We shall not discuss the philosophical systems which underlie ethical
theories, nor the theories themselves which consider the nature of the
moral sense and the supreme aim of life, but shall treat practical
ethics as a part of didactics, and as a part of that unspoken influence
which should be the constant ally of instruction. It is not the purpose
to present anything new, but rather to give confidence in methods that
are well known and are successfully employed by skilful and devoted
teachers.
* * * * *
The formation of right habits is the first step toward good character.
Aristotle gives this fact special emphasis. Here are some detached
sentences from his ethics: “Moral virtue is the outcome of habit, and,
accordingly, its name is derived by a slight deflection from habit....
It is by playing the harp that both good and bad harpists are produced,
and the case of builders and all _artisans_ is similar, as it is by
building well that they will be good builders, and by building badly
that they will be bad builders.... Accordingly, the difference between
one training of the habits and another, from early days, is not a light
matter, but is serious or all-important.” Aristotle here expresses
a truth that has become one of the tritest. All mental dispositions
are strengthened by repetition. We learn to observe by observing, to
remember by exercising memory, to create by training the imagination,
to reason by acts of inference. Passions grow by indulgence and
diminish by restraint; the finer emotions gain strength by use.
Courage, endurance, firmness are established by frequently facing
dangers and difficulties. By practice, disagreeable acts may become a
pleasure.
It is by practice that the mind gets possession of the body, that the
separate movements of the child become correlated, and the most complex
acts are performed with ease and accuracy. Physiological psychology has
confirmed and strengthened the doctrine of habit. The functions of the
brain and mental actions are correlated. A nerve tract once established
in the brain, and action along that line recurs with increasing
spontaneity. New lines of communication are formed with difficulty.
Each physical act controlled by lower nerve centres leaves a tendency
in those centres to repeat the act.
The inference is obvious and important. Whatever we wish the adult
man to be, we must help him to become by early practice. Childhood
is the period when tendencies are most easily established. The mind
is teachable and receives impressions readily; around those cluster
kindred impressions, and the formation of character is already begun.
The brain and other nerve centres are plastic, and readily act in any
manner not inconsistent with their natural functions. As they begin
they tend to act thereafter.
Dr. Harris called attention a few years ago to the ethical import
of the ordinary requirements and prohibitions of the schoolroom.
Promptness, obedience, silence, respect, right positions in sitting
and standing, regard for the rights of others, were named as helping to
form habits that would make the child self-controlled and fit him to
live in society.
Whatever you would wish the child to do and become, that let him
practise. We learn to do, not by knowing, but by knowing and then
doing. Ethical teaching, tales of heroic deeds, soul-stirring fiction
that awakens sympathetic emotions may accomplish but little, unless in
the child’s early life regard for the right, little acts of heroism,
and deeds of sympathy are employed; unless the ideas and feeling find
expression in action, and so become a part of the child’s power and
tendency. George Eliot would have us make ready for great deeds by
constant performance of little duties at hand.
Right habit is the only sure foundation for character. Sudden
resolutions to change the tenor of life, sudden conversion from an evil
life to one of ideal goodness are usually failures, because the old
tendencies will hold on grimly until the new impulse, however great,
has gradually evaporated. To prepare for the highest moral life and a
persevering religious life, early habits of the right kind are the only
secure foundation.
The teacher may have confidence in the value of requiring of pupils
practice in self-restraint, practice in encountering difficulties that
demand a little of courage, a little even of heroism—and each day
furnishes opportunities. Pleasure may not always attend their efforts,
but pleasure will come soon enough as a reward, in consciousness of
strength and of noble development. Often we do wrong because it is
pleasant, and avoid the right because it is painful. By habit we
come to find pleasure in right action, and then the action is a true
virtue as held by the Greek philosophers. Aristotle remarks: “Hence the
importance of having had a certain training from very early days, as
Plato says, such a training as produces pleasure and pain at the right
objects; for this is the true education.”
* * * * *
The personality of the teacher is a potent factor in moral education.
Perfection is not expected of the teacher; none ever attained it
except the Great Prototype. All that we can say of the best man is
that he averages high. The teacher who does not possess to a somewhat
marked degree some quality eminently worthy of imitation will hardly
be of the highest value in his profession. I remember with gratitude
two men, each of whom impressed me with a noble quality that made an
important contribution at the time to my thought, feeling, action, and
growth. The ideal of one was action—energetic, persevering action—and
he was a notable example of his ideal. His precept without his example
would have been almost valueless. The other was a noble advocate
of ideal thought, and his mind was always filled with the highest
conceptions; moreover, in many large ways he exemplified his precept.
His acquaintance was worth more than that of a thousand others who are
satisfied with a commonplace view of life.
Minds that are not speculative, are not ingenious and creative, will
hardly make their own ideals, or even be taught by abstractions. They
can, however, readily comprehend the living embodiment of virtue, and
there is still enough of our ancestral monkey imitativeness remaining
to give high value to example.
And it is important that the influence of the teacher shall not be
merely a personal magnetism that influences only when it is present,
but a quality that shall command respect in memory and help to
establish principles of conduct. The influence should be one that will
be regarded without the sanction of the personal relation. He who is
wholly ruled either by fear or by love gains no power of self-control,
and will be at a loss when thrown upon his own responsibility in the
world of conflict and temptations. Character must be formed by habit
and guided by principle.
* * * * *
The world’s moral heroes are few. Since they can not be our daily
companions, we turn to biography and history, that their personality
and deeds may be painted in our imagination. Concrete teaching is
adapted to children, and select tales of great and noble men, vivid
descriptions of deeds worthy of emulation may early impress their minds
with unfading pictures that will stand as archetypes for their future
character and conduct. Hence the value of mythology, of Bible stories,
and Plutarch.
It is unnecessary to add that such literature should be at the command
of every teacher, and there is enough adapted to every grade of work.
Throughout the period of formal historic study important use should be
made of the ethical character of men and events. The pupil thus fills
his mind with examples from which he may draw valuable inferences, and
with which he may illustrate principles of action. The ethical sense
is developed through relations of the individual to society, and the
broader the scope of vision, the more just will be the estimate of
human action.
Ideal literature, the better class of fiction and poetry, which not
only reaches the intellect, but touches the feeling and brings the
motive powers in harmony with ideal characters, deeds, and aspirations,
may have the highest value in forming the ethical life of the pupil.
Here is presented the very essence of the best ideas and feelings of
humanity—thoughts that burn, emotions of divine quality, desires that
go beyond our best realizations, acts that are heroic—all painted in
vivid colors. By reading we enter into the life of greater souls, we
share their aspirations, we make their treasure our own. A large share
of the moralization of the world is done by this process of applying
poetry to life.
There is, however, one important caution. There is a difference between
sentiment and sentimentality. The latter weakens the mind and will;
it is to be avoided as slow poison that will finally undermine a
strong constitution. There must be a certain vigor in ideal sentiment
that will not vanish in mawkish feeling, but will give tone for noble
action. It is a question whether sentiment that sheds tears, and
never, in consequence, does an additional praiseworthy act, has worth.
You know the literature that leaves you with a feeling of stupid
satiety, and you know that which gives you the feeling of strength in
your limbs, and clearness in your intellect, and earnestness in your
purpose, and determination in your will.
Use ideal literature from the earliest school days of the child; choose
it with a wisdom that comes from a careful analysis of the subject
and a knowledge of the adaptation of a particular selection to the end
proposed. And when you reach the formal study of literature, find in
it something more than dates, events, grammar, and rhetoric; find in
it beauty, truth, goodness, and insight that will expand the mind and
improve character.
* * * * *
There is much truth in the criticism that condemns precept without
example; the two go together, the one is a complement of the other. We
act in response to ideas, and a rule of action clearly understood and
adopted will often be applied in a hundred specific instances that fall
under it. A teacher of tact and skill can gain the interest of children
to know the meaning and understand the application of many rich
generalizations from human experiences that have passed into proverbs.
The natural result of conduct which we condemn may be pointed out, with
often a noticeable increase of regard for duty and prudence. We may not
expect consistency of character, firmness of purpose, rigid observance
of honesty, truthfulness, honor, and sympathy until the course of life
is directed by principles that have taken firm hold of the mind.
When moral instruction in school passes into what the boys call
preaching, the zealous teacher often dulls the point of any possible
interest in the subject, and thereby defeats his purpose. Sometimes
we, in our feeling of responsibility, trust too little to the better
instincts of childhood, the influence of good surroundings, and the
leavening power of all good work in the regular course of instruction.
For the purpose of moral instruction in the schools we should take the
broad view of the Greek ethics. As summed up by Professor Green the
Good Will aims (1) to know what is true and create what is beautiful;
(2) to endure pain and fear; (3) to resist the allurements of false
pleasure; (4) to take for one’s self and to give to others, not
what one is inclined to, but what is due. This is larger than the
conventional moral code. It makes virtues not only of justice and
temperance, but of courage and wisdom. By implication it condemns
cowardice and lazy ignorance. It urges one to strive for the
realization of all his best possibilities, to enlarge his powers, his
usefulness, and aim at the gradual perfection of his being through the
worthy use of all his energies. It does not dwell morbidly on petty
distinctions of casuistry, but generously expands the soul to receive
wisdom, the wisdom that regards all good.
We are creatures of numerous native impulses, all useful in their
proper exercise. Each impulse is susceptible of growth until it becomes
predominant. The lower animals follow their instincts. Man is rational,
has the power to discriminate, to estimate right and wrong, to educate
and be educated. He is called upon to subordinate some impulses and to
cultivate others. The child is full of power of action, and it must
be exercised in some direction. The work of the teacher is to invite
the native impulses that reach out toward right and useful things, by
offering the proper objects for their exercise. When these tendencies
of the child’s being are encouraged, his growth will be ethical.
* * * * *
What is the relation of the doctrine of duty to the practical subject
in hand? This is a question that rests upon the broad foundation of
philosophy and religion, and we cannot discuss the grounds of belief.
We may believe that the sense of duty is indispensable to moral
character. True, much has been done in the name of duty that has
been harmful and repellent. Many things have been thought to be duty
that would rule healthful spontaneity and cheerfulness and needful
recreation out of life, and place the child under a solemn restraint
that rests on his spirit like an incubus and drives him to rebellion
and sin. We do not mean duty in this caricature of the reality. But
this is a world in which the highest good is to be obtained by courage
to overcome evil and difficulty. The great Fichte said: “I have found
out now that man’s will is free, and that not happiness, but worthiness
is the end of our being.” And Professor Royce in the same vein says:
“The spiritual life isn’t a gentle or an easy thing.... Spirituality
consists in being heroic enough to accept the tragedy of existence,
and to glory in the strength wherewith it is given to the true lords
of life to conquer this tragedy, and to make their world, after all,
divine.” In the name of evolution and physiological psychology much
good has been done in driving to the realm of darkness, whence it
emanated, the spirit of harshness and cruelty in education and in
discipline; at the same time much harm has been done by superficial
interpreters by the attempt to make all education and training a
pleasure. The highest good cannot be gained without struggle. Character
cannot be formed without struggle. You and I would give nothing for
acquisitions that have cost us nothing. While the child’s will is to
be invited in the right direction by every worthy motive that tends to
make the path pleasant, the child at the same time should know by daily
experience that some things must be because they are right, because
they are part of his duty; that they may be at first disagreeable
and require stern effort. Only then will he be prepared to resist
temptation, and to actively pursue a course that will lead toward the
perfection of his being and toward a life of usefulness. Along the
paths of pleasure are the wrecks of innumerable lives, and this view is
one of the greatest practical importance in the every-day work of the
schoolroom.
* * * * *
All proper education is ethical education. How the teacher encourages
the acquisition of truth! With what care he corrects error in
experiment and inference! With what zeal he leads the pupil to further
knowledge! With what feeling he points out beauty in natural forms
and in literary art! With what hope he encourages him to overcome
difficulties! With what solicitude he regards his ways and his choice
of company! What use he makes of every opportunity to emphasize a
lesson of justice in this little society of children, which is in many
ways a type of the larger society into which the child is to enter!
If teachers are learned and skilful, and of strong character, if they
awaken interest in studies and not disgust, if they have insight
into the moral order of the world as revealed in all departments of
learning, the whole curriculum of study, from the kindergarten to the
university, will be a disclosure of ethical conceptions, a practice
of right activity, an encouragement of right aim. If the better
tendencies of the child’s nature are repelled instead of invited, in
so far will instruction lack the ethical element. And herein lies the
great responsibility of the teacher for his own education, methods, and
personal influence.
What are the schools doing for moral training? We believe they are
doing much that is satisfactory and encouraging. The public schools
have at their command the various ethical forces. They form right
habits by every-day requirements of the schoolroom; they provide the
personal influence of teachers whose good character is the first
passport to their position; they employ the lessons of history and
literature, and in distinct ways impart principles of right conduct;
they inspire courage to overcome difficulties; they direct the better
impulses of children toward discovery in the great world of truth, and,
by the very exercise of power required in the process of education,
prepare them for life.