Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1907-04-16


we should inquire what will be It's re-
turns in the higher values of man
hood and spiritual dignity.
do not wish to place at discount
that phase Of education which has a
direct bearing upon the practical busi-
ness relations of life. could not do
so il wished. We are living in an
age OF specialization. when to attain
success, at all. beyond the mediocre,
in any calling or profession, technical
training must have a large place In
the work of preparation. There was
time, no doubt, when the man Of
all trades was in demand, but that
time has passed, and the demand, now,
is for the specialist, the man who can
focus all his energies on one small
point and thereby achieve success.
This makes it necessary that we
SHOULD have commercial, normal, and
technical schools whose aim should be
to prepare men and women for the
particular trades and professions de-
manded by the times. But we should
be careful to assign this specialization
to its proper place. Premature tech
nical training fatally narrows the
mind, and thereby defeats its own
purpose by compressing the energies
into one narrow channel before they
have had an opportunity to gain the
requisite strength through general
culture. A broad culture should lay
the foundation for professional
studies. Technical studies should not
be taken up until the powers have
been first we'll trained. Education, in
the broad sense. Is the acquisition OF
power 1t is the business of profess
sional training to enable us to employ
and utilize that power in the per-
formance Of the duties Of life, and,
therefore, should not supersede but
succeed those studies that have their
value in the culture they afford.
In defining our ideal Of education it
is necessary to set forth the essential
characteristics of the educated mind. |
TO some, the terms education and
knowledge are synonomous, but such
Is not the case. While knowledge is
an important element, 1t is not the
whole of education. The educated
mind is not encyclopaedia, holding in
the chambers Of memory vast store
OF accumulated facts which may be
drawn upon as the occasion demands
or the need arises. Education is
dynamic rather than encyclopaedia;
and knowledge is In principles and
relations rather than In concrete
particulars. It is not so much that we
know, as that we have power to know.
Locke puts it In this manner, ''the
business of education in respect of
knowledge, is not to perfect man In
all or any one Of the sciences, but to
give his mind that freedom, that dis
position, and those habits, that may
enable him to attain any part OF
knowledge he shall apply himself to,
or stand In need OF, In the future
course OF his life"
A second characteristic of the edu-
Gated mind Is the power to feel. In
ability to feel is ever a mark Of an
uneultivated mind. The highest
culture demands the strongest possible
development OF the aesthetic faculties,
through which we come into touch
and communion with the more subtle
and refining forces OF life which go so
far toward the ennobling of our
spirits. Nature with her manifold
charms, and Art with its messages too
refined for speech, and our fellow
spirits with secrets OF sympathy and
love that dare not be entrusted TO
words, here find gateway to the soul
through an ear that is sensitive to the
still, small voices with which alone
they can communicate to US their
refined treasures.
Along with the power to know and
to feel the educated mind possesses
the power to will. The last Is the
necessary complement OF the other
two. 1t is not sufficient to be able to
know aud to feel, but for the attain
ment Of the highest ends, it Is essential
that great power of will be developed
the will to choose always the good, to
hold to it firmly, and to follow 1t unre-
lentingly; the will to resist those
things which appeal to our desires
against the edicts OF reason, and 10
persist 10 those things which are to be
achieved only as the reward Of self
denial and patient endurance.
This then is our conclusion: Edu-
cation primarily is cultural rather
than utilitarian; its end is 10 being
rather than in doing. The charac-
teristics Of an educated mind are. 10
the main, power to know, power to
feel, power to will. And our ideal
finds its highest and fullest expression
In the man who Is at the same time
scholar, gentleman and christian.
DR.. Mock then spoke at length Of
the methods o. attaining this ideal,
and closed his mastery address by
saying: "A well-ordered curriculum
will aim TO bring every normal mind
into contact with science studies. as
developing poWerfor the Interpretation
Of nature; mathematics, as training
ID the handling Of the fundamental
products Of consciousness and 10