,note3 ,images of the original pages are
 available through       ,internet      
,archive_/,canadian ,libraries4 ,see    
http3_/_/www4archive4org_/details_/child
andcurricul#jj;deweuoft      ,,the      
,,child ,,and ,,the ,,curriculum  by    
,,john ,,dewey        ,illustration3    
,publisher's ,device  ,the ,university  
of ,chicago ,press ,chicago  ,london    
,the ,university of ,chicago ,press1    
,chicago  ,london  ,the ,university of  
,toronto ,press1 ,toronto #e1 ,canada   
,copyright #aijb by ,the ,university of 
,chicago4 ,all rights reserved4         
,published #aijb4 ,twenty-eighth        
,impression #aiff ,printed in the       
,united ,states of ,america     ,the    
,child and the ,curriculum   ,profound  
differences in theory are never         
gratuitous or invented4 ,they grow out  
of conflicting elements in a genuine    
problem--a problem which is genuine just
 because the elements1 taken as they    
stand1 are conflicting4 ,any significant
 problem involves conditions that for   

the moment contradict each other4       
,solution comes only by getting away    
from the meaning of terms that is       
already fixed upon and coming to see the
 conditions from another point of view1 
and hence in a fresh light4 ,but this   
reconstruction means travail of thought4
 ,easier than thinking with surrender of
 already formed ideas and detachment    
from facts already learned is just to   
stick by what is already said1 looking  
about for something with which to       
buttress it against attack4  ,thus sects
 arise3 schools of opinion4 ,each       
selects that set of conditions that     
appeals to it2 and then erects them into
 a complete and independent truth1      
instead of treating them as a factor in 
a problem1 needing adjustment4  ,the    
fundamental factors in the educative    
process are an immature1 undeveloped    
being2 and certain social aims1         
meanings1 values incarnate in the       
matured experience of the adult4 ,the   
educative process is the due interaction

 of these forces4 ,such a conception of 
each in relation to the other as        
facilitates completest and freest       
interaction is the essence of           
educational theory4  ,but here comes the
 effort of thought4 ,it is easier to see
 the conditions in their separateness1  
to insist upon one at the expense of the
 other1 to make antagonists of them1    
than to discover a reality to which each
 belongs4 ,the easy thing is to seize   
upon something in the nature of the     
child1 or upon something in the         
developed consciousness of the adult1   
and insist upon that as the key to the  
whole problem4 ,when this happens a     
really serious practical problem--that  
of interaction--is transformed into an  
unreal1 and hence insoluble1 theoretic  
problem4 ,instead of seeing the         
educative steadily and as a whole1 we   
see conflicting terms4 ,we get the case 
of the child vs4 the curriculum2 of the 
individual nature vs4 social culture4   
,below all other divisions in pedagogic 

opinion lies this opposition4  ,the     
child lives in a somewhat narrow world  
of personal contacts4 ,things hardly    
come within his experience unless they  
touch1 intimately and obviously1 his own
 well-being1 or that of his family and  
friends4 ,his world is a world of       
persons with their personal interests1  
rather than a realm of facts and laws4  
,not truth1 in the sense of conformity  
to external fact1 but affection and     
sympathy1 is its keynote4 ,as against   
this1 the course of study met in the    
school presents material stretching back
 indefinitely in time1 and extending    
outward indefinitely into space4 ,the   
child is taken out of his familiar      
physical environment1 hardly more than a
 square mile or so in area1 into the    
wide world--yes1 and even to the bounds 
of the solar system4 ,his little span of
 personal memory and tradition is       
overlaid with the long centuries of the 
history of all peoples4  ,again1 the    
child's life is an integral1 a total    

one4 ,he passes quickly and readily from
 one topic to another1 as from one spot 
to another1 but is not conscious of     
transition or break4 ,there is no       
conscious isolation1 hardly conscious   
distinction4 ,the things that occupy him
 are held together by the unity of the  
personal and social interests which his 
life carries along4 ,whatever is        
uppermost in his mind constitutes to    
him1 for the time being1 the whole      
universe4 ,that universe is fluid and   
fluent2 its contents dissolve and       
re-form with amazing rapidity4 ,but1    
after all1 it is the child's own world4 
,it has the unity and completeness of   
his own life4 ,he goes to school1 and   
various studies divide and fractionize  
the world for him4 ,geography selects1  
it abstracts and analyzes one set of    
facts1 and from one particular point of 
view4 ,arithmetic is another division1  
grammar another department1 and so on   
indefinitely4  ,again1 in school each of
 these subjects is classified4 ,facts   

are torn away from their original place 
in experience and rearranged with       
reference to some general principle4    
,classification is not a matter of child
 experience2 things do not come to the  
individual pigeonholed4 ,the vital ties 
of affection1 the connecting bonds of   
activity1 hold together the variety of  
his personal experiences4 ,the adult    
mind is so familiar with the notion of  
logically ordered facts that it does not
 recognize--it cannot realize--the      
amount of separating and reformulating  
which the facts of direct experience    
have to undergo before they can appear  
as a study1 or branch of learning4 ,a   
principle1 for the intellect1 has had to
 be distinguished and defined2 facts    
have had to be interpreted in relation  
to this principle1 not as they are in   
themselves4 ,they have had to be        
regathered about a new center which is  
wholly abstract and ideal4 ,all this    
means a development of a special        
intellectual interest4 ,it means ability

 to view facts impartially and          
objectively2 that is1 without reference 
to their place and meaning in one's own 
experience4 ,it means capacity to       
analyze and to synthesize4 ,it means    
highly matured intellectual habits and  
the command of a definite technique and 
apparatus of scientific inquiry4 ,the   
studies as classified are the product1  
in a word1 of the science of the ages1  
not of the experience of the child4     
,these apparent deviations and          
differences between child and curriculum
 might be almost indefinitely widened4  
,but we have here sufficiently          
fundamental divergences3 first1 the     
narrow but personal world of the child  
against the impersonal but infinitely   
extended world of space and time2       
second1 the unity1 the single           
wholeheartedness of the child's life1   
and the specializations and divisions of
 the curriculum2 third1 an abstract     
principle of logical classification and 
arrangement1 and the practical and      

emotional bonds of child life4  ,from   
these elements of conflict grow up      
different educational sects4 ,one school
 fixes its attention upon the importance
 of the subject-matter of the curriculum
 as compared with the contents of the   
child's own experience4 ,it is as if    
they said3 ,is life petty1 narrow1 and  
crude8 ,then studies reveal the great1  
wide universe with all its fulness and  
complexity of meaning4 ,is the life of  
the child egoistic1 self-centered1      
impulsive8 ,then in these studies is    
found an objective universe of truth1   
law1 and order4 ,is his experience      
confused1 vague1 uncertain1 at the mercy
 of the moment's caprice and            
circumstance8 ,then studies introduce a 
world arranged on the basis of eternal  
and general truth2 a world where all is 
measured and defined4 ,hence the moral3 
ignore and minimize the child's         
individual peculiarities1 whims1 and    
experiences4 ,they are what we need to  
get away from4 ,they are to be obscured 

or eliminated4 ,as educators our work is
 precisely to substitute for these      
superficial and casual affairs stable   
and well-ordered realities2 and these   
are found in studies and lessons4       
,subdivide each topic into studies2 each
 study into lessons2 each lesson into   
specific facts and formulae4 ,let the   
child proceed step by step to master    
each one of these separate parts1 and at
 last he will have covered the entire   
ground4 ,the road which looks so long   
when viewed in its entirety is easily   
traveled1 considered as a series of     
particular steps4 ,thus emphasis is put 
upon the logical subdivisions and       
consecutions of the subject-matter4     
,problems of instruction are problems of
 procuring texts giving logical parts   
and sequences1 and of presenting these  
portions in class in a similar definite 
and graded way4 ,subject-matter         
furnishes the end1 and it determines    
method4 ,the child is simply the        
immature being who is to be matured2 he 

is the superficial being who is to be   
deepened2 his is narrow experience which
 is to be widened4 ,it is his to        
receive1 to accept4 ,his part is        
fulfilled when he is ductile and docile4
  ,not so1 says the other sect4 ,the    
child is the starting-point1 the center1
 and the end4 ,his development1 his     
growth1 is the ideal4 ,it alone         
furnishes the standard4 ,to the growth  
of the child all studies are            
subservient2 they are instruments valued
 as they serve the needs of growth4     
,personality1 character1 is more than   
subject-matter4 ,not knowledge or       
information1 but self-realization1 is   
the goal4 ,to possess all the world of  
knowledge and lose one's own self is as 
awful a fate in education as in         
religion4 ,moreover1 subject-matter     
never can be got into the child from    
without4 ,learning is active4 ,it       
involves reaching out of the mind4 ,it  
involves organic assimilation starting  
from within4 ,literally1 we must take   

our stand with the child and our        
departure from him4 ,it is he and not   
the subject-matter which determines both
 quality and quantity of learning4  ,the
 only significant method is the method  
of the mind as it reaches out and       
assimilates4 ,subject-matter is but     
spiritual food1 possible nutritive      
material4 ,it cannot digest itself2 it  
cannot of its own accord turn into bone 
and muscle and blood4 ,the source of    
whatever is dead1 mechanical1 and formal
 in schools is found precisely in the   
subordination of the life and experience
 of the child to the curriculum4 ,it is 
because of this that study has become a 
synonym for what is irksome1 and a      
lesson identical with a task4  ,this    
fundamental opposition of child and     
curriculum set up by these two modes of 
doctrine can be duplicated in a series  
of other terms4 ,discipline is the      
watchword of those who magnify the      
course of study2 interest that of those 
who blazon ,the ,child upon their       

banner4 ,the standpoint of the former is
 logical2 that of the latter            
psychological4 ,the first emphasizes the
 necessity of adequate training and     
scholarship on the part of the teacher2 
the latter that of need of sympathy with
 the child1 and knowledge of his natural
 instincts4 ,guidance and control are   
the catchwords of one school2 freedom   
and initiative of the other4 ,law is    
asserted here2 spontaneity proclaimed   
there4 ,the old1 the conservation of    
what has been achieved in the pain and  
toil of the ages1 is dear to the one2   
the new1 change1 progress1 wins the     
affection of the other4 ,inertness and  
routine1 chaos and anarchism1 are       
accusations bandied back and forth4     
,neglect of the sacred authority of duty
 is charged by one side1 only to be met 
by counter-charges of suppression of    
individuality through tyrannical        
despotism4  ,such oppositions are rarely
 carried to their logical conclusion4   
,common-sense recoils at the extreme    

character of these results4 ,they are   
left to theorists1 while common-sense   
vibrates back and forward in a maze of  
inconsistent compromise4 ,the need of   
getting theory and practical            
common-sense into closer connection     
suggests a return to our original       
thesis3 that we have here conditions    
which are necessarily related to each   
other in the educative process1 since   
this is precisely one of interaction and
 adjustment4  ,what1 then1 is the       
problem8 ,it is just to get rid of the  
prejudicial notion that there is some   
gap in kind 7as distinct from degree7   
between the child's experience and the  
various forms of subject-matter that    
make up the course of study4 ,from the  
side of the child1 it is a question of  
seeing how his experience already       
contains within itself elements--facts  
and truths--of just the same sort as    
those entering into the formulated      
study2 and1 what is of more importance1 
of how it contains within itself the    

attitudes1 the motives1 and the         
interests which have operated in        
developing and organizing the           
subject-matter to the plane which it now
 occupies4 ,from the side of the        
studies1 it is a question of            
interpreting them as outgrowths of      
forces operating in the child's life1   
and of discovering the steps that       
intervene between the child's present   
experience and their richer maturity4   
,abandon the notion of subject-matter as
 something fixed and ready-made in      
itself1 outside the child's experience2 
cease thinking of the child's experience
 as also something hard and fast2 see it
 as something fluent1 embryonic1 vital2 
and we realize that the child and the   
curriculum are simply two limits which  
define a single process4 ,just as two   
points define a straight line1 so the   
present standpoint of the child and the 
facts and truths of studies define      
instruction4 ,it is continuous          
reconstruction1 moving from the child's 

present experience out into that        
represented by the organized bodies of  
truth that we call studies4  ,on the    
face of it1 the various studies1        
arithmetic1 geography1 language1 botany1
 etc41 are themselves experience--they  
are that of the race4 ,they embody the  
cumulative outcome of the efforts1 the  
strivings1 and the successes of the     
human race generation after generation4 
,they present this1 not as a mere       
accumulation1 not as a miscellaneous    
heap of separate bits of experience1 but
 in some organized and systematized     
way--that is1 as reflectively           
formulated4  ,hence1 the facts and      
truths that enter into the child's      
present experience1 and those contained 
in the subject-matter of studies1 are   
the initial and final terms of one      
reality4 ,to oppose one to the other is 
to oppose the infancy and maturity of   
the same growing life2 it is to set the 
moving tendency and the final result of 
the same process over against each      

other2 it is to hold that the nature and
 the destiny of the child war with each 
other4  ,if such be the case1 the       
problem of the relation of the child and
 the curriculum presents itself in this 
guise3 ,of what use1 educationally      
speaking1 is it to be able to see the   
end in the beginning8 ,how does it      
assist us in dealing with the early     
stages of growth to be able to          
anticipate its later phases8 ,the       
studies1 as we have agreed1 represent   
the possibilities of development        
inherent in the child's immediate crude 
experience4 ,but1 after all1 they are   
not parts of that present and immediate 
life4 ,why1 then1 or how1 make account  
of them8  ,asking such a question       
suggests its own answer4 ,to see the    
outcome is to know in what direction the
 present experience is moving1 provided 
it move normally and soundly4 ,the      
far-away point1 which is of no          
significance to us simply as far away1  
becomes of huge importance the moment we

 take it as defining a present direction
 of movement4 ,taken in this way it is  
no remote and distant result to be      
achieved1 but a guiding method in       
dealing with the present4 ,the          
systematized and defined experience of  
the adult mind1 in other words1 is of   
value to us in interpreting the child's 
life as it immediately shows itself1 and
 in passing on to guidance or direction4
  ,let us look for a moment at these two
 ideas3 interpretation and guidance4    
,the child's present experience is in no
 way self-explanatory4 ,it is not final1
 but transitional4 ,it is nothing       
complete in itself1 but just a sign or  
index of certain growth-tendencies4 ,as 
long as we confine our gaze to what the 
child here and now puts forth1 we are   
confused and misled4 ,we cannot read its
 meaning4 ,extreme depreciations of the 
child morally and intellectually1 and   
sentimental idealizations of him1 have  
their root in a common fallacy4 ,both   
spring from taking stages of a growth or

 movement as something cut off and      
fixed4 ,the first fails to see the      
promise contained in feelings and deeds 
which1 taken by themselves1 are         
uncompromising and repellent2 the second
 fails to see that even the most        
pleasing and beautiful exhibitions are  
but signs1 and that they begin to spoil 
and rot the moment they are treated as  
achievements4  ,what we need is         
something which will enable us to       
interpret1 to appraise1 the elements in 
the child's present puttings forth and  
fallings away1 his exhibitions of power 
and weakness1 in the light of some      
larger growth-process in which they have
 their place4 ,only in this way can we  
discriminate4 ,if we isolate the child's
 present inclinations1 purposes1 and    
experiences from the place they occupy  
and the part they have to perform in a  
developing experience1 all stand upon   
the same level2 all alike are equally   
good and equally bad4 ,but in the       
movement of life different elements     

stand upon different planes of value4   
,some of the child's deeds are symptoms 
of a waning tendency2 they are survivals
 in functioning of an organ which has   
done its part and is passing out of     
vital use4 ,to give positive attention  
to such qualities is to arrest          
development upon a lower level4 ,it is  
systematically to maintain a rudimentary
 phase of growth4 ,other activities are 
signs of a culminating power and        
interest2 to them applies the maxim of  
striking while the iron is hot4 ,as     
regards them1 it is perhaps a matter of 
now or never4 ,selected1 utilized1      
emphasized1 they may mark a             
turning-point for good in the child's   
whole career2 neglected1 an opportunity 
goes1 never to be recalled4 ,other acts 
and feelings are prophetic2 they        
represent the dawning of flickering     
light that will shine steadily only in  
the far future4 ,as regards them there  
is little at present to do but give them
 fair and full chance1 waiting for the  

future for definite direction4  ,just   
as1 upon the whole1 it was the weakness 
of the old education that it made       
invidious comparisons between the       
immaturity of the child and the maturity
 of the adult1 regarding the former as  
something to be got away from as soon as
 possible and as much as possible2 so it
 is the danger of the new education that
 it regard the child's present powers   
and interests as something finally      
significant in themselves4 ,in truth1   
his learnings and achievements are fluid
 and moving4 ,they change from day to   
day and from hour to hour4  ,it will do 
harm if child-study leave in the popular
 mind the impression that a child of a  
given age has a positive equipment of   
purposes and interests to be cultivated 
just as they stand4 ,interests in       
reality are but attitudes toward        
possible experiences2 they are not      
achievements2 their worth is in the     
leverage they afford1 not in the        
accomplishment they represent4 ,to take 

the phenomena presented at a given age  
as in any way self-explanatory or       
self-contained is inevitably to result  
in indulgence and spoiling4 ,any power1 
whether of child or adult1 is indulged  
when it is taken on its given and       
present level in consciousness4 ,its    
genuine meaning is in the propulsion it 
affords toward a higher level4 ,it is   
just something to do with4 ,appealing to
 the interest upon the present plane    
means excitation2 it means playing with 
a power so as continually to stir it up 
without directing it toward definite    
achievement4 ,continuous initiation1    
continuous starting of activities that  
do not arrive1 is1 for all practical    
purposes1 as bad as the continual       
repression of initiative in conformity  
with supposed interests of some more    
perfect thought or will4 ,it is as if   
the child were forever tasting and never
 eating2 always having his palate       
tickled upon the emotional side1 but    
never getting the organic satisfaction  

that comes only with digestion of food  
and transformation of it into working   
power4  ,as against such a view1 the    
subject-matter of science and history   
and art serves to reveal the real child 
to us4 ,we do not know the meaning      
either of his tendencies or of his      
performances excepting as we take them  
as germinating seed1 or opening bud1 of 
some fruit to be borne4 ,the whole world
 of visual nature is all too small an   
answer to the problem of the meaning of 
the child's instinct for light and form4
 ,the entire science of physics is none 
too much to interpret adequately to us  
what is involved in some simple demand  
of the child for explanation of some    
casual change that has attracted his    
attention4 ,the art of ,raphael or of   
,corot is none too much to enable us to 
value the impulses stirring in the child
 when he draws and daubs4  ,so much for 
the use of the subject-matter in        
interpretation4 ,its further employment 
in direction or guidance is but an      

expansion of the same thought4 ,to      
interpret the fact is to see it in its  
vital movement1 to see it in its        
relation to growth4 ,but to view it as a
 part of a normal growth is to secure   
the basis for guiding it4 ,guidance is  
not external imposition4 ,it is freeing 
the life-process for its own most       
adequate fulfilment4 ,what was said     
about disregard of the child's present  
experience because of its remoteness    
from mature experience2 and of the      
sentimental idealization of the child's 
nave caprices and performances1 may be  
repeated here with slightly altered     
phrase4 ,there are those who see no     
alternative between forcing the child   
from without1 or leaving him entirely   
alone4 ,seeing no alternative1 some     
choose one mode1 some another4 ,both    
fall into the same fundamental error4   
,both fail to see that development is a 
definite process1 having its own law    
which can be fulfilled only when        
adequate and normal conditions are      

provided4 ,really to interpret the      
child's present crude impulses in       
counting1 measuring1 and arranging      
things in rhythmic series involves      
mathematical scholarship--a knowledge of
 the mathematical formulae and relations
 which have1 in the history of the race1
 grown out of just such crude           
beginnings4 ,to see the whole history of
 development which intervenes between   
these two terms is simply to see what   
step the child needs to take just here  
and now2 to what use he needs to put his
 blind impulse in order that it may get 
clarity and gain force4  ,if1 once more1
 the old education tended to ignore the 
dynamic quality1 the developing force   
inherent in the child's present         
experience1 and therefore to assume that
 direction and control were just matters
 of arbitrarily putting the child in a  
given path and compelling him to walk   
there1 the new education is in danger of
 taking the idea of development in      
altogether too formal and empty a way4  

,the child is expected to develop this  
or that fact or truth out of his own    
mind4 ,he is told to think things out1  
or work things out for himself1 without 
being supplied any of the environing    
conditions which are requisite to start 
and guide thought4 ,nothing can be      
developed from nothing2 nothing but the 
crude can be developed out of the       
crude--and this is what surely happens  
when we throw the child back upon his   
achieved self as a finality1 and invite 
him to spin new truths of nature or of  
conduct out of that4 ,it is certainly as
 futile to expect a child to evolve a   
universe out of his own mere mind as it 
is for a philosopher to attempt that    
task4 ,development does not mean just   
getting something out of the mind4 ,it  
is a development of experience and into 
experience that is really wanted4 ,and  
this is impossible save as just that    
educative medium is provided which will 
enable the powers and interests that    
have been selected as valuable to       

function4 ,they must operate1 and how   
they operate will depend almost entirely
 upon the stimuli which surround them   
and the material upon which they        
exercise themselves4 ,the problem of    
direction is thus the problem of        
selecting appropriate stimuli for       
instincts and impulses which it is      
desired to employ in the gaining of new 
experience4 ,what new experiences are   
desirable1 and thus what stimuli are    
needed1 it is impossible to tell except 
as there is some comprehension of the   
development which is aimed at2 except1  
in a word1 as the adult knowledge is    
drawn upon as revealing the possible    
career open to the child4  ,it may be of
 use to distinguish and to relate to    
each other the logical and the          
psychological aspects of experience--the
 former standing for subject-matter in  
itself1 the latter for it in relation to
 the child4 ,a psychological statement  
of experience follows its actual growth2
 it is historic2 it notes steps actually

 taken1 the uncertain and tortuous1 as  
well as the efficient and successful4   
,the logical point of view1 on the other
 hand1 assumes that the development has 
reached a certain positive stage of     
fulfilment4 ,it neglects the process and
 considers the outcome4 ,it summarizes  
and arranges1 and thus separates the    
achieved results from the actual steps  
by which they were forthcoming in the   
first instance4 ,we may compare the     
difference between the logical and the  
psychological to the difference between 
the notes which an explorer makes in a  
new country1 blazing a trail and finding
 his way along as best he may1 and the  
finished map that is constructed after  
the country has been thoroughly         
explored4 ,the two are mutually         
dependent4 ,without the more or less    
accidental and devious paths traced by  
the explorer there would be no facts    
which could be utilized in the making of
 the complete and related chart4 ,but no
 one would get the benefit of the       

explorer's trip if it was not compared  
and checked up with similar wanderings  
undertaken by others2 unless the new    
geographical facts learned1 the streams 
crossed1 the mountains climbed1 etc41   
were viewed1 not as mere incidents in   
the journey of the particular traveler1 
but 7quite apart from the individual    
explorer's life7 in relation to other   
similar facts already known4 ,the map   
orders individual experiences1          
connecting them with one another        
irrespective of the local and temporal  
circumstances and accidents of their    
original discovery4  ,of what use is    
this formulated statement of experience8
 ,of what use is the map8  ,well1 we may
 first tell what the map is not4 ,the   
map is not a substitute for a personal  
experience4 ,the map does not take the  
place of an actual journey4 ,the        
logically formulated material of a      
science or branch of learning1 of a     
study1 is no substitute for the having  
of individual experiences4 ,the         

mathematical formula for a falling body 
does not take the place of personal     
contact and immediate individual        
experience with the falling thing4 ,but 
the map1 a summary1 an arranged and     
orderly view of previous experiences1   
serves as a guide to future experience2 
it gives direction2 it facilitates      
control2 it economizes effort1          
preventing useless wandering1 and       
pointing out the paths which lead most  
quickly and most certainly to a desired 
result4 ,through the map every new      
traveler may get for his own journey the
 benefits of the results of others'     
explorations without the waste of energy
 and loss of time involved in their     
wanderings--wanderings which he himself 
would be obliged to repeat were it not  
for just the assistance of the objective
 and generalized record of their        
performances4 ,that which we call a     
science or study puts the net product of
 past experience in the form which makes
 it most available for the future4 ,it  

represents a capitalization which may at
 once be turned to interest4 ,it        
economizes the workings of the mind in  
every way4 ,memory is less taxed because
 the facts are grouped together about   
some common principle1 instead of being 
connected solely with the varying       
incidents of their original discovery4  
,observation is assisted2 we know what  
to look for and where to look4 ,it is   
the difference between looking for a    
needle in a haystack1 and searching for 
a given paper in a well-arranged        
cabinet4 ,reasoning is directed1 because
 there is a certain general path or line
 laid out along which ideas naturally   
march1 instead of moving from one chance
 association to another4  ,there is1    
then1 nothing final about a logical     
rendering of experience4 ,its value is  
not contained in itself2 its            
significance is that of standpoint1     
outlook1 method4 ,it intervenes between 
the more casual1 tentative1 and         
roundabout experiences of the past1 and 

more controlled and orderly experiences 
of the future4 ,it gives past experience
 in that net form which renders it most 
available and most significant1 most    
fecund for future experience4 ,the      
abstractions1 generalizations1 and      
classifications which it introduces all 
have prospective meaning4  ,the         
formulated result is then not to be     
opposed to the process of growth4 ,the  
logical is not set over against the     
psychological4 ,the surveyed and        
arranged result occupies a critical     
position in the process of growth4 ,it  
marks a turning-point4 ,it shows how we 
may get the benefit of past effort in   
controlling future endeavor4 ,in the    
largest sense the logical standpoint is 
itself psychological2 it has its meaning
 as a point in the development of       
experience1 and its justification is in 
its functioning in the future growth    
which it insures4  ,hence the need of   
reinstating into experience the         
subject-matter of the studies1 or       

branches of learning4 ,it must be       
restored to the experience from which it
 has been abstracted4 ,it needs to be   
psychologized2 turned over1 translated  
into the immediate and individual       
experiencing within which it has its    
origin and significance4  ,every study  
or subject thus has two aspects3 one for
 the scientist as a scientist2 the other
 for the teacher as a teacher4 ,these   
two aspects are in no sense opposed or  
conflicting4 ,but neither are they      
immediately identical4 ,for the         
scientist1 the subject-matter represents
 simply a given body of truth to be     
employed in locating new problems1      
instituting new researches1 and carrying
 them through to a verified outcome4 ,to
 him the subject-matter of the science  
is self-contained4 ,he refers various   
portions of it to each other2 he        
connects new facts with it4 ,he is not1 
as a scientist1 called upon to travel   
outside its particular bounds2 if he    
does1 it is only to get more facts of   

the same general sort4 ,the problem of  
the teacher is a different one4 ,as a   
teacher he is not concerned with adding 
new facts to the science he teaches2 in 
propounding new hypotheses or in        
verifying them4 ,he is concerned with   
the subject-matter of the science as    
representing a given stage and phase of 
the development of experience4 ,his     
problem is that of inducing a vital and 
personal experiencing4 ,hence1 what     
concerns him1 as teacher1 is the ways in
 which that subject may become a part of
 experience2 what there is in the       
child's present that is usable with     
reference to it2 how such elements are  
to be used2 how his own knowledge of the
 subject-matter may assist in           
interpreting the child's needs and      
doings1 and determine the medium in     
which the child should be placed in     
order that his growth may be properly   
directed4 ,he is concerned1 not with the
 subject-matter as such1 but with the   
subject-matter as a related factor in a 

total and growing experience4 ,thus to  
see it is to psychologize it4  ,it is   
the failure to keep in mind the double  
aspect of subject-matter which causes   
the curriculum and child to be set over 
against each other as described in our  
early pages4 ,the subject-matter1 just  
as it is for the scientist1 has no      
direct relationship to the child's      
present experience4 ,it stands outside  
of it4 ,the danger here is not a merely 
theoretical one4 ,we are practically    
threatened on all sides4 ,textbook and  
teacher vie with each other in          
presenting to the child the             
subject-matter as it stands to the      
specialist4 ,such modification and      
revision as it undergoes are a mere     
elimination of certain scientific       
difficulties1 and the general reduction 
to a lower intellectual level4 ,the     
material is not translated into         
life-terms1 but is directly offered as a
 substitute for1 or an external annex   
to1 the child's present life4  ,three   

typical evils result3 ,in the first     
place1 the lack of any organic          
connection with what the child has      
already seen and felt and loved makes   
the material purely formal and symbolic4
 ,there is a sense in which it is       
impossible to value too highly the      
formal and the symbolic4 ,the genuine   
form1 the real symbol1 serve as methods 
in the holding and discovery of truth4  
,they are tools by which the individual 
pushes out most surely and widely into  
unexplored areas4 ,they are means by    
which he brings to bear whatever of     
reality he has succeeded in gaining in  
past searchings4 ,but this happens only 
when the symbol really symbolizes--when 
it stands for and sums up in shorthand  
actual experiences which the individual 
has already gone through4 ,a symbol     
which is induced from without1 which has
 not been led up to in preliminary      
activities1 is1 as we say1 a bare or    
mere symbol2 it is dead and barren4     
,now1 any fact1 whether of arithmetic1  

or geography1 or grammar1 which is not  
led up to and into out of something     
which has previously occupied a         
significant position in the child's life
 for its own sake1 is forced into this  
position4 ,it is not a reality1 but just
 the sign of a reality which might be   
experienced if certain conditions were  
fulfilled4 ,but the abrupt presentation 
of the fact as something known by       
others1 and requiring only to be studied
 and learned by the child1 rules out    
such conditions of fulfilment4 ,it      
condemns the fact to be a hieroglyph3 it
 would mean something if one only had   
the key4 ,the clue being lacking1 it    
remains an idle curiosity1 to fret and  
obstruct the mind1 a dead weight to     
burden it4  ,the second evil in this    
external presentation is lack of        
motivation4 ,there are not only no facts
 or truths which have been previously   
felt as such with which to appropriate  
and assimilate the new1 but there is no 
craving1 no need1 no demand4 ,when the  

subject-matter has been psychologized1  
that is1 viewed as an out-growth of     
present tendencies and activities1 it is
 easy to locate in the present some     
obstacle1 intellectual1 practical1 or   
ethical1 which can be handled more      
adequately if the truth in question be  
mastered4 ,this need supplies motive for
 the learning4 ,an end which is the     
child's own carries him on to possess   
the means of its accomplishment4 ,but   
when material is directly supplied in   
the form of a lesson to be learned as a 
lesson1 the connecting links of need and
 aim are conspicuous for their absence4 
,what we mean by the mechanical and dead
 in instruction is a result of this lack
 of motivation4 ,the organic and vital  
mean interaction--they mean play of     
mental demand and material supply4  ,the
 third evil is that even the most       
scientific matter1 arranged in most     
logical fashion1 loses this quality1    
when presented in external1 ready-made  
fashion1 by the time it gets to the     

child4 ,it has to undergo some          
modification in order to shut out some  
phases too hard to grasp1 and to reduce 
some of the attendant difficulties4     
,what happens8 ,those things which are  
most significant to the scientific man1 
and most valuable in the logic of actual
 inquiry and classification1 drop out4  
,the really thought-provoking character 
is obscured1 and the organizing function
 disappears4 ,or1 as we commonly say1   
the child's reasoning powers1 the       
faculty of abstraction and              
generalization1 are not adequately      
developed4 ,so the subject-matter is    
evacuated of its logical value1 and1    
though it is what it is only from the   
logical standpoint1 is presented as     
stuff only for memory4 ,this is the     
contradiction3 the child gets the       
advantage neither of the adult logical  
formulation1 nor of his own native      
competencies of apprehension and        
response4 ,hence the logic of the child 
is hampered and mortified1 and we are   

almost fortunate if he does not get     
actual non-science1 flat and            
common-place residua of what was gaining
 scientific vitality a generation or two
 ago--degenerate reminiscence of what   
someone else once formulated on the     
basis of the experience that some       
further person had1 once upon a time1   
experienced4  ,the train of evils does  
not cease4 ,it is all too common for    
opposed erroneous theories to play      
straight into each other's hands4       
,psychological considerations may be    
slurred or shoved one side2 they cannot 
be crowded out4 ,put out of the door1   
they come back through the window4      
,somehow and somewhere motive must be   
appealed to1 connection must be         
established between the mind and its    
material4 ,there is no question of      
getting along without this bond of      
connection2 the only question is whether
 it be such as grows out of the material
 itself in relation to the mind1 or be  
imported and hitched on from some       

outside source4 ,if the subject-matter  
of the lessons be such as to have an    
appropriate place within the expanding  
consciousness of the child1 if it grows 
out of his own past doings1 thinkings1  
and sufferings1 and grows into          
application in further achievements and 
receptivities1 then no device or trick  
of method has to be resorted to in order
 to enlist interest4 ,the psychologized 
is of interest--that is1 it is placed in
 the whole of conscious life so that it 
shares the worth of that life4 ,but the 
externally presented material1 conceived
 and generated in standpoints and       
attitudes remote from the child1 and    
developed in motives alien to him1 has  
no such place of its own4 ,hence the    
recourse to adventitious leverage to    
push it in1 to factitious drill to drive
 it in1 to artificial bribe to lure it  
in4  ,three aspects of this recourse to 
outside ways for giving the             
subject-matter some psychological       
meaning may be worth mentioning4        

,familiarity breeds contempt1 but it    
also breeds something like affection4   
,we get used to the chains we wear1 and 
we miss them when removed4 ',tis an old 
story that through custom we finally    
embrace what at first wore a hideous    
mien4 ,unpleasant1 because meaningless1 
activities may get agreeable if long    
enough persisted in4 ,it is possible for
 the mind to develop interest in a      
routine or mechanical procedure if      
conditions are continually supplied     
which demand that mode of operation and 
preclude any other sort4 ,i frequently  
hear dulling devices and empty exercises
 defended and extolled because the      
children take such an 'interest' in     
them4 ,yes1 that is the worst of it2 the
 mind1 shut out from worthy employ and  
missing the taste of adequate           
performance1 comes down to the level of 
that which is left to it to know and do1
 and perforce takes an interest in a    
cabined and cramped experience4 ,to find
 satisfaction in its own exercise is the

 normal law of mind1 and if large and   
meaningful business for the mind be     
denied1 it tries to content itself with 
the formal movements that remain to     
it--and too often succeeds1 save in     
those cases of more intense activity    
which cannot accommodate themselves1 and
 that make up the unruly and declass of 
our school product4 ,an interest in the 
formal apprehension of symbols and in   
their memorized reproduction becomes in 
many pupils a substitute for the        
original and vital interest in reality2 
and all because1 the subject-matter of  
the course of study being out of        
relation to the concrete mind of the    
individual1 some substitute bond to hold
 it in some kind of working relation to 
the mind must be discovered and         
elaborated4  ,the second substitute for 
living motivation in the subject-matter 
is that of contrast-effects2 the        
material of the lesson is rendered      
interesting1 if not in itself1 at least 
in contrast with some alternative       

experience4 ,to learn the lesson is more
 interesting than to take a scolding1 be
 held up to general ridicule1 stay after
 school1 receive degradingly low marks1 
or fail to be promoted4 ,and very much  
of what goes by the name of discipline1 
and prides itself upon opposing the     
doctrines of a soft pedagogy and upon   
upholding the banner of effort and duty1
 is nothing more or less than just this 
appeal to interest in its obverse       
aspect--to fear1 to dislike of various  
kinds of physical1 social1 and personal 
pain4 ,the subject-matter does not      
appeal2 it cannot appeal2 it lacks      
origin and bearing in a growing         
experience4 ,so the appeal is to the    
thousand and one outside and irrelevant 
agencies which may serve to throw1 by   
sheer rebuff and rebound1 the mind back 
upon the material from which it is      
constantly wandering4  ,human nature    
being what it is1 however1 it tends to  
seek its motivation in the agreeable    
rather than in the disagreeable1 in     

direct pleasure rather than in          
alternative pain4 ,and so has come up   
the modern theory and practice of the   
interesting1 in the false sense of that 
term4 ,the material is still left2 so   
far as its own characteristics are      
concerned1 just material externally     
selected and formulated4 ,it is still   
just so much geography and arithmetic   
and grammar study2 not so much          
potentiality of child-experience with   
regard to language1 earth1 and numbered 
and measured reality4 ,hence the        
difficulty of bringing the mind to bear 
upon it2 hence its repulsiveness2 the   
tendency for attention to wander2 for   
other acts and images to crowd in and   
expel the lesson4 ,the legitimate way   
out is to transform the material2 to    
psychologize it--that is1 once more1 to 
take it and to develop it within the    
range and scope of the child's life4    
,but it is easier and simpler to leave  
it as it is1 and then by trick of method
 to arouse interest1 to make it         

interesting2 to cover it with           
sugar-coating2 to conceal its barrenness
 by intermediate and unrelated material2
 and finally1 as it were1 to get the    
child to swallow and digest the         
unpalatable morsel while he is enjoying 
tasting something quite different4 ,but 
alas for the analogy6 ,mental           
assimilation is a matter of             
consciousness2 and if the attention has 
not been playing upon the actual        
material1 that has not been apprehended1
 nor worked into faculty4  ,how1 then1  
stands the case of ,child vs4           
,curriculum8 ,what shall the verdict be8
 ,the radical fallacy in the original   
pleadings with which we set out is the  
supposition that we have no choice save 
either to leave the child to his own    
unguided spontaneity or to inspire      
direction upon him from without4 ,action
 is response2 it is adaptation1         
adjustment4 ,there is no such thing as  
sheer self-activity possible--because   
all activity takes place in a medium1 in

 a situation1 and with reference to its 
conditions4 ,but1 again1 no such thing  
as imposition of truth from without1 as 
insertion of truth from without1 is     
possible4 ,all depends upon the activity
 which the mind itself undergoes in     
responding to what is presented from    
without4 ,now1 the value of the         
formulated wealth of knowledge that     
makes up the course of study is that it 
may enable the educator to determine the
 environment of the child1 and thus by  
indirection to direct4 ,its primary     
value1 its primary indication1 is for   
the teacher1 not for the child4 ,it says
 to the teacher3 ,such and such are the 
capacities1 the fulfilments1 in truth   
and beauty and behavior1 open to these  
children4 ,now see to it that day by day
 the conditions are such that their own 
activities move inevitably in this      
direction1 toward such culmination of   
themselves4 ,let the child's nature     
fulfil its own destiny1 revealed to you 
in whatever of science and art and      

industry the world now holds as its own4
  ,the case is of ,child4 ,it is his    
present powers which are to assert      
themselves2 his present capacities which
 are to be exercised2 his present       
attitudes which are to be realized4 ,but
 save as the teacher knows1 knows wisely
 and thoroughly1 the race-expression    
which is embodied in that thing we call 
the ,curriculum1 the teacher knows      
neither what the present power1         
capacity1 or attitude is1 nor yet how it
 is to be asserted1 exercised1 and      
realized4            99      99      99 
99      99     ,transcriber's note4     
,two half-title pages have been omitted4