Produced by Charles KellerTHE EDUCATION OF THE CHILDby Ellen KeyINTRODUCTORY NOTEEdward Bok Editor of the Ladies Home Journal writesNothing finer on the wise education of the child has ever been broughtinto print To me this chapter is a perfect classic it points the waystraight for every parent and it should find a place in every home inAmerica where there is a childTHE EDUCATION OF THE CHILDGoethe showed long ago in his Werther a clear understanding ofthe significance of individualistic and psychological training anappreciation which will mark the century of the child In this work heshows how the future power of will lies hidden in the characteristicsof the child and how along with every fault of the child an uncorruptedgerm capable of producing good is enclosed Always he says I repeatthe golden words of the teacher of mankind if ye do not become asone of these and now good friend those who are our equals whom weshould look upon as our models we treat as subjects they should haveno will of their own do we have none Where is our prerogative Does itconsist in the fact that we are older and more experienced Good Godof Heaven Thou seest old and young children nothing else And in whomThou hast more joy Thy Son announced ages ago But people believe inHim and do not hear Himthat too is an old trouble and they modeltheir children after themselves The same criticism might be applied toour present educators who constantly have on their tongues such wordsas evolution individuality and natural tendencies but do not heedthe new commandments in which they say they believe They continue toeducate as if they believed still in the natural depravity of man inoriginal sin which may be bridled tamed suppressed but not changedThe new belief is really equivalent to Goethes thoughts given aboveie that almost every fault is but a hard shell enclosing the germ ofvirtue Even men of modern times still follow in education the old ruleof medicine that evil must be driven out by evil instead of the newmethod the system of allowing nature quietly and slowly to help itselftaking care only that the surrounding conditions help the work ofnature This is educationNeither harsh nor tender parents suspect the truth expressed by Carlylewhen he said that the marks of a noble and original temperament arewild strong emotions that must be controlled by a discipline as hardas steel People either strive to root out passions altogether or theyabstain from teaching the child to get them under controlTo suppress the real personality of the child and to supplant it withanother personality continues to be a pedagogical crime common tothose who announce loudly that education should only develop the realindividual nature of the childThey are still not convinced that egoism on the part of the child isjustified Just as little are they convinced of the possibility thatevil can be changed into goodEducation must be based on the certainty that faults cannot be atonedfor or blotted out but must always have their consequences Atthe same time there is the other certainty that through progressiveevolution by slow adaptation to the conditions of environment they maybe transformed Only when this stage is reached will education begin tobe a science and art We will then give up all belief in the miraculouseffects of sudden interference we shall act in the psychological spherein accordance with the principle of the indestructibility of matter Weshall never believe that a characteristic of the soul can be destroyedThere are but two possibilities Either it can be brought intosubjection or it can be raised up to a higher planeMadame de Staels words show much insight when she says that only thepeople who can play with children are able to educate them For successin training children the first condition is to become as a childoneself but this means no assumed childishness no condescendingbabytalk that the child immediately sees through and deeply abhorsWhat it does mean is to be as entirely and simply taken up with thechild as the child himself is absorbed by his life It means totreat the child as really ones equal that is to show him the sameconsideration the same kind confidence one shows to an adult It meansnot to influence the child to be what we ourselves desire him to becomebut to be influenced by the impression of what the child himself is notto treat the child with deception or by the exercise of force but withthe seriousness and sincerity proper to his own character SomewhereRousseau says that all education has failed in that nature does notfashion parents as educators nor children for the sake of educationWhat would happen if we finally succeeded in following the directions ofnature and recognised that the great secret of education lies hidden inthe maxim do not educateNot leaving the child in peace is the greatest evil of presentdaymethods of training children Education is determined to create abeautiful world externally and internally in which the child can growTo let him move about freely in this world until he comes into contactwith the permanent boundaries of anothers right will be the end ofthe education of the future Only then will adults really obtain a deepinsight into the souls of children now an almost inaccessible kingdomFor it is a natural instinct of selfpreservation which causes the childto bar the educator from his innermost nature There is the person whoasks rude questions for example what is the child thinking about aquestion which almost invariably is answered with a black or a whitelie The child must protect himself from an educator who would masterhis thoughts and inclinations or rudely handle them who withoutconsideration betrays or makes ridiculous his most sacred feelings whoexposes faults or praises characteristics before strangers or even usesan openhearted confidential confession as an occasion for reproof atanother timeThe statement that no human being learns to understand another or atleast to be patient with another is true above all of the intimaterelation of child and parent in which understanding the deepestcharacteristic of love is almost