I do not claim to have made any new discoveries. I do claim to have escaped from the thralldom of ironclad classification and standardization. Today we have educational laboratories, schools of education, whole libraries on education and tests galore. I am not condemning these agencies because the dominating motive is worthy of hearty commendation. I do deplore the degree to which they have been developed.
Educational freedom is impossible under the present regime.
In 1884, I was convinced that a saving education demanded the consideration of the whole human organism, the head, the heart, and the hand. After pushing a plan for several years to secure all round education I was compelled to fall in line with orthodox demands or close my school. For example, in my school I followed Professor Krusi's plan of teaching geometry. Many of my graduates were preparing to enter the University of Michigan, state normal schools and other higher institutions of learning. We used no textbook and stated all theorems in the form of problems.