,,craftsmanship ,,in ,,teaching  by     
,,william ,,chandler ,,bagley  ,author  
,of ,the ,educative ,process1 ,classroom
 ,management1 ,educational ,values1     
,etc4        ,new ,york ,the ,mac,millan
 ,company #aiab ,all rights reserved    
,copyright1 #aiaa1 by the ,mac,millan   
,company4 ,set up and electrotyped4     
,published ,april1 #aiaa4 ,reprinted    
,june1 ,october1 #aiaa2 ,may1 #aiab4    
,norwood ,press ,j4,s4 ,cushing         
,co4--,berwick  ,smith ,co4 ,norwood1   
,mass41 ,u4,s4,a4      ,,to ,,my        
,,parents      ,,preface   ,the         
following papers are published chiefly  
because they treat in a concrete and    
personal manner some of the principles  
which the writer has developed in two   
previously published books1 ,the        
,educative ,process and ,classroom      
,management1 and in a forthcoming       
volume1 ,educational ,values4 ,it is    
hoped that the more informal discussions
 presented in the following pages will1 
in some slight measure1 supplement the  

theoretical and systematic treatment    
which necessarily characterizes the     
other books4 ,in this connection1 it    
should be stated that the materials of  
the first paper here presented were     
drawn upon in writing ,chapter ,,xviii  
of ,classroom ,management1 and that the 
second paper simply states in a         
different form the conclusions reached  
in ,chapter ,i of ,the ,educative       
,process4  ,the writer is indebted to   
his colleague1 ,professor ,l4,f4        
,anderson1 for many criticisms and      
suggestions and to ,miss ,bernice       
,harrison for invaluable aid in editing 
the papers for publication4 ,but his    
heaviest debt1 here as elsewhere1 is to 
his wife1 to whose encouraging sympathy 
and inspiration whatever may be valuable
 in this or in his other books must be  
largely attributed4    ,,urbana1        
,,illinois1   ,march #a1 #aiaa          
,,contents     ,,chapter                
,,page    ,i4 ,,craftsmanship ,,in      
,,teaching                              

#a    ,,ii4 ,,optimism ,,in ,,teaching  
#bc    ,,iii4 ,,how ,,may ,,we ,,promote
 ,,the ,,efficiency ,,of ,,the          
,,teaching ,,force8        #dc    ,,iv4 
,,the ,,test ,,of ,,efficiency ,,in     
,,supervision                           
#fc    ,v4 ,,the ,,supervisor ,,and     
,,the ,,teacher                         
#gg    ,,vi4 ,,education ,,and ,,utility
                                        
#if    ,,vii4 ,,the ,,scientific        
,,spirit ,,in ,,education               
#abc    ,,viii4 ,,the ,,possibility ,,of
 ,,training ,,children ,,to ,,study     
#add    ,,ix4 ,a ,,plea ,,for ,,the     
,,definite ,,in ,,education             
#afd    ,x4 ,,science ,,as ,,related    
,,to ,,the ,,teaching ,,of ,,literature 
#aia    ,,xi4 ,,the ,,new ,,attitude    
,,toward ,,drill                        
#bjd    ,,xii4 ,,the ,,ideal ,,teacher  
#bbi     ,,craftsmanship ,,in ,,teaching
  ,i  ,,craftsmanship ,,in ,,teaching#a 
,i       ,in the laboratory of life1    
each newcomer repeats the old           

experiments1 and laughs and weeps for   
himself4 ,we will be      explorers1    
though all the highways have their      
guideposts and every      bypath is     
mapped4 ,helen of ,troy will not deter  
us1 nor the wounds      of ,caesar      
frighten1 nor the voice of the king     
crying ',vanity6' from      his throne  
dismay4 ,what wonder that the stars that
 once sang for      joy are dumb and the
 constellations go down in              
silence4--,,arthur ,,sherburne ,,hardy3 
,the ,wind of ,destiny4   ,we tend1 ,i  
think1 to look upon the advice that we  
give to young people as something that  
shall disillusionize them4 ,the cynic of
 forty sneers at what he terms the      
platitudes of commencement addresses4   
,he knows life4 ,he has been behind the 
curtains4 ,he has looked upon the other 
side of the scenery1--the side that is  
just framework and bare canvas4 ,he has 
seen the ugly machinery that shifts the 
stage setting--the stage setting which  
appears so impressive when viewed from  

the front4 ,he has seen the rouge on the
 cheeks that seem to blush with the     
bloom of youth and beauty and innocence1
 and has caught the cold glint in the   
eyes that1 from the distance1 seem to   
languish with tenderness and love4 ,why1
 he asks1 should we create an illusion  
that must thus be rudely dispelled8 ,why
 revamp and refurbish the old platitudes
 and dole them out each succeeding year8
 ,why not tell these young people the   
truth and let them be prepared for the  
fate that must come sooner or later8    
,but the cynic forgets that there are   
some people who never lose their        
illusions1--some men and women who are  
always young1--and1 whatever may be the 
type of men and women that other        
callings and professions desire to      
enroll in their service1 this is the    
type that education needs4 ,the great   
problem of the teacher is to keep       
himself in this class1 to keep himself  
young1 to preserve the very things that 
the cynic pleases to call the illusions 

of his youth4 ,and so much do ,i desire 
to impress these novitiates into our    
calling with the necessity for          
preserving their ideals that ,i shall   
ask them this evening to consider with  
me some things which would1 ,i fear1    
strike the cynic as most illusionary and
 impractical4 ,the initiation ceremonies
 that admitted the young man to the     
privileges and duties of knighthood     
included the taking of certain vows1 the
 making of certain pledges of devotion  
and fidelity to the fundamental         
principles for which chivalry stood4    
,and ,i should like this evening to     
imagine that these graduates are        
undergoing an analogous initiation into 
the privileges and duties of            
schoolcraft1 and that these vows which  
,i shall enumerate1 embody some of the  
ideals that govern the work of that     
craft4   ,,ii  ,and the first of these  
vows ,i shall call1 for want of a better
 term1 the vow of artistry1--the pledge 
that the initiate takes to do the work  

that his hand finds to do in the best   
possible manner1 without reference to   
the effort that it may cost or to the   
reward that it may or may not bring4  ,i
 call this the vow of artistry because  
it represents the essential attitude of 
the artist toward his work4 ,the cynic  
tells us that ideals are illusions of   
youth1 and yet1 the other day ,i saw    
expressed in a middle-aged working-man a
 type of idealism that is not at all    
uncommon in this world4 ,he was a house 
painter2 his task was simply the prosaic
 job of painting a door2 and yet1 from  
the pains which he took with that work1 
an observer would have concluded that it
 was1 to the painter1 the most important
 task in the world4 ,and that1 after    
all1 is the true test of craft artistry3
 to the true craftsman the work that he 
is doing must be the most important     
thing that can be done4 ,one of the best
 teachers that ,i know is that kind of a
 craftsman in education4 ,a student was 
once sent to observe his work4 ,he was  

giving a lesson upon the attribute      
complement to an eighth-grade grammar   
class4 ,i asked the student afterward   
what she had got from her visit4 ,why1  
she replied1 that man taught as if the  
very greatest achievement in life would 
be to get his pupils to understand the  
attribute complement1--and when he had  
finished1 they did understand it4  ,in a
 narrower sense1 this vow of artistry   
carries with it an appreciation of the  
value of technique4 ,from the very fact 
of their normal school training1 these  
graduates already possess a certain     
measure of skill1 a certain mastery of  
the technique of their craft4 ,this     
initial mastery has been gained in      
actual contact with the problems of     
school work in their practice teaching4 
,they have learned some of the          
rudiments2 they have met and mastered   
some of the rougher1 cruder             
difficulties4 ,the finer skill1 the     
delicate and intangible points of       
technique1 they must acquire1 as all    

beginners must acquire them1 through the
 strenuous processes of self-discipline 
in the actual work of the years that are
 to come4 ,this is a process that takes 
time1 energy1 constant and persistent   
application4 ,all that this school or   
any school can do for its students in   
this respect is to start them upon the  
right track in the acquisition of skill4
 ,but do not make the mistake of        
assuming that this is a small and       
unimportant matter4 ,if this school did 
nothing more than this1 it would still  
repay tenfold the cost of its           
establishment and maintenance4 ,three   
fourths of the failures in a world that 
sometimes seems full of failures are due
 to nothing more nor less than a wrong  
start4 ,in spite of the growth of       
professional training for teachers      
within the past fifty years1 many of our
 lower schools are still filled with raw
 recruits1 fresh from the high schools  
and even from the grades1 who must learn
 every practical lesson of teaching     

through the medium of their own         
mistakes4 ,even if this were all1 the   
process would involve a tremendous and  
uncalled-for waste4 ,but this is not    
all2 for1 out of this multitude of      
untrained teachers1 only a small        
proportion ever recognize the mistakes  
that they make and try to correct them4 
,to you who are beginning the work of   
life1 the mastery of technique may seem 
a comparatively unimportant matter4 ,you
 recognize its necessity1 of course1 but
 you think of it as something of a      
mechanical nature1--an integral part of 
the day's work1 but uninviting in       
itself1--something to be reduced as     
rapidly as possible to the plane of     
automatism and dismissed from the mind4 
,i believe that you will outgrow this   
notion4 ,as you go on with your work1 as
 you increase in skill1 ever and ever   
the fascination of its technique will   
take a stronger and stronger hold upon  
you4 ,this is the great saving principle
 of our workaday life4 ,this is the     

factor that keeps the toiler free from  
the deadening effects of mechanical     
routine4 ,it is the factor that keeps   
the farmer at his plow1 the artisan at  
his bench1 the lawyer at his desk1 the  
artist at his palette4  ,i once worked  
for a man who had accumulated a large   
fortune4 ,at the age of seventy-five he 
divided this fortune among his children1
 intending to retire2 but he could find 
pleasure and comfort only in the routine
 of business4 ,in six months he was back
 in his office4 ,he borrowed twenty-five
 thousand dollars on his past reputation
 and started in to have some fun4 ,i was
 his only employee at the time1 and ,i  
sat across the big double desk from him1
 writing his letters and keeping his    
accounts4 ,he would sit for hours1      
planning for the establishment of some  
industry or running out the lines that  
would entangle some old adversary4 ,i   
did not stay with him very long1 but    
before ,i left1 he had a half-dozen     
thriving industries on his hands1 and   

when he died three years later he had   
accumulated another fortune of over a   
million dollars4  ,that is an example of
 what ,i mean by the fascination that   
the technique of one's craft may come to
 possess4 ,it is the joy of doing well  
the work that you know how to do4 ,the  
finer points of technique1--those little
 things that seem so trivial in         
themselves and yet which mean everything
 to skill and efficiency1--what pride   
the competent artisan or the master     
artist takes in these6 ,how he delights 
to revel in the jargon of his craft6    
,how he prides himself in possessing the
 knowledge and the technical skill that 
are denied the layman6  ,i am aware that
 ,i am somewhat unorthodox in urging    
this view of your work upon you4        
,teachers have been encouraged to       
believe that details are not only       
unimportant but stultifying1--that      
teaching ability is a function of       
personality1 and not a product of a     
technique that must be acquired through 

the strenuous discipline of experience4 
,one of the most skillful teachers of my
 acquaintance is a woman down in the    
grades4 ,i have watched her work for    
days at a time1 striving to learn its   
secret4 ,i can find nothing there that  
is due to genius1--unless we accept     
,george ,eliot's definition of genius as
 an infinite capacity for receiving     
discipline4 ,that teacher's success1 by 
her own statement1 is due to a mastery  
of technique1 gained through successive 
years of growth checked by a rigid      
responsibility for results4 ,she has    
found out by repeated trial how to do   
her work in the best way2 she has       
discovered the attitude toward her      
pupils that will get the best work from 
them1--the clearest methods of          
presenting subject matter2 the most     
effective ways in which to drill2 how to
 use text-books and make study periods  
issue in something besides mischief2    
and1 more than all else1 how to do these
 things without losing sight of the true

 end of education4 ,very frequently ,i  
have taken visiting school men to see   
this teacher's work4 ,invariably after  
leaving her room they have turned to me 
with such expressions as these3 ,a born 
teacher6 ,what interest6 ,what a        
personality6 ,what a voice6--everything1
 in fact1 except this1--which would have
 been the truth3 ,what a tribute to     
years of effort and struggle and        
self-discipline6  ,i have a theory which
 ,i have never exploited very seriously1
 but ,i will give it to you for what it 
is worth4 ,it is this3 elementary       
education especially needs a literary   
interpretation4 ,it needs a literary    
artist who will portray to the public in
 the form of fiction the real life of   
the elementary school1--who will        
idealize the technique of teaching as   
,kipling idealized the technique of the 
marine engineer1 as ,balzac idealized   
the technique of the journalist1 as ,du 
,maurier and a hundred other novelists  
have idealized the technique of the     

artist4 ,we need some one to exploit our
 shop-talk on the reading public1 and to
 show up our work as you and ,i know it1
 not as you and ,i have been told by    
laymen that it ought to be1--a          
literature of the elementary school with
 the cant and the platitudes and the    
goody-goodyism left out1 and in their   
place something of the virility1 of the 
serious study1 of the manful effort to  
solve difficult problems1 of the real   
and vital achievements that are         
characteristic of thousands of          
elementary schools throughout the       
country to-day4  ,at first you will be  
fascinated by the novelty of your work4 
,but that soon passes away4 ,then comes 
the struggle1--then comes the period1 be
 it long or short1 when you will work   
with your eyes upon the clock1 when you 
will count the weeks1 the days1 the     
hours1 the minutes that lie between you 
and vacation time4 ,then will be the    
need for all the strength and all the   
energy that you can summon to your aid4 

,fail here1 and your fate is decided    
once and for all4 ,if1 in your work1 you
 never get beyond this stage1 you will  
never become the true craftsman4 ,you   
will never taste the joy that is        
vouchsafed the expert1 the efficient    
craftsman4  ,the length of this period  
varies with different individuals4 ,some
 teachers find themselves quickly4 ,they
 seem to settle at once into the        
teaching attitude4 ,with others is a    
long1 uphill fight4 ,but it is safe to  
say that if1 at the end of three years1 
your eyes still habitually seek the     
clock1--if1 at the end of that time1    
your chief reward is the check that     
comes at the end of every fourth        
week1--then your doom is sealed4   ,,iii
  ,and the second vow that ,i should    
urge these graduates to take is the vow 
of fidelity to the spirit of their      
calling4 ,we have heard a great deal in 
recent years about making education a   
profession4 ,i do not like that term    
myself4 ,education is not a profession  

in the sense that medicine and law are  
professions4 ,it is rather a craft1 for 
its duty is to produce1 to mold1 to     
fashion1 to transform a certain raw     
material into a useful product4 ,and1   
like all crafts1 education must possess 
the craft spirit4 ,it must have a       
certain code of craft ethics2 it must   
have certain standards of craft         
excellence and efficiency4 ,and in these
 the normal school must instruct its    
students1 and to these it should secure 
their pledge of loyalty and fidelity and
 devotion4  ,a true conception of this  
craft spirit in education is one of the 
most priceless possessions of the young 
teacher1 for it will fortify him against
 every criticism to which his calling is
 subjected4 ,it is revealing no secret  
to tell you that the teacher's work is  
not held in the highest regard by the   
vast majority of men and women in other 
walks of life4 ,i shall not stop to     
inquire why this is so1 but the fact    
cannot be doubted1 and every now and    

again some incident of life1 trifling   
perhaps in itself1 will bring it to your
 notice2 but most of all1 perhaps you   
will be vexed and incensed by the very  
thing that is meant to put you at your  
ease--the patronizing attitude which    
your friends in other walks of life will
 assume toward you and toward your work4
  ,when will the good public cease to   
insult the teacher's calling with empty 
flattery8 ,when will men who would never
 for a moment encourage their own sons  
to enter the work of the public schools1
 cease to tell us that education is the 
greatest and noblest of all human       
callings8 ,education does not need these
 compliments4 ,the teacher does not need
 them4 ,if he is a master of his craft1 
he knows what education means1--he knows
 this far better than any layman can    
tell him4 ,and what boots it to him1 if1
 with all this cant and hypocrisy about 
the dignity and worth of his calling1 he
 can sometimes hold his position only at
 the sacrifice of his self-respect8     

,but what is the relation of the craft  
spirit to these facts8 ,simply this3 the
 true craftsman1 by the very fact that  
he is a true craftsman1 is immune to    
these influences4 ,what does the true   
artist care for the plaudits or the     
sneers of the crowd8 ,true1 he seeks    
commendation and welcomes applause1 for 
your real artist is usually extremely   
human2 but he seeks this commendation   
from another source--from a source that 
metes it out less lavishly and yet with 
unconditioned candor4 ,he seeks the     
commendation of his fellow-workmen1 the 
applause of those who know1 and always  
will know1 and always will understand4  
,he plays to the pit and not to the     
gallery1 for he knows that when the pit 
really approves the gallery will often  
echo and reecho the applause1 albeit it 
has not the slightest conception of what
 the whole thing is about4  ,what       
education stands in need of to-day is   
just this3 a stimulating and pervasive  
craft spirit4 ,if a human calling would 

win the world's respect1 it must first  
respect itself2 and the more thoroughly 
it respects itself1 the greater will be 
the measure of homage that the world    
accords it4 ,in one of the educational  
journals a few years ago1 the editors   
ran a series of articles under the      
general caption1 ,why ,i am a teacher4  
,it reminded me of the spirited         
discussion that one of the ,sunday      
papers started some years since on the  
world-old query1 ,is marriage a failure8
 ,and some of the articles were fully as
 sickening in their harrowing details as
 were some of the whining matrimonial   
confessions of the latter series4 ,but  
the point that ,i wish to make is this3 
your true craftsman in education never  
stops to ask himself such questions4    
,there are some men to whom schoolcraft 
is a mistress4 ,they love it1 and their 
devotion is no make-believe1 fashioned  
out of sentiment1 and donned for the    
purpose of hiding inefficiency or native
 indolence4 ,they love it as some men   

love ,art1 and others ,business1 and    
others ,war4 ,they do not stop to ask   
the reason why1 to count the cost1 or to
 care a fig what people think4 ,they are
 properly jealous of their special      
knowledge1 gained through years of      
special study2 they are justly jealous  
of their special skill gained through   
years of discipline and training4 ,they 
resent the interference of laymen in    
matters purely professional4 ,they      
resent such interference as would a     
reputable physician1 a reputable lawyer1
 a reputable engineer4 ,they resent     
officious patronage and fussy meddling4 
,they resent all these things manfully1 
vigorously4 ,but your true craftsman    
will not whine4 ,if the conditions under
 which he works do not suit him1 he will
 fight for their betterment1 but he will
 not whine4   ,,iv  ,and yet this vow of
 fidelity and devotion to the spirit of 
schoolcraft would be an empty form      
without the two complementary vows that 
give it worth and meaning4 ,these are   

the vow of poverty and the vow of       
service4 ,it is through these that the  
true craft spirit must find its most    
vigorous expression and its only        
justification4 ,the very corner stone of
 schoolcraft is service1 and one        
fundamental lesson that the tyro in     
schoolcraft must learn1 especially in   
this materialistic age1 is that the     
value of service is not to be measured  
in dollars and cents4 ,in this respect1 
teaching resembles art1 music1          
literature1 discovery1 invention1 and   
pure science2 for1 if all the workers in
 all of these branches of human activity
 got together and demanded of the world 
the real fruits of their self-sacrifice 
and labor1--if they demanded all the    
riches and comforts and amenities of    
life that have flowed directly or       
indirectly from their efforts1--there   
would be little left for the rest of    
mankind4 ,each of these activities is   
represented by a craft spirit that      
recognizes this great truth4 ,the artist

 or the scientist who has an itching    
palm1 who prostitutes his craft for the 
sake of worldly gain1 is quickly        
relegated to the oblivion that he       
deserves4 ,he loses caste1 and the caste
 of craft is more precious to your true 
craftsman than all the gold of the      
modern ,midas4  ,you may think that this
 is all very well to talk about1 but    
that it bears little agreement to the   
real conditions4 ,let me tell you that  
you are mistaken4 ,go ask ,roentgen why 
he did not keep the ,x-rays a secret to 
be exploited for his own personal gain4 
,ask the shade of the great ,helmholtz  
why he did not patent the               
ophthalmoscope4 ,go to the ,university  
of ,wisconsin and ask ,professor        
,babcock why he gave to the world       
without money and without price the     
,babcock test--an invention which is    
estimated to mean more than one million 
dollars every year to the farmers and   
dairymen of that state alone4 ,ask the  
men on the geological survey who laid   

bare the great gold deposits of ,alaska 
why they did not leave a thankless and  
ill-paid service to acquire the wealth  
that lay at their feet4 ,because        
commercialized ideals govern the world  
that we know1 we think that all men's   
eyes are jaundiced1 and that all men's  
vision is circumscribed by the milled   
rim of the almighty dollar4 ,but we are 
sadly1 miserably mistaken4  ,do you     
think that these ideals of service from 
which every taint of self-seeking and   
commercialism have been eliminated--do  
you think that these are mere figments  
of the impractical imagination8 ,go ask 
,perry ,holden out in ,iowa4 ,go ask    
,luther ,burbank out in ,california4 ,go
 to any agricultural college in this    
broad land and ask the scientists who   
are doing more than all other forces    
combined to increase the wealth of the  
people4 ,go to the scientific           
departments at ,washington where men of 
genius are toiling for a pittance4 ,ask 
them how much of the wealth for which   

they are responsible they propose to put
 into their own pockets4 ,what will be  
their answer8 ,they will tell you that  
all they ask is a living wage1 a chance 
to work1 and the just recognition of    
their services by those who know and    
appreciate and understand4  ,but let me 
hasten to add that these men claim no   
especial merit for their altruism and   
unselfishness4 ,they do not pose before 
the world as philanthropists4 ,they do  
not strut about and preen themselves as 
who would say3 ,see what a noble man am 
,i6 ,see how ,i sacrifice myself for the
 welfare of society6 ,the attitude of   
cant and pose is entirely alien to the  
spirit of true service4 ,their delight  
is in doing1 in serving1 in producing4  
,but beyond this1 they have the faults  
and frailties of their kind1--save      
one1--the sin of covetousness4 ,and     
again1 all that they ask of the world is
 a living wage1 and the privilege to    
serve4  ,and that is all that the true  
craftsman in education asks4 ,the man or

 woman with the itching palm has no     
place in the schoolroom1--no place in   
any craft whose keynote is service4 ,it 
is true that the teacher does not       
receive to-day1 in all parts of our     
country1 a living wage2 and it is       
equally true that society at large is   
the greatest sufferer because of its    
penurious policy in this regard4 ,i     
should applaud and support every        
movement that has for its purpose the   
raising of teachers' salaries to the    
level of those paid in other branches of
 professional service4 ,society should  
do this for its own benefit and in its  
own defense1 not as a matter of charity 
to the men and women who1 among all     
public servants1 should be the last to  
be accused of feeding gratuitously at   
the public crib4 ,i should approve all  
honest efforts of school men and school 
women toward this much-desired end4 ,but
 whenever men and women enter           
schoolcraft because of the material     
rewards that it offers1 the virtue will 

have gone out of our calling1--just as  
the virtue went out of the ,church when1
 during the ,middle ,ages1 the ,church  
attracted men1 not because of the       
opportunities that it offered for social
 service1 but because of the            
opportunities that it offered for the   
acquisition of wealth and temporal      
power1--just as the virtue has gone out 
of certain other once-noble professions 
that have commercialized their standards
 and tarnished their ideals4  ,this is  
not to say that one condemns the man who
 devotes his life to the accumulation of
 property4 ,the tremendous strides that 
our country has made in material        
civilization have been conditioned in   
part by this type of genius4 ,creative  
genius must always compel our admiration
 and our respect4 ,it may create a world
 epic1 a matchless symphony of tones or 
pigments1 a scientific theory of        
tremendous grasp and limitless scope2 or
 it may create a vast industrial system1
 a commercial enterprise of gigantic    

proportions1 a powerful organization of 
capital4 ,genius is pretty much the same
 wherever we find it1 and everywhere we 
of the common clay must recognize its   
worth4  ,the grave defect in our        
,american life is not that we are hero  
worshipers1 but rather that we worship  
but one type of hero2 we recognize but  
one type of achievement2 we see but one 
sort of genius4 ,for two generations our
 youth have been led to believe that    
there is only one ambition that is worth
 while1--the ambition of property4      
,success at any price is the ideal that 
has been held up before our boys and    
girls4 ,and to-day we are reaping the   
rewards of this distorted and unjust    
view of life4  ,i recently met a man who
 had lived for some years in the        
neighborhood of ,st4 ,paul and          
,minneapolis1--a section that is        
peopled1 as you know1 very largely by   
,scandinavian immigrants and their      
descendants4 ,this man told me that he  
had been particularly impressed by the  

high idealism of the ,norwegian people4 
,his business brought him in contact    
with ,norwegian immigrants in what are  
called the lower walks of life1--with   
workingmen and servant girls1--and he   
made it a point to ask each of these    
young men and young women the same      
question4 ,tell me1 he would say1 who   
are the great men of your country8 ,who 
are the men toward whom the youth of    
your land are led to look for           
inspiration8 ,who are the men whom your 
boys are led to imitate and emulate and 
admire8 ,and he said that he almost     
always received the same answer to this 
question3 the great names of the        
,norwegian nation that had been burned  
upon the minds even of these workingmen 
and servant girls were just four in     
number3 ,ole ,bull1 ,bjoernson1 ,ibsen1 
,nansen4 ,over and over again he asked  
that same question2 over and over again 
he received the same answer3 ,ole ,bull1
 ,bjoernson1 ,ibsen1 ,nansen4 ,a great  
musician1 a great novelist1 a great     

dramatist1 a great scientist4  ,and ,i  
conjectured as ,i heard of this         
incident1 ,what would be the answer if  
the youth of our land were asked that   
question3 ,who are the great men of your
 country8 ,what type of achievement have
 you been led to imitate and emulate and
 admire8 ,how many of our boys and girls
 have even heard of our great men in the
 world of culture1--unless1 indeed1 such
 men lived a half century ago and have  
got into the school readers by this     
time8 ,how many of our boys and girls   
have ever heard of ,mac,dowell1 or      
,james1 or ,whistler1 or ,sargent8  ,i  
have said that the teacher must take the
 vow of service4 ,what does this imply  
except that the opportunity for service1
 the privilege of serving1 should be the
 opportunity that one seeks1 and that   
the achievements toward which one       
aspires should be the achievements of   
serving8 ,the keynote of service lies in
 self-sacrifice1--in self-forgetfulness1
 rather1--in merging one's own life in  

the lives of others4 ,the attitude of   
the true teacher in this respect is very
 similar to the attitude of the true    
parent4 ,in so far as the parent feels  
himself responsible for the character of
 his children1 in so far as he holds    
himself culpable for their shortcomings 
and instrumental in shaping their       
virtues1 he loses himself in his        
children4 ,what we term parental        
affection is1 ,i believe1 in part an    
outgrowth of this feeling of            
responsibility4 ,the situation is       
precisely the same with the teacher4 ,it
 is when the teacher begins to feel     
himself responsible for the growth and  
development of his pupils that he begins
 to find himself in the work of         
teaching4 ,it is then that the effective
 devotion to his pupils has its birth4  
,the affection that comes prior to this 
is1 ,i think1 very likely to be of the  
sentimental and transitory sort4  ,in   
education1 as in life1 we play          
altogether too carelessly with the word 

love4 ,the test of true devotion is     
self-forgetfulness4 ,until the teacher  
reaches that point1 he is conscious of  
two distinct elements in his            
work1--himself and his pupils4 ,when    
that time comes1 his own ego drops from 
view1 and he lives in and for his       
pupils4 ,the young teacher's tendency is
 always to ask himself1 ,do my pupils   
like me8 ,let me say that this is beside
 the question4 ,it is not1 from his     
standpoint1 a matter of the pupils      
liking their teacher1 but of the teacher
 liking his pupils4 ,that1 ,i take it1  
must be constantly the point of view4   
,if you ask the other question first1   
you will be tempted to gain your end by 
means that are almost certain to prove  
fatal1--to bribe and pet and cajole and 
flatter1 to resort to the dangerous     
expedient of playing to the gallery2 but
 the liking that you get in this way is 
not worth the price that you pay for it4
 ,i should caution young teachers       
against the short-sighted educational   

theories that are in the air to-day1 and
 that definitely recommend this         
attitude4 ,they may sound sweet1 but    
they are soft and sticky in practice4   
,better be guided by instinct than by   
half-baked theory4 ,i have no           
disposition to criticize the attempts   
that have been made to rationalize      
educational practice1 but a great deal  
of contemporary theory starts at the    
wrong end4 ,it has failed to go to the  
sources of actual experience for its    
data4 ,i know a father and mother who   
have brought up ten children            
successfully1 and ,i may say that you   
could learn more about managing boys and
 girls from observing their methods than
 from a half-dozen prominent books on   
educational theory that ,i could name4  
,and so ,i repeat that the true test of 
the teacher's fidelity to this vow of   
service is the degree in which he loses 
himself in his pupils1--the degree in   
which he lives and toils and sacrifices 
for them just for the pure joy that it  

brings him4 ,once you have tasted this  
joy1 no carping sneer of the cynic can  
cause you to lose faith in your calling4
 ,material rewards sink into            
insignificance4 ,you no longer work with
 your eyes upon the clock4 ,the hours   
are all too short for the work that you 
would do4 ,you are as light-hearted and 
as happy as a child1--for you have lost 
yourself to find yourself1 and you have 
found yourself to lose yourself4     ,v 
,and the final vow that ,i would have   
these graduates take is the vow of      
idealism1--the pledge of fidelity and   
devotion to certain fundamental         
principles of life which it is the      
business of education carefully to      
cherish and nourish and transmit        
untarnished to each succeeding          
generation4 ,these but formulate in     
another way what the vows that ,i have  
already discussed mean by implication4  
,one is the ideal of social service1    
upon which education must1 in the last  
analysis1 rest its case4 ,the second is 

the ideal of science1--the pledge of    
devotion to that persistent unwearying  
search after truth1 of loyalty to the   
great principles of unbiased observation
 and unprejudiced experiment1 of        
willingness to accept the truth and be  
governed by it1 no matter how           
disagreeable it may be1 no matter how   
roughly it may trample down our pet     
doctrines and our preconceived theories4
 ,the nineteenth century left us a      
glorious heritage in the great          
discoveries and inventions that science 
has established4 ,these must not be lost
 to posterity2 but far better lose them 
than lose the spirit of free inquiry1   
the spirit of untrammeled investigation1
 the noble devotion to truth for its own
 sake that made these discoveries and   
inventions possible4  ,it is these      
ideals that education must perpetuate1  
and if education is successfully to     
perpetuate them1 the teacher must       
himself be filled with a spirit of      
devotion to the things that they        

represent4 ,science has triumphed over  
superstition and fraud and error4 ,it is
 the teacher's duty to see to it that   
this triumph is permanent1 that mankind 
does not again fall back into the black 
pit of ignorance and superstition4  ,and
 so it is the teacher's province to hold
 aloft the torch1 to stand against the  
materialistic tendencies that would     
reduce all human standards to the common
 denominator of the dollar1 to insist at
 all times and at all places that this  
nation of ours was founded upon         
idealism1 and that1 whatever may be the 
prevailing tendencies of the time1 its  
children shall still learn to live among
 the sunlit peaks4 ,and if the teacher  
is imbued with this idealism1 although  
his work may take him very close to     
,mother ,earth1 he may still lift his   
head above the fog and look the morning 
sun squarely in the face4  ,,footnotes3 
,footnote #a3 ,an address to the        
graduating class of the ,oswego1 ,new   
,york1 ,state ,normal ,school1          

,february1 #aijg4     ,,ii  ,,optimism  
,,in ,,teaching#b   ,although the month 
is ,march and not ,november1 it is never
 unseasonable to count up the blessings 
for which it is well to be thankful4 ,in
 fact1 from the standpoint of education1
 the spring is perhaps the appropriate  
time to perform this very pleasant      
function4 ,as if still further to       
emphasize the fact that education1 like 
civilization1 is an artificial thing1 we
 have reversed the operations of ,mother
 ,nature3 we sow our seed in the fall   
and cultivate our crops during the      
winter and reap our harvests in the     
spring4 ,i may be pardoned1 therefore1  
for making the theme of my discussion a 
brief review of the elements of growth  
and victory for which the educator of   
to-day may justly be grateful1 with1    
perhaps1 a few suggestions of what the  
next few years may reasonably be        
expected to bring forth4  ,and this     
course is all the more necessary        
because1 ,i believe1 the teaching       

profession is unduly prone to pessimism4
 ,one might think at first glance that  
the contrary would be true4 ,we are     
surrounded on every side by youth4      
,youth is the material with which we    
constantly deal4 ,youth is buoyant1     
hopeful1 exuberant2 and yet1 with this  
material constantly surrounding us1 we  
frequently find the task wearisome and  
apparently hopeless4 ,the reason is not 
far to seek4 ,youth is not only buoyant1
 it is unsophisticated1 it is           
inexperienced1 in many important        
particulars it is crude4 ,some of its   
tastes must necessarily1 in our         
judgment1 hark back to the primitive1 to
 the barbaric4 ,ours is continually the 
task to civilize1 to sophisticate1 to   
refine this raw material4 ,but1         
unfortunately for us1 the effort that we
 put forth does not always bring results
 that we can see and weigh and measure4 
,the hopefulness of our material is     
overshadowed not infrequently by its    
crudeness4 ,we take each generation as  

it comes to us4 ,we strive to lift it to
 the plane that civilized society has   
reached4 ,we do our best and pass it on1
 mindful of the many inadequacies1      
perhaps of the many failures1 in our    
work4 ,we turn to the new generation    
that takes its place4 ,we hope for      
better materials1 but we find no        
improvement4  ,and so you and ,i reflect
 in our occasional moments of pessimism 
that generic situation which inheres in 
the very work that we do4 ,the          
constantly accelerated progress of      
civilization lays constantly increasing 
burdens upon us4 ,in some way or another
 we must accomplish the task4 ,in some  
way or another we must lift the child to
 the level of society1 and1 as society  
is reaching a continually higher and    
higher level1 so the distance through   
which the child must be raised is ever  
increased4 ,we would like to think that 
all this progress in the race would come
 to mean that we should be able to take 
the child at a higher level2 but you who

 deal with children know from experience
 the principle for which the biologist  
,weismann stands sponsor--the principle1
 namely1 that acquired characteristics  
are not inherited2 that whatever changes
 may be wrought during life in the      
brains and nerves and muscles of the    
present generation cannot be passed on  
to its successor save through the same  
laborious process of acquisition and    
training2 that1 however far the         
civilization of the race may progress1  
education1 whose duty it is to conserve 
and transmit this civilization1 must    
always begin with the same old child4   
,this1 ,i take it1 is the deep-lying    
cause of the schoolmaster's pessimism4  
,in our work we are constantly          
struggling against that same inertia    
which held the race in bondage for how  
many millenniums only the evolutionist  
can approximate a guess1--that inertia  
of the primitive1 untutored mind which  
we to-day know as the mind of childhood1
 but which1 for thousands of            

generations1 was the only kind of a mind
 that man possessed4 ,this inertia has  
been conquered at various times in the  
course of recorded history1--in ,egypt  
and ,china and ,india1 in ,chaldea and  
,assyria1 in ,greece and                
,rome1--conquered only again to reassert
 itself and drive man back into         
barbarism4 ,now we of the ,western world
 have conquered it1 let us hope1 for all
 time2 for we of the ,western world have
 discovered an effective method of      
holding it in abeyance1 and this method 
is universal public education4  ,let    
,germany close her public schools1 and  
in two generations she will lapse back  
into the semi-darkness of medievalism2  
let her close both her public schools   
and her universities1 and three         
generations will fetch her face to face 
with the ,dark ,ages2 let her destroy   
her libraries and break into ruin all of
 her works of art1 all of her existing  
triumphs of technical knowledge and     
skill1 from which a few1 self-tutored1  

might glean the wisdom that is every    
one's to-day1 and ,germany will soon    
become the home of a savage race1 as it 
was in the days of ,tacitus and ,caesar4
 ,let ,italy close her public schools1  
and ,italy will become the same         
discordant jumble of petty states that  
it was a century ago1--again to await1  
this time perhaps for centuries or      
millenniums1 another ,garibaldi and     
,victor ,emmanuel to work her           
regeneration4 ,let ,japan close her     
public schools1 and ,japan in two       
generations will be a barbaric kingdom  
of the ,shoguns1 shorn of every vestige 
of power and prestige1--the easy victim 
of the machinations of ,western         
diplomats4 ,let our country cease in its
 work of education1 and these ,united   
,states must needs pass through the     
reverse stages of their growth until    
another race of savages shall roam      
through the unbroken forest1 now and    
then to reach the shores of ocean and   
gaze through the centuries1 eastward1 to

 catch a glimpse of the new ,columbus4  
,like the moving pictures of the        
kinetoscope when the reels are reversed1
 is the picture that imagination can    
unroll if we grant the possibility of a 
lapse from civilization to savagery4    
,and so when we take the broader view1  
we quickly see that1 in spite of our    
pessimism1 we are doing something in the
 world4 ,we are part of that machine    
which civilization has invented and is  
slowly perfecting to preserve itself4   
,we may be a very small part1 but1 so   
long as the responsibility for a single 
child rests upon us1 we are not an      
unimportant part4 ,society must reckon  
with you and me perhaps in an           
infinitesimal degree1 but it must reckon
 with the institution which we represent
 as it reckons with no other institution
 that it has reared to subserve its     
needs4  ,in a certain sense these       
statements are platitudes4 ,we have     
repeated them over and over again until 
the words have lost their tremendous    

significance4 ,and it behooves us now   
and again to revive the old substance in
 a new form1--to come afresh to a       
self-consciousness of our function4 ,it 
is not good for any man to hold a       
debased and inferior opinion of himself 
or of his work1 and in the field of     
schoolcraft it is easy to fall into this
 self-depreciating habit of thought4 ,we
 cannot hope that the general public    
will ever come to view our work in the  
true perspective that ,i have very      
briefly outlined4 ,it would probably not
 be wise to promulgate publicly so      
pronounced an affirmation of our        
function and of our worth4 ,the popular 
mind must think in concrete details     
rather than in comprehensive principles1
 when the subject of thought is a       
specialized vocation4 ,you and ,i have  
crude ideas1 no doubt1 of the lawyer's  
function1 of the physician's function1  
of the clergyman's function4 ,not less  
crude are their ideas of our function4  
,even when they patronize us by saying  

that our work is the noblest that any   
man or woman would engage in1 they have 
but a vague and shadowy perception of   
its real significance4 ,i doubt not     
that1 with the majority of those who    
thus pat us verbally upon the back1 the 
words that they use are words only4     
,they do not envy us our                
privileges1--unless it is our summer    
vacations1--nor do they encourage their 
sons to enter service in our craft4 ,the
 popular mind--the nontechnical         
mind1--must work in the concrete2--it   
must have visible evidences of power and
 influence before it pays homage to a   
man or to an institution4  ,throughout  
the ,german empire the traveler is      
brought constantly face to face with the
 memorials that have been erected by a  
grateful people to the genius of the    
,iron ,chancellor4 ,bismarck richly     
deserves the tribute that is paid to his
 memory1 but a man to be honored in this
 way must exert a tangible and an       
obvious influence4  ,and yet1 in a      

broader sense1 the preeminence of       
,germany is due in far greater measure  
to two men whose names are not so       
frequently to be found inscribed upon   
towers and monuments4 ,in the very midst
 of the havoc and devastation wrought by
 the ,napoleon wars1--at the very moment
 when the ,german people seemed         
hopelessly crushed and defeated1--an    
intellect more penetrating than that of 
,bismarck grasped the logic of the      
situation4 ,with the inspiration that   
comes with true insight1 the philosopher
 ,fichte issued his famous ,addresses to
 the ,german people4 ,with clear-cut    
argument couched in white-hot words1 he 
drove home the great principle that lies
 at the basis of ,united ,germany and   
upon the results of which ,bismarck and 
,von ,moltke and the first ,emperor     
erected the splendid structure that     
to-day commands the admiration of the   
world4 ,fichte told the ,german people  
that their only hope lay in universal1  
public education4 ,and the kingdom of   

,prussia--impoverished1 bankrupt1       
war-ridden1 and war-devastated--heard   
the plea4 ,a great scheme that          
comprehended such an education was      
already at hand4 ,it had fallen almost  
stillborn from the only kind of a mind  
that could have produced it1--a mind    
that was suffused with an overwhelming  
love for humanity and incomparably rich 
with the practical experiences of a     
primary schoolmaster4 ,it had fallen    
from the mind of ,pestalozzi1 the ,swiss
 reformer1 who thus stands with ,fichte 
as one of the vital factors in the      
development of ,germany's educational   
supremacy4  ,the people's schools of    
,prussia1 imbued with the enthusiasm of 
,fichte and ,pestalozzi1#c gave to      
,germany the tremendous advantage that  
enabled it so easily to overcome its    
hereditary foe1 when1 two generations   
later1 the ,franco-,prussian ,war was   
fought2 for the ,volksschule gave to    
,germany something that no other nation 
of that time possessed2 namely1 an      

educated proletariat1 an intelligent    
common people4 ,bismarck knew this when 
he laid his cunning plans for the       
unification of ,german states that was  
to crown the brilliant series of        
victories beginning at ,sedan and ending
 within the walls of ,paris4 ,william of
 ,prussia knew it when1 in the royal    
palace at ,versailles1 he accepted the  
crown that made him the first ,emperor  
of ,united ,germany4 ,von ,moltke knew  
it when1 at the capitulation of ,paris1 
he was asked to whom the credit of the  
victory was due1 and he replied1 in the 
frank simplicity of the true soldier and
 the true hero1 ,the schoolmaster did   
it4  ,and yet ,bismarck and ,von ,moltke
 and the ,emperor are the heroes of     
,germany1 and if ,fichte and ,pestalozzi
 are not forgotten1 at least their      
memories are not cherished as are the   
memories of the more tangible and       
obvious heroes4 ,instinct lies deeply   
embedded in human nature and it is      
instinctive to think in the concrete4   

,and so ,i repeat that we cannot expect 
the general public to share in the      
respect and veneration which you and ,i 
feel for our calling1 for you and ,i are
 technicians in education1 and we can   
see the process as a comprehensive      
whole4 ,but our fellow men and women    
have their own interests and their own  
departments of technical knowledge and  
skill2 they see the schoolhouse and the 
pupils' desks and the books and other   
various material symbols of our         
work1--they see these things and call   
them education2 just as we see a freight
 train thundering across the viaduct or 
a steamer swinging out in the lake and  
call these things commerce4 ,in both    
cases1 the nontechnical mind associates 
the word with something concrete and    
tangible2 in both cases1 the technical  
mind associates the same word with an   
abstract process1 comprehending a       
movement of vast proportions4  ,to      
compress such a movement--whether it be 
commerce or government or education--in 

a single conception requires a multitude
 of experiences involving actual        
adjustments with the materials involved2
 involving constant reflection upon     
hidden meanings1 painful investigations 
into hidden causes1 and mastery of a    
vast body of specialized knowledge which
 it takes years of study to digest and  
assimilate4  ,it is not every stevedore 
upon the docks1 nor every stoker upon   
the steamers1 nor every brakeman upon   
the railroads1 who comprehends what     
commerce really means4 ,it is not every 
banker's clerk who knows the meaning of 
business4 ,it is not every petty holder 
of public office who knows what         
government really means4 ,but this1 at  
least1 is true3 in proportion as the    
worker knows the meaning of the work    
that he does1--in proportion as he sees 
it in its largest relations to society  
and to life1--his work is no longer the 
drudgery of routine toil4 ,it becomes   
instead an intelligent process directed 
toward a definite goal4 ,it has acquired

 that touch of artistry which1 so far as
 human testimony goes1 is the only pure 
and uncontaminated source of human      
happiness4  ,and the chief blessing for 
which you and ,i should be thankful     
to-day is that this larger view of our  
calling has been vouchsafed to us as it 
has been vouchsafed no former generation
 of teachers4 ,education as the         
conventional prerogative of the         
rich1--as the garment which separated   
the higher from the lower classes of    
society1--this could scarcely be looked 
upon as a fascinating and uplifting     
ideal from which to derive hope and     
inspiration in the day's work2 and yet  
this was the commonly accepted function 
of education for thousands of years1 and
 the teachers who did the actual work of
 instruction could not but reflect in   
their attitude and bearing the servile  
character of the task that they         
performed4 ,education to fit the child  
to earn a better living1 to command a   
higher wage1--this myopic view of the   

function of the school could do but     
little to make the work of teaching     
anything but drudgery2 and yet it is    
this narrow and materialistic view that 
has dominated our educational system to 
within a comparatively few years4  ,so  
silently and yet so insistently have our
 craft ideals been transformed in the   
last two decades that you and ,i are    
scarcely aware that our point of view   
has been changed and that we are looking
 upon our work from a much higher point 
of vantage and in a light entirely new4 
,and yet this is the change that has    
been wrought4 ,that education1 in its   
widest meaning1 is the sole conservator 
and transmitter of civilization to      
successive generations found expression 
as far back as ,aristotle and ,plato1   
and has been vaguely voiced at intervals
 down through the centuries2 but its    
complete establishment came only as an  
indirect issue of the great scientific  
discoveries of the nineteenth century1  
and its application to the problems of  

practical schoolcraft and its           
dissemination through the rank and file 
of teachers awaited the dawn of the     
twentieth century4 ,to-day we see       
expressions and indications of the new  
outlook upon every hand1 in the greatly 
increased professional zeal that        
animates the teacher's calling2 in the  
widespread movement among all civilized 
countries to raise the standards of     
teachers1 to eliminate those candidates 
for service who have not subjected      
themselves to the discipline of special 
preparation2 in the increased endowments
 and appropriations for schools and     
seminaries that prepare teachers2 and1  
perhaps most strikingly at the present  
moment1 in that concerted movement to   
organize into institutions of formal    
education1 all of those branches of     
training which have1 for years1 been    
left to the chance operation of economic
 needs working through the crude and    
unorganized though often effective      
apprentice system4 ,the contemporary    

fervor for industrial education is only 
one expression of this new view that1 in
 the last analysis1 the school must     
stand sponsor for the conservation and  
transmission of every valuable item of  
experience1 every usable fact or        
principle1 every tiniest perfected bit  
of technical skill1 every significant   
ideal or prejudice1 that the race has   
acquired at the cost of so much struggle
 and suffering and effort4  ,i repeat   
that this new vantage point from which  
to gain a comprehensive view of our     
calling has been attained only as an    
indirect result of the scientific       
investigations of the nineteenth        
century4 ,we are wont to study the      
history of education from the work and  
writings of a few great reformers1 and  
it is true that much that is valuable in
 our present educational system can be  
understood and appreciated only when    
viewed in the perspective of such       
sources4 ,aristotle and ,quintilian1    
,abelard and ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1     

,sturm and ,philip ,melanchthon1        
,comenius1 ,pestalozzi1 ,rousseau1      
,herbart1 and ,froebel still live in the
 schools of to-day4 ,their genius speaks
 to us through the organization of      
subject-matter1 through the art of      
questioning1 through the developmental  
methods of teaching1 through the use of 
pictures1 through objective instruction1
 and in a thousand other forms4 ,but    
this dominant ideal of education to     
which ,i have referred and which is so  
rapidly transforming our outlook and    
vitalizing our organization and         
inspiring us to new efforts1 is not to  
be drawn from these sources4 ,the new   
histories of education must account for 
this new ideal1 and to do this they must
 turn to the masters in science who made
 the middle part of the nineteenth      
century the period of the most profound 
changes that the history of human       
thought records4#d  ,with the           
illuminating principle of evolution came
 a new and generously rich conception of

 human growth and development4 ,the     
panorama of evolution carried man back  
far beyond the limits of recorded human 
history and indicated an origin as lowly
 as the succeeding uplift has been      
sublime4 ,the old depressing and        
fatalistic notion that the human race   
was on the downward path1 and that the  
march of civilization must sooner or    
later end in a cul-de-sac 7a view which 
found frequent expression in the ,french
 writers of the eighteenth century and  
which dominated the skepticism of the   
dark hours preceding the                
,revolution7--this fatalistic view met  
its death-blow in the principle of      
evolution4 ,a vista of hope entirely    
undreamed of stretched out before the   
race4 ,if the tremendous leverage of the
 untold millenniums of brute and savage 
ancestry could be overcome1 even in     
slight measure1 by a few short centuries
 of intelligence and reason1 what might 
not happen in a few more centuries of   
constantly increasing light8 ,in short1 

the principle of evolution supplied the 
perspective that was necessary to an    
adequate evaluation of human progress4  
,but this inspiriting outlook which was 
perhaps the most comprehensive result of
 ,darwin's work had indirect            
consequences that were vitally          
significant to education4 ,it is with   
mental and not with physical development
 that education is primarily concerned1 
and yet mental development is now known 
to depend fundamentally upon physical   
forces4 ,the same decade that witnessed 
the publication of the ,origin of       
,species also witnessed the birth of    
another great book1 little known except 
to the specialist1 and yet destined to  
achieve immortality4 ,this book is the  
,elements of ,psychophysics1 the work of
 the ,german scientist ,fechner4 ,the   
intimate relation between mental life   
and physical and physiological forces   
was here first clearly demonstrated1 and
 the way was open for a science of      
psychology which should cast aside the  

old and threadbare raiment of mystery   
and speculation and metaphysic1 and     
stand forth naked and unashamed4  ,but  
all this was only preparatory to the    
epoch-making discoveries that have had  
so much to do with our present attitude 
toward education4 ,the ,darwinian       
hypothesis led to violent controversy1  
not only between the opponents and      
supporters of the theory1 but also among
 the various camps of the evolutionists 
themselves4 ,among these controversies  
was that which concerned itself with the
 inheritance of acquired                
characteristics1 and the outcome of that
 conflict has a direct significance to  
present educational theory4 ,the        
principle1 now almost conclusively      
established1#e that the characteristics 
acquired by an organism during its      
lifetime are not transmitted by physical
 heredity to its offspring1 must        
certainly stand as the basic principle  
of education2 for everything that we    
identify as human as contrasted with    

that which is brutal must look to       
education for its preservation and      
support4 ,it has been stated by         
competent authorities that1 during the  
past ten thousand years1 there has been 
no significant change in man's physical 
constitution4 ,this simply means that   
,nature finished her work as far as man 
is concerned far beyond the remotest    
period that human history records2 that1
 for all that we can say to-day1 there  
must have existed in the very distant   
past human beings who were just as well 
adapted by nature to the lives that we  
are leading as we are to-day adapted2   
that what they lacked and what we       
possess is simply a mass of traditions1 
of habits1 of ideals1 and prejudices    
which have been slowly accumulated      
through the ages and which are passed on
 from generation to generation by       
imitation and instruction and training  
and discipline2 and that the child of   
to-day1 left to his own devices and     
operated upon in no way by the products 

of civilization1 would develop into a   
savage undistinguishable in all         
significant qualities from other        
savages4  ,the possibilities that follow
 from such a conception are almost      
overwhelming even at first glance1 and  
yet the theory is borne out by adequate 
experiments4 ,the transformation of the 
,japanese people through two generations
 of education in ,western civilization  
is a complete upsetting of the old      
theory that as far as race is concerned1
 there is anything significantly        
important in blood1 and confirms the    
view that all that is racially          
significant depends upon the influences 
that surround the young of the race     
during the formative years4 ,the        
complete assimilation of foreign        
ingredients into our own national stock 
through the instrumentality of the      
public school is another demonstration  
that the factors which form the         
significant characteristics in the lower
 animals possess but a minimum of       

significance to man1--that color1 race1 
stature1 and even brain weight and the  
shape of the cranium1 have very little  
to do with human worth or human         
efficiency save in extremely abnormal   
cases4  ,and so we have at last a       
fundamental principle with which to     
illumine the field of our work and from 
which to derive not only light but      
inspiration4 ,unite this with ,john     
,fiske's penetrating induction that the 
possibilities of progress through       
education are correlated directly with  
the length of the period of growth or   
immaturity1--that is1 that the races    
having the longest growth before        
maturity are capable of the highest     
degree of civilization1--and we have a  
pair of principles the influence of     
which we see reflected all about us in  
the great activity for education and    
especially in the increased sense of    
pride and responsibility and respect for
 his calling that is animating the      
modern teacher4  ,and what will be the  

result of this new point of view8 ,first
 and foremost1 an increased general     
respect for the work4 ,until a          
profession respects itself1 it cannot   
very well ask for the world's respect1  
and until it can respect itself on the  
basis of scientific principles          
indubitably established1 its respect for
 itself will be little more than the    
irritating self-esteem of the           
goody-goody order which is so often     
associated with our craft4  ,with our   
own respect for our calling1 based upon 
this incontrovertible principle1 will   
come1 sooner or later1 increased        
compensation for the work and increased 
prestige in the community4 ,i repeat    
that these things can only come after we
 have established a true craft spirit4  
,if we are ashamed of our calling1 if we
 regret openly and publicly that we are 
not lawyers or physicians or dentists or
 bricklayers or farmers or anything     
rather than teachers1 the public will   
have little respect for the teacher's   

calling4 ,as long as we criticize each  
other before laymen and make light of   
each other's honest efforts1 the public 
will question our professional standing 
on the ground that we have no organized 
code of professional ethics1--a         
prerequisite for any profession4  ,i    
started out to tell you something that  
we ought to be thankful for1--something 
that ought to counteract in a measure   
the inevitable tendencies toward        
pessimism and discouragement4 ,the      
hopeful thing about our present status  
is that we have an established principle
 upon which to work4 ,a writer in a     
recent periodical stoutly maintained    
that education was in the position just 
now that medicine was in during the     
,middle ,ages4 ,the statement is hardly 
fair1 either to medicine or to          
education4 ,if one were to attempt a    
parallel1 one might say that education  
stands to-day where medicine stood about
 the middle of the nineteenth century4  
,the analogy might be more closely drawn

 by comparing our present conception of 
education with the conception of        
medicine just prior to the application  
of the experimental method to a solution
 of its problems4 ,education has still a
 long road to travel before it reaches  
the point of development that medicine  
has to-day attained4 ,it has still to   
develop principles that are comparable  
to the doctrine of lymph therapy or to  
that latest triumph of investigation in 
the field of medicine1--the theory of   
opsonins1--which almost makes one       
believe that in a few years violent     
accident and old age will be the only   
sources of death in the human race4     
,education1 we admit1 has a long road to
 travel before it reaches so advanced a 
point of development4 ,but there is no  
immediate cause for pessimism or        
despair4 ,we need especially1 now that  
the purpose of education is adequately  
defined1 an adequate doctrine of        
educational values and a rich and vital 
infusion of the spirit of experimental  

science4 ,for efficiency in the work of 
instruction and training1 we need to    
know the influence of different types of
 experience in controlling human        
conduct1--we need to know just what     
degree of efficiency is exerted by our  
arithmetic and literature1 our geography
 and history1 our drawing and manual    
training1 our ,latin and ,greek1 our    
ethics and psychology4 ,it is the lack  
of definite ideas and criteria in these 
fields that constitutes the greatest    
single source of waste in our           
educational system to-day4  ,and yet    
even here the outlook is extremely      
hopeful4 ,the new movement toward       
industrial education is placing greater 
and greater emphasis upon those subjects
 of instruction and those types of      
methods whose efficiency can be tested  
and determined in an accurate fashion4  
,the intimate relation between the      
classroom1 on the one hand1 and the     
machine shop1 the experimental farm1 the
 hospital ward and operating room1 and  

the practice school1 on the other hand1 
indicates a source of accurate knowledge
 with regard to the way in which our    
teachings really affect the conduct and 
adjustment of our pupils that cannot    
fail within a short time to serve as the
 basis for some illuminating principle  
of educational values4 ,this1 ,i        
believe1 will be the next great step in 
the development of our profession4      
,there has been no intention in what ,i 
have said to minimize the disadvantages 
and discouragements under which we are  
to-day doing our work4 ,my only plea is 
for the hopeful and optimistic outlook  
which1 ,i maintain1 is richly justified 
by the progress that has already been   
made and by the virile character of the 
forces that are operating in the present
 situation4  ,on the whole1 ,i can see  
no reason why ,i should not encourage   
young men to enter the service of       
schoolcraft4 ,i cannot say to them that 
they will attain to great wealth1 but ,i
 can safely promise them that1 if they  

give to the work of preparation the same
 attention and time that they would give
 to their education and training for    
medicine or law or engineering1 their   
services will be in large demand and    
their rewards not to be sneered at4     
,their incomes will not enable them to  
compete with the captains of industry1  
but they will permit as full an         
enjoyment of the comforts of life as it 
is good for any young man to command4   
,but the ambitious teacher must pay the 
price to reap these rewards1--the price 
of time and energy and labor1--the price
 that he would have to pay for success  
in any other human calling4 ,what ,i    
cannot promise him in education is the  
opportunity for wide popular adulation1 
but this1 after all1 is a matter of     
taste4 ,some men crave it and they      
should go into those vocations that will
 give it to them4 ,others are better    
satisfied with the discriminating       
recognition and praise of their own     
fellow-craftsmen4  ,,footnotes3         

,footnote #b3 ,an address before the    
,oswego1 ,new ,york1 ,county ,council of
 ,education1 ,march #bh1 #aijh4         
,footnote #c3 ,it should be added that  
the movement toward universal education 
in ,germany owed much to the work of    
pre-,pestalozzian reformers1--especially
 ,francke and ,basedow4  ,footnote #d3  
,while the years from #ahdj to #ahgj    
mark the period of intellectual         
revolution1 it should not be inferred   
that the education of this period       
reflected these fundamental changes of  
outlook4 ,on the contrary1 these years  
were in general marked by educational   
stagnation4  ,footnote #e3 ,the writer  
here accepts the conclusions of ,j4,a4  
,thomson 7,heredity ,new ,york1 #aijh1  
ch4 vii74     ,,iii  ,,how ,,may ,,we   
,,promote ,,the ,,efficiency ,,of ,,the 
,,teaching ,,force8#f   ,i  ,efficiency 
seems to be a word to conjure with in   
these days4 ,popular speech has taken it
 in its present connotation from the    
technical vocabulary of engineering1 and

 the term has brought with it a very    
refreshing sense of accuracy and        
practicality4 ,it suggests blueprints   
and ,t-squares and mathematical         
formulae4 ,a faint and rather pleasant  
odor of lubricating oil and cotton waste
 seems to hover about it4 ,the          
efficiency of a steam engine or a dynamo
 is a definitely determinable and       
measurable factor1 and when we use the  
term efficiency in popular speech we    
convey through the word somewhat of this
 quality of certainty and exactitude4   
,an efficient man1 very obviously1 is a 
man who makes good1 who surmounts       
obstacles1 overcomes difficulties1 and  
gets results4 ,rowan1 the man who       
achieved immortality on account of a    
certain message that he carried to      
,garcia1 is the contemporary standard of
 human efficiency4 ,he was given a task 
to do1 and he did it4 ,he did not stop  
to inquire whether it was interesting1  
or whether it was easy1 or whether it   
would be remunerative1 or whether       

,garcia was a pleasant man to meet4 ,he 
simply took the message and brought back
 the answer4 ,here we have efficiency in
 human endeavor reduced to its lowest   
terms3 to take a message and to bring   
back an answer2 to do the work that is  
laid out for one to do without shirking 
or soldiering or whining2 and to make   
good1 to get results4  ,now if we are to
 improve the efficiency of the teacher1 
the first thing to do is to see that the
 conditions of efficiency are fulfilled 
as far as possible at the outset4 ,in   
other words1 efficiency is impossible   
unless one is set a certain task to     
accomplish4 ,rowan was told to carry a  
message to ,garcia4 ,he was to carry it 
to ,garcia1 not to ,queen ,victoria or  
,li ,hung ,chang or ,j4 ,pierpont       
,morgan1 or any one else whom he may    
have felt inclined to choose as its     
recipient4 ,and that is just where      
,rowan had a decided advantage over many
 teachers who have every ambition to be 
just as efficient as he was4 ,to expect 

a young teacher not only to get results1
 but also to determine the results that 
should be obtained1 multiplies his      
chances of failure1 not by two1 as one  
might assume at first thought1 but      
almost by infinity4  ,let me give an    
example of what ,i mean4 ,a young man   
graduated from college during the hard  
times of the middle nineties4 ,it was   
imperative that he secure some sort of a
 remunerative employment1 but places    
were very scarce and he had to seek a   
long time before he found anything to   
which he could turn his hand4 ,the      
position that he finally secured was    
that of teacher in an ungraded school in
 a remote settlement4 ,school-teaching  
was far from his thoughts and still     
farther from his ambitions1 but forty   
dollars a month looked too good to be   
true1 especially as he had come to the  
point where his allowance of food       
consisted of one plate of soup each day1
 with the small supply of crackers that 
went with it4 ,he accepted the position 

most gratefully4  ,he taught this school
 for two years4 ,he had no supervision4 
,he read various books on the science   
and art of teaching and upon a certain  
subject that went by the name of        
psychology1 but he could see no         
connection between what these books told
 him and the tasks that he had to face4 
,finally he bought a book that was      
advertised as indispensable to young    
teachers4 ,the first words of the       
opening paragraph were these3 ,teacher1 
if you know it all1 don't read this     
book4 ,the young man threw the volume in
 the fire4 ,he had no desire to profit  
by the teaching of an author who began  
his instruction with an insult4 ,from   
that time until he left the school1 he  
never opened a book on educational      
theory4  ,his first year passed off with
 what appeared to be the most           
encouraging success4 ,he talked to his  
pupils on science and literature and    
history4 ,they were very good children1 
and they listened attentively4 ,when he 

tired of talking1 he set the pupils to  
writing in their copy books1 while he   
thought of more things to talk about4   
,he covered a great deal of ground that 
first year4 ,scarcely a field of human  
knowledge was left untouched4 ,his      
pupils were duly informed about the     
plants and rocks and trees1 about the   
planets and constellations1 about atoms 
and molecules and the laws of motion1   
about digestion and respiration and the 
wonders of the nervous system1 about    
,shakespeare and ,dickens and ,george   
,eliot4 ,and his pupils were very much  
interested in it all4 ,their faces had  
that glow of interest1 that look of     
wonderment and absorption1 that you get 
sometimes when you tell a little        
four-year-old the story of the three    
bears4 ,he never had any troubles of    
discipline1 because he never asked his  
pupils to do anything that they did not 
wish to do4 ,there were six pupils in   
his chart class4 ,they were anxious to  
learn to read1 and three of them did    

learn4 ,their mothers taught them at    
home4 ,the other three were still       
learning at the end of the second year4 
,he concluded that they had been born   
short1 but he liked them and they liked 
him4 ,he did not teach his pupils       
spelling or writing4 ,if they learned   
these things they learned them without  
his aid1 and it is safe to say that they
 did not learn them in any significant  
measure4 ,he did not like arithmetic1   
and so he just touched on it now and    
then for the sake of appearances4  ,this
 teacher was elected for the following  
year at a handsome increase of salary4  
,he took this to mean a hearty          
indorsement of his methods2 consequently
 he followed the same general plan the  
next year4 ,he had told his pupils about
 everything that he knew1 so he started 
over again1 much to their delight4 ,he  
left at the close of the year1 amidst   
general lamentation4 ,school-teaching   
was a delightful occupation1 but he had 
mastered the art1 and now he wished to  

attack something that was really        
difficult4 ,he would study law4 ,it is  
no part of the story that he did not4   
,neither is it part of the story that   
his successor had a very hard time      
getting that school straightened out2 in
 fact1 ,i believe it required three or  
four successive successors to make even 
an impression4  ,now that man's work was
 a failure1 and the saddest kind of a   
failure1 for he did not realize that he 
had failed until years afterward4 ,he   
failed1 not because he lacked ambition  
and enthusiasm2 he had a large measure  
of both these indispensable qualities4  
,he failed1 not because he lacked       
education and a certain measure of what 
the world calls culture2 from the       
standpoint of education1 he was better  
qualified than most teachers in schools 
of that type4 ,he failed1 not because he
 lacked social spirit and the ability to
 cooeperate with the church and the     
home2 he mingled with the other members 
of the community1 lived their life and  

thought their thoughts and enjoyed their
 social diversions4 ,the community liked
 him and respected him4 ,his pupils     
liked him and respected him2 and yet    
what he fears most of all to-day is that
 he may come suddenly face to face with 
one of those pupils and be forced to    
listen to a first-hand account of his   
sins of omission4  ,this man failed     
simply because he did not do what the   
elementary teacher must do if he is to  
be efficient as an elementary teacher4  
,he did not train his pupils in the     
habits that are essential to one who is 
to live the social life4 ,he gave them a
 miscellaneous lot of interesting       
information which held their attention  
while it lasted1 but which was never    
mastered in any real sense of the term1 
and which could have but the most       
superficial influence upon their future 
conduct4 ,but1 worst of all1 he         
permitted bad and inadequate habits to  
be developed at the most critical and   
plastic period of life4 ,his pupils had 

followed the lines of least effort1 just
 as he had followed the lines of least  
effort4 ,the result was a               
well-established prejudice against      
everything that was not superficially   
attractive and intrinsically            
interesting4  ,now this man's teaching  
fell short simply because he did not    
know what results he ought to obtain4   
,he had been given a message to deliver1
 but he did not know to whom he should  
deliver it4 ,consequently he brought the
 answer1 not from ,garcia1 but from a   
host of other personages with whom he   
was better acquainted1 whose language he
 could speak and understand1 and from   
whom he was certain of a warm welcome4  
,in other words1 having no definite     
results for which he would be held      
responsible1 he did the kind of teaching
 that he liked to do4 ,that might1 under
 certain conditions1 have been the best 
kind of teaching for his pupils4 ,but   
these conditions did not happen to      
operate at that time4 ,the answer that  

he brought did not happen to be the     
answer that was needed4 ,that it pleased
 his employers does not in the least    
mitigate the failure4 ,that a teacher   
pleases the community in which he works 
is not always evidence of his success4  
,it is dangerous to make a statement    
like this1 for some are sure to jump to 
the opposite conclusion and assume that 
one who is unpopular in the community is
 the most successful4 ,needless to say1 
the reasoning is fallacious4 ,the matter
 of popularity is a secondary criterion1
 not a primary criterion of the         
efficiency of teaching4 ,one may be     
successful and popular or successful and
 unpopular2 unsuccessful and popular or 
unsuccessful and unpopular4 ,the        
question of popularity is beside the    
question of efficiency1 although it may 
enter into specific cases as a factor4  
,,ii  ,and so the first step to take in 
getting more efficient work from young  
teachers1 and especially from           
inexperienced and untrained teachers    

fresh from the high school or the       
college1 is to make sure that they know 
what is expected of them4 ,now this     
looks to be a very simple precaution    
that no one would be unwise enough to   
omit4 ,as a matter of fact1 a great many
 superintendents and principals are not 
explicit and definite about the results 
that they desire4 ,very frequently all  
that is asked of a teacher is that he or
 she keep things running smoothly1 keep 
pupils and parents good-natured4 ,let me
 assert again that this ought to be     
done1 but that it is no measure of a    
teacher's efficiency1 simply because it 
can be done and often is done by means  
that defeat the purpose of the school4  
,as a young principal in a city system1 
,i learned some vital lessons in        
supervision from a very skillful        
teacher4 ,she would come to me week     
after week with this statement3 ,tell me
 what you want done1 and ,i will do it4 
,it took me some time to realize that   
that was just what ,i was being paid to 

do1--telling teachers what should be    
accomplished and then seeing that they  
accomplished the task that was set4     
,when ,i finally awoke to my duties1 ,i 
found myself utterly at a loss to make  
prescriptions4 ,i then learned that     
there was a certain document known as   
the course of study1 which mapped out   
the general line of work and indicated  
the minimal requirements4 ,i had seen   
this course of study1 but its function  
had never impressed itself upon me4 ,i  
had thought that it was one of those    
documents that officials publish as a   
matter of form but which no one is ever 
expected to read4 ,but ,i soon          
discovered that a principal had         
something to do besides passing from    
room to room1 looking wisely at the work
 going on1 and patting little boys and  
girls on the head4  ,now a definite     
course of study is very hard to         
construct1--a course that will tell     
explicitly what the pupils of each grade
 should acquire each term or half-term  

in the way of habits1 knowledge1 ideals1
 attitudes1 and prejudices4 ,but such a 
course of study is the first requisite  
to efficiency in teaching4 ,the system  
that goes by hit or miss1 letting each  
teacher work out his own salvation in   
any way that he may see fit1 is just an 
aggregation of such schools as that     
which ,i have described4  ,it is true   
that reformers have very strenuously    
criticized the policy of restricting    
teachers to a definite course of study4 
,they have maintained that it curtails  
individual initiative and crushes       
enthusiasm4 ,it does this in a certain  
measure4 ,every prescription is in a    
sense a restriction4 ,the fact that the 
steamship captain must head his ship for
 ,liverpool instead of wherever he may  
choose to go is a restriction1 and the  
captain's individuality is doubtless    
crushed and his initiative limited4 ,but
 this result seems to be inevitable and 
he generally manages to survive the     
blow4 ,the course of study must be to   

the teacher what the sailing orders are 
to the captain of the ship1 what the    
stated course is to the wheelsman and   
the officer on the bridge1 what the     
time-table is to the locomotive         
engineer1 what ,garcia and the message  
and the answer were to ,rowan4 ,one may 
decry organization and prescription in  
our educational system4 ,one may say    
that these things tend inevitably toward
 mechanism and formalism and the        
stultifying of initiative4 ,but the fact
 remains that1 whenever prescription is 
abandoned1 efficiency in general is at  
an end4  ,and so ,i maintain that every 
teacher has a right to know what he is  
to be held responsible for1 what is     
expected of him1 and that this          
information be just as definite and     
unequivocal as it can be made4 ,it is   
under the stress of definite            
responsibility that growth is most rapid
 and certain4 ,the more uncertain and   
intangible the end to be gained1 the    
less keenly will one feel the           

responsibility for gaining that end4    
,unhappily we cannot say to a teacher3  
,here is a message4 ,take it to ,garcia4
 ,bring the answer4 ,but we may make our
 work far more definite and tangible    
than it is now4 ,the courses of study   
are becoming more and more explicit each
 year4 ,vague and general prescriptions 
are giving place to definite and        
specific prescriptions4 ,the teachers   
know what they are expected to do1 and  
knowing this1 they have some measure for
 testing the efficiency of their own    
efforts4   ,,iii  ,but to make more     
definite requirements is1 after all1    
only the first step in improving        
efficiency4 ,it is not sufficient that  
one know what results are wanted2 one   
must also know how these results may be 
obtained4 ,improvement in method means  
improvement in efficiency1 and a crying 
need in education to-day is a scientific
 investigation of methods of teaching4  
,teachers should be made acquainted with
 the methods that are most economical   

and efficient4 ,as a matter of fact1    
whatever is done in that direction at   
the present time must be almost entirely
 confined to suggestions and hints4     
,our discussions of methods of teaching 
may be divided into three classes3 7#a7 
,dogmatic assertions that such and such 
a method is right and that all others   
are wrong--assertions based entirely    
upon a priori reasoning4 ,for example1  
the assertion that children must never  
be permitted to learn their lessons by  
heart is based upon the general         
principle that words are only symbols of
 ideas and that1 if one has ideas1 one  
can find words of his own in which to   
formulate them4 7#b7 ,a second class of 
discussions of method comprises         
descriptions of devices that have proved
 successful in certain instances and    
with certain teachers4 7#c7 ,of a third 
class of discussions there are very few 
representative examples4 ,i refer to    
methods that have been established on   
the basis of experiments in which       

irrelevant factors have been eliminated4
 ,in fact1 ,i know of no clearly defined
 report or discussion of this sort4 ,an 
approach to a scientific solution of a  
definite problem of method is to be     
found in ,browne's monograph1 ,the      
,psychology of ,simple ,arithmetical    
,processes4 ,another example is         
represented by the experiments of ,miss 
,steffens1 ,marx ,lobsien1 and others1  
regarding the best methods of           
memorizing1 and proving beyond much     
doubt that the complete repetition is   
more economical than the partial        
repetition4 ,but these conclusions have1
 of course1 only a limited field of     
application to practical teaching4 ,we  
stand in great need of a definite       
experimental investigation of the       
detailed problems of teaching upon which
 there is wide divergence of opinion4 ,a
 very good illustration is the          
controversy between the how and the why 
in primary arithmetic4 ,in this case1   
there is a vast amount of opinion1 but  

there are no clearly defined conclusions
 drawn from accurate tests4 ,it would   
seem possible to do work of this sort   
concerning the details of method in the 
teaching of arithmetic1 spelling1       
grammar1 penmanship1 and geography4     
,,iv  ,lacking this accurate type of    
data regarding methods1 the next        
recourse is to the actual teaching of   
those teachers who are recognized as    
efficient4 ,wherever such a teacher may 
be found1 his or her work is well worth 
the most careful sort of study4         
,success1 of course1 may be due to other
 factors than the methods employed1--to 
personality1 for example4 ,but1 in every
 case of recognized efficiency in       
teaching that ,i have observed1 ,i have 
found that the methods employed have1 in
 the main1 been productive of good      
results when used by others4 ,the       
experienced teacher comes1 through a    
process of trial and error1 to select1  
perhaps unconsciously1 the methods that 
work best4 ,sometimes these are not     

always to be identified with the methods
 that theoretical pedagogy had worked   
out from a priori bases4 ,for example1  
the type of lesson which ,i call the    
deductive development lesson#g is one   
that is not included in the older       
discussions of method2 yet it accurately
 describes one of the methods employed  
by a very successful teacher whose work 
,i observed4  ,one way1 then1 to improve
 the efficiency of young teachers1 in so
 far as improvement in methods leads to 
improved efficiency1 is to encourage the
 observation of expert teaching4 ,the   
plan of giving teachers visiting days   
often brings excellent results1         
especially if the teacher looks upon the
 privilege in the proper light4 ,the    
hyper-critical spirit is fatal to growth
 under any condition4 ,whenever a       
teacher has come to the conclusion that 
he or she has nothing to learn from     
studying the work of others1 anabolism  
has ceased and katabolism has set in4   
,the self-sufficiency of our craft is   

one of its weakest characteristics4 ,it 
is the factor that more than any other  
discounts it in the minds of laymen4    
,fortunately it is less frequently a    
professional characteristic than in     
former years1 but it still persists in  
some quarters4 ,i recently met a        
pedagogue who impressed me as the most  
knowing individual that it had ever been
 my privilege to become acquainted with4
 ,an enthusiastic friend of his1 in     
dilating upon this man's virtues1 used  
these words3 ,when you propose a subject
 of conversation in whatever field you  
may choose1 you will find that he has   
mastered it to bed rock4 ,he will go    
over it once and you think that he is   
wise4 ,he starts at the beginning and   
goes over it again1 and you realize that
 he is deep4 ,once more he traverses the
 same ground1 but he is so far down now 
that you cannot follow him1 and then you
 are aware that he is profound4 ,that   
sort of profundity is still not rare in 
the field of general education4 ,the    

person who has all possible knowledge   
pigeonholed and classified is still in  
our midst4 ,the pedant still does the   
cause of education incalculable injury4 
,of the use to which reading circles may
 be put in improving the efficiency of  
teaching1 it is necessary to say but    
little4 ,such organizations1 under wise 
leadership1 may doubtless be made to    
serve a good purpose in promoting       
professional enthusiasm4 ,the difficulty
 with using them to promote immediate   
and direct efficiency lies in the       
paucity of the literature that is at our
 disposal4 ,most of our present-day     
works upon education are very general in
 their nature4 ,they are not without    
their value1 but this value is general  
and indirect rather than immediate and  
specific4 ,a book like ,miss            
,winterburn's ,methods of ,teaching1 or 
,chubb's ,teaching of ,english#h is     
especially valuable for young teachers  
who are looking for first-hand helps4   
,but books like this are all too rare in

 our literature4  ,on the whole1 ,i     
think that the improvement of teachers  
in the matter of methods is the most    
unsatisfactory part of our problem4#i   
,all that one can say is that the work  
of the best teachers should be observed 
carefully and faithfully1 that the      
methods upon which there is little or no
 dispute should be given and accepted as
 standard1 but that one should be very  
careful about giving young teachers an  
idea that there is any single form under
 which all teaching can be subsumed4 ,i 
know of no term that is more thoroughly 
a misnomer in our technical vocabulary  
than the term general method4 ,i teach a
 subject that often goes by that name1  
but ,i always take care to explain that 
the name does not mean1 in my class1    
what the words seem to signify4 ,there  
are certain broad and general principles
 which describe very crudely and roughly
 and inadequately certain phases of     
certain processes that mind undergoes in
 organizing experience--perception1     

apperception1 conception1 induction1    
deduction1 inference1 generalization1   
and the like4 ,but these terms have only
 a vague and general connotation2 or1 if
 their connotation is specific and      
definite1 it has been made so by an     
artificial process of definition in     
which counsel is darkened by words      
without meaning4 ,the only full-fledged 
law that ,i know of in the educative    
process is the law of habit             
building--7#a7 focalization1 7#b7       
attentive repetition at intervals of    
increasing length1 7#c7 permitting no   
exception--and ,i am often told that    
this law is fallacious4 ,it has differed
 from some other so-called laws1        
however1 in this respect3 it always     
works4 ,whenever a complex habit is     
adduced that has not been formed through
 the operation of this law1 ,i am       
willing to give it up4   ,v  ,a third   
general method of improving the         
efficiency of teaching is to build up   
the notion of responsibility for        

results4 ,the teacher must not only take
 the message and deliver it to ,garcia1 
or to some other individual as definite 
and tangible1 but he must also bring the
 answer4 ,so far as ,i know there is no 
other way to insure a maximum of        
efficiency than to demand certain       
results and to hold the individual      
responsible for gaining these results4  
,the present standards of the teaching  
craft are less rigorous than they should
 be in this respect4 ,we need a craft   
spirit that will judge every man        
impartially by his work1 not by         
secondary criteria4 ,you remember       
,finlayson in ,kipling's ,bridge        
,builders1 and the agony with which he  
watched the waters of the ,ganges       
tearing away at the caissons of his new 
bridge4 ,a vital question of            
,finlayson's life was to be answered by 
the success or failure of those caissons
 to resist the flood4 ,if they should   
yield1 it meant not only the wreck of   
the bridge1 but the wreck of his career2

 for1 as ,kipling says1 ,government     
might listen1 perhaps1 but his own kind 
would judge him by his bridge as that   
stood or fell4  ,president ,hall has    
said that one of the last sentiments to 
be developed in human nature is the     
sense of responsibility1 which is one of
 the highest and most complex psychic   
qualities4 ,how to develop this         
sentiment of responsibility is one of   
the most pressing problems of education4
 ,and the problem is especially pressing
 in those departments of education that 
train for social service4 ,to engender  
in the young teacher an effective       
prejudice against scamped work1 against 
the making of excuses1 against the      
seductive allurements of ease and       
comfort and the lines of least          
resistance is one of the most important 
duties that is laid upon the normal     
school1 the training school1 and the    
teachers' college4 ,to do well the work 
that has been set for him to do should  
be the highest ambition of every worker1

 the ambition to which all other        
ambitions and desires are secondary and 
subordinate4 ,pride in the mastery of   
the technique of one's calling is the   
most wholesome and helpful sort of pride
 that a man can indulge in4 ,the joy of 
doing each day's work in the best       
possible manner is the keenest joy of   
life4 ,but this pride and this joy do   
not come at the outset4 ,like all other 
good things of life1 they come only as  
the result of effort and struggle and   
strenuous self-discipline and dogged    
perseverance4 ,the emotional coloring   
which gives these things their          
subjective worth is a matter very       
largely of contrast4 ,success must stand
 out against a background of struggle1  
or the chief virtue of success--the     
consciousness of conquest--will be      
entirely missed4 ,that sort of success  
means strength2 for strength of mind is 
nothing more than the ability to hew to 
the line1 to follow a given course of   
effort to a successful conclusion1 no   

matter how long and how tedious be the  
road that one must travel1 no matter how
 disagreeable are the tasks involved1 no
 matter how tempting are the insidious  
siren songs of momentary fancy4  ,what  
teachers need--what all workers need--is
 to be inspired with those ideals and   
prejudices that will enable them to work
 steadfastly and unremittingly toward   
the attainment of a stated end4 ,what   
inspired ,rowan with those ideals of    
efficiency that enabled him to carry his
 message and bring back the answer1 ,i  
do not know1 but if he was a soldier1 ,i
 do not hesitate to hazard an opinion4  
,our regular army stands as the clearest
 type of efficient service which is     
available for our study and emulation4  
,the work of ,colonel ,goethals on the  
,panama ,canal bids fair to be the      
finest fruit of the training that we    
give to the officers of our army4 ,if we
 wish to learn the fundamental virtues  
of that training1 it is not sufficient  
to study the curriculum of the ,military

 ,academy4 ,technical knowledge and     
skill are essential to such results1 but
 they are not the prime essentials4 ,if 
you wish to know what the prime         
essentials are1 let me refer you to a   
series of papers1 entitled ,the ,spirit 
of ,old ,west ,point1 which ran through 
a recent volume of the ,atlantic        
,monthly and which has since been       
published in book form4 ,they           
constitute1 to my mind1 one of the most 
important educational documents of the  
present decade4 ,the army service is    
efficient because it is inspired with   
effective ideals of service1--ideals in 
which every other desire and ambition is
 totally and completely subordinated to 
the ideal of duty4 ,to those who        
maintain that close organization and    
definite prescription kill initiative   
and curtail efficiency1 the record of   
,west ,point and the army service should
 be a silencing argument4  ,and yet     
education is more important than war2   
more important1 even1 than the building 

of the ,panama ,canal4 ,we believe1 and 
rightly1 that no training is too good   
for our military and naval officers2    
that no discipline which will produce   
the appropriate habits and ideals and   
prejudices is too strenuous2 that no    
individual sacrifice of comfort or ease 
is too costly4 ,equal or even           
commensurable efficiency in education   
can come only through a like process4   
,from the times of the ancient          
,egyptians to the present day1 one vital
 truth has been revealed in every       
forward movement2 the homely truth that 
you cannot make bricks without straw2   
you cannot win success without effort2  
you cannot attain efficiency without    
undergoing the processes of discipline2 
and discipline means only this3 doing   
things that you do not want to do1 for  
the sake of reaching some end that ought
 to be attained4  ,the normal schools   
and the training schools and the        
teachers' colleges must be the nurseries
 of craft ideals and standards4 ,the    

instruction that they offer must be upon
 a plane that will command respect4 ,the
 intolerable pedantry and the           
hypocritical goody-goodyism must be     
banished forever4 ,the crass            
sentimentalism by which we attempt to   
cover our paucity of craft ideals must  
also be eliminated4 ,those who are most 
strongly imbued with ideals are not     
those who cheapen the value of ideals by
 constant verbal reiteration4 ,ideals do
 not often come through explicitly      
imparted precepts4 ,they come through   
more impalpable and hidden              
channels1--now through stately buildings
 with vine-covered towers from which the
 past speaks in the silence of great    
halls and cloistered retreats2 now      
through the unwritten and scarcely      
spoken traditions that are expressed in 
the very bearing and attitude of those  
to whom youth looks for inspiration and 
guidance2 now through a dominant and    
powerful personality1 sometimes rough   
and crude1 sometimes warm-hearted and   

lovable1 but always sincere4 ,traditions
 and ideals are the most priceless part 
of a school's equipment1 and the school 
that can give these things to its       
students in richest measure will have   
the greatest influence on the succeeding
 generations4  ,,footnotes3  ,footnote  
#f3 ,a paper read before the ,normal and
 ,training ,teachers' ,conference of the
 ,new ,york ,state ,teachers'           
,association1 ,december #bg1 #aijg4     
,footnote #g3 ,see ,educative ,process1 
,new ,york1 #aiaj1 ,chapter ,,xx4       
,footnote #h3 ,rowe's ,habit ,formation 
7,new ,york1 #aiji71 ,briggs and        
,coffman's ,reading in ,public ,schools 
7,chicago1 #aijh71 ,foght's ,the        
,american ,rural ,school1 ,adams's      
,exposition and ,illustration in ,class 
,teaching 7,new ,york1 #aiaj71 and      
,perry's ,problems of ,elementary       
,education 7,new ,york1 #aiaj7 should   
certainly be added to this list4        
,footnote #i3 ,it seems to me one of the
 most pressing problems in pedagogy     

to-day is that of method4444 ,it is the 
subject in which teachers of pedagogy in
 ,colleges and ,universities are weakest
 to-day4 ,of what practical value is all
 our study of educational psychology or 
the history of education1 our child     
study1 our experimental pedagogy1 if it 
does not finally result in the devising 
of better methods of teaching1 and make 
the teacher more skillful and effective 
in his work4--,t4,m4 ,,balliet3         
,undergraduate ,instruction in          
,pedagogy1 ,pedagogical ,seminary1 vol4 
xvii1 #aiaj1 p4 #fg4     ,,iv  ,,the    
,,test ,,of ,,efficiency ,,in           
,,supervision#aj   ,i  ,i know of no way
 in which ,i can better introduce my    
subject than to describe very briefly   
the work of a superintendent who once   
furnished me with an example of a       
definite and effective method of        
supervision4 ,this man was a long range 
superintendent4 ,it was impossible for  
him to visit his schools very           
frequently1 and so he did the next best 

thing3 he had the schools brought to    
him4 ,when ,i first saw him he was      
poring over a pile of papers that had   
just come in from one of his schools4 ,i
 soon discovered that these papers were 
arranged in sets1 each set being made up
 of samples taken each week from the    
work of the pupils in the schools under 
his supervision4 ,the papers of each    
pupil were arranged in chronological    
order1 and by looking through the set1  
he could note the growth that the pupil 
in question had made since the beginning
 of the term4 ,upon these papers1 the   
superintendent recorded his judgment of 
the amount of improvement shown both in 
form and in content4  ,i was            
particularly impressed by the character 
of his criticisms4 ,there was nothing   
vague or intangible about them4 ,every  
annotation was clear and definite4 ,if  
penmanship happened to be the point at  
issue1 he would note that the lines were
 too close together2 that the letters   
did not have sufficient individuality2  

that the spaces between the words were  
not sufficiently wide2 that the         
indentation was inadequate2 that the    
writing was cramped1 showing that the   
pen had not been held properly2 that the
 margin needed correction4 ,if the      
papers were defective from the          
standpoint of language1 the criticisms  
were equally clear and definite4 ,one   
pupil had misspelled the same word in   
three successive papers4 ,be sure that  
this word appears in the next spelling  
list1 was the comment of the            
superintendent4 ,another pupil          
habitually used a bit of false syntax3  
,place this upon the list of errors to  
be taken up and corrected4 ,still others
 were uncertain about paragraphing3     
,devote a language lesson to the        
paragraph before the next written       
exercise4 ,on the covers of each bundle 
of class papers1 he wrote directions and
 suggestions of a more general nature2  
for example3 ,improvement is not        
sufficiently marked2 try for better     

results next time2 or3 ,i note that the 
pupils draw rather than write2 look out 
for free movement4 ,often1 too1 there   
were words of well-merited praise3 ,i   
like the way in which your pupils have  
responded to their drill4 ,this is good4
 ,keep it up4 ,and not infrequently     
suggestions were made as to content3    
,tell this story in greater detail next 
time1 and have it reproduced again2 or3 
,the form of these papers is good1 but  
the nature study is poor2 don't         
sacrifice thought to form4  ,in similar 
fashion1 the other written work was gone
 over and annotated4 ,every pupil in    
this system of schools had a sample of  
his written work examined at regular and
 frequent intervals by the              
superintendent4 ,every teacher knew just
 what her chief demanded in the way of  
results1 and did her best to gain the   
results demanded4 ,i am not taking the  
position that the results that were     
demanded represented the highest ideals 
of what the elementary school should    

accomplish4 ,good penmanship and good   
spelling and good language1 in the light
 of contemporary educational thought1   
seem to be something like happiness--you
 get them in larger measure the less you
 think about getting them4 ,but this    
possible objection aside1 the           
superintendent in question had developed
 a system which kept him in very close  
touch with the work that was being done 
in widely separated schools4  ,he told  
me further that1 on the infrequent      
occasions when he could visit his       
classrooms1 he gave most of his time and
 attention to the matters that could not
 be supervised at long range4 ,he found 
out how the pupils were improving in    
their reading1 and especially in oral   
expression1 in its syntax1 its freedom  
from errors of construction1 its        
clearness and fluency4 ,he listed the   
common errors1 directing his teachers to
 take them up in a systematic manner and
 eradicate them1 and he did not fail to 
note at his next visit how much progress

 had been made4 ,he noted the condition 
of the blackboard work1 and kept a list 
of the improvements that he suggested4  
,he tested for rapidity in arithmetical 
processes1 for the papers sent to his   
office gave him only an index of        
accuracy4 ,he noted the habits of       
personal cleanliness that were being    
developed or neglected4 ,in fact1 he had
 a long list of specific standards that 
he kept continually in mind1 the        
progress toward which he constantly     
watched4 ,and last1 but by no means     
least1 he carried with him wherever he  
went an atmosphere of breezy good nature
 and cheerfulness1 for he had mastered  
the first principle in the art of both  
supervision and teaching2 he had learned
 that the best way to promote growth in 
either pupils or teachers is neither to 
let them do as they please nor to force 
them to do as you please1 but to get    
them to please to do what you please to 
have them do4  ,i instance this         
superintendent as one type of efficiency

 in supervision4 ,he was efficient1 not 
simply because he had a system that     
scrutinized every least detail of his   
pupils' growth1 but because that        
scrutiny really insured growth4 ,he     
obtained the results that he desired1   
and he obtained uniformly good results  
from a large number of young1 untrained 
teachers4 ,we have all heard of the     
superintendent who boasted that he could
 tell by looking at his watch just what 
any pupil in any classroom was doing at 
just that moment4 ,surely here system   
was not lacking4 ,but the boast did not 
strike the vital point4 ,it is not what 
the pupil is doing that is fundamentally
 important1 but what he is gaining from 
his activity or inactivity2 what he is  
gaining in the way of habits1 in the way
 of knowledge1 in the way of standards  
and ideals and prejudices1 all of which 
are to govern his future conduct4 ,the  
superintendent whom ,i have described   
had the qualities of balance and        
perspective that enabled him to see both

 the woods and the trees4 ,and let me   
add that he taught regularly in his own 
central high school1 and that           
practically all of his supervision was  
accomplished after school hours and on  
,saturdays4  ,but my chief reason for   
choosing his work as a type is that it  
represents a successful effort to       
supervise that part of school work which
 is most difficult and irksome to       
supervise2 namely1 the formation of     
habits4 ,whatever one's ideals of       
education may be1 it still remains true 
that habit building is the most         
important duty of the elementary school1
 and that the efficiency of habit       
building can be tested in no other way  
than by the means that he employed2     
namely1 the careful comparison of       
results at successive stages of the     
process4   ,,ii  ,the essence of a true 
habit is its purely automatic character4
 ,reaction must follow upon the stimulus
 instantaneously1 without thought1      
reflection1 or judgment4 ,one has not   

taught spelling efficiently until       
spelling is automatic1 until the correct
 form flows from the pen without the    
intervention of mind4 ,the real test of 
the pupil's training in spelling is his 
ability to spell the word correctly when
 he is thinking1 not about spelling1 but
 about the content of the sentence that 
he is writing4 ,consequently the test of
 efficiency in spelling is not an       
examination in spelling1 although this  
may be valuable as a means to an end1   
but rather the infrequency with which   
misspelled words appear in the          
composition work1 letter writing1 and   
other written work of the pupil4        
,similarly in language and grammar1 it  
is not sufficient to instruct in rules  
of syntax4 ,this is but the initial     
process4 ,grammatical rules function    
effectively only when they function     
automatically4 ,so long as one must     
think and judge and reflect upon the    
form of one's expression1 the expression
 is necessarily awkward and inadequate4 

,the same rule holds in respect of the  
fundamental processes of arithmetic4 ,it
 holds in penmanship1 in articulation   
and enunciation1 in word recognition1 in
 moral conduct and good manners2 in     
fact1 in all of the basic work for which
 the elementary school must stand       
sponsor4 ,and one source of danger in   
the newer methods of education lies in  
the tendency to overlook the importance 
of carrying habit-building processes    
through to a successful issue4 ,the     
reaction against drill1 against formal  
work of all sorts1 is a healthful       
reaction in many ways4 ,it bids fair to 
break up the mechanical lock step of the
 elementary grades1 and to introduce    
some welcome life1 and vigor1 and       
wholesomeness4 ,but it will sadly defeat
 its own purpose if it underrates the   
necessity of habit building as the basic
 activity of early education4  ,what is 
needed1 now that we have got away from  
the lock step1 now that we are happily  
emancipated from the meaningless        

thralldom of mechanical repetition and  
the worship of drill for its own        
sake--what is needed now is not less    
drill1 but better drill4 ,and this      
should be the net result of the recent  
reforms in elementary education4 ,in our
 first enthusiasm1 we threw away the    
spelling book1 poked fun at the         
multiplication tables1 decried basal    
reading1 and relieved ourselves of much 
wit and sarcasm at the expense of formal
 grammar4 ,but now we are swinging back 
to the adequate recognition of the true 
purpose of drill4 ,and in the wake of   
this newer conception1 we are learning  
that its drudgery may be lightened and  
its efficiency heightened by the        
introduction of a richer content that   
shall provide a greater variety in the  
repetitions1 insure an adequate motive  
for effort1 and relieve the dead        
monotony that frequently rendered the   
older methods so futile4 ,i look forward
 to the time when to be an efficient    
drillmaster in this newer sense of the  

term will be to have reached one of the 
pinnacles of professional skill4   ,,iii
  ,but there is another side of teaching
 that must be supervised4 ,although     
habit is responsible for nine tenths of 
conduct1 the remaining tenth must not be
 neglected4 ,in situations where habit  
is not adequate to adjustment1 judgment 
and reflection must come to the rescue1 
or should come to the rescue4 ,this     
means that1 instead of acting without   
thought1 as in the case of habit1 one   
analyzes the situation and tries to     
solve it by the application of some fact
 or principle that has been gained      
either from one's own experience or from
 the experience of others4 ,this is the 
field in which knowledge comes to its   
own2 and a very important task of       
education is to fix in the pupils' minds
 a number of facts and principles that  
will be available for application to the
 situations of later life4  ,how1 then1 
is the efficiency of instruction 7as    
distinguished from training or habit    

building7 to be tested8 ,needless to    
say1 an adequate test is impossible from
 the very nature of the situation4 ,the 
efficiency of imparting knowledge can be
 tested only by the effect that this    
knowledge has upon later conduct2 and   
this1 it will be agreed1 cannot be      
accurately determined until the pupil   
has left the school and is face to face 
with the problems of real life4  ,in    
practice1 however1 we adopt a more or   
less effective substitute for the real  
test--the substitute called the         
examination4 ,we all know that the      
ultimate purpose of instruction is not  
primarily to enable pupils successfully 
to pass examinations4 ,and yet as long  
as we teach as though this were the main
 purpose we might as well believe it to 
be4 ,now the examination may be made a  
very valuable test of the efficiency of 
instruction if its limitations are fully
 recognized and if it does not obscure  
the true purpose of instruction4 ,and if
 we remember that the true purpose is to

 impart facts in such a manner that they
 may not only stick in the pupil's mind1
 but that they may also be amenable to  
recall and practical application1 and if
 we set our examination questions with  
some reference to this requirement1 then
 ,i believe that we shall find the      
examination a dependable test4  ,one    
important point is likely to be         
overlooked in the consideration of      
examinations1--the fact1 namely1 that   
the form and content of the questions   
have a very powerful influence in       
determining the content and methods of  
instruction4 ,is it not pertinent1 then1
 to inquire whether examination         
questions cannot be so framed as        
radically to improve instruction rather 
than to encourage1 as is often the case1
 methods that are pedagogically unsound8
 ,granted that it is well for the child 
to memorize verbatim certain unrelated  
facts1 even to memorize some facts that 
have no immediate bearing upon his life1
 granted that this is valuable 7and ,i  

think that a little of it is71 is it    
necessary that an entire year or        
half-year be given over almost entirely 
to cramming up on old questions8 ,would 
it not be possible so to frame          
examination questions that the cramming 
process would be practically valueless8 
,what the pupil should get from         
geography1 for instance1 is not only a  
knowledge of geographical facts1 but    
also1 and more fundamentally1 the power 
to see the relation of these facts to   
his own life2 in other words1 the       
ability to apply his knowledge to the   
improvement of adjustment4 ,now this    
power is very closely associated with   
the ability to grasp fundamental        
principles1 to see the relation of cause
 and effect working below the surface of
 diverse phenomena4 ,geography1 to be   
practical1 must impress not only the    
fact1 but also the principle that       
rationalizes or explains the fact4 ,it  
must emphasize the why as well as the   
what4 ,for example3 it is well for the  

pupil to know that ,new ,york is the    
largest city in the ,united ,states2 it 
is better that he should know why ,new  
,york has become the largest city in the
 ,united ,states4 ,it is well to know   
that ,south ,america extends very much  
farther to the east than does ,north    
,america1 but it is better to know that 
this fact has had an important bearing  
in determining the commercial relations 
that exist between ,south ,america and  
,europe4 ,questions that have reference 
to these larger relations of cause and  
effect may be so framed that no amount  
of cramming will alone insure correct   
answers4 ,they may be so framed that the
 pupil will be forced to do some        
thinking for himself1 will be forced to 
solve an imaginary situation very much  
as he would solve a real situation4     
,examination questions of this type     
would react beneficially upon the       
methods of instruction4 ,they would tend
 to place a premium upon that type of   
instruction that develops initiative in 

solving problems1 instead of encouraging
 the memoriter methods that tend to     
crush whatever germs of initiative the  
pupil may possess4 ,this does not mean  
that the memoriter work should be       
excluded4 ,a solid basis of fact is     
essential to the mastery of principles4 
,personally ,i believe that the work of 
the intermediate grades should be       
planned to give the pupil this factual  
basis4 ,this would leave the upper      
grades free for the more rational work4 
,in any case1 ,i believe that the       
efficiency of examinations may be       
greatly increased by giving one or two  
questions that must be answered by a    
reasoning process for every question    
that may be answered by verbal memory   
alone4   ,,iv  ,thus far it seems clear 
that an absolute standard is available  
for testing the efficiency of training  
or habit building1 and that a fairly    
accurate standard may be developed for  
testing the efficiency of instruction4  
,both training and instruction1 however1

 are subject to the modifying influence 
of a third factor of which too little   
account has hitherto been taken in      
educational discussions4 ,training      
results in habits1 and yet a certain    
sort of training may not only result in 
a certain type of habit1 but it may also
 result in the development of something 
which will quite negate the habit that  
has been developed4 ,in the process of  
developing habits of neatness1 for      
example1 one may employ methods that    
result in prejudicing the child against 
neatness as a general virtue4 ,in this  
event1 although the little specific     
habits of neatness may function in the  
situations in which they have been      
developed1 the prejudice will           
effectually prevent their extension to  
other fields4 ,in other words1 the      
general emotional effect of training    
must be considered as well as the       
specific results of the training4 ,the  
same stricture applies with equal force 
to instruction4 ,instruction imparts    

knowledge2 but if a man knows and fails 
to feel1 his knowledge has little       
influence upon his conduct4  ,this      
factor that controls conduct when habit 
fails1 this factor that may even negate 
an otherwise efficient habit1 is the    
great indeterminate in the work of      
teaching4 ,to know that one has trained 
an effective habit or imparted a        
practical principle is one thing2 to    
know that in doing this1 one has not    
engendered in the pupil's mind a        
prejudice against the very thing taught 
is quite another matter4  ,that phase of
 teaching which is concerned with the   
development of these intangible forces  
may be termed inspiration2 and it is the
 lack of an adequate test for the       
efficiency of inspiration that makes the
 task of supervision so difficult and   
the results so often unsatisfactory4    
,nevertheless1 even here the outlook is 
not entirely hopeless4 ,one may be      
tolerably certain of at least two       
things4 ,in the first place1 the great  

emotionalized prejudices that must come 
predominantly from school influences are
 the love of truth1 the love of work1   
respect for law and order1 and a spirit 
of cooeperation4 ,these factors         
undoubtedly have their basis in specific
 habits of honesty1 industry1 obedience1
 and regard for the rights and feelings 
of others2 and these habits may be      
developed and tested just as thoroughly 
and just as accurately as habits of good
 spelling and correct syntax4 ,without  
the solid basis of habit1 ideals and    
prejudices will be of but little        
service4 ,the one caution must be taken 
that the methods of training do not     
defeat their own purpose by engendering 
prejudices and ideals that negate the   
habits4 ,it is here that the personality
 of the teacher becomes the             
all-important factor1 and the task of   
the supervisor is to determine whether  
the influence of the personality is good
 or evil4 ,most supervisors come to     
judge of this influence by an undefined 

factor that is best termed the spirit of
 the classroom4  ,the second hopeful    
feature of the task of supervision in   
respect of inspiration is that this     
spirit is an extremely contagious and   
pervasive thing4 ,in other words1 the   
principal or the superintendent may     
dominate every classroom under his      
supervision1 almost without regard to   
the limitations of the individual       
teachers4 ,typical schools in every city
 system bear compelling testimony to    
this fact4 ,the principal is the school4
  ,and if ,i were to sum up the         
essential characteristics of the ideal  
supervisor1 ,i could not neglect this   
point4 ,after all1 the two great dangers
 that beset him are1 first1 the danger  
of sloth--the old ,adam of              
laziness--which will tempt him to avoid 
the details1 to shirk the drudgery1 to  
escape the close and wearisome scrutiny 
of little things2 and1 secondly1 the sin
 of triviality--the inertia which holds 
him to details and never permits him to 

take the broader view and see the true  
ends toward which details are but the   
means4 ,the proper combination of these 
two factors is all too rare1 but it is  
in this combination that the ideal      
supervisor is to be found4  ,,footnotes3
  ,footnote #aj3 ,a paper read before   
the fifty-second annual meeting of the  
,new ,york ,state ,association of       
,school ,commissioners and              
,superintendents1 ,november #h1 #aijg4  
,v  ,,the ,,supervisor ,,and ,,the      
,,teacher   ,i  ,it is difficult not to 
be depressed by the irrational          
radicalism of contemporary educational  
theory4 ,it would seem that the workers 
in the higher ranges of educational     
activity should1 of all men1 preserve a 
balanced judgment and a sane outlook1   
and yet there is probably no other human
 calling that presents the strange      
phenomenon of men who are called experts
 throwing overboard everything that the 
past has sanctioned1 and embarking      
without chart or compass upon any new   

venture that happens to catch popular   
fancy4 ,the non-professional character  
of education is nowhere more painfully  
apparent than in the expression of this 
tendency4 ,the literature of teaching   
that is written directly out of         
experience--out of actual adjustment to 
the teaching situation--is almost       
laughed out of court in some educational
 circles4 ,but if one wishes to win the 
applause of the multitude one may do it 
easily enough by proclaiming some new   
and untried plan4 ,at our educational   
gatherings you notice above everything  
else a straining for spectacular and    
bizarre effects4 ,it is the novel that  
catches attention2 and it sometimes     
seems to me that those who know the     
least about the educational situation in
 the way of direct contact often receive
 the largest share of attention and have
 the largest influence4  ,it is in the  
attitude of the public and of a certain 
proportion of school men toward         
elementary teaching and the elementary  

teacher that this destructive criticism 
finds its most pronounced expression4   
,throughout the length and breadth of   
the land1 the efficiency of the public  
school and the sincerity and            
intelligence of those who are giving    
their lives to its work are being called
 into question4 ,it is discouraging to  
think that years of service in a calling
 do not qualify one to speak            
authoritatively upon the problems of    
that calling1 and especially upon       
technique4 ,and yet it is precisely upon
 that point of technique that the       
criticisms of elementary education are  
most drastic4  ,our educational system  
is sometimes branded as a failure1 and  
yet this same educational system with   
all its weaknesses has accomplished the 
task of assimilating to ,american       
institutions and ideals and standards   
the most heterogeneous infusion of alien
 stocks that ever went to the making of 
a united people4 ,the elementary teacher
 is criticized for all the sins of      

omission that the calendar enumerates1  
and yet this same elementary teacher is 
daily lifting millions of children to a 
plane of civilization and culture that  
no other people in history have even    
thought possible4 ,i am willing to admit
 the deficiencies of ,american          
education1 but ,i also maintain that the
 teachers of our lower schools do not   
deserve the opprobrium that has been    
heaped upon them4 ,i believe that in    
education1 as in business1 it would be a
 good thing if we saw more of the       
doughnut and less of the hole4 ,when ,i 
hear a prominent educator say that we   
must discard everything that we have    
produced thus far and begin anew in the 
realm of educational materials and      
methods1 ,i confess that ,i am          
discouraged1 especially when that same  
authority is extremely obscure as to the
 materials and methods that we should   
substitute for those that we are now    
employing4 ,i heard that statement at a 
recent meeting of the ,department of    

,superintendence1 and ,i heard other    
things of like tenor1--for example1 that
 normal schools were perpetuating types 
of skill in teaching that were unworthy 
of perpetuation1 that the observation of
 teaching was valueless in the training 
of teachers because there was nothing   
that was being done at the present time 
that was worthy of imitation1 that      
practice teaching in the training of    
young teachers is a farce1 a delusion1  
and a snare4 ,those very words were     
employed by one man of high position to 
express his opinion of contemporary     
practices4 ,you cannot pick up an       
educational journal of the better sort1 
nor open a new educational book1 without
 being brought face to face with this   
destructive criticism4  ,i protest      
against this1 not only in the name of   
justice1 but in the name of common      
sense4 ,it cannot be possible that      
generations of dealing with immature    
minds should have left no residuum of   
effective practice4 ,the very principle 

of progress by trial and error will     
inevitably mean that certain practices  
that are possible and helpful and       
effective are perpetuated1 and that     
certain other processes that are        
ineffective and wasteful are eliminated4
 ,to repudiate all this is the height of
 folly4 ,if the history of progress     
shows us anything1 it shows us that     
progress is not made by repudiating the 
lessons of experience4 ,theory is the   
last word1 not the first4 ,theory should
 explain3 it should take successful     
practice and find out what principles   
condition its efficiency2 and if these  
principles are inconsistent with those  
heretofore held1 it is the theory that  
should be modified to suit the facts1   
not the facts to suit the theory4  ,my  
opponents may point to medicine as a    
possible example of the opposite        
procedure4 ,and yet if there is anything
 that the history of medical science    
demonstrates1 it is that the first cues 
to new discoveries were made in the     

field of practice4 ,lymph therapy1 which
 is one of the triumphs of modern       
medicine1 was discovered empirically4   
,it was an accident of practice1 a blind
 procedure of trial and success that led
 to ,jenner's discovery of the virtues  
of vaccination4 ,a century passed before
 theory adequately explained the        
phenomenon1 and opened the way to those 
wider applications of the principle that
 have done so much to reduce the ravages
 of disease4  ,the value of theory1 ,i  
repeat1 is to explain successful        
practice and to generalize experience in
 broad and comprehensive principles     
which can be easily held in mind1 and   
from which inferences for further new   
and effective practices may be derived4 
,we have a small body of sound          
principles in education to-day1--a body 
of principles that are thoroughly       
consistent with successful practice4    
,but the sort of principles that are put
 forth as the last words of educational 
theory are often far from sound4        

,personally ,i firmly believe that a    
vast amount of damage is being done to  
children by the application of          
fallacious principles which1 because    
they emanate from high authority1 obtain
 an artificial validity in the minds of 
teachers in service4  ,i cannot         
understand why1 when an educational     
experiment fails lamentably1 it is not  
rejected as a failure4 ,and yet you and 
,i know a number of instances where     
certain educational experiments that    
have undeniably reversed the hypotheses 
of those who initiated them are excused 
on the ground that conditions were not  
favorable4 ,that1 it seems to me1 should
 tell the whole story1 for precisely    
what we need in educational practice is 
a body of doctrine that will work where 
conditions are unfavorable4 ,we are told
 that the successful application of     
mooted theories depends upon the proper 
kind of teachers4 ,i maintain that the  
most effective sort of theory is the    
sort that brings results with such      

teachers as we must employ in our work4 
,it would be a poor recommendation for a
 theory of medicine to say that it      
worked all right when people are healthy
 but failed to help the sick4 ,nor is it
 true that good teachers can get good   
results by following bad theory4 ,they  
often obtain the results by evading the 
theory1 and when they live up to it1 the
 results faithfully reflect the theory1 
no matter how skillful the teaching4    
,,ii  ,statements like these are very   
apt to be misconstrued or misinterpreted
 unless one is very careful to define   
one's position2 and1 after what ,i have 
said1 ,i should do myself an injustice  
if ,i did not make certain that my      
position is clear4 ,i believe in        
experimentation in education4 ,i believe
 in experimental schools4 ,but ,i should
 wish these schools to be interpreted as
 experiments and not as models1 and ,i  
should wish that the failure of an      
experiment be accepted with good1       
scientific grace1 and not with the      

unscientific attitude of making excuses4
 ,the trouble with an experimental      
school is that1 in the eyes of the great
 mass of teachers1 it becomes a model   
school1 and the principles that it      
represents are applied ad libitum by    
thousands of teachers who assume that   
they have heard the last word in        
educational theory4  ,no one is more    
favorably disposed toward the rights of 
children than ,i am1 and yet ,i am      
thoroughly convinced that               
soft-heartedness accompanied by         
soft-headedness is weakening the mental 
and moral fiber of hundreds of thousands
 of boys and girls throughout this      
country4 ,no one admires more than ,i   
admire the sagacity and far-sightedness 
of ,judge ,lindsey1 and yet when ,judge 
,lindsey's methods are proposed as      
models for school government1 ,i cannot 
lose sight1 as so many people seem to   
lose sight1 of the contingent factor2   
namely1 that ,judge ,lindsey's leniency 
is based upon authority1 and that if    

,judge ,lindsey or anybody else         
attempted to be lenient when he had no  
power to be otherwise than lenient1 his 
bluff would be called in short order4   
,if you will give to teachers and       
principals the same power that you give 
to the police judge1 you may well expect
 them to be lenient4 ,the great trouble 
in the school is simply this3 that just 
in the proportion that leniency is      
demanded1 authority is taken away from  
the teacher4  ,and ,i should perhaps say
 a qualifying word with regard to my    
attitude toward educational theory4 ,i  
have every feeling of affection for the 
science of psychology4 ,i have every    
faith in the value of psychological     
principles in the interpretation of     
educational phenomena4 ,but ,i also     
recognize that the science of psychology
 is a very young science1 and that its  
data are not yet so well organized that 
it is safe to draw from them anything   
more than tentative hypotheses which    
must meet their final test in the       

crucible of practice4 ,some day1 if we  
work hard enough1 psychology will become
 a predictive science1 just as          
mathematics and physics and chemistry   
and1 to a certain extent1 biology1 are  
predictive sciences to-day4 ,meantime   
psychology is of inestimable value in   
giving us a point of view1 in clarifying
 our ideas1 and in rationalizing the    
truths that empirical practice          
discovers4 ,a very few psychological    
principles are strongly enough          
established even now to form the basis  
of prediction4 ,among the most important
 of these are the laws of habit         
building1 some laws of memory1 and the  
larger principles of attention4         
,successful educational practice is and 
must be in accord with these            
indisputable tenets4 ,but the bane of   
education to-day is in the              
pseudo-science1 the half-baked          
psychology1 that is lauded from the     
house-tops by untrained enthusiasts1    
turned from the presses by irresponsible

 publishing houses1 and foisted upon the
 hungry teaching public through the     
ever-present medium of the reading      
circle1 the teachers' institute1 the    
summer school1 and ,i am very sorry to  
admit 7for ,i think that ,i represent   
both institutions in a way7 sometimes by
 the normal schools and universities4   
,most of the doctrines that are turning 
our practice topsy-turvy have absolutely
 no support from competent              
psychologists4 ,the doctrine of         
spontaneity and its attendant           
laissez-faire dogma of school government
 is thoroughly inconsistent with good   
psychology4 ,the radical extreme to     
which some educators would push the     
doctrine of interest when they maintain 
that the child should never be asked to 
do anything for which he fails to find a
 need in his own life1--this doctrine   
can find no support in good psychology4 
,the doctrine that the preadolescent    
child should understand thoroughly every
 process that he is expected to reduce  

to habit before that process is made    
automatic is utterly at variance with   
long-established principles which were  
well understood by the ,greeks and the  
,hebrews twenty-five hundred years ago1 
and to which ,mother ,nature herself    
gives the lie in the instincts of       
imitation and repetition4 ,it is        
conceivable that these radical doctrines
 were justified as means of reform1     
especially in secondary and higher      
education1 but1 even granting this1     
their function is fulfilled when the    
reform that they exploited has been     
accomplished4 ,that time has come and1  
as palpable untruths1 they should either
 be modified to meet the facts1 or be   
relegated to oblivion4   ,,iii  ,it is  
safe to say that formalism is no longer 
a characteristic feature of the typical 
,american school4 ,it is so long since  
,i have heard any rote learning in a    
schoolroom that ,i am wondering if it is
 not almost time for some one to show   
that a little rote learning would not be

 at all a bad thing in preadolescent    
education4 ,we ridicule the memoriter   
methods of ,chinese education and yet we
 sometimes forget that ,chinese         
education has done something that no    
other system of education1 however well 
planned1 has even begun to do in the    
same degree4 ,it has kept the ,chinese  
empire a unit through a period of time  
compared with which the entire history  
of ,greece and ,rome is but an episode4 
,we may ridicule the formalism of       
,hebrew education1 and yet the schools  
of rabbis have preserved intact the     
racial integrity of the ,jewish people  
during the two thousand years that have 
elapsed since their geographical unity  
was destroyed4 ,i am not justifying the 
methods of ,chinese or ,hebrew          
education4 ,i am quite willing to admit 
that1 in ,china at any rate1 the game   
may not have been worth the candle2 but 
,i am still far from convinced that it  
is not a good thing for children to     
reduce to verbal form a good many things

 that are now never learned in such a   
way as to make any lasting impression   
upon the memory2 and our criticism of   
oriental formalism is not so much       
concerned with the method of learning as
 with the content of learning1--not so  
much with learning by heart as with the 
character of the material that was thus 
memorized4  ,but1 although formalism is 
no longer a distinctive feature of      
,american education1 formalism is the   
point from which education is most      
frequently attacked1--and this is the   
chief source of my dissatisfaction with 
the present-day critics of our          
elementary schools4 ,in a great many    
cases1 they have set up a man of straw  
and demolished him completely4 ,and in  
demolishing him1 they have incidentally 
knocked the props from under the feet of
 many a good teacher1 leaving him dazed 
and uncertain of his bearings1 stung    
with the conviction that what he has    
been doing for his pupils is entirely   
without value1 that his life of service 

has been a failure1 that the lessons of 
his own experience are not to be        
trusted1 nor the verdicts of his own    
intelligence respected4 ,go to any of   
the great summer schools and you will   
meet1 among the attending teachers1     
hundreds of faithful1 conscientious men 
and women who could tell you if they    
would 7and some of them will7 of the    
muddle in which their minds are left    
after some of the lectures to which they
 have listened4 ,why should they fail to
 be depressed8 ,the whole weight of     
academic authority seems to be against  
them4 ,the entire machinery of          
educational administration is wheeling  
them with relentless force into paths   
that seem to them hopelessly intricate  
and bewildering4 ,if it is true1 as ,i  
think it is1 that some of the proposals 
of modern education are an attempt to   
square the circle1 it is certainly true 
that the classroom teacher is standing  
at the pressure points in this          
procedure4  ,we hear expressed on every 

side a great deal of sympathy for the   
child as the victim of our educational  
system4 ,sympathy for childhood is the  
most natural thing in the world4 ,it is 
one of the basic human instincts1 and   
its expressions are among the finest    
things in human life4 ,but why limit our
 sympathy to the child1 especially      
to-day when he is about as happy and as 
fortunate an individual as anybody has  
ever been in all history4 ,why not let a
 little of it go out to the teacher of  
this child8 ,why not plan a little for  
her comfort and welfare and             
encouragement8 ,it is her skill that is 
assimilating the children of our alien  
population4 ,it is her strength that is 
lifting bodily each generation to the   
ever-advancing race levels4 ,her work   
must be the main source of the          
inspiration that will impel the race to 
further advancement4 ,and yet when these
 half-million teachers who mean so much 
to this country gather at their         
institutes1 when they attend the summer 

schools1 when they take up their        
professional journals1 what do they hear
 and read8 ,criticisms of their work4   
,denunciations of their methods4        
,serious doubts of their intelligence4  
,aspersions cast upon their sincerity1  
their patience1 and their loyalty to    
their superiors4 ,this1 mingled with    
some mawkish sentimentalism that passes 
under the name of inspiration4 ,only    
occasionally a word of downright        
commendation1 a sign of honest and      
heartfelt appreciation1 a note of       
sympathy or encouragement4  ,carnegie   
gives fifteen million dollars to provide
 pensions for superannuated college     
professors2 but the elementary teacher  
who is not fortunate enough to die in   
harness must look forward to the        
almshouse4 ,the people tax themselves   
for magnificent buildings and luxurious 
furnishings1 but not one cent do they   
offer for teachers' pensions4 ,what a   
blot upon ,western civilization is this 
treatment of the teachers in our lower  

schools4 ,these people are doing the    
work that even the savage races         
universally consider to be of the       
highest type4 ,benighted ,china places  
her teachers second only to the literati
 themselves in the place of honor4 ,the 
,hindus made the teaching profession the
 highest caste in the social scale4 ,the
 ,jews intrusted the education of their 
children to their ,rabbis1 the most     
learned and the most honored of their   
race4 ,it is only ,western              
civilization--it is almost only our     
much-lauded ,anglo-,saxon               
civilization--that denies to the teacher
 a station in life befitting his        
importance as a social servant4   ,,iv  
,but what has all this to do with school
 supervision8 ,as ,i view it1 the       
supervisor of schools as the overseer   
and director of the educational process1
 is just now confronted with two great  
problems4 ,the first of these is to keep
 a clear head in the present muddled    
condition of educational theory4 ,from  

the very fact of his position1 the      
supervisor must be a leader1 whether he 
will or not4 ,it is a maxim of our      
profession that the principal is the    
school4 ,in our city systems the        
supervising principal is given almost   
absolute authority over the school of   
which he has charge4 ,in him is vested  
the ultimate responsibility for         
instruction1 for discipline1 for the    
care and condition of the material      
property4 ,he may be a despot if he     
wishes1 benevolent or otherwise4 ,with  
this power goes a corresponding         
opportunity4 ,his school can stand for  
something1--perhaps for something new   
and strange which will bring him into   
the limelight to-day1 no matter what its
 character2 perhaps for something solid 
and enduring1 something that will last  
long after his own name has been        
forgotten4 ,the temptation was never so 
strong as it is to-day for the          
supervisor to seek the former kind of   
glory4 ,the need was never more acute   

than it is to-day for the supervisor who
 is content with the impersonal glory of
 the latter type4  ,i admit that it is a
 somewhat thankless task to do things in
 a straightforward1 effective way1      
without fuss or feathers1 and ,i suppose
 that the applause of the gallery may be
 easily mistaken for the applause of the
 pit4 ,but nevertheless the seeker for  
notoriety is doing the cause of         
education a vast amount of harm4 ,i know
 a principal who won ephemeral fame by  
introducing into his school a form of   
the ,japanese jiu-jitsu physical        
exercises4 ,when ,i visited that school1
 ,i was led to believe that jiu-jitsu   
would be the salvation of the ,american 
people4 ,whole classes of girls and boys
 were marched to the large basement to  
be put through their paces for the      
delectation of visitors4 ,the newspapers
 took it up and heralded it as another  
indication that the formalism of the    
public school was gradually breaking    
down4 ,visitors came by the hundreds1   

and my friend basked in the limelight of
 public adulation while his colleagues  
turned green with envy and set          
themselves to devising some means for   
turning attention in their direction4   
,and yet1 there are some principals who 
move on in the even tenor of their ways1
 year after year1 while all these       
currents and countercurrents are        
seething and eddying around them4 ,they 
hold fast to that which they know is    
good until that which they know is      
better can be found4 ,they believe in   
the things that they do1 so the chances 
are greatly increased that they will do 
them well4 ,they refuse to be bullied or
 sneered at or laughed out of court     
because they do not take up with every  
fancy that catches the popular mind4    
,they have their own professional       
standards as to what constitutes        
competent schoolmanship1--their own     
standards gained from their own         
specialized experience4 ,and somehow ,i 
cannot help thinking that just now that 

is the type of supervisor that we need  
and the type that ought to be           
encouraged4 ,if ,i were talking to      
,chinese teachers1 ,i might preach      
another sort of gospel1 but ,american   
education to-day needs less turmoil1    
less distraction1 fewer sweeping        
changes4 ,it needs to settle itself1 and
 look around1 and find out where it is  
and what it is trying to do4 ,and it    
needs1 above all1 to rise to a          
consciousness of itself as an           
institution manned by intelligent       
individuals who are perfectly competent 
themselves to set up craft standard and 
ideals4   ,,iv    ,transcriber's note3  
,this is a typographical error in    the
 original1 and should read ,v  ,but in  
whatever way the supervisor may utilize 
the opportunity that his position       
presents1 his second great problem will 
come up for solution4 ,the supervisor is
 the captain of the teaching corps4     
,directly under his control are the     
mainsprings of the school's life and    

activity1--the classroom teachers4 ,it  
is coming to be a maxim in the city     
systems that the supervisor has not only
 the power to mold the school to the    
form of his own ideals1 but that he can1
 if he is skillful1 turn weak teachers  
into strong teachers and make out of    
most unpromising material1 an efficient1
 homogeneous school staff4 ,i believe   
that this is coming to be considered the
 prime criterion of effective school    
supervision1--not what skill the        
supervisor may show in testing results1 
or in keeping his pupils up to a given  
standard1 or in choosing his teachers   
skillfully1 but rather the success with 
which he is able to take the teaching   
material that is at his hand1 and train 
it into efficiency4  ,a former          
,commissioner of ,education for one of  
our new insular possessions once told me
 that he had come to divide supervisors 
into two classes1--7#a7 those who knew  
good teaching when they saw it1 and 7#b7
 those who could make poor teachers into

 good teachers4 ,of these two types1 he 
said1 the latter were infinitely more   
valuable to pioneer work in education   
than the former1 and he named two or    
three city systems from which he had    
selected the supervisors who could do   
this sort of thing1--for there is no    
limit to this process of training1 and  
the superintendent who can train        
supervisors is just as important as the 
supervisor who can train teachers4  ,it 
would take a volume adequately to treat 
the various problems that this          
conception of the supervisor's function 
involves4 ,i can do no more at present  
than indicate what seems to me the most 
pressing present need in this direction4
 ,i have found that sometimes the       
supervisors who insist most strenuously 
that their teachers secure the          
cooeperation of their pupils are among  
the very last to secure for themselves  
the cooeperation of their teachers4     
,and to this important end1 it seems to 
me that we have an important suggestion 

in the present condition of the         
classroom teacher as ,i have attempted  
to describe it4 ,as a type1 the         
classroom teacher needs just now some   
adequate appreciation and recognition of
 the work that she is doing4 ,if the lay
 public is unable adequately to judge   
the teacher's work1 there is all the    
more reason that she should look to her 
supervisor for that recognition of      
technical skill1 for that commendation  
of good work1 which can come only from a
 fellow-craftsman1 but which1 when it   
does come1 is worth more in the way of  
real inspiration than the loudest       
applause of the crowd4  ,upon the whole1
 ,i believe that the outlook in this    
direction is encouraging4 ,while the    
teacher may miss in her institutes and  
in the summer school that sort of       
encouragement1 she is1 ,i believe1      
finding it in larger and larger measure 
in the local teachers' meetings and in  
her consultations with her supervisors4 
,and when all has been said1 that is the

 place from which she should look for   
inspiration4 ,the teachers' meeting must
 be the nursery of professional ideals4 
,it must be a place where the real      
first-hand workers in education get that
 sanity of outlook1 that professional   
point of view1 which shall fortify them 
effectively against the rising tide of  
unprofessional interference and         
dictation which1 as ,i have tried to    
indicate1 constitutes the most serious  
menace to our educational welfare4  ,and
 it is in the encouragement of this     
craft spirit1 in this lifting of the    
teacher's calling to the plane of craft 
consciousness1 it is in this that the   
supervisor must1 ,i believe1 find the   
true and lasting reward for his work4   
,it is through this factor that he can1 
just now1 work the greatest good for the
 schools that he supervises and the     
community that he serves4 ,the most     
effective way to reach his pupils is    
through the medium of their teachers1   
and he can help these pupils in no      

better way than to give their teachers a
 justifiable pride in the work that they
 are doing through his own recognition  
of its worth and its value1 through his 
own respect for the significance of the 
lessons that experience teaches them1   
through his own suggestive help in      
making that experience profitable and   
suggestive4 ,and just at the present    
moment1 he can make no better start than
 by assuring them of the truth that     
,emerson expresses when he defines the  
true scholar as the man who remains firm
 in his belief that a popgun is only a  
popgun although the ancient and honored 
of earth may solemnly affirm it to be   
the crack of doom4     ,,vi  ,,education
 ,,and ,,utility#aa  ,i   ,i wish to    
discuss with you some phases of the     
problem that is perhaps foremost in the 
minds of the teaching public to-day3 the
 problem1 namely1 of making education   
bear more directly and more effectively 
upon the work of practical1 everyday    
life4 ,i have no doubt that some of you 

feel1 when this problem is suggested1   
very much as ,i felt when ,i first      
suggested to myself the possibility of  
discussing it with you4 ,you have       
doubtless heard some phases of this     
problem discussed at every meeting of   
this association for the past ten       
years--if you have been a member so long
 as that4 ,certain it is that we all    
grow weary of the reiteration of even   
the best of truths1 but certain it is   
also that some problems are always      
before us1 and until they are solved    
satisfactorily they will always         
stimulate men to devise means for their 
solution4  ,i should say at the outset1 
however1 that ,i shall not attempt to   
justify to this audience the            
introduction of vocational subjects into
 the elementary and secondary           
curriculums4 ,i shall take it for       
granted that you have already made up   
your minds upon this matter4 ,i shall   
not take your time in an attempt to     
persuade you that agriculture ought to  

be taught in the rural schools1 or      
manual training and domestic science in 
all schools4 ,i am personally convinced 
of the value of such work and ,i shall  
take it for granted that you are        
likewise convinced4  ,my task to-day1   
then1 is of another type4 ,i wish to    
discuss with you some of the            
implications of this matter of utility  
in respect of the work that every       
elementary school is doing and always   
must do1 no matter how much hand work or
 vocational material it may introduce4  
,my problem1 in other words1 concerns   
the ordinary subject-matter of the      
curriculum1--reading and writing and    
arithmetic1 geography and grammar and   
history1--those things which1 like the  
poor1 are always with us1 but which we  
seem a little ashamed to talk about in  
public4 ,truly1 from reading the        
educational journals and hearing        
educational discussion to-day1 the      
layman might well infer that what we    
term the useful education and the       

education that is now offered by the    
average school are as far apart as the  
two poles4 ,we are all familiar with the
 statement that the elementary          
curriculum is eminently adapted to      
produce clerks and accountants1 but very
 poorly adapted to furnish recruits for 
any other department of life4 ,the high 
school is criticized on the ground that 
it prepares for college and consequently
 for the professions1 but that it is    
totally inadequate to the needs of the  
average citizen4 ,now it would be futile
 to deny that there is some truth in    
both these assertions1 but ,i do not    
hesitate to affirm that both are grossly
 exaggerated1 and that the curriculum of
 to-day1 with all its imperfections1    
does not justify so sweeping a          
denunciation4 ,i wish to point out some 
of the respects in which these charges  
are fallacious1 and1 in so doing1       
perhaps1 to suggest some possible       
remedies for the defects that every one 
will acknowledge4   ,,ii  ,in the first 

place1 let me make myself perfectly     
clear upon what ,i mean by the word     
useful4 ,what1 after all1 is the useful 
study in our schools8 ,what do men find 
to be the useful thing in their lives8  
,the most natural answer to this        
question is that the useful things are  
those that enable us to meet effectively
 the conditions of life1--or1 to use a  
phrase that is perfectly clear to us    
all1 the things that help us in getting 
a living4 ,the vast majority of men and 
women in this world measure all values  
by this standard1 for most of us are1 to
 use the expressive slang of the day1 up
 against this problem1 and up against it
 so hard and so constantly that we      
interpret everything in the greatly     
foreshortened perspective of immediate  
necessity4 ,most of us in this room are 
confronting this problem of making a    
living4 ,at any rate1 ,i am confronting 
it1 and consequently ,i may lay claim to
 some of the authority that comes from  
experience4  ,and since ,i have made    

this personal reference1 may ,i violate 
the canons of good taste and make still 
another8 ,i was face to face with this  
problem of getting a living a good many 
years ago1 when the opportunity came to 
me to take a college course4 ,i could   
see nothing ahead after that except     
another struggle with this same vital   
issue4 ,so ,i decided to take a college 
course which would1 in all probability1 
help me to solve the problem4           
,scientific agriculture was not         
developed in those days as it has been  
since that time1 but a start had been   
made1 and the various agricultural      
colleges were offering what seemed to be
 very practical courses4 ,i had had some
 early experience on the farm1 and ,i   
decided to become a scientific farmer4  
,i took the course of four years and    
secured my degree4 ,the course was as   
useful from the standpoint of practical 
agriculture as any that could have been 
devised at the time4 ,but when ,i       
graduated1 what did ,i find8 ,the same  

old problem of getting a living still   
confronted me as ,i had expected that it
 would2 and alas6 ,i had got my         
education in a profession that demanded 
capital4 ,i was a landless farmer4      
,times were hard and work of all kinds  
was very scarce4 ,the farmers of those  
days were inclined to scoff at          
scientific agriculture4 ,i could have   
worked for my board and a little more1  
and ,i should have done so had ,i been  
able to find a job4 ,but while ,i was   
looking for the place1 a chance came to 
teach school1 and ,i took the           
opportunity as a means of keeping the   
wolf from the door4 ,i have been engaged
 in the work of teaching ever since4    
,when ,i was able to buy land1 ,i did   
so1 and ,i have to-day a farm of which  
,i am very proud4 ,it does not pay large
 dividends1 but ,i keep it up for the   
fun ,i get out of it1--and ,i like to   
think1 also1 that if ,i should lose my  
job as a teacher1 ,i could go back to   
the farm and show the natives how to    

make money4 ,this is doubtless an       
illusion1 but it is a source of solid   
comfort just the same4  ,now the point  
of this experience is simply this3 ,i   
secured an education that seemed to me  
to promise the acme of utility4 ,in one 
way1 it has fulfilled that promise far  
beyond my wildest expectations1 but that
 way was very different from the one    
that ,i had anticipated4 ,the technical 
knowledge that ,i gained during those   
four strenuous years1 ,i apply now only 
as a means of recreation4 ,so far as    
enabling me directly to get a living1   
this technical knowledge does not pay   
one per cent on the investment of time  
and money4 ,and yet ,i count the        
training that ,i got from its mastery   
as1 perhaps1 the most useful product of 
my education4  ,now what was the secret 
of its utility8 ,as ,i analyze my       
experience1 ,i find it summed up very   
largely in two factors4 ,in the first   
place1 ,i studied a set of subjects for 
which ,i had at the outset very little  

taste4 ,in studying agriculture1 ,i had 
to master a certain amount of chemistry1
 physics1 botany1 and zooelogy1 for each
 and every one of which ,i felt1 at the 
outset1 a distinct aversion and dislike4
 ,a mastery of these subjects was       
essential to a realization of the       
purpose that ,i had in mind4 ,i was sure
 that ,i should never like them1 and    
yet1 as ,i kept at work1 ,i gradually   
found myself losing that initial        
distaste4 ,first one and then another   
opened out its vista of truth and       
revelation before me1 and almost before 
,i was aware of it1 ,i was enthusiastic 
over science4 ,it was a long time before
 ,i generalized that experience and drew
 its lesson1 but the lesson1 once       
learned1 has helped me more even in the 
specific task of getting a living than  
anything else that came out of my school
 training4 ,that experience taught me1  
not only the necessity for doing        
disagreeable tasks1--for attacking them 
hopefully and cheerfully1--but it also  

taught me that disagreeable tasks1 if   
attacked in the right way1 and persisted
 in with patience1 often become         
attractive in themselves4 ,over and over
 again in meeting the situations of real
 life1 ,i have been confronted with     
tasks that were initially distasteful4  
,sometimes ,i have surrendered before   
them2 but sometimes1 too1 that lesson   
has come back to me1 and has inspired me
 to struggle on1 and at no time has it  
disappointed me by the outcome4 ,i      
repeat that there is no technical       
knowledge that ,i have gained that      
compares for a moment with that ideal of
 patience and persistence4 ,when it     
comes to real1 downright utility1       
measured by this inexorable standard of 
getting a living1 let me commend to you 
the ideal of persistent effort4 ,all the
 knowledge that we can learn or teach   
will come to very little if this element
 is lacking4  ,now this is very far from
 saying that the pursuit of really      
useful knowledge may not give this ideal

 just as effectively as the pursuit of  
knowledge that will never be used4 ,my  
point is simply this3 that beyond the   
immediate utility of the facts that we  
teach1--indeed1 basic and fundamental to
 this utility1--is the utility of the   
ideals and standards that are derived   
from our school work4 ,whatever we      
teach1 these essential factors can be   
made to stand out in our work1 and if   
our pupils acquire these we shall have  
done the basic and important thing in   
helping them to solve the problems of   
real life1--and if our pupils do not    
acquire these1 it will make little      
difference how intrinsically valuable   
may be the content of our instruction4  
,i feel like emphasizing this matter    
to-day1 because there is in the air a   
notion that utility depends entirely    
upon the content of the curriculum4     
,certainly the curriculum must be       
improved from this standpoint1 but we   
are just now losing sight of the other  
equally important factor1--that1 after  

all1 while both are essential1 it is the
 spirit of teaching rather than the     
content of teaching that is basic and   
fundamental4  ,nor have ,i much sympathy
 with that extreme view of this matter  
which asserts that we must go out of our
 way to provide distasteful tasks for   
the pupil in order to develop this ideal
 of persistence4 ,i believe that such a 
policy will always tend to defeat its   
own purpose4 ,i know a teacher who holds
 this belief4 ,he goes out of his way to
 make tasks difficult4 ,he refuses to   
help pupils over hard places4 ,he does  
not believe in careful assignments of   
lessons1 because1 he maintains1 the     
pupil ought to learn to overcome        
difficulties for himself1 and how can he
 learn unless real difficulties are     
presented8  ,the great trouble with this
 teacher is that his policy does not    
work out in practice4 ,a small minority 
of his pupils are strengthened by it2   
the majority are weakened4 ,he is right 
when he says that a pupil gains strength

 only by overcoming difficulties1 but he
 neglects a very important qualification
 of this rule1 namely1 that a pupil     
gains no strength out of obstacles that 
he fails to overcome4 ,it is the        
conquest that comes after effort1--this 
is the factor that gives one strength   
and confidence4 ,but when defeat follows
 defeat and failure follows failure1 it 
is weakness that is being               
engendered--not strength4 ,and that is  
the trouble with this teacher's pupils4 
,the majority leave him with all        
confidence in their own ability shaken  
out of them and some of them never      
recover from the experience4  ,and so   
while ,i insist strenuously that the    
most useful lesson we can teach our     
pupils is how to do disagreeable tasks  
cheerfully and willingly1 please do not 
understand me to mean that we should go 
out of our way to provide disagreeable  
tasks4 ,after all1 ,i rejoice that my   
own children are learning how to read   
and write and cipher much more easily1  

much more quickly1 and withal much more 
pleasantly than ,i learned those useful 
arts4 ,the more quickly they get to the 
plane that their elders have reached1   
the more quickly they can get beyond    
this plane and on to the next level4    
,to argue against improved methods in   
teaching on the ground that they make   
things too easy for the pupil is1 to my 
mind1 a grievous error4 ,it is as       
fallacious as to argue that the         
introduction of machinery is a curse    
because it has diminished in some       
measure the necessity for human         
drudgery4 ,but if machinery left mankind
 to rest upon its oars1 if it           
discouraged further progress and further
 effortful achievement1 it would be a   
curse3 and if the easier and quicker    
methods of instruction simply bring my  
children to my own level and then fail  
to stimulate them to get beyond my      
level1 then they are a curse and not a  
blessing4  ,i do not decry that         
educational policy of to-day which      

insists that school work should be made 
as simple and attractive as possible4 ,i
 do decry that misinterpretation of this
 policy which looks at the matter from  
the other side1 and asserts so          
vehemently that the child should never  
be asked or urged to do something that  
is not easy and attractive4 ,it is only 
because there is so much in the world to
 be done that1 for the sake of          
economizing time and strength1 we should
 raise the child as quickly and as      
rapidly and as pleasantly as possible to
 the plane that the race has reached4   
,but among all the lessons of race      
experience that we must teach him there 
is none so fundamental and important as 
the lesson of achievement itself1--the  
supreme lesson wrung from human         
experience1--the lesson1 namely1 that   
every advance that the world has made1  
every step that it has taken forward1   
every increment that has been added to  
the sum total of progress has been      
attained at the price of self-sacrifice 

and effort and struggle1--at the price  
of doing things that one does not want  
to do4 ,and unless a man is willing to  
pay that price1 he is bound to be the   
worst kind of a social parasite1 for he 
is simply living on the experience of   
others1 and adding to this capital      
nothing of his own4  ,it is sometimes   
said that universal education is        
essential in order that the great mass  
of humanity may live in greater comfort 
and enjoy the luxuries that in the past 
have been vouchsafed only to the few4   
,personally ,i think that this is all   
right so far as it goes1 but it fails to
 reach an ultimate goal4 ,material      
comfort is justified only because it    
enables mankind to live more effectively
 on the lower planes of life and give   
greater strength and greater energy to  
the solution of new problems upon the   
higher planes of life4 ,the end of life 
can never be adequately formulated in   
terms of comfort and ease1 nor even in  
terms of culture and intellectual       

enjoyment2 the end of life is           
achievement1 and no matter how far we   
go1 achievement is possible only to     
those who are willing to pay the price4 
,when the race stops investing its      
capital of experience in further        
achievement1 when it settles down to    
take life easily1 it will not take it   
very long to eat up its capital and     
revert to the plane of the brute4       
,,iii  ,but ,i am getting away1 from my 
text4 ,you will remember that ,i said   
that the most useful thing that we can  
teach the child is to attack strenuously
 and resolutely any problem that        
confronts him whether it pleases him or 
not1 and ,i wanted to be certain that   
you did not misinterpret me to mean that
 we should1 for this reason1 make our   
school tasks unnecessarily difficult and
 laborious4 ,after all1 while our       
attitude should always be one of        
interesting our pupils1 their attitude  
should always be one of effortful       
attention1--of willingness to do the    

task that we think it best for them to  
do4 ,you see it is a sort of a          
double-headed policy1 and how to carry  
it out is a perplexing problem4 ,of so  
much ,i am certain1 however1 at the     
outset3 if the pupil takes the attitude 
that we are there to interest and       
entertain him1 we shall make a sorry    
fiasco of the whole matter1 and inasmuch
 as this very tendency is in the air at 
the present time1 ,i feel justified in  
at least referring to its danger4  ,now 
if this ideal of persistent effort is   
the most useful thing that can come out 
of education1 what is the next most     
useful8 ,again1 as ,i analyze what ,i   
obtained from my own education1 it seems
 to me that1 next to learning that      
disagreeable tasks are often well worth 
doing1 the factor that has helped me    
most in getting a living has been the   
method of solving the situations that   
confronted me4 ,after all1 if we simply 
have the ideal of resolute and          
aggressive and persistent attack1 we may

 struggle indefinitely without much     
result4 ,all problems of life involve   
certain common factors4 ,the essential  
difference between the educated and the 
uneducated man1 if we grant each an     
equal measure of pluck1 persistence1 and
 endurance1 lies in the superior ability
 of the educated man to analyze his     
problem effectively and to proceed      
intelligently rather than blindly to its
 solution4 ,i maintain that education   
should give a man this ideal of         
attacking any problem2 furthermore ,i   
maintain that the education of the      
present day1 in spite of the anathemas  
that are hurled against it1 is doing    
this in richer measure than it has ever 
been done before4 ,but there is no      
reason why we should not do it in still 
greater measure4  ,i once knew two men  
who were in the business of raising     
fruit for commercial purposes4 ,each had
 a large orchard which he operated      
according to conventional methods and   
which netted him a comfortable income4  

,one of these men was a man of narrow   
education3 the other a man of liberal   
education1 although his training had not
 been directed in any way toward the    
problems of horticulture4 ,the orchards 
had borne exceptionally well for several
 years1 but one season1 when the fruit  
looked especially promising1 a period of
 wet1 muggy weather came along just     
before the picking season1 and one      
morning both these men went out into    
their orchards1 to find the fruit very  
badly specked4 ,now the conventional    
thing to do in such cases was well known
 to both men4 ,each had picked up a good
 deal of technical information about    
caring for fruit1 and each did the same 
thing in meeting this situation4 ,he got
 out his spraying outfit1 prepared some 
,bordeaux mixture1 and set vigorously at
 work with his pumps4 ,so far as        
persistence and enterprise went1 both   
men stood on an equal footing4 ,but it  
happened that this was an unusual and   
not a conventional situation4 ,the      

spraying did not alleviate the          
condition4 ,the corruption spread       
through the trees like wildfire1 and    
seemed to thrive on copper sulphate     
rather than succumb to its corrosive    
influence4  ,now this was where the     
difference in training showed itself4   
,the orchardist who worked by rule of   
thumb1 when he found that his rule did  
not work1 gave up the fight and spent   
his time sitting on his front porch     
bemoaning his luck4 ,the other set      
diligently at work to analyze the       
situation4 ,his education had not taught
 him anything about the characteristics 
of parasitic fungi1 for parasitic fungi 
were not very well understood when he   
was in school4 ,but his education had   
left with him a general method of       
procedure for just such cases1 and that 
method he at once applied4 ,it had      
taught him how to find the information  
that he needed1 provided that such      
information was available4 ,it had      
taught him that human experience is     

crystallized in books1 and that1 when a 
discovery is made in any field of       
science1--no matter how specialized the 
field and no matter how trivial the     
finding1--the discovery is recorded in  
printer's ink and placed at the disposal
 of those who have the intelligence to  
find it and apply it4 ,and so he set out
 to read up on the subject1--to see what
 other men had learned about this       
peculiar kind of apple rot4 ,he obtained
 all that had been written about it and 
began to master it4 ,he told his friend 
about this material and suggested that  
the latter follow the same course1 but  
the man of narrow education soon found  
himself utterly at sea in a maze of     
technical terms4 ,the terms were new to 
the other too1 but he took down his     
dictionary and worked them out4 ,he knew
 how to use indices and tables of       
contents and various other devices that 
facilitate the gathering of information1
 and while his uneducated friend was    
storming over the pedantry of men who   

use big words1 the other was making     
rapid progress through the material4 ,in
 a short time he learned everything that
 had been found out about this specific 
disease4 ,he learned that its spores are
 encased in a gelatinous sac which      
resisted the entrance of the chemicals4 
,he found how the spores were           
reproduced1 how they wintered1 how they 
germinated in the following season2 and1
 although he did not save much of his   
crop that year1 he did better the next4 
,nor were the evidences of his          
superiority limited to this very useful 
result4 ,he found that1 after all1 very 
little was known about this disease1 so 
he set himself to find out more about   
it4 ,to do this1 he started where other 
investigators had left off1 and then he 
applied a principle he had learned from 
his education2 namely1 that the only    
valid methods of obtaining new truths   
are the methods of close observation and
 controlled experiment4  ,now ,i        
maintain that the education which was   

given that man was effective in a degree
 that ought to make his experience an   
object lesson for us who teach4 ,what he
 had found most useful at a very        
critical juncture of his business life  
was1 primarily1 not the technical       
knowledge that he had gained either in  
school or in actual experience4 ,his    
superiority lay in the fact that he knew
 how to get hold of knowledge when he   
needed it1 how to master it once he had 
obtained it1 how to apply it once he had
 mastered it1 and finally how to go     
about to discover facts that had been   
undetected by previous investigators4 ,i
 care not whether he got this knowledge 
in the elementary school or in the high 
school or in the college4 ,he might have
 secured it in any one of the three     
types of institution1 but he had to     
learn it somewhere1 and ,i shall go     
further and say that the average man has
 to learn it in some school and under an
 explicit and conscious method of       
instruction4   ,,iv  ,but perhaps you   

would maintain that this statement of   
the case1 while in general true1 does   
not help us out in practice4 ,after all1
 how are we to impress pupils with this 
ideal of persistence and with these     
ideals of getting and applying          
information1 and with this ideal of     
investigation8 ,i maintain that these   
important useful ideals may be          
effectively impressed almost from the   
very outset of school life4 ,the        
teaching of every subject affords       
innumerable opportunities to force home 
their lessons4 ,in fact1 it must be a   
very gradual process--a process in which
 the concrete instances are numerous and
 rich and impressive4 ,from these       
concrete instances1 the general truth   
may in time emerge4 ,certainly the      
chances that it will emerge are greatly 
multiplied if we ourselves recognize its
 worth and importance1 and lead our     
pupils to see in each concrete case the 
operation of the general principle4     
,after all1 the chief reason why so much

 of our education miscarries1 why so few
 pupils gain the strength and the power 
that we expect all to gain1 lies in the 
inability of the average individual to  
draw a general conclusion from concrete 
cases--to see the general in the        
particular4 ,we have insisted so        
strenuously upon concrete instruction   
that we have perhaps failed also to     
insist that fact without law is blind1  
and that observation without induction  
is stupidity gone to seed4  ,let me give
 a concrete instance of what ,i mean4   
,not long ago1 ,i visited an            
eighth-grade class during a geography   
period4 ,it was at the time when the    
discovery of the ,pole had just set the 
whole civilized world by the ears1 and  
the teacher was doing something that    
many good teachers do on occasions of   
this sort3 she was turning the vivid    
interest of the moment to educative     
purposes4 ,the pupils had read ,peary's 
account of his trip and they were       
discussing its details in class4 ,now   

that exercise was vastly more than an   
interesting information lesson1 for     
,peary's achievement became1 under the  
skillful touch of that teacher1 a type  
of all human achievement4 ,i wish that  
,i could reproduce that lesson for      
you--how vividly she pictured the       
situation that confronted the           
explorer1--the bitter cold1 the shifting
 ice1 the treacherous open leads1 the   
lack of game or other sources of food   
supply1 the long marches on scant       
rations1 the short hours and the        
uncomfortable conditions of sleep2 and  
how from these that fundamental lesson  
of pluck and endurance and courage came 
forth naturally without preaching the   
moral or indulging in sentimental       
goody-goodyism4 ,and then the other and 
equally important part of the           
lesson1--how pluck and courage in       
themselves could never have solved the  
problem2 how knowledge was essential1   
and how that knowledge had been gained3 
some of it from the experience of early 

explorers1--how to avoid the dreaded    
scurvy1 how to build a ship that could  
withstand the tremendous pressure of the
 floes2 and some from the ,eskimos1--how
 to live in that barren region1 and how 
to travel with dogs and sledges2--and   
some1 too1 from ,peary's own early      
experiences1--how he had struggled for  
twenty years to reach the goal1 and had 
added this experience to that until     
finally the prize was his4 ,we may      
differ as to the value of ,peary's deed1
 but that it stands as a type of what   
success in any undertaking means1 no one
 can deny4 ,and this was the lesson that
 these eighth-grade pupils were         
absorbing1--the world-old lesson before 
which all others fade into              
insignificance1--the lesson1 namely1    
that achievement can be gained only by  
those who are willing to pay the price4 
,and ,i imagine that when that class is 
studying the continent of ,africa in    
their geography work1 they will learn   
something more than the names of rivers 

and mountains and boundaries and        
products1--,i imagine that they will    
link these facts with the names and     
deeds of the men who gave them to the   
world4 ,and when they study history1 it 
will be vastly more than a bare recital 
of dates and events1--it will be alive  
with these great lessons of struggle and
 triumph1--for history1 after all1 is   
only the record of human achievement4   
,and if those pupils do not find these  
same lessons coming out of their own    
little conquests1--if the problems of   
arithmetic do not furnish an opportunity
 to conquer the pressure ridges of      
partial payments or the ,polar night of 
bank discount1 or if the intricacies of 
formal grammar do not resolve themselves
 into the ,north ,pole of correct       
expression1--,i have misjudged that     
teacher's capacities2 for the great     
triumph of teaching is to get our pupils
 to see the fundamental and the eternal 
in things that are seemingly trivial and
 transitory4 ,we are fond of dividing   

school studies into the cultural and the
 practical1 into the humanities and the 
sciences4 ,believe me1 there is no study
 worth the teaching that is not         
practical at basis1 and there is no     
practical study that has not its human  
interest and its humanizing             
influence--if only we go to some pains  
to search them out4   ,v  ,i have said  
that the most useful thing that         
education can do is to imbue the pupil  
with the ideal of effortful achievement 
which will lead him to do cheerfully and
 effectively the disagreeable tasks that
 fall to his lot4 ,i have said that the 
next most useful thing that it can do is
 to give him a general method of solving
 the problems that he meets4 ,is there  
any other useful outcome of a general   
nature that we may rank in importance   
with these two8 ,i believe that there   
is1 and ,i can perhaps tell you what ,i 
mean by another reference to a concrete 
case4 ,i know a man who lacks this third
 factor1 although he possesses the other

 two in a very generous measure4 ,he is 
full of ambition1 persistence1 and      
courage4 ,he is master of the rational  
method of solving the problems that     
beset him4 ,he does his work            
intelligently and effectively4 ,and yet 
he has failed to make a good living4    
,why8 ,simply because of his standard of
 what constitutes a good living4        
,measured by my standard1 he is doing   
excellently well4 ,measured by his own  
standard1 he is a miserable failure4 ,he
 is depressed and gloomy and out of     
harmony with the world1 simply because  
he has no other standard for a good     
living than a financial one4 ,he is by  
profession a civil engineer4 ,his work  
is much more remunerative than is that  
of many other callings4 ,he has it in   
him to attain to professional           
distinction in that work4 ,but to this  
opportunity he is blind4 ,in the great  
industrial center in which he works1 he 
is constantly irritated by the evidences
 of wealth and luxury beyond what he    

himself enjoys4 ,the millionaire captain
 of industry is his hero1 and because he
 is not numbered among this class1 he   
looks at the world through the bluest   
kind of spectacles4  ,now1 to my mind   
that man's education failed somewhere1  
and its failure lay in the fact that it 
did not develop in him ideals of success
 that would have made him immune to     
these irritating factors4 ,we have often
 heard it said that education should rid
 the mind of the incubus of             
superstition1 and one very important    
effect of universal education is that it
 does offer to all men an explanation of
 the phenomena that formerly weighted   
down the mind with fear and dread1 and  
opened an easy ingress to the forces of 
superstition and fraud and error4       
,education has accomplished this        
function1 ,i think1 passably well with  
respect to the more obvious sources of  
superstition4 ,necromancy and magic1    
demonism and witchcraft1 have long since
 been relegated to the limbo of exposed 

fraud4 ,their conquest has been one of  
the most significant advances that man  
has made above the savage4 ,the truths  
of science have at last triumphed1 and1 
as education has diffused these truths  
among the masses1 the triumph has become
 almost universal4  ,but there are other
 forms of superstition besides those ,i 
have mentioned1--other instances of a   
false perspective1 of distorted values1 
of inadequate standards4 ,if belief in  
witchcraft or in magic is bad because it
 falls short of an adequate             
interpretation of nature1--if it is     
false because it is inconsistent with   
human experience1--then the worship of  
,mammon that my engineer friend         
represents is tenfold worse than        
witchcraft1 measured by the same        
standards4 ,if there is any lesson that 
human history teaches with compelling   
force1 it is surely this3 ,every race   
which has yielded to the demon of       
individualism and the lust for gold and 
self-gratification has gone down the    

swift and certain road to national      
decay4 ,every race that1 through unusual
 material prosperity1 has lost its grip 
on the eternal verities of              
self-sacrifice and self-denial has left 
the lesson of its downfall written large
 upon the pages of history4 ,i repeat   
that if superstition consists in        
believing something that is inconsistent
 with rational human experience1 then   
our present worship of the golden calf  
is by far the most dangerous form of    
superstition that has ever befuddled the
 human intellect4  ,but1 you ask1 what  
can education do to alleviate a         
condition of this sort8 ,how may the    
weak influence of the school make itself
 felt in an environment that has        
crystallized on every hand this         
unfortunate standard8 ,individualism is 
in the air4 ,it is the dominant spirit  
of the times4 ,it is reenforced upon    
every side by the unmistakable evidences
 of national prosperity4 ,it is easy to 
preach the simple life1 but who will    

live it unless he has to8 ,it is easy to
 say that man should have social and not
 individual standards of success and    
achievement1 but what effect will your  
puerile assertion have upon the         
situation that confronts us8  ,yes2 it  
is easier to be a pessimist than an     
optimist4 ,it is far easier to lie back 
and let things run their course than it 
is to strike out into midstream and make
 what must be for the pioneer a fatal   
effort to stem the current4 ,but is the 
situation absolutely hopeless8 ,if the  
forces of education can lift the        
,japanese people from barbarism to      
enlightenment in two generations2 if    
education can in a single century       
transform ,germany from the weakest to  
the strongest power on the continent of 
,europe2 if five short years of a       
certain type of education can change the
 course of destiny in ,china2--are we   
warranted in our assumption that we hold
 a weak weapon in this fight against    
,mammon8  ,i have intimated that the    

attitude of my engineer friend toward   
life is the result of twisted ideals4 ,a
 good many young men are going out into 
life with a similar defect in their     
education4 ,they gain their ideals1 not 
from the great wellsprings of human     
experience as represented in history and
 literature1 in religion and art1 but   
from the environment around them1 and   
consequently they become victims of this
 superstition from the outset4 ,as a    
trainer of teachers1 ,i hold it to be   
one important part of my duty to fortify
 my students as strongly as ,i can      
against this false standard of which my 
engineer friend is the victim4 ,it is   
just as much a part of my duty to give  
my students effective and consistent    
standards of what a good living consists
 in as it is to give them the technical 
knowledge and skill that will enable    
them to make a good living4 ,if my      
students who are to become teachers have
 standards of living and standards of   
success that are inconsistent with the  

great ideal of social service for which 
teaching stands1 then ,i have fallen far
 short of success in my work4 ,if they  
are constantly irritated by the         
evidences of luxury beyond their means1 
if this irritation sours their          
dispositions and checks their           
spontaneity1 their efficiency as        
teachers is greatly lessened or perhaps 
entirely negated4 ,and if my engineer   
friend places worldly emoluments upon a 
higher plane than professional          
efficiency1 ,i dread for the safety of  
the bridges that he builds4 ,his        
education as an engineer should have    
fortified him against just such a       
contingency4 ,it should have left him   
with the ideal of craftsmanship supreme 
in his life4 ,and if his technical      
education failed to do this1 his general
 education ought1 at least1 to have     
given him a bias in the right direction4
  ,i believe that all forms of          
vocational and professional education   
are not so strong in this respect as    

they should be4 ,again you say to me1   
,what can education do when the spirit  
of the times speaks so strongly on the  
other side8 ,but what is education for  
if it is not to preserve midst the chaos
 and confusion of troublous times the   
great truths that the race has wrung    
from its experience8 ,how different     
might have been the fate of ,rome1 if   
,rome had possessed an educational      
system touching every child in the      
,empire1 and if1 during the years that  
witnessed her decay and downfall1 those 
schools could have kept steadily1       
persistently at work1 impressing upon   
every member of each successive         
generation the virtues that made the old
 ,romans strong and virile--the virtues 
that enabled them to lay the foundations
 of an empire that crumbled in ruins    
once these truths were forgotten4 ,is it
 not the specific task of education to  
represent in each generation the human  
experiences that have been tried and    
tested and found to work1--to represent 

these in the face of opposition if need 
be1--to be faithful to the trusteeship  
of the most priceless legacy that the   
past has left to the present and to the 
future8 ,if this is not our function in 
the scheme of things1 then what is our  
function8 ,is it to stand with bated    
breath to catch the first whisper that  
will usher in the next change8 ,is it to
 surrender all initiative and simply    
allow ourselves to be tossed hither and 
yon by the waves and cross-waves of a   
fickle public opinion8 ,is it to cower  
in dread of a criticism that is not only
 unjust but often ill-advised of the    
real conditions under which we are doing
 our work8  ,i take it that none of us  
is ready to answer these questions in   
the affirmative4 ,deep down in our      
hearts we know that we have a useful    
work to do1 and we know that we are     
doing it passably well4 ,we also know   
our defects and shortcomings at least as
 well as one who has never faced our    
problems and tried to solve them4 ,and  

it is from this latter type that most of
 the drastic criticism1 especially of   
the elementary and secondary school1    
emanates4 ,i confess that my gorge rises
 within me when ,i read or hear the     
invectives that are being hurled against
 teaching as a profession 7and against  
the work of the elementary and secondary
 school in particular7 by men who know  
nothing of this work at first hand4     
,this is the greatest handicap under    
which the profession of teaching labors4
 ,in every other important field of     
human activity a man must present his   
credentials before he takes his seat at 
the council table1 and even then he must
 sit and listen respectfully to his     
elders for a while before he ventures a 
criticism or even a suggestion4 ,this   
plan may have its defects4 ,it may keep 
things on too conservative a basis2 but 
it avoids the danger into which we as a 
profession have fallen1--the danger of  
half-baked theories and unmatured       
policies4 ,to-day the only man that can 

get a respectable hearing at our great  
national educational meetings is the man
 who has something new and bizarre to   
propose4 ,and the more startling the    
proposal1 the greater is the measure of 
adulation that he receives4 ,the result 
of this is a continual straining for    
effect1 an enormous annual crop of fads 
and fancies1 which1 though most of them 
are happily short-lived1 keep us in a   
state of continual turmoil and          
confusion4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,now1 it goes without      
saying that there are many ways of      
making education hit the mark of utility
 in addition to those that ,i have      
mentioned4 ,the teachers down in the    
lower grades who are teaching little    
children the arts of reading and writing
 and computation are doing vastly more  
in a practical direction than they are  
ever given credit for doing2 for reading
 and writing and the manipulation of    
numbers are1 next to oral speech itself1
 the prime necessities in the social and

 industrial world4 ,these arts are being
 taught to-day better than they have    
ever been taught before1--and the       
technique of their teaching is          
undergoing constant refinement and      
improvement4  ,the school can do and is 
doing other useful things4 ,some schools
 are training their pupils to be well   
mannered and courteous and considerate  
of the rights of others4 ,they are      
teaching children one of the most basic 
and fundamental laws of human life2     
namely1 that there are some things that 
a gentleman cannot do and some things   
that society will not stand4 ,how many a
 painful experience in solving this very
 problem of getting a living could be   
avoided if one had only learned this    
lesson passing well6 ,what a pity it is 
that some schools that stand to-day for 
what we call educational progress are   
failing in just this particular--are    
sending out into the world an annual    
crop of boys and girls who must learn   
the great lesson of self-control and a  

proper respect for the rights of others 
in the bitter school of experience1--a  
school in which the rod will never be   
spared1 but whose chastening scourge    
comes sometimes1 alas1 too late6  ,there
 is no feature of school life which has 
not its almost infinite possibilities of
 utility4 ,but after all1 are not the   
basic and fundamental things these      
ideals that ,i have named8 ,and should  
not we who teach stand for idealism in  
its widest sense8 ,should we not        
ourselves subscribe an undying fidelity 
to those great ideals for which teaching
 must stand1--to the ideal of social    
service which lies at the basis of our  
craft1 to the ideals of effort and      
discipline that make a nation great and 
its children strong1 to the ideal of    
science that dissipates the black night 
of ignorance and superstition1 to the   
ideal of culture that humanizes mankind8
  ,,footnotes3  ,footnote #aa3 ,an      
address before the ,eastern ,illinois   
,teachers' ,association1 ,october #ae1  

#aiji4 ,published as a ,bulletin of the 
,eastern ,illinois ,normal ,school1     
,october1 #aiji4     ,,vii  ,,the       
,,scientific ,,spirit ,,in              
,,education#ab  ,i   ,i know that ,i do 
not need to plead with this audience for
 a recognition of the scientific spirit 
in the solution of educational problems4
 ,the long life and the enviable record 
of this ,society of ,pedagogy testify in
 themselves to that spirit of free      
inquiry1 to the calm and dispassionate  
search for the truth which lies at the  
basis of the scientific method4 ,you    
have gathered here1 fortnight after     
fortnight1 to discuss educational       
problems in the light of your           
experience4 ,you have reported your     
experience and listened to the results  
that others have gleaned in the course  
of their daily work4 ,and experience is 
the corner stone of science4  ,some of  
the most stimulating and clarifying     
discussions of educational problems that
 ,i have ever heard have been made in   

the sessions of this ,society4 ,you have
 been scientific in your attitude toward
 education1 and ,i may add that ,i first
 learned the lessons of the real science
 of education in the ,st4 ,louis        
schools1 and under the inspiration that 
was furnished by the men who were       
members of this ,society4 ,what ,i knew 
of the science of education before ,i   
came to this city ten years ago1 was    
gleaned largely from books4 ,it was     
deductive1 a priori1 in its nature4     
,what ,i learned here was the induction 
from actual experience4  ,my very first 
introduction to my colleagues among the 
school men of this city was a lesson in 
the science of education4 ,i had brought
 with me a letter to one of your        
principals4 ,he was in the office down  
on ,locust ,street the first ,saturday  
that ,i spent in the city4 ,i presented 
my letter to him1 and1 with that true   
,southern hospitality which has always  
characterized your corps1 he took me    
immediately under his wing and carried  

me out to luncheon with him4  ,we sat   
for hours in a little restaurant down on
 ,sixth ,street1--he was my teacher and 
,i was his pupil4 ,and gradually1 as the
 afternoon wore on1 ,i realized that ,i 
had met a master craftsman in the art of
 education4 ,at first ,i talked glibly  
enough of what ,i intended to do1 and he
 listened sympathetically and helpfully1
 with a little quizzical smile in his   
eyes as ,i outlined my ambitious plans4 
,and when ,i had run the gamut of my    
dreams1 he took his turn1 and1 in true  
,socratic fashion1 yet without making me
 feel in the least that ,i was only a   
dreamer after all1 he refashioned my    
theories4 ,one by one the little card   
houses that ,i had built up were deftly1
 smoothly1 gently1 but completely       
demolished4 ,i did not know the ,,abc of
 schoolcraft--but he did not tell me    
that ,i did not4 ,he went at the task of
 instruction from the positive point of 
view4 ,he proved to me1 by reminiscence 
and example1 how different are actual   

and ideal conditions4 ,and finally he   
wound up with a single question that    
opened a new world to me4 ,what1 he     
asked1 is the dominant characteristic of
 the child's mind8 ,i thought at first  
that ,i was on safe ground--for had ,i  
not taken a course in child study1 and  
had ,i not measured some hundreds of    
school children while working out a     
university thesis8 ,so ,i began with my 
list4 ,but1 at each characteristic that 
,i mentioned he shook his head4 ,no1 he 
said1 no2 that is not right4 ,and when  
finally ,i had exhausted my list1 he    
said to me1 ,the dominant characteristic
 of the child's mind is its seriousness4
 ,the child is the most serious creature
 in the world4  ,the answer staggered me
 for a moment4 ,like ninety-nine per    
cent of the adult population of this    
globe1 the seriousness of the child had 
never appealed to me4 ,in spite of the  
theoretical basis of my training1 that  
single1 dominant element of child life  
had escaped me4 ,i had gained my notion 

of the child from books1 and1 ,i also   
fear1 from the ,sunday supplements4 ,to 
me1 deep down in my heart1 the child was
 an animated joke4 ,i was immersed in   
unscientific preconceptions4 ,but the   
master craftsman had gained his         
conception of child life from intimate1 
empirical acquaintance with the genus   
boy4 ,he had gleaned from his experience
 that fundamental truth3 ,the child is  
the most serious creature in the world4 
,sometime ,i hope that ,i may make some 
fitting acknowledgment of the debt of   
gratitude that ,i owe to that man4 ,the 
opportunities that ,i had to talk with  
him were all too few1 but ,i did make a 
memorable visit to his school1 and      
studied at first hand the great work    
that he was doing for the pupils of the 
,columbia district4 ,he died the next   
year1 and ,i shall never forget the     
words that stood beneath his picture    
that night in one of the daily papers3  
,charles ,howard3 ,architect of         
,character4   ,,ii  ,the essence of the 

scientific spirit is to view experience 
without prejudice1 and that was the     
lesson that ,i learned from the school  
system of ,st4 ,louis4  ,the difference 
between the ideal child and the real    
child1--the difference between what     
fancy pictures a schoolroom to be and   
what actual first-hand acquaintance     
shows that it is1 the difference between
 a preconceived notion and an actual    
stubborn fact of experience1--these were
 among the lessons that ,i learned in   
these schools4 ,but1 at the same time1  
there was no crass materialism          
accompanying this teaching4 ,there was  
no loss of the broader point of view4 ,a
 fact is a fact1 and we cannot get      
around it1--and this is what scientific 
method has insisted upon from its       
inception4 ,but always beyond the fact  
is its significance1 its meaning4 ,that 
the ,st4 ,louis schools have for the    
last fifty years stood for the larger   
view2 that they have never1 so far as ,i
 know1 exploited the new and the bizarre

 simply because it was new and          
strange1--this is due1 ,i believe1 to   
the insight and inspiration of the      
man#ac who first fashioned the framework
 of this system1 and breathed into it as
 a system the vitalizing element of     
idealism4 ,personally1 ,i have not      
always been in sympathy with the        
teachings of the ,hegelian              
philosophy1--,i have not always         
understood them1--but no man could      
witness the silent1 steady1 unchecked   
growth of the ,st4 ,louis schools       
without being firmly and indelibly      
impressed with dynamic value of a richly
 conceived and rigidly wrought system of
 fundamental principles4 ,the cause of  
education has suffered much from the    
failure of educators to break loose from
 the shackles of the past4 ,but it has1 
in some places1 suffered still more from
 the tendency of the human mind to      
confuse fundamental principles with the 
shackles of tradition4 ,the rage for the
 new and the untried1 simply because it 

is new and untried1--this has been1 and 
is to-day1 the rock upon which real     
educational progress is most likely to  
be wrecked4 ,this is a rock1 ,i believe1
 that ,st4 ,louis has so far escaped1   
and ,i have no doubt that its escape has
 been due1 in large measure1 to the     
careful1 rigid1 laborious1 and yet      
illuminating manner in which that great 
captain charted out its course4   ,,iii 
,fundamentally1 there is1 ,i believe1 no
 discrepancy1 no inconsistency1 between 
the scientific spirit in education and  
what may be called the philosophical    
spirit4 ,as ,i have suggested1 there are
 always two dangers that must be        
avoided3 the danger1 in the first place1
 of thinking of the old as essentially  
bad2 and1 on the other hand1 the danger 
of thinking of the new and strange and  
unknown as essentially bad2 the danger  
of confusing a sound conservatism with a
 blind worship of established custom2   
and the danger of confusing a sound     
radicalism with the blind worship of the

 new and the bizarre4  ,let me give you 
an example of what ,i mean4 ,there is a 
rather bitter controversy at present    
between two factions of science         
teachers4 ,one faction insists that     
physics and chemistry and biology should
 be taught in the high school from the  
economic point of view1--that the       
economic applications of these sciences 
to great human arts1 such as engineering
 and agriculture1 should be emphasized  
at every point1--that a great deal of   
the material now taught in these        
sciences is both useless and            
unattractive to the average high-school 
pupil4 ,the other faction maintains that
 such a course would mean the           
destruction of science as an integral   
part of the secondary culture           
course1--that science to be cultural    
must be pure science1--must be viewed   
apart from its economic                 
applications1--apart from its relations 
to the bread-and-butter problem4  ,now  
many of the advocates of the first point

 of view--many of the people that would 
emphasize the economic side--are        
animated by the spirit of change and    
unrest which dominates our latter-day   
civilization4 ,they wish to follow the  
popular demand4 ,down with              
scholasticism6 is their cry2 ,down with 
this blind worship of custom and        
tradition6 ,let us do the thing that    
gives the greatest immediate benefit to 
our pupils4 ,let us discard the elements
 in our courses that are hard and dry   
and barren of practical results4 ,now   
these men1 ,i believe1 are basing their 
argument upon the fallacy of immediate  
expediency4 ,the old is bad1 the new is 
good4 ,that is their argument4 ,they    
have no sheet anchor out to windward4   
,they are willing to drift with the     
gale4  ,many of the advocates of the    
second point of view--many of the people
 who hold to the old line1 pure-science 
teaching--are1 on the other hand1       
animated by a spirit of irrational      
conservatism4 ,down with radicalism6    

they shout2 ,down with the innovators6  
,things that are hard and dry are good  
mental discipline4 ,they made our       
fathers strong4 ,they can make our      
children strong4 ,what was good enough  
for the great minds of the past is good 
enough for us4  ,now these men1 ,i      
believe1 have gone to the other extreme4
 ,they have confused custom and         
tradition with fundamental and eternal  
principles4 ,they have thought that1    
just because a thing is old1 it is good1
 just as their antagonists have thought 
that just because a thing is new it is  
good4  ,in both cases1 obviously1 the   
scientific spirit is lacking4 ,the most 
fundamental of all principles is the    
principle of truth4 ,and yet these men  
who are teachers of science are--both   
classes of them--ruled themselves by    
dogma4 ,and meantime the sciences are in
 danger of losing their place in        
secondary education4 ,the rich promise  
that was held out a generation ago has  
not been fulfilled4 ,within the last    

decade1 the enrollment in the science   
courses has not increased in proportion 
to the total enrollment1 while the      
enrollment in ,latin 7which fifteen     
years ago was about to be cast upon the 
educational scrap heap7 has grown by    
leaps and bounds4  ,now this is a type  
of a great many controversies in        
education4 ,we talk and theorize1 but   
very seldom do we try to find out the   
actual facts in the case by any adequate
 tests4  ,it was the lack of such tests 
that led us at the ,university of       
,illinois to enter upon a series of     
impartial investigations to see whether 
we could not take some of these mooted  
questions out of the realm of eternal   
controversy1 and provide some definite  
solutions4 ,we chose among others this  
controversy between the economic        
scientists and the pure scientists4 ,we 
took a high-school class and divided it 
into two sections4 ,we tried to place in
 each section an equal number of bright 
and mediocre and dull pupils1 so that   

the conditions would be equalized4 ,then
 we chose an excellent teacher1 a man   
who could approach the problem with an  
open mind1 without prejudice or favor4  
,during the present year he has been    
teaching these parallel sections4 ,in   
one section he has emphasized economic  
applications2 in the other he has taught
 the class upon the customary           
pure-science basis4 ,he has kept a      
careful record of his work1 and at      
stated intervals he has given both      
sections the same tests4 ,we propose to 
carry on this investigation year after  
year with different classes1 different  
teachers1 and in different schools4 ,we 
are not in a hurry to reach conclusions4
  ,now ,i said that the safeguard in all
 work of this sort is to keep our grip  
firm and fast on the eternal truths4 ,in
 this work that ,i mention we are not   
trying to prove that either pure science
 or applied science interests our pupils
 the more or helps them the more in     
meeting immediate economic situations4  

,we do not propose to measure the       
success of either method by its effect  
upon the bread-winning power of the     
pupil4 ,what we believe that science    
teaching should insure1 is a grip on the
 scientific method and an illuminating  
insight into the forces of nature1 and  
we are simply attempting to see whether 
the economic applications will make this
 grip firmer or weaker1 and this insight
 clearer or more obscure4 ,i trust that 
this point is plain1 for it illustrates 
what ,i have just said regarding the    
danger of following a popular demand4   
,we need no experiment to prove that    
economic science is more useful in the  
narrow sense than is pure science4 ,what
 we wish to determine is whether a      
judicious mixture of the two sorts of   
teaching will or will not enable us to  
realize this rich cultural value much   
more effectively than a traditional     
purely cultural course4  ,now that      
illustrates what ,i think is the real   
and important application of the        

scientific spirit to the solution of    
educational problems4 ,you will readily 
see that it does not do away necessarily
 with our ideals4 ,it is not necessarily
 materialistic4 ,it is not necessarily  
idealistic4 ,either side may utilize it4
 ,it is a quite impersonal factor4 ,but 
it does promise to take some of our     
educational problems out of the field of
 useless and wasteful controversy1 and  
it does promise to get men of           
conflicting views together1--for1 in the
 case that ,i have just cited1 if we    
prove that the right admixture of       
methods may enable us to realize both a 
cultural and a utilitarian value1 there 
is no reason why the culturists and the 
utilitarians should not get together1   
cease their quarreling1 take off their  
coats1 and go to work4 ,few people will 
deny that bread and butter is a rather  
essential thing in this life of ours2   
very few will deny that material        
prosperity in temperate amounts is good 
for all of us2 and very few also will   

deny that far more fundamental than     
bread and butter--far more important    
than material prosperity--are the great 
fundamental and eternal truths which man
 has wrought out of his experience and  
which are most effectively crystallized 
in the creations of pure art1 the       
masterpieces of pure literature1 and the
 discoveries of pure science4           
,certainly if we of the twentieth       
century can agree upon any one thing1 it
 is this3 ,that life without toil is a  
crime1 and that any one who enjoys      
leisure and comfort and the luxuries of 
living without paying the price of toil 
is a social parasite4 ,i believe that it
 is an important function of public     
education to impress upon each          
generation the highest ideals of living 
as well as the arts that are essential  
to the making of a livelihood1 but ,i   
wish to protest against the doctrine    
that these two factors stand over       
against one another as the positive and 
negative poles of human existence4 ,in  

other words1 ,i protest against the     
notion1 that the study of the practical 
everyday problems of human life is      
without what we are pleased to call a   
culture value1--that in the proper study
 of those problems one is not able to   
see the operation of fundamental and    
eternal principles4  ,i shall readily   
agree that there is always a grave      
danger that the trivial and temporary   
objects of everyday life may be viewed  
and studied without reference to these  
fundamental principles4 ,but this danger
 is certainly no greater than that the  
permanent and eternal truths be studied 
without reference to the actual1        
concrete1 workaday world in which we    
live4 ,i have seen exercises in manual  
training that had for their purpose the 
perfection of the pupil in some little  
art of joinery for which he would1 in   
all probability1 have not the slightest 
use in his later life4 ,but even if he  
should find use for it1 the process was 
not being taught in the proper way4 ,he 

was being made conscious only of the    
little trivial thing1 and no part of his
 instruction was directed toward the    
much more important1 fundamental        
lesson1--the lesson1 namely1 that a     
little thing may be perfect1 but that   
perfection itself is not a little thing4
  ,i say that ,i have witnessed such an 
exercise in the very practical field of 
manual training4 ,i may add that ,i went
 through several such exercises myself1 
and emerged with a disgust that always  
recurs to me when ,i am told that every 
boy will respond to the stimulus of the 
hammer and the jack plane4 ,but ,i      
should hasten to add that ,i have also  
seen what we call the humanities so     
taught that the pupil has emerged from  
them with a supreme contempt for the    
life of labor and a feeling of disgust  
at the petty and trivial problems of    
human life which every one must face4 ,i
 have seen art and literature so taught 
as to leave their students not with the 
high purpose to mold their lives in     

accordance with the high ideals that art
 and literature represent1 not the firm 
resolution to do what they could to     
relieve the ugliness of the world where 
they found it ugly1 or to do what they  
could to ennoble life when they found it
 vile2 but rather with an attitude of   
calm superiority1 as if they were in    
some way privileged to the delights of  
aesthetic enjoyment1 leaving the baser  
born to do the world's drudgery4  ,i    
have seen the principles of agriculture 
so taught as to leave with the student  
the impression that he could raise more 
corn than his neighbor and sell it at a 
higher price if he mastered the         
principles of nitrification2 and all    
without one single reference to the     
basic principle of conservation upon    
which the welfare of the human race for 
all time to come must inevitably        
depend1--without a single reference to  
the moral iniquity of waste and sloth   
and ignorance4 ,but ,i have also seen   
men who have mastered the scientific    

method1--the method of controlled       
observation1 and unprejudiced induction 
and inference1--in the laboratories of  
pure science2 and who have gained so    
overweening and hypertrophied a regard  
for this method that they have          
considered it too holy to be            
contaminated by application to practical
 problems1--who have sneered            
contemptuously when some adventurer has 
proposed1 for example1 to subject the   
teaching of science itself to the       
searchlight of scientific method4  ,i   
trust that these examples have made my  
point clear1 for it is certainly simple 
enough4 ,if vocational education means  
simply that the arts and skills of      
industrial life are to be transmitted   
safely from generation to generation1 a 
minimum of educational machinery is all 
that is necessary1 and we do not need to
 worry much about it4 ,if vocational    
education means simply this1 it need not
 trouble us much2 for economic          
conditions will sooner or later provide 

for an effective means of transmission1 
just as economic conditions will sooner 
or later perfect1 through a blind and   
empirical process of elimination1 the   
most effective methods of agriculture1  
as in the case of ,china and other      
overpopulated nations of the ,orient4   
,but ,i take it that we mean by         
vocational education something more than
 this1 just as we mean by cultural      
education something more than a veneer  
of language1 history1 pure science1 and 
the fine arts4 ,in the former case1 the 
practical problems of life are to be    
lifted to the plane of fundamental      
principles2 in the latter case1         
fundamental principles are to be brought
 down to the plane of present1 everyday 
life4 ,i can see no discrepancy here4   
,to my mind there is no cultural subject
 that has not its practical outcome1 and
 there is no practical subject that has 
not its humanizing influence if only we 
go to some pains to seek it out4 ,i do  
not object to a subject of instruction  

that promises to put dollars into the   
pockets of those that study it4 ,i do   
object to the mode of teaching that     
subject which fails to use this         
effective economic appeal in stimulating
 a glimpse of the broader vision4 ,i do 
not object to the subject that appeals  
to the pupil's curiosity because it     
informs him of the wonderful deeds that 
men have done in the past4 ,i do object 
to that mode of teaching this subject   
which simply arouses interest in a      
spectacular deed1 and then fails to use 
this interest in the interpretation of  
present problems4 ,i do not contend that
 in either case there must be an        
explicit pointing of morals and drawing 
of lessons4 ,but ,i do contend that the 
teacher who is in charge of the process 
should always have this purpose in the  
forefront of his consciousness1 and--now
 by direct comparison1 now by           
indirection and suggestion--guide his   
pupils to the goal desired4  ,i hope    
that through careful tests1 we shall    

some day be able to demonstrate that    
there is much that is good and valuable 
on both sides of every controverted     
educational question4 ,after all1 in    
this complex and intricate task of      
teaching to which you and ,i are        
devoting our lives1 there is too much at
 stake to permit us for a moment to be  
dogmatic1--to permit us for a moment to 
hold ourselves in any other attitude    
save one of openness and reception to   
the truth when the truth shall have been
 demonstrated4 ,neither your ideas nor  
mine1 nor those of any man or group of  
men1 living or dead1 are important      
enough to stand in the way of the best  
possible accomplishment of that great   
task to which we have set our hands4    
,,iv  ,but ,i did not propose this      
morning to talk to you about science as 
a part of our educational curriculum1   
but rather about the scientific spirit  
and the scientific method as effective  
instruments for the solution of our own 
peculiar educational problems4 ,i have  

tried to give you reasons for believing 
that an adoption of this policy does not
 necessarily commit us to materialism or
 to a narrowly economic point of view4  
,i have attempted to show that the      
scientific method may be applied to the 
solution of our problems while we still 
retain our faith in ideals2 and that1   
unless we do retain that faith1 our     
investigations will be without point or 
meaning4  ,this problem of vocational   
education to which ,i have just referred
 is one that is likely to remain        
unsolved until we have made a searching 
investigation of its factors in the     
light of scientific method4 ,some people
 profess not to be worried by the       
difficulty of finding time in our       
elementary and secondary schools for the
 introduction of the newer subjects     
making for increased vocational         
efficiency4 ,they would cut the ,gordian
 knot with one single operation by      
eliminating enough of the older subjects
 to make room for the new4 ,i confess   

that this solution does not appeal to   
me4 ,fundamentally the core of the      
elementary curriculum must1 ,i believe1 
always be the arts that are essential to
 every one who lives the social life4   
,in other words1 the language arts and  
the number arts are1 and always must be1
 the fundamentals of elementary         
education4 ,i do not believe that       
specialized vocational education should 
ever be introduced at the expense of    
thorough training in the subjects that  
already hold their place in the         
curriculum4 ,and yet we are confronted  
by the economic necessity of solving in 
some way this vocational problem4 ,how  
are we to do it8  ,it is here that the  
scientific method may perhaps come to   
our aid4 ,the obvious avenue of attack  
upon this problem is to determine       
whether we cannot save time and energy1 
not by the drastic operation of         
eliminating old subjects1 but rather by 
improving our technique of teaching1 so 
that the waste may be reduced1 and the  

time thus saved given to these new      
subjects that are so vociferously       
demanding admission4 ,in ,cleveland1 for
 example1 the method of teaching        
spelling has been subjected to a rigid  
scientific treatment1 and1 as a result1 
spelling is being taught to-day vastly  
better than ever before and with a much 
smaller expenditure of time and energy4 
,it has been due1 very largely1 to the  
application of a few well-known         
principles which the science of         
psychology has furnished4  ,now that is 
vastly better than saying that spelling 
is a subject that takes too much time in
 our schools and consequently ought     
forthwith to be eliminated4 ,in all of  
our school work enough time is          
undoubtedly wasted to provide ample     
opportunity for training the child      
thoroughly in some vocation if we wish  
to vocationalize him1 and ,i do not     
think that this would hurt him1 even if 
he does not follow the vocation in later
 life4  ,to-day we are attempting to    

detect these sources of waste in        
technique4 ,the problems of habit       
building or memorizing are already well 
on the way to solution4 ,careful tests  
have shown the value of doing memory    
work in a certain definite way--learning
 by unit wholes rather than by          
fragments1 for example4 ,experiments    
have been conducted to determine the    
best length of time to give to drill    
processes1 such as spelling1 and        
penmanship1 and the fundamental tables  
of arithmetic4 ,it is already clearly   
demonstrated that brief periods of      
intense concentration are more          
economical than longer periods during   
which the monotony of repetition fags   
the mind to a point where it can no     
longer work effectively4 ,we are also   
beginning to see from these tests1 that 
a systematic method of attacking such a 
problem as the memorizing of the tables 
will do much to save time and promote   
efficiency4 ,we are finding that it is  
extremely profitable to instruct        

children in the technique of            
learning1--to start them out in the     
right way by careful example1 so that   
much of the time and energy that was    
formerly dissipated1 may now be         
conserved4  ,and there is a suggestion1 
also1 that in the average school1 the   
vast possibilities of the child's latent
 energy are only imperfectly realized4  
,a friend of mine stumbled accidentally 
upon this fact by introducing a new     
method of grading4 ,he divided his      
pupils into three groups or streams4    
,the group that progressed the fastest  
was made up of those who averaged #he   
per cent and over in their work4 ,a     
middle group averaged between #ge per   
cent and #he per cent in their work1 and
 a third1 slow group was made up of     
those who averaged below #ge per cent4  
,at the end of the first month1 he found
 that a certain proportion of his       
pupils1 who had formerly hovered around 
the passing grade of #gj1 began to forge
 ahead4 ,many of them easily went into  

the fastest stream1 but they were still 
satisfied with the minimum standing for 
that group4 ,in other words1 whether we 
like to admit it or not1 most men and   
women and boys and girls are content    
with the passing grades1 both in school 
and in life4 ,so common is the          
phenomenon that we think of the matter  
fatalistically4 ,but supply a stimulus1 
raise the standard1 and you will find   
some of these individuals forging up to 
the next level4  ,professor ,james's    
doctrine of latent energies bids fair to
 furnish the solution of a vast number  
of perplexing educational problems4     
,certain it is that our pupils of to-day
 are not overburdened with work4 ,they  
are sometimes irritated by too many     
tasks1 sometimes dulled by dead routine1
 sometimes exhilarated to the point of  
mental ennui by spectacular appeals to  
immediate interest4 ,but they are seldom
 overworked1 or even worked to within a 
healthful degree of the fatigue point4  
,elementary education has often been    

accused of transacting its business in  
small coin1--of dealing with and        
emphasizing trivialities1--and yet every
 time that the scientific method touches
 the field of education1 it reveals the 
fundamental significance of little      
things4 ,whether the third-grade pupil  
should memorize the multiplication      
tables in the form1 #h times #i equals  
#gb or simply #h-i's--#gb seems a matter
 of insignificance in contrast with the 
larger problems that beset us4 ,and yet 
scientific investigation tells us       
clearly and unequivocally that any      
useless addition to a formula to be     
memorized increases the time for        
reducing the formula to memory1 and     
interferes significantly with its recall
 and application4 ,it may seem a matter 
of trivial importance whether the pupil 
increases the subtrahend number or      
decreases the minuend number when he    
subtracts digits that involve taking or 
borrowing2 and yet investigation proves 
that to increase the subtrahend number  

is by far the simpler process1 and      
eliminates both a source of waste and a 
source of error1 which1 in the          
aggregate1 may assume a significance to 
mental economy that is well worth       
considering4  ,in fact1 if we are ever  
to solve the broader1 bigger1 more      
attractive problems1--like the problem  
of vocational education1 or the problem 
of retardation1--we must first find a   
solution for some of the smaller and    
seemingly trivial questions of the very 
existence of which the lay public may be
 quite unaware1 but which you and ,i    
know to mean an untold total of waste   
and inefficiency in the work that we are
 trying to do4  ,and one reason why the 
scientific attitude toward educational  
problems appeals to me is simply because
 this attitude carries with it a respect
 for these seemingly trivial and        
commonplace problems2 for just as the   
greatest triumph of the teaching art is 
to get our pupils to see in those things
 of life that are fleeting and          

transitory the operation of fundamental 
and eternal principles1 so the glory of 
the scientific method lies in its power 
to reveal the significance of the       
commonplace and to teach us that no     
slightest detail of our daily work is   
necessarily devoid of inspiration2 that 
every slightest detail of school method 
and school management has a meaning and 
a significance that it is worth our     
while to ponder4  ,,footnotes3          
,footnote #ab3 ,an address delivered    
before the ,st4 ,louis ,society of      
,pedagogy1 ,april #af1 #aiaj4  ,footnote
 #ac3 ,dr4 ,w4,t4 ,harris4     ,,viii   
,,the ,,possibility ,,of ,,training     
,,children ,,how ,,to ,,study#ad  ,i    
,in its widest aspects1 the problem of  
teaching pupils how to study forms a    
large part of the larger educational    
problem4 ,it means1 not only teaching   
them how to read books1 and to make the 
content of books part of their own      
mental capital1 but also1 and perhaps   
far more significantly1 teaching them   

how to draw lessons from their own      
experiences2 not only how to observe and
 classify and draw conclusions1 but also
 how to evaluate their experience--how  
to judge whether certain things that    
they do give adequate or inadequate     
results4  ,in the narrower sense1       
however1 the art of study may be said to
 consist in the ability to assimilate   
the experiences of others1 and it is in 
this narrower sense that ,i shall       
discuss the problem to-day4 ,it is not  
only in books that human experience is  
recorded1 and yet it is true that the   
reading of books is the most economical 
means of gaining these experiences2     
consequently1 we may still further      
narrow our problem to this3 ,how may    
pupils be trained effectively to glean1 
through the medium of the printed page1 
the great lessons of race experience8   
,the word study is thus used in the     
sense in which most teachers employ it4 
,when we speak of a pupil's studying his
 lessons1 we commonly mean that he is   

bending over a text-book1 attempting to 
assimilate the contents of the text4    
,just what it means to study1 even in   
this narrow sense of the term1--just    
what it means1 psychologically1 to      
assimilate even the simplest thoughts of
 others1--,i cannot tell you1 and ,i do 
not know of any one who can answer this 
seemingly simple question               
satisfactorily4 ,we all study1 but what 
happens in our minds when we do study is
 a mystery4 ,we all do some thinking1   
and yet the psychology of thinking is   
the great undiscovered and unexplored   
region in the field of mental science4  
,until we know something of the         
psychology of thinking1 we can hope for 
very little definite information        
concerning the psychology of study1 for 
study is so intimately bound up with    
thinking that the two are not to be     
separated4  ,but even if it is          
impossible at the present time to       
analyze the process of studying1 we are 
pretty well agreed as to what           

constitutes successful study1 and many  
rules have been formulated for helping  
pupils to acquire effective habits of   
study4 ,these rules concern us only     
indirectly at the present time1 for our 
problem is still narrower in its scope4 
,it has to do with the possibility of so
 training children in the art of study1 
not only that they may study effectively
 in school1 but also that they may carry
 over the habits and methods of study   
thus acquired into the tasks of later   
life4 ,in other words1 the topic that we
 are discussing is but one phase of the 
problem of formal discipline1--the      
problem of securing a transfer of       
training from a specific field to other 
fields2 and my purpose is to view this  
topic of study in the light of what we  
know concerning the possibilities of    
transfer4  ,let me take a specific      
example4 ,i am not so much concerned    
with the problem of getting a pupil to  
master a history lesson quickly and     
effectively1--not how he may best       

assimilate the facts concerning the     
,missouri ,compromise1 for example4 ,my 
task is rather to determine how we can  
make his mastery of the ,missouri       
,compromise a lesson in the general art 
of study1--how that mastery may help him
 develop what we used to call the       
general power of study1--the capacity to
 apply an effective method of study to  
other problems1 perhaps1 very far       
removed from the history lesson2 in     
other words1 how that single lesson may 
help him in the more general task of    
finding any type of information when he 
needs it1 of assimilating it once he has
 found it1 and of applying it once he   
has assimilated it4  ,in an audience of 
practical teachers1 it is hardly        
necessary to emphasize the significance 
of doing this very thing4 ,from one     
point of view1 it may be asserted that  
the whole future of what we term general
 education1 as distinguished from       
technical or vocational education1      
depends upon our ability to solve       

problems like this1 and solve them      
satisfactorily4 ,we can never justify   
universal general education beyond the  
merest rudiments unless we can          
demonstrate acceptably that the training
 which general education furnishes will 
help the individual to solve the        
everyday problems of his life4 ,either  
we must train the pupil in a general way
 so that he will be able to acquire     
specialized skill more quickly and more 
effectively than will the pupil who     
lacks this general training2 or we must 
give up a large part of the             
general-culture courses that now occupy 
an important part in our elementary and 
secondary curriculums1 and replace these
 with technical and vocational subjects 
that shall have for their purpose the   
development of specialized efficiency4  
,all teachers1 ,i take it1 are alive to 
the grave dangers of the latter policy4 
,whether we have thought the matter     
through logically or not we certainly   
feel strongly that too early            

specialization will work a serious      
injury to the cause of education1 and1  
through education1 to the larger cause  
of social advancement and enlightenment4
 ,we view with grave foreboding any     
policy that will shut the door of       
opportunity to any child1 no matter how 
humble or how unpromising4 ,and yet we  
also know that1 unless the general      
education that we now offer can be      
distinctly shown to have a beneficial   
influence upon specialized efficiency1  
we shall be forced by economic          
conditions into this very policy4 ,it is
 small wonder1 then1 that so many of our
 educational discussions and            
investigations to-day turn upon this    
problem2 and among the various phases of
 the problem none is more significant   
than that which is covered by our topic 
of to-day1--,how may we develop in the  
pupil a general power or capacity for   
gaining information independently of    
schools and teachers8 ,if we could      
adequately develop this power1 there is 

much in the way of specialized          
instruction that could be safely left to
 the individual himself4 ,if we could   
teach him how to study1 then we could   
perhaps trust him to master some of the 
principles of any calling that he       
undertakes in so far as these principles
 can be mastered from books4 ,to teach  
the child to study effectively is to do 
the most useful thing that could be done
 to help him to adjust himself to any   
environment of modern civilized life    
into which he may be thrown4 ,for there 
is one thing that the more radical      
advocates of a narrow vocational        
education commonly forget1 and that is  
the constant change that is going on in 
industrial processes4 ,when we limit our
 vocational teaching to a mere mastery  
of technique1 there is no guarantee that
 the process which we teach to-day may  
not be discarded in five or ten years   
from to-day4 ,even the narrower         
technical principles which are so       
extremely important to-day may be       

relatively insignificant by the time    
that the child whom we are training     
takes his place in the industrial world4
 ,but if we can arm the individual with 
the more fundamental principles which   
are fixed for all time2 and if1 in      
addition to this1 we can teach him how  
to master the specialized principles    
which may come into the field unheralded
 and unexpected1 and turn topsy-turvy   
the older methods of doing his work1    
then we shall have done much toward     
helping him in solving that perplexing  
problem of gaining a livelihood4   ,,ii 
,i shall not try in this discussion of  
the problem of study to summarize       
completely the principles and precepts  
that have been presented so well in the 
four books on the subject that have     
appeared in the last two years4 ,i do   
not know1 in fact1 of any book that is  
more useful to the teacher just at      
present than ,professor ,frank          
,mc,murry's ,how to ,study and ,teaching
 how to ,study4 ,it is a book that is   

both a help and a delight1 for it is    
clear and well-organized1 and written in
 a vivacious style and with a wealth of 
concrete illustration that holds the    
attention from beginning to end4 ,the   
chief fault that ,i have to find with it
 is the fault that ,i have to find with 
almost every educational book that comes
 from the press to-day1--the tendency1  
namely1 to imply that the teacher of    
to-day is doing very little to solve    
these troublesome problems4 ,as a matter
 of fact1 many teachers are securing    
excellent results from their attempts to
 teach pupils how to study4 ,otherwise  
we should not find so many energetic    
young men to-day who are making an      
effective individual mastery of the     
principles of their respective trades   
and professions independently of schools
 and teachers4 ,our attitude toward     
these questions1 far from being that of 
the pessimist1 should be that of the    
optimist4 ,our task should be to seek   
out these successful teachers1 and find 

out how they do their work4  ,among the 
most important points emphasized by the 
recent writers upon the art of study is 
the necessity for some form of          
motivation in the work of mastering the 
text4 ,we all know that if a pupil feels
 a distinct need for getting information
 out of a book1 the chances are that he 
will get it if the book is available and
 if he can read4 ,to create a problem   
that will involve in its solution the   
gaining of such information is1         
therefore1 one of the best approaches to
 a mastery of the art of study4 ,it is1 
however1 only the beginning4 ,it        
furnishes the necessary energy1 but does
 not map out the path along which this  
energy is to be expended4 ,and this is  
where the greater emphasis1 perhaps1 is 
needed4  ,one of the best teachers that 
,i ever knew taught the subject that we 
now call agronomy1--a branch of         
agricultural science that has to do with
 field crops4 ,i was a mere boy when ,i 
sat under his instruction1 but certain  

points in his method of teaching made a 
most distinct impression upon me4       
,lectures we had1 of course1 for        
lecturing was the orthodox method of    
class instruction4 ,but this man did    
something more than merely lecture4 ,he 
assigned each one of his students a plat
 of ground on the college farm4 ,upon   
this plat of ground1 a definite         
experiment was to be conducted4 ,one of 
my experiments had to do with the smut  
of oats4 ,i was to try the effect of    
treating the seed with hot water in     
order to see whether it would prevent   
the fungus from later destroying the    
ripening grain4 ,the very nature of the 
problem interested me intensely4 ,i     
began to wonder about the life-history  
of this fungus1--how it looked and how  
it germinated and how it grew and       
wrought its destructive influence4 ,it  
was not long before ,i found myself     
spending some of my leisure moments in  
the library trying to find out what was 
known concerning this subject4 ,i was   

not so successful as ,i might have been1
 but ,i am confident that ,i learned    
more about parasitic fungi under the    
spur of that curiosity than ,i should   
have done in five times the number of   
hours spent in formal1 meaningless      
study4  ,but the point of my experience 
is not that a problem interest had been 
awakened1 but rather that the white heat
 of that interest was not utilized so   
completely as it might have been        
utilized in fixing upon my mind some    
important details in the general method 
of running down references and acquiring
 information4 ,that was the moment to   
strike1 and one serious defect of our   
school organization to-day is that most 
teachers1 like my teacher at that time1 
have so much to do that anything like   
individual attention at such moments is 
out of the question4  ,next to          
individual attention1 probably1 the best
 way to overcome the difficulty is to   
give class instruction in these         
matters1--to set aside a definite period

 for teaching pupils the technique of   
using books4 ,if one could arouse a     
sufficiently general problem interest1  
this sort of instruction could be made  
most effective4 ,but even if the problem
 interest is not general1 ,i think that 
it is well to assume that it exists in  
some pupils1 at least1 and to give them 
the benefit of class instruction in the 
art of study1--even if some of the seed 
should fall upon barren soil4  ,this    
aspect of teaching pupils how to study  
is particularly important in the upper  
grades and the high school1 where pupils
 have sufficiently mastered the         
technique of reading to be intrusted    
with individual problems1 and where some
 reference books are commonly available4
 ,chief among these always is the       
dictionary1 and to get pupils to use    
this ponderous volume effectively is one
 of the important steps in teaching them
 how to study4 ,here1 too1 it is easy to
 be pedantic4 ,as ,i shall insist       
strenuously a little later1 the chief   

factor in insuring a transfer of        
training from one subject to another is 
to leave in the pupil's mind a distinct 
consciousness that the method that he   
has been trained to follow is worth     
while1--that it gets results4 ,the      
dictionary habit is likely to begin and 
end within the schoolroom unless steps  
are taken to insure the operation of    
this factor4 ,it is easy to overwork the
 dictionary and to use it fruitlessly1  
in so great a measure1 in fact1 that the
 pupil will never want to see a         
dictionary again4  ,aside from the use  
of the dictionary1 is the use of the    
helps that modern books provide for     
finding the information that may be     
desired1--indices1 tables of contents1  
marginal and cross-references1 and the  
like4 ,these1 again1 are most           
significant in the work of the upper    
grades and the high school1 and here    
again if we wish the skill that is      
developed in their use to be            
transferred1 we must take pains to see  

that the pupil really appreciates their 
value1--that he realizes their          
time-saving and energy-saving functions4
 ,i do not know that there is any better
 way to do this than to let him flounder
 around without them for a little so    
that his sense of their value may be    
enhanced by contrast4   ,,iii  ,another 
important step emphasized by the recent 
writers is the need for training        
children to pick out the significant    
features in the text or portion of the  
text that they are reading4 ,this1 of   
course1 is work that is to be undertaken
 from the very moment that they begin to
 use books4 ,how to do it effectively is
 a puzzling problem and one that will   
amply repay study and experimentation by
 the individual teacher4 ,much studying 
of lessons by teachers and pupils       
together will help1 provided that the   
exercise is spirited and vital1 and is  
not looked upon by the pupils as an easy
 way of getting out of recitation work4 
,mc,murry strongly recommends the       

marking of books to indicate the topic  
sentences and the other salient         
features4 ,personally1 ,i am sure from  
my own experience that the assignment is
 all-important here1 and that study     
questions and problems which can be     
answered or solved by reference to the  
text will help matters very much2 but   
care must1 of course1 be taken that the 
continued use of such questions does not
 preclude the pupil's own mastery of the
 art of study4 ,to eliminate this       
danger1 it is well that the pupils be   
requested frequently to make out their  
own lists of questions1 and1 as speedily
 as possible1 both the questions made by
 the pupil and those made by the        
teacher1 should be replaced by topical  
outlines4 ,by taking care that the      
questions are logically arranged1--that 
is1 that a general question refer to the
 topic of the paragraph1 and other      
subordinate questions to the subordinate
 details of the paragraph1--the         
transition from the questions to the    

topical outline may be readily made4    
,simultaneously with this will go the   
transition in recitation from the       
question-and-answer type to the topical 
type2 and when you have trained a class 
into the habit of topical               
recitation1--when each pupil can talk   
right through a topic 7not around it or 
underneath it or above it7 without the  
use of pumping questions by the         
teacher1--you have gone a long way      
toward developing the art of study4     
,the transfer of this training1 however1
 is quite another matter4 ,there are    
pupils who can work up excellent topical
 recitations from their school          
text-books but who are utterly at sea in
 getting a grasp on a subject treated in
 other books4 ,here again the problem   
lies in getting the pupil to see the    
method apart from its content1 and to   
show him that it really brings results  
that are worth while4 ,if1 in our       
training in the topical method1 we are  
too formal and didactic1 the art of     

study will begin and end right there4   
,it is here that the factor of          
motivation is of supreme importance4    
,when real problems are raised which    
require for their solution intelligent  
reading1 the general worth of the method
 of study can be clearly shown4 ,i do   
not go so far as to say that the pupil  
should never be required to study unless
 he has a real problem that he wishes to
 solve4 ,in fact1 ,i think that we still
 have a large place for the formal1     
systematic mastery of texts by every    
pupil in our schools4 ,i do contend1    
however1 that the frequent introduction 
of real problems will give us an        
opportunity to show the pupil that the  
method that he has utilized in his more 
formal school work is adequate and      
essential to do the thing that appeals  
to him as worth while4 ,only in this    
way1 ,i believe1 can we insure that     
transfer of training which is the       
important factor from our present       
standpoint4  ,and ,i ought also to say1 

parenthetically1 that we should not     
interpret too narrowly this word        
motivation4 ,let us remember that what  
may appeal to the adult as an effective 
motive does not always appeal to the    
child as such4 ,economic motives are the
 most effective1 probably1 in our own   
adult lives1 and probably very effective
 with high-school pupils1 but economic  
motives are not always strong in young  
children1 nor should we wish them to be4
 ,it is not always true that the child  
will approach a school task             
sympathetically when he knows that the  
task is an essential preparation for the
 life that is going on about him4 ,he   
may work harder at a task in order to   
get ahead of his fellow-pupils than he  
would if the motive were to fit him to  
enter a shop or a factory4 ,motive is   
largely a matter of instinct with the   
child1 and he may1 indeed1 be perfectly 
satisfied with a school task just as it 
stands4 ,for example1 we all know that  
children enjoy the right kind of drill4 

,repetition1 especially rhythmic        
repetition1 is instinctive1--it         
satisfies an inborn need4 ,where such a 
condition exists1 it is an obvious waste
 of time to search about for more       
indirect motives4 ,the economical thing 
to do is to turn the ready energy of the
 child into the channel that is already 
open to it1 so long as this procedure   
fits in with the results that we must   
secure4 ,i feel like emphasizing this   
fact1 inasmuch as the terms problem     
interest and motivation seem most       
commonly to be associated in the minds  
of teachers with what we adults term    
real or economic situations4 ,to learn a
 lesson well may often be a sufficient  
motive1--may often constitute a real    
situation to the child1--and if it does1
 it will serve very effectively our     
purposes in this other task1--namely1   
getting the pupil to see the worth of   
the method that we ask him to employ4   
,,iv  ,there are one or two points of a 
general nature in connection with the   

art of study that should be emphasized4 
,in the first place1 the upper-grade and
 high-school pupils are1 ,i believe1    
mature enough to appreciate in some     
degree what knowledge really means4 ,one
 of the fallacies of which ,i was       
possessed on completing my work in the  
lower schools was the belief that there 
are some men who know everything4 ,i    
naturally concluded that the            
superintendent of schools was one of    
these men2 the family physician was     
another2 the leading man in my town was 
a third2 and any one who ever wrote a   
book was put1 ex officio so to speak1   
into this class without further inquiry4
 ,one of the most astounding revelations
 of my later education was to learn     
that1 after all1 the amount of real     
knowledge in this world1 voluminous     
though it seems1 is after all pitiably  
small4 ,of opinion and speculation we   
have a surplus1 but of real1 downright1 
hard fact1 our capital is still most    
insignificant4 ,and ,i wonder if        

something could not be done in the high 
school to teach pupils the difference   
between fact and opinion1 and something 
also of the slow1 laborious process     
through which real facts are            
accumulated4 ,how many mistakes of life 
are due to the lack of the judicial     
attitude right here4 ,what mistakes we  
all make when we try to evaluate        
writings outside of our own special     
field of knowledge or activity4 ,nothing
 depresses me to-day quite so much as   
the readiness with which laymen mistake 
opinion for fact in the field of        
psychology and education1--and ,i       
suppose that my own hasty acceptance of 
statements in other fields would have a 
similar effect upon the specialists of  
those fields4  ,can general education   
help us out at all in this matter8 ,i   
have only one or two suggestions to     
make1 and even these may not be worth a 
great deal4 ,in the recent ,polar       
controversy1 the sympathies of the      
general public were1 ,i think1 at the   

outset with ,cook4 ,this was perhaps1   
natural1 and yet the trained mind ought 
to have withheld judgment for one reason
 if for no other1--and that one reason  
was ,peary's long ,arctic service1 his  
unquestioned mastery of the technique of
 polar travel1 his general reputation   
for honesty and caution in advancing    
opinions4 ,by all the lessons that      
history teaches1 ,peary's word should   
have had precedence over ,cook's1 for   
,peary was a specialist1 while ,cook was
 only an amateur4 ,and yet the general  
public discounted entirely those        
lessons1 and trusted rather the novice1 
with what results it is now unnecessary 
to review1--and in nine cases out of    
ten1 the results will be the same4      
,could we not1 as part of our work in   
training pupils to study1 also teach    
them to give some sort of an evaluation 
to the authorities that they consult8   
,could we not teach them that1 in nine  
cases out of ten1 at least1 the man who 
has the message most worth listening to 

is the man who has worked the hardest   
and the longest in his field1 and who   
enjoys the best reputation among his    
fellow-workers8 ,sometimes1 ,i admit1   
the rule does not work1 and especially  
with men whose reputations as           
authorities have outlived their period  
of productivity1 but even this mistake  
could be guarded against4 ,certainly    
high-school pupils ought distinctly to  
understand that the authors of their    
text-books are not always the most      
learned men or the greatest authorities 
in the fields that they treat4 ,the use 
of biographical dictionaries1 of the    
books that are appearing in various     
fields giving brief biographies and     
often some authoritative estimate of the
 workers in these fields1 is important  
in this connection4  ,mc,murry          
recommends that pupils be encouraged to 
take a critical attitude toward the     
principles they are set to master1--to  
judge1 as he says1 the soundness and    
worth of the statements that they learn4

 ,this is certainly good advice1 and    
wherever the pupil can intelligently    
deal with real sources1 it is well      
frequently to have him check up the     
statements of secondary sources4 ,but1  
after all1 this is the age of the       
specialist1 and to trust one's untrained
 judgment in a field remote from one's  
knowledge and experience is likely to   
lead to unfortunate results4 ,we have   
all sorts of illustrations from the     
ignorant man who will not trust the     
physician or the health official in     
matters of sanitation2 because he lacks 
the proper perspective1 he jumps to the 
conclusion that the specialist is a     
fraud4 ,would it not be well to         
supplement ,mc,murry's suggestion by the
 one that ,i have just made1--that is1  
that we train pupils how to evaluate    
authorities as well as facts1--how to   
protect themselves from the quack and   
the faker who live like parasites upon  
the ignorance of laymen1 both in        
medicine1 in education1 and in ,arctic  

exploration8  ,and ,i believe that there
 is a place1 also1 in the high school1  
especially in connection with the work  
in science and history1 for giving      
pupils some idea of how knowledge is    
really gained4 ,i should not teach      
science exclusively by the laboratory   
method1 nor history exclusively by the  
source method1 but ,i should certainly  
take frequent opportunity to let pupils 
work through some simple problems from  
the beginnings1 struggling with the     
conditions somewhat as the discoverers  
themselves struggled2 following up blind
 leads and toilsomely returning for a   
fresh start2 meeting with               
discouragement2 and finally feeling1    
perhaps1 some of the joy that comes with
 success after struggle2 and all in     
order that they may know better and     
appreciate more fully the cost and the  
worth of that intellectual heritage     
which the master-minds of the world have
 bequeathed to the present and the      
future4 ,and along with this1 as they   

master the principles of science1 let   
them learn also the human side of       
science1--the story of ,newton1         
withholding his great discovery for     
years until he could be absolutely      
certain that it was a law2 until he     
could get the very commonplace but      
obstreperous moon into harmony with his 
law of falling bodies2--the story of    
,darwin1 with his twenty-odd years of   
the most patient and persistent kind of 
toil2 delving into the most unpromising 
materials1 reading the driest books1    
always on the lookout for the facts that
 would point the way to the explanation 
of species2--the story of ,morse and his
 bitter struggle against poverty1 and   
sickness1 and innumerable               
disappointments up to the time when1 in 
advancing years1 success crowned his    
efforts4  ,all this may seem very remote
 from the prosaic task of teaching      
pupils how to study2 and yet it will    
lend its influence toward the attainment
 of that end4 ,for1 after all1 we must  

lead our pupils to see that some books1 
in spite of their formidable            
difficulties and their apparent         
abstractions1 are still close to life1  
and that the truth which lies in books1 
and which we wish them to assimilate1   
has been wrought out of human           
experience1 and not brought down        
miraculously from some remote storehouse
 of wisdom that is accessible only to   
the elect4 ,we poke a good deal of fun  
at book learning nowadays1 and there is 
a pedantic type of book learning that   
certainly deserves all the ridicule that
 can be heaped upon it4 ,but it is not  
wise to carry satire and ridicule too   
far in any direction1 and especially    
when it may mean creating in young minds
 a distrust of the force that1 more than
 any other single factor1 has operated  
to raise man above the savage4   ,v  ,to
 teach the child the art of study means1
 then1 that we take every possible      
occasion to impress upon his mind the   
value of study as a means of solving    

real and vital problems1 and that1 with 
this as an incentive1 we gradually and  
persistently and systematically lead him
 to grasp the method of study as a      
method1--that is1 slowly and gradually  
to abstract the method from the         
particular cases to which he applies it 
and to emotionalize it1--to make it an  
ideal4 ,only in this way1 so far as we  
may know1 can the art be so generalized 
as to find ready application in his     
later life4 ,to this end1 it is         
essential that the steps be taken       
repeatedly1--not begun to-day and never 
thought of again until next year1--but  
daily1 even hourly1 insuring a little   
growth4 ,this means1 too1 not only that 
the teacher must possess a high degree  
of patience1--that first principle of   
pedagogic skill1--but also that he have 
a comprehensive grasp of the problem1   
and the ability to separate the woods   
from the trees1 so that1 to him at      
least1 the chief aim will never be lost 
to view4  ,but1 even at its best1 the   

task is a severe one1 and we need1 here 
as elsewhere in education1 carefully    
controlled tests and experiments1 that  
will enable us to get at the facts4     
,above all1 let me protest against the  
incidental theory of teaching pupils how
 to study4 ,to adopt the incidental     
policy in any field of                  
education1--whether in arithmetic1 or   
spelling1 or reading2 whether in        
developing the power of reasoning or the
 memory1 or the art of study1--is to    
throw wide open the doors that lead to  
the lines of least resistance1 to lax   
methods1 to easy honors1 to weakened    
mental fiber1 and to scamped work4 ,just
 as the pernicious doctrine of the      
subconscious is the first and last      
refuge of the psycho-faker1 so          
incidental learning is the first and    
last refuge of soft pedagogy4 ,and ,i   
mean by incidental learning1 going at a 
teaching task in an indolent1           
unreflective1 hit-or-miss fashion in the
 hope that somehow or other from this   

process will emerge the very definite   
results that we desire4  ,,footnotes3   
,footnote #ad3 ,a paper read before the 
,superintendents' ,section of the       
,illinois ,state ,teachers'             
,association1 ,december #bi1 #aiaj4     
,,ix  ,a ,,plea ,,for ,,the ,,definite  
,,in ,,education#ae  ,i   ,one way to be
 definite in education is to formulate  
as clearly as we can the aims that we   
hope to realize in every stage of our   
work4 ,the task of teaching is so       
complex that1 unless we strive earnestly
 and persistently to reduce it to the   
simplest possible terms1 we are bound to
 work blindly and ineffectively4  ,it is
 only one phase of this topic that ,i   
wish to discuss with you this morning4  
,my plea for the definite in education  
will be limited not only to the field of
 educational aims and values1 but to a  
small corner of that field4 ,your       
morning's program has dealt with the    
problem of teaching history in the      
elementary school4 ,i should like1 if   

you are willing1 to confine my remarks  
to this topic1 and to attack the        
specific question1 ,what is the history 
that we teach in the grades to do for   
the pupil8 ,i wish to make this         
limitation1 not only because what ,i    
have to say will be related to the other
 topics on the program1 but also because
 this very subject of history is one    
which the lack of a definite standard of
 educational value has been keenly felt4
  ,i should admit at the outset that my 
interest in history is purely           
educational4 ,i have had no special     
training in historical research4 ,as you
 may perhaps infer from my discussion1  
my acquaintance with historical facts is
 very far from comprehensive4 ,i speak  
as a layman in history1--and ,i do it   
openly and1 perhaps1 a little defiantly1
 for ,i believe that the last person to 
pass adequate judgment upon the general 
educational value of a given department 
of knowledge is a man who has made the  
department a life study4 ,i have little 

faith in what the mathematician has to  
say regarding the educational value of  
mathematics for the average elementary  
pupil1 because he is a special pleader  
and his conclusions cannot escape the   
coloring of his prejudice4 ,i once knew 
an enthusiastic brain specialist who    
maintained that1 in every grade of the  
elementary school1 instruction should be
 required in the anatomy of the human   
brain4 ,that man was an expert in his   
own line4 ,he knew more about the       
structure of the brain than any other   
living man4 ,but knowing more about     
brain morphology also implied that he   
knew less about many other things1 and  
among the things that he knew little    
about were the needs and capacities of  
children in the elementary school4 ,he  
was a special pleader2 he had been      
dealing with his special subject so long
 that it had assumed a disproportionate 
value in his eyes4 ,brain morphology had
 given him fame1 honor1 and worldly     
emoluments4 ,naturally he would have an 

exaggerated notion of its value4  ,it is
 the same with any other specialist4 ,as
 specialists in education1 you and ,i   
are likely to overemphasize the         
importance of the common school in the  
scheme of creation4 ,personally ,i am   
convinced that the work of elementary   
education is the most profoundly        
significant work in the world2 and yet  
,i can realize that ,i should be no fit 
person to make comparisons if the       
welfare of a number of other professions
 and callings were at stake4 ,i should  
let an unbiased judge make the final    
determination4   ,,ii  ,the first       
question for which we should seek an    
answer in connection with the value of  
any school subject is this3 ,how does it
 influence conduct8 ,let me insist at   
the outset that we cannot be definite by
 saying simply that we teach history in 
order to impart instruction4 ,if there  
is one thing upon which we are all      
agreed to-day it is this3 that it is    
what our pupils do that counts1 not what

 they know4 ,the knowledge that they may
 possess has value only in so far as it 
may directly or indirectly be turned    
over into action4  ,let us not be       
mistaken upon this point4 ,knowledge is 
of the utmost importance1 but it is     
important only as a means to an end--and
 the end is conduct4 ,if my pupils act  
in no way more efficiently after they   
have received my instruction than they  
would have acted had they never come    
under my influence1 then my work as a   
teacher is a failure4 ,if their conduct 
is less efficient1 then my work is not  
only a failure1--it is a catastrophe4   
,the knowledge that ,i impart may be    
absolutely true2 the interest that ,i   
arouse may be intense2 the affection    
that my pupils have for me may be       
genuine2 but all these are but means to 
an end1 and if the end is not attained1 
the means have been futile4  ,we have   
faith that the materials which we pour  
in at the hopper of sense impression    
will come out sooner or later at the    

spout of reaction1 transformed by some  
mysterious process into efficient       
conduct4 ,while the machinery of the    
process1 like the mills of the gods1    
certainly grinds slowly1 it is some     
consolation to believe that1 at any     
rate1 it does grind2 and we are perhaps 
fain to believe that the exceeding      
fineness of the grist is responsible for
 our failure to detect at the spout all 
of the elements that we have been so    
careful to pour in at the hopper4 ,what 
,i should like to do is to examine this 
grinding process rather carefully1--to  
gain1 if possible1 some definite notion 
of the kind of grist we should like to  
produce1 and then to see how the        
machinery may be made to produce this   
grist1 and in what proportions we must  
mix the material that we pour into the  
hopper in order to gain the desired     
result4  ,i have said that we must ask  
of every subject that we teach1 ,how    
does it influence conduct8 ,now when we 
ask this question concerning history a  

variety of answers are at once proposed4
 ,one group of people will assert that  
the facts of history have value because 
they can be directly applied to the     
needs of contemporary life4 ,history1   
they will tell us1 records the          
experiences of the race1 and if we are  
to act intelligently we must act upon   
the basis of this experience4 ,history  
informs us of the mistakes that former  
generations have made in adjusting      
themselves to the world4 ,if we know    
history1 we can avoid these mistakes4   
,this type of reasoning may be said to  
ascribe a utilitarian value to the study
 of history4 ,it assumes that historical
 knowledge is directly and immediately  
applicable to vital problems of the     
present day4  ,now the difficulty with  
this value1 as with many others that    
seem to have the sanction of reason1 is 
that it does not possess the sanction of
 practical test4 ,while knowledge       
doubtless affects in some way the       
present policy of our own government1 it

 would be very hard to prove that the   
influence is in any way a direct        
influence4 ,it is extremely doubtful    
whether the knowledge that the voters   
have of the history of their country    
will be recalled and applied at the     
ballot box next ,november4 ,i do not say
 that the study of history that has been
 going on in the common schools for a   
generation will be entirely without     
effect upon the coming election4 ,i     
simply maintain that this influence will
 be indirect1--but ,i believe that it   
will be none the less profound4 ,one's  
vote at the next election will be       
determined largely by immediate and     
present conditions4 ,but the way in     
which one interprets these conditions   
cannot help being profoundly influenced 
by one's historical study or lack of    
such study4  ,if it is clear1 then1 that
 the study of history cannot be         
justified upon a purely utilitarian     
basis1 we may pass to the consideration 
of other values that have been proposed4

 ,the specialist in history1 whose right
 to legislate upon this matter ,i have  
just called into question1 will probably
 emphasize the disciplinary value of    
this study4 ,specialists are commonly   
enthusiastic over the disciplinary value
 of their special subjects4 ,their own  
minds have been so well developed by the
 pursuit of their special branches that 
they are impelled to recommend the same 
discipline for all minds4 ,again1 we    
must not blame the specialist in        
history1 for you and ,i think the same  
about our own special type of activity4 
,from the disciplinary point of view1   
the study of history is supposed to give
 one the mastery of a special method of 
reasoning4 ,historical method involves1 
above all else1 the careful sifting of  
evidence1 the minutest scrutiny of      
sources in order to judge whether or not
 the records are authentic1 and the     
utmost care in coming to conclusions4   
,now it will be generally agreed that   
these are desirable types of skill to   

possess whether one is an historian or a
 lawyer or a teacher or a man of        
business4 ,and yet1 as in all types of  
discipline1 the difficulty lies1 not so 
much in acquiring the specific skill1 as
 in transferring the skill thus acquired
 to other fields of activity4 ,skill of 
any sort is made up of a multitude of   
little specific habits1 and it is a     
current theory that habit functions     
effectively only in the specific        
situation in which it has been built up1
 or in situations closely similar4 ,but 
whether this is true or not it is       
obvious that the teaching of elementary 
history provides very few opportunities 
for this type of training4  ,a third    
view of the way in which historical     
knowledge is thought to work into action
 may be discussed under the head of the 
cultural value4 ,history1 like          
literature1 is commonly assumed to give 
to the individual who studies it1 a     
certain amount of that commodity which  
the world calls culture4 ,precisely what

 culture consists in1 no one1           
apparently1 is ready to tell us1 but we 
all admit that it is real1 if not       
tangible and definable1 nor can we deny 
that the individual who possesses       
culture conducts himself1 as a rule1    
differently from the individual who does
 not possess it4 ,in other words1       
culture is a practical thing1 for the   
only things that are practical are the  
things that modify or control human     
action4  ,it is doubtless true that the 
study of history does add to this       
intangible something that we call       
culture1 but the difficulty with this   
value lies in the fact that1 even after 
we have accepted it as valid1 we are in 
no way better off regarding our methods4
 ,like many other theories1 its truth is
 not to be denied1 but its truth gives  
us no inkling of a solution of our      
problem4 ,what we need is an educational
 value of history1 the recognition of   
which will enable us to formulate a     
method for realizing the value4   ,,iii 

,the unsatisfactory character of these  
three values that have been proposed for
 history--the utilitarian1 the          
disciplinary1 and the cultural--is      
typical of the values that have been    
proposed for other subjects4 ,unless the
 aim of teaching any given subject can  
be stated in definite terms1 the teacher
 must work very largely in the dark2 his
 efforts must be largely of the         
hit-or-miss order4 ,the desired value   
may be realized under these conditions1 
but1 if it is realized1 it is manifestly
 through accident1 not through          
intelligent design4 ,it is needless to  
point out the waste that such a         
blundering and haphazard adjustment     
entails4 ,we all know how much of our   
teaching fails to hit the mark1 even    
when we are clear concerning the result 
that we desire2 we can only conjecture  
how much of the remainder fails of      
effect because we are hazy and obscure  
concerning its purpose4  ,let us return 
to our original basic principle and see 

what light it may throw upon our        
problem4 ,we have said that the         
efficiency of teaching must always be   
measured by the degree in which the     
pupil's conduct is modified4 ,taking    
conduct as our base1 then1 let us reason
 back and see what factors control      
conduct1 and1 if possible1 how these    
controls may be influenced by the       
processes of education working through  
the lesson in history4  ,i shall start  
with a very simple and apparently       
trivial example4 ,when ,i was living in 
the ,far ,west1 ,i came to know         
something of the ,chinese1 who are      
largely engaged1 as you know1 in        
domestic service in that part of the    
country4 ,most of the ,chinese servants 
that ,i met corresponded very closely   
with what we read concerning ,chinese   
character4 ,we have all heard of the    
,chinese servant's unswerving adherence 
to a routine that he has once           
established4 ,they say in the ,west that
 when a housewife gives her ,chinese    

servant an object lesson in the         
preparation of a certain dish1 she must 
always be very careful to make her      
demonstration perfect the first time4   
,if1 inadvertently1 she adds one egg too
 many1 she will find that1 in spite of  
her protestations1 the superfluous egg  
will always go into that preparation    
forever afterward4 ,from what ,i know of
 the typical ,oriental1 ,i am sure that 
this warning is not overdrawn4  ,now    
here is a bit of conduct1 a bit of      
adjustment1 that characterizes the      
,chinese cook4 ,not only that1 but1 in a
 general way1 it is peculiar to all     
,chinese1 and hence may be called a     
national trait4 ,we might call it a     
vigorous national prejudice in favor of 
precedent4 ,but whatever we call it1 it 
is a very dominant force in ,chinese    
life4 ,it is the trait that1 perhaps    
more than any other1 distinguishes      
,chinese conduct from ,european or      
,american conduct4 ,now one might think 
this trait to be instinctive1--to be    

bred in the bone rather than            
acquired1--but this ,i am convinced is  
not altogether true4 ,at least one      
,chinese whom ,i knew did not possess it
 at all4 ,he was born on a western ranch
 and his parents died soon after his    
birth4 ,he was brought up with the      
children of the ranch owner1 and is now 
a prosperous rancher himself4 ,he lacks 
every characteristic that we commonly   
associate with the ,chinese1 save only  
the physical features4 ,his hair is     
straight1 his skin is saffron1 his eyes 
are slightly aslant1--but that is all4  
,as far as his conduct goes1--and that  
is the essential thing1--he is an       
,american4 ,in other words1 his traits1 
his tendencies to action1 are ,american 
and not ,chinese4 ,his life represents  
the triumph of environment over         
heredity4  ,when you visit ,england you 
find yourselves among a people who speak
 the same language that you speak1--or1 
perhaps it would be better to say1      
somewhat the same2 at least you can     

understand each other4 ,in a great many 
respects1 the ,englishman and the       
,american are similar in their traits1  
but in a great many other respects they 
differ radically4 ,you cannot1 from your
 knowledge of ,american traits1 judge   
what an ,englishman's conduct will be   
upon every occasion4 ,if you happened on
 ,piccadilly of a rainy morning1 for    
example1 you would see the ,english     
clerks and storekeepers and professional
 men riding to their work on the        
omnibuses that thread their way slowly  
through the crowded thoroughfare4 ,no   
matter how rainy the morning1 these men 
would be seated on the tops of the      
omnibuses1 although the interior seats  
might be quite unoccupied4 ,no matter   
how rainy the morning1 many of these men
 would be faultlessly attired in top    
hats and frock coats1 and there they    
would sit through the drizzling rain1   
protecting themselves most inadequately 
with their opened umbrellas4 ,now there 
is a bit of conduct that you cannot find

 duplicated in any ,american city4 ,it  
is a national habit1--or1 perhaps1 it   
would be better to say1 it is an        
expression of a national trait1--and    
that national trait is a prejudice in   
favor of convention4 ,it is the thing to
 do1 and the typical ,englishman does   
it1 just as1 when he is sent as civil   
governor to some lonely outpost in      
,india1 with no companions except       
scantily clad native servants1 he always
 dresses conscientiously for dinner and 
sits down to his solitary meal clad in  
the conventional swallow-tail coat of   
civilization4  ,now the way in which a  
,chinese cook prepares a custard1 or the
 way in which an ,english merchant rides
 in an omnibus1 may be trivial and      
unimportant matters in themselves1 and  
yet1 like the straw that shows which way
 the wind blows1 they are indicative of 
vast and profound currents4 ,the        
conservatism of the ,chinese empire is  
only a larger and more comprehensive    
expression of the same trait or         

prejudice that leads the cook to copy   
literally his model4 ,the present       
educational situation in ,england is    
only another expression of that same    
prejudice in favor of the established   
order1 which finds expression in the    
merchant on the ,piccadilly omnibus4    
,whenever you pass from one country to  
another you will find this difference in
 tendencies to action4 ,in ,germany1 for
 example1 you will find something that  
amounts almost to a national fervor for 
economy and frugality4 ,you will find it
 expressing itself in the care with     
which the ,german housewife does her    
marketing4 ,you will find it expressing 
itself in the intensive methods of      
agriculture1 through which scarcely a   
square inch of arable land is permitted 
to lie fallow1--through which1 for      
example1 even the shade trees by the    
roadside furnish fruit as well as shade1
 and are annually rented for their fruit
 value to industrious members of the    
community1--and it is said in one       

section of ,germany that the only people
 known to steal fruit from these trees  
along the lonely country roads are      
,american tourists1 who1 you will see1  
also have their peculiar standards of   
conduct4 ,you will find this same fervor
 for frugality and economy expressing   
itself most extensively in that splendid
 forest policy by means of which the    
,german states have conserved their     
magnificent timber resources4  ,but1    
whatever its expression1 it is the same 
trait1--a trait born of generations of  
struggle with an unyielding soil1 and   
yet a trait which1 combined with the    
,german fervor for science and          
education1 has made possible the        
marvelous progress that ,germany has    
made within the last half century4      
,what do we mean by national traits8    
,simply this3 prejudices or tendencies  
toward certain typical forms of conduct1
 common to a given people4 ,it is this  
community of conduct that constitutes a 
nation4 ,a country whose people have    

different standards of action must be a 
divided country1 as our own ,american   
history sufficiently demonstrates4      
,unless upon the vital questions of     
human adjustment1 men are able to agree1
 they cannot live together in peace4 ,if
 we are a distinctive and unique        
nation1--if we hold a distinctive and   
unique place among the nations of the   
globe1--it is because you and ,i and the
 other inhabitants of our country have  
developed distinctive and unique ideals 
and prejudices and standards1 all of    
which unite to produce a community of   
conduct4 ,and once granting that our    
national characteristics are worth      
while1 that they constitute a distinct  
advance over the characteristics of the 
other nations of the earth1 it becomes  
the manifest duty of the school to do   
its share in perpetuating these ideals  
and prejudices and standards4 ,once let 
these atrophy through disuse1 once let  
them fail of transmission because of the
 decay of the home1 or the decay of the 

school1 or the decay of the social      
institutions that typify and express    
them1 and our country must go the way of
 ,greece and ,rome1 and1 although our   
blood may thereafter continue pure and  
unmixed1 and our physical               
characteristics may be passed on from   
generation to generation unchanged in   
form1 our nation will be only a memory1 
and its history ancient history4 ,some  
of the ,greeks of to-day are the lineal 
descendants of the ,athenians and       
,spartans1 but the ancient ,greek       
standards of conduct1 the ,greek ideals1
 died twenty centuries ago1 to be       
resurrected1 it is true1 by the         
renaissance1 and to enjoy the glorious  
privilege of a new and wider sphere of  
life1--but among an alien people1 and   
under a northern sun4  ,and so the true 
aim of the study of history in the      
elementary school is not the realization
 of its utilitarian1 its cultural1 or   
its disciplinary value4 ,it is not a    
mere assimilation of facts concerning   

historical events1 nor the memorizing of
 dates1 nor the picturing of battles1   
nor the learning of lists of            
presidents1--although each of these     
factors has its place in fulfilling the 
function of historical study4 ,the true 
function of national history in our     
elementary schools is to establish in   
the pupils' minds those ideals and      
standards of action which differentiate 
the ,american people from the rest of   
the world1 and especially to fortify    
these ideals and standards by a         
description of the events and conditions
 through which they developed4 ,it is   
not the facts of history that are to be 
applied to the problems of life2 it is  
rather the emotional attitude1 the point
 of view1 that comes not from           
memorizing1 but from appreciating1 the  
facts4 ,a mere fact has never yet had a 
profound influence over human conduct4  
,a principle that is accepted by the    
head and not by the heart has never yet 
stained a battle field nor turned the   

tide of a popular election4 ,men act1   
not as they think1 but as they feel1 and
 it is not the idea1 but the ideal1 that
 is important in history4   ,,iv  ,but  
what are the specific ideals and        
standards for which our nation stands   
and which distinguish1 in a very broad  
but yet explicit manner1 our conduct    
from the conduct of other peoples8 ,if  
we were to ask this question of an older
 country1 we could more easily obtain an
 answer1 for in the older countries the 
national ideals have1 in many cases1    
reached an advanced point of            
self-consciousness4 ,the educational    
machinery of the ,german empire1 for    
example1 turns upon this problem of     
impressing the national ideals4 ,it is  
one aim of the official courses of      
study1 for instance1 that history shall 
be so taught that the pupils will gain  
an overweening reverence for the        
reigning house of ,hohenzollern4 ,nor is
 that newer ideal of national unity     
which had its seed sown in the          

,franco-,prussian ,war in any danger of 
neglect by the watchful eye of the      
government4 ,not only must the teacher  
impress it upon every occasion1 but     
every attempt is also made to bring it  
daily fresh to the minds of the people  
through great monuments and memorials4  
,scarcely a hamlet is so small that it  
does not possess its ,bismarck ,denkmal1
 often situated upon some commanding    
hill1 telling to each generation1 in the
 sublime poetry of form1 the greatness  
of the man who made ,german unity a     
reality instead of a dream4  ,but in our
 country1 we do not thus consciously    
formulate and express our national      
ideals4 ,we recognize them rather with  
averted face as the adolescent boy      
recognizes any virtue that he may       
possess1 as if half-ashamed of his      
weakness4 ,we have monuments to our     
heroes1 it is true1 but they are often  
inaccessible1 and as often they fail to 
convey in any adequate manner1 the      
greatness of the lessons which the lives

 of these heroes represent4 ,where      
,germany has a hundred or more          
impressive memorials to the genius of   
,bismarck1 we have but one adequate     
memorial to the genius of ,washington1  
while for ,lincoln1 who represents the  
typical ,american standards of life and 
conduct more faithfully than any other  
one character in our history1 we have no
 memorial that is at all adequate1--and 
we should have a thousand4 ,some day our
 people will awake to the possibilities 
that inhere in these palpable           
expressions of the impalpable things for
 which our country stands4 ,we shall    
come to recognize the vast educative    
importance of perpetuating1 in every    
possible way1 the deep truths that have 
been established at the cost of so much 
blood and treasure4  ,to embody our     
national ideals in the personages of the
 great figures of history who did so    
much to establish them is the most      
elementary method of insuring their     
conservation and transmission4 ,we are  

beginning to appreciate the value of    
this method in our introductory courses 
of history in the intermediate and lower
 grammar grades4 ,the historical study  
outlined for these grades in most of our
 state and city school programs includes
 mainly biographical materials4 ,as long
 as the purpose of this study is kept   
steadily in view by the teacher1 its    
value may be very richly realized4 ,the 
danger lies in an obscure conception of 
the purpose4 ,we are always too prone to
 teach history didactically1 and to     
teach biographical history didactically 
is to miss the mark entirely4 ,the aim  
here is not primarily instruction1 but  
inspiration2 not merely learning1 but   
also appreciation4 ,to tell the story of
 ,lincoln's life in such a way that its 
true value will be realized requires    
first upon the part of the teacher a    
sincere appreciation of the great lesson
 of ,lincoln's life4 ,lincoln typifies  
the most significant and representative 
of ,american ideals4 ,his career stands 

for and illustrates the greatest of our 
national principles1--the principle of  
equality1--not the equality of birth1   
not the equality of social station1 but 
the equality of opportunity4 ,that a    
child of the lowliest birth1 reared     
under conditions apparently the most    
unfavorable for rich development1       
limited by the sternest poverty1 by lack
 of formal education1 by lack of family 
pride and traditions1 by lack of an     
environment of culture1 by the hard     
necessity of earning his own livelihood 
almost from earliest childhood1--that   
such a man should attain to the highest 
station in the land and the proudest    
eminence in its history1 and should have
 acquired from the apparently           
unfavorable environment of his early    
life the very qualities that made him so
 efficient in that station and so       
permanent in that eminence1--this is a  
miracle that only ,america could        
produce4 ,it is this conception that the
 teacher must have1 and this he must1 in

 some measure1 impress upon his pupils4 
,v  ,in the teaching of history in the  
elementary school1 the biographical     
treatment is followed in the later      
grammar grades by a systematic study of 
the main events of ,american history4   
,here the method is different1 but the  
purpose is the same4 ,this purpose is1  
,i take it1 to show how our ideals and  
standards have developed1 through what  
struggles and conflicts they have become
 firmly established2 and the aim must be
 to have our pupils relive1 as vividly  
as possible1 the pain and the struggles 
and the striving and the triumph1 to the
 end that they may appreciate1 however  
feebly1 the heritage that is theirs4    
,here again it is not the facts as such 
that are important1 but the emotional   
appreciation of the facts1 and to this  
end1 the coloring must be rich1 the     
pictures vivid1 the contrasts sharply   
drawn4 ,the successful teacher of       
history has the gift of making real the 
past4 ,his pupils struggle with         

,columbus against a frightened1         
ignorant1 mutinous crew2 they toil with 
the ,pilgrim fathers to conquer the     
wilderness2 they follow the bloody trail
 of the ,deerfield victims through the  
forest to ,canada2 they too resist the  
encroachments of the ,mother ,country   
upon their rights as ,english citizens2 
they suffer through the long winter at  
,valley ,forge and join with ,washington
 in his midnight vigils2 they rejoice at
 ,yorktown2 they dream with ,jefferson  
and plead with ,webster2 their hearts   
are fired with the news of ,sumter2 they
 clinch their teeth at ,bull ,run2 they 
gather hope at ,donelson1 but they      
shudder at ,shiloh2 they struggle       
through the ,wilderness with ,grant2    
tired but triumphant1 they march home   
from ,appomattox2 and through it all1 in
 virtue of the limitless capacities of  
vicarious experience1 they have shared  
the agonies of ,lincoln4  ,professor    
,mace1 in his essay on ,method in       
,history1 tells us that there are two   

distinct phases to every historical     
event4 ,these are the event itself and  
the human feeling that brought it forth4
 ,it has seemed to me that there are    
three phases1--the event itself1 the    
feeling that brought it forth1 and the  
feeling to which it gave birth2 for no  
event is historically important unless  
it has transformed in some way the      
ideals and standards of the             
people1--unless it has shifted1 in some 
way1 their point of view1 and made them 
act differently from the way in which   
they would have acted had the event     
never occurred4 ,one leading purpose in 
the teaching of history is to show how  
ideals have been transformed1 how we    
have come to have standards different   
from those that were once held4  ,many  
of our national ideals have their roots 
deep down in ,english history4 ,not long
 ago ,i heard a seventh-grade class     
discussing the ,magna ,charta4 ,it was a
 class in ,american history1 and yet the
 events that the pupils had been        

studying occurred three centuries before
 the discovery of ,america4 ,they had   
become familiar with the long list of   
abuses that led to the granting of the  
charter4 ,they could tell very glibly   
what this great document did for the    
,english people4 ,they traced in detail 
the subsequent events that led to the   
establishment of the ,house of ,commons4
 ,all this was ,american history just as
 truly as if the events described had   
occurred on ,american soil4 ,they were  
gaining an appreciation of one of the   
most fundamental of our national        
ideals1--the ideal of popular           
government4 ,and not only that1 but they
 were studying popular government in its
 simplest form1 uncomplicated by the    
innumerable details and the elaborate   
organizations which characterize popular
 government to-day4  ,and when these    
pupils come to the time when this ideal 
of self-government was transplanted to  
,american soil1 they will be ready to   
trace with intelligence the changes that

 it took on4 ,they will appreciate the  
marked influence which geographical     
conditions exert in shaping national    
standards of action4 ,how richly        
,american history reveals and           
illustrates this influence we are only  
just now beginning to appreciate4 ,the  
,french and the ,english colonists      
developed different types of national   
character partly because they were      
placed under different geographical     
conditions4 ,the ,st4 ,lawrence and the 
,great ,lakes gave the ,french an easy  
means of access into the vast interior  
of the continent1 and provided          
innumerable temptations to exploitation 
rather than a few incentives to         
development4 ,where the ,french         
influence was dispersed over a wide     
territory1 the ,english influence was   
concentrated4 ,as a consequence1 the    
,english energy went to the development 
of resources that were none too         
abundant1 and to the establishment of   
permanent institutions that would       

conserve these resources4 ,the barrier  
of the ,appalachians hemmed them        
in1--three hundred miles of alternate   
ridge and valley kept them from the     
,west until they were numerically able  
to settle rather than to exploit this   
country4 ,not a little credit for the   
ultimate ,english domination of the     
continent must be given to these        
geographical conditions4  ,but geography
 does not tell the whole story4 ,the    
,french colonists differed from the     
,english colonists from the outset in   
standards of conduct4 ,they had brought 
with them the principle of paternalism1 
and1 in time of trouble1 they looked to 
,france for support4 ,the ,english      
colonists brought with them the         
principle of self-reliance and1 in time 
of trouble1 they looked only to         
themselves4 ,and so the old ,english    
ideals had a new birth and a broader    
field of application on ,american soil4 
,there is nothing finer in our country's
 history than the attitude of the ,new  

,england colonists during the           
intercolonial wars4 ,their northern     
frontier covering two hundred miles of  
unprotected territory was constantly    
open to the incursions of the ,french   
from ,canada and their ,indian allies1  
to appease whom the ,french organized   
their raids4 ,and yet1 so deeply        
implanted was this ideal of             
self-reliance that ,new ,england        
scarcely thought of asking aid of the   
mother country and would have protested 
to the last against the permanent       
establishment of a military garrison    
within her limits4 ,for a period        
extending over fifty years1 ,new        
,england protected her own borders4 ,she
 felt the terrors of savage warfare in  
its most sanguinary forms4 ,and yet1    
uncomplaining1 she taxed herself to     
repel the invaders4 ,the people loved   
their own independence too much to part 
with it1 even for the sake of peace1    
prosperity1 and security4 ,at a later   
date1 unknown to the mother country1    

they raised and equipped from their own 
young men and at their own expense1 the 
punitive expedition that1 in the face of
 seemingly certain defeat1 captured the 
,french fortress at ,louisburg1 and gave
 to ,english military annals one of its 
most brilliant victories4 ,to get the   
pupil to live through these struggles1  
to feel the impetus of idealism upon    
conduct1 to appreciate what that almost 
forgotten half-century of conflict meant
 to the development of our national     
character1 would be to realize the      
greatest value that colonial history can
 have for its students4 ,it lays bare   
the source of that strength which made  
,new ,england preeminent in the         
,revolution1 and which has placed the   
mint mark of ,new ,england idealism upon
 the coin of ,american character4 ,could
 a pupil who has lived vicariously      
through such experiences as these easily
 forsake principle for policy8  ,a      
newspaper cartoon published a year or so
 ago1 gives some notion of the danger   

that we are now facing of losing that   
idealism upon which our country was     
founded4 ,the cartoon represents the    
signing of the ,declaration of          
,independence4 ,the worthies are        
standing about the table dressed in the 
knee breeches and flowing coats of the  
day1 with wigs conventionally powdered  
and that stately bearing which          
characterizes the typical historical    
painting4 ,john ,hancock is seated at   
the table prepared to make his name     
immortal4 ,a figure1 however1 has just  
appeared in the doorway4 ,it is the     
cartoonist's conventional conception of 
the modern ,captain of ,industry4 ,his  
silk hat is on the back of his head as  
if he had just come from his office as  
fast as his forty-horse-power automobile
 could carry him4 ,his portly form shows
 evidences of intense excitement4 ,he is
 holding his hand aloft to stay the     
proceedings1 while from his lips comes  
the stage whisper3 ,gentlemen1 stop6    
,you will hurt business6 ,what would    

those old ,new ,england fathers think1  
could they know that such a conception  
may be taken as representing a          
well-recognized tendency of the present 
day8 ,and remember1 too1 that those old 
heroes had something of a passion for   
trade themselves4  ,but when we seek for
 the source of our most important       
national ideal1--the ideal that we have 
called equality of opportunity1--we must
 look to another part of the country4   
,the typical ,americanism that is       
represented by ,lincoln owes its origin1
 ,i believe1 very largely to            
geographical factors4 ,it could have    
been developed only under certain       
conditions and these conditions the     
,middle ,west alone provided4 ,the      
settling of the ,middle ,west in the    
latter part of the eighteenth and the   
early part of the nineteenth centuries  
was part and parcel of a rigid logic of 
events4 ,as ,miss ,semple so clearly    
points out in her work on the geographic
 conditions of ,american history1 the   

,atlantic seaboard sloped toward the sea
 and its people held their faces        
eastward4 ,they were never cut off from 
easy communication with the ,old ,world1
 and consequently they were never quite 
freed from the ,old ,world prejudices   
and standards4 ,but the movement across 
the mountains gave rise to a new        
condition4 ,the faces of the people were
 turned westward1 and cut off from easy 
communication with the ,old ,world1 they
 developed a new set of ideals and      
standards under the stress of new       
conditions4 ,chief among these          
conditions was the immensity and        
richness of the territory that they were
 settling4 ,the vastness of their       
outlook and the wealth of their         
resources confirmed and extended the    
ideals of self-reliance that they had   
brought with them from the seaboard4    
,but on the seaboard1 the ,old ,world   
notion of social classes1 the prestige  
of family and station1 still held sway4 
,the development of the ,middle ,west   

would have been impossible under so     
severe a handicap4 ,with resources so   
great1 every stimulus must be given to  
individual achievement4 ,nothing must be
 permitted to stand in its way4 ,the man
 who could do things1 the man who could 
most effectively turn the forces of     
nature to serve the needs of society1   
was the man who was selected for        
preferment1 no matter what his birth1 no
 matter what the station of his family4 
,we might1 in a similar fashion1 review 
the various other ideals1 which have    
grown out of our history1 but1 as ,i    
have said1 my purpose is not historical 
but educational1 and the illustrations  
that ,i have given may suffice to make  
my contention clear4 ,i have attempted  
to show that the chief purpose of the   
study of history in the elementary      
school is to establish and fortify in   
the pupils' minds the significant ideals
 and standards of conduct which those   
who have gone before us have gleaned    
from their experience4 ,i have          

maintained that1 to this end1 it is not 
only the facts of history that are      
important1 but the appreciation of these
 facts4 ,i have maintained that these   
prejudices and ideals have a profound   
influence upon conduct1 and that1       
consequently1 history is to be looked   
upon as a most practical branch of      
study4         99       99       99     
99       99  ,the best way in this world
 to be definite is to know our goal and 
then strive to attain it4 ,in the lack  
of definite standards based upon the    
lessons of the past1 our dominant       
national ideals shift with every        
shifting wind of public sentiment and   
popular demand4 ,are we satisfied with  
the individualistic and self-centered   
idealism that has come with our material
 prosperity and which to-day shames the 
memory of the men who founded our       
,republic8 ,are we negligent of the     
serious menace that confronts any people
 when it loses its hold upon those goods
 of life that are far more precious than

 commercial prestige and individual     
aggrandizement8 ,are we losing our hold 
upon the sterner virtues which our      
fathers possessed1--upon the things of  
the spirit that are permanent and       
enduring8  ,a study of history cannot   
determine entirely the dominant ideals  
of those who pursue it4 ,but the study  
of history if guided in the proper      
spirit and dominated by the proper aim  
may help4 ,for no one who gets into the 
spirit of our national history1--no one 
who traces the origin and growth of     
these ideals and institutions that ,i   
have named1--can escape the conviction  
that the elemental virtues of courage1  
self-reliance1 hardihood1 unselfishness1
 self-denial1 and service lie at the    
basis of every forward step that this   
country has made1 and that the most     
precious part of our heritage is not the
 material comforts with which we are    
surrounded1 but the sturdy virtues which
 made these comforts possible4          
,,footnotes3  ,footnote #ae3 ,an address

 delivered ,march #ah1 #aiaj1 before the
 ,central ,illinois ,teachers'          
,association4     ,x  ,,science ,,as    
,,related ,,to ,,the ,,teaching ,,of    
,,literature#af   ,the scientific method
 is the method of unprejudiced          
observation and induction4 ,its function
 in the scheme of life is to furnish man
 with facts and principles1--statements 
which mirror with accuracy and precision
 the conditions that may exist in any   
situation of any sort which man may have
 to face4 ,in other words1 the facts of 
science are important and worthy because
 they help us to solve the problems of  
life more satisfactorily4 ,they are     
instrumental in their function4 ,they   
are means to an end4 ,and whenever we   
have a problem to solve1 whenever we    
face a situation that demands some form 
of adjustment1 the more accurate the    
information that we possess concerning  
this situation1 the better we shall be  
able to solve it4  ,now when ,i propose 
that we try to find out some facts about

 the teaching of ,english1 and that we  
apply the scientific method in the      
discovery of these facts1 ,i am         
immediately confronted with an          
objection4 ,my opponent will maintain   
that the subject of ,english in our     
school curriculum is not one of the     
sciences4 ,taking ,english to mean      
particularly ,english literature rather 
than rhetoric or composition or grammar1
 it is clear that we do not teach       
literature as we teach the sciences4    
,its function differs from that of      
science in the curriculum4 ,if there is 
a science of literature1 that is not    
what we are teaching in the secondary   
schools1 and that is not what most of us
 believe should be taught in the        
secondary schools4 ,we think that the   
study of literature should transmit to  
each generation the great ideals that   
are crystallized in literary            
masterpieces4 ,and we think that1 in    
seeing to it that our pupils are        
inspired with these ideals1 we should   

also teach literature in such a way that
 our pupils will be left with a desire  
to read good literature as a source of  
recreation and inspiration after they   
have finished the courses that we offer4
 ,when ,i speak of inspiration1         
appreciation1 the development of taste1 
and the like1 ,i am using terms that    
have little direct relation to the      
scientific method2 for1 as ,i have said1
 science deals with facts1 and the      
harder and more stubborn and more       
unyielding the facts become1 the better 
they represent true science4 ,what right
 have ,i1 then1 to speak of the         
scientific study of the teaching of     
,english1 when science and literature   
seem to belong to two quite separate    
rubrics of mental life8  ,i refer to    
this point of view1 not because its     
inconsistencies are not fully apparent  
to you even upon the surface1 but       
because it is a point of view that has  
hitherto interfered very materially with
 our educational progress4 ,it has      

sometimes been assumed that1 because we 
wish to study education scientifically1 
we wish to read out of it everything    
that cannot be reduced to a scientific  
formula1--that1 somehow or other1 we    
intend still further to intellectualize 
the processes of education and to       
neglect the tremendous importance of    
those factors that are not primarily    
intellectual in their nature1 but which 
belong rather to the field of emotion   
and feeling4  ,i wish1 therefore1 to say
 at the outset that1 while ,i firmly    
believe the hope of education to lie in 
the application of the scientific method
 to the solution of its problems1 ,i    
still hold that neither facts nor       
principles nor any other products of the
 scientific method are the most         
important goods of life4 ,the greatest  
goods in life are1 and always must      
remain1 ,i believe1 its ideals1 its     
visions1 its insights1 and its          
sympathies1--must always remain those   
qualities with which the teaching of    

literature is primarily concerned1 and  
in the engendering of which in the      
hearts and souls of his pupils1 the     
teacher of literature finds the greatest
 opportunity that is vouchsafed to any  
teacher4  ,the facts and principles that
 science has given us have been of such 
service to humanity that we are prone to
 forget that they have been of service  
because they have helped us more        
effectively to realize our ideals and   
attain our ends2 and we are prone to    
forget also that1 without the ideals and
 the ends and the visions1 the facts and
 principles would be quite without      
function4 ,i have sometimes been taken  
to account for separating these two     
factors in this way4 ,but unless we do  
distinguish sharply between them1 our   
educational thinking is bound to be     
hopelessly obscure4  ,you have all heard
 the story of the great chemist who was 
at work in his laboratory when word was 
brought him that his wife was dead4 ,as 
the first wave of anguish swept over    

him1 he bowed his head upon his hands   
and wept out his grief2 but suddenly he 
lifted up his head1 and held before him 
his hands wet with tears4 ,tears6 he    
cried2 what are they8 ,i have analyzed  
them3 a little chloride of sodium1 some 
alkaline salts1 a little mucin1 and some
 water4 ,that is all4 ,and he went back 
to his work4  ,the story is an old one1 
and very likely apocryphal1 but it is   
not without its lesson to us in the     
present connection4 ,unless we          
distinguish between these two factors   
that ,i have named1 we are likely either
 to take this man's attitude or         
something approaching it1 or to go to   
the other extreme1 renounce the accuracy
 and precision of the scientific method1
 and give ourselves up to the cult of   
emotionalism4  ,now1 while we do not    
wish to read out of the teaching of     
literature the factors of appreciation  
and inspiration1 we do wish to find out 
how these important functions of our    
teaching may be best fulfilled4 ,and it 

is here that facts and principles gained
 by the scientific method not only can  
but must furnish the ultimate solution4 
,we have a problem4 ,that problem1 it is
 true1 is concerned with something that 
is not scientific1 and to attempt to    
make it scientific is to kill the very  
life that it is our problem to cherish4 
,but in solving that problem1 we must   
take certain steps2 we must arrange our 
materials in certain ways2 we must      
adjust hard and stubborn facts to the   
attainment of our end4 ,what are these  
facts8 ,what is their relation to our   
problem8 ,what laws govern their        
operation8 ,these are subordinate but   
very essential parts of our larger      
problem1 and it is through the          
scientific investigation of these       
subordinate problems that our larger    
problem is to be solved4  ,let me give  
you an illustration of what ,i mean4 ,we
 may assume that every boy who goes out 
of the high school should appreciate the
 meaning and worth of self-sacrifice as 

this is revealed 7not expounded7 in     
,dickens's delineation of the character 
of ,sidney ,carton4 ,there is our       
problem1--but what a host of subordinate
 problems at once confront us6 ,where   
shall we introduce ,the ,tale of ,two   
,cities8 ,will it be in the second year1
 or the third1 or the fourth8 ,will it  
be best preceded by the course in       
general history which will give the     
pupil a time perspective upon the       
crimson background of the ,french       
,revolution against which ,dickens      
projected his master character8 ,or     
shall we put ,the ,tale of ,two ,cities 
first for the sake of the heightened    
interest which the art of the novelist  
may lend to the facts of the historian8 
,again1 how may the story be best       
presented8 ,what part shall the pupils  
read in class8 ,what part shall they    
read at home8 ,what part1 if any1 shall 
we read to them8 ,what questions are    
necessary to insure appreciation8 ,how  
many of the allusions need be run down  

in order to give the maximal effect of  
the masterpiece8 ,how may the           
necessarily discontinuous discussions of
 the class--one period each day for     
several days--be so counteracted as to  
insure the cumulative emotional effect  
which the appreciation of all art       
presupposes8 ,should the story be       
sketched through first1 and then read in
 some detail1 or will one reading       
suffice8  ,these are problems1 ,i       
repeat1 that stand to the chief problem 
as means stand to end4 ,now some of     
these questions must be solved by every 
teacher for himself1 but that does not  
prevent each teacher from solving them  
scientifically4 ,others1 it is clear1   
might be solved once and for all by the 
right kind of an investigation1--might  
result in permanent and universal laws  
which any one could apply4  ,there are1 
of course1 several ways in which answers
 for these questions may be secured4    
,one way is that of a priori            
reasoning1--the deductive procedure4    

,this method may be thoroughly          
scientific1 depending of course upon the
 validity of our general principles as  
applied to the specific problem4        
,ordinarily this validity can be        
determined only by trial2 consequently  
these a priori inferences should be     
looked upon as hypotheses to be tested  
by trial under standard conditions4 ,for
 example1 ,i might argue that ,the ,tale
 of ,two ,cities should be placed in the
 third year because the emotional       
ferment of adolescence is then most     
favorable for the engendering of the    
ideal4 ,but in the first place1 this    
assumed principle would itself be       
subject to grave question and it would  
also have to be determined whether there
 is so little variation among the pupils
 in respect of physiological age as to  
permit the application to all of a      
generalization that might conceivably   
apply only to the average child4 ,in    
other words1 all of our generalizations 
applying to average pupils must be      

applied with a knowledge of the extent  
and range of variation from the average4
 ,some people say that there is no such 
thing as an average child1 but1 for all 
practical purposes1 the average child is
 a very real reality1--he is1 in fact1  
more numerous than any other single     
class2 but this does not mean that there
 may be not enough variations from the  
average to make unwise the application  
of our principle4  ,i refer to this     
hypothetical case to show the extreme   
difficulty of reaching anything more    
than hypotheses by a priori reasoning4  
,we have a certain number of fairly well
 established general principles in      
secondary education4 ,perhaps those most
 frequently employed are our            
generalizations regarding adolescence   
and its influences upon the mental and  
especially the emotional life of        
high-school pupils4 ,stanley ,hall's    
work in this field is wonderfully       
stimulating and suggestive1 and yet we  
should not forget that most of his      

generalizations are1 after all1 only    
plausible hypotheses to be acted upon as
 tentative guides for practice and to be
 tested carefully under controlled      
conditions1 rather than to be accepted  
as immutable and unchangeable laws4 ,we 
sometimes assume that all high-school   
pupils are adolescents1 when the        
likelihood is that an appreciable       
proportion of pupils in the first two   
years have not yet reached this         
important node of their development4  ,i
 say this not to minimize in any way the
 importance that attaches to adolescent 
characteristics1 but rather to suggest  
that you who are daily dealing with     
these pupils can in the aggregate add   
immeasurably to the knowledge that we   
now have concerning this period4 ,a     
tremendous waste is constantly going on 
in that most precious of all our        
possible resources1--namely1 human      
experience4 ,how many problems that are 
well solved have to be solved again and 
again because the experience has not    

been crystallized in a well-tested fact 
or principle2 how many experiences that 
might be well worth the effort that they
 cost are quite worthless because1 in   
undergoing them1 we have neglected some 
one or another of the rules that govern 
inexorably the validity of our          
inferences and conclusions4 ,that is all
 that the scientific method means in the
 last analysis3 it is a system of       
principles that enable us to make our   
experience worth while in meeting later 
situations4 ,we all have the opportunity
 of contributing to the sum total of    
human knowledge1 if only we know the    
rules of the game4  ,i said that one way
 of solving these subordinate problems  
that arise in the realization of our    
chief aims in teaching is the a priori  
method of applying general principles to
 the problems4 ,another method is to    
imitate the way in which we have seen   
some one else handle the situation4 ,now
 this may be the most effective way     
possible4 ,in fact1 if a sufficient     

number of generations of teachers keep  
on blindly plunging in and floundering  
about in solving their problems1 the    
most effective methods will ultimately  
be evolved through what we call the     
process of trial and error4 ,the        
teaching of the very oldest subjects in 
the curriculum is almost always the best
 and most effective teaching1 for the   
very reason that the blundering process 
has at last resulted in an effective    
procedure4 ,but the scientific method of
 solving problems has its very function 
in preventing the tremendous waste that 
this process involves4 ,english         
literature is a comparatively recent    
addition to the secondary curriculum4   
,its possibilities of service are almost
 unlimited4 ,shall we wait for ten or   
fifteen generations of teachers to      
blunder out the most effective means of 
teaching it1 or shall we avail ourselves
 of these simple principles which will  
enable us to concentrate this experience
 within one or two generations8  ,i     

should like to emphasize one further    
point4 ,no one has greater respect than 
,i have for what we term experience in  
teaching4 ,but let me say that a great  
deal of what we may term crude          
experience--that is1 experience that has
 not been refined by the application of 
scientific method--is most              
untrustworthy1--unless1 indeed1 it has  
been garnered and winnowed and sifted   
through the ages4 ,let me give you an   
example of some accepted dictums of     
educational experience that controlled  
investigations have shown to be         
untrustworthy4  ,it is a general        
impression among teachers that specific 
habits may be generalized2 that habits  
of neatness and accuracy developed in   
one line of work1 for example1 will     
inevitably make one neater and more     
accurate in other things4 ,it has been  
definitely proved that this transfer of 
training does not take place inevitably1
 but in reality demands the fulfillment 
of certain conditions of which education

 has become fully conscious only within 
a comparatively short time1 and as a    
result of careful1 systematic1          
controlled experimentation4 ,the meaning
 of this in the prevention of waste     
through inadequate teaching is fully    
apparent4  ,again1 it has been supposed 
by many teachers that the home          
environment is a large factor in the    
success or failure of a pupil in school4
 ,in every accurate and controlled      
investigation that has been conducted so
 far it has been shown that this factor 
in such subjects as arithmetic and      
spelling at least is so small as to be  
absolutely negligible in practice4      
,some people still believe that a       
teacher is born and not made1 and yet a 
careful investigation of the efficiency 
of elementary teachers shows that1 when 
such teachers were ranked by competent  
judges1 specialized training stood out  
as the most important factor in general 
efficiency4 ,in this same investigation1
 the time-honored notion that a college 

education will1 irrespective of         
specialized training1 adequately equip a
 teacher for his work was revealed as a 
fallacy1--for twenty-eight per cent of  
the normal-school graduates among all   
the teachers were in the first and      
second ranks of efficiency as against   
only seventeen per cent of the college  
graduates2 while1 in the two lowest     
ranks1 only sixteen per cent of the     
normal-school graduates are to be found 
as against forty-four per cent of the   
college graduates4 ,these               
investigations1 ,i may add1 were made by
 university professors1 and ,i am giving
 them here in a university classroom and
 as a university representative4 ,and of
 course ,i shall hasten to add that     
general scholarship is one important    
essential4 ,our mistake has been in     
assuming sometimes that it is the only  
essential4  ,very frequently the        
controlled experience of scientific     
investigation confirms a principle that 
has been derived from crude experience4 

,most teachers will agree1 for example1 
that a certain amount of drill and      
repetition is absolutely essential in   
the mastery of any subject4 ,every time 
that scientific investigation has       
touched this problem it has unmistakably
 confirmed this belief4 ,some very      
recent investigations made by ,mr4      
,brown at the ,charleston ,normal       
,school show conclusively that          
five-minute drill periods preceding     
every lesson in arithmetic place pupils 
who undergo such periods far in advance 
of others who spend this time in        
non-drill arithmetical work1 and that   
this improvement holds not only in the  
number habits1 but also in the reasoning
 processes4  ,other similar cases could 
be cited1 but ,i have probably said     
enough to make my point1 and my point is
 this3 that crude experience is an      
unsafe guide for practice2 that         
experience may be refined in two        
ways--first by the slow1 halting1       
wasteful operation of time1 which has   

established many principles upon a      
pinnacle of security from which they    
will never be shaken1 but which has also
 accomplished this result at the cost of
 innumerable mistakes1 blunders1 errors1
 futile efforts1 and heartbreaking      
failures2 or secondly1 by the           
application of the principles of control
 and test which are now at our service1 
and which permit present-day teachers to
 concentrate within a single generation 
the growth and development and progress 
that the empirical method of trial and  
error could not encompass in a          
millennium4  ,the teaching of ,english  
merits treatment by this method4 ,i     
recommend strongly that you give the    
plan a trial4 ,you may not get immediate
 results4 ,you may not get valuable     
results4 ,but in any case1 if you       
carefully respect the scientific        
proprieties1 your experience will be    
worth vastly more than ten times the    
amount of crude experience2 and1 whether
 you get results or not1 you will       

undergo a valuable discipline from which
 may emerge the ideals of science if you
 are not already imbued with them4 ,i   
always tell my students that1 even in   
the study of science itself1 it is the  
ideals of science1--the ideals of       
patient1 thoughtful work1 the ideals of 
open-mindedness and caution in reaching 
conclusions1 the ideals of unprejudiced 
observation from which selfishness and  
personal desire are eliminated1--it is  
these ideals that are vastly more       
important than the facts of science as  
such1--and these latter are significant 
enough to have made possible our present
 progress and our present amenities of  
life4  ,,footnotes3  ,footnote #af3 ,a  
paper read before the ,english ,section 
of the ,university of ,illinois ,high   
,school ,conference1 ,november #ag1     
#aiaj4     ,,xi  ,,the ,,new ,,attitude 
,,toward ,,drill#ag   ,wandering about  
in a circle through a thick forest is   
perhaps an overdrawn analogy to our     
activity in attempting to construct     

educational theories2 and yet there is a
 resemblance4 ,we push out              
hopefully--and often boastfully--into   
the unknown wilderness1 absolutely      
certain that we are pioneering a trail  
that will later become the royal highway
 to learning4 ,we struggle on1          
ruthlessly using the hatchet and the ax 
to clear the road before us4 ,and all   
too often we come back to our starting  
point1 having unwittingly described a   
perfect circle1 instead of the straight 
line that we had anticipated4  ,but ,i  
am not a pessimist1 and ,i like to      
believe that1 although our course       
frequently resembles a circle1 it is    
much better to characterize it as a     
spiral1 and that1 although we do get    
back to a point that we recognize1 it is
 not1 after all1 our old starting point2
 it is an homologous point on a higher  
plane4 ,we have at least climbed a      
little1 even if we have not traveled in 
a straight line4  ,now in a figurative  
way this explains how we have come to   

take our present attitude toward the    
problem of drill or training in the     
process of education4 ,drill means the  
repetition of a process until it has    
become mechanical or automatic4 ,it     
means the kind of discipline that the   
recruit undergoes in the army1--the     
making of a series of complicated       
movements so thoroughly automatic that  
they will be gone through with          
accurately and precisely1 at the word of
 command4 ,it means the sort of         
discipline that makes certain activities
 machine-like in their operation1--so   
that we do not have to think about which
 one comes next4 ,thus the mind is      
relieved of the burden of looking after 
the innumerable details and may use its 
precious energy for a more important    
purpose4  ,in every adult life1 a large 
number of these mechanized responses are
 absolutely essential to efficiency4    
,modern civilized life is so highly     
organized that it demands a multitude of
 reactions and adjustments which        

primitive life did not demand4 ,it goes 
without saying that there are           
innumerable little details of our daily 
work that must be reduced to the plane  
of unvarying habit4 ,these details vary 
with the trade or profession of the     
individual2 hence general education     
cannot hope to supply the individual    
with all of the automatic responses that
 he will need4 ,but1 in addition to     
these specialized responses1 there is a 
large mass of responses that are common 
to every member of the social group4 ,we
 must all be able to communicate with   
one another1 both through the medium of 
speech1 and through the medium of       
written and printed symbols4 ,we live in
 a society that is founded upon the     
principle of the division of labor4 ,we 
must exchange the products of our labor 
for the necessities of life that we do  
not ourselves produce1 and hence arises 
the necessity for the short cuts to     
counting and measurement which we call  
arithmetic4 ,and finally we must all    

live together in something at least     
approaching harmony2 hence the thousand 
and one little responses that mean      
courtesy and good manners must be made  
thoroughly automatic4  ,now education1  
from the very earliest times1 has       
recognized the necessity of building up 
these automatic responses1--of fixing   
these essential habits in all           
individuals4 ,this recognition has often
 been short-sighted and sometimes even  
blind2 but it has served to hold        
education rather tenaciously to a       
process that all must admit to be       
essential4  ,drill or training1 however1
 is unfortunate in one important        
particular4 ,it invariably involves     
repetition2 and conscious1 explicit     
repetition tends to become monotonous4  
,we must hold attention to the drill    
process1 and yet attention abhors       
monotony as nature abhors a vacuum4     
,consequently no small part of the      
tedium and irksomeness of school work   
has been due to its emphasis of drill4  

,the formalism of the older schools has 
been described1 criticized1 and         
lampooned in professional literature1   
and even in the pages of fiction4 ,the  
disastrous results that follow from     
engendering in pupils a disgust for     
school and all that it represents have  
been eloquently portrayed4 ,along with  
the tendency toward ease and comfort in 
other departments of human life has gone
 a parallel tendency to relieve the     
school of this odious burden of formal1 
lifeless1 repetitive work4  ,this reform
 movement1 as ,i shall call it1         
represents our first plunge into the    
wilderness4 ,we would get away from the 
entanglements of drill and into the     
clearings of pleasurable1 spontaneous   
activities4 ,a new sun of hope dawned   
upon the educational world4  ,you are   
all familiar with some of the more      
spectacular results of this movement4   
,you have heard of the schools that     
eliminated drill processes altogether1  
and depended upon clear initial         

development to fix the facts and        
formulae and reactions that every one   
needs4 ,you have heard and perhaps seen 
some of the schools that were based     
entirely upon the doctrine of           
spontaneity1 governing their work by the
 principle that the child should never  
do anything that he did not wish to do  
at the moment of doing1--although the   
advocates of this theory generally      
qualified their principle by insisting  
that the skillful teacher would have the
 child wish to do the right thing all   
the time4  ,let me describe to you a    
school of this type that ,i once        
visited4 ,i learned of it through a     
resident of the city in which it was    
located4 ,he was delivering an address  
before an educational gathering on the  
problems of modern education4 ,he told  
the audience that1 in the schools of    
this enlightened city1 the antiquated   
notions that were so pernicious had been
 entirely dispensed with4 ,he said that 
pupils in these schools were no longer  

repressed2 that all regimentation1 line 
passing1 static posture1 and other      
barbaric practices had been abolished2  
that the pupils were free to work out   
their own destiny1 to realize           
themselves1 through all forms of        
constructive activity2 that drills had  
been eliminated2 that corporal          
punishment was never even mentioned1    
much less practiced2 that all was       
harmony1 and love1 and freedom1 and     
spontaneity4  ,i listened to this       
speaker with intense interest1 and1 as  
his picture unfolded1 ,i became more and
 more convinced that this city had at   
last solved the problem4 ,i took the    
earliest opportunity to visit its       
schools4 ,when ,i reached the city ,i   
went to the superintendent's office4 ,i 
asked to be directed to the best school4
 ,our schools are all 'best1' the       
secretary told me with an intonation    
that denoted commendable pride1 and     
which certainly made me feel extremely  
humble1 for here even the laws of logic 

and of formal grammar had been          
transcended4 ,i made bold to apologize1 
however1 and amended my request to make 
it apparent that ,i wished to see the   
largest school4 ,i was directed to take 
a certain car and1 in due time1 found   
myself at the school4 ,i inferred that  
recess was in progress when ,i reached  
the building1 and that the recess was   
being celebrated within doors4 ,after   
some time spent in dodging about the    
corridors1 ,i at last located the       
principal4  ,i introduced myself and    
asked if ,i could visit his school after
 recess was over4 ,we have no recesses  
here1 he replied 7,i could just catch   
his voice above the din of the          
corridors72 this is a relaxation period 
for some of the classes4 ,he led the way
 to the office1 and ,i spent a few      
moments in getting the lay of the land4 
,i asked him1 first1 whether he agreed  
with the doctrines that the system      
represented1 and he told me that he     
believed in them implicitly4 ,did he    

follow them out consistently in the     
operation of his school8 ,yes1 he       
followed them out to the letter4  ,we   
then went to several classrooms1 where  
,i saw children realizing themselves1 ,i
 thought1 very effectively4 ,there were 
three groups at work in each room4 ,one 
recited to the teacher1 another studied 
at the seats1 a third did construction  
work at the tables4 ,i inquired about   
the mechanics of this rather elaborate  
organization1 but ,i was told that      
mechanics had been eliminated from this 
school4 ,mechanical organization of the 
classroom1 it seems1 crushes the child's
 spontaneity1 represses his             
self-activity1 prevents the effective   
operation of the principle of           
self-realization4 ,how1 then1 did these 
three groups exchange places1 for ,i    
felt that the doctrine of               
self-realization would not permit them  
to remain in the same employment during 
the entire session4 ,oh1 the principal  
replied1 when they get ready to change1 

they change1 that's all4  ,i saw that a 
change was coming directly1 so ,i waited
 to watch it4 ,the group had been       
working with what ,i should call a great
 deal of noise and confusion4 ,all at   
once this increased tenfold4 ,pupils    
jumped over seats1 ran into each other  
in the aisles1 scurried and scampered   
from this place to that1 while the      
teacher stood in the front of the room  
wildly waving her arms4 ,the performance
 lasted several minutes4 ,there's       
spontaneity for you1 the principal      
shouted above the roar of the storm4 ,i 
acquiesced by a nod of the head1--my    
lungs1 through lack of training1 being  
unequal to the emergency4  ,we passed to
 another room4 ,the same group system   
was in evidence4 ,i noticed pupils who  
had been working at their seats suddenly
 put away their books and papers and    
skip over to the construction table4 ,i 
asked concerning the nature of the      
construction work4 ,we use it1 the      
principal told me1 as a reward for good 

work in the book subjects4 ,you see     
arithmetic is dead and dry4 ,you must   
give pupils an incentive to master it4  
,we make the privileges of the          
construction table the incentive4 ,what 
do they make at this table8 ,i asked4   
,whatever their fancy dictates1 he      
replied4 ,i was a little curious1       
however1 to know how it all come out4 ,i
 saw one child start to work on a       
basket1 work at it a few minutes1 then  
take up something else1 continue a      
little time1 go back to the basket1 and 
finally throw both down for a third     
object of self-realization4 ,i called   
the principal's attention to this       
phenomenon4 ,how do you get the         
beautiful results that you exhibit8 ,i  
asked4 ,for those1 he said1 we just keep
 the pupils working on one thing until  
it is finished4 ,but1 ,i objected1 is   
that consistent with the doctrine of    
spontaneity8 ,his answer was lost in the
 din of a change of groups1 and ,i did  
not follow the investigation further4   

,noon dismissal was due when ,i went    
into the corridor4 ,lines are forbidden 
in that school4 ,at the stroke of the   
bell1 the classroom doors burst open and
 bedlam was let loose4 ,i had           
anticipated what was coming1 and        
hurriedly betook myself to an alcove4 ,i
 saw more spontaneity in two minutes    
than ,i had ever seen before in my life4
 ,some boys tore through the corridors  
at breakneck speed and down the         
stairways1 three steps at a time4       
,others sauntered along1 realizing      
various propensities by pushing and     
shoving each other1 snatching caps out  
of others' hands1 slapping each other   
over the head with books1 and various   
other expressions of exuberant spirits4 
,one group stopped in front of my       
alcove1 and showed commendable curiosity
 about the visitor in their midst4      
,after exhausting his static            
possibilities1 they tempted him to      
dynamic reaction by making faces2 but   
this proving to be of no avail1 they    

went on their way1--in the hope1        
doubtless1 of realizing themselves      
elsewhere4  ,i left that school with a  
fairly firm conviction that ,i had seen 
the most advanced notions of educational
 theory worked out to a logical         
conclusion4 ,there was nothing halfway  
about it4 ,there was no apology offered 
for anything that happened4 ,it was all 
fair and square and open and aboveboard4
 ,to be sure1 the pupils were1 to my    
prejudiced mind1 in a condition         
approaching anarchy1 but ,i could not   
deny the spontaneity1 nor could ,i deny 
self-activity1 nor could ,i deny        
self-realization4 ,these principles were
 evidently operating without let or     
hindrance4  ,before leaving the school1 
,i took occasion to inquire concerning  
the effect of such a system upon the    
teachers4 ,i led up to it by asking the 
principal if there were any nervous or  
anaemic children in his school4 ,not    
one1 he replied enthusiastically2 our   
system eliminates them4 ,but how about  

the teachers8 ,i ventured to remark1    
having in mind the image of a distracted
 young woman whom ,i had seen attempting
 to reduce forty little ruffians to some
 semblance of law and order through     
moral suasion4 ,if ,i judged conditions 
correctly1 that woman was on the verge  
of a nervous breakdown4 ,my guide became
 confidential when ,i made this inquiry4
 ,to tell the truth1 he whispered1 the  
system is mighty hard on the women4  ,a 
few years ago ,i had the privilege of   
visiting a high school which was        
operated upon this same principle4 ,i   
visited in that school some classes that
 were taught by men and women1 whom ,i  
should number among the most expert     
teachers that ,i have ever seen4 ,the   
instruction that these men and women    
were giving was as clear and lucid as   
one could desire4 ,and yet1 in spite of 
that excellent instruction1 pupils read 
newspapers1 prepared other lessons1 or  
read books during the recitations1 and  
did all this openly and unreproved4     

,they responded to their instructors    
with shameless insolence4 ,young ladies 
of sixteen and seventeen coming from    
cultured homes were permitted in this   
school to pull each other's hair1 pinch 
the arms of schoolmates who were        
reciting1 and behave themselves in      
general as if they were savages4 ,the   
pupils lolled in their seats1 passed    
notes1 kept up an undertone of          
conversation1 arose from their seats at 
the first tap of the bell1 and piled in 
disorder out of the classroom while the 
instructor was still talking4 ,if the   
lessons had been tedious1 one might     
perhaps at least have palliated such    
conduct1 but the instruction was very   
far from tedious4 ,it was bright1       
lively1 animated1 beautifully clear1 and
 admirably illustrated4 ,it is simply   
the theory of this school never to      
interfere with the spontaneous activity 
of the pupils4 ,and ,i may add that the 
school draws its enrollment very largely
 from wealthy families who believe that 

their children are being given the best 
that modern education has developed1    
that they are not being subjected to the
 deadening methods of the average public
 school1 and above all that their       
manners are not being corrupted by      
promiscuous mingling with the offspring 
of illiterate immigrants4 ,and yet soon 
afterward1 ,i visited a high school in  
one of the poorest slum districts of a  
large city4 ,i saw pupils well-behaved1 
courteous to one another1 to their      
instructors1 and to visitors4 ,the      
instruction was much below that given in
 the first school in point of quality1  
and yet the pupils were getting from it1
 even under these conditions1 vastly    
more than were the pupils of the other  
school from their masterly instructors4 
,the two schools that ,i first described
 represent one type of the attempt that 
education has made to pioneer a new path
 through the wilderness4 ,i have said   
that many of these attempts have ended  
by bringing the adventurers back to     

their starting point4 ,i cannot say so  
much for these schools4 ,the movement   
that they represent is still floundering
 about in the tamarack swamps1 getting  
farther and farther into the morass1    
with little hope of ever emerging4  ,may
 ,i tax your patience with one more     
concrete illustration3 this time1 of a  
school that seems to me to have reached 
the starting point1 but on that new and 
higher plane of which ,i have spoken8   
,this school is in a small              
,massachusetts town1 and is the model   
department of the state normal school   
located at that place4 ,the first point 
that impressed me was typified by a boy 
of about twelve who was passing through 
the corridor as ,i entered the building4
 ,instead of slouching along1 wasting   
every possible moment before he should  
return to his room1 he was walking      
briskly as if eager to get back to his  
work4 ,instead of staring at the        
stranger within his gates with the      
impudent curiosity so often noticed in  

children of this age1 he greeted me     
pleasantly and wished to know if ,i were
 looking for the principal4 ,when ,i    
told him that ,i was1 he informed me    
that the principal was on the upper     
floor1 but that he would go for him at  
once4 ,he did1 and returned a moment    
later saying that the head of the school
 would be down directly1 and asked me to
 wait in the office1 into which he      
ushered me with all the courtesy of a   
private secretary4 ,then he excused     
himself and went directly to his room4  
,now that might have been an exceptional
 case1 but ,i found out later that is   
was not4 ,wherever ,i went in that      
school1 the pupils were polite and      
courteous and respectful4 ,that was part
 of their education4 ,it should be part 
of every child's education4 ,but many   
schools are too busy teaching reading1  
writing1 and arithmetic1 and others are 
too busy preserving discipline1 and     
others are too busy coquetting for the  
good will of their pupils and trying to 

amuse them--too busy to give heed to a  
set of habits that are of paramount     
importance in the life of civilized     
society4 ,this school took up the matter
 of training in good manners as an      
essential part of its duty1 and it      
accomplished this task quickly and      
effectively4 ,it did it by utilizing the
 opportunities presented in the usual   
course of school work4 ,it took a little
 time and a little attention1 for good  
manners cannot be acquired incidentally 
any more than the multiplication tables 
can be acquired incidentally2 but it    
utilized the everyday opportunities of  
the schoolroom1 and did not make morals 
and manners the subject of instruction  
for a half-hour on ,friday afternoons to
 be completely forgotten during the rest
 of the week4  ,when the principal took 
me through the school1 ,i noted         
everywhere a happy and courteous        
relation between pupils and teachers4   
,they spoke pleasantly to one another4  
,i heard no nagging or scolding4 ,i saw 

no one sulking or pouting or in bad     
temper4 ,and yet there was every        
evidence of respect and obedience on the
 part of the pupils4 ,there was none of 
that happy-go-lucky comradeship which ,i
 have sometimes seen in other modern    
schools1 and which leads the pupil to   
understand that his teacher is there to 
gain his interest1 not to command his   
respectful attention4 ,pupils were too  
busy with their work to talk much with  
one another4 ,they were sitting up in   
their seats as a matter of habit1 and it
 did not seem to hurt them seriously to 
do so4 ,and everywhere they were working
 like beavers at one task or another1 or
 attending with all their eyes and ears 
to a recitation4  ,now it seemed to me  
that this school was operated with a    
minimum of waste or loss4 ,every item of
 energy that the pupils possessed was   
being given to some educative activity4 
,nothing was lost by conflict between   
pupil and teacher4 ,nothing was lost by 
bursts of anger or by fits of           

depression4 ,these sources of waste had 
been eliminated so far as ,i could      
determine4 ,the pupils could read well  
and write well and cipher accurately4   
,they even took a keen delight in the   
drills4 ,and ,i found that this phase of
 their work was enlightened by the      
modern content that had been introduced4
 ,in their handwork and manual training 
they could see that arithmetic was      
useful1--that it had something to do    
with the great big buzzing life of the  
outer world4 ,they learned that spelling
 was useful in writing1--that it was not
 something that began and ended within  
the covers of the spelling book1 but    
that it had a real and vital relation to
 other things that they found to be     
important4 ,they had their dramatic     
exercises in which they and their       
fellows1 and1 on occasions1 their       
parents1 took a keen delight1 and they  
were glad to afford them pleasure and to
 receive congratulations at the close4  
,and yet they found that1 in order to do

 these things well1 they must read and  
study and drill on speaking4 ,they liked
 to have their drawings inspected and   
praised at the school exhibitions1 but  
they soon found that good drawing and   
painting and designing were strictly    
conditioned by a mastery of technique1  
and they wished to master technique in  
order to win these rewards4  ,now what  
was the secret of the efficiency of this
 school8 ,not merely the fact that it   
had introduced certain types of content 
such as drawing1 manual training1       
domestic science1 dramatization1 story  
work1--but also that it had not lost    
sight of the fundamental purpose of     
elementary education1 but had so        
organized all of its studies that each  
played into the hands of the others1 and
 that everything that was done had some 
definite and tangible relation to       
everything else4 ,the manual training   
exercises and the mechanical drawing    
were exercises in arithmetic1 but1 let  
me remind you1 there were other lessons1

 and formal lessons1 in arithmetic as   
well4 ,but the one exercise enlightened 
and made more meaningful the other4 ,in 
the same way the story and dramatization
 were intimately related to the reading 
and the language1 but there were formal 
lessons in reading and formal lessons in
 language4 ,the geography illustrated   
nature study and employed language and  
arithmetic and drawing in its exercises4
 ,and so the whole structure was        
organized and coherent and unified1 and 
what was taught in one class was        
utilized in another4 ,there was no      
needless duplication1 no needless or    
meaningless repetition4 ,but repetition 
there was1 over and over again1 but     
always it was effective in still more   
firmly fixing the habits4  ,one would be
 an ingrate1 indeed1 if one failed to   
recognize the great good that an extreme
 reform movement may do4 ,some very     
precious increments of progress have    
resulted even from the most extreme and 
ridiculous reactions against the drill  

and formalism of the older schools4 ,let
 me briefly summarize these really      
substantial gains as ,i conceive them4  
,in the first place1 we have come to    
recognize distinctly the importance of  
enlisting in the service of habit       
building the native instincts of the    
child4 ,up to a certain point nature    
provides for the fixing of useful       
responses1 and we should be unwise not  
to make use of these tendencies4 ,in the
 spontaneous activities of play1 certain
 fundamental reactions are continually  
repeated until they reach the plane of  
absolute mechanism4 ,in imitating the   
actions of others1 adjustments are      
learned and made into habits without    
effort2 in fact1 the process of         
imitation1 so far as it is instinctive1 
is a source of pure delight to the young
 child4 ,finally1 closely related to    
these two instincts1 is the native      
tendency to repetition1--nature's       
primary provision for drill4 ,you have  
often heard little children repeat their

 new words over and over again4         
,frequently they have no conception of  
the meanings of these words4 ,nature    
seems to be untroubled by a question    
that has bothered teachers2 namely1     
,should a child ever be asked to drill  
on something the purpose of which he    
does not understand8 ,nature sees to it 
that certain essential responses become 
automatic long before the child is      
conscious of their meaning4 ,just       
because nature does this is1 of course1 
no reason why we should imitate her4    
,but the fact is an interesting         
commentary upon the extreme to which we 
sometimes carry our principle of        
rationalizing everything before         
permitting it to be mastered4  ,i repeat
 that the reform movement has done      
excellent service in extending the      
recognition in education of these       
fundamental and inborn adaptive         
instincts1--play1 imitation1 and        
rhythmic repetition4 ,it has erred when 
it has insisted that we could depend    

upon these alone1 for nature has adapted
 man1 not to the complicated conditions 
of our modern highly organized social   
life1 but rather to primitive           
conditions4 ,left to themselves1 these  
instinctive forces would take the child 
up to a certain point1 but they would   
still leave him on a primitive plane4 ,i
 know of one good authority on the      
teaching of reading who maintains that  
the normal child would learn to read    
without formal teaching if he were      
placed in the right environment1--an    
environment of books4 ,this may be      
possible with some exceptional children1
 but even an environment reasonably     
replete with books does not effect this 
miracle in the case of certain children 
whom ,i know very well and whom ,i like 
to think of as perfectly normal4 ,these 
children learned to talk by imitation   
and instinctive repetition4 ,but nature 
has not yet gone so far as to provide   
the average child with spontaneous      
impulses that will lead him to learn to 

read4 ,reading is a much more           
complicated and highly organized        
process4 ,and so it is with a vast      
number of the activities that our pupils
 must master4  ,another increment of    
progress that the reform movement has   
given to educational practice is a      
recognition of the fact that we have    
been requiring pupils to acquire        
unnecessary habits1 under the           
impression1 that even if the habits were
 not useful1 something of value was     
gained in their acquisition4 ,as a      
result1 we have passed all of our grain 
through the same mill1 unmindful of the 
fact that different life activities     
required different types of grist4      
,to-day we are seeing the need for      
carefully selecting the types of habit  
and skill that should be developed in   
all children4 ,we are recognizing that  
there are many phases of the educative  
process that it is not well to reduce to
 an automatic basis4 ,when ,i was in the
 elementary school ,i memorized         

,barnes's ,history of the ,united       
,states and ,harper's ,geography from   
cover to cover4 ,i have never greatly   
regretted this automatic mastery2 but ,i
 have often thought that ,i might have  
memorized something rather more         
important1 for history and geography    
could have been mastered just as        
effectively in another way4  ,in the    
third place1 and most important of all1 
we have been led to analyze this complex
 process of habit building1--to find out
 the factors that operate in learning4  
,we have now a goodly body of principles
 that may even be characterized by the  
adjective scientific4 ,we know that in  
habit building1 it is fundamentally     
essential to get the pupil started in   
the right way4 ,a recent writer states  
that two thirds of the difficulty that  
the teacher meets fixing habits is due  
to the neglect of this principle4       
,inadequate and inefficient habits get  
started and must be continually combated
 while the desirable habit is being     

formed4 ,how important this is in the   
initial presentation of material that is
 to be memorized or made automatic we   
are just now beginning to appreciate4   
,one writer insists that faulty work in 
the first grade is responsible for a    
large part of the retardation which is  
bothering us so much to-day4 ,the wrong 
kind of a start is made1 and whenever a 
faulty habit is formed1 it much more    
than doubles the difficulty of getting  
the right one well under way4 ,we are   
slowly coming to appreciate how much    
time is wasted in drill processes by    
inadequate methods4 ,technique is being 
improved and the time thus saved is     
being given to the newer content        
subjects that are demanding admission to
 the schools4  ,again1 we are coming to 
appreciate as never before the          
importance of motivating our drill      
work1--of not only reading into it      
purpose and meaning so that the pupil   
will understand what it is all for1 but 
also of engendering in him the desire to

 form the habits1--to undergo the       
discipline that is essential for        
mastery4 ,here again the reform movement
 has been helpful1 showing us the waste 
of time and energy that results from    
attempting to fix habits that are only  
weakly motivated4  ,all this is a vastly
 different matter from sugar-coating the
 drill processes1 under the mistaken    
notion that something that is worth     
while may be acquired without effort4 ,i
 think that educators are generally     
agreed that such a policy is thoroughly 
bad1--for it subverts a basic principle 
of human life the operation of which    
neither education nor any other force   
can alter or reverse4 ,to teach the     
child that the things in life that are  
worth doing are easy to do1 or that they
 are always or even often intrinsically 
pleasant or agreeable1 is to teach him a
 lie4 ,human history gives us no        
examples of worthy achievements that    
have not been made at the price of      
struggle and effort1--at the price of   

doing things that men did not want to   
do4 ,every great truth has had to       
struggle upward from defeat4 ,every man 
who has really found himself in the work
 of life has paid the price of sacrifice
 for his success4 ,and whenever we      
attempt to give our pupils a mastery of 
the complicated arts and skills that    
have lifted civilized man above the     
plane of his savage ancestors1 we must  
expect from them struggle and effort and
 self-denial4  ,let me quote a paragraph
 from the report of a recent            
investigation in the psychology of      
learning4 ,the habit that was being     
learned in this experiment was skill in 
the use of the typewriter4 ,the writer  
describes the process in the following  
words3       ,in the early stages of    
learning1 our subjects were all very    
much      interested in the work4 ,their
 whole mind seemed to be spontaneously  
held by the writing4 ,they were always  
anxious to take up the work      anew   
each day4 ,their general attitude and   

the resultant sensations                
constituted a pleasant feeling tone1    
which had a helpful      reactionary    
effect upon the work4 ,continued        
practice1 however1      brought a       
change4 ,in place of the spontaneous1   
rapt attention of      the beginning    
stages1 attention tended1 at certain    
definite stages      of advancement1 to 
wander away from the work4 ,a general   
feeling of      monotony1 which at times
 assumed the form of utter disgust1 took
      the place of the former pleasant  
sensations and feelings4 ,the           
writing became a disagreeable task4 ,the
 unpleasant feelings now      present in
 consciousness exerted an               
ever-restraining effect on the          
work4 ,as an expert skill was           
approached1 however1 the learners'      
attitude and mood changed again4 ,they  
again took a keen interest in      the  
work4 ,their whole feeling tone once    
more became favorable1 and      the     
movements delightful and pleasant4 ,the 

expert typist 444 so      thoroughly    
enjoyed the writing that it was as      
pleasant as the      spontaneous play   
activities of a child4 ,but in the      
course of      developing this permanent
 interest in the work1 there were many  
periods in nearly every test1 many days1
 as well as stages in the      practice 
as a whole1 when the work was much      
disliked1 periods when      the learning
 assumed the role of a very monotonous  
task4 ,our      records showed that at  
such times as these no progress was     
made4      ,rapid progress in learning  
typewriting was made only when the      
learners were feeling good and had an   
attitude of interest toward      the    
work4#ah  ,who has not experienced that 
feeling of hopelessness and despair that
 comes at these successive levels of the
 long process of acquiring skill in a   
complicated art8 ,how desperately we    
struggle on--striving to put every item 
of energy that we can command into our  
work1 and yet feeling how hopeless it   

all seems4 ,how tempting then is the    
hammock on the porch1 the fascinating   
novel that we have placed on our bedside
 table1 the happy company of friends    
that are talking and laughing in the    
next room2 or how we long for the green 
fields and the open road2 how seductive 
is that siren call of change and        
diversion1--that evil spirit of         
procrastination6 ,how feeble1 too1 are  
the efforts that we make under these    
conditions6 ,we are not making progress 
in our art1 we are only marking time4   
,and yet the psychologists tell us that 
this marking time is an essential in the
 mastery of any complicated art4        
,somewhere1 deep down in the nervous    
system1 subtle processes are at work1   
and when finally interest dawns1--when  
finally hope returns to us1 and life    
again becomes worth while1--these       
heartbreaking struggles reap their      
reward4 ,the psychologists call them    
plateaus of growth1 but some one has    
said that sloughs of despond would be a 

far better designation4  ,the progress  
of any individual depends upon his      
ability to pass through these sloughs of
 despond1--to set his face resolutely to
 the task and persevere4 ,it would be   
the idlest folly to lead children to    
believe that success or achievement or  
even passing ability can be gained in   
any other manner4 ,and this is the      
danger in the sugar-coating process4    
,but motivation does not mean           
sugar-coating4 ,it means the development
 of purpose1 of ambition1 of incentive4 
,it means the development of the        
willingness to undergo the discipline in
 order that the purpose may be realized1
 in order that the goal may be attained4
 ,it means the creating of those        
conditions that make for strength and   
virility and moral fiber1--for it is in 
the consciousness of having overcome    
obstacles and won in spite of           
handicaps1--it is in this consciousness 
of conquest that mental strength and    
moral strength have their source4 ,the  

victory that really strengthens one is  
not the victory that has come easily1   
but the victory that stands out sharp   
and clear against the background of     
effort and struggle4 ,it is because this
 subjective contrast is so absolutely   
essential to the consciousness of       
power1--it is for this reason that the  
sloughs of despond still have their     
function in our new attitude toward     
drill4  ,but do not mistake me3 ,i have 
no sympathy with that educational       
stand-pattism that would multiply these 
needlessly1 or fail to build solid and  
comfortable highways across them        
wherever it is possible to do so4 ,i    
have no sympathy with that philosophy of
 education which approves the placing of
 artificial barriers in the learner's   
path4 ,but if ,i build highways across  
the morasses1 it is only that youth may 
the more readily traverse the region and
 come the more quickly to the points    
where struggle is absolutely necessary4 
,you remember in ,george ,eliot's       

,daniel ,deronda the story of ,gwendolen
 ,harleth4 ,gwendolen was a butterfly of
 society1 a young woman in whose        
childhood drill and discipline had found
 no place4 ,in early womanhood1 she was1
 through family misfortune1 thrown upon 
her own resources4 ,in casting about for
 some means of self-support her first   
recourse was to music1 for which she had
 some taste and in which she had had    
some slight training4 ,she sought out   
her old ,german music teacher1 ,klesmer1
 and asked him what she might do to turn
 this taste and this training to        
financial account4 ,klesmer's reply sums
 up in a nutshell the psychology of     
skill3       ,any great achievement in  
acting or in music grows with the       
growth4      ,whenever an artist has    
been able to say1 ',i came1 ,i saw1 ,i  
conquered1' it has been at the end of   
patient practice4 ,genius1 at           
first1 is little more than a great      
capacity for receiving      discipline4 
,singing and acting1 like the fine      

dexterity of the      juggler with his  
cup and balls1 require a shaping of the 
organs      toward a finer and finer    
certainty of effect4 ,your muscles1 your
      whole frame1 must go like a       
watch1--true1 true1 true1 to a hair4    
,this is the work of the springtime of  
life before the habits have      been   
formed4  ,and ,i can formulate my own   
conception of the work of habit building
 in education no better than by         
paraphrasing ,klesmer's epigram4 ,to    
increase in our pupils the capacity to  
receive discipline2 to show them1       
through concrete example1 over and over 
again1 how persistence and effort and   
concentration bring results that are    
worth while2 to choose from their own   
childish experiences the illustrations  
that will force this lesson home2 to    
supplement1 from the stories of great   
achievements1 those illustrations which 
will inspire them to effort2 to lead    
them to see that ,peary conquering the  
,pole1 or ,wilbur ,wright perfecting the

 aeroplane1 or ,morse struggling through
 long years of hopelessness and         
discouragement to give the world the    
electric telegraph1--to show them that  
these men went through experiences      
differing only in degree and not in kind
 from those which characterize every    
achievement1 no matter how small1 so    
long as it is dominated by a unitary    
purpose2 to make the inevitable sloughs 
of despond no less morasses1 perhaps1   
but to make their conquest add a        
permanent increment to growth and       
development3 this is the task of our    
drill work as ,i view it4 ,as the       
prophecy of ,isaiah has it3 ,precept    
must be upon precept2 precept upon      
precept2 line upon line2 line upon line2
 here a little and there a little4 ,and 
if we can succeed in giving our pupils  
this vision1--if we can reveal the      
deeper meaning of struggle and effort   
and self-denial and sacrifice shining   
out through the little details of the   
day's work1--we are ourselves achieving 

something that is richly worth while2   
for the highest triumph of the teacher's
 art is to get his pupils to see1 in the
 small and seemingly trivial affairs of 
everyday life1 the operation of         
fundamental and eternal principles4     
,,footnotes3  ,footnote #ag3 ,an address
 before the ,kansas ,state ,teachers'   
,association1 ,topeka1 ,october #bj1    
#aiaj4  ,footnote #ah3 ,w4,f4 ,book1    
,journal of ,educational ,psychology1   
vol4 i1 #aiaj1 p4 #aie4     ,,xii  ,,the
 ,,ideal ,,teacher#ai   ,i wish to      
discuss with you briefly a very         
commonplace and oft-repeated theme1--a  
theme that has been handled and handled 
until its once-glorious raiment is now  
quite threadbare2 a theme so full of    
pitfalls and dangers for one who would  
attempt its discussion that ,i have     
hesitated long before making a choice4  
,i know of no other theme that lends    
itself so readily to a superficial      
treatment--of no theme upon which one   
could find so easily at hand all of the 

proverbs and platitudes and maxims that 
one might desire4 ,and so ,i cannot be  
expected to say anything upon this topic
 that has not been said before in a far 
better manner4 ,but1 after all1 very few
 of our thoughts--even of those that we 
consider to be the most original and    
worth while--are really new to the      
world4 ,most of our thoughts have been  
thought before4 ,they are like dolls    
that are passed on from age to age to be
 dressed up and decorated to suit the   
taste or the fashion or the fancy of    
each succeeding generation4 ,but even a 
new dress may add a touch of newness to 
an old doll2 and a new phrase or a new  
setting may1 for a moment1 rejuvenate an
 old truth4  ,the topic that ,i wish to 
treat is this1 ,the ,ideal ,teacher4    
,and ,i may as well start out by saying 
that the ideal teacher is and always    
must be a figment of the imagination4   
,this is the essential feature of any   
ideal4 ,the ideal man1 for example1 must
 possess an infinite number of          

superlative characteristics4 ,we take   
this virtue from one1 and that from     
another1 and so on indefinitely until we
 have constructed in imagination a      
paragon1 the counterpart of which could 
never exist on earth4 ,he would have all
 the virtues of all the heroes2 but he  
would lack all their defects and all    
their inadequacies4 ,he would have the  
manners of a ,chesterfield1 the courage 
of a ,winkelried1 the imagination of a  
,dante1 the eloquence of a ,cicero1 the 
wit of a ,voltaire1 the intuitions of a 
,shakespeare1 the magnetism of a        
,napoleon1 the patriotism of a          
,washington1 the loyalty of a ,bismarck1
 the humanity of a ,lincoln1 and a      
hundred other qualities1 each the       
counterpart of some superlative quality1
 drawn from the historic figure that    
represented that quality in richest     
measure4  ,and so it is with the ideal  
teacher3 he would combine1 in the right 
proportion1 all of the good qualities of
 all of the good teachers that we have  

ever known or heard of4 ,the ideal      
teacher is and always must be a         
creature1 not of flesh and blood1 but of
 the imagination1 a child of the brain4 
,and perhaps it is well that this is    
true2 for1 if he existed in the flesh1  
it would not take very many of him to   
put the rest of us out of business4 ,the
 relentless law of compensation1 which  
rules that unusual growth in one        
direction must always be counterbalanced
 by deficient growth in another         
direction1 is the saving principle of   
human society4 ,that a man should be    
superlatively good in one single line of
 effort is the demand of modern life4   
,it is a platitude to say that this is  
the age of the specialist4 ,but         
specialism1 while it always means a gain
 to society1 also always means a loss to
 the individual4 ,darwin1 at the age of 
forty1 suddenly awoke to the fact that  
he was a man of one idea4 ,twenty years 
before1 he had been a youth of the most 
varied and diverse interests4 ,he had   

enjoyed music1 he had found delight in  
the masterpieces of imaginative         
literature1 he had felt a keen interest 
in the drama1 in poetry1 in the fine    
arts4 ,but at forty ,darwin quite by    
accident discovered that these things   
had not attracted him for years1--that  
every increment of his time and energy  
was concentrated in a constantly        
increasing measure upon the unraveling  
of that great problem to which he had   
set himself4 ,and he lamented bitterly  
the loss of these other interests2 he   
wondered why he had been so thoughtless 
as to let them slip from his grasp4 ,it 
was the same old story of human         
progress2 the sacrifice of the          
individual to the race4 ,for ,darwin's  
loss was the world's gain1 and if he had
 not limited himself to one line of     
effort1 and given himself up to that    
work to the exclusion of everything     
else1 the world might still be waiting  
for the ,origin of ,species1 and the    
revolution in human thought and human   

life which followed in the wake of that 
great book4 ,carlyle defined genius as  
an infinite capacity for taking pains4  
,george ,eliot characterized it as an   
infinite capacity for receiving         
discipline4 ,but to make the definition 
complete1 we need the formulation of    
,goethe1 who identified genius with the 
power of concentration3 ,who would be   
great must limit his ambitions2 in      
concentration is shown the ,master4     
,and so the great men of history1 from  
the very fact of their genius1 are apt  
not to correspond with what our ideal of
 greatness demands4 ,indeed1 our ideal  
is often more nearly realized in men who
 fall far short of genius4 ,when ,i     
studied chemistry1 the instructor burned
 a bit of diamond to prove to us that   
the diamond was1 after all1 only carbon 
in an allotropic form4 ,there seems to  
be a similar allotropy working in human 
nature4 ,some men seem to have all the  
constituents of genius1 but they never  
reach very far above the plane of the   

commonplace4 ,they are like the         
diamond1--except that they are more like
 the charcoal4  ,i wish to describe to  
you a teacher who was not a genius1 and 
yet who possessed certain qualities that
 ,i should abstract and appropriate if  
,i were to construct in my imagination  
an ideal teacher4 ,i first met this man 
five years ago out in the mountain      
country4 ,i can recall the occasion with
 the most vivid distinctness4 ,it was a 
sparkling morning1 in middle ,may4 ,the 
valley was just beginning to green a    
little under the influence of the       
lengthening days1 but on the surrounding
 mountains the snow line still hung low4
 ,i had just settled down to my         
morning's work when word was brought    
that a visitor wished to see me1 and a  
moment later he was shown into the      
office4 ,he was tall and straight1 with 
square shoulders and a deep chest4 ,his 
hair was gray1 and a rather long white  
beard added to the effect of age1 but   
detracted not an iota from the evidences

 of strength and vigor4 ,he had the look
 of a ,westerner1--of a man who had     
lived much of his life in the open4     
,there was a ruggedness about him1 a    
sturdy strength that told of many a     
day's toil along the trail1 and many a  
night's sleep under the stars4  ,in a   
few words he stated the purpose of his  
visit4 ,he simply wished to do what half
 a hundred others in the course of the  
year had entered that office for the    
purpose of doing4 ,he wished to enroll  
as a student in the college and to      
prepare himself for a teacher4 ,this was
 not ordinarily a startling request1 but
 hitherto it had been made only by those
 who were just starting out on the      
highroad of life4 ,here was a man       
advanced in years4 ,he told me that he  
was sixty-five1 and sixty-five in that  
country meant old age2 for the region   
had but recently been settled1 and most 
of the people were either young or      
middle-aged4 ,the only old men in the   
country were the few surviving          

pioneers1--men who had come in away back
 in the early days of the mining fever1 
long before the advent of the railroad4 
,they had trekked across the plains from
 ,omaha1 and up through the mountainous 
passes of the ,oregon trail2 or1 a      
little later1 they had come by steamboat
 from ,st4 ,louis up the                
twelve-hundred-mile stretch of the      
,missouri until their progress had been 
stopped by the ,great ,falls in the very
 foothills of the ,rockies4 ,what heroes
 were these graybeards of the mountains6
 ,what possibilities in knowing them1 of
 listening to the recounting of tales of
 the early days1--of running fights with
 the ,indians on the plains1 of         
ambushments by desperadoes in the       
mountain passes1 of the lurid life of   
the early mining camps1 and the         
desperate deeds of the ,vigilantes6 ,and
 here1 before me1 was a man of that     
type4 ,you could read the main facts of 
his history in the very lines of his    
face4 ,and this man--one of that small  

band whom the whole country united to   
honor--this man wanted to become a      
student1--to sit among adolescent boys  
and girls1 listening to the lectures and
 discussions of instructors who were    
babes in arms when he was a man of      
middle life4  ,but there was no doubt of
 his determination4 ,with the eagerness 
of a boy1 he outlined his plan to me2   
and in doing this1 he told me the story 
of his life1--just the barest facts to  
let me know that he was not a man to do 
things half-heartedly1 or to drop a     
project until he had carried it through 
either to a successful issue1 or to     
indisputable defeat4  ,and what a life  
that man had lived6 ,he had been a youth
 of promise1 keen of intelligence and   
quick of wit4 ,he had spent two years at
 a college in the ,middle ,west back in 
the early sixties4 ,he had left his     
course uncompleted to enter the army1   
and he had followed the fortunes of war 
through the latter part of the great    
rebellion4 ,at the close of the war he  

went ,west4 ,he farmed in ,kansas until 
the drought and the grasshoppers urged  
him on4 ,he joined the first surveying  
party that picked out the line of the   
transcontinental railroad that was to   
follow the southern route along the old 
,santa ,fe trail4 ,he carried the chain 
and worked the transit across the       
,rockies1 across the desert1 across the 
,sierras1 until1 with his companions1 he
 had--      led the iron stallions down 
to drink   ,through the canons to the   
waters of the ,west4  ,and when this    
task was accomplished1 he followed the  
lure of the gold through the ,california
 placers2 eastward again over the       
mountains to the booming ,nevada camp1  
where the ,comstock lode was already    
turning out the wealth that was to build
 a half-dozen colossal fortunes4 ,he    
prospected through this country1 with   
varying success1 living the life of the 
camps1--rich in its experiences1 vivid  
in its coloring1 calling forth every    
item of energy and courage and hardihood

 that a man could command4 ,then word   
came by that mysterious wireless and    
keyless telegraphy of the mountains and 
the desert1--word that back to the      
eastward1 ore deposits of untold wealth 
had been discovered4 ,so eastward once  
more1 with the stampede of the miners1  
he turned his face4 ,he was successful  
at the outset in this new region4 ,he   
quickly accumulated a fortune2 he lost  
it and amassed another2 lost that and   
still gained a third4 ,five successive  
fortunes he made successively1 and      
successively he lost them4 ,but during  
this time he had become a man of power  
and influence in the community4 ,he     
married and raised a family and saw his 
children comfortably settled4  ,but when
 his last fortune was swept away1 the   
old ,wanderlust again claimed its own4  
,houses and lands and mortgages and     
mills and mines had slipped from his    
grasp4 ,but it mattered little4 ,he had 
only himself to care for1 and1 with pick
 and pan strapped to his saddlebow1 he  

set his face westward4 ,along the ridges
 of the high ,rockies1 through ,wyoming 
and ,montana1 he wandered1 ever on the  
lookout for the glint of gold in the    
white quartz4 ,little by little he moved
 westward1 picking up a sufficient      
living1 until he found himself one      
winter shut in by the snows in a remote 
valley on the upper waters of the       
,gallatin ,river4 ,he stopped one night 
at a lonely ranch house4 ,in the course 
of the evening his host told him of a   
catastrophe that had befallen the widely
 scattered inhabitants of that remote   
valley4 ,the teacher of the district    
school had fallen sick1 and there was   
little likelihood of their getting      
another until spring4  ,that is a true  
catastrophe to the ranchers of the high 
valleys cut off from every line of      
communication with the outer world4 ,for
 the opportunities of education are     
highly valued in that part of the ,west4
 ,they are reckoned with bread and      
horses and cattle and sheep1 as among   

the necessities of life4 ,the children  
were crying for school1 and their       
parents could not satisfy that peculiar 
kind of hunger4 ,but here was the       
relief4 ,this wanderer who had arrived  
in their midst was a man of parts4 ,he  
was lettered2 he was educated4 ,would he
 do them the favor of teaching their    
children until the snow had melted away 
from the ridges1 and his cayuse could   
pick the trail through the canons8  ,now
 school-keeping was farthest from this  
man's thoughts4 ,but the needs of little
 children were very near to his heart4  
,he accepted the offer1 and entered the 
log schoolhouse as the district         
schoolmaster1 while a handful of pupils1
 numbering all the children of the      
community who could ride a broncho1 came
 five1 ten1 and even fifteen miles      
daily1 through the winter's snows and   
storms and cruel cold1 to pick up the   
crumbs of learning that had lain so long
 untouched4  ,what happened in that     
lonely little school1 far off on the    

,gallatin bench1 ,i never rightly       
discovered4 ,but when spring opened up1 
the master sold his cayuse and his pick 
and his rifle and the other implements  
of his trade4 ,with the earnings of the 
winter he made his way to the school    
that the state had established for the  
training of teachers2 and ,i count it as
 one of the privileges of my life that  
,i was the first official of that school
 to listen to his story and to welcome  
him to the vocation that he had chosen  
to follow4  ,and yet1 when ,i looked at 
his face1 drawn into lines of strength  
by years of battle with the elements2   
when ,i looked at the clear1 blue eyes1 
that told of a far cleaner life than is 
lived by one in a thousand of those that
 hold the frontiers of civilization2    
when ,i caught an expression about the  
mouth that told of an innate humanity   
far beyond the power of worldly losses  
or misfortunes to crush and subdue1 ,i  
could not keep from my lips the words   
that gave substance to my thought2 and  

the thought was this3 that it were far  
better if we who were supposed to be    
competent to the task of education      
should sit reverently at the feet of    
this man1 than that we should presume to
 instruct him4 ,for knowledge may come  
from books1 and even youth may possess  
it1 but wisdom comes only from          
experience1 and this man had that wisdom
 in far greater measure than we of books
 and laboratories and classrooms could  
ever hope to have it4 ,he had lived     
years while we were living days4  ,i    
thought of a learned scholar who1       
through patient labor in amassing facts1
 had demonstrated the influence of the  
frontier in the development of our      
national ideals2 who had pointed out    
how1 at each successive stage of        
,american history1 the heroes of the    
frontier1 pushing farther and farther   
into the wilderness1 conquering first   
the low coastal plain of the ,atlantic  
seaboard1 then the forested foothills   
and ridges of the ,appalachians1 had    

finally penetrated into the ,mississippi
 ,valley1 and1 subduing that1 had       
followed on westward to the prairies1   
and then to the great plains1 and then  
clear across the great divide1 the      
alkali deserts1 and the ,sierras1 to    
,california and the ,pacific ,coast2 how
 these frontiersmen1 at every stage of  
our history1 had sent back wave after   
wave of strength and virility to keep   
alive the sturdy ideals of toil and     
effort and independence1--ideals that   
would counteract the mellowing and      
softening and degenerating influences of
 the hothouse civilization that grew up 
so rapidly in the successive regions    
that they left behind4 ,turner's theory 
that most of what is typical and unique 
in ,american institutions and ideals    
owes its existence to the backset of the
 frontier life found a living exemplar  
in the man who stood before me on that  
,may morning4  ,but he would not be     
discouraged from his purpose4 ,he had   
made up his mind to complete the course 

that the school offered2 to take up the 
thread of his education at the point    
where he had dropped it more than forty 
years before4 ,he had made up his mind1 
and it was easy to see that he was not a
 man to be deterred from a set purpose4 
,i shall not hide the fact that some of 
us were skeptical of the outcome4 ,that 
a man of sixty-five should have a thirst
 for learning was not remarkable4 ,but  
that a man whose life had been spent in 
scenes of excitement1 who had been      
associated with deeds and events that   
stir the blood when we read of them     
to-day1 a man who had lived almost every
 moment of his life in the open1--that  
such a man could settle down to the     
uneventful life of a student and a      
teacher1 could shut himself up within   
the four walls of a classroom1 could    
find anything to inspire and hold him in
 the dull presentation of facts or the  
dry elucidation of theories1--this      
seemed to be a miracle not to be        
expected in this realistic age4 ,but1   

miracle or not1 the thing actually      
happened4 ,he remained nearly four years
 in the school1 earning his living by   
work that he did in the intervals of    
study1 and doing it so well that1 when  
he graduated1 he had not only his       
education and the diploma which stood   
for it1 but also a bank account4  ,he   
lived in a little cabin by himself1 for 
he wished to be where he would not      
disturb others when he sang or whistled 
over his work in the small hours of the 
night4 ,but his meals he took at the    
college dormitory1 where he presided at 
a table of young women students4 ,never 
was a man more popular with the ladies  
than this weather-beaten patriarch with 
the girls of his table4 ,no matter how  
gloomy the day might be1 one could      
always find sunshine from that quarter4 
,no matter how grievous the troubles of 
work1 there was always a bit of cheerful
 optimism from a man who had tasted     
almost every joy and sorrow that life   
had to offer4 ,if one were in a blue    

funk of dejection because of failure in 
a class1 he would lend the sympathy that
 came from his own rich experience in   
failures1--not only past but present1   
for some things that come easy at       
sixteen come hard at sixty-five1 and    
this man who would accept no favors had 
to fight his way through flunks and     
goose-eggs like the younger members of  
the class4 ,and even with it all so     
complete an embodiment of hope and      
courage and wholesome light-heartedness 
would be hard to find4 ,he was an       
optimist because he had learned long    
since that anything but optimism is a   
crime2 and learning this in early life1 
optimism had become a deeply seated and 
ineradicable prejudice in his mind4 ,he 
could not have been gloomy if he had    
tried4  ,and so this man fought his way 
through science and mathematics and     
philosophy1 slowly but surely1 just as  
he had fought inch by inch and link by  
link1 across the ,arizona desert years  
before4 ,it was a much harder fight1 for

 all the force of lifelong habit1 than  
which there is none other so powerful1  
was against him from the start4 ,and now
 came the human temptation to be off on 
the old trail1 to saddle his horse and  
get a pick and a pan and make off across
 the western range to the golden land   
that always lies just under the sunset4 
,how often that turbulent ,wanderlust   
seized him1 ,i can only conjecture4 ,but
 ,i know the spirit of the wanderer was 
always strong within him4 ,he could say1
 with ,kipling's ,tramp ,royal3    ,it's
 like a book1 ,i think1 this bloomin'   
world1   ,which you can read and care   
for just so long1   ,but presently you  
feel that you will die   ,unless you get
 the page you're reading done1   ,an'   
turn another--likely not so good2   ,but
 what you're after is to turn them all4 
,and ,i knew that he fought that        
temptation over and over again2 for that
 little experience out on the ,gallatin 
bench had only partially turned his life
 from the channels of wandering1        

although it had bereft him of the old   
desire to seek for gold4 ,often he      
outlined to me a well-formulated plan2  
perhaps he had to tell some one1 lest   
the fever should take too strong a hold 
upon him1 and force his surrender4 ,his 
plan was this3 ,he would teach a term   
here and there1 gradually working his   
way westward1 always toward the remote  
corners of the earth into which his     
roving instinct seemed unerringly to    
lead him4 ,alaska1 ,hawaii1 and the     
,philippines seemed easy enough to      
access2 surely1 he thought1 teachers    
must be needed in all those regions4    
,and when he should have turned these   
pages1 he might have mastered his       
vocation in a degree sufficient to      
warrant his attempting an alien soil4   
,then he would sail away into the ,south
 ,seas1 with ,new ,zealand and          
,australia as a base4 ,and gradually    
moving westward through                 
,english-speaking settlements and       
colonies he would finally complete the  

circuit of the globe4  ,and the full    
fruition of that plan might have formed 
a fitting climax to my tale1 were ,i    
telling it for the sake of its romance2 
but my purpose demands a different      
conclusion4 ,my hero is now principal of
 schools in a little city of the        
mountains1--a city so tiny that its name
 would be unknown to most of you4 ,and  
,i have heard vague rumors that he is   
rising rapidly in his profession and    
that the community he serves will not   
listen to anything but a permanent      
tenure of his office4 ,all of which     
seems to indicate to me that he has     
abandoned1 for the while at least1 his  
intention to turn quite all the pages of
 the world's great book1 and is content 
to live true to the ideal that was born 
in the log schoolhouse--the conviction  
that the true life is the life of       
service1 and that the love of wandering 
and the lure of gold are only siren     
calls that lead one always toward1 but  
never to1 the promised land of dreams   

that seems to lie just over the western 
range where the pink sunset stands sharp
 against the purple shadows4  ,the      
ending of my story is prosaic1 but      
everything in this world is prosaic1    
unless you view it either in the        
perspective of time or space1 or in the 
contrasts that bring out the high lights
 and deepen the shadows4  ,but if ,i    
have left my hero happily married to his
 profession1 the courtship and winning  
of which formed the theme of my tale1 ,i
 may be permitted to indulge in a very  
little moralizing of a rather more      
explicit sort than ,i have yet          
attempted4  ,it is a simple matter to   
construct in imagination an ideal       
teacher4 ,mix with immortal youth and   
abounding health1 a maximal degree of   
knowledge and a maximal degree of       
experience1 add perfect tact1 the spirit
 of true service1 the most perfect      
patience1 and the most steadfast        
persistence2 place in the crucible of   
some good normal school2 stir in twenty 

weeks of standard psychology1 ten weeks 
of general method1 and varying amounts  
of patent compounds known as special    
methods1 all warranted pure and without 
drugs or poison2 sweeten with a little  
music1 toughen with fifteen weeks of    
logic1 bring to a slow boil in the      
practice school1 and1 while still       
sizzling1 turn loose on a cold world4   
,the formula is simple and complete1 but
 like many another good recipe1 a       
competent cook might find it hard to    
follow when she is short of butter and  
must shamefully skimp on the eggs4  ,now
 the man whose history ,i have recounted
 represents the most priceless qualities
 of this formula4 ,in the first place he
 possessed that quality the key to which
 the philosophers of all ages have      
sought in vain1--he had solved the      
problem of eternal youth4 ,at the age of
 sixty-five his enthusiasm was the      
enthusiasm of an adolescent4 ,his energy
 was the energy of an adolescent4       
,despite his gray hair and white beard1 

his mind was perennially young4 ,and    
that is the only type of mind that ought
 to be concerned with the work of       
education4 ,i sometimes think that one  
of the advantages of a practice school  
lies in the fact that the teachers who  
have direct charge of the               
pupils--whatever may be their           
limitations--have at least the virtue of
 youth1 the virtue of being young4 ,if  
they could only learn from my hero the  
art of keeping young1 of keeping the    
mind fresh and vigorous and open to     
whatever is good and true1 no matter how
 novel a form it may take1 they might1  
like him1 preserve their youth          
indefinitely4 ,and ,i think that his    
life gives us one clew to the           
secret1--to keep as close as we can to  
nature1 for nature is always young2 to  
sing and to whistle when we would rather
 weep2 to cheer and comfort when we     
would rather crush and dishearten2 often
 to dare something just for the sake of 
daring1 for to be young is to dare2 and 

always to wonder1 for that is the prime 
symptom of youth1 and when a man ceases 
to wonder1 age and decrepitude are      
waiting for him around the next corner4 
,it is the privilege of the teaching    
craft to represent more adequately than 
any other calling the conditions for    
remaining young4 ,there is time for     
living out-of-doors1 which some of us1  
alas6 do not do4 ,and youth1 with its   
high hope and lofty ambition1 with its  
resolute daring and its naive wonder1   
surrounds us on every side4 ,and yet how
 rapidly some of us age6 ,how quickly   
life seems to lose its zest6 ,how       
completely are we blind to the          
opportunities that are on every hand6   
,and closely related to this virtue of  
being always young1 in fact growing out 
of it1 the ideal teacher will have1 as  
my hero had1 the gift of gladness1--that
 joy of living which takes life for     
granted and proposes to make the most of
 every moment of consciousness that it  
brings4  ,and finally1 to balance these 

qualities1 to keep them in leash1 the   
ideal teacher should possess that spirit
 of service1 that conviction that the   
life of service is the only life worth  
while--that conviction for which my hero
 struggled so long and against such     
tremendous odds4 ,the spirit of service 
must always be the cornerstone of the   
teaching craft4 ,to know that any life  
which does not provide the opportunities
 for service is not worth the living1   
and that any life1 however humble1 that 
does provide these opportunities is rich
 beyond the reach of earthly            
rewards1--this is the first lesson that 
the tyro in schoolcraft must learn1 be  
he sixteen or sixty-five4  ,and just as 
youth and hope and the gift of gladness 
are the eternal verities on one side of 
the picture1 so the spirit of service1  
the spirit of sacrifice1 is the eternal 
verity that forms their true complement2
 without whose compensation1 hope were  
but idle dreaming1 and laughter a hollow
 mockery4 ,and self-denial1 which is the

 keynote of service1 is the great       
sobering1 justifying1 eternal factor    
that symbolizes humanity more perfectly 
than anything else4 ,in the introduction
 to ,romola1 ,george ,eliot pictures a  
spirit of the past who returns to earth 
four hundred years after his death1 and 
looks down upon his native city of      
,florence4 ,and ,i can conclude with no 
better words than those in which ,george
 ,eliot voices her advice to that shade3
       ,go not down1 good ,spirit3 for  
the changes are great and the speech    
of the ,florentines would sound as a    
riddle in your ears4 ,or1 if you        
go1 mingle with no politicians on the   
marmi1 or elsewhere2 ask no             
questions about trade in ,calimara2     
confuse yourself with no      inquiries 
into scholarship1 official or monastic4 
,only look at the      sunlight and     
shadows on the grand walls that were    
built solidly and      have endured in  
their grandeur2 look at the faces of the
 little      children1 making another   

sunlight amid the shadows of age2 look1 
if      you will1 into the churches and 
hear the same chants1 see the same      
images as of old--the images of willing 
anguish for a great end1      of        
beneficent love and ascending glory1 see
 upturned living faces1      and lips   
moving to the old prayers for help4     
,these things have not      changed4    
,the sunlight and the shadows bring     
their old beauty and      waken the old 
heart-strains at morning1 noon1 and     
even-tide2 the      little children are 
still the symbol of the eternal marriage
      between love and duty2 and men    
still yearn for the reign of peace      
and righteousness--still own that life  
to be the best which is a      conscious
 voluntary sacrifice4  ,,footnotes3     
,footnote #ai3 ,an address to the       
graduating class of the ,oswego1 ,new   
,york1 ,state ,normal ,school1          
,february1 #aijh4