The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1898-11-01

of those principles and me hodS the APP
pllcauon OF which lie hoped ana be
lleved would WORK out The relentratiun
of the Face. Is |
The essential characteristics of what
has been termed The New Education1'
are development through inner, organic
laws and practical activity as an I'M
portant educational +. ctor. So long
and closely had he watched and studied
the formation of crystals and growth OF
plants and animals from force within
THAT lie became imbued with the idea
that It was divine principle rs apple
able to human life as to other organ
lsms, and this thought dinner develop.
tlonal philosophy. Therefore, those
systems which aim mainly at the
acquisition of eXtraneous Knowledge
were to him false. the true educators
duty being to study the child s latent
powers and to so frame his surround
lngs as to encourage and assist their
| natural unfolding Mental food should
be placed within the child's grasp so
that it will become both pleasure and
a necessity to assimilate it. His ex-
| perience as an educator forced him to
realize more and more fully the i'm
possibility of securing q complete and
harmonious development from within
unless the exercise of the productive
and creative activities accompanied
| that of the receptive faculties in ac-
curing. knowledge. Anything less
Than this simultaneous training would
result in One-sided or stunted growth.
Festalozzi also laid great stress upon
manual work but rather as means OF
physical training or as an actual prep
| aratlOn tor earning a livelihood On
the contrary, Froehel sees i'll all out
ward training an inner relation. His
method is to consciously develop and
strengthen some mental faculty, while
at the same time the bodily members
are gaining vigor and deXter1ty. He
values manual training not for the sake
OF making a better workman but for
the sake OF making a more complete
human being. Pestalozzi aimed to
make all education beginl with i'm
mediate perception because, says he
sense perception is the source of all
knowledge. FrOebel would do the same
but for the reason that beginning with
immediate perception is sure to arouse
the chlld's self-activity. Self activity
that is, experience and discovery-is, he
insists, the essential condition of true
education. Not observation of things,
hut experience, life with things is his
plea. Therefore, would he postpone
book-learnlng-the assimilation of the
thoughts and experiences of others
until the child's faculties have been
developed and strengthened through
observing and seeking to understand
the life around him and in expressing
his Interpretation of it through active
work. A knowledge of outer, visible
things is necessary before the child is
competent to deal with sy mbols and alb
stractions.
These principles upon which his
educational institute was founded and
conducted were so at variance with the
prevailing methods OF the times that
his work met with great opposition
This hostility became so great that
stitution. He however was highly
gratitied with all that he saw. and fully
appreciated both the high aim of the
institution and the natural method il
pursued in attaining it. In his report
he says: Its object is by no mean.
mere knowledge, but the free self active
development of the mind from within
Nothing is added from without excep,
to enlighten the mind, to strengthen
the pupils power, and to add to his JOY
by enhancing his consciousnesso OF grow.
Ing power..... What the pupils know
is not a shapeless mass but has form
and life and is, if at all possible, i'm
mediately applied in life"
Asan educational experiment Froe
bel'S Institute was a marked success
yet 1t failed to reach his ideal. He
found it impossible to crowd INTO 9
boys school years all the instruction
necessary to tit him for practical life
| nd of fhn hni
harmonious development OF the whole
being which he always considered thu
first requisite of education. AT first he
attributed this failure TO the need Of
trained teachers, but the result proved
that the trouble lay even deeper, that
it was in the condition of the children
themselves who entered school win
undevelOped or miSdirected faculties
He accordingly turned his attention tt
the study of early education which
absorbed him more and more. The tirsl
manifestations of life and the mothers
instructive response 10 them, as we'll al
the natural spontaneous plays of child
hood, were closely observed and care
fully analysed, leading to the discovery
of their divine meaning 1t is gener
ally supposed, says he. that in play the
child is SIMPLY seeking amusement
/
means OF development 1t is the child's
effort to become acquainted with his
surroundings. to gain through expert
ence knowledge of eternal things, tc
exercise the powers of his being. OF
course. the child is conscious of no such
aim. He IS simply obeying the law OF
human development, the law of his in.
most being. and it invariably leads him
to self-activity. But the human in
stinct needs guidance. Without
rational, conscious guidance" says
Froebtl, childish activity degenerates
into aimless play instead of preparing
| for those tasks of life for which it is
destined. Does it disturb the plant
in its growth when the gardener pro-
tects it, prunes it, waters it, takes the
best care he can of it? DO not the
higher order of animals teach their
young those activities which they need
for self preseryation2 -. The weak
instinct Of the human child make it
the most needy of all creatures. DO we
follow and remain true to nature only
WhaD wa lat IFS nrOdrctc Shont i'm with.