The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-06-04

LAIR Oh SdltS Udf 0iIIS anu SCS5tSNAa5
One-Sided though this conception is,
it nevertheless contains the germ Of
the thought which has for the last
century been renlaking educatlOn-
the idea that We must learn 10 know
the individual better if We are to edu-
cate him more efficiently. only by
founding education on a sound psy-
.chOlogy can we better our methods Of
instruction. This master-idea, put
into practice by Pestalozzi and en-
riched by Froebel, finds its first we'll
rounded expression in the ~psycholo-
glcaI-DedagOglcal system of HerDaTt.
1t was HerbartlaniSm, coming to his
country in the early eighties, which
dominated educational thinking at the
time James began to make his in
fuence felt. From this system, then.
we may take ouE-Doint Of departure.
For Herbart, the ultimate end OF
education is found in the formation
OF character-in action. So far James
would agree. But from this point the
two paths diverge. Herbart held
that action is determined by the
presence in the mind Of clear ideas,
which OF themselves pass over into
expression. 1t thus becomes the i'm
mediate business ofeducation to pro-
vide the mind with a took Of ideas,
and to assure that these ideas are
clear. Now what makes an idea
clear. what gives it its tendency to
act itself out. is the fact that it has
been properly assimilated by the
mind: digeSted. SO to speak; related
to the stock Of ideas already on han
This process of relating a new idea
to the whole mental content is ap-
perception. The great function Of the
teacher. then. is to make sure that
apperceptOn takes place correctly.
There is a certain typical process by
which the mind works in assimilat-
ing ideas. in making appeTcepticn
possible. This process may be repre-
sented by the so-called formal
steps; five in number, as usually for
mulated; preparation, presentation,
comparison, generalization. and appli-
cation. All knowledge gets to be u
part of the mind by this general
process; the cache no follows this
general method will make appercep-
ton possible, and SO right action.
Furthermore. that ideas may become
clear. a many-sided interest must be
aroused. and these Interests must be
permanent in order thai right action
may be lasting. 1t Is he more I'M
pOrtant to stock the mind with knowl-
edge because. in Herhart's system. it
is regarded as possessing no inner ten
denotes to growth of itself, it is a
structure to be erected" not d germ
to be developed" The chief i'm
mediate concern Of education, then,
becomes the stocking of the mind with
ideas: apDerception and interest are
the corner-stones Of Herbart's sys-
tenn.
Leaving to one side for a moment
the intrinsic merits and defects Of
such a conception. it is a sad fact
that. with the possible exception Of
the kindergarten -extravagances COM
mitted in h name Of Froebel. mod
ern educational history has hardly a
parallel to the educational abuses
which resulted from a half-digeSted
notion of what the Herbartian sys-
tenn really meant Terms like ZAP
perception" "~apperceptive basis. y
~"education through interest" ''the
five formal steps," were wrenched
from their psychological context and
erected into educational fetiches. They
became s%acrosanct mysteries. before
which the pTofane could only o
down and worship. The torments
which have been inflicted or teachers
and pupils in the name Of Herbar
would need the pen Of a pedagogical
Dante for their adequate description
There arose a sort Of Pedagogical
cant. a strange melange Of stOch
supposed to be possessed Of some sor1
Of magical efficiency. 1t is no new
conception in the history of human
thought that when a thing has beer
given a pOlysyllabic name it Is there
by explained in it's true essence. OF
, the other hand, it is a very cal ten
dency against which the human min(
has always to fight. and which dis
appears Just in proportion as scienti
> fic methods Of thinking enter. Nov
, the history Of education shows tina
teachers have always been especial,
prone to this sort of loose, u~nanalyse'
thinking. Just because the materia
, with which they have to deal is 81
vast. SO complex. requiring such rigor
A Gus thinking. such close analysis. tina
the easiest way is always to SubSti
9 tute words-and preferably those Q
a classical origin-for real entities.
With all this James had no patience
4 Against it he directed all h force o
his clear thinking and the ligh
artillery of his ridicule. perhaps tn
- +o--o so--o -, 10 cor~ So-