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

lSS@ Nv L N~
boy. what do you think OF it" 10
which. is hat the kin OF spray |
spray my nose with" was the Boys
My reply. hat was his mode OF
a~pperceiving the spectacle. You nay
claim this as a particular type, anu
call it by the Greek name Of rhlno-
therapeutical apperception. If YOU
like; and. if YOU do. You will hardly
be more trivial or artificial than are
some Of the authors Of the books
Or. again. w have Of late been
hearing much Of the philosophy or
tenderness in education; interest
must be ~assiduously awakened IN
everything, difficulties must pc
smoothed away. Soft pedagogics have
taken the place Of the old steep and
rocky path Of learning. But from this
lukewarm air the bracing xygen Of
effort is left out. 1t is nonsense TO sup
pose that every step in education can
be interesting. 1t is certain that most
schoolrOom work. till It has become
habitual and automatic. is repulsive,
and cannot be done without Volun-
tarily Jerking back the to
it every now and then. This is in
evitable, let the teacher do What he
will. The interest which the teacher,
by his utmost skill, can lend to the
subject, proves over and over again TO
be only an interest sufficient to let
loose the effort"
But after all. great though was the
& of James in topping false
pedagogical gods from their pedestals.
it was his direct constructive services
which were greatest. From his psy-
chology came certain tendencies,
lines of emphasis rather than detailed
systematic contributions. which have
entailed far-reaching notifications in
p~resent-day educational thinking.
Fundamental here is the stress
which James in all his writing laid
On action. This is the great con
ception which unifies his pedagogy,
his psychology and his philosophy.
Man thinks, he held. not for the sake
Of thinking. but in order that he may
act. Consciousness has evolved in
the history Of the ace primarily to
make possible better adjustments by
providing a greater number and feXi-
bilitv Of reactions. All consciousness,
then, tends naturally to find compile
ton in action. Not merely the clear
ideas Of Herbart. but all impressions.
pass over into expression. Man.
whatever else he may be, is primarily
a practical being. whose mind is given
him to aid in adapting him to this
worlds life
From this view of the nature of
mind there follow two cOrollaries Of
immense Importance to education. In
the first place. it is evidently not 50
much the business OF education to
create out Of nothing tendencies to
action. through stocking the mind
with knowledge, as it is to organize
tendencies which. from the very ma
ture Of mind. are always present. Edu-
cation nay be defined as the organi-
cation Of acquired habits Of conduct
and tendencies to behavior Indeed,
"our education means in short. little
more han a mass OF possibilities Of
reaction. acquired at home. at school.
or in the training Of affairs. The
teachers task is that OF supervising
the acquiring process. An u~neducated
person is one who is nonplussed by all
but the most habitual situations. On
the contrary. one who Is educated is
able practically to- extricate himself,
by means of the examples with which
his m is stored and Of the alb
stract conceptions which he has ac-
quired, from circumstances in which
he never was placed before" Thus
behavior. not knowledge, is the test
of education.
We teachers tend, even today. SO
much to the "book-la'rnin' theory of
~education: we feel 80 strongly that
nothing the pupil acquires is Of value
to him unless he can pass an exami-
III VII - w A0A SoA SN"Ne
ton SO much a matter Of intellect
and SO little a matter of feeling and
action-and then we sit in helpless
wonder when from all sides ONE the
chorus of complaint that education
has not accomplished What was ex-
pected Of 1t, that crime. and graft
and discomfort and blind political al
legiance. have lessened SO little. How
much more far-reaching. and-alas-
how much more difficult. is the
function Of the teacher as James sees
it!
Again. since the circle of thought
is never complete without action. the
teacher who attempts to stif1e self
activity is fighting against nature
NO reception without reaction, nc
impression without correlative ex-
p-ession-this is the great maxim
which the teacher ought never to for.
get. An impression which simply
flows in at the pupils eyes or ears