The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-12-05
PRESIDENT WILSON'S
 BELIEFS DISCUSSED Heads at Yale Criticise His Educational
 Ideas.
DEAN CHITTENDEN OBJECTS
Professor Lewis Cannot Believe Instruction in English
 < Wrong.

It is not often that college professor much less college president makes as radical and as startling statement as has President Woodrow Wilson of Princeton. The other night before convention of the Association of Col leges and Preparatory schools of the Middle states, held in New York, he came out with a blunt statement to the effect that all American schooling for the last twenty years has. been on a wrong basis; that the student has been taught merely facts and intor- nation, rather than taught how to learn and to love to learn.
 President Wilson has been quoted as saying, With all our educating, we have instructed nobody and with all eur instructing we have educated mo- body" He said that one great field has been entirely overlooked in our educational system. No provision has been made to get out of the heads of the students the wrong ideas that they have already acquired Rather, they have been taught other and additional facts, the truth of which they have not dared question,
 Thinking that the opinions of such of our college professors as would be willing to be quoted on the subject would be of interest to many in New Haven who have the cause of educa- ton at heart, this paper interviewed a number of the professors prominent at Yale yesterday.
 The general opinion seemed to be that President Wilson had been too strong in his statements, if not inac- dhrate. When showed a newspaper clipping which gave a full account of President Wilson's speech last evening, Dean Chittehden of the Sheffield school, said that, while he did not wish to enter upon any controversy with any one, much less with one so shigh in his field of education as President Wilson undoubtedly is, still he was forced to take exception to what the New Jersey college president had said.
 Tt is but natural that I should look at the question from the point of view of those connected with schools of science, Surely I cannot say that in Sheffield scientific school the students are not taught facts and not the abili- ty to draw conclusions from facts, The first scientific men were those who went into their laboratories with lit tie Of not facts to work with and thought out their results. The same thing has to be done with every scien- tffic student here in the Sheffield school, except that they start with the increased number of scientific facts which years of study given by thou sands of, minds have resulted in. I -,perfectly agree with President Wilson, however, when he says It Is better to conduct the student to the inner chamber of one fact than to take him on trip seeking greater knowledge But believe that in scientific school more, perhaps, than in other depart- ments, the subjects taught bear an if1- innate relationship to each other as for instance the many different mathematics courses that our students have to take Because of this the scientific student gets nearer to the IlUBT CAdIIpuSI Ol t ICW StUutS9'
 Dean Wright of the academic depart rnent was inclined not to wish to be quoted on the subject He was willing. however to admit that the same evil that President Wilson mentioned had been noted and regretted at Yale The students have been taught while chil- klren at the schools to learn facts rather than use facts. he thought. Much as the college authorities would strive to have 1t otherwise, it could not help but be a difficult task for them when the method had been so ingrained as a part of them during their preliminary training.
 One of President Wilson's special tar gets for attack was the teaching of English in the colleges We must give ID the idea of teaching English" he said. %Ehe appreciation of English cah nomore be pedagogically imparted han the appreciation of the song of bird
 Professor Beers of the English de- partnent at Yale could not be found yesterday to be ntervewed on the sub ject. Prof Lewis said, after readins the account of President Wilson's re marks: I am inclined to think that