MATHEMATICS, NATURAL SCIENCE, AND NATURE STUDY.
"The Arab told me that the stone
(To give it in the language of the dream)
Was "Euclid's Elements"; and "This," said he,
"Is something of more worth"; and at the word
Stretched forth the shell, so beautiful in shape,
In colour so resplendent, with command
That I should hold it to my ear. I did so,
And heard that instant in an unknown tongue,
Which yet I understood, articulate sounds,
A loud prophetic blast of harmony."
WORDSWORTH, "The Prelude," Bk. V.
Mathematics, natural science, and nature study may be conveniently
grouped together, because in a study of educational aims, in so far as
they concern Catholic girls, there is not much that is distinctive which
practically affects these branches; during the years of school life they
stand, more or less, on common ground with others. More advanced studies
of natural science open up burning questions, and as to these, it is the
last counsel of wisdom for girls leaving school or school-room to
remember that they have no right to have any opinion at all. It is well
to make them understand that after years of specialized study the really
great men of science, in very gentle tones and with careful utterance,
give to the world their formed opinions, keeping them ever open to
readjustment as the results of fresh observations come in year after
year, and new discoveries call for correction and rearrangement of what
has been previously taught. It is also well that they should know that
by the time the newest theory reaches the school-room and textbook it
may be already antiquated and perhaps superseded in the observatory and
laboratory, so that in scientific matters the school-room must always be
a little "behind the times." And likewise that when scientific
teaching has to be brought within the compass of a text-book for young
students, it is mere baby talk, as much like the original theory as a
toy engine is like an express locomotive. From which they may conclude
that it is wiser to be listeners or to ask deferential questions than to
have light-hearted opinions of their own on burning questions such as we
sometimes hear: "Do you believe in evolution?--I do." "No, I don't, I
think there is very little evidence for it." And that if they are
introduced to a man of science it is better not to ask his opinion about
the latest skeleton that has been discovered, or let him see that they
are alarmed lest there might be something wrong with our pedigree after
all, or with the book of Genesis. One would be glad, however, that they
should know the names and something of the works and reputation of the
Catholic men of science, as Ampere, Pasteur, and Wassmann, etc., I Who
have been or are European authorities in special aches of study, so that
they may at least be ready with an answer to the frequent assertion that
"Catholics have done nothing for science."
But in connexion with these three subjects, not as to the teaching of
them but as to their place in the education of girls, some points
regarding education in general are worth considering:--
1. Mathematics in the curriculum of girls' schools has been the subject
of much debate. Cool and colourless as mathematics are in themselves,
they have produced in discussion a good deal of heat, being put forward
to bear the brunt of the controversy as to whether girls were equal to
boys in understanding and capable of following the same course of study,
and to enter into competition with them in all departments of learning.
Even taking into consideration many brilliant achievements and an
immense amount of creditable, and even distinguished work, the answer of
those who have no personal bias in the matter for the sake of a Cause--is
generally that they are not. Facts would seem to speak for themselves if
only on the ground that the strain of equal studies is too great for the
weaker physical organization. Girls are willing workers, exceedingly
intense when their heart is set upon success; but their staying power is
not equal to their eagerness, and the demands made upon them sometimes
leave a mortgage on their mental and physical estate which cannot be
paid off in the course of a whole lifetime. In support of this,
reference may be made to the [1 Appendix to "Final Report of the
Commissioners (Irish Intermediate Education)," Pt. I, 1899.] report of a
commission of Dublin physicians on the effects of the Intermediate
Education system in Ireland, which has broken down many more girls than
boys.
Apart from the question of over-pressure it is generally recognized--let
it be said again, by those who have not a position to defend or a theory
to advance in the matter--that the aptitude of girls for mathematical
work is generally less than that of boys, and unless one has some
particular view or plan at stake in the matter there is no grievance in
recognizing this. There is more to be gained in recognizing diversities
of gifts than in striving to establish a level of uniformity, and life
is richer, not poorer for the setting forth of varied types of
excellence. Competition destroys cooperation, and in striving to prove
ability to reach an equal standard in competition, the wider and more
lasting interests which are at stake may be lost sight of, and in the
end sacrificed to limited temporary success.
The success of girls in the field of mathematics is, in general,
temporary and limited, it means much less in their after life than in
that of boys. For the few whose calling in life is teaching, mathematics
have some after use; for those, still fewer, who take a real interest in
them, they keep a place in later life; but for the many into whose
life-work they do not enter, beyond the mental discipline which is
sometimes evaded, very little remains. The end of school means for them
the end of mathematical study, and the Complete forgetfulness in which
the whole subject is soon buried gives the impression that too much may
have been sacrificed to it. From the point of view of practical value it
proves of little use, and as mental discipline something of more
permanent worth might have taken its place to strengthen the reasoning
powers. The mathematical teacher of girls has generally to seek
consolation in very rare success for much habitual disappointment.
The whole controversy about equality in education involves less
bitterness to Catholics than to others, for this reason, that we have
less difficulty than those of other persuasions in accepting a
fundamental difference of ideals for girls and boys. Our ideals of
family life, of spheres of action which co-operate and complete each
other, without interference or competition, our masculine and feminine
types of holiness amongst canonized saints, give a calmer outlook upon
the questions involved in the discussion. The Church puts equality and
inequality upon such a different footing that the result is harmony
without clash of interests, and if in some countries we are drawn into
the arena now, and forced into competition, the very slackness of
interest which is sometimes complained of is an indirect testimony to
the truth that we know of better things. And as those who know of better
things are more injured by following the less good than those who know
them not, so our Catholic girls seem to be either more indifferent about
their work or more damaged by the spirit of competition if they enter
into it, than those who consider it from a different plane.
2. Natural science has of late years assumed a title to which it has no
claim, and calls itself simply "_Science_"--presumably "_for short,_" but
to the great confusion of young minds, or rather with the effect of
contracting their range of vision within very narrow limits, as if
theology and Biblical study, and mental and moral, and historical and
political science, had no place of mention in the rational order where
things are studied in their causes.
Inquiry was made in several schools where natural science was taught
according to the syllabuses of the Board of Education. The question was
asked, "What is science?"--and without exception the answers indicated
that science was understood to mean the study of the phenomena of the
physical world in their causes. The name "Science" used by itself has
been the cause of this, and has led to the usual consequences of the
assumption of unauthorized titles.
Things had been working up in England during the last few years towards
this misconception in the schools. On the one hand there was the great
impetus given to physical research and experimental science in recent
years, so that its discoveries absorbed more and more attention, and
this filtered down to the school books.
On the other hand, especially since the South African war, there had
been a great stir in reaction against mere lessons from books, and it
was seen that we wanted more personal initiative and thought, and
resourcefulness, and self-reliance, and many other qualities which our
education had not tended to develop. It was seen that we were
unpractical in our Instruction, that minds passed under the discipline
of school and came out again, still slovenly, unobservant, unscientific
in temper, impatient, flippant, inaccurate, tending to guess and to jump
at conclusions, to generalize hastily, etc. It was observed that many
unskilful hands came out of the schools, clumsy ringers, wanting in
neatness, untidy in work, inept in measuring and weighing, incapable of
handling things intelligently. There had come an awakening from the
dreams of 1870, when we felt so certain that all England was to be made
good and happy through books. A remedy was sought in natural science,
and the next educational wave which was to roll over us began to rise.
It was thought that the temper of the really scientific man, so patient
in research, so accurate and conscientious, so slow to dogmatize, so
deferential to others, might be fostered by experimental science in the
schools, acquiring "knowledge at first hand," making experiments,
looking with great respect at balances, weighing and measuring, and
giving an account of results. So laboratories were fitted up at great
expense, and teachers with university degrees in science were sought
after. The height of the tide seemed to be reached in 1904 and 1905--to
judge by the tone of Regulations for the Curricula of Secondary Schools
issued by the Board of Education--for in these years it is most insistent
and exacting for girls as well as boys, as to time and scope of the
syllabus in this branch. Then disillusion seems to have set in and the
tide began to ebb. It appeared that the results were small and poor in
proportion to expectation and to the outlay on laboratories. The
desirable qualities did not seem to develop as had been hoped, the
temper of mind fostered was not entirely what had been desired. The
conscientious accuracy that was to come of measuring a millimetre and
weighing a milligramme was disappointing, and also the fluent readiness
to give an account of observations made, the desired accuracy of
expression, the caution in drawing inferences. The links between this
teaching and after life did not seem to be satisfactorily established.
The Board of Education showed the first signs of a change of outlook by
the readjustment in the curriculum giving an alternative syllabus for
girls, and the latitude in this direction is widening by degrees. It
begins to be whispered that even in some boys' schools the laboratory is
only used under compulsion or by exceptional students, and the wave
seems likely to go down as rapidly as it rose.
Probably for girls the strongest argument against experimental science
taught in laboratories is that it has so little connexion with after
life. As a discipline the remedy did not go deeply enough into the
realities of life to reach the mental defects of girls; it was
artificial, and they laid it aside as a part of school life when they
went home. Latitude is now given by the Board of Education for "an
approved course in a combination of the following subjects: needlework,
cooking, laundry-work, housekeeping, and household hygiene for girls
over fifteen years of age, to be substituted partially or wholly for
science and for mathematics other than arithmetic." Comparing this with
the regulations of five or six years ago when the only alternative for
girls was a "biological subject" instead of physics, and elementary
hygiene as a substitute for chemistry, it would seem as if the Board of
Education had had reason to be dissatisfied with the "science" teaching
for girls, and was determined to seek a more practical system.
This practical aspect of things is penetrating into every department,
and when it is combined with some study of first principles nothing
better can be desired. For instance, in the teaching of geography, of
botany, etc., there is a growing inclination to follow the line of
reality, the middle course between the book alone and the laboratory
alone, so that these subjects gather living interest from their many
points of contact with human life, and give more play to the powers of
children. As the text-book of geography is more and more superseded by
the use of the atlas alone, and the botanical chart by the children's
own drawings, and by the beautiful illustrations in books prepared
especially for them, the way is opened before them to worlds of beauty
and wonder which they may have for their own possession by the use of
their eyes and ears and thoughts and reasonings.
3. But better than all new apparatus and books of delight is the
informal study of the world around us which has grown up by the side of
organized teaching of natural science. The name of "nature study" is the
least attractive point about it; the reality escapes from all
conventionalities of instruction, and looks and listens and learns
without the rules and boundaries which belong to real lessons. Its range
is not restricted within formal limits; it is neither botany, nor
natural history, nor physics; neither instruction on light nor heat nor
sound, but it wanders on a voyage of discovery into all these domains.
And in so far as it does this, it appeals very strongly to children.
Children usually delight in flowers and dislike botany, are fond of
animals and rather indifferent to natural history. Life is what awakens
their interest; they love the living thing as a whole and do not care
much for analysis or classification; these interests grow up later.
The object of informal nature study is to put children directly in touch
with the beautiful and wonderful things which are within their reach.
Its lesson-book is everywhere, its time is every time, its spirit is
wonder and delight. This is for the children. Those who teach it have to
look beyond, and it is not so easy to teach as it is to learn. It
cannot, properly speaking, be learned by teachers out of books, though
books can do a great deal. But a long-used quiet habit of observation
gives it life and the stored-up sweetness of years--"the old is better."
The most charming books on nature study necessarily give a second-hand
tone to the teaching. But the point of it all is knowledge at
first-hand; yet, for children knowledge at first-hand is so limited that
some one to refer to, and some one to guide them is a necessity, some
one who will say at the right moment "look" and "listen," and who has
looked and listened for years. Perhaps the requirement of knowledge at
firsthand for children has sometimes been pushed a little too far, with
a deadening effect, for the progress of such knowledge is very slow and
laborious. How little we should know if we only admitted first-hand
knowledge, but the stories of wonder from those who have seen urge us on
to see for ourselves; and so we swing backwards and forwards, from the
world outside to the books, to find out more, from the books to the
world outside to see for ourselves. And a good teacher, who is an
evergreen learner, goes backwards and forwards, too, sharing the work
and heightening the delight. All the stages come in turn, over and over
again, observation, experiment, inquiry from others whether orally or in
books, and in this subject books abound more fascinating than fairy
tales, and their latest charm is that they are laying aside the pose of
a fairy tale and tell the simple truth.
The love of nature, awakened early, is a great estate with which to
endow a child, but it needs education, that the proprietor of the estate
may know how to manage it, and not--with the manners of a _parvenu_--miss
either the inner spirit or the outward behaviour belonging to the
property. This right manner and spirit of possession is what the
informal "nature study" aims at; it is a point of view. Now the point of
view as to the outside world means a great deal in life. Countrymen do
not love nature as townsmen love it. Their affection is deeper but less
emotional, like old friendships, undemonstrative but everlasting.
Countrymen see without looking, and say very little about it. Townsmen
in the country look long and say what they have seen, but they miss many
things. A farmer stands stolidly among the graces of his frisky lambs
and seems to miss their meaning, but this is because the manners
cultivated in his calling do not allow the expression of feeling. It is
all in his soul somewhere, deeply at home, but impossible to utter. The
townsman looks eagerly, expresses a great deal, expresses it well, but
misses the spirit from want of a background to his picture. One must
know the whole round of the year in the country to catch the spirit of
any season and perceive whence it comes and whither it goes.
On the other hand, the countryman in town thinks that there is no beauty
of the world left for him to see, because the spirit there is a spirit
of the hour and not of the season, and natural beauty has to be caught
in evanescent appearances--a florist's window full of orchids in place of
his woodlands--and his mind is too slow to catch these. This too quick or
too slow habit of seeing belongs to minds as well as to callings; and
when children are learning to look around them at the world outside, it
has to be taken into account. Some will see without looking and be
satisfied slowly to drink in impressions, and they are really glad to
learn to express what they see. Others, the quick, so-called "clever"
children, look, and judge, and comment, and overshoot the mark many
times before they really see. These may learn patience in waiting for
their garden seeds, and quietness from watching birds and beasts, and
deliberation, to a certain extent, from their constant mistakes. To have
the care of plants may teach them a good deal of watchfulness and
patience; it is of greater value to a child to have grown one perfect
flower than to have pulled many to pieces to examine their structure.
And the care of animals may teach a great deal more if it learns to keep
the balance between silly idolatry of pets and cruel negligence--the hot
and cold extremes of selfishness.
Little gardens of their own are perhaps the best gifts which can be
given to children. To work in them stores up not only health but joy.
Every flower in their garden stands for so much happiness, and with that
happiness an instinct for home life and simple pleasures will strike
deep roots. From growing the humblest annual out of a seed-packet to
grafting roses there is work for every age, and even in the dead season
of the year the interest of a garden never dies.
In new countries gardens take new aspects. A literal version of a
_garden party_ in the Transvaal suggests possibilities of emancipation
from the conventionalities which weary the older forms of entertainment
with us. Its object was not to play in a garden, but to plant one.
Guests came from afar, each one bringing a contribution of plants. The
afternoon was spent in laying out the beds and planting the offerings,
in hard, honest, dirty work. And all the guests went home feeling that
they had really lived a day that was worth living, for a garden had been
made, in the rough, it is true; but even in the rough in such a new
country a garden is a great possession.
The outcome of these considerations is that the love of nature is a
great source of happiness for children, happiness of the best kind in
taking possession of a world that seems to be in many ways designed
especially for them. It brings their minds to a place where many ways
meet; to the confines of science, for they want to know the reasons of
things; to the confines of art, for what they can understand they will
strive to interpret and express; to the confines of worship, for a
child's soul, hushed in wonder, is very near to God.