The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-16
CHILD IN THE SCHOOL.
Or. Burnham on Some of the Hygienic AS
poets in Educational Principles.

a
DR.. Burnham in his lecture on Some
hygienic aspects of educational prin-
ciples," spoke in substance as follows;
In the present lecture, 1 wish to
speak of the hygiene of education. 1t
has to do with the ordering of the
phild's psychophysic organism and it
is in deepest harmony with pedagogy.
To many, school hygiene means only
school buildings, seats and desks, but
1t really has much deeper meaning.
All sorts of reflexions and associa-
tons are being formed by children. and
DR.. Mosso has shown that physical ac-
tvity in school helps a child in it's
mental activities. Self-control and
freedom from worry are most impo~-
tant factors in the hygiene Of educa-
ton as we shall look at it.
The control of self is a safeguard
against nervous disorders. 1t might
be defined as a well regulated conser-
gation of nervous energy Every inter
EST is potentially a developer of self
control. The normal method of inhibit-
Ing the feelings is by turning the at
tention.
The extreme form of chronic worry
Is constant fever. Besides its moral
color of fear, it has confusion and in
terruption of mental processes. It is
largely the confusion of association
that causes fatigue when one has to
choose between two alternatives.
The second is automatic repetition.
We may worry about our friends, our
selves a task, a doggerel rhyme, and
the repetition keeps up all the time
Much may be done against work by
mental regimen. Children should be
trained to decisive action.
Few subjects have attracted the at
tention as the subject of correlation OF
studies. Subjects must be taught in
conjunction with others, and confusion
must be avoided. To teach several
subjects without worry, one method is
by isolation. On the other hand, cor
relation is an important means to
avoid confusion.
"A forgotten poem or lesson is easier
to relearn than to learn new one
DR.. Bergstrom has shown that such
persisting traces not only help in re-
learning old subjects, but sometimes
prevent the learning Of new subjects.
In the school program it is clearly
important to avoid interference of sub.
jects. 1t is necessary to have large
number of subjects and variety OF
subjects The principle is as follows
When the similar mental processes are
the same and the details differentiate
and are of less Importance, Correlation
is best. On the other hand, when the
associations are similar and the details
different and of Importance, isolation
is best
This concerns not only correlation in
the program, but in the methods
When two series are similar, it should
depend on how they were to be studied
whether they should be studied to-
gether. The spelling of similar words
should be taught each separately and
frequently at first to prevent interior
ence. 1t is not the work of the school
but worry and long hours, that causes
overpressure. Take the pedagogical
dogma of enrichment. 1t is necessary
that the school program should be va
ried, but even the idea of enrichment
may go wrong. The good teacher en-
riches the lesson by bringing much that
is not In the text book and in elimin-
ating the absolutely unessential de-
tails. Some teachers pay too much at
tention to the details. We are. as
teachers, in danger of the overdevel-
opment of the didactic, to teach for the
sake of teaching. Children can repeat
an act over and over again, but the
repetition Of receptions is firing.
In discipline two methods may be dis
tinguished, the individual and collec-
tive. The second is the one usually
found, the children made to keep ster
in everything. Glass drill is necessary
when there are many pupils, but hy-
gienic rules must be observed. DI
Sargent thinks that nothing is worse
for some nervous children than doing
sums in unison. A particularly bad
form Of class drill is that Of writing
Even the class drill in gymnastics is H.
able 10 prove dangerous to some ner.
sous children.
All educational methods in school
studies should be ruled by hygienic
laws. Studies for small children should
be psychological rather than logical
they must hold interest and be simple
First, there must be a strong funda-
mental development Of nerve centers
before the delicate and complex parts
are developed.
1t 10 necessary to drill in thoroughness