Kant's Perspective on Child Education and Development, Apuntes de Ciencias de la Educación

¡Descarga Kant's Perspective on Child Education and Development y más Apuntes en PDF de Ciencias de la Educación solo en Docsity! KANT ON EDUCATION (UEBER PADAGOGIK) TRAXSLATED BY A N N E T T E C H U R T O N WITH AN INTRODUCTIOX BY BOSTON, U.S.A. D. C. HEATH ,& CO., PUBLISHERS 1900 LB E7s AZ c4 1200 es 31025 INTRODUCTION vii his pupil to posterity consists imply of a number of independent reflections, of criticisms not relating to Bock, of series of apophthegms, suggestive points, aperpus, with here and there . digression and repetition.' Above all we feel that, according to his usual method, the master is addressing the average youth among his listeners. The toughest things of the Critiques are not drawn upon, nor is there any termino- logical paraphernalia to deter the listener. The Kantian ethic is there, right enough, but the teacher is feeling out after a theory of education. He is deeply interested in his theme, but his attitude towards it is inductive and experi- mental. He realised its importance and the magnitude of its issues, but also the imperfect and provisional nature of existing conclusions on the subject. There was his nine years' experience as a private tutor to correct any rash theorising-he used to say he had never been able to apply his own precepts in any specific case among his pupils ! And his long academic career must have afforded him very 1 Rink does not appear to have kept any notes made by himbelf while a pupil, or t o have~colleoted any from other former students. ... Vl l l THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION varied insight into the nature of youthful development. But it was above all the time and the man that left the thoughtful minds of the last quarter of the eighteenth century no option but to be intensely concerned with the problem of education. The doctrine of the rights of man, the conviction of the worth of the individual aa such, was taking flesh to dwell among us. The child too, qud child, had rights to be let iive his child-life and enjoy his youth. Laissez ntarir I’enfance duns les enfants ! pleaded the book which was the charter of the rights of the child-I allude, of course, to the dntile-they have their own ways of seeing, thinking, feel- ing. Be not for ever seeking the man in the child, heedless of what the child is in and for himself. He is not simply ‘undeveloped man, but diverse.’ His plane of being is one of transition, no doubt, yet in a way it is indepen- dent, positive, integral, a microcosm. If he die young, look on him not merely as a failure, (I bud nipped off, but as on0 who for a while and in his own way has tasted sweet life. And sea to it that life to such has been’ made sweet ! Let the child, echoed Kant, be traibed w a INTRODUCTION ix child and not as a Biirger. He had, of course, to be trained up in the duties he owed to a social macrocosm, but this entity was not so much a definitely conceived state-that ideal was of the past and not yet re-born-as a vaguely comprehensive humanity of indepen- dent individuals. The child was to graduate as a Weltburger. Nor waa the community of children, nor were their claims on each other, very definitely taken into account. That also was to come. The individualism of the time saw only the Child and the Man, the nature of him overlaid by a crust of privilege, convention, and corrupt tradition. This was to be broken 'away; and the common nature that lay stifled beneath elicited and developed by a wholesome culture that should be all-powerful to redeem and reform. So would the moral sense innate in him sprout and burgeon, till the dignity of Man in the blossom of the Youth should stand confessed and vindicated. Such and much more was in the air when these lecture-notes were written. And its Conjunktur had brought forth the man. Come- nius and Locke, over and under t~ osntury earlier, had been fashioning him. And now xii THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION allowed the play of regulated freedom and not moulded into an automrqton of habits, nor be worried by arguments appealing, to faculties yet undeveloped. We do not catch distinctly in Kant's teaching the real Leitmotif of &mile, via. education not by precepts but by things '"in other wdrds by the laws of Nature. What, again, we find in Kant and not in the &mile I will outline presently. But thraugh both works, whiIe the ideals of liberty and equality are held up as supremely worthy, both the Stoic Prussian and the sympathetic Genevan submerge that of fraternity in the concept of the free Weltbiirger, jealous of his own liberty so it encroach not on that of others, jealous for the dignity of huma- nity in himself and others. To the ideal of liberty Kant attained by a road peculiar to his own philosophy. As to that of equality, by his own admission it was Rousseau-Z'ami de l'hgalit6"who had dragged him from his exclusive and aristocratic standpoint, and had made him sensible of the claims of all men on him in virtue of the common humanity in all. . At times, offended by Rousseau's extreme and paradoxical conclusions couched in a style of great charm, Kant accused him, just as Rous- INTRODUCTION xiii seau himself had accused many old and newer philosophers, of attempting to trick out well- worn doctrines in new forms. Yet the profound impression made by Rousseau remained, and so too does Kant’s confemion remain, that never before were sagacity of mind, loftiness of genius, and sensitiveness of soul so combined as in this man. Thus it was during the dawn of a new era of social philosophy, duripg the re-birth of the art of education, that Kant compiled his lectures on psdagogics. They bear the impress of these conditions. Both dogmatic and inductive, like his critical philosophy, they Rhow also a *standpoint which is characteristic of an age that wae passing, and yet affords glimpses into the future. There is the optimistic construction of man’s destiny ; the antithesis between man and beast, reason and instinct ; there is 1 the familiar analogy between family and state ; values are not an evolutional growth, but are essential and intrinsic ;nurture is all-important ; nature as handicapped by heredity is not yet a problem. * Man is nothing but what education makes of him.’ There is no account taken of the wear and tear of the career, of the strain xiv THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION and stress of competition. That the boy’s education is to be compressed or expanded from such considerations as the overcrowding of professions, the struggle for life, the race for wealth, the commercial status of his fatherland, is undreamt of in these quiet, hazy horizons. I say ( the boy’s education ’-for we do not find nor should we expect to find, the problem of the education of the girl faced and discussed, even though (and ind%ed just because) Rousseau had supplemented Smile by Sophie. Sophie was not an individual, an integer, a potential equal among equals; she was an adjunct. In a Konigsberg Chair especially she was a neg- ligible quantity. It is true that he question of intellectual development for her, in SO far as it was raised by Rousseau, made its impression upon Kant. And possibly his tutorial experi- ence may have given him glimpses of the needs and capacities of girls for more adequate culti- vation. Nevertheless the indefinite sex of his child becomes solely masculine when its more advanced training is discussed. In the second appendix to Vogt’s edition of these lectures we find the problem cautiously raised-and put aside, for the same .reason Kmt pu t aside INTRODUCTION xvii. nature was set by Kant in the forefront of his course. And it is not a goal to be attained by a few elect individuals. Academic aristocracy is waved aside by his all-embracing faith : ' Not particular human beings but the human race is to attain it.' He does not inthese notes attempt any philosophical definition or criterion of perfection.' We of to-day, as he here says, are not by any means clew on that point. But it is impressive to find the old man not only demanding much of human character, but believing to the last in his dictum : Du kannst den3 du sollst. It is worth while noticing that both Kant i n d Rousseau, at least implicitly, teach that the proximate ideal best conducing towards that ultimate end is not citizenship, nor fraternity, but fatherhood. For Kant he boy's training culminates and ceases when he is old enough to have children of his own. And there is nothing wanting in the emphasis laid on the I In Vogt's essay Eant's padag0gisch.e Amchauung vom Stdpuwkte der LEhTE von der transcen&ntabn Freiiaeit, &a the following definition of perfection is quoted incidentally @ud definition) from the JzqendEehre : - I For the perfection ' of a human being, as a personality, consists precisely in this, . that he himself is capable of determining his purpose accord- ing to his own notions of duty.' a xviii THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION mission of the father in the &?nile. What, truly, would be left of most of our painful social problems were all parents always at their best and wisest in intercourse with their children? And who shall say whether we may not come to see progress in concentrating the goal of boyhood in proportion as we expand that of girlhood ? Finally, as to those who should educate the fathers of the coming generation, Kant has left a word pregnant with the future far more than he himself was aware, and going far beyond the educational range of the time. ‘ The whole race ’“not a group of cities here and there, or an epoch now and then-‘ the whole race must educate the individual.’ Though, as he has said, it be chiefly through the agency of those who know,’ it is all humanity, past and present, that must minister to the development of the child, by whom in his or her turn, when rightly trained, the whole race, both present and future and past, is served. . Our modern predagogics will in no wise suffer ; from keeping in view Kant’s wide and high prospect. And for the general English reader, in whose eyes Kant still counts, most inaccu- rately, as a mainly speculative thinker, it should INTRODUCTlOX xix prove a benefit to come to know, through Miss Churton’s translation, some of the less known workings of a mind whose influence on modern philosophic and scientific thought has scarcely been surpassed. C. A. FOLEY RHYS DAVIDS. CONTENTS CHAFTER PAQE I. INTRODUCTION . , , , , . , . 1 11. PHYSICAL EDUCATION , , , , , . 88 -111. INSTRUCTION (CULTURE) . , , . 58 IV. CULTIVATION OF THE MIND. . . , . 66 V. MORAL CULTURE , , . . . . , 83 VI. PRACTICAL EDUCATION , , a , . US . ' INTRODUCTION 3 must be developed little by little out of man Discipline himself, through his own effort. IS merely negative One generation educates the n xt. The first beginnings of this process of educating m a m e looked for either in a rude and un- formed, or in a fully developed condition of man. If we assume the latter to have come, first, man mush st all events afterwards have degenerated and lapsed into barbarism. It is discipline, which prevents man from being turned aside by his animal impulses from humanity, his appointed end. Diecipline, for instance, must restrain him from venturing wilgly and rashly into danger. Discipline, thus, is merely negative, its action being to counter- act man's natural unruliness. The positive part of education is instruction. I Unruliness consists in independence of law. By discipline men are placed in subjection to the laws of mankind, and brought to feel their constraint. This, however, must be accom- plished early. Children, for instance, are first sent to school, not 80 much with the object of tbir learning something, but rather that they may become used to sitting still and doing exactly aa they are told. And this t o the end 3 2 ' 4 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION that in later life they should not wish to put actually and instantly into practice anything t,hat strikes them. The necessity 5. The love of freedom is naturally so strong of disoip- in man, that when once he has grown mcus- line in earlplife tomed to freedom, he will sacrifice everything for its sake. For this very reason discipline must be brought into play very early; for when this has not been done, it is difficult to alter character later in life. Undisciplined men are apt to follow every caprice. We see this also among savage nations, who, though they may discharge functions for some time like Europeans, yet can never become accustomed to European manners. With them, however, it is not the noble love of freedom which Rousseau and others imagine, but tt kind of barbarism-the animal, so to speak, not having yet developed its human nature. Men should therefore accustom themselves early to yield to the commands of reason, for if a man be allowed to follow. his own will in his youth, without opposition, a certain lawlessnesa will cling to him throughout his life. And it is no advantage to such a man that in his youth he bas been spared through an over-abundance of - INTRODUCTION 5 motherly tenderness, for later on all the more will he have to face opposition from all sides, and constantly receive rebuffs, as soon as he enters into the business of the world. It is a common mistake made in the educa- tion of those of high rank, that because they are hereafter to become rulers they must on that account receive no opposition in their youth. Owing to his natural love of freedom it is necessary that man should have his natural roughness smoothed down ; with auimale, their instinct renders this unnecessary. 6. Man needs nurture and culture. Culture Man indudes discipline and instruction. These, as struction : needs in- far as we know, no animal needs, for none of 88 a rule, animals, them learn anything from their elders, except do birds, who are taught by them to sing ; and it is a touching sight to watch the mother bird singing with all her might to her young ones, ' who, like children at school, stand round and try to produce the same tones out of their tiny throats. In order to convince ourselves that birds do not sing by instinct, but that they are - actually taught to sing, it is worth while tomake an experiment. Suppose we take away half the eggs from a canary, and put sparrow's eggs in I \ 8 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION for the first time people have begun to judge rightly, and understand clearly, what actually belongs to a good education. It is delightful to realise that hrough education human nature will be continually improved, and brought to such s condition as is worthy of the nature of man. This opens out to us the prospect of a happier human race in the future. The 8. The prospect of a theory of education is a theory of education glorious ideal, and it matters little if we are not is a glori- ouB ided; able to realise it at once. Only we must not none the look upon the idea as chimerical, nor decry it less. worthy of as a beautiful dream, notwithstanding the diffi- our mm because it culties that stand in the way of its realisation. has not yet been An idea is nothing else than the conception realised of a perfection which has not yet been ex- perienced. For instance, the idea of a perfect republic governed by principles of justice-is such an idea impossible, because it has not yet been experienced 3 Our idea must in the first place be correct, and then, notwithstanding all the hindrances that still stand in the way of its realisation, it is not st all impossible. Suppose, for instance, lying to become universal, would truth-speaking , on that actceount become nothing but a whim ? 1 INTRODUCTION 9 I And the idea of an education which will develop all man’s natural gifts is certainly a true one. 9. Under the present educational system This plan man does not fully attain to the object of his adequate of an being; for in what various ways men live ! may be education Uniformity can only result when all men act ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l y according to the same principles, which prin- ciples would have to become with them a second nature. What we can do is to work out a scheme of education better suited to further its objects, and hand*down to posterity directions as to how this scheme may be carried into practice, so thbt they might be able to realise it gradually. Take the auricula as an example. When raised from a root this plant bears flowers of one colour only; when raised from seed, the flowers are of the most varied oolours. Nature has placed these manifold germs in the plant, and their development is only a question of proper sowing and planting. Thus it is with man. 10. There are many germs lying unde- True edo- veloped in man. It is for us to make these should germs grow, by developing his natural gift8 in . their due proportion, and to see that he fulfils ~ ~ ~ o ~ ; e n t his destiny. Animals accomplish this for them- of natural cation have for Its aim gifts, and the fulfil- man's ment of destiny i. develop- Since such ment can 10 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION selves unconsciously. Man must strive to attain it, but this he cannot do if he has not even a conception as to the object of his existence. For the individual it is absolutely impossible to attain this'object. Let us suppose . the first parents to have been fully developed, and see how they educate their children. These first parents set their children an example, which the children imitate and in this way develop some of their own natural gifts. All their gifts cannot, however, be develop&l in this way, for it all depends on occasional circumstances what examples children see. In times past men had no conception of the perfection to which human nature might attain-even now we have not a . very clear, idea of the matter. This much, however, is certain : that no individual man, no matter what degree of culture may be reached by his pupils, can insure their attaining .their destiny. To succeed in this, not the work of a few individuals only is necessary, but that of the whole human race. 11. Education is an art which can only become perfect through the practice of many ' only be brought generations. Each generation, provided with about qadnally the knowledge of the foregoing one, is able more INTRODUCTION 13 II dition man has invariably fallen back again iuto that condition, and has raised himself out of it. In the earliest records of even very civilised nations we still find a distinct taint of barbarism, and yet how much culture is pre- supposed for mere writing to be possible! So much so that, with regard to civilised people, the beginning of the art of writing might be called the beginning of the world. 14. Since the development of man’s natural The gifts does not take place of itself, all education and t h e origin is an art. Nature has placed do instinct in him out of the carrying for that purpose. The origin as well as the :2u$ion carvying out of this art is either mechanical and ;:::”, without plan, ruled by given circumstances, or mechani- it involves the exercise of-judgment. The art of must in. ca l ; they education is only then mechanical, when on exercise volve the chance occasions we learn by experience whether ~ ~ ~ ~ g - anything is useful or harmful to man. All education which is merely mechmical must carry with it many mistakes and deficiencies, because it has 110 sure principle to work upon. If education is to develoE human nature so that it may attain the object of its being, it must involve the exercise of judgment. Educated parents are exampleR which children use for their 14 THOUGHTS OW EDUCATION guidance. If, however, the children are to progress beyond their parents, educhtion must become a study, otharwise we can hope for nothing from it, and one man whose education has been spoilt will only repeat his o m mistakes in trying to educate others. The mechanism of education muvt be changed into a science,’ and one generation may have to pull down what another had built up. Q 15. One principle of education which those men especially who form educational schemes should keep before their eyes is this-children ought to be educated, not for the present, but for a possibly improved condition of man in the future ; that is, in a manner which is adapted to the idea of humanity and the whole destiny of man. This principle is of great importance. Parents usually educate their children merely in such a manner that, however bad the world may be, they may adapt themselves to its present conditions. But they ought to give them an education so much .better than this, that a better condition of things may thereby be brought a%out in the future. Rink and Sohubert add here : ‘ otherwise it will never be a consistent pursuit.’-(Tr.) INTRODUCTION 15 16. Here, however, we are met by two diffi- This culties-(a) parents usually only care that their is over- children mnke the+ way in the world, and (b) prtrents Sovereigns look upon their subjects merely as they look tools for their own purposes. Parents care for the home, rulers for the E;jt$ principle looked by when merely to worldly state. Neither have as their aim the universal princes good and the perfection to which man is destined, look when they and for which he has also a natural disposition. the useful. merely t o But the basis of a scheme of education must in&\,& ness of be cosmopolitan. And is, then, the idea of the t;ln:gte universal good harmful to us as individuals ? The basis Never ! for though it may appear that something of educa- mwst be sacrifieed by this idea, an advance is should be also made towards what is the best even for the politan individual under his present conditions. And then what glorious consequences follow ! It is through good education that all the good in the world arises. For this the germs which lie hidden in man need only to be more and more developed ; for the rudiments of evil are not to be found in the natural disposition of man. Evil is onlybthe result of nature not being brought under control. In man there are only germs OF good. t1on cosmo- 17. But by whom is the bstter condition of 18 TIIOCGHTS ON EDUCATION Tye not still meet, now and then, with a ruler who looks upon his people merely as forming part of the animal kingdom, and whose aim it is merely to propagate the human species? If he considers the subject of training the intellect at all, it is merely in order that his people may be of inore use to him in working out his own ends. I t is, of course, necessary for private individuals to keep this natural end in view, but they must also bear in mind more particu- , larly the development of mankind, and see to it that men become not only clever, but good ; and, what is most difficult, they must seek to bring posterity nearer to a state of perfection than they have themselves attained. includes ciplme ture cretion Educntion 18. Through education, then, man must be (?) Dis- made- (2) cui- First, subject to discipline; by which we (3) ~ i ~ - must understand that influence which is always j4) plo- restraining our animal nature from getting the ral better of our manhood, either in the individual ns such, or in man as a member of society. Discipline, then, is merely restraining unruli- ness. Secondly, education must also supply men with culture. This includes information and ing ISTKODUCTION 19 iustruction. It is culture which brings out ability. Ability is the possession of a faculty which is capable of being adapted to various ends. Ability, therefore, does not determine any ends, but leaves that to circumstances as they arise afterwards. Some accomplishments are essentially good for everybody-reading and writing, for instance ; others, merely in the pursuit of certain objects, such as music, which we pursue in order to make ourselves liked. Indeed, the various pur- poses to which ability may be put are almost endless. -Thirdly, education must also supply a person with discretion (Kluglleit), so that he may be able to conduct himself in society, that he may be liked, and that he may gain in- fluence. For this a kind of culture is necessary which we call wjnement (Ciril isiewng). The latter requires manners, courteby, and a kind of discretion which will enahle him to w e all men for his own ends. This refinement changes according to the ever-changing tastes of dif- ferent ages. Thus some twenty or thirty years ago ceremonies in social intercourse were still the fashion. 0 2 20 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION Fourthly, nloral training must form a part of education. It is not enough that a man bhall be fitted for any end, but his disposition ~ must be so trained that he shall choose none but good ends-good ends being those which are necessarily approved by everyone, and which may at the same time be the aim of every- one. Moral 19. Man may be either broken in, trained, training is still and mechanically taught, or he may be really too much neglected enlightened., Horses and dogs are broken i n ; and man, too, may be broken in. I t is, however, not enough that children should be merely broken i n ; for it is of greater importance that they shall learn to think. By learning to think, man comes to act according to fixed principles and not at random. Thus we see that a real education implies a great deal. But as a rule, in our private eduwtion the fourth and most importunt point i s stdl tG0 much qbeglected, children being for the most part educated in such a way that moral training is left to the Church. And yet how important it is that children should learn from their youth up to detest vice ;-not merely on the ground that God has forbidden it, but because vice is detest- INTRODUCTION 23 by experiments, EO one generation can set forth ' a complete scheme of edumtion. The only experimental school which had in a measure made a beginning to clear the way was the Dessau Institute. This must be said in its praise, in spite of the many mistakes with which we might reproach it-mistakes which attend' all conclusions made from experiments-namely, that still more experiments are required. This school was in a, certain way the only one in which the teachers were free to work out their own methods and plans, and in which the teachers were in communication with each other end with all the learned men of Germany.' 21. Education includes the nurtzwe of the For edu- child and, as it grows, its culture. The latter we may cators is firstly negative, consisting of discipline; that tion con. say eduoa- is, merely the correcting of faults. Secondly, sists of culture is positive, consisting of instruction and l:iy guidance (and thus forming part of education). work of Guidance means directing the pupil in putting (2) In. parents), into practice what he has been taught. Hence (the work structlon the difference between a private teacher who teachers), merely instructs, and a tutor or gocemor who '; Guid- ance I In the editions of Rink and Schubert 5 27 follows (the Work of private of school- here.-(Tr.) See p. GO. . tutors) 24 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION guides and directs his pupil. Theone trains for school only, the other for life. Education 22. Education is either private or public., is either private or The latter is concerned only with inst'ruction, public and this can always remain public. The carry- ing out of what is taught is left to private education. A complete public education is one which unites instruction and moral culture. I ts aim is to promote a good private education. A school which does this is called an educational institute. There cannot be many such institu- tions, and the number of children in them can be but small, since the fees must of necessity be high, for the institutions require elaborate man- agement, which entails a good deal of expense. It is .the same as with almshouses and hospitals. The buildings required for them, and the salaries of directors, overseers, and servants, take away at once half of the funds, so that there can be no doubt that the poor! would be better provided for, if all that money were Rent direct o their 'houses. For this reason it is also difficult to provide that any but the children of rich people should share in these institutions. The aim 23. The object of such p b l i c institutions t is of public education these is the improvement of home education. IKTRODUCTION 25 If only parents, or those who are their fellow- is the helpers in the work of education, were well of home educated themselves, the expense of public institutions might be avoided. The purpose of .these institutions is to make experiments, and to educate individuals, so that in time a good private education may arise out of these public institutions. perfecting education 24. Home education is carried on either by Home the parents themselves, or, should the parents and its education not have the time, aptitude, or inclination for it, difficulty chief by others who are paid to assist hem in it. But in education which is carried on by these * assidante one very great difficulty arises- namely, the divieion of authority between parent and teacher. The child is called upon to obey the teacher’s rule, and at he same time to follow his parents’ whims. The only way out of this difficulty is for the parents to surrender the whole of their authority to the tutor. 25. How far, then, has home education an Public advantage over public education, or rice rersci? is, on the Regarded not nly from the point of view of the developing ability, but also ad a preparation for the duties of a citizen, it must, I am inclined to think, be allowed that, on the whole, .public education 28 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION opposition of society, that he may learn how dificult it is to support himself, to endure privation, and to acquire those things which are necessary to make him independent. The child 30. Here we must observe the following : - should be allowed First, we must allow the child from his perfect liberty, earliest childhood perfect liberty in every re- spect (except on those occasions when he might. time he hurt himself-as, for instance, when he clutches must be taught to at a knife), provided that in acting so he does the liberty not interfere with the liberty of others. For respect of others, and sub- instance, as soon as he sc,reams or is too mit him- self to a boisterously happy, he annoys others. restraint which Secondly, he must be shown that he can lead only attain his own ends by allowing others to to a right use of attain theirs. For instance, should he be dis- future liberty obedient, or refuse to learn his leesons, he ought to be refused any treat he may have been looking forward’to. Thirdly, we must prove to him that re- straint is only laid upon him that he may learn in time to use his liberty aright, and that his mind is being cultivated so that one day he may be free; that is, independent of the help of others. This is the last thing a child will come to understand. It is much later in life th@ INTRODUCTION 29 children realise such facts as that hey will afterwards have to support themselves ; for they imagine that they can always go on as they are in their parents' house, and that food and drink will always be provided for them without any ' trouble on their part. Indeed, unless children, and especially the children of rich parents m d princes, are made to realise this, they are like the inhabitants of Otaheiti, who remain children all their lives. Again, we see the advantage of public educa- The tion in that under such a system, we learn to some measure our powers with those of others, and to tion of kn0.w the limits imposed upon us by the rights of others. Thus we can have no preference shown us, because we meet with opposition everywhere, and we can only make our mark and obtain an advantage over others by real merit. Public education is the best school for future citizens. whole- competi- school life L There is yet another difficulty to be men- tioned here-that is, the difficulty of anticipat- ing the knowledge of sexual matters in such a manner as to prevent vice at the very outset of manhood. This, however, will be discussed later on, 30 THOUGHTS OX EDUCATION Education 31. Education is either physical or practi- may be into divided cal.’ One part of physical education is that physical which man has in common with animals, namely, and ‘prac- tical feeding and tending. ‘ Practicccl ’ or moral training is that which teaches a man how to live as a free being. (We call anything ‘practical’ which has reference to freedom.) This is the education of a personal character, of. a free being, who is able to maintain himself,,and to take hie proper place in society, keeping a t the same time a proper sense of his own indi- viduality. (1) 1”- 32. This ‘practical ’ education consists, then, makes of three parts :- struotlon man valu- able asn (a) The ordinary cuwiculum Of the school, individual (for him. where the child’s general ability is developed- tical edu- cation (b) Instruction in the practical matters of makes life-to act with wisdom and discretion-the him valu- able a8 a work of the private tutor or governess. citizen (for the (c) The training of moral character. state and society) Men eed the training of school-teaching or ral (3) tram- Eao- indruction to develop the ability necessary to ing makes succesa in the various vocations of life. School- him valu- able as a teaching besfoms upon each member an indi- human being (for vidud vdue of his own. mankind) the work of the schoolmaster. (2) Prac- CHAPTER I1 PHYSICAL EDUClTION 34. ALTHOUQH those who undertake the home The pri- education of children do not have them en- as the trusted to their care so early as to have charge of the of their physical education, at the same time it fi:$'f9 is useful for them to know all that is necessary :;thing to, carry out this part of a, child's education of the from first to last. Though the tutor may only training physlcal have to do with older children, it may happen ren of child- that others may be born in the house, and if he conducts himself wisely he will always have a. claim to become the confidant of the parents, and to be consulted about the physical training of the little ones ; the more so as often the tutor is the only well-educated person in t'he, house. He should therefore have previously made himself acquainted with the subject of. the physical education of children. vate tutor, confidant 55. Physical training, properly speaking, D 34 T€IOUGRTS ON EDLfCA4TfON The ‘ mother’s milk is the best nourish- ment for infants consists merely in the tending and feeding of the child, usually the work of parents or nurses. The nourishment which Nature has provided for the infant is the mother’s milk, and it is better for both when the mother is able to nurse her child. That the child’s disposition is affected in this may, however, is mere prejudice, though one often hears it said of some trait of character : ‘ You have imbibed that with your mother’s milk.’ We must, however, make an exception in extreme cases, such as when the mother’s condi- tion is unhealthy. It was formerly believed that the first milk given by the mother after the birth of the infant, which resembles whey, is unwholesome, and must first be removed before the child is nursed. Rousseau, however, called the attention of physicians to this point, to ascertain whether this first milk might not be useful to the child, since Nature has made nothing in vain, and it was actually found that the refuse which is always met with in a new-born child, which is known among doctors as meconium, is best removed by this milk, which is therefore useful and not harmful to the child. ' 38. The question has been asked whether Ayimal's an infant might not be as well brought up on poor sub- the milk of animals; but human milk is very different in substance from the milk of animals. The milk of all those animals which live on grass and vegetables very soon curdles, if any- thing sour is added to it-tartaric acid, for inetance, citric acid, or especially the acid of rennet. ,Human milk, on the other hand, does not curdle. But should the mother or nurse take a vegetable diet for a few days, her milk will curdle in the same way as cows' milk, &e.; though when she has returned to a meat diet for a little while, her milk will again become as good as evh. From this it has been concluded that it is best and most healthy for the mother or nurse to eat meat during the nursing period. When children throw up the milk, it ie found to be curdled. The acid in the child's stomach must herefore accelerate the curdling of the milk more than any other kind of acid, since human milk cannot be brought to curdle in the ordinary way. How much wome would it be if milk were given to the child which curdled of itself! We see, however, from the customs of other nation8 with regard to the bringing up mllk IS a stitote D 2 38 THOUGHTS ON EDUCL44TfON a cool and hard bed. Cold baths also are good. No stimulant must be allowed in order to excite the child's hunger, for hunger m u d only be the consequence of act'ivity and occupation. How- ever, the child must not be allowed so to accustom himself to anything as to feel the loss. of it. It is better not to encourage artificially .the- formation of habits either good or bad. The CUB- 39. Among savage nations the custom of tom of swathing swathing infants is never observed. Savage children is useless nations in America, for instance, make holes in harmful the earth, and strew them with dust from and even rotting trees, which serves to keep the children to a certain extent clean and dry. In these holes the children lie, covered with ,leaves, having ex- cept for this covering, the free use of their limbs. It is simply for the sake of our own con- venience that we swathe our children like mummies, so that we may not have the trouble of watching them in order to prevent heir limbs from getting broken or bent. And yet it often happens that they do get bent, just by swathing them. Also it makes the children themselves uneasy, and they are almost driven to despair on account of their never being a,ble to use their limbs. And then people imagine that PHYSICAL EDUCATION 39 by calling to the child they stop its crying. But suppose a grown man were to be subjected to the same treatment, and we shall soon see whether he, too, would not cry and fall into uneasiness and despair. In general we must bear in mind that early education is only negative-that is, ye .have not to add anything to the provision of Nature, but merely to see that such provision is duly carried out. ' If any addition to this is necessary on our part, it must be the process of hardening the child. For this reason, also, we must give up the habit of swathing our children. If, however, we want to use some kind of caution, the most suitable arringement would be a kind of box covered with leather straps, such as the It'alians use and call arcuccio. The child is never taken out of this box, even when nursed by its mother. This protects the child from the chance of being smothered when sleeping with its mother at night, while with us many children lose their lives in this way. This arrangement is better then swathing the child, since it allows greater freedom for the limbs, while at the same time it serves 8s a protection against anything that might hurt or bend its body. 40 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION Rooking, 40. Another custom belonging to early also is obj&ion- education is the rocking of babies. The easiest able way of doing this is the way some peasants do it. The cradle is hung by a cord to the rafter, and, when the cord is pulled, the cradle rocks of itself from side to side. Rocking, however, is altogether objectionable, for the swinging back- wards and forwards is bad for the child. We see th& among grown people, in whom swinging often produces a feeling of sickness and giddiness. By swinging, nurses want to stun the child, so that he should not cry. But crying is a whole- some thing for a child, for when a child is born end draws its first breath the course of the blood in its veins is altered, which causes a painful sensation ; the child immediately cries, and the energy expended in crying develops and strengthens the various organs of its body. To run at once to a child's help when he cries-to sing to him, as the way of nursee is-is very bad for the child, and is often the beginning of spoiling him, for when he sees he gets things by crying ' for them he will cry all the more.' 41. Children are usually taught to walk by I In the editions of Rink and Schubert $ 5 51 and 48 follow here.-(Tr.) PHYSICAL EDUCATlON 43 his wants a little more accurately-for an oval might as well be a stone as a loaf-he might then be led on to express the letter B in some way, and so on. The child might inpent his own alphabet in this way, which he would afterwards only have to exchange for other signs. 43. There are some children who come into Stays, the world with certain defects. Are there no some. means of remedying these defects ? It has been decided, according to the opinion of many gr$ learned writers, that stays are of no use in such in the cases, but rather tend to aggravate the mischief generally figure, by hindering the circulation of the blood and the mis- increase himours, and the healthy expansion of both chief the outer and inner parts of the body. If the child is left free he will exercise his body, and a man who has worn stays is weaker on leaving them off than a man who has never put them on. Perhaps some good might be done for those who are born crooked by more weight being put upon the side where the muscles are stronger. Thie, however, is a dangerous practice, too, for who is to decide what is the right balance? which are It seems best that the child should learn use his limbs, and remedy this defect by keeping 44 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION his body in a certain position, even though he mag find it trouhlesome, for no instruments are of any use in such caees. An ener- 44. All these art,ificial contrivances are the vating is as influence more hurtful in that they run counter to the muoh to aim of Nature in making organised and reason- able beings ; for Nature requires them to keep as an over- their freedom, in order that they may learn hardenin process how to use their powers. All that education can do in this matter is to prevent children from becoming eJemi7zate. This might be done by accustoming them to habits of hardiness, which is the opposite of effeminacy. It is venturing too much to want to accustom children to every- thing. Russians have made the mistake of going too far in this direction, and consequently an enormous number of their children die young, from the over-hardening process. Habit is the result of the constant repetition of any one enjoyment or action, until such enjoyment or action becomes a necessity of our nature. There is nothing to which children become more easily accustomed, and which should be more carefully kept from them, than such ighly stimulating things as tobacco, brandy, and warm drinks. Once acquired, it is very difficult to PHYSICAL EDUCATION 45 give up these things ; and giving them up causes physical disturbances at first, since the 'repeated use of anything effects a change in the functions of the different organs of our body. The more habits a man allows himself to form, the less free and independent he becomes; for it is the same wit8h man as with a811 other animals ; whatever he has been accustomed to early in life always retains a certain attraction for him in after.life. Children, therefore, must be prevented from forming any habits, nor should habits be fostered in them. 45. Many parents want to get their children R ~ ~ ~ I ~ ~ used to anything and everything. But this is be 60 good. For human nature in general, as well ~~~~~, as the nature of certain individuals in particular, and drink- will not allow of such training, and consequently many children remain apprentices all their lives. Some parents, for instance, would have their chi1,dren go to sleep, get up, and have their meals whenever they please; but in order that they may do this with %impunity, they must follow a special diet, a diet which will strengthen the body, and repair the evil which this irregu- larity causes. We find, indeed, many instances of periodicity in Nature also. Animals have 1ng 48 TROUG'HTS ON EL)UC-kTION children happy, winning ways, in order that they may gain people's hearts. Nothing does children more harm than'to exercise a vexatioue and slav'ish discipline over them with a view to breaking their self-will. ~~~t~~ 48. During the first eight months of a child child's life its sense of sight is not fnlly developed. begins to cry from It experiences, it is true, the sensation of light, some con- scious but cannot as yet distinguish one object from reason oButi0; is another. To convince ourselves of this, we have the more necessary only to hold up a glittering object before the to prevent child's eyes and then remove it ; we may at once notice that he does not follow it with his eyes. At the same time a8 the sense of sight, the power of laughing and crying is developed. When the child has once reached that stage, there is n h a y s same reasoning, however vague it .may be, connected with his crying. He cries with the idea that some harm has been done him. Rouseeau says that if you merely tap a cbild of six months on the hand, it will scream as if a bit of burning wood had touched it. Here the child has actually a sense of grievance besides the mere bodily hurt. Parents talk a great deal his being I Rink and Schubert read : ' three.'-(Tr.) PHYSICAL EDUCATION 49 about breaking the will of their children, but there is no need to break their will unless they have already been spoilt. The spoilin; begins when a child has but to cry to get his own way. It is very difficult to repair this evil later on ; indeed, it can scarcely be done. We may keep the child from crying or otherwise worrying us, but he swallows his vexation, and is inwardly nursing anger all the more. In ,this way the Howchild. child becomes accustomed to dissembling and made ais ren are agitati.on of mind. It is, for instance, very semblers strange that parents hould expect their children to turn and kiss their hand (vide p. 89) after they have just beaten ‘them. That is the way to teach them dissembling and falsehood. For the child surely does not look on the rod with any special favour, so that he should feel any gratitude for its chastisement, and one can easily imagine with what feelings the child kisses the hand which has punished him. 49. We often say to a child: ‘Fie, for Terms of shame! you shouldn’t do that, ’ &e. But such :LEzd expressions are futile in this early stage of edu- ~~~~~ cation; for the child has, as yet, no sense of ~~~1~~~~ shame or of seemliness. .He has nothing to be to ashamed of, and ought not to be ashamed. timidity and con- E oealment 50 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION These expressions therefore will simply make him timid. He will become embarrassed before others, and inclined to keep away from their company-and fyom this arises reserve and harmful concealment. He is afraid to ask for anything, when he ought to ask for all he wants. He conceals his true character, a,nd always appears to be other than he is, when he ought to be able to speak frankly and freely. Instead of being always near his parents he shuns them, preferring to make friends with the servants of the house. To be 50. No better than this vexatious system of oonFtantly bringing up children is that of perpetually playing , ~ i t h and playing with and caressing the child ; this makes caressmg children him self-willed and deceitful, and by betraying makes them self- to him their weakness, parents lose the neces- deceitful sary respect in the eyes of the child. If, on the willed and other hand, he is so trained that he gets nothing by crying for it, he will be frank without being bold, and modest without being timid. Bold- ness, or, what is almost the same thing, insolence, is insufferable. There are many men whose constant insolence has given them such an expression that heir very Iook leads one to expect rudeness from them, while you have PHYSICAL EDUCATION 53 the ills of life. Therefore it is of the utmost We must importance that children should be taught farly to work. If they have not been over-indulged, children are naturally fond of amusements which are attended with fatigue, and occupations daintiness which require exercise of strength. With regard to pleasures, it is best not to let them be dainty, nor to allow them to pick and choose. As a rule, mothers spoil their children in this way and indulge them altogether too much. In spite of this we very often notice that children, and especially boys, are fonder of their father than of their mother. This is probably because mothers are timid, and do not allow them to use their limbs as freely as they would wish, for fear of the children hurting themselves. While fathers, on the other hand, although they are stern to them, and perhaps punish them severely when they are naughty, yet ake them out sometimes into the fields and do not try to hinder their boyish games. guard 53. Some people believe that in making children wait a long time for what they want they childrm teach them patience. This is, however, hardly not be ehould necessary, though doubtless in times of illness, sarily put unneces- &e., patience is needed. Patience is two-fold, 54 TIIOUGHTE ON EDUCATION consisting either in giving up all hope or in gaining new courage to go on. The first is not necessary, provided what we hope to gain ie possible; the second we should always desire, as long as what pe strive for is right. In cases of illness, however, hopelessness spoils what has been made good by cheerfulness. But he who is still capable of taking courage with regard to his physical or moral condition is not likely to give up all hope.’ The 54. The will of children, as has been already will of children remarked, must not be broken, but merely bent be in such a way that it may yield to natural c In the editions of Rink and Schubert the following is ‘ Children should not be intimidated. This happens par- ticularly when they are addressed in terms of abuse, and are often put to shame. A case in paint is the exclamation made use of by many parents : ‘‘ Fie, for shame I ” It is not a t all clear why children should be ashamed of themselves forsuck- t ing their fingers and things of that kind. They may be told that it is not customary to do so, or that it is not good manners. But only in the case of lying ought they to be told to be ashamed of what they have done. Nature has bestowed the feeling of shame on man in order that self-betrayal may immediately follow upon lying. Hence, if parents do not arouse shame in their children, except when they have lied, this feeling of shame with regard to untruth will endure all their lifetime. If, however, they are constantly put to shame, there is produced a kind of bashfulness from which they can never subsequently free thrmse1ves.’-(Tr.) here inserted : PHYSICAL EDUCATION 55 obstacles. At the beginning, it is true, the bent, not child must obey blindly. I t is unnatural th$t a though st broken-. child should command by his crying, and that ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ $ the strong should obey the ,weak. Children is neces- should never, even in their earliest childhood, blind be humoured because they cry, nor allowed to extort anything by crying. Parents often make a mistake in this, and t)hen, wishing to undo the result of their over-indulgence, they deny their children in later life whatever they ask for. It is, however, very wrong to refuse them with- out cause what they may naturally expect from the kindness of their parents, merely for the sake of opposing them, and tha't they, being the weaker, should be made to feel the superior power of their parents. them ; to thwart them purposely is an utterly k o a wrong way of bringing tlzent up. The former $.:? generally happens as long as they are the play- things of their parents, and especially during other the time when they are beginning t o talk. By should we spoiling a, child, however, very great harm is sarily done, affecting its whole life. Those who thwart him thwart the wishes of children prevent them (and must necessarily prevent them) at the same time from sarily 55. To grant children their wishes is to spoil Weshould not yield hand, unneces- 58 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION CHAPTER I11 INSTRUCTION (CULTURE) In phpsi- 58. THE positive part of physical education ing arti. is c u l t w e . It is this which distinguishes man oal train- ficial aids &s from the animals. Culture consists chiefly in Es!& the exercise of the mental facuhies. Parents, be dis- then, should gire their children opportunities with for such exercise. The first and most important pensed rule is that all artificial aids should, as far as possible, be dispensed with. Thus in early child- hood leading-strings and go-carts hould be discarded, and the child allowed to crawl about on the ground till he learns to go by himself- he will then walk more steadily. For the use of tools is the ruin of natural quickness. Thus we want a cord to measure a certain distance, though we might as well measure it by the eye ; or a clock to tell the time, when we might do this by the position of the sun; or a compass to find our way in a forest, when we might IPTGTBCCTION 59 instead be guided by the position of the sun by dag, of the stars by night. Indeed, we might even gay that instead of needing a bo& we might swim across the water, The celebrated Franklin, wondered why everyone didn’t learn to swim, since swimming is so pleasant and so useful. He also suggested an easy may by which to teach oneself to swim :-Standing in a brook with the water up to your neck, you drop an egg into the m t e r , a,nd then try to reach it. In bending forward to do this you will be carried off your feet, and, in order to prevent the water getting into your mouth, you will throw your head back. You are now in the proper posi- tion for swimming, and have only to strike out with the arms to find yourself actually swim- ming. What has to be done is to see that natural ability is cultivated. Sometimes instruction is necessary ; sometimes the child’s mind is inventive enough, ore invents tools for himself. education, with respect to the training of the ::$:ye body, relates either to the use of voluntary $:; movements or to the organs of sense. As to develop strength 69. What should be observed in physical phy&al 60 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION and skill, the first of these, what is wanted is that the quickness and self- child should always help himself. For this, fidence con- both strength and skill, quickness and self-con- fidence, are necessary, so as to be able, for instance, to go along narrow paths, or to climb steep places with an abyss before one’s eye, or to cross a slender plank. If a man cannot do this, he is not entirely what he might be, Since the Philanthropinon of Dessau set the example, many attempts of this kind have been made with children in other institutions. It is wonderful to read how the Swiss accustom them- selves from early childhood to climb mountains, how readily they venture along the narrowest paths with perfect confidence, and leap over chasms, having first measured the distance with the eye, lest it should prove to be beyond their powers. danger of falling, and this fear actually paralyses their limbs, so that for them such a proceeding would be really fraught with danger. This fear generally grows with age, and is chiefly found Most people, however, fear some imaginary -_ INSTRUCTION 63 their principle in a certain instinct common to all children. In ‘ blindman’s buff,’ for iqstance, there is the desire to know ho-:. they would help themselves were they deprived of one of their senses. Spinning tops is a singular game. Such games as these furnish matter for further reflec- tion to grown-up men, rtnd occasionally lead even to important discoveries. Thus Segner has written a treatise on the top ; and the top has furnished an English sea-captain with material for inventing a mirror, by means of which <he height of the stars may be measured from a ship. as trumpets, drums, and the like; but hese are objectionable, since they become a nuisance to others. It would be less objectionable, how- ever, were children to learn how to cut a reed so as to play on it. Children are fond of noisy instruments, such :. Swinging is also a healthy exercise, as well for grown-up people as for children. Children, however, should be watched, lest they swing too fast. Kite-flying is also an unobjectionable game. It calls forth skill, the flight of the kite depend- 64 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION ing on its being in a certain position relatively to the wind. BY game's 62. For the sake of these games the boy will 1e&ms en-,deny himself in his other wants, and thus train the child durance maintaihs himself unconsciously for other and greater his natu- privations. Further, he will accustom himself to ral cheer- fulness: constant occupation ; necertheless for that very and gams incandour reason these games must not be mere games, but - training On social games having some end and object. For the more a child's body is strengthened and hardened in this way, the more surely will he be saved from the ruinous consequences of over-indulgence. Gymnastics also are intended merely to direct Nature; hence we must not aim atartificial grace. Discipline must precede instruction. Here, however, in training the bodies of children Te must also take care to fit them for society. Rousseau sags : You will never get an able man, unless you have a street urchin first.' A lively boy will sooner become a good man than a con- ceited and priggish lad. A child must learn to be neither troublesome nor insinuating in company. He must be con- fident at the invitation of others without being obtrusive, and frank without being impertinent. As a means to this end all we have to do is not t o INSTRUCTION 65 spoil the child's nature, either by giving him such ideas of good behaviour as will only ,serve to make him timid and shy, or, on the other hand, by suggesting to him a wish to assert himself. Nothing is more ridiculous than pre- cocious good behaviour and priggish self-conceit in achild. In this last instance we must let the child see his weakness all the more, but' at the same time we must not overpower him with a sense of'our own superiority and power ; so that, though the child may develop his own individual- ity, he should do so only as a member of society-in a world which must, it is true, be large enough for him, but also for others. Toby in ' Tristram Shandy ' says to a fly which has been annoying him for some time, and which he at last puts out of the window, ' Go away, tire- some creature ; the world is large enough for us both,' We may each of us take these words for our motto. We need not be troublesome t e one another ; the world is large enough for all I of UB,. P 88 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION while they ought to be accustomed to serious business at an early period, since they must some time nter a business life. This is a.n utterly preposterous notion. A child must play, must have his hours of recreation ; but he must also learn to work. It is a good thing, doubtless, to exercise skill, as it is to cultivate the mind, but these two kinds of culture should have their separate hours. Moreover, it is a great misfor- tune for 'man that he is by nature so inclined to ' inaction. The longer a man gives way to this inclination, the more difficult will he find it to make up his mind to work.,. Workis to 66. I n work the ockpation is not pleasant be distin- guished in itself, but it is 'undertaken for the sake of the . by having end in view. In games, on the other hand, the from play occupation is pleasant in itself without having some view any other end in view. When we go for a walk, end in we do so for the sake of the walk, and therefore the fiwther we go the pleasanter it is; while when we go to a certain place, ow object is the company which we shall find there, or something else, and therefore we shall naturally choose the shortest way. The same thing happens in oard games. It is really extraordinary how reasonable men can sit by the hour and shuffle cards. It r c CULTIVATION OF "HE MTND 69 is not, it seems, so easy for men to leave off being children. For 'how is this a better game than the children's game of ball ? It is t h e that grown men do not care to ride hobby-horses, but they ride other hobbies. 67. It is of the greatest importance that Man children should learn to work. Man is the oocupa- needs . only animal who is obliged to work. He must restraint; tion and go through a long apprenticeship before he can school~fe, therefore enjoy anything for his own sustenance. The withits question whether Heaven would not have shown ;to;i compul- us gjeater kindness by supplying all our wants restraint, without the necessity of work on our part must training certainly be answered in the negative, for man &ild needs occupation, even occupation that involves a certain amount of restraint. Just as false a notion is it that if Adam and Eve had only re- mained in Paradise they would have done nothing there but sit together singingpastoral songs and admiring the beauty of Nature. Were this so, they would have been tormented with ennui, just as much as other people in the same position. Men ought to be occupied in such a way that, filled with the idea of the end which they have before their eyes, they are not conscious of them- selves, end the best rest for them is the rest is a good for the 70 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION which follows work. In the same way a child must become accustomed to work, and where can the inclination to work be cultivated so well as at school? School is a place of compulsory culture. I t is very bad for a child to learn to look upon everything as play. He must, it is true, have his time for recreation, but he must also have his time for work. Even though the child does not at once understand the use of this restraint, later in life he will recognise its value. It would be merely training the child to bad habits of inquisitiveness were one always to answer his questions : ‘ What is the use of this ? ’ or, ‘What is the use of that ? ’ Education must be compulsory, but it need not therefore be slavish. The men- 68. With regard to the <,free ’ cultivation of ties ought the mental faculties, we must remember that :::&tb,”a this cultivation is going on constantly. It really deals with the superior faculties. The stely, but eachone inferior faculties must be cultivated along with in relation to others them, but only with a view to the superior; for “ the inferior instance, the intelligence with a view to the with s view to understanding-the principal rule that we :$rior should follow being that no mental faculty is to tal facul- 1 Vogt omits the word free ’ here.-(Tr.) CULTIVATION OF THE MlND 73 the sake' of exercising the memory is of no use educationally-for instance, the learning pf a speech by heart. At all evente, it only serves to encourage forwardness. Besides this, declama- tion is only proper for grown-up men. The same may be said of all those things which we learn merely for some future examination or with a view to filtura~n oblizionem.' The memory should only be occupied with such things as are important to be retained, and which mill be of service to us in real life. Novel-reading is the Novel- worst thing for children, since they can make no bad for further use of it, and it merely affords them entertainment for the moment. Novel-reading weakens the memory. For it would be ridicu- lous to rememher novels in order to relate them to others. Therefore all novels should be taken away from children. Whilst reading them they weave, as it were, an inner romance of their own, rearranging the circumstances for themselves ; their fancy is thus imprisoned, but there is no exercise of thought. reading is children Distractions must never be allowed, least of all in school, for the result will be a certain propensity in that direction which might soon Future forgetfulness. 74 THOUGHTS ON EDUCATION grow into a habit. Even the finest talents may be wasted when once a man is subject to dis- traction. Although children are inattentive at their games, they soon 'recall their attention. We may notice, however, that they $re most dis- tracted when they are thinking of some mischief, for then they are contriving either how to hide it, or else how to repair the evil done. They then only half hear nything, give wrong answers, and know nothing about what hey are reading, &e. T h e 70. The m mory must be cultivated early, memory should be but we must be careful to cultivate the under- by learn- standing at the same time. cultivated ingnarnes, The memory is cultivated (i) by learning by reading and writ- the names which are met with in tales, (ii) by ing, and by learning reading and writing. But as to reading, child- languages ren should practise it with the head, without depending on the spelling. (iii) By languages, which childrln should first learn by hearing, before they read anything. Then a well-constructed so-called orbis pictus will prove very useful. We might begin with botany, mineralogy, and natural history in general. In order to make sketches of these objects, drawing and modelling will have to be CULTIVATIOX OF THE MIND 75 learned, and for this some knowledge of mathe- matics is necessary. The first lessons in svience will most advantageously be directed to the study of geography, mathematical as well as physical. Tales of travel, illustrated by pictures and maps, will lead on to political geography. From the present condition of the earth's surface we go back to its earlier condition, and this leads us to ancient geography, ancient history, and so on. But in teaching children we must seek Knowing insensibly to unite knowledge with the carrying be and doing out of that knowledge into practice. Of all the combined sciences, mathematics seems to be the one that best ful6ls this. Further, knowledge and speech (ease in speaking, fluency, eloquence) must be united. The child, however, must learn also to distinguish clearly between knowledge and mere ' opinion and belief. Thus we prepare the way for a right understanding, and a right-not a rejned or delicate-taste. This taste must at first be that of the senses, especially the eyes, but ultimately of ideas. 71. It is necessary to have rules for everything The which is intended to cultivate the understanding. standing I t is very useful mentally to separate the rules, that the understanding may proceed not merely rules under- should be