The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-02-06
THE EDUCATIONAL DRIFT.
By w. e. GRIFFIN.

deep and insistent seeking after real
ity. OF a vast number of works on
philosophical subjects published dur
ing the last three years more than
sixty per cent employ the term real
ity'' on the title page; and all set
forth the discovery and exploitation
of the real as the fundamental subject
matter of philosophy. And too, the
problem is treated in a far different
manner from the way in which it was
treated a half century ago. Then re-
atty was treated as something far
away purely philosophical entity
somewhat known and movable
only by process of abstract thought.
But now, largely as q result of tho
influence of Eucken and Bergson, as
we'll as the tremendous developments
in natural science, we have come to
seek reality as the embodiment of
life, as something to be lived and
sensed, as the ground work of all our
hopes and ambitions and the under.
! lying impetus and civilization.
| And so-life is now invested with
new and characteristic dignity, and
| human nature is coming into it's own.
The old theological dogma as to the
natural and innate depravity of man is
possessed of educational significance
and has social value. This has given
wonderful impetus to educational
philosophy finds its starting point in
human nature, laying the groundwork
of it's principles in the mesh and net
work of human instincts.
The trend of educational psychology
is away from academic speculation
and abstract thinking, and towards
the laboratory and experimental meth
cd. OF course for several centuries
We have had something of expert
mental method, and of appeal to ma
tive human instincts. All the great
educational reformers, from Com
menus to the present, knew much as
to the value of psychological method,
and utilized the primary elements of
human nature. But now educational
thought in its broadest sense is seek
ing to derive new charter from eX-
perimental psychology, and at the
| ooLuC llihC any lboCil WIN NhS piO'
foundest philosophical thought of the
age. We now recognize that descrip-
tive psychology of the most compre-
hensive yet detailed sort must pro-
Icede the formation of educational
theory, and that much of the practi-
cal philosophy of education lies i'm
bedded in that largely explored field
/ a hOGuinoy nncsihilftu M and
variety of the responses which a
neurone may make to a stimulus. One
of the most ambitious and suggestive
works along this line is Thorndykes'
Educational Psychology" published
| in 1913. The first volume embraces
survey of the original nature and in
stincts of man; whereby education
takes, as it were, an inventory of
stock, and whereby we are enabled to
give quantitative direction and en-
phasis to psychological facts. The
succeeding volumes these fundament-
al psychic facts are worked up into
genetic theory of bonds and responses
and their value for educational prac-
tice, as we'll as their significance in
| lnt SIOunu WOIh VI SOCldl
are excellently traced out. Wundt
also, in a new work on psychology,
uses a number of simple experiments
to delineate and eXploint the ulti
mate facts of consciousness.
These ultimate psychic facts are
the materials with which the educat-
or works, and their recognition as
| fundamental factors in the educative
process is the necessary starting
point of all serious educational work.
The experiments of Wundt, the re-
searches of Thorndyke, and the fine
constructive thoughts of such men as
DR.. Suzallo, DR.. Nichalos Murray But
| ler DIR, Paul Klapper and others, all
reveal the true inwardness of the ed
ucational drift, and open before our
eyes new and amazing possibilities
along the line of educational thought,
philosophy and practice
| Excellent as are the development
tendencies just mentioned, there
turks in them however grave dan
ger. 1t is the danger Incidental to
nearly all great movements-that of
over emphasizing some theoretical
aspect or feature. In the educational
discussions of today we hear a great
deal about social efficiency In fact
the development of social efficiency
in the individual is often declared to
be the chief end and purpose of edu-
cation. So we are now about to try
to make educational theory and meth
cd square with the theory of social
efficiency. This is dangerous pro-
ceeding. Dangerous because, to be-
gin with, no one knows what social
efficiency means, 1t may mean any
thing, everything or nothing More
over the social efficiency theory as
sumes too much. 1t assumes that we
know the ultimate ideal OF human So
ciety But we do not know the ulti-
mate ideal of human society. We are
going through a process of develop
ment, and are so far from the goal
that we are not wholly certain we are
travelling in the right direction. 1t is
far too early in civilization to begin
subordinating the free embodiment Of
the individual to the realization OF a
social ideal. Education is too much
a matter of spiritual development to