New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-01-28
CURSE OF EDUCATION
Harold f.. Gorst Would S7ceep Pres
emf System out Of Existence.

The Curse Of Education was the subject Of
the lecture by Harold e. Gorst. son of Sir John
r,orst former Minister Of Education in Great
Britain before the League for Political Education
AT the Berkeley Theatre. yesterday morning OUT
Mr. Gorst didn't that all education was d
curse He only said that Jns schools OF to-day
ought 70 be swept from the face Of the earth eno
the present system Of education put out OF ex-
tstenoe- DR.. William H. Maxwell who was on
the platform, then told Mr. Gorst why he thought
the schools were doing pretty well, considerlng
and Dean Russell Of Teachers College, Henry NJ
Iysipziger. supervisor Of lectures in the pubic
schools. and Charles Rand Kennedy Playwright
also replica TO the English lecturer.
Il challenge any in this audience" said
Nj Gorst TO rise and assert that he is what
Nature intended him TO be- or what he intended
to be himself 1 don't believe that even my oppo-
nent, Dr.. Maxwell, would accept that challenge
We are all of conscious Of virtues and abilities
that were nipped in the bud What ma1eVolent
Influence has been at work upon US? Surely it is
not the fault of evolution. Mott is the system
of education men have put into operation-a sys-
TEN that brushes individual development.
You begin It with the baby at home What
does yo1r child Do with the toy you give him?
he breaks it Whereupon you reprove him., or
perhaps in the exercise OF your parental authority,
even slap him. But the child doesn't break the
toy wantonly. He does it in the spirit OF in
Nestigation. a spirit he shares with Darwin and
Huxley. He does il in the spirit Of the creator
and your reproof deals that spirit perhaps q
mortal blow"
Schools. Mr. Gorst said. ARE mills TO grind each
child into q pattern with ali other children Ele-
meHtary education practises q cruel deception on
the poor, for II leads the parent to believe that
his child will be fitted for something AS a mat
Of fact the child is turned out at fourteen
fitted for nothing-not even educated enough 10
realize his ignorance He has learned TO look
down on the artisan and aspire to be q clerk
e clerk, whose days spent in adding up col
un1ns Of which not for his own pocket
while even the carpenter who makes a box is a
creator.
AS fer higher education. in England at least, it
has done little but glut the market with briefess
barristers. struggling cergymen, I'll paid secreta-
ries. Of whom in despair turn TO journalism,
only 70 find themselves distanced by men who have
never been college. and whose freshness Of mind.
therefore. has never been destroyed Schools, Mr..
Gorst said should be to make the pupils think
And thinking is q faculty that may easily be de-
stroyed by learning things by rote. 1 wish that
having children commit things by rote could be
made q criminal offence. Remember this-every
time you drive a fact into a brain you drive out
an idea The brain is instrument for thought
not & repository for facts We hear il said that
there is genius nowadays. and certainly We
meet mediocr1ty everywhere That IS not the fault
of evolution, which ! plld produce more not less.
genius time goes Oh II is our educational sys-
ten. which brushes imagination"
The special weakness in the training Of girls
Mr.. Gorst said. was that it educated them away
from their future destiny-that Of being mothers.
The great majority of girls he said, ARE TO
be wives and mothers, and, barring few cook
ing classes, absolutely nothing is done TO fit them
for that career. In fact. they are, on principle
carefully educated away from it,
Our elementary schools. Mr. Gorst thought.
should be replaced by groups Of workshops,
kitchens, varied spheres Of activity. in which
skilled observers might discover the natural bent
of the child and assist in ifs development For
later education" he said we should have groups
of colleses-soue for agriculture. some for manual
pursuits, some he arts and for scientific re
search; for must keep little scholarship But
rernember-the future belongs not 10 the nation
with the largest armament but to the nation which
recognizes that education means the development
Of the individual bent"
Dr. Maxwell in his reply. pointed out that many
of the schools IN New York contained workshops.
agree with Mr. GoTst.'' he said. that moth
ing is more needed than to find the aptitude of
the individual child. but our schools are trying 10
60 that Froebel, the great educator, taught that
every child must learn 70 create, and every well
ordered school begins with kindergarten. But
parents viii insist that their children be taught
TO read"
Mr. Lepziger pointed out that DR.. Maxwell
had always been the exponent OF small classes.
But we have reckon with the taxpayer.
Dean Russell said that small part, after all,
OF education was gained in the schools. I'VE
educated by the Church. by society, by contact
with another. But the chief difficulty of our
schools is that have taken over too much Of
the English system-that of adapting the schools
TO the needs Of the few But we Americans
trying TO build UP schools that will raise the
sge-giye all equality Of opportunity. We not
training children into set FORMS and II any Eng
lish critics think Sc 1 beg leave TO differ with
them
Mr.. Kennedy thought that IN many ways
civilization was ION the road to damnation. any
how We have politics and no citizens; theology
and saints; textbooks on art ad nauseam and
no artists We are such damned idiots-pardon
my language: NJ. Gorst kept I'D till O'Clock
last night-such towards that never dare say
Thus saith the Lord with regard 10 the produc-
tions of our minds We measure every per
Torrance by some other persons performance.
When we learn have little courage. a little
discernrnent, shall not, I think, have much
need Of education "