PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
The _Great didactic_—Conditions under which
produced—Aim of the book. Purpose of education—Man’s
craving for knowledge—Youth the time for
training—Private instruction undesirable—Education
for girls as well as boys—Uniform methods. Education
according to nature—How nature teaches—Selection
and adaptation of materials—Organization of pupils
into classes—Correlation of studies. Methods of
instruction—Science—Arts—Language—Morals—Religion.
Types of educational institutions—The mother’s
school—School of the mother-tongue—Latin
school—University. School discipline—Character and
purpose of discipline—Corporal punishment only in
cases of moral perversity.
_The Great Didactic_
Most comprehensive of all of the educational writings of Comenius is
the _Great didactic_. It was planned in 1628, while yet in the full
possession of his vigor, before misfortune had hampered his usefulness
and persecution had made him a wanderer. Written originally in the
Czech, it was translated into the Latin and published at Amsterdam in
1657. The original Czech manuscript was discovered at Lissa in 1841,
and presented to the museum at Prague; but the Austrian censors of the
press forbade its publication because Comenius was a Bohemian exile
(!). Through the exertions of the museum authorities, however, it was
allowed to be printed in 1849. Professor Laurie gave English readers a
summary of the _Great didactic_ in his _Life and educational works of
John Amos Comenius_ (London, 1883); but the first complete translation
was made by Mr. M. W. Keatinge of Edinburgh in 1896.
The full title is: _The great didactic setting forth the whole art
of teaching all things to all men; or a certain inducement to found
such schools in all parishes, towns, and villages of every Christian
kingdom that the entire youth of both sexes, none being excepted, shall
quickly, pleasantly, and thoroughly become learned in the sciences,
pure in morals, trained in piety, and in this manner instructed in
all things necessary for the present and future life, in which, with
respect to everything that is suggested, its fundamental principles are
set forth from the essential nature of the matter, its truth is proved
by examples, from the several mechanical arts its order is clearly set
forth in years, months, days, and hours; and finally an easy and sure
method is shown by which it can be pleasantly brought into existence_.
The purpose of the _Great didactic_, as announced by Comenius in
the preface, is to seek and find a method of instruction by which
teachers may teach less, but learners may learn more; schools may be
the scene of less noise, aversion, and useless labor, but of more
leisure, enjoyment, and solid progress; the Christian community have
less darkness, perplexity, and dissension, but more light, peace, and
rest. He promises in his “greeting” an “art of teaching all things
to all men, and of teaching them with certainty, so that the result
cannot fail.” Among the uses of such an art he notes the advantage
(1) to parents, that they may know that if correct methods have been
employed with unerring accuracy, it is impossible that the desired
result should not follow; (2) to teachers, who, without a knowledge of
this art, try in turn first one plan and then another—a course which
involves a tedious waste of time and energy; and (3) to schools, that
they may become places of amusement, houses of delight and attraction,
and that they may cause learning to flourish. Such, in brief, are
fundamental principles of a philosophy of education. How well those
principles were elaborated and applied will be seen in the exposition
of his writings which follows.
_Purpose of Education_
The opening chapters of the _Great didactic_ treat of man as the
highest, the most absolute, and the most excellent of created beings:
of the life beyond as man’s ultimate end, and of this life as merely a
preparation for eternity. The human being passes through three stages
in his preparation for eternity—he learns to know himself, to rule
himself, and to direct himself to God. Man’s natural craving is for
knowledge,—learning, virtue, piety,—and the seeds of knowledge are
implanted in every rational creature. The mind of man is unlimited in
its aspirations. “The body is enclosed by small boundaries; the voice
roams within wider limits; the sight is bounded only by the vault of
heaven; but for the mind, neither in heaven nor anywhere outside of
heaven can a boundary be fixed for it.”
Man delights in harmony; and, as respects both his mind and his body,
he is a harmony. Just as the great world itself is like an immense
piece of clockwork, put together with many wheels and bells, and
arranged with such art that, throughout the whole structure, one
part depends upon another through the harmony and perfection of the
movements—so it is with man. All this harmony and perfection is made
possible through education.
He gave no bad definition, remarks Comenius, who said that man was
a “teachable animal.” But he must be taught, since he is born only
with aptitudes. Before he can sit, stand, walk, or use his hands, he
requires instruction. It is the law of all created things that they
develop gradually and ultimately reach a state of perfection. Plato
was right when he said, “If properly educated, man is the gentlest and
most divine of created beings; but if left uneducated or subjected to a
false training, he is the most intractable thing in the world.”
Education is necessary for all classes of society; and this is the more
apparent when we consider the marked individual differences to be found
among human beings. No one doubts that the stupid need instruction
that they may outgrow their stupidity. But clever and precocious minds
require more careful instruction than dull and backward minds; since
those who are mentally active, if not occupied with useful things, will
busy themselves with what is useless, curious, and pernicious. Just as
a millstone grinds itself away with noise if wheat is not supplied,
so an active mind, if void of serious things, entangles itself with
vain, curious, and noxious thoughts, and becomes the cause of its own
destruction.
The time for education is in early youth.[27] God has, accordingly,
made the years of childhood unsuitable for anything but education;
and this matter was interposed by the deliberate intent of a wise
Providence. Youth is a period of great plasticity. It is in the nature
of everything that comes into being to bend and form easily while
tender; but when the plastic period has passed to alter only with great
difficulty. If one wishes to become a good tailor, writer, or musician,
he must apply himself to his art from his earliest youth, during the
period when his imagination is most active and when his fingers are
most flexible. Only during the years of childhood is it possible to
train the muscles to do skilled work. If, then, parents have the
welfare of their children at heart, and if the good of the human race
be dear to the civil and ecclesiastical guardians of society, let them
hasten to make provision for the timely planting, pruning, and watering
of the plants of heaven that these may be prudently formed in letters,
virtue, and piety.
Private education is not desirable. Children should be trained in
common, since better results and more pleasures are to be obtained
when they are taught together in classes. Not only is class teaching a
saving of labor over private instruction, but it introduces a rivalry
that is both needful and helpful. Moreover, young children learn much
that is useful by imitation through association with school-fellows.
Comenius, it may be remarked, was one of the first of the educational
reformers to see clearly the value of class teaching and graded
instruction. His reforms in this direction have already been noted.
School training is necessary for the children of all grades of
society, not of the rich and powerful only, but the poor and lowly
as well. Let none be neglected, unless God has denied him sense and
intelligence. When it is urged that the laboring classes need no school
education, let it be also recalled that they are expected to think,
obey, and do good.
Girls should be educated as well as boys. No satisfactory reason can
be given why women should be excluded from the pursuits of knowledge,
whether in the Latin or in the mother-tongue. They are formed in the
image of God as well as men; and they are endowed with equal sharpness
of mind and capacity for learning, often, indeed, with more than the
opposite sex. Why, then, should we admit them to the alphabet, and
afterwards drive them away from books? Comenius takes issue with most
writers on education that study will make women blue-stockings and
chatterboxes. On the contrary, he maintains, the more their minds are
occupied with the fruits of learning, the less room and temptation
there will be for gossip and folly.
Not only should education be common to all classes of society, but
the subjects of instruction should be common to the whole range of
knowledge. Comenius holds that it is the business of educators to
take strong and vigorous measures that no man in his journey through
life may encounter anything so unknown to him that he will be unable
to pass sound judgment upon it and turn it to its proper use without
serious error. This desire for encyclopædic learning, as already noted,
dominated his life and writings.
But even Comenius recognized the futility of thoroughness in a wide
range of instruction, and he expresses willingness to be satisfied
if men know the principles, the causes, and the uses of all things
in existence. It is general culture—something about a great many
things—that he demands.
Comenius clearly saw that the conditions of educational institutions
were wholly inadequate for the realization of these purposes—(1)
because of an insufficient number of schools, and (2) because of
the unscientific character of current methods of instruction. The
exhortations of Martin Luther, he observes, remedied the former
shortcoming, but it remains for the future to improve the latter.
The best intellects are ruined by unsympathetic and unpedagogic
methods. Such great severity characterizes the schools that they are
looked upon as terrors for the boys and shambles for their intellects.
Most of the students contract a dislike for learning, and many leave
school altogether. The few who are forced by parents and guardians to
remain acquire a most preposterous and wretched sort of education, so
that instead of tractable lambs, the schools produce wild asses and
restive mules. Nothing could be more wretched than the discipline of
the schools. “What should be gently instilled into the intellect is
violently impressed upon it, nay, rather flogged into it. How many,
indeed, leave the schools and universities with scarcely a notion of
true learning.” Comenius laments that he and many thousands of his
contemporaries have miserably lost the sweet spring-time of life and
wasted the fresh years of youth on scholastic trifles.
_Education according to Nature_
Comenius proposes to so reconstruct systems of education that (1) all
shall be educated, except those to whom God has denied understanding,
in all those subjects calculated to make men wise, virtuous, and
pious; (2) the course of training, being a preparation for life, shall
be completed before maturity is attained; (3) and schools shall be
conducted without blows, gently and pleasantly, in the most natural
manner. Bold innovator! How clearly he perceived the faults of the
schools of his day; with what keen insight he formulated methods for
their improvement; and with what hope in the reform which has gone
forward steadily for these two hundred and seventy-five years, but
which even now is far from being an accomplished fact!
The basis of the reform which he advocates is an application of the
principle of order—order in the management of time, in the arrangement
of subjects taught, and in the methods employed. Nature furnishes us
a criterion for order in all matters pertaining to the improvement of
human society. Certain universal principles, which are fundamental to
his philosophy of education, are deduced from nature. These, stripped
of their tedious examples and details, are:—
1. Nature observes a suitable time.
2. She prepares the material before she attempts to give it form.
3. She chooses a fit subject to act upon, or first submits her subject
to a suitable treatment in order to make it fit.
4. She is not confused in her operations; but, in her onward march,
advances with precision from one point to another.
5. In all the operations of nature, development is from within.
6. In her formative processes, she begins with the universal and ends
with the particular.
7. Nature makes no leaps, but proceeds step by step.
8. When she begins a thing, she does not leave off until the operation
is completed.
9. She avoids all obstacles that are likely to interfere with her
operations.
With nature as our guide, Comenius believes that the process of
education will be easy, (1) if it is begun before the mind is
corrupted; (2) if the mind is prepared to receive it; (3) if we proceed
from the general to the particular, from what is easy to what is more
complex; (4) if the pupils are not overburdened with too many different
studies; (5) if the instruction is graded to the stages of the mental
development of the learners; (6) if the interests of the children are
consulted and their intellects are not forced along lines for which
they have no natural bent; (7) if everything is taught through the
medium of the senses; (8) if the utility of instruction is emphasized;
and (9) if everything is taught by one and the same method.
Nature begins by a careful selection of materials, therefore education
should commence early; the pupils should not have more than one teacher
in each subject, and before anything else is done, the morals should be
rendered harmonious by the teacher’s influence.
Nature always makes preparation for each advance step; therefore, the
desire to know and to learn should be excited in children in every way
possible, and the method of instruction should lighten the drudgery,
that there may be nothing to hinder progress in school studies.
Nature develops everything from beginnings which, though insignificant
in appearance, possess great potential strength; whereas, the practice
of most teachers is in direct opposition to this principle. Instead of
starting with fundamental facts, they begin with a chaos of diverse
conclusions.
Nature advances from what is easy to what is more difficult. It is,
therefore, wrong to teach the unknown through the medium of that which
is equally unknown. Such errors may be avoided if pupils and teachers
talk in the same language and explanations are given in the language
that the pupil understands; if grammars and dictionaries are adapted in
the language and to the understanding of the pupils; if, in the study
of a foreign language, the pupils first learn to understand it, then
to write it, and lastly to speak it; if in such study the pupils get
to know first that which is nearest to their mental vision, then that
which lies moderately near, then that which is more remote, and lastly
that which is farthest off; and if children be made to exercise first
their senses, then their memory, and finally their understanding.
Nature does not overburden herself, but is content with a little at
a time; therefore the mental energies of the pupils should not be
dissipated over a wide range of subject-matter.
Nature advances slowly; therefore school sessions should be shortened
to four hours; pupils should be forced to memorize as little as
possible; school instruction should be graded to the ages and
capacities of the children.
Nature compels nothing to advance that is not driven forward by its own
mature strength; therefore it follows that nothing should be taught to
children not demanded by their age, interests, and mental ability.
Nature assists her operations in every possible manner; therefore
children should not be punished for inability to learn. Rather,
instruction should be given through the senses that it may be retained
in the memory with less effort.
Nothing is produced by nature the practical application of which is not
evident; therefore those things only should be taught whose application
can be easily demonstrated.
Nature is uniform in all her operations; hence the same method of
instruction should be adapted to all subjects of study, and the
text-books in each subject should, as far as possible, be of the same
editions.
Comenius observes that there is a very general complaint that few leave
school with a thorough education, and that most of the instruction
retained in after life is little more than a mere shadow of true
knowledge. He considers that the complaint is well corroborated by
facts, and attributes the cause to the insignificant and unimportant
studies with which the schools occupy themselves. If we would correct
this evil, we must go to the school of nature and investigate the
methods she adopts to give endurance to the beings which she has
created.
A method should be found by means of which each person will be able not
only to bring into his mental consciousness that which he has learned,
but at the same time to pass sound judgment on the objective facts
to which his information refers. This will be possible if only those
subjects are studied which will be of real service in the later life;
if such subjects be taught without digression or interruption; if a
thorough grounding precede the detailed instruction; if all that comes
later be based upon what has gone before; if great stress be laid on
the points of resemblance between cognate subjects; if the studies be
arranged with reference to the pupils’ present mental development, and
if knowledge be fixed in the memory by constant use.
In support of his principle of thoroughness, Comenius adduces the
following proofs from nature: Nothing is produced by nature that is
useless. When she forms a body, she omits nothing that is necessary.
She does not operate on anything unless it possesses foundations, and
she strikes her roots deep and develops everything from them. She never
remains at rest, but advances continually; never begins anything fresh
at the expense of work already begun, but proceeds with what she has
started and brings it to completion. She knits everything together in
continuous combination, preserving due proportion with respect to both
quality and quantity. Through constant exercise she becomes strong and
fruitful.
Progress is less a question of strength than of skill. Hitherto little
has been accomplished in the school-life of the child, because no set
landmarks have been set up as goals to be reached by the pupils; things
naturally associated are not taught together; the arts and sciences
are scarcely ever thought of as an encyclopædic whole; the methods
employed are as numerous and diverse as the schools and teachers;
instruction is individual and private, and not public and general,
and books are selected with too little regard for the value of their
contents. If these matters could be reformed, there is no doubt in the
mind of Comenius that the whole circle of the sciences might be covered
during the period of school training. Toward the solution of this
problem he answers the following questions:—
1. How can a single teacher instruct a large number of children at the
same time? In answer, he maintains that it is not only possible for
one teacher to instruct several hundred children (!) at once, but that
it is essential for the best interests of both the teacher and the
children (!!). The larger the number of pupils, the greater will be
the teacher’s interest in his work; and the keener his interest, the
greater the enthusiasm of his pupils. In the same way, to the children,
the presence of a number of companions will be productive not only of
utility, but also of enjoyment, since they will mutually stimulate and
assist one another. For children of this age, emulation and rivalry
are the best incentives to study. The reader will observe that this
scheme of Comenius contemplates some adaptation of the system of pupil
teaching, and that it interdicts all efforts at individual instruction.
2. How far is it possible for pupils to be taught from the same
book? It is an undisputed fact, says Comenius, that too many facts
presented to the mind at the same time distract the attention. It will,
therefore, be of great advantage if the pupils be permitted to use no
books except those which have been expressly composed for the class
in which they are. Such books should contain a complete, thorough, and
accurate epitome of all the subjects of instruction. They should give
a true representation of the entire universe; should be written simply
and clearly—preferably in the form of a dialogue; and should give the
pupils sufficient assistance to enable them, if necessary, to pursue
their studies without the help of a master.
3. How is it possible for all the pupils in a school to do the same
thing at one time? This may be accomplished by having a course of
instruction commence at a definite time of each year; and by and by so
dividing the course of instruction that each year, each month, each
week, each day, each hour may have a definite appointed task for it.
4. How is it possible to teach everything according to one and the
same method? That there is only one natural method has already been
satisfactorily demonstrated (to the mind of Comenius), and the
universal adoption of this natural method will be as great a boon to
pupils as a plain and undeviating road is to travellers.
5. How can many things be explained in a few words? The purpose of
education is not to fill the mind with a dreary waste of words from
books. Rightly says Seneca of instruction: “Its administration should
resemble the sowing of seed, in which stress is laid not on the
quantity, but on the quality.”
6. How is it possible to do two or three things by a single operation?
It may be laid down as a general rule that each subject should be
taught in combination with those which are correlative to it. Reading,
penmanship, spelling, language, and nature study should work together
in the acquisition and expression of ideas. As Professor Hanus[28]
has pointed out, Comenius clearly foreshadowed the correlation and
coördination of school studies at least two centuries before Herbart.
Indeed, he went so far as to urge the correlation of school instruction
with the plays and games of children. He urged that children be given
tools and allowed to imitate the different handicrafts, by playing at
farming, at politics, at being soldiers or architects. In the game of
war they may be allowed to take the part of field-marshals, generals,
captains, and standard-bearers. In that of politics they may be kings,
ministers, chancellors, secretaries, and ambassadors, as well as
senators, consuls, and lawyers; since such pleasantries often lead to
serious things. Thus, maintains Comenius, would be fulfilled Luther’s
wish that the studies of the young at school might be so organized that
the pupils would take as much pleasure in them as playing at ball all
day. In this way, the schools might become a real prelude to the more
serious duties of practical life.
_Methods of Instruction_
A correct method of instruction was to Comenius, as has already been
pointed out, the panacea for most of the ills of teaching. He made
reform in methodology the starting point of all his schemes for
educational improvement. In the _Great didactic_ he considers reform
in methods of instructing in the sciences, arts, language, morals, and
religion.
1. _Science._ Knowledge of nature or science requires objects to be
perceived and sufficient attention for the perception of the objects.
The youth who would comprehend the sciences must observe four rules:
(1) he must keep the eye of his mind pure; (2) he must see that the
proper relationship is established between the eye and the object; (3)
he must attend to the object; (4) he must proceed from one object to
another in accordance with a suitable method.
The beginning of wisdom in the sciences consists, not in the mere
learning of the names of things, but in the actual perception of the
things themselves. It is after the thing has been grasped by the senses
that language should fulfil its function of still further explaining
it. The senses are the trusty servants of the memory, leading to
the permanent retention of the knowledge that has been acquired.
Reasoning, also, is conditioned and mediated by the experience gained
through sense-perception. It is evident, therefore, that if we
wish to develop a true love and knowledge of science, we must take
special care to see that everything is learned by actual observation
through sense-perception. This should be the golden rule of teachers:
Everything should as far as possible be placed before the senses.
When the objects themselves cannot be procured, representations of
them may be used; models may be constructed or the objects may be
represented by means of engravings. This is especially needful in
such studies as geography, geometry, botany, zoölogy, physiology, and
physics. It requires both labor and expense to produce models, but the
results of such aids will more than repay the efforts. In the absence
of both objects and models, the things may be represented by means of
pictures.[29]
2. _Arts._ “Theory,” says Vives, “is easy and short, but has no result
other than the gratification that it affords. Practice, on the other
hand, is difficult and prolix, but of immense utility.” Since this is
so, remarks Comenius, we should diligently seek out a method by which
the young may be easily led to the application of such natural forces
as one finds in the arts.
In the acquisition of an art, three things are required: (1) a model
which the pupil may examine and then try to imitate; (2) material on
which the new form is to be impressed; and (3) instruments by the aid
of which the work is accomplished. After these have been provided,
three things more are necessary before an art can be learned—a proper
use of the materials, skilled guidance, and frequent practice.
Progress in the art studies is primarily through practice. Let the
pupils learn to write by writing, to talk by talking, and to sing by
singing. Since imitation is such an important factor in the mastery of
an art, it is sheer cruelty to try to force a pupil to do that which
you wish done, while the pupil is ignorant of your wishes. The use of
instruments should be shown in practice, and not by words; by example,
rather than by precept. It is many years since Quintilian wrote,
“Through precepts the way is long and difficult, while through examples
it is short and practicable.” But alas! remarks Comenius, how little
heed the schools pay to this advice. Man is essentially an imitative
animal, and it is by imitation that children learn to walk, to run,
to talk, and to play.[30] Rules are like thorns to the understanding,
since to grasp them requires a degree of mental development not common
during the elementary school life of the child.
Comenius would have the first attempts at imitation as accurate as
possible, since whatever comes first is the foundation of that which
is to follow. All haste in the first steps should be avoided, lest we
proceed to the advanced work before the elements have been mastered.
Perfect instruction in the arts is based on both synthesis and
analysis. The synthetic steps should generally come first, since we
should commence with what is easy, and our own efforts are always
easiest to understand. But the accurate analysis of the work of others
must not be neglected. Finally, it must be remembered that it is
practice, nothing but faithful practice, that makes an artist.
3. _Language._ We learn languages, not merely for the erudition and
wisdom which they hold, but because languages are the instruments by
which we acquire knowledge and by which we impart our knowledge to
others. The study of languages, particularly in youth, should be joined
to the study of objects. The intelligence should thus be exercised on
matters which appeal to the interests and comprehension of children.
They waste their time who place before children Cicero and the other
great writers; for, if students do not understand the subject-matter,
how can they master the various devices for expressing it forcibly?
The time would be more usefully spent on less ambitious efforts,
so correlated that the languages and the general intelligence might
advance together step by step. Nature makes no leaps, neither does art,
since art imitates nature.
Each language should be learned separately. First of all, the
mother-tongue should be learned; then a modern language—that of a
neighboring nation; after this, Latin; and, lastly, Greek and Hebrew.
The mother-tongue, because of its intimate connection with the gradual
unfolding of the objective world to the senses, will require from eight
to ten years; a modern language may be mastered in one year; Latin in
two years; Greek in one year; and Hebrew in six months.
There are four stages in the study of a language. The first is the age
of babbling infancy, during which time language is indistinctly spoken;
the second is the age of ripening boyhood, in which the language is
correctly spoken; the third is the age of mature youth, in which the
language is elegantly spoken; and the fourth is the age of vigorous
manhood, in which the language is forcibly spoken.
4. _Morals._ If the schools are to become forging places of humanity,
the art of moral instruction must be more definitely elaborated. To
this end Comenius formulates the following pedagogic rules:—
All the virtues may be implanted in men.
Those virtues which are called cardinal virtues—prudence, temperance,
fortitude, and justice—should first be implanted.
Prudence may be acquired through good instruction, and by learning the
differences which exist between things and the relative value of those
things. Comenius expresses agreement with Vives, that sound judgment
must be acquired in early youth.
Children should be taught to observe temperance in eating, drinking,
sleeping, exercising, and playing.
Fortitude is to be learned by the suppression of excessive
desires—playing at the wrong time or beyond the proper time—and by
avoiding manifestations of anger, discontent, and impatience. It is
needful for the young to learn fortitude in the matter of frankness and
endurance in toil. Children must be taught to work, and moral education
must preach the gospel of work.
Lastly, examples of well-ordered lives in the persons of parents,
teachers, nurses, and schoolmates must continually be set before the
children, and they must be carefully guarded against bad associations.
5. _Religion._ In the scheme of education which Comenius outlines in
the _Great didactic_, religion occupies the most exalted place; and
while training in morals is accessory to religion, children must in
addition be given specific instruction in piety. For this purpose
definite methods of instruction are outlined. Instruction in piety must
be of such a character as to lead children to follow God, by giving
themselves completely up to His will, by acquiescing in His love, and
by singing His praises. The child’s heart may thus be joined to His
in love through meditation, prayer, and examination. Children should
early be habituated to the outward works which He commands, that they
may be trained to express their faith by works. At first they will
not understand the true nature of what they are doing, since their
intelligence is not yet sufficiently developed; but it is important
that they learn to do what subsequent experience will teach them to be
right.[31]
While Comenius was not willing to go as far as St. Augustine and the
early church fathers in the matter of abolishing altogether the whole
body of pagan literature from the school, nevertheless, he thought that
the best interests of the religious education of the child required
unusual precaution in the reading of pagan books. He reminds his
readers that it is the business of Christian schools to form citizens,
not merely for this world, but also for heaven, and that accordingly
children should read mainly those authors who are well acquainted with
heavenly as well as with earthly things.
_Types of Educational Institutions_
The modern fourfold division of education into kindergarten,
elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges or universities
was clearly foreshadowed by Comenius in the _Great didactic_. His
philosophy of education comprehends a school of infancy, a school of
the mother-tongue, a Latin school, and a university. These different
institutions, he notes, are not merely to deal with different subjects,
but they are to treat the same subjects in different ways, giving such
instruction in all of them as will make true men, true Christians, and
true scholars, although grading the instruction throughout to the age,
capabilities, and previous training of the learners.
1. _School of infancy._ Comenius would have a mother’s school in every
home, where children may be given such training as will fit them at the
age of six years to begin regular studies in the vernacular school. He
prepared for the use of mothers during this period a detailed outline,
which he published under the title, _Information for mothers, or School
of infancy_. An analysis of this book is given in the following chapter
on the earliest training of the child.
2. _School of the mother-tongue._ This covers the years from six to
twelve, and includes all children of both sexes. The aim of this
school is to teach the young such things as will be of practical
utility in later life—to read with ease both printing and writing in
the mother-tongue; to write first with accuracy, and finally with
confidence in accordance with the rules of the mother-tongue; to
compute numbers as far as may be necessary for practical purposes;
to measure spaces, such as lengths, breadths and distances; to sing
well-known melodies, and to learn by heart the greater number of psalms
and hymns commonly used in the country. In addition, the children study
the principles of morality, the general history of the world, the
geography of the earth and principal kingdoms of Europe, elementary
economics and politics, and the rudiments of the mechanical arts.
The six years of the school of the mother-tongue are graded into six
classes, with a detailed course of study for each class. Provision
is made for four lessons daily, two in the forenoon and two in the
afternoon. The remaining hours of the day are to be spent in domestic
work or in some form of recreation. The morning hours are devoted to
such studies as train the intellect; the afternoons to such as give
manual skill. No new work is to be introduced in the afternoon; but the
pupils may review and discuss the lessons developed during the morning
sessions. If it is desired that a foreign language be introduced, it
should not be begun before the tenth year.
3. _The Latin school._ The purpose of the Latin school is to give a
more thorough and comprehensive training to those aspiring to callings
higher than the industrial pursuits. It covers the years from twelve to
eighteen, and was also divided into six classes,—the grammar, natural
philosophy, mathematical, ethics, dialectic, and rhetorical classes.
Since Comenius’ views on Latin are so fully set forth in a later
chapter on language teaching and the _Janua_, it is only necessary here
to recall that his curriculum for the Latin school includes a wide
range of culture subjects. The most important of the culture studies of
the Latin school is history, including an epitome of Biblical history,
natural history, the history of arts, inventions and customs, history
of morals, and a general historical survey of the leading modern
nations of the world.
4. _University._ While Comenius frankly admits that his experience
has been chiefly limited to work in elementary and secondary schools,
still he sees no reason why he should not state his views and wishes
with regard to superior instruction. The curriculum of the university
conceived in the _Great didactic_ is universal in character, making
provision for a wide range of studies in every branch of human
knowledge. The university must possess learned and able professors
in the languages, sciences, and arts, as well as a library of
well-selected books for the common use of all. One of the fundamental
aims of the university is to widen the domain of knowledge through
original investigation; in consequence, its equipment must fit it for
research work.
How fully these schemes have been realized, the reader may appreciate
by comparing the types of educational institutions of the United States
and Germany with those of the _Great didactic_, which were outlined by
Comenius more than two centuries ago.
_School Discipline_
The _Great didactic_ is an eloquent protest against the severe and
inhuman discipline of Comenius’ day. Schools which abound with shrieks
and blows, he says, are not well disciplined. Discipline is quite
another thing; it is an unfailing method by which we may make our
pupils pupils in reality. This makes it necessary for the teacher to
know the child, the being to be disciplined, the subjects of study
which serve as mental stimulants, and the relations which should exist
between the child and the subjects to be taught.
Discipline must be free from personal elements, such as anger or
dislike, and should be exercised with frankness and sincerity.
Teachers should administer punishments just as physicians prescribe
medicines—with a view to improving the condition of the individual.
Nor should severe forms of discipline be exercised in connection with
studies or literary exercises. Studies, if they are properly taught,
form in themselves a sufficient attraction. When this is not the case,
the fault lies not with the pupil, but with the teacher; if his skill
is unable to make an impression on the understanding, his blows will
have no effect. Indeed, he is more likely to produce a distaste for
letters than a love for them by the application of force.
Whenever, therefore, we see a mind that is diseased or dislikes study,
we should try to remove its disposition by gentle remedies; but on no
account should we employ violent ones. The sun gives us an excellent
lesson on this point. In the spring-time, when the plants are young
and tender, it does not scorch them, but warms and invigorates them;
it does not put forth its full heat until they are full grown. The
gardener proceeds on the same principle, and does not apply the pruning
knife to plants that are immature. In the same way the musician does
not strike his instrument a blow with his fist or throw it against the
wall because it produces a discordant sound; but setting to work on
scientific principles, he tunes it and gets it into order. Just such
a skilful and sympathetic treatment is necessary to instil a love of
learning into the minds of pupils; and any other procedure will only
convert their idleness into antipathy and their interest into downright
stupidity.
Severe forms of discipline should be used only in cases of moral
delinquencies, as (1) impiety of any kind, such as blasphemy,
obscenity, and other offences against God’s law; (2) stubbornness and
premeditated misbehavior, such as disobeying orders and conscious
neglect of duty; and (3) pride, disdain, envy, and idleness. Offences
of the first kind are an insult against the majesty of God; those of
the second kind undermine the foundations of virtue; and those of the
third prevent any rapid progress in studies. An offence against God is
a crime, and should be expiated by an extremely severe punishment; an
offence against man is iniquitous, and should be promptly corrected;
but an offence against Priscian is a stain that may be wiped out by the
sponge of blame. In a word, the object of discipline should be to stir
the pupils to revere God, to assist their fellows, and to perform the
labors and duties of life with alacrity.