Produced by Barbara Kosker, Nick Wall and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
A
PRACTICAL ENQUIRY
INTO
THE PHILOSOPHY
OF
EDUCATION.
BY JAMES GALL,
INVENTOR OF THE TRIANGULAR ALPHABET FOR THE BLIND; AND
AUTHOR OF THE "END AND ESSENCE OF SABBATH
SCHOOL TEACHING," &c.
"_The Works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have
pleasure therein._"--PSAL. cxi. 2.
EDINBURGH:
JAMES GALL & SON,
24, NIDDRY STREET.
LONDON: HOULSTON & STONEMAN, 65, PATERNOSTER-ROW.
GLASGOW; GEORGE GALLIE. BELFAST: WILLIAM M'COMB.
MDCCCXL
Printed by J. Gall & Son. 22, Niddry Street.
PREFACE.
The Author of the following pages is a plain man, who has endeavoured to
write a plain book, for the purpose of being popularly useful. The
philosophical form which his enquiries have assumed, is the result
rather of accidental circumstances than of free choice. The strong
desire which he felt in his earlier years to benefit the Young, induced
him to push forward in the paths which appeared to him most likely to
lead to his object; and it was not till he had advanced far into the
fields of philosophy, that he first began dimly to perceive the
importance of the ground which he had unwittingly occupied. The truth
is, that he had laboured many years in the Sabbath Schools with which he
had connected himself, before he was aware that, in his combat with
ignorance, he was wielding weapons that were comparatively new; and it
was still longer, before he very clearly understood the principles of
those Exercises which he found so successful. One investigation led to
another; light shone out as he proceeded; and he now submits, with full
confidence in the truth of his general principles and deductions, the
results of more than thirty years' experience and reflection in the
great cause of Education.
He has only further to observe, that the term "NATURE," which
occurs so frequently, has been adopted as a convenient and popular mode
of expression. None of his readers needs to be informed, that this is
but another manner of designating "THE GOD OF NATURE," whose
laws, as established in the young mind, he has been endeavouring humbly,
and perseveringly to imitate.
_Myrtle Bank, Trinity, Edinburgh, 8th May, 1840._
CONTENTS
PART I.
ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND
IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION.
CHAP. I. Page
On the Importance of establishing the Science of Education on a
solid Foundation, 13
CHAP. II.
On the Cultivation of Education as a Science, 16
CHAP. III.
On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art, 25
CHAP. IV.
On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education, 32
PART II.
ON THE GREAT DESIGN OF NATURE'S TEACHING, AND THE METHODS SHE
EMPLOYS IN CARRYING IT ON.
CHAP. I.
A Comprehensive View of the several Educational Processes
carried on by Nature, 37
CHAP. II.
On the Method employed by Nature for cultivating the Powers of
the Mind, 45
CHAP. III.
On the Means by which Nature enables her Pupils to acquire
Knowledge, 52
CHAP. IV.
On Nature's Method of communicating Knowledge to the Young by
the Principle of Reiteration, 56
CHAP. V.
On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of
Individuation, 65
CHAP. VI.
On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Association,
or Grouping, 72
CHAP. VII.
On the Acquisition of Knowledge by the Principle of Analysis,
or Classification, 83
CHAP. VIII.
On Nature's Methods of Teaching her Pupils to make use of their
Knowledge, 95
CHAP. IX.
On Nature's Methods of Applying Knowledge by the Principle of
the Animal, or Common Sense, 101
CHAP. X.
On Nature's Method of applying Knowledge, by means of the
Moral Sense, or Conscience, 111
CHAP. XI.
On Nature's Method of Training her Pupils to Communicate
their Knowledge, 129
CHAP. XII.
Recapitulation of the Philosophical Principles developed
in the previous Chapters, 141
PART III.
ON THE METHODS BY WHICH THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES OF NATURE MAY BE
SUCCESSFULLY IMITATED.
CHAP. I.
On the Exercises by which Nature may be imitated in cultivating
the Powers of the Mind, 148
CHAP. II.
On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in the Pupil's
Acquisition of Knowledge; with a Review of the Analogy between
the Mental and Physical Appetites of the Young, 170
CHAP. III.
How Nature may be imitated in Communicating Knowledge to the
Pupil, by the Reiteration of Ideas, 177
CHAP. IV.
On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Exercising the
Principle of Individuation, 192
CHAP. V.
On the Means by which Nature may be imitated in Applying the
Principle of Grouping, or Association, 204
CHAP. VI.
On the Methods by which Nature may be imitated in Communicating
Knowledge by Classification, or Analysis, 218
CHAP. VII.
On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of
Knowledge, 233
CHAP. VIII.
On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Use of Knowledge
by Means of the Animal, or Common Sense, 245
CHAP. IX.
On the Imitation of Nature in Teaching the Practical Use of
Knowledge by means of the Moral Sense, or Conscience, 257
CHAP. X.
On the Application of our Knowledge to the Common Affairs of
Life, 274
CHAP. XI.
On the Imitation of Nature, in training her Pupils fluently to
communicate their Knowledge, 288
PART IV.
ON THE SELECTION OF PROPER TRUTHS AND SUBJECTS TO BE TAUGHT IN
SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES.
CHAP. I.
On the General Principles which ought to regulate our choice
of Truths and Subjects to be taught to the Young, 306
CHAP II.
On the particular Branches of Education required for Elementary
Schools, 317
CHAP. III.
On the Easiest Methods of Introducing these Principles, for
the first time, into Schools already established, 326
Notes, 331
PRACTICAL ENQUIRY, &c.
PART I.
ON THE PRELIMINARY OBJECTS NECESSARY FOR
THE ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPROVEMENT
OF EDUCATION.
CHAP. I.
_On the Importance of establishing the Science of
Education on a solid Foundation._
Education is at present obviously in a transition state. The public mind
has of late become alive to the importance of the subject; and all
persons are beginning to feel awake to the truth, that something is yet
wanting to insure efficiency and permanence to the labours of the
teacher. The public will not be satisfied till some decided change has
taken place; and many are endeavouring to grope their way to something
better. It is with an earnest desire to help forward this great
movement, that the writer of the following pages has been induced to
publish the result of much study, and upwards of thirty years'
experience, in the hope that it may afford at least some assistance in
directing the enquiries of those who are prosecuting the same object.
On entering upon this investigation, it will be of use to keep in mind,
that all the sciences have, at particular periods of their history, been
in the same uncertain and unsettled position, as that which Education at
present occupies; and that each of them has in its turn, had to pass
through an ordeal, similar to that which education is about to undergo.
They have triumphantly succeeded; and their subsequent rapid
advancement is the best proof that they are now placed on a solid and
permanent foundation. It is of importance, therefore, in attempting to
forward the science of education, that we should profit by the
experience of those who have gone before us. They succeeded by a strict
observation of facts, and a stern rejection of every species of mere
supposition and opinion;--by an uncompromising hostility to prejudice
and selfishness, and a fearless admission of truth wherever it was
discovered. Such must be the conduct of the Educationist, if he expects
to succeed in an equal degree. The history of astronomy as taught by
astrologers, and of chemistry in the hands of the alchymist, should
teach both the lovers and the fearers of change an important lesson.
These pretended sciences being mere conjectures, were of use to nobody;
and yet the boldness with which they were promulgated, and the
confidence with which they were received, had the effect of suppressing
enquiry, and shutting out the truth for several generations. Similar may
be the effects of errors in education, and similar the danger of too
easily admitting them. The adoption of plausible theories, or of
erroneous principles, must lead into innumerable difficulties; and
should they be hastily patronized, and authoritatively promulgated, the
improvement of this first and most important of the sciences may be
retarded for a century to come.
The other sciences, during the last half century, have advanced with
amazing rapidity. This has been the result of a strict adherence to well
established facts, and their legitimate inferences.--A docile subjection
of the mind to the results of experiment, and a candid confession and
abandonment of fallacies, have characterized every benefactor of the
sciences;--and the science of education must be advanced by an adherence
to the same principles. The Educationist must be willing to abandon
error, as well as to receive truth; and must resolutely shake off all
conjecture and opinions not founded on fair and appropriate experiment.
This course may appear tedious;--but it is the shortest and the best. By
this mode of induction, all the facts which he is able to glean will
assuredly be found to harmonize with nature, with reason, and with
Scripture; and with these for his supporters, the Reformer in education
has nothing to fear. His progress may be slow, but it will be sure; for
every principle which he thus discovers, will enable him, not only to
outrun his neighbours, but to confer a permanent and valuable boon upon
posterity.
That any rational and accountable being should ever have been found to
oppose the progress of truth, is truly humiliating; yet every page of
history, which records the developement of new principles, exhibits also
the outbreakings of prejudice and selfishness. The deductions of
Galileo, of Newton, of Harvey, and innumerable others, have been opposed
and denounced, each in its turn; while their promoters have been
vilified as empyrics or innovators. Nor has this been done by those only
whose self love or worldly interests prompted them to exclude the truth,
but by good and honourable men, whose prejudices were strong, and whose
zeal was not guided by discretion. Such persons have frequently been
found to shut their eyes against the plainest truths, to wrestle with
their own convictions, and positively refuse even to listen to evidence.
The same thing may happen with regard to education;--and this is no
pleasing prospect to the lover of peace, who sets himself forward as a
reformer in this noble work.--Change is inevitable. Teaching is an art;
and it must, like all the other arts, depend for its improvement upon
the investigations of science. Now, every one knows, that although the
cultivation of chemistry, and other branches of natural science, has, of
late years, given an extraordinary stimulus to the arts, yet the science
of education, from which the art of teaching can alone derive its
power, is one, beyond the threshold of which modern philosophy has
scarcely entered. Changes, therefore, both in the theory and practice of
teaching, may be anticipated;--and that these changes will be
inconvenient and annoying to many, there can be no doubt. That
individuals, in these circumstances, should be inclined to deprecate and
oppose these innovations and improvements, is nothing more than might be
expected; but that the improvements themselves should on that account be
either postponed or abandoned, would be highly injurious. An enlightened
system of education is peculiarly the property of the public, on which
both personal, family, and national happiness in a great measure
depends. These interests therefore must not be sacrificed to the wishes
or the convenience of private individuals. The prosperity and happiness
of mankind are at stake; and the welfare of succeeding generations will,
in no small degree, be influenced by the establishment of sound
principles in education at the present time. Nothing, therefore, should
be allowed to mystify or cripple that science, upon which the spread and
the permanence of all useful knowledge mainly rest.
CHAP. II.
_On the Cultivation of Education as a Science._
From numerous considerations, it must be evident, that education claims
the first rank among the sciences; and, in that case, the art of
Teaching ought to take precedence among the arts;--not perhaps in
respect of its difficulties, but most certainly in respect of its
importance.
The success of the teacher in his labours, will depend almost entirely
on the extent and the accuracy of the investigations of the philosopher.
The science must guide the art. Experience shews, that where an artist
in ordinary life is not directed by science,--by acknowledged
principles,--he can never make any steady improvement. In like manner,
when the principles of education are unknown, no advancement in the art
can be expected from the teacher. Every attempt at change in such
circumstances must be unsatisfactory; and even when improvements are by
chance accomplished, they are but partial, and must be stationary.--When,
on the contrary, the teacher is directed by ascertained principles, he
never can deviate far from the path of success; and even if he should,
he has the means in his own power of ascertaining the cause of his
failure, and of retracing his steps. He can, therefore, at his pleasure,
add to or abridge, vary or transpose his exercises with his pupils,
provided only that the great principles of the science be kept steadily
in view, and be neither outraged, nor greatly infringed. No teacher,
therefore, should profess the art, without making himself familiar with
the philosophical principles upon which it is founded. In the mechanical
arts, this practice is now generally followed, and with the happiest
effects. The men of the present generation have profited by the painful
experience of thousands in former times; who, trusting to mere
conjectures, tried, failed, and ruined themselves. The mechanics of our
day, instead of indulging in blind theories of their own, and hazarding
their money and their time upon speculation and chance, are willing to
borrow light for their guidance from those who have provided it. They
slowly, but surely, follow in the path opened up to them by the
discoveries of science,--and they are never disappointed.
The unexampled success of the mechanical arts, would, upon the above
principles, naturally lead us to conclude, that the sciences, from which
they have derived all that they possess, must have been cultivated with
corresponding energy. And such is the fact. Since the adoption of the
inductive method of philosophizing, nearly all the sciences have been
advancing rapidly and steadily; and the cause of this is to be found in
adhering to the rules of induction. No science has been allowed to rest
its claims upon mere theory, or authority of any kind, but upon evidence
derived from facts. Mere opinions and suppositions have been rigidly
excluded; and that alone which was acquired by accurate investigation,
has been acknowledged in science as having the stamp of truth. The
inductive philosophy takes nothing for granted. Every conclusion must be
legitimately drawn from ascertained facts, or from principles
established by experiment; and the consequence has been, not only that
what has been attained is permanent, and will benefit all future
generations, but the amount of that attainment, in the short time that
has already elapsed, is actually greater than all that had been
previously gained during centuries. In this general improvement,
however, the science of Education has till lately formed an exception.
The principles of true philosophy do not appear to have been brought to
bear upon it, as they have upon the other sciences; and the consequences
of this neglect have been lamentable. In every branch of natural
philosophy, there are great leading principles already established. But
where were there any such principles established by the philosopher for
the guidance of the teacher? By what, except their own experience, and
conjectures, were teachers directed in the training of the
young?--Thirty or forty years ago, what was called "education" in our
ordinary week-day schools, was little more than a mechanical round of
barren exercises. The excitement of religious persecution, which had
been the means of disciplining the intellectual and moral powers of
Scotsmen for several previous generations, had by that time gradually
subsided, and had left education to do its own work, by the use of its
own resources. But these were perfectly inadequate to the task. The
exercises almost universally employed in the education of the young,
had neither been derived from science, nor from experience of their own
inherent power; and they would, from the beginning, have been found
perfectly inefficient, had they not been aided, as before noticed, by
the stimulant of religious persecution.--The state of education, at the
time we speak of, is still fresh on the memory of living witnesses who
were its victims; and some of the absurdities which were then universal,
are not even yet altogether extinct.
Soon after the period above stated, an important change began to take
place in the art of teaching,--but still unaided and undirected by
science. Some of the more thinking and judicious of its professors,
roused by the flagrant failures of their own practice, made several
noble and exemplary efforts to place it on a better footing. Had these
efforts been guided by scientific research, much more good would have
been done than has been accomplished, and an immense amount of
misdirected labour would have been saved. But although many of the
attempts at a change failed, yet some of them succeeded, and have
gradually produced ameliorations and improvements in the art of
teaching. Still it must be observed, that philosophy has had little or
no share in the merit. Her labours in this important field have yet to
be begun. Valuable exercises have no doubt been introduced; but the
principles upon which the success of these exercises depends, remain in
a great measure concealed from the public generally:--And the reason of
this is, that the public have been indebted for them to the _art_ of the
teacher, and not to the _science_ of the philosopher.
That this is not the position in which matters of so much public
importance should continue, we think no one will deny. Education must be
cultivated as a science, before teaching can ever flourish as an art.
The philosopher must first ascertain and light up the way, before the
teacher can, with security, walk in it. Experiment must be employed to
ascertain facts, investigate causes, and trace these causes to their
effects. By fair and legitimate deductions drawn from the facts thus
ascertained, he will be enabled to establish certain principles, which,
when acted upon by the teacher, will invariably succeed. But without
this, the history of all the other arts and sciences teaches us, that
success is not to be expected;--for although chance may sometimes lead
the teacher to a happy device, there can be no steady progress. Even
those beneficial exercises upon which he may have stumbled, become of
little practical value; because, when the principles upon which they are
based are unknown, they can neither be followed up with certainty, nor
be varied without danger.
There will no doubt be a difficulty in the investigation of a science
which is in itself so complicated, and which has hitherto been so little
understood; but this is only an additional reason why it should be begun
in a proper manner, and pursued with energy. The mode of procedure is
the chief object of difficulty; but the experience and success of
investigators in the other sciences, will be of great advantage in
directing us in this. In the sciences of anatomy and physiology, for
example, the investigations of the philosopher are designed to direct
the several operations of the physician, the surgeon, and the dentist;
in the same way as the investigations of the Educationist are intended
to direct the operations of the Teacher. Now the mode of procedure in
those sciences for such purposes is well known, and forms an excellent
example for us in the present case. The duty of the anatomist, or
physiologist, is simply to examine the operations of Nature in the
animal economy, and the plans which she adopts for accomplishing her
objects during health, and for throwing off impediments during disease.
In conducting his investigations, the enquirer begins by taking a
general view of the whole subject, and then separating and defining its
leading parts. Pulsation, respiration, digestion, and the various
secretions and excretions of the body, are defined, and their general
connection with each other correctly ascertained. These form his
starting points; and then, taking each in its turn, he sets himself to
discover the principles, or laws, which regulate its working in a
healthy state;--what it is that promotes the circulation or stagnation
of the blood, the bracing or relaxing of the nerves, the several
processes in digestion, and the various functions of the skin and
viscera. These are all first ascertained by observation and experience,
and then, if necessary, established by experiment.
These principles, having thus been established by science, are available
for direction in the arts. The physician acts under their guidance; and
his object is simply to regulate his treatment and advice in accordance
with them. In other words, _he endeavours to imitate Nature_, to remove
the obstructions which he finds interfering with her operations, or to
lend that aid which a knowledge of these principles points out as
necessary. The surgeon and the dentist follow the same course, but more
directly. In healing a wound, for example, the surgeon has to ascertain
from science how Nature in similar cases proceeds when left to herself;
and all his cuttings, and lancings, and dressings, are nothing more than
_attempts to imitate her_ in her healing operations. So well is this now
understood, that every operation which does not at least recognise the
principle is denounced--and justly denounced--as quackery; and the
reason is, that uniform experience has convinced professional men, that
they can only expect success when they follow with docility in the path
which Nature has pointed out to them.
Precisely similar should be the plan of operation pursued by the
Educationist. He should, in the first place, take a comprehensive view
of the whole subject, and endeavour to map out to himself its great
natural divisions;--in other words, he should endeavour to ascertain
what are the things which Nature teaches, that he may, by means of this
great outline, form a general programme for the direction of the
teacher. His next object ought to be, to ascertain the mode, and the
means, adopted by Nature in forwarding these several departments of her
educational process; the powers of mind engrossed in each; the order in
which they are brought into exercise; and the combinations which she
employs in perfecting them. In ascertaining these principles which
regulate the operations of Nature in her educational processes, the same
adherence to the rules prescribed by the inductive philosophy, which has
crowned the other sciences with success, must be rigidly observed. There
must be the same disregard of mere antiquity; there must be the same
scrupulous sifting of evidence, and strict adherence to facts; there
must be a discarding of all hypotheses, and a simple dependence upon
ascertained truths alone. Adherence to these rules is as necessary in
cultivating the science of education, as it has been in the other
sciences; and the neglect of any one of them, may introduce an element
of error, which may injure the labours of a whole lifetime.
We have some reason to fear, that although all this will be readily
admitted in theory, it will be found somewhat difficult to adopt it in
practice. The reason of this will be obvious when we reflect on the deep
interest which the best and most philanthropic individuals in society
take in this science. The other sciences are in some measure removed
from the busy pursuits of life; they are the concern of certain persons,
who are allowed to investigate and to experiment, to judge and to decide
as they please, without the public in general caring much about the
matter.--But education is a science of a different kind. Its value is
acknowledged by every one, and its interests are dear to every
benevolent heart. The individual who undertakes to examine, and more
especially to promulgate, any new principle upon which education rests,
will have a harder task to perform, and a severer battle to fight, than
the philosopher who attempts to overturn a false conclusion in
chemistry, or an erroneous principle in mechanics. Among the learned
community, not more than one in a thousand perhaps is personally
interested either in mechanics or in chemistry; and few others will
enter the lists to oppose that which appears legitimate and fair. The
enemies and opponents of the chemical reformer in that case may be
zealous and even fierce; but they are few, and he enjoys the sympathy
and the countenance of the great majority of those whose countenance is
worthy of his regard. But when we calculate the number of those who take
an interest in the subject of education, and those who do not, the above
numbers will be reversed. Nine hundred and ninety-nine among the
educated public will be found who take a real interest in the progress
of education, for one who cares nothing about it.
This is a fearful odds where there is a likelihood of opposition;--and
opposition may be expected. For there will be influences in many of the
true friends of education, derived from old prejudices within, combined
with the pressure of conflicting sentiments in their friends from
without, which will render the task of establishing new and sound
principles in this first of the sciences an irksome, and even a
hazardous employment. Coldness or opposition from those whom we honour
and love is always painful; and yet it should be endured, rather than
that the best interests both of the present and future generations
should be sacrificed. The opinions of all good men deserve
consideration;--but when they are merely opinions, and are not founded
on reason, they are at best but specious; and when they are opposed to
truth, and are contrary to experience, a zealous adherence to them
becomes sinful and dangerous. Such persons ought to commend, rather than
blame, the reformer in education, when he declines to adopt ancient
dogmas which he finds to be useless and hurtful: And at all events, if
all have agreed to disregard the authority of an Aristotle or a Newton,
when opposed to new facts and additional evidence, the Educationist must
not allow himself to be driven from the path of fact and experience by
either friends or enemies. No authority can make darkness light;--and
although he may be opposed for a time, and the public mind may be abused
for a moment, it will at last correct itself, and truth will prevail.
But the friends of education ought in no case to put the perseverance of
those who labour for its improvement to so severe a trial. They ought in
justice, as well as charity, to cultivate a forbearing and a candid
spirit; and they will have many opportunities of exercising these
virtues during the progress of this science. Education is confessedly
but in its infancy; and therefore it must grow much, and change much,
before it can arrive at maturity. But if there be an increasing
opposition to all advance, and if a stumbling-block be continually
thrown in the way of those who labour to perfect it, the labourers may
be discouraged, and the work be indefinitely postponed. Let all such
then guard against a blind opposition, or an attempt to explain away
palpable facts, merely because they lead to principles which are new, or
to conclusions which are at variance with their pre-conceived opinions.
If they persevere in a blind opposition, they may find at last that they
have been resisting truth, and defrauding their neighbour. Truth can
never be the enemy of man, although many inadvertently rank themselves
among its opponents. The resistance which has invariably been offered to
every important discovery hitherto, should be a beacon to warn the
inconsiderate and the prejudiced against being over-hasty in rejecting
discoveries in education; and the obloquy that now rests on the memory
of such persons, should be a warning to them, not to plant thorns in
their own pillows, or now to sow "the wind, lest they at last should
reap the whirlwind."
CHAP. III.
_On the Improvement of Teaching as an Art._
As Education on account of its importance takes precedence in the
sciences, so Teaching should rank first among the arts. The reasons for
this arrangement are numerous; but the consideration of two will be
sufficient.--The first is, that all the other arts refer chiefly to
time, and the conveniences and comforts of this world; while the art of
teaching not only includes all these, but involves also many of the
interests of man through eternity.--And the second is, that without this
art all the other arts would produce scarcely any advantage. Without
education of some kind, men are, and must continue to be savages,--it
being the only effectual instrument of civilization. It is the chief, if
not the only means for improving the condition of the human family, and
for restoring man to the dignity of an intelligent and virtuous being.
As "Science" is the investigation and knowledge of principles, so an
"art" may be defined as a system of means, in accordance with these
principles, for attaining some special end. Teaching is one of the arts;
and it depends as entirely for its success upon a right application of
the principles of the science of education, as the art of dying does
upon the principles of chemistry. As an art, therefore, teaching must be
subjected to all those laws which regulate the improvement of the other
arts, and without which it can never be successfully carried on, far
less perfected. These laws are now very generally understood; and we
shall briefly advert to a few of them, which are necessary for our
present purpose, and endeavour to point out their relation to the art of
teaching.
1. One of the first rules connected with the improvement of the arts is,
that the artist have _a specific object in view, for the attainment of
which all his successive operations are to be combined_.--The
manufacturer has his _cloth_ in prospect, before he has even purchased
the wool of which it is to be composed; and it is the desire of
procuring cloth of the most suitable quality, and by the easiest means,
that compels him to draw liberally and constantly from the facts
ascertained, and the principles developed, by the several sciences. From
the science of mechanics he derives the various kinds of machinery used
in the progressive stages of its production; and from the science of
chemistry he obtains the processes of dying, and printing, and dressing.
But he never troubles himself about the science of mechanics or of
chemistry in the abstract; he thinks only of his cloth, and of these
sciences as means to assist him in procuring it. He is careful of his
machinery, and is constantly alive to the mode of its working, and is
thus prompted to adopt such improvements as observation or experience
may suggest; but it is not the machinery of itself that he either cares
for, or thinks about. No; it is still the cloth that he keeps in view;
and his machinery is esteemed or slighted, adopted or abandoned, exactly
in proportion as it forwards his object. The processes necessary in the
different departments of his establishment, are complicated and various,
and to a stranger they are both curious and instructive; but it is
neither the labour nor the variety that he is seeking. His is a very
different object; and of this object he never loses sight; for the
varied operations of stapling and carding, of spinning and weaving, are
nothing more than means which he employs for accomplishing his end. He
knows the uses of the whole complicated operations; and he sees at a
glance, and can tell in a moment, how each in its turn contributes to
the great object of all,--the production of a good and marketable cloth.
Now this law ought to be applied with the utmost strictness to the art
of teaching. For if teaching be really an art,--that is, a successive
combination of means,--it should undoubtedly be a combination of means
to some specific end. Nothing can be more obvious, than that a man who
sits down to work, should know what he intends to do, and how he is to
do it. Such a line of conduct should be imperatively demanded of the
teacher, both on account of the importance of his work, and of the
immense value of the material upon which he is to operate. The end he
has in view, whatever that end may be, ought to be correctly defined
before he begins; and no exercise should upon any account be prescribed
or demanded from his pupils, which does not directly, or indirectly at
least, conduce to its attainment. To do otherwise is both injudicious
and unjust. For if the operations of the husbandman during spring have
to be selected and curtailed with the strictest attention to time and
the seasons, how carefully ought the energies and the time of youth to
be economized, when they have but one short spring time afforded them,
during which they are to sow the seed which shall produce good or evil
fruit for eternity? As to what this great end which the teacher ought
steadily to contemplate should be, we shall afterwards enquire; at
present we are desirous only of establishing this general law in the art
of teaching, that there should be an end accurately defined, and
constantly kept in view; and for the attainment of which every exercise
prescribed in the school should assist. The teacher who does otherwise
is travelling in the dark, and compelling labour for labour's
sake;--like the manufacturer who would keep all his machinery in motion,
not to make cloth, but to appear to be busy.
2. Another law adopted in the successful prosecution of the arts is, _to
use the best known means for attaining any particular end_.--This law
is well known in all the other arts, and success invariably depends upon
its adoption. The fields are not now tilled by the hoe, nor is cotton
spun by the hand. These modes of operating have no doubt the
recommendation of antiquity; but here antiquity is always at a discount,
and no one doubts the propriety of its being so. The arts are advancing;
and they who would impede their progress on the plea of not departing
from the usages of antiquity, would be pitied or laughed at.
The art of teaching, like the other arts, depends for its success on a
strict adherence to this law; and the fear of departing in this case
from the particular usages of our ancestors is equally unreasonable.
Soft ground in the valleys compelled them to travel their pack horses
right over the hills, and the want of the "Jenny" made them spin their
yarn by the hand; but still, the same principle which guided them in the
adoption of those methods, was strictly the one which we are here
recommending, that of "using the best _known_ means for accomplishing
the particular end." Those who adopt the principle do most honour to
their sagacity; while their shallow admirers, by abandoning the
principle, and clinging to their necessarily imperfect mode of applying
it, at once libel their good sense, and dishonour those whom they
profess to revere. As society is rapidly advancing, paternal affection
would undoubtedly have prompted them to advise their descendants to take
the benefits of every advance;--and it would be as reasonable for us to
suppose, that if they were now alive, they would advise us to travel
over the hills on their old roads, or make our cloth in the old way, as
to think they would be gratified by our continuing to use exercises in
education, which sound philosophy and experience have shewn to be
fallacious and hurtful, or that they would be displeased by the use of
those which extensive experiment has now proved to be natural, easy, and
efficient.
These ancestral trammels have all been shaken off, wherever the
acquisition of money is concerned. The mechanical processes of his
forefathers have no charm for the modern manufacturer, when he can
attain his object more economically by a recent improvement. Neither
does he go blindfold upon a mere chance,--seldom even upon a sagacious
conjecture,--unless there be some good grounds for its formation. In
every successive stage of his operations, he is awake to the slightest
appearance of defect; and he hesitates not a moment in abandoning a
lesser good for a greater, whenever he perceives it. He husbands
time;--he husbands expense;--he husbands supervision and risk. Every
step with him is a step in advance;--every operation has a
design;--every movement has a meaning;--and he makes all unite for the
attainment of one common object. Can we doubt that, in like manner, the
most rigid economy of time and labour ought to be adopted in the art of
teaching? When the end has once been distinctly defined, it ought
steadily to be kept in view; and no exercise should be prescribed which
does not contribute to its attainment. There should be no bustling about
nothing; no busy idleness; no fighting against time; no unnecessary
labour, nor useless exhaustion of the pupil's energies. The time of
youth is so precious, and there is so much to be done during it, that
economy here is perhaps of more importance than in any thing else. Every
book or exercise, therefore, which has not a palpable tendency to
forward the great object designed by education, should by the teacher be
at once given up.
3. Another law which experience has established as necessary for the
perfecting of any of the arts is, _a fair and honest application of the
successive discoveries of science to its improvement_.--This has been
the uniform practice in those arts which have of late been making such
rapid progress. The artist and mechanic are never indifferent to the
various improvements which are taking place around them; nor do they
ever stand apart, till they are forced upon their notice by third
parties, or public notoriety. There is, in the case of the manufacturer,
no nervous timidity about innovation; nor does he ever attempt to
deceive himself by ignorantly supposing that the change can be no
improvement.--Nor will he suffer himself to be deceived by others. His
workmen are not allowed, to save themselves future trouble, to be
careless or sinister in their trials of the improvement; for he knows,
that however it may be with them, yet if his neighbour succeeds, and he
fails, it may prove his ruin.
Such also should be the conduct of the teacher. The time has now gone by
when parents were ignorant, either of what was communicated at school,
or the manner in which it was taught. The improvement of their children
by education, has become a primary object with all sensible parents; and
they will never again be satisfied with a school or a teacher, where
solid instruction, and the most useful kind of knowledge are not
imparted. Ameliorations in his art, therefore, is now as necessary to
the teacher, as improvements in machinery are to the mechanic and the
manufacturer. It will no longer do for him to say, "I can see no
improvement in the change," if the parents of his pupils have been able
to discover it; and the teacher who stands still in the present forward
march of society, will soon find himself left alone. The practical
Educationist, like the mechanician, ought no doubt to be cautious in
adopting changes upon chance; but wherever an improvement in his art has
been sufficiently proved by fair experiment or long experience, and
particularly, when the principle upon which its success depends has been
fully ascertained, his rejecting the change on the plea of
inconvenience, or from the fear of trouble, is not only an act of
injustice to the parents of his pupils, but is a wrong which will very
soon begin to re-act upon his own interests. The effect of indifference
to improvement in this, as in other arts, may not be felt for a time;
but as soon as _others_ have made themselves masters of the improvements
which he has rejected, the successive departure of his pupils, and the
melting away of his classes, will at last awaken him to a sense of his
folly, when it may be too late. Such has usually been the effect of
remissness in the other arts; and the present state of the public mind
in regard to education, indicates a similar result in similar
circumstances.
In connection with this part of our subject, it may here be necessary to
remark, that as the experience of all teachers may not be alike in the
_first working_ of a newly applied principle,--the principle itself,
when fully ascertained, is not on that account to be either belied or
abandoned. There are many concurring circumstances, which may make an
exercise that succeeds well in the hands of one person, fail in the
hands of another; but to refuse credence to the principle itself,
because he cannot as yet successfully apply it, is neither prudent nor
wise. There are chemical experiments so exceedingly nice, and depending
on so many varying circumstances, that they frequently fail in the hands
of even good operators. But the chemical principles upon which they rest
remain unchanged, although individual students may have not been able
successfully to apply them. If their professor has but _once_ fairly and
undoubtedly succeeded in ascertaining the facts on which the principle
is based, their failure for a thousand times is no proof that the
ascertained principle is really a fallacy. In like manner, any important
principle in education, if once satisfactorily ascertained, is a truth
in the science, and will remain a truth, whoever may believe or deny it.
If it has been proved to produce certain effects in certain given
circumstances, it will in all future times do the same, when the
circumstances are similar. The inability, therefore, of a parent or
teacher, to produce equal effects by its means, may be good enough
proof of his want of skill, but it is no proof of the want of inherent
power in the principle itself. The rings of Saturn which my neighbour's
telescope has clearly brought to view, are not blotted from the heavens
because my pocket glass has failed to detect them.
It has been by attention to these, and similar rules, that all the
secular arts have advanced to their present state; and the art of
teaching must be perfected by similar means. There ought therefore to be
a distinct object in view on the part of the teacher,--a specific end
which he is to endeavour to arrive at in his intercourse with his pupil.
For the attainment of this end, he must employ the best and the surest
means that are in his power; for the same purpose, he ought honestly and
fairly to apply the successive discoveries of science as they occur; and
should never allow himself to abandon an exercise founded upon
ascertained principles, merely because he at first finds difficulty in
putting it in operation.
CHAP. IV.
_On the Establishment of Sound Principles in Education._
The application of the foregoing remarks to our present purpose, is a
matter of great practical importance. It has indeed been owing chiefly
to their having been hitherto overlooked, that education has been left
in the backward state in which we at present find it.
But if, as we have seen, education must bend to the same rigid
discipline to which the other sciences have had to submit,--and if
teaching can be improved only by following the laws which have
determined the success of the other arts--the question naturally
arises, "What is to be done now for education?"--"Where are we to
begin?"--"How are we to proceed?"--"In what manner are the principles of
the science to be investigated, so that they shall most extensively
promote the success of the art? and how is the art to be cultivated, so
that it may, to the fullest extent, be benefited by the science?" To
these enquiries we shall in the present chapter direct our attention.
The method of investigating the operations of Nature in the several
sciences is very nearly alike in all. For example, in the science of
chemistry, as we have formerly noticed, the first object of the
philosopher would be to take a comprehensive view of his whole subject,
and endeavour to separate the substances in Nature according to their
great leading characteristics. He would at once distinguish mineral
substances as differing from vegetables;--and vegetable substances as
differing from animals;--thus forming three distinct classes of objects,
blending with each other, no doubt, but still sufficiently distinct to
form what have been called the three kingdoms of Nature. The various
objects included under each of these he would again subdivide according
to their several properties;--and as he went forward, he would
endeavour, by careful examination and experiment, to ascertain, not only
their combinations, but also the characteristic properties of their
several elements. The chemist, in this method of investigating Nature,
almost always proceeds upwards, analytically, advancing from the general
to the special, from the aggregate to its parts, endeavouring to
ascertain as he proceeds the laws which regulate their composition and
decomposition, for the purpose simply of endeavouring to imitate them.
By this means alone he expects to perfect the science, and to benefit
the arts.
In the science of Botany, Zoology, Anatomy, Physiology, and almost all
the others, the same plan has been adopted with invariable success. The
subject, whatever it be, is looked upon as a whole, and then separated
into its great divisions;--these again, are subdivided into classes; and
these again, into orders, genera, species, and varieties, by which means
each minute part can be examined by itself in connection with the whole;
the memory and the judgment are assisted in their references and
application; and order reigns through the whole subject, which otherwise
would have been involved in inextricable confusion.
In education, as in the other sciences, Nature is our only sure teacher;
and the Educationist, therefore, who desires success, must proceed in
the investigation in a similar way. He must first take a comprehensive
view of Nature's educational processes; divide them into their several
kinds; and subdivide these again when necessary, that each may be viewed
alone. He must then ascertain the nature and the object of these
processes, and observe the means and the methods employed for
accomplishing them, that he may, if possible, be enabled to _imitate_
them. In this way, and in this way alone, he is to perfect the science
of education, and benefit the art of teaching.
That this is the best way yet known of proceeding in investigating and
improving the science of education, experience has already proved; and
that it must theoretically be so, we think can admit of little doubt.
The operations of Nature exhibit the soundest philosophy, and the most
perfect examples of art. The materials she selects are the most suitable
for the purpose; the means she employs are always the most simple and
efficient; and her ends are invariably gained at the least expense of
material, labour, and time. In the pursuit, therefore, of any object or
end similar to that in which we find Nature engaged, man's truest wisdom
is to distrust his own speculations, and to learn from her teaching. He
should, with a child-like docility, follow her leadings and imitate her
operations, both as it respects the materials he is to employ, and the
mode and order in which he is to use them. Were an artist to find
himself at a loss for the want of an instrument to accomplish some
particular purpose, or some new material upon which to operate, or some
special, but as yet unknown means for attaining some new and important
object,--we are warranted by facts to say, that the natural philosopher
would be his best instructor. For if he can be directed to some similar
operation of Nature, or have pointed out to him some one or more of
Nature's pupils,--some animal or insect, perhaps,--whose labour or
object is similar to his own, he will most probably find there, or have
suggested to him by their mode of procedure, the very thing he is in
search of. By studying their methods of operating, and the means
employed by them for accomplishing their end, some principle or device
will be exhibited, by the imitation of which his own special object will
most readily and most successfully be attained. Every day's experience
gives us additional proof of the importance and soundness of this
suggestion. For it is a remarkable fact, that there is scarcely a useful
mechanical invention to which genius has laid claim,--and deservedly
laid claim,--that has not its prototype somewhere in nature. The same
principles, working perhaps in the same manner, have been silently in
operation, thousands of years before the inventor was born; but which,
from want of observation, or the neglect of its practical application to
useful purposes, lay concealed and useless. This culpable neglect in
practically applying the works and ways of God as he intended, has
carried with it its own punishment; for thousands of the conveniences
and arts, which at present smooth and adorn the paths of civilized life,
have all along been placed within the reach of intelligent man. If he
had but employed his intelligence, as he ought to have done, in
searching them out, and had asked himself when he perceived them, "What
does this teach me?" the very question would have suggested a use. This
accordingly will be found to be the true way of studying nature, and one
especial design for which a beneficent Creator has spread out his works
for our inspection. In proof, and in illustration of this fact, we may
refer to the telescope, which has from the beginning had its type in the
human eye;--to the formation of paper, which has been manufactured for
thousands of years by the wasp;--to the levers, joints, and pulleys of
the human body, of which the mechanist has as yet only made imperfect
imitations;--and to the saw of an insignificant insect, (the saw-fly)
which has never yet been successfully imitated by man.
In prosecuting our investigations into the science of education,
therefore, our business is to study Nature in all the educational
processes in which we find her occupied, and of which we shall find
there are many;--to observe and collect facts;--to detect principles,
and to discover the means employed in carrying them out, and the modes
of their working;--to trace effects back to their causes, and then again
to follow the effects through their various ramifications, to some
ultimate end. These are the things which it is the business of the
Educationist to investigate, and to record for the benefit of the
teacher and his art.
The duty of the teacher, on the other hand, is to apply to his own
purposes, and to turn to use in the prosecution of his objects, those
facts discovered by the philosopher in the study of Nature. He should by
all means understand the principles upon which Nature works, and the
means which she employs for attaining her ends. He ought, as far as
circumstances will allow, to arrive at his object by similar means;
chusing similar materials, and endeavouring invariably to work upon the
same model. By honestly following out such a mode of procedure, he must
be successful; for although he can never attain to the perfection of
Nature, yet this is obviously the best, if not the only method by which
he can ever approximate towards it.