New Ulm review., 1913-10-08
Random Thoughts on Education.

kS8UOOUu ANVOOssSO -
THE greatest fallacy of prevailing
4 educational methods IS that they starr
from the premises that man IS vie
that he begins life naturally lnclln'
ed to insubordination and to IDLE
ness. and that nothing but sys.
tenn of rewards and punishments wlll
bring good out of him. In this way
the acquisition of knowledge has been
made a torture; our brains have been
worked as mercilessly over books as
manual labor has overtaxed tne
workman. s. -
!, The teacher should have no task
before him except to awaken the en-
ereies of his pupils. He must teach
them individual energy; his mission
is to discover child's aptitude, by
asking him questions and by develop
ing his personality. Children have an
insatiable desire to learn and to
know, which ought to be the only
spur to study, not punishments or re-
wards: and it is evident that we
ought to facilitate for every one the
studv he is most inclined to. 1t should
he made attractive to him; he should
be induced to engage in it, and to go
on with it by the force Of his own
comprehension, and with the pleas.
ure that may arise from continual
discoveries. To make men by tram
ing them to be mems not that the
problem of education?
The purpose of our schools should
he to turn the natural instincts OF
each to some good purpose, instead
of repressing them. Thus naturally
idle children should be treated as II
they had been sick; teachers should
try to rouse in them emulation,A and
to strengthen their win power by
making them take pains to study
subjects chosen by themselves
things that they can understand and
love. The strength of the turbulent
can be utilized in hard work; the
miserly shown a love of method; the
proud and the jealous, who are gen.
erally endowed with much intelll-
gence, urged to triumph over others
by accomplishing the most difficult
tasks. Thus what the world has
been taught to call "man's lower
instincts" will become fuel on the
glowing hearth whence life derives
it's inextinguishable flame. Thus all
the living forces will be put to their
proper use, and all creation will be
regulated by the law of order which
flows over human existence and IS
conductive in bringing humanity TO
happy state. ,.,,
After having impaired to children
such elements of general knowledge
as would be of use to them in life,
teachers should especially familiarize
them with facts and things that they
might understand what is real in the
world; they should also endeavor to
awaken in them a sense of order, and
by daily experience make them learn
the value of method; without method
there can be no useful work. 1t IS
method which classifies, which en-
ables US to accumulate knowledge
without losing what we have already
acquired, and learning from books If
not exactly set aside, should be rele-
gated to a place Of less Importance;
the child learns thoroughly only
what he can see, what he can touch,
and what he can understand.
We should not oblige him to bend
slavishly over incomprehensible dog
mas, and make him dread the person
and tyranny of the teacher, but en-
couraged to discover truth for nm
self, to understand it, and to make 1T
his own. There is no other way in
which we can train boys into men:
The individual energy of each child
should be awakened and employed
into the work of his own instruction,
thus making mistakes educational.
We should pive up the system OF re-
wards and punishment or recourse
to threats or caresses to make the
law work since no one taught by
this method will be lazy. There will
be occasionally sick children and
children who do not understand what
has been badly explained to them,
or children into whose brain it is the
custom to pound knowledge with
ferule for which they were not pre-
pared.
BY utilizing the great desire to
know which glows in every human
heart, the inextinguishable curiosity
a child feels about everything around
him, so that he is always tir;ng
grown people with his questions, in
struction will cease to be a torture
and becomes a constant pleasure as
soon as it is made attractive. The
teacher should endeavor to stimulate
the intelligence Of the children and
50 direct them to make fresh discov-
IL i