._] When many of the school periods are occupied in this +way, the lessons are not likely to be prepared with the teacher first +in mind; what the others will say, what they will accept and reject +and enjoy, as well as what one can one's self present and maintain, +will chiefly occupy the attention. The child will then be selective in +his study, having a view-point of his own; and he may even practice the +forcible presentation of his ideas in the privacy of his study--before +"a statue or picture" if need be. Moreover, with the use of his +knowledge in prospect, he will cease to rely weakly upon his teacher +to tell him whether or not he knows, because he will carry his own +standard. + +There is no reason for assuming that all recitations should be spent +in this manner, nor, perhaps, half of them; and they would not prove +highly successful without training on the part of both teachers and +pupils. But such a method of procedure should be common, and it should +be fundamental to other study. In fact, it has succeeded admirably +where tried by intelligent teachers. + +_(2). The school and home life of the pupil._ + +While the recitation can furnish occasion, in the way described, for +the first use of knowledge, its use must be carried much further +before a fair degree of assimilation can be assured. For this purpose +the community life of the school, including the conduct of the +children toward one another in the schoolroom and on the playground, +may be of great value. A teacher of six-year-old children can, by +close observation, find many ways in which the morals contained in +fairy tales that she tells will apply to their daily lives, and with +skill she can draw their attention to the fact in a helpful manner. +So, any teacher who is earnest and observant of the thought, speech, +and general conduct of her pupils can find numerous needs for the +ideas that have been presented in class. The community life of a +school is not very much narrower than that of any ordinary social +community, such as a village; and certainly in a village the uses of +knowledge are without limit, if one will only find them. + +If, in addition to a close watch of the school life, the teacher finds +energy to study the home life of her pupils, even to visit them in +their homes, so as to become acquainted with their parents and their +home conditions, she can gather many more suggestions for the +application of school knowledge. If she then makes mention of such +uses at fitting times, and also as a part of examinations calls upon +pupils to report on uses actually made of facts learned, she can both +secure much real use of knowledge acquired at school and at the same +time cultivate responsibility for its further use. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +PROVISION FOR A TENTATIVE RATHEE THAN A FIXED ATTITUDE TOWARD +KNOWLEDGE, AS A SEVENTH FACTOR IN STUDY. + + + +A fixed attitude toward facts and conclusions is harmful in several +ways. The following incidents suggest how greatly it interferes with +the usefulness of knowledge. + +_Reasons why a fixed attitude toward ideas is undesirable. +1. It interferes with the usefulness of knowledge._ + +A certain man living in one of the suburbs of Greater New York was +commissioned by his wife to buy some flannel for her at one of the +large department stores in the city. She knew exactly what she wanted, +for she had already purchased some of the goods at this store. So she +gave her husband a sample, with the explicit directions, emphasized, +that the new piece should be of exactly the same quality, with white +edges, and one yard wide. + +On arriving at the right counter, the man delivered his sample and +gave his order. But, after some searching, the clerk said, "The exact +thing that you want has all been sold; but I have here just the right +piece," throwing down a bolt, "except that it is slightly coarser. +Could you take that?" Recalling his wife's instructions, the man +replied, "No," somewhat doubtfully. + +After more searching the clerk said, "Well, I have here a piece of +just the desired quality, and one yard wide, only it has red edges. +Could you not use that?" and he threw another bolt down on the +counter. Again, remembering the emphasis on the directions received, +the man responded weakly, "No, I think not." + +Finally, after further search, the clerk produced a third bolt, with +the remark, "This will probably suit you. It is the exact quality that +you want, and has white edges. The only objection is that it is not +quite a yard wide. Can you not take it?" When for a third time the +hesitating response came, "I think not," the clerk turned away with an +expression of disgust for his customer, mingled with sorrow and pity. + +Although the man had done his best, he did not feel sure of his wife's +approval on his return home. When she asked for his purchase he stated +that he had failed to make it, and explained the circumstances. +"Well," she replied, "but why didn't you use your own judgment and +take one of the other pieces?" To which he responded, "I understood +that I was not expected to use any judgment. You strongly emphasized +the fact that you wanted material exactly like the sample, with white +edges and just one yard wide. You told me nothing about what was to be +made out of the goods. How, then, was I in a position to do anything +more than to follow your exact directions?" That ended the discussion; +but the need of less fixedness in instructions given was strongly +impressed upon the husband, and a similar need in the following of +instructions was equally impressed upon the wife. They were thus +agreed as to the desirableness of some adaptability in one's ideas. + +A certain class of girls was learning to make French cream candy, and +the recipe for the same, namely, + +1 cup of sugar, +1/3 cup of water, +1 salt-spoon of cream of tartar. + +was placed on the board for them to follow. After reading the recipe +and listening to some directions from the teacher, including special +emphasis on accuracy of measurements, the class set to work and +produced some candy that even the visitors were glad to eat. + +The recipe seemed so simple that one of the visitors a few days later +proposed to his little daughter that they make some French cream candy +at home. They measured out a cup of sugar and one-third of a cup of +water; but there was a halt when it was discovered that there was no +salt-spoon in the house. The man's wife came to their rescue, however, +by giving them some idea of the size of such a spoon. Then it was +found that they had no cream of tartar. On further consultation with +the wife it was learned for the first time that the object of cream of +tartar was to prevent too quick granulation, and that probably some +other acid-like substance, such as vinegar or lemon juice, might do +just as well. So a small amount of vinegar was used instead, and +reasonably good candy was produced. + +In a later attempt the exact amount of water necessary to a cup of +sugar had been forgotten, and too much water was used; but by boiling +the mixture longer, excellent candy was made. As a result of these +experiments it was found that only enough water was needed to dissolve +the sugar, and that any one of several other things would do as well +as cream of tartar to prevent granulation. Without this knowledge +there would be many a family which, either on account of bad memory of +proportions or of want of certain materials, could make no use of the +recipe. Such knowledge secured some adaptability or flexibility in the +directions, thereby greatly extending their use. + +One of the common objections to preparing lesson plans for teaching is +that they can seldom be followed. More than that, it is declared, +children have such a disappointing way of doing and saying the +unexpected, that a carefully memorized lesson plan is likely to hinder +the teacher in adapting herself to her pupils, and on that account may +do more harm than good. + +These objections contain much truth; and if preparing a lesson plan +means mapping out only one fixed procedure, they may be entirely +valid. That is not, however, what such preparation should signify. One +of the principal objects of making one plan is to think out others, +that may be followed or not as occasion demands. That kind of +preparation, instead of tying a teacher's hands, keeps her superior to +any fixed course and gives freedom to deal skillfully with almost any +kind of response. + +These examples may be sufficient to show that a fixed attitude toward +directions and plans, or toward knowledge in general, is a serious +barrier to its application. The conditions are always changing, and +one's ideas must be capable of corresponding modification if their +full use is to be enjoyed. + +_2. It is opposed to progress._ + +Our attitude toward knowledge is intimately related also to the +progress that we make; a fixed state of mind precludes reflection +about one's course by precluding a feeling of its need. Men frequently +show blindness to new truth. Boss politicians count upon from eighty +to eighty-five per cent of all voters "standing pat" and voting +according to party, no matter what facts may be discovered against one +candidate and in favor of another. This fact is what gives the bosses +their security. It was thought to be a wonderful sign of progress a +few years ago when sixty thousand out of six hundred thousand voters +in a certain election in Massachusetts ignored party lines and voted +according to the merits of the candidate. One reason that we have so +many mediaeval educational institutions is that persons in control +have so many fixed ideas. There are few colleges and universities to- +day, for instance, in which courses that prepare young women for home- +keeping, such as domestic science and domestic art, receive credit +toward a degree. Progressive changes in any line are conditioned upon +sensitiveness toward changing circumstances and new ideas, and a fixed +attitude is directly opposed to such responsiveness. + +_3. It is opposed to peace and happiness._ + +History is full of instances of the extent to which intolerance +resulting from fixed convictions may carry people. Innumerable murders +and many wars, entailing untold suffering, have found their principal +cause in religious bigotry. Educational and political bigotry are +likewise sources of much bad feeling and unhappiness. Family disputes, +as between father and son, are in large measure due to too great +fixedness of views and opinions; and much of the discontent of old age +is found in the inability of old people to abandon their old-fashioned +notions, so as to adjust themselves to new conditions and enjoy them. +A fixed attitude toward ideas is, therefore, far from an unmixed +virtue; it seriously limits the usefulness of knowledge; it greatly +checks progress; and it strongly opposes peace and happiness. + +_4. It finds little justification in the nature of knowledge._ + +Finally, a fixed attitude toward ideas finds little justification in +the nature of knowledge. If supposed facts were always true, and if +they were always truly understood, a fixed state of mind toward them +might still find justification; but that is far from the case. +Probably some things are true for all time, such, for example, as the +facts of the multiplication table, propositions in geometry, and some +of the laws of physics. But perfect reliability is attached to very +little of our knowledge. Some of the fundamental propositions in the +exact sciences of physics and chemistry are only hypotheses, that have +undergone extensive modification in recent years. Political opinions +are subject to constant change. Sixty years ago the secret ballot was +feared as one of the worst of evils, lest voters might then wreak +awful vengeance upon those in authority; now its desirability is +unquestioned. + +So many new ideas have become established in recent years about the +nature of childhood, the aims of the school, and even the use of +school buildings, that education is a radically different field from +what it was only twenty years ago. In the same way, facts in all lines +are ever undergoing modification, and evolution prophesies such +modification through all time to come. Even our statements of +scientific law, instead of being final, only express man's +interpretation of unvarying phenomena of nature, and are subject to +error, like all other work of man. Huxley declares that "the day-fly +has better grounds for calling a thunder storm supernatural than has +man, with his experience of an infinitesimal fraction of duration, to +say that the most astonishing event that can be imagined is beyond the +scope of natural causes." [Footnote: T. H. Huxley, _Life of Hume,_ p. +132.] Even within the field of science, therefore, we can never feel +sure that the last word has been said, and the best established +conclusions may have to submit to correction. + +Turning from the better established fields of knowledge to such other +facts as influence daily life, we find them to be remarkably +uncertain. The facts about the weather, that guide the farmer, for +instance, are only beginning to be fully known, and consequent +miscalculations in the planning and the care of crops are without +limit. In ordering goods only six months in advance, the merchant must +be controlled by probabilities, many of which are only narrowly +distinguishable from guesses. The facts that establish friendships are +frequently still less tangible, blind feelings of affinity and faith +alone being not seldom the basis of the attraction. Thus our so-called +knowledge ranges all the way from ideas that possess a very high +degree of probability to those that are a product of faith and hope, +the greater portion of them approaching the latter. More than that, +even in cases where the statements of principles, as in physics and +ethics, seem thoroughly reliable, the variety of their application is +so great and any individual's horizon is so narrow, that errors in +their application to concrete cases must be very common. Correct +theory about any matter by no means carries with it the correct +application of that theory, as every one finds out sooner or later. It +follows, then, that the highest wisdom represents only a rough +approximation to the truth, and that ordinary facts are more nearly +hypotheses than certainties. Since, therefore, so few ideas are fully +reliable and unalterably fixed, a settled attitude toward them is +undesirable, not only because it is opposed to utility, growth, and +happiness, but because it finds no warrant in the real nature of +knowledge. + +_The proper attitude toward knowledge._ + +What, then, is the proper attitude toward knowledge? While one should +not be ultra-conservative, as though everything were finally settled, +neither should one be ultra-radical, as though nothing were +established; bigotry and skepticism are alike to be condemned. + +The ideal state of mind is illustrated by leaders in industrial +pursuits, like manufacturing. They confidently make the fullest +possible use of existing knowledge pertaining to their business, +including the latest inventions, while they keep a very careful +lookout for further improvements. That is, they preserve an +unprejudiced, open mind toward both the old and the new. It is just +such a tentative attitude toward knowledge that all people should +cultivate. So much of the old is defective, and so much new truth may +come to light at any moment, that the fair, judicial mind is always in +demand, a mind that is ever ready for new adjustments and that weighs +and decides solely according to evidence. Colonel F. W. Parker used to +declare that the grandest discovery of the nineteenth century was the +_suspended judgment._ Yet this attitude is one that has long been +insisted upon as essential to the scientist; indeed, it is most +generally called the scientific attitude. It is strange, however, that +those fields in which facts are best established should be the ones in +which the importance of a tentative attitude is most emphasized. One +would think that its worth for the non-scientific man would be far +greater, for the facts that he hears about people and things, which +guide him daily, are far less reliable, and his consequent necessity +of changing his views is much more frequent. + +_The relation of this attitude to energetic action._ + +While a tentative attitude toward knowledge may be of great importance +for the scientist or theoretical student, may it not be even harmful +to the ordinary person? Force or energy is one of the chief +requirements in the world of action; and if a person becomes much +impressed with the unreliability of his ideas, as seems necessary in +the cultivation of a tentative attitude, may he not come finally to +lack decision and energy? Certainly we now and then see examples of +indecision and half-hearted action, due at least in part to +appreciation of opposing points of view and to consequent uncertainty +of conclusions. + +There may be such a danger; but it is, on the whole, to be courted +rather than avoided; for, while examples of indecision are sometimes +seen, examples of too decided convictions and of excessive energy in +pushing them are far more common. It is not mere action that is +wanted, but _safe_ action. Force must be under the guidance of reason +if it is to be free from danger, and reason is hardly possible without +an interested but impartial attitude toward evidence. Possibly the +energy of educators would be at least temporarily increased if they +formulated and subscribed to definite educational creeds; but the +partiality that would thus be encouraged would soon lead to strife and +wasted effort. + +A tentative attitude undoubtedly does limit activity somewhat, but +only as good judgment limits it, for it is one of the leading factors +in such judgment. It tends to eliminate misguided effort, and to check +other action until its object is found to be worthy. Each of these +effects is highly desirable. + +On the other hand, there is no reason why it should be expected to +diminish energy after favorable judgment on a project has been passed. +It does not imply indifference or any lack of devotion; it merely +favors the subordination of enthusiasm to insight, and delays +expression of the former till the latter has given lief. The result is +likely to be greater and better sustained effort than otherwise, +because the tested excellence of the cause must be a source of +inspiration and will help to carry one through discouraging intervals. +Washington and Lincoln were both distinguished for freedom from blind +prejudices and corresponding openness to the influence of new ideas; +but they were also distinguished for uncommon energy and firmness in +the pursuit of their main purposes. A tentative attitude toward ideas +is, therefore, a real aid to energetic action in all but unworthy and +doubtful causes; in these cases it is a very desirable hindrance. +[Footnote: For a valuable discussion of this general topic, see J. W, +Jenks' _Citizenship and the Schools,_ particularly Chapter I.] + + + +HOW THIS MATTER CONCERNS CHILDREN + + +A receptive state of mind is supposed to be one of the peculiar merits +of children. Indeed, they are so sympathetic with any view that the +last presentation that they happen to hear in regard to a disputed +matter is likely to be the one that they accept. It might seem, +therefore, that there is no need of emphasizing the importance of +open-mindedness as a factor in their education. That is far from the +case, however. Children are peculiarly open-minded toward many things; +but it is mainly those that they have had no previous opportunity to +learn about. It is hard to take sides on a matter that you have never +heard of. But the test of an impartial mind is found in those matters +that are already somewhat familiar, so that one has already had some +temptation to choose a side. Note how children act in such cases. How +readily they declare allegiance to the political party of their +fathers and shout with all the vehemence of stand-patters! How +stubbornly they insist upon their teacher's method of solving problems +in arithmetic when their parents undertake to assist them by showing a +better way! They are nearly as intolerant as their parents on such +occasions. How hastily they take sides in disputes among friends! And +how very frequently their impatience with the statements and opinions +of their companions gets them into quarrels and fights! + +When we recall the great variety of decisions that they reach in daily +life, and the impulsiveness with which many of them are made and +supported, it becomes evident that precautions against prejudice and +intolerance are not at all out of place in their education. The need +is emphasized, too, when we realize that many persons adopt inflexible +views on so great a number of disputed questions, that they show signs +of becoming old fogies quite early in life. "Old fogyism begins at an +earlier age than we think," says Professor James. "I am almost afraid +to say so, but I believe that in the majority of human beings it +begins at about twenty-five." [Footnote: _Talks to Teachers,_ p. +160.] If instances of intolerance become numerous enough to begin to +class a majority of us as old fogies at this age, certainly many +tendencies toward a fixed state of mind must appear and need treatment +at a much earlier age. + +The matter is of special importance with young children, owing to the +nature of the school curriculum during the early years of school. +Beginning reading, writing, and spelling are systems of conventional +signs, where authority and not reason decides what is right. +Arithmetic, also, consists of absolutely definite, indisputable facts. +Thus the facts in the three R's and spelling, which make up most of +the curriculum in the majority of schools for the earlier years, show +no flexibility whatever. They must be learned as fixed things, and +they tend to give the impression that the definiteness and finality +belonging to them are to be expected in all subjects. This impression +is strengthened, too, rather than destroyed, by the behavior of +average parents. The conditions are, therefore, very favorable for the +development of snap judgments and fixed attitudes among children, +unless such influences are counteracted by very careful training. + + + +SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOB CULTIVATING A TENTATIVE ATTITUDE AMONG BOTH +CHILDREN AND MORE MATURE STUDENTS + + +_1. Acquaintance with a variety of views._ + +University students preparing for supervision of instruction often +observe recitations together, with the object of discussing their +merits and defects. No matter how carefully they may have analyzed a +recitation, it is interesting, when they come to compare conclusions, +to observe how their view-points vary, how many things each person has +overlooked, and how widely their judgments at first differ. Many a +student who has pursued such a course of study has reached the +conviction that no one person is capable of discovering all the +important factors in thirty minutes of instruction, and that his own +conclusions are probably faulty in numerous serious respects. This +impression in regard to the fallibility of individual judgment has a +wholesome effect on any tendency to be too positive and fixed, while +it directly engenders respect for other people's opinions. + +Frequent discussion of questions in class, even among younger +children, can have a similar influence, as can also the use of +reference works and different texts on a subject. The young student +should come to regard acquaintance with varying views as necessary to +the formation of a reliable opinion on any topic and of sound judgment +in general. That conviction will compel him to keep on the lookout for +new light. + +Says John Stuart Mill: "The whole strength and value, then, of human +judgment, depending on the one property that it can be set right when +it is wrong, reliance can be placed on it only when the means of +setting it right are kept constantly at hand. In the case of any +person whose judgment is really deserving of confidence, how has it +become so? Because he has kept his mind open to criticism of his +opinion and conduct. Because it has been his practice to listen to all +that could be said against him; to profit by as much of it as was +just, and expound to himself, and on occasion to others, the fallacy +of what was fallacious. Because he has felt that the only way in which +a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a +subject, is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every +variety of opinion, and studying all modes in which it can be looked +at by every variety of mind. No wise man ever acquired his wisdom in +any mode but this; nor is it the nature of human intellect to become +wise in any other manner." [Footnote: John Stuart Mill. _On Liberty,_ +Chapter II.] + +_2. Slowness in passing judgment._ + +A second means by which a student may be kept from too positive and +fixed an attitude is by being trained to feel satisfied that many a +clearly stated problem that has arisen with him cannot be definitely +and finally answered at the present time, and perhaps not at all. + +Slowness in passing judgment may usually be urged with propriety. Even +the mere attempts to reply to a query should occasionally be checked +in class when it is evident that they are hasty. Some answers should +be delayed even several days, the time meanwhile being occupied with +the collection of data. Too many difficult questions are answered "at +a sitting," with meager reflection and investigation, as though final +answers in general could be obtained easily and quickly. + +There are some problems also that should not be answered at all; not +because they are not valuable, but because their solutions cannot yet +be understood by the student, or are as yet impossible. The +consciousness that knowledge is too difficult, or is positively +wanting here and there, destroys overconfidence in the completeness of +one's attainments and awakens the need of further study. One of the +principal values of many a recitation, in any grade of work, should +consist in the unsolved problems that have been worded. + +_3. Cultivation of sympathy._ + +A good measure of kindly feeling in one's make-up is, perhaps, the +greatest single remedy against a too static condition of ideas. +Feeling seems to have a double function in making one open and +plastic. A kindly attitude toward new ideas is necessary before they +can be viewed long enough to have their value tested. We must be +positively friendly, or willing to see worth, before we can see it. +Sympathy thus secures a hearing for new ideas. It was because the Jews +lacked this feeling and consequent willingness, that Jesus condemned +them for seeing not, though they had eyes, and for hearing not, though +they had ears. + +Feeling is also a condition of the appreciation of new thought after +it has once secured a hearing. By a sort of intuition the significance +of a fact is often felt long before the intellect has furnished proof +of its value, the power of feeling supplying motive in this way for +the intellect to do its work. And, again, until the conclusions formed +by the intellect have reached the feelings, they exert little +influence upon one's ways of thinking and acting. Cold sermons have +little effect on most persons, even though, their logic forces assent +to them. Appreciation of worth thus greatly depends upon one's +capacity of feeling. + +Considerable warmth of heart or mellowness of nature due to sympathy +is, therefore, an important factor in rendering one willing to listen +to new ideas and to be influenced by them. Without much feeling, a man +is likely to be narrow and unyielding. Gradgrind, in Dickens's _Hard +Times,_ is a shining example of this type. In his excessive devotion +to "hard facts" his emotional nature atrophied, until the many +valuable cues or suggestions about the conduct of his business +and the training of his children that a kindlier nature would have +caught from the events occurring about him, failed to affect him, and +on that account he went to smash. He admirably illustrates in a +negative way Carlyle's striking statement that "never wise head yet +was without warm heart," and he throws light on the profoundness of +Saint Paul's meaning when he said, "Love is...never conceited...but +has full sympathy with truth." + +Without an abundance of affection a man is self-centered, a selfish +aristocrat. Sympathy or love allows the ideas of others to be lifted +to a plane on a level with his own and thus helps greatly toward his +tolerance and receptiveness. + +It is true that the scientist urges the elimination of all personal +feeling in his investigations. He wants to be as purely intellectual +as possible, in order to see things as they are, while personal bias +tends to color facts and to that extent to vitiate them. It is +chiefly, however, prejudice of all sorts in testing and judging truth +that he is anxious to avoid, rather than any feeling of unalloyed +interest in it. A certain warmth of feeling is necessary for its +comprehension as well as its evaluation. The biologist, for instance, +must be in close sympathy with birds in order to understand them, just +as a mother must be in close sympathy with her child in order to +understand him. + +It would scarcely be worth while to include these thoughts were we not +able to preserve and increase our capacity of feeling, in kind and +degree, just as we can preserve and increase our knowledge. It is +partly with this object that we have so broad a curriculum, even in +the primary school, including music, painting, and literature, as well +as other subjects. Literature certainly possesses great value for +developing broad sympathy; it is at least a question if literary men +do not exhibit less prejudice toward new ideas than scientists, +although so much emphasis is placed upon induction, and judgment +according to evidence, in the training of the latter that they might +be expected to be especially open-minded. + +In addition to broad study, we can take pains not to study too much, +that is, not so much as to crowd out the emotional life. Insight is +only one of several large factors in a good education, and the +ambitious student is always in danger of becoming too exclusively +intellectual for the highest scholarship. The true relation of insight +to feeling is well illustrated in Lincoln's life, when in the midst of +the most serious and pressing problems he took time for jesting and +humorous tales. In spite of condemnation by his subordinates for +levity, he had excellent grounds for such conduct; for not only was +relaxation secured in this manner--which was important enough--but his +own natural warmth of sympathy was also restored, which was of +greatest value in weighing the worth of suggestions and events. Humor +is an important aid to any serious person in preserving balance; a +good laugh restores perspective. + +While it is the duty of the more mature student to cultivate for +himself a many-sided emotional life, even at the expense of some +knowledge, it is the duty of teachers of children in particular to +give them material help in this direction. There are few schools that +do not emphasize learning to the neglect of feeling. The teacher can +help first of all by avoiding setting a coldly intellectual example. +In addition she can study the conduct of children with the object of +correcting their narrowness. Many a child who isolates himself from +conversation and play at recess is growing one-sided, whether he +spends the time in doing nothing or in studying. He should be +influenced to enjoy play and social life, just as he should be +influenced to study, and it is the teacher's task to single out such +cases and restore them to their normal condition. + +_4. Subordination of authority to reason._ + +Young people can learn to distinguish between authority on the one +hand and evidence or reason on the other, and to subordinate the +former to the latter, thus allowing conclusions to be based chiefly on +facts rather than on persons. + +The assertion of authority over children, requiring blind obedience on +their part in matters of discipline, is very common. Similar assertion +of authority over both children and adults in intellectual matters is +also common. The authority of custom, for instance, as represented in +the teacher, is dominant in beginning reading, writing, spelling, and +in language in general. In many advanced subjects, also, students are +accustomed to accept many statements as true simply because the +instructors declare them to be. + +_(1) The two bases of conclusions._ + +Some subjects, however, to a peculiar degree eliminate authority, +basing conclusions mainly on reason. Mathematics affords an example. +Personal authority sinks so completely out of sight here that even a +child can dare sometimes to correct the teacher. While the majority of +studies lie between the extremes represented by literature and +mathematics, it is safe to say that conclusions generally can be based +upon reasons that are fairly within the understanding and the reach of +young people, if it seems desirable. + +_(2) Inferiority of authority to reason._ + +Blind obedience is of doubtful value in the discipline of children, +because it is so unintelligent; it is well called _blind._ Blind +submission to authority in intellectual matters, on the part of either +children or adults, is no less objectionable. It is not any person's +mere assertion that makes a thing true, but evidence of some sort; and +evidence is likewise usually necessary to make it interesting and +comprehensible. The artificiality of the authority of a teacher as the +main support for conclusions is plainly seen in the fact that there is +no substitute for it outside of and after school and college. Its evil +influence is also evident from the fact that persons accustomed to +rely much upon it easily come to overlook evidence to the extent of +blindly jumping to conclusions. And, having formed their opinions +independently of reason, they cannot be easily influenced; for an +attitude that has not been reached rationally is not likely to be +modified rationally. Submission to authority easily ends in the most +extreme dogmatism. + +_(3) The tendency of authority to usurp the place of reason._ + +There is a strong tendency, however, for authority to usurp the place +of reason. In penmanship, for example, the teacher often dictates the +proper position of the body, instead of acquainting the child with the +reasons for it. The rules for composition are usually dogmatically +presented, in spite of the fact that there are plain reasons back of +most of them. If, for instance, a sentence did not begin with some +large mark, such as a capital, and end with some other plainly seen +mark, it would be difficult to distinguish one sentence from another, +so as to read. Statements in geography were long based on authority, +like those in grammar; in fact, only very recently has the causal idea +become prominent in geography. High-school students of physics very +generally want to know what the teacher wishes them to see in an +experiment before feeling sure what they do see; and college students +of politics, rather than depend upon the evidence itself, are inclined +to learn the political views of their professors as the means of +finding out what they themselves think. + +There are good reasons for this tendency to base conclusions upon +authority. It takes much more knowledge of a subject and much greater +skill in its presentation to make the reasons for facts clear. +Furthermore, it requires a good degree of energy and moral courage on +the part of teachers to decline the compliment that young people +confer upon them in preferring to trust them rather than evidence; and +it also requires a good degree of energy on the part of students to +rely upon their own study of facts. It is not surprising, therefore, +if the average teacher makes himself the main authority for the +statements that he makes in class, and if the average student readily +accepts his authority. That is the easier way to get through a day. + +_(4) How this tendency may be combated._ + +As the first step in combating this tendency, both teachers and +students must decide how highly they value a scientific method of +arriving at conclusions. Heretofore our interest in conclusions as +valuable information has been so great that the method of reaching +them has been neglected; it mattered little how much prejudice or +blind acceptance of authority was connected with them, so long as they +were understood and remembered. If such neglect has been wrong, and if +a habit of basing opinions on carefully selected facts is +approximately as important as knowledge itself,--as is probably +true,--then we have found sufficient motive for serious effort toward +reform. + +The next step is to make the words _premises, evidence, proof,_ as +prominent in study as the word _conclusions._ "In reasoning," says ex- +President Eliot, "the selection of the premises is the all-important +part of the process....The main reason for the painfully slow +progress of the human race is to be found in the inability of the +great mass of people to establish correctly the premises of an +argument....Every school ought to give direct instruction in fact- +determining and truth-seeking; and the difficulties of these processes +ought to be plainly and incessantly pointed out." [Footnote: _Atlantic +Monthly,_ "The School," November, 1903, p. 584.] Some college studies, +as physics, for instance, might be taught primarily for the sake of +method rather than subject-matter, and all college subjects, so far as +possible, should emphasize the value of the right method of study. + +But scientifically trained college students, with their snap judgments +in fields outside of their specialties, give convincing proof that +emphasis on method in one or a few studies taken up so late in life +cannot inculcate the general habit of mind desired. Such training must +begin much earlier, must in fact extend throughout the whole period of +study, as Dr. Eliot suggests. Teachers in the elementary school in +particular must assume responsibility for developing a scientific +habit of thinking, just as they assume responsibility for correct +speech, and must insist upon the one in every subject as they do upon +the other. + +_5. The referring of disagreements of view to large facts or +principles._ + +The tendency to dogmatize can be further overcome if disagreements of +view are habitually referred for decision to large facts or +principles. Suppose that a dispute has arisen as to when phonics +should be introduced in beginning reading, and how prominent it should +be made. A, wishing to teach children to read as soon and as rapidly +as possible, would drill upon lists of phonetic words and upon +sentences composed only of such words, no matter how artificial they +might be. B, considering other things more important in beginning +school life than learning to read, strongly opposes any extensive and +systematic use of phonics. Reiteration of views, and even the +customary proofs of success by trial, may avail nothing. But +reiteration may lead to derogatory remarks, when each becomes +impressed with the stubbornness and meanness of the other. + +Suppose, however, that B, remembering that details of method are +determined by large principles, runs back to his largest controlling +idea in beginning reading, the need of live minds or of lively thought +on the part of the children. Suppose that he shows that extensive use +of phonics during the first year of school means the use of words +without meaning, a tendency that is marked in prayers and greetings +and that has to be actively combated throughout school and college +life. Suppose that he shows, further, that the main progress of the +best primers and readers in the last twenty years has been in +opposition to this tendency and in the direction of interesting +thought, and that good expression of thought rather than the mere +pronouncing of words is the chief element in good reading. + +A large principle thus brought to bear is likely to accomplish one of +three things: (_a_) it may lead to full agreement; (_b_) or it may +itself be agreed upon, while the details are still objects of dispute. +But in that case the large thought, having put the details in proper +perspective, prevents unpleasant conflict by revealing their +comparative littleness. Also, agreement on the large point convinces +each disputant of the other's partial sanity, at least, and thus +preserves harmony; (_c_) or, finally, the principle itself may +become an object of dispute. Even then the largeness of the idea +places the discussion on a high plane, and the disputants, impressed +with the dignified, impersonal character of the thought, are +disinclined to personalities. + +This value of a principle is often illustrated in the work of +criticising young teachers. Let the critic condemn with authority one +feature of a recitation after another, making free use of the pronoun +_I_, and the young teacher criticised is likely to glare at him +in rising wrath. But let the critic omit the show of authority +entirely, even the use of _I_, merely offering the reasons for +certain objections, particularly some broad principle of method whose +relation to the matter in hand is perfectly plain, and harmony is +almost bound to prevail, no matter how complete the condemnation may +be. Thus people will bear with one another, either agreeing or +agreeing to disagree, so long as discussions center about principles; +but without this condition intolerance and ill feeling easily manifest +themselves. + +_6. The delaying of judgment till the evidence has been considered._ + +Having granted the need of relying on reasons, and large ones, rather +than on authority, the habit can be inculcated of delaying judgment +until the evidence has been considered. It might seem superfluous to +add this suggestion, did it not frequently happen that people get the +cart before the horse in this manner. For example, it is common for +debaters to choose sides as soon as a question is agreed upon, and to +do their studying afterward. Then, having committed themselves to one +side, they study and argue in order to _win_ rather than to get +light. It being regarded as ridiculous for partisans to be on both +sides of a question at once,--even though one's convictions often +place one there,--they ignore strong opposing arguments, bolster up +their own weak assertions by fluency of speech and a bold manner, and +try to substitute witticisms for thought, when thought is lacking. +While such efforts increase knowledge, they pit personality against +personality in such a way that the ego rather than truth becomes the +main object of interest, and on that account their influence as a +whole is extremely injurious. That kind of discussion is not honest, +and its spirit is far removed from that of the true scientist. + +Young people should avoid taking sides, at least at the beginning of +their study of a problem, and probably discussion should take the +place of debating. At any rate, the single point, rather than the +whole question, might form the unit of debate. They should be taught +to argue on both sides of a question, according to belief, just as +frank persons do in conversation, to recognize the strength of +opposing arguments, and to confess their own weak points. Then they +would be making truth their aim, rather than victory. Such discussions +are much more typical of life than ordinary debates; and if the latter +seem necessary as a preparation for some professions--which is +deplorable, if true--one should wait to acquire such ability until +professional training begins. + +_7. Avoidance of too positive forms of speech._ + +Aside from debates, people are often tempted to commit themselves too +positively in regard to facts by too positive forms of speech. We so +often hear "I _know_" in place of "I suspect" or "I surmise"; and +the speaker, having committed himself almost before he knows it, +repeats the assertion to make himself more sure, meanwhile wondering +how sure he is. + +Benjamin Franklin speaks in his autobiography of having acquired the +habit of expressing himself in terms of modest diffidence, "never +using," he says, "when I advance anything that may possibly be +disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give +the air of positiveness to an opinion; but rather say, 'I conceive or +apprehend a thing to be so-or-so'; 'It appears to me,' or 'I should +not think it so-or-so, for such-and-such reasons'; or 'I imagine it to +be so'; or 'It is so, if I am not mistaken.' This habit, I believe, +has been of great advantage to me, when I have had occasion to +inculcate my opinions, and persuade men into measures that I have been +from time to time engaged in promoting. And, as the chief ends of +conversation are to inform or be informed, to please or persuade, I +wish well-meaning and sensible men would not lessen their power of +doing good by a positive, assuming manner, that seldom fails to +disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat most of those +purposes for which speech was given to us." [Footnote:_Autobiography,_ +p. 21, of edition of Cassell & Co.] + +Franklin is here considering intemperate forms of speech from the +point of view of others. But they have a corresponding bad effect on +the speaker, making him more dogmatic the more he indulges in them, +until he loses the power to be tolerant of other persons. + +Discussion and conversation should be conscientiously utilized by the +student for the practice of intellectual honesty, of sincerity with +himself, for such sincerity lies at the very foundation of true +scholarship. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +PROVISION FOR INDIVIDUALITY, AS AN EIGHTH FACTOR IN STUDY + + + +_The change in appreciation of the self._ + +There was a time when people seemed to take pride in self- +depreciation. Believing in total depravity, they were suspicious of +all natural tendencies, and the crushing out of strong desires seemed +no evil. Obedience to Another's will was the one supreme virtue, and +the killing of human nature, the annihilation of self, was the +condition of its attainment. [Footnote: See John Stuart Mill, _On +Liberty,_ Chapter III.] + +But the watchwords of modern education--self-activity, self- +expression, self-development, self-reliance, self-control--indicate a +very different attitude now. The emphasis here placed on _self_ +recognizes it as the center of virtue; and the suffixes, _activity, +expression,_ etc., declare the unfolding of instincts and other +native powers, up to the point of independence, to be a great +desideratum in education. These watchwords signify that the +constitution of an infant, like that of a young plant, fixes a certain +goal within broad limits for it to reach, the narrower limits being +left to be determined by social ideals. They signify further that this +goal can be reached only by the unfolding of inner powers, and that +the purpose of the educator, like that of the gardener, is not to +create but merely to furnish the food and environment most favorable +to growth. In brief, the object of education must be attained by +quickening to the utmost, rather than by annihilating, the self. + +This conception holds good, too, for every human being, in spite of +the infinite variety of individuals. For, according to the doctrine of +interest, which is a term ultimately related to these other terms and +equally emphasized with them, only that spiritual food can be expected +to be truly assimilated by any person which appeals to his peculiar +nature; all else fails of real nourishment, no matter how much drill +may be given to it. Thus the sovereignty of every individual is +recognized. Psychologically speaking, there are no saints among us to +set the standard for others. Each person is worthy of exercising his +own choice, of having his own way; indeed, he _must_ exercise this +privilege if he is to act rightly. + +_Causes of this change._ + +What respect we have come to have for ourselves! Have we, then, put +off corruption and become perfect? And is the millennium at hand? Far +from it. We have merely discovered the method by which we can become +good; and, stated briefly, it is that every one must be true to +himself, or must be himself. It is not strange that, in this age of +scientific investigation, we have come to know more about our own +natures than we did two hundred years ago. And the knowledge gained +touches two great questions: first, the original character of the +infant mind; and second, its method of advance. + +As to the former, we are now convinced that the child is originally +endowed with certain impulses and instincts, or with certain +instinctive tendencies, such as fear, love, curiosity, imitation, +pride, constructiveness, appreciation of beauty, and conversational +power, [Footnote: See James, _Talks to Teachers,_ Chapter VII; +also Dewey, _School and Society,_ Chapter II.] and that these +constitute the foundation or starting point for all educational +endeavor. As to the latter, progress takes place by the unfolding of +these instinctive tendencies, by their development rather than by +their repression. Further than that, since everybody is unlike +everybody else in his native impulses, and since his environment +likewise varies, every person must expect to differ from all others, +more or less, in knowledge, desires, and actions. Corruption may be as +common as formerly, perhaps more so, requiring more vigorous +restrictions than ever; but the proper way for any one to advance is +to use the peculiar talents for good with which nature has endowed +him, in the peculiar way fitting to himself. He may not do everything +he likes; but whatever he does do must be an outgrowth of his own +past, in harmony with himself and therefore an expression of himself, +if it is to prove effective. + +_The value of individuality in English composition._ + +This truth is often illustrated in the government of children. A young +teacher who attempts to govern a class "in just the same way as the +principal does it," thus relying upon imitation, is doomed to failure. +Pupils quickly detect the lack of native force, of genuineness, in +such a teacher, and lose respect on that account. + +But the vital character of this thought is best illustrated in English +composition. It has long been recognized that merit in that field is +present to the extent that one gives expression to one's own ideas, +and is lacking to the extent that the ideas are borrowed. Whatever is +to be fresh and valuable must bear the peculiar stamp of the author +presenting it. + +The reason for this is that only through self-expression is a natural +product obtained. So long as I am consciously imitating another, or am +unconsciously so warped by him as to ignore my own nature and +experience, I am sounding a false note. What another thinks, no matter +how good it may be, cannot properly represent me, and coming from me +as mine, the want of harmony injures. I am in that case merely +pretending, and the outcome is faulty because it is a sham. I might +much better give expression to my own ideas, remembering Wendell +Phillips's assertion that "any man who is thoroughly interested in +himself is interesting to other people." Real interest in self (which +is a very different thing from egotism) implies honesty with self and +consequent freedom from subjection to another. Then naturalness, which +borders closely on originality and is the first guarantee of +excellence, is assured. + +Naturalness is assured, too, in my expression of other people's ideas, +provided these have become my own property by right of true +assimilation. In that case they have received my own stamp, so that I +am still offering something at first hand. The virility of even this +kind of thought is well illustrated in the following composition by a +twelve-year-old boy:-- + +The Chinese and Japanese may look alike in appearance; but they are +not one bit alike. Once upon a time they both were the most civilized +people in the world. Then Confucius came in and told them that they +should learn no more and do exactly what their ancestors did. Both +countries believed in this for a long time. Then the United States +butted in and told them of their danger; they said that they were +going backward instead of forward, and would be conquered by another +nation if they did not pick up. The Chinese would not listen to this +and said the United States had no right to interfere. But Japan +thought there was some truth in this, and so the United States sent +over machines, built factories, laid railroad tracks, etc. The result +is that Japan is winning the war she is fighting with Russia. + +_How composition typifies life in general._ + +English composition is perhaps the best single test of the general +healthfulness of school instruction, and it typifies life in general. +The pretended appreciation of an author, an affected manner, +insincerity in the profession of friendship and religion, anything +that admits a deceitful, artificial element is pernicious in +composition as well as in life. Whatever is good must be true. In +consequence, no matter how extensively persons differ from one +another, the first essential to the highest efficiency of each is +fidelity to his own nature. + +We hear a great deal about self-made men, men who have wrested success +from a stubborn world without the help of the schools. They are +examples of those who are guided from within rather than from without. +But every man, so far as he is a man, is self-made. He has had to use +his own observation to see; his own reason and judgment to foresee; +his own discrimination to decide; and his own firmness to stand by his +decisions. [Footnote: See John Stuart Mill, _On Liberty,_ Chapter +III.] His adaptation to his environment has been self-accomplished, +and the first condition of its success has been a noble self-respect. +Trust in self is a prerequisite to ability to do,--we must believe +that we can, before we can,--and obedience to inner promptings is a +necessary antecedent to such trust. + +It was true wisdom that led Polonius to close his blessing on Laertes +with the advice, "This above all: To thine own self be true; and it +must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any +man." Character itself is deeply involved. As Mill says: "A person +whose desires and impulses are his own--are the expression of his own +nature, as it has been developed and modified by his own culture--is +said to have character. One whose desires and impulses are not his +own, has no character, no more than a steam engine has a character." +[Footnote: _Ibid._] + +_Necessity of accepting the self as it is._ + +Accordingly, it behooves every one to accept himself as he is. No +doubt every one at times becomes dissatisfied with himself even to the +point of despair. Feeling his own weakness, and seeing the many +superior qualities of persons about him, he thinks how much more +successful he might be if only he were some other person, and envy +takes possession of him. But "there is a time in every man's +education," says Emerson, "when he arrives at the conviction that envy +is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for +better for worse as his portion; that, though the wide universe is +full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through +his toil bestowed on that plot of ground (himself) which is given to +him to till." [Footnote: Emerson, essay on _Self-reliance._] And this +conviction must not be accompanied with self-reproach. Any one who +habitually feels ashamed of himself is shorn of power to do his proper +work in the world. The nature and rightfulness of the desired contentment +with self and of proper self-confidence are suggested by Emerson in +the words: "What pretty oracles nature yields us on this text in the +face and behavior of children, babes, and even brutes....Their mind +being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and when we look in +their faces, we are disconcerted. Infancy conforms to nobody; all +conform to it; so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of +the adults who prattle and play to it. So God has armed youth and +puberty and manhood no less with its own piquancy and charm, and made +it enviable and gracious and its claims not to be put by, if it will +stand by itself....The nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner +and would disdain, as much as a lord, to do or say aught to conciliate +one, is the healthy attitude of human nature." [Footnote: Ibid.] + +_Is such individuality conducive to social cooperation?_ + +But are such unconquered, unconciliatory minds desirable where social +cooperation is a necessity, as in present society? Are not those +persons preferable as citizens who readily put by their claims and +conform? Not by any means! It might be that wisdom would declare the +supposed claim unfounded, and that energy to combat it, rather than +willingness to conform to it, is wanted. Though yielding is often a +virtue, unintelligent conformity is weakness. Intelligent and vigorous +reaction of the individual against all claims for conformity, +sufficient to judge them, is a prerequisite even to actual conformity, +and it is only a well-developed individuality that is capable of such +reaction. + +Even military discipline, which represents the extreme in its demand +for slavish mass action, greatly values individual independence. +Soldiers often become isolated from their superiors in the midst of +combat, and are left to act on their own initiative, sometimes +deciding the fate of battles by their resourcefulness. It is partly +appreciation of the worth of individuality in all walks of life that +has spurred the European nations to educate the masses in recent +years. + +Ordinary social life makes a constant demand for individual judgment +and self-reliance. A high average of ability and character is required +for the maintenance of our democratic society; but that average can be +attained only when the persons who compose society individually attain +that average, that is, when their individuality is highly developed. + +_Why it is necessary to emphasize the importance of individuality +here._ + +Summarizing the preceding discussion, we see that the ideal man is not +one who is afraid, ashamed, and servile, but one who believes in +himself and dares realize himself rather than imitate others, one, in +short, who lives naturally and honestly. He possesses a personality +commanding enough to produce self-respect, and an individuality bold +enough to mark his thoughts and actions as his own. + +Why is it necessary to emphasize this matter so much, particularly +with reference to young people? In our country, where the children are +so often charged with overboldness, and where commercial individualism +seriously threatens society, is there real danger that the +intellectual self may be neglected and that individuality may +consequently be lacking? + +_1. Vigor of the reaction required in proper study._ + +Remembering that method of study is our theme, let us first recall the +degree of vigor necessary in providing for the elements of study that +have been named. Then let us consider some of the ways in which +students show unnaturalness and a tendency toward self-suppression. + +A person must stand somewhat firmly upon his own feet in order to set +up for himself such specific aims, as guides for study, as have been +urged in Chapter III. The supplementing of an author's statements is +not so difficult, although one must be able to see around and beyond +him, in order to realize what additions are advisable. The +appreciation of relative worths, particularly the recognition of the +organizing ideas in the treatment of a subject, is a task that +requires a high degree of self-reliance. Judging of the soundness and +general worth of thoughts is certainly not any easier. Any one can +memorize; but to memorize in the proper way requires all the ability +just referred to. The using of knowledge, involving the selection of +the more promising part and its application until it becomes a part of +the self and even habitual, is impossible without a high degree of +mental vigor. Finally, the precautions to be taken in order to +preserve a tolerant attitude presuppose a personality moved by +purposes far higher than those of the average person. Altogether, +therefore, proper study is impossible without a self that is energetic +and firm. It should be noted, too, how little the mere quantity of +knowledge that one has happened to collect counts. It is not so much +learning as individuality that is required to meet these demands; on +that account the child can study just as truly, within his sphere of +experience, as can the adult. + +_2. Failure to assert the simplest rights in class._ + +Now let us consider the evidences of unnaturalness and of want of the +boldness necessary for real study. In both school and college, when +members of the class ignore their mates by addressing only the +instructor, often speaking too low to be heard by others present, +there is usually little complaint. Although each person is a direct +loser, he seems reconciled to such neglect. + +Very many young people lack the courage to ask questions in order to +understand a point; and even when asked if they understand and if they +do not wish to put some questions, they still are too timid to +respond; not seldom they declare that they understand when they know +that they do not. Teachers attending teachers' institutes are as bad +as children in this respect. Such conduct is not due to any desire to +deceive, but to self-depreciation; it is more agreeable to prevaricate +than to assert one's self. + +_3. Subservience to authority._ + +The mere desire to please a teacher influences pupils of all ages to +watch the teacher's expressions and gestures and to answer what is +wanted, rather than what is sincerely thought. In Sunday school, in +particular, children can scarcely be got to give sincere answers; they +are so eager to please that they say what they think they ought to +think, rather than what they really think. Undue respect for +professors often has an overpowering influence on university students. +The writer has known of several instances where students of good +ability have almost lost the power to proceed with an argument, on the +unexpected discovery that their view was opposed to that of some +instructor. + +The subservience to books is as striking as that to teachers. The +history lesson of a certain class of eleven-year-old children +contained the following paragraph on the appearance of the Indians: +"When the first white men came to our shores, they found the country +inhabited by the people Columbus had named Indians. They had copper- +colored skin, coarse, jet-black hair, high cheek bones, thick lips, +small eyes, and no whiskers." The children had considerable difficulty +in reproducing the substance of this paragraph, attempting it several +times. The writer, who was observing the class, remembered, however, +having seen an Indian exhibition only a few weeks before, which +included Indian men, squaws, boys and girls, and even papooses, and +which this same class had visited in a body. After three rather +unsuccessful attempts to relate the contents of the paragraph, the +class were reminded of their visit to the Indians, and were then asked +to tell how they looked. Forgetting about the text, they had no +difficulty in doing this, for they were speaking out of their own +experience. + +Subjects like geography and grammar likewise frequently contain facts +that pupils have long known; yet in school there is such an undue +respect for print that many children dare not subordinate such matter +to their own experience, and for that reason they have the same +difficulty with it as though it were new. + +It is rare for even the college student to assert his independence of +both teacher and book. One of the greatest surprises that the writer +received in a two years' college course was produced in a rhetoric +class. The students were ordinarily assigned about twenty pages of +advance text per day, which was reproduced in the recitation. On one +occasion a student who was called upon did very well until he was +interrupted by the professor in charge on account of an omitted topic. +The professor gave the cue, but obtained no response; then, since the +student usually knew his lesson, the professor exercised a special +degree of patience and tried twice more to start him off. Failing, +however, he impatiently asked, "Why didn't you tell about so and so"? +"Why," replied the student, "I did remember something about that; but +I didn't think that it was worth talking about." In the estimation of +the entire class that man deserved a medal, and the writer still +thinks so. There is subject-matter in most text-books that students +are called upon to memorize which they feel is not worth reproduction, +and they are often right; but most college students are as still as +mice when it comes to declaring the fact. Their timidity in purely +intellectual matters is equaled only by their boldness in playing +pranks that require mere physical courage. + +Subservience to mere custom is as common as that to teacher and to +print. If certain pictures or musical selections have come to be +generally admired, few persons to whom they fail to appeal have the +courage to acknowledge the fact. There is much pretended enjoyment in +art galleries. + +The rate of progress acquiesced in by students is often greater than +fidelity to self will allow. The amount of text and the number of +references assigned frequently leave no possible time for reflection, +although reflection is the sole means by which the self can react on +ideas so as truly to assimilate them. Not seldom both teachers and +students are conscious of this fact and even lament it, yet they +continue in the same course. The result is that the average student +learns to disregard his own questions, doubts, and suggestions, and is +smothered by his studies. Only the exceptional nature rebels, as in +case of the rhetoric, and follows his own gait, even in opposition to +the teacher. + +_4. The abnormal lack of initiative in class._ + +In order to test the power of initiative of young people in study, the +writer once selected a class of twenty children, ranging from ten to +twelve years of age, who were doing the work of the fifth school year. +They were only average pupils in home advantages and native ability. +But the school to which they belonged, being the practice department +of a training college for teachers, undoubtedly allowed a greater +degree of freedom to the individual and possessed more merits than the +ordinary public school. Nine of the children had attended this +particular school from the beginning, and several of the others had +gone there one or more years; and every one of the five different +teachers that the class had had, had been a graduate of a state normal +school, or of a teachers' college, or of both. Here, if anywhere, one +might expect a good degree of independence on the part of the pupils. +Also, the writer had been personally acquainted with the class from +the beginning, so that they felt reasonably at home with him when he +took charge of them in geography and history. After spending two +thirty-minute periods with them on successive days, considering +various review questions in geography, the writer, acting as teacher, +assigned them the following lesson of map questions in the text- +book:-- + +Here is a relief map of the continent on which we live. What great +highland do you find in the West? In the East? In what direction does +each extend? Which is the broader and higher? Where is the lowest land +between these two highlands? Trace the Mississippi River. Name some of +its largest tributaries, etc. + +This lesson was to be studied in class _aloud;_ that is, the writer +was not to do any teaching or give any help; he was to assume as +nearly as possible the attitude of a listener, doing nothing more +than call upon some one now and then to "go on" or to "do what ought +to be done next." The children were to do all that was necessary to +dispose of the questions properly, even to the extent of correcting +one another freely. + +With this understanding a girl was called on to begin. She arose and +read, "Here is a relief map of the continent on which we live. What +great highland do you find in the West? In the East?" Then she +stopped, and stood staring at the book. She may have needed to inquire +the meaning of "relief"; or she may have been in doubt whether or not +she should turn to the relief map opposite, which was small, or to the +better map two pages further over; or to the wall map hanging, rolled +up, in front of the class. But, although she was not noticeably +embarrassed, she did none of these things. She waited to be told +_just what to do,_ and she waited patiently--until aid from the +teacher arrived. + +In response to the next question, "In what direction does each +[highland] extend?" the two great highlands, the Rockies and the +Appalachians, were described as parallel; and the pupil was passing to +the next question without objections from any source, when the teacher +again had to interfere. + +The boy who was called upon for the third question, "Which is the +broader and higher?" stepped to the wall map and pointed out the +Rockies. But, as no one asked why they were supposed to be broader and +higher, the teacher suggested that question himself. Some one gave the +correct reason for considering them the broader; but by that time the +entire class had forgotten that there was a second part to the +question, and were passing on when they were reminded by the teacher +of the omitted part. + +In response to the fourth question, calling for the location of the +lowest land between these two highlands, four or five stepped to the +map in succession, showing wide disagreement. Yet no one asked any one +else "Why?" or proposed any way of settling the dispute, or even +evinced any responsibility for finding one. They would have proceeded +to the next question had they not again been halted by the teacher. + +In tracing the Mississippi River, only about one-half of it was +pointed out; _i.e._, from Cairo southward. But no one entered +complaint, and the next question was actually read before the teacher +requested more accurate work. The girl called on to "name some of its +largest tributaries" stood silent. Possibly the word tributaries +puzzled her; but she lacked the force necessary to make a request for +help. She seemed to be waiting for the teacher to ask her if she +didn't need to ask some one else for the definition. So the teacher +complied and the definition was given. But then all failed for a time +to answer the original question, apparently because they could not +break it into its two parts, first tracing the principal tributaries +on the map, then finding the names attached to them. + +These responses are representative of the writer's earlier experiences +with these children. Although they were not frightened, and plainly +understood that they were to go anywhere in the room, and were to do +or say anything that was necessary, they almost invariably waited to +be told when to step to the board; when an answer was wrong; when +something had been overlooked or forgotten; when the pointer should be +taken up or laid aside; and when they were through with a question. + +Between three and four recitation periods of thirty-five minutes each +were consumed, before they were able to do all that was necessary in +answering the extremely simple questions above, with a half-dozen +more, without help. Their frequent smiles of chagrin, too, proved +beyond question that they were fully in earnest in their efforts. This +helplessness was not exhibited on the first few days either. It was +their custom to wait for assistance and directions--even to sit +down--and it was a custom so well established that five weeks of daily +work with them in history and geography, with the avowed object of +breaking it up, only barely began a reform. + +Other children, as a rule, would scarcely do better. But these are +cases of children. Would not a class in a normal school or a college +show greater capacity for leadership? Not often. Of course they +possess greater mental power; but the subject-matter with which they +are struggling is more difficult. Any teacher of such a class who +unexpectedly eliminates himself from a recitation by silence, and who +asks the students to provide a substitute from within themselves for +his part of the work, is likely to feel disappointed over the result. +Who will assert that such lack of initiative is natural? + +_5. The evil effects of such suppression._ + +How docile young people are, after all, in intellectual matters! They +lack the courage to resent neglect in class, to acknowledge that they +do not understand, and to ask questions; they lose their initiative +and even independent power to think, when in the presence of teachers; +and they ignore their own experience in favor of print. They are so +bent on satisfying others that they suppress their own inner +promptings. In doing this they seem to confuse moral with intellectual +qualities, acting as though the sacrifice of self in study was equally +virtuous with its sacrifice in a moral way. Yet listen to Emerson's +warning:-- + +"Books" (and he might have said _teachers_) "are the best of things +well used; abused, among the worst. What is the right use? They +are for nothing but to inspire. I had better never see a book than to +be warped by its attraction clean out of my own orbit, and made a +satellite instead of a system. The one thing in the world, of value, +is the active soul. This every man is entitled to; this every man +contains within him, although in almost all men obstructed, and as yet +unborn....Undoubtedly there is a right way of reading, so it be +sternly subordinated. Man Thinking must not be subdued by his +instruments." [Footnote: _The American Scholar._] + +The evil in a young student's being "subdued by his instruments" is +that he is made artificial and dependent, and thereby ceases to be a +whole unit. The artificiality is often shown in the voice. Many +schools, owing to the restraint that their pupils are allowed to feel, +are guilty of establishing a special recitation voice, distinguished +from that ordinarily used in conversation by its different pitch, and +often amusingly distinguished, too, when some interruption during +recitation causes a question about outside or home matters to be +answered in the natural way. Many educated adults have suffered so +much in this respect that they cannot read in natural tones. + +The dependence, further, is shown in any attempt to produce thought. +When a student has formed the habit of collecting and valuing the +ideas of others, rather than his own, the self becomes dwarfed from +neglect and buried under the mass of borrowed thought. He may then +pass good examinations, but he cannot think. Distrust of self has +become so deep-rooted that he instinctively looks away from himself to +books and friends for ideas; and anything that he produces cannot be +good, because it is not a true expression of self. This is the class +of people that Mill describes in the words, "They like in crowds; they +exercise choice only among things commonly done; peculiarity of taste, +eccentricity of conduct, are shunned equally with crimes; until, by +dint of not following their own nature, they have no nature to follow; +their human capacities are withered and starved; they become incapable +of any strong wishes or native pleasures, and are generally without +either opinions or feelings of home growth, or properly their own." +[Footnote: _On Liberty,_ Chapter III] Such people cannot perform +the hard tasks required in study, because they have lost their native +power to react on the ideas presented. + +The evil is most serious with young children because of their youth. +Many of them, while making good progress in the three R's, outgrow +their tendency to ask questions and to raise objections, in other +words lose their mental boldness or originality, by the time they have +attended school four years. But all along, from the kindergarten to +the college, there is almost a likelihood that the self will be +undermined while acquiring knowledge, and that, in consequence, one +will become permanently weakened while supposedly being educated. In +this respect it is dangerous to attend a school of any grade. + +_Why individuality is so difficult to preserve and develop._ + +"Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each," says Emerson, "the +highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton is that they set +at naught books and tradition, and spoke not what men, but what they, +thought." [Footnote: Essay of _Self-reliance._] It is evidently +exceptional for one's thoughts and actions to be quite fully one's +own. In matters of dress hosts of persons would rather be fashionable +than comfortable; and in matters of the intellect subordination to +others is even more common. + +One great reason for this is that people do not know how to be true to +themselves; they do not comprehend themselves well enough for that. +"Know thyself" was a dictum of Socrates that should precede the +command "Be true to thyself," because it is a prerequisite to it. But +if it takes a literary genius to reveal our thoughts to us, as it +often does, certainly the average person will not discover his own +characteristics alone. Even with firm intentions he will merely grope +about, and from blindness and want of skill will stifle a good portion +of his own nature. + +On the other hand, if he goes to school, whatever peculiarities he may +possess are liable to suppression through the teacher and the +curriculum, the two chief agencies of the school. For the average +elementary teacher is not greatly concerned about preserving and +developing individuality, and the average high-school teacher or +college professor still less. Indeed, many teachers are convinced that +there is too much of it already, as shown in the discipline, and +insist upon as much uniformity as possible, because it is less +troublesome. When it comes to the curriculum, the commonly recognized +purpose of instruction is acquisition of knowledge rather than +development of self. But if a student sets out to amass as much +information as possible, he is almost sure to be covered up by his +collection; and, even if he proceeds slowly enough to admire and try +to imitate the good that he finds in his spiritual inheritance and +present environment, he is in no less danger of being mastered by his +instruments. Thus it happens that while self-expression should be one +of the great purposes of the school, annihilation of self is a common +outcome. + +_The positive character of provision for individuality as a factor +in study._ + +It follows from the preceding that provision for individuality is a +very positive factor in study, one requiring much time and energy and +on which all the others that have been mentioned are dependent. A +person must have the courage to assert his rights in intellectual +matters, must believe in the worth of his own past, and must not allow +his regard for others to weaken his trust in self. All this requires a +high degree of self-respect, which can be attained only by careful +cultivation. + +As he comes more and more in contact with the ideas, desires, deeds, +and examples of other persons, and the demand for conformity grows +more pressing, he must reserve special time and energy for studying +his own powers and tastes and for discovering his own thoughts about +the many subjects of study in which he engages. In the study of many a +poem, for example, more time will be required to determine his own +attitude toward it, to find himself in regard to it, than to +understand its meaning. + +Remembering that one purpose of education is development of the self, +he must ever be on his guard against being warped out of shape by +others, and must therefore offer a certain normal resistance to +everything that is presented to him. To preserve and develop one's +self thus normally, it is safe to say that any student should have as +much esteem for himself, intellectually, as for others, and should +spend at least as much time and energy upon himself in finding out +what he himself thinks and feels, as upon others. + + + +PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOB PRESERVING AND DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALITY + + +The value of tolerance on the part of teachers, as discussed in the +preceding chapter, is plainly seen in this connection. Unless a +teacher's manner toward a pupil indicates a high degree of respect, +the pupil's respect for himself is in danger of being weakened. A +sarcastic attitude is even worse than a dogmatic one; beyond doubt, +the proper self-esteem of many a young person has been permanently +undermined by his teacher's sharp tongue; sarcasm is the extreme of +intolerance. + +_1. The relation between teachers and students._ + +There should be a clearer understanding, too, about the function of +teachers in general. Many instructors give the impression that +educational institutions exist for their benefit, rather than for the +good of their students; and from the start the latter are forced into +the position of suppliants. If questions are asked, impatience is +shown; and if objections to statements are raised, impertinence is +charged. Such treatment tends to cow the average student and thus to +limit his power to react upon ideas. + +While teachers may be real authorities in subject-matter, they can +never be anything more than assistants in the self-development of +their students. They should more openly assume this subordinate +position, placing the primary responsibility upon the learner; they +would then be less likely to subordinate the inner growth of the +student, which it is their highest function to aid, to the mere +acquisition of knowledge. + +If, however, teachers practically compel subservience by an arrogant +manner, or by the assignment of lessons much too long for one's normal +rate of advance, or by the assignment of subject-matter that seems to +have no possible value, what should the student do? Should he smother +his own desires and opinions in the attempt to satisfy his teacher? +Rarely, if ever; he will not grow inwardly by suppressing the self. On +the contrary, when he feels himself in serious restraint, he should +frankly state his grievances, and the teacher, even though a college +professor, should receive and ponder such statements seriously, +remembering that one reason he is paid a salary is that he shall +exercise skill in adapting himself to the psychological condition of +his students. + +If these frank statements evoke no friendly response, then protest may +be in place, and sometimes revolt, just as when political liberty is +assailed. Of course, a good degree of patience and tolerance should +always be exercised toward one's teacher; but there is need of more +moral courage among young people to meet the disapproval of teachers +and their punishments in the form of scoldings and low marks. Many a +college student unresistingly submits to a sarcastic, dictatorial +teacher when he ought to show resentment and stand on his rights. +Resistance to teaching authority may be just as vital a part of study +as the rejection of the conclusions of an author. Until such ideas are +more generally practiced, a normal, vigorous self, which is the first +factor in scholarship, is in danger. Intellectual liberty is not less +important than political liberty, and often worth a fight. It is odd +that much blood has been shed for the attainment of political and +religious freedom, while the tyranny of mind over mind, which is +exceedingly common in the class room, has scarcely been recognized as +a serious evil. It can be accounted for only by the fact that both +teachers and parents have been more interested in the quantity of +knowledge acquired than in the inner growth of learners. + +_2. Recognition of individual characteristics._ + +Every person has many peculiarities that are important factors in his +study and that should be noted by all concerned with great care. For +example, aside from the desirable rate of advance for each person, +which has already been mentioned, a student maybe eye-minded, or ear- +minded, or motor-minded. That is, he may be peculiarly dependent upon +his eyes, needing to see a statement in print rather than to hear it +read, and inclined to visualize or image even the most abstract +thought. Or he may learn best through the ear, wanting to hear +statements read, rather than see them. Or he may be peculiarly +dependent on motor activity, preferring to write his spelling lesson, +rather than to see the words only or to spell them orally; such a +person will need to gesticulate freely, to imitate movements and act +out scenes, rather than see or hear only verbal descriptions. Some +persons are naturally regular and systematic in their work, following +a definite program each day and arranging facts as well as furniture +in an orderly way. Others are pained by regularity and system, and +find it impossible to reform themselves. They can work well only when +they feel like it, and therefore by spurts. Some do their best +thinking under the stimulus of discussion and opposition, others are +disturbed by such conditions and can think best in private. Some are +especially devoted to facts, being scientifically minded and +interested in the objects about them. Others are idea-lovers, caring +little for the concrete world of nature, but attracted to literature, +history, and music. Others, still, are particularly strong in +execution, rarely considering theory apart from practice.[Footnote: +See President Hadley's article in _Harper's Magazine,_ June, 1905.] + +Some of the peculiarities that we discover in ourselves are weaknesses +that should be discouraged and combated to the utmost; others require +more or less modification. But there is no choice concerning most of +them; their sum constitutes our nature, and we must accept them. They +are our original capital, our source of strength on which all increase +of strength must be grafted. And we should become well acquainted with +them, just as the engineer should know the properties of steam. + +Full acquaintance is impossible, and even approximate knowledge of the +extent of one's powers cannot be reached, until one has become deeply +interested in some project and loaded with responsibility in regard to +it. But by humbly and diligently observing one's better tendencies, +and by giving full expression to them, one may attain a fair degree of +self-knowledge. One of the special duties of teachers and parents is +to come to the assistance of young people in such study, helping them +to recognize their strong and weak points and to understand themselves +without getting discouraged or excited. If we fail to enjoy a book or +musical concert that arouses the enthusiasm of others, we may well +admit the fact to ourselves, and perhaps to others, with neither pride +nor shame, but as a fact. Such facts reveal us to ourselves, and +should be noted with the consciousness that, if strength is not found +in one direction, it is likely to be discovered in some other. + +_3. Responsibility for initiative._ + +It is obvious from preceding statements that both children and older +students must become far more accustomed to taking the initiative +during instruction, if they are to take it in private study. The way +to prepare for leadership, whether of self or of others, is to +undertake such leadership under wise guidance. + +There are two degrees of responsibility in recitation that are +somewhat common. Suppose, for example, that a class in manual training +is to make a tile out of clay, to be placed under a coffee pot. After +proposing this task the teacher (1) might further state that the tile +must be six inches square and one-half inch thick; that it must have a +level surface; that a ball of clay of a certain size will be needed in +order to make a tile of the desired size; that it must be pressed into +shape mainly by the use of the thumbs; that careful measuring will be +necessary to secure the proper dimensions; that square corners can be +obtained by placing some square-cornered object directly over the +corners of the tile, for comparison; and that a level surface can best +be obtained by sighting carefully across the surface, so as to detect +any irregularities. After these and perhaps other instructions have +been given by the teacher, the children may be directed to begin work. + +Or, after the task has been proposed, the teacher (2) might simply ask +the main questions that need to be considered, letting the pupils find +the solutions for the same as far as possible. For example: How large +should the tile be made? What should be its shape? What kind of +surface must it have? How must the clay be worked into the desired +shape? How make sure of the dimensions? Of square corners? Of a level +surface? + +The first plan shows practically the lecture method in operation. The +teacher presents all of the ideas, and the children have the position +of listeners or followers. That method places the minimum degree of +responsibility upon pupils, the responsibility for attention, and is +quite common in the poorer schools and in colleges. + +The second plan allows the children to join actively with the teacher +in producing the ideas involved in the solution of the problem. It +shows the development method in operation, which places much more +responsibility upon the class. But the teacher even here takes +practically all of the initial steps. She is the one who breaks the +large problem up into its parts; who determines the wording of the +questions and the order in which they shall be considered. The +children follow her cue; they are subject to her constant direction, +and merely make response to her specific biddings. The reaching of new +thought by them under such immediate stimulus and suggestion involves +responsibility for thinking, to be sure, but very little +responsibility for the initial thinking or for initiative. Neither of +these methods, therefore, plainly develops the power of self- +direction. + +Training in the exercise of initiative is provided, not when young +people are following some other person's plan and answering some other +person's questions, but when they are obliged to conceive their own +plans and their own questions. Here is the crux of the whole matter. +Some other method, therefore, is desirable, and it is not difficult to +find. After the making of the tile has been proposed, the teacher +might simply ask, "How will you plan this piece of work?" leaving the +conception of the main questions, together with the answers, as far as +possible to the children. + +They would know that a certain size would need to be determined upon, +fixed by the size of a coffee pot; that the shape would have to be +considered, the round or square form being chosen according to +personal preference and ease of making; that the thickness would be a +factor, it being important that the tile be thin enough to be +reasonably light, but thick enough not to break easily or to let heat +through; that a level surface is desirable, both for the sake of +beauty and utility; and that some way must be found for pressing the +clay into shape. All of these ideas lie within their personal +experience and therefore call only for common knowledge and common +sense. + +All or most of this part of the plan, including the correction of any +misstatements, could be made by the children with little or no help +from the teacher. Where their knowledge is more limited, however, she +should come to their aid, either telling or developing, as the case +required. For instance, she might possibly tell outright how much clay +each would probably need, also how the clay should be pressed into +shape; and develop the method of making sure of proper dimensions, of +square corners (or of roundness) and of a level surface. + +This task in manual training is typical of lessons in general. In +their mastery there is always a procedure of some sort to be followed, +and now and then, at least, this procedure lies in whole or in part so +fully within the class experience that they should have the +responsibility of mapping it out. Sometimes in the lower grades such +work might occupy a whole recitation period; again, only a few +minutes. As the experience increases, this responsibility should +increase, so that the higher grades should often show children stating +the main questions to be considered in their lessons, without help, +just as they have long been in the habit of stating the main steps to +be taken in individual problems in arithmetic without aid. In very +many recitations children should have responsibility for rejecting +some of the answers and for accepting others. The writer is acquainted +with one eighth-year class in which not only all this is done, but the +children frequently determine their own lesson assignments, reporting +in class what home work was attempted the previous evening and how it +was done. These reports are then subjected to general criticism and +suggestion. If such practices become successfully established in the +elementary school, they will have to be adopted higher up, for very +shame if for no other reason. + +_4. Past experience as the principal source of new ideas. +(1) Illustrations._ + +Socrates was one of the most fertile thinkers that ever lived; yet he +scarcely traveled beyond the walls of Athens, and was accused of +always talking about the most commonplace objects, such as "brass +founders and leather cutters and skin dressers." He clearly +illustrates the fact that fertility of thought bears little relation +to one's quantity of learning, but depends rather upon the use made of +such very simple raw material as any ordinary person possesses. + +_The Children's Hour_ as discussed on pages 69-70 show how one's +past may be used in the production of thought. The poem tells of an +hour set aside by the family for play. The fact that we know this to +be a very rare thing prompts the questions, "Was it customary in this +family, or did it happen only once?" The fact that many fathers would +be bored by such an hour suggests the query, "Did this father really +enjoy it?" The fact that the custom is so uncommon raises the further +inquiry, "Was there any special merit among these children that led to +it?" Also, "Why is the custom not more common?" And, since some one +must take the lead in establishing such an hour, the query follows, +"Can children themselves accomplish anything in this direction?" + +Thus facts that are well known lead to new ideas. No matter what we +hear or read, or what topic is given to us to ponder, thoughts +additional to those directly presented are likely to be reached by +reference to past related experience. That one should look to past +experience as an almost unlimited source of new thought is one of the +most important truths for any person to bear in mind who is +endeavoring to learn to think. + +_(2) The common neglect of experience._ + +It is very common, however, for persons who are rich in experience +touching some subject that they are studying to fail almost entirely +to use it. This was once well illustrated by about twenty young women +who were specializing in domestic science. At their own suggestion, +they prepared written plans for teaching how to bake sweet potatoes; +the writer was to correct these and discuss them with the class. But +after carefully examining all the papers and finding remarkably few +facts included, he asked the class what was really necessary, after +all, in the baking of sweet potatoes, beyond putting them, clean, into +a hot oven and taking them out when done. He requested them to +enumerate the facts that really needed to be taught. After perhaps two +minutes of meditation they sheepishly admitted that there was really +very little to present on the topic, and that they had carefully +written out plans only because "plans" were expected, and they wanted +some practice. + +Since it was subject-matter, rather than method, that was needed, the +discussion was then directed to the facts involved in baking the +potatoes. A dispute soon arose when one remarked, "You should never +cut a sweet potato," others inquiring what should then be done with +those that were partly unsound, and how potatoes of very different +sizes could be baked together. Numerous other questions were +considered, as follows:-- + +What is the best way to clean them? Is it best to allow them to lie +long in water? Should the oven be very hot, or is a slow heat +preferable? Should anything be done with them while baking? How can +they be protected against burning? How much time is necessary for the +baking? Or will it vary? If so, why? How tell when they are done? Is +it necessary to take them out and strike them with the palm of the +hand, breaking them slightly? How get them out without burning one's +self? + +Since one cookbook says that we want "dry and mealy" potatoes and +another states that they should be "moist and sweet," which is right? +Also, what different steps should be taken to secure each kind? Some +persons parboil the potatoes before baking them. Is that desirable? +What about the advisability of baking them with butter, sugar, and +salt? Are there other ways of baking them? What changes does the heat +effect in the potato? Should they be served immediately? Or, if guests +are not prompt, is there any way of keeping them in good condition? + +Most of these questions arose for the first time in the discussion, +not having been referred to in any of the plans. Yet, no doubt, all +the members of the class had baked sweet potatoes many times, had read +cookbooks as often as novels, and--since they were not altogether +young--had scores of times been called upon to eat potatoes that were +not clean, or were unsound, or not done, or were tasteless, or burnt, +or soggy, or cold. Therefore, probably not one of the questions was +entirely new to any one of the students, so that the raw material for +thought was present in abundance and even very close at hand. + +_(3) Reasons for such neglect._ + +Why, then, did they so neglect their past? Above all, why should two +minutes of reflection on the subject mark their limit? For, having +given to themselves the signal tor all stray ideas on the baking of +sweet potatoes to assemble, their manner indicated no hope of further +returns after the expiration of that brief period. A partial answer is +that they did not know where to look for ideas. But an additional +answer is that they did not know _how_ to look to their past, and +they accordingly lacked confidence. Indeed, they knew that they could +not think, so what was the use of wasting more than two minutes for +the sake of appearances? + +It does require some knowledge and confidence to think out a subject +in view of one's experience. When we are somewhat familiar with a +subject, some ideas in regard to it may come very readily, so that the +first few minutes of reflection may be easily spent and fairly +rewarded. But the ability really to think is tested after this period. +Then we must know how to overhaul our past and must have faith that we +will get something from it. We must search our experience through and +through, viewing it from one point and then another in the keen +lookout for suggestions. And we must know that many of the best +thoughts, probably most of them, do not come, like a flash, fully into +being, but find their beginnings in dim feelings, in faint intuitions, +that need to be encouraged and coaxed before they can be surely felt +and defined. + +The writer's experience in the observation of recitations with +graduate students has often illustrated this fact. Not seldom a +recitation has been observed that has apparently pleased most of the +observers, but that has produced only an uncomfortable feeling on his +part. At the close of the recitation he had no more definite ideas +about its merits than his students; but he was conscious of this +feeling of discomfort produced, and knew that if he followed it up he +would probably arrive at some important thoughts. Occasionally his +main points in an extended discussion of a recitation have been +reached in this way. Usually he has found afterward that his students +have had the same feeling as he; but they were scarcely conscious of +the fact, and, even if conscious, they failed to realize its worth as +a source of suggestion. + +Thus vague premonitions furnish the clew to much of the best thought. +Very often one of the chief differences between a thinker and one who +cannot think lies in the attention given to premonitory feelings of +pleasure, discomfort, doubt, suspicion, etc.; the latter ignores such, +while the former, when he lacks clear ideas, or all ideas, even shakes +himself to discover how he feels, and patiently labors to define his +feelings and trace them to their source. + +_(4) How confidence in the value of one's past may be developed._ + +But how dependent such study is upon self-confidence! Unless we have +faith in the richness of our own experience, and belief that a careful +inspection of it will be rewarded, we lack the courage and patience +necessary for success. + +How can such confidence be cultivated? Mainly by cultivating the habit +of turning first to self when reflective thought is required. It is +presupposed that we must consult the library and the world about us +for raw facts of various kinds, for historical events, scientific +data, views of men, descriptions, etc.; but when our own thought is +wanted on a topic with which we are somewhat familiar, and on which we +are supposed to have some ideas, let us form the habit of turning to +ourselves _first;_ to others as helps later. If other authorities +are consulted first, there is danger that the first impressions, the +first thoughts, of the student will never come to light; the ideas of +others will hide these and become their substitutes, thereby +engendering distrust in self. But by giving attention first to self, +by giving it the first chance, its contributions can be recognized; +that encourages it to grow and attain vigor, so that, when outside +helps are later consulted, it can react upon them and maintain itself. +Every young person should do enough thinking on a subject, before +attempting to find what others think about it, to have something to +oppose to these others, as a basis of judgment. That will keep the +self upper-most and cultivate the confidence desired. + +If, on the contrary, we wait until we have found what others think, +before attempting to find what we think, others will do our thinking +for us, and we will ever be suffering from the timidity that Emerson +laments in the words:-- + +A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which +flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the +firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his +thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our +own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated +majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than +this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good- +humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the +other side. Else to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good +sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the tune, and we +shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another. +[Footnote: Emerson, essay on _Self-reliance_.] + + + + + +PART III + +CONCLUSIONS + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +FULL MEANING OF STUDY: RELATION OF STUDY TO CHILDREN AND TO THE SCHOOL + + + +_The meaning of study._ + +True or logical study is not aimless mental activity or a passive +reception of ideas only for the sake of having them. It is the +vigorous application of the mind to a subject for the satisfaction of +a felt need. Instead of being aimless, every portion of effort put +forth is an organic step toward the accomplishment of a specific +purpose; instead of being passive, it requires the reaction of the +self upon the ideas presented, until they are supplemented, organized, +and tentatively judged, so that they are held well in memory. The +study of a subject has not reached its end until the guiding purpose +has been accomplished and the knowledge has been so assimilated that +it has been used in a normal way and has become experience. And, finally, +since the danger of submergence of self among so much foreign thought +is so great, it is not complete--at least for young students--until +precautions for the preservation of individuality have been included. + +The common notion that study should consist of thinking is, therefore, +quite right. In _Hints for Home Reading_ (p. 51) Henry Ward Beecher +says of himself: "Reading with me incites to reflection instantly. I +cannot separate the origination of ideas from the reception of ideas; +the consequence is, as I read I always begin to think in various +directions, and that makes my reading slow; and that being the origin +of it psychologically, it has grown into such a habit that, if I read +a novel even, I read slowly." Later he advises (p. 95), "Never give +more time to reading a book than to reflecting upon its contents." In +criticism of the customary haste in reading, on the other hand, Mr. +Gorschen declares: "Honestly, I must say, I believe that a vast number +of readers do not allow what I may call the frenzied current of their +eyes, as they read, to be stopped by even a moment of calm reflection +or thought." [Footnote: _Aspects of Modern Study,_ by Right Honorable +G.J. Gorschen, D.C.L., M.P., p. 39.] Real assimilation of ideas has to +be slow; and while some reading, owing to the simplicity of subject- +matter, should be as rapid as the eye can travel, the rate at which +ground is usually covered is too great to make assimilation possible. + +The eight factors of study that have been treated are not to be +regarded as separate stages of advance that must follow one another +tandem fashion. The principal stages through which the learner passes +are only four in number as outlined in Chapter VIII. Yet some of the +eight factors necessarily follow others. For example, the conception +of the specific aim should, if possible, come first, while memorizing +should usually come late, partly if not wholly as the by-product of +thinking; and the actual using of knowledge should come last. On the +other hand, provision for a tentative attitude and for individuality +should be made frequently throughout one's study. Several of these +factors, therefore, may be in evidence in any one of the four chief +stages of advance described. + +_The ability of children to learn to study._ + +We have seen that children possess the ability to undertake the kind +of work required by each of the several factors of study. In fact, +outside of school, they are continually applying their minds in the +meeting of specific needs, as adults are, thereby employing most, if +not all, these factors. There is, accordingly, no fundamental +difference between their study and that of adults, although the +relative prominence of the various phases may vary somewhat; in other +words, these factors of study are general principles like the +principles of teaching, and likewise applicable to all ages. No +assertion is here made that children know intuitively how to do this +systematic kind of studying; they merely have the qualities of mind +and the experience prerequisite to rational study, and are therefore +in a position to receive instruction on the subject with profit. + +_Why young people have not been learning to study properly alone._ + +Every one recognizes the fact that young people, as a rule, have not +been learning to study properly alone. There are two reasons for this, +which deserve very careful consideration. One is that the difference +between studying with a teacher and studying alone has been +overlooked. It has been assumed that the two were practically +identical, so that the one was full preparation for the other, while +in fact there is a very striking difference between them. + +Consider what happens in class instruction, and then how independent +study differs from it. When a young person sets to work to master a +lesson with the aid of a teacher there is a question of how much two +persons can accomplish together. One of the two is mature, more or +less informed in general, more or less versed in the principles of +study, and more or less skilled in their application. The other is +immature, and only under favorable circumstances fully willing to +apply himself. + +_1. The difference between studying alone and with a teach has been +overlooked._ + +As they ordinarily work, their relation to each other is well defined. +In case text has been assigned, the teacher asks various questions, +pushes the pupil against difficulties, points out crucial thoughts, +calls a halt here and there for review and drill, supplies motive for +attention by reprimanding or praising or pummeling, as the case may +be, and not seldom becomes flushed in the face from exertion. In the +case of development instruction in which, without the help of a text, +the thought is slowly unfolded by means of question and answer, the +teacher is the recognized master of the discussion. She usually +selects the general topic, breaks it into its parts, and then +concentrates her abilities on her questions, endeavoring to make them +short enough not to require too sustained attention, simple enough to +be reasonably easy, and attractive enough to be sure bait. In short, +she exerts herself to the utmost to conceive questions of just the +right size and quality; and, if she is very skillful, her morsels of +knowledge will prove so enticing that they will be swallowed and +digested without pain, and perhaps without conscious effort. In case +lecturing is the method followed, the teacher is still more plainly +the sole producer of thought, it being the mission of the student to +listen, comprehend, and retain. + +In each of these cases the teacher is the acknowledged leader. Her +personality, as represented by voice, gesture, and manner, is drawn +upon for stimulus; she gives directions, puts the questions, and makes +the corrections, or sees that they are made. If she is accounted a +good teacher, she is probably more active than her pupils and grows +tired first. + +Now, suppose that the teacher drops out and leaves the young person to +attack a similar lesson alone. How is the situation changed? The +purpose in the former case was the assimilation of the facts in the +lesson by the pupil. That is still the purpose. There is, therefore, +no change in that respect. + +The method employed in the former case may be assumed to be as fully +in accord with the laws of the pupil's mind as the teacher could make +it. In short, the topic under consideration had to be carefully broken +into its parts, and various keen questions touching the meaning and +value of each had to be conceived in order that they might be +considered and answered. The same mind is still present to be +ministered to, so that, so far as possible, substantially the same +method must be followed. There is, therefore, no important change in +this respect. The purpose and the method in general being the same, it +is clear that the two situations duplicate each other to a large +extent. The same quantity of work must be done, and in practically the +same way. + +But there is a very striking difference. When the two studied +together, the teacher not only did a part of the work, but she was the +leader; the pupil was a follower, doing only the subordinate part. +Now, being alone, he must do the principal part, in addition to the +other. He must divide his topic into parts, and conceive all the +questions that are worthy of attention; in brief, he must determine +the course of procedure himself, or take the initiative. Herein is +found the great difference between studying with a teacher and +studying alone, and it is a fundamental one. Capacity for self- +direction or initiation is not necessary in the usual class +instruction; but it becomes indispensable the moment one undertakes +independent study. + +_(1) The nature and importance of initiative by the pupil._ + +This capacity is not simply a matter of knowledge. One person may know +much more than another about the factors involved in a proposed +project, and still be inferior to the other in ability to plan its +execution. It is not simply a matter of boldness, either, nor of +energy, although both of these, as well as knowledge, are necessary +elements. It signifies, in the main, rather a certain power of +invention, or a resourcefulness in planning work, a resourcefulness +that is sure to be exercised, however, only in case the other factors +just mentioned are also present. + +Power of initiative is the key to proper study. If different lessons +were mastered in exactly the same manner, it might not be important. +But that is not the case, for every new lesson brings a new situation. +Experienced teachers know that one year of instruction in a certain +study does not free them from the necessity of extensive preparation, +if required to teach the same subject a second year. The discovery of +this fact is one of the serious disappointments of young teachers. The +same holds in study. Every new lesson, every new book, must be +mastered in a way peculiar to itself; each affords a new test of +resourcefulness. Thus the exercise of initiative is a constant and +very important factor in all independent study. + +_(2) Why power of initiative cannot be acquired through imitation._ + +Power of initiative might still prove no source of difficulty, if it +were something that could be acquired mainly by imitation. But there +is the rub the case of the geography class mentioned on page 258 shows +conclusively that the natural tendency of young people to imitate the +example of initiative set by their teachers gives very little +guarantee of the exercise of similar initiative on their part when +studying alone. + +And there are plain reasons for this. In the first place, there is the +widest difference between seeing and doing, between theory and +practice in general, so that one may observe an action and still fail +utterly to duplicate it. That is very common. But, in addition, the +power of initiative, being really the "ability to originate or start," +calls for a good degree of originality and, therefore, lies largely +outside the field of imitation. In the second place, the long- +continued following of a leader, instead of fitting one to lead, may +directly unfit one for that responsibility. In the case of the +geography class it had been the leader who had determined how each +lesson should be attacked; who had exercised resourcefulness in +meeting unexpected obstacles; who had assumed responsibility for +deciding what the crucial questions were, and when the answers were +correct and complete; and who had supplied the energy that made things +"go." Under these circumstances, could it be expected that these +children, in their teacher's absence, would exhibit these same +qualities? Hardly. One does not learn to make an independent plan, to +show resourcefulness, to carry responsibility, and to supply motive +for effort--in brief, to take the initiative--by having some one else +perform these tasks for one. In other words, dependence is not the +preparation for independence. Indeed, great skill on the part of a +teacher in these respects almost precludes such skill on the part of +pupils. If allowed prominence year after year, it so undermines self- +reliance that one's helplessness when alone is greatly increased. The +children of the geography class had had nearly five years of training +in leaning on some one else, so that it was extremely difficult to +make them stand alone. They were like common soldiers especially +trained to obey their officers, yet expected to maintain their former +efficiency when suddenly left without officers. They were even more +helpless in the school-room, in the presence of a leader, than +outside. + +By overlooking the difference between studying with a leader and +alone, therefore, the teacher overlooks initiative, and in consequence +she not only fails to develop that power, but she may easily undermine +it by accustoming pupils to dependence upon her. Here is one of the +reasons why young people have not been learning to study properly by +themselves. + +_2. Some of the factors of study have also been overlooked by +teachers. +(1) Examples._ + +A second reason is that some of the factors of study themselves have +long been neglected or overlooked by teachers, as was stated in a +general way in Chapter I. It is not customary, for example, for +teachers to set up specific objects in their instruction, which shall +furnish motive and be guides in study. Indeed, it is rare except among +some primary teachers. While the supplementing of text is somewhat +common in some subjects, such as literature, any clear notion as to +what should be understood by thoroughness is rare indeed; and +consequently the whole matter of relative values and of organization +is poorly comprehended. Children, and even older students, are not +infrequently reprimanded for presuming to judge the merits of subject- +matter, a fact that plainly indicates how little the importance of +passing on the general worth of ideas is appreciated. Manual training +and a few kindred branches recognize the actual using of ideas as +their endpoint; but no one will assert that they are regarded as types +of other subjects in that respect. Any one will admit that special +provision for the development of a tentative attitude toward facts is +very exceptional; and students are so commonly submerged by their +studies, that there is hardly need to affirm that conscious provision +for the preservation and development of individuality is rare. +Memorizing is the only universally recognized factor in study; and the +supplementing of the author ranks next to it. Whether, aside from +these two, any or all of the other factors receive attention, depends +upon the individual teacher; as a rule they are sadly neglected, or +omitted outright from consideration. + +This being true, it is uncommon for students to carry their study +through the three or four stages necessary in the proper assimilation +of knowledge (see p. 203), because these stages are accomplished only +by doing the work involved in these several factors. Very little +knowledge, for instance, is carried over into habit, the fourth stage. +The four fundamental operations in arithmetic and a few facts in +composition and grammar are shining exceptions. Very few teachers have +ever even asked themselves what portions of their different subjects +of instruction should result in habits; whatever habits become +actually established, therefore, are a matter of accident rather than +of intelligent planning by teachers. Every student reaches the third +stage of assimilation with some of his knowledge; that is, he +overhauls it until it is translated into his own experience. But what +a small proportion of all that he learns becomes welded to him, by the +warmth of his feeling for it, so that he forgets where it was obtained +and feels it to be his own! Almost any college student can name whole +courses that he pursued, to which he never warmed up appreciably. + +How small this amount is, is suggested by the small quantity that is +carried even through the second stage, where the pupil or student +boldly subordinates both author and teacher to himself and asks what +profit he is getting; where he casts aside as non-essential much of +what is presented, and centers his attention on what seems of real +value to him, to weigh and perhaps reorganize it. Many a student never +consciously reaches this stage, and might be afraid to let his teacher +know the fact if he did. Certainly many a teacher would regard any +exercise of choice by the student, in the subject-matter assigned, as +an act of impertinence. Evidently most study does not carry +assimilation beyond the first stage, in which the crude materials of +knowledge are merely collected. And this not because young people are +lazy and disobedient, but because they are practically taught to stop +there by their teachers. They tell the truth when, recalling practice, +they almost universally declare that studying is mainly memorizing; +and Helen Keller's complaint that she had to study so much that she +did not have time to think, expresses a very common experience. + +Even if there were no difficulty in regard to initiative, therefore, +proper methods of study could not be acquired through imitation, +because instruction does not set up a model of study that is worthy of +imitation. Beyond doubt, the method of instruction would duplicate the +method of study if each were right, and thus an example might be put +before the student for him to follow. But there is no such example at +present, and while students are upbraided for not studying properly, +they are furnished no means of learning the right way. + +_(2) Why the factors in study have been so neglected by teachers._ + +The reason for this strange neglect of the factors in study is +probably due principally to the exaggerated importance of the teacher. +Believing in the maxim "As is the teacher, so is the school," we have +placed the center of gravity of the school in the teacher. "The +tendency of the (normal) training school," says President Millis, "is +to make the teacher self-conscious, concerned about her own +performance, about whether she did this or that in the approved way, +whether her voice was properly modulated, whether she utilized +illustrative and supplementary material in due proportion, whether she +followed copy faithfully, whether she got standardized results. The +tendency of supervision is to produce the same attitude of the +teacher. The success of the teacher is graded on her scholarship, her +culture, her standardized attainments, her questioning, her care of +the property, her attitude toward the community and the system, her +sympathy with the supervisor's notions--in short, her pedagogical +ability, which is now made a large factor in determining her ration of +bread and butter, is measured by her performance and her personal +charms." [Footnote: President W.A. Millis, _Training Pupils in the +Art of Study,_ The Educator-Journal, Oct., 1908.] Books dealing +with education show the same trend. There are hundreds of volumes on +method; but they almost invariably tell about what the teacher should +do, that is, they center in the teacher, not in the pupil. No wonder +that teachers come to regard themselves as "the whole thing," and +sometimes act as though educational institutions existed principally +for their benefit. + +This exaggeration of the teacher's function has led the teacher +habitually to picture the learner in the presence of a helper; and +with that thought, it has hardly seemed necessary to ask whether or +not the learner should set up specific aims as guiding motives in +study; the teacher would furnish those herself in class, and perhaps +project her influence outside overnight by threats if required. It has +hardly seemed necessary to inquire how the learner would know when his +work was finished, or to what extent he should pass judgment on +thoughts presented, for her questions and other tests would insure +proper thoroughness, and her presence would check unfitting boldness +in judging. It has hardly seemed necessary to consider how far he +should proceed in the mastery of a topic, or how he should avoid being +dogmatic, for she would let him know when the endpoint was reached--if +he did not stop too soon of his own accord--and she would reprove too +positive an attitude. Finally, it has hardly seemed necessary to +enumerate the various ways in which he might protect his +individuality, because such protection has always been regarded as one +of the teacher's prominent duties, and she would offer it as occasion +demanded. Thus, with aid for the pupil always near at hand, the need +of careful investigation into the problems of private study and how +they should be met has not been felt by teachers to be pressing. + +But the teacher herself has been at least something of a student while +teaching; and she may have made an extensive study of the learning +process as treated under apperception, attention, induction, and +deduction, interest, etc. How, then, has she escaped a close +acquaintance with the principal factors in study? The answer is that +as a teacher she has always thought of herself as giving aid, and has +never felt the need of examining into her own method of study. Why +should she, if she has never been conscious of any particular weakness +in that respect? In short, she has been too much absorbed in herself +to analyze the problems of independent study to be undertaken by her +pupils, and yet not enough absorbed in herself to investigate her own +study. Her psychology and pedagogy have not been valueless by any +means; but, lacking the imagination to picture her pupils at work +alone, and the sympathy to feel their confusion at such times, she has +not been prompted to make an examination of the requirements they +should meet when separated from her. Like many persons in other +fields, she has been too much interested in the results to consider +the process itself. "She" in this case represents high-school and +college teachers even more than those in the grades. This, at least in +part, explains why the method of individual study has been so +neglected. + +_Changes necessary before young people will learn how to study. +1. Placing the center of gravity of the school in the learner._ + +The first change to be made, in order that young people may learn how +to study, is to place the center of gravity of the school where it +belongs--in the learner. The great question of method, then, becomes, +How shall one learn? Not, first of all, with the aid of the teacher, +but alone. What are the main tasks that should be performed in private +study, and how should they be accomplished? These questions give the +right point of view by centering attention in the pupil, and for that +reason they are the first questions that teachers and books on method +should consider. Every one will commend the insight of the mother who +said to an instructor, "If you will teach my boy how to prepare his +lessons, I will attend to his reciting." If lessons are properly +prepared, the testing of knowledge will be simple. + +The problem of independent study having reached some solution, how to +come to the aid of the independent student, or how to impart +knowledge, follows as a narrower and subordinate question. If the +former has been adequately treated, the latter will introduce few new +psychological points, because a full treatment of method of study will +require a careful consideration of apperception, induction and +deduction, interest, association of ideas, attention, etc. Above all, +it will give a new conception of the meaning and scope of self- +activity. Teaching will then call mainly for a review of such topics, +although from a different and very important view-point. + +_2. Modifying the subject-matter of the recitation._ + +Method of study will then become a large subject for regular +instruction. Even in the kindergarten and the first years of school it +will receive some attention, for that is the time when children begin +to acquire good mental habits or to fall into pernicious ones. Without +making so young pupils fully conscious that they are learning to +study, the teacher will lead them to move their eyes rapidly over the +printed page, so as to read simple stories quickly in silence, and +with good expression orally. This is already done by good teachers. +She will accustom them to responsibility for discovering the bearings +of observations in nature-study, of stories, work in color, etc., on +their home lives, and thus pave the way for collecting knowledge under +guidance of definite aims. She will cultivate in them the power to +fill out the author's picture, until situations are more vividly seen +and felt than now. She will require them to think and talk more +sharply by points, and to use judgment in neglecting really +unimportant details, training their consciences to allow such neglect, +if such training is needed. She will encourage them to pass judgment +on the merits of facts that they learn, while influencing them not to +feel too sure. She will see that they do whatever thinking is to be +done on poems and other matter that is to be memorized before the +memorizing itself is undertaken, so that the important habit of +memorizing through thought, rather than without it, shall begin to be +firmly fixed. She will lead them to understand that they are not +through with the study of topics until the ideas have been used in +some way, perhaps many times. And, particularly, she will put forth +effort to keep them natural in whatever they do and say, reasonably +contented with their abilities, and self-reliant. While most of such +instruction will be incidental, a portion of many a recitation will be +directly occupied in this way. + +By the time the fifth year of school has been reached the principal +facts concerning each of the prominent factors of study can be talked +about freely, as so much definitely understood knowledge, and the +children can be expected to apply them in their various studies. Many +a whole recitation can be spent in supplementing authors' statements, +in determining principal thoughts, and in doing many other things +suggested in the preceding pages, the teacher directly emphasizing +such things as essential parts of proper study, and requiring them in +the preparation of lessons. Many a whole recitation, also, may be +occupied in discussing how lessons have been prepared, the teacher not +seldom presenting her own way in detail and allowing her pupils to +compare theirs with it. Abstract theory about method of study will +thus be avoided. + +Perhaps, most of all, the teacher will fix upon the second stage of +study (p. 204) as the crucial point in method, in which the children +select what seems of real value to them and let the rest go. Of course +they will often err, and then it will devolve upon the teacher to show +the value of what they have rejected. If she cannot do that, either +her mind or the curriculum will need to be improved. While this seems +a grave responsibility to place upon pupils of the elementary school, +It must be remembered that they should know how to study by the time +they complete that course; and they cannot possibly learn how, without +dealing boldly with values,--the values of facts in comparison with +one another, or relative values, and their values to the self, or +general values. We have long wanted young people to know how to study, +without allowing them choice among ideas, that is, without placing +them in the conditions that would permit it. The fact that during the +later years of the elementary school children must choose almost daily +outside of school between good and bad literature as presented in +books, periodicals, and newspapers, and that they actually select and +reject freely in their own reading, shows how normal it is to do such +work in school, and how important it is to make it prominent. + +Method of study will then have precedence over other aims of the +school, even ranking above the acquisition of other knowledge. +Possibly as much as one-fourth of all the school time might be devoted +primarily to this problem, although within that period much subject- +matter in the studies would also be mastered. + +While children completing the curriculum of the elementary school +might then be well enough acquainted with the general principles of +study, in their practical applications, to stop the customary +complaints of teachers and parents in that regard, method of study +would still be far from mastered. For, besides the general principles, +there are special principles peculiar to each branch of knowledge, +just as there are both general and special methods of teaching. Proper +study of arithmetic, for example, does not fully include the method of +studying algebra, to say nothing of grammar; neither does the method +in algebra duplicate that in geometry; nor the method in English, that +in Latin; nor the method in Latin that in French. As each new branch +is begun, therefore, two or three weeks might need to be spent +primarily in considering how it should be studied, and now and then, +later, an hour should be occupied in the same way. + +Topics in learning to study that are too broad for the limits of any +particular branch would need to be taught from time to time. For +instance, the use of the table of contents, or of the index of a book, +of the library catalogue, of encyclopedias and other reference works, +should become familiar in the elementary school, as well as some facts +about taking and preserving notes. In high school and college further +systematic instruction would be needed on the finding of articles and +books treating of certain topics, on the keeping of notes, possibly to +the extent of establishing a card catalogue for them, and on the +general use of a library. Some attention to methods of study would be +in place, therefore, even in college. + +On the whole, the content of the regular school period would be +considerably modified. Study periods, both supervised and independent, +devoted either to method of study or to subject-matter, would be far +more common; and, while the reproduction of facts would still be +necessary, it need not be the dominant feature of the school; for +improved methods of study, or better thinking, would render much of +the mere testing of the presence of facts, such as we now have, +superfluous. Study periods, or, preferably, thinking periods, as the +name in the regular school program, would then be recognized as more +fitting than recitation; the latter is a belittling name. + +_3. Modifying the method of the recitation._ + +Finally, in order that initiative, good judgment, and even skill, may +be acquired in applying the principles of study, young people must do +a much larger part of the work in class than has been customary. +President Millis's statements are again eminently sound, when he +declares: "It is what the pupil can do, not what the teacher can do, +that counts. He may be fascinated by the brilliant performances of his +teacher, he may be pulled and pushed about under a skillful cross- +examination, he may manipulate apparatus, he may see the wheels go +round and round, and come out of it all with little actual gain of +power to do things for himself or for others. There is more than a +little danger that we have carried the refinements of teaching to the +extreme of defeating its proper ends....A college professor of my +acquaintance was criticised by a student for carrying the ball too +much in class! No coach ever built up a winning team by carrying the +ball himself. The pupil must be active. He must carry the ball. He +must ask and answer questions. He must make as well as solve problems. +He must be in the game himself, if he is to learn to play the game. He +must be independently productive. He must learn to do things for +himself, in a way which he has adopted for himself." [Footnote: Ibid] + +Children and older students, therefore, must become accustomed to +taking the initiative and doing the other work of study in class, if +they are to do these things outside. + +One day when reading Hawthorne's story of The Gorgon's Head with a +fourth-year class, the writer stopped at an interesting point and +asked, "Do you ever stop to talk over what you read? Or do you always +'go on' and 'keep going on'?" "We always go right on," replied +several. "We sometimes stop," said a few, among whom was Eddie. "Very +well," said I, "let us stop here a moment to talk. What have you to +say, Eddie?" "O, _we_ don't talk; the _teacher_ does the talking," +said he, with a most nonchalant air. What likelihood was there that +that class, after their four years of school training, would show a +fair degree of independence in their study of literature, if their +teacher were suddenly struck dumb? + +It is a matter of rather frequent remark that children accustomed to +lively participation in class discussion under a skillful teacher too +often experience a disappointing relapse the moment the teacher +absents herself. The peculiar stimulus being gone, they not only fail +to rise to the occasion by conceiving such questions as she might ask; +but even after the questions are put, they are overcome by a strange +mental lassitude and make little response. The stimulus to work must +come from within rather than from without, if one's state is to be +healthy. + +Furthermore, just as the children must do a larger part of the work in +class, the teacher must do less. One follows as a consequence of the +other. The old-fashioned country school neglected its pupils so much +that knowledge was poorly digested. The modern school very naturally +proposes to correct that evil. Accordingly, the "good teacher" of to- +day lives very close to her children. In many a school she does not +leave them to themselves five minutes in a whole day. With her keen +eye she detects their very state of mind, and by the sharpest of +questions reveals their slightest error. As a result, their knowledge +is much more thorough than it used to be, more of it is acquired, and +it is acquired with less effort. + +But, meanwhile, new evils have crept in. The teacher, in spite of her +better preparation, is working harder than ever, much too hard. She +does more thinking in class than any one of her pupils, and more +talking than all of them put together. At the same time, she is +undermining their independence. The old-fashioned school, by leaving +the pupil alone a good share of the time, threw him upon his own +resources enough to develop a fair degree of self-reliance. It +possessed the merit at least of not preventing the exercise of +independence. The modern school, by providing a helper close at hand +every moment, tends in the opposite direction. The gain on the whole +is questionable. + +The good of the old must be preserved while the added good of the new +is realized. The wise teacher of the future, therefore, will do more +for her children than lead them to learn rapidly and thoroughly; she +will endeavor to develop their self-reliance and judgment in study and +in other matters just as far as possible. For this end she will, more +often than at present, plan to act merely as chairman of discussion, +rather than as leader of it and an active participant in it. She will +induce her pupils to study aloud before her, particularly to take such +initial steps as lie plainly within their power. She will offer +suggestions from time to time, but not to the extent of depriving them +of responsibility for determining the main questions and answering +them. The longer she instructs a class, the less talking she will do, +because they, having grown more resourceful and independent, will be +able to do it themselves, it being one of her objects to show them how +they can get along without her. She will prove most useful when she is +least needed. But her presence will still be necessary, for, while she +will no longer have to prod them every moment by questions, her +testing will always be important, and her greater maturity of +knowledge will render her suggestions and criticisms always valuable. + +The art of teaching will then consist not only in ability to present +ideas but also in ability to keep still. That is by no means a small +task. Under many circumstances it is not difficult to hold one's +tongue. But when a teacher is confronted by a class in which every one +has the duty of saying something, it is either painful or ridiculous +if no one says anything. It is then that the poor teacher is obliged +to talk much in order to "keep things going." The really good teacher +is the one who understands the secret of delegating responsibility to +her pupils, and not the least of her rewards is the fact that she is +allowed to rest her voice. + +_Home study_ + +The first condition to be met in regard to home study is to assign +only such work as the pupils are known by the teacher to be able to do +rightly, and without too great physical strain. With the attention to +method of study that has been urged, this condition can be easily met. +That means, however, that many a topic cannot be assigned for the home +as it is approached, for it will first require some consideration at +school. Thus the home study of a lesson will very often follow rather +than precede its study at school. + +The assignment of lessons merely by pages is now often decried, and +justly, because it leaves the child so utterly without a guide as to +method. But, when method of study has been properly taught, such an +assignment would often be fitting. The responsibility would then fall +upon the pupil of determining what it was good for, of selecting and +reorganizing the principal parts, etc.; but he could meet that +responsibility because he would understand what things he was to do +and would know how to do them. + +Parents should not be expected to take a hand in teaching their +children how to study, for that is altogether too large a task, and +involves too much special preparation. If they observe that a child +does not know how, they would better leave him alone, directing him to +apply to his teacher for instruction. Parents are more bent upon +obtaining results and getting rid of their children--so far as school +work is concerned--than are teachers, so that the duties assigned to +them should be few and of a simple character. + +There are some important things for parents to do, however. They +should take pains to provide proper physical surroundings for home +study, including quiet, proper light and temperature. They should +exert an influence in the direction of regular hours, of a short +period of relaxation immediately before and after meals and before +bedtime, and of some variety of occupation during the longer periods +of study, so that fatigue may be avoided. In addition, they should +stimulate their children by bringing pressure to bear on the lazy +ones, by "hearing lessons" now and then, and, above all, by asking +questions that call for a review of facts as well as for their use in +conversation. They may give some help; but, if they do, they should by +all means avoid falling into disputes about method. The child is right +in preferring to do a thing in the teacher's way, for it is to the +teacher that he is finally responsible; and parents ought to be broad +enough to try to follow the teacher's plan. They can help their +children most by showing concern for them, really inspecting their +written work instead of merely pretending to, and otherwise +manifesting genuine interest in their tasks. + +_Are children capable of the initiative necessary for independent +study?_ + +Two questions remain to be considered, the first of which pertains to +initiative. If independent study requires that one practically +duplicate the work of the teacher by teaching one's self, can children +in the elementary school be expected to study alone, or can they even +be trained to it? Much power of initiative is rare even among adults. +Much of the instruction of teachers themselves is poor owing to a lack +of independent thinking. What success, then, can come to children when +they are sent off to study their lessons in private? + +In reply, it is safe to say that they can be so trained, provided they +have some native capacity for self-reliance that can be used as a +basis for such training. And that they have such capacity can scarcely +be questioned. In their choice and leadership of games and other play; +in their plans for constructive work; in their serious tasks set by +themselves at home; in their selection of topics for conversation and +even in the turns that their remarks take, children plainly show power +of initiative. + +Intelligent parents recognize this fact, and they not infrequently +take successful measures to cultivate this power. Kindergartners also +recognize it. Indeed, they expect children who are little more than +infants to propose suitable tasks, together with the method of their +execution, in the kindergarten, and to carry the responsibility of +leadership in the conversation of the "circle" and in the games. The +resourcefulness of a ten-year-old boy was recently suggested in a +certain class in composition. The subject that they were writing on +was Mining in the Far West, and spelling was a serious obstacle for +one youth, as it was for most of his mates. Finally, with apparent +innocence, he asked his teacher if he might not describe his +experiences as a miner in the miner's own dialect. On receiving her +consent he gloried in his freedom by misspelling nearly every word +that he used. + +Evidently, latent power of self-direction is one of the "native +tendencies" of childhood. The statement may be ventured, also, that +while the field of experience of children is very different from that +of adults, the exercise of initiative within that field is as common +among children as it is among adults within their own field. + +There is, therefore, a good basis in children for assuming the +initiative. But it is only a basis. Unless this native tendency toward +self-direction is carefully developed in connection with the studies +in school, from year to year, it will of course prove inadequate to +the demands of proper study. And that very often happens. In spite of +the fact that schools exist for the sake of education, there is many a +school whose pupils show a peculiar "school helplessness"; that is, +they are capable of less initiative in connection with their school +tasks than they commonly exhibit in the accomplishment of other tasks. +In its quest for knowledge the school may thus easily prove inferior +to the street and the average home in the development of this +extremely valuable power. + +On the other hand, if children's native capacity for taking initiative +has been carefully developed, well-selected subjects of study need +make no excessive demands upon them. The topics to be considered will +be found so nearly within their experience that their ability to study +alone will be taxed only to a normal degree. Children, therefore, can +be expected to exercise the initiative that is necessary for +independent study from year to year, provided their teachers from year +to year do their duty in developing that power. + +_Is there time for teaching how to study?_ + +Finally, even though children be capable of learning to study alone, +is there time for such instruction, particularly if it is to be the +primary object throughout possibly a quarter of the elementary-school +time, and during a considerable time later? Is not the curriculum +already full enough, indeed full to completion? While it is true that +it has begun to be reduced by the selection of only such matter as +bears a plain relation to our lives, as can be understood by the +learner, and as constitutes some part of a large topic, when such +reduction has been completed there may still remain twice as much as +ought to be taught. Shall we, then, even while making these +eliminations, make additions that may more than equal them? + +The addition here proposed is not so alarming. For a long time some of +our university departments of physics have aimed rather to teach the +scientific method in laboratory investigations than to impart a +knowledge of the facts in physics; and some of our departments of +practical politics have been more concerned about the method of +investigating political problems than about the conclusions reached +concerning them. In such cases the acceptance of proper method as the +primary purpose has not precluded the acquisition of much subject- +matter, for the method has been taught through the subject-matter. The +same would hold in teaching proper method of study. + +But, aside from that, attention to proper method of study will result +in greatly reducing, rather than in increasing, the work of both +teacher and pupil, and in two ways. + +First, it will reduce the quantity of subject-matter. It is strange +that, in spite of the hue and cry of teachers and superintendents +against overcrowding in the elementary school, they are really the +ones who make out the course of study, and there are no persons back +of them requiring them to include a large amount. Beyond a minimum +portion of the three R's, spelling, and geography, which are required +by society, almost anything and everything could be omitted if they +greatly desired it. But they have forced young people to study in much +the same way as they themselves visit European countries, straining to +get a bird's-eye view of everything, and settling on nothing long +enough to know it intimately and to enjoy it deeply. They justify +Herbert Spencer's remark to the effect that he would have known no +more than a great many other persons, if he had read as many books as +they had. + +The difficulty has been that teachers, with the center of gravity of +the school within themselves, have lacked a standard for determining +their pupils' normal rate of advance. The curriculum that they have +outlined has been merely the sum of those things that they have deemed +good, that they would like to have the children know; and the children +have been set to work to consume all these good things, just like +gourmands. + +With the center of gravity in the child, however, and with the proper +method of study in the lead, the learner's real power of assimilation +becomes the standard for his rate of advance. And, since assimilation +is a very slow process, including much discrimination among ideas as +well as their use, comparatively few topics can be undertaken. +Appreciation of proper study then makes extensive eliminations so +evidently necessary that they become compulsory. So long as we did not +look closely at the minds of children, and they seemed to thrive +physically, we have lacked proof that they were surfeiting; attention +to study reveals the fact too plainly for it to be ignored. + +It is not merely the teacher, either, that will be emboldened to cast +aside subject-matter. The pupil himself, under the influence of +specific purposes, a clear notion of thoroughness, and his own +conception of values, will quickly pass over many of the facts that +are assigned in his lessons. If he pays little attention to a full +half of any school text that possesses literary merit, he will +probably not be far in the wrong. For perspective is essential in all +presentation of thought, and there are usually as many things in the +background, necessary and yet to be ignored, as there are in the +foreground. + +Besides reducing the amount of matter to be studied, proper method of +studying will further relieve both teacher and pupil from overwork by +eliminating much friction in the process of study. The want of axle +grease on a wagon does not increase the actual weight of a ton of +coal, but it makes the pulling a lot harder; likewise, awkward methods +of study do not increase the curriculum in fact, but they do in +effect, by making progress slower and more taxing. There are hosts of +young people who are willing and are trying to be studious, who do not +know how. They, as well as the lazy ones, have to be dragged along by +their teachers, and it is this dragging more than the thinking that +exhausts them all. It is the discouragement resulting from this +condition that drives many pupils out of school and many teachers into +matrimony. While numerous things compete with it as a source of waste +in education, unnecessary friction in method of study is probably the +greatest source of waste; and it is as foolish to ignore the fact +longer as it would be for a manufacturer to refuse to oil and repair +his machinery. + +There is no question, therefore, about the advisability of taking time +to teach proper method of study. In spite of helpful reductions in the +curriculum from other sources, we must look to proper method of study +as the principal means by which work for both the teacher and the +pupil will be made lighter, more effective, and more enjoyable. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HOW TO STUDY AND TEACHING HOW TO STUDY *** + +This file should be named 6109.txt or 6109.zip + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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