=The Conditions Determining Interest=
71. Interest means self-activity. The demand for a many-sided interest
is, therefore, a demand for many-sided self-activity. But not all
self-activity, only the right degree of the right kind, is desirable;
else lively children might very well be left to themselves. There would
be no need of educating or even of governing them. It is the purpose
of instruction to give the right _direction_ to their thoughts and
impulses, to incline these toward the morally good and true. Children
are thus in a measure passive. But this passivity should by no means
involve suppression of self-activity. It should, on the contrary, imply
a stimulation of all that is best in the child.
At this point a psychological distinction becomes necessary, namely,
that between designedly reproduced, or “given,” and spontaneous
representations. In recitations of what has been learned we have an
example of the former; the latter appear in the games and fancies of
children. A method of study that issues in mere reproduction leaves
children largely in a passive state, for it crowds out for the time
being the thoughts they would otherwise have had. In games, however,
and in the free play of fancy, and accordingly also in that kind of
instruction which finds an echo here, free activity predominates.
This distinction is not intended to affirm the existence of two
compartments in which the ideas, separated once for all, would, of
necessity, have to remain. Ideas that must by effort be raised into
consciousness because they do not rise spontaneously, may become
spontaneous by gradual strengthening. But this development we cannot
count on unless instruction, advancing step by step, bring it about.
Interest must be conceived as self-propulsive activity toward an
end. It is a part of the teacher’s function to assist the pupil in
making the appropriate ideas strong and spontaneous. Occasionally
a mere suggestion will change the whole mental attitude toward an
end and the means for reaching it. A student one day approached his
instructor with this query: “How can I get through this study with
the least expenditure of time and effort?” The desired answer was
first given. The instructor then remarked that there was another way
of viewing the matter, viz., that one might consider how to get the
_most_ rather than the _least_ out of the study. He then briefly
unfolded its nature and possibilities, whereupon the student became
one of the most interested members of the class. He had come with
only an indirect interest in the subject as an end; he regarded the
study as a required task and the means of passing upon it as so much
drudgery; but he so changed his attitude toward it, that the study
became an end personally desired, and the daily effort a pleasurable
exercise of his self-directed power of thought. The interest that
the instructor had aroused in the end was transferred to the means.
72. It is the teacher’s business, while giving instruction, to observe
whether the ideas of his pupils rise spontaneously or not. If they do,
the pupils are said to be attentive; the lesson has won their interest.
If not, attention is, indeed, not always wholly gone. It may, moreover,
be enforced for a time before actual fatigue sets in. But doubt arises
whether instruction can effect a future interest in the same subjects.
Attention is a factor of such importance to education as to call for a
more detailed treatment.
73. Attention may be broadly defined as an attitude of mind in which
there is readiness to form new ideas. Such readiness is either
voluntary or involuntary. If voluntary, it depends on a resolution;
the teacher frequently secures this through admonitions or threats.
Far more desirable and fruitful is involuntary attention. It is this
attention that the art of teaching must seek to induce. Herein lies the
kind of interest to be sought by the teacher.
_Forced_ and _spontaneous_ are more truly expressive terms than
_voluntary_ and _involuntary_ in this connection. It is not meant
that interested activity is _against_ the will, or even indifferent
to it. On the contrary, it is a form of activity that calls every
resource of the mind into full play. The will is never so promptly
active as when it is doing the things in which it is most interested;
it is, however, a _spontaneous_, not a _forced_ activity.
There is, as Dr. John Dewey points out,[6] a contradiction between
Herbart’s Pedagogy and his Psychology, as follows: the Pedagogy
regards interest as the lever of education, the means for securing
spontaneous activity of mind; the Psychology regards interest as a
feeling arising from the relation of ideas. Ideas must therefore be
_given_, in right relations, to arouse interest, while interest is in
turn conceived as the means of arousing them. This is reasoning in a
circle. The difficulty arises from asserting the primacy of ideas in
mental life, and then speaking of _self-activity_, which presupposes
the primacy of motor, or impulsive activities. The reader will avoid
all contradictions in educational theory by accepting the modern
view of the primacy, not of ideas, but of what may broadly be termed
_will_. The latter view is in accord with biological and historical
science. Ideas are a later production of mind; they serve to define
more clearly the ends for which we work, at the same time giving us
insight into the best means of attaining them. For an interesting
discussion of the primacy of the will, the reader is referred to
Professor Paulsen’s “Introduction to Philosophy,” pp. 111–122.[7]
[6] “Interest as Related to Will,” pp. 237–241, Second Supplement to
First Herbart Year Book.
[7] Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1895.
74. Involuntary [spontaneous] attention is subdivided into primitive
and apperceiving. The latter especially is of the greatest importance
in teaching, but it rests on the former, the conditions of which must
constantly be taken into account.
Apperception, or assimilation, takes place through the reproduction of
previously acquired ideas and their union with the new element, the
most energetic apperception, although not necessarily the best, being
effected by the ideas rising spontaneously. This topic will be treated
more fully below (77). Here it suffices to say that the apperceiving
attention obviously presupposes the primitive attention; otherwise
apperceiving ideas would never have been formed.
The psychological and educational importance of the idea of
apperception, or the assimilation of knowledge, has been much
emphasized in recent years. For a psychological interpretation of
the theory, the reader is referred to Wundt’s “Human and Animal
Psychology,”[8] pp. 235–251. The educational significance of the
doctrine has been well brought out by Dr. Karl Lange, in his able
monograph on “Apperception.”[9] The subject has been more popularly
treated in Dr. McMurray’s “General Method,”[10] and in the writer’s
“Essentials of Method”[11]; also in a number of other works.
[8] New York, Macmillan & Co., 1894.
[9] Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1894.
[10] Bloomington, Ill., Public School Pub. Co., 1894.
[11] Boston, D. C. Heath & Co., 1893.
75. The primitive or original attention depends primarily on the
strength of the sense-impression. Bright colors and loud speaking are
more easily noticed than dark colors and low tones. It would be an
error, however, to infer that the strongest sense-perceptions are at
the same time the most adequate. These quickly blunt the receptivity,
while weak sense-impressions may, in the course of time, engender
ideation as energetic as that produced by originally obtrusive
perceptions. For this reason, a middle course must be chosen from
the first. For children, however, the direct sense-perception, even
of a picture, if the object itself is not to be had, is altogether
preferable to mere description.
The presence in the minds of children of ideas--those supplied by
instruction itself not excepted--contrary to the new representations to
be mastered, acts as a hindrance or check. This very fact explains why
clearness of apprehension is not gained where instruction piles up one
thing upon another in too rapid succession. It is essential, therefore,
in the case of beginners, so to single out each fact, to separate
part from part, and to proceed step by step, that apprehension may be
rendered easy for them.
A second hindrance to attention is of a more temporary character, but
may nevertheless work much mischief. It makes a vast difference whether
the ideas aroused are in a state of equilibrium or not. Long sentences
in speech and in books are less easily apprehended than short ones.
They excite a movement of many albeit connected thoughts, which do not
at once subside into their proper places. Now, just as in reading and
writing pauses must be observed, which is done more easily in short
than in long sentences, instruction in general must have its chosen
stopping-places and resting-points at which the child may tarry as
long as may be necessary. Otherwise the accumulation of thoughts will
become excessive, crowding in upon what follows, and this upon the next
new element, until finally the pupils arrive at a state where they no
longer hear anything.
76. The four essentials then for primitive attention are: strength
of sense-impression, economy of receptivity, avoidance of harmful
antitheses to existing ideas, and delay until the aroused ideas have
recovered their equilibrium. But in actual teaching it will be found
difficult to do justice to all of these requirements simultaneously.
Sameness of presentation should not be carried too far lest the child’s
receptivity be taxed too heavily. Monotony produces weariness. But a
sudden change of subject frequently discloses the fact that the new is
too remote from what has preceded, and that the old thoughts refuse
to give way. If the change is delayed too long the lesson drags. Too
little variety causes ennui. The pupils begin to think of something
else, and with that their attention is gone completely.
The teacher should by all means study literary masterpieces for
the purpose of learning from great authors how they escaped these
difficulties. That he may strike the right chord in the earlier stages
of instruction, he should turn particularly to simple popular writers,
Homer, for example, whose story-telling is, on the other hand, too
general and _naïve_ for older pupils who have lost the power to put
themselves back into a past period of culture. Yet it is safe to
say in general, that classic writers seldom take sudden leaps and
never stand still entirely. Their method of unfolding consists in a
scarcely perceptible, at any rate an always easy, advance. They dwell,
indeed, long on the same thought, but nevertheless achieve, little
by little, most powerful contrasts. Poor writers, on the contrary,
pile up the most glaring antitheses without other than the natural
result--the antagonistic ideas expel each other and the mind is left
empty. The same result threatens the teacher who aims at brilliancy of
presentation.
77. The apperceiving, or assimilating, attention (74), though not the
first in time, is yet observed very early. It shows itself when little
children catch and repeat aloud single, familiar words of an otherwise
unintelligible conversation between adults; when a little later they
name, in their own way, the well-known objects that they come upon in
their picture-books; when later still, while learning to read, they
pick out from the book single names coinciding with their recollection;
and so on in innumerable other instances. From within ideas are
suddenly bursting forth to unite with whatever similar elements present
themselves. Now this apperceiving activity must be exercised constantly
in all instruction. For instruction is given in words only; the ideas
constituting their meaning must be supplied by the hearer. But words
are not meant to be understood merely; they are intended to elicit
interest. And this requires a higher grade and greater facility of
apperception.
Universally popular poems do not produce their pleasing effect by
teaching something new. They portray what is already known and utter
what every one feels. Ideas already possessed are aroused, expanded,
condensed, and consequently put in order and strengthened. On the other
hand, when defects are apperceived, _e.g._, misprints, grammatical
blunders, faulty drawings, false notes, etc., the successive unfolding
of the series of ideas is interrupted so that their interlacing cannot
take place properly. Here we see how instruction must proceed and what
it must avoid in order to secure interest.
=Note.=--The apperceiving attention is of so great importance in
instruction that a word or two more will be in place. The highest
stage of this kind of attention is indicated by the words--gaze,
scrutinize, listen, handle. The idea of the examined object is
already present in consciousness, as is likewise the idea of the
class of sense-perceptions looked for. The psychic result turns on
the ensuing sense-impressions, on their contrasts, combinations,
and reproductions. These are able to induce the corresponding
mental states unhindered, because disturbing foreign elements
have already been removed and remain excluded. Passing from this
highest grade to lower degrees of attention, we find that the idea
of the object is not yet--at least not prominently--present, that
this itself first needs to be reproduced and made more vivid. The
question arises whether this can be accomplished directly or only
indirectly. In the former case the idea must be in itself strong
enough; in the second it must be sufficiently united with other
ideas which it is possible to arouse directly. Moreover, the
obstacles to reproduction must be such that they can be overcome.
When the apperceiving attention is once under way, it should be
utilized and not disturbed. The teaching must take the promised
direction until it has satisfied expectation. The solutions must
correspond clearly to the problems. Everything must be connected.
The attention is disturbed by untimely pauses and the presence of
extraneous matter. It is also disturbed by apperceptions that bring
into light that which should remain in shadow. This is true of
words and phrases too often repeated, of mannerisms of speech--of
everything that gives prominence to the language at the expense
of the subject-matter, even rhymes, verse-forms, and rhetorical
adornment when used in the wrong place.
But that which is too simple must be avoided also. In this case the
apperception is soon completed; it does not give enough to do. The
fullest unit possible is to be sought.
A rule of vital importance is that, before setting his pupils at
work, the teacher should take them into the field of ideas wherein
their work is to be done. He can accomplish this at the beginning
of a recitation hour by means of a brief outline view of the ground
to be covered in the lesson or lecture.
78. Instruction is to supplement that which has been gained already by
experience and by intercourse with others (36); these foundations must
exist when instruction begins. If they are wanting, they must be firmly
established first. Any deficiency here means a loss to instruction,
because the pupils lack the thoughts which they need in order to
interpret the words of the teacher.
In the same way, knowledge derived from earlier lessons must be
extended and deepened by subsequent instruction. This presupposes such
an organization of the whole work of instruction that that which comes
later shall always find present the earlier knowledge with which it is
to be united.
79. Ordinarily, because their eyes are fixed solely on the facts to
be learned, teachers concern themselves little with the ideas already
possessed by the pupils. Consequently they make an effort in behalf
of the necessary attention only when it is failing and progress is
checked. Now they have recourse to voluntary attention (73), and to
obtain this rely on inducements, or, more often, on reprimands and
penalties. Indirect interest is thus substituted for direct interest,
with the result that the resolution of the pupil to be attentive fails
to effect energetic apprehension and realizes but little coherence. It
wavers constantly, and often enough gives way to disgust.
In the most favorable case, if instruction is thorough, _i.e._,
scientific, a foundation of elementary knowledge is gradually laid
sufficiently solid for later years to build on; in other words, out
of the elementary knowledge an apperceiving mass is created in the
mind of the pupil which will aid him in his future studies. There may
be several of such masses; but each constitutes by itself its own
kind of one-sided learning, and it is after all doubtful whether even
here direct interest is implied. For there is small hope that this
interest will be aroused in the youth when the years of boyhood have
been devoted merely to the mastering of preliminary knowledge. The
prospects of future station and calling are opening before him and the
examinations are at hand.
80. The fact should not be overlooked, however, that even the
best method cannot secure an adequate degree of apperceiving
attention (75–78) from every pupil; recourse must accordingly be had to
the voluntary attention, _i.e._, the pupil’s resolution. But for the
necessary measures the teacher must depend, not merely on rewards and
punishments, but chiefly on habit and custom. Instruction unites at
this point with government and training. In all cases where the pupil
begins his work not entirely without compulsion, it is particularly
important that he should soon become aware of his own progress. The
several steps must be distinctly and suitably pointed out to him; they
must at the same time be easy of execution and succeed each other
slowly. The instruction should be given with accuracy, even strictness,
seriousness, and patience.
81. The voluntary attention is most frequently demanded for memorizing,
for which, apart from all else, the presence of interest is not always
a perfectly favorable condition. This is true even of spontaneous
interest, for the ideas that rise spontaneously have a movement of
their own, which by deviating from the given sequence may lead to
surreptitious substitutions. Like observation, intentional memorizing
presupposes a certain amount of self-control. At this point a question
arises as to the proper place of learning by heart.
Committing to memory is very necessary; use is made of it in every
department of knowledge. But memorizing should never be the first thing
except when it is done without effort. For if the memorizing of new
matter, which the pupil cannot as yet have associated incorrectly,
costs him an effort, it is plain that the single presentations
encounter some opposition or other by which they are repelled too
quickly for their mutual association to take place. The teacher must
in this case talk the subject over first, set the pupil to work upon
it, make him more familiar with it, and must sometimes even wait for a
more opportune moment. Where clearness in single perceptions and their
association (67 _et seq._) are still deficient, these must be attended
to first of all. After the ideas have been strengthened in this way,
memorizing will be accomplished more easily.
The assigned series should not be too long. Three foreign words
are often more than enough. Many pupils have to be shown how to
memorize. Left to themselves they will begin over and over again,
then halt, and try in vain to go on. A fundamental rule is that the
starting-point be shifted. If, for example, the name Methuselah
is to be learned, the teacher would, perhaps, say successively:
lah,--selah,--thuselah,--Methuselah.
Some have to be warned against trying to get through quickly. We have
to do here with a physical mechanism which requires time and whose
operation the pupil himself as little as the teacher should endeavor to
over-accelerate. Slow at first, then faster.
It is not always advisable to put a stop to all bodily movements. Many
memorize by way of speaking aloud, others through copying, some through
drawing. Reciting in concert also may prove feasible at times.
Incorrect associations are very much to be feared; they are tenacious.
A great deal, to be sure, may be accomplished through severity; but
when interest in the subject-matter is wholly lacking, the pupil begins
by memorizing incorrectly, then ceases to memorize at all, and simply
wastes time.
The absolute failure of some pupils in memory work may perhaps be
partly owing to unknown physical peculiarities. Very often, however,
the cause of the evil lies in the state of false tension into which
such pupils put themselves while attempting with reluctance what they
regard as an almost impossible task. A teacher’s injudicious attitude
during the first period, his remarks, for instance, about learning
by heart as a thing of toil and trouble, may lead to this state of
mind, for which perhaps awkward first steps in learning to read have
prepared the way. It is foolish to look for means of lightening still
more the exercises of children that retain and recite with facility;
but, on the other hand, great caution is necessary because there are
also others who may be rendered unfit for memorizing by the first
attempt of the teacher to make them recite, or even only to repeat
after him, a certain series of words. In attempting, by such early
tests, to find out whether children retain and reproduce easily, it is
essential that the teacher put them in good humor, that he select his
matter with this end in view, and that he go on only so long as they
feel they can do what is asked of them. The results of his observations
must determine the further mode of procedure.
82. However carefully the process of memorizing may have been
performed, the question remains: How long will the memorized matter be
retained? On this point teachers deceive themselves time and again, in
spite of universally common experiences.
Now, in the first place, not everything that is learned by heart needs
to be retained. Many an exercise serves its purpose when it prepares
the way for the next, and renders further development possible. In
this way a short poem is sometimes learned as a temporary means for an
exercise in declamation; or chapters from Latin authors are committed
to memory in order to speed the writing and speaking of Latin. In many
cases it is sufficient for later years if the pupil knows how to look
for literary helps, and how to make use of them.
But if, secondly, that which has been memorized is to remain impressed
on the memory for a long time, forever if possible, it is only a
questionable expedient to reassign the same thing as often as it is
forgotten. The feeling of weary disgust may more than offset the
possible gain. There is only one efficient method--practice; practice
consisting in the constant application of that which is to be retained
to that which actually interests the pupils, in other words, that which
continually engages the ideas rising spontaneously.
Here we find the principle that governs the choice of material for
successful memorizing. And as to the amount--so much as is needed
for the immediate future; for excessive quantity promotes an early
forgetting. Besides, in instruction, as in experience, there is a great
deal that may not be accurately remembered, but nevertheless renders
abundant service by stimulating the mind and qualifying it for further
work.